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Find the bait, find the predators
  |  First Published: July 2016



July is prime time for a large range of species, and also the time of year where the bait is most active on the Gold Coast.

From surf fishing off the rocks for greenback tailor to prowling the canals for a variety of trevally species, the options are endless. As an added bonus, the kingies also show up throughout the broadwater!

On the Gold Coast, sometimes we take things for granted. We are privileged with all the fishing options and opportunities all year round. Where else can you be fishing for jacks, bream and flathead in the canals and decide to head 200m off the seaway and get stuck into mackerel, tuna and other pelagics.

This time of year, there is normally a whole lot of bait, usually found in the cleaner water, so usually the broadwater, early parts of the canals and the seaway. Where there is bait, the pelagics won’t be too far away!

Tailor and trevally inshore and tuna and mackerel offshore can be found in two ways; sounding them up and the most common way, looking for birds feeding on baitfish. The way that works is the pelagics will find the bait and push them to the surface, and that’s when the birds will start diving and all hell breaks loose! Anglers in the area will be anxious to get to the action by casting metal lures into the school and retrieving at a fast pace!

Big bream will be on the bite this month in the canals, broadwater and Jumpinpin. Winter is prime spawning season for bream with larger fish found in the deeper waters. Vibes and blades would be my go-to lures for these fish at this time of year, as you can easily sit over a school of fish and keep the lure in their faces. Don’t be surprised to hook a mulloway while targeting big bream in deep water either – there’s been a few around!

In the next month we will see more cold weather, as we have already been seeing last month. The chances of rain should decrease with more sun out and about. I just pray the wind stays away for majority of this month!

Like I said earlier, the mulloway will start to bite with this cooler weather. Fish can be caught throughout the broadwater in deep water. The North Wall in the Seaway is a hot spot, so is the pipeline, Tipplers Channel, Sovereign Island, the Nerang River and also around large bridges. These fish can be caught on just about everything! With their large mouth they are able to engulf anything from around 2.5-10”.

Flathead will continue to be found in great numbers, but in saying that, the cooler weather may affect the bite. Fish up to 60-70cm are being caught. Look for deep water, eddies, sand bank drop offs and natural structure in our estuaries.

Will Smedley of Tallebudgera has been fishing the water down his way pretty hard and says that winter brings numbers of trevally around bridges and deep holes. Heavy plastics worked fast will fire these schools up. A variety of different species such as long-nose, brassy, GT and cale cale trevally will all be in the mix!

Winter is an exceptional season of the year, with the fish biting – if you can brave the cold early mornings! Find deep water and structure and you will find the fish! Jump over to my Instagram and check out how I went at Lucinda on the fishing scene, you can find me @josh__dunn__

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