Made a quick decision to go out late on Sunday Afternoon, went straight out to the north wall, with a 20kt  NE wind conditions and the last of the runout tide were rough but fishable.  Had a cast around with poppers, metals and minnows but no interest.  I notice some large schools of bait holding outside the dirty water line though.  Moved back into the seaway and had a quick troll just as the sun set.  Decided on ultra deep divers due to the dirty water, I used a Maria Deep Snare while dad put on a Rapala Mag 15. First fish to hit the Deep Snare in the Northern Y was a Jewie at 73cm which is quite an unusual catch.  Next up we had a double hookup on GT's both around the 60cm mark.  That was it for the trolling so we had a go for Tarpon but Dolphin's were hunting along the north wall so we headed up the broadwater into the Nerang to look for Bigeyes.  No luck up there so we came back to the seaway just as the moon rose and the wind dropped out.  Tried again for Tarpon and this time we found them though we had to go heavy, 1/2oz jigheads were needed to hit the main school.  Landed half a dozen though all small fish for the seaway between 52 & 58cm.  Called it a night at the top of the tide around 10.30.

After sunday's effort I decided to do an overnight trip on Monday afternoon, got on the water late and went straight to trolling.  Picked up a nice GT on a Bolt Omega, 1 minute into the first troll, then nothing until sunset where I hooked a very big fish right over the edge of the canyon, could feel the line scraping over the rocks as the fish took off down deep and it was over.  Scratch another Bolt Omega.  Switched to a Rapala Mag 15 and tried again.  Next run I picked up another jewie around 60cm.  That was it for the trolling, as the light faded away I moved back to the north wall to try for Tarpon.  Took a little while or them to get on with the job but after an hour or so I was hooking Tarpon on almost every cast on 1/2oz CCM Grass Minnows.  Cast at the wall, wind it in a few turns then let it drift down the water column, wait for the signature taps then slowly wind it back.  Landed probably 10 then right as the moon came up around 10.30 they switched off.  Headed back to north wall wavebreak and found a heap of small bigeyes feeding on surface.  Slowly worked skitterbaits did the job on them.  Decided to take a break so I set up my new fish attracting light on the back and set the alarm for 2am.  Woke up before the larm and checked the light and it had worked a treat, a big school of Frogmouth and Blue Pilchards were swimmimg in circles around the central beam of light.  I could see pike down below picking off the pilchards as well.  Scooped up a few dozen just incase and I left there and went for another look around.  Just off the end of the South wall on the runout tide I found a few Hairtail around a metre long, on 3/8oz Albino Kisu Grass Minnows and I picked up a few more Tarpon as well.

As the sun came up I dropped some 3" Gulp Charteuse Pearl Minnows to the bottom and picked up half a dozen small jewies nothing bigger than about 60cm.  Then I switched to skitterbaits and had numerous Tailor hits but only landed 2 small fish.   Went back down to the Northern Y and Canyon had a quick troll but nothing.  I did see a few small schools of Frogmouth Pilchards making thier way into the northern channel during the run in tide though.

So overall, a solid mix of species across a range of techniques.  Fish numbers in the seaway are increasing by the day and surface feeding is increasing but still not predictable.  Night time is fishing quite well at the moment but during the day we are limited to the dawn and dusk periods.  Bait numbers should continue to increase until we hit the end of December.

This will be my last report until the 10th October, but I will still be posting any reports submitted by members and posting in comments or on the forum.  Any shop orders purchased between the 27th September and 6th October will not be posted until the 7th October.  The reports winner for September will be decided on the 7th October.

Until then Observe, Experiment and Remember your Timing.

Successful Lure’s Rundown

• TT 1/20z 3/0H Headlockz Jighead – Price $9.00 / 5 pack – Availability – Most tackle Stores
  
• TT 3/80z 3/0H Headlockz Jighead – Price $9.00 / 5 pack – Availability – Most tackle Stores
• Ecogear Grass Minnow M CCM or Albino Kisu – price $15.00/10 pack – Availability – SeawayFishing Shop or Samurai Tackle
• Berkely Gulp 3" Minnow Charteuse Pearl - Prices $9.00/Pack - Availability - most tackle stores
• Skitterbait – Price $15.00 – Availabilty – SeawayFishing Shop
• Bolt Omega – Price $12.50 – Availability – Some Tackleworld Stores & Seawayfishing shop
• Rapala Magnum 15 – Price $20-25.00 - Availability – Most Tackle Stores
• Maria Deep Snare 120 - Price $20.00 - Availability - Some tackle stores

Fishing Gear Used

• SWF Strong  LLBC702M/ML 7? Spin rod / T7-30 Reel /20lb Grey Saltiga Braid / 30lb Famell Super Shock Leader
• Daiwa Sol 702 L 7? Spin rod / Daiwa Advantage 2500 Reel /12lb Yellow Spider Braid / 30lb Famell Super Shock Leader

Double hookup on GT's

Jewie on the mat

Another seaway Tarpon in the net

Tarpon in the mat

Baitball in the northern channel

Frogmouth pilchards attracted to a light

Little jewie on a plastic

Another Tarpon on the mat

Hairtail on the mat

Hairtail closeup

Another Hairtail

This 60cm jewie took a trolled Rapala Mag 15

Dusk over the canyon

An important change in the seaway this week,
Right on time schools of Frogmouth and Blue Pilchards have begun to make thier way into the Seaway and Broadwater, at the moment there are only a few but the numbers should increase over the next few weeks, particularly if we get a strong wind event.  Predators are beginning to gather but as the schools of frogmouths are still in small numbers the bulk of the big fish haven't shown up yet.  In one day fishing this week I have managed GT's, Bigeyes, Tarpon, Tailor, Jewies(on minnows!) and Hairtail.  Surface feeding is starting up again, I have seen a few bustups by GT's in the canyon(late afternoon bottom of the runout), Tarpon feeding on surface at night near The Sign and Bigeyes around north wavebreak wall.  You can expect this to increase as the numbers of baitfish do.  Tern's are on the ball and are locating the schools of baitfish as they come through the northern channel so keep an eye on the birds incase the fish decide to pickup an easy feed.

Make sure you have your twisties, poppers and minnows ready to go.  Once the baitfish numbers reach critical mass the seaway should be on fire.

A school of Frogmouth Pilchards in the northern channel on Tuesday

Frogmouth and blue pilchards attracted to a light monday night

Top two blue pilchards, bottom two Frogmouth Pilchards

Better late than never, the highlights video from the first half of the year.

Well the good news is that...

things are well and truly on the improve.  The weed has gone( a little bit around the north wall courtesy of the northerlies but not excessive), the phosphorescence at night has gone and the water has lost it's crystal clear look.  Visibility is now 2 metres at the top of the tide which is right about where you want it.  It's a bit dirty on the bottom half of the runout but not too bad.  The only bad news is that we still have very little bait flicking around.  The big fish are there but they are just going through the motions and eating just enough not to starve.  All the GT's I have caught lately have been quite skinny, not at all like the fat fish we were seeing in April/May.  Why they choose to lean up rather than searching for food further afield I have no idea.




Fishwise.  Tarpon around the walls again, not heaps of them but enough to keep you occupied if you can find them.  GT's still sitting in the canyon eating trolled lures on dawn or dusk at the top half of the tide, you won't catch alot unless some bait comes through but there are some good size ones there.  Use a lure that trolls to 4m+ as they don't seem to like coming up too far, I got them on Bolt Omegas and Rapala Mag 15 & 20.  Lots of Dart around the north wall some even around 50cm but you need to go tiny to have a shot at them, flies like crazy charlies are working best.  Yellowtail Kingfish around the southern end of the pipeline, a mix of sizes from about 60cm up to a metre.  Whether they feed depends on the day and the amount of bait that comes through.  Poppers are working if they start chasing decent size bait like garfish or pilchards.  This time last year the kingfish were chasing the tiny bait hidden under the blue jellyfish on the runout tides so keep an eye out for that. If they are only chasing tiny bait you need to go real small with finesse plastics like the 3" Fisharrow Flash J.   Very few tailor around but that can change at any time, the few I did get this week was on Flash 25 minnows in redhead yellow.  I suspect most of the tailor are still up at fraser but they should start making thier way back down very soon if they haven't already.  The usual jewies around the pipe, canyon and north wall eddy.

So in summary everything is just about right, all we need is the bait to fire up the fish.

A Wire Netting Cod caught jigging a 25gram gillies near the pipeline

A 72cm GT trolled up over the Canyon on a Bolt Omega

This little GT took a liking to a Rapala Mag 20

One of the few tailor around this week took a liking to a redhead Flash 25 in the North Wall eddy

Lots of dolphins around at the moment making a nuisance of themselves.

This week we had light to moderate N-NW winds with afternoon NE Seabreezes for most of the week with a light SE change coming through on Thursday afternoon. Swell was quite small on Monday morning but increased and went around to the east monday afternoon making things difficult on the runout tides.  I only got out twice this week and the results from both sessions weren't the best.  Monday morning I went out with Howard, we had a look at a bunch of spots before sunup but the only place that held any fish was the end of the north wall right in close.  That held a mix of Tarpon and Hairtail which were hitting plastics, I used 65mm Squidgy Slick Rigs in Dropbear colour while Howard threw around a Squigy Flick Bait , Howard landed one over a metre and I managed to lose all the fish I hooked. Howards fish did throw up a small pike which will give you some idea of what they are eating.   After sunup things were average with only some schools of small mack tuna chasing tiny baitfish up the Northern Channel as far as Crab Island.  Fussy though, very hard to get a hookup out of them.  Around the walls yielded nothing.




Monday afternoon I went out alone for an evening session, didn't get on the water until just after sunset.  First few casts up near the tip of the north wall had me hooked up on Hairtail again but each time they managed to get thier teeth on the trace and cut me off.  After that I searched for some bigeyes and found some near the north wavebreak wall hitting the surface.  I threw plastics and minnows at them first but they didn't want those so I switched to the Skitterbait and pulled a half dozen over an hour with a very slow twitching retrieve.  Size was pretty small though, nothing over 35cm.  I headed up into the nerang river looking for schools of larger fish but saw none, no bait up there either and nothing around marina mirage.

Snot weed levels are falling rapidly and we should be free of it in a couple of weeks time.  The lack of decent sized bait is the biggest issue right now, we won't see any decent action until that improves which could happen anytime between now and November.  Phosphorescence levels are still quite high but most of it is on the surface so you can catch a few fish at night regardless of it.

The GT's are still around as a big school of a hundred plus fish was sighted in the canyon last sunday. Like us they are waiting for some decent food to come through, I suspect that at the moment they are just eating enough to get by and conserving energy the rest of the time but once the bait shows up, it should be on.

So in summary, things haven't improved much but looking back on previous years it is not until October that we start seeing some decent action.  The Greenback's are not far away so get those minnows and poppers ready. If they do show up in numbers there will be a fish alert BUT previous years have shown me that the schools of big fish move on very quickly so you will need to get out there very soon after the fish alert to get on to them.

This pike was eaten by a Hairtail

Trolling can be a very effective technique in the seaway but as with every seaway technique the trick is to know where, when and with what. This article will go into detail about the lures to use, how to decide on which lure, where to troll, how to troll effectively and when to decide to troll rather than using another technique.

Trolling is the art of using the boat to propel the lure and give it action, basically cast out your lure, get up to a steady slow speed, say 3 knots let about 30 metres of line out then click the reel into gear. You can either hold the rod or stick it in a rod holder.  Trolling keeps your lure in the strike zone for longer and is an ideal method when the fish are hanging deep on the bottom over a large area.

Tuning lures for trolling

One of the most annoying aspects of trolling is that many lures will not troll straight.  By straight I mean swimming in a straight line with the lure sitting horizontal to the bottom.  Many lures will swim off to one side or the other and blow out of the water when the speed or current gets too great. In the seaway trolled lures are constantly exposed to extremes in current so a lure that trolls straight is very important.   You will rarely catch fish on a lure that is not swimming properly so if your chosen lure is not, then you need to know how to adjust it so that it will.

For basic tuning if the lure is swimming to the left then your need to bend the front end of the eye to the right to get the lure to swim straight again. Its best to do this in small amounts, and test after each adjustment as the tiniest of movement in the eye can make a difference.

If the lure tracks LEFT, bend the front end of the tow point to the right.
If the lure tracks RIGHT, bend the front end of the tow point to the left.

Its also worth mentioning that upgrading trebles to be able to withstand the challenges of seaway fishing can make changes to the way a lure swims.  Some lures do not like the heavy duty Owner ST-66 and will not swim properly once you have changed them while other lures are not bothered at all. All of the recommended lures below will swim properly with Owner ST-66 trebles.

Lures for trolling

You will need a number of lures to effectively troll the seaway.  The reason for this is that fish often sit at different depths and getting your lure in the strike zone is very important.  There are hundreds of lures out there that will do the job but I am only going to cover the known effective lures.  Many lures have rediculous claimed depths on the box.  For example the Sebile 118LL Koolie Minnow has a claimed depth of 13 metres which is rediculous.  At best it manages 5.5 metres. Keep this in mind when purchasing lures.

Rapala XR10/Flash Minnow 25 - Basically the same lure but with different finishes.  These lures will dive to around 1.5-2 metres and are ideal for fish that are sitting approximately 3-4 metres down.  Tailor and Bigeye Trevally are the main targets for this lure but they will also catch Bonito, Mackerel and GT's.

Top: Flash 25 Minnows
Bottom: Rapala XR10

Rapala XRD10/Halco Laser Pro 120 - These lures will dive to 2.5-3m and are ideal for fish sitting in depths around 4-6m down.  Giant Trevally, Bigeye Trevally, Hairtail, Tailor and numerous other species are possible.  The XRD10's can be frustratingly difficult to get to swim straight at times and suffer from water penetration into the body after a few fish.  The Laser Pro's are very hardwearing and will handle lots of fish before needing to be replaced but the large body seems to limit its ability to attract different species.  The XRD10 is more of an allrounder.  The fat Minnow 9 is unproven and is still under testing..it looks good though.

Top Left : Rapala XRD10 Top Right: Halco Laser Pro 120
Bottom: Rapala Fat Minnow 9

Bolt Omega - This lure dives 3.5 - 4.5m and is ideal for trolling the Canyon and Northern Y.  So far in the seaway they have caught lots of Giant Trevally, Tailor, Barracuda and Maori Cod though I would expect them to land many more species over the next few months as we get into summer.  This lure seems to get in the sweet spot for many species, most predatory fish like to hunt upwards and if they are sitting on the bottom in 7 metres, then a lure running 4 metres will attract alot of interest.

Various colours of the Bolt Omega

Sebile Koolie Minnow 118LL/ Rapala Magnum 15 -  These lures dive to 5-6m and are useful around the canyon and trolling around the north wall. The Sebile has landed lots of GT's and Tailor, the Magnum 15 so far only GT's but it hasn't had alot of swim time. Both of these lures will track very close to the bottom in the Northern Y so are useful if the fish aren't feeling very active.

Left: Rapala Mag 15 Right: Sebile Koolie 118

Maria Deep Snare/ Rapala Magnum 20 - Both of these lures will dive down to 7 metres and are capable of bottoming out in the Northern Y so you should keep them on a short leash if using them in there.  The Maria Deep Snare has a unique ability to sink down to a chosen depth and stay down there, for example you could sink it down to the bottom of the canyon in 14m and it will track close to the bottom for the rest of the troll. I haven't given this lure alot of swim time but I'm sure it will pick up some nice fish in the future.  The Rapala Magnum 20 is the biggest lure in this article but fish will still hit it, it has been proven effective on low light GT's and I'm sure some other species would eat it as well.  It is this lure that I am currently testing for use around the north wall for pelagics such as Spanish Mackerel.

Left: Rapala Magnum 20 Right: Maria Deep Snare

Other Lures

Many different types of lures can be trolled, not only minnows.  Metals like the 40-65gram Raider, 30 Gram Twistie work well trolled at times especially around the North Wall during summer. You can also troll poppers, small skirts/christmas trees, any of the plastics on 1/2oz Jigheads, Vib's like the Vivi30s will get down and stay down, the list is endless and sometimes going with something different can yield some good results.

Choosing what lure to use on the day

Deciding on what lure to use is much easier if there are two in the boat or if you are using two rods(though handling two fish hooked up at once when you are alone is...difficult).  One rod can have a lure that runs to 3 metres, the other can have a lure that runs to 5 metres, you'll soon know which one the fish prefer.  Alot depends on the area you are in and the species likely to be feeding.  For example in the Northern Y, GT's are the most common so I would go with a a lure that runs to 2.5m like an XRD10 and a lure that runs to 4 metres like the Bolt Omega or a Rapala Magnum 15.  If you were trolling around the North Wall and pelagics are likely, I would change that to a Flash 25/XR10 shallow runner and a Bolt Omega/Magnum 15 to get down deep. Experimentation is important, if you are not getting hits keep changing lures until you do.

The following video is a good example of using lures that gets down to the right depth on the day and how much of a difference that can make to your catches.  I was using Bolt Omega's and Sebile Koolie 118LL which run from 4-5 metres where as Mick was using XRD10's which dive to a maximum of 3 metres.  The result from that was 6 fish hooked to his 1.  Diving depth matters when trolling, keep changing lures until you find out what they want.

Areas for Trolling

Random trolling around the seaway is not likely to yield many fish.  The fish hold and feed in certain areas and a trolling run that takes in to account these area's will yield alot more fish.  The following area's are the most consistent for fish taking trolled lures but remember that if people are casting around these area's already they won't take kindly to someone trolling through the area, always give a wide berth to other fisherman.  The broadwater has lots of area's suitable for trolling, all maps are marked with good trolling runs for you to try.

North Wall Tip & Current Lines

The most important area for trolling here is the current line that is evident on a run in tide(A).  Ideally you should troll right along the outer edge of this current line, you can do it both ways..with and against the tide it doesn't seem to matter I have caught fish on both.  It's also worthwhile doing a troll a bit further out (B & C) for pelagic fish.  You can also do a troll run that runs right along 'The Line' that heads directly east of the end of the wall(D).  On a trolling run through this section with the run-in tide you are best starting back along the north wall flats dropoff then going past the wall turning as you enter the seaway then trolling along the current line that heads west into the seaway.  Pretty much any fish are possible trolling through this section especially pelagics like Bonito and Mackerel but Bigeye Trevally, Giant Trevally and Tailor are the main species likely to be caught.

The South Wall

The South Wall does not yield as many fish trolling as the North but you should always keep it in mind.  Schools of Bigeye Trevally, Kingfish and Giant Trevally will sit along this wall at times though Kingfish are rare on trolled lures in the seaway.   Ideally you should troll no further out than 5 metres from the outer edge of the rock wall as the fish tend to sit just where the rocks meet the sand.  They can sit anywhere along the wall so a decent troll run would run from the tower right to 50m beyond the eastern most tip of the wall(F).  Due to the high numbers of landbased anglers it can be difficult to get a decent troll run going, you won't win any favours trolling close to the wall and picking up thier lines.  It is also worth a troll along the front of the wall approximately 10 metres out as schools of fish will often sit just out from the end of the wall(G). Troll run E runs along the area where the rocks meet the sand on the inside of the north wall, around 6 metres down.  All species are possible, some other fish that might be caught include Hairtail, Flathead, Mangrove Jacks & Cod.

SeawayFishing Map 3 Outer Walls

Northern Y & Canyon

The Northern Y and Canyon are the best trolling area's in the seaway.  The reason for this is the very rocky bottom in the Northern Y is a fish feeding area and the deep hole in the Canyon is a fish holding area.  Inactive fish hold in the deep water in the Canyon until bait comes through at any stage of tide or the time of day signals feeding time(any time after 3pm or Sunrise through til 9am.  When that happens the fish either move into the Northern Y or move into the Northern Channel to feed.  I have included a diagram below outlining the best trolling runs for this area.  You can integrate all of these trolling runs into a non stop troll but it is best to bring in your lure and check every so often to make sure there is no weed on it.

Northern Y Closeup

The South Wavebreak Wall, Southern Y  & Southern Corner

This area doesn't hold alot of fish but sometimes you can get Tailor, Bigeyes, Salmon and Kingfish here, worth a quick troll but don't spend alot of time on it.

Seawayfishing Map 1 Wavebreak to Pipeline

Trolling Species

There are 3 main species that take trolled lures in the seaway. They are Giant Trevally, Bigeye Trevally and Tailor.  Each requires a specific approach to target them effectively but there will always be occasions where fish will change things up a bit.

Giant Trevally

Giant Trevally are more commonly caught in the Northern Y and Around the Canyon on trolled lures than anywhere else.  They want lures that dives to 2.5-3 metres(XRD10 & Laser Pro) at least but sometimes they won't hit lures unless they are running at 4 metres +(Bolt Omega, Rapala Magnum 15, Sebile Koolie Minnow 118LL).  You can troll quite fast for GT's they will hit lures running at speeds over 6 knots(turbo trolling) and sometimes they will only hit the lures if they are running that fast.  Giant Trevally are also possible on trolled lures around the end of the north and south wall's, particularly the tip where the rocks meet the sand approximately 10 metres out.

This 65cm GT took a trolled Bolt Omega

Bigeye Trevally

Trolling for Bigeye Trevally is mainly centred around the North and South Walls and the Pipeline.  In particular the North wall tip and North Wall Flats dropoff holds quite alot of bigeyes over summer and it is always worth a troll at dawn with minnows or 30g Twisties during November and December past the front of the wall along the dropoff.   Its also worth trolling along the inner section of the South wall from The Tower to The Gates as schools of bigeyes will also hold along here.  The pipeline also has active fish feeding around it during the night over summer and you can troll around it and pickup Bigeyes one after the other if they are feeding.  With Bigeyes keep the lure profile's small though, XR10/Flash 25/XRD10 are the perfect size but if you need to get a bit deeper you can go for something like a Sebile Koolie Koolie 90 which will hit 3.5m and has a nice thin profile.

This bigeye took a trolled XR10

Tailor

Tailor are mainly found around the North Wall, you can pick them up trolling all around the wall from the inner eddies and current lines around the tip to the North Wall Dropoff.  They will pretty much hit anything when they are in the mood, I've caught them on Rapala Magnum 20's at times.  You can also find them further up the broadwater in the channels and around the deep holes by trolling Bolt Omega's or XRD10's.  It's always worth a troll past the Cross Channels(Map 4)  Most of the Tailor caught trolling are chopper size up to about 50cm, the big greenbacks are more specialised hunters.

This Tailor took a trolled Sebile 118LL

The Rest

Other species that may be caught on trolled lures in the seaway include Barracuda, Hairtail, Flathead, Bream, Various Cod species, Golden Trevally, Yellowtail Kingfish, Bonito, Spotted, School and Spanish Mackerel, Cobia, Snapper, Mack Tuna, Amberjack and Mangrove Jacks.  None of these can be planned for but it does make things interesting.

When to Troll

Deciding when to troll rather than cast is a tricky decision.  I usually use it as a last attempt at catching fish but there are times when a decision to have a quick troll can pay dividends.  If you see fish on the sounder and metals or plastics dropped into them gets nothing then it's worthwhile trolling a minnow through them.  In the late afternoon's trolling works particularly well as the fish may not be that active but still hungry and if they see a minnow swim past them they have a hard time passing it up.  I usually don't bother trolling until after 3pm when the big fish are starting to think about dinner.  Early morning works well too in the time between first light and sunup, if casting has produced nothing then a 5 minute troll can make you decide whether it's worthwhile or not.

Advanced Trolling Techniques

Trolling In Place

Trolling in place is a technique of using the high tidal flows of the run in tides to keep your lure swimming in roughly the same place.  Simply drive in the the current area of your choice and keep the motor idling forward so that the boat doesn't move but the lure will be swimming in the current.  You can give the lure extra action by sharply jerking the rod tip.  It is a good technique to use in the current line at the end of the north wall when conditions are too rough to cast  but you can still drive the boat safely, once hooked up the tidal flow will push your boat inside the seaway into calmer waters.  You can also use it over the Pipeline and Canyon but care must be taken when other boats are around otherwise your line could get run over.  You need a decent tidal flow to get this technique working, any of the larger tides near the Full or New moon would suffice.

This Greenback Tailor took a large shallow running minnow trolled in place along The Face at the North Wall.

Using a Trolling sinker

A trolling sinker is a barrel sinker with a swivel imbedded on each end.  Trolling sinkers are used to give small shallow running minnows extra depth, by opening the bail arm on your reel you can drop the lure right to the bottom just before you go past a school of fish.  It gets the lure down fast and put's it in the strike zone.  On a standard troll run they don't give alot of extra depth, probably only a metre or so but being able to drop a small lure to the bottom is an important option.   I prefer using small suspending minnows like the Rapala XR8 but any small floating or suspending minnow would work, avoid sinking minnows as they might get stuck on the bottom.   There should be a trace at least a metre long between the trolling sinker and your lure to ensure the lure's action is unaffected. You can either tie the trolling sinker on or use snap clips.

A 1oz trolling sinker and a Rapala XR8

Fast Jigging

Sometimes adding more action to a trolled lure will entice a strike from fish which are ignoring your trolled lures.  If this happens try sharply jigging the rop tip forward three times in quick succession then pausing the lure, letting it swim a bit before repeating the action.  This causes the lure to dart about aggressively which might get you a strike from shut down fish.

Summary

Trolling can be a very effective technique, BUT don't expect to troll around aimlessly and catch fish.  Like every seaway technique it requires some thought, timing and observation to be successful. This article covers everything you need to know about trolling the seaway, all you need to do is put it into practice.

This 72cm GT took a trolled Bolt Omega just on dawn

Don't expect every trolled fish to be big, plenty of little ones get in on the action

SeawayFishing Maps All in One Maps 1-8 

To see a larger image, right click on your mouse and choose 'View Image"

SeawayFishing Maps 1-8

SeawayFishing Map 8 - Sovereign Island. The Final map in the SeawayFishing Map Series.

SeawayFishing Map 8 Sovereign Island

To view a larger image, right click with your mouse and click view image.

For a week that held such promise with some nice strong winds and good tides the results were decidedly below par. In fact it may well go down as my worst weeks fishing the seaway this year(at least I hope it does...). I went out Monday afternoon, swell was still quite small but the wind was up spent plenty of time looking for fish, prospecting the rock walls and trolling and my only result from that was one hookup on a trolled lure just on dark over the canyon, but it pulled the hooks. I went out again Wednesday morning, swell was much bigger and the wind was gusting to 30kts, again lots of time spent prospecting the edges, looking for fish and trolling and the only thing I managed was a couple of small mack tuna(30cm) on 7 gram sea rocks which were feeding at the top of the tide near the pipeline.

I spent a bit of time with the camera underwater on Wednesday to try and find the fish and found some interesting stuff though, a school of big kingfish sitting 6 metres down 50m east of the pipeline at the top of the tide, the usual bigeyes over the pipeline and a school of silver trevally off the end of the north wall. There is also spawning aggregations of luderick off the end of the north wall.
The water clarity is still around 8 metres which is still too clear, the snot weed is lessening though, another couple of weeks and it should be gone. The phosphorescence is still there at night but seems to be disapating slowly. The biggest problem at the moment seem to be the lack of bait coming through the seaway, and what bait there is, is tiny.. around 2cm long. There's plenty of bait well upstream though. So not much has changed in a week, but as always with the seaway you never know what could happen.  It's probably worthwhile seeing if you can get a live pike or two then drifting it over the area from the seaway tower to the pipeline for a kingie, fish heavy because they don't have far to go to bust you off.  Other than that... Observe. Experiment.

A porcupine fish on the bottom of the northern channel

Bottom structure in the northern channel

Assorted bottom structure in the northern channel

Up close to the pipeline

The pipeline with a small school of bigeyes

A school of Painted Sweetlip in the northern Y

The Bolt Omega is a deep diving lure that runs 3.5 - 4.5 metres.  I originally came across this lure up north in Hervey Bay, the depth it dives to and the realistic finish appealed to me so I bought a few to give them a shot.  Turns out they were an exceptional trolling lure even better than the Rapala XRD10.  It is one of the best deep diving lures around with a very tight shimmy and affordable to boot.  This lure has been proven on Giant and Golden Trevally, Tailor, many Mackerel species, Barracuda, various species of Cod, Mack Tuna and many more.  While the stock VMC hooks are adequate(if a little small), I have removed them and added Owner ST-66 #2 Hooks.  The stock rings are very tough and do not need replacing.

These lures are pretty much a trolling lure only and unlike many lures actually dives to the rated depth on the box, around 4 metres.   I recommend around a 30 metre dropback though if you want a bit more depth you can let it go as far as you like.  Best trolling speed depends on the current and which way you are trolling, for or against the current.  Against the current about 2-3 knots is best and if you are going with the current around 5 knots will see it swimming along nicely.

More details on trolling this lure will be released in the Trolling the Seaway Article coming out soon.

These lures can be bought from the Seawayfishing Shop.

The Bolt Omega

Some of the Seaway Captures on the Bolt Omega.

Some of the fish caught on my Northern trip on the bolt Omega

Trolling for Giant Trevally Video, a good example of using a lure that dives to the right depth on the day.

The report prize for September is a XLD05 reel plus 100m of Grey 10lb Braid as well as the lure set kindly donated by Kane from last month.  This is a very small reel and would suit a light rod but would be fine for use on small tailor and bigeyes.  Line Capacity is about 100m of 10lb.  While conditions continue to be tough there are fish out there to be caught if you put in the effort.  Think outside the box and you might be rewarded with some excellent catches.