Fresh is always best SOUTHERN GOLD COAST
Mark Ward markward222@bigpond.com
Unfortunately, we have seen so much rain and poor weather that I just haven’t been able to get out for much fishing lately. Hopefully, that will all change this month. The forecast is a lot better and it’s typically a good month to be on the water. Summer species, like
mangrove jack and whiting, are all still on the chew but as the water starts to cool and the prawns begin to run, bream and flathead will fire up in the rivers and creeks and the bass will still be hot. ESTUARIES The rivers have benefited from a very good flushing and the fishing should respond well to that. Prawns will start to run early and that will do a lot to excite the fish. Mangrove jack and trevally
will still be around in good numbers with some of the bigger fish usually being caught in April. Flathead will be more active and well spread out. Small fish will be in good numbers but they are still great fun on soft plastics. Try the canal mouths, the flats in the Tweed and Currumbin Creek as well as the Nerang. Bream have been more active as they start to move downstream in preparation
The author caught this solid Hinze Dam bass on a Hot Bite Gang Banger G2 spoon.
Mangrove jack are still about but it’s been a tough year, so persistence is the key.
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for spawning. The bigger fish are being caught around the structures of the rivers and creeks. Jetties, bridge pylons and rock bars have been producing most of the bigger fish. It’s a great time of year to target them on lures, as they are still very aggressive and willing to take a surface lure as they do in summer while they are also improving in size and numbers. Bream will be keen to take a surface lure while the water is warm and the prawns are all flicking around on the surface but for the same reason, so will whiting and flathead. Fishing for flathead on surface lures is only a new thing and there are a few lures that will do the job. I like to use Bent Minnow style and skirted lures. These will dive when twitched but are designed to float back up to the surface before being twitched again. Making a little splash as you twitch them is a good way to attract some attention from flathead laying in wait. Whiting will be keen to take a prawn off the surface as well and this month is arguably the best month to try it. Bassday Sugapens are perfect for whiting. The lure needs to be moved a lot faster than flathead lures but surprisingly enough, flathead will still take a Sugapen meant for whiting. FRESHWATER Fishing the dams has been a great option, especially after the rain has filled them up and brought plenty of food to the hungry bass. Hinze Dam has been good for schooled fish that have been responding to reaction lures like spoons and Clarrie Hall has been very different with most fish coming from the edges caught on plastics or surface lures. I’ve had a number of sessions in Hinze rolling spoons to schooled fish on the points. Just about every point has schooled fish but
it was a case of working out what depth they were biting at and finding a flat or a point at the right depth. Once I worked out the pattern, the fishing has been amazing. Spoons are ideal for working though these fish and are becoming a very popular way to target bass. They are heavy metal lures that can be thrown a mile and sink very quickly, so they are ideal for covering a lot of water fast. My preferred spoon is the Hot Bite Gang Banger G2 in the happy ending and ayu colours. Some local guns use bigger 30g spoons and seem to land the bigger fish with them. The best retrieve is a simple slow roll. It might be better described as a ‘moderate’ roll; it needs to be just fast enough to get the lure to wiggle its butt and entice a strike.
You can do a lift off the bottom and drop or even a vertical jig but if the fish respond to those retrieves, you’d be better off using a vibe or a blade. BEACH It’s always a good time to fish the beach but April is a bit of an in-between month. There are always whiting and dart as they will bite all year round and the whiting fishing has been excellent all year. However, tailor are not on yet. The odd patch of small fish will be around with a legal fish amongst them but we need it to cool a little before they fire up. With the rain we saw some mulloway landed around the rock walls and open gutters. Hopefully this will continue as it gets cooler. Kingscliff and beaches to the south have seen a few caught and night is by far the better option.
Lots of smaller flathead will be spread throughout the creeks and rivers. This one was landed on a plastic flicked in the canals.