End of season offshore fun

Hello all, the first signs that summer is over and winter is approaching have started to show around the Northern Rivers already.

We’ll possibly have our summer species around for the next month or two but there is a definite chill in the air. And some of our winter species such as bream and tailor have started to show up in reasonable numbers.

Compared to this time last year, we’ve had only a small amount of rain and even that was infrequent, so it’s setting up for a very productive season on the water.

The river was looking fantastic at the time of writing, with clear water well past Wardell Bridge.

Over the past month, we’ve seen many flathead making their way further up the river for winter.

There are still some good numbers in the lower reaches but, with the small drop in water temperature and the minor rainfall, a few flatties have frequented some of the sand flats between the ferry and Wardell Bridge.

This trend will continue as we creep closer to winter, so now is a good time to dig out your shallow-running hard-body lures or suspending jerk and glide baits in preparation for the next couple of months.

Good quality mahi mahi were around the fish aggregating device late in the season.

As the weather continues to cool, plenty of these fish will move shallower for the warmth and to chase the food that is also hanging around these types of areas.

This time of year is known to be productive for anglers wishing to chase flathead on surface lures too, with some good numbers of fish sitting in less than 2m of water.

While mangrove jack have certainly tapered off recently – mostly due to the weather – whiting and mud crabs seems to have had a late summer flurry, with better numbers over the past couple of weeks.

Both of these species have had a quiet summer compared to normal, so it’s a welcome change to see more of them around, even if it is towards the end of the season.

It appears to be setting up as a good period for bream and tailor.

We’ve had decent bream captures in the river and tailor from the rocks and beaches.

At present, the better numbers of bream seem to be spread from the ferry to the Broadwater, however I’m expecting them to start moving towards the mouth of the river over the next month.

Hard-body lures, plastics and bait such as prawns and squid have had the best results lately, though as we get into the cooler weather, metal blades and vibes will come into play as bream set up for their breeding season and have a preference for staying closer to the bottom of the river.

Summer’s over but there’s still fun to be had offshore.

Tailor have been responding to the usual bait such as pilchard, bonito and mullet, as well as metal spinners and surface poppers.

As is usually the case, a few of the better-quality fish have been taken at night, but if you prefer to fish during the day, good numbers have been spun up from areas such as the breakwalls, Flat Rock and Black Head.

Early in the season, the fish tend to show a preference for some smaller profile spinners in the 30-40g range, but as the season progresses and the bait grows slightly, the 50-85g versions will become more popular.

Offshore has been a real mixed bag recently, with an inconsistent current and a mix of species spread from the shelf to the close reefs.

Some anglers have taken advantage of the lack of current at times and made their way to the wider grounds, managing to tangle with bar cod, kingfish, snapper and pearl perch in water depths from 100250m.

It is nice to have the current drop off from time to time, particularly over summer –for many years this doesn’t happen, so when it does, it pays to make the most of it.

The fish aggregating device is still holding mahi mahi and a few small marlin, though they have had plenty of attention over summer and this has at times made them very difficult to catch.

Mackerel on the close reefs are always a popular species to target at this time of year.

Live bait have been the most effective method on them for the best part of summer, but it will be worth trying a lightly weighted pilchard, a metal spinner or a vibe as an alternative.

At the time of writing this article, we still had good numbers of spotted and spanish mackerel at both North and South Riordan shoals and Black Head.

As with mahi mahi, live bait have worked well on these toothy critters too, however if you’re struggling to find a livie, then slow trolling a dead bait or even a small skirted lure could be a great alternative.

If all else fails, an unweighted pilchard can be a very tempting option for spottie mackerel.

I’m not expecting them to last too long, especially if the weather continues to cool and a westerly wind begins to howl.

But for now, let’s get out there and enjoy some screaming reels.

That’s all from me this month, until next time – tight lines!