Gold Coast Salmon

[youngy]

Hi guys, well in the last month or so Salmon have turned up in the Seaway in big numbers and not small fish either.

I have never seen a fish cause so much controversy, Tailor fishermen hate them with a passion, while sports fishermen love them.

These things eat almost anything, have no sharp teeth to bite you off and will pull drag like nothing else for long periods on light gear, i am becoming a bit of a fan actually.

Small slugs and soft plastics have been our lures of choice, but one ate a whole slimey the other day that a guy had left over from an offshore trip, like i said they are not fussy about what they eat.

Apparently they are not much chop to eat but are ok smoked or in fish patties, i have an Asian friend who took one to eat and after a fair bit of preparation said it was ok.

Hopefully they will be around for a while so we can all have a crack at them, cheers wayne

[BAR UP]

Hey Youngy, i dont know if this is a good thing. The locals down at Illuka hate them because the Salmon dominate at certain times of the year. I'm not aware of too many Salmon being around on the Goldcoast area to date. I havent heard of too many decent Taylor catches this year yet. I also hear that the Greenback comp wasn't that good either. Maybe got something to do with the Salmon moving north, Peter.

[caster226]

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[nigelr]

Skin the fillets and salt them down they make good bream bait and tailor will take strips on gangies.
'Bout the only reason not to release 'em though!

[youngy]

Bar Up, they have been in the Seaway since the end of May, starting to get a bit scattered now and spooky from all the boats chasing them.
They certainly aren't popular with the Tailor boys that's for sure.

Caster, no worries about the whiting mate, plenty of them and like you said they are just getting bigger and bigger, cheers wayne

[Scalem]

I reckon they would be perfect for my fish Jerky where I throw a fistful of smoking sawdust into an aluminium tray, then into the webber with fish, a few heat beads and leave for about 90 mins. Yum!

Scalem

[greenie.77]

Are they schooling up or just randoms? Are you casting at the walls? Thanks.

[solwota]

Saw one caught on north Straddie last week

[youngy]

Greenie, they are schooling up where ever they find the baitfish but usually within 500meters of the Seaway, been a few near the Grand boat ramp lately, cheers wayne

[fishel]

I heard there were a school of salmon smashing the baitfish at the pontoon at Labrador, just below Harley Park, on Tuesday morning, last week.

[bondy99]

Nothing wrong with Salmon if done right.

[Feral]

30 years ago I fished the south coast as a kid for many years and never even heard of a salmon being caught, last few years I am hearing lots about them, are they new to the area or what?

[nigelr]

Feral, good point. Since they diminished the 'commercial harvest' of Aust. salmon they have bred and spread comparatively unhindered, IMHO to the continuing detriment of other species on which they prey.
Personally I'd like to see the commercial take of this particular species increased.

[squidly]

These fish are great to eat.
Must be bled as soon as they are caught.
Gut and scale them, cut into steaks and fried in butter.
Beautiful.

[youngy]

Hi Feral, as Nigeir said they have stopped netting them down south and each year their numbers seem to be increasing.

They love the cooler water temperatures and the cold snap we had at the end of May brought them into the Seaway in big numbers.

There is great debate down here about their eating qualities, with some people liking them and others despising them.

As a sportsfish i don't think you will find one better, 4lb braid, 10lb leader, a small soft plastic on a 1/8 jighead and hang on, if your lucky it will take 5 minutes before you even see your fish let alone get him in the boat.

Enjoy them while there here, nothing wrong with a bit of variety in what we catch, cheers wayne