Fishing Monthly Magazine | August 2020 by Fishing Monthly

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Fishing the shallows • Guide to catching flathead on soft plastics • Kayaking Woy Woy • SBT fishery debate • Who’s fishing in Victoria? • Fishing is the new therapy • REVIEW: Wilson’s Live Fibre Blades N Tails

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Boating Extra All new boating information • Bar Crusher 20 years • Haines launch SCBX modular boats • Lowrance next generation • Yamaha Helm Master EX joystick •

Technique Spotlight

Sean Thompson’s fishing the shallows

August, 2020 ISSN 2652-5798

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BALCATTA GETAWAY OUTDOORS BALCATTA 08 9344 7343 BALCATTA BCF 08 9240 1700 BUNBURY SPORTSMARINE 08 9721 4961 CANNINGTON BCF 08 9350 5888 ESPERANCE SOUTHERN SPORTS AND TACKLE 08 9071 3022 GERALDTON GERALDTON SPORTS CENTRE 08 9921 3664 GOSNELLS JET CYCLES & COMPLEAT ANGLER 08 9398 2359 JOONDALUP BCF 08 9301 4011 MANJIMUP ALEXANDER’S OUTDOOR & LEISURE 08 9771 2758 MIDLAND BCF 08 9250 2166 MYAREE BCF 08 9317 6011 SOUTH FREMANTLTE ANGLERS FISHING WORLD 08 9433 4768

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CONTENTS

OUR COVER August 2020, Vol. 1 No.4 TAS

QUEENSLAND Tweed 20 Gold Coast 24 Southern bay 25 Brisbane 26 Northern bay 28 Noosa 29 Hervey Bay 30 Yeppoon 31 Mackay 34 Whitsundays 36 Townsville 37 Lucinda 38 Hinchinbrook 38 Cairns 38 Port Douglas 38 Cooktown 40 Freshwater 44 NEW SOUTH WALES Pittwater 48 Sydney North 48 Sydney Rock 50 Sydney South 52 Yamba 54 Coffs Harbour 56 Hastings 58 Forster 59 Port Stephens 62 Swansea 63 Illawarra 64 Batemans Bay 65 Bermagui 66 Tathra 66 Canberra 72 Albury/Wodonga 74 Batlow 75 Hunter Valley 76 New England Rivers 77 VICTORIA West Coast 82 Warrnambool 83 Apollo Bay 82 Cobden 83 Geelong 84 PPB West 85 PPB East 86 PPB 88 Western Port 90 Phillip Island 91 Lakes Entrance 92 Marlo 93 Mallacoota 92 Gippsland Lakes 95 Robinvale 96 Wangaratta 97 Yarrawonga 96 Shepparton 98 Nagambie 98 Bendigo 99 W/S Gippsland 99 Ballarat 100 Eildon 101 6

AUGUST 2020

From the editor’s Desk...

Richard Patterson was very happy with his magic-metre Murray cod. He caught it off the top on a 300mm Savage Gear Wake Snake at Lake Eildon. A Ben Shuey image. Come and visit Fishing Monthly Group’s official Facebook page for all your monthly fishing information. Download QR Reader to access.

Victoria – we’re feeling for you! At the time of printing, our southern brothers were headed into another six weeks of COVID lockdowns to help combat the alarming rate of community transmission. Meanwhile, the rest of the country tiptoes out of the harsher COVID restrictions. I suppose we all have to brace for it, rolling lockdowns and acceptance of closures until there’s an effective vaccine. If there’s anything to learn from the last lockdown, it seems as though local fishing wasn’t a major risk to the spread of the disease and with any luck, anglers will still be afforded the opportunity to fish locally. It’s a shame, because anglers and boaties were going great guns supporting local independent businesses and tackle stores were reporting a solid increase of people either taking up or returning to fishing. Not just as anglers, but as members of our local communities, it’s up to us to keep doing the right thing and keep the virus under control. We know it’s a new normal, but we will have to live with it.

TASMANIA Hobart 102 WESTERN AUSTRALIA Esperance 104 Augusta 105 Bunbury 106 Mandurah 106 Metro 107 Lancelin 108 Geraldton 111 Kalbarri 111 Broome 112 Karratha 112 Freshwater 114

REGULAR FEATURES Fishing the shallows 8 Starlo’s back to basics 14 Tech Tricks 16 Soft plastic flathead fishing 18 Kayaking Woy Woy 73 Southern bluefin tuna fishery 78 Who’s fishing in Victoria 80 WIRF 102 Recfishwest 104 Trades and Services 116 What’s New Fishing 68 Tide page 118 COMPS AND OFFERS Find the logo Sub page Fun page

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ABT BACK FOR MOST Tournament anglers are excited that they’re able to compete again, even if it is in an environment where the excitement of a weigh-in is watered down. We’re looking forward to these guys developing new techniques and sharing their knowledge in the months to come. BIG BOATING EXTRA It only took a few months of the new format magazine for us to run out of space. We hope you enjoy the Boating Extra magazine inserted into this issue, it’s a compilation of a lot of product that would have been launched at various boat shows around the country, as it doesn’t look like we will be able to have a boat show in the near future at all. With the easing of Queensland COVID restrictions, we are now able to get out and complete more tests. There are plenty in the Boating Extra to keep you excited. SBT – JOIN THE DISCUSSION Finally, we waded into an interesting debate on southern bluefin tuna recently. Increasingly popular in the southern parts of the country, they’re a Commonwealthmanaged fishery for a species that swims all over the place and is accessed by anglers of various states. Given the recent decision to not change the recreational bag limits in Victoria, there was a super broad range of feedback – from elation to anger. We don’t mind what side of the fence that you sit on, but we do want you to make an informed decision. There’s some material inside to help stimulate that debate.

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Fishing the shallows BRISBANE

Sean Thompson

There is an old saying, ‘the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’. Likewise, in fishing there are those who believe you will catch more fish the further you can cast from the beach, river or estuary bank. Many boat anglers also roar off upstream from the boat ramp in search of fish in deep water far away from the shallows of the ramp or other inshore areas.

flathead, the bow wave of a big bream heading to deeper water or the turn and splash of a startled barramundi that had been feeding close to the bank. Of course, fish are not in the shallows all the time, it is a matter of choosing the right time and conditions to find the fish in the skinny water. Water temperature, time of day, changing lake levels, and wind all play a part in when and where fish are in the shallow water. These factors and their effect on the fish can vary by location, so let’s have a look at the many and varied

are a variety of shallow water locations, all worth targeting with a variety of different techniques. Let’s start with a couple of areas not all anglers venture up for one reason or another, big shallow bays and shallow little creeks. Shallow bays Surprisingly, shallow bays are one area of an estuary that gets little attention from many anglers. One of the reasons for this can be that the shallow waters rule out many bigger boats. Another reason can be that they are only really accessible at This fantastic shallow water combination of intersecting drains running off the flats into slightly deeper water produced a handful of good flathead.

Barra are a species that will stalk the warmer waters of the shallows for food. The reality is that in a number of fresh and saltwater environments the fish can be right at your feet or in and around structure on the shoreline. In fact, if you watch closely, even cautious anglers can accidentally spook fish from the shallows. Signs you have spooked the fish include a puff of mud or sand from a spooked

places you can find fish in the shallows and discuss how to best target them. ESTUARIES Let’s start with estuaries as these are not only the breeding grounds for many fish species, but they also contain some very big fish. Many of these large fish will patrol the shallows for food at certain times. Within estuaries there

high tide, thus reducing the fishing pressure on these areas. Less fishing pressure can mean more fish in these areas, but due to their very shallow nature, the fish are very cautious and flighty. This calls for some very targeted plans for these areas. See Table 1. and Table 2. on tips to fish shallow bays with bait or

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lures, what to avoid doing, as well as the tackle you should use. When it comes to lure fishing, shallow bays can be great places for anglers to start out, or for more experience anglers to target some great shallow structure practising a variety of techniques. Shallow creeks Many of the tips for lure and bait fishing the shallow bays are equally relevant for fishing shallow or narrow creeks in an estuary. Again, these places can be best fished towards the top of the tide. These shallow creeks can also be top spots for fish during the warmer middle parts of the day in winter, making the water just that bit warmer than the surrounding holes and

are great spots to move along quietly in the boat and cast lures at or under the structure. Once again, during the day, target the shady side of the creek. Lure casters should also look for darker sandy areas full of yabby holes to target big whiting towards the top of the tide on top-water lures. Some slight ripple on the water will work in your favour here, and remember for whiting, keep that lure moving, while if you see a bream chasing it, try a pause, wiggle then start again. For bait fishers, tossing an unweighted or lightly weighted yabbies, or live bloodworm into areas full of yabby holes can be a lot of fun to catch big bream and whiting. It can pay to pump yabbies into a sieve

prawns, live herrings or mullet cast in and under the structure with a tight drag. Boat ramps Boat ramps with associated cleaning facilities are another productive shallow water destination. What is so good about these cleaning facilities is that throughout the day, anglers are throwing in leftover bait, fish carcases and offal to the immediate surrounds. Yes, these areas do attract scavengers like pelicans and stingrays who clean a bit of this up, but it can also attract a variety of fish, from bream, flathead, trevally and even mangrove jack and cod particularly if the cleaning facilities extend out over the water providing cover for the fish. These areas are best

TABLE 1. BAIT FISHING BAY SHALLOWS Tips and Tricks • Anchor near structure such as trees, weed beds, rocks, or slightly deeper drains. • Use lightly weighted baits using soft whippy rods to flick them out. • Cast towards the structure or well away from the boat. • Wear camouflaged clothing or clothes that blend to your surroundings. • Use berley, like pre-packaged scented pellets or chopped-up pieces of flesh baits, such as tuna or pilchards and use bigger pieces. • Target areas at high tide with more water. • Oyster leases in shallow bays are top spots to target bream and flathead. Things to avoid • Don’t drift with bait on sunny days due to the boat’s shadow. • Heavy sinkers will splash loudly and make your bait look and feel unnatural. • Don’t set your lines close to the boat, due to boat noise or shadows spooking the fish. • Avoid wearing bright clothes fishing shallow water on clear days. • Don’t over berley. Use a berley pot and jiggle it regularly or only throw small handfuls of fine berley every 10 minutes or so. • Low tide can mean you could get stuck, or get mud/sand through your motor. therefore attracting the fish. Look too for any areas of rocks that extrude from the water as these will act like insulators and warm the surrounding water. Shallow creeks can be also great places to troll shallow diving lures with a quiet electric motor on the first couple of hours of the falling tide until you run out of water. The cut-away banks and fallen trees

at high tide to attract the whiting and bream into the berley trail you are creating. Around the structure of fallen trees and rocks, mangrove jack and barramundi or estuary perch and bass can reside in these areas, depending on your location in the northern or southern parts of our continent. Top baits will vary by species but include live unweighted

fished around dusk into the evening with plenty of berley in the water and under the cover of darkness. ‘Match-thehatch’ so to speak and use unweighted baits of fish flesh like bonito, mullet or pilchards in circle or octopus hook patterns for quick hook-ups. In season, a live prawn bait can also be extremely productive. You don’t want to be

casting well out and way from the structure, but in close in these spots. Some of these facilities have permanent lights that attract baitfish at night and make it easier for anglers to see. If there is light on the water, just fish the demarcation zone of the shadows and light, where the fish will be holding. If the platform is over the water you want to place your baits just under the edge of the platform, but

hold your rod, have a tight drag and hold on! Shallow flats Shallow estuary flats are those areas that I’d define as less than a metre and a half of water. The best fishing times in these areas vary according to the tide and the structure of the sand/mud flats. Let’s have a look at how to target them firstly from a boat, then on foot. From a boat There are a few

different ways you can fish the estuary shallows from a boat. Cast and retrieving, drifting baits, trolling and anchored up. Let’s start with drifting baits. Because the water is so shallow, you want to ensure that the lines you are drifting are out to the front or back of your boat if possible or if the drift makes it difficult, at least a long cast from the boat. This is because your boat will cast a shadow over the

TABLE 2. LURE FISHING SHALLOW BAYS Tips and Tricks • Cast hardbodies to the edges of structure like trees, weed beds, oyster covered rocks, oyster leases and cutaway banks. • During the day, target the shady side of the bay where the fish will be sheltering. • With your plastics, use small hops to avoid the lure coming out of the water. • Also with plastics, use a sideways action with the rod to impart 4-5 little rips of the rod, then let the jighead settle before going again. • Wear camouflaged clothing or clothes that blend to your surroundings. • Troll soft plastic tails or fish patterns using 1/6 to 1/4oz jigheads. • Troll lures up and down oyster racks and past disused posts and structure. Tackle Tips • Use shallow running hardbodies that dive to about 1-1.3m or topwater lures that have a popping or walk the dog action. • Use light weighted jigheads of 1/20-1/8oz for bream and 1/8-1/6oz for flatties in the shallows. In stronger winds you can go to 1/4oz. • Use the lightest fluorocarbon leader you can get away with, e.g. 4lb for bream and 10lb for flathead. • Choose your fluorocarbon leaders carefully, choose brands that have a smaller diameter for their strength in the shallows. • Light graphite rods in the 1-2kg or 2-3kg range are perfect in these shallow water environments. • Ensure your spool is filled to within a couple of millimeters of the lip to ensure long casts away from the boat. • Quiet electric motors are perfect for sneaking around in or trolling in these shallow bays.

The author hooked up standing well back from a shallow high tide gutter shore break. water and potentially spook fish nearby. For this reason, particularly on really clear sunny days, it can pay to either get out of the boat and wade, or anchor up. Anchoring up in the shallows can be productive provided you keep boat noise to a minimum. The advantage of this approach is you are not moving around in really shallow water spooking the fish and you can even bring the

fish to you by using berley. A commercial berley container hung off the side of the boat is a great idea, full of a mixture of either pre-seasoned pellets from the tackle shop, or some chicken pellets from your local pet produce shop combined with tuna oil and some cut up pieces of old bait or fish frames. A great option when anchored is to cast out 3-4 set baits and lay the rods

low and flat on the boat or in rod holders that allow this. This way the fish can pull off line sufficiently that the rod slowly lows up and they hook themselves, as opposed to feeling the resistance of a rod set up nearly vertical in a rod holder. Two types of hooks are especially good for this set and forget technique. The first are small Tru-Turn To page 10

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From page 9

hooks (size 4-6) for baits like worms and yabbies for whiting, bream, flathead and trevally. The bent cam-shaft design in these incredible hooks mean that whenever the fish picks up the bait, the cam will turn the hook so the point of the hook swivels upwards and catches in the top or side of the fish’s mouth. I honestly use no other hooks

are fishing ahead of the boat, rather than behind it and thus in an area where your boat might have already spooked the fish. Having an electric motor, especially with spot-lock, is an even better option. For lure casting the flats in a boat you want to be targeting the entrances of drains, melon holes, the edges of weed beds and sandy pockets in between

A gentle southeasterly breeze over shallow water flats can be enough to really turn the fish on.

Grunter are an excellent by-catch when fishing shallow water drop-offs on the flats with soft plastics.

flats adjacent to areas like mangroves on high tide. You can use the same hardbody lures, or soft plastic tails. With the plastics, I use Tackle Tactics light gauge jig heads of about 1/4oz to 3/8th of an ounce to get your tail swimming more naturally and close to the bottom. Finally, when you do hook a hook fish, troll back over that spot again and again for schooling fish like flathead. I caught and released 6 flathead in a one hundred metre stretch of water in just over an hour doing exactly that in my local creek recently. Estuary flats on foot Estuary flats are one of my favourite fishing locations on foot. No technology, just you, your senses and the fish. However, as I’ve gone into

a lot of ground and pick up some really good fish including monster flathead. Shallow water trolling in less than 1.5m of water can be done using shallow diving lures or soft plastics, particularly tails. The key with this style of fishing is that you don’t want to be just trolling the vast random shallows throughout an estuary you want to be targeting specific areas at specific times. That is, in the last two hours of the falling tide you want to be trolling the

The author’s rod set low to the ground for less resistance and set back from the shallow water’s edge at Lake Jindabyne, NSW.

Trolling very close to the edge of the sand/mudflat with shallow diving lures is a great option on the last two hours of low tide. for whiting these days they are so much more effective than other types. A second type of effective hook for this style of fishing are circle or wide gape hooks. These are great to insert through a pilchard tail, a cube of bonito or similar flesh bait. With these hooks, you don’t touch the rod if you see a bite, rather you wait for the fish to run off with the bait and the drag on the reel and bend of the rod will hook the fish. Lure casting from a boat along the estuary flats is another effective technique. If you are drifting try and position your casts so you 10

AUGUST 2020

wed beds. The edge of drop-offs into deep water is also a great option particularly on a falling tide for flathead. I only use light gauge jigheads in the shallows to allow a more natural presentation of soft plastics. You will be amazed at the subtle difference heavy, extra strong jigheads can mean to the swimming style of small tails, grubs or minnows and using light line they are also less effective than light gauge hooks in pinning fish in their bony mouths. Trolling the estuary flats is an extremely productive way to cover

edges of drops offs into deeper water or across entrances to drains or deeper creeks. When you do this you are best to run a shallow diving lure that only dives to 1.2-1.5m like the very effective Zerek Bulldog Crank or Lively Lures Micro-mullet on the shallow side, and then if the other side of your boat

drops into deeper water, using a deeper diving lure, which dives to 2.3-2.5m, and have your rod out at right angles to your boat to get out to this slightly deeper water. Tilsan minnow lures distributed by Halco are one of my go-to lures in this depth. The other option is to troll right up on the sand

The author with another flathead using small diving lures like the Zerek Bulldog Crank in water less than 1.5m.

some detail on fishing the flats in previous Fishing Monthly articles, I will just cover the basics of where to fish and the right conditions here. Like boat fishing, remember you are in very skinny water, so when on foot you should move slowly and quietly and throw your first casts from the sand into the shallow water on the margins before you wade into the water. The longer the cast the better to cover more ground, unless you locate fish at a particular location. Basically, you can arrive at the estuary flats either by foot or if you need to, by boat. But if you do the latter be sure to pull your boat up on the flats in an area away from where you want to fish so you don’t spook the fish on the way in. When bait fishing the flats, I like to time my arrival two-three hours before low to pump yabbies or, if that is not possible, To page 12

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To page 10

bring live bait with me like live beach or blood worms. The important thing about fishing the shallow flats with bait is picking your spot. The flats can be vast and there can be a lot of unproductive water in between. Avoid those areas of the flats that feature hard featureless sand. These areas are devoid of bait and therefore fish. Rather, look for softer sand and the many features within it that carry bait like yabbies, small crabs and worms. Small pockets or indents in the sand no more than a metre or so in diameter are top spots to target and are colloquially referred to as melon holes. These are formed in dark, softer sand by big stingrays that bury themselves in the sand in hiding to attack small whiting or baitfish swimming past. They may also be formed by an intersection of current lines running in on the flats channelling out little craters and holes. These shallow drains are great places to chase whiting in the first 2-3 hours of the

rising tide before they spread out on the flats or head right up to the mangrove line or up nearby creeks. Towards the top of the tide, right up hard against the shoreline (with similar type soft sand) and right up to the edge of mangrove roots can be great places to target fish like whiting and bream. You can then follow the drains back out as the tides drop. Towards low, finding higher sandbanks into slightly deeper ‘shallows’ can be the best target areas. Flicking the flats with soft plastics or shallow diving lures is incredibly productive and, as noted above, covered in detail in some of my previous articles. Nonetheless the areas I mentioned in lure casting the flats from a boat are your main target areas. The last two hours of the falling tide is also ideal for flicking the flats for flathead. Conditions Wind can play a big part in shallow water fishing and estuary flats are no different. Calm, glassy days might be very pleasant for anglers, but they spook the fish

The author fooled this lovely lizard in a sky coloured camouflage shirt and cap in skinny water. and see them steer clear of the shallows in all but the change of light periods. On the other hand, a light gentle breeze on the water can be enough to bring the fish in close to shore

Using an electric motor to quietly manoeuvre around while casting lures in estuaries is a great option.

to feed. In fact, on some of my favourite estuary flats on the western side of Fraser Island, the estuary fishing can really fire up and the fish variety increase after several days of southeast winds. These winds mean baitfish take shelter close to shore and the slightly discoloured water created from the lapping waves on the shores muddy/sandy shores creates a perfect ambush environment for several species including those more generally found on nearby reefs. Under these conditions we have caught snapper, estuary cod, grunter, small mackerel and more, in a foot or two of water. However, several days of northerly winds though can have the opposite effect on the shallows. This is because of the Coriolis effect, which essentially results in an upwelling of cold water from the depths pushed to the surface and towards land or the beach.

This results in colder, dirty water close to shore that can shut the fishing down for a few days. SHALLOW BEACH GUTTERS Beach fishing is one of life’s simple pleasures and the shallows of the beach can produce some fantastic light line fishing at times. But being able to ‘read the beach’ is the key to success as is using the right techniques and tackle. Stomping in to the shallow surf gutters will scare away any whiting, bream, dart and such like, just as it does when anglers stomp into the shallow estuary flats. Whiting are one fish that are regularly right in the beach shallows feeding on things like beachworms and pipis around the shore break. At times they will follow breaking waves right up onto the sand to feed, then quickly retreat as the wave recedes. There are a couple of great shallow water gutter formations for whiting.

These include low tide little gutters that form right on the shoreline of the beach and the gutter often closes up to a sandbank at one end. This is often referred to as a ‘blind end’. The best of these gutters then has a shallow sandbank heading off at right angles to the beach behind the inner gutter and opening up a deeper water entrance at the other end. Waves breaking over the back sandbank send a cover of wash over the gutter for the fish to have enough protection from predators like birds to feed. On the other hand, productive shallow beach gutters can also be found at high tide as well. These can be in the form of large shallow holes near the beach that have filled with the tide. Another good option at high tide are shallow gutters where the small waves form and roll over the gutter but break on soft coarse sand on the beach. This looser sand means worms and pipis can be exposed much easier for the fish and so they sit just behind the wave break and feed on them. In these gutters you want to be standing at least 5m or so from the water’s edge to avoid spooking the fish and just lob your bait behind the shore break. It can pay to have a slightly heavier sinker here, say a size 4 ball if the pressure of the dump washes your bait up the beach. Otherwise just cast 1-2m behind the shore dump. SHALLOW REEF AREAS Yet another shallow water area that doesn’t get as much attention from anglers as deeper areas are shallow reef areas along the foreshores of bays, like Moreton Bay in Queensland or bay islands. These areas can be very productive when they are isolated patches of reef covered in oysters, coral and algae.

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They serve two purposes, protection for the fish and food. Apart from the food on them, they also attract baitfish to them, another reason for the bigger fish. Bay islands can also be very productive areas where the reefie rocky foreshores meet a mangrove-lined shore. The fish will come and feed right up in these

plastics on 1/16-1/8oz in the very shallow water. Target patches of sand between the reefie areas or cast right up to the edge of the mangrove roots. LAKE MARGINS Unfortunately, there was not enough room in this article to go into detail on other shallow water locations like

grubs and small yabbies are top baits for winter, once again along with the artificial powerbait. Shallow flats close to rocky areas, yabby banks or sandy flats that hold food for the fish are effective. These areas are best fished prior to dawn and into the very early morning, or dusk into the early evening.

Trolling lures in shallow water close to mangroves or submerged tree roots is productive just as the tide starts to fall. shallows on the high tide on very overcast or rainy days or during other low light periods, like dawn, dusk and at night. Ultra-caution is required to keep your noise down in these areas. It can pay to either anchor just off these areas and cast

freshwater lakes, rivers or dams. However, I will briefly touch on a couple of considerations in these locations. Firstly, in the mountain lakes, spring can be a great time to fish the very shallow lake margins for trout (in water of 1.5m or

For native species like barramundi, the shallow lake margins can also be very effective around the lower light periods or on cloudy days as these areas are warmer than the deeper water nearby. The fish will come into these areas to feed during these times.

Tru-Turn hooks are extremely effective, pinning fish with their bent cam in the shank creating a rotational swing towards the pressure point. unweighted flesh baits, fresh or live prawns or fresh squid for snapper, sweetlip, cod, parrotfish, tuskfish, bream and more. Circle or wide gap hooks on a set rod works well. If there is sufficient depth to move around quietly with an electric motor, this too can be a great option for casting very shallow diving lures or lightly weighted soft

often less than a metre). This is because snow melt is pushing the water up over grassy/muddy areas full of worms, beetles or insects and so baits of scrub worms, mudeyes under a float, or a double dropper rig of worm and powerbait can be very effective. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dismiss the shallows in winter for trout too, it is just that a change of bait is called for. Bardi

WRAPPING UP So, there you go. Fishing the shallows can be incredibly productive across a range of different fishing structures and locations provided you use the right techniques at the right times. So, think twice next time you get in the boat and roar off to the depths or wade out through the shallows on foot and cast off into the nevernever. The fish might just be right under your nose. AUGUST 2020

Fishing as therapy NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.fishotopia.com

Most of us firmly believe that fishing is good for us, but did you know that the science actually proves this claim beyond all doubt? One thing many of us have realised across the past five months — through the various stages of COVID lockdown, social distancing and self-isolation — is the significant importance of fishing to our sense of wellbeing. If you’re anything like me, you probably start to become a little ‘antsy’ after a week or two without wetting a line! We’re not alone in this… As well as being a great stress reliever, fishing recreationally gives us the opportunity to spend quality time with our family and friends, as well as meeting new contacts and sharing skills and information with others. These basic human

interactions offer important social and mental health benefits in themselves, but the gains actually go quite a bit further than that. In recent decades,

Legendary Aussie actor and comedian Garry McDonald (aka Norman Gunston) has been a powerful advocate for mental health initiatives and is a firm believer in the restorative powers of fishing. He caught these cracking black bream while flicking a lure on the far south coast of NSW.

Fishing helps us to connect and re-connect with others and is good for people of all ages.

The author with a beautiful brown trout he landed during a Fly Program mental health workshop in the Snowy Mountains region of southern NSW.

AUGUST 2020

health professionals have finally come to recognise and embrace the multiple wellbeing benefits of recreational fishing. In a benchmark U.S. study

conducted some years ago, 67 military veterans who’d been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were medically assessed prior to, during, and a month after their involvement in a four-day fly fishing camp. Statistically significant reductions in stress levels, sleep issues, anxiety, depression, negative mood states and PTSD symptoms were observed in the participants during and after the camp, and these clinical observations were supported by measurements of physiological markers in the saliva and urine of the participants. Other studies have repeatedly reinforced these findings and confirmed that fishing can be an important

factor in improving our state of wellbeing. As a result, mental health initiatives such as Australia’s celebrated Fly Program (www.flyprogram.org.au) now actively employ fishing as a tool in the treatment of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress, as do similar groups around the globe, such as Project Healing Waters (www. projecthealingwaters.org) and Take A Soldier Fishing (www.takeasoldierfishing. org) in the United States. Similarly, fly fishing is also being used as a therapy to speed the recovery of breast cancer survivors through programs such as Casting for Recovery (www. c a s t i n g f o r r e c o v e r y. o rg . au). The founders of this unique concept realised that fly casting’s upper body movements provide gentle exercise, as well as reducing the tendency for mastectomy scars to adhere to nearby tissue, thus limiting a survivor’s flexibility of movement… and that’s without even getting into the important mental health benefits.

So, fishing heals both bodies and minds, but equally as important, all of these programs and many others like them allow participants to share their experiences with a supportive group of their peers in a safe, nurturing environment. This inclusiveness has proven invaluable, and has also been extended to fishing-based programs involving children,

adolescents, minority groups and those with special needs. The message is loud and clear: don’t be afraid to trumpet the health benefits of our shared passion when you speak to sceptics and non-believers, and particularly to decision makers. We’ve known for years that fishing is good for us, and now science and the medical fraternity agree!

It’s about much more than catching fish. The Fly Program’s Matt Tripet (left) and Garry McDonald take a break from the river for lunch.

Any product carrying the Saltist name invokes a level of trust and dependability few others can match. The original Saltist Hyper is arguably the cause of such a feeling, with thousands of anglers Australia wide relying on the rods during some of their most memorable moments on the water. The blank of the all new 20 Saltist Hyper is where the bulk of the advancements have been made, next gen X45’s ability to increase torsional stiffness works wonders on offshore rods, where casting performance using heavy weight lures can often mean the difference between catching a fish and going home empty-handed. 20 Saltist Hyper rods feel crisper and more responsive than their predecessors, and outcast and outperform them across all levels. The 20 Saltist Hyper brings with it a host of new actions dedicated to the growth in the lure casting sportfishing market that is so prevalent in coastal Australian waterways. Whether it’s throwing stickbaits for tuna or reef species over shallow coral flats, or throwing a timber hardbody off the break walls of the northern rivers for Mulloway, there’s now a 20 Saltist Hyper for almost every conceivable mission. For all models of the new 20 Saltist Hyper, head over to www.daiwafishing.com.au to find out more.

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Tech Tricks

Targeting tailor: make a baitfish casting rig BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

Many anglers target tailor during the cooler months along the eastern facing

beaches of Southern Queensland, Northern NSW and further afield along the East Coast of Australia. The most common bait for these is the humble pilchard, however garfish

are also readily used. Casting out these baits and letting it just sink to the bottom or waft about is a common practice. One technique that will often increase results is slowly retrieving the bait after casting out. This is

To make this rig you will need one each of the following: VMC 9255 4/0, 5/0, 6/0 and Shogun rolling swivel #4 and #5. Also some red and silver krystal flash, scarlet red flat-waxed nylon thread, 140lb piano wire, a #22/38/05 size open net lead and blood red nail polish. Tools required are sturdy pliers, side cutters, bobbin and a hammer. An additional swivel is required if you want to add one to the front hook eyelet, however I usually tie straight to the eye with the leader.

Put the #4 rolling swivel on the 6/0 hook and the #5 rolling swivel on the 5/0 hook. Put the 4/0 hook eyelet onto the other side of the swivel on the 5/0 hook and squeeze the eyelet closed so these two are now attached. Also squeeze shut the eyelet on the 6/0 hook but leave the 5/0 hook open.

Continue wrapping the wire around the shank for 8-10 turns. Make sure both ends of the wire are facing upwards when you finish. The springy nature of the piano wire will mean that it will recoil slightly so you may need to make a couple of adjustments until it sits right. 16

AUGUST 2020

often deadly for those large greenbacks that all strive to score. Additionally it allows you to cover more water in your search. While just pinning a pilchard or garfish on a set of ganged hooks can work,

better presentation will greatly increase results, especially on those larger, more wary greenbacks. A well-rigged bait will not spin in the current appearing more natural. Additionally, it will hold onto the hooks

better during multiple casts. The baitfish casting rig is an amalgamation of a flasher rig and a bait trolling rig. It can have numerous variations in size and colours but the version demonstrated here is a staple version that works

Open the eye of all the hooks by using the side cutters to pinch the gap at the eye of the hook. As you squeeze the pliers closed, roll your hand outwards to open the gape just enough to be able to put a swivel on. Opening hook eyes this way with side cutters is much better than using the cone shaped tooth that some multi-purpose pliers have.

Hold a length of the 140lb piano wire against the hook shank with pliers and begin wrapping the tag end around the shank. If you have a bench vise or locking pliers you could additionally use these to hold the hook.

Position the wire coil with the front tag end about 5mm behind the hook eye and facing upwards. Place the #22/38/05 open net lead over the hook shank as shown and begin squeezing shut with the pliers. Ensure the swivel is down towards the bend of the hook.

Tech Tricks well. I like the blood red colour as it looks like a bleeding bait, however pink, glow and lumo are other good options. The krystal flash adds lifelike appeal and the coloured weight adds interest. I like to paint the lead with nail polish as it

is easy to use, dries quickly, comes in a wide array of colours, including glow in the dark, and is cheap at a lot of places. One variation that I like over many other ganged rigs is to use tapering hook sizes. Due to the weight

being on the front hook, I use a bigger hook size than those in the rest of the rig and the sizes will depend on the bait used. I commonly use a 6/0, 5/0 and 4/0 for average sized pilchards. For longer pencil gar a four hook rig of 6/0, 5/0, 4/0 and 4/0

Place the net lead on a hard, flat surface and bang lightly with a hammer to further close the net lead and secure it tightly around the hook shank with the two wire tag ends facing upwards in line with the hook point.

You can begin dressing up the rig with some krystal flash. I like to add some red just behind the net lead as this imitates bleeding from the gills. A bit of silver on the rear 4/0 hook adds some flash and almost make it look like the tail is flicking. Bind the krystal flash on with flat-waxed nylon thread and coat it with head cement, or even a little nail polish, to stop it all unravelling if one strand is nicked with a tooth.

and for larger gar 6/0, 6/0, 5/0 and 4/0. I commonly use the VMC 9255 as they are an inline hook and very sharp. The Tru-Turn 711 is suitable for all rear hooks and have a reputation for setting better than many other hooks. However, you will need to

use a VMC 9255 for the front hook as the shank is straight and the weight is easily crimped to it. The rear hook doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to be pinned in the bait and can be left freely swinging if you wish. A small Colorado blade can be added to the

rear hook for some extra flash. You will need to snip off the tail of the baitfish to ensure the blade spins freely. There are a lot of options for this rig, and the following is instruction on making the basic baitfish casting rig.

When properly closed, the net lead should look like this and be securely fixed to the hook shank with no movement. You can trim the tag ends of both pieces of wire to about 3cm (long enough to fully pass through the head of the bait with a few millimetres protruding out the top of the head).

Extra colour can be added by painting the net lead with some nail polish. I find this is much more durable than normal paint and less hassle than powder paint. Also it dries quickly so multiple coats can be done without a long dry time between each. If you want a more natural look then you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to paint it at all.

Connect the rear two hooks to the swivel on the front one and squeeze the 5/0 eyelet shut. Our finished rig (bottom one) will look somewhat like this. The other two rigs are variations, one with a small Colorado blade to add some extra flash and enticement and the other in pink, another productive colour.

Both garfish and pilchards can be fished on these rigs. The pilchard is put on in the conventional method and the two wire spikes are pushed up through the head of the pilchard. Once a small band (these are a girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hair band which you can also get in clear) is looped over the spike, wrapped around the head and looped over the spike again the head will be secured to the rig with the mouth of the bait secured shut. This bait can be cast and retrieved and will hold together well until a big greenback, mackerel or other predator annihilates it. AUGUST 2020

Flathead

A guide to catching flathead on soft plastics bottom again to rest. The less energy they use the better! If you are fishing from the bank then you want to cast out towards these spots.

VICTORIA

Nikki Bryant

We have been fishing as a family for over 15 years and in that time I have taught my three children how to catch flathead on soft plastics. We started with bait but soon discovered targeting flathead on lures was so much fun and easy to do. As well as teaching our kids, I have shared my knowledge with older anglers just getting into fishing and those who

likely find more fish. If you don’t get a bite after peppering an area, then move the boat 50m or walk along and start again. When land-based, just

A selection of paddle-tail lures ranging from 70-100mm in a variety of colours. This is all you need for a great day on the water. caught a 45cm flattie – a quality catch on a cheap kid’s outfit. Spending a bit more money will get you a graphite rod, which will allow you to feel when the fish bite your lure, and a reel with a smoother drag. Buy the best you can afford. I would also recommend spending a little extra and getting braid on the reel as it has no stretch, so again you feel every

These techniques can be used walking the banks of any estuary. You would be surprised at the size of some of the flathead that have been caught just a few metres from the shore. be afraid to hit the same spot multiple times as flatties may not take your lure the first time, but may the next

Quality dusky flathead like this one over 70cm are a relatively common occurrence in the estuaries of Gippsland. normally bait fish. I want to share these secrets so you may decide to try soft plastics or, even better, use it as a way of taking someone else out and introducing them to the wonderful world of fishing. You need to target a fish that is relatively easy to catch – flathead fall into this category. They are all over this great

Whether you are in a boat or fishing from the bank, make sure your casts are covering all the water. I like to cast 360 degrees around the boat, but don’t

strolling along is a good technique. If you still aren’t having any luck, then change your

It has great movement in the water and works with any retrieve. A 70-100mm size plastic is perfect for beginners as they will catch any sized flathead, even ones up near the metre mark. My PB flattie of 88cm came on a 70mm lure, so remember that elephants do eat peanuts! One jighead will be all you need to get started, I Lip hook-ups are very common when targeting flathead with soft plastics, meaning the fish can easily be released. Hayden got to take the fishing rod and reel he got for his birthday and hook a quality flathead all by himself. The smile says it all.

A light graphite rod with a 2500 sized reel spooled up with some braid is a pleasure to use when targeting flathead. country of ours and they are fantastic to eat! I am going to keep the tech talk really simple. You don’t need to over complicate things but you do need to get some basics right. A plain old paddle-tail style lure is my preferred soft plastic. 18

AUGUST 2020

recommend a 7g jighead with a size 2/0 hook. When we first started fishing soft plastics with the kids, they had the classic kids’ combos in their favourite colour. Hayden’s rod was green, so of course he had a green lure on to match. He

bite. However, if you are using braid you will need to have a leader tied on. A rod length of 10lb fluorocarbon is a great place to start. A good location to find flathead would be in a sheltered estuary, somewhere out of the wind. Flathead like dropoffs where they can lie in ambush. When we fish from the boat in an estuary system we park just over casting distance from the edge, choosing points that drop off into deeper water or shallow edges to about 5m. The fish lie on these ledges waiting for their next meal to swim passed. They take off like lightening to get the bait then hit the

or the one after that. Once you hook a fish, or even get a bite, concentrate on that depth as you will most

Rhys caught this 86cm flathead on a 70mm soft plastic only 2m from the bank in a couple of inches of water. Simply the fish of a lifetime!

lure. This can be a colour change or a different size plastic, you just need to mix it up until you find what they want on the day. One other piece of advice I can give is to use scent on your soft plastics. I have had many discussions with other anglers on the topic and the general consensus is yes, it plays a part in the hook up rate. This is because in makes the lure taste like something the fish wants to eat. Most scents these days also contain a stimulant that encourages the fish to bite. One other advantage of using scent is that it masks any human odours that could put the fish off taking your lure. Hopefully, these tips will help you create great memories and introduce someone to the joys of fishing soft plastics.

AUGUST 2020

Southern

OLD

Predator stomachs are bursting with bait it at the right depth, as current, wind and the drift will change. You would be surprised how many fish we catch like this. Fishing this style of plastic allows

THE TWEED

Anthony Coughran

Finally the winter weather has arrived, despite a bit of a slow start with the offshore season. The currents have finally slowed and the fish are schooling up on close reefs. Mixed reefies, cobia, mulloway and kingies have all been in good numbers over the last month. The estuaries have been cooking lately, with high volumes of fry and bait fish in the rivers. Every hole and deeper water in the river is holding large volumes of bait, which is keeping good numbers of predators gorging themselves in these holes. The beaches are fishing very well now. Lots of

Wayno Lee Leong scored the early morning bite window on metals.

Jonathon Pierce is finding good catches. species are working their way along the beach at the moment with the annual tailor and mullet run.

The last lot of swell has created some great gutters along southern beaches and the westerlies are

helping fishos reach wider schools of fish. OFFSHORE Finally the currents have slowed off of Tweed, which has brought the mixed reefies, cobia, kings, mulloway, tailor and, unfortunately, some big packs of leatherjackets. All reefs out to the 50s are fishing well, with most close reefs alive at the moment. There are some very noisy reefs out there, which means healthy reefs – lots of snapping, cracking and popping going on. A healthy reef attracts bait, which attracts the predators. Some very big knobbies, Spangos, pearlies, sea perch, Maori cod and an array of mixed reef species from red emperor right through to parrot and wrasse. Plastics in 5-9”, micros 40-120g, octo 50-120g and drift baits are still fishing best on Tweed reefs. The pick of the drift baits this month are half pillies, whole small squid, mac tuna strips, and combo

There are still some nice whiting around the holes, this 39cm victim fell to a ZX40. 20

AUGUST 2020

you to still throw another plastic around, or drop a jig or drift bait, which will double your chances. I like to run slightly heavier gear, as you tend

baits. The 5-9” crazy legs, jerk shads, grubs and wriggle tails are working better then paddle-tails this month. A good tip for August is to try trailing a grub, wriggle tail out the back and in the rod holder, then set the depth of 1ft off the bottom with a weighted jighead. When it hits the bottom, give it a turn or two. Set it in the rod holder with a medium drag and let the swell do all the work for you. You may need to keep letting out line to keep

The author with a quality bag of mixed reefies on plastics and jigs.

Blake Wilson with a decent flathead that munched his yabby while drifting.

to have a lot of line out when fishing this rig. Lots of line out means they have a head start on the reef. So 20-35lb braid and 30-40lb leader will stop those bigger fish from getting into those bommies. Look to live baits and big strip baits after the whales have passed and to the wrecks for the cobia, with the odd mulloway around. There are still a few packs of tuna coming through, look to the birds and the trough behind the ways. A few packs of tailor are also being caught off the back side of the breaking beach waves. A good skipper and reliable boat is needed for this style of fishing. Always keep your motor running and nose into the on coming waves. ESTUARY The estuary is alive with fry and bait and is really dictating where and when the main predators are sitting and hunting. Every hole and deep water from the mouth to the brackish is holding fry and bait balls. Bream, whiting, soapy and school mulloway, tailor, giant herring, flathead and a variety of trevally species, such as bracies, big eye, GT and even the

OLD

odd golden. Trying to match the hatch of these small fry and bait is very tricky and you’re better off going as small as you can but still for a reaction bite. ZX40’s are perfect for these bait laden holes. But 2-5” plastics, 20-30g vibes and micros are still working well. If the trevs are busting the bait up, retrieve a Splash Prawn and Sugapen through these bust ups will prove too much for these trevs and will smash your lure. Same principle applies with ZX40s – drop them to the bottom and give them short sharp stabbing jigs, like a pendulum. These jabs in the lure give its sharp hops across the bottom and act like a wounded fish or prawn. The constant motion of the lure is too much for them to resist. Once you’re up off the bottom, pause and drop back to the bottom, keep repeating the process as it won’t take long. So many different species will eat these lures. I like to run 8-16lb, which is light enough for the bream and whiting, but will also stop the school mulloway up to 1m. Fishing the same holes at night with baits and live baits can produce some good bream and mulloway up around a metre. Live pike, whiting, herring and poddies are all fishing best around the slack tides. Some large bream are being caught on strip baits in the same holes, with a special mention to the rock walls around the river mouth. Some big packs of bream are schooling up there, along with schools of choppers.

The ZX40 is doing all the damage in the rivers. Small metals, blades, vibes and plastics are all working well. However, you may need to chase them along the wall with the tide as they have been running up the river with the incoming tide. There are some good packs of luderick around. Try wire and cabbage weed on the run out tide around dry dock road, the tick gates rock wall, out front of scales, Boyds, the Blue

Hole, Nusics Hole, Fingal wall, Barneys, South Kingy Rock wall, Kingy Bridge, Hasting Bridge and the rock walls at Brunswick Heads. There’ll be good flathead up in the shallows. Plastics, vibes, blades, hardbodied lures, yabbies and worms are all fishing well on the bottom of the run out. BEACH The beaches are producing good catches with the winter westerlies

as the water temps are warmer than the air temp. Tailor, bream, trevally, bonito, flathead and even mulloway are all being caught along the beaches, headlands and the rock walls from the boarder to Byron. The key bite windows are crucial to scoring: Night/ early morning slack tides are best for the mulloway; high tide with metals, poppers and stick baits at dusk and dawn around the rock walls and headlands for tailor; run out tides for gutter fishing with baits and artificials for tailor, bream, trevally and flathead. There are some great bread and butter species on light gear in the shallow gutter at low tide on small plastics, small metals and blades. The last of the run out is fishing best. It’s all about finesse – light gear, small lures in a small gutter at low tide. This can be very addictive if you get onto a pack of fish, such as tailor, trevally or even bream. A few packs of luderick with the odd blue grouper and drummer have been hanging around the headland and beach reefs, like Kingy, Hastings, Black Rock and Brunswick. Cabbage weed is best for luderick. Dummer and blue grouper will hit a variety of baits from live worms to bread and even strip baits. NEXT MONTH The snapper and mixed reefies will keep feeding and spawning on the close reefs, as their lives are dictated by the moon and their appetite feeds the urge to spawn. Fishing the close reefs at dusk and dawn will see you score the bigger reef models. Then moving wider as the sun rises will see

you stay onto the bite and better fish. Mulloway will hang on the close reefs and wrecks while the tailor and mullet are running. Cobia will keep tailing the pods of whales and will take rest and feed breaks on our reefs. Bream will continue to thicken up. Try the night run in with various

Southern

baits over the next month. Schoolies and soapies will continue to fatten up in the holes. Try ZX40s, vibes and plastics. Fishing the shallows in August will only get better for flatfish, and the same for the beaches. Those westerlies will make for better beach fishing weather. Get out there and get into them.

Gaz from Caloundra caught this 65cm flathead near Turkey Island on the Clarence.

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There are plenty of good options for August GOLD COAST

David Green

So far this winter the weather has made offshore fishing quite difficult. A mix of strong cold south westerlies and howling southerlies has made access to the offshore reefs difficult. For the first half of August, snapper and pearl perch are off limits due to the one month closed season. This makes it hard for the local charter boat fleet who are all doing it tough after months of lockdown. Good options for August include kingfish and amberjack, and a lot of boats will probably

Pearl perch are off limits until 15 August.

The bigger flatties start to move towards the entrances and river mouths this month in preparation for spawning.

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chase gamefish. So far the offshore water temperatures have been holding around 23ºC and the season change seems to be a month or more late. August is a great month to chase mulloway on the offshore reefs. Most of the action takes place just after sunset or around dawn and live slimy mackerel, tailor and pike are generally the best baits. The high reefs on 18 fathoms and the artificial reefs known as the blocks are fishing well. A tide change just on dusk definitely seems to help. Most of the offshore mulloway are between 90-110cm long. If you happen to stumble on a spot and catch a mulloway, there is a good chance it will be continually productive, which usually means there is a ledge, cave or deep hole somewhere nearby. These fish are rarely encountered on flat gravelly reef. Out on the continental shelf there may be a few yellowfin tuna and striped marlin, and the odd blue

marlin if the temperature holds around 23ºC. It is surprising how well August can fish wide off the Gold Coast. If there is bait present and birds are active the fish won’t be too far away. There can be good numbers of striped marlin on the 36 and 50 fathom line in August, and sometimes they will chase up a fish when you are bottom fishing. There can also be reasonable sized black marlin holding around the newly installed FADS where they chase juvenile mahimahi. A lot of local boats are gearing up for deep dropping way past the 50 fathom line using electric reels. Good catches of blue eye, bar cod and flame snapper have been caught in the last month and there is always the chance of connecting to a swordfish. Some really pig pearl perch are also showing on pinnacles out to depths of 200m, but you will have to wait until after 15 August to target them. In closer to shore on the 18 and 20 fathom reefs off Southport and Surfers Paradise there should be a few cobia, teraglin, snapper and tailor. Fishing a mix of live baits, soft plastics and pilchards is generally quite effective, particularly if you use a fair amount of berley. Sharks can be a problem at times. The area off Jumpinpin also holds schools of longtail and mackerel tuna this month and these can be caught casting metal slugs and weighted soft plastics. Look for the birds and try to get upwind of the schools before casting, and try to minimise motor noise. BROADWATER AND RIVERS August is a good month for flathead and normally there are a lot of boats out chasing them in preparation for the upcoming Flathead

Classic. Unfortunately this year’s event has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The flathead season so far has been quite erratic, and the water has been discoloured most of the time, which can make fishing hard. The bigger flatties start to move towards the entrances and river mouths this month in preparation for spawning and there is a lot of activity on the flats as well. Trolling is particularly effective in August when the fish are quite spread out. Recently we have enjoyed a lot of success using Zerek Prawns casting to weed beds and shallow gutters. The smallest model is deadly on small to medium fish and can be a game changer when the bite is slow. It pays to experiment when flathead fishing and try a wide variety of lures on a given day. At times the fish seem to lock in on one type of lure and ignore most others, particularly when casting. We have recently done quite well on black and dark brown lures, which is quite unusual but may reflect on the baitfish the flathead are feeding on at the moment. In any session I will use soft plastics, vibes, hardbodies and prawns. In August, when the bigger fish start to move across the flats, it is worthwhile using large soft plastics, swim baits and long hardbodied lures across the weeds at high tide. A lot of 80cm fish start to show up this month.

The deep water in the Jumpinpin Bar and the Seaway is worth a look using big soft plastics such as 7” jerk shads. This area should start to produce big flathead and quite a few mulloway, particularly around the change of tide. Work the deep ledges, structure and drop-offs and use sufficient weight in your jighead to get the lure so it is almost vertical under your boat. I like to use white and pink jerk shads for mulloway and big curl tail grubs for flathead. Soft vibes like the Fish Trap also work very well. With the mullet run in full swing as the westerlies blow, there should be good fishing for large mulloway at night in the Seaway on the change of high tide. A live tiger mullet drifted through the eddies as the tide slows is a time proven method, but it pays to fish light and minimise noise as much as is possible. These bigger fish seem to move into the Seaway from the offshore grounds at night and are, on average, much bigger than the average mulloway caught in the day, averaging around 110-120cm long. They are a very worthwhile target and take a bit of catching. Overall, August is a great month to fish the Gold Coast and there is a lot of fish activity in both the estuaries and offshore grounds. Just remember that the closed season for snapper and pearl perch runs from 15 July until the 15 August.

It pays to fish light and minimise noise when targeting mulloway. There have been some big specimens around lately, averaging 110-120cm.

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Southern bay stacked full SOUTHERN BAY

Nick Whyte

There are still plenty of tailor getting around with truckloads inside the Pin bar, especially on the top of the tide. Small slugs and topwater lures have been doing the job, along with the trusty old floating pilly. There have been some better quality tailor around

bream this time of year. Small vibes, like the Zerek 65mm Fish Trap are deadly on them when schooling like this. There have been some big numbers of squid getting around the weedy banks and rocky outcrops of late. The Rainbow Channel and all down the western side of Straddie have constantly produced. Bird and Goat islands, as well as South West Rocks have been

couple of months and should continue the next. The deeper water in the bay around Harrys and the Peel artificial reef balls have been producing the better quality with the reef edges around Peel, Mud, Green and Macleay producing the numbers. Just remember you don’t have to run big lures to catch big fish when it comes to snapper in the bay. Just 3” lures account for more than their share

A nice southern bay pan-sized snapper. the central bay islands and are a great target on larger topwaters poppers. I find cup-faced poppers in the 100-140mm range will attract the larger fish. Working the edges and flats of the shallow reefs are the best starting points. South West Rocks, Hole In The Wall and the spit beacon at Peel are all worth a look, as well as Green and Mud islands. Bream are everywhere at the moment and the spawning run is well and truly underway. There are fish stacked up in the deeper section around the Pin, and the front of Short Island and along the deeper edge of Crusoe. The Logan River is also holding good numbers on the deeper rock bars. The Amity Rock wall is a great place to find some quality

holding good numbers. We have been driving along and sight casting to the schools in shallow water. We haven’t found any monsters, but it’s been easy fishing. Snapper have been in decent numbers the last

Luke Ruttley with a decent flathead. They will be everywhere this month. edges along the Rainbow Channel. It’s the time of year when a lot of oversized fish are caught, but these fish are our breeders so please take care when handling. Use fish friendly nets, keep them off hot dry carpet, support their body weight when taking

photos. These tips should be followed with all species looking to be released. If you have a great capture from the southern bay you would like to share email them through to nick@ techfishing.com.au. U n t i l next month, Tech-it-easy.

of big fish and I think matching the bait size they are feeding is more important. Make sure you adhere to the closed snapper season from 15 July through to 15 August. Once again, this

A 75cm gold spot cod taken from the Peel Reef edge.

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month mulloway will be prevalent. August is one of my favourite months to chase them in the bay and Jumpinpin areas. Work the bigger tides around the moons, as more water flow will get the fish hungry around the tide changes. Try and work the current lines down the Pin and find those isolated structures or reef points in the bay. Bait is a big bonus for mulloway. Live baits have been accounting for the larger models with some good fish around the 110cm bracket reported on plastics. The winter whiting have been a little hard to find from all reports. The best reports have been from the flats in the Rous Channel, with a few fish still on the Pelican banks as well. Fresh worms will make a massive difference to your catch rate, so make the effort to dig your own or make sure you’re buying fresh. Flatties are everywhere at the moment. Lures, plastics or baits, it doesn’t matter as long as you have one in the water you should see some activity. There are plenty of fish around the mouth of the Logan River, Jacobs Well Channel, Pandanas Island, along the eastern side of Garden Island and the weedy

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Awesome August angling ahead BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

As we taper away from winter, anglers will be spoilt with piscatorial opportunity. A wide range of species are on offer throughout the bay and estuaries. Flathead numbers are rising rapidly, quality snapper, mulloway, tailor, bream and squid are all serious targets and better numbers of threadies will be on offer as the water temperatures rise. Add into to this aquatic array, species such as whiting, sweetlip, cobia, school mackerel, longtail tuna, cod, bonito and loads more and you have an awesome August of angling ahead. FLATHEAD August is one of the prime months for flathead with large numbers congregating

Cabbage Tree, Kedron Brook Floodway etc.). I often wade the shallows around Wellington Point and King Island and always score a few at this time of the year. Flathead will respond to a huge array of baits and lures. Generally if it comes close to them, they will bite it. Flathead will shift ambush position several times during the tidal phase. On the rising tide they will hang along the edges of the mud and sand banks. Once the water is high enough they will make their way up onto the banks. As the tide begins to fall they will again move to the edges of the banks where the larger specimens general take up the best ambush spots (commonly where the most or last of the water drains off the flats). Whilst they will move to a new position during key times of the tidal phase, they will spend the majority of their time sitting in ambush

targeting other species. Anglers who anchor and deploy baits have been doing well, mainly in the mornings and late afternoons. Adding a little berley will heighten results considerably, especially on the smaller tides. Areas such as the artificial reefs and bay island margins have been both popular and productive. Getting away from the crowd will definitely heighten results, especially in the shallower areas. Most decent grounds will produce when there is little boat traffic with the snapper often moving from the deeper areas into the shallows when it is quiet. Whilst many chose to anchor and deploy baits, a lot like to fish lures. Long casts with jighead rigged plastics, soft vibes and blades will allow you to cover a lot of ground. The same can be said for trolling deep diving minnow lures such as the recently released

James has been scoring quality Brisbane River threadies during the cooler months on live baits. inshore in preparation for the upcoming breeding season. August is often the time when those large lizards are encountered, especially in the lower reaches of the estuaries. The mouth of Jumpinpin, Gold Coast Seaway and Pumicestone Passage are renowned places to target these ‘crocs’ however all creek and river systems plus the southern bay islands will all hold quality flatties. They are commonly found in shallow water and land-based anglers have a great chance of scoring both quality and quantity around the mouths of the river systems such as the Pine, Caboolture, Brisbane and Logan plus most creek systems that flow into the bay (Eprapah, Tingalpa, 26

AUGUST 2020

instead of freely roaming and scouting for food. As a result, anglers who cover a lot of water are most likely to score a few flatties. Working your way along a bank casting soft plastics or lightly weighted baits is a sure fire way to encounter a few lizards. Lures which bang and bump the bottom are more likely to get detected by flathead as they lie semisubmerged in mud or sand with their lateral line acting like an ear to detect possibly food sources nearby. SNAPPER It has been a respectable year for snapper with both inshore and bay anglers getting some quality specimens. Even the Brisbane River has produced 70cm plus specimens at times, commonly by anglers

Samaki Redic DS100. When trolled in the lower third of the water column around the bay island margins, artificial reefs and rubble grounds, these deep divers will produce snapper, school mackerel and many other species. For deeper areas, micro jigs can work well once a fish is sounded below. Usually a 30-50g slow fall jig is all that is needed. Once a snapper or other promising target is located, micro jigs can be free-spooled straight down into the fish’s immediate area. Mulloway and a broad array of other species can be taken with this technique. SCHOOL MACKEREL August is historically a prime month for school mackerel with good numbers in the eastern end of the

Rous Channel, the Rainbow Channel, Kianga Channel and sometimes the Small Ships Channel. These are often targeted with trolled spoons or drifted pilchards. Often, commercial line fishers will be a good indication that the schoolies are on the chew as they will be trolling spoons behind paravanes in the area. I have scored school mackerel virtually every trip I have done throughout winter and some even scored the odd mid-winter spotted mackerel. Most of mine have been taken on trolled spoons or jigged slugs fished along the channel edges however many have scored them on pilchards fished around the artificial reefs, shipping channel beacons and bay island margins. Early morning high tides are often prime periods for schoolies in these zones however they can show up almost anywhere there is some form of baitfish conglomeration. CEPHALOPODS It has been a bumper season for squid with great numbers and quality to be caught around the bay foreshores, channels in the eastern bay, island margins and weed beds along Moreton and Stradbroke Islands. Most have scored their squid (both arrows and tigers) on egi however pilchards fished on a skewer have also worked well. This approach is often taken by those drift fishing the flats for whiting or around the bay islands casting lures for snapper and the like. This year there has been a lot of cuttlefish around, especially in the area where the Small Ships Channel meets the Rous Channel and the main channel between Wellington Point and the Huybers Beacon. Most are targeting these with faster sinking egi or with egi fished on a paternoster style rig to get it

A solid Mud Island snapper for Chris Deeks. down deep. Most squid only live to around 16 months and die soon after spawning. August often sees some better quality tiger squid and healthier numbers of arrow squid. Sometimes I find that the arrows are hard to tempt with egi yet will readily take a pilchard fished on a skewer. Often multiple arrows will follow this bait to the boat and these can be plucked out one at a time repetitively with the baited skewer. Land-based anglers have been scoring regularly at places such as Wellington Point, Manly, Wynnum, Redcliffe, Amity Point, Dunwich, Victoria Point and numerous other places. Night sessions have definitely been the most productive. Squid will roam these shallow, inshore areas preying on the numerous baitfish and crustaceans that are attracted by the lights. Often anglers will firstly locate the squid by using high-powered LED headlights however blind casting can also be highly

effective. In heavily fished areas, headlights can often make the squid shy over time so working darkened areas adjacent the lighted areas with a few blind casts is well worthwhile. Having numerous egi of differing sizes and colours is advisable as several changes may be needed until you get a take. BAY PELAGICS During August anglers can often be surprised to find some decent pelagics in the bay. Bonito, school mackerel, mack tuna, longtail tuna, Spanish mackerel and cobia are all possibilities. Longtails are often taken by anglers live-baiting around the beacons, the Curtin Artificial, Benowa Track area and along current lines. Yakkas, slimey mackerel and pike are all good offerings and should be fished in the upper half of the water column. Cobia are also likely, however anglers specifically targeting them can also add areas such as Western Rocks (Kianga Channel) and the Comboyuro Ledge to the list

Spoons and paravanes are a great way to catch school mackerel, which are often prevalent in the deeper channels during August.

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of likely locations. Larger live baits such as fusiliers, whole sand crabs and just legal demersal species can be added to the list of prime baits for cobia. Mack tuna will sometimes be found smashing bait on the surface but their location can be fairly random at this time of the year. Bonito are commonly found in the same areas as school mackerel, including the edges of major banks systems, the fringes of the bay islands and in the more prominent channels. These can be taken on small chromed slugs or slices cast and retrieved at pace, or trolled spoons behind paravanes. Watson’s bonito have a much whiter flesh than the Australian bonito and are decent eating. Brine the fillets and put them in the smoker until just cooked through and you will have a tasty treat. However, both species of bonito make great bait, as do mack tuna, especially when salted for 6-12 hours to toughen the flesh somewhat. BREAM One of the more popular and common species in the estuarine, river and bay environment is the bream. These can be caught almost anywhere by anyone. Due to their scavenging nature, bream will respond to a wide array of natural and artificial

offerings. Baits such as green prawns, whitebait, mullet strips, raw chicken fillet, yabbies, worms, tuna and bonito cubes and many others can be put to good use on bream. These are best fished on a baitholder pattern hook, fluorocarbon leader and a minimum of sinker weight. Lure fishing for bream has become somewhat of an art for many. Some of the more popular offerings include small curl-tail plastics, blades, Cranka

Crabs, topwater offerings and small minnow lures. The fly fishers often score well on bream, utilising flies such as crazy Charlies, Bream Bunnies, Homer Shrimpsons, Christmas Island specials, ultra shrimps and the various clones of these. Floating, sink tip and intermediate lines can all be used to present these flies on 9ft fluorocarbon leaders. Whilst finesse techniques can increase results, large bream can be caught by anyone from a

child with a handcaster to a seasoned pro utilising the latest finesse tackle, rigging and techniques. There has been plenty of 30cm plus specimens reported over the last few months and even some stud bream over 40cm. Often the lead up to the full moon is a great time to target bream, especially in the estuaries and the eastern facing beaches. MULLOWAY August is usually a great month for mulloway in the rivers and bay. Metre plus

specimens have regularly been reported over the previous months. These have been caught on both baits and lures. Live baits fished around the artificial reefs and in the deeper areas of the Brisbane River have been fairly reliable. Mullet, yakkas, slimey mackerel, gar and pike are all good offerings when fished on a snelled-hook rig using the minimum of sinker weight. Dead baits can also produce but live is a much better option. Numerous lures including soft plastics, vibration baits and micro jigs are great for fishing the deeper areas. Mulloway are often tempted close to the surface by baitfish, especially around lighted areas at night. Here they can be a serious target for anglers casting baitfish profiled flies or lures such as swimbaits, soft plastic shads, minnows, wakebaits and even walkthe-dog style topwater offerings. TAILOR The eastern facing beaches of Stradbroke, Bribie and Moreton islands will often hold some quality tailor during August. Casting pilchards or gar is a popular way to target them. Check out my techniques article on making a good rig for this pursuit in this issue. Tailor will also be caught

August is still a great month for squid, however their numbers will wane soon.

Southern

around the artificial reefs, Brisbane River (especially around lighted areas at night), Amity Rock Wall, Jumpinpin Bar, Bribie Island Bridge (mainly at night), bay island shallows (especially on an early morning high tide) and in many areas of the estuary, especially around rock walls where baitfish congregate. They will also respond to a wide array of lures, especially fast or erratically moving offerings. CONCLUSION With cold weather still around but hopefully waning, anglers will be treated to amazing variety in the aquatic species on offer. Westerly winds often create high water clarity at this time of the year. Whilst this is ideal for squid, it can make targeting some species in shallower waters a lot harder. Those who fish lighter line, fluorocarbon leaders and minimum sinker and jighead weights are much more likely to return home with the spoils. Larger numbers of flathead and bream should be throughout the estuaries and the bay will produce a myriad of prime angling targets such as snapper, school mackerel, mulloway and squid plus numerous others. What other reason do you need to get off your ‘A’ and experience the Awesome August Angling Ahead!

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Southern

OLD

Long days and cool westerlies NORTHERN BAY

Steve Nash

With the days slowly becoming longer and those cool westerly winds start to kick in, August is a great time to get out and find some excellent fishing. Over the last month fishing in the northern bay has been exceptional with quality fish being caught, from large numbers of winter whiting schooling up in Deception Bay to the almost plague numbers of squid along the peninsula. Snapper have had a break with the closed season that is currently in place. However, this will open up again very soon on August 15. This will hopefully result in a good restart for the season. As this date becomes effective, it will be very busy in the bay as fishos will take full advantage of targeting them before they move out to deeper water again. SQUID This year’s squid season has been the best seen in years with a dry winter and super clean calm waters. Great numbers of squid have been caught all throughout the bay.

While numbers will start to drop off soon, it is still worth having a flick early morning or throughout the night. While Woody Point Jetty can get very busy and crazy at times, there is plenty of other places to try squidding landbased, working the rock walls at Scarborough boat harbour or walking along Queens Beach. WINTER WHITING Good numbers of whiting have been caught throughout

Deception Bay and around the bottom end of Bribe Island. Schools have been thick out the front of the Caboolture River in around 3-4m of water. Squid strips, prawns and bloodworms are the best baits to try while drifting. For those keen on trying to chase whiting on lures, Berkley Gulp Sand Worms 2”, Squidgies or even the Ecogear ZX ranges can get you a decent feed of fish.

holes as the tide moves in across the flats. The fish will move up there chasing a feed. FLATHEAD The local flathead have been on the move. The usual hangout spots for schooled up flathead have been very slow and haven’t produced as well as previous months. Fishing the shallow edges mid to upper reaches of the rivers have given better results in finding the flathead. They are more

Todd Rasmussen scored a few landbased bass from Lake Samsonvale.

Work lures along the shallow banks to search for flathead.

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BREAM Good catches coming from most creeks and estuaries with the Pine River and Pumicestone Passage being the prime pick. Mullet strips and yabbies have accounted for the better bags. Smaller hardbody Jackall crankbaits and ZMan GrubZ in natural colours on a light jighead have resulted in great catches too. On the low tides, try casting around the pylons and deeper

spread out in these months and will require lots of persevering casts to land a few. MULLET This is the peak time of the season for the mullet run.

will hang around in their schools for a little longer this season. On the few prime days and conditions where the bass have been on the chew, kayakers and permit holders of the PRFMA at Lake Samsonvale have been getting cricket score bass numbers from the deep sitting on massive schools using spoon jigs, metal vibes and live shrimp. For those without a kayak or boating permit, there are still options for getting on to a few bass with plenty of good

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Michael McCauley with a quality bream that was feeding in less than a metre of water. Massive schools of mullet have been moving along the beaches and in the upper reaches of the rivers. While not being a highly targeted species amongst anglers, they do make a fresh tasty meal on the dinner plate when caught and eaten fresh. Targeting mullet is quite simple – light rod setups using a float suspending a small hook with bread or dough. It’s also a great fish to target with kids. FRESHWATER Bass were a little late to school up this year, which should hopefully mean they

spots to try from the shore all around Lake Samsonvale. Walking along the tracks to the points from Forgan Cove and Bullocky Rest are a good place to start. In order to improve your chances effectively land-based fishing for bass, I like to use longer 4-8kg rods in the 7-8’ range with a fairly stiff tip, and a larger sized reel either 30004000 so you can make those long casts. Having a heavier line class around the 12-15lb range and about the same class for your leader will hopefully get you around those timber edges of the dam. There are a few different techniques to use while fishing from the shore of dams. I like to start with the longest cast possible, letting your spoon jig or blade sink to the bottom. Then begin winding up the slack with one large lift, then letting the jig sink again, then repeating this method. Another is to let your jig sink to the bottom then retrieve at a constant speed, this can be anything from a slow roll to a flat-out high-speed retrieve. Remember if you want to fish our local dams, you will require a stock impoundment permit (SIPS) to fish if you are over the age of 18. These can be purchased online or at your local post office.

A Palms Slow Blatt pinning two bass from a large school.

OLD

Southern

Winter species are really firing! NOOSA

Peter Wells

The beaches have been very productive with good size dart, tailor, bream, whiting and big mulloway. For the dart anglers, most coastal beaches are holding fish with the bigger fish taken on the high tide or just after. Fishing the start of the run out tide seems to be the prime time with the best baits being beachworms and pipis. Looking for those deeper gutters that are close to the beach is perfect for the kid as they will not have to cast far to get fish. In fact a lot of the time the fish are swimming at your feet. Whiting are still on the chew with plenty of fish reported along Marcus and Peregian beaches. The elbow slappers have been taken on worms, pipis and solider crabs. Fishing those low water gutters has been productive. The tailor are now really

evening is a great approach. With the cooler weather upon us the river has been really firing with some great species on offer. Trevally have been in decent numbers including GT, diamond, and goldens. These fish have been brought in on the tide following bait schools, needless to say that the top of the tide is the best time to target these great sport fish. Areas like the river mouth, Woods Bays, the Ski run and the back of the Noosa Sound are all great places to chase these fish and, if you can time the tide with an early morning or a late afternoon you will be in the running. You will usually find a surface bite first thing in the morning around Woods Bays so having a rod rigged and ready to go with a surface walkers or poppers is ideal. The pick of the walkers is the Bassday Sugapens, they come in a great range of colours and sizes with the 95mm size the most popular. If you prefer a popper, then the Lucky Craft G

what the fish are feeding on so you stand a great chance, rig them very lightly or no sinker at all to get the best results. The winter bream season is well and truly upon us, these fish will be spawning or will have just spawned. Either way the fish are hungry and are feeding hard. For the bait anglers keep it light, either unweighted or very little weight is the way to go. If the bait plummets to the bottom they will usually not touch it. Bream live for a long time

giving the offshore angler a chance to get across the bar and head to the reefs. Sunshine Reef seems to be a favourite for most anglers in smaller craft and has fished well for cobia, tusk fish, sweetlip and snapper. The snapper have been in good numbers and as we keep saying, a berley trail is crucial to picking up some good knobbies. Another good point is to make sure you use larger baits, with so many pickers around they get through those

Dave O’Meara got this 80cm snapper from Murphys Reef out from Mooloolaba.

Arron Rubilis with a pigeon pair of snapper from North Reef, both were taken on live yakkas. starting to run, with reports of good schools from the Noosa North Shore between Teewah and Double Island. Pilchards on a gang of three with 4/0 or 3/0 hooks has secured the fish. Fishing the run-in tide in a deeper gutter is your best bet. Once you get onto a school, try switching to slugs like the Halco Twisty or the Arma Twist, cast to the back of the gutter and retrieve at speed. Another option is to cast plastics on heavier jigheads, the plastics will look that bit more realistic and can often encourage a bite, but the metal slugs won’t. Be prepared to go through a few plastic as those sharp teeth of the tailor make short work of your plastics. It’s been a great start to the mulloway season with the big fish loving the last of the run-in tide. Reports have shown that fishing after dark while using mullet fillets, whole squid and beach worms has been the key. Looking for those deeper gutters during the day with a plan to fish them into the

Splash is perfect for the job. As the sun get a little higher than it is time to switch to plastics, prawn profiles are ideal, and let’s face it, who doesn’t love a prawn? A few of our anglers have been trying the Live Target Fleeing Shrimp with some great success. If you are a bait angler then get the cast net out and get yourself some live herring, this is primarily

and, with the larger fish the breeding stocks for the future, if possible take a photo and return it for the betterment of the species. Flathead numbers continue to be good with plenty of bigger fish on offer, if you do catch a big one remember these fish have an upper size limit of 75cm. I will mainly keep fish between 50-60cm returning anything larger as these are good breading stocks. Flathead are one of the easiest fish to catch on a lure with soft plastics being ideal. Brighter colours seem to work best with small fish and prawn profiles the way to go. Casting up into the shallow water and a slow retrieve keeping your plastic on the bottom should show results. Heading offshore it is all about the snapper, there has been some great weather windows over the last month

Ethan Wrack with a 65cm diamond trevally taken in the Mooloolah River. small baits fairly quick. North Reef has also been fishing well for cobia, mulloway, pearl perch, Moses perch, snapper and tusk fish all hitting the decks. North is one of those reef where drifting and working plastics seems to be a good approach. With so many species on offer, now is the time to make sure you are ready for the season with plenty of plastics, jig heads, snapper rigs and micro jigs. Some options to have in the tackle box are the ZMan range of plastics in the coconut ice colour, the Headlock jigheads from TT, some great snapper rigs which Wilson put out and the Colt Sniper Jig in the Wonderfalls range with the

pink the most popular colour. For the larger craft, the Barwon Banks and the Hards fished well for amberjack, snapper, tusk fish, Moses perch and some good pearlies. For those that did the big steam up to Double Island Point, snapper, cobia, red emperor, tusk fish, pearl perch and cod have all been on the Menu. • Don’t forget to check in to www.fishingnoosa.com.au for all the latest up to date info on fishing and bar crossings. The knowledgeable teams at Davo’s Tackle World Noosa and Davo’s Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola can provide you with the right equipment, bait and advice to ensure success!

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Central

OLD

On the home stretch HERVEY BAY

Dane Radosevic

Winter has presented some exceptional fishing this year, and the action should hopefully continue throughout August. Last month spawned the annual run of juvenile black marlin on the eastern side of Fraser Island, with fish caught just outside the bar, fishing in 10-20m of water.

This incredible action saw many crews get in on the red-hot action trolling both lures and baits while also practising switch-baiting techniques to great effect. There is nothing more exciting than teasing a marlin right up to the back of the boat all lit up before eating your lure or bait and taking off, putting on a terrific aerial display. This action should continue throughout the month of August although,

The author holding a pair of cattle dogs, better known as blue Maori cod! Pound for pound these fish put up a great battle and eat exceptionally well.

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depending on the currents and bait supply, the fish may shift into a few different areas. If the fishing to the south slows down it may pay to go for a scout to the north towards the 13 Mile in search of fish. This will also put you in prime real estate to cross paths with a feisty sailfish or two, especially this time of year. From the wider shelf waters the action hasn’t been as lucrative with minimal heavy tackle reports coming in. However, there have been a few whispers of blue marlin being teased up and caught late of an afternoon after a morning on the light tackle, and by all accounts these crews had to work for each bite. The deep drop crews have been getting stuck into the action, fishing similar areas along the shelf in up to 600m of water. Mixed bags of bar cod, flame tail, ruby snapper and a few prized blue-eye have been reported. Just a reminder that the snapper and pearl perch closures are in full swing from 15 July to 15 August so the targeting of snapper and pearl perch is prohibited during this period. They can be hard to avoid at times so do your best to fish well away from areas holding these species as they do not handle barotrauma well, and it’s a damn shame to see them float off. This new regulation is to hopefully see these species numbers bounce back and create a great fishery for the future, so please abide by the regulations throughout this period. Although few and far between this year, there have been some exceptional gaps in the weather that saw plenty of anglers venture further afield in search of some quality table fish. The fishing for the most part seemed consistent with quality captures of red emperor, nannygai, blue and brown Maori cod, sweetlip,

Young gun Kealan Peaker scored himself this brute of a LBG northern bluefin tuna weighing in at 22kg off the Urangan Pier. wrasse, tusk fish, hussar, cod and jobfish just to name some of the variety of species on offer. The majority of effort was focused across the Breaksea Spit and further north towards Lady Elliot where you can find some exceptional patches of ground out in the Paddock, often absent of the dreaded men in grey suits. The larger more common areas such as the shoals country with large aggregations of fish life and regular traffic still definitely copped pressure from the sharks, as it is an opportunity for an easy feed. The trick is to stay mobile and keep moving if you wish to avoid the sharks and start putting some quality fish into the box.

Now is a great time of year to also try your luck at targeting one of Fraser Island’s feisty reef jacks that populate many of the offshore reefs, especially if you are willing to put in the effort under the cover of darkness. Fishing the tide change late at night or during the early hours of the morning will produce the best bite, however they still don’t mind a bit of run, the fishing is just made a little more difficult. Fishing the turn of tide will give you the opportunity to set up a rich berley trail to entice the jacks and you can draw them right to the back of the boat in some cases. A lightly weighted pilchard, pike or pencil squid floated down the

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AUGUST 2020

A juvenile black marlin about to get some air time. Most are 8-15kg but they are still great sport! Photo was courtesy of Philip Bradford who had a cracking day, going 7-5-5.

trail is all that is required to tempt a bite, and with them already drawn well up off the bottom you have a better chance of landing them. Try using the appropriate jighead for this technique next time, you might be surprised just how effective they can be for bait fishing. The southern and northern gutters systems have copped some pressure but have continued to produce some quality fish. Coral trout have been in good numbers with most experienced crews landing fish up to 7kg, and the best fishing being had around that change of tide. The northern gutters and up towards the Althea country has been fishing quite well with a good mixed bag achievable, consisting of sweetlip, hussar, cod, Maori cod, nannygai and the odd big red with minimal shark activity from those fishing off the main ledge areas. The pelagic activity throughout these areas has been somewhat of a nuisance for the diehard reef fishos, however for those hopping soft plastics or working a jig it has provided for some great sport. A variety of trevally species, cobia and mackerel have been on offer, hanging around the larger aggregations of bait, typically sitting out off the ledges. These fish can be easily identified on your sounder as larger arches tightly packed together, sitting well up off the bottom. You can quite easily entice a bite by erratically jigging your offering up through the water column to have it intercepted. With the snapper ban still in place at the time of writing there have been no reports from the 25 Fathom area, however going off previous years the end of August typically fishes exceptionally well, and with the closure lifting as of midnight on the 15 August you may want to gear up again for a late afternoon fish To page 31

OLD

Central

Bottom fish are on the chew YEPPOON

Scott Lynch ifishcq2@bigpond.com

August is one of the best months for school mackerel (doggies) in this area. The usual calm mornings let the schools come into the bay and feed at the many close spots in relatively shallow waters. The Rosslyn Bay Harbour walls are the perfect example of shallow mackerel fishing. They come right in against the rocks in water as little as 3m deep. We find that throwing Flashas and other small chromies works very well. The trick is to cast as far out as you can and wind back as fast as you can. I let my lure settle to the bottom before winding so that it spends as much time in the deepest parts of the retrieve as possible while still scorching it home. We are casting out over a sandy bottom with virtually no

structure until you get close to the wall in most cases. Floating out pillies is the other preferred method and can often be the best choice. Spotted mackerel are starting to show in small numbers and as we get closer to September, they should be here in force. Smaller spotties have already been coming in mixed among the doggie mackerel and greys when the conditions are favourable, each time the water cleans up. The expected westerlies have begun and this creates a section of calm right in close to the back of the Keppels and along the coast. These are the days that there are plenty of opportunities to get into them from the shore-based spots. The better locations over the westerly are Ironpot, Rita Mada, Farnborough, Corio Heads, Stockyard Point, Quartz Rock and Cape Manifold. At present there are more small nannies in the area around the islands

than I can remember, or find in my 30 plus years of local records. It seems that every stop we make at the Keppels or the closer reefs produces numbers of 400-450mm large and small mouth nannygai. These little guys are way in front of their bigger brothers as table fish, and the fuel bill at the end of the day shows the value in short trips. Over the years everyone comes up with a rig that they think works better than another rig for shallow water reefies. Time and again the running ball sinker down to a 4/0 or 5/0 octopus hook does really well. We always use as little lead as it takes to reach the bottom and always use the freshest bait we can get. Pillies, squid and fresh flesh strips are the easiest quality baits available. Conical, Hannas, Greasy Alley, Ross’s Reef, Outer Rock, Man & Wife and the closer rubble patches are all worth a shot. The little

From page 30

into the evening. It’s much the same for Platypus Bay in regards to the snapper, and there have been large schools of golden trevally, mackerel and a few large cobia hanging around the reefs and wrecks to keep the lure fishers engaged, using both soft plastic and jig techniques. Moving inshore, and typical of this time of year the water has been crystal clear which has probably added to the relatively tough fishing being shared by most, however those putting in the time under the cover of darkness have been securing a feed. Sweetlip have been hanging around the deeper reefs and artificial wrecks and for the lack of numbers they are certainly making it up in size, with some exceptional inshore quality fish pushing the 50cm+ mark. Blackall, cod and the odd nannygai have all been present amongst the mix keeping most entertained, whilst coral trout have been a welcome treat and quite targetable on the turn of tide around the gnarlier bay reefs and wrecks on live baits or soft plastics tea-bagged off the bottom. The pelagic activity around the Bay’s islands and throughout the main shipping channels has been keeping anglers on their toes, with schools of bonito stretching from as far west as Gatakers Bay right the way down towards Kingfisher. These are a great sportfish on light tackle, especially for the kids, and although they are best known for making great bait, they

XOS cobia are a common catch this time of year. Caius Chapple caught this beast whilst enjoying glamour conditions. also eat quite well fresh, if dispatched of properly and taken care of whilst cooking. Try one – you might just surprise yourself. School mackerel and broad-bar mackerel have been a regular catch using a variety of techniques from spinning metal spoons, to trolling paravanes with a metal barra spoon in tow to the old faithful pilchard on a set of gangs. It really is quite easy fishing. The key, as with all pelagic fishing, is to locate the bait supply. If you really want to tangle with the ‘king’ of all mackerels try ballooning out a live bonito or legal school mackerel rigged on a trace of single strand wire as there have been some big fish exceeding the 25kg mark mooching about.

From the pier the bream brigade have had their best results on the bigger fish of a night time using a variety of cut and strip baits, whilst the daytime anglers have mostly been opting to fish Cranka Crabs around the pylons on the slack tide. The early morning bite has seen bonito schools move through, school mackerel and the odd bluefin and big Spanish mackerel, whilst the better quality bluefin will typically feed harder late into the afternoon. Sight fishing to flathead with either live herring or large paddle-tail soft plastics can make for some exceptional fun in the crystal clear waters of the shallows either side of the sand bar. On the dead low tide you can often see them tucked in

nannies feed in as little as 6m at night, though generally the 14-20m patches seem to be the best option. Cobia usually start to come on in numbers as we move towards the warmer months. They will follow the bait schools into the bay and offshore areas from Yeppoon. Some of the local rubble patches produce enough fish at times for them to become annoying when you are targeting other species. When cobia are finicky they will only take well presented, natural looking baits – even to the point that you need to rig pillies straight and let them float down without line pressure swaying or spinning them on the way down. That is the time that livies and lures can turn them on. Other times they will grab nearly anything that looks edible. Pilchards, flesh strips, prawns and squid are all decent cobia baits. I like using smaller iodines as live baits to target cobia, mainly tight to the pylons where you can drop an offering right on their head, whilst on the first of the flood tide you can cast to intercept them as they begin to move up from the drop-off and onto the flat. Around this time of year coinciding with the larger building tides on the lead up to the full moon the summer whiting schools should start to turn up in good numbers. They will entice the diehard whiting fishers down the first channel fishing the tide change late into the evening using a variety of worm and yabby baits. This same action can be experienced along the town’s beaches and especially around the rock groynes and other jetties. The flats this time of year can produce some exceptional fishing, whether that’s working small topwater lures or hopping grub or paddle-tail soft plastics for bream and whiting, or targeting flathead, grunter and a variety of trevally species that can often be sight fished in the gin-clear waters. Flathead will be a major drawcard species over the next few months as they begin to aggregate to spawn. You will often find a swagger of smaller males hanging around a large female, all fighting for her attention. This makes it quite easy to rack up the numbers whilst targeting them. The major ‘flat’ systems along the western side of Fraser from Moon Point south, including the numerous creeks, are a fantastic starting point to locate fish-holding structures such as sand bars, drains, snags, creek mouths or even rocky outcrops that will attract baitfish and in turn

Ash Green scored another top trout at the Keppels. because they find livies almost irresistible and will also show if there are any Spaniards around.

This time of year is when the bigger reds and reefies tend to move in closer, and

the predatory flathead. It may pay at this time of year to escape further down the Straits as there is so much real estate to explore, and quite often those less pressured waters will produce the better quality lizards. Whilst fishing in these locations there’s a chance you’ll hook the odd jewie if you’re fishing around one of the deeper ledges or holes, with a winter barra or thready also on the cards if you venture up one of the creeks. River Heads itself is still rewarding anglers casting metal spoons and floating pilchard baits out off the barge

ramp. A variety of mackerel species and bream, flathead and jew are the major drawcards off the pontoon, especially for those fishing at night. Don’t forget to take a squid jig as there have been both pencil and local squid turning up under the lights. The many rock bars and outcrops around the Heads and further upriver have been producing some exceptional catches of bream and big lizards on both soft plastics and baits, with the added opportunity to score yourself a jew, grunter or thready whilst soaking a bait.

To page 33

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AUGUST 2020

Contact your local dealer today

OLD

Central

From page 31

QUEENSLAND SUNSHINE COAST

BRISBANE

Marine Care Qld

Caloundra Marine

15 Daintree Drive, Redland Bay

8 Baldwin St, Caloundra

www.marinecareqld.com.au enquiries@marinecareqld.com

www.caloundramarine.com.au sales@caloundramarine.com.au

07 5491 1944

07 3186 5270

GLADSTONE

Steve Fleetwood Marine 10 Morgan Street, Gladstone

07 4972 9463

sfmarine@tpg.com.au

NEW SOUTH WALES COFFS HARBOUR

NOWRA

Thwaites Marine

Dave Hill Marine

30 Industrial Drive, Coffs Harbour

1 Berry St, Nowra, 2540

02 6651 7810

02 4423 6137

www.thwaitesmarine.com.au shop@thwaitesmarine.com.au

info@davehillmarine.com.au

SYDNEY WEST

PORT STEPHENS

Blakes Marine

Bay Boat Sales

1 Railway Road North, Mulgrave, 2756

332 Soldiers Pt Rd, Salamander Bay, 2317

www.blakesmarine.com.au sales@blakesmarine.com.au

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COWRA

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it isn’t uncommon for large nannies or emperor to be taken just outside the bay at any of the many small rubble fern patches. Grassies, parrot, tuskies, coral trout and red-throat are all on the chew at the moment. Grunter are improving again around the full and new moons. The estuary and offshore fish have both been caught in increasing numbers lately. Findlays, The Pinnacles, The Barge, Cape Manifold, Cape Capricorn, The Rama and Quartz Rock are the pick offshore locations. The Fitzroy River has quite a few spots worth a look. Devils Elbow, Nerimbera, Connors Creek and The Mackenzie Jew Hole to name a few. Coorooman Creek cockle beds and the deeper holes can produce some fairly good fish a few days either side of the moon. Corio Bay and Waterpark Creek also have quality grunter at present. Prawns, squid and pillies are the pick baits. Vibes are a great option if you prefer to use lures. Blue salmon catches have increased lately on the beaches and estuaries along the coast. The mouth of Coorooman Creek and Corio Bay are two very good spots to try in the coming weeks. As the blues school you can see them smashing baits along the sand bank edges and channel drop-offs. Rosslyn Bay Harbour, Ross Creek, The Causeway, and even Barwells Creek over a flooding tide, will all have salmon over the next month or so. We prefer to work the frothy channels where the small surf pushes into Corio

Pjay Fliedner with a fine red he landed offshore from Yeppoon. Bumpa-Bars, Flashas and Wonder Wobblers that work consistently. Numbers of whiting continue to improve as some quite decent captures were reported from Long Beach at Joskeleigh and the sandbanks in the mouths of Coorooman Creek and Corio Bay. I like to fish the rising tide with yabbies, beach worms or peeled prawns. Nearly all the local beaches

of Yeppoon. In Rockhampton, king threadfin salmon are going very well lately. The lack of fresh flow in the river has let them move right back up into town again as the bait schools and jelly prawn have increased. This season has produced many fish over 1200mm and now a metrey just doesn’t get a look in. The sizes in recent weeks have reach 1400mm

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Julian Carew with a quality grunter he caught at Port Alma. on an incoming tide using pilchards in the same manner as tailor fishers. The best baits are yabbies, pilchards, prawns, greenback, whiting strips and yorkie herring. Blues will take chrome spoon type lures and plastics. Make a long cast and then let the lure settle down deep before jigging it slowly back in. I still have a few of the old

from the river north to army country all hold whiting. Don’t be afraid to fish the very shallow water within a few metres of where you are standing. Whiting follow the water in and work the area freshly covered with the tide. There is a good chance of picking up a few big dart at the same time, especially fishing the beaches north

and bigger. Plastics account for the biggest share of fish landed and livies are another great option for those fishing the evening shore-based at the platforms and banks along the river. Bream, flathead, queenfish and steelback salmon are other species in form over August, in the local systems. AUGUST 2020

Central

OLD

Last blast of the cold weather MACKAY

Keith Day habdays@bigpond.net.au

Here we go for the last little blast of winter then on into spring and the summer species. Our winter has not been too severe and there have been the odd days of clear calm weather with little or no wind and they are very welcomed. This trend should continue through August, although towards the end of the month we

calm days. In areas like the NFZ, there is usually enough sheltered waters to enable a short run out to the close islands without experiencing too much rough wet travelling. If chasing the reef fish around the close islands, pilchards and strip baits of mullet and gar are always popular. Better still live herring, or small gar are just great baits along with live prawns if you can find them. Frozen large prawns will also get plenty of attention from the ‘reefies’

let the big bait waft down slowly, before kicking the engine back into gear and moving ahead slowly. Often the hit comes as the bait is falling or just as it moves forward on the troll and then it’s a case of hang on for the first run of a Spanish mackerel is legendary for speed and distance covered. A floating pilchard is always a good idea when bottom bouncing for ‘reefies’ and will often snare a Spanish or other pelagic species such as

if they are bled really well immediately on capture, then gutted and iced down they are quite acceptable either barbecued or pan fried. Staying with the Pioneer River, we can expect the tremendous run of whiting to continue through August and then tapering off. Along with the whiting, the flathead run is on going and there are plenty of lizards to be caught on the sand flats in the river. The Pioneer is a beautiful blue river largely due to the sandy bottom and this attracts the whiting and flatties, along with other species like silver bream, garfish, golden trevally, oyster crackers, barra and the queenfish already mentioned. Along the rock trainer walls is the place to target cod and jacks, but the fast tidal run makes this difficult. The mangrove creeks are getting better as the water warms more, with plenty of grunter around the gravel beds and rocky areas right on the top of the tide. Grunter can also be found right up on the mud banks at full tide on the bigger tides and fresh fish strip baits will generally get the bite. Prawns and yabbies are also hit with typical gusto and the usual first sign of a grunter is the line taking off at high speed. Great fun and good

You’re going to love name in Australian chewing too! amongst the roots. They Pikey bream will strong, will eat almost anything reliable units continue to spawn through and are good fun on light August and they can be the spin or fly gear They’re and can water. caught in numbers, but often be sight cast along anglers should limit their the overhanging edges of want to go and catch to a few fish and you the mangroves. let the others get on with Barra will be starting to need toof be. W making more for the future. you move around the end the Pikeys can be midstream month and threadies, jacks fun around rocks, around and and cod will in also between become Ashley Black is really ‘Hooked On’ Mackay with reef fish like this spangled emperor available not far offshore.

freshly fallen mangroves, or way, way back in

Longtails are in! Alex Mitchell nailed this beauty that was showing some scars from previous shark encounters. should see conditions easing to lighter winds, which means more time offshore for the boaties. The snapper closure has seen them off the list along with black jew – two species which are traditionally targeted by rec anglers during the winter months. Snapper are here to spawn so the closure is to some extent understandable, but Mother Nature puts up her own closure in the form of dirty windy weather that prevents most anglers from chasing them for the majority of the spawning season. Rec anglers in Mackay do not make a huge impact on the spawning fish because of the lack of access due to weather. Anyway, local anglers have simply found alternative targets in the salt, with good catches of blueys, cod, grass sweetlip and coral trout being available around the close in islands and rocky/ reef areas. Again, access is weather dependant and we can expect more of the same through August, i.e. strong SE winds with a few 34

AUGUST 2020

and all these mentioned species can be found right up in the shallows around the NFZ islands, Slade, Flat and Round Top islands. These areas are within reach of a 4m tinnie but watch the green zones in the NFZ. There are maps available for free from tackle shops, and at the Seaforth boat ramp there is a large display sign showing the ‘no go’ areas, so get familiar with these places before fishing in the NFZ. Further offshore, Spanish mackerel have been running well with good catches from the usual spots. Larger boats target them around St Bees, Scawfell and Knight islands all well out of the range of small tinnies. Big Spaniards have been responding to live troll baits, like pike (sennit) and legal size doggie mackerel. Usual troll baits include ribbonfish, gar, small tuna and pilchards. The best of them is the ribbonfish trolled ultra slowly and deep in the water column. It helps to frequently pull the motor out of gear and

trevally, queenfish, cobia, all of which are a welcome addition to the catch. On the good days, the smaller mackerel are right in against the harbour walls and along Lamberts Beach. A light spin rod, some ‘shinies’ or pilchard on a gang rig and you are in business. The run of small macks will go through until around Christmas, and it is easy to know when they are ‘in’ as the south wall of the harbour gets very busy with cars, rods, and small boats just off the wall. Mayhem sometimes, but it is good fun when the macks are on. Queenfish should continue to go nuts in the river and close by, as I expect the shoals of small greenback herring to stay around for a while yet. Good queenfish up to a metre are in the river as far up as the Base Hospital reaches and many are caught from the fishing platforms. Live herring is the best bait, but they are taking a large variety of baits and lures ranging from surface poppers to shinies. Many anglers reckon they are poor eating, but I find

more active. Most anglers start to seriously chase Time design fea barra proven during September but they can be caught and safety at prices th mainly with live baits during August. To get the latest info, check with the local tackle shop guys and follow their advice. Barra in freshwater will also stir up during August with the river and dam fish more active. In the dams keep looking for that warmer water and over about 22-23ºC sees them quite actively feeding. For most anglers though, the serious business starts next month. You’re going to Sooties have been on the name inand Austra bite in the river system also in the dams around the strong, reliable u shallows where the water is warmer. Towards the end of the water. They the month I expect that the river/Cattle you Creek want sootiesto go will get a new lease on life and be more you active.need If we to be get much rain though and fun the in betw river fishing tends to pretty well shut Time down. proven Again desig check with the local tackle safety guys as they and all enjoy a bitat pric of freshwater fishing. So there you go, August in paradise can be anything from huge Spanish mackerel and reef fish to sooties in the shallows, so we are truly lucky to have such a diverse and productive fishery. See you at the ramp.

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Shayla Murdoch, 5yo, is really excited with this beaut whiting she caught all by herself in the Pioneer River.

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OLD

Reel Addiction is back in winter fishing action aware, black jews are now on the no take list for the rest of the year as the commercial quota was reached some time ago. Unfortunately for these fish they live right alongside other desirable species, such as grunter and fingermark,

WHITSUNDAYS

Mick Underwood

Woohoo, happy days are here again! Restrictions are loosening up, borders are opening and I am back on the water with Reel Addiction creating special memories for people, and man it feels good. I never want to go that long without having people on my boat ever again. I have enjoyed having a bit of my own fishing time over the last few months but it’s always more fulfilling to share the experience with other people. The last month on the water has been a patchy affair not just with the fishing but more so the weather. I know we are right in the guts of the trade breeze season but this year the winds seem to be a little more persistent than normal and to this point it has been an unusually wet winter. On the few nice days that we’ve had I’ve made a dash out to outer edges of my grounds and have enjoyed success chasing Spanish mackerel and deeper reef species. It’s just unfortunate that these days

This is one of quite a few coral trout that have been succumbing to hardbodies recently. goodies to troll behind their own boats. Down in the back of Edgecumbe Bay is about the only area that I’ve been able to find any bait schools recently and fortunately there has been a few pelagics down there enjoying a feast. Multiple members of the trevally family

ploys for catching these guys but don’t be shy to drop a jig if the fish are located down in the water column or casting surface lures if you find then up near the surface. Mackerel won’t be the only blue water critter to be found this month, August typically means the start of

Quality table fish, such as this gold spot cod caught by Bryan Roberts, will be coming up from the depths this month. haven’t been often enough. On the more common blustery days I’ve spent my time tucked in behind one of the inner islands or down the back of Edgecumbe Bay somewhere. On the fringing reefs behind the islands any pelagic activity has been sparse but the coral trout bite has been good, surprisingly good actually for this time of the year. One little point of interest on this bite though is that conventional bait fishing has been hopeless, it’s been hardbodies that have bought every quality fish unstuck and it’s been one after another. This has surprised a lot of dedicated bait fishos that I’ve met recently and I reckon most of them have made a bolt for their favourite tackle store by now to stock up on all sorts of bright coloured little 36

AUGUST 2020

year when I boated a jew for a lucky angler the fish would go straight into the ice box and I would have a chuffed angler knowing that he/she had just caught a delectable fish for their dinner. This year that angler has to sit sad and

and a few school mackerel have been the main catches and these fish have been happy to eat just about whatever bait or lure that we’ve thrown a them. Into August now and as we are still in the trade breeze season what fish that we get and chase this month will largely dictated to us by the winds. For me as often as possible August is all about the pelagics topped up with a bit of deeper reef fishing. Up to this point and time, it has been a cracker Spanish mackerel season and this should continue through August. The seaward edges of any of our outer islands are prime areas to locate these fish but they can turn up just about anywhere as long as there is bait present. Trolling baits such as garfish and ribbonfish are the traditional favourite

the migration of juvenile black marlin and sailfish making their way up the coast. These fish need no introduction from me as to how much fun they are to catch. Last year these fish only showed up very briefly but last year’s mackerel season was pretty average as well. This year the mackerel have been here in droves so I have high hopes that we’ll be able to get into a few billfish as well. Out in the same areas that the pelagics will be lurking, any of the deeper rubble and fern patches will be producing some good fish. Large mouth nannygai, fingermark, grunter and unfortunately black jewfish will be the main culprits to be found in these areas. All of these species are top shelf table fare and awesome fun to catch, especially when you’ve got to muscle them up 40m or so. I am going to dwell on a sour point with the jewfish for a minute here. The idiotic new laws that have been imposed on us this year by Fisheries management are ridiculous and have been composed by fools without one single ounce of intelligence. For those of you who are not

Reel Addiction at rest after another busy day. The author is happy to be back in action looking after clientele and putting smiles on dials again. and as recreational anglers we have every right to target those species. Last year when a good jew came to the surface it was considered a prize catch, this year it’s by-catch and we have to let them go. Blind Freddy knows that these fish are one of the worst sufferers of barotrauma and that the survival rate of any released fish is zero, that’s right, not one fish will survive. Last

Young Reef doesn’t miss many fish. Here he’s nailed a nice sweetlip for the dinner table.

bemused as that fish floats away from the boat near dead on the surface of the water. This new law is senseless and achieves nothing at all towards supporting the sustainability of the species. I apologise for ending this article on a sour note, it’s not my normal style but this is a subject that I feel quite strongly about as no responsible angler wants to see any beautiful fish die without being put to good use. Good luck to you all this month and I look forward to reporting to you all again soon. • Reel Addiction Sport Fishing Charters specialises in light tackle fishing for all tropical sportfishing species on fly, lures and bait. Reel Addiction operates from the beautiful Cape Gloucester Beach Resort, 40 minutes’ drive north of Airlie Beach. Combined fishing charter and accommodation packages are available. For more information, contact Mick Underwood on 0413 882 153 or email mick@reeladdiction. com.au. Resort enquiries can be directed to Julie Houston on (07) 4945 7242 or at info@capeg.com.au. To stay in touch with what’s biting, check out the Reel Addiction Sport Fishing Whitsundays page on Facebook.

OLD

2020: We shall overcome TOWNSVILLE

Dave Hodge

Well, hasn’t life been interesting over the last few months? Devastating bush fires, Corona-bloody-virus, riots and protests around the world, including Australia... sheesh! Nevertheless, it was great to see the government recognise just what fishing is to many of us and allowed us to continue throughout the ordeal. To be honest though, the government couldn’t afford to take fishing out of the economy, and Queenslanders

basis, as we fish rain, hail or shine. The response has been really rewarding, and as much as I try to describe techniques, lures, retrieves, target areas, it’s so much easier to show them in high definition. Thankfully, it all quickly becomes apparent that this is not rocket science, and anyone can do what it is we and thousands of others enjoy every week. Doing the videos weekly, shows the seasonal variation and tactical adjustments needed to not only find fish in different water temps, but be able to catch them. So locally the fishing

Flashy reflective lures and strong actions deliver the goods on most trips when the clearer winter waters call for something shiny to attract attention. The Atomic 85mm Shiner is a great lure for these sorts of situations. proved that during those testing times. Working at the Fishing Warehouse in Townsville, we instantly became insanely busy, and it just hasn’t backed off since someone mentioned the virus. Not surprising really when you consider that there are only a handful of pastimes that allow you to enjoy the solitude and active lifestyle combined with being able to get a fresh feed for your family, but the basics in life (toilet paper for crying out loud), became insanely difficult to obtain. Gun shops, archery, cycling specialty stores and anything else that revolved around a pursuit that could be done in an isolated fashion all ticked over, sustaining a state revenue in the toughest of times. It gave many people an opportunity to do those things that have been put on the back burner for years, the incentive to follow through, and spend a bit of time on activities that otherwise, eat into our limited but valuable time. For example, my son and I had been tossing up with the idea of doing a YouTube channel based around the commonly asked questions that I get asked at the shows and in the store where I work. Not a self promoting sort of thing, but more just a tag along with what we do to target a variety of fish on our weekly

has had its initial onset of the colder stuff, and for a week or two, it did make it harder to get a bite from fish that were out of their comfort zone just for a little while. Once they get used to the cooler conditions then it’s back to feeding at leisure again. The normal tide changes and dropping drain levels still produce fish, but you’ll generally find that the size of the lure is dropped considerably to around the 3-4” size range. Catching reasonable sized fish in a foot, 30cm of water is actually quite a common event also, and the use of smaller jigheads, around the 1/12oz with approximately #1 or 2 hook size will help work the lure just off the bottom. Smaller suspending hardbodied lures also work well if they can be dived down to around that metre mark, and then allowed to sit for a few seconds before the rod tip can be tapped to give a crisp ‘kick’ and, often getting that instinctive reaction bite. While both at opposite ends of the price scale, the Tilsan Barra and Bassday 90mm Sugardeep’s are both great lures for winter barra. The 52mm Scorpion is another lure that gets its fair share of action, and I tend to upgrade the hooks a fraction for when those bigger fish get involved. 20lb braid and 25lb Unitika Fluorocarbon leader is a great combination for fishing

the tiny lures. Just a bit of a heads up about the timber Tilsans variation in bouyancy. Depending on where in the diameter of a trunk the timber has been sourced and sawn, will dictate how dense it is, and therefore how heavy or light it will be. Some float, some suspend, and some slightly sink, but that’s the way timber lures are if the best available timber is to be used. It comes as a bit of a surprise to some people that the surface bite during the colder months can also be quite good, and poppers, fizzers, paddling frogs rigged weedless can get plenty of bites. Flooding flats that have nervous bait or obvious signs of moving larger fish can be super exciting, and as the water deepens and the fish head towards the mangroves, it can get quite hectic. If it’s a bit blown, or there’s a bit of dirty water from tidal movement, don’t stress, as this can sometimes make them bite more aggressive, so always keep your eyes open on those warmer flat areas for swirls and bow waves. Water temperature is absolutely crucial on many days to find active fish, which will seek out or even follow pockets of warm water, and likewise the bait will seek out the same. This is where your technology comes into its own, and an on screen temperature reading will give you a very clear indication on what you’re doing. I used to make the mistake of just heading upstream as far as I could, thinking that this was where the warmer water would be. I know now that this isn’t the case most times, and is often the exact opposite. My son and I have been exploring lots of new water over recent weeks, places we’ve never fished before, and I can honestly say that I forgot to check the temperature after we first launched and I glanced at the sounder which read 24.5ºC. This was after the cold snap we had in June and I was actually surprised at how high the reading was. Heading cautiously upstream dodging sand bars and logs, we stopped to start fishing. Two and a half hours we wasted up there because I completely forgot to look at the temp. When I realised that it was 1.5ºC cooler, we headed back down stream now fixated on that temp. About every 500m the temp would increase on average 0.1ºC, so we travelled until all of a sudden it jumped straight up to 24.5ºC again. We dropped the electric and started to cast with instant results. A dozen barra and a dozen jacks later, we discussed how much difference it had made, and how I’d wasted a fair chunk of our day by not looking at the temperature upstream, but is the most important thing to pay attention to at this time of year.

Tide size is another important consideration, and about a metre and a half of run is a good all round tide, give or take a couple of hundred millimetres. Clearer water and slower flow means that we can more precisely present lures and adjusting our head weights on the Atomic Seeker weedless hooks is something we do religiously now days. As a standard weight for the 4” prongs and 5” Paddle Prawns, a 1/4oz is good, but when we find fish deeper, we go to the 1/3oz 5/0 on the Paddle Prawn and the 1/3oz 6/0 hook size on the Atomic Prongs. The reason for this isn’t very technical, it’s simply because the weight on the hook is further up the bend of the hook on the heavier weighted hooks and the Prongs being deeper tend to bottom out on the lead and restrict hook point exposure on the bite. Just recently the wind has been quite relentless and has made using the super small stuff much more difficult in open water, and has also made us keep the fly rods out of sight. Once this pattern stabilises a bit, the wand will be dragged out again, and after many years of leaving all the fly gear packed away, I’ve broken her out a couple of times recently, and the fly bug is still there. If you’re wanting to give the long wand a go, then prawn imitations and small fish profiles like a deceivers or clouser minnow will all get bit. I prefer a weighted forward floating line for the stuff we target, and a long FC tapered leader. FC sinks so allows me to present shallower flies. As far as leader design goes, it’s really simple and with the slightly larger flies I use three 1m lengths of Fluorocarbon joined with a back to back uni knot, with the first being 50lb, down to 40lb, then 30lb ending up with a 3m

Never the target, but always fun, big pikey bream are a common by-catch during snag bashing trips. This one is a very big model for Townsville waters. tapered leader that rolls out nicely with the bigger flies. With the smaller flies I step 40 down to 30 down to 20lb. To join onto the flyline, simply tie a perfection loop and connect to your flyline loop. If you’re new to the fly, then it will be a tense few trips to start with no doubt, but as with everything, the more of it you do, the better at it you will get. Offshore around Townsville the most talked about species is the mackerel, and they’ve been thick. Trolling wolf herring has been the most effective way to target the bigger models, and good luck finding them in any tackle shop at present. Good mate, Carl Romano found a school of bonito on a bait mark the other day and trolled them. Three bonito baits delivered three mackerel hook ups in very quick time, so there are other bait options if that’s your thing. Chin rigged gar have been catching their share also for the baitos. Not surprisingly, Laser Pro’s in the 160 and 190 sizes have also been producing plenty of

Many of our bigger jacks are caught during the colder months. However, sometimes they’re just that little bit deeper.

mackies as well, all at about 6 knots, with some stonking big long tail tuna as a bit of by-catch. With the increasing shark problems the sales of electric outfits have sky rocketed, and here’s why. The more you have to fight a fish, the more likely it is to get eaten. With the huge drag pressures and lightning fast retrieve speeds of the electrics, a fish doesn’t have the time to turn its head and run for the bottom. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not about sport with the electrics it’s about getting a feed of fish, and not just bringing home an esky full of heads only. With the bigger boats that head out wide, the losses to sharks can add up to be quite a big financial loss, with bait, sinkers, fuel and destroyed tackle all adding up to be very unrewarding for the outlay. At the Fishing Warehouse where I work in Townsville, we’re selling at least a few of these combos a week now, and going by what the customers are saying, it’s changed the game. You’ll still have to be ready to back off your drag of a shark grabs your fish at the boat or risk getting your rod broken as they lunge under the boat and then crank it up again to attempt to bust them off as they head out from under your boat, but the eaten fish are much less of problem going from what people are saying. Our biggest selling electric reels are the Shimano Beast Master’s and the Daiwa Tanacom. Rod wise, Daiwa Beefstick or Shimano Status have been the best. 80lb braid is the norm, but many are now opting for 65lb as it’s easier to pop off if a shark does grab your fish. Who would have thought 10 years ago fishers would have to resort to this sort of tackle to secure a feed? Anyway, that’s the rundown on what’s been working in recent weeks, so hopefully it helps you a bit when you get to hit the water around here. AUGUST 2020

OLD

Waiting on the warm water LUCINDA

Jeff Wilton jeffwilton83@hotmail.com

August already, how quickly do the months pass us? It only seemed like a month ago we were searching for our one jumper and now we’re packing it away for another year. In saying that, I am happy we’re about to head into the warmer months as not only do the days get warmer, so does the fishing. The past few months have been dictated by horrific runs of southerly trades and a fair bit of light annoying rain.

period into warmer times. This can have the fish in an unsettled mood and can make getting them to actively eat quite difficult. The prize species, such as barramundi and mangrove jack, are still going to be sulking a little and although it is always worth chasing them normally results will suffer a little. If I can make one suggestion if out having a go at these species then I recommend down sizing your lures, lighter leaders and fishing shallower water that holds more heat. I have had some great short sessions on jacks over the last few months but picking my

overnight and around the smaller tide changes. Some great results can be had if in the right spot at the right time and using quality fresh or live baits. There is no denying the fact that the fishos that consistently get results spend time gathering their own bait. You will get the odd fish on store bought squid and fish but the live or fresh version is better to use. The usual schools of blue salmon have been around in big numbers like the previous few years and keeping your eyes peeled for moving fish, especially around sand bars in creeks should give away their presence. If you find a good school try to sneak up on them and make long casts into and around the school using a medium to quick retrieve to get them interested. Any shallow diving small to mid size lure or plastic should get eaten, and if you find they are not interested try working your lure quicker. Blue salmon can

be quite pelagic at times and something moving fast gets them excited. JETTY, ISLANDS AND REEF The jetty has been a lot of fun as usual and there have been some epic sessions on those terrific sports fish, queenfish. Lucinda jetty is one of the best spots around to tangle with these fish and it can be as easy as sounding around until fish are located and dropping straight into them. At other times they can be very shy and this normally means they have been fished hard recently, the tide has slowed down or it is the middle of the day. The best times are always morning and afternoon as they need sunlight to help hone in on their food. When you can get an active school of queenfish it is hard to beat the mayhem that can unfold with double and triple hook ups the norm. In fact if someone hooks up it is normal to have several

Toni with a school size barra. fish follow the hooked one the entire fight and as you release your fish you can drop straight onto another one. The best thing about queenies is they love to eat surface lures and a fast burned popper can cause some crazy moments with airborne fish and pack attacks most casts. Some sessions after catching a few fish I throw a popper with no hooks just to witness the crazy action you can create. Queenies are brilliant sports fish and will rip a lot of drag with quick runs and direction changes while clearing the water by metres in huge jumps. Not typically a dirty fighter but hooking them

Wilf ‘The Grunter Slayer’ at it again! The fishing has been tough, which is typical of this time of the year and the chances of heading offshore have been very far and few between. It’s not all doom and gloom in NQ, as we are still spoilt for choices and there are plenty of fish still being caught. HINCHINBROOK CHANNEL August can be tough up the channel as it seems to be the start of the transition

trips has been key to getting results. Hot settled days with a few metres of run in the tides has worked well and using surface lures has provoked their aggressive nature making them have a swipe. The standout species over the last few months has been fingermark with plenty of these hard fighting and great tasting fish moving around the channel and creeks. Most people will target them

Even when the water is cold, jacks can’t help themselves.

close to the pylons can mean disaster in seconds if they do the wrong thing first up and there is very little you can do to stop them. Lucinda Jetty queenies are normally solid metre-plus fish in prime condition so best to use good mid-sized gear to allow fun fights but not long ones that will normally see the fish exhausted and potentially die after release. I will add that they don’t do well out of water for very long so if you’re getting a quick picture, have everything ready, get a pic and get them back into the water ASAP. At the time of writing this article I am yet to get out and have a go at the juvenile black marlin but they should still be out there chasing the bait schools around. Really hoping the weather gives us a break and we get a shot at targeting these feisty fish. It is also whale season so having an encounter with these amazing animals while you’re trolling around for marlin or mackerel is an added bonus. Just make sure to abide by the rules and regulations when approaching whales as they are put in place to protect you and the whales. If you’re lucky enough to cross paths with them turn your motor off grab the camera and get ready for a terrific show, especially if they are in a playful mood.

Grateful to be back into it HINCHINBROOK

Ian Moody info@ianmoodyfishing.com

We’re finally glad to be back out operating in some capacity. My vessels new improvements are already making life better for me and my clients out on the water. Fishing has been a little on the tough side, with chilly water temperatures making the barra become more sporadic during the day with their feeding habits. Nevertheless, the tides I have fished so far haven’t been my favourite ones. We have encountered a few big fish, but they either didn’t hook up properly or got us around the rocks. I guess that’s fishing and we will seal the deal on those fish soon. However, with the smaller neap tides that I have had to work with so far has made me venture to 38

AUGUST 2020

deeper water where I found a few large schools of winter fingermark in the channel. Hugging shallow to deep drop-offs, a few schools at around approximately 50-80 fish in size have taken up residence on a few old GPS marks of mine. After boating four fish around 45-50cm recently on live mud herring,

we had quite a number of fun sized tuna schools move in chasing the bait schools. This gave our clients some stretched arms while baits or vibes were being lowered to the bottom. I would have liked to have had a look in areas further into the channel but I’m avoiding them due to marking a large

Fingermark don’t release well, so only fish for what you will keep.

number of black jewfish in that area. That becomes a real pain, as they are in areas I fish for fingermark, which can be up to 17-20m in depth. Now being a no take species, their chance of survival for release from those depths are very minimal and I try to avoid where they hangout as much as I can. Fingermark also don’t release very well over 10m in depth so once we have enough for a feed we usually move on to do something else. I have seen a few anglers catching some good mangrove jack around the boat passage/ deluge area of late. They have mostly been caught on snagless plastics casted deep up into overhanging mangrove lines. The first species to come aboard my first trip back on the water was a 43cm jack, which very surprisingly hardly fought and laid still once being on board – must have been a bit chilly for him!

Sherlin and Jaimie with a fun-sized tuna. During this month you will notice quite a few of those early afternoon low tides getting down to 30cm which will trap you in certain parts of the Hinchinbrook Channel, so be wary and prepare for that unless you wish to be trapped in an area for hours, which sometimes is not a bad thing! It also presents a problem for the Port Hinchinbrook marina boat ramp in which you need a minimum of 1.2m to get out and even up to 1.5m for

the bigger boats. There was an announcement that tenders have been awarded for dredging the marina so fingers-crossed we see some mud being moved very soon. • We are now commencing charters for up to two clients abiding by social distancing laws. Gift vouchers can still be purchased if you’re looking for birthday gifts. You can email us at info@ ianmoodysportfishing.com or phone us on 0402 339 459.

OLD

Blue thrills this winter CAIRNS

Dan Kaggelis dkaggelis@gmail.com

The cool water temperatures have certainly not affected the fishing in the Trinity Net Free Zone in the last month. In fact, there has been some cracker

and will need a bit more effort. For this reason, I prefer to be fishing lures that provide more time in the strike zone. Suspending lures are an excellent option this time of year as they sit perfectly mid water giving the fish plenty of time to see them and eat them. Watching your sounder and seeing at what depth

plastic down into the fish. Counting down your plastic in relation to water depth is a good idea as it helps target mid water fish. Jacks have also been on the chew for snag bashers targeting the rising water, especially on minnow and paddle-tail plastics. This time of year, the jacks do require a bit more pinpoint accuracy and it’s important to get those lures right in the thick of the strike zone. The Trinity Inlet has been producing some thumper fish up to a beyond the 50cm mark as well as plenty of mid-range models. There have also been some excellent golden snapper on the rubble

Chasing barra on suspending hardbodies is always a good idea in the cold water.

Jacks are still an option in the cool water – just get your casts right in the timber. fish caught, including plenty of reports of 1m barramundi for those who are keen enough to put in the effort chasing them. It is no secret that this time of year the fish are a little more reluctant to bite

the fish are sitting and working your lure down to this depth and letting it sit there for a while really increases your chances of getting that bite. The other option is to slowly work a soft

Blue salmon are an underrated species and are worth targeting in the cooler months in the NFZ.

grounds and wrecks in the Inlet, especially during the neaper tides. One species that will be around in good numbers this time of year on the flats and mouths of the creeks are the blue salmon. These fish are very much underrated as they are excellent fighters, jump and when you find one there are usually plenty on offer. Target these fish with vibes or plastics around he mouths of creeks on the high tide. Finally, if there is one species that is worth chasing this time of year it would have to be the mud crab. Mud crabs are in good numbers at the moment and sinking a few pots is certainly worth the effort.

The wheels and reels will keep on turning PORT DOUGLAS

Lynton Heffer www.fishingportdouglas.com.au

We are starting to see some tourist movement in our seaside village, which has been crippled by the COVID pandemic. We well and truly have our chins up and just hope we can share our wonderful fishery with more people, which we are normally accustomed to at this time of year. The fishing has been very positive and well supported by locals and intra-state travellers for the moment. We simply can’t wait to see more visitors from around Australia in the coming weeks. For those that decide on visiting our piece of paradise (recently acknowledged as a top 5 Australian holiday destination) will have a good fishing experience no matter your style. On the outer reef we are having a really solid

run on the coral trout, which again this year prove to be a staple catch for us and a desired target

species. We are also seeing a lot of activity from the small mouth nannygai schools with a trickle of

the large mouth at times. Small mouth nannygai did disappear a couple of years ago but have returned in

The Daintree River fishing has been just sensational.

impressive numbers. When they come on the bite it is total action stations. Mixed in amongst these schools have also been some high end red emperor, which are at the top of the list for many reef anglers. Spanish mackerel have begun their surge and in the mix are their cousins, such as grey, spotted and school species. These great sporting fish are not only fantastic to catch but always provide pound for pound a sizeable bounty of firm, tasty flesh for the table. Other than this, we have a good solid supply of bread and butter reef species such as spangled emperor, sweetlip and stripeys, which are all high quality to add to the fishing creel. Along the calm water systems, the local estuary is producing some decent mangrove jack, and there are a few mud crabs worth pursuing as well. By far our best local system has been the Daintree River, which also offers the best

and biggest croc spotting opportunities during the cooler months. This amazing stretch of World Heritage listed water has been punching out inspiring fingermark and golden trevally on a regular basis. It is a tough river to work out at the best of times but at Fishing Port Douglas manage a sensational guide with 30yrs experience and always delivers a memorable trip. It is well worth the drive just north of Port Douglas. Looking ahead we are already seeing a run on the small juvenile black marlin on our wide grounds for the bit more adventurous and they will pick up more speed in the coming days. Coinciding with a run of mackerel the light tackle scene is gearing up nicely for the next couple of months. If you can get to the tropics, and in particular Port Douglas we’ll show you a good time on the water. AUGUST 2020

OLD

New Cooktown barra chant COOKTOWN

Justin Coventry

“Barra, barra, barra! Oi, Oi, Oi!” is the new anthem for Cooktown and Cape York. Anglers have enjoyed an absolute fishing paradise in the local waterways recently, without the pressure of people on the river systems.

Something I’m sure will be talked about for years to come. The barramundi fever is truly alive in the next generation and will no doubt drive both themselves and their parents mad as they try to relive the experience. It’s an unprecedented event this year with the lockdowns in place and restricted movement of people, which shows how

fishing pressure. Most locals practice catch and release principles when catching freshwater barramundi, as they just enjoy the chance to fight this impressive ambush predator. The fishing will only get better if more people do the same and only take what they need. We have seen the benefit of less pressure and hopefully have learnt how good it can be. If we manage to take anything away from this experience, it’s that we need to manage our barramundi fishery more. The local lure shop lads had a session to remember on a trip into Lakefield and caught lots of large barramundi from 80cm and upwards. The biggest was 114cm caught on a 110 Twin River Prawn lure, which was the catch of the weekend. All fish where

allowed to breed up the next generations, is what sustainable fishing is all about. Well done guys, for showing the way. The winds are back with a vengeance. Locals always say that they wouldn’t know if a cyclone hit as we have such strong winds throughout the year we don’t know the difference. Winter is the worst for strong winds so there will be little opportunity to get out to the reefs for the next few months. Fishing the river system is a better option than getting bashed around in the boat in open sea. The reports from the local wharf have seen mackerel starting to make an appearance, and it will no doubt improve this month and into the next. Bait schools are the key to success and seeing the

Barra fever is truly alive in the next generation.

Leslie Ryder with a typical winter barra. Even the cooler conditions haven’t caused much of a shut down in quality and quantity of barramundi that have been caught. Taking the family fishing and everyone catching barramundi is a experience to remember!

much pressure is put on area and the difference it makes. This will hopefully have a flow on effect for a while yet as fish have had a chance to do what they do naturally and move and breed and populate areas without falling victim to

Ramon found his barra in one of the many sheltered waterways.

large schools of herring swimming around the foreshore will get the heart pumping knowing what might be lurking close by. The mackerel season can see a flurry of locals at the wharf with herrings flying through the air to the awaiting razor sharp toothed mackerel patrolling the region. Use wire leader in small lengths, as it will spook the fish hanging off a long leader. Be ready to lift the fish clear as the local grouper looks for an easy meal. Happy fishing and enjoy the time with family and friends and let’s be glad that we can still wet a line and enjoy getting outdoors.

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Big Bass Bonanza TOOWOOMBA

Jason Ehrlich fishability1@bigpond.com

I absolutely love, love, love the fishing at this time of year. Chunky big bass carrying roe and heaps of weight will be on offer in many of the Qld lakes. Unlike their wild mates in the tidal rivers, which are protected by a closed season, the impoundment dwellers will never reach the brackish water to complete the breeding task. They are fair game and bass fishers love to chase them at the end of winter and beginning of spring. A female full of roe can be packing around 500g to a full kilo

extra in weight depending on the size of the actual fish. The whole mass of the fish also increases and they use this to their advantage and pull hard. At some stage this month, the switch will flick. This will definitely be the case in the lakes where the action has been a bit tougher over winter. Sometimes the fish don’t feed as ferociously over this period and if they have been holding back, expect to have a ball when conditions are right. The first run of several days of warmer than average weather in August is often a good time to try your luck. Fishing pressure can make things tougher on the busy waterways but if you are first to be there, expect some

unbelievable fishing. Somerset and Wivenhoe are renowned for the biggest, fattest fish but they will also attract the most attention. Flying under the radar for good numbers of fatties are Hinze, North Pine, Cressbrook and Wuruma. So if you are after a new PB, now is the time to tackle the giants. It is a time of year where I no longer measure fish in length, it is all about the weight. The 2kg fish are common in the big fish lakes, then you have the 3kg models that will turn an eye, but it is the ones over 4kg that I really long for. They are hard to come by but they are out there. Until next month, buckled rods from The Colonel!

An understanding of the sounder is what alerted the author to the presence of this cod. Six casts later with a Barambah Bony Shad and all hell broke loose.

GRANITE BELT GLENLYON CLOSEST TOWNS: STANTHORPE, TEXAS Murray cod are a popular target over the winter months. The big fish fire up prior to and after their breeding season. Glenlyon is producing the best numbers of big cod I have ever heard of. This is likely due to the increased popularity of cod fishing and people now willing to brave the cold to catch them. If you are into icy starts, burning cold

fingers and metre long cod then this dam is for you. The cod have been coming from all over the dam but most anglers are still heading to The Caves area. Working lures hard up against the steep banks is one approach but better numbers seem to be coming from the flats outside the old creek bed. Long casts into water 1-4m deep are ideal and if you can do this near a bit of structure in the form of trees, laydowns or rocks you only increase your chances. Big

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND CRESSBROOK CLOSEST TOWN: CROWS NEST Cressbrook Dam bass have been hard to find. I know of a couple of schools, one in each arm of the lake. These fish seem to favour a particular depth and will sit right on the ledges and hug the bottom. If you aren’t weaving in and out as you search, they are easily missed. When they get active and start looking for something to eat, they will leave these ledges and move up onto shallower areas. The window to catch them here has been small but when they are there, you can catch them every cast.

Bigger profile spoons work extremely well. The old G1 Gang Bangers are one of my favourites. The wider profile lures are also very effective; 30g Slow Blatt Ovals are ideal and the new Hot Bite Raptor Jig has been dynamite during its field testing. The bite is likely to improve if we have a run of warmer weather this month and will then continue for several weeks. You will need to spend the time searching for the schools to catch the big numbers. Cressbrook isn’t a big lake so if you dedicate a half day just to searching you should come across them

Blake Ehrlich caught his first cod over 1m long at Glenlyon Dam. and they will be in the same areas for future trips. The best time to find them stacked up is in the early morning and late afternoon. Cressbrook has some giants over 50cm. These big fish will be mixed through the various schools but there is usually one spot that seems to hold the larger specimens. Don’t be fooled by the fish holding under your boat. They are often smaller and the big models will stay further away. Use longer casts to reach them and you will hopefully nail some big bass around the 3kg mark. Just remember there is a speed limit of 8 knots and a restricted area around the

pump tower. Check out the signage to ensure you stay out of trouble and abide by the rules. The gate hours for the boat ramps and day use area are 7am-6pm over the winter months. SOMERSET CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY Somerset has been steady over winter but there have already been some big bass caught. The bass are still schooling around Pelican Point, Happy Clappers, Bay 13, Queen Street Flats and either side of Kirkleigh on the flats. These schools are often hard to tempt but if things

swimbaits have dominated catches with the Jackall Gantarel and Zerek 8” Live Swimbait definite standouts. You can start working these lures close to the surface and unweighted in the early morning. As the sun rises, switch it up and start adding some weight or slowing down to fish them deeper. Topwater lures are also getting some bites. Big wake snake-style lures and bigger surface paddlers are fooling a few big fish. Cod are a bit uncoordinated when it comes to eating off the top but the explosions

can be impressive and sometimes frightening. • The Glenlyon Tourist Park has great campsites, van sites and cabins to make your stay comfortable. Brian and Debbie also stock a great range of lures in the kiosk are always willing to help people catch fish by revealing the best spots to try. The boat ramp is located just below the park so you can jump out of your warm cosy bed and be in the water in minutes. You can call them to book your stay on (02) 6737 5266.

warm up a notch and we get an early taste of spring, the action should be red hot. As the thermoclines disappear over winter, the bass can push even deeper as oxygenated water can be found as deep as 70ft. This makes finding them even harder as they have a bigger range of depths they can prefer. I like to look in 10-15m of water from the dam wall to the lake’s middle reaches. Fish over this depth tend to be smaller and don’t handle the barotrauma as well. Once you get north of Queen Street flats, the bigger fish tend to increase in numbers and they

will be found in shallower locations. Search the flats in 8-11m of water. The big bass will be active and easier to catch when they are up on top of the flats. When they retreat back to the ledges, they can be near impossible to fool. It will be a case of playing around to see what they want to eat most. Soft plastics can work very well at this time of year when slowly fished along the bottom. Spoons are the other option so mix it up between the two until you work them out. From Pelican Point down to the dam wall, spoons tend to dominate

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The Ryan family enjoyed some hot action at Cressbrook Dam. They caught plenty of big bass on an assortment of Hot Bite spoons.

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OLD From page 44

catches. The further north you head, the more soft plastics can come into play for attracting the bites from the big fish. • Somerset Fishing has their store based at the area above the day use boat ramp. The store is open over holidays and otherwise from Friday

to Sunday. Orders can also be made online. They have an excellent range of gear suited to fishing for bass and golden perch. WIVENHOE CLOSEST TOWNS: FERNVALE, ESK Lure trollers have managed some quality bass

SUNSHINE COAST REGION BORUMBA CLOSEST TOWNS: IMBIL, NOOSA Borumba fish have had their hot and cold periods over the last month. It will be one of the lakes where things will fire up and the fishing will be out of control. Bass following that spawning instinct love to school up. This means the schools will be thick but there is plenty of fishless water between them.

The yellow buoys in the basin of the lake will have some schooling fish on the points and flats nearby, Borumba Flat is always worth a look and there are a few spots in The Junction where the fish have been holding. The lake edges have fished quite well with suspending jerkbaits near the shallower schools. These fish may also retreat back to deeper water this month and join their mates

word is out, the bite period and intensity is a lot shorter due to the amount of fishing pressure. The big bass aren’t in the same numbers as Somerset but the quality is definitely there if you sort through them. Bass pushing 60cm in total length will be caught this

year so make sure you are on the water having a crack to be in with such a chance. • The boys at Charltons at Redbank carry all the gear you will need to catch Wivenhoe bass and golden perch. It doesn’t matter if you prefer to cast or troll, they have you covered.

out there. The deeper schools will favour spoons and soft plastics. I am a big fan of rotating between different schools. There are two reasons for this. One, it gives you a better chance of hitting them when they are active and two, you can rest them after catching some so they will hopefully reset and be ready for another round later on in the day. • Davos at Noosaville has all the gear you’ll need to tackle the fish at Borumba and Lake MacDonald. The store caters

well for fresh and saltwater anglers. They can be found in the Homemaker Centre on the corner of Mary and Thomas Streets. MACDONALD CLOSEST TOWNS: TEWANTIN, NOOSA I had the pleasure of fishing Lake MacDonald last month. It is a lake I don’t visit regularly and it was great to bang a few bass there. The weed beds are still looking healthy but we failed to score fish from them. The amount

of bait was impressive so we headed for deeper water within sight of the Scout Hut Boat Ramp and found our fish sitting on the ledges where the flats dropped into holes over 7m deep. Hopping G2 Gang Banger spoons down the ledges into the hole and then back up the other side was deadly. This same style of fishing should only improve this month and the fish will be more willing to eat them slow rolled as well. Small blades around 1/4oz

or 3/8oz and tail spinners are also likely to get the bites when the fish fire up this month. I wouldn’t write off the weed bed fishing as they look too good not to hold fish. Hopping small blades or working suspending lures in the weed edge has to account for some fish. Davos at Noosaville spent the day with me so they are all over the locations to fish and which lures to use.

smaller ones like the G2 gang Banger doing the trick over winter. This may change a bit as things warm up and the fish won’t mind a larger snack. I spoke to one of the dam’s regulars and he was raving about white lures doing a lot of the catching for them. The bass can be found from The Narrows right through to Pelican Point. Pay particular attention to areas like Pelican Point, The Junction and Liesegangs Ledge and spend the time looking until you find something worth casting at. Remember the bass will be schooled at this time

deep in the main weed beds. A weedless rigged soft plastic is the best approach to keep the lure weed-free and working for the whole retrieve. There are plenty of 5” paddle tail plastic lures out there that can do the job but you will need to find a weedless hook with plenty of gape that is up to the task. One of my favourite lure setups for this is a 6/0 Weighted Owner Beast hook with a PowerBait Bubble Shiner. • Justin Nye from Gladstone Fly and Sportfishing runs fishing charters on the lake. He caters to the needs of the angler and can do fly or conventional tackle trips to target the lake’s barramundi. He successfully guides clients

onto fish right through the year and has a good understanding of fish movements. It is hard to beat time on the water and this is a great way to learn more about this lake and its fish. You can contact him on 0429 223 550 or visit the website gladstoneflyandsportfishing. com.au. • Mark from Awoonga Gateway Lodge always has a few productive secret spots to share. The Gateway lodge is on the way in to the dam after turning off at Benaraby. The accommodation is great with plenty of boat parking space right beside the comfortable air conditioned, self-contained cabins each with its own veranda. To book in a stay give Mark or Lyn a call on (07) 49750033.

CAPRICORN REGION AWOONGA CLOSEST TOWNS: BENARABY, GLADSTONE The barra have continued to chew over the winter months but the bigger fish have been harder to find. Smaller barra in the 60-70cm size range are quite common. Working suspending jerkbaits is a good way to fool the winter barra that can be found around the weed edges. Points and bays are the places to try your luck. If the weed stays healthy, the bigger fish should be lurking deep in the weed beds. I love to target these fish by stealthily working the weed pockets

of schools a little later than some of the other lakes. It could be September before they all bunch up on the flats in the middle out from Billies Bay. When this happens, you can experience some red hot fishing. In past years we have had this continue for a couple of months but now the

of year so there will be plenty of barren water between them. When the fish are located in bulk, expect to catch plenty. There have been a few changes at the Burnett dams. Camping and accommodation at Boondooma and Bjelke is set to recommence on 1 August (depending on any further COVID restrictions). During the closure, a lot of work was carried out at to update the facilities. To celebrate their reopening, the council is running The Festival of the Dams which will be held at Boondooma on 15-16 August. Keep an eye on social media for further information.

WIDE BAY AND BURNETT REGION BOONDOOMA CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSTON, KINGAROY Boondooma Dam has been firing. The bass were chewing their heads off a month ago so it seems hard to believe they can get any better. I think that the action may slow a little after I write this and they will then pick it up a notch at the first hint of good weather this month. Tail spinners have definitely made a comeback on this lake and good numbers of bass are falling to hopping retrieves. Spoons are also effective with the

and golden perch over the winter months. This is due to the bigger fish still being spread out. Casters are getting a few nice ones but they are scattered and only the smaller ones are schooling in numbers. This is all set to change in the coming month. Wivenhoe seems to get its run

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The G2 Gang Banger was working well last month but when the bass fire up, bigger offerings could produce better.

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Recreational Fishing Update Flattie Taggers Crack 400 Fish!

A small team of dedicated anglers has now managed to tag more than 400 trophy-sized (over 70cm) dusky flathead in the Lake Macquarie Recreational Fishing Haven. Working as part of the Trophy Fishery Program, the team of volunteer taggers from Lake Macquarie, together with similar groups in the St Georges Basin and Tuross Lake RFHs, are providing valuable information on the important role big female flathead play in the overall fishery.

Here are a few stats from the Lake Macquarie crew: • 418 dusky flathead tagged so far. • Average length of tagged fish is 74.5cm. • Largest fish 95.5cm (caught by Mark Williams) • 50 reported recaptures (recapture rate just below 12%). • Two tagged flathead reported as recaptured twice. • Most recaptured fish stay within 1km of release point, indicating that they are predominantly residential. • Furthest distance travelled (that we know!) was more than 30km. The fish was tagged in Lake Macquarie and was recaptured off Stockton beach after 132 days at liberty. • The longest time at liberty (time between tag and recapture) is 736 days. • The shortest time at liberty is four days! • Recaptures show high variability in growth. The most growth seen in a recaptured flatty was 8cm (74cm to 82cm) in 478 days. Find out more about the Trophy Fishery program by searching the DPI website.

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au 46

AUGUST 2020

New North Coast RAP Drop-Off Site

After receiving requests from keen Research Angler Program (RAP) participants for more North Coast drop-off locations, we’re happy to announce that the Nambucca Boatshed and Café is now our newest participating store! A big thanks to the owner and staff for their help. Without the support of local tackle shops like the Nambucca Boatshed and Café, the RAP just wouldn’t be possible. If you’re interested in contributing to the RAP and are lucky enough to catch a mulloway, kingfish, snapper, dusky flathead, tailor, black bream, Spanish or spotted mackerel of any legal size, donate the frame/skeleton at any participating drop-off point. Find out more by doing a quick search on the DPI website. The RAP is yet another great example of your fishing fees at work.

‘Barrel’ SBT Recaptured! Over the past year, the NSW Game Fish Tagging Program has received three reported recaptures of “barrel-sized” southern bluefin tuna, the most recent of which was recaptured in June. Incredibly, all these recaptures were originally tagged by keen fisho Fady Dib (pictured releasing the fish) aboard his vessel Storm Tamer II. Fady tagged the estimated 120kg SBT off Port Macdonnell, SA, on 5 August 2019. Fast forward to 7 June 2020 and the fish was recaptured by Tuan Phan, fishing off Cape Nelson in Victoria. Upon recapture, the fish tipped the scales at 137kg. It had spent 307 days at liberty and was caught more than 36 nautical miles (~66km) from its original release location. SBT are a highly migratory species so it’s interesting to speculate if this fish travelled all up to the SBT spawning grounds off Indonesia and back again during its 307 days at liberty ...

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your recreational fishing licence fees. Make sure you keep up with the latest in the wonderful world of fishing by subscribing to Newscast. More details at the DPI website!

Fishing news

Bushfire-affected trees have been given new life

Timber from bushfireaffected trees along Upper Murray roadsides has been used to control erosion and improve the habitat of the endangered trout cod near Towong. Agencies from both sides of the border have collaborated on the

project, which has resulted in dozens of large logs converted into river ‘snags’ at the Lighthouse Crossing Reserve. The logs provide shelter, food and breeding locations for fish and other aquatic animals. Once plentiful in the Murray-Darling Basin,

trout cod now have a very restricted to range, including a small population in the Upper Murray. The habitat restoration project was initiated by Murray Local Land Services through funding from the Australian Government’s bushfire recovery package

Re-snagging has been shown to greatly increase populations of native freshwater fish. Image courtesy of Murray Local Land Services.

The repurposed trees were deemed unsafe to remain on the roadsides. Image courtesy of Murray Local Land Services.

for wildlife and their habitat. The works were undertaken by the NSW Soil Conservation Service, a division of Local Land Services, and have been carried out in conjunction with Parks Victoria, using logs donated by Regional Roads Victoria. More than 65 large bushfire-affected trees were removed from roadsides

in the Towong Shire after they were deemed unsafe to remain in place. Snag removal decades ago has been shown to have contributed to erosion and the decline of fish populations. Re-snagging inhibits erosion and creates fish habitat, with the timber secured safely and positioned in a way that does not interfere with the

river channel. NSW DPI Murray Darling Fisheries Manager, Luke Pearce, said re-snagging in other rivers had resulted in a threefold increase in numbers of Murray cod and a doubling of golden perch. It is hoped that this project has a similar effect on the trout cod. – NSW Local Land Services

Where do my fishing licence fees go? Funds raised from the NSW recreational fishing licence are placed into special trusts, and spent on projects to improve recreational fishing. Committees of anglers provide recommendations on expenditure from the trusts: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Fish stocking Artificial reefs Fish aggregating devices (FADs) Recreational fishing havens Fishing facilities e.g. fishing platforms and fish cleaning tables Kids fishing workshops Fishcare Volunteers Gamefish tagging Get Hooked...it’s fun to fish, primary schools education Fish habitat restoration

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au AUGUST 2020

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Finally back on track first and catch a yellowtail, your mission will be easier. We have been drifting the area with a yellowtail

PITTWATER

Peter Le Blang plfishfingers@bigpond.com

Finally some great news for those who want to use charter operators to enjoy a day on the water! The NSW Government has lifted the 4m2 distancing rule for those of us wanting to go fishing, finally! This means that we can start to go back to normal but must abide by the 1.5m distancing and follow strict hygiene rules. Our last month has seen a mix of day fishing on our charters, but the one thing that everyone has enjoyed is being outside and enjoying the thrills of fishing. We have been targeting squid, trying for kingies and chasing bottom-feeding fish as well. In recent times we have been finding squid amongst the weed beds off Palm Beach and, although this is a big area on most occasions we have found a couple of larger squid. Drifting these vast weed beds can be daunting, but if you go to West Head

placed just behind the boat while casting our squid jigs in all directions. We have been covering ground

This 34cm bream didn’t care that it was raining and devoured a well-presented prawn.

Kings like this one can be caught in Broken Bay.

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with our jigs and yellowtail have been attracting a fair amount of attention as well. The squid that break their

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been caught we have been using fresh strips and heads as the live squid have been very big and most customers don’t have the patience to target the bigger kingies in the system. The best live bait to use by far has been small live cuttlefish used on the downriggers. It still amazes me how you can find kingfish on your sounder and present squid offerings, both live or strips, and they are refused. Drop out a live

small cuttlefish and only a pass or two will normally see you hooked up to the same fish. Lesson learnt, you got to feed them with the food they want, not the bait you think they should eat. The better area has been around Scotland Island and I am sure if you use downriggers and live cuttlefish you should be able to tangle with a few. Fishing on the bottom of Pittwater has had its

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cover of the weed beds are quickly becoming the targets of our jigs so it is important for the closest person to keep an eye on the livie. Other areas to try are Mackeral Beach and also Currawong Beach weed beds. The better colour to use has been the natural colours of browns, blues and green variations. The better sizes have been 2.5g and use an aggressive action. Once squid have

Steve Winser

The fishing has been consistent in recent weeks, despite the water temperature down the back of the harbour dropping; it has fallen as low as 14°C some days. Kingfish are being caught in the upper reaches

of the harbour, with some nice size fish in the mix. It looks like there are a couple of different runs of fish in there just now, schools of 60-70cm fish and then some 90-110cm fish. The bigger kings have been finicky lately, turning their noses up at heavy tackle. We usually fish 50lb gear for the bigger fish but we’ve downsized to 30lb

to tempt them to bite. Probably don’t want to go too much lighter than that. The vast majority of kingfish have been taken on freshly-caught squid and cuttlefish, with a few kings being taken on plastics. The most popular plastics are 4-5” shad tails in greens and golds. You need to get them down deep and move them slow

with an erratic action. In the lower reaches of the harbour we’ve been seeing sporadic schools of surface fish like salmon, tailor and smaller kingfish between Garden Island and Shark Island. The surface school fish have been sporadic in that area but the majority of the fish have come on small 3”

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The kingfish action should continue in the upper harbour this month. Image courtesy of Craig McGill, Fishabout Sydney Harbour.

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NSW

rewarding days as well. There are a variety of fish being caught and some of them are trevally, bream, snapper, tailor and flathead. We have been covering a lot of ground to find the mentioned fish but the effort is always worth it when the customers are smiling. When targeting the bottom feeders along Pittwater, it’s better to drift rather than anchor and berley. The reason is there is very little amount of run in the water right along Pittwater and berelying will not go very far at all. This one reason is why a lot of people fishing Pittwater find it unproductive and hard to fish. You have to cover ground when fishing on Pittwater to find and catch fish. We always use our plotting trail on our sounder, so once the fish are found the same ground can be drifted over again to produce more fish. The better areas to fish have been the drop off behind Scotland Island (The Hill) and the gutter at Careel Bay. Both these areas will see you fishing in a variety of water depths and you will have to see if the deeper water or the shallows are better on your day out. The shallower water of Careel bay has been good to catch some flathead using soft plastics on the drop offs and around the weed bed edges. The weed bed edges have also seen some winter whiting for those that can anchor quietly and use a fine bread berley mix. Beware that the bread berley if floating will see sea gulls ruin your fishing, so delivery of the berley with a weighted berley bucket is recommended. Light fishing lines drifted in the berley trail will see bream and whiting From page 48

jerkbaits soft and surface walkers like Sugapen style lures. And also casting live baits into them has been effective as well. Along the foreshores the bream and blackfish are still going strong. We’ve getting bream to around 40cm pretty much every trip, and the blackfish are good sizes too. The most reliable way to catch them is with bread berley and bread and prawn baits. You should fish in very close to the walls, suspending your bait around 1-2m below a bobby cork. You may also encounter some schools of solid trevally moving in, especially in the afternoon. Drummer have come on very strong around the lower reaches of the harbour on the foreshores

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Some guys have all the luck – a sunny day and decent flathead on Broken Bay. being caught, especially if you are using nippers or bloodworms for bait. Offshore there are some snapper, flathead, morwong and the odd patch of kingies to tangle with as well. At the moment the water depths of 60-80m have been the most promising when reef fishing. As usual the better baits to try are pilchards or squid until you catch a few fresh baitfish on the reefs you are fishing. Remember

to find baitfish over the reef or reef edges before deploying your lines. I hope this article sees you all racing over to the phone to give your local charter operator a call to enjoy a day on the water. • Peter Le Blang operates Harbour and Estuary Fishing Charters, phone 02 9999 2574 or 0410 633 351, visit www. estuaryfishingcharters. com.au

and around the headlands, with some very big fish up to around 4kg. You can enjoy very good fishing if you can time the high tide in the afternoon. Because the presence of the larger fish, I recommend fishing reasonably heavy gear, up to 15kg. Just recently there was a mulloway bite in the upper reaches of the harbour, interesting considering the water temperature. Most of them were taken on squid strips, with a few on shadtail plastics and Samaki Vibelicious soft vibes. FISHING IN AUGUST As I write this there are schools of salmon outside on the head, and we’re hoping to see them enter the harbour before long. That will make the surface school fishing more consistent. This month the kingfish

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AUGUST 2020

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NSW

Big pigs are on the chew SYD ROCK & BEACH

Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au

August is one of the quieter months around Sydney, with the residential species reigning supreme. Off the beaches the Aussie salmon are the most reliable, with the odd flathead, bream and tailor and, on some beaches, the resident whiting. The same applies off the ocean rocks with rock blackfish, groper, luderick and trevally, and at times a few snapper thrown in when conditions are right. In the estuaries like Sydney’s Middle Harbour, you can pick up trevally, luderick and some big winter whiting. Below are the reports I have gathered over the past month, some from client trips and others from my fishing peers. OCEAN ROCKS Big pigs (rock blackfish) are on the chew, with some great bags being caught. I have heard from reliable sources that there are huge fish up to 60cm, or around 4.5kg (10lb). It’s very rare to catch a pig bigger than that, although it’s not entirely unheard of; although every now and then a huge tank of a pig up to 5.5kg is caught.

When you catch rock blackfish, check out their stomach contents to see what they have been feeding on. You will notice a variety of weeds, with

the odd crab section and at times cunjevoi, small sea tulips, small limpets, and occasionally even the prehistoric looking chitins. The types of weed

Paul Dalla with his PB rock blackfish. Fishing in amongst very harsh boulders is where you will find the crevices/caves where this pugnacious fish lives. mostly seen in the intestines of a pig are young kelp, red weed, pink moss and some green cabbage weed. You would think there would be much more green cabbage weed, but that is not the

Dean Nicolis caught a whopper of a bream in Botany Bay. It was at least 45cm and weighed approximately 1.5kg.

AUGUST 2020

case. Cabbage weed and hair weed usually grow above the tide mark and are a luxury food for rock blackfish and luderick. Generally these fish only get the opportunity to feed on this weed when it gets forced off the rocks by waves, or if there is short growth on a ledge or boulder that the fish can reach when the sea conditions are flat enough and the tides are large enough. For that reason, wellpresented cabbage weed is a great bait for these species. I recommend fishing the weed suspended under a small foam float on 10kg braid connected to 10kg fluorocarbon leader, sliding down to the swivel a ball sinker to suit the current/wash. I use a Mustad T-Series SS Crane swivel 45kg, 10-15kg Wilson fluorocarbon leader, a Mustad 1/0 92554 hook, and fish 1-3m deep depending the depth of the location. If you fish in the sudsy white water zone in amongst the boulders or a shallow ledge, you may get locked into some big pigs. The outfit I recommend is a Daiwa Seabass 7-15kg rod and Daiwa 4000BG reel spooled with J-Braid Grand 20-30lb. Alternatively, if you prefer to use an Alvey, I recommend the 60G spooled with 10-12kg mono, and a 12ft Alvey Rock and Beach Special 62 rod. When fishing for rock blackfish with prawns I prefer to use the larger variety like eastern king, banana or

Father and son Albie and Vlad Van Eeden showing one of a mixed bag of salmon, tailor and a sand flathead. A 3-hook gang baited with whole pilchards is a good way to get a mixed bag. endeavour prawns; you’ll get approximately 20-30 prawns per 0.5kg. The flesh of these prawns is firmer, and able to handle the onslaught of small picker fish you will encounter while fishing for this species. A white sliced bread loaf works well as both berley and bait – just soak the bread in water and then mush it up. When berleying, throw out small

Not the best month for kings but you will still get them turning up when the slightly warmer current laps along the coast and rock platforms. This king was spun up by Matt McCoy using a ganged eastern sea gar.

amounts consistently rather than large amounts less often. This will allow you to create a more even berley flow for better results. Pigs are caught all year round but are most sought after during the winter/ spring period. You will often catch other species like luderick, bream, trevally and groper and even some silver drummer when targeting pigs. Spots where pigs have been caught recently include Little Bluey at Manly below the Shelly Headland car park, Freshwater Rocks near the swimming pool (which is easy access), North Curl Curl, Long Reef’s SW-S facing ledges and eastern front, Warriewood high ledge during rough sea conditions, and South Avalon boulders and ledges near the big gutter. Luderick, trevally and groper are caught in these spots, too. When you’re targeting luderick you should fish with hair weed or cabbage weed – ideally both to find out which one works best on the day. OCEAN BEACHES I have fond memories of catching Aussie salmon off the beaches. There a great sportfish, stripping line off your reel when you hook a sizeable one. They like to jump, sometimes fully out of the water, which adds to the spectacle of fishing for this great species. Salmon are quite prolific and are caught right up the coast, and

NSW

become more prolific the further south you go. In Sydney they are caught pretty much year round but slow down when the water temp is above the 21°C mark, preferring that more frigid 16-18°C water temp. Salmon range in size generally from about 1.8-3kg. The odd fish up to 4kg and even occasional larger ones are caught every year. They are caught fishing the larger beach gutters and even in the more shallower parallel gutters. The best time to fish for salmon is during the lower light or dark periods. Ideally you want to fish the crack of dawn to about two hours after sun-up, or an hour before sunset to well after dark. The high tides that coincide with a couple of hours after sunrise and a couple of hours after sunset are good. Chopper size tailor,

beach gutter. Whiting are pretty much out of season in this part of the world but are still available on selected beaches that have a resident population. Try Dee Why’s southern corner area from the rock to the surf club, and give south Palm Beach a crack as well. You will also encounter some trevally at this time of the year off the beaches; these fish love to eat a beach worm bait. Half pillies and peeled prawns will work well on the trevally too. Even though August is not one of the better months for mulloway, I have still caught them at this time of year. My recommendation first and foremost is to make sure you are rugged up. Also, during the cold west-southwest wind nights you will get cold hands, so bring a cloth to dry your hands with after you have

Sydney

any other part of Manly Wharf but there are anglers who fish around the wharf late at night. It’s a good spot for bream and squid, and a great place to catch yellowtail. Balmoral Clifton Gardens wharves are very popular with anglers. Trevally, tailor, luderick and even the occasional John Dory are caught from there. A live yellowtail suspended about 2m or less off the bottom can get you onto a John Dory, which are one of the most tasty fish in the ocean. It’s such a treat if you happen to catch one! They used to be quite prolific in the north, upper part of Middle Harbour, and throughout the Eastern Suburbs Wharves but are much rarer nowadays. They’re still worth a try this month though. Winter can be a relatively good time

Dean Corkery with one of the pigs he caught on weed on this outing. Fish this size, 52cm, pull damn hard and can easily cut you off. from around 32-40cm, are generally around at this time of the year. Often the tailor will come through with a short bite window, so be prepared. Having a shoulder bag with your accessories in the pockets with a spare rig, and your waist belt with rod holder and bait container with enough whole good quality pilchards, will see you onto several fish before the bite stops. Often the tailor will rampage through the gutter that you’re fishing, and within a couple of casts they’ll be gone. However, if you have a couple of competent anglers with you throwing out whole baited pilchards, keeping a berley trail going with bits of pilchard shaken off by hooked fish, the tailor will stick around a lot longer. Good preparation and speed is what you need to hold the fish in your

baited up. Don’t forget your surf booties either, as the sand is damn cold. The beaches I recommend for the salmon, tailor, and a possible mulloway are Dee Why, Collaroy and Bungan beaches. ESTUARY FISHING Trevally and luderick are the main species to target of late. Your local jetty or wharf is a good place to start. Manly wharf about 50m in front of the Wharf Bar is OK for a trevally and some luderick. If you’re fishing for the luderick there I recommend using a float stopper and fishing about 5m deep at least. The best time to catch trevally is when there are fewer commuters around, i.e. at night after peak hour and before the ferry services start again in the morning. It is ‘illegal’ to fish

for whiting at Balmoral, Chinamans Beaches and Clontarf’s Beach. Bait can be difficult to purchase so pumping your own nippers is a good option. Pumping bloodworms in places like Narrabeen Lake on the mud flats is good too – they are a deadly bait. The old wall below the Spit Bridge on the northeast side fishes well for luderick. Bream and some trevally are also caught there. Dobroyd Head is a relatively good luderick location too, and you can pick your own weed from there. Trevally and rock blackfish are caught here as well. • For rock and beach guided fishing or tuition in the northern Sydney region, visit www. bellissimocharters. com.au, email alex@ bellissimocharters.com.au or call Alex Bellissimo on 0408 283 616. AUGUST 2020

Sydney

NSW

Plenty on the rocks SYDNEY SOUTH

Gary Brown gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

Over the past month the fishing in Sydney South has been a bit of a hit and miss affair. One day the fish will be on the bite and the next day they will be turned off the bite.

I received an email from Anthony Picone stating that he cannot believe there are still no luderick around and was wondering what my thoughts were. He uses fresh green weed from South Cronulla and berley heaps. He has also been as far as Narrabeen Lake and still no luderick. This was back in late June.

By now luderick should have started to move back into the estuaries in numbers. So, I would keep my ear to the ground for any reports that come in. If you are shore-based, it is always worth a bit of a drive around to a few of the spots for a look and while you are out in your boat you should look for the schooling fish.

Occasionally you will catch more than you expect while fishing off the rocks. Just make sure that you keep an eye on the waves. The seagull was released to tell his mate to stay away.

Drummer like to hide around under the suds off the rocks. Fish as light as the conditions will allow and you will get a few for the table.

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At this time of the year I tend to spend a lot of time fishing off the rocks for bream, trevally, drummer, luderick, salmon, tailor, groper and squid. I will travel anywhere from North Bondi and down to Coalcliff in the south. If you are after luderick, I would try Bare Island, La Perouse, Kurnell steps, Wattamolla, north Garie, and Coalcliff. As for bream and trevally, Little Bay, Sutherland Point, Windy Point at Cronulla, Jibbon Point and Little Marley would all be worth a shot. Bondi, Maroubra, Turramurra beaches north of Botany Bay are producing dart, bream and whiting during the day. In the early morning and late afternoon, I would try with whole pilchards on ganged hooks for salmon and tailor. On the southern side of the bay, I would try off the beach from Boat Harbour to around in front of the Wanda Surf Club. Garie and Stanwell Park beaches are also worth a shot. Offshore there has been plenty of bait schools. It’s just a matter of finding them and you will find the snapper, tailor, salmon, bonito and the

odd kingfish or two. When the westerlies have been blowing and the seas are flat, try trolling in close to the shore with Christmas tree type lures. Botany Bay has been another place that has been a bit of a hit and miss lately and most of the reports that I have had come in have been from anglers who have been fishing throughout the night. Now there is nothing wrong with fishing at night, but it’s not for me. Therefore, I have to work harder during the day to find where the fish are holding up during the daylight hours. You will need to do the same and if you are not prepared to re-anchor a number of times or try drifting at a number of places you will most probably go home fishless. If you are not into bait fishing, I would then try using blades at this time of the year as they seem to work very well in the 4-10m depth. Make sure that you slow the lift down and wait about five seconds between the lifts. I have had a few reports of mulloway being caught right through the day and into the night on live poddies

and yellowtail. Find the structure and you should find the fish. Those using blades for the mulloway have also been doing ok during the day. Structure, baitfish and current are the go. At this time of the year it is also a good time to have a go at trolling for flathead in the Georges and Woronora rivers as you can cover a fair bit of ground. Once you have found a patch you can then do a number of short trolls over the same area. Hardbodied lures in the 20-125mm range seem to get the hits. When I was last down on Port Hacking water, clarity was so clear that I could see the ripples in the sand in 7m of water. I would suggest that you keep your fishing time to the early morning and late afternoon, night and on the overcast days. I got amongst a number of squid and leatherjackets the last time that I was out. Check out my leatherjacket video from Tackle Tactics on YouTube, search for ‘How to Catch Leatherjacket with Gary Brown’. Don’t forget to keep those reports and photos coming in to gbrown1@iprimus.com.au or call in a see me at the BCF store at Taren Point.

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The author didn’t know whether this angler was telling him about the one he caught or the one that got away. Alas, it was about the rather large seal that was sun baking at the base of the pylons.

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HABITAT ACTION GRANTS Habitat Action Grants are available again this year and applications are now open, giving fishers a great chance to put some of the licence fees back into improving the habitats that support the sport we love. Twenty-eight projects were funded in the 2019-2020 Habitat Action Grants totalling over $728,000 with applicants providing over $1,000,000 in inkind contributions. These grants will assist recreational anglers, local Councils, environmental and community groups, and private landholders to enhance

Project ideas • Removal or modification of barriers to fish passage • Rehabilitation of riverbank land • Re-snagging waterways with timber structures • Removal of exotic vegetation from riverbanks • Bank stabilisation works • Reinstatement of natural flow regimes.

and rehabilitate degraded fish habitat through a range of onground works.

Rehabilitation of fish habitat provides long-term sustainable benefits for native fish stocks and in turn provides substantial benefits for NSW recreational fishers who will enjoy more healthy productive fisheries. Improvements in fish habitat will also provide more opportunities for rural and regional communities to boost local investment and promote local tourism.

Here are some pointers if you are thinking of applying for a Grant; • Before you do anything, check the website to see past examples of projects at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/hag. • Projects don’t have to be massive – you are better off starting on a small patch and working to improve that, rather than trying to fix everything at once and failing. For this reason there are small grants up to $2,000 available as well as larger grants to fund projects up to $40,000. • If you have a project idea, but aren’t sure how to go about it, or whether it is appropriate, have a chat with one of the contacts listed in the application form. This will save you time in the long run. • A budget is essential to show how much cash you will need and who else is contributing. There is an example budget to use as a guide, but again, talk with one of the DPI Fisheries staff to see how much detail you need.

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Photo thanks to Gunther Schmida

AUGUST 2020

NSW

Offshore catches a sure thing YAMBA

Dave Gaden

Over the years, August has been one of the best months for offshore fishing, with the drop in water temperature and predominantly calm seas. This month the chance of catching that snapper of a lifetime is probably greater than any other month. In this part of the world the close grounds on the edge of the kelp beds is the place to start. South of Yamba from Freeburn Rock to Brooms Head in 8-10 fathoms, there is literally miles of good ground for drift fishing with floaters for the big pink fish. Offshore morning breeze will have you drifting over the edge of the kelp onto the gravel and rock to the east and filling the icebox in no time. If you are heading north, the reef running off the point of Woody Head

Chris Seymore from Sydney with a solid pearl perch. should be your first stop. A lot of years, the biggest snapper is taken from this relatively small section of

Eddie Kell from Ullmara with an 8.5kg snapper taken on one of Reeltime charters night trips.

ba Prawn Blade s” “Yam Ian Cuttmore from Inverell with a nice big snapper taken off Brooms Head.

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AUGUST 2020

Dean King from Grafton with an 8.1kg snapper on a night trip.

reef. Further north, get in close to the South Evans Reef bommies in around the same depth. Fishing wider on the southern reef, look for the small rises in around 40m from Plumbago to Sandon River. These will have good pearl perch and Venus tuskfish. I like to find the fish here and anchor on them, but don’t be lazy because you will find you have anchored on good fish, caught six nice keepers and then they shut down. So pull the anchor and find a new rock, you will usually only get 1-hour good fishing on each spot. Once again, if the northern grounds are your choice, the reef from Black Rock into the Italian Grounds will fire well in the same depth. Fish on the other hand may differ, with this ground holding a lot more trag and mulloway as well as some big snapper. Heading wider still, the Toovey Grounds to the south in around 70m of water should be wallto-wall Chinaman and leatherjacket this month. These fish will be big with some exceeding 60cm, you will find they come in two colours, the bright yellow ones are the females while the dull grey blotchy ones are the males, they both taste delicious though.

NSW

Mixed amongst these piranhas of the sea will be a fair amount of trag, snapper and tailor. A paternoster rig made out of 90lb wire is essential and putting a luminous bead or two at the hook will take the attention of the jackets away from eating your line above the rig. Out on the 50 fathom line will be close to a game of Russian roulette this month. Some years the leatherjacket chose the middle ground, 50-80m of water and you don’t get them at the 50s, but it’s a long drive out there to lose all your gear on the way to the bottom. If they aren’t there, then happy days as the pearl perch, pigfish and snapper will be easy targets with the light current this month. One of the bonuses of this month is that you get a free whale watch with every fishing trip. In the estuary, this year has been one of the best years in quite some time for

Josh with a 4kg Maori cod caught off Black Rock on his birthday.

the luderick (blackfish), and this month should just be a continuation of the same. Try the middle and Collises walls if you are chasing them from a boat or the Peninsular Units and Oyster Channel Bridge if you are land-based. They have been pretty fussy though, with some days only taking green weed and the next wanting the black, so make sure you have a bit of each with you. Bream will be everywhere, and there will be some real solid fish amongst them. Obviously, bream will eat anything but it’s hard to go past a strip of mullet flesh or (and I know it’s messy) the good old mullet gut for bait. Fishing with a very small sinker right down on the hook or no sinker at all will get you better fish. Flathead are around this month and they have been good fat healthy fish. Try the entrance to Lake

Woolawayah and around Joss Island on a flood tide. Trolling small hardbodies, like the Zerek Tango Shad, or flicking some plastics into the small channels should have a feed of these tasty fish in no time. Chasing the big mulloway this month, you should be hitting the break walls. Big hardbody lures like the local made Croaker would be a great way to start. These lures have quickly become known as the best mulloway lure in recent times. Alternatively, a good live bait just on dark will bring the big silver fish unstuck. Have a mate with you who is good with a long gaff, or you may end up with an ex-mate. Enjoy this month guys, it is special. It is a very busy time for us as well with the charter boats so if you would like to book a day out please book as early as you can to avoid disappointment.

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NSW

Table fish are on the bite COFFS HARBOUR

Dayne Taylor

Cold, fresh mornings, big kings, big snapper, big bream. That is what to expect this July on the Coffs Coast. OFFSHORE The weather gods have played nice for us lately, so let’s hope it continues through for the next four weeks or so. Plenty of fishos have been making the most of the quality snapper fishery we have here, and there have been plenty on offer for both the bait fishers and lure chuckers. The larger models seem to be in shallow water early in the morning and late in the evening, as expected. You will not necessarily get a lot of big fish from the one spot so don’t be afraid to move around a bit after you

land a couple. If it’s numbers you are after, rather than quality, try a little deeper around that 30-60m range. Slow pitch metal jigs, octo/squid style

jigs and of course strip baits dropped in these depths will all provide great numbers of snapper along with a plethora of other mixed reef species schooled up

together. Some great pearl perch along with trag are a welcome by-catch whilst fishing these same depths. A quality GPS/sounder makes finding and staying on these deeper water fish much easier. Expect the XXL size kingfish to become more prolific over this month. Of course we have a staple population all year round, but traditionally we see some better numbers of 1m+ kingfish through our winter months and into springtime. Topwater stickbait lures and big knife jigs are a great way of tempting one of these bigger fish. A live bait dropped to marked fish on the GPS/sounder on a downrigger is irresistible to. ESTUARIES AND BEACHES Bream and luderick are continuing to plague our artificial rock training walls in our larger rivers to spawn. Both bait and lure fishers

Brent Stuart with a nice early morning winter red from the shallows.

Christina with a nice estuary tailor she caught recently. are getting good results fishing prawn and crab-style baits or lures. The hardcore luderick anglers are

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doing extremely well at the moment, with quality bags of fish all more than 1kg not uncommon. The shallow sand flats and edges are still holding good numbers of flathead and whiting also. In the deeper water around the front of the estuaries you have a good chance of a river mulloway this time of the year. They love to come in and chase the mullet, bream and luderick. On the beaches and around headlands, we have had a good run of tailor. Both metal slugs and ganged pilchards are doing the trick. If you have not tried a smoked tailor, I suggest you give it a go. Bleed and ice them quickly, and either fillet or smoke them whole. They are delicious! Off the headlands some great sized mulloway have been taken. Paddle-tail plastics, and shallow diving crankbait lures around the 6” size work well to mimic

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AUGUST 2020

NSW

Joint operation nabs illegal fisher

An illegal fisher has been apprehended near Warren, following a joint operation between NSW DPI Fisheries officers and NSW Police Rural Crime Unit. A 49-year-old man from Dubbo and a 58-year-old man from Wongarbon were apprehended on the Macquarie River, downstream of Warren following covert surveillance of the alleged offender. “The ongoing investigation focussed on the use of setlines and illegal fish traps, and officers observed the men using a number of illegal fish traps from their camp at the river,” Acting Director NSWDPI Fisheries Compliance, Dr Andrew Moriarty said. “The men were seen to take nine golden perch and one Murray cod, and were apprehended by NSW Fisheries officers with the assistance of NSW Police Rural Crime Investigator officers.” Seven fish traps, nine golden perch, one Murray cod, one grapnel, and one of the From page 56

Rocco Uguccioni, 8yo, with a large leatherjacket he caught while fishing Sydney offshore, a few kilometres beyond the Heads.

a mullet or tailor in the washes. Be sure to upgrade the hardware to handle these big powerful fish. And of course your line and leader will need to handle some

offenders’ boat, motor and trailer were seized. “The men are both facing proposed charges under the Fisheries Management Act 1994 for unlawfully using traps and possessing fish illegally taken,” Dr Moriarty said. “The man from Dubbo is also facing an extra charge of failing to prevent Fisheries offences while master of the boat. The maximum penalty for each offence is $22,000 and/or 6 months imprisonment.” Dr Moriarty said the man is known to NSW DPI fisheries officers. “Blatant disregard for fisheries rules and regulations have serious consequences,” Dr Moriarty said. “Fisheries rules and regulations are in place to protect and conserve fish stocks and fishing opportunities.” To report suspected illegal fishing, phone 1800 043 536 or report via the FishSmart NSW app or at www.dpi.nsw. gov.au. - NSWDPI serious abrasion so a leader and line class around 60lb+ is necessary. Until next month, cast like there is no tomorrow and retrieve like you have all the time in the world.

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AUGUST 2020

NSW

Waterways busy with fishos THE HASTINGS

Mark Saxon castawayestuarycharters@bigpond.com

The recent lockdown seems to have given anglers a new lease of life and added quite a few new anglers to the waterways. Boat ramps have been busier than usual for this time of year, with fishos wanting to get on the water and enjoy the magic waterways of the Port Macquarie area, not only our rivers but offshore, beaches and rocks. The fishing for August should be good so now is the time to finish off our winter season and get ready for some warmer days.

There are still plenty of flathead showing up in catches.

HASTINGS RIVER The local river has been fishing well with luderick, bream, mulloway and flathead are all available. Luderick anglers have been catching fish from the south wall, coal wall and Settlement Point Road. Green weed has been scarce but hopefully by now it is back flourishing. Bream anglers have been getting quality fish around the rock walls using baits such as mullet, nippers and prawns. Lure fishers have been using soft plastic wrigglers and prawn plastics such as the Gulp Shrimp and Holts Production Prawns. Soft vibes and metal blades have also been getting their share of the action. Flathead have remained

Bob was surprised to catch this luderick on a soft plastic.

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constant throughout winter, and fishing from the Hibbard ferry area down to Pelican Island has been productive. Once again the 3” Gulp Minnow has been catching its fair share, and it’s a good choice on days when it’s difficult to tempt the fish to bite. With the cooler water temps it’s important to keep a good working curve in your rod when hooked up, as any slack line seems to result in the flatties spitting the lure. Mulloway have been present but a little patchy. Fishing around the walls a few have been caught on live bait as well as bigger plastics and hard bodied lures, while further upriver soft vibes and 100mm hardbodies like the new Samaki Redics have been

getting a few good school size fish. Soft vibing and plastics around the tide changes will still give you a good chance of tangling with a mulloway

Dave getting his bream fix.

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and the by catch of flathead and bream can be good if you persist. BEACH AND ROCK FISHING The local beaches have produced bream, tailor and the odd mulloway of late – probably not as consistent as previous seasons but still enough action to keep you keen. Spinning for tailor with metals or ganged pilchards continues to produce. Beach worms has caught a few mulloway but they have been scarce; hopefully this month they will pick up a bit. Anglers fishing from the rocks have been having a ball with black drummer, bream, tailor and luderick. This has been one of the better drummer seasons in quite a while, with most washy

James with a winter bream caught on a soft vibe.

areas producing a few fish. The rock locations South of Port have been the pick. Cunjevoi and prawns have been the baits of choice, and some good bream get into the act as well while you’re chasing drummer. A few quality mulloway have been caught by anglers casting bigger hardbodies around the gutters and washes recently, so if this is something you like doing August could produce that silver slab for you. Check out the headlands before you start fishing, making sure it is safe with a reasonable swell for fishing.

NSW

Amazing chilly fishing continues FORSTER

Luke Austin

This winter fishing season has been nothing short of amazing; estuary, beach, rock and offshore options have all been

been holding a huge amount of bream. While most are only in the 20-35cm size range there are some very nice 40cm+ models in the mix waiting to belt any small lure. Luderick seem to be going from strength to

month or so. If you are keen to try to find a few of these early season fish, head up as far a Green Point or Regatta Island and start sounding around for them. A really productive way of looking for them at this time of the year is to troll some tailor

How good is this for a daytime winter mulloway? This fish was caught by Eli Nash. producing loads of fish and should continue to do so throughout this month. Estuary fishing continues to be largely centred about bream and luderick. On the bream front, fish can be caught in all corners of Wallis Lake now, from the rock walls down around the entrance right up to the weed beds and sand flats around Coomba Park and Pacific Palms. The rock walls are holding the better quality

strength this year, and there is no sign of them slowing up just yet. You can fish for them just about anywhere between Wallis Island and the estuary mouth, including the leases and weed beds in Jonnel Park and Breckenridge Channel. The fish will eagerly take just about any string weed offered (or artificial weed fly) but will barely touch even the tastiest looking cabbage weed. This can be frustrating because cabbage

lures about while watching the sounder. There are some great tailor up in the lake at the moment and they can make searching for whiting much more fun. The local beaches have been fishing fairly well of late. Tailor have been very frustrating this year; they get a really good run on and then in the blink of an eye they are gone! The good news is that they have been fishing really well over the last week

nice mulloway haunting the gutters up at Diamond Beach and on most beaches to the south. Rock fishers continue to reap the rewards of what has been an unreal black drummer season. The fish are still about in really good numbers and most are of a good size. Mixed in with the drummer are some very nice luderick and the ever-present bream. On the calmer days it’s definitely worth soaking a few crabs for groper, too. A few local guys have been getting absolutely smoked by big blues lately, losing more than they have been landing! Offshore is amazing at the moment when the weather plays the game and allows us to sneak out. Snapper seem to be just about anywhere, and whether you like to fish in 5m or 100m won’t matter as long as you are prepared to take your time to look for the fish before you start fishing. All too often I hear of people heading out to ‘Spot X’ where they smashed the snapper last trip, only to find it barren – and instead of searching for the fish (which may only be 100m away on the other edge of the reef), these anglers drop their baits, jigs and plastics only to return to the ramp with an empty icebox. Fish move about all the time, following certain food sources, certain water qualities (temperature, clarity or salinity), and look for pressure points which offer the best points of ambush and cover. So just because you have an amazing mark on the plotter, don’t be afraid to search about for the fish before you start fishing. More often than not it will save your day! Once you get out past 40m you will find a nice mixed bag of fish including snapper, pearl perch, teraglin

Ian D’Arcy managed to stop this nice break wall kingfish. and the odd bar cod on the deeper reefs. Unfortunately, there are plenty of leatherjacket and barracouta out there which can be annoying and expensive. If you find yourself being bombarded by these gear destroyers there isn’t much you can do except pull up your lines and find some new ground! • Luke is the owner of Great

Lakes Tackle - your ‘local’ bait and tackle store. They sell only the best brands and offer sound, friendly advice on where you can go to land your next trophy fish while visiting the wonderful Great Lakes region! They are open 7 days in the main street of Tuncurry. You can contact them on 02 6554 9541 or find them on Facebook to see what they have been up to!

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Kirk Massey with a very nice winter groper. fish in general with plenty of fish up around the 1kg mark being caught fairly regularly. If you decide to go and give the break walls a shot you will probably also run into the odd snapper as by-catch this month – a very welcome by-catch indeed! Further up into the system, the weed beds have

is much easier to find locally! The first bags of trumpeter whiting have started to hit the cleaning tables over the last week or so. The fish are still patchy and you will have to do the miles to find them, but they are of a good size and the schools should only grow in numbers over the next

or so, and with a bit of luck they won’t just be a flash in the pan. It would be great if we got to enjoy a solid late season run all the way through to Christmas. There have been some nice bream and dart hanging about the beaches, and for those anglers willing to put the time in there are some

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AUGUST 2020

NSW

Don’t let fishing opportunities pass you by PORT STEPHENS

Paul Lennon

While there is always something to chase in Port Stephens, August is perhaps the toughest month of the year to fish. That’s not to say there isn’t great fishing to be had, you just need to

work a little harder than usual and take advantage of those weather windows when they present themselves. Inside the estuary the temperature of the rivers and back half of the bay are down to a chilly 12-15°C so it’s probably best to avoid fishing upstream for another month until that

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Benji Lennon was pretty happy with his two big bream caught at Shoal Bay. temp gets over 16°C. For best results fish further down the system from Soldiers Point through to the heads, as this section gets a good push of warmer oceanic water, especially on the incoming tide. The rock walls at the Anchorage and Nelson Bay will be producing

ens estuary system the beautiful Port Steph signed g charter that can be de with a calm water fishin to g hin family bait fis to suit your needs from hing anglers. fis hardcore lure and fly

some of the best luderick fishing on the east coast of NSW right now. Fresh weed or cabbage fished an hour each side of the tide change with a consistent peppering of a sand berley mix around your float is the key to success. Weed flies are another great option for luderick fishing and work surprising well as a second teaser bait or primary bait. Big bream are also cruising the rock walls as well as the boulders on the inside of Yacaaba. Unweighted nippers or strip of mullet fished on the high tide change both during the day and all hours of the night are producing some thumpers at the moment. Schools of tailor have been actively working

around the Torpedo Tubes through to Shoal Bay jetty. First light is the best time to target them via either slow rolling a pilchard or whitebait or casting a 20g metal. Squid and cuttlefish are spread throughout the weed beds around Shoal Bay as well as Jimmys Beach, with small 2.5 size jigs working best. Off the rocks is a great option at this time of year, with big drummer patrolling the wash zone from Rocky Point through to Fingal. You can use cunjevoi or large peeled prawns with a small ball sinker cast into the white water along with a few handfuls of bread thrown in for berley. You’ll also pick up some cracking winter

bream using this method as well as the odd snapper. Groper are another great target at this time of year from the rocks, especially on those real flat days when the westerly winds are blowing and the waters clear. Areas around Fingal and the back side of Tomaree Mountain are good spots to give groper a go with crabs or turban snail meat cast out on heavy tackle around 50lb. Some monster green-eye squid still getting around the calm bays with areas such as Boat Harbour Boulder Bay and Fingal holding some crackers. OFFSHORE Snapper are in good numbers in close from Fishermans Bay through to Seal Rocks. I like to fish unweighted baits or soft plastics on the shallows reefs less then 30m then switch over to paternoster Snapper Snatcher rigs when going deeper. There shouldn’t be too much current out wide at this time of year so areas like Allmark Mountain will be well worth hitting for a mixed bag of kingfish, longfin perch and squire as well as the odd bar cod and gemfish. It’s been a great yellowfin bite the last couple of months with fish up to 80kg caught on both trolled lures and stickbaits. Hopefully it will continue through August, it’s just going to be matter of that water pushing in and holding in 400-1000 fathoms so be sure to keep an eye on those sea surface charts and be ready to jump when the opportunity presents itself.

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NSW

Plenty on offer for winter SWANSEA

Jason Scerri coloratolures@hotmail.com

The only bit of good news for 2020 that I can report is that the cold weather is NEARLY behind us. Although still a cold month, August does have enough to offer to get the keen anglers out of bed and onto the water. Many anglers think a pair of track pants and a jumper is good winter clothing, but it does bugger all to keep you warm out on the water. Ever since I invested in some quality cold weather clothing, my winter fishing has been so much more enjoyable and I’ve realised that there is still plenty on offer. In the past I wouldn’t be enjoying the temperatures so I’d cut my trips short and head home. Another benefit of wearing the good stuff is that it’s often half as thick and half as heavy as cheaper clothing so it’s much more comfortable (and safer) to fish in. Now onto the fishing. It’s not my prime month of the year for fishing Lake Macquarie, but in saying that I have had some very memorable days out there during August and I’m sure others have as well. It might go against much of what

we have learnt, but August has seen some of my best bream bags come from 2ft of water – and it hasn’t been an isolated bag either. Although many anglers (myself included) like to target the deeper sections for much of our fishing during winter, it’s still a good idea to put a little time in on the shallow flats in your travels as they still hold some good fish if tide and winds are in your favour. A cold winter’s day, the right tide and a nice southerly blow can see bream all over your shallow diving hardbody offerings. For anglers looking for a feed there are reasonable numbers of mulloway about. It’s so great to see such a fantastic mulloway fishery here these days. Most fish have been falling to live baits, with squid being the number one bait. The squid are generally not too hard to come across but the one thing I do find is that many anglers often have very large jigs out when trying to catch some small squid for bait. The best option it to drop right down to a very small squid jig in a nice bright colour. I still like to add scent to my squid jigs and always rig them on a 3-way swivel with a lead off the bottom, and the jig 1-2ft up from there.

Large flathead are often the by-catch for anglers targeting mulloway and it’s great to see most anglers releasing them to fight another day. I’m all for taking a fresh feed of fish, and flathead fillets are the perfect option for the plate, but it’s good that people aren’t keeping as many as in years gone by. Flathead numbers have not been great this winter unfortunately, but hopefully a hot spring bite can make up for it a little. It’s generally not too difficult to get a few in that 45-55cm range for the dinner table but the numbers are certainly not what we have been getting the past few seasons. I’m a big fan of soft plastics for my flathead fishing, particularly during the cooler months. I’ll often drop down a size or two with my plastics and more often than not I’ll be throwing around 3-4” plastics down deep in 8-9m or so. We have been putting a lot of effort into trying more colour options in recent times, and with some success. However, there’s no doubt the stand out for us has been a bright white that I’ve been flicking around. I generally like a paddle-tail style plastic but we’ve also been getting good results using

3-4” curl tails in white. Salmon have also made an appearance and are about in good numbers. They seem to be pretty thick with good numbers in the channel as well as from the beaches. Small, translucent soft plastics are productive on them as they always are. Some days when they are not too picky, metal spinning lures work OK as well. And for those anglers who have the ability to flick a fly around, you’re in with a great shot as they rarely resist a finesse offering. Offshore and the game fishing has been pretty good this winter. It’s not too often we can say that, but there has been a solid run of yellowfin tuna, which is really good to see. Most fish are coming from the North Canyon, which is a considerable run from Swansea but a good seagoing boat will be fine on the right day in the right conditions. Crews are generally trolling a spread of lures until they find the birds or simply come across tuna hitting their lures, then they often switch to cube baits such as cut pilchards or slimies. Some anglers have made a point of chasing these tuna on large stickbait lures in recent times, and on occasions with good results. The YFT

Local angler Kai Axisa has been having a great time chasing salmon land-based in recent weeks, and with great results. have been really good size fish this year with many over 50kg. Not only do these fish test the best of crews and the toughest of tackle, they also provide a great feed at the end should the angler win the battle. Just do the fish justice – bleed it and ice it down correctly and make the most of it, as they are a great table fish when treated correctly. Finally I will say that I was recently pulled over by waterways for a regular stop and check. The officer was very helpful and great to deal with. I’ll be honest; I genuinely expected to pass with flying colours and was shocked to

find my gas canister in my life vest very badly corroded from being poorly maintained by me. I had replaced it some time back and basically forgot how long it had been since then. That afternoon I picked up a new canister and also grabbed a spare. The officer supplied me with a label that allows you to mark when you serviced it last, so you can keep it somewhere visible and always know when it’s due for its next check over. It’s a quick, inexpensive thing to maintain and it’s such a valuable piece of equipment so don’t muck around, just do it!

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AUGUST 2020

NSW

Get in quick to catch snapper ILLAWARRA

Greg Clarke

This first week in August will see the run up to the full moon, so if we get a bit of good weather the snapper fishing during the evenings should be exceptional. The fish will be moving into the shallower waters in the late afternoon to take advantage of the bright moon and hunt down the last of the spawning cuttlefish, which will finish before the next dark. When that happens, most of the snapper will retire back into deeper water. You will get snapper during the mornings but the fish become harder to find as the sun rises over the shallows. At this time they like to move back out to the slightly deeper and safer waters after feeding all night in the moonlight. During the afternoons they move back into the shallows, hungry and ready for a feed. Cuttlefish is the bait

score fish under every one you find. It’s more work and you will get fewer fish than putting down the pick and berleying, but it is much more exciting and the snapper are generally solid fish of 3kg or better on the floaters. Anchoring will bring heaps of 1kg+ fish, with the bigger fish thrown in as well. Come mid-August and the dark, it is back to drifting and using plastics in the deeper water or putting down the anchor and berleying. The snapper will be more spread out and there will be fewer of them, but still enough to keep you busy on a good day. When berleying there will be plenty of trevally, a few mowies and bream, and depending on water depth there may be tailor or even the odd king. If you are out in deeper water (30m+) expect a few little makos to pay a visit, and maybe a big mama if you are lucky. For the drifters there are the aforementioned snapper

Get in early as the snapper run will be coming to an end soon. of choice. Although fresh mackerel fillets will score fish too, they will pick up lots of tailor and barracouta, which also love the evening hunting time. You could sight cast to the floaters during the mornings, but always remember, you need to be patient as you won’t

(but not as many as you will get by anchoring), a few mowies, plenty of pigfish and heaps of leatherjackets. It’s not a great time for the flatties but if you do find a patch they are generally good fish. For something a bit more sedate, there are heaps of squid over the shallow kelp beds all

along the coast, and the good old squid jigs will do the job. Some people use live squid for kingy bait when the kings are fussy, but I would rather eat calamari than kingfish any day. Further offshore, August is always associated with big striped tuna of up to 10kg. Why these whopper stripies show up in August each year is anyone’s guess, but they have done so for as long as I have fished. Although way fewer in numbers these days, it is a test of skill to chase down a moving school, put in a cast with light line (3kg or less, not 50kg braid), hook-up and feel the speed. It is a test of angling skills to land one on light line. Out on the shelf the bluefin may have been and gone or may still be about. They were off Batemans Bay and Jervis Bay at the time of writing and they move so quickly it is hard to say. With some good currents there may be a few yellowfin around as well to fill the gap. It’s hard to predict at this time of the year. If you like sharks this is the start of big mako time. They can pop up anywhere but will be much more prevalent out around the shelf and a given if there are any tuna about. Back inshore it is a good time for throwing prawns and pilchards into the white water around the bommies and islands for bream, trevally, salmon, tailor and even a few snapper. If the light westerlies have been blowing overnight you can often get into some of the usually rough spots and pull some big drummer. Just be careful as waves can and do pop up at any time and will get you. More on this later. Off the rocks it is time to chase drummer and blackfish. They are in the washes off most of the local headlands and there seems to be plenty of cabbage weed for bait growing in the rock pools on most. The prevailing westerly winds at this time of year can often lead to very little white water on some days, but this seems to concentrate the fish in a

smaller area. On the other hand, the ocean can be massive from the ground swell so head the sheltered coves and harbours and join all the other anglers taking advantage of the concentration of fish in these calmer, safe areas. Most of the deeper platforms will have only a few salmon taking pilchards. With a bit of added bread berley you may catch some trevally and bream or maybe even a snapper. The south side of Bass Point and the Kiama area are the better spots. On calm days groper are on the cards if you take the time to gather a few crabs. Often you can watch a big blue swim up and eat your crab, and then the battle is on to get the fish out. In the estuaries it is still quiet although there are few bigger flatties on the move; they seem to pop up around August each year. Most are 70cm+ and are probably best left to go about their business if they are breeding. Stressing a big breeder at this time of year just for a brag pic is poor form anyway. Bream seem to be picking up in numbers around the bridges during the evenings, but light lines and good prawns are a must for good results. The beaches are cold and windy places at this time of year but they get better and warmer with each passing day. The one positive is that most have terrific gutters and channels after the massive waves from the big low back in early June stripped most of almost all of their sand. The sand is slowly coming back but the sand banks and gutters off the beaches have been sensational since most of our beaches have been flat, barren expanses with limited places for fish to hold up. If they stay this way for summer it will be great for fishing but a bugger for surf lifesaving patrols. A few mulloway have been taking advantage of the deeper water close to shore,

There will be some big striped tuna about this month. Few fish swim faster than a stripey. with the odd good fish mixed with a good number of schoolies. Some big tailor are on the northern beaches during the evenings. There’s also a good sprinkling of salmon and bream on many beaches at sparrows in the mornings but as the sun gets up it gets pretty quiet. Good luck. Now let’s get a bit serious – I mentioned earlier about being careful when the sea is calm if you get into some of the shallower spots that are normally not accessible, but this applies every day in every sea condition. You must know the area you are fishing before you put your boat in the water, study the charts before you go fishing and don’t trust your charts on your GPS; there are many places along the coast where I am fishing on dry land or an island, and this is even more essential in the dark. Almost every time I am out these days I see someone in places they just shouldn’t be. More often than not they get away with a fright and I think “how did they get away with that?”, but on occasions they don’t. We had a double fatality in June on just such an occasion when after dark a vessel went straight into Peggies, a notable bombora off the northern suburbs. One of the passengers was a child, which makes this accident even more tragic. My condolences to the family. It seems Sydney has discovered Bellambi boat ramp, and it has gone from

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a quiet local launch spot to a pulsating hub of boating activity, with over 200 boats out on some days. Most are from Western Sydney, and from observations many have little or limited offshore ability. It’s not a criticism, just a reality. Maritime have even put in a port marker to keep boats out of the bommie just behind the break wall; it has never been needed before. Realistically though I don’t think most boaters would even know what it was there for. For the newcomer, the area north of Port Kembla is probably one of the most treacherous on the NSW coast, bar maybe the Coffs Harbour area. Since the early 1800s merchant sailing vessels and steamers have been coming to grief on the blind bommies and shallow sections, with dozens of shipwrecks on all points, particularly Bellambi where there is still evidence of plates and boilers. Nowadays it is pleasure craft falling victim to these dangerous shallow reefs, with several accidents every year, so please study your charts and get to know what lies below the surface before you venture forth. Finally, a huge thank you to all the surf club members, police and maritime who searched in the dark to help find and rescue those involved in the tragic accident. You have shown great courage in the conditions.

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Bluefin pack attack hook ups BATEMANS BAY

Anthony Stokman

As predicted in the last issue, we are seeing bluefin tuna as the headliner. They have been passing out wide as they usually do before the schools make their way up the coast in closer, and when I say in closer that is still 40-100km out to sea. During June, the commercial boats were bringing in fish from 150km or so and the fish were a very impressive 100-150kg tuna at times. This continued

crew on Other Plans it was mayhem on deck. In the end, they managed to get three out of the four weighing around 60kg each. With adrenalin still running through them, they headed out the next day to the same area. Again they were at the end of the day and ready to throw in the towel and wanted to head home, but instead they decided to push north. And again on the tide change, but a bit further north from the day before, boom! Reels were screaming and it’s five of them on! The crew thought the day before was mayhem, but now

thing to do if you do get a pack attack is to keep the boat in gear and move forward, then get all the anglers settled in and then assess the situation and pick the right fish to get in first, usually that will be in the hands of the most experienced angler. If all the anglers have some experience under their belts, then get the fish in closest to the boat first. During the fight, there will be some going under and over each other and trying to prevent any line wrapping. If there is a line wrap and a lot of tension, it’s generally the lighter thinner line that will cut through the heavier thicker line first. Hopefully you find the direction of the twist before that happens and pass the outfit over or under the other outfit you are tangled with. The tuna bite has been quite good again this year. Standout fish so far would be Benny Boulten’s fish on board Nitro with deckie Georgia Poyner getting a customer onto a 148kg bluefin. They hooked up to three jumbos and lost one on the first run. After four hours they landed the smaller one of the two, and then at five hours the bigger one wouldn’t budge but then suddenly did a big run and got bitten off by a shark. Still, a very happy crew with the one jumbo.

Yellowfin have seemed to have stayed around and are enjoying all the bait that is in good volumes at the shelf. There area albacore just wide of them up to 20kg and wide of them, we have bluefin. It doesn’t get much better than that and this could run right into September. The other species that’s been on a great run all year is snapper and, as predicted it has continued through the colder months. Snapper have been good from the stones and great from out of a kayak or boat where you can cover more snapper territory. During August and September, the cuttlefish come inshore to spawn and the snapper take advantage of this and feed on the cuttlefish. It’s a great time to lighten up your jigheads to 1/8oz and cast 5” jerk shads or ZMan StreakZ curly tails at cuttlefish that you spot floating around. That lighter jighead will give that slower sink rate as it falls down away from the cuttlefish, which snapper are sometimes looking up at. Salmon are still running well as they do tend to along our beaches at this time of the year. Moruya breakwall and further south of there is the places to go for bigger fish and bigger schools. But

The fish from a four-way hook up on Ross Cootes’ boat Other Plans. you can still spin up some on metals off Broulee, Rosedale, Pretty Point and the headlands around Bawley Point. Drummer is the consistent winter target off the stones and there has been plenty around and some good grouper as well. There would be some winter kings and bonito moving around, but you’d be more likely to catch a

A 148kg jumbo caught on Ben Boulten’s boat Nitro. throughout June and it wasn’t until the end of June when bluefin were found around the northern seamount and it was on for the rec boats. Ross Cootes and crew on Other Plans went out to the Northern Seamount and didn’t have much luck and thought of calling it a day, until there was a late afternoon tide change and then all of a sudden four reels are screaming! Bluefin are notorious for pack attacking a spread of lures and for the

they have five fish swimming everywhere causing line tangles, which meant all but one line had to be cut off. However, the one they did boat was even bigger than the fish the day before, pushing 70kg. This was a great experience for the crew and everybody learnt a lot of things quickly. Five-way hook ups are a problem you love to have, the one thing that you don’t love about it is losing gear and losing all the fish. So the best

Ciaran Funders with a 7kg snapper he bagged using soft plastics.

BATEMANS BAY

salmon, tailor or a cold than one of them. Estuaries are slowing down, but that doesn’t stop fishos from having a crack. This winter has had a lot of sunny days and it’s great out in the open fresh air with warm rays and the possible chance of a bite. Sam Deadman found a nice 56cm flatty after casting a Hurricane hardbody and there has been some good reports of flatties in and around the bay. Squid have been another target species and love the clearer water. Squid have 2-3 spawning peaks throughout the year and as it came into spring last year we had a good run of them. But in between peaks they have remained quite good in numbers. There’s always plenty to do and at the moment there is plenty of sashimi! Stay warm, stay safe and go fishing! • For more up-to-the-minute information on what’s biting where, drop into Compleat Angler Batemans Bay and have a chat to Anthony or one of the other friendly staff. They’re located at 65A Orient St, Batemans Bay (02 4472 2559).

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NSW

Top of the fishing list BERMAGUI

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

Bermagui is one of the top fishing destinations in Australia, although like most renowned areas it has quiet times – and sadly August is the time for Bermagui. However, with the easing of COVID restrictions allowing people to at least move around the state, anglers are taking

a chance and coming to Bermagui to have a crack at the winter fishing anyway. The lockdown caused most anglers to miss the prime time of the season, so let’s look at what is on offer for August. For those with boats, the offshore angling is fair, especially for those who wish to catch some lovely table fish. Top of the list is everyone’s favourite: flathead. We have a few species on offer in our area,

with the two most popular offshore species being tigers and eastern blue-spot, often referred to as sandies. The blue-spots can be captured quite close to shore at times although they are more prolific in around 30m of water. You will start to catch tigers in that depth although they prefer the deeper water from 40-80m, with some absolute crackers coming from off the edge of the Twelve Mile Reef, so it is totally up to you as to how

Trevally are a good winter option around Bermagui.

Whether you catch them out at sea, off the beach or in the estuaries, flathead are at the top of the list when it comes to table fare.

far you wish to travel to find these succulent table fish. The colder water is also conducive to catching gummy sharks, which also hang around with the flathead, so it is not uncommon to find that one of your flathead is suddenly pulling a bit harder and has grown in length. Moving away from the flathead grounds, snapper are another winter fish that can handle the colder water temps, and with many reefy areas available, anglers have plenty of options. Recently a lot of locals have been anchoring on the inshore reefs and enticing the snapper to the boat with berley. With the offshore

prevailing winds, one such area that is very popular is in and around 15-20m of water out from Goalen Head. Try varying your berley options by sinking the burley with one of the many bombs on offer while also using your usual surface trail. You may find that you’ll attract more than just snapper; you can pick up sweep, yellowtail, trevally, wrasse and other assorted reef species. Some of these may be nuisance species while others can be useful – those yellowtail or slimy mackerel make good bait. Don’t be afraid to use them as whole big baits drifted or cast down the trail. These bigger baits will alleviate the problem of

the pickers and may produce some exceptionally large snapper. Some reds captured recently have been up to 6kg in weight. Speaking of those westerly trade winds that are common for this time of year, they can often be an advantage for the land-based angler. Calm conditions along the beaches allows easy sight casting to salmon schools that come close to shore, patrolling the shore break. Here all you need is a light spin stick, a few metal lures, long raking casts followed by a quick retrieve and hang on! It is definitely one of my favourite forms of angling on a clear, sunny winter’s day.

2020-En

Often overlooked TATHRA

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

As we travel through the last phase of winter, we know there will be warmer times ahead where we can thaw and start to move around, and so will the fish. In the meantime though, what is on offer in the Tathra area? Often overlooked around Tathra is the abundance of rocky outcrops jutting into the ocean within easy access for anglers. Combine these areas with the prevailing westerly winds at this time of year, and you often have lovely calm conditions in which to fish. So what would you expect to catch from the rocks? Well, starting with the basics, try using some berley. Oily fish like pilchards, tuna or mackerel are best, and can be floated out in a bag using the wave action to disperse the berley. One fish that will react well to berley is garfish. Once you have these tasty little 66

AUGUST 2020

morsels in the trail, all you need is a light rod and reel, small bubble float, a few split shot, and a number 8 or 10 hook baited with a small piece of prawn to enjoy some interesting sight fishing. Other species that may turn up in the berley are likely to be slimy mackerel, yellowtail, silver trevally, bream, salmon and tailor. With the wind blowing

offshore it is quite easy to float out a pilchard or maybe a live mackerel or yellowtail, which the salmon often find to their liking. For those anglers who don’t want to get grubby there are always the traditional ways of catching both luderick and black drummer from the stones. The Tathra area is renowned for both species, which are

2020-Endless-Discoveries_

Kianinny Bay boat launching ramp – gateway to the ocean and easy access for rock fishos.

Luderick are just one species often encountered from the stones.

fished for in the traditional manner of a 9-10ft rod and suitable reel spooled with 10-15lb line, and a larger luderick-style float sliding down to a number 6-4 size hook. Bait mostly consists of cabbage weed, which is easily obtained, often from where you are fishing. You can also use cunjevoi, which are also accessible within the area. Another species often overlooked from the stones is the mighty blue drummer. These fish will patrol the crevices along the rocks

in search of sea urchins or cunjevoi that may have dislodged from the rocks, or an unsuspecting red crab that has wandered too far from its lair. You will need some substantial gear to tackle these fish; you should use a rod and reel capable of handling 30-50lb braid, and 60lb leader with a suitable ball sinker for the conditions running down to 1-3/0 strong hook. The bites won’t come thick and fast but when they do be prepared to hang on, as some of these fish can

exceed 30lb. One last form of angling from the stones which is not so overlooked is wander along the shores with a nice spin outfit and some metal slugs. Here all anglers have to do is find a suitable vantage point where long raking casts can be deployed, followed by a fast retrieve. At this time of year salmon or tailor may be all that’s on offer, but with the sun at your back warming you it’s not a bad way to spend the day.

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WHAT’S NEW ANGRY PANDA LURES

Angry Panda Lures have been in development since 2013 and tested successfully all over the world. These premium quality, high-end full timber bodied stickbaits are affordably priced, and are ideal for GTs and bluewater species. The initial release model is the Hanzo 120, a floating stickbait that measures 215mm long and weighs approximately 120-125g unrigged. The Hanzo 120 is ideal for GT fishing, but still dominates in and around the reef thugs like dinosaur-sized coral trout, mackerel, yellowfin tuna, red bass, jobfish, trevally species and more. The Hanzo has 2.0mm stainless steel fully through-wired construction, and premium NT belly swivel. It is currently available in five premium colours, all of which feature intricate reflective fin details and the potent ‘Angry Eye’. Head to the Angry Panda website to find out more. www.angrypanda.net.au

STORM GOMOKU TOOLS

Storm has released three new tools – the Gomoku Mini Pliers, Scissors and SplitRing Scissors. With their narrow and precise needlepoint jaws, the Gomoku Mini Pliers allow you to take perfect control of hooks and other terminal tackle. The shaped TPE grips conform to your thumb and forefinger, reducing slip and increasing accuracy. The jaws and spring are made of polished stainless steel, suitable for harsh saltwater conditions. The polished stainless steel blades of the Gomoku Scissors are built to withstand high salinity and demanding conditions. A comfortable grip with added finger support increases your cutting accuracy, and a lanyard attachment loop allows you to easily secure the Gomoku Scissors by your side for quick use. The multi-purpose Gomoku Split-Ring Scissors help you to easily re-rig, change hooks rings and trim excess line with one tool. The jaws open split rings from #1-#3 and cut braided lines with ease. They are made with premium stainless steel, making them suitable for all waters. www.storm.fishing

DAIWA STEEZ SHAD 3 AND POPPER

The famous Steez name has been extended to new arrivals in Daiwa’s lure range. Featuring the advanced design detail and the ultra-refined finish that’s made the Steez brand famous, the new Steez Shad 60SP and Popper are sure to get anglers’ casting arms twitching this spring. The Steez Shad is your all-round choice for freshwater and estuarine environments, and dives to 2.5m. Equally suited to erratic jerkbait retrieves or a more subtle and consistent crankbait retrieve, the Steez Shad is perfect for chasing estuarine species like flathead, both on the cast and the troll. The Steez Popper features an intricate cup design, producing the perfect combination of sound, splash and spitting action, while its hydrodynamic design also allows it to be worked with a seductive walk-the-dog retrieve. Available in 50mm and 70mm sizes, the Steez Popper – like all of the Steez lures – features Daiwa’s ultra-sharp SaqSas hooks for optimum fish-catching power. www.daiwafishing.com.au 68

AUGUST 2020

PRODUCT GUIDE

OKUMA MAKAIRA SPECIAL EDITION

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Okuma Makaira 10th Anniversary Edition lever drag reels are built on the 4D concept that has seen the Makaira tested and proven globally by bluewater anglers, including billfish and long-range tuna charters. To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the world renowned Makaira, Okuma have released a Special Edition Series, finished with a tri-anodising of two different blues and silver for a standout finish. The Makaira’s Carbonite Dual Force Drag system maximises high-end drag pressure, efficiency and overall smoothness, while the over-sized handle and lower low speed gearing, versus the original Makaira, serve up extreme torque. There are five models, ranging from the MK-15TIISea10TH (4.7:1 and 2.1:1 ratio, 98.8cm and 43.4cm retrieve, 0.42/525m mono capacity, 18.2kg drag) through to the MK-50WIISea10TH (3.2:1 and 1.0:1 ratio, 0.70/820 capacity, 39kg drag). Head to the Okuma Australia website to see the full list of specs. www.okuma.com.au

JIG STAR BATTLE ROYALE

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MUSTAD SLOW PITCH JIGS

The new Mustad Wingman offers multiple presentation possibilities. It has a stable, head-down descent on the fall, and can be fished as a conventional slow pitch jig. Alternatively, a treble attached to the rear turns this lure into a casting slice with a wide side-to-side wobble. It’s available in six colours and four weights from 80-200g. The Mustad Rip Roller is a slender slow pitch jig that’s big on action. Featuring a symmetrical design with a single, prominent keel extending across the entire length on one side, this centre-weighted jig descends with a stable but rapid rolling action. Unlike most conventional stripe patterns, this jig has two contrasting colours on each face, creating a blinking flash to attract predators. As its name suggests, just rip the jig upwards in powerful punches and then let it roll back down, and watch the magic happen. Available in 250g and 500g weights, the Rip Roller comes in six colours and is pre-rigged with Mustad assist hooks. www.wilsonfishing.com

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TESTING BOOTH

PRODUCT GUIDE

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Wilson Live Fibre Blades N Tails rods are the real deal The AFTA trade show allows tackle storeowners and buyers within the tackle industry to see what our Australian wholesalers have all in one place. It is a mix of products that have stood the test of time, as well as new releases for Christmas and the following year. It is an exciting time for people like myself who are lucky enough to go out and test products and tell you, our readers all

The models and why For those of you who followed my testing booths over the years (I am sure there is at least one of you) much of my rod testing has always been related around targeting flathead and there is no reason to change this. They are a great table fish, they love eating a lure and they are available to catch all around Australia. There are a couple of rods in the range that are suitable to target flathead on lures – the one- and two-piece

The two outfits tested were the Live Fibre Blade N Tails 7’, 4-8lb and the 6’8”, 6-12lb spin rods. They are matched with an ATC Virtuous 2000 and ATC Valiant CF PE1 2000 respectively. I chose the two-piece 6’8”, 6-12lb spin model, which is a slightly shorter rod so it is easier to manage in the kayak, and the two-piece is better to travel with in the car. It is also heavier than most anglers would expect, as you really need a bit more grunt when you are fishing from a kayak. Getting

handle, and now I have found it difficult to go back to the smaller handle. There are 10 spin models and eight baitcast models available in the Blade N Tails ranges, so there are plenty of options to choose one that suits you and your fishing.

Nice bit of by-catch while fishing for flathead. about them. I use it to put a list of things together that I am keen to put through their paces. I don’t get to test everything on this list, but in the case of the Wilson Blade N Tails rods, they were on the list and I grabbed a couple of models that covered some of the species and fishing that I like to do.

7’ 4-8lb spin models. I prefer a one-piece rod, but with technology these days I am sure there is very little difference between them. I also wanted a spin outfit to use from my kayak. I have been doing more kayak fishing of late, especially on some of the bass lakes that are kayak or electric only.

Just to prove the first one wasn’t a fluke, Nicholas Willett with another golden caught on a Zerek Fish Trap and the shaky-shaky retrieve. a fish away from cover, before it ends up dragging you and your kayak in there with it, is always a preferred outcome. I matched an ATC Virtuous 2000 sized reel with the 7’ outfit, and an ATC Valiant CF, PE1 2000 sized reel with the kayak outfit. I had always preferred the Valiant reel, however a couple of years ago I tested the ATC Valour reels and became hooked on the oversized and ergonomic handle. The Virtuous reels have the same A small bass caught on an ice jig using the 6’8” outfit. 70

AUGUST 2020

In the field Unfortunately, it has been a very disjointed testing period. The product became available just before Christmas and I was excited to head to Yamba, which was fishing well, to test it out. Likewise, my local bass fishery was also producing good

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PRODUCT GUIDE catches. However, the poor weather, wind and COVID 19 tested the patience of the author in the middle of it all. Yamba proved to be not only an amazing testing ground for the Blade N Tails rods, but also a great place to have a holiday with family and friends. As the country comes out of its COVID slumber and looks to holiday at home, put Yamba on the list, you won’t be disappointed. I was impressed with the feel of the rods once I was in the water. The medium fast taper is ideal for casting relatively light lures and jigheads and the feel that the combination of the Toray blank, Fuji Fazlite guides and quality EVA grips provides is up there with the best. Much of my flathead fishing in Yamba involved fishing shallow water with weed pockets scattered through it. I was either fanning long casts over the open areas, using a Zerek Tango Shad or targeting the edges of the weed and associated dropoffs using plastics rigged on 1/8-1/4oz jigheads. The rod was perfect for this. It is light enough to do this all day, has the finesse not to pull small hooks, but has enough power to set a hook when that bigger fish comes along. The real test came post-Christmas as

Yamba provided a great opportunity to put the 7’ model through its paces. Casting small plastics and hardbody lures around and across the various sand flats had the author connected to some nice flathead.

Nicholas Willett has really taken to his Blade N Tails outfit. He caught this javelin fish while chasing flathead. I brought the same outfit for my testing booth companion Nicholas Willett as a gift. Nicholas is very loyal to the outfits he uses. We have fished together for well over 10 years and he has used the same rods for the majority of that time. Would the Blade N Tails/Virtuous combo pass the Nicholas test? In his words, “Absolutely!” No more needs to be said. The kayak outfit was harder to test, not using it but just getting a nice picture to complement this review. My local lake rose from 55% to 100% and the fishing suffered due to decaying weed and grass that was inundated by the water. My local lake was looking and fishing very differently. I tend to use a threadline outfit from the kayak to cast small metal vibes, hardbody lures, various plastic rigs and vibration baits. Generally these are too light to cast with a baitcast outfit or needs a little more finesse as far as technique goes. A great technique for targeting bass around weed in the transition months (warm weather to cooler weather and the other way around) is working suspending hardbody lures. It is a matter of casting

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This beautiful golden perch fell to the shaky-shaky retrieve at Somerset Dam.

(sorry don’t know the proper name). This is reliant on finding fish holding in numbers off points or areas with structure and then dropping a plastic vibe down (in our case a Zerek Fish Trap) and shaking or crawling the lure across the bottom back to you – minimal movement, maximum action. The goldens didn’t hesitate, they picked up the lure and ran with it. The theory was sound, as a few goldens and a number of bass fell mainly to the shaky-shaky technique. The slightly shorter and heavier rod (line class) suited this fishing and resulted in some nice fish and the images for this Testing Booth. Final thoughts Thankfully as I write this test, we are now getting some of our freedoms back and most importantly the ability to travel within our states and support businesses, jobs and your favourite Australian brands. For many, the Wilson brand and Live Fibre are part of what fishing in Oz is all about. For mine, the new Wilson Live Fibre Blade N Tails rods are only going to add to this legacy – they are well worth checking out. Look them up at www.wilsonfishing. com. The full range and details are available there as well as stockists and other fishing related things. – Peter Jung

The author has loved using the 6’8” outfit from his kayak to throw lures like this vibration bait for Australian bass.

along or into clear pockets within the weed, winding your lure down to its depth and then pausing it (this can be as long or as short as you like or what the fish like) and winding and pausing, waiting for the lure to be smashed. I managed several sessions doing this and fishing the other options mentioned with the Blade N Tails/ Valiant outfit but had limited success (I assure it wasn’t for the lack of trying) so it was time to think outside the box. COVID 19 provided six weeks of thinking time and the decision was made to head to Somerset Dam and rather than target the bass schools, head up the timbered arms at the top of the lake targeting golden perch using vibes and black grubs. These techniques have proven successful in the southern states, so surely they’d work in QLD? Black grubbing is pretty simple, cozy up to a tree, drop a black Gulp Grub curly-tail down the trunk, slow roll it up and down or jig it and wait for the bite. No bite, find another tree and repeat. A similar thing can be done with a vibe, however a more successful technique has been using what I call the shaky-shaky retrieve This is exactly why the author wanted the 6’8” outfit. This fish was caught slow rolling a Zerek Flat Shad around weed towers on the shallow point in the background of this image.

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au AUGUST 2020

Canberra

ACT

Winter reds provide chilly relief CANBERRA

Toby Grundy

August has to be one of the best months to get out on one of Canberra’s urban lakes and chase big redfin using bait or lures. There is usually a flurry of activity with the last of the massive winter reds coming on the chew and hitting lures with abandon. It is not uncommon to see over a dozen anglers during the late afternoon lining the banks behind the National Gallery at Lake Burley Griffin, casting all manner of offerings and landing reddies up to 45cm. The same scenario can be witnessed at Googong but, where most anglers who fish LBG choose to release or dispatch the redfin, many fishos keep the big reds at Googong as the waterway is incredibly clean and redfin are very good eating. So, for August, I recommend getting out on the water and targeting the last of the big winter reds before the start of spring when everyone switches their attention to golden perch.

great place to try for a stud redfin or even carp using a Molix Jig coupled with a creature style plastic. I

the overhanging willows a few metres down from the College. These fish aren’t hitting surface yet

attached to a paddletail plastic. It has been a while since I have seen or heard of a really massive

Luca Morella with a typical late winter red. have also been a few large yellowbelly landed at the spillway. Lake Ginninderra is still fishing quite well with a few lucky anglers landing some stud yellas over the last couple of weeks. There have also been some nice cod caught using mediumsized spinnerbaits and

Rob Hart with a nice LBG golden. witnessed young gun Pat Brennan miss a large cod while fishing the points at Yarralumla Bay. This part

producing like it was this time last season and we may have to wait until cod open in December to experience the river at its best again. However, there have been a few anglers who have managed a couple of nice fish. One such angler is Sam Hancox who (while using his brother’s custom

but are hitting all manner of sub surface offerings from small, shallow divers through to beetle spins

It is a redfin bonanza through August.

Sam Hancox has caught some massive fish of late. LOCAL LAKES Lake Burley Griffin continues to offer excellent winter fishing with all three lure targets (golden perch, Murray cod and redfin) still on the bite despite the freezing conditions. Golden perch are holding close to cover but are feeding at dawn and dusk, and can be found sitting just off the half-submerged reeds that line the edges of the rowing lanes in the lead up to Weston Park. These fish are picky but will take a slow rolled TN50 in black king gill or a Dragon Maggot 3’ plastic hopped and paused along the bottom. This area is also a 72

AUGUST 2020

of the lake is always worth a cast during August as the smaller redfin seek shelter in this area during winter and the cod tend to follow them in. Don’t forget the ever-reliable Nerrang Pool, which flows into LBG, contains plenty of monster carp and these fish will take a fly or even a grub style soft plastic. Lake Tuggeranong remains a hit and miss fishery but there have been more hits than misses of late with many anglers landing some nice fish. Redfin remain the most consistent catch and can be found in a variety of locations from the dam wall through to

cod being caught at Lake Tuggeranong but August represents the last chance to try for one of the lake’s resident monster greenfish, so it is worth a shot. There

Pat Brennan figured out that jigs work best.

even surface lures. That said, the redfin have been the most consistent catch with plenty of good sized specimens fooled by small, shallow divers and Ecogear ZX blades. Sometimes this fishery fires up in late winter and the action carries through into early spring. If we get a decent hit of rain halfway through August, Lake Ginninderra should provide some really outstanding native fishing, especially along the dam wall. The Murrumbidgee River hasn’t really fired for a long time now and a number of anglers have started speculating on why this is the case. I’ve heard everything from ‘the rain never flushed out the deeper pools’ through to ‘the river is still in recovery after the flood’. Whatever the reason, the Bidgee isn’t

surface lures) has landed some really big cod up to 116cm. These fish have all been caught at either dawn or dusk and Sam has been working the slower pools. SURROUNDS The native fishing at Googong Dam has been a little slow of late. The fast-paced action, which we all experienced through late autumn and into early winter, did start to slow at the end of July with a few cod coming to the net and only the odd golden perch. We can, however, look forward to outstanding spring action in a few weeks when the water warms and the giant yellas come on the bite. The redfin though, are definitely buzzing around the edges and can be targeted with lightly weighted soft plastics hopped and paused parallel to the bank.

Woy Woy is your oyster CENTRAL COAST

Byron Hill

Brisbane Waters is like the younger brother of Lake Macquarie. There’s one main entrance that pumps with current,

for the car and trailer if required. There’s a nice park with benches and large trees if you’re looking for a place to have lunch after you fish. Woy Woy has a lot to offer in a small area but you should consider the

tide when deciding which direction to go. The main channel can flow at a moderate rate and typically if you’re in a peddle kayak it won’t be an issue. However, if you’re in a paddle kayak, it may be a little too much at certain

Simon McGuire caught this donkey 100m west of the boat ramp. the north until you hit wellknown oyster leases that back up against mangroves on Pelican Island. These generally fire in the summer when the tide is running in but they are also worth a flick if it’s been warm.

In the area you will also find underwater weed beds mixed with four or five stretches of rocky outcrop that are filthy with oyster shells. They are generally out of the water during low tide, so easy to identify

Koolewong are again good locations to check out for some boat hull action. DEEP HOLES Lowrance’s C-Map Genesis mapping will help you out here. I’d suggest you look at their website to

James Kilpatrick netting a mulloway he caught fishing off a hole near saratoga.

There are two places to launch on either side of the Lions Park boat ramp. there’s an abundance of structure in jetties, reefs, yachts and underwater reefs, there’s even a number of deep holes that produce silver slab after slab. There is one big difference though: oyster leases. There are A LOT of options to launch into Brisbane Waters but this month we are going to highlight Woy Woy. If you’re unfamiliar with the area, it’s known for producing some great fish all year around. It is frequented by multiple kayak competitions including both the Hobie Bream Series and Yak Hunters. The Woy Woy Boat ramp is the place to launch and it has plenty of room

times. It is a smart idea is to use the flow to your advantage and plan your day accordingly. There is a passage to the west of the boat ramp that has less flow if you’re planning to head north. Hot tip: there are some poles just before you hit the right turn that accounted for a 1kg+ bream during last year’s Hobie Fishing Bream Series. Woy Woy is your oyster. If there’s a string of warm days, it will be worth looking at the shallow structure. If it’s still cold, then deep will be the place to go. Here are your options. OYSTER LEASES - It’s a 5-minute peddle to

The author with a kilo bream he picked up off a pole near the Spike Milligan Bridge.

The Lions Park boat ramp has some great shade and facilities for lunch after a day on the water.

them. If those racks don’t float, the racks on the east side of Rileys Island are worth a flick. JETTIES They are everywhere. There’s a stretch on the west side of the system near Woy Woy Road, which is accessible via the Spike Milligan Bridge, which is worth a Cranka Crab or two. The jetties along the Koolewong and Saratoga edges will also contain bream and flathead. BOAT HULLS We all know fish hold on mooring blocks, and Brisbane Waters has a lot of yachts and boats moored in both shallow and deep water. If the fish haven’t moved up onto the shallows you’ll find them on the deeper ones. Saratoga and

find the areas, but there are some well known mulloway spots in Brisbane Waters that produce a lot of fun all year around. Some of them can be soapy size and smaller than legal, but for those fishos looking for catch and release action, hopping a soft vibe with long steady lifts should show some results. I have had great sessions on the Samaki Vibelicious. As always, the best way to learn a location is to simply get out on the water. The problem with Woy Woy is that there are a lot of options and lets be honest, it’s a good problem to have. Woy Woy is the type of place where it’s always good to have a plan. If you don’t like what you see, just move onto the next spot. AUGUST 2020

NSW

It’s the last month of the Murray cod season You have to remember that their metabolism really slows down with the cooler water temperatures, which changes their behaviour. I like to think of it like this. You haven’t eaten all day. Would you like a single tomato for tea, or a full-sized chicken parmi? I know what I would prefer. To a cold cod, a bigger lure can simply be a more appealing meal, or seen as a bigger threat in their territory. The second important point is to fish areas thoroughly. You will not

ALBURY/WODONGA

Connor Heir

Smaller fish in the smaller waterways are still there during the cooler months, they are just a little bit more work. They are such a stubborn fish at times, and while I firmly believe that just about any lure will work for cod, there are just some important factors in lure choice to get that bite, particularly from the lips of a bigger cod. The first tip is to stay big. I have spoken about lure size in previous articles, stating that at times a downsize can be a real game changer. In the warmer months, this is certainly true. If you want to catch good numbers of cod, sometimes an easy grab-size lure can be the difference between turning fish and not turning fish. However, come winter time, I turn that theory upside down. This is the time to tie on bigger lures. If a winter fish is going to move to eat, it likely wants something that is worth the effort of chasing down.

Headfirst went the Kuttafurra Mud Honey! catch fish on your first few casts all the time. Yes, covering water can be a very good tactic to use, but during the cooler months you should really pepper those snags. Annoy the hell out of that fish so much that it will just have

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significantly higher flows. However, we will come to appreciate this a few months down the track. In the creeks and rivers, particularly the smaller ones, flows of higher water can be exactly what they need to freshen things up a bit, let fish move, and flush food right through the system. It can also freshen up the water in general, getting rid of slime and scum. So while a few of your favourite systems may be off limits for lure fishing at the moment, just remember that come summertime it could be just what they needed to keep the fish happy and healthy. As for the bigger bodies of water, the fishing is certainly difficult at this time of year, but don’t give up. Just because you are getting donuts, it does not mean you aren’t putting your lure in front of fish.

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Winter fishing. It can be frustratingly slow and so puzzling. August, being the last official month of winter, is also the last month of the Murray cod season. You have a few weeks left to pursue a winter slob, unless you fish one of the impoundments that are open all year around. Yes. Winter fishing for these fish can really be quite the challenge. As I sit here writing this, I am seven weeks deep without landing even a single cod. Admittedly, conditions haven’t always been too favourable. Recent rainfalls have made a few of my main focus fisheries quite dirty, and some having

to eat your lure. I’m not suggesting sitting at one snag all day or night, rather you should put in roughly 20 casts to a likely-looking spot before moving on. Sometimes I even throw a few different styles of lures just to mix it up. The third and last point I have is lure retrieve and speed. Get that lure working its best action, but at the slowest speed you possibly can. The longer you can hold the lure in the fish’s face for, the more chance you have of the fish grabbing on and you getting

NSW

Tactics for cold, clear water BATLOW

Wayne Dubois waynedubois@westnet.com.au

Blowering Dam, although famous for its golden perch and redfin fishing, has become a very popular

catch Murray cod there are far better lakes to fish, especially for numbers. However, if you’re willing and prepared to really work hard for your fish, you won’t get so flustered about all the fishless hours and may be rewarded with that fish of a

will all work, as will many other styles of lures. As long as a lure is big there’s a good chance of annoying a Murray cod to strike out of territorial aggression. GOLDEN PERCH Blowering Dam’s golden perch usually start sunning

Blowering Dam’s clear water can make for challenging fishing at times, but the rewards like this big Angel Bait-munching Murray cod make the hard work worthwhile. spot with the diehard ‘big’ cod’ fishos in recent years, mostly due to social media. Due to this massive increase in fishing pressure and people now specifically targeting cod, we now see monster Murray cod come out of Blowering weekly, which can make it seem as though the lake is full of them. Don’t get fooled though as most of the ‘gurus’ on social media won’t tell you that there were three people in the boat and more often than not that they all fished hard for a week or more just to land that one fish. Yes, there are some giant Murray cod in Blowering Dam, but any angler coming here for a big cod fix needs to understand that they are few and far between, and they are rarely caught easily. If you want to specifically

lifetime. All those fishless days are soon forgotten when that giant you’ve been working hard for finally hits the net. MURRAY COD Bait fishing for Murray cod in particular can be a bit hit-and-miss at Blowering at this time of the year due to the lethargic nature of big natives in winter. Anglers who know this prefer to take advantage of Murray cod’s territorial side by repeat casting with lures, and the bigger the lure the better. Lures need to be at least 90mm in length, and preferably closer to 300mm to give you the best chance of making a big Murray cod strike out of territorial aggression. Swimbaits, glidebaits, wakebaits, Angel Baits, chatterbaits, soft plastics, spinnerbaits, hardbodies and surface lures

themselves in the shallow weed beds towards the end of this month, and are well worth targeting, especially if you get into polaroiding fish or sight fishing in the shallows. As the water temperature is still fairly cool (normally still single digits) the best time to target the golden perch is around lunchtime through to mid-afternoon when the water temperature is at its warmest. If the goldens are in an active mood they will hit literally anything cast or trolled past them, but when they are not quite switched on or are constantly following but not hitting your conventional/favourite golden lures, then bass style soft plastics will often see you get in on some action. There are many types of plastics on the market these days that do the job well, but I have a strong preference for 2-4” paddletail types in natural colours. These types of plastics have regularly helped me to snare a few golden perch when all my usual offerings were getting refused. The other gun lures to

Lipless crankbaits are the perfect choice for covering all fish species when fishing Jounama Dam. This fish took an Insanity Tackle Slap Walker. couple of months but some very big trout have been caught from this trophy trout fishery. There should start to be some native action as well this month with the resident golden

Golden perch in Blowering and Jounama will start popping up regularly towards the end of the month, and can be caught a number of ways including on fly.

Another trophy sized 10lb+ Jounama brown trout. On top of having lots of giant trout, the lake is now home to a good population of natives, making it a sensational mixed fishery that’s always worth the visit.

use when the goldens are not quite switched on are shallow running suspending lures, as these lures can be fished much slower than most other lure styles, and can be kept in the fishes face for much longer. That’s often what is needed to bring the lethargic goldens undone at this time of the year. There are quite a few on the market these days and most will do the job, so it is up to personal preference as to which model you use – just stick to natural colours in this crystal clear lake. JOUNAMA DAM The trout fishing at Jounama Dam has been a bit up and down over the last

perch normally starting to pop up around the grassy margins of the dam. I spend quite a bit of time up at Jounama at this time of the year. This is partly because trout fishing is limited to lakes only, and most other lakes (particularly the native lakes) can be fairly quiet. However, the main reason I go is because there are hardly ever any crowds at Jounama Dam, which is great if you don’t like crowded waterways. Bait fishing in amongst the freshly-flooded pockets of weed can be very rewarding, but fly or lure fishing in these same areas

can be just as rewarding. Fly fishing with large wets and/ or nymphs usually brings a few trout undone in a fishing session, and is probably the best way of hooking into one of the big often supersmart trophy-sized trout this lake is so famous for. Casting shallow running hardbodies in the grassy shallows is another exciting way of fishing the shallow bays and flats of the lake, and it’s fairly common to spot or polaroid fish before you make your cast to them. This can make for some super exciting heart-in-thethroat fishing. Another great way to get amongst them is blind casting the deeper windswept banks with sinking minnow-style hardbodied lures like the Rapala CD range or Insanity Tackle Sso Mino range, small soft plastics, rubber vibes, blades or the good old lipless crankbaits. At this time of the year I like to use small lipless crankbaits as they will catch all fish species present. Although other lures will also give you a chance to catch anything that swims in the lake, they don’t work as well as the super versatile lipless crankbaits. All fish species will happily hit a lipless crankbait, whereas the small minnow lures might get rejected more readily by a golden perch or Murray cod, or the lure just won’t get deep enough to cover all bases (they’ll catch plenty of trout though). Lipless crankbaits may possibly scare the odd smaller trout, but that’s all that you may miss out on by using these lures. They really are the most versatile lure style for covering all bases in this mixed fishery. AUGUST 2020

NSW

Consistent fishing for rugged-up anglers HUNTER VALLEY

Peter Phelps

We are into the final stretch of winter, and this usually means the most consistent fishing. June and July fishing can be sometimes up and down, but now the fish have had two whole months of cold weather. The winter finesse bite is going to be your most reliable way of catching fish this month. All the three local lakes have had fairly steady levels at the time of writing this, and the fish should be set in their ways and easy to pattern this month. As I say every month, rain and dam levels are going to be the biggest influence on the fishing. A lot of winter rain can change water temperature, water clarity or roll lakes over, throwing a huge spanner in the works. While I don’t envision such events happening, I am always hopeful. A small hit on some tougher fishing will be worth it for better conditions down the track. The condition of the fish is looking a lot better than they were 12 months ago, but the two larger

lake levels are still down. Baitfish and other prey have dwindled in these times of dropping levels. Lake Glenbawn’s water clarity has been dirty over the end of autumn into winter. The main basin with its deep water and rocky banks can be typically very clear in winter, as the water has perfect conditions to settle out. Algae blooms and less water has had the whole lake stirred up all the way down to the front. Don’t let the water clarity concern you though. The fish are still there to be caught. If anything, they should be a little easier in stained water. I’m a fan of fishing away from super clear water, especially when the sun is high in the sky. Dirty water or algae blooms won’t worry the fish too much and hopefully will maintain the bite as the sun gets up. Early morning, I would start with a deep diving jerkbait. Fishing these close to any visible structure, and aim for points or back of bays. These areas congregate the fish as the sun comes up. Rip the jerkbaits hard two or three times and wait a few seconds. You should be able to fish a jerkbait

The author with a couple of bass. There are plenty to be caught at this time of year. fairly aggressively and get a reaction out of the fish. No need to slow down this month – fish them fast and cover water looking for active fish while the light is low. A paddle-tail soft plastic or grub will be the next lure to throw, and a 1/6oz or 1/4oz jighead is ideal for slow rolling off the edge into deeper water. You can have success fishing around the areas you caught fish early on with the jerkbait; the fish will not have moved far to sit in deeper water. A quality

Deep diving jerkbaits should be in everyone’s arsenal in winter.

sounder can easily pick up schools of fish as they load up on certain areas. Long, deep points with a few standing trees are the easiest place to find these fish. Rolling and twitching your soft plastics through these fish, they should be pretty easy to catch. An ice jig is another option for schooling fish in winter. These little lead lures with wings sink very fast down to the fish and dart around with the smallest of twitches. Work these in front of any schooled fish. Lake St Clair’s banks have always had the ability to hold weed a lot better than Glenbawn. The gentle slopping banks, which have less rock compared to Glenbawn, help to maintain growth. These weed beds should be nice and thick towering near to the surface. The larger fish like hide out in the weed as it provides perfect cover for ambushing prey. There can be several types of weed in St Clair, and the main type you want to fish is more broken with lots of holes and towers coming up. This provides ambush points for the fish and is easier for them to locate your lures in. Even though the weed fish have this enormous area of cover to hide in and get

out the sun, they can be very temperamental. Low light is always the best for getting these fish to eat a lure. Early morning, late evening and overcast or even windy conditions gets these fish comfortable enough to be moving around freely in the weed feeding. Picking a spot can sometimes be confusing when almost the lake’s entire edge is covered by weed. Look for points and bays, even rock and timber as well, something that will give the weed an uneven edge and holes. In these areas, the fish will congregate and even school in the weed. Multiple casts to the same area can catch several fish as they move around looking for food. A shallow diving jerkbait is an excellent choice to start out with. Working it over the top and into holes in the weed, looking like an injured baitfish darting around, the fish cannot seem to resist. Small surface lures are also worth a try this month – small walking baits or cicada imitations worked super slow around standing timber and over weed holes are productive. Once the sun gets up, a jigheadrigged plastic is the best choice. A paddle-tail or grub are the easiest plastics to

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AUGUST 2020

use. These styles will work on a straight slow wind retrieve and 1/8oz, 1/6oz and 1/4oz jigheads are the best options. Use the lighter 1/8oz and 1/6oz for over the weed beds and the 1/4oz for fishing down the face and along the weed edge. Try giving your plastics little twitches in your slow roll to mimic a baitfish trying to escape. This can turn lookers into biters. There are no hard or fast rules though, and you can opt to stick with the one you feel most confident with. If the bites are not coming, try and focus on where you are putting your lure and what retrieve you’re using, rather than a specific brand or colour. Moving out wider from the weed there should be some schools hanging around. Anywhere from 20-60ft you can find them stacked up off points or humps. A paddle-tail or grub plastic, ice jig or even a small blade should catch you some fish. Traditionally the school fish are smaller than the weed dwellers but can provide a lot of fun with their willingness to eat a lure. Lostock levels always maintain a lot easier than St Clair and Glenbawn. A lot more rain seems to fall that side of the range and being such a small lake, it doesn’t take much to fill it and keep it topped up. Fishing similar to the other lakes, the finesse bite will certainly produce some fish. Try jerkbaits around weed, plastics fished a little deeper and ice jigs and blades in schooled fish. All these will produce some fish, though Lostock does like to throw curve balls every now and then. Don’t be afraid to fish reaction-style baits in winter. Spinnerbaits, jig spinners and lipless crankbaits have accounted for some giant football-sized bass out of Lostock at times that have been completely backwards compared to the other two lakes.

CHAMPION 188 Location: QLD

$39,000

TABS WILDFISHER Location: NSW

$34,990

CRESTLINER 1750 PRO Location: NSW

$30,000

NSW

Last chance for big cod NEW ENGLAND RIVERS

Adam Townsend

August has come very quickly this year and it generally means two things. Firstly, it is the end of winter

and the colder weather, and second (and most importantly), the annual Murray cod breeding season commences. It runs from 1 September until 1 December across NSW, which means this will be the last month we

can actively target Murray cod before they start their breeding cycle. As mentioned in the last report, Copeton Dam remains open all year round for targeting cod, while the surrounding impoundments

SHEIK OF THE CREEK

Finding the sweet spot BRISBANE

The Sheik of the Creek

I think there has to be a period of your life when your fishing aspirations are in contact with your budget. What I mean by that, is when we’re young most of us don’t have two bob to rub together let alone two of our preferred reels.Not that you’d want to rub two reels together, especially when you’re young and you don’t have much money because that would lower their value

hands on. If it’s new, it’s going to be of an inferior quality. If it’s second hand it’s going to be more worn than Peter Fitzsimons’ right arm. Either way, what we found was that on the very odd occasion that one of us Dudds managed to hook up to a trophy fish, was that the cheap gear wasn’t built for the strain, or the worn gear was, but was worn. Confusing. What it meant was that under the situation described, with dodgy old gear, or dodgy new gear, when combined with tiredness, alcohol, rookie

name to classify anyone that’s judging… In any case, that tends to be the problem when you’re young and stupid, which is entirely different when you’re old and stupid. What I’m finding, being in that second category now, is that although I have a budget which allows me to buy better quality gear that will stand up to the strain of a trophy fish, I’m not putting in the time and effort to put me in a time or place that will put a trophy fish on the end of my line. So I’m pretty sure

This massive impoundment Murray cod was caught on a swimbait. and all river systems are off limits to throwing larger lures that are classed for Murray Cod. However, if Copeton Dam continues to fish just as well as it has been in recent weeks, I would definitely recommend getting in the car and going out for a look for the day, or even camp for a night or three. There have been

options, enabling you to cover more ground quickly. For the bait fishers, yabbies and shrimp are good baits when they are readily accessible. If not, worms, cheese, or even some chicken from the local supermarket seem to be working very well. Pindari Dam has been fishing really well of late

showers falling across the Tablelands throughout June, and it’s looking really nice for the upcoming breeding season. Fingers crossed for more rains before the end of the month to get the river at a good level and flowing well, so the natives can have a successful spawn this year.

A winter golden perch taken on topwater. plenty of cracking fish caught by both the keener lure fishers as well as the guys who like to sit back on the banks and soak a bait for a few hours. Swimbaits always prove to be the most effective lures because they represent the bait life perfectly in that waterway – especially when worked slowly and methodically like a real baitfish. However, lures like chatterbaits and wakebaits are also really good

and ruin any chance of surrendering them to Santo Vincenzos or any other op shop for more than you paid for them… Anyway, getting back to where I started. When you’re young and fit and keen to fish through any climate variation, be that bitter cold or steaming heat, most of us have to make do with whatever we can get our

error, alcohol, anxiety, alcohol, and more alcohol, the already mentioned trophy fish had a better chance of getting home than ET. That’s the alien not the fishing presenter. Although the fishing presenter might have trouble getting home, I don’t know. I don’t want to judge. I might get boycotted. Although surely using the term boycotting is judging because you’re using someone’s family

there must be a sweet spot somewhere in your life where you’re young enough to get out there and old enough to afford better gear. Surely there’s an app somewhere that finds that for you because it took me since the start of COVID to find my own personal sweet spot. It was the last Tuesday in May 2007, from 1am to 1.15am. That tells you something.

however the fish numbers are nothing like they used to be before the big fish kill that happened a couple of seasons back. Quality fish are still around the dam but, just like Copeton, spending lots of time on the water is necessary, along with a bit of luck. Both dams are sitting at over 13% after small inflows in recent weeks. The Severn River is in good condition after some

After recent years of droughts it will definitely be needed. In the meantime, get out and enjoy the outdoors and the last month of fishing for Murray cod in the rivers before the closed season. Right now is the best time of year to be throwing BIG lures around as the cod prepare to bulk up for the next few months of action. Good luck on the water this month and tight lines.

An early morning Murray cod taken on a Garuda swimbait off the surface. AUGUST 2020

Industry News

SBT: Australia’s most complex fishery? FMG

Steve Morgan s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

For a lot of us, the dream is simple: catch a southern bluefin tuna. We see them in the pages of magazines, on TV and in our social media feed. They’re a good looking, strong fish that fights like a champion and is great on the plate. The dream is simple, but the story of the southern bluefin is much more

THE BASICS This is AFMA’s information about the southern bluefin. Southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) are found in the Pacific, Indian and Indian oceans and they move around. A lot. Currently, there’s only one known spawning ground in the Indian Ocean south of Indonesia. After spawning, the tuna migrate south, where they encounter both commercial and recreational anglers. The can live to 40 years of age and grow to 2.45m long, and

season was 6,165 tonnes, 5% of which is now allocated to recreational anglers. Current stock estimates are 13% of original biomass (up from 6%) and scientists predict this will be at 30% by 2035 with current catch agreements. VRFISH My first port of call was CEO of VRFish, Mike Burgess - for no other reason that I knew Mike from sharing time on the Australian Recreational Fishing Federation (ARFF) board. Mike said that from

School sized SBTs can be caught in plenty of ways – even casting lures on spinning tackle to surface feeding fish. Image courtesy of Scott Gray.

Throughout the latest survey, anglers were very co-operative. It seems as though anglers are maturing in the way they use the SBT resource. Image courtesy of Scott Gray. complicated. It’s a species that migrates massive distances, is fished by many countries, has a high commercial value and from a conservation point, is a stock that’s recovering from massive overfishing. With populations reaching as low as 6% of the original biomass (they’re now at 13% and rising) they are a species that’s managed by the federal government, with states having their own fishing rules. To an outsider like me, it’s a pie with plenty of fingers in it. And when you take a look at its northern cousin, the northern bluefin, you’d wonder what all of the fuss is about. The fact is that nearly everyone has an interest in the southern blues and when it comes to voicing opinions about how they should be managed, nobody seems to be shy. The epicentre of the debate seems to be in Victoria. What’s Fishing Monthly’s opinion? We reckon that as long as you have all of the facts, then there’s no such thing as a wrong opinion. With that in mind, I set out to have a chat to some of the people that have southern bluefin close to their hearts and others who research, manage and catch them for a living. Join the debate! The more people who are concerned about the trajectory of the stock, the more chance that the stock will get a fair shot and continued growth. As anglers, that’s what we all want, right? More fish … bigger fish and the right to take a feed home to provide for our families. 78

AUGUST 2020

can weigh up to 260kg. They are quite common at 100kg. They hang out in waters that are up to 500m deep, although they’re commonly associated with coastal and continental shelf waters. They breed at 11-12 years

the VRFish perspective any debate about the catch shares between recreational and commercial fishers is a moot point. Their focus has been to gain secure access to the fishery and maintain a status quo for our current

and we have the confidence to continue fishing exactly as we are now. The 308 tonnes that will be set aside for Australia’s recreational fishers enables us to enjoy the fishery without any threats of catch or access restrictions.” “Our recreational SBT fishery continues to evolve and there has been an observed a shift in fishers behaviour from retained catch towards quality recreational fishing experiences, including targeting larger fish, higher release rates and better-quality table eating fish. The net result is less fish being taken out of the water by Australia’s recreational fishers,” he concluded. VICTORIAN FISHERIES AUTHORITY Dallas D’Silva is very active with recreational

anglers and is Director of Fisheries at the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA). The VFA is squarely in the camp that believes that 5% isn’t a share for recreational anglers that represents a fair and equitable split.

alone the rest of Australia.” ON THE GROUND A lot of recreational anglers will know Scott Gray - maybe from his media creation work and maybe from his time on the ground at the coalface of fisheries surveying

As the Victorian SBT fishery has evolved, so have the ways anglers catch them. Image courtesy of Scott Gray.

Charter boat effort is often an indicator of SBT availability to recreational anglers. Image courtesy of Scott Gray. of age, where the females appear to spawn daily. It’s not known whether they spawn once only, every few years or just once in a lifetime. Southern bluefin tuna are classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In Australia, it is listed as Conservation Dependent under the EPBC Act. The biomass is deemed as being “overfished”, although they report the species as not currently being subject to overfishing. The catch limit for 2019/20

management arrangements which has been achieved. “We as recreational fishers have been allocated the amount SBT of what we currently retain and harvest, informed by the National recreational fishing SBT survey. Whatever the percentage is, is what it is. Prior to this process recreational fishing wasn’t even accounted for with 100% of Australia’s allowable SBT catch going to the commercial sector, he continued. “Recreational fishers finally have a formal stake in the recovering SBT fishery

“There’s no way that 5% passes the pub test and we think that that recreational anglers should be getting more than the allocation,” Dallas said. “We think that the surveying wasn’t broad enough and that there are SBT fisheries outside the surveyed range. “We want to see the Victorian SBT fishery continue to grow and with a 5% allocation towards recreational anglers, we think that’s not enough to cover Victoria, let

and monitoring. Indeed, Scott was involved in both the 2011 and the 2018/19 surveys and he lives smack in the middle of some great SBT fishing at Port Fairy. Scott reckons that the ‘no change’ decision is a great outcome for recreational anglers, especially given that the survey results show a 60% decrease in harvest and a 20% drop in effort when it comes to SBT take. “This is the first time that

Scott Gray was at the coalface of SBT research - and that’s with both a clipboard or a rod in hand. Image courtesy of Scott Gray.

Industry News recreational anglers have been included in the equation,” he said. “It used to be 100% allocated to the commercial fishery but now there is the 5% set aside to account for the recreational fishing harvest. And remember, this is a percentage allocation. As the stock rebuilds and TAC tonnages go up, the recreational harvest can increase proportionally. It seems as though some agencies in this debate are a bit disconnected from reality.” With effort down a little but take down a lot, it means that recreational anglers may

be maturing in their attitude towards SBTs. Disappearing is the ‘tuna gold rush’ mentality, when you had to go and catch your limit every single time. Some anglers are practicing catch-and-release and others are just more certain of the stock’s future, it seems. Other anglers are targeting the bigger fish. They’re happy with fewer but larger rewards. “Remember that now, the SBT fishery is year round,” Scott said. “You no longer have to go and catch a fish in a small window. The increasing stocks let anglers be more relaxed in how they

target them.” For Scott, the outcome seems like a good number and has a buffer included for years where the catch is shared differently between states. Some years Victoria’s run is amazing and other years conditions conspire to make the NSW or Tasmanian catches increase. RESEARCH The lead author of the national survey report, Sean Tracey from the University of Tasmania, thinks that it’s great that this is the first time that recreational anglers have been recognised in a

Thanks to programs like Tuna Champions and their ambassadors, anglers are increasingly using single hooks on lures to maximise the post-release survival of fish not bound for the table. Image courtesy of Scott Gray.

Commonwealth-managed fishery, and encourages debate on the subject. “It seems counter intuitive that with the population increasing the recreational take is dropping, but that’s exactly what the research shows,” Sean said. Indeed, when you break down the numbers further, the 2011 survey showed that 80% of released fish were released because the angler had reached their bag limit. Fast forward to 2019 and only 5% of trips bagged out… and of those trips that were ‘successful’ (i.e. a tuna was taken), still only 20% of boats brought in their full limit. These stats aren’t applesfor-apples, but it may show that anglers are targeting tuna in a different way than just fishing for food. “The [survey] project itself was big exercise, employing 60 people nationally throughout the duration of the work, and the response and cooperation from recreational fishers was great,” Sean said. Maybe this means that anglers are becoming true custodians of the resource, with people only taking what they need and releasing more fish, either with tags or in a responsible way that maximises survival. Sean’s final point is important. “There’s actually no

Both casting and trolling lures benefit from the single-hook treatment. Image courtesy of Scott Gray. statistically significant difference in the number of trips that Victorians made to fish for tuna,” he said. TUNA CHAMPIONS There’s a neat storywithin-a-story with this fishery. The Tuna Champions program shows that recreational anglers can, indeed, be fantastic custodians of a resource. We all know that we can do it, but maybe the education and encouragement offered by the Tuna Champions program and documents like the SBT Code of Practice all help anglers learn to respect the fish, treat them humanely and to not

waste the valuable resource. Visit tunachampions. com.au for much more information and to become enlightened about all the things to do after you hook a SBT. WHAT’S YOUR OPINION? We’re opening debate on the Fishing Monthly Magazines Facebook page on 1 August. Find the post and let us know what you think. Remember that there are no right or wrong opinions – just go into the discussion armed with the facts and let us know what you think!

AUGUST 2020

Who’s fishing in Victoria? Sitting on the Victorian Fisheries Authority website, there’s a document titled Victorian Fishing Analytics Report. Prepared for the VFA by data analysis specialists, the report examines Recreational Fishing Licence data-sets and compares them with Australian Bureau of Statistics information to reveal who’s fishing in Victoria, who’s buying licences, and insights into who they are, where they live, and other characteristics.

and holiday fishing opportunities. WHO’S BEEN FISHING? In terms of the Government’s 2014 aim of achieving one million adult fishers by 2020, the good news is the estimated 1,000,841 or 21% of Victorian adults who fished in 2017. These are extraordinary figures, considering that only 266,000 licences were sold in that year, and that just 13% of Victorians fished in 2000. The highest participation rate was among 50-69 yearolds while the lowest participating groups

been matched by the increasingly popular 3-year licences that offer convenience and economy to rusted-on fishers. Daily licence sales show a clear yearly pattern of bursts in numbers, coinciding with most holiday periods. The move from 2-day to 3-day licences for short term trips has proved very popular with first-time and occasional fishers during summer and with those who choose to focus their fishing on popular long weekends associated with Easter, Labour Day and the Queens Birthday. Since the AFL Grand Final public holiday began, the resulting long weekend

The VFA commissioned this study to: • investigate fluctuations in licence sales; • estimate participation rates in recreational fishing; • examine awareness of the Target One Million program. Scanning the 48-page report provides an idea of the wealth of information that a ‘universal’ fishing licence could provide simply, year by year. Information like this, from a licence covering all fishers, could assist the VFA to deliver better targeted programs and to work with fishing-related businesses to attract new fishers and higher levels of participation in fishing. This study shows how RFL sales data can explain occasional and short-term fishers’ responses to school holiday periods and public holidays to plan their fishing activities through the year. It suggests that there is a sizeable core of dedicated fishers who remain licensed over many years and a relatively small number who move in and out of fishing. All of this has implications for marketing licences

were 12-17 year-olds and over-70s. In a maledominated activity, 20% of fishers were women. The finding that only 34% of Victorians had been fishing during the past decade, compared to the overall yearly participation rate of 21% in 2017, suggests that there is a strong ‘core’ of dedicated, regular fishers. The number of occasional fishers is quite small. Matching where RFL-holders live with ABS data showed that they tend to be “low-to-middle income earners who can typically afford to take holidays by the Victorian coast”, but not overseas. Most (63%) live in the Greater Melbourne area, mainly in the outer suburbs, while relatively few live in the more affluent inner suburbs. The other 37% live mainly in larger regional towns, where the ratio of RFL-holders to total population is greatest, particularly in Geelong/ Bellarine Peninsula, and in the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland. SEASONAL INFLUENCES A five-year decline in 1-year licences has

has stimulated a postwinter ‘season-opening’ boost to licence sales. LICENCE HOLDER ANALYSIS Between 2013 and 2017, the number of 50-69 year olds holding licences increased, while the numbers for younger age groups fell, particularly the 18-24 year olds (down 13%). However, a phone survey showed that the appearance of an ageing fisher population did not carry through to the over-70s who showed the lowest participation across all age groups (see Fig.1). AWARENESS CHALLENGES The report showed some surprisingly low levels of awareness among fishers and the population overall. First, only 41% of licence holders were aware of the Government’s Target One Million policy program, despite the widespread promotion of its many achievements. Only 13% of Victorians were aware of the program. Second and more importantly, more than 40% of Victorians – including fishers – were

GEELONG

Ross Winstanley

AUGUST 2020

OVERVIEW • 1,000,841 Victorians fished in 2017 so ‘Target One Million’ was reached three years ago, but who knew? • 42% of Victorians were unaware of the need to hold a licence to fish. • The Government now has clear evidence showing that most of the 700,000 unlicensed fishers are young and mid-aged adults fishing illegally, not senior ‘exempt’ fishers.

unaware of the requirement to hold a licence when fishing. This is a major worry for the Government as it suggests that there is a high level of illegal recreational fishing being undertaken, unknowingly, by Victorians. For years, the VFA has suggested that the discrepancy between the numbers they believe to be fishing and the annual licence sales is explainable by increasing numbers of older fishers who are exempt from requiring licences. The 2018 report indicates that the real problem is one that requires a strong community information campaign, backed by increased enforcement targeted at everyday fishers. Putting together the annual licence sales of about 270,000, the participation estimate of more than one million, with just 6% being fishers older than 70 years, indicates that there are about 700,000 adults fishing illegally each year. How much of this is this due to plain ignorance or to deliberate flouting of the regulations? The surprisingly low level of fishers’ awareness of the need to hold a licence suggests that this is the result of serious failures in angler education and enforcement. CHANGES SINCE 2000-01 Since the National Recreational Fishing Survey of 2000-01, the number of adults fishing

As Fig.2 shows, back in 2000-01, participation rates were greatest for kids aged 5-14 years and decreased across older age groups, to be least in over-75 year olds. By 2017, most fishers were aged between 18 and 70 years (Fig.1). Recently, fewer younger teenagers are fishing, and adults older than 70 years remain the least active. The sex ratio of fishers has not changed much. Twenty years ago, 75% of all fishers above 14 years old were male; in 2017, 80% of licence-holders were male. DATA SOURCES The 2018 Victorian Fishing Analytics Report was produced by the Red Fox Group which specialises in analysing and interpreting large data sets to reveal ‘business intelligence’ and ‘hidden insights’. They interpret data into information used to measure performance, target services and predict responses to change. The report drew on three main data sets: • the RFL data base; • ABS socio-economic statistics; • phone-based surveys of licence holders and the Victorian public. In the USA, Southwick Associates have been

data sets have provided comprehensive national statistics, revealing trends over several decades. What Southwick’s reporting has proved repeatedly, and the Red Fox report illustrates, is the potential value that a comprehensive recreational fishing licence would have for Victoria. So much in the way of understanding fishers’ needs and behaviour, and improving service delivery, can be determined through the use of licence application data: age, gender, postcode, email address, licence type and date of commencement. By 2017, the proportion of Victorian licences sold online had risen to 70%; by now it is probably close to 90%. As well as providing email contact details, this is important as individual’s information immediately enter the database, errorfree, at much lower costs than the dwindling manual sales system. While the report clearly addressed the VFA’s objectives, curiously there’s been no celebration of the estimate of 1,000,841 fishers in 2017, given the Government’s target of achieving one million by 2020. Presumably, the VFA is using the

in Victoria had risen from about 400,000 to more than one million in 2017. There is no attempt to describe how such spectacular growth might have occurred when annual RFL sales had only increased by 18%. What has clearly changed over 17 years is the profile of the population of active fishers in Victoria.

delivering similar services for decades, based on state recreational fishing (and hunting) licence data. Linked with population and lifestyle data, their analyses have proved invaluable to state and federal fisheries and game management agencies, businesses and community organisations. When aggregated, the state

results strategically to improve community awareness, compliance and participation in recreational fishing. The Victorian Fishing Analytics Report can be seen at vfa.vic. g o v. a u / _ _ d a t a / a s s e t s / pdf_file/0004/468103/ Consolidated-Red-FoxReport.pdf

Bright future with net free Gippsland Lakes In April 2020, the Gippsland Lakes became net free, which means tonnes more fish for recreational fishers and their families and yet another reason for people to holiday in East Gippsland. Black bream stocks in the Gippsland Lakes have plummeted in recent years so the Victorian Fisheries Authority is developing a comprehensive recovery plan to rebuild key fish stocks for recreational fishers. A net free Gippsland Lakes is all part of the State Government’s $35 million Target One Million plan to get more people fishing, more often, in more places.

Jodie Goodman – Six Sisters & A Pigeon, Lakes Entrance “With no netting around we’ll have a lot more anglers come down, fish the lakes and spend more money in the towns.”

Frank Milito – Caltex Service Station, Lakes Entrance “We’ve always known the power of tourism and the power of good fishing to the economy of this region.” David Strange – Metung Hotel “With the removal of netting I’ve already noticed a huge impact on the area; people coming, fishing, out in boats. It was enormous.”

Anthony DiCorleto – Tackle World, Sale “It’ll definitely have an impact through all areas of business.”

Authorised by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne

VIC

Predictable feeding patterns WEST COAST

Brett Carson

At this time of the year we usually head north to escape the cold, but with things the way they are I might be featured amongst the brave fishos chasing local fish. While the winter weather might be less than perfect, the fish will still be there. Their feed periods may be slower but their location is predictable and guided by the strong pull of nature. Bream and perch are schooling as they get ready

for breeding, while at the same time the mulloway are forced into the lower reaches by the fresh water thanks to the high winter rainfall. Bream have well and truly moved away from the edges and are sitting lower in the water column as the fresh water flows above them. Soft baits work well at this time of year, with pod worms often being the best. You can also use cut pilchards or cut mullet which are nice and oily, with mullet hanging on the hook a bit better. Don’t forget the humble pipi either; it’s a natural

bait for bream when they’re in the surf, and when you cut a pipi across its black gut it will give off an irresistible scent. Lure fishos do well with vibes on both bream and perch when the fish are down deep. The 35mm Strike Pro in dark colours is especially deadly. I love fishing the brown one with a blue dot or even straight black colours. As I always say, the deeper water near the mouth on the tide can be clearer down below than you think, as the salt drives its way up the river, so try lighter coloured lures if

Jerry found the fish away from the edge.

you think this rule applies. The bream can still be found down the estuary feeding up for their long breeding swim upriver. Fishing either side of the brown water that is pushed up on the incoming tide will often produce great results, and figuring out that you need to move with the feeding fish is often the code that needs cracking. I’ve had days when the fish have been feeding around 30m behind the clear water, enjoying the protection of the brown fresh above them as the line moves up and down with the tide. Big perch will be schooled super tight now from Donovans down to the mouth, and are revved up for the spawn. They are easily found on the sounder as they huddle together, but can break your heart as you wait for the masses you know are down there to hit your lure. The mulloway have been playing the game as they do at this time of year, with 20lb fish not uncommon. I’ve heard of 30lb fish being caught very recently. This is the time of year when the big fellas are landed, and Neil Humphries landed a 69lb fish in winter not too many years ago. Sandy waterholes, the caves and even as far up as Sapling Creek have been producing good fish, just keep in mind that as the winter rains increase the fish will move lower down the system. Your sounder is a powerful tool when it comes to looking for the schools of fish to put the time into. It’s easy to get

Frank can catch fish a lot bigger than this, but it goes to show the range of fish in the system. disheartened at times, but stick to the tides and low light for some interest. Remember they will feed at some stage. Berley is important and can be the trigger that starts an otherwise slow bite. Feed little bits and be consistent, as the winter flow can take a big chum away from you and the fish with it. The steep winter beaches make for some great gutters, and with the winter salmon run comes those larger predators that are feeding on them. The heavy winter swells mean

dodging the weed a lot harder, but when things are right the potential is there. • Good luck and feel free to come and see us at Nelson Boat Hire for the latest info. We have the local ‘live bait licence’, meaning we stock live mullet, crabs and pod worms along with all the frozen bait, tackle and lures you need for the area. We’ll do our best to give you some local knowledge and get you on the fish quicker. Remember you can hire any of our boats without a boat licence, including our very popular houseboat.

Top tuna trumps the cold APOLLO BAY

Craig Rippon

We have had a good month of weather and the fishing has matched it. Salmon have been producing the best on our local beaches, with some really nice fish amongst them. There have been some good gutters close to shore, so you don’t have

to cast far to get amongst these fish. Marengo Beach and Wild Dog Beach have been the best. Some really good bags of flathead have come in of late. They’re not in deep water and seem to be spread along the coast from 30-60m of water. The best bait has been squid or fresh salmon. Whiting have been a bit slow but this normally happens this time of year.

If you live in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, you can go fishing and boating within metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire with one other person or with your household. You cannot travel outside of metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire to go boating and fishing. If you live outside of metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, existing restrictions still apply – but you cannot travel into metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire to go boating and fishing. For more information about boating and fishing restrictions go to: vfa.vic.gov.au/ recreational-fishing/COVID19. – Fisheries Victoria

AUGUST 2020

When you get them, they are normally a good size. On the outer reefs, there have been plenty of snapper around the 2-3kg. Just before the tide change has been a good time. The fish seem to be on all reefs, there have been some really good size fish seen on the cleaning table as well . Gummies are still about but you have to work a lot harder. I did see a nice feed of garfish caught off the rocks. Not very often people fish for them down here, so it was good to see they are still about. Out wide, the tuna have been plentiful; there have been school fish right along the coast. Some days are better than others, but when you find them biting they have been great. Small skirts have worked well in white and pink colours. There have been some big fish weighed

in, but also some sad stories. A happy story was from Matt Slater and his dad, Rick, who got their first barrel tuna. These boys have done a lot of hours chasing them and lost good fish, so to finally get there first was well deserved. Well done, boys! There has been some good bait turn up lately. However, it’s been a bit funny – some days they’re there the next day they’re not. Let’s hope they hang around a bit longer. The weather is getting cold but on the up side, the fishing is still good down here. We are getting a new service station at the moment, so make sure you fuel up before you come. It will be open again at the end of August. Keep coming down while the fishing is good, our small town needs the support of all us fishos.

Matt and Rick Slater with a beautiful 100kg+ bluefin tuna.

VIC

Great captures out wide WARRNAMBOOL

Mark Gercovich mgercovich@hotmail.com

The winter months in the southwest can be feast or famine, depending on how the weather gods treat us. Recently however there have been enough calm

The offshore bottombouncing anglers in particular have been taking advantage of some favourable conditions and pushing wide to experience some excellent catches. Fishing in depths from 70-120m (which is a serious journey off our coastline) there has been a tremendous

amazing eating fish are definitely not a common capture locally, but with more and more anglers prospecting these deep waters you never know what’s going to turn up. A perfect case in point was the amazing 19kg samsonfish taken by young JP Oosthuizen. Fishing with his dad, Jan and Sam Powell, I’m sure they thought that they wouldn’t be able to top the big trumpeter that Jan caught that day, but there you go. There has been the odd samsonfish encountered over in Portland region, and with a bit more regularity over the boarder at Point

There have been plenty of small school tuna around in the 50m region.

JP Oosthuizen with an awesome samsonfish. stretches of weather to lead to some very good captures. We can only hope that August, usually one of the coldest and wettest months, gives us a chance to experience some of the great fishing that has been on tap recently.

variety of species on offer. Some excellent school and gummy shark pushing the 20kg mark have been the most common target but there have also been a handful of Tassie trumpeter taken as well. These hard fighting, good looking,

Some quality trumpeter have been taken well offshore, like this cracker taken by Jan Oosthuizen.

Mac, but this is the first one taken locally as far as I know. Fishing these depths at this time of year does require a good knowledge of weather conditions, as well as a good mark or two, as it’s a big ocean out there. Anglers are still catching school tuna but the average size is well down, with most fish in the 6-10kg range. August is when we should see the last of the tuna but hey, it’s only a couple of months till the summer run! With the run of northerlies some good salmon have been taken off the beaches, with Yambuk and East Beach being the pick of the locations recently. On the estuary scene the Hopkins has been fairly quiet recently, definitely overshadowed by a good consistent run of bream to the east in the Curdles

River. Mulloway captures have also been scarce. Many anglers have been fishing the freshwater reaches instead with some good estuary perch and the odd trout being encountered below the falls, whilst most trout are coming from the reaches above the falls. At the moment those prepared to do a bit of walking are getting the best captures. Minnow-style hardbodies are doing most of the damage, with the Duo Realis 80SP being a popular producer recently. The Merri is also producing some good fish for those willing to persist, despite the heavy fishing pressure. The upside of cold weather and solid rain occurring in August will be that it will get the trout moving around to new areas, replenishing some of the more heavily-fished areas.

Take care to avoid the dreaded lake weed COBDEN

Rod Shepherd

There are some good bream and estuary perch to be had in the Curdies estuary. Many bream are feeding out in the lake but excessive weed can be a problem when motoring around in a boat. It’s mostly thin ribbon weed but this can easily build up around the propeller and retard power to the prop. Unweighted fresh baits such as shrimp that sit on or within the weed are getting the most takes. Weighted baits sink to the bottom and are often hidden from the fish. Otherwise in the river the bream are hanging deep but still close to the bank. Getting down to depths over 3m is the go for the river dwellers. There are plenty of perch in the lower reaches

of the river but enticing them to bite is another thing. If you are in the

know and use lures and soft plastics, fishing on the surface is the go. In

the hardbody department, poppers are a must. Soft plastics should be bright,

Lures normally used for golden perch are taking bream down deep in the Curdies in depths beyond 3m.

ugly and make a real splash when worked across and disturbing the water’s surface tension. Otherwise it’s a by-catch if you land one, but as there are plenty in the system, just change tactics to suit the perch and sooner or later you will come up trumps. Perch love to school, more so than bream, so where there’s one there should be others. Plenty of schooling perch are being caught but many are averaging around 20cm. Please release these fish carefully so they can be caught again, and wait for a bigger model to take your offering. Keep them stirred up if they are on the bite by casting. A bigger specimen should turn up eventually. Bream are also in the lower reaches of the river, and jigging metal vibration lures along the bottom just a metre or so out from the bank has worked well for some. Lure crab imitations

worked extremely slow along the bottom have also worked. For bait anglers, the best baits are live shrimp and greyback minnows. If you can’t get those then worm, frozen shrimp and frozen packet river whitebait have caught a few on a given day. The offshore scene is in full swing once again, especially since accommodation options are now available. Down my way it’s not uncommon to see a plethora of large, offshore trailer boats heading west on highway one for Warrnambool, Port Fairy and of course the port of Portland. The target is southern bluefin tuna, which is considered the holy grail by many in the Victorian fishing community. To land a ‘barrel’ fish (over 80kg) is the nirvana for southern sportfishers. AUGUST 2020

VIC

Getting your fix in the cold GEELONG

Neil Slater slaterfish@gmail.com

It’s been as cold as the other side of the pillow in the region but the fishing seems pretty darn good. We’ve had some rain but the Barwon River in Geelong has stayed clean enough to use lures. A few small redfin have been caught on bright colours

wind days or lures at first and last light will give you the best chance of catching a decent trout. Make sure you take a few lures and flick them about while your mud-eye is out there too. To cover a bit of water, pick something easy to cast like a Tassie Devil or Lofty’s Cobra so you can get a bit of distance with your cast. Garfish have been busy inside Corio Bay and

Jase from Team Born2Fish landed this cracking mako by himself in Bass Strait. but nothing massive. Wurdee Buloc near Moriac and Stony Creek reservoir near Ballan are the places to get your trout fix this August. A mud-eye under a float during light

around the Bellarine. They can be coaxed close to you by the use of chook pellets mixed with tuna oil, and will take just about any bait fished under a float. Large schools of

AUGUST 2020

yellow-eyed mullet can often be seen cruising about Geelong’s waterfront. They can be caught with lightly weighted or unweighted bread squashed over the hook to form a dough ball, or raw chicken or pipis. Corio Bay has been fishing well with snotty trevally, snapper, whiting and flathead biting. Snotty trevally have been caught by anglers using unweighted pipis and worm-style soft plastics fished around the piers along the waterfront. Michael Crawford has been fishing the waterfront with plastics and catching a few flathead after dark. Michael also had a tussle with a solid butterfish that he estimated to be near on 2kg! Michael says he has had a lot of success using Munroe’s Curltail Worm in motor oil colour along the Geelong waterfront. Michael has also picked up a couple of squid at St Leonard’s lately but says they’re very hard work at the moment. He notes that smaller jigs are definitely working better than large 3.5 sized jigs. There has been an unusually high number of snapper and whiting biting inside Corio Bay this winter. The whiting have not been large but they are in good numbers. The Geelong waterfront has been alive with baitstealing undersized pinkies but there are enough fish around the 50cm mark to get everyone excited. The snapper seem to be hiding in and around the piers, with dawn and dusk by far the best time to target them. Past records show that some large fish either side of 7kg are caught by keen anglers prepared to fish into the night in Corio Bay over winter. These larger winter fish are often caught near Corio Quay and Western Beach on baits such as pilchards. Whiting have been thick in 6m of water off Leopold. These are by no means large fish, with a few undersized ones amongst them, but they make up for the size in numbers, with many anglers bagging out. I’ve had a few goes at them and the largest we’ve caught has been around 36cm, while other anglers have said some larger fish have been caught after dark. Whiting have also been going quite well at St Leonards. The average size here is a bit better than Leopold but they are a little harder to locate in consistent numbers. Pipis, mussels and squid have all caught fish. St Leonards Pier has been well worth a look

for calamari, which have been jumping on a few jigs around dusk. Anglers have also been picking up the odd whiting to 35cm. Luke Freeman fished Point Lonsdale Pier to target some salmon last month. Luke caught a few small salmon using Black Magic flasher jigs and paternoster rigs baited with fresh garfish fillets. Just before high tide, Luke managed to hook into a gummy shark which put up a heck of a fight, forcing Luke to get wet on the ladder to subdue the 94cm beast. Luke caught his gummy on a garfish fillet on a paternoster rig. The Barwon River estuary has seen a few mulloway to 10kg caught by anglers fishing upstream from the Barwon Heads ramp after dark. These fish can be very hard to catch which makes fresh bait like squid paramount. Picking tides with less flow will improve your chances. The lower reaches of the estuary has seen some silver trevally and whiting caught using pipis on slack water. They will bite into the tidal movement but weed becomes a bit of a problem once the tide picks up.

Not a bad pier capture by Luke! Gummy sharks have been caught in Bass Strait and along the Surf Coast by anglers drifting in depths of 20-50m. Top baits have included wrasse, squid and salmon fillets.

in winter. Jimmy Yang found a few salmon to 50cm on Fairhaven Beach on a rising tide between 4-5:30pm. Jimmy was using pilchards for bait and light metal lures.

Michael managed to tempt a fussy butterfish using a Munroe’s Curltail Worm. Southern bluefin tuna have shown up inside Port Phillip Bay so keep an eye out for any birds working in the region over August. SBTs have been caught outside in Bass Strait but mostly fish to 15kg and further west from Cape Patton on the Great Ocean Road. They were caught in good numbers off Aireys Inlet in January so there is no reason not to be fishing for them closer to the Rip and Ocean Grove to Torquay.

You don’t see too many game sharks around at this time of year but Jason from Born2Fish headed out solo last month to the 27m line in Bass Strait in search of a gummy. A large mako shark showed up around first light and took a whole striped tuna off the surface. It took 1.5 hours for Jason to land the big fish, which eventually weighed in at 109kg. Australian salmon are always a popular target on the surf beaches

FISH HARD – DIE HAPPY! Catch a few around Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula or Surf Coast to Lorne recently? Send in a report to slaterfish@ gmail.com with ‘VFM’ in the subject field, or give me a call on 0408 997 348. Please include where (without giving away your secret spot!), when, what on and who caught the fish. Pictures are always great, but please make sure they are at least 1MB (file size).

VIC

Cold days and colder nights PORT PHILLIP BAY WEST

Alan Bonnici alan@fishingmad.com.au

August can be a challenging time of the year for fishing, with bitterly cold days are followed by even colder nights and early mornings. This is the time of year when many anglers keep their boats and kayaks tucked away in the garage, avoiding the zero-degree mornings in favour of a warm sleep in. And then there are the

more and more. Earlier this year I upgraded my very basic sounder to a Lowrance Elite ti2; it isn’t a high-end sounder but it’s making a huge difference. It has taken some time to get familiar with its basic functionality and settings but has become fundamental to finding fish. In winter, randomly picking a spot and keeping your fingers crossed has been replaced with patiently watching the sounder, taking the extra time to then confidently anchor upon schools of fish.

You can’t overstate the importance of a sounder in winter. crazy anglers like me who go out fishing no matter what mother nature throws at us. During this time of year, I like to focus on the positives. The boat ramps are very quiet, meaning you can launch without the queues and chaos. Also, fish can be found in big numbers, providing you’re willing to put in the hours to find them. In August there are a few key ingredients for success: warm clothes, a good sounder and a positive attitude. I have had countless bag-out sessions over the past month, finding pinkies, snapper, flathead and squid in good numbers all around the bay. Packing some extra fuel and being prepared to move around to find the bite is important. I have been moving from Werribee, Altona, Williamstown and Geelong and venturing to the other side of the bay towards Sandringham and Blackrock. I am starting to value the importance of a good sounder

I’m still learning when to switch between traditional 2D scanning, down scan and side scan, but I’m starting to value the advantages in all three technologies in different scenarios. Experimenting on the water has been key to becoming more familiar and more successful. Do not worry if you are

not a boat owner as there has been good fishing for landbased anglers too. The same keys to success apply during this time of year – longer hours, warm clothes and a positive attitude. There have been many good fish caught along the Wyndham Harbour rock wall. I have received several reports of mulloway – an elusive and prized fish – being caught on soft plastics. Larger 4” and 5” curl tails and paddle tails in natural-looking colours have been the standout choices. A good friend of mine was devastated to lose a big Mulloway only metres away after a long battle when the last run shredded the line along the rocks. With that in mind, it’s good if you can fish with a friend who can assist you in landing the fish as it can be quite the challenging and devastating to lose a great fish after putting in the hours. This is also a good time of year to target bream along the Maribyrnong River. This is the time of year that you catch quality rather than quantity. Picking a spot and fishing with bait works great. Lightly weighted scrub worms, maggots and yabbies are top bait choices, especially if you berley an isolated area and fish the tide changes when bream often fire up. It’s also a very productive time for those flicking soft plastics in open water or Cranka Crabs or other crab and yabby imitations along the structure. It’s even better if you have access to a kayak and can find a decent

and I have found PowerBait to out-fish other baits, soft plastics, spinners and lures, with bright PowerBait nuggets and floating salmon eggs being outstanding performers. I have had a few sessions catching trout after trout, which has kept the kids and us old blokes very entertained. I have also enjoyed walking locally around the Werribee River flicking shallow diving hardbody lures for estuary perch. As the water temperatures dropped, the EPs sure have been hard to find and convince out of the structure. I remember several months ago when the evenings were warm and balmy, and it was an exciting time for fishing. The perch and bass were constantly surfacing, and your lures were smashed on the surface regularly and very aggressively. Now it’s a hard slog with very timid takes. This time of year requires extra patience and hours to land a few estuary perch and

Pinkie snapper can still be caught in winter. bass. I have managed to land a few using the Savage Gear Fathead Crank but it sure hasn’t been easy. Until next time, good fishing everyone. If you would like to share your fishing experiences around Melbourne that can be added to next month’s article, please reach out to me. These need to be around Melbourne and Port Phillip Bay – anything from Werribee through to

Port Melbourne and lakes around Melbourne. You can contact me by email at alan@fishingmad.com.au. Also don’t forget to follow my fishing adventures on my website at www. fishingmad.com.au, YouTube channel www.youtube. com/c/fishingmad, Facebook page www.facebook.com/ fishingmad.com.au, and Instagram www.instagram. com/fishingmad.com.au.

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Rob Wortho with a pair of pinkies.

A Werribee River estuary perch caught on a hardbody lure.

launching location (which isn’t always the easiest for those with trailers along the Nong). Then you just slowly move up and down the waterway, flicking along the edges and any structure in sight. So much fun if you’re using ultra-light spinning gear. Despite many of the challenges we have faced in 2020, Victorian Fisheries continue to do a great job stocking trout and estuary perch in many of our lakes and rivers. I have spent some time with my kids and a few good mates targeting these stocked rainbow trout. Hatchery trout are used to eating trout pellets

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Reliable bread-and-butter fish PORT PHILLIP NE

Wayne Friebe wfriebe@bigpond.net.au

The cold, wet and windy winter weather has continued for the past month on the bay, and unlike the same time last year, we have had long periods of

put and try their hand on their local areas. If you’re one of the dedicated ones that stick around the bay over winter, there are plenty of fishing options available. The annual spawning migration of snapper into the bay is only a month or two away from starting in earnest, and already many

to put in the hours. Bite windows are normally short lived during the colder months of the year, but the quality of the snapper at times can more than make up the difference. Smaller pinkie snapper and school-sized fish have once again been reported by those anglers fishing the inshore areas and reefs, both at anchor with baits, and fishing lures from a drifting boat. Using both methods can be frantic at times, and you must be prepared to endure some undersized fish. They can be very annoying at times, but it’s worth taking the time to return these juveniles back to the water unharmed. And the great table and sports fishing qualities in the 35-45cm

seems to be full to the brim of all sorts of bait and other food sources, and many anglers are reporting that the squid have been hard to find in numbers at times. Periods of rain and wind tend to concentrate the calamari in areas of cleaner and calmer water, so keep an eye out for more protected areas during these times. A few bigger models have been turning up in the more southern areas, but normally around the change of light. Expect the squid fishing to get more consistent as the water warms up, and there is more competition for food. By far the best feature over the last month in the bay has been the very reliable and productive ‘bread and butter’

In Port Phillip, anglers of all ages and levels have been enjoying the best run of garfish we’ve had in years. Image courtesy of Brendan at IFISH.

Plenty of salmon have been about, and with lots of berley and bait in the water, they will hang around for some time. substantial rainfall and extended periods of strong winds. There have been some nicer days thrown in as well, but crisp morning frosts on some of the calmer days have also made early starts a bit of challenge. Many of us Victorian anglers like to think of all kinds of excuses not to go fishing on the bay over winter, and are also looking for other fishing options further afield. But with recent COVID-19 restrictions, many local anglers have chosen to stay

very reliable along the inshore areas, no doubt a result of plenty of activity, and bait and berley as well. The presence of dolphins and birds is normally a sign that salmon are around, so it pays to keep a lure rod handy while you’re fishing for gars or on your way out to the wider marks. Lastly, lure fishers have been doing very well from kayaks and boats throughout the Patterson Lakes canal system, mostly on soft plastics

snapper die-hards are talking about getting ready for the upcoming season. For the past few seasons, many experts have been predicting that the upcoming season will be the best and most prolific we have experienced in a long time. Consequently, many of the bay’s snapper die-hards are already digging in and getting everything ready. For anglers keen to try their luck at a few reds during the late winter months, there are always plenty of resident reds in PPB if you’re willing

Isabella shows off a nice feed of garfish. Image courtesy of Brendan at IFISH.

pinkies are well worth the extra effort. Squid fishing, both landbased and from the boat, has been very inconsistent over the last month, both locally and further south, after a slower start than normal earlier in the year. The bay

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AUGUST 2020

fished slowly on the bottom, especially as the water has been very dirty for some time now. Lure fishers have also been cashing in on some great estuary perch action at night as well in the canals. Bait fishers have been doing very nicely in the main river system with baits of scrub worms, yabbies and others. I’ve also heard of a few big mulloway being taken lately as well by anglers fishing live baits at night.

fishing, especially from the local piers and jetties, and within the rivers and estuaries as well. Big numbers of garfish are being taken by both boat-based and landbased anglers in our local areas. Mornington Pier and the harbour surrounds have been a real hot spot, as well as the shallow reefs and calmer bays around Sunnyside, Canadian Bay and Red Bluff for the boating anglers. Everyone has got their favourite gar bait, but I reckon you can’t go past some quality silverfish, maggots or small pieces of peeled prawn tail. Berley is an absolute must, as well as the use of good quality chemically-sharpened hooks. Gars will also readily take small soft plastics and flies when they are tuned into the berley trail, so if you want to try something different give them a go. The general rule of thumb is to adjust your baits deeper during the brighter days, and closer to the surface on the dull days. Salmon have also been

Sam Friebe, 10yo, caught his first bream on a lure at Bemm River during the school holidays. It took a Squidgies Bio Tough 100mm Wriggler in pumpkinseed.

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Great garfish and gummies PPB OFFSHORE

Gerry Morsman

With no local sports to stop families from fishing, a lot of people have discovered what our local waters have to offer throughout the colder months. With species from garfish to tuna we still have it all here, so don’t put the boats away yet as you will be sure to find a good feed. One of the best things

broken ground and watch for your float being pulled under water by a squid. A more popular way to target them is to cast squid jigs around. I find this much more entertaining and I believe it gives you a better chance as you are covering much more ground. The bigger models are down south and all reports suggest that you can’t go past Portsea and Sorrento. You want to fish clear water and should be able to see the reef on

you should need is a bag of pilchards as that will be enough to catch the bait you need to successfully catch gummy sharks. Fishing over the reef you have found will have all the bait you need. If you tie up a paternoster rig using small pieces of pilchard as bait you should see yourself catching small reef fish like Barbers perch and parrotfish in no time. These are the perfect offshore baits for gummy sharks.

nose so if there is one in the area there is a good chance that it will find your bait. GARFISH Never have I seen so many reports of garfish here in Melbourne! From the City all the way down to Rosebud people are finding huge schools of garfish. Some key areas would have to be Frankston, Seaford, Mount Eliza and Mornington. One of the best things about chasing garfish is that you do not always need a boat as these fish will come within meters of the shoreline to feed so you can actually target them off the beach. The piers at Mornington and Frankston are also holding very good numbers. The best baits have been silverfish and maggots under a float. You might find they are feeding at different depths which is fine because you can adjust your rig to suit. Berley is the key to gar fishing so make sure

Gawaine Blake showing just how good our squid fishery is down the southern end of the bay. Gawaine reports the best jig on the day was a Majorcraft Egizo in the green with a gold belly.

Chris Cassar showing off a nice southern bluefin tuna while on the troll off Flinders. about fishing throughout winter down here in Melbourne is that you will find plenty more windows to get out, as you tend to get much more calm weather. Yes it gets cold, but it’s nothing a warm jacket and a set of hand warmers can’t fix. SQUID (SOUTHERN CALAMARI) If you are after a sure feed during winter then you can’t go past chasing a few squid. Aside from the fact they beautiful to eat they are also great fun to catch and target. There are two very popular ways to target squid and one of those is to catch them on a baited jig. Go to your local tackle shop and get yourself a squid spike, silver whiting and a float and the staff will be sure help you set up the rig. Once your rig is set up you simply cast it out over reef or

the bottom, and you want to be fishing in around 5m of water. These areas are quite tidal so be sure to fish around the slack tide to give yourself a much better chance. If you want the smaller squid then your best bet is to fish around Mt Martha and McCrae. Using 2.5 sized jigs is the key in depths of around 3-5m. Some people prefer the smaller squid to eat as they are much more tender. GUMMY SHARK This is the time of the year when most keen gummy shark anglers get excited. There are generally not as many boats on the water and the quality of the sharks, especially offshore, are consistently bigger. Heading out off Barwon Heads in around 45m of water over reef and anchoring up is the way to go at the moment. All

AUGUST 2020

If you don’t want to head offshore then don’t stress because there are still plenty of big gummy sharks being caught in the South channel all the way from Portsea to Rye. Fishing the edges of the channel using a nice fresh bait will put you in the strike zone. Gummy sharks move up and down the channel edges with the tide looking for food and they have an incredible

Mark Keaveny has been getting amongst the garfish around Mount Eliza lately. Mark reports huge schools around his boat within minutes of putting the berley out.

Aaron Habgood showing just how big the gummy sharks can get when fishing offshore.

you have plenty with you. It is what will bring them to you and it is what will keep them there. You can use mashed up pilchards in a berley bucket but make sure you keep the bucket up high and not on the bottom. You want the berley to fall slowly through the water column. There are all sorts of berley mixes that you can get from your local tackle shop so go in and check it out. Another very important thing is the hook you are using. These fish are small and have quite a hard beak so having an extra small light gauge hook that stays sharp will be the difference between a good and a slow day. SOUTHERN BLUEFIN TUNA There are still paddocks of tuna going all the way from Flinders through to Barwon Heads. Be sure to pick your days and carry plenty of fuel as it isn’t a short trip to get offshore, and then you will most likely be spending a lot of time finding the school. When you have found the school be sure not to just drive straight through the middle of a bust-up as this will just push the fish down and you will ruin it for yourself and everybody else! Push wide of the bust-up and drag only your lures through the feeding school. Another way is to throw little stickbaits which imitate a bait fish. Most people do this on lighter spin gear and can be very effective when the fish have gone deep as you can sink them down and bring them back through the school.

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Gummy shark central in the port WESTERN PORT STH

Jarrod Day jarrodday@iprimus.com.au

Can winter fishing get any better? We’ve certainly been dealt a fair hand with the fishing

and the weather, with frosty mornings and flat seas. You know how it is though, that can all change overnight. The fishing itself inside the Port has been nothing short of amazing, with anglers catching

garfish, calamari, whiting and some impressive gummy sharks. The garfish scene has been the talk of the Port because we are experiencing probably the best season we have seen in 10 years. There

Drifting in 20-30m of water in Bass Strait is a good depth to encounter sizeable gummies. Image courtesy of Justin Blythe. are some good size fish in the mix, but sizes have varied greatly and you will have to sift through the

Stony Point, Tankerton, Coronet Bay, Dickies Bay, Balnarring and Flinders. For the land-based angler, Stony Point Pier, Cowes Pier and Flinders Piers have also seen anglers getting into them on the top of the high tides. Whiting are still plentiful throughout the Port although you do have to put in the effort to find them. When you do, you can certainly get a solid feed with some surprisingly chunky whiting. I have read a few good reports on various Western Port social media pages with reports coming from Tankerton, Middle Spit, Balnarring and Stony Point. The winter fishing for whiting has been exceptional this year, and it should really ramp up a lot more in the coming weeks. Calamari have also been in good numbers and they have been of exceptional size too. Gawaine Blake from Salt Guide headed out for a squid session and came up trumps with a monster 4.4kg beast. Most of the weedy banks are harbouring

Working the weedy edges throughout the port is where you’ll find plenty of calamari. Image courtesy of Justin Blythe.

Garfish have been widespread, and land-based anglers have been doing exceptionally well from the piers.

You know the fishing is good when you can hold up two solid gummies. Image courtesy of Justin Blythe.

AUGUST 2020

smaller fish if you’re fussy about size. Catching them is relatively easy – a simple float set-up with size #10 or #12 hook. While silverfish is a top bait, small slivers of pilchard fillet or small pieces of pipi also work. Berley is essential if you want garfish to gather in numbers around your boat or the pier you’re fishing from. Keep it really fine, with particles similar to that of breadcrumbs mixed with tuna oil. With the garfish widespread throughout the Port, the most productive areas have been the Quail Bank, Tyabb Bank,

quality calamari of late, with artificial squid jigs in a red foil colour working the best. Justin Blythe has also been into them, catching better than average models from Stony Point, Hastings and the Middle Spit. Land-based calamari fishing continues to be very popular, especially from the Flinders Pier where some really good models have been caught. This pier can become extremely busy at times but concentrating on a high tide at night should increase your chances. Don’t forget to toss out a silver whiting on a baited squid jig. You’ll be surprised at how squid can shy from a jig but attack a

Fishing the Western Entrance has been very productive for gummy shark. Image courtesy of Justin Blythe.

To page 91

VIC

Experimenting will pay off PHILLIP ISLAND

Craig Edmonds

We have come through one of the best winters that I can remember in the shop. I’m not sure if it’s because of the restrictions, the quality weather or that people are out of work looking for something to do, but there have been more people out and about this winter than any other. Maybe it’s just that people have finally realised there are plenty of opportunities to go fishing or other activities around the island over winter. There is an overload of information around for anglers now, and much of it contradicts each other. A question we get asked almost every day in the shop is, “When is the best time to go fishing?” Our answer is always the same: “The best time to go fishing is when you have the time to go fishing.” Fish for the enjoyment of just being out on the water and go without expectation, and you will have a much more enjoyable day. Fishing is something the whole family can do together out in the fresh air and it’s better for the health From page 90

bait, or vice versa. The big talk in the Port though has been the amount of solid gummies that have been caught. Winter gummies are something I know all too well and of late, the fishing has been very good. Justin Blythe has been heading out with his mates and doing well on each trip. The Western Entrance has been the pick of locations but as you know, gummies are available right throughout the Port. In saying that, a few

of all than sitting in front of the TV or computer all weekend. You don’t have to have expensive gear, either. Those anglers who have been prepared to try different things have been the most successful. From the reports of the last few months, the successful customers haven’t stuck with one colour squid jig – they try different colours regardless of how bright or dull the day is. And these guys know that just because there was caught whiting in a spot yesterday, it won’t guarantee they are there today. True, you can certainly start there, but don’t spend eight hours in the one spot catching nothing. If you’re heading offshore for flathead, make short drifts and work an area, mark fish when you get onto them, and go back over the spot at least once to see whether the fish are staying in the same spot. And make sure your baits are on the bottom – one of the biggest mistakes people make offshore is not having enough weight. Try a variety of baits on whatever species you are chasing. Whiting reports have been reasonable for this time of year, but it hasn’t been easy, and no one

is getting big numbers. However, the quality of these fish makes them well worth the effort needed. Typically, they are a bit harder to find and you need to think outside the box a bit, but they are there. The best area has been from the top end of Dickies Bay all the way to the land side of Leolia Shoal. You need to decide where you are going to start, and then work that area, moving after half an hour or so if nothing is happening (or the toadies or leatherjackets show up). The whiting have been around the mid-30s in length, with the occasional fish reaching almost 40cm. Customers have told us they are finding the whiting at Maggi Shoal one day then the next they will be at Leolia Shoal or Reef Island, so you need to work around a bit until you find them. Pipis are a consistent bait, but pilchards and squid are also working, and we have one customer that now only uses small pieces of tuna. Other areas we have had a few reports from are around Tortoise Head and in Cleeland Bight. Anglers fishing these areas say the whiting are either there or not and, unlike the top

reports have also come from the North Arm off Lysaghts and in the deep out from Stony Point. Oily baits are preferred but you can get good results on fresh calamari rings too. The surf fishing scene has also been quite good this winter but the size of the fish hasn’t really been up there. Cape Woolamai and Anzacs beaches have been the most productive, with salmon ranging from 500g to 1kg in large numbers. Fishing two hours either side of the high tide has been the prime time.

Anglers’ minds are already beginning to turn to snapper, and next month some anglers will begin the hunt for that early season model. Don’t get too excited though, as September can still be a challenge to catch them. For now, I recommend prepping your gear for the season. Check your rod guides for any damage and repair if necessary. Check your fishing line on the reel and replace if necessary, and pre-tie some rigs so as soon as you hear the snapper are on, you can just go.

end, moving around won’t necessarily mean you will find them. Many anglers are out bait collecting getting ready for the upcoming snapper season, with calamari, couta and salmon on the list. Those looking for bait have also come across a bonus in the form of some good size yakkas and even the odd slimy. Many who have been chasing calamari headed out in the boat when possible, with some also dragging the kayak down to the water in Cleeland Bight for a quick fish after work. Others are fishing San Remo jetty, Cowes Jetty and the beaches at Ventnor and in Cleeland Bight. The calamari have been a little inconsistent this winter, so you need to try different things to be successful. It hasn’t always been the traditional times or tides either. Although the calamari haven’t been in big numbers, the quality has been good. We have seen some of the biggest calamari caught off the beach in Cleeland Bight, with several hoods around 60cm, dragging the scales down close to 4kg. While normally baited jigs account for most of the catches in winter, this year several customers are telling us they are actually catching more on artificial squid jigs, even off the beach when used under a float. A trick one customer is using off the beach is an artificial jig under a float but adding a couple of ball sinkers on the line to get the jig down a bit further, as it would with a silver whiting on a baited jig. Offshore, many customers are fishing in the deep for the first time in winter. Flathead have been all over the place and in smaller groups, so it has taken a little bit of ground to cover to find

With the perfect winter conditions we’ve had, Duncan decided to head offshore in search of a gummy. While he didn’t manage a gummy, this quality winter snapper showed up and made the trip worth it. them in the east. In the west, in front of the Woolamai club house in 25-40m of water, the fishing has been consistent, and the size a bit better also. Many anglers are heading out for a fish and finishing up whale watching most days, as the gentle giants make their way north. Gummies are a bit slow around the windmills but there have still been several 10kg+ fish taken, and a couple of quality snapper from the reef near the Powlett. Bluefin have also been there but unlike

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in summer, catching them has been difficult. Many customers have told us they followed them from shallow to deep and back again, and could not get them interested in anything. Other anglers told us they hardly got outside the heads and bagged out. The size has been much smaller than summer as well, with the average being closer to 15kg. Regardless, it has created a whole new fishery over the last few years and is a sign of just how healthy our waterways are.

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Bream it on this winter! LAKES ENTRANCE

Steven Pryke

Over recent months our regular lives have been flipped upside down with the spread of COVID-19. Lucky enough, the East Gippsland region has been somewhat spared with very few cases in the region. This winter has kicked out some stunning days but extremely cold mornings. Ice is a common sight in the mornings and has slowed up a few of the lesser keen anglers. The local wharfs have begun to show some form with the Post Office Wharf and Ferryman’s Wharf producing

yellow eye mullet and silver trevally. These cooler months are typically when we see massive schools of yellow eye mullet making their way around the many wharfs, bridges and up the rivers, such as the Mitchell, Tambo and Nicholson. Many local anglers have made the most of these wide spread mullet and good numbers have been caught on multiple techniques. Small grubs and worm patterns have been deadly when fished high in the water column. Many bait anglers have great success either fishing non-weighted or under a pencil float with shrimp, worm or small pieces of pilchard.

Silver trevally haven’t usually been far from these schools and will commonly smack a lure or bait that drifts a little bit deeper. Heading up the lakes, the many weed beds continue to produce decent numbers of King George whiting, especially around Rigby and Fraser islands. The traditional bait fishing tactics have been the best bet with fresh bait always being a major key to success. These areas can be covered in Australian salmon, making for some great light tackle fun. Commonly in the early hours, small schools of salmon will be seen smashing bait fish off the surface – something that gets any get

angler tempted to have cast. Small top water poppers and walk the dog style lures, such as the Atomic K9 Bull, have been great options for casting at these aggressive predators. As the sun rises further in the sky, these salmon schools usually have dropped off so fishing deeper with minnow style soft plastic or baits, such whitebait or small squid strips, have been great options. LAKE TYERS The lake has made its way into its winter patterns with some of the deeper margins producing bream, along with flathead and silver trevally. The deeper main lake

Even in the cooler months, large duskies are still on the move, especially in the higher reaches around shallow mud flats. margins, in areas such as the Glasshouse and marker buoys, have massive weed beds and make for a great area to target multiple species. Small blades worked along the edge of the weed bed have produced quality bream. Trial and error has been critical to working out the edge of the

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Lures, such as the Cranka Crab, are a great option for bream when they are grubbing hard on the flats.

weed bed and where the fish are sitting. Further upstream the mud flats scattered up the Nowa Nowa Arm have been one of the best options for bream. As the lake water level is down compared to usual, navigating the upper reaches can be a bit hard so it pays to take your time. These shallow mud flats have been full of life with good numbers of big bluelip bream grubbing around in the mud in the search of shell and sandworm. A small blade ripped across the flat has personally been the best approach and has produced many highly successful trips. Bait anglers have great success with non weighted baits across these shallow flats. Baits such as crab and peeled prawn have been great options, especially as the crab always produces those bigger bites.

Fishing has slowed MARLO

Jim McClymont mcclymont@net-tech.com.au

With the winter months here, the fishing has slowed down. Fewer anglers are out and about and not as many reports are coming in on their results. However, one lucky local angler has managed to bag one of the tagged bream giving him a $2,000 bonus for his effort. A local angler, Dean, was fishing the in the Brodribb River. The fishing was a little slow, with large numbers of bream only 6” long, but he did manage a

bream over 5lb for his efforts. The next fish on the line didn’t seem very big until he landed the 33cm bream and noticed a tag. Immediately it became the best bream he had ever caught! Most anglers have reported the fishing slow with a few bream being caught on frozen prawn, with all anglers having to work for their catch. Luderick have also gone off the bite with only a few being taken on the rock groins. The good news is the mullet are in decent numbers, and are being taken on sandworm throughout the whole estuary. The surf beach as usual is fishing great, with many

reports of anglers catching big bags of salmon and tailor using light gear and spinning with metal lures. Not to be outdone, the bait fishers are also getting plenty of salmon and tailor with a few gummy shark to go with their catch. Offshore the fishing has changed with the cold water back again. The pelagic fish have gone to warmer waters, leaving anglers to go back to catching the local species. There are reports coming in of good captures of flathead, gurnard, barracouta, squid, salmon, pinkie snapper, octopus and gummy shark.

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East Coast

Enjoy winter weather MALLACOOTA/EDEN

Kevin Gleed captainkev@wildernessfishingtours.com

The past month has seen the far south coast and Gippsland coast really fire up with plenty of visitors to the area, and the fishing both offshore and in the estuaries hasn’t let them down. It’s great to see the visitors back again after missing out on their Christmas break due to the bushfires, and the recent school holiday break has been much needed for all the little towns in the region. Despite the cold temperatures it has been great winter weather with little rain and cloudless skies. The

up to get a bit of head behind it so it can flush the sand out to sea. If not it will just drag more sand to the entrance area, adding to an already clogged entrance due to many premature openings. The prawns in the main lake are big. At present the water is too cold for them to be on the move, but if they survive the cold winter then next summer the prawning will be excellent. Fishing from the local beaches has been good with plenty of salmon being caught. The best option has been to fish the rising tide on any of the likelylooking gutters. Some good fishing has been had down at Secret Beach with those

Tailor are likely to be caught anywhere in the system, and there are some big fish amongst them. Betka River has been open to the ocean, flushing itself out and leaving a good channel with the tide now moving in and out. Unfortunately there was a fish kill prior to it opening, no doubt due to low oxygen levels as there were a number of species found dead. The main lake at Mallacoota is still closed with the water level still rising. Hopefully it gets to really fill

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anglers fishing into the night catching some good gummy shark. The boats heading offshore have had no problem heading out with the sand in the harbour being dragged out over the past month, which is great news for the visiting anglers intent on heading offshore. Boats heading out have reported some great fishing, with sand flathead being caught along with some good tiger flathead coming from out wider. Some good catches of big yellowfin tuna have also been reported, and surprisingly these fish weren’t too far out to sea. Reports of some big southern bluefin tuna along the coast could really give offshore anglers something to be excited about over the coming month. The fishing in the lake has been good, with good catches of tailor and silver trevally from the Bottom Lake along with some yellowfin bream. At this time of year you can expect some good fishing for black bream too. The fish have been anywhere from the Top Lake and upstream towards Gypsy Point. Bait fishing using fresh local prawn has worked, with a variety of soft plastics also getting lure fishers amongst the fish. Flathead are about but with the water temperature so cold it really pays to move the lure really slow and fish thoroughly if you want to catch a feed.

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In winter, the bream fishing fires up in all the Gippsland estuaries. Mario Vukic caught this cracker on a lure.

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East Coast

LIGHT, POWERFUL, DURABLE…

Bream galore and more INTUITIVE CONTROL GIPPSLAND LAKES

Brett Geddes b.geddes@bigpond.com

I made a prediction last issue, and I’m glad I got it spot on: the bream fishing has been red hot, and there’s every indication it’s going to continue for a while yet. So here’s a big bream report to get you fired up and plan a visit to the Gippy Lakes. RIVERS ARE FIRING The big three rivers are all holding terrific numbers of bream and I’ll start with the Nicholson. Local angler

behalf of all anglers we are devastated to lose the best and most informative live fishing show to have graced our screens. You guys had great humour, terrific guests, incredible genuine passion, and above all excellent support or even guidance for anglers on the really big issues. This is a shattering loss, especially for the up-to-date fishing hotspots, breaking news, angler photos and reports. It’s one more disaster for all Victorians who lose yet another form of cherished media, like the dozens of regional newspapers recently lost. We

in the next few months. HOLLANDS LANDING Once again some very large fish have been a feature from The Straits between Seacombe and Hollands. Big bream and thumping estuary perch have turned up, but the action has been hot and cold; they will bite well one day and then be totally shut down the next. During one red-hot session I landed 14 perch with my best two measuring 48cm and two more at 46cm. I also released nine bream to 46cm on the same day. I fished sinking lures deep in the snags and had to use 14lb leaders to avoid the bust-offs.