Gold Coast seaway

[84mick]

G'day, a few friends and I are heading to the seaway, I'll be using SP's, poppers and slugs and they will be using bait. We will be targeting bream, flathead, trevs etc. Hoping to arriver there at about 7am
Just curious on a few things as we have never fished there before, will we need a long gaff? is it safe for kids?
Is there any other things we should know about?

Thanks in advanced, Mick. 8-)

[Murph77]

I take it you will be fishing off the rocks and not in a boat? Just watch the rollers coming in if you're out near the end of the wall with the kids. Other than that landing fish is the only difficulty, the rocks are pretty easy too move around on, I prefer to use a long handle landing net. Try to fish an hour either side of a tide change so that the current is ripping through there too much. Good luck

[84mick]

Thanks Murph77, yes I will be on the rocks (sorry I was ment to say that) How long is a long landing net? mine is like 1m ;)

[cuzzamundi]

yeah mick i think he'd mean a few metres at least. you'd want a net a little more than a metre at the seaway, especially on a rough day. but as he said, if you keep an eye on the swell you should be ok.

cuzza

[rogersto]

I take it you will be fishing off the rocks and not in a boat? Just watch the rollers coming in if you're out near the end of the wall with the kids. Other than that landing fish is the only difficulty, the rocks are pretty easy too move around on, I prefer to use a long handle landing net. Try to fish an hour either side of a tide change so that the current is ripping through there too much. Good luck

Like most breakwalls...

I just got back into fishing after a 15 years absence, and bought some estuary gear for myself and my 9-11 year old little girles, a yabby pump and some other gear, hit the Tallebudgera river (First from BCF west burleigh, then straight out to the flats @ low tide :) )

I'm at Nerang, went back home and picked up the kids and head down to the broadwater and we tossed a line for a few hours, didn't score much, 2 little bream we chucked back, but a decent sized Flathead, and my 11 yo girlie landed a nice Taylor of all things.

Might hit the breakwall at the spit ourselves, yabbies. What's the best bet there, floats or dragging the hook along the bottom? Wouldn't mind picking up some nice bream.

What you guys reckon?

[84mick]

Hey Rogersto are you still heading out there? I am on sunday morning if the wind and swell isnt to bad.

Does anyone know of better locations around that area (landbase)? if the weather isnt any good

Cheers, Mick.

[rogersto]

Contemplating an early sat morning, perhaps a sunday morning too :)

Nerang River about 45 min out from the top of the tide, 500 m downstream from the M1 overpass bridge was a major *SUCK* - all we got were friggin toadies and that's it.

If the weather's a bit suss, I'd say anywhere around the Seaway and foreshores either side should be a reasonable bet unless we get a major downpour.

Again went for the pump'n'suck at Tallebudgera this arvo for a good haul of yabbies, definetly my fav. spot, can't help but think that one should be able to pick up Flathead, Whiting and Bream in an area like that on the top end of the tide which is quite abundant with nippers and those funny little blue crabs at the bottoms of the tide.

Comments here from the experts?

[rick k]

hi Murph 77, what footwear, if any, do you use when moving around on the rocks?

I found even the above water line ones were fairly slippery for my bare feet and Colorado sandals

[rogersto]

silly as it sounds, rick k, I've always worn good quality runners and tread carefully on them rocks.. they can get a bit slippery but with 12ft of rod, I can get a decent cast although getting down there with the net when landing something decent can indeed be tricky.


have fun, don t hurt yourself though....

[Pistol_P]

Do many big fish get taken off the seaway...
I know tailor,trevally,small yellowtail kings etc are caught off the seaway but is it a producer of longtails and Mackeral land based...?
I never hear of many big fish being caught off there.....I have only fished it a handfull of times:-/

[84mick]

Ill let you guys know how I go tomorrow morning, A mate and I are keen to hit it with the SP's and fresh bait. The wind is looking good for an early start. Ill be there around 7 ish if you want to meet up with us rogersto?

Cheers, Mick.

[rogersto]

used live nippers there this morning, heaps of little toadies around, but not much else. Doubt whether I'll be wasting my time there tomorrow. Got there 7;30am it was running pretty hard with the incoming tide until the turn of the email around 9'ish.

One diver after another coming back has told me that visibility is average, and there's not a great deal of fish around, heaps of colourful littlies and not much else

Was up on the end of the breakwall and didn't score much, and moved on down to the pipe outlet (where the scuba divers like to launch off).

Further upstream scored some little bream I've chucked back and the missus scored a tiny whiting which she tossed back

[bballfisho]

there is plenty of bigger fish there that are pretty smart. heaps of big luderick and painted sweeties also trevors and big bream. but ive only seen them when snorkeling along the wall but they seem real tough to catch though have hardly seen any of those bigguns caught of there.
good luck mate they are there but you'll have to work for them

[rogersto]

they're probably few and far between also.

That concrete platform is very popular for scuba divers and snorkellers to take-off from too (and TOS surfers to come back to on the incoming tide).


Interesting chat with a lass from San Diego way (USA) who was scuba diving here (and has been for the past 9 months). Inshore she comments that (compared to back home) there's a lot less bigger fish here (6-7in+) than back home, although we have prettier & more diverse fish species here).

Interesting.

Fun morning though even though we didnt catch much....

[84mick]

Yep you were right rogersto it was a waist of time! ;P thank god we took the towels and went for a swim ;)

Mick.

[rogersto]

had a good laugh with our next door neighbour, 76yo young and an old hand who has lived here for 35 years. Didn't want to spoil our enthusiasm but enlightened us of the fact that the seaway breakwall is one of the worst fishing spots on the coast. Divers might see some fish here and there, but you don't catch much there except for once in a blue moon.... I tend to agree. Live yabbies, one would think that or beach worms would win every time.

He wasnt surprised we scored near the Biggera Creek mouth at Biggera Waters last weekend (Sunday) though, despite the boat traffic coming so close.

He reckons the Gold Coast isn't crash hot as far as fishing's concerned especially landbased. Owning a boat opens up lots of options even if it's a litle tinnie to buzzfart around our extensive network of canals and stuff.

Reckons an hour either side of high tide around the banks of tallebudgera creek between downstream of the M1 and the Gold Coast Hwy overpass and Currumbin Creek supposedly is reasonably consistent for whiting, flathead and bream, so that's where I'll be concentrating my efforts to see how I go in the coming weeks.

[84mick]

Haha good on ya mate, to make things worse I didnt realize that is was Australia Clean Up Day and there were divers everywhere (good on them for doing there bit to help oz)!

Mick.

[vb4me]

Hey Rogersto I wouldnt hold my hopes up of catchin too much in the tallebudgera. I have virtually fished from the M1 bridge back to the GC highway bridge without much luck at all over the last few years. Although the yabbie pumpin sessions are well worth the effort.

[rogersto]

Where do you catch fish around here? This has got to be the one of the worst places for fishing I've lived in the past 20 years.

Moved here last year from Port Macquarie, like here sand flats with yabby holes galore at low tide, but there's actually fish to be caught in there, especially up towards limeburners' off the Shoreline Dve bridge, and in the mangroves.

Common to get flathead, whiting and flounder, here... jack shit !

Wonder if Currumbin's worth the effort then? great surfing spot, have seen some decent sized fish in the clear water surfing....

[Sean]

Surely you guys are just trying to get a bite!!!! Maybe you are just cra* Fishermen....there you go theres your first!

[shin25]

hi guys ,i wouldnt say its a waste of time i nailed these two 40cm+ black bream in the middle of the day.

try fishing on the tide change when theres no current

[rogersto]

Surely you guys are just trying to get a bite!!!! Maybe you are just cra* Fishermen....there you go theres your first!

don't know about 84mick, but I was getting plenty of bites, but seems mostly of little ones nibbling away at the bait. I could see the little toadies chasing after it, reeling it in.

shin25, what were u using for bait there, and looking at the overhead reel, am I right assuming you were fishing off a boat rather than landbased? (which could explain a lot).

Sat. morning I was out there from about 45min before high tide to around 30 min after. No kidding I could cast out the same yabby 3-4 times with hardly a nibble most times, but later on moving upstream around the corner to the sandbanks at the end (facing seaworld), got a little bit more action, but not much.

the 2 local fellas sitting out middle in their tinny using beachworms didn't fare all that much better, one landed a whiting he tossed back.

[Pistol_P]

[quote=rogersto;584921]had a good laugh with our next door neighbour, 76yo young and an old hand who has lived here for 35 years. Didn't want to spoil our enthusiasm but enlightened us of the fact that the seaway breakwall is one of the worst fishing spots on the coast. Divers might see some fish here and there, but you don't catch much there except for once in a blue moon.... I tend to agree. Live yabbies, one would think that or beach worms would win every time.

quote]

Mate I agree.....I reckon the seaway is good for bread & butter species but thats as far as it goes....I know the odd Jew gets caught there but I rckon you would put in HOURS there before you got one.

[84mick]

I got about 2 decent bites and heaps of tiny bite on SPs, My mate aron was using prawns and pillys, he didnt get a touch. There was heaps of boat traffic and divers. I should have gone to Bribie or even Point Cartright (spelling?)
I was glad to get out of the house and at least wet a line :) You win some and lose some ;)

Cheers, Mick.

[jackson4300]

Well for anyone who says that big fish wont go in there, just remember the time when the whales went through the seaway.
Near the back of sea world, where there are the boat ramps, not to bad there, got a few good flatties and lots good whiting. If you cast far enough there’s a nice drop off near the boat ramps that generally produces some nice bream and stuff.
And many times when i have been going out or coming back in the boat I have seen mack’s smashing the surface around where the boats moor.
Also saw a solid jew being gaffed from the rocks as we were heading out.

[rogersto]

thanks jackson..

I presume you're talking about the boat ramps just up from there the sea-air rescue base is ... ?

Worth a try....
Was right across from there off the sand on that headland that comes down from the spit, certainly wasnt much action there apart from some littlies....