PROVEN WORLD LEADING ANCHOR DESIGNS

In the estuaries there should be some good fishing this month. There have been plenty of mangrove jacks around this season, with a lot in the 50 to 60cm range. Most of these fish have been caught casting hard bodied lures or soft plastics around floating pontoons. The mangrove jack population on the Gold Coast is thriving, with catches improving each season. As well as being in the canals, a lot of big mangrove jacks have been caught in the Seaway on live baits. In the life cycle of mangrove jacks fish move out of the estuaries to the inshore reefs when they reach a certain age. In more northern areas they are generally around 45cm when they move offshore, but on the Gold Coast they seem to stay in the estuaries for a much longer period. In recent weeks divers have reported large schools of big mangrove jacks around the north wall of the seaway.

Whiting are another good target species this month and chasing them on the flats is a fun way to fish.

Casting unweighted yabbies to fish moving up on the flats on a rising tide is a fun way to get a feed of whiting. Surface poppers and stick baits are also effective at times, particularly if the whiting are feeding on small prawns. I like the Bassday Sugar Pen for whiting and this lure has caught me hundreds of fish. If you are chasing whiting on surface lures make sure you wind fast. If you see the tell-tale small ‘V’ of a whiting chasing your lure keep winding and do not stop. Some big whiting up to around 40cm love to eat surface lures and it is a fun way to fish for them. If you want numbers, bait is the best alternative.

There will be a few flathead around this month on the top of the flats on early morning high tides but overall the flathead fishing in March can be a bit slow and most of the fish are quite small. Working big soft plastics will produce the odd crocodile sized lizard this month and trolling is another good method that lets you cover plenty of water. March is an excellent month to chase both mud and sand crabs on the Gold Coast. Coombabah Creek, the Pimpama River and the weed flats in the central part of the Broadwater all produce plenty of crabs, particularly on bigger tides. Overall, March has plenty of good options for Gold Coast Anglers and is an exceptional month to chase blue marlin.