FISHING TECHNIQUES & REPORT

Fishing Techniques Fishing Tackle Seasons and Species Fishing Report Fishing Stories

Fishing Techniques:

We use a variety of techniques ranging from bottom bouncing and float lining, live baiting and trolling lures and baits. Different methods suit different species.

As with most parts of Australia and the world the gold coast has seasons for various species, however our reef fishing charters run all year round. Species include Snapper, Pearl Perch, Teraglin, Tusk Fish, Job Fish, Morwong, Amberjack, Yellowtail Kingfish, Samson, Cobia, Mulloway, Tailor, Flathead, Cod, Mackerel, Shark, Mahi Mahi (Dorado), various Tuna, Black and Striped Marlin and many more. Some of these species are seasonal and some stay all year round.

Our game fishing charters are seasonal, November – February, this is due to the arrival of the East Australian Currents, with these warm current flows come a variety of pelagic fish including Black, Blue and Striped Marlin, Sailfish, Wahoo, Mahi Mahi (Dorado) and Various Tuna. The Gold Coast has became World famous for its light tackle game fishing, seeing great numbers of small black marlin (20-70kg) tagged and released every season, not to mention the tasty Wahoo, Tuna and Mahi Mahi often encountered.      

Tackle Used:

For our reef fishing we supply Penn Senator overhead reels on Penn 15kg Mariner Plus series rods (new July 2006).
For our game fishing we supply lever drag Shimano overhead reels with 24 kg rods. (Stand up only) 

Seasons and Species:

This table is generalised only and can change with the seasons.

Fishing Report:

with Matt Johnson and Wade Alleyn

November-March 2007-2008

I recently visited my local tackle store (Doug Burts Fishing Tackle) and realised immediately that our summer season was upon us. Like kids in a toy store all the local anglers were busy stocking up on all the tackle needed to target the summer pelagic species.

What an exciting time of year, the weather is warm, the days are long, and the East Australian Current brings the warmer water along with an array of amazing fish.

Spotted, Spanish and School mackerel, Wahoo, Black, Striped and Blue Marlin, Sailfish, Dolphin Fish (Mahi Mahi, Dorado), Greenback Tailor, Yellow Fin and Mackerel Tuna, Teraglin (Trag Jew), Parrot Fish, Shark and Cobia can all be encountered at this time of year.

Our half day trips during our summer months can be very productive with mackerel making a big presence as well as good numbers of Juvenile Black Marlin giving many lucky customers a fishing experience of a lifetime. Just to be onboard and see firsthand a Marlin in full flight is an amazing moment for all. Most Marlin these days are released to grow and breed to ensure stocks for future generations.

Teraglin are in good numbers also during these months along with a lot of quality size Tailor, both are great table fish and are fun to catch.

A few Snapper and Pearl Perch can still be caught though not as many as winter.

All fishing gear, rods, reels, bait, food and soft drinks are supplied on all of our charters, so all you need to bring is some good luck.

Great fishing to you all

Matt and Wade

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 Fishing Stories:

Saturday 29th of July to Friday 4th of August 2006

The week that was,

 Saturday 29^th. 

Ventured out on a half day charter with beautiful conditions. With a full crew of 12 anglers we set off out the seaway to one of our spots in approx 50 metres of water, as we were travelling I could hear the talk as they anticipated what they might catch. Some customers were from the USA, some were locals and some had never been on a boat before. The first few minutes were bitter sweet for Deckie Jason and Myself with 2 big fish lost but the way they fought indicated there might be a few cobia around, to our delight we caught 4 cobia between  8-20 kg and a few mack tuna and a lot of tailor with a couple of trag to go. Also fished on and afternoon charter with mainly trag and tailor being caught with 1 mack tuna.

 Sunday 30^th. 

Another beautiful day with perfect conditions and nothing left of the big swell that gave the fish a spell for a few days the previous week. Full day charter, Some regulars on board along with some new customers. Fished a few spots with a mixed bag of snapper, amberjack, kingies a few pearlies, piggies etc. Along with a very ugly snapper 1 of 13, 2 at 7.5kg.(Pictured below) We taught some of our customers how to float line for snapper, Most are a little sceptical and impatient until their first thumb burning run.

 Monday 31^st.

 Again a full day charter this time with a group that had bummed a day off work for no other reason than to go fishing with some mates. (No other reason needed right!) Forecast 5-10knts. Blew 15-20kts NW with a fast drift wind and current, Made for slightly hard fishing on the wider grounds though with a little coaching the boys fished like seasoned pros considering the conditions. They managed a few amberjack and kingies along with a couple of Rosie jobfish, snapper and pearlies. We finished the day on the closer grounds with quite a few quality tailor and a couple of trag. Not the busiest days fishing but with the amount of beer the guys bought along I’m not sure fishing was there main priority.       

 Tuesday 1^st.  

Full Day again, this time a mixed group from far and wide, You know being a charter operator isn’t always stress free, We need to perform day in day out, unfortunately the fish haven been told that yet and many non fishing people come on board with the idea that the ocean is teaming with fish and you just stop anywhere, drop a line and catch a fish. (I wish). Many mornings are spent in deep discussion with deckie Jas deciding where to go, to get livies or not? Start wide or start close? What’s the weather going to do? Etc Fortunately the weather and the fish came to the party this time with the first couple of hours seeing some great fishing, Kingies, amberjack, Samson, snapper and pearlies all on the chew with many other species making up a good catch for the Fish hungry customers.

 Wednesday 2^nd.  

Another Day in paradise! Half day charter, mainly tourists and holiday makers on board today with a few locals, Yep they’ve come to see just what the fishing’s like off the Gold Coast. Away we go, another beautiful day and the Cougar Cat is purring along at 22knots effortlessly in almost glassy conditions, After discussions with Jason we decided to have a go for a few yellowfin tuna, We started with a seemingly endless supply of tailor coming off the bottom bashers, so much so that Jason and Myself were having trouble getting the 3 lines set for the Yellowfin. Eventually we got the lines set though with no immediate action, However with a  heap of  burley we eventually got a run and a hook up on a yellowfin, Fishing with the 10kg gear meant the customers had a fair fight and most were surprised how hard some of these little fellas can go, Average weight is only about 4-5kgs. Ended up with 4 yellowfin onboard and a couple more lost to propellers, Although everybody else caught at least 1 mack tuna, each around 6 kg.

 Thursday 3^rd. 

Full Day Group Booking. Somewhere on a building site in the middle of Brisbane there’s a project manager trying to work out what mysterious illness has made 11 of his workers sick, so much so they haven’t arrived on site, This illness is apparently very contagious. So with mobile phones switched off and a couple of cartons on board these 11 fellas set out with fish the deep to try a find a cure. We headed wide, again with perfect conditions though the westerlies were trying to hang in there at about 15kts. The early bite was bitter sweet with some reasonable kingfish, amberjack and sambos. A run of undersize kingies were plaguing us, but the guys were having a ball anyway. Then it happened, A deckies worst nightmare (other than a blocked toilet) The old Elvis Presley fish – Leatherjackets, These little guys have a strict diet of 6/0 hooks (not sure how they digest them). So with Jas and myself going flat stick rigging wire droppers, conditions glassed out we proceeded to fill the box with a lot of jackets as well as some quality rosies. Snapper, Pearlies, Tuskies, Gold Spot wrasse, Morwong, piggies and others species that I can’t remember. Sorry Guys. PS Thanks for the few Crown Lagers left for us to enjoy after our 2hr clean up at home.

 Friday 4^th. 

The last of the good weather, the weekend must be close. Full day group again. This time it’s Beaudesert suffering from a staff shortage. Loaded up on live bait, we knew we might only have the morning of good conditions before conditions deteriorate, The first drift was slow, no fish yet, great shows though, so with a slight adjustment to the drift we nailed a few, First fish on was a reasonable cod about 5-6kg and then a couple of Ambers and pearlies. We were keen to try for a few snapper, though conditions were tough to float line. We saw a couple of reasonable fish come up on the bottom bashers so Jas decided to persist on the float line which pay dividends with his first snapper weighing 6.5kg he got another couple of nice 3kg fish for the customers. Some of the other boys had a crack at floatlining though struggled in the conditions, yours truly caught 1 on a float line about 3kg though the rod was in the holder so I can’t count that one. With a change of fishing spots the afternoon produced some more pearlies and rosies and the weather eased and all on board were happy with the days haul. Sorry about the long winded report, took forever to write, I knew I should have listened in grade 9 typing class.     

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June 26^{th  2004} 6 am.

Another beautiful clear winters day on the Gold Coast, as our anglers board the boat you can sense the excitement, they know they’ve scored a perfect day with light westerlies and 0.5m swell (it doesn’t get any better.)

The last eskies are lifted aboard and some of the guys are already keen on cracking a cold one. We throw the ropes and we’re away, we head out of the seaway headed for our live bait reef to collect some slimy mackerel and yellowtail for live bait, everyone’s commenting on how flat the ocean is, it looks like a lake. With the bait tank full we’re away again headed for the 50-fathom reef ESE of Southport 35 km’s from the seaway about a 50-minute run at 22 knots. I hear the esky lid slam again as the guys crack another coldy.

We arrive at the 50-fathom line and conditions look perfect with only a slight current running to the South. Deckhand Brendan gives the guys a demonstration on how to fish overhead reels in the deep water. (85-metres.) Some of the guys have fished before and some are first-timers with no idea on what is about to happen.

The engines shut down and the lines are on the way to the bottom, the guys are keen to be the first to hook a fish as they’ve organised prizes for the first and biggest fish aboard. One of our fist-timers is taken by surprise as his rod loads up, this is a big fish and it’s taking line, meanwhile two other rods are loaded up, both seem similar to the first, our first timer is finally winning some line back with the guidance of decky Brendan and he’s looking good to land the fish, the water is crystal clear and we can see colour down 20 metres or so, Brendan gets the gaff and the fish is Aboard. It’s a yellowtail kingfish around 7kg. Not a huge fish but a tough fighter in these deep waters. The other fish where also kingfish, weighing between 7 and 10 kg’s.

The next 2 hours is consistent with mostly kingfish and amberjack, around 7-10kg’s.

With plenty of kingfish and amberjack in the icebox we moved spots to try for some pearlies and snapper.

We arrive at the next reef and the colour fish finder shows lots of fish life schooling up just off the bottom, a couple of the guy’s saw this and were first to get their baits on just waiting for me to give them the go ahead to drop, by now the first-timers are starting to fish like professionals and the next 4 hours see some top quality snapper, pearlies, Trag Jew, morwong, pigfish and Rosie job fish.

The day rolls on still with perfect weather and virtually no wind. It’s 2-30pm and I let the guys know its our last drift, we have a few live baits left so we thought we’d have a go for a big kingfish or amberjack.

I thought I would give it a go myself an drop a line, straight away I hook up, it feel’s like a kingfish and I started to gain some line and then passed the rod over to one of the guys so I could go and see what David had hooked up onto at the front of the boat. It was a tough fighter but didn’t fight like a kingie or amberjack, by this time all the rod’s had been wound in ready to head home, all the guys gathered around David who had organized the trip, they were all talking guesses on what this fish was, some said a kingy, others were saying a big pearly but as the colour began to show we could see pink and silver, the guys all cheered as we pulled it aboard, a nice ‘Old man nobby snapper’ around 8 kg’s, a perfect way to finish the day. (shown below)

On the way home we were lucky enough to encounter a pod of humpback whales putting on a show for the guy’s who looked like a bunch of Japanese tourists with all there digital cameras. We arrive back at the jetty at 3.30pm with some more photos being taken and the presentation of their prizes for first and biggest fish.

Just another great day out with the season looking good for the rest of the year, there should be plenty more to come.

Happy Fishing

Matt Johnson.

 Contact Us

Matt & Susan
Phone: 07 55289 578
Mobile: 0416 224 412
Email

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