Kids have heaps of fun handling arrow squid.
A nice flathead ready to be released on a charter with Brad Smith in the Tweed River.
A day on the Broadwater
H Kieran caught a heap of fish trolling Pontoon 21 Crackjack lures with Brad Smith in the Tweed River.
I everyone, our hearts go out to the poor people who have suffered terrible hardships during the floods in the Gympie region, southeast Queensland and NSW. Nature can be cruel at times, but we know one thing – bad times don’t last forever. For anglers, the cooler months from April to November usually
GOLD COAST ESTUARY CHARTERS
PRIVATE
BOOK NOW!
CHARTERS FOR 1-4 PEOPLE
Longest-running estuary lure fishing charter in SEQ with over 40 years’ experience Light tackle lure fishing charters guaranteeed to catch!! Spots, tackle, lures, tides, species, estuary tactics, moons, seasons and more!
SMS 0432 990 302 Charter gift vouchers and online store www.goldcoastlures.com
Page 18 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, April 2022
Broadwater Guide by CLINT ANSELL
mean drier weather, and if La Niña weakens, we should be in for some better fishing conditions on the water. April represents a crossover of seasons as far as species go. We can still catch some of the summer quarry such mangrove jack, trevally and sand whiting, but also notice more flathead, squid, tuskfish, mulloway, tailor and winter whiting showing up in our local estuary systems. It is a little early for big numbers of these species to show up, but it’s still worth targeting a variety with a mix of lures and bait. I’ll run you through exactly what I do on a typical day on the Gold Coast Broadwater. Ideal conditions are low tide in the morning to pump yabbies, with light wind and not too big or small a tide range – about a 1m change is good. We’ll pump yabbies
and arm ourselves with a range of lures including all our favourites – Ecogear ZX40 blades, Samaki Vibelicious 70mm Fork Tail vibes, Ecogear Marukyu Isome worms in XL size and red colour, and some soft plastics such as Damiki Armor Shad 4” paddle tail, Marker 54 Mullet Run, plus Pro Lure Clone Prawn in 72mm and 92mm sizes. Lure colour choice varies daily depending on whether the sky is cloudy or sunny, if it’s windy or calm, and whether the water is clear or dirty. Generally, the calmer and clearer everything is, the more we’ll use plain, neutral and transparent lures. Choppy, cloudy and dirty water conditions require flashy, darker and ultraviolet enabled lures. For in-between conditions, you’ll need lures * continued P19
www.bnbfishing.com. au
