19 June 2020 fishing report & news

THIS WEEK’S GOLD COAST AND TWEED ESTUARY FISHING REPORT AND NEWS

19 June 2020

Dad joke:

I hate it when my wife says “are you listening to me?!”

Such a random way to start a conversation.

TWEED RIVER by Smithy

Hi everyone we have been mixing it up a bit this week some shallow water techniques. 

It is not uncommon through winter for fish to move up into shallow water during the day as the sun warms up the water temperature quicker than in deep water. 

We have been trolling and casting small minnows like pontoon 21 and slam lures as well as a bit of surface popping with mmd splash prawns for whiting, bream and flatties. 

With all trips I always take the time to do a bit of deep water jigging in a few of the many deep holes in the river especially around the tide changes. Flathead, bream, whiting and trevally have been the main takers of our vibe lures as well as the odd bass. 

Australian bass move well down the river through winter to spawn so I must mention here that if you accidentally catch one while targeting other species please handle them properly and quickly release them. It is important to note that in NSW that there is a zero bag limit on bass in rivers and estauries from the 1st of May to the 31st of August.

Note: we are proud to now offer some quality products from Pro Lure Australia.

One lure in particular we are very excited about is the ST72. The deeper version will dive to over two metres then suspend briefly when paused before slowly rising. It is a very nice looking and well made lure with a fantastic action. 

Definitely worth having in the tacklebox for fans of double clutches who love working them over shallow banks for big flathead, bream, whiting, trevally and more!

We offer them in four colours, or a value pack of four.

Check them out here:

Pro Lure ST72 minnow deep 4 pack!

GOLD COAST RIVERS by Clinto

I’ve been sticking to the broadwater where light winds in the mornings have made for pleasant conditions. Week days are great with less jetskis and big, fast boats on the water.

The fish have been off the bite with very slow, tentative bites but the squid and crabs have made up for it. The arrow squid seem to have bite periods when they are very aggressive on blades. I was fishing with regular guest Mick on Wednesday and we had some good success teasing them up to the surface with Ecogear ZX40 blades in 440 colour, then dropping a Daiwa nude squid jig 3.0 in weed shrimp colour. We coated the squid jig in Sax scent UV prawn too.

They were grabbing it instantly, so much fun to watch. Fresh arrow squid are absolutely delicious to eat, especially if you marinade them in a mix of milk and kiwi fruit for an hour first, then dip in batter then hot fry.

We’ve been getting over 20 blue swimmer crabs per session in our pots baited with mahi mahi and mullet frames. Keeping just enough legal size males for a feed for everyone on the boat. The Southern broadwater in 2-4 metre depth on run out tides has been working best for the sandies.

With Ecogear ZX40 vibes coated in Sax scent UV, and Samaki vibes there has been some flathead, whiting, tarwine, flounder boated.

Best fishing days this week according to the almanac, looks like a great week ahead, especially after the rain.

Friday: 71%

Saturday: 89%

Sunday: 95%

Monday: 93%

Tuesday: 79%

Wednesday: 56%

Thursday: 23%

*This is just a prediction. There are many factors when it comes to fishing and fish are unpredictable at times, there are no exact guarantees. We include this just for fun and see how it plays out every week.

Charter options this coming week:

Tweed river: Brad doing very well with flathead and mulloway on vibes in the holes, and trolling/ casting the flats in the mornings for a variety.

Gold Coast:

More fish and bait action expected including flathead, flounder, winter whiting with vibes, and we’ll keep chasing fresh squid and blue swimmer crabs on charters too.

Some good tides for wading the broadwater flats too for whiting, bream, flathead, squid with yabbies, minnows, and squid jigs.

SMS 0432 990 302 to book your charter adventure!

Useful links:

This week’s special from our facebook store:

6 pack of Ecogear ZX40 colour 440!

Buy here, free delivery:

Ecogear ZX40 colour 440. Six of the best! Includes postage

Also we now have in stock the ultimate fish ID bible “Grant’s guide to fishes” in a beautiful hard copy signed by Ern Grant himself!

It makes a perfect gift for the fish mad enthusiast. 

Buy here:

Grant’s guide to fishes- Signed hard copy. Amazing gift!

Browse our online store:

www.goldcoastlures.com

12 June 2020 fishing report & news

THIS WEEK’S GOLD COAST AND TWEED ESTUARY FISHING REPORT AND NEWS

12 June 2020

Dad joke:

Studies show that 99% of Dans are in fact not, “the man”

TWEED RIVER by Smithy

G’day everyone well once again it has been a great week of fishing on the Tweed. Although we have not caught anything too big in size the numbers and variety have made up for it. 

Keeping a bend in the rod is what it is all about and being able to swap lures and techniques through the day is very exciting and eventually that big one will come along. In saying this we have caught the odd cracker whiting and on most trips have been getting a few flatties over 50cm. 

Jigging the deep holes with ecogear zx and vx vibes has been producing flatties, bream, whiting, big eye and giant trevally as well as the odd small school jew. 

I am hoping that the rain we received yesterday and the potential forecast of a bit more rain over the weekend will help keep the action firing. I look forward to talking again next week.       

Buy our favourite lures at our new online shop: www.goldcoastlures.com

GOLD COAST RIVERS by Clinto

I’ve hardly been fishing this week, the boat and tackle has been getting some maintenance and I’ve been busy with orders from our online store.

Some new crab pots, rods, wading bags and lures were added to my collection to use on charters. 

On the water though we are seeing a typical winter pattern. The bigger flounder and squid have arrived in numbers, and the flathead and winter whiting are increasing too. We should see schools of spawning tailor over the next few months unless the netters take most of them. Ecogear ZX40 vibes in colours 415, 440, 447 and Ecogear VX45 vibes in colour 439 are doing well. Best of the Samaki Vibelicious soft vibe colour are white bait and ghost bait.

This coming week I am fishing most days, and the broadwater looks good with morning run out tides. I will be fishing along the edges of the main channel South of the seaway, and also near Marina mirage, Anglers paradise, Carters bank, North currigee, and Runaway bay.

Our new online store is well stocked with our favourite lures at the moment, but the top packs do get smashed so have a look soon. 

The “Secret lures” value pack has been most popular, and comes with a free ebook which explains how to use them, and includes some bonus Gold Coast offshore gps marks. Buy the pack here:

**NEW Secret lures! Limited edition**

Best fishing days this week according to the almanac:

13 June Saturday: 69%

Sunday: 46%

Monday: 13%

Tuesday: 14%

Wednesday: 15%

Thursday: 42%

Friday: 71%

20 June Saturday: 89%

Sunday: 95%

Monday: 93%

Tuesday: 79%

Charter options this coming week:

Tweed river:

Good tides for morning sessions in the middle reaches especially after the rain, using vibes in deeper holes for mulloway, whiting, flathead, and bream. 

Also fishing hardbodies on the flats in the middle of the run out for flathead.

Gold Coast:

Nice morning run out tides for the broadwater this week to target flathead, flounder, tailor, winter whiting. Squid will available on the top of the tide.

If the wind is up we’ll be sheltered in Nerang river chasing flathead, trevally, mulloway and sand whiting on blades, vibes, and hardbody minnows.

SMS 0432 990 302 to book your charter adventure, guaranteed to catch fish!

Useful links:

This week’s special from our facebook store:

**NEW Secret lures! Limited edition**

Online store:

www.goldcoastlures.com

Browse our Facebook shop:

https://m.facebook.com/bradsmithfishingcharters/shop

Subscribe to our youtube channel:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UClkPb52-hCxcfI3isXgVLIw

Join our members club for free here for special offers and exclusive tips and news:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/171395506881679

Finally a huge shout out and thanks to our sponsors, preferred brands and suppliers:

Jetprintz

Sporty’s fishing

Fisho Tackle

Ecogear

MMD splashprawns

Sax scent

Pontoon 21

Samaki

Gillz Australia

Fisho Tackle

Cheers

Smithy & Clinto

SMS 0432 990 302 to book your charter adventure!

5 June 2020 fishing report & news

THIS WEEK’S GOLD COAST AND TWEED ESTUARY FISHING REPORT AND NEWS

5 June 2020

Dad joke:

Her: At least invite me out for dinner

Him: I don’t go out with married women

Her: But I’m your wife

Him: I make no exceptions

TWEED RIVER by Smithy

G’day everyone this weeks Tweed Report is much the same as last weeks in that the fish are still holding in the mid to upper reaches of the river. 

The weather has been fantastic with light to no wind at all and warm winter sunshine making the conditions very comfortable. The lack of wind has made the conditions perfect for drifting and jigging both soft and metal vibes in the deep holes. The deep holes are still producing some flathead and nice sized bream as well as the odd good whiting and small jew. 

Trolling the flats between the deep holes has also been consistently producing a mixture of flathead, bream and whiting with the slam lures working well. I have been experimenting with slam lures for the past three weeks and i have to say I am very impressed with them for both their tight action and the fact that they will dive down to about 4.5 metres when trolled with the tide with light braid and leaders. Lets hope the action continues until we talk again next week. 

GOLD COAST RIVERS by Clinto

Hi everyone, some interesting adventures this week. 

On Wednesday Sammy Hitzke’s Dad Terry and his mate Norm were on board. We started off by drifting around the Southport area with vibes catching flounder and winter whiting.

We then pulled up on a big bank at Wavebreak Island to pump some yabbies, leaving the boat in knee deep water on the run out tide. Time went by and we got a bit distracted while having a land based fish and before we knew it the boat was high and dry, and not going anywhere for the next five years. First time it’s ever happened to me. 😂

Anyway we had no choice but to fish on, and for the next few hours we caught a bucket full of big tiger squid, some solid Luderick, and flathead, bream, whiting. All in a small, sandy, shallow channel. Amazing what you find sometimes when you stop and look at things closely.

Once we were floating again we caught a number of nice size arrow squid and flounder. There is still a lot of bait fish in the broadwater, and sand crabs around Ephraim Island.

My boat goes in to Swiftco on Monday for a birthday maintenance and repairs treatment, then I should be back on the broadwater mid week. The tides will suit fishing the Northern broadwater and deeper reef areas nicely.

Today Friday I had Carl and his son Riley aboard for a fish up the river. We caught a few legal flathead on hardbody Slam lures, plus some tarwine and bream. On one drift we got snagged on an old crab pot. Inside was a huge male mud crab, which had obviously been living in the pot for a long time. We released the poor old fella after some photos.

Best fishing days this week according to the almanac:

Saturday: 95%

Sunday: 88%

Monday: 70%

Tuesday: 40%

Wednesday: 15%

Thursday: 14%

Friday: 27%

Charter options this coming week:

Tweed river:

Brad will target mulloway, flathead in the deeper holes with vibes, and troll or drift the flats with hardbody and blade lures.

Gold Coast:

We will fish the broadwater with Samaki soft vibes, Ecogear ZX40’s, and yabbies for squid, flathead, tuskfish, flounder, whiting and I have four heavy duty crab pots to catch delicious blue swimmer crabs for my guests.

Other options include wading the flats with lures and yabbies. Very relaxing and fun. We supply all the gear.

SMS 0432 990 302 to book your charter adventure!

Useful links:

This week’s special from our facebook store:

We are waiting on a heap of stock which has been delayed by freight back logs. Hopefully this time next week we can report everything available again. I know we have a number of pre orders due to be sent this week. We’ll mail to you the second they arrive next week guys!

The big news is we now have a proper online store which we’re still working on but you can have a browse at www.goldcoastlures.com

The other big news is we are working on an exclusive UV prawn scent in conjunction with the legends at Sax scent. We’ll be testing it this week and it will be available to buy soon!

Online store:

www.goldcoastlures.com

Browse our Facebook shop:

https://m.facebook.com/bradsmithfishingcharters/shop

Subscribe to our youtube channel:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UClkPb52-hCxcfI3isXgVLIw

Join our members club for free here for special offers and exclusive tips and news:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/171395506881679

Finally a huge shout out and thanks to our sponsors, preferred brands and suppliers:

Jetprintz

Sporty’s fishing

Fisho Tackle

Ecogear

MMD splashprawns

Sax scent

Pontoon 21

Samaki

Gillz Australia

Cheers

Smithy & Clinto

SMS 0432 990 302 to book your charter adventure!

29 May 2020 fishing report & news

THIS WEEK’S GOLD COAST AND TWEED ESTUARY FISHING REPORT AND NEWS

29 May 2020

Dad joke:

TWEED RIVER by Smithy

G’day everyone the Tweed has been fishing very consistently over the last few weeks for a variety of species. 

The deep holes in the river are the best places to try but make sure you take the time to study your sounder and locate the bait schools that are holding along the bottom before you start to fish. The species that have been feeding on the bait have been flathead, bream, school jew and the odd big whiting and big eye trevally. 

As nearly always the time around the tide changes has seen a spike in the fishes feeding patterns especially the jewies. The lures that have been doing the damage are the ever reliable ecogear zx 40s and the samiki vibelicious soft vibe lures. Now that the water is starting to cool down we should see the fishing getting even better especially for the flatties and jew so i am looking forward to the oncoming winter months. 

GOLD COAST RIVERS by Clinto

Hi everyone,

There has been good numbers of squid, tuskfish, sand whiting, sand crabs, and flounder around Crab island this week. The big dredger working along the Western channel is stirring up the water and attracting fish. 

I catch most of my squid with Ecogear ZX40 440 colour lures with a bit of Sax scent smeared all over them. The little assist hooks on these lures are “sticky” and have a knack of pinning the squid through one of their candles. They also hold bottom very well in flowing water, and draw the squid out of weed beds and reef. The squid are getting bigger as winter draws on, so set a light drag to avoid pulling hooks through them. 

Winter whiting, tailor, flathead are along the main channel edges around Southport.

Best fishing days this week according to the almanac:

Friday: 32%

Saturday: 70%

Sunday: 39%

Monday: 14%

Tuesday: 25%

Wednesday: 58%

Thursday: 81%

Charter options this coming week:

Tweed river: Full moon is next Saturday, so the growing tides mean up river will see increased fish activity. Brad has days available to target flathead over the flats, and mulloway in the deeper sections, all on vibe and hardbody lures

Gold Coast: Again the increased size tides leading up to full moon next Saturday will fire up the fishing. 

Charters are available for 1-2 people on both Brad and Clint’s boats, options include fishing with vibe and hardbody lures in the river for flathead, mulloway, trevally, bream. Also wading the flats for whiting, and chasing bass in the fresh water with lures, as well as big whiting in the river with live bait.

SMS 0432 990 302 to book your charter adventure! Currently we can take up to two people per charter, and up to four people from 12 June onwards.

Useful links:

This week’s special from our facebook store:

The River to Reef Gold Coast hardcopy book co written by Brad Smith and packed with valuable info including offshore gps marks and estuary maps, comes with two free Smithy’s lures!

Buy here now:

https://m.facebook.com/commerce/products/3627173140687983

Watch this space! Plenty of stock arriving next few days! Including Ecogear ZX40 blades in colour 440 and others, Ecogear VX’s, Sax scent, MMD splash prawns, Yamatoyo braid, secret hardbodies and vibes and more!

We have ready made fishing lure packs in our shop, but custom orders are welcome too. Message us or sms Clint 0432 990 302 and we’ll help you out!

Browse our Facebook shop:

https://m.facebook.com/bradsmithfishingcharters/shop

Subscribe to our youtube channel:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UClkPb52-hCxcfI3isXgVLIw

Join our members club for free here for special offers and exclusive tips and news:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/171395506881679

Finally a huge shout out and thanks to our sponsors, preferred brands and suppliers:

Jetprintz

Sporty’s fishing

Fisho Tackle

Ecogear

MMD splashprawns

Sax scent

Pontoon 21

Samaki

Gillz Australia

Cheers

Smithy & Clinto

SMS 0432 990 302 to book your charter adventure!

22 May 2020 fishing report & news

THIS WEEK’S GOLD COAST AND TWEED ESTUARY FISHING REPORT AND NEWS

22 May 2020

Dad joke:

I saw a documentary on how ships are kept together.

Riveting.

TWEED RIVER by Smithy

The Tweed river continues to produce good flathead, school mulloway, bream and the odd whiting in the middle to upper reaches.

On the flats in lower light with hardbodies that dive to 3.5m, and on Samaki Vibelicious white bait and Ecogear ZX40 colour code 447 in the deeper holes that are holding bait.

GOLD COAST RIVERS by Clinto

Had a bit of maintenance to do this week so only did a couple of trips to the Nerang river and Gold Coast broadwater. I will be doing a lot more trips soon and very much looking forward to it.

The Nerang river is producing mulloway, flathead, giant trevally and bream on soft vibes and blade lures, the broadwater has squid, flounder, winter whiting, flathead biting around the Hollywell area, on yabbies and Ecogear ZX40 blades colour 440.

This coming week we have neap tides which usually makes fishing up rivers very slow, but a window of opportunity near the mouths and deeper areas around them.

Best fishing days this week according to the almanac:

Friday 22 May: 94%

Sat 23 May: 95%

Sunday 24 May: 87%

Monday 25 May: 68%

Tuesday 26 May: 38%

Wednesday 27 May: 14%

Thursday 28 May: 14%

SMS 0432 990 302 to book your charter adventure! We are taking charters for 1-2 people at a time, then 1-4 people from 12 June. 

Useful links:

This week’s special from our facebook store:

New Ecogear 6 pack (3 ZX40’s/ 3 VX45’s)

https://gold-coast-lures.myshopify.com/cart/31770786726006:1?channel=buy_button

Browse our Facebook shop:

https://m.facebook.com/bradsmithfishingcharters/shop

Subscribe to our youtube channel:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UClkPb52-hCxcfI3isXgVLIw

Join our members club for free here for special offers and exclusive tips and news:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/171395506881679

Finally a huge shout out and thanks to our sponsors, preferred brands and suppliers:

Jetprintz

Sporty’s fishing

Fisho Tackle

Ecogear

MMD splashprawns

Sax scent

Pontoon 21

Samaki

Gillz Australia

Cheers

Smithy & Clinto

SMS 0432 990 302 to book your charter adventure!

30 April 2020 fishing report & news

THIS WEEK’S GOLD COAST AND TWEED ESTUARY FISHING REPORT AND NEWS

30 April 2020

Dad joke:

My missus gets mad whenever I mess with her red wine.

So I added fruit and lemonade to it and now she sangria than ever!

TWEED RIVER & GOLD COAST RIVERS

Brad has been getting out when he can, the Tweed this time of year fishes well for flathead, and the whiting and bream are still active on surface lures.

As the water cools more the bigger bream, mulloway, and flathead appear and are best targeted in deeper water with vibes and soft plastics.

Clint has been fishing the Gold Coast broadwater during the settled weather and neap tides. So many good eating fish around at the moment and the fishing was on fire this week. The best fishing coincided with the smallest tides of 0.5-1 metre range, allowing us to fish the open channels more, 6-8 metre depth has been best.

We have been catching a lot of good size tuskfish. These fish are very feisty and hit our Ecogear ZX40 and Samaki Vibelicious 70 lures with venom then tear off on a screaming run, great fun on light tackle. Best ZX colours at the moment are 411, 414, 440, best Samaki soft vibe colours are ghost bait, pearl shrimp, and white bait. We are all sold out of Ecogear ZX40 at the moment as they are so popular, new stock will be here next week.

Flathead are increasing in number and size, as are flounder, squid, and winter whiting. The sand whiting are tapering off as they move up river for their winter migration.

The cold change will bring on snapper, big bream, mulloway, flathead and squid. Heaps of great fishing to look forward to!

Full moon is next Thursday which means increased run up the rivers for sand whiting and flathead, while in the broadwater it will pay to fish deeper holes close to tide changes. Fishing near shorelines during tidal run will produce hood hauls too.

Take only what you need for a feed that day, release the rest 🙂

SMS 0432 990 302 to book your charter adventure!

We’re getting a lot of enquiries. Right now we can run charters for one person only at a time, following the usual precautions of 1.5m social distancing and sanitizing the boat and tackle between trips. 

Useful links:

This week’s special from our facebook store (CRAZY value- only 2 packs available)

Includes:

Only 2 packs still available, very limited offer.

$140+ rrp worth of gear for just $79!!!

This amazing value pack includes:

A hard copy of Brad Smith’s River to Reef book, 

Plus a MMD splash prawn, the surface lure that everyones talking about!

Plus a Ecogear ZX40 vibe! A fish magnet

Plus a 30 ml jar of Sax scent goldprawn

Plus a mystery premium brand soft vibe

Plus a Smithys lil mate lure

Plus a Smithys Digga lure

Plus free express postage in Australia (enter code freeshipping at check out)

Plus copies of our fishing tips and secrets ebooks (Mangrove jack secrets and tips, the ultimate guide to estuary fishing, the ultimate guide to using Ecogear ZX40 lures, and full fishing tips, SMS 0432 990 302 after purchase to receive ebooks link)

River to Reef Gold Coast book:

The comprehensive guide to fishing and boating on the Gold Coast

This hardcopy book is packed full of fishing tips and info, and available exclusively here, available nowhere else.

Includes:

220 offshore GPS marks

Complete boat ramp guide

30+ estuary and reef maps

Fishing with lures tips and techniques

Seaway secrets

Reef and pelagic fishing info

Freshwater dam fishing

Crabbing info

Seafood recipes

Knots

Local fishing and safety information

And more!

Buy here before they’re gone:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/shops/item/3552761214794502/?referral_story_type=shop_pdp_share_deep_link&referral_code=shops_pdp_share

Browse our Facebook shop:

https://m.facebook.com/bradsmithfishingcharters/shop

Subscribe to our youtube channel:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UClkPb52-hCxcfI3isXgVLIw

24 April 2020 fishing report and news

THIS WEEK’S GOLD COAST AND TWEED ESTUARY FISHING REPORT AND NEWS

Dad joke:

My wife says I’m getting fat.

But in my defence I’ve had a lot on my plate recently.

TWEED RIVER by Smithy

The Tweed continues to provide fun surface action with whiting, flathead and bream willing to chase MMD splashprawns in Banana bender and Honey Bee colours.

More Mulloway are showing up in the deeper holes of the middle reaches, Samaki Vibelicious in White bait colour and Ecogear ZX40’s work well for them.

GOLD COAST RIVERS by Clinto

There are a lot of fish moving around the broadwater chasing big schools of small bait fish. The seaway is the main fish focus with a big variety of fish feeding there including mackerel, snapper, bream and flathead. 

See the mud map in pics below. This is a reef area that produces snapper and bream amongst others. Try fishing there within 1/2 to one hour of tide changes, depth is around eight metres.

We’ll soon see squid numbers increase, 

see our members club for tips on catching squid on lures during the day, join our club free by clicking on the link below.

This coming week we are seeing neap tides so it’s a good chance to fish near the seaway and in the main channels and deeper water for a longer period around tide changes

SMS 0432 990 302 to book your charter adventure or echarter!

Useful links:

This week’s specials from our facebook store:

Autumn value pack, now only $79!

https://m.facebook.com/commerce/products/3267308776635621/?ref=page_shop_tab&referral_code=page_shop_tabcollection_id[2541755405935218]_342261075955602

Ecogear ZX40 pack:

https://m.facebook.com/commerce/products/2813914352062757/?ref=page_shop_tab&referral_code=page_shop_tabcollection_id[2541755405935218]_342261075955602

Browse our Facebook shop:

https://m.facebook.com/bradsmithfishingcharters/shop

Subscribe to our youtube channel:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UClkPb52-hCxcfI3isXgVLIw

Join our members club for free here for special offers and exclusive tips and news:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/171395506881679

Finally a huge shout out and thanks to our sponsors, preferred brands and suppliers:

Jetprintz

Sporty’s fishing

Fisho Tackle

Ecogear

MMD splashprawns

Sax scent

Pontoon 21

Samaki

Gillz Australia

Cheers

Smithy & Clinto