Seaway Tailor Fishing Overview

Tailor are the most frequently caught fish in the Gold Coast Seaway, ranging from 20cm tiddlers to 80cm+ Greenbacks.  The average size is typical chopper size around 40cm.  This article will go into the best locations, tides, seasonal changes, successful lures and techniques that I've used over the years.

To start with lets talk seasonal changes.

There are only 2 seasons to Tailor fishing in the Seaway, theres the summer season and the winter season.  Tailor's behaviour differs in these 2 seasons which is why I separate the 2.  During the summer season which starts in October and goes through to March, Tailor more commonly feed close to the surface and will form large surface feeding schools, depending on the amount of bait around.  You will quite often find them close to the rocks less than 1 metre under the surface.  Summer time is popper time and you'll consistently catch your biggest fish on poppers.  The Flats, The Face, The Edge and Rock X are the best spots during the Summer Season.

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The Winter Season starts in April and goes through til August.  During winter Tailor more commonly hold closer to the bottom in deeper water and rarely feed on the surface.  During this time Vibs and plastics are the best lure to get them though you will still catch a few on metal slices.  They rarely hit poppers or shallow running minnows.  The Runway holds the most tailor during the winter season but you can still catch a few fish on The Flats and around the entire front of the north wall.

Secondly lets talk tides.

My preferred tide for tailor is a run-in tide and theres a few reasons for this.  Firstly the water is cleaner which when you are lure fishing makes a difference.  Secondly, on days when there is a big swell running it calms the front of the seaway making it possible to fish most areas safely.  Lastly tailor seem to prefer it, many times on days when I have fished the bottom of the runout and caught no fish, as soon as the tide has changed to a run-in the fish have switched on and began to feed aggressively.  Only a couple of times has it been the other way around.

Locations and techniques.

The North Wall produces more tailor than any other location in the seaway so I'll go into detail about certain areas there before covering the rest of the seaway.  Before continuing please see The North Wall up Close and Personal

The Face

While tailor can be caught around the whole north wall area there are a few spots that consistently yield fish, the first of which is 'The Face' .  This area only exists on an incoming tide and tailor love to sit just out of the current line and grab bait that swims by with the current.  Tailor can sit anywhere from 1m under the surface  right down to the bottom which is around 13m.  Metal slices work the best with 20gram twisties and 40gram raiders being my most favoured.  Cast your metal slice just beyond the current line  and to get the fish that are sitting more than a couple of metres down a countdown is required, I usually start at 4 seconds and then go to 6, then 10, but no more than 15 seconds otherwise you'll get stuck on the bottom.  Knowing what depth the fish are sitting at is important as it enables you to get to the right depth everytime.  Vibs such as the Zipbaits Vib 80-25g or the Eclipse Heavy Slight 90 work well for the tailor sitting close to the bottom, they can also be used with the cast and countdown technique.

Rock X

Is primarily a shallow minnow and popper zone but slugs can also be used with a countdown of no more than 6 seconds.  Plastics can be used if you are feeling reckless and sometime yeild some nice fish.  Sometimes you need to get real close, within 30cm of the rock.  Many of the strikes come within 1m of this rock.

The Flats

Located on the northern side of the north wall The Flats consistently has tailor in residence, but usually only at first light.  Any techniques work here, but shallow minnows and poppers are my favourite during the summer months.  During winter when the fish are holding a bit deeper, vibs such as the Zipbaits vib 90-35g work well.

The South Wall.

Due to the high amount of landbased anglers the south wall can be a tricky area to fish.  The best spots for tailor are the bay to the south, sometimes schools will hold in this area and a metal slice sunk to the bottom then retrieved back to the boat quickly will get results.  Due to the southerly orientation of this area, it is fishable in only the best conditions as any swell over 1m creates large and dangerous swells.  Around the front of the south wall in the wash zone is always worth a cast  with metal slices or poppers.

Wavebreak Island

Wavebreak Island can be broken up into 2 sections, the flats and the north wall. The north wall of Wavebreak island yields a few quality tailor mainly on metal slices or poppers cast and retrieved through the tidal flow at the very tip of the wall.  Poppers can be cast right in close to the wall in the small eddy there and hits usually come just as it enters the current zone.  The flats usually only yeild tailor at night and poppers are the best for this area, sometimes bait schools can gather here and the tailor hunt them.  Worth a cast if you are filling in time waiting for the sun to rise.

The rest of the seaway.

During the summer months on a run-in tide always keep an eye out for birds signalling a school of tailor feeding on the surface.  These schools go up and down very quickly and can pop up anywhere so you need to be on the ball to get a lure in there quick.  Sometimes the fish in these surface feeding schools can be quite large up to 55cm.  Best lure for this is the 20gram twistie which perfectly matches the frogmouth pilchards the Tailor are feeding on.

Lures

While any lure will catch tailor while they are in the mood I do have a few favourites I prefer to use. My top 5 tailor lures are as follows :

Halco 20gram twistie - During the summer run of fish when they are feeding on frogmouth pilchards this lure is an exact profile match, mainly used for prospecting and surface feeding schools.

Megabass Vision 110 in SeguroIwashi Stardust is my top lure for prospecting the edges and places like The Graveyard, and Rock X.  Will outfish any other lure when a school of tailor can be found sitting shallow close to the rocks.

Zipbaits Vib 90-35g in Hologram Iwashi is the top lure for winter tailor or when they are sitting deep. Useful on The Flats, The Face, The Eddy and The Runway. Can be Jigged or cast and retrieved, tailor seem to prefer it with a fast erratic retrieve.

Tackle House Contact Feed popper 120 in Sardine Slit HG- This lure is only new but its success so far on winter tailor(which are very hard to get on poppers) has been exceptional, can be used anywhere but Rock X, The Graveyard, The Edge and The Flats are the best place for poppers.  I can't wait to try it out on the summer run of big Tailor.

Spanyid 65 gram Raider - For when you need distance or just need a fast reaction lure the 65gram raider is the one to use.  Useful on The Flats, The Face and with long casts right along the front of the north wall.  Can also be sunk down deep with a countdown technique, keep it under 10 seconds though.

See Also Seaway Tailor Video