Gold Coast

Tough time to predict

GOLD COAST David Green

March is normally a great month for billfish, wahoo and mackerel but it is hard to predict what this year will be like due to the seemingly endless bad conditions and strong prevailing current. The current was running to the south throughout January at speeds up to four knots and a lot of migrating fish seem to have missed the Gold Coast and headed to Sydney! This season so far has been quite erratic, with good numbers of marlin showing up early in the season on the inshore grounds one day and being absent the next. In March most of the black marlin action takes place on the wider grounds on the 70-80m line around the areas where big schools of slimy mackerel, pilchards and yellowtail are found. At times, on the few days when the weather is calm, there have been up to 60 boats fishing ‘Spot X’. Slow trolling live baits and deep live baits are generally the most effective options but through the month the black marlin diminish in numbers as they migrate south on the East Australian Current. Most of the fish encountered in March tend to be bigger ranging from 40-100kg. There have also been a few striped marlin.

Mahimahi become less common this month but wahoo numbers often increase. These are the main two by-catch species encountered when chasing billfish on the troll. If you are lucky enough to find a floating object out at sea there are usually mahimahi and wahoo close by. The FADs have been holding a lot of mahimahi but they are mostly small.

Out further beyond the 100m line March is a great month to chase blue marlin. Trolling a spread of big-skirted lures on 37kg tackle is the usual method. These crazy fish average around 140kg and fishing for them from a small boat is one of the greatest challenges in fishing. They can empty a reel in less than a minute, so it is important to chase the fish with the boat immediately after the hooks go in. I’ve caught quite a lot of blue marlin from my 6m tinny and every one of them has been a challenge.

In closer to shore, March is a great month to chase both Spanish and spotted mackerel. Areas such as Palm Beach Reef, Mermaid Reef and the Gravel Patch off Burleigh Heads produce a lot of mackerel this month. Anchoring up and berleying with chopped pilchards can be an effective method to bring mackerel around your boat, and spinning with metal lures, floating pilchards and live baits are all effective methods. Slow trolling rigged dead baits, such as tailor and bonito, is another very effective method. Perhaps the best method of all, particularly when the fish are shy, is to slow troll live baits using a downrigger. At times, trolling hardbodied minnows and skirts can be very effective, but over the last few seasons this has been the least productive method I know of.

There should be a few wahoo starting to appear this month off Tweed. Trolling high-speed skirts, slow trolling live tuna and jigging can all be effective. The spot requires a fair bit of current to fire up, but when the blue water runs hard over the Nine Mile Reef there are usually wahoo around, with quite a few good specimens over 20kg turning up. It is hard to troll too fast for a wahoo, and some Tweed Heads locals commonly troll at around 15 knots! The 36-fathom reef also produces wahoo.

Bottom fishing is generally slow this month and is usually affected by current. There should still be a few juvenile snapper, pearl perch, teraglin, mulloway and parrotfish around on the 36 fathom line. Small live yellowtail are a good bait to use. ESTUARIES

March is a good month to target whiting, mangrove jack, mulloway and both sand and mud crabs. There should also be plenty of big banana prawns in the lower end of Moreton Bay. The water cools down towards the end of the month and this sees an increase in fish activity. It is also a common time of year to see big dumps of rain or the aftermath of cyclones and rain depressions. This can produce great crabbing and fishing once the dirty water settles down. After a wet summer crabbing has been good this year.

In March the mangrove jack often start to move towards the seaway area. Big schools of adult fish form along the rock walls with most fish being over 50cm long. These fish will eat live baits and jigged soft plastics but are notoriously difficult to get out from their rocky lairs. Further up river, March is a great month to chase mangrove jack on surface lures early in the morning. In the hour around dawn mangrove jack are very active and month. Small stick baits worked over the flats and good live baits like baby soldier crabs, yabbies, bloodworms and shrimp are all very effective. The run-in tide generally fishes well. As well as whiting expect a few 40-50cm flathead and bream as a by-catch. Casting unweighted yabbies on a rising tide is a great way to work the shallow flats around the Seaway and commonly produces whiting over 40cm long.

The Seaway and Jumpinpin entrances produce reasonable numbers of mulloway from

Most of the black marlin action has been taking place on the wider grounds on the 70-80m line. Spaniards will be around in March from 24 fathoms.

Danny Sands with a nice jack. They will start to move towards the seaway this month.

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often move considerable distances from cover. Poppers, such as the Storm Chug Bug or the Lucky Craft G Splash, all attract plenty of attention from mangrove jack.

Whiting should be in good numbers in the Nerang River, Pimpama River, Coombabah Creek and on the flats around Wave Break Island this 70-100cm this month on live baits and deep soft plastics. There have been a lot of mulloway caught in the last few weeks at the end of the north wall of the Seaway. March is a good month to chase mud crabs and the banana prawns have already started to show in numbers so it all points to an excellent prawn season ahead.