Looking Forward to Summer in the Seaway

With the summer season almost upon us it's time to take a look at what there is to chase in the seaway and broadwater during summer and how summer weather affects feeding behaviour.  Water temperatures should be increasing to around 22 degrees but sustained NE winds will bring back the cold water down as low as 18 degrees making some of the fish sluggish, fish strong SE wind events to get the cleaner water and warmer temps.     The large schools of Frogmouth pilchards have started to arrive and we should see an increase in surface feeding activity as the bait numbers continue to increase.




Edge fishing with poppers and shallow running minnows should yield some excellent quality fish at dawn and dusk and during the run-in tides.  Don't be afraid to fish in dirty water especially around the ends of the walls, most predatory species love hunting around the areas where the dirty water from the river meets the clean ocean water.  Last summer we had some excellent fishing with Bigeye Trevally, Small Yellowtail Kingfish(60-65cm) and Tailor all smashing bait as the clean water pushed the dirty water in past the ends of the walls.    Most fisho's are out off by a bad forecast but the best fishing last summer was had when the winds were gusting 20-30kts, take care to not go past the ends of the walls in those conditions.  Make sure your engine is serviced and you have all your safety gear, the walls usually claim at least one boat every summer because of a broken down engine.

Fishwise, Bigeye Trevally should be around in large numbers and sizes with 50cm+ fish more prevalent at night.  Poppers and minnows around the walls at dawn and slugs/microjigs/plastics near the pipeline on early morning run in tides.  Vibs and Microjigs dropped down deep around current lines during the day should also pick a few good specimens.  At night look( & listen!) for them around the pipeline on the first hour of the run-in and run-out tide and throw poppers and skitterbaits at them.   You should also be able to find them up the Broadwater, around Marina Mirage and in the Nerang river just after dusk, wait for a tide change though as it usually triggers them into feeding mode whether it be a run-in or run-out.

The large schools of Giant Trevally should be upstream by now. You should still be able to pick up the odd one on trolled lures, plastics and Microjigs though.  Keep an eye out around December and January for a possible brief reappearance of big GT's in the Canyon and in the Broadwater when the bait schools are thickest.

Tailor numbers should increase with the biggest fish showing around the north wall in December and January.  Poppers, Skitterbaits, big Minnows and live pike will catch the bigger fish, Metals will catch plenty of the smaller fish, look for surface feeding anywhere in the seaway, the broadwater or just off the shore break of south straddie in the early morning.  If fishing during the day try casting along the North wall on the first hour a run-in tide with a skitterbait for quality fish.  Try dropping a microjig to the bottom along the North Wall as well, these fish are usually smaller but good to fill in a bit of time if you are waiting for a tide change.

Most of the Tarpon will be upstream by now and you should be able to find them in the upper reaches of the  Coomera and Nerang Rivers.  There still might be the odd fish or 2 around the Seaway Rock walls for anyone luring with plastics after dark.

Yellowtail Kings are around in numbers now, look for them around the Pipeline and North Wall.   Also keep an eye in the Northern Y, Canyon and Northern Channel up to the Cross Channels. Live Pike works best for the larger fish, but large plastics like the 7" Gulp Jerk Shad and large Poppers will also tempt a few. Skitterbaits, Halco Twisties and minnow shaped plastics work fine for smaller fish feeding on surface as long as the bait is a reasonable size, look for these around the Pipeline, end of the South Wall and Northern Y on the run-in tides.  If the bait is tiny then it will be a bit more difficult, try 3gram Rios slugs or go up to 7" Gulp Jerk Shads.  These smaller kingfish will usually feed on surface once every 10 minutes or so, between bustups try to find where they are sitting on the bottom and drop a plastic or 30gram Halco Twisty down into them.

Mulloway are always around and will be able to be caught as the tide slows and speeds up at either end of the tide with vibs, plastics and livies.   The North Wall Deep Hole, Pipeline and Canyon hold the largest numbers of Mulloway but they can turn up anywhere.  If you really want a big Mulloway go out to the bait reefs at dawn, dusk or during a night with no moon and put a live Yellowtail down near the bottom.

Hairtail could show up anytime now for those fishing at night, look for them around the ends of the walls on a runout tide or in slower areas like Hairtail Reach during run-in tides. They will take livies or dead baits, as well as plastics and trolled minnows fished slow.

Offshore, Mack Tuna numbers should increase, we may see a run of Striped and Yellowfin Tuna, as well as Bonito and Frigate Mackerel.  Spotted and Spanish Mackerel should show up as we get closer to the end of the year, around Christmas time is an excellent time for look for these around the inshore reefs.

Summer is a great time to be out on the water, for more information on surviving the silly season out on the water see last years Silly Season recommendations

Proven lures for the Summer Season.

•  10, 20, 30 Gram Halco Twisty
• Rapala Skitter Pop 7 & 9
• Owner Zip N Ziggy
• Skitterbait
• Megabass Vision 111
• Rapala XR10
• Storm 30gm Microjig
• Berkley Gulp 7" Jerkshad White Pearl on 1oz Jighead

Red Gold Skitterbaits are currently 50% off(only $7.50) in the SeawayFishing Shop

Silver Redhead is sold out but all other colours including the classic Black Redhead are in stock.

A few fish from last summer..