Looking Back On 2013

As we come to the end of 2013 it's time to look back on what happened this year in the Gold Coast Seaway And Broadwater.  It's been an interesting year, I've spent more time in the seaway this year than any of the other previous years and as a result I have a much better understanding of how and why fish feed in there.  That said, the seaway can still be a tough place to catch fish consistently, alot of the time on overnighter trips I found myself waiting....for the next tidal change or change in conditions(dawn/dusk).   For consistent results, stacking the odds in your favour by using the right timing is essential, as is keen observation and experimentation of techniques to see what the fish want on the day.




Here's a rundown of what species showed up in each month.

January - Striped Tuna, Big GT's, Tailor, Bigeyes

February - Floods, Bigeyes, Dart

March - GT's, Bigeyes, Tailor, Mack Tuna, Tarpon

April - GT's, Tarpon, Tailor, Kingfish, Mulloway

May -  GT's, Kingfish, Tailor, Mulloway, School Mackerel

June - School Mackerel, Mulloway, GT's, Dart, Tarpon,

July - Mulloway, Hairtail, Tailor, Tarpon

August - Mulloway, Tailor, Tarpon, GT's, Bigeyes

September - Mulloway, Tailor, GT's, Tarpon, Hairtail

October - Tailor, Bonito, Mulloway

November - Yellowtail Kingfish, Tailor, Dart,

December - Yellowtail Kingfish, Tailor, Bigeyes, Dart, Hairtail, Queenfish, Mulloway

The GT's played the biggest part this year and some awesome sessions were had on just about every technique from March to August.  What was the most interesting was the progression of techniques used throughout the year from slugs, to plastics, to poppers/stickbaits to trolled minnows.

Yellowtail Kingfish again proved how tough they could be with this year only a few large specimens landed during the year, many(many) more got away.  The smaller Kingfish that showed up during November and December showed how much fun they can be when they aren't too big to land on light gear.

Tailor showed up in schools of smaller fish numerous times, both in the Northern Channel and in the Seaway itself but Greenbacks only showed as single fish around the North Wall a few times during the year.  The summer run of greenbacks never eventuated.

Bigeyes showed up in numbers during the first few months of the year, then disappeared only to reappear in short bursts in the last couple of months of the year. At this time they are still unpredictable.

Tarpon were caught in singles for the first couple of months, then we saw some schools feeding during the day in the Northern Y which stuck around for a couple of months.  Nocturnal session's around the North and South walls had the Tarpon throwing lures with wild abandon as usual during June and July.  They tapered off as usual around the end of October.

Hairtail showed up in odd times during nocturnal sessions but showed their typical here today gone tomorrow behaviour, they still managed to cut off at least 20 plastics this year.

This year saw a few oddities captured, Golden, Longnose and Cale Cale Trevally, Barracuda, Sharks(on lures), Blue Maori Cod, School Mackerel and I even saw a couple of spanish mackerel landed.

Thanks to all of you who have shared your fishing adventures with me over the past year, both on the website and on the water: Vince, Andrew, Howard, Andy, Jayde, Chris, Kane, Jeff, Tim, Brett, Shamus, Wade, Steve, Wayne, Mick, Steven, Peter, Gordo, Rob, James, Kris, Ricko and anyone else I may have missed.

Lets hope that 2014 see's some more good fish landed for all of us.