This week’s fishing tips & report
When trolling with hardbody lures, or drifting and casting with blades, vibes, and soft plastics, it is important to use the right rods. We use Shimano gear a lot, as we find it’s great value for money, and lasts a long time if well looked after.
For trolling, a rod of around 6″6 is ideal, not too long and whippy, yet not too short and stiff. The Shimano sonic pro 3-5kg model is a great choice when using our favourite lures such as Micro mullets and Pontoon 21 crackjacks. The tip is just soft enough and vibrates to enable us to monitor the lure action closely, and notice if it gets fouled by weed.
When drifting with blades and plastics, a 2-4kg rod around the 7 foot length is good. It is just soft enough to not pull hooks on fish when striking and playing them to the boat until netted, which makes a difference with the small hooks and finesse lures we use daily on our fishing charters.
Match these rods up with Shimano sienna 1000 or 2500 size reels, spooled with good quality, fine diameter braid, and you have a winning combination which regularly results in big flathead, fiesty tuskfish, and Mulloway around the metre mark. For trolling we use 6lb fluorocarbon leader to maximise diving depth, and 10lb leader for blades and vibes for more protection against snags and flathead teeth.
Fishing report:
Brad found some good Mulloway in one of his favourite Northern NSW honey holes this week. Regular guest Richard had a great time on 6 lb braid and small soft vibes, with Zerek fishtraps and Atomic semihardz doing the job well.
Flathead, bream and whiting made up the rest of the week’s catch.
The weather and water is warming so it’s time to start targetting the mighty mangrove jack, especially on stormy days, and the bigger summer whiting will show up too in the Chinderah reach of the Tweed river.
At the Gold Coast we have fished anywhere between Carrara up the Nerang river, and Coomera river mouth. The snot weed has thinned out making it far easier to access some of our favourite spots. Clint has been finding schools of tuskfish, winter whiting, flathead, small snapper, tarwine, bream, and a few Torpedo scad, which put up a terrific fight.
Small metal blades fished deep on 6lb braid and 10lb fluorocarbon leader in the area between the seaway and Seaworld and the area just upstream of Paradise waters has accounted for the most fish. The Nerang river has produced flathead on blades and gulps, but on the small side with fish between 40 and 50cm being common.
It looks like a mix of weather over the coming week, with variable winds and clear skies interspersed with some showers and Northerly winds. The aim will be to fish the deeper water in the calmer weather, and hunt the middle section of the Nerang river when the wind is up.
We are starting to get very busy so best to book 3 or 4 weeks ahead to lock in your charter.
Visit us on social media here:
[cn-social-icon]
Cheers and have a great one!
Smithy & Clinto
See this weeks’s pics from our Gold Coast fishing charters below.
