Catching bream from a jetty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Gavin Dobson

Oscar caught some lovely flounder on a Broadwater charter.

Flathead trolling tips

from P27 colours to crack the code.

Often solid red and gold colours will work during a dirtywater run-out tide or cloudy day, while on the opposite end of the scale, you’ll find more neutral and transparentcoloured lures work best on calm days and clear water.

Place the rods in trolling rod holders out to the side so that the rod tips are close to the water – to get the lures swimming deeper.

You can hold the rods while trolling but don’t strike too hard on a hook-up because the boat and fish are already moving in opposite directions.

Be careful handling flathead in a landing net – they will thrash wildly, so use long-nose pliers to gently remove sharp treble hooks from their mouths.

Always keep an eye on your fish finder to learn your local depths and so you know where the best spots to troll are.

Depths ranging from 1-4m are ideal.

Also look for signs of bait on your finder, which show as patches on the screen – this can indicate where flathead will lie to ambush food.

If you are using the deeper divers and travel over a shallower bank, bring the lures in closer to the boat so they don’t plough into the bottom too much.

When using shallower divers and there is a bit of a drop-off, let more line out to get more depth.

A big part of trolling is paying attention constantly, it’s not a set and forget method.

Occasionally something works that shouldn’t, so don’t be afraid to experiment with lure colours.

If you haven’t tried this deadly technique, get out and have a go.

All you need is a kayak or small boat to have loads of fun!

To book on a charter with myself or Brad, or if you have any fishing related questions, visit goldcoastrivercharters. com, SMS 0432 990 302 or email fishingwithclint@ gmail.com, or find us on facebook at Brad Smith Fishing Charters.

Catching bream from a jetty

AS I sit here and write, I can feel winter trying to creep in, but as yet we haven’t had a proper cold snap or westerly wind, which is very late.

I also had a look at next week’s forecast and wished I hadn’t.

Rain and more rain with possible flooding for the southern Queensland coast.

Great… what a year!

Our rivers – the lower reaches at least – have returned to some sort of normality.

I’ll let Brett speak for the Richmond River but I can report that the Brunswick and Tweed rivers are fishing fairly well at the moment.

If this rain eventuates next week, it could be a game changer… again.

Mullet are in force in the lower river systems now and are milling around waiting for the right weather conditions to head out to sea.

Other schools are heading up the coast, hanging around headlands and travelling through beach gutters.

This of course signals jewfish, so for those who are inclined you’ll be out there doing your thing.

If working the beaches, headlands and training walls isn’t your thing, there have been good numbers of jew in both the Tweed and Brunswick rivers.

The vast majority of them are undersized soapies but some are a bit bigger and worth the effort.

Soft plastics and vibes are accounting for most of the fish, with a live herring being a worthwhile option too.

Bream are around in massive numbers at the moment and are hammering bait in the lower rivers.

For Keira and myself, there hasn’t been much point heading any further than the jetty at Brunswick Heads Boat Harbour.

It’s very easy fishing and, as you can see by

Tweed to Byron Bay by GAVIN DOBSON

from P28 the pictures, there were some quality fish there.

We recently returned from a quick sojourn to the harbour and Keira was excited to catch a 44cm specimen in great condition.

It put up a hell of a fight on 8lb, but she fought it out well.

The funniest part was watching me trying to net it at low tide.

Lying on my stomach with the front half of me hanging over the edge of the jetty, I could only just get the net a couple of centimetres into the water.

Keira had to lift the head of the fish over the lip of the net and slide it in.

It was touch and go on a couple of accounts – the first being getting the fish in the net and the second being me hanging on by my toenails and not falling in.

It was a bit of a show for onlookers for a while, but we got there in the end.

Offshore fishing has been okay recently, however getting out there isn’t easy.

Even on the rare days with no wind, the bar has been pumping.

With the weather and filthy water, it’s been a very tough mackerel season.

June always sees a few stragglers being caught, though they will definitely taper off this month, which indicates it’s time to start thinking about a few reef fish.

We are blessed in these parts with a great array of eating fish.

Other parts of the world are not so lucky.

I’m the first to admit that I wish coral trout came this far south but pearl perch, parrotfish and similar species are hardly a poor consolation.

Weather you fish wide or shallow this month, the reefs should yield good catches.

If you still need that pelagic buzz, June can be a good month for wahoo if you can find some warm blue water.

I hope winter brings an end to this incessant rainfall and the weather patterns stabilise into something a lot more workable than what we’ve had for the past six months.

Time will tell.

Keira with a solid bream on a rainy afternoon. Standard weather this year it seems.

A berley trail for bream brings in other species too. Keira caught this big rusty buck on a line.

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