School migrations move north

GOLD COAST David

Green

In June the water temperature drops on the inshore grounds and a lot of the pelagics start to move north to warmer waters. As the water cools a lot of the fish that migrated south in summer move back north.

June is a good time to target big mackerel and wahoo, with big fish mackerel. Tuna, bonito, tailor and doggie mackerel all make great baits for big Spanish mackerel.

Bottom fishing improves this month and snapper, teraglin, parrot fish and pearl perch start to show on the 36 and 50 fathom reefs. Float lining, soft plastics and live baits are all effective. Fish dawn and dusk for the best results. Mulloway start to turn up in numbers on the inshore grounds at night and catch in June and the 20 fathom reef is a good place to look for these fantastic fighting fish. Cobia like big soft plastics and large live baits. A lot of berley also helps and it pays to be patient and wait for the fish to come to you. Cobia around 30kg are common in June, although the seasons tend to be quite variable from year to year. The artificial reef located in 23m of water northeast of the Seaway also commonly holds cobia. In general cobia arrive on the Gold Coast at the same time as the migrating pods of whales. get the fish up to the surface when they go deep. The most productive depth is generally between 200-400m.

The area just east of the Jumpinpin Bar is worth a look on the last of the run in tide. This area holds long tail tuna, some big Spanish mackerel and this year has seen huge numbers of spotted mackerel. Look for the birds and bait schools and cast metal lures, stick baits and large soft plastics. If the water is blue and warm the fishing can be very good in this area. Trolling bibbed minnows or garfish is another good alternative to try. The long tail tuna can sometimes be just at the back of the surf line. Keep your distance and make long casts. A highspeed retrieve is essential, and these tuna are fantastic fighters that can take a long time to wear down.

As the current slows down deep dropping the wider grounds in depths between 250-500m will produce flame snapper, bar cod, nannygai and blue eye trevalla. There have been quite a few broadbill swordfish hooked as well on bigger baits.

Estuaries And Rivers

The change in seasons brings with it a lot of fish movement throughout the estuary. Big schools of mullet start to move towards the entrances. As the water cools and the westerlies start to blow the fishing generally improves. Flathead and bream start to show in numbers and increasing numbers of big mulloway start to move into the estuary at night to feed on the big schools of tiger mullet.

Bream will start to show up in decent numbers.

Cobia are a

Out on the continental shelf the water generally remains warm throughout the month and it is a good month to chase blue marlin, with increasing numbers of striped marlin showing up as the water cools down a bit. Most of these are caught on trolled lures. These fish are a great challenge from a small boat but for best results invest in a few 37kg trolling outfits. On 24 or 15kg gear it can be nearly impossible to