Gold Coast

Snapper run slows

GOLD COAST David Green

So far the waters off the Gold Coast have produced good quality snapper and mulloway throughout the winter months. The snapper season reopened on the 16 August. By September, the snapper run starts to slow down a bit as most of the fish have spawned and are returning to deeper water.

The best spots in September have been on the 36 fathom line from the Tweed right through to the reefs north of Jumpinpin. Float lining with cut fish strips and pilchards have been very effective, and soft plastics have also caught some good fish.

As well as snapper, there have been reasonable numbers of Venus tusk fish, Moses perch and pearl perch. Out wider on the 50 fathom line and beyond there have been good catches of pearl perch and snapper, with quite a few big amberjacks. The deeper reefs in around 120-150m have produced some monster pearl perch, along with bar cod.

Deep dropping using electric reels has become increasingly popular off the Gold Coast, producing flame snapper, nannygai and bar cod in depths around 250m. Out in 400-600m blue-eye trevalla and Bass groper are common. If you are targeting flame snapper use small hooks about 3/0 in size and use a small sized bait. Squid works very well when deep dropping.

In closer to shore the blocks, just north of the seaway, have been consistently producing good numbers of mulloway with most fish between 100 and 120cm in length. These four artificial reefs have been a great success and always hold big schools of yellowtail and slimy mackerel. You need quite heavy gear to pull the mulloway away from structure and it is common to get cut off.

Cobia are another fish to target this month. Big live baits and large soft plastics are very effective and most of the close reefs on the 20 fathom line will hold cobia if there is plenty of bait around. They also hold on wrecks and the artificial reefs north of the Seaway hold cobia at times. Cobia like bigger baits, such as tailor, goatfish, big slimies and tarwhine. They are one of the toughest fighting fish in the ocean can be very productive at times, particularly when the sauries and other winter baitfish are in numbers. A jet head style lure trolled in the shotgun position is a very good option this month as they work well on both yellowfin tuna and marlin. The water temperature on the shelf should be around 22ºC. Silver and blue or silver and black are good colours this month as sauries are the main baitfish this month. There are also often good numbers of striped marlin on both the 36 and 50 fathom lines this month. ESTUARIES AND RIVERS

September is the best month of the year to chase flathead in Gold Get ready as the upcoming Flathead Classic is one of the biggest events on the fishing calendar.

Yellowfin tuna are a popular catch out on the continental shelf.

and a big one often takes more than an hour to land on light tackle.

Out on the continental shelf, options include yellowfin tuna on the thousand fathom line, blue marlin and striped marlin. Lure trolling Coast estuaries. The fish are constantly moving towards the river mouths and entrances this month and there will be plenty of boats out chasing them in preparation for the upcoming Flathead Classic. After

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Covid it will be great to get back to the venue so we can all mingle. After a lot of rain in autumn and winter, the flathead fishing this year has been excellent, with catches of over 40 fish per session being common. There has been plenty of bait in most of the Broadwater.

This month deep jigging using soft vibes, large soft plastics and blades comes into its own, and the deeper channels around Jumpinpin and the Gold Coast Seaway should produce plenty of big fish up to 90cm in length. Sometimes a jig head up to 90g is required when the current is strong. The fish feed voraciously in preparation for spawning, and it is important to release the larger fish in good condition so they can get on with the job of reproducing. All the bigger flathead are females, and when spawning they are often surrounded by plenty of smaller males that commonly follow the hooked female fish. It is good to see that NSW regulations, after many years, have come into line with the Queensland flathead regulations. In NSW the bag limit is now five fish between 36-70cm.

In recent seasons fishing for flathead with surface lures in shallow water has become increasingly popular. Bent minnow patterns, the Lucky Craft Sammy and cup-faced poppers can all be productive. The surface strikes from a big flathead are quite exciting. Work the flats on a rising tide and make long casts before starting on a retrieve full of sweeping rod work so the lure rises and falls.

As the water warms up a bit this month whiting become more active, on bigger fish like pike, tailer and mullet. Big live baits can be very effective. My mate Chris Metcalfe recently caught a 138cm mulloway on a soft plastic near the Jumpinpin entrance.

The upcoming Flathead Classic is one of the biggest events on the fishing calendar and in preparation for the event everyone will be looking for their own private honey hole. A few good lures that have been producing well in recent times include ZMan Prawn Patters, the smallest Fish Trap in darker colours, and the ever-faithful

September is the best month of the year to chase flathead in the Gold Coast estuaries.

particularly in the Nerang River, and mulloway start to feed in the deeper sections of the estuary and are a common by-catch when deep jigging for flathead. At times fish over 120cm turn up in September and tend to feed Micro Mullet.

Overall, September is a good month to chase both snapper and flathead off the Gold Coast and there has also been some good gamefish action that may continue through this month.