Cool time to chase variety of hard-fighting species

THE weather this weekend looks amazing and many anglers are gearing up to hit the water.

Jadeo Schmidt with a tuna he caught off the Gold Coast.

THE weather this weekend looks amazing and many anglers are gearing up to hit the water.

Fishing off the Gold Coast has been great over the past week. The cooler weather seems to have sparked the fish into action.

Snapper and pearl perch are common catches off the deeper reefs with mixed bags of cod, snapper and parrot fish coming from the inner reefs.

Soft plastics are an option, particularly on the inner reefs. However, using bait seems to be dominating.

Gulp or Keitech soft plastics are great when fishing deeper waters as they offer a scent to help the fish locate them.

Tuna fillets cut into strips or whole squid are great baits when fishing deeper reefs.

With the crystal clear waters of the bay and the cooler weather, squid are moving in.

Squid move into the shallows of the inner bay islands to feed up before they spawn later in the year.

They are fairly easy to catch once you locate them.

Small 2.5 squid jigs are ideal when fishing the shallows but you can increase the size to the 3.0 if fishing drop offs or if the current is strong.

Casting jigs into the shallows and hopping them back into the boat has been the most successful technique lately.

If you are fishing weedy areas you can use a popper designed for fish, as squid will often attack these too.

Great spots to start looking for squid are the southern side of Peel Island or the weed beds of Stradbroke Island near Dunwich.

Tailor are predatory fish that are often seen harassing baitfish up the east coast of Australia.

Tailor are currently making their annual migration north to Fraser Island.

Plenty of tailor are being caught off the beaches and headlands off the Gold Coast.

If you are chasing these fish in the surf you will need a surf rod in order to cast your baits or lures past the waves to where the tailor are schooling.

Focus on areas where surf gutters are draining as this is a favourite spot for tailor to ambush baitfish.

Casting and retrieving pilchards or small metal lures seem to be the most consistent technique at the moment.

If you have a boat, try chasing schools of tailor hanging out in the Jumpinpin bar. These fish are smashing schools of baitfish and are willing to take surface poppers or small metal lures.

Baits of pilchards or flesh strip baits will also work.