Southport Seaway advice

[jim_bream]

Could any (kind) knowledgeable folk suggest what & where to fish for around the Southport Seaway? No boat, just land-based. Went on Good Friday at 6am with a 3" watermelon softie on a 1/16 jig. Nothing, not even a nibble. Tide started coming in too fast to continue after about an hour and a half.. Any hints & tips gratefully received, maybe a coffee and a fish together one morning?

[Maria]

Mate I do alot of diving in the seaway and have seen alot of species getting around at various spots. One of the most common sites is snagged plastics on the rocks, as there's a serious dropoff to contend with just out from the southern wall (I'm talking inside the seaway, not on the outside). Best bet is to send well presented baits (strip baits or livies) out a fair way. There's an unbelievable range of species in there, so you really don't know what you're going to get. There's a lot of small time stuff in close to the dropoffs that will murder a well presented bait and generously donate you the skin back though. The dropoff is about 10m out from the waterline at hightide, and you can pick up some sizeable bream around there at this time of year. PLenty of big luderick around too if that's your thing, but you'll need the weed and to keep the bait moving, and out of the rocks. Whichever you choose to do, speed up the retrieve as your line nears the dropoff though or your lost tackle will find its way into my tackle box next time I dive there . Hope this helps.

Ben

[farky]

Hello Jim,
I know this area well. I hardly ever see any land-based anglers catching anything from the southern wall of the Seaway. The big luderick look tempting as you can clearly see them, but,
as Maria hinted, luderick fishing is only for the luderick specialist and i wouldn't even bother trying.
If you are an inexperienced angler I think a better option would be to fish the beach gutters using bait. Fish caught regularly all yer round from Main beach are dart, bream, whiting, flathead and of course tailor but mainlyduring the wintermonths.
All the best,

[farky]

Hello Jim,
I know this area well. I never see any land-based anglers catching anything from the southern wall of the Seaway. The big luderick look tempting as you can clearly see them, but,
as Maria hinted, luderick fishing is only for the luderick specialist and i wouldn't even bother trying.
If you are an inexperienced angler I think a better option would be to fish the beach gutters using bait. Fish caught regularly all year round from Main Beach are dart, bream, whiting, flathead, and of course the tailor are caught mainly during the winter months.
Farky

[jim_bream]

Thank you all for your help.
I have succumbed to the SP trend (again)- I used them in South Africa for Largemouth Bass. It's great to see them getting a run in the saltwater arena over here.
Might give sunken wall on the brisbane river a go as well.
TIGHT LINES EVERYONE!

[Burley_Boy]

Went to the southern side of the seaway this morning with a snorkel and a plastic.
Amazing variety of life there, heaps of large bream and stacks of Luderick. Plenty of large fish and an aquarium to boot. I wanted to see how the fish reacted to the plastic so on high tide with great visibility I jigged the plastic while snorkling.
I found that I had a school of small fish continuously circling and the small parrot (or similar fish) attacking the tail of the 4inch minnow. The large fish would approach and then promptly turn as they got witin a foot of the plastic.
I'd say the bigger fish there are very clued in and timid. Doubt if the plastic is the right bait on high tide and good viz, (the attacks would invariably happen on the drops of the plastic but a large fish was never close to attacking). I think the fish get wise to their area if heavily targeted.

Came back later with squid and unfortunately the viz was down on the outgoing tide but we found the small fish circling and demolishing the bait without it ever getting to the bottom, by this time the larger fish were nowhere to be seen. I saw people anchoring their baits with large sinkers but I'd say that by that time its too late. I'd have another go with live baits or with dead bait on the slack of the tide. Looked very active on high tide (we were in the water just after)