Daryl McPhee
20-05-2013, 10:32 AM
Hi all,
I headed to the surf on the Gold Coast on Friday for a fish. I had been monitoring the gutters closely and while they do not at this stage look really flash for tailor, they do look really good for dart – some nice white milky water in patches and just enough movement to make it interesting.
I ventured down the beach in the middle of the day, and was pleased to see some nice dart bouncing around at wide – there distinctive movements in the surf are always a giveaway. I stopped at the first gutter I came to – reasonable shallow with a shallow entrance, but an entrance direct to the ocean nonetheless.
First cast with a yabby, first dart hooked. There was a reasonable show of fish in the gutter and the first 10 casts produced 8 fish. Over the next couple of hours, I pulled out a shade over 40 from the gutter, mostly dart, but with a couple of small but legal bream and a lone flathead. I only kept enough of the bigger ones for a two feeds for the family as I do not freeze dart, and the lone flathead. Most of the dart were around the 32 to 34 cm mark which is not the optimal size for a fillet and below their size at maturity.
There are a number of good formations along the Gold Coast, so it should be a good year in the surf.
Daryl
I headed to the surf on the Gold Coast on Friday for a fish. I had been monitoring the gutters closely and while they do not at this stage look really flash for tailor, they do look really good for dart – some nice white milky water in patches and just enough movement to make it interesting.
I ventured down the beach in the middle of the day, and was pleased to see some nice dart bouncing around at wide – there distinctive movements in the surf are always a giveaway. I stopped at the first gutter I came to – reasonable shallow with a shallow entrance, but an entrance direct to the ocean nonetheless.
First cast with a yabby, first dart hooked. There was a reasonable show of fish in the gutter and the first 10 casts produced 8 fish. Over the next couple of hours, I pulled out a shade over 40 from the gutter, mostly dart, but with a couple of small but legal bream and a lone flathead. I only kept enough of the bigger ones for a two feeds for the family as I do not freeze dart, and the lone flathead. Most of the dart were around the 32 to 34 cm mark which is not the optimal size for a fillet and below their size at maturity.
There are a number of good formations along the Gold Coast, so it should be a good year in the surf.
Daryl