Fishing Monthly Magazine | August 2023

• CATCH THE LAST OF THE WINTER SPECIES • NEW!!!!!!!!

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VIC

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Location Spotlight

Peter Jung brings us a revitalised Lake Eucumbene

Tested

•

Boat test: Whittley Sea Legend 27

Features

Lake Eucumbene revitalised • Starlo talks cheap gear • Investigating southern sand flathead • Latest news and area reports •

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CONTENTS

OUR COVER August 2023, Vol. 4 No.4 VIC

TAS

QUEENSLAND Tweed River Gold Coast Brisbane Northern Bay Noosa Bundaberg Mackay Townsville Hinchinbrook Cairns Port Douglas Cooktown Cape York Freshwater

16 18 22 24 26 28 30 34 36 38 38 40 41 46

NEW SOUTH WALES Sydney North Sydney South Sydney Rock Ballina Coffs Coast South West Rocks Hasting Port Macquarie Central Coast Port Stephens Swansea Illawarra Bermagui Tathra New England Rivers Hunter Valley Batlow Canberra

48 49 50 52 54 56 57 58 59 60 60 61 64 64 66 67 68 69

VICTORIA Portland Warrnambool Appollo Bay Cobden Geelong Port Phillip East Port Phillip West Phillip Island Gippsland Lakes Lakes Entrance Port Albert Marlo Mallacoota Bemm River Robinvale Bendigo Yarrawonga Wangaratta Shepparton Ballarat Crater Lakes Gippsland Freshwater

72 73 72 73 74 78 80 80 82 84 83 85 84 85 86 87 86 88 89 90 91 91

6 AUGUST 2023

From the Editor’s Desk...

WA

TACKLE SHOW IS NOW FREE! Scan QR code for FREE Tickets:

Peter Jung caught this beautifully coloured Lake Eucumbene rainbow trout on a DUO 50mm Spearhead Ryuki MDF lure in the gold yamame colour.

An Peter Jung image.

Come and visit Fishing Monthly Group’s official Facebook page for all your monthly fishing information. Download QR Reader to access.

TASMANIA Hobart

93

WESTERN AUSTRALIA Esperance

94

Bunbury

94

Augusta

95

Metro

96

Mandurah

97

Kalbarri

99

Lancelin

98

Exmouth

101

Karratha

100

Freshwater

102

For years the Australian Fishing Trade Association (AFTA) has run their business-to-business Trade Show on the Gold Coast. Usually in late July or early August, it’s a place where wholesalers display all of their new lines of tackle to the tackle stores.

It’s usually held just after USA’s ICAST, where a lot of global releases take place, so there’s plenty of great imported content to mix with the local developments.

Just before COVID, AFTA introduced a public day on the final day of the show.

No longer was it a B2B event – everyday fishing enthusiasts could come along and see nearly all of what the tackle stores could see.

It’s not a retail show (where you can buy stuff), but it is in many cases a first-look and

Lake Eucumbene revitalised Starlo: Good gear Sheik of the Creek What’s New Fishing Investigating southern sand flathead Fun page Tournament Calendar Suntag News Tournaments Trades and Services/Tide page Boat test: Whittley SL27

8 14 45 43 70 81 93 99 104 106 108

COMPS AND OFFERS Find the logo

53

32 FISHERIES QUEENSLAND

maybe your only opportunity to see tackle that your local may not carry on the shelves.

Last time, the Public Day was $10, and kids were free. This year, the Queensland Government has kicked in and sponsored the day, meaning that everyone is free – not just kids.

You do have to go and register for a free ticket, but you’d do well to find a cheaper day out for the family. At least in the short term.

Apart from the tackle, there’s the opportunity to catch up with your favourite fishing identity, lots of them will be at the show for both one-on-one time and being involved in industry forums.

So mark down 5 August, grab a free ticket and we will see you there. Apologies to those who don’t live close enough to go.

FISHING MONTHLY MAGAZINE

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A revitalised Lake Eucumbene FMG

Peter Jung

Although there are many lakes, rivers and creeks to fish for trout in the Snowy mountain’s region, Lake Eucumbene is the jewel in the crown. It is a huge body of water with many access

the best option to catch a trophy sized fish, which is still most liely the case now as well (however, those fishing Lake Jindabyne may disagree).

What hurt the region and the fishery was the extended period of dry weather and the severe decline in the water level of the lake. Low water

(more importantly less downs than ups) there has been a resurgence of Lake Eucumbene as a fishery. Fish numbers seem to be up and options to catch them are as good as they have ever been. In this feature I hope to provide the visiting angler (like myself) or even regular fishers of the waterway a

Gates, Cemetery Point and Yens Bay. All have dirt road access in varying states of repair that will get you near the lakes edge.

Care should always be taken anywhere near the water’s edge. It can be very slippery, soft and it will only take a small mistake to end up with a bogged vehicle and a situation that is bound to ruin your day.

No bins are provided at any of these locations, so please ensure that you take home any rubbish.

Unfortunately, there are many examples around the lake, where people have not done this.

BE PREPARED FOR THE WEATHER It would be remiss of me not to mention the weather in the region and how quickly

The author with his first fish from a recent visit to Lake Eucumbene. It was caught trolling using a Bullet Lures Five-O Minnow in the redbelly dace colour.

It is a pleasure to be on Lake Eucumbene on mornings like this. Just be aware the weather can change quickly. few insights into catching a few fish, like I did on a recent visit.

ACCESS AND FISHING LOCATIONS Key access points to Lake Eucumbene are Braemar Bay, Buckenderra, Old Adaminaby, Anglers Reach and Providence Portal. All offer forms of accommodation, boat launching access (mainly bank launching) and the operators are always good for a bit of local knowledge on where and on what the fish are biting.

There are also plenty of shore based fishing options at these locations as well as places like Coppermine Bay, Collingwood Bay, Middling Bank, Frying Pan, Seven

Casting lures from the shore is always an option at Lake Eucumbene. When there are white caps for as far as you could see in the main lake, it was the only option. it can change. It is not unusual for storms and quick changes in temperature to occur during a day’s fishing (even just a morning or afternoon session). You will see from many of the images in this feature that

Tassie Devil lures have always been a reliable lure to troll at Lake Eucumbene. points from the dam wall all the way to the mouth of the Eucumbene River that feeds it. I know as a young man fishing the area, it was VIDEO 1

Scan the QR code to see the authors DAY 1 YouTube video from his recent trip to Lake Eucumbene 8 AUGUST 2023

levels resulted in difficult access to get boats and other watercraft on the water, while shore-based anglers were faced with fishing areas that hadn’t seen the light of day for many years. The fish also had their challenges, with food sources diminished and less than ideal conditions for natural recruitment to happen. It felt like there were fewer fish to catch, especially for anglers like myself, who were not regular visitors to the waterway.

In 2023, after a number of years of wetter weather, resulted in steadily increasing water levels

A closer look at the lure that caught that big brown trout. It is one of the new Rapala 75mm Count Down Elite lures in the gilded gold shad colour.

Andy Queck is a regular visitor and consistently catches fish like this when trolling lures well back from the boat.

on a recent trip to Lake Eucumbene, we had wind, rain, snow and occasionally a bit of sunshine. We dressed accordingly, took note of the weather forecast and fished to the conditions. It was particularly windy and we ensured we minimised time spent in the areas where the white caps and wind swell

looked more like you would expect in the ocean that on an inland waterway.

As we head into the warmer months all things relating to sun protection will also be required.

FISHING TECHNIQUES A recent visit to Eucumbene was a real eye opener from the perspective

that at 62% capacity (at the time of writing) Lake Eucumbene offers every angler options. Let me take you through a few: Trolling Trolling is a very popular

undoing of many fish. There are three main methods, flatline trolling, trolling with lead core line or using a downrigger. The latter two relate to methods of getting your lures deeper in the

trolling for another day.

Although trolling is simply popping a lure out by behind your boat and slowly dragging it around a waterway, there are numerous factors that can affect how successful you are. All of them effect/relate to what your lure is doing at the end of your line.

The four main ones are lure choice, the line you use, how far behind the boat you run the lures, and the speed that you move/troll. Let’s break these down: Your lure choice needs to reflect the depth of water you are trying to fish.

When trolling the margins of a waterway like Lake Eucumbene I like to stick to depths between 2.5-6m.

My favourite options reflect diving depths to suit this range. Tassie Devils, Rapala floating and sinking (CD) 5cm and 7cm minnows,

Bullet Lures Five-O minnows, DUO Spearhead Ryuki 50MDF lures and the new Rapala Countdown Elite 55mm and 75mm minnows all caught fish on my latest visit and have been consistent fish catchers for me for many years. Each lure has numerous colour options to choose from. There will be an image within this feature that shows the successful colours I used.

I only want to touch on line choice briefly here as there will be a fact box that goes into more detail around fishing line choice. What I do want to mention is whether you are using monofilament

You can’t help taking in the view as you are trolling around the lake.

VIDEO 2

All the successful lures from the author’s most recent trip to Lake Eucumbene. way of targeting trout for many Lake Eucumbene anglers. Running a spread of lures behind your boat (or kayak) and slowly prospecting around a waterway has been the

water column by using either a downrigger bomb or lead core-based lines. In this feature I want to focus on the lake margins, which suit the flat line trolling methods, so I will leave the deep water

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Scan the QR code to see the authors DAY 2 YouTube video from his recent trip to Lake Eucumbene

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line, a combination of a braid and leader or fluorocarbon line, fishing line that is too heavy will affect a lures action and its ability to get to depth. Using lines in the 4-10lb range will maximise both and get you more bites.

I run either 4lb or 6lb line.

Running 15lb lines or higher, may help avoid losing lures, but will also affect the number of bites you get.

The depth in which your lures will run (the further back you run them, the more likely they will run at their true depth) and minimise the effect the boat may have on the fish (meaning the perceived danger the boat is to the fish has gone). My

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friend Andy, who does a lot of trolling at Eucumbene (successfully), prefers to have the lures well back and only brings them in closer if he is trolling in and around timber. Putting a number on it, somewhere between 30m and 50m back.

The speed that you troll also has an impact. First and foremost, the action and depth that your lure will run.

Too slow or fast and you minimise the action (blow the action out in the case of too fast) and reduce the running depth. Sitting at a speed around 2.5-3.5km/h should maximise both the action and running depth of the lure.

Something that many people forget with speed is boat noise. Boat noise is unavoidable, but there are ways of reducing the slapping sound made while travelling along. Trolling on calm days using an electric motor might provide an edge.

Trolling with the wind also minimises the noise made by the water on the hull. Only small things, but I do believe

There are a few factors to consider if you want to give this a try. Firstly, every bank of the lake will hold fish at one time or another. So how do you determine what bank is better than other? What areas will hold fish more consistently than others? The million dollar questions. I won’t say that I have cracked the code, however on my last

Location wise, what I have mentioned with the lure casting would be my first option. Outside of that, gently sloping banks leading to deep water would be second option to fish from.

There are a number of artificial baits available that people have plenty of success with, but I prefer natural baits like worms, scrub

It was cold, wet and windy, but the author still managed a smile after catching this beautifully coloured rainbow trout. they make a difference.

One last thing I will mention is to use a rod that is suitable. 1-3kg, 7ft rods with a fast or medium fast taper is my preference. Too heavy a rod and it will not absorb the shock of the fish hitting the lure and rather than setting

MONO VS FLUORO VS BRAID Monofilament line vs spinning fluorocarbon vs braid and leader combination I wanted to touch on what line to use when fishing for trout. When I first started fishing for them, the choice was pretty simple – monofilament line or monofilament line. All you really got to chose was the breaking strain. Now we are blessed with choice and as I don’t fish for trout as often as I used to, I simply defaulted to using a braid/leader combination like I do for all my fishing in Queensland.

I was catching fish, but felt I wasn’t getting as many bites as I should and losing more too.

I didn’t want to go back to monofilament line (although there ae now some very good low stretch options available), so I looked at fluorocarbon lines designed to use for casting rather than as leader material. Fluorocarbon lines have far less stretch/give than monofilament, are more robust and are almost invisible in the water. Initially I found them problematic (line memory etc) and then I came across Tokuryo Line Lab Pro FC doing one of my testing booths for the magazine. I actually tested it at Lake Eucumbene.

I felt I got more bites and caught more fish using it.

Only recently I have also found Sufix Advance spinning fluorocarbon line. I used it and the Tokuryo Pro FC on my most recent trip. Great lines and I had plenty of success.

So, the question I put to myself was what is my best option, re fishing line, to use for trout fishing? On one hand I had my mate Andy using a braid/leader combination and catching plenty of fish. If you then compare that to my recent results using spinning fluorocarbon. I really feel it made a difference and my results had continued to improve. So, the answer is I will continue to use spinning fluorocarbon.

For those of you out there looking at line options, keep spinning fluorocarbon in mind.

the hook, it will likely pull it straight out of the fish’s mouth. Drag settings should reflect this as well. Set them to ensure they give line only when the rod can no longer absorb what the fish is doing.

Shore-based lure casting This is something that I really love to do. Whether it be finding a likely looking area by car and then exploring on foot or taking a break from trolling, stopping on a bank and having a flick.

Yens Bay is a very popular location for shore-based anglers. There are many tracks that give you good access to the water. have focused my efforts with fantastic results.

The other factor is lure choice. Your selection of lures should include lures with varying running depths (1.5-3m) and sizing (3-7cm).

My lure selection doesn’t change too much from what I mentioned in the trolling section. However, I do prefer sinking lures, because if the water is deeper than you expect, you can cast them out, let them sink a little and then start your retrieve. I use a slow rolling retrieve.

Using soft plastics or fly fishing these locations will

worms, mudeyes (seasonal), yabbies and bardi grubs. Use only enough sinker to cast it to where you want and using lighter lines will get more bites.

FINAL THOUGHTS Although weather forecasters are predicting drier weather ahead, I think anglers looking to fish Lake Eucumbene will enjoy some exceptional fishing for quite a while to come. On my most recent visit I can honestly say that I had the best fishing there that I can remember and the condition and the quality of the fish matched

The author has really taken to using spinning fluorocarbon as his line of choice when fishing for trout.

With the current water levels at Lake Eucumbene it can be a very effective and highly rewarding way to catch a few fish.

VIDEO 3

Scan the QR code to see the authors DAY 3 YouTube video from his recent trip to Lake Eucumbene 10 AUGUST 2023

fishing) or even just ground water going into the lake.

Again, areas like this are likely to hold food for longer periods of time and when they are flowing (bringing the food to the fish) the fish will likely congregate there in numbers. Fish generally don’t move too far from their food source, so areas like this have been where I

three trips to Eucumbene I have had a lot of success, based on the following observations.

With generally rising or stable water levels in recent times, the fish are moving to freshly submerged ground to look for food. In turn this means areas that have submerged plant material (grass, plants) will potentially hold more food than rocky shorelines and therefore hold fish more consistently. Even better if the location you find is an area that has water flow during times of rain or run off (does not have to be flowing at the time you are

When flatline trolling it pays to find gently sloping banks with a little bit of structure. Trolling with an electric motor also reduces the noise and increases your chances of catching a fish. also be worthwhile.

Bait fishing Soaking a bait is always an option and with consistently higher water levels, one of your higher percentage options as well.

it. There are some QR codes within this feature for my YouTube channel. Scan them to see a summary of the three days I spent there.

It certainly is a good time to get to Lake Eucumbene!

12 AUGUST 2023

Good gear has never been cheaper!

NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.fishotopia.com

There’s a strong case to be made that quality fishing tackle has never been more affordable than it is today… you really don’t need to spend a fortune to own good gear!

I would argue that dependable, workable, reasonably long-lasting fishing tackle is more affordable right now than it has been at any point in the past. I can imagine a few eyebrows heading skyward on reading that statement, so let me explain: The first fishing reel I ever purchased with my own hard-earned dollars (scrounged from pocket money and after-school jobs) was a big Mitchell 499 eggbeater — the one with the manual line roller and no bail arm. It was an oversized, no-nonsense saltwater threadline, and I bought it to

from a quality manufacturer, but stop and think about it for a moment. The average weekly wage for an adult Australian at the time was very close to $100. So, that big French-made eggbeater set me back the equivalent of half an average adult’s weekly pay packet in the money of the day. That’s far

wage for a 38-hour week is currently set at $882. Let’s roughly split the difference and arrive at a mid-point of around $1,400 to $1,500.

Against that yardstick, my first reel from the 1970s would set me back more like $750 today. However, I can assure you that I’d be able to get a lot more “bang for

on the rocks chewed it out badly, and I stripped the threads of several of its side-plate screw holes while doing my own regular homemaintenance, just to keep it running.

Today, I’d expect to be able to buy something capable of doing the same job as that big Mitchell

Starlo reviews a pair of light spin outfits, each valued at around $150. He was blown away by just how good they actually were!

Quality reels for $60 to $80 a pop? You better believe it! (likely more smoothly and across a longer working life) for somewhere between $200 and $500 — in other words, about a quarter to two thirds the “true” cost (compared to average wages) of my first reel, back in

was a youngster, cheap gear was nasty gear. The same is definitely not the case today.

I recently reviewed a pair of budget-priced light spinning outfits for my “Starlo Gets Reel” YouTube channel (you can watch that video by scanning the QR code hereabouts, or by going to the channel). If you shopped around a little, you could fairly easily pick up either of those combos for roughly $150 apiece – or about four hours work for the

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Scan this QR code to watch Starlo’s video review of two amazingly affordable and effective “budget” outfits.

The average angler is very happy soaking a bait on a $120 to $150 outfit from his or her local jetty in the hope of catching a few modest fish. Modern budget-priced gear does this job so well! my buck” for that figure now than I did back then! After all, that old Mitchell 499 — while certainly a decent enough workhorse — wasn’t exactly a super-sophisticated bit of kit! It also didn’t last “forever”, as a lot of folks often claim about tackle from the so-called “good old days”. A few hard seasons

Modern budget-priced rods cast just as far as their more expensive competitors.

1973… That’s something worth thinking about!

The other massive change I’ve seen across my lifetime as an angler is the rise of very good “budgetpriced” gear. Back when I

Straight out of the box, even “cheap” reels perform really well. Will they last as long as premium models?

Probably not. But how much do you really fish? cast heavy metal lures from the ocean rocks for salmon, kingfish, bonito, tuna and the like. The year was 1973, and that reel cost me the princely sum of $49.95.

That might sound cheap for a large capacity reel 14 AUGUST 2023

from cheap!

Today, the Bureau of Statistics tells us that the average, pre-tax weekly income in Australia is $1,750 (yes, I know… I don’t earn that much either!), while the mandated minimum weekly

Today’s budget gear looks great and performs well.

average adult wage earner.

That’s rod, reel and a fill of line. And guess what?

They were both highly impressive set-ups that I’d be more than happy to fish with on a daily basis! Sure, the reels weren’t quite as smooth out of the box as their $450-plus stablemates, and they probably won’t last as long. But how smooth does a reel need to be, and how long should it last, to justify spending five, six or seven times as much on it?

Do you really fish enough to warrant the extra spend?

If the answer is “yes”, then go for it! But if not, consider the possibility of setting yourself up with two, three or even four workable, budget to mid-priced outfits instead of just one premium

rig. It might just make more sense.

The other great news about the explosion of good, affordable gear from the lower end of the price spectrum is the fact that you no longer need to inflict cheap and nasty stuff on the kids, or your “occasional dangler” partners, mates and family members. Spend somewhere in that $120 to $160 range and get them something that’ll actually work, work well, and which might even encourage them to fish more rather than putting them off!

Looked at in this way, I honestly believe we’ve never been better off as anglers than we are right now. In many ways, these truly are “the good old days”!

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Southern

OLD

Once in a blue moon THE TWEED

Leon McClymont

This August will see two full moons in one month, giving the name a full blue moon, it will be the second of the super moons for 2023. The 1 August will be the first full moon of the month, the

can lead to some epic and unbelievable fishing days, where you bag out in under an hour and could catch a fish on just about anything pitched over the side.

Then to finish the month off with another full moon on the 30th. Fishing any of the three days leading up to the full moon are also sworn by

species as well.

August signalling the end of winter will also signal the end of the long tail tuna here on the Tweed. The last few years I haven’t seen many, if any, long tail tuna cruising along the back of the breakers. All the loud and proud talk of captures by now have well and truly dwindled to a whisper. They will tend to show back up in the summer months.

There are plenty of tailor in the gutters along the beaches with big greenbacks in the mix as well. There are still plenty of schools of mullet making their way north along the beaches and good reports of mulloway are being caught off the beach.

Some good gutters have been forming in the beaches from Cabarita to Kingscliff.

Kingscliff to Fingal Beach is also a good bit of water

Jaime French with a welcome by-catch of mulloway. It took a liking to a half slimy while he was float lining for snapper.

There has been a small run of cobia come through following the first of the whales heading north.

Float lining with a bait or livie is one of the most common used techniques to catch cobia as they can

on the cards for a lot of anglers with good captures of bar cod, nannygai and flame tails coming in.

The river and estuaries have been fishing well with loads of small bait fish schooling and making their

George Fisher caught a nice tailor in the river on a lure.

16th will be the new moon then 30th of August we will see the second full moon for the month. All this lunar

some avid mulloway anglers as being the best nights to chase the ghosts. This also relates to a lot of offshore

Will Kitching with a nice mulloway taken on a live yakka.

Harris Robinson with a flame tail taken off Tweed Heads. activity during this month will create bigger tides and higher fish activity, so get amongst it!

Fishing the following few days after a full moon is always a favourable period for a lot of anglers, from land-based mulloway anglers to the offshore anglers that chase snapper and pelagics.

From 2-4 August will be the first major lunar activity for most species following the full moon. The 14-18 August will be a longer period and longer fish activity during the bite periods so the fish should bite harder and longer during these lunar events. This will be the moon underfoot and moon overhead, focusing your fishing time coinciding these events with the tides and sunrise and sunsets 16 AUGUST 2023

choices. Some local spots to target these whiting are the sandy shallow zones and drop offs around Terranora, Cobaki, Chinderah and back of the golf course in Tweed.

These areas will also hold flathead, drifting down these zones with a bait or two out the back allows you to fish for whiting and flathead whilst also flicking lures for flathead this has got to be one of the mist versatile ways to fish the rivers and estuaries as it can provide a lot of action with a wide range of species on offer.

The Tweed River and surrounding estuaries have been holding massive schools of juvenile mulloway this time of year, be sure to take care of these schools of juveniles as mulloway can tend to be hard to release. Be sure to get them back in the water quickly as possible and

holding decent tailor and the odd mulloway.

Dart and whiting are on the chew off the beaches, fishing pipis and beach worms are the key baits for these bread-andbutter species.

Offshore anglers have been making the most of the slow currents this time of year float lining for snapper and other reefies.

Shane Seghers with a golden river brute taken on a 10g jig.

Jarrod McFadzean taming this big lizard while fishing the flats.

be feeding anywhere in the water column, from the top to the bottom. Using berley is always a must, especially if you’re anchored as cobia are suckers for an easy feed and will follow a berley trail right up to the boat. Often providing some exciting fishing and be able to visually see the fish and feed a bait straight to it.

Deep dropping has been

way out of the systems, which the bigger fish have been gorging themselves on. Small trevally and tailor have been the main culprits menacing these schools, but big flathead will also follow these schools feeding from the bottom.

The winter whiting are chewing well, fishing beach worms, pipi, yabbies and blood worms are great bait

take care when handling the fish. In these schools and same areas you will find bigger models, these fish have been catching a lot of anglers out that have been fishing light gear targeting the smaller fish when one of these beast anywhere from 12-20kg comes along, which can make short work of 10-12lb gear. Till next month, tight lines.

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Southern

OLD

Expect good numbers of reds GOLD COAST

David Green

The season closure for snapper and pearl perch will end on the 15th of this month and after this there should be good numbers of both species on the 36 and 50 fathom reefs. The flat ground on the 36-fathom reef east of the seaway has been producing good numbers of pearl perch, snapper, parrot and pig fish.

float lining. Slow pitched jigs are also very effective on the 50-fathom line.

Closer inshore cobia are starting to show up in reasonable numbers and respond to live baits fished in a berley trail. I like to use big baits such as tailor, tarwhine and goat fish. They respond well to heavy berleying.

Another advantage of big live baits is they don’t tend to get eaten by mackerel tuna and tailer and a good cobia can swallow a bait of a kilo in weight. They also respond

slimy mackerel, tailor and yellowtail are great baits to use. I fish mine from a bridled circle hook rig and let the fish hook itself. If you miss a fish on this rig and they remove the bait the hook hasn’t ‘stung’ them, and they will usually eat a second bait. On the artificial reefs and inshore wrecks most of these fish average around 12kg and are about 110cm long. Tide changes on dusk produce the best results.

Mulloway also respond to berleying with chunks

Cobia are common in August.

If you are keen to target parrot fish, try using soldier crabs on a paternoster rig.

These fish have a passion for crabs. They are superb eating.

Beyond the 36-fathom reef, the 50-fathom reef has been producing plenty of good fish throughout winter. The current has been minimal most days, meaning you can get away with less lead when

to big soft plastics worked mid water. Most cobia in winter are caught in water depths less than 40m. They seem to arrive on the Gold Coast around the same time as the annual humpback whale migration.

There should be plenty of big mulloway around this month with the best fishing being at night. Live

of fish and will patrol an area away from cover once darkness falls.

For the game fishers, August is a good month to chase yellowfin tuna and striped marlin. Most of the tuna are found out beyond depths of around 700m. At times they will be in schools breaking the surface but more often they hold deep

between 30-50m below the surface. When they are on the surface, they can respond to cast stick baits. In August most of the yellowfin are between 30-60kg with a few exceptional tunas over 70kg.

When trolling for yellowfin I like to use bullet head style trolling lures and I troll at around 9-knots.

The first run of these fish is a screamer, often taking several hundred metres of line. They are superb eating if blead and iced quickly and a single fish provides a lot of food. Striped marlin occur in the same areas but can also be found in shallower grounds from the 36-fathom line east. They respond well to lures but can be hard to hook as they repeatedly bill the lure. Switch baiting is a better method.

ESTUARIES AND RIVERS August can be a windy month with a lot of strong north westerly winds. This makes the water quite dirty, decreases visibility and makes flathead fishing more difficult. When conditions are good it is a great time of year to chase flathead in the central part of the Broadwater and around the entrances. Flathead are starting to move towards the entrances in preparation for spawning and bigger fish over 80cm become common. Fishing the deepwater entrances with large vibes and big soft plastics works well on the larger fish. In general, I find that

A nice flathead from Tipplers. curly tail soft plastics with action at minimal speed are more effective in deep water than jerk shad style lures.

As well as big flathead these methods produce mulloway and trevally.

August is a good month to chase mulloway in the estuary with fish over a metre long being relatively common. Live baits fished on a change of high tide in the eddies around the seaway is a reliable method. Pike and mullet are both effective baits. Lure fishing in the eddies with big swim baits is another method worth trying

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Mitch Calcutt with a double hit of mulloway.

this month, particularly on a dark moon. Mulloway will actively feed on the surface if the schools of spawning mullet are in the area. During the day drifting yellowtail, slimy mackerel and pike along the channels at the Jumpinpin and Seaway entrances can produce good mulloway, but they are generally smaller fish than are caught after dark. Large jerk shad soft plastics can also be quite effective worked close to the bottom.

In the central part of the Broadwater there should be plenty of bream and flathead. Smaller soft plastics produce a wide range of species at this time of year and some very big threadfin salmon are starting to show up in the northern part of the estuary from the mouth of the Logan River through to Cabbage Tree Point. Some of these fish have been over 120cm long. Most of the flathead encountered on small soft plastics are between 35 and 60cm long but surprises do occur. Last year I caught an 89cm monster on a tiny EcoGear ZX40 on 3lb braid.

Trolling is another good method to chase flathead in August, particularly when the fish are scattered.

Zerek Tango Shads and the ever-reliable Lively Lure’s Micro Mullet can always be relied on. This year there are a surprising number of flounder around mixed with the flathead and they respond well to trolled lures.

Overall, August is a great month to fish both the Gold Coast estuaries and offshore grounds and there are plenty of good options.

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More finesse required BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

August is often a windy month, however the seasonal patterns this year have been far from regular. Clear water conditions resulting from westerly winds will often dictate a more finesse approach, especially in the shallower, inshore waters.

Squid are one species that relish these conditions however most fish species will become a little more wary when water clarity is high. There is a good range of species on offer throughout the coming month with many pelagic and demersal species coming to the fore. Bream, flathead, snapper, sweetlip, school mackerel, squid,

through the eastern reaches of the Rous Channel. The commercial fishers would regularly be seen trolling spoons in these reaches to catch their quota. Since the second channel (south of the original boating channel) has become deeper and more prominent, the amount of water flow in the original northern channel has decreased and the school mackerel numbers are no longer as reliable in this zone.

The school mackerel run seemed to spread out and last year saw better numbers in the Rainbow Channel, Small Ships Channel and numerous other locations. In the Northern end of Moreton Bay, the Kianga Channel and NW Channel are good zones to try at this time of the year. All these zones are commonly fished in one of two ways- deploying

A plump tiger squid is a welcome addition to the catch and should be in plentiful supply right throughout the bay, even in the shallows around the shoreline. mulloway, cuttlefish, tailor and several others will adorn anglers catches. Let’s look at a few of your August options.

SCHOOL MACKEREL In years past, school mackerel numbers flourished within Moreton Bay during August. Schools of mackerel would spill into the bay commonly transiting down

gang-hook rigged pilchards or trolling lures. Pilchards are either fished from an anchored position or drifted through the zone. Rigging pilchards well, so that they don’t just spin in the current, will greatly increase the strike rate.

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with swivels between each hook. This allows each hook to move independently, making it easier to bait up, increasing bait flexibility and also promoting a positive hook set. I insert the hooks centrally down through the back of the bait with the leading hook penetrating the head centrally, just in front of the eye. This helps keep the mouth of the bait closed and minimises spinning, providing you ensure the bait is nice and straight before deploying. If rigged properly, your pilchard should just waft in the current, which offers a fairly natural presentation when drifting or anchored. The hooks penetrating down through the back of the pilchard also offers great purchase and the bait can even be cast and slowly retrieved, offering a great option for mackerel species as well as tailor. Most of the action is likely to be in the main channels at this time of the year however a few mackerel may also be located around the shipping channel beacons where they can be targeted with pilchards or by vertically spinning with chromed slugs and slices.

Trolling is another great way to target mackerel. Deep diving minnow lures to around 120mm in length can be trolled along the channel edges with best results often coming on the first few hours of the making tide and the first few hours of the runout tide when the mackerel are patrolling this zone either ambushing bait confined to the channel or ambushing bait being flushed off the flats with the receding water level.

Trolling spoons has become highly popular due to its productivity. Halco barra drones and Kimberley spoons as well as Macka spoons and several others are commonly trolled behind a paravane or trolling board to get them

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Ian Johnson recently scored this 108cm mulloway in the southern bay and released it after a quick photo. deeper in the water column.

Troll speeds are usually between 5knots and 7knots and you can either use a handline or heavy rod and reel to drag these around. School mackerel have a bag limit of 10 fish over 50cm per person.

MULLOWAY Some great mulloway have been caught in recent months with 80cm plus specimens rather common for anglers fishing the Brisbane River, Logan River, Jumpinpin precinct and further out into Moreton Bay around the artificial reefs and wrecks.

Mulloway have been taken on both baits and lures and specimens to over 120cm have been recorded. Ask any angler what their favourite mulloway lure is and you will get a lot of varied answers. Soft vibes, blades, numerous soft plastics, micro jigs, minnow lures and several other artificial lure styles can be used successfully, dependant on situation and current. Most important is to get the offering in front of the fish and work it well.

In the southern bay, larger schools of mulloway can often be found and several fish recorded for a session. Sharks can sometimes be a problem however during the cooler months their aggressiveness is often minimised. Those with side imaging marine electronics have the best chance of locating these schools with common areas including the Coochie and Peel artificial reefs. The Harry Atkinson, Scarborough and Curtin artificial reefs as well as the numerous wrecks (such as Ammo Barge, Peel Houseboat, Bulldozer, Kaptajn Nelson and River Wreck) can all produce. Many find these smaller isolated wrecks easier to fish with baits deployed from an anchored position. Live offerings of yakkas, mullet, squid, herring, pike and even grinners will generally produce better than dead baits. These baits are usually fished close to the bottom on a snelled hook rig utilising fluorocarbon leader and minimal sinker weights.

Allow the mulloway plenty of time to mouth and swallow the bait before striking, especially with larger baits. Brisbane

River anglers will often score mulloway whilst working along the edges of the main river basin decline, in fronts of the major jetties and terminals, Clara’s Rocks, beneath the Gateway Bridge, the dredge holes towards the mouth and numerous other spots. Good numbers of mulloway should be around for the next few months at least.

FLATHEAD August is an awesome month for flathead with good numbers of mature females and their entourage of eager males streaming into the rivers and estuaries for the annual breeding run. Specimens to over 90cm are encountered in SEQ waters during this time and you never know when that next crocodile (large flathead) will be encountered. Many anglers troll small deep diving minnow lures along the edges of the banks systems in their search for flathead. This is most productive during the falling tide when flathead will

close to it will produce the best results. Drifting baits across the tops of these flats on the higher tidal stages or in the channels on the lower stages is a very easy and successful way to fish.

Small whole fish such as frogmouth pilchards, mullet, herring, diver whiting, whitebait, pilchards and hardiheads presented on a snelled hook rig, with the leading hook placed centrally up through the head, will offer great opportunity. Use a long leader and enough sinker weight so that it just drags across the bottom and you are set for some fun. Remember that flathead have a slot limit between 40cm minimum and 75cm maximum with a bag limit of 5 per person. Be very careful handling the larger specimens (the females) as stressing them too much can result in them not breeding for the season. Try and dehook and release whilst still in the water (if possible) to minimise stress.

Tailor are aggressive predators and will attack a broad array of baits and lures. Plenty have been caught from land-based locations around the bay over the last few months. take up ambush positions in this zone awaiting the baitfish and crustaceans that are flushed from the shallows with the receding water.

On the higher tidal stages, flatties will generally be up on these banks where anglers cast minnow lures, swimbaits, glide baits, soft plastics, flies, blades and soft vibes to score. Flathead commonly lie in ambush mode, almost fully submerged in the sand, mud or silt, so don’t expect to spot them before casting.

Long casts with lures regularly bumping the bottom, or at least

SNAPPER The usual haunts, lures and baits will still produce snapper over the coming month. The Harry Atkinson, Scarborough Reef, numerous wrecks and bay island surrounds offer great opportunity for both lure and bait fishers. With clearer water conditions, keeping rigging to a minimum, utilising lighter fluorocarbon leaders, minimal sinker weight and better quality baits will heighten results.

The shallows are often a degree harder to fish when water clarity is high and

OLD

better opportunity will often be in water deeper than 10m.

Early mornings, evenings and night sessions see the snapper coming up into these shallows to feed due to lower light conditions. Often a flurry of bites will be forthcoming around dawn when the snapper will move from the shallows to the deeper water. Some real trophy quality fish are often encountered during August so get out and get amongst them.

TAILOR Inshore waters have seen good numbers of tailor with anglers scoring them in several locations throughout Moreton Bay including numerous landbased spots. Whilst specimens to over 60cm have been caught, most have been in the 30cm to 45cm range. Obviously, many of these are under the minimum 35cm size limit (bag limit 20 per angler) and must be immediately returned to the water. However, land-based anglers have scored plenty of keepers at areas such as the Scarborough Jetty, Amity Rock Wall, Woody Point Jetty, Hornibrook Bridge, Dunwich Jetty, Manly Rock Wall, Shornecliffe Pier and from the rock wall in Boat Passage.

Bay boaties have randomly scored around most of the bay islands, the Sand Hills area, Peel Artificial, Harry Atkinson, Bill Turner Artificial and many other areas. In the Brisbane River, try along the retaining

wall at the mouth, Clara’s Rocks, The Gateway Bridge area and many other spots, especially during darkened hours. Tailor are voracious predators and will attach a broad array of lures and baits, especially whole fish baits such as frogmouth pilchards, whitebait, hardiheads, pilchards, herring and gar. As they are a schooling fish, you will often catch several in a session if they are about. Bleed immediately and ice down to maximise flesh quality when keeping a few for the table.

CEPHALOPODS With inshore waters clean and clear due to the westerly

winds, anglers have been scoring decent numbers of squid from land-based areas such as the Manly Harbour, Wynnum foreshore, Amity Wall, Wellington Point Jetty, Scarborough frontage, Woody Point Jetty, Shornecliffe Pier and many other locales.

Casting egi, mainly 2.5 or smaller, is usually the most productive method inshore however a pilchard or other whole fish bait pinned onto a squid skewer and suspended a meter or more beneath a float is also highly effective.

The latter also works well when drifting out in the bay around the islands, Sand Hills

and along the edges of the Rous, Rainbow and Small Ships channels. Most use egi between 2.5 and 4.0 out in the bay for both tiger and arrow squid. These are usually cast out and then retrieved with a series of hops and pauses or a slow wind and pauses. Both egi and baited skewers can be drifted behind the boat and a few calamari can make a great addition to the catch whilst targeting other species.

Whilst cuttlefish are sometimes taken by anglers targeting squid, specific targeting will greatly increase results. Drifting the deeper channels such as out the front

Anthony Johnson with a great mulloway from a productive session casting lures with his father.

of Ormiston down to Green Island, the deeper sections of the Rous or Rainbow and south of Goat Island, is likely to reward. The common approach is to use an egi that has extra weight added to keep it close to the bottom in these depths. This can be achieved by adding a sinker to the loop knot attaching your egi or by fishing the egi off a paternoster style rig with the snapper lead or bomb sinker on the bottom.

The egi is then drifted along with occasional abrupt hops to clear any snagged weed.

Like squid, cuttlefish make great baits although many regard them much better eating than squid.

BREAM Good numbers of bream will be swarming throughout SEQ estuarine waters including all creeks, rivers, harbours and canal developments.

Simple baits will work well on bream and those using finesse rigging will generally score the better quality and numbers. Hook type will depend on bait used with long shank great for worms, small yabbies and squid strips, suicide ideal for chunky baits such as pilchard and bonito cubes and baitholders best for pilchard strips, gut baits and pipis. Choosing the hook to best match your bait will allow the majority of the hook to be buried in the bait whilst the hook point is proud offering

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a great hookup. Running ball sinker rigs (keep weight to a minimum) is generally the best. A wide array of lures can be cast around structure such as bridge pylons, pontoons, jetties, rock walls and mangrove snags to tempt bream. Try small blades, minnow lures, small surface lures, Cranka Crabs and numerous small plastics.

CONCLUSION Clean water conditions can make the fishing a little harder during August however there are plenty of quality species on offer to make the effort worthwhile. Increase your chances by fishing a little smarter by utilising more finesse rigging, better quality baits (live or fresh is best) and fishing around the extremities of the day. Night sessions are often dynamite for big snapper and mulloway, however good results can be forthcoming at any time with the right approach.

Westerly winds often dictate that you can only comfortably fish inshore waters but there are plenty of opportunities in these zones if you fish a little lighter. In addition to a good array of fish species, squid and cuttlefish are also plentiful and you might even be able to score a few crabs if you set some safety pots. Get out and enjoy some time wetting a line during August.

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AUGUST 2023 23

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Hard to predict behaviour NORTHERN BAY

Tackle World Lawnton

August is regarded as one of the toughest months for fishing throughout Australia, and this is especially true in SEQ. Being a ‘shoulder season’ month, it can be difficult to predict exactly when key seasonal

sinking stickbaits cast near schools of bait.

The bottom fishing has been far more consistent, with big snapper, mulloway, Maori cod, pearl perch and tuskfish just some of the tasty delights gracing anglers’ eskies recently. The snapper and pearly ban will run until August 15, so once this lifts they should be fairly willing

Flathead like this 60cm model and larger will be out in numbers through August and September. Please be mindful when handling these breeding stock, and try to release any fish that appear to be carrying eggs. changes are going to occur.

Additionally, it can hard for us to know when they have occurred.

I’m a firm believer that fish behaviour is nothing more than a response to seasonal and environmental changes, and like most animals, they can detect these changes instinctively. Their little brains are hardwired to do what is best to ensure the survival of the species, so if something in their environment changes, they will adapt their behaviour to suit.

Given that we aren’t nearly as in tune with their environment, it’s a tricky task knowing where fish will be and what they will be doing in August.

The fishing through early winter was good, with relatively stable weather and plenty of opportunities to wet a line. We can only hope it stays this way a little longer before spring arrives, but if it doesn’t, you might need to adjust your approach to find a few fish.

BAY AND OFFSHORE Offshore there has been plenty of action, with a mixture of standard winter bottom fish and a few rogue pelagics as well.

June and July saw a few large Spanish mackerel around the fringes of a few reefs such as the Gneerings, Murphys, Hutchies and Sevens. Trolled gar has worked at times, however there have also been a few taken on big 24 AUGUST 2023

to eat baits and lures after a month-long break from angling pressure.

Dropping lures such as soft vibes, slow-pitch jigs and soft plastics to shows of fish spotted on the sounder has been a successful tactic in the early morning and afternoon, however the calm sunny days we’ve had meant that bait was a far better option during the day. California squid, pilchards and slimy mackerel fillets have been top performing baits over the reef, with floatlining a very effective tactic when the conditions are clear.

Close in areas such as Raper Shoal, North West

Channel, Currimundi Reef and the inner Gneerings have been fishing reasonably well for reefies this past month.

Things may change in August, and if the wind picks up (which it often does) the fish may become a little less spooky, but the conditions may limit opportunities for trailer boat anglers. Pelagic action should remain fairly low-octane until at least November, but we should continue seeing the odd XOS Spanish, Cobia and amberjack.

In the bay the action has been consistent as well, and anglers have been chasing various pelagics and reefies when conditions have suited.

Cephalopods and crustaceans have also been on a lot of peoples’ radar, and the action on both should improve through August.

Squire and grass sweetlip have been active over rubble patches and around the reefy fringes of Mud, Peel and Goat islands. Small soft plastics around 3-4” on 1/12-1/8oz jigheads are great tools for working these shallow areas in the morning and afternoon, especially on a tide change.

A water depth of 3-6m is a good area focus on when the light is low, however when the sun’s up they will tend to move out deeper and respond far better to baits like pilchard, squid and crab pieces rigged on paternosters. Once again if the wind picks up in August, we should see better lure fishing results during the daytime. Remember that the snapper and pearly ban still applies in the bay, so please try to minimise encounters with snapper if you’re fishing Moreton Bay during the first half of the month.

Mulloway will tend to hang out in these deeper areas, with West Peel and Harry Atkinson artificial reefs, as well as other isolated deeper marks good areas to try if you specifically want a silver slab.

There have been some solid fish getting around, so make

Threadies have been a little thin in numbers, but the average size has been impressive. Josh has been persistent with these fish over winter, and he has reaped the rewards for his efforts. Photo courtesy of Josh Dow. sure you prepare a heavier outfit and avoid using your bay snapper gear when there’s jew around!

There have been school and spotted mackerel taken trolling spoons on paravanes, drifting pilchards and spinning with metals around the beacons.

If we continue getting nice calm days this action should continue through August, however sudden changes may see them disappear, or become

more difficult to find.

Squid fishing should be nearing its best for the year in August, and providing you can find clear water, you should be in with a chance of nailing a really big tiger squid in any weedy, rocky or rubbly shallows. Avoiding areas that have wind blowing directly onto them is the key to finding good water for squid, with prominent mainland points and the shallow

season on K’gari (August to October). Pilchards rigged on gangs are still widely used on the beach for these fish, however modern surf casting rods and various jigs, slugs and topwater lures have encouraged more and more sportfishers to capitalise on this annual migration.

If you missed out in local waters this season, you may be able to bag a few on their return run south in late September

This mulloway gave Tom a few nervous moments around the pylons and ended up being his PB on fly.

Snapper have become a bit gun shy at times, however downsizing your jighead weight is a good way to present your soft plastics more naturally. Photo courtesy of Mitchell Easton.

fringes of the islands key spots to target. Woody Point, Sandstone Point, Wellington Point and Cleveland are usually protected on at least one side from the wind, and have been productive for landbased squidders. The boaters have fared better around the bay’s islands and shallow reefs where clear water is easier to find.

BEACHES The tailor action in the bay and estuaries that started in March has slowed right down, however it seems these fish have moved out into the surf gutters. The main beaches or North and South Straddie, Moreton and Bribie islands have been producing some cracking tailor, and all signs are looking great for what is usually the peak of the tailor

and October. High tides are generally the best time to soak a bait, while spinning with lures can comfortably be done throughout the tide, and is a great way to find feeding fish. Early morning and late afternoon are the key bite times, so make sure you rug up if you plant to hit the beach!

Bread-and-butter species like dart, bream, whiting and flathead will still be very active in the shallow gutters, especially on low tide. Strong winds can make surf fishing difficult, so this is something to keep in mind if we get a windy August. Irrespective of the wind though, there will be hungry fish in the surf gutters, and there really is no better way to relax than beach fishing.

RIVERS AND CREEKS The estuaries have been

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on fire lately, largely thanks to the huge amount of bait getting through all our major local systems like Pumicestone Passage, as well as the Caboolture, Pine and Brisbane rivers. August often sees larger forage species frequent our estuaries in SEQ, such as gar and large herring, so it can pay to have a few larger lure options regardless of what you’re targeting.

School-sized mulloway have been active in most systems, hanging out at the bottom of deep holes during the day and moving up in the water column to feed at night.

Fish between 50-70cm have been common, with 60-80mm soft vibes, 3-5” soft plastics and blades worked near the bottom working well once fish have been sounded.

At night, fishing around artificial light pools and structure such as bridges and well-lit pontoons has been productive, with a mix of jerkbaits, soft plastics, swimbaits and even flies claiming fish. In these scenarios live baits are a great ploy as well. Livies like gar, mullet and herring pinned lightly with a circle hook with little or no weight are deadly at night. Just remember to run at least a 30lb trace, as there are bigger ones lurking with the schoolies, plus the schoolies can fight dirty when they want to.

Threadfin salmon have been a little less forthcoming, however the average size in the Caboolture, Pine and Brisbane systems has been awesome, and lots of metre-plus fish have been recorded. Having a sounder is a huge plus when targeting threadies this year, as they have been moving around

a lot compared to previous years. Cycling through lures is a good way to work out what they want to eat, so make sure you carry a range of options.

Flathead fishing has been very up and down. When it’s been up the action has been rampant, however at times they have slowed down

Luderick or blackfish are still mooching along many rock walls and snaggy channels in the estuaries, however in August you’re better off heading just south of Brisbane if you want to nail a feed of these hard fighters.

to the point where anglers have wondered if they had completely disappeared. The good news is that the first bit of warmth usually signals to dusky flathead in SEQ that it’s spawning time, and August is a fantastic month to nail a really big flatty. The Pine and Caboolture rivers, Kedron Brook, and Nudgee beach have been productive areas so far. Pumicestone Passage has been producing plenty of flathead as well, however it’s usually about this time that this system fills up with weed, which can make fishing very difficult.

Bream are another fish that can be found quite easily through August. In recent months they have been stacked up around the mouths of systems for spawning, during which time they continue feeding. Any wind may discolour the water a little, but if this happens it will be a good time to explore nearby wind-blown shallows.

Small crankbaits and topwater lures will work in these areas, with this sort of action set to improve as the weather continues to warm and the conditions provide the spooky bream with a bit of cover.

Luderick or blackfish fired well through June and most of July, however August usually sees their season in SEQ slowing down. In the southern bay and on the Gold Coast

their spawning season often lasts a little longer, with any major rock walls or snaggy channels good places to drift a weed bait or fly. If you want to nail a few for the table, your best bet will be to head south.

FRESHWATER The rivers are still closed to bass fishing until September, however the action in the dams has been fantastic. Depending on the air temperature through August, the fish will either continue schooling in the deeper sections of dams or begin seeking warmth around the edges.

Anglers have enjoyed some cracker sessions at Samsonvale and Kurwongbah, landing double figures of super fat bass on spoons, ice jigs, 2-3” soft plastics and tail spinners.

Trollers have also continued to land good bass, with anything around 50-70mm long that dives down 6-8m suitable for trolling.

If we start getting a few warmer days, working lures like crankbaits, spinnerbaits and chatterbaits around the edges may be worth a go, especially in the mornings as the sun begins to warm the shallows. Any area with a bit of rock, timber or weed is worth prospecting, as these places will hold heat and oxygen.

As it begins to warm, yellowbelly will start to feed more aggressively, and are a great sportfish in themselves,

even if SEQ anglers don’t specifically target them very often.

Saratoga also become more active as the mercury climbs and will be a common by-catch for anyone fishing the edges for bass through August and September. Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and topwater lures are good lures to target toga, and covering lots of water is the best way to maximise your chances of intercepting one.

WRAP-UP August might be a tough month for fishing, but a warm change is just around the corner, and this will undoubtedly produce some awesome fishing. Success this month will come from observing the weather patterns closely and adjusting your approach to suit them. The fish don’t disappear in August, but they often change what they do and where they hang out, so you might have to think outside the box.

• For more up to date information on fishing in and around Brisbane call into the guys at Tackle World Lawnton and they can point you in the right direction. The friendly staff at Tackle World Lawnton cater to all levels of experience and offer the widest range of brands at the best prices. They are located at 640 Gympie Road Lawnton (07) 3205 7475 or find us on Facebook and Instagram.

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There are plenty of nice reds off Double Island!

NOOSA

Peter Wells

The Noosa River has been really firing with reports of good trevally action on the incoming tide around the points and current lines.

Trevally are feeding on baits brought in on the tide, so fishing smaller slugs and micro jigs has worked well. Casting the lure and retrieving at speed has been the most effective approach.

For those that love the surface bite, hit the water first thing in the morning or fish just on sundown has been very effective. Surface walkers like the Sugapen and Atomic Bull Dogs have been working well.

Whiting numbers are also improving with some nice sized fish taken on freshly pumped yabbies. Flathead numbers have been good with plenty of fish on the chew on the run-out tide. These fish will be sunning themselves on the banks as the water temperatures drop. Casting up onto the banks with soft plastic or small baby blue pilchards on ganged hooks and slowly retrieved has been a proven method.

Weyba Creek has been good for the odd winter jack, these fish seem to become more active in the late afternoon on the start of the run-out tide. The warmer waters, from the shallows upstream, raise the temperatures in the creeks getting the fish feeding. Live baits on poddy mullet or herring are still the number one baits.

To the south, the Maroochy River was again

fishing well. Good bream are in numbers and some larger sized fish have been taken down towards the river mouth and the deeper sections of black banks. Small pilchards and whitebait have been the go-to bait, as well as mullet strip.

For lure anglers, smaller soft plastics like the Keitech Easy Shiner in the 2 and 3” size have been really firing.

Tailor and trevally are still being reported from the river with the run-in tide and the early morning is the prime time. Fast moving slugs and plastics have been the way to go for the lure anglers, while the good old pilchard has done most of the damage for the bait anglers. Most action has come from around the traffic bridge down towards the mouth. Some anglers have

A successful day on Trekka 2!

Troy and Aiden with a double header of reds.

fat37 icane

h a Hurr t i w h c t a c r u o y Increase

opted to troll and have picked up some nice tailor around the jet ski run opposite Chambers Island.

Mulloway are a little quiet but if we don’t get too much rain the holes up past Coolum Creek will be worth a go. Paddle vibes like the Samaki Vibelicous always work well on the mulloway.

For the bait anglers you can’t go past live baits.

With the month-long

snapper and pearl perch closure in place until the middle of the month, anglers have had to try to target other species. The closure is for the betterment of the species as these are prime spawning times. If we want to keep this wonderful fishery for the future it seems a small price to pay. Some other options to target have been, sweetlip, cobia and tusk fish, coral trout, red emperor and mulloway with reefs like the Double Island Reef systems, North Reef and Sunshine Reef all reporting good fish.

Mackerel are still in our water even though water temps have dropped. Tuna are on the chew in Laguna Bay and are still feeding hard on bait schools with mac tuna the most prevalent. There has been the odd longtail amongst them taking anglers by surprise. Metal slugs like the TT Hard-core up to 40g have been working very well on the pelagics.

Once we do see the bans on snapper and pearl perch lifted, a run out to the Barwon Banks will see you amongst some of the better fish. With the new moon due on the 16th you will be better off starting out early and fish the sunrise and morning tides. Fishing larger plastics

on Berkley Elevator Head is a great option, these heads are fantastic and are jointed between the lead head and the plastic, giving it a much more realistic swimming action.

Another important part of the process is to make sure you scent those plastics, you just seem to get a more enthusiastic bite with the scent.

For the bait anglers using a live bait rig to get some live baits, like slimy mackerel or yakkas, has proved to be worthwhile as these baits seem to be getting inhaled as soon as they get to the bottom.

Large strip baits have also been popular with both mullet and mack tuna working well.

On the beaches, the bigger tides in the evening have seen plenty of sweep so you will have to up those sinker sizes. There are plenty of bigger dart are on the chew on the top of the tide, tailor numbers are also increasing with fish just over the kilo mark taken North of Teewah on the Noosa North Shore.

Mulloway have been a bit quiet with the full moon at night but there has been the odd fish taken after the moon sets in the very early mornings. As we move into the new moon this will change. Mulloway are an ambush predator and like to feed on the cover of the darker nights, this is why it’s best to fish the new moon. One of the most important things to keep in mind when targeting mulloway is to never shine a head torch into a gutter as this will turn them off. Fishing the high tide and good gutter selection will greatly increase your chances. Good quality baits are also important and fresh mullet or tailor are top of the list.

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AUGUST 2023 27

Central OLD

The biggest baits are catching the biggest fish BUNDABERG

Luke Truant

Over the past month the fishing has been red hot, or maybe I should say ‘red with blue spots’ hot!

Never in my life have I seen trout fishing any better than this, here in the southern Bunker area.

We have been consistently catching dinosaur-size trout. The biggest we’ve caught in the past month has been 87cm/8kg, and the average has been around the 5kg mark.

The better fishing has tended to be in the deeper water (35-40m) rather than the shallows, which is different from last year.

The trout have been hanging around scattered rocks, and lately they have been eating live baits almost exclusively.

Speaking of live baits, size matters. Any live bait we put down that’s bigger than the other livies will be the one that gets the big trout. I will search an extra 10nm to find a school of extra-large yellowtail scad, because the smaller scad just don’t cut the mustard – at least when it comes to XOS trout. The small scad still catch heaps of Maori cod, big Venus tuskfish and extra-

Big coral trout love big live baits. Mick couldn’t be happier with this ripper fish. large grass sweetlip, but the coral trout are more picky, and want really big baits. If you look back at my report in the July issue, you will see a photo of the size of the baits we’ve been using. The bait on the photo was a 30cm pinky (which we caught accidentally while getting scad), and it was eaten by an 85cm trout.

Yellowtail scad don’t have a minimum size limit, but other small fish may have one, so make sure your livies are legal size before you use them. You can find the latest rules and regulations on the Department of Fisheries website.

Chris with a solid winter coral trout.

At the time of writing this report (early July), the red emperor haven’t been in high numbers, which is to be expected at this time of year.

However, by the time you read this they should be in full swing, and the trout will taper off somewhat.

At this time of year, I target reds in a similar way to the trout. I definitely find that large, live 30cm trevally are very good for reds. I use really heavy, big sabiki jigs that are too large for scads to catch these bigger livies. If you are on the grounds and trigger fish are eating some chunks out of your baits, then cut them off behind the head and just put down the head. I don’t know why, but these heads are often very effective – just make sure the hook is well exposed, because hard baits don’t fold away from the hook like soft baits do. You can also keep the body and use it for big strip baits (with the tail on), but the heads are the best.

Red emperor like dead baits more than trout do.

When you’re targeting reds, I recommend using use head/ large strip baits and larger dead baits among the live

baits. And remember, don’t move spots just because you’re catching undersize red emperor. There will be big reds among the small ones, you just have to be patient and fish through them. Sometimes you will need to catch 15-20 small reds before you get the big ones, which is normal. It can help if you have a bait which is much larger than the others. As an example, you can knock the sides off a large hussar (leave the tail on the fillet), or use a big whole squid to get the attention of a bigger fish.

Gold-spot cod also love big baits, and are a common by-catch, although they will taper off in the coming weeks. If you find yourself catching multiple gold-spot cod at one location, it’s extremely important that you don’t take too many from that single mark. If you do, you won’t catch any species of fish there for a very long time, possibly never. That’s because cod are resident species that make holes in the sand, creating habitat for other fish to hide in, including tuskfish, coral trout, Moses perch and so on. I’ve observed this from a lifetime of spearfishing. Fish just don’t want to move back into these barren areas. Why would they, when the habitat is gone? One big gold-spot is enough for anybody, anyway.

Lately smaller species such as hussar and tuskfish have been off the chew a bit, but catches will increase this month. They’ll be taking small strip baits and small livies in the same areas that you’re catching large live baits, The Spanish mackerel fishing has been slow lately around our area, which is normal for winter. Any fish that are caught are usually 20kg+, but there are far fewer of them at this time of year. They will pick up again around September. In the meantime, it’s still great to have a floating bait when you’re fishing anywhere with some current, because if you hook a Spanish it will be big. It’s a day changer

when you get a 25kg Spanish in the boat.

There are still heaps of school mackerel along the coast. A good way to catch them is to grab some live baits from the end lateral marks in the Burnett River, and float them back down with a stinger rig. They are in good numbers around the

John was stoked to catch this big bar-cheek trout. live bait grounds, and the wreck off the Elliott River is also loaded with schoolies. I use 44lb mono stainless wire when fishing for schoolies, and 69lb for Spanish.

I haven’t seen any snapper so far this year, but they may show up this month. Remember that the closure runs from 15 July through to 15 August.

ESTUARY FISHING In the rivers we are still catching very good grunter locally, with specimens up to the 75cm mark. Some of the best baits are mullet strips and also big chunks of mullet gut, specifically the ‘mullet onion’ (the big muscle from the throat). They make a great reef bait as well.

Bream have been thick in the upper reaches of the rivers, and have been a common bycatch when you’re fishing for grunter.

You can specifically target bream around the rock wall areas using unweighted or really lightly weighted baits up to the rocks. Bream like to eat lamb heart, ox heart and mullet gut. If you’re using heart, cut it into large chunks, as big or bigger than you think would fit into a

Anthony with a hefty gold-spot cod.

28 AUGUST 2023

bream’s mouth. That will stop your bait from getting annihilated by little bream.

When it comes to leader, I use 16-20lb fluoro because the bream are in amongst the rocks, and are a bit dirty when they fight. Make your trace long, so if the fish does wrap you around a rock or barnacle, the sharp edge

won’t be rubbing on your braid/mono mainline.

The flathead will be coming on super thick through August and September. They enjoy sunning themselves in the shallows, often off an eddy on a sandbar. You can catch them on a whole dead or live sprat, but casting the shallows with a small 3-4” plastic is more fun, rigged on a 1/8oz jighead. I like double grub-tail plastics, because when they swim along they look a bit like a squid, with a nice feathery action at slow retrieve speeds. The colour doesn’t seem to matter much to these fish, but I like to use a bright colour like nuclear chicken so I can see it myself.

A nice slow retrieve is the order of the day, because flathead are lazy. That’s why some people love them – when you’re fishing for them you hardly have to try sometimes. Just a couple of casts, jiggle the bait a bit, and that’s often enough.

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Central OLD

Good winter catches on offer inshore and offshore MACKAY

Clinton Hassan

As the year speeds along we will soon be out of winter and into spring. And though we only saw a few days of cold weather, the winter species arrived in good numbers.

Spanish mackerel have been around in large numbers both inshore and offshore, with land-based anglers landing some quality fish from headlands and break wall as well. If we get favourable weather in the coming weeks, the deep gutters and drop-offs along the reef edges will be perfect for trolling deep-diving lures such as the Rapala X-Rap Magnum 30s or Samaki Pacemaker DD. Alternatively, if you want something with more speed, you can try the Nomad Madmacs 160mm.

The inshore shoals and patches will be hotspots for bait fishers in the coming weeks as the Spanish mackerel follow schools of ribbonfish and garfish inshore. Floating baits on gang hook rigs using a float or balloon is a good approach. Alternatively, if you’re trolling baits, use a weighted chinguard and make sure to break the backbone of the gar or ribbonfish to make it supple and allow for a better swimming action.

For land-based anglers fishing the southern break wall,

the best option is to use a live bait such as a herring, either fished on a running sinker rig or floated using a balloon to get some distance off the wall.

For the lure enthusiast, try casting weighted hardbodies for distance, and alternate your speed from slow roll to high speed. The ideal lures for this are the Venom V Swim 120mm, Zerek Zappelin 115mm, and Rapala Long Cast 140mm.

From 1 July there has been a change to the possession limit for Spanish mackerel.

The new limit is one per person and two per boat, with

two or more people on board.

SHIPPING CHANNEL The shipping channel has produced some quality red fish throughout winter, with both red emperor and nannygai being caught. You can get good results drifting the channel and running the usual paternoster rig baited with squid, pilchard or hard bait for nannygai. My preferred rig for red emperor is a double ganged 9/0 running sinker rig baited with a fresh side of hussar or fusilier. At this time of year, you will normally see bycatches of grunter, snapper and large coral trout to top up

Brad Sorensen with a snapper caught on a squid bait.

Corey Platt with a GT caught while chasing barra.

the ice box.

SNAPPER Snapper have been plentiful throughout the shallow inshore shoals and patches, with the better-quality fish caught around low light periods. The preferred baits are whole squid, pilchards, gar and whiting. For the lure fanatics, the new Nomad Squidtrex 95mm has been working a treat, or you can use any slow pitch jigs from 40g to 80g,

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Jayd Rattey caught this snapper on a whole garfish. depending on current speed.

Remember that snapper are currently a no-take species due to their spawning season, which starts on 15 July and runs through until 15 August, inclusive.

BEACH FISHING The local beaches from Shoal Point through to Far Beach have seen plenty of bread-and-butter species on the chew, from whiting and bream to flathead and dart.

The best baits by far are fresh pumped yabbies on a long shank hook, on a running sinker rig. Be sure to jam pack the hook with yabbies for best results.

In the crystal-clear water, lure fishers have been bagging elbow-slapper whiting using small poppers and stickbaits.

The Jackson EB Panic and Sugapen 70mm have been proving hard to beat.

Flathead are also plentiful,

McKenzie Murdoch, Clinton Hassan and Tyler Mogg with muddies from Belmunda.

McKenzie Murdoch, Hailey Mogg and Shayla Murdoch with a grunter that couldn’t resist a live mullet. and have been taking both baits and lures. At this time of year, a lot of big fish can be found high in shallows, especially rock bars, where the water is nice and warm.

MUD CRABS It’s a funny thing – an old saying I was told as a young lad was that any month without the letter ‘R’ was no good for crabbing. Well, I have definitely proved that wrong on numerous occasions.

Crabbing has been at its best throughout winter, and the fact that the water temperatures here aren’t as cold as the water further south is most likely the reason.

When crabbing during the cooler months, I tend to use much bigger and oilier baits

to attract the crabs. I also recommend that you run your pots around rock bars or deep holes throughout the creek and, if possible, leave the pot to soak for two tides.

If you are floating pots around the Mackay area, try using two floats and attach the second float 2m from the first.

With the massive run-in tides throughout the area, you don’t want to lose your pot.

• Tackle World Mackay is Mackay’s number one tackle shop, and stocks an extensive range of fishing, boating and diving products in store and online. The staff are experienced and friendly, and provide excellent product knowledge with the most up-to-date fishing info. They are more than happy to help you out with your next fishing adventure. Give Tackle World Mackay a call on 07 4957 2145, or drop into the store at 318 Shakespeare St, Mackay.

Harley Saron with a Spanish mackerel.

Hi, I’m Ca󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥 󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥a󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥 t󰈊󰈊󰈊󰈊 Com󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩 󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩 󰈩󰈩o󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩 󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩o󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩 󰈩󰈩 󰈥󰈥e󰈥󰈥󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰉃󰉃󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩 - 8t󰈊󰈊󰈊󰈊 Oc󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃o󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰉃󰉃 󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃 󰉃󰉃ac󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃 I󰉃󰉃󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃’󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃 Luc󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰉃󰈔󰈔󰈔󰈔󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈥󰈔󰈔󰈔󰈔 󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈩󰈔󰈔󰈔󰈔 󰈥󰈥󰈔󰈔󰈔󰈔a󰈥󰈥

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AUGUST 2023 31

Gillnet announcement

The Australian and Queensland governments have announced they will commit more than $160 million to phase out commercial gillnet fishing in the Great Barrier Reef by mid-2027 and transition to more sustainable fishing practices.

A gillnet-free north will be established from Cape Bedford to the tip of Cape York.

Additional commercial gillnet free zones will be established in the Gulf of Carpentaria and other locations of high ecological value.

Murray cod Murray cod are a no-take species from 1 August –

31 October in all Queensland fresh waters in the Murray–Darling Drainage Division. This closed season protects Murray cod during their breeding season.

It is also illegal to deliberately target Murray cod for catch and release during the closure, as the stress of capture may prevent fish from spawning or protecting their nest. Murray cod caught accidentally must be immediately returned to the water unharmed.

Wanting to chase some Murray cod during the closure? Head to your local stocked impoundment, where you can still catch Murray cod.

Changing seasons

What you need to know Australian bass

Mary River cod

All Queensland tidal waters 1 June 2023 – 31 August 2023

Selected Queensland fresh waters 1 August 2023 – 31 October 2023

Spanish mackerel

Murray cod

East Coast Queensland tidal waters From 1 July 2023

All Queensland fresh waters in the Murray-Darling Drainage Division 1 August 2023 – 31 October 2023

CLOSED SEASON

MANAGEMENT CHANGES

Snapper and pearl perch CLOSED SEASON

CLOSED WATERS

CLOSED SEASON

All Queensland tidal waters 15 July 2023 – 15 August 2023

Mary River cod Mary River cod are a nationally listed endangered species in the wild and may only be taken in certain stocked dams or weirs outside of the Mary River catchment. In these dams and weirs, a possession limit of one and a minimum size of 60cm applies.

To further protect the Mary River cod population during breeding, you must not possess or use a fishing line from 1 August – 31 October at the following locations: • Albert River (upstream from the junction of Canungra Creek and Albert River – includes Canungra Creek) • Christmas Creek • Coomera River (upstream from the junction of Guanaba Creek and Coomera River – includes Guanaba Creek) • Mary River and adjoining waterways (upstream of its junction with Six Mile Creek at the creek’s northern bank, other than waters up to the full supply level of Baroon Pocket Dam, Borumba Dam and Lake MacDonald) • Running Creek Stanley River (above Neurum Creek and Stanley River junction).

A person must also not possess or use a fishing line in Obi Obi Creek all year round between the Baroon Pocket Dam wall and the shortest line across the creek at the downstream side of Obi Obi Creek crossing 4 (Manuel Hornibrook Bridge).

DAF2031 07/23

Search fisheries.qld.gov.au for ‘closed seasons’ or ‘closed waters’ or use the Qld Fishing 2.0 app to find out more.

Download the free ‘Qld Fishing 2.0’ app from the App Store or Google Play 32 AUGUST 2023

Qld Fishing 2.0 app to be upgraded Fisheries Queensland is enhancing the Qld Fishing 2.0 app with a voluntary reporting function so that it can be a one-stop shop for fishers.

After talking to recreational fishers to gather feedback, you said you wanted: • Features to use the app like a fishing diary with badges for quality data collection • Flexibility with user profiles to customise preferences • Trust and transparency to let users know what the data are used for as well as ensuring that information is secure, with user’s location and privacy respected • Data collection to be tiered for necessary catch reporting data and optional extras with the ability to fill out reporting offline and add photos • Feedback to see summaries of what information was recorded and the ability to share it with others • Simplicity in design to make it easy and quick to use • Data validation and flags to make sure we collect quality information and flag possible errors This feedback will be used to inform the enhancements.

Don’t have the Qld Fishing 2.0 app? Join the 100,000 users who have downloaded it for free from the Google Play or Apple app stores!

Faces of fisheries Connan fulfilled his childhood passion of becoming a Fisheries Officer when he joined the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol. As a Nyikina and Yawuru man originally from the Kimberly region in Western Australia, he has a strong passion for fisheries sustainability and Indigenous culture.

In his role as a Fisheries Cultural Liaison Officer, Con engages with the local Indigenous communities to foster cooperation and build a better understanding between the communities and QBFP of traditional fishing. After 4 years in the patrol, it’s still everything he imagined it would be and Con’s still amazed at what he sees regularly while on patrol.

Meet Connan...

fisheries.qld.gov.au 13 25 23 FisheriesQueensland FisheriesQld DAFQld AUGUST 2023 33

OLD

Good barra and jacks are taking lure and baits TOWNSVILLE

Dave Hodge

We’ve certainly had a weird month weather wise, and the fish have been reacting to the water temp changes, as you’d expect.

Offshore fishers have been enjoying great catches of all species, and the mackerel fishing is just out of control.

If you’re having a bit of trouble staying connected to the Spanish, try using longer, stretchy leaders to add some forgiveness into the equation, and when I say long leaders I mean about the 10m mark. I use a wind-on leader in 80lb for the macks, which provides that all important shock absorption. Softer tipped rods too, will help with securing more positive hook-ups.

Monster-sized trout have been taking vibes and plastics in the 5-15m stuff. Some absolute stonkers have been released, as they are believed to have a higher risk of causing ciguatera poisoning.

Those anglers who have been taking the time to get some livies before heading to the reef have also been enjoying a lot of success.

I’m talking so much about rigs this month, it’s because so many people have been coming into the Fishing Warehouse with rig dramas.

It’s a good feeling when they return later and say that these simple changes have fixed their issues.

Longtail tuna are around

When the tides are a bit bigger, the water churns and gets dirtier. This is when a bright lure like the radioactive Atomic Prong 4” comes into its own. Rigged weedless, prawn imitations like these can be sunk into nasty snags where the bigger fish hide.

Atomic Prong in the 3” and 4” sizes. Fished in tight against the structure such as mangrove roots and fallen timber, they can be worked over the

34 AUGUST 2023

of water and have to exit the thick stuff. At this time, they will sit on those little drains and ledges where they know the bait has to come through to

If you’re up to the challenge, using smaller lures and lighter gear will help connect to some decent fish when the bite is a bit tough. Getting them out can be a giggle, but that’s all part of it.

Winter is a great time to target flathead in the shallows at the bottom of the tide. The electric chicken Atomic Prong pictured, and the orange Paddle Prawn, are consistent producers.

The good old herring is the number one bait, rigged on a 6/0 suicide hook.

Downsizing leaders and braids has also been key to getting more action in the clearer water, but that should be no surprise by now.

A couple of years ago, the standard reef outfit was 80lb braid and 80-100lb leader for most people. However, in more recent times, the 40lb braid and 50-60lb leader is definitely producing more fish.

This may sound silly to some, but have you ever tried busting 40lb braid through a rod?

It’s bloody near impossible sometimes if you’re using a good leader knot. Personally, I like the FG knot, but a short bimini joined to some 50lb via a Cairns deckies knot is also hard to beat. I also like to use longer leaders of at least 4m, and sometimes 6m, depending on the depth.

If you’re wondering why

one of these powerhouse speedsters. The secret is to bleed them instantly and then ice them down ASAP to set the flesh.

If you see a patch of birds and some surface activity while you’re travelling, have a 40-60g slice/slug ready to fire, and hang on. A suitable

in big numbers as well. While some people see them as hardpulling cat food, I actually love a good, thick steak of

outfit will be a spin rod that’s 6’6” long, or 7’0”, for greater distance on these spooky buggers. I recommend using 20-30lb braid and a leader of around 2-3m of 40lb FC. Make sure that your gaff is needle sharp, because many tuna are lost at the side of the boat.

RIVER AND CREEKS Barra and jacks are still quite active, and some good fish are being taken on both lures and bait.

The water in winter is typically quite clear, so colour selections are quite important if you’re to get the most action possible. If you watch our YouTube channel (Hodgie The Barefoot Fisherman), you’ll already know that our two favourite soft plastics are the Halco Paddle Prawn and the

Tannhym Hodge caught this whiting down deep on a Paddle Prawn while chasing jacks.

You’ll want a rod that has the soft tip necessary for accurate casting, while still having enough strength in the butt section to stop solid jacks. This fish was caught on a 6’3” Samurai Refraction 12-6lb rod. branches and roots and allowed to sink where it’s impossible to get a hardbody. During winter time the jacks and barra often sit deeper, and it’s important to be able to reach them in order to get the bite. Hardbodies are great for twitching over the top of horizontal structure when fish are feeding close to the surface, but snag up too often if you try to get them too deep.

Skipping surface lures underneath overhanging structure is one of our go-to techniques when the sun gets up a bit higher in the sky, and it’s actually a lot easier to do than you’d think. Soft-tipped rods help generate the speed that’s necessary to skip the lure, and also make casting for hours effortless.

Timing is everything when skip casting. Let’s say you’re fishing a run-in tide on a mangrove-lined bank. You need to be able to reach those fish before the water gets high enough for the fish to disappear back into the mangrove forest chasing the bait, where it’s impossible to reach them.

Your next option is to be there as the tide changes, and the water recedes back out of the forest once more. Being in the right place at the right time gives you that opportunity to target the fish as they run out

if they’re not as sharp as they can be, you’ll miss plenty of bites. I use the Atomic EWG 1/4oz weight on a 5/0 hook.

Flathead and whiting have also been putting in their traditional winter appearance, with plenty of whiting around that 31-35cm mark being taken on peeled prawn, worm and yabbies. My son Tannhym even managed one on a soft plastic the other day down deep chasing jacks. The bright orange Paddle Prawn 4” has been a standout in the flattie stakes, and when fished on a 1/4oz head with 4/0 hook it’s just right for the bigger models fished in less than a metre of water.

As far as camping goes, this is the perfect time of year to go and enjoy a campfire and early mornings on the

Don’t be surprised if some decent grunter eat your lure down deep. This one took a Paddle Prawn fished on a deep snag for jacks. get back to the river. The bite in these situations may only last 40 minutes to an hour, but it’s a pretty cool time as sometimes it feels like every cast gets a bite.

The size of jacks can be quite big on average, but the majority of your barra will usually be a bit smaller, say 50-60cm, with the odd bigger model thrown in. Strong, sharp hooks are imperative;

water. Being able to roll out of your swag and enjoy a coffee as the sun comes up, and then put the boat in without needing to travel anywhere, is a special thing.

It also puts you on the water for that early morning, low light bite as the sun comes up.

No wonder we all love this sport so much!

Enjoy the cooler months, and good fishing to you all.

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AUGUST 2023 35

OLD

Hinchy’s two sides HINCHINBROOK

Ian Moody info@ianmoodyfishing.com

Coming out of July and into August sees us going through the coldest parts of the year,

licences tied to barramundi gill netting ending this year. So, from next year’s open barra season will see a major recruitment in the numbers of fish that will compound in the years following. Perhaps we’ll also see a return in numbers

deluge area of late, mostly being caught on snagless plastics casted deep up into overhanging mangrove lines – some good-sized ones too. Perhaps the reason behind it is this year’s water temps are way hotter than last year’s. They

There have been quite a few schools of fingermark around this winter. will notice quite a few of those early afternoon low tides getting down to 0.3m, which will trap

an area for hours, which sometimes is not a bad thing! It also presents a problem for the Port

and even up to 1.5m for the bigger boats.

Sharks have been ramping it up further this

Bindy with a lovely 63cm barra which also fluctuates a lot of barometers up in the North Queensland coastline. This, along with

of king threadfin salmon.

The smaller neap tides this time of year that I have had to work with so

are a species that thrive on those really super hot days in summer.

During this month you

A decent 70cm school sized barra.

Shannon showing his 68cm barra. the colder temperatures, can make those lockjaw events much more frequent at Hinchinbrook.

However, there is some really great fishing during those stability periods in between.

Quite often I have encountered some tough fishing followed up by some very memorable bite periods that can just come out of the blue. Shorter length of time than normal, but very intense sessions.

In a major boost to recreational angling in Queensland, the state and federal governments have controversially just announced an end to all gill netting by 2027. Also, with 36 AUGUST 2023

far has made me venture to deeper water where I found quite a few large schools of winter fingermark in the channel. Hugging the shallow edges to deep drop offs, a few schools at around approximately 50-80cm fish have taken up residence on a few old GPS marks of mine. Live baits, and also the newly released Squid Trex vibes, have been working a treat and doing damage. Fingermark 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.

There have been some good mangrove jack around the boat passage/

you in certain parts of the Hinchinbrook Channel. Be wary and prepare, unless you wish to be trapped in

Hinchinbrook Marina boat ramp as you need a minimum of 1.2m to get out for a flat bottom boat

There are increasing numbers of sharks around this season.

year with increasing numbers hanging around most areas that fish aggregate. I’m seeing far more quality fish being hunted down in the shallows by sharks than I ever have in my life.

Be careful about how you release your fish over the side of your boat as footage released recently showed an angler in Florida USA being ripped out of his boat by a bull shark as he was leaning over washing his hands!

• There are still quite a few good dates for August, September, October so get in quick to get the best tides left. 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

Make or break in the NFZ CAIRNS

Dan Kaggelis dkaggelis@gmail.com

August can be a make-orbreak month in the Trinity Net Free Zone. On one hand it can be bitterly cold with strong southerly winds, which can make the fishing really tough, or it can be the complete

barramundi haven’t slowed down at all, and they are still being caught across all the rivers in the Net Free Zone. The Inlet has been producing the best fish, especially on live baits. The mouth of Saltwater Creek has been producing the best fish of late.

There has also been a steady run of big golden snapper in the deeper holes,

well using vibes and fresh and live baits.

Jacks have been a consistent catch in all creeks and rivers with 3” paddle tail plastics being the best option. The waters of all the creeks and rivers is super clear at the moment, so lure fishing has greatly improved. The queenfish have returned for another winter and they have been

Jacks have been on the chew with paddle tail plastics being the lure of choice.

There are lots of smaller barra around, which is a healthy sign. opposite with warm sunny skies and light winds making for some excellent fishing conditions.

So far this year we have seen more of the latter, which has seen some excellent fishing. The

rubbly bottoms and bends.

This is one species that has really benefited from the lack of nets as numbers and size have been on the increase. The rubble patches out from the Marlin Coast Marina have been fishing

pretty common catches out the front around the leads of the Inlet. It is a really good sign to see these fish return every year in big numbers as it’s a sign of a very healthy fishery.

Another fishery that is

still producing this time of year is the threadfin salmon run. Land-based anglers are still catching these fish off Machans and Holloways Beach in good numbers using dead and live mullet baits and lures. Having these fish being caught all year round is testament to how much this fishery has returned to the old days before commercial netting.

Next month will see the return of the warmer weather and light winds. This will mean the headlands and open beaches will be prime for the fishing, especially those with boats who have been unable to get out over winter. The threadfin and barra fishery out on the beaches will be ready to fire and based on last year’s results it should be a cracker.

Even in the cooler weather, catches of jacks and barra have been possible.

Port Douglas: Where else would you rather be?

PORT DOUGLAS

Lynton Heffer www.fishingportdouglas.com.au

Whilst the majority of Australia are battling with the elements of a chilly and challenging winter, up in the tropics we are revelling in more mild conditions.

In fact, in a lot of cases the fishing has gone to a complete whole new level.

There is never a dull moment on the calendar when fishing in the tropics.

All the buzz at the moment is about fishing out on the Great Barrier Reef.

All manners of species are on the chew and it can be a lottery draw as to what you’ll pull up over the side of the boat. In the deeper waters, 30m+, you can expect to hook up to a variety of fish, including impressive red emperor, large and small mouth nannygai of sizable proportions, cobia, green jobfish, plus good-sized Spanish mackerel, which tend to patrol more around 38 AUGUST 2023

deep bommies and pinnacles.

As you move into the shallower water of 15-25m the lucky dip continues with numerous species possible.

These include numerous coral trout up to 5kg, which are considered a jewel of the sea. There are also healthy numbers of Moses perch, stripies and sweetlip. Although not considered as common species, there are some extra surprises of high quality fish, including cattle dog cod, Maori bream and a recent influx of Robinson sea bream that only frequent our waters at this time of year.

So, as you can see depending on weather conditions there are a huge range of fish to be caught in all levels of the water column. On our charters, fish bags that the clients take home represent all the colours of the rainbow. It is by far the most popular choice of angling by those who visit the region.

Not to be dismissed, our estuary and river systems have settled into a winter programme providing equally

exciting moments on the calm water.

The species that are providing the most entertainment have been a consistent run of 1m queenfish, which in my opinion are in the top five sportfish to be caught up here. They enjoy a good

run-in tide and fish well to the top of the tide and the first part of the run-out tide.

Their theatrics on the surface as they can contort and twist their bodies in the air provide an adrenalin rush like so few others. Surface poppers or live sardines 2m under a float

are accounting for most of these fish.

Other species that have shown true form have included a steady flow of mangrove jack and bream hard up against the mangrove banks. There are handy numbers of fingermark

The consistent run of 1m queenfish are providing the most entertainment.

lurking around deeper sunken structures and there is always a number of river trevally scooting in and around the system. If you try your hand around the river mouths and associated sandy flats you will also encounter some ripping golden trevally and grunter on a rising tide.

This makes for some very visually exciting fishing in skinny water.

At the moment, it is also worth setting a few mud crab pots at the start of your trip and checking them on the way home to pick up a major bonus at the end of the day.

As you can see there are a multitude of options at your disposal in our fishing world, despite it being winter, and that’s why it is considered by many as a must visit angling destination. As the days go by a few new species will reveal themselves as the season changes making for an even better angling experience.

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OLD

Cool temperature lure fishing COOKTOWN

Justin Coventry

The weather has been cool, and some late showers of rain has made the fishing slow. Nevertheless, there is still access to most areas around Cooktown and the Cape, with Lakefield National Park fully open as well.

The barra fishing is still good throughout Lakefield but will improve as the weather starts to warm up next month. The rivers’ flow are starting to slow and have even started to stop in some. When the large waterholes start becoming isolated, the fish can start to fire up especially if the bait becomes scarce. Barra can start becoming more aggressive and some great lure fishing sessions can be had. As the saying goes, ‘right time right spot’ and you’re in for some great lure fishing sessions.

The timber shad shaped lures are my favourite as they can dive down deep

Joshua with a nice barramundi. up to keep it vulnerable to being attacked.

I’ve used many over the years but my favourites are the Leads, Richos (no longer made) and my own creations Cape York Lures.

Lakefield National Park so be croc wise. The size and number of these animals is on the increase and some recent fishing trips I have sighted some massive crocs and seen evidence of even bigger animals around.

Don’t be complacent. Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t watching you.

I have tried to get up close to some large crocs to photograph them but they are so sensitive to movement and vibrations that it’s hard to get the better of them. Also, I have seen a large male showing a staking display on the surface of the waterhole as we entered it from over 50m away and it was showing it was his domain, so they are very aware of your presence before you even know they are there. Take care and know that you aren’t the top of food chain in these areas and targeting fish can make you a target.

The winds seem to be continually blowing and everyone is waiting for any

window to head out to the reef as fishing should be hot, with red emperor and coral trout in large numbers.

Spanish mackerel are showing up in numbers on the reef and will start showing up in the river mouth in the next month.

Once on the bite, the local

Beware of crocs, here’s one on the shore front waiting with his mouth open.

Caleb laying down in a croc slide. This shows the size and potential danger when fishing the waterhole. but still float up to cross over snags, and can also take a punishing from fish and still work. The strike zone is usually close to the snag areas and having a lure stay longer in the strike zone allows more of a reactive bite from barramundi lurking under these snag structures. A good timber lure can be worked and twitched around these areas to maximus success. A quick jerk and stop can see a lure even move backwards on the float back, and a weighted lure will also move slowly 40 AUGUST 2023

Nothing more satisfying than catching a fish on your own lures. There are so many timber local lure makers around and they are worth supporting as most have loved fishing and make lures that work for them. So, when visiting a new area take the time to connect and support local lure makers with their knowledge and creativity to make a lure that works in the local waterways for target species.

This year there has been more frequent croc attacks and even a fatality in

Dinosaurs do exist!

The author with a great lagoon barramundi.

fishers will be down the wharf looking to catch them as they move through chasing bait.

Trevally and queenfish will also be moving through the Endeavour and Annan rivers and some great action can be had chasing them with poppers. I always have a popper in the boat when setting or checking crab pots as you never know when you might come across a feeding frenzy in the river.

This month, the focus will be on getting out and about chasing barramundi but ever hopeful the winds drop so the reef becomes an option. Looking forward to a good feed of reef fish and crayfish. It’s been too long but it will happen soon.

AUGUST 2023 41

OLD

August in the Cape CAPE YORK

Tim O’Reilly wildrivercompany@gmail.com

After what has been a pleasant dry season followed by good rains, August is set to be cracker. With the country

modern gadgetry tend to do better when the fishing’s tough. Repeated casting at fish that are parked up on the sounder will still yield results.

Some of the fishing for pelagic and fast moving fish can be frenetic in August when suitable conditions

prevail. Huge bait schools gather inshore along the Gulf of Carpentaria coast.

Flocks and flocks of birds fly out every day to investigate the carnage going on. Fish, such as long tail tuna and Spanish mackerel, terrorise these bait schools and include

Fraser with a decent barra caught from the Archer River. the Cape’s west coast on the annual migration path.

Plenty of critters are flying every which ways in the shallow soupy inshore waters of the Gulf. A huge

A tidy jack for the author. holding on for longer than normal, many of the smaller creeks and rivulets will still seep water out, either above or below ground. Much of Cape York’s bushland will be thriving, as will people traffic on the northern sojourn to the Cape.

Getting straight down to business the barra fishing can be quite challenging.

Traditional methods of casting hardbodies and trolling all usual spots or bashing the best snags.

It can all feel like a bit of a grind once those water temperatures drop away. The fish simply get sluggish. But they still eat and those with all the

burns. This is a necessary process to reduce fuel load and horrific late-season bushfires. Fire creates its own arrangements with freshwater inhabitants.

Nutrient fall back from the ash of burnt debris finds its way into small creeks and might send the fishing off.

As the winter slowly fades and with September

A big barra for Richard.

Cape York never disappoints with sessions like this.

42 AUGUST 2023

August. Cool conditions, clean water and tropical fish that are more than prepared to do battle in winter! Wading the flats can be more productive in clear, sunlight conditions.

Not too many bities around, this includes mozzies, sand flies and crocs (most of them are sunning themselves on the bank!).

biomass of organisms is turning from one life form, consumed by another. An extensive inshore fishery exists all the way from the tip of Cape York and down past Kowanyama. As schools of fish of various sorts cruise the coastline, they can be picked off by those wishing to sight cast the shallows. Water clarity on the higher tides can be mazing, particularly in the northern Gulf waters.

Generally speaking August is a little easier to survive on Cape York’s west coast rather than the east coast. The prevailing sou-easterly and easterly breezes can make life tough on the Barrier Reef coastline this time of year.

Where’s these prevailing winds blow offshore on the western Cape coast, making beach and boating life more comfortable.

Fly fishers often choose to visit this west coast in

Benny Stuart flicking the fly for queenies.

August can be a cool month by Cape York standards. Plenty of people camped up the Cape will tell you, it can get colder than they expected. Some of the countryside will already be blackened off, caught up in the neverending cycle of dry season

just around the corner, plenty of fish will beginning the rattle their bones and get ready for rising water temps. Some our favourite fish such as barramundi, threadfin salmon and mangrove jack might start to blink with the first hint of spring in the air.

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The action of the Ryuki MDF is fast and anglers can twitch the lure quickly keeping the lure working erratically in a short distance when fishing structure, or anglers can simply use a slow rolling retrieve to cover water when fishing over flats for bream or bass.

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AUGUST 2023 43

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A POWERFUL Lasting the distance PACKAGE I wonder what it is about fishing that keeps me coming back for more.

The bug bit me early. I can remember fishing for catties in the clear creeks behind the Sunny Coast from about the age of four, and getting into strife for not wanting to go home.

We moved out West when I was 7 and I can remember being devastated at the sight of the brown water. How do we catch them if we can’t see them?

I think the fishing bug is either there or it’s not; that you’re born with it. I love the sight of old fellas out in

not just go down to the fisho and pick up a redback’s worth of whiting or flathead fillets instead of dragging yourself out of bed, filling up with fuel and buying some bait, launching, battling the bloody motor, forgetting your coat, getting rained on, busting fingers in the cold, snapping eyelets off, losing the best fish of the day because of badly tied knots or frayed line you didn’t bother to replace because you didn’t think you’d hook anything?

I’m sitting here on my veranda watching sensible people walking past. Why not do that? Just get out of bed and walk out the door, walk around

for half an hour then go home and relax with a steaming coffee or Earl Grey. No gear to wash down, mugs to wash up, rods to throw out and very occasional fish to clean.

And there are occasions as the years climb where I fold and take the easy option. I ignore that primal compulsion to provide and settle for the safe, the boring option. I cave into mediocrity.

That’s why as I get older I appreciate those old fellas more, because that’s where I want to be in the now not too distant future. Not settling for shop bought fillets. Going out and feeding my family my way, through my efforts like these old codgers are doing. I want to be a cranky, stubborn old bastard too.

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W: nauticalmarine.com.au EADES northern Gold CoastXTREME beachesMARINE tailor by collecting the length, Fish age to collect biological sex and age of fish caught TOORADIN by Tailor are fast growing 24 Sturt data Streeton Echuca tailor. You can participate and relatively short-lived.

P: (03) 5482 2333 commercial and recreational P&J MARINE SERVICE CENTRE P/L in the monitoring program fishers. Fisheries Qld uses They reach maturity at F: (03) 5482 2133 101 Tooradin Station Road Tooradin by allowing scientists to this data, along with other around 1-2 years of age. Most W: xtrememarine.net.au P: (03)tailor 5998caught 3107 are between 2-5 measure your fish during information, to help determine these annual tailor surveys. the current status of the tailor years old.

E: pjmarine_services@bigpond.com GEELONG TAILOR FACTS stock and the sustainability of In 2009, when the Tailor are found along legal EDENCRAFT MARINEthe tailor fishery in the state. minimume csize n(MLS) am the east coast of Buckley Australia, is currently classifiedMELBOURNE as for tailor was 30cm, the 22-30 GroveTailor Moolap y tpro ilfishers iba right up to the northern tip Sustainably Fished. harvest of rec and P: (03)Tailor 5248 4520 TRIPLEwas M MARINE of Fraser Island. can stnFish length dominated by 2-year-old emer cfish. niIn Drive MtheP R01 E: admin@edencraftmarine.com.au tolerate a range of salinities Most tailor caught 117

by Northgate 2010Thomastown MLS was and are found in estuarine, recreational and commercial W: www.edencraftmarine.com.au P: (03)increased 9465 8787 to 35cm. Since bay and coastal water habitats. fishers are 35-50cm long. More F: (03)then, 9466fewer 1418 2-year-olds have Throughout winter and spring, than 50% of fish caught are been observed in the harvest, W: triplemmarine.com.au schools of mature tailor between 35-40cm. Throughout as many are undersize and migrate north to spawn. the monitoring program, few returned to the sea.

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ua.

AUGUST 2023 45

OLD

Only one month to go!

TOOWOOMBA

Jason Ehrlich fishability1@bigpond.com

There’s only a month of winter to go, and just around the corner we will experience some excellent fishing. Late August can be the start of the best big bass action across the lakes.

The first hint of unseasonably warm weather in August can set them off and they should then continue to stay

schooled and bite well for a couple of months.

Somerset, Wivenhoe, North Pine, Moogerah, Hinze and Wyaralong are my top picks for monster bass this year. These fatties will be over 2kg and some 3kg+ fish will be mixed in with them.

It is closed season for Murray cod from the 1 August in Queensland waters. An exception applies to all the stocked lakes where they can still be targeted. Abiding by these rules allows the wild

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND CRESSBROOK CLOSEST TOWN: CROWS NEST The fishing is still slow at Cressy. The

they are easier to find on sounders.

Spoons, and soft plastics are likely to be the best lure choices for

fish the chance to breed up.

The barra scene will still be a bit slow and we can expect better action if we hold out an extra month.

If there are warmer periods, they will be the time to try your luck at a winter fish.

It won’t be long now until we are blessed with fishing options on the freshwater scene. More stable weather for the remainder of this year should see less rain events and better fishing all round.

Until next month, buckled rods from the Colonel. up to 20m. The isothermic water will allow the fish to travel the full depth range and they can be caught from very deep water.

If letting them go, a fast release is best and it pays

Ben Wilson braved the cold at Wivenhoe Dam to catch this nice bass deep cranking the edges. The lure is a Hide Up HU-400.

Jada Sticklen was all smiles when she caught this 50cm+ bass at Wivenhoe Dam. It’s quite a story, and it scored her $100 in the Sticklen family fishing comp. bass are hard to find and golden perch still dominate winter catches.

If we are ever going to see those bass miraculously show up, it will happen in the next two months.

Schools will form in the deeper water where

these fish. Try looking on the flats out from the boat ramp, the main basin points and the point opposite The Eagles Nest. Bigger fish are more likely to hold near the bottom in 10m of water but smaller models can be found suspended in

to have a needle to vent fish if they are struggling to get back down to a comfortable depth.

• Fish’n’Bits in Toowoomba has all the gear and tips on how to chase the Cressy fish. They are an excellent store specialising in

Gary’s Marine Centre

3201 6232

217 Pine Mountain Road, BRASSALL 46 AUGUST 2023

all freshwater lures and tackle. The access gates to the ramp and day use area will be open from 7am to 6pm.

SOMERSET CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY There has been the occasional good day on the lake. Schools have moved around a bit through winter.

Some bass remain on the Pelican Point flats and drop offs. Numbers have also started to show in other areas including Queens Street and Kirkleigh flats.

In winter, the fish have the ability to spread right out from the shallow edges to deeper water around 20m. The clarity is good this year so I expect numbers of smaller fish to make their way out into 9-15m of water by the end of the month. The usual areas like Bay of Plenty and out from Red Rock should hold good fish.

Big fish are likely to be found in 7-9m of water.

Kirkleigh flats will hold concentrations of these big fish and they will also turn up with the smaller models in other areas.

Spoons and metal jigs are hard to beat at this time of year. The action at the start of the month will be slow but by late August, big numbers should be getting caught. While things are still slow, mix it up and try some shallow edges as well. Lipless crankbaits and suspending jerkbaits will pull a few fish when the schools refuse to eat.

MAROON CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH, RATHDOWNEY I like how Maroon offers something a little

different to a lot of other Queensland bass lakes. The fish don’t mind holding a bit shallower and this opens them up to a whole range of techniques.

More subtle presentations should still produce better numbers while the water temperature is cold.

Soft plastics, small blades and spoons are good

choices in the deeper parts where schools are present. Around the lake’s edges, try suspending jerkbaits fished with plenty of short pauses. You can try just under the surface early in the day and then work to deeper divers as the sun rises and fish push deeper.

The McCarry family had a very productive day on the Hawkesbury River. They caught 10 legal sized flathead, and many more smaller ones they returned to the water. This 82cm flathead was caught by Josh (10yo) on an 8lb line, prawn bait, running sinker and long leader. After a quick photo it was returned to fight another day.

OLD

MOOGERAH CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH, ARATULA This lake is going to be one of the best over the big bass period.

Some excellent schools have formed up around the 6 knot buoy line in the timber. These bass have moved outside the creek and taken up residence on

the bait rich flats. Over winter, it’s been hard to find a day they want to chew and catching them is pretty tough. At some point this month, most

Rhys Branson managed to fool a few Somerset bass on the Raptor Slow Fall Jig.

The North Pine bass have been tricky over winter but the action should pick up as we approach spring. Expect better numbers and big fat fish.

caught around the pontoon and start of the rock wall by shore-based fishermen.

Boats and kayaks are better off in 7m of water out from the sailing club or on the flats in the northern arm.

Jigging ZX blades and smaller soft vibes is the most effective way of luring fish over winter. We won’t see trolling options being very successful for a few months yet.

• Cooby is open to paddle

and electric motor powered craft. The gates winter hours are 7am-6pm.

Shrimp can be gathered at the dam around the edges near the car park closest to the pontoon and walking tracks to the rock wall but will be a bit harder to come by now it is cold.

Frozen yabbies are also a good bait and can be purchased at Fish’n’Bits in Toowoomba. Don’t forget Fish’n’Bits have moved to their new store in Water Street Toowoomba.

weed strands and allow you to drag your lure through weed free. The barra will seek warmer weed pockets which are slightly deeper and often in behind the main weed edge. Here the sun will have more effect and the undisturbed water which will hold more warmth.

On the edges of the weed beds, barra can be found in bays and gullies.

Side image sounder can help to pinpoint such fish as there will be a lot of barren water between them. These fish are in more open water and can be targeted with hard bodies. Suspending lures are ideal and long pauses between twitches are key. Some of my winter barra have been caught on pauses of over 30 seconds.

One more key point is to use extra stealth when hunting these fish.

The shallower they are, the more easily they can be spooked. Bangs on the

boat, sudden blasts of the electric motor or even a louder splashdown of a lure can make them aware of your presence.

• Gladstone Fly and Sportfishing (0429 223 550) and Lake Awoonga Barra Charters (0404 151 844) run guided trips on the lake. Both cater to the needs of the angler and can do fly or conventional tackle trips to target the lake’s barramundi. It is hard to beat time on the water and a guided trip is a great way to learn more about this lake and its fish.

• 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.

DARLING DOWNS AND GRANITE BELT COOBY CLOSEST TOWNS: HIGHFIELDS, TOOWOOMBA Cooby hasn’t failed to produce over the winter months. The action can be a bit slow some days but the golden perch are still turning up and keeping anglers happy.

Live shrimp, worms and saltwater yabbies seem to be the best winter baits.

A few goldens are being

CAPRICORN REGION AWOONGA CLOSEST TOWNS: BENARABY, GLADSTONE The barra have been a bit tough this winter and hopefully we’ll see no sudden cold snaps catching them out while they seek warmth in the shallows. If they get through this month, they should be okay. If we cop a bit of warmer weather it will even be worth having fish.

On those warmer days, a late start is best to allow the sun to do its thing and warm the water and fish. This will see them most active.

Big fish still need to eat through winter and if presented with the right opportunity they will nail your offering.

Unweighted or lightly weighted soft plastics can be used to explore pockets in the weed.

Rigged weedless they will swim through the

likely after a few warmer days, the switch will flick and they will bite hard. The lucky anglers to experience this will be in for some red hot fishing.

Soft plastics on 1/2oz jigheads, spoons and small blades are very productive offerings. Experiment with lure size as this can make a difference to the numbers caught. I like to run Gang

Banger G1, G2 and Raptor Jigs to see if they prefer one size and action over another. The Nories Wasabi has also been very effective when dressed up with rear assist hooks. When the fish are chewing, they will also be suckers for soft vibes and tail spinners.

• The lads at Charltons Fishing at Redbank are all over the fish activity at

Maroon and Moogerah.

Call in and grab your supplies and hit them up for tips on where the fish are biting. It is recommended camping be booked at least a couple of weeks in advance and you can also organise your day use barcode for the gate with Lake Moogerah Caravan Park (07) 5540 5600.

LESLIE CLOSEST TOWN: WARWICK We don’t usually consider yellowbelly fishing being that good in the winter months. The goldens have however continued to please at Leslie Dam. This has happened in previous years to, but you do need to take the right approach to catch them.

The cold water requires a slower technique and in their face type presentation.

Jigging small blades and soft vibes around the structure is the way to get them. If you have live sonar, this can be very beneficial. Standard 2D or down image will still find

the fish in numbers and you should then position the boat right over them and fish vertically to pull better numbers.

Murray cod are being seen on live sonar in different areas of the lake.

Only a few big models have been caught so far.

Big swimbaits and plastics are perfect for fishing the flats and edges. The deeper water is also holding roaming fish which can be targeted with big plastics and chatterbaits.

• The local blokes at Warwick Outdoor and Sport in Palmerin Street can point in you in the right direction and hook you up with the good gear and bait

to catch the fish at Leslie.

GLENLYON CLOSEST TOWNS: TEXAS, STANTHORPE The cod will be preparing for breeding but Queensland laws allow us to target them in this impoundment. Early morning sessions starting in the freezing cold darkness to mid-morning seem to be the most productive time. The cod have been a bit fussy this year; at times turning away from big plastic and wooden swimbaits. A big soft plastic and plenty of stealth may be required to fool them. It is hard to beat the Zerek Live Swimbait 8” on this lake.

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Fish behaviour changes with the drop in temp although the drop in temperature has made the bite more sporadic. The fish are starting to move up into the upper reaches now, and we are finding that those little harbour cuttlefish are doing better than squid at the moment.

SYDNEY NTH

Steve Winser

With water temperatures decidedly on the drop, there has been a pronounced change in the movement and species.

The inshore reefs, in around 30-60m of water, are holding an abundance of pan-sized reds, morwong, flathead and so forth.

All you need is to find a break in the 20 knot plus westerlies to allow a decent

recently. We are hoping to see that back off as spring approaches.

Hopefully next month will see flatter seas and lower winds, giving us a chance take advantage of the bite!

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Solid bream are being caught up in the shallows.

There are plenty of pan sized reds around at the moment.

drift, and lately that’s been easier said than done. The unsettled weather has been proving challenging... and of course, there has been no shortage of sharks, unfortunately.

Fishing in the Harbour has been a mixed bag. The winter staples of bream and blackfish in the shallows have been proving reliable as usual. The rocky foreshores have been producing bream in that 40cm plus range regularly, and the blackfish have been caught in numbers in the same areas and also over the ribbon weed beds.

The kingfish have been reasonably consistent,

Alex with a hungry hammerhead shark.

The washes have been fishing well, for groper in particular, although the consistently sizeable swell has made it very difficult to fish these areas

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FISHING NEWS

New Aquatic Reserve proposal unfairly discriminates anglers Mona Vale Beach (45-minute drive north of Sydney’s CBD) has become the centre of a heated debate around a new proposal for creating

an Aquatic Reserve which, if approved, will stop all forms of fishing.

The local swimming group, along with other stakeholders, have put

together the proposal dubbed Friends of Bongin Bongin Bay, with Bongin Bongin Bay being the First Nation’s name for Mona Vale Basin.

However, the Friends of Bongin Bongin Bay have pushed their proposal to cover much more than just the basin. The area stretches from south Bungan Beach all the way to north Mona Vale Beach and goes out 1km out to sea covering shy of 452,000m2, which directly affects many rock, beach and boat anglers as well as spearfishers.

Catching a sustainable meal.

Anglers enjoying sunrise fishing Mona Vale rock platform. This area will be off limits should the proposal be approved.

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Anglers enjoying the rock platform for both physical and mental health benefits.

In the current proposal it states, “It is important for the community’s physical and

mental wellbeing that the Bay’s natural features are protected as they provide an important platform for

all forms of recreational activities,” of which it lists, swimming, surfing, snorkelling, diving, paddle boarding and kite-surfing.

With the exclusion of fishing and spearfishing in this excerpt indicates that those who fish or spearfish aren’t part of the community and are not included in the physical and mental health benefits of enjoying the Basin.

They are proposing that the Basin is only reserved for those who participate in the above-mentioned activities.

To expand on this divisive language the petition also states that, “We [Friends of Bongin Bongin Bay] believe that fishing and the collection of crustaceans, shellfish and vegetation from the foreshore

is impacting upon the biodiversity and the local ecosystem.”

This statement has been made with no scientific studies, evidence or proof. It’s simply pointing the finger at anglers and spearfishers as being the ‘problem’. Sure, anglers and spearfishers can go somewhere else but we shouldn’t have to.

Why should fee-paying anglers who support their fishing environment be subject to such discrimination? Can we not exercise our right harvest sustainably caught seafood?

Our method of fishing with a line or spear is selective hunting. We take what we need and respect where it came from. Yet, this selfproclaimed ‘community’ group wants to completely close off fishing in this area because they believe fishing and spearfishing has a negative impact the environment.

This is a small area of concern for many anglers, however, should this be approved it will empower other like-minded groups to close fishing in other areas of Sydney, NSW and Australia.

To see more info about the proposal, visit www. keepsydneyfishing.com.au – Keep Sydney Fishing

NSW

A whole lot of changes are currently underway gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

I don’t know whether you have noticed, but there has been so much happening in the southern areas and it has not all been about catching fish.

Firstly, the Gymea Bay Baths Reserve is a bushland

partnership with the Australian Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water Reef Builder initiative, NSW DPI Fisheries, and Greater Sydney Local Land Services.

This oyster reef is being created in the middle of the bay. It will be roughly halfway between the end of the third runway and the boat ramp on Silver Beach at Kurnell, and

Taronga Conservation Society Australia, NSW National Parks, and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and WWF-Australia, the researchers from UNSW’s Centre for Ecosystem Science released a small group of four female platypuses on the banks of the Hacking River to watch them quickly waddle forward into the water of their new protected home. To see a video of the release, hop on YouTube and search for ‘UNSW national park’.

WHAT’S BITING Even though the water temperature is very cold in both Botany Bay and the Port Hacking River, I have been getting out and targeting dusky flathead with both soft plastics

Polaris Marine are involved in laying the base rock, which will take about a month to complete.

One of six legal dusky flathead that were caught on one soft plastic. reserve providing access to the netted tidal baths on the Hacking River (the reserve is accessed from the carpark off Ellesmere Road). The Sutherland Shire Council has partially closed the wharf due to storm damage and subsequent structural failure. A marine engineer has been engaged for the design and scope of the rebuild prior to carrying out construction works.

Secondly, the Bonna Point boat ramp, located on the western end of Silver Beach at Kurnell, from time to time can be covered with sand, making it hard to launch and retrieve your boat at any part of the tide. This seems to be due to the underlying shallow conditions that occur around the ramp, and the natural east-west movement of sand along Silver Beach.

Recent storms and heavy ocean swells have also caused the ramp to be covered with sand. Sutherland Shire Council are routinely removing the sand from the boat ramp and using it to renourish the Bate Bay beaches. This operation will continue until prevailing conditions ease.

Until this occurs, there will unfortunately be continued disruption to the operation of this ramp due to sand.

If you are going to use the ramp, I’d suggest that you do so by launching and retrieving your boat about three hours either side of the top or bottom of the tide. This still gives me about six hours of fishing time.

Thirdly, the Botany Bay Shellfish Reef Restoration Project is a fantastic initiative, in

in about 6m of water. It will be approximately 200m2 and will be constructed from specially selected rock of certain sizes.

Polaris Marine are involved in the laying of the base rock,

Check out the amount of sand at near low tide on the ramp at the western end of Silver Beach at Kurnell. You’ll need to keep an eye on it when you launch and retrieve your boat.

This 74cm dusky took a liking to a 3” soft plastic worked slowly along the bottom at the entrance to Woolooware Bay. and it will take about a month to complete. From what I have been told at an OzFish talk, this area will then have old oyster shells distributed over the area, which will then be seeded with about 4 million baby native flat oysters to kickstart shellfish reef establishment.

Fourth on the list is the dredging of the small bay up in the bottom end of Gunnamatta Bay where the boat ramp is.

This will make launching and retrieving larger boats easier.

And lastly, scientists from UNSW Sydney have re-introduced platypuses to Royal National Park after an absence of more than 50 years since any confirmed sighting of these iconic native animals.

Leading a team with the

and live poddy mullet.

You will have to work hard to find them as they will be moving about with the ebb and flow of the tide. Places to look for them are around the edges of weed beds, drop-offs, on top of sand flats on the rising tide, eddies and along rock walls – and don’t forget in amongst moored boats.

The best two plastics that have been working for me are the ZMan 3” MinnowZ and the 3” GOAT. I rig these on 1/4oz and 3/8oz, 2/0 and 3/0 TTs DemonZ jigheads. The colour choice hasn’t seemed to matter.

The shallow area off Towra Point has been holding great numbers of silver trevally, bream, tailor, and a

few dusky flathead. Fish as light as the conditions will allow. I have been using 1/28oz to 1/12oz jigheads and 2-3” soft plastics.

For those of you who prefer to bait fish, I would suggest that you try wider off Towra Point in 3-4.5m, anchor up and berley. Peeled prawns, liver nippers and worms have been the go.

Wide off the end of the third runway there have been several schools of tailor, with trevally, bream and the odd mulloway mixed in with them.

If you are after a couple of mulloway, I would head further upstream and fish the bridges and rock walls from the Captain Cook bridge and right up to Alfords Pont

Bridge. Soft and hard vibes have been doing the damage.

I find that if you work them a little bit slower you will get many more hook-ups.

Luderick can be found throughout the Port Hacking River. It’s just a matter of moving around until you locate them. They may be there one day and moved on the next day.

Offshore, snapper, bonito, and winter kingfish have been caught from Maroubra to south of the entrance to the Port Hacking. Down as far as Marley.

Osborne Shoals and the reef at Merries are worth a shot for trevally, snapper, bream, tarwhine, and tailor.

FACT 6 We are up to number 6 in my series of monthly fishing tips, and this month’s tip is about whiting and mullet.

Whiting and mullet are usually two of the first fish species to start to forage up in the shallower areas of the beach. This will start to happen when the water starts to flood over sand spits, bars and right at your feet at the water’s edge.

This rise in the tide will indicate to the pipis, crabs and beach worms that it’s time to start and look for a feed themselves. Movement of the waves will dislodge some of these creatures ready for the whiting to pounce on.

Whiting and mullet usually tend to be one of the last to leave these areas as

By the time this issue of Fishing Monthly goes to print, the dredging off the end of the ramp at the end of Gunnamatta Bay may be finished.

well, making them easy prey for the larger predators that will patrol the deep parts of the beach looking for a meal.

Don’t forget to keep those photos and reports coming into gbrown1@iprimus.com.au.

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Some fast and furious sessions at the end of winter SYD ROCK & BEACH

Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au

Whatever month of the year you fish, there’s always a species you can target to help you hone your skills, keep you entertained and enjoy a great feed of fish. August days can be very cold, especially when the wind blows off the snowfields, but don’t let that deter you! It certainly doesn’t stop me – I still get out there and fish for what’s in season, and have a great time doing so. If you want to have some fun catching a feed this month, read on to see what’s been biting, and my predictions for how the fishing will be in the coming weeks.

ROCK FISHING The winter we’ve had so far has been pretty standard – flat seas of 0.5-0.8m for at least half of the time because of the mostly westerly wind influence, then a south-southwesterly change pushing the swell up to about 2m from time to time, with some southerly changes only up to 1.5m.

It has been a cold winter

Some big southern calamari are being caught after dark off the ocean rocks. If you’re going to pursue them in the dark, the seas must be very flat, and you must have a good understanding of ocean swell. this year – colder than some milder winters we’ve had – but if you stay indoors you could be missing out on some prime fishing

conditions. If you rug up with the correct clothing, and wear a raincoat, you will be more comfortable.

Rock blackfish,

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groper and trevally are all available this month. With the southerly changes, a southerly swell increase is likely and the water temp rises a couple of degrees, providing you with a great chance to catch snapper as well.

The squid have been in relatively good numbers on most of the headlands.

The southern calamari is a winter target species that’s generally targeted in flatter sea conditions. I have been using the Emeraldas Peak squid jigs in the 3.5 size and I’ve been catching good bags of squid on the majority of outings. When fishing off the ocean rocks, it makes more sense to use these larger jigs because of the larger baitfish like yellowtail off the rocks.

That’s in contrast to the Sydney harbour anglers chasing squid; they generally use the 2.5 to 1.5 size jigs because the squid tend to be smaller there.

Even though squid can be caught in very close on the flat sea nights, they are often caught casting out as far as you possibly can. Some of the southern calamari I’ve encountered have been up to 1kg, and I also heard a report of a 1.3kg squid. For Sydney that is a large squid. The best time to target them is during low light periods like dawn up to just after sun-up, and before sundown to just on dark. In the really flat sea conditions, you can fish for them well after dark as well – provided you understand swell conditions clearly.

The eastern blue groper is a species most often

targeted through the cooler months. Being a wrasse, they are a daytime species, and you can even catch them in the middle of the day.

Of course, the lower light periods are better but you don’t really need to be there at that lower light period to succeed.

Locals catch big blues up to 10kg+, and you need the right gear to stop these brutes. Some anglers use what I consider to be an

Jonathan Barthelmess and Marcello Arru with 10 rock blackfish (black drummer) up to 46cm, caught on peeled king prawns with a bread berley. Most of the fish were released to fight another day.

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overkill for this species, with gear in that 37-45kg range. The eastern blue does not get anywhere near as big as its West Australian counterpart, which can exceed 35kg. Most eastern blue groper caught here weigh 6-9kg, with any fish of 13kg or more being a pretty big blue.

The gear I recommend is in the 24kg range. When it comes to braid, I use 40-60lb J-Braid Grand with

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Jordan Bellissimo with a great bag of rock blackfish and silver drummer. When fishing off the rocks you need to have a plan – fish a variety of areas, change sinker weights to suit, and be very specific where you cast.

60lb J-Thread FC or Saltiga 70lb nylon leader, and I have found this will handle the vast majority of situations.

If you go too heavy, some timid fish may not even bite. You also want to keep it sporting, and challenge yourself. I sometimes even go down to 15kg line class for a big blue.

Rock blackfish to 2kg and similar-sized silver drummer are being caught at the moment, and this month we can expect some large silver drummer to 6kg or even larger. They are generally caught as a bycatch by anglers targeting rock blackfish. If you have never caught a big silver drummer, right now is the time to fish for them off the rocks. They can also be landed on 6-8kg line class, and are great sport on the lighter gear.

Silver drummer don’t live in caves and under boulders like the rock blackfish and groper do.

With rock blackfish, landing a 3kg or larger fish on 6-8kg

NSW

Martin Grey with a 58cm brown groper. Brown groper come in many different shades, and this one was quite dark. Flatter sea conditions can be the best time to fish for these. line classes means you’re doing quite well. Silver drummer fight more cleanly, but you can still get cut off over sharp ledges and boulders simply because of the amount of line they take on their big runs, especially when they’re huge. They

don’t taste that great when they’re over 2.5kg, so I release the bigger ones.

The smaller silver drummer are quite good to eat, in my opinion.

When it comes to locations, try Little Bluey suburb of Manly at what I

call the 1st Square (because of the right-hand corner shape of the ledge) which is the main ledge where the majority of anglers fish for groper, luderick, squid, trevally, salmon and tailor.

You can also head to North Curl Curl, casting out wide from the swimming pool for a snapper, in close for a groper, squid, trevally and rock blackfish where the boulders and front ledges are. If you can brave the cold and wet, Long Reef at Collaroy has a lot of prospects.

BEACH FISHING The dominant species this month off the ocean beaches is the Australian salmon, also known as ‘kahawai’ in New Zealand.

It doesn’t make much sense to call these fish ‘salmon’, as they’re not related to salmon at all, so I kind of prefer the NZ name.

Anyway, regardless of what you call them, they are around in big numbers off the ocean beaches. The average size of these fish has varied from 1-3.5kg, with a few larger models in the mix. I have noticed more and more smaller fish being caught, which is unusual for Sydney waters. Generally, the fish in this region are 2kg or more, with some fish up to 4kg or even larger.

The standard way to

target them is with ganged pilchards (i.e. a chain of three 3/0 to 4/0 hooks baited with a whole pilchard). My client caught 21 salmon and one tailor on a recent outing. All but one tailor and one salmon were kept for a feed, and the rest were released. They were

really thick, with bites at times within seconds! The majority of the fish were caught after dark.

Some beaches have been producing trevally amongst the salmon. If you are getting smaller bites, they can often be trevally.

You can add a 30-40cm

Paul Smith caught 21 salmon on a recent outing, most of which were released. During the session there were times where fish were caught every two minutes or less.

Sydney

fluorocarbon leader, 15-20lb with a 1/0 to 2/0 hook and a half pilchard or peeled prawn. You can also catch the salmon this way when they’re on. The salmon have a padded mouth, so being bitten off is very unlikely.

If there are tailor there, I recommend sticking to the gang hooks. Tailor have very sharp teeth, and the likelihood of being bitten off is quite high on a single hook rig.

There are still some residential whiting hanging around. We have seen some big fish up to 32cm, but most of the legal fish have been around that 27-29cm size, with lots of undersize fish as well. If you can get your own beach worms or pump your own nippers, you’re in for a chance fishing the southern section of Dee Why beach.

Salmon can be caught at Curl Curl, Dee Why, Newport and Bilgola, and pretty much all the other beaches as well.

So to all, have a safe and great August!

• 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.

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Pristine water throughout the Richmond River BALLINA

Joe Allan

The Richmond River and surrounds has been fishing well of late. The water clarity in the river has been beautiful from Wardell to the river mouth.

The beaches of South Ballina and Seven Mile at Lennox Head have seen plenty of tailor being taken

on blue pilchards and metal slugs.

When the westerly winds flatten the winter swell it’s also worth walking the gutters with 1/4oz to 1/2oz blades targeting flathead. You will get the odd bit of bycatch also, in the form of some big snowy bream. These things pull hard on light spin tackle.

There is plenty of bait around if you’re out for

some fun with the kids catching pipis. One you have gathered enough pipis, you can have great fun bait fishing because the winter bream and whiting will take a liking to them.

Offshore fishing around Ballina has been consistent over the last month. This should continue in the coming weeks, with all signs pointing towards a bumper snapper season.

Areas around Riordans

Damon Andrews with a nice quality flathead from around Wardell area.

Nige White and Anna Campbell at a local NCBB Bream tournament with some nice bream from around the Burns Point Ferry.

or very lightly weighted, depending on the current.

While bait is effective, it’s soft plastics that are accounting for the bigger fish. Try big plastics around the 6” size like Atomic Jerk Minnows in ghost pearl, white, ghost orange or electric chicken. Use as light a jig as you possibly

42-fathom line, there are pearl perch, amberjack and kingfish. There have been a lot of great fish caught on Lucanus jigs and knife jigs.

Using the big knife jigs is a physical way to fish so don’t worry about going to the gym that day! Try to get in early before the wind gets up and it becomes too hard to hold on the fish.

Surface fishing for bream in Emigrant and North creeks will be worth a shot.

It may not produce huge numbers, but you will most likely come across some

thumper winter whiting. The Atomic Pop 50 in yellow chartreuse or rock crab is the go for this technique.

The river mouth has been producing some great size and numbers of bream and blackfish. Try getting there on the top of the tide as it starts to run out for the best numbers of blackfish. As always, green weed or weed flies are always best. The Gamakatsu Pan Fish Green hooks are a good choice for this technique.

Until next issue, tight lines.

Marlon Bleakley is very proud of his bream capture.

Luke Welsh caught this little flatty while fishing from his kayak at Moonee Creek on the Coffs Coast. He used a 2” ZMan grub.

52 AUGUST 2023

Reef, Black Head, Lennox Point and the close reefs around the Ballina beaches are all holding quality numbers and sizes of snapper, with models up to 90cm. There are some big girls out there now around the Evans Head region too.

The best baits to throw are horse mackerel, fresh squid and bonito floated out

can. This will definitely help your catch rate.

At this time of year, the big girls are here to breed, and that’s why there are so many in such good numbers. Only keep what you are going to eat and let those trophy ones go to breed.

Further offshore on the wider reefs, along the

Sonni Allan with a nice bream caught all by herself from the Rileys Hill area.

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NSW

It’s the right time to target trophy snapper off Coffs COFFS COAST

Rob Taylor

Although we’re now in the depths of winter, some good fishing remains on offer, with even the odd Spanish mackerel being caught at the time of writing. Offshore has seen a solid start to the snapper run, with most fishos managing to tangle

with some solid reds inshore at the moment.

The deep droppers out wide have also been finding plenty of blue-eye and bar cod to fill the iceboxes. There are still longtail tuna patrolling the headlands and good numbers of mulloway are feeding along the beaches. The problem has been getting baits past the hordes of tailor that are

Brad Bye with the calibre of snapper you can expect while flicking plastics around the inshore reefs this month.

Sam Gilchrist with a stud snapper on plastic.

Now is the time to target these big reds.

Cameron Hall with a fantastic late season mangrove jack.

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in the washes and gutters at present.

CREEKS AND RIVERS There is plenty of fruitful flathead fishing in the creeks and rivers, with the more enterprising anglers finding some big crocs on glide baits over the shallows. Fishing big soft glides over large sandflats has seen some big flathead posing for cameras on wellknown YouTube channels of late, which demonstrates just how good the flattie fishing can be in our local waters. Look for areas of less than a metre deep and use artificials or drifted live baits to get a result.

Unseasonably warm water has seen some out of season catches such as Cameron Hall’s solid mangrove jack he caught recently. Find some warm water and you may well be able to also snare a mid-winter jack! River

GTs are also being actively targeted at the time of writing, so don’t pack away the summer gear just yet.

Winter bream and blackfish are now plentiful in the lower reaches of the creeks and rivers, so check out any of the bigger systems which have rock walls or nearby headlands.

Generally, the start of the incoming tides are the prime times to fish these areas.

There have been loads of mid-range mulloway in the larger rivers falling to both baits and lures.

ROCKS AND BEACHES If you’re after tailor then the rocks and beaches are a good place to be this month, as there’s tonnes of tailor working the rock washes and beach gutters.

Some genuinely big fish are in the schools, with greenbacks up to 3kg hitting

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There will still be some stud longtail tuna about this month. Shane Duncan relishes the chance to hook one of these bullets.

lures and ganged pillies.

The tailor can certainly make for frustrating fishing when chasing other species such as tuna or mulloway with live baits, but if you like your tailor fishing, you’ll have a ball!

There will also be some solid mulloway off the beaches and rocks this month, particularly on the higher tides at night on the lead up to full moons.

For the kids there are loads of bream, dart and smaller flathead in the beach gutters, so grab some fresh bait such as pipis, worms or yabbies and you are guaranteed to have a great time. I’ve been fishing Boambee Beach quite a lot and have been scoring some solid bream and dart.

OFFSHORE Now is the time to chase a trophy snapper off Coffs.

We’ve been targeting some big reds on the inshore reefs with plastics and there’s been plenty of solid fish falling to plastics. With so many artificials on offer it’s hard to know where to start, but you can’t beat a 7” jerkshad shaped plastic rigged on a 1/2oz jighead in water that is 20m or shallower. Cast ahead of your drift and let the plastic swim to the bottom before bouncing it slowly back to the rod. Nothing beats

that slamming hit from a rampaging snapper.

If bait is your preference, you can’t go past an

mackerel getting about, especially if you work the islands with big dead troll baits such as rigged tailor

bar cod, blue-eye trevalla, kings and sambos moving about the deeper reefs.

Striped marlin are still

The author with a stud pearl perch that fell to a 7” jerkshad. early morning floatline during the dawn twilight.

Similarly, floatlining on sunset and into the night will be a sure-fire way to bag a feed of reds.

As mentioned earlier, there are still Spanish

or bonito. A lot of fishos pack the mackerel gear away this month, but you shouldn’t give up on these fish just yet.

Out wider there’s some fantastic deep drop fishing on offer this month, with

being caught out over the shelf and, despite the cooler air temperatures, warm currents have been continuing later this season so there’s still a good chance of mahi mahi on the traps and FAD.

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NSW

Set your sights on chasing big red in the shallows SOUTH WEST ROCKS

Vic Levett

For many, August is a hard month to get motivated.

With morning temps in the single digits, icy cold offshore winds and quite

of over 90cm, it is a true angling accomplishment and something you’ll never forget.

Bottom fishing has been very productive, and the numbers of smaller snapper, pearl perch and parrotfish have been awesome of

has also been fishing well, with plenty of trag (teraglin) getting in on the mix.

Sand flathead will also be a good target in August.

Paternoster rigs fished over the sand patches around reef/ rubble in anything over 40m should see a few quality

How’s that for a mullet! Jack caught this monster on a tiny soft plastic meant for a bream. often large oceanic swells, it’s understandable that a warm house is an easier option. However, if you brave the negative points of this cold month, you can find some diamonds in the rough.

August on the mid north coast can be stunning, with groomed wind-swept oceans, cold, vivid blue skies and picture-perfect sunsets.

Fishing out of South West Rocks has been good this last month despite the cold. The highlight would have to be the offshore demersals.

SNAPPER It’s the time of year that the big girls move into the shallows and for me it’s the ultimate time to fish for them. Trying to stop those big fish on light tackle will always be a heart-in-themouth moment. Adrenaline levels are through the roof, and when that slow sinking plastic gets crunched and you manage to land a trophy

They will improve month by month from now on.

Thankfully, most of the ravenous sharks have moved on. There should also be a few longtail tuna kicking around the shallow reefs.

Deep dropping has really seen an increase in popularity amongst fishers. When conditions have allowed, there have been some outstanding fish landed with the aid of the popular electric reels. Blue-eye trevalla, bass grouper, bar cod, gemfish and even oil fish have all been taken lately. Ian Black has been scoring deep water ooglies on a regular basis, mostly targeting blue-eye.

Some very big pearl perch have also been taken in the deep water.

For the boats heading out beyond the continental shelf there should be striped marlin and yellowfin tuna. Heath Adam scored a good tuna on his last offshore mission.

ESTUARY Well it’s big mulloway time, and every night there seems to be crews parked up on the Macleay’s break

An absolute slob of a bass groper taken

by Zane off South West Rocks.

August should see quality kings caught, like this one taken on board Oceanhunter Sportfishing Charters. late. There’s been a lot of success for anglers throwing soft plastics in the shallows (10-15m) and, if the winds allow, the 40-70m depth range

walls. There have been whispers of medium-sized mulloway being landed, with an average size of 120cm.

It’s been a while since I’ve heard of a real one (30kg+) being taken, but hopefully August will see a few big ones turn up. Live bait fished on the turn of the tide will probably be their undoing.

Further upriver around Jerseyville and Gladstone there are plenty of small mulloway, with the odd just-legals amongst them.

Small soft plastics fished after dark or small livies are your best bet.

Bream are still thick, and blackfish are also plentiful. Back creek and the

main river are the primary locations. Fish the last of the run-in tide and you should have no problem connecting to few tasty fish.

There seem to be plenty of smaller flathead mooching around in the shallows, mostly upriver, where the whiting have also been responding well to live worms and pink nippers.

ROCK AND BEACH August for me is all about drummer. There are so many good locations to target these guys and it’s easy to berley them up with bread and use lightly weighted cunje to entice them out of their homes. The bream will also get in on the

fish taken.

Kingfish have been hit-and-miss at Fish Rock, with the current dictating their mood and activity.

Come Fish the beautiful South West Rocks, from the calm waters of the Macleay River to some of the best offshore blue water on the East Coast. We can tailor your experience to your liking!

Contact Zane: 0478 782 522 Vic: 0414 906 569 Email: vic@oceansportsfishing.com.au

OceanHunter Sportsfishing 56 AUGUST 2023

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A tasty tusky taken on Oceanhunter Sportfishing charters.

NSW

Winter snapper fishing action for locals and visitors around the Lighthouse.

Those anglers fishing with bread have been doing particularly well of late.

Anglers fishing on the inshore reefs have managed to catch some great snapper over the past month using soft plastics and bait. We should

THE HASTINGS

Kate Shelton

Snapper are a species commonly targeted by local and visitor anglers to the Mid North Coast, because they are a sporting catch and are a tasty table fish.

Snapper fishing can be done using a variety of techniques with bait, soft plastics, jigs or lures.

For local anglers heading offshore, soft plastics have become one of the most popular methods, however live bait and the trusty pilchard can always prove successful. For the Macquarie Coast region, I believe the best time of day to target snapper is at dawn and dusk in the winter months.

Snapper are commonly targeted on the inshore reefs in around 20-30m of water.

Jon West caught this snapper off Port Macquarie on a 7” Gulp Jerk Shad. Image courtesy of @thereeljonwest.

Archie Cross with a 7kg snapper he caught out of North Haven. Image courtesy of @jake.cross26. act, and sometimes they’ll become bait-stealing pests before the drummer get a chance to find your bait. When you do catch

all proven to be effective offerings, with both tides seeing good results.

Flathead numbers and quality remain reasonable despite the water now cooling considerably, and there are still plenty of bream on offer both day and night.

a drummer, I recommend taking it home and steaming it with ginger and shallots.

This is always a popular way to cook these fish.

However, a few larger-sized fish have been known to be caught from 80-150m of water as by-catch when targeting kingfish.

WHAT’S BITING Lake Cathie has closed off from the ocean, and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council will no doubt start the dredging process if the lake continues to stay closed. The closing could be good timing with school prawns, and we may be in for a decent summer for Lake Cathie schoolies.

In the Macleay region, local anglers have scored some decent catches of bream off the break walls and headlands on mullet strips and soft plastics.

Flathead catches have also been popular in the river and around Horseshoe Bay beach. Offshore morning sessions near Grassy Head

have seen anglers score some huge snapper catches, with fish weighing between 4-8kg. The odd pearl perch is also turning up as a decent by-catch.

For the Hastings region a few monster mulloway have been taken from both break walls on live bait and larger soft plastics. If you are wanting to target a mulloway, your best bet would be fishing at night on the larger high tides using live bait or large soft plastics.

Off the rocks, some quality tailor around 2kg continue to haunt the washes, with the Lighthouse Beach and Shelly Beach ledges fishing particularly well.

Late afternoon sessions have produced a better class of fish.

Drummer remain quite consistent, and the best results have come from

Brendan Crowley caught this huge snapper off Lake Cathie. Image courtesy of @bjcrowleyplumbing start to see some kingfish action pick up now through to spring, and I would try fishing around Trag Rock off Point Plomer, with live slimies or knife jigs.

Further south in the Camden Haven region, luderick numbers are terrific, with bag limit catches quite common around the northern break wall. Green weed, cabbage and weed flies have

The best baits for the bream after dark have been strip baits and mullet gut, while soft vibes are still proving deadly on the lure front.

Offshore there have been some catches of teraglin caught on reefs in around 40-60m of water off Lake Cathie and Bonny Hills. It’s great to see a few caught as we have had a few quite years for catching trag.

If tailor fishing is your thing, the beaches and headlands should be on around the full moon.

Pilchards or metal lures

A quality perch taken on a trip with Oceanhunter Sportfishing.

A big shallow water red that fell for a PowerBait soft plastic.

are the best way to get the job done.

The beach from North Smokey to Hat Head would be worth a shot for a mulloway this month. Locate

a good gutter or corner with preferably some type of activity such as tailor or mullet, and you will be in with a chance.

August is the last month

of winter, so hopefully there will be a few warmer days ahead that will encourage more us to venture out of our warm houses to do what we all love: fishing.

AUGUST 2023 57

NSW

Catches have been ticking along consistently FORSTER

Luke Austin

The end of winter can’t come soon enough this year. I think I can vouch for all anglers when I say

head closer to spring it’s feeling like we might get a really good spring/summer fishing season again this year.

Luderick anglers continue to catch fish after fish throughout the bottom

producing the better fish, and this trend will probably remain for at least another few weeks before the bigger fish head back upstream.

The flats and weed beds are starting to come to life now, with plenty of baitfish and decent-sized prawns kicking about. It makes sense that there’s also a noticeable increase in the numbers of hungry predators such as bream, flathead, tailor and whiting getting up into the shallows looking for a feed! If we are lucky enough to get a few consecutive days of warmer temperatures, this month can be perfect for getting up into the warm, shallow areas to do some early prospecting with big Bent Minnows and surface lures. I think you will be surprised by just how much

Renee with a Wallis Lake mulloway. We are lucky to have so many of these fish close to home.

There are still plenty of bream about on the rock walls. we are sick and tired of the freezing weather we’ve had this year! While August can sometimes be a little tricky on the fishing front, things have been ticking along very consistently in recent weeks, and there are plenty of fish out there waiting to be caught.

The local estuaries are alive with activity at the moment, and as we

of the estuary. These fish have been great this year, and they don’t seem to be diminishing in numbers or size any time soon! Both rock walls, the bridge pylons, The Paddock and Breckenridge Channel are all fishing well and holding good numbers of fish.

Bream continue to be caught very consistently throughout the system.

The rock walls are still

Rob from RV Lures with a great early season flathead.

The local beaches have been a bit hit-and-miss of late. The run of tailor that we enjoyed earlier in winter has well and truly slowed up now, but there are still a few nice fish getting about for those wishing to fish early or late in the day. 7 Mile and 9 Mile beaches are still producing plenty of bream and the odd mulloway up around the 8-10kg mark.

There have also been a few stonking big whiting landed during the week by anglers soaking worms down south.

Rock fishers have been having a ball lately chasing our winter staples. While we have not had a huge amount of swell, there has been enough of a wash there to get among the

is going on already in these areas, and I can’t wait to see how this year’s flats season goes!

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There are still plenty of rock blackfish (pigs) in the wash zones.

fish. Black drummer have been fishing well off most headlands and ledges, and with a bit of berley you should be able to score a nice feed with ease. Baits of prawn and cunje have been working best, and you can also expect to see some stonking big bream, luderick, groper and snapper mixed in! Those anglers wishing to cast a lure about are still running into some quality tailor along with small kingfish.

Getting offshore when the southerly/westerly winds are blowing can be very frustrating. While the bar and bay look glassy calm and beautiful, any water out past about 20m deep is insanely unsettled and almost impossible to fish successfully. Luckily, the fish in close have been on the bite, with some cracking snapper coming from reefs under 20m over the past couple of weeks.

By far the best snapper reports have come from those reefs up north sitting in 35-45m of water. One boat had a particularly good day up there in 35m of water, catching a lot of good quality fish up to about 80cm. The wider grounds are also producing nice mixed bags of snapper, trag and morwong, as well as the odd pearl perch and pigfish.

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NSW

Clean and clear seas CENTRAL COAST

Jamie Robley

At the time of writing, the Tasman Sea is very clear and cold. Typically, we also get periods of very flat surf for a few days and then bigger groundswell for another few

bream, so it wasn’t a dead loss, but this is precisely what happens at this time of year.

The main message is this: don’t try to fish a good rock spot if the swell and tide is rising. Find a safer spot, or conjure up a new, safer plan.

So we’ve seen drummer and luderick caught at all the

that it appeals to most species, most of the time.

Back to the sea conditions for a minute. If it’s very calm and flat, use lighter line and present baits as close into the rocks as possible, without snagging up. Fish tuck in more under any little bit of whitewash or shaded rock

August is possibly the worst month for bream in Brisbane Waters and the lakes, but they can still be caught – just fish slowly with lighter leaders. If you put some effort into it, the rewards should come.

The channel mouth at The Entrance has been very narrow this winter. The lakes are currently in quite a healthy state, with plenty of life, but the longer the channel remains narrow like this, the tougher the fishing becomes. days. My fishing outing just prior to typing this month’s column is a prime example.

Two days of very flat seas got me thinking about an awesome drummer hole at one of the local rock ledges. Normally this spot can only be fished during very calm conditions, around low tide. So, with the ideal circumstances, I packed the gear, and stopped to buy some bread for bait on the way, to time my arrival there just before low tide.

Unfortunately for me, the swell had come up overnight, and by the time I got to the spot it was too rough to fish it. A back-up plan and a more sheltered hole produced a few

known rock ledges and points in recent weeks, however, I’ve personally found a lot more bream than the other two species. Typically, some spots are better for one particular species, and some spots often yield mixed bags of drummer, luderick, bream and perhaps trevally or silver drummer as well. Of course, bait choice and technique also play a role in determining what you’ll catch. If you use green cabbage baits, you’ll find that luderick and drummer are far more likely than anything else.

Flesh, cunje or prawn baits are good for bream, drummer and trevally, with the occasional luderick thrown in. I use bread baits a lot, and I have found

ledge, and it’s hard to get them to come out into open water to look at your bait. So, fish closer in and be thoughtful about the process. Don’t use too much berley either. Just very small amounts at a time, thrown close in, not away from the rocks for the seagulls to feast upon!

The beaches are still

Good numbers of bream have been along our rocks and beaches this winter. The same should apply this month. Top quality baits like white bread, cunje, cut pilchards, fresh or salted tailor or mullet all work well.

producing bream, tailor and salmon at the moment, and this should remain the trend during August. Once again, I’ve personally done better with the bream in recent weeks, and have definitely noticed fewer salmon this year, which is basically the same as last year.

The average size of the sambos encountered along the beaches is also smaller, and in fact I’d say they are almost half the size they were only 20 years ago. To me, this is absolute proof that commercial fishing pressure does make an impact on our fish stocks. I’m not saying the pros should stop all sambo harvesting, I’m just saying that commercial fishing does reduce fish stocks in the long term, and needs to be managed appropriately.

As mentioned last month, offshore fishing is more focused on heading wider for kings, bonito or tuna at this time of year. Much like the rock fishing scenario I mentioned earlier, weather and sea conditions may appear to be stable, but in reality, westerly winds can

come up a lot stronger than predicted during the second half of winter here. For that reason, it’s beneficial to have the tackle or bait on board to be able to make the most of things if the wind forces your plans to be quickly changed.

There are still fish back closer in, so a lighter rod and bag of pillies or salted bonito fillets could save the day.

Back inside the lakes and Brisbane Waters, luderick and bream have been the main players in recent weeks.

A few flathead, tailor, perch and trevally have also been caught. This is a notoriously tough month though, so I’d be sticking to bream or luderick more than anything else at the moment.

Even if we start to get a few warmer days towards the end of the month, the water will remain cold, and fishing won’t really change until September. So, stick to good quality baits and if you’re using lure or fly tackle, keep everything very slow and methodical, with light fluorocarbon leaders.

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NSW

Good snapper fishing is set to continue this month PORT STEPHENS

Paul Lennon

Inside the estuary, luderick continue to be one of the best options at this time of year, with the Nelson Bay break wall, Anchorage break wall, Tomaree Torpedo Tubes and Little beach Jetty all red hot.

Fresh weed or cabbage is by far the most effective bait to catch them, but a weed fly will also work well, especially when they are really on the chew. These baits can be fished on fly gear using an indicator as a float, or simply as you would a natural weed bait on traditional blackfish set-up.

Winter bream continue to come in thick from the rock walls, as well as the islands and oyster racks around Soldiers Point. While lure fishing is still a good option for winter bream, the most effective way to catch them in the clear, cold water at this time of year, is good old-fashioned bait fishing. Fish the high tide with a handful of pellets/tuna oil berley thrown in every five minutes to attract them whilst casting an unweighted prawn or live nipper around.

While this is a great way to catch bream during daylight hours, it’s even better to do at night – if you can brave the cool night temperatures.

Squid have been in good numbers through the weed beds in Shoal Bay, as well as on the opposite side of the bay off Jimmys Beach. Size 2.5 jigs work best inside the port, and I always like nice, natural colours at this time of year as the water is typically very clear.

BEACHES August is a favourite month of mine to fish the beach, especially spinning for tailor and salmon. While tailor prefer those dawn and dusk periods, you can potentially find a school of salmon at any time of day. Simply grab a casting rod around 8-9ft with a 15-30g metal lure and walk the beach, scanning for any dark patches moving through the waves within casting distance.

OFFSHORE It has been a good snapper season, and the action looks like continuing for a bit longer yet. Good catches have been reported around the islands out the front. The shallower water has been producing fish at dawn and dusk, but at other times of the day you are better off moving to deeper reefs, in around 30-50m of water.

If you’re chasing snapper in the shallows, it’s best to fish your baits unweighted or with pea-sized sinkers. Then you can swap over to paternoster style rigs in the deeper water.

Keep an eye on any goodlooking temperature breaks from the shelf edge to 1000 fathoms, because it’s still a great time of year to target yellowfin tuna, by either cubing or trolling with skirted and hardbodied lures. It will also pay to have a couple of PE 8 rods rigged up with large stickbaits just in case you come across any bust-ups.

The squid have been taking jigs in natural colours.

Good weather windows SWANSEA

Jason Nunn

It has been a good snapper season so far.

We should see some good catches of bream in the coming weeks.

Port Stephens Estuary Charters

When you spot a school, you can ping a lure in there and rip it back with a medium/ fast retrieve.

Solid winter bream to an impressive 1.5kg are holding in the corners of ocean beaches that meet rocky coastline.

Barry Park at Fingal Bay, Box Beach and Kingsley are good examples of the kind of areas you should be looking for.

For those hardcore anglers willing to put in the hours after dark, Stockton is well worth your efforts for a crack at a beach mulloway. Large fresh slabs or live baits will give you the best chance at connecting to a jewie.

OCEAN ROCKS Drummer love winter and can be caught anywhere from Tomaree through to Anna

Bay. The trick to catching them is fishing the wash areas, however you don’t want too much wash, or too little wash, either. You want there to be just enough that a lightlyweighted bait such as cunjevoi or peeled prawn will waft through the water column, eventually finding bottom before it’s recast and repeated.

This is a great technique to end up with a mixed bag from the ocean rocks, with drummer, bream, grouper, leatherjackets and squire-size snapper all a possibility in the whitewater lucky dip.

The calm bays and coves from Fingal Island down to boat harbour are squid hotspots at this time of year around late afternoon and early morning.

A 3.5 size squid jig is ideal.

As we move into August, our attention has started to turn to luderick fishing in our estuaries. Swansea Channel in particular becomes a hotspot as we move through August into September. Area such as Lucys Wall, Swansea Bridge and definitely along our rocky shorelines within the channel itself have remained consistent with their fishing.

LUDERICK Alternate tides are certainly the key to catching blackfish, with a preference

to fish the run-in tide at Lucys Wall, and Swansea Bridge, and the runout tide along our rock wall.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to buy weed at the moment, because there are no licenced bait collectors operating. You will have to source your own weed, and it’s hard to get at present.

Hopefully it will be easier to find in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can get a bit of wire weed if you wade up the back of Cold Tea Creek where the lagoon is. There’s also some weed on the ocean rock platforms at low tide in the right sea conditions. To be fair to everybody, please take

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A nice kingie jigged up on a trip with Sandy Bottom Boat Charters. Image courtesy of @sandybottomboatcharter.

only what you need.

During late August/ early September the luderick (blackfish) will start to school up in pretty big numbers, not only in the channel but along our ocean rock platforms.

You can get good results fishing from the shore or from a boat. One good spot to try out of a boat is the sunken breakwater area in Salts Bay, which produces good numbers of fish on that preferred run-in tide.

Most luderick anglers fish with a float, but some people prefer to use using floating lines instead, such as Dango or Varivas. Luderick fishing has evolved with the use of these floating lines and fluoro leader. The beauty of it is being able to sub out your lines; if you’re fishing two hooks you can sub it out with a weed fly.

I find that having unweighted leaders is more effective than weighted leaders. I tell guys not to use split shot, as it can crush your leader and lower its breaking strain. I put weight on the top of my swivel to keep the line vertical, and maintain neutral buoyancy. I have a short leader with a weed fly on the top hook, and a long leader with the natural bait on the bottom. When the natural bait gets wet it’s heavy, so that’s why I put bait on the bottom hook.

If weed is scarce you can use it purely for berley and not for bait. The good news is that weed flies sometimes work better than normal weed baits, and the reason could be because the weed fly is pretty much the same size as your berley, and the fish are dialled in on that

NSW

Local fish are cashing in on the cuttlefish feast ILLAWARRA

Greg Clarke

Bird watching is the name of the game this month. We’re looking for those big white and black ones sitting in

to tighten. Then you’ll find yourself fighting a big, or maybe not so big, snapper.

There will be plenty of snapper over the northern reefs in the first few weeks of this month, but they will taper off towards the end of winter as

The end result of hard work and time: a 6kg+ snapper. It was one of many. groups, gorging themselves on cuttlefish that float to the surface after spawning.

Use your electric to motor into casting range, and land a piece of unweighted cuttlefish close by. Then leave the bail arm open to allow the line to peel off as you drift away, allowing the bait to sink slowly in the natural berley trail that the birds have created.

The line will trickle off the spool until it takes off at warp speed as a snapper grabs your bait. Keep your cool, and count “three… two… one” before you flick the bail arm closed and wait for the line

the cuttlefish finish breeding.

Setting up a berley trail early over the close northern reefs works too, yielding plenty of reds of all sizes, and it’s not as labour intensive.

You can also encounter a range of other winter species like trevally (which love a berley trail) and hordes of leatherjackets, the odd bream and chopper tailor. Even a stray big groper may take a liking to your cuttlefish baits.

Barracouta can be a big problem when they arrive, and if the ‘jackets are a bit ferocious you can lose a lot of rigs in a short time. Sometimes

berley-sized weed.

The fight is generally out in the open type water and it’s unbelievable.

In the old days there was a good range of quality centrepin reels to choose from, but not anymore.

The only quality centrepin reel that’s available now (in my opinion) is the Okuma Eventer. It has great tolerance and balance, in a tidal situation it’s excellent and the line will draw off naturally with the weight of the float. The Eventer is expensive, costing around $370-$400, but it’s fantastic.

If you can’t afford one, you can use a Baitrunner-style reel instead. It isn’t ideal, but it’s half the price.

We have a better situation when it comes to rods, because Wilsons are doing limited ranges of some blackfish model rods.

Luderick are a fantastic fighting fish and if they’re looked after correctly they’re a good table fish.

Most people who say they don’t like eating luderick haven’t eaten a fish that’s

been looked after correctly.

Keep your luderick alive until you need to clean them. Then you can bleed them, fillet and skin them (don’t scale or gut them). It’s important to get that skinless fillet.

OTHER SPECIES We are seeing an absolute abundance of baitfish in the lake; the southern end of the lake in particular is just full of whitebait. In August, the prevailing winds are westerly so that southern end of the lake will offer protection from the wind, and the water will be a bit warmer due to the power station outlets. This area will continue to produce through August and into spring.

There are a lot of tailor throughout the lake, and right now is a great time to targe them. A popular and effective way to catch them is to troll deep divers like the Rapala deep Tail Dancer, which gets down to just above the lake bottom. It’s also good to have a chrome lure rigged and ready to go, in case you spot a bust-up.

There are good numbers of flathead around, and they

it pays to just cut your losses and move to find a spot where they are absent. The snapper will be just about everywhere, so a reef without the toothy critters will almost have a snapper or two present.

The snapper are not just confined to the northern reefs, nor are the cuttlefish but that seems to be the highest concentration in the local area.

Wollongong reef holds a lot of fish at this time of year as do the reefs around Windang, Bass Point and Kiama, so if it gets a bit crowded up north there are plenty of options available.

For a bit of fun there are plenty of salmon about chasing those tiny little clear eel like baitfish about 25mm long and once they hone in on them they don’t want anything else so match the hatch with very small lures on light line for some fun. A few stragglers will still grab pilchards on ganged hooks in the washes but for the most part they will be in big schools and they are easy to find just look for the hovering seagulls.

Trevally will be sitting

53kg yellowfin recently, so we know they are there, we just have to be able to get out there.

Sometimes you just can’t wait for a weekend! Hopefully over the next month we’ll see a few guys get out and get into them. I’m interested to see what happens.

Anglers fishing off the beach have been catching tailor and salmon, with ganged pilchards being the easiest way to catch them. I find that salted pilchards are better than frozen, because the frozen ones get a bit soft when they thaw, and don’t stay on the hook as well as salted pilchards do.

Alternatively, you can use 60-80g chrome lures if you can see the fish busting up on the surface. Something to remember is that even if you don’t see any signs of fish, they could still be there in the gutters, and respond to bait and lures.

It’s a good time to catch tailor off the rock walls, too.

An early morning or late afternoon fish off the rock walls in winter is fun.

Looking ahead to September, we should start to

see our flathead and whiting move back in, and offshore there should be an increase in kingfish and snapper. In the estuary there will be a lot more luderick and tailor. September is the last month for tailor but there are generally a lot of them. And with so many tailor around, there’s an increase of mulloway in the lake.

All in all, there are some good things in store for local anglers.

• Fisherman’s Warehouse Tackle World has a large range of fresh and frozen bait as well as a huge range of rods, reels, lures and accessories.

They also sell and service outboard motors, and have a competitively-priced selection of new and second-hand boats. The friendly staff are all experienced local anglers, and they’re always happy to share their knowledge, whether you’re a novice or experienced angler. Drop in for a chat at 804 Pacific Highway, Marks Point, or give them a call on (02) 4945 2152. You can also find them on Facebook, or check out their website at www. fishermanswarehouse.com.au.

This is when you need to be on the water and fishing for early morning reds. right under the salmon too so dropping your small lures to the bottom and jigging them around will get them most of the time but you risk hooking barracouta and losing your lures when you do.

The small baitfish attract striped tuna in close and for some reason every year at this time they are monsters.

Stripies of up to 10kg are not out of the question and if you hook one of these on your light tackle you are in for some fun as nothing goes and fast as a stripy for its size.

The dreaded barracouta will be about in numbers this month, so be prepared to lose some gear. have been responding well to soft vibes like Zerek Fish Traps and Samaki Vibelicious. It’s good to have a vibe that sinks a bit quicker, to get past the tailor to the flathead below.

Vibes are relatively tough, so they have a bit of resistance to tailor attacks.

We are also seeing some catches of good size mulloway and a few nice snapper, which is good to see.

The bream fishing hasn’t been too bad, with some decent fish caught during the evening.

A lot of guys have been fishing with small blades and soft plastics in that Chain Valley Bay area at the southern end of the lake and there have been a few really nice fish getting caught on bait up around the backs of the islands on the sand flats. This is because the water coming in from the ocean has been warmer, around 17°C, whereas some areas of the lake have been as low as 14°C. Mixed in with the bait schools are a few salmon in the lake, but they’re not in vast numbers as yet. At the time of writing this report, there are no salmon in Salts Bay. Hopefully

They get less and less every year but they always seem to show at some time in August just look for the terns over the splashes.

The deeper reefs have a few decent kings floating about, but they are patchy.

Deep live baits are the way to go, either down rigged or fished with a large sinker near the bottom while chasing other species. Don’t be surprised if a solid snapper grabs that live bait either as they don’t often swim past an easy meal.

Further out there have been a few yellowfin tuna of varying sizes and the odd albacore so, weather permitting they will be worth a look.

The bottom bouncers are scoring a few snapper as well with good numbers of pigfish, mowies, leatherjackets and trevally. The flatties have been a bit slow but if you persist there are enough around for a feed and they are mostly goodsized fish, not too many spikies around this time of year.

The rocks are the domain of the drummer at this time of year. Most areas with a bit of white water have been holding

a few, and peeled prawns under a float makes for easy fishing. Trevally will be in the suds and the deeper ledges as well, and will fall for the same method. Pilchard pieces are effective as well. A bit of bread berley in an onion bag tied to the rocks can often get both the drummer and the trevally really biting.

Salmon are on the deeper ledges, and there’s the odd tailor later in the afternoon or early before the sunrise. The same deep ledges will also have a few snapper patrolling looking for cuttlefish in close.

Late afternoon and very early mornings are the best times to look for these fish, much like the tailor.

On the beaches there have been some solid mulloway taken over the past few weeks, judging by the scales on some of the beaches. A secretive lot these jewie fishos, but a scale or two always seems to get dislodged on the trip to the car, and these scales seem to be on many beaches. The hours after dark are the times to chase them, and at this time of the year it’s cold and you have to work hard and deserve every fish you get, but they are out there.

Salmon are more common and are on almost every beach at some time each week, throw in a few big bream and tailor and the cold can be worth it.

The lake and Minnamurra are still quiet, with a few bream and the odd bigger flathead starting to show, but the flatties are starting to breed so are best left alone this month.

Next month should be warmer and so should the fishing, good luck.

that will have changed by the time you read this.

There are good numbers of salmon along our beaches at present, the Belmont stretch in particular, down towards Catherine Hill Bay and the like. Some good tailor are also being caught there, but their numbers are dropping away along our beaches, with more being caught off the rock platforms.

OFFSHORE We haven’t had many good weather windows to get offshore. Still, there are plenty of nice snapper around on the inshore reefs, along with tailor, flathead and trevally.

The deeper water is where we really want to get to (i.e.

The Farm and down towards Norah Head) to chase kingfish, longfin perch and trag, but we’ve been hindered by the weather. Hopefully it will settle down this month.

We have definitely got yellowfin off our part of the coastline, with some really nice fish caught from around Foster to the other side of Sydney. Dean Mitchell, fishing with a mate off Swansea, got a

AUGUST 2023 61

NSW

Anglers wondering if the tuna run will continue BATEMANS BAY

Anthony Stokman

For the last 10 years we have come accustomed to the bluefin showing up late June and into July (although over the last few years we haven’t seen them in those massive schools). There are those few days throughout winter where boats comb the ocean looking for bluefin, until one, then two, then three boats find

happily feeding for hours.

We had a few of these days during June, although they were generally smaller fish around 30-40kg, there was a day of larger 60kg models schooling and taking the cubes. It seems a lot of larger fish are being caught now more north towards Sydney.

The tuna run has been a bit like last year, in that it’s been a bit patchy. It seems that tuna can be found from Edan to Sydney on any given day. As we enter into

Ray Smith has been catching some cracker snapper in close on the yak.

Aidan has been finding some good winter snapper. the motherlode. Soon over a dozen boats will be on top of a massive school, and pilchard cubes litter the ocean as the bluefin feed, and the surface lures come out for some awesome surface action.

The easiest way to catch a bluefin when they are happy feeding under the boat is a whole pilly on a hook dropped over the side, and typically it takes only a second before you are on. These are the days you never forget, with great memories shared with a crew of mates.

You are lucky to get one day in winter, and even luckier if you get a few days where they are stacked under the boat, 62 AUGUST 2023

August there is still every chance of more sessions of schooling bluefin and larger fish as well. It is a fishy month for tuna, and the water of the Batemans coast could turn it on this month.

There’s still a good chance of encountering a yellowfin, and maybe even large schools of them. The yellowfin tuna numbers have been on the increase over the last few years, and the chances of finding them in closer are good. As we approach the end of August and into September they have been found in as close as the snapper grounds in 60m to 80m of water. Let’s hope the trend of the last few years continues.

Deep dropping out wide in between tuna is a good option, making the most of the slower currents.

There have been some good numbers of ling and ocean perch over the last month or so, and hopefully some blue-eye, hapuka or gemfish will also come to the party in the coming weeks. There might even be a chance for a sword.

Pete and Tim were out deep dropping late May, catching their fair share of ling, when something jumped on that didn’t fight like a ling. As it came up it started moving away, and the boys knew it was something different. It wasn’t that big… maybe a shark? Sword?

In the end, once it surfaced it was revealed to be a small sword. Even though it wasn’t big, it got the boys a little excited.

This catch got other fishos thinking of swords locally.

Closer to shore, one of the most consistent bites has come from snapper.

They have been on fire for quite a few years now.

True, there has been the odd slow patch here and there, but for most of the time they have been on the chew.

Of late we have seen quite a few 80cm+ models getting caught, and for this area they are massive fish. The numbers have been very impressive honestly, and I don’t know how long this will last, but there is no reason why it won’t continue throughout August.

Flathead and other reef species are also going well, and I think today we are seeing more fishos broadening their horizons with what species hit the table. I think most people now see bonito as a great

table fish, and now red rock cod are on many fisho’s tables, not just European tables. The day you see wirrah (boot) on ice at the fish markets, you know things are changing, and people are becoming more adventurous in the kitchen.

I think it’s great that people are making the most of their catch, and broadening their horizons beyond salmon fish cakes.

More anglers are learning to clean around the painful red rock cod spikes to find that delicious white flesh, and bleeding bonito and cleaning and filleting the fish down on the salty rocks, and keeping the fillets cold and firm before they get skinned in the kitchen. I’m even seeing Sargent Bakers being called ‘dragon snappers’ and seeing recipes online for them, and I must say, they look good. I’ve got an amazing bonito recipe and

everyone that tries it loves it, so I’m all for making the most of any fish if there’s a way to make it taste good.

Tuna and snapper are great winter species, especially if you have access to a boat. If you don’t, you can have enjoyable sessions chasing drummer from the rocks and salmon and tailor from the beaches and headlands. As winter has progressed, these species have been coming on like clockwork. Fishos are visiting their local ledges and are finding plenty of drummer, with your usual bycatch of bream, grouper, leatherjacket and so forth.

Beaches are seeing large schools of salmon and good numbers of tailor. Last year the tailor got bigger and bigger as the winter went on, and this year is looking like following suit, with some 50-60cm models being

captured. Moruya break wall to Dalmeny seems to be where the larger ones get caught, and it’s a very productive area.

Casting/spinning metal lures is the easiest and most fun way to catch these fish. However, you can lose plenty to the chopper tailor, so sometimes you may want to opt for pillies on gang hooks. Another tip is to put a small length of wire to your gangs or lures for some security from the tailor’s sharp teeth.

Along the beaches and into the estuary, the mulloway are roaming.

These fish are another good target throughout winter.

Catching them can involve some long, cold nights, as they are often targeted at night, so put on your thermals and pack some warm clothes. The estuary is usually more successful for mulloway than the beach, and freshly-caught squid is the number one bait. Fortunately, winter has good, clear water that the squid like, and they are found quite consistently at this time of year.

Other than mulloway in the estuary, is gets tough for other species to target.

Everything starts to shut down and it takes more patience and perseverance to get your catch of bream and flathead.

Still, winter is not too bad here on the south coast, and if it’s sunny it’s even better. Stay warm and tight lines, fishos.

• For more up-to-theminute 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).

Kate Rogers took Ben and Mick out for some tuna time.

Hopefully this is a sign of more to come.

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Sunny winter days strolling along the beach BERMAGUI

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

People who fish from the beach will generally try their luck early in the morning or late in the afternoon and into the night, fixing themselves to one patch of sand, watching their baited rods. At this

time of year when the sun is not very high in the sky, the middle of the day can often be as productive as the mornings or afternoon. For me, there is nothing more enjoyable than strolling the beach with a handful of lures, sight fishing to passing schools of fish in the cool, calm conditions often associated with this time of year.

Most commonly sighted are schools of salmon as they patrol the coastline in search of small baitfish. Along the beachfront these predators may hold in gutters, however are more likely to be on the move following bait schools.

You will need to anticipate which way they are travelling to intercept their path, so you may need to be prepared to be on the move. Areas

Trevally are a regular winter catch.

An interesting boat ramp TATHRA

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

Tathra has one of the most interesting boat ramps maybe in all of Australia. Known as

Kianinny Bay, this little inlet allows boaties access to the open sea. The facilities associated with the ramp are first class, all the way from the ramp through to the parking, top class cleaning tables along with radio monitoring

well worth a look would be Tilba, Wallaga or Camel Rock beaches to the north, or Cuttagee, Barragoot or Bunga area which also hosts some good rock platforms, not only for salmon but a host of other species that call the stones home.

Focusing on the rocks, it’s not a bad time to wet a line in these areas. Not only does the Bunga area produce, there are plenty of other locations close to Bermagui that are also worth trying. In the clear water, anglers can observe species like drummer, bream, trevally, wrasse, leatherjackets or those hard-pulling blue groper in the calm conditions. Baits like cunjevoi, crab, peeled prawn or even cabbage weed are often all that’s needed to produce fish, and using berley will often increase your chances of success.

On the game scene things are extremely quiet, so don’t expect anything of greatness.

If you are one to go wide seeking those succulent deepwater table fish, then bring some game gear with you as mako sharks will often follow hooked fish coming up from the bottom, and it may pay to have a rig ready.

You should also look up out here as often birds high in the sky will give away a

Flounder are a welcome by-catch. school of bluefin tuna that will often unexpectedly show up. It pays to be vigilant.

Out at sea for the moment there is plenty of activity for

anglers wanting to acquire a feed of juicy bottom fish.

Snapper are definitely on the short list, and are a winter specialty. You can

from the local marine rescue group.

Once you leave the boat ramp to head out to sea, there’s a host of different options on hand for us anglers. Whether you go north or south or straight out, there’s a multitude of reefs to

Picturesque the gateway to the ocean.

There are some nice winter bream on offer at the moment.

64 AUGUST 2023

explore in a range of depths.

These depths can range from a few metres through to a couple of hundred metres for those more adventurous anglers with the right boats and tackle.

On these reefs you are likely to encounter are some very nice snapper, morwong, ocean perch, pigfish, or nannygai over the

reefs. Closer to the coastline in shallower water, sand flathead make up the bulk of the catch, with the odd gummy shark thrown in.

Nothing much is happening on the gamefishing scene. However, those who have larger boats, electric reels and are willing to venture wide out over the Continental Shelf are

bringing home some very delicious table fish in the form of blue-eye trevalla, ling, gemfish, hapuka, perch or cod.

Now we are into the last month of winter, and things are slowly starting to warm up. However, it is probably still the worst month of the year for fishing in our part of

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NSW MERCURY DEALERS High-flying salmon are great fun on the end of a line. choose from a number of different ways in which to target these fish, including anchoring up and berleying, soft plastic jigging or standard drift fishing. Other species around on the reefs at present include morwong, ocean perch, nannygai, pigfish and, out on the deeper reefs, ling, blue-eye trevalla and Tassie trumpeter.

Those anglers wishing to put some decent flattie fillets on the table may find decent numbers of sand

flathead out from most beaches. Tilba, Camel Rock, Cuttagee and the Murrah area are the best places to focus on, in water depths from 20-35m. There have been a few gummy sharks in these areas, along with some red gurnard. Out wider on the tiger flathead grounds things are a little quiet, but are poised to improve with the onset of spring.

With the cold water in the estuaries, using height to your advantage will

see you tied into fish you may normally miss. The main vantage points for anglers around Bermagui are the northern rock wall upstream from the bridge, off the bridge, both sides of the break wall, and the main harbour wharves.

Most of the winter species encountered in these places will include luderick, bream, trevally or a few whiting, where a wellplaced nipper may obtain the desired result.

the world, especially if you are shore-based or fishing from a small boat in the estuaries. Fortunately, there are plenty of salmon along the beaches and off the rocks, so if you need a fix from a hardpulling, line-stretching, solid adversary, these fish should fill a gap until things warm up.

The best you could probably hope for in the

estuaries are some nice black bream in the Bega River. Either lures or bait may work, however a lot of casts may be needed to produce a result.

There is the odd flathead also being encountered, mostly in shallow water where they are sunning themselves, and don’t be surprised when you spook more than you catch.

Another species which

is starting to move is the estuary perch, which are sometimes encountered mixed in with the bream.

One place that is ever reliable is Tathra Wharf, where there is always some action. Silver trevally are a common catch at present, along with plenty of yellowtail. Garfish can be berleyed up on the surface, and a good long cast may find a flathead on the bottom.

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AUGUST 2023 65

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NSW

Last chance to hit creeks and rivers before closure NEW ENGLAND RIVERS

Adam Townsend

It is officially the last month of the 2022/23 season to be targeting Murray cod in New South Wales, as the spawn season begins on 1 September. With only

four weeks left of cold weather now, and the cod season drawing to a close quickly, it is time to get out exploring the creeks and rivers before most of them become un-fishable due to the closure.

August is also the last month of winter, meaning it

should only start warming up from here on out as the days start getting gradually longer again, just in time for some awesome spring fishing opportunities in the weeks to come.

By the end of the month, the frosts should not be anywhere near as

As the weather starts to warm up, the bait-life above and below the water’s surface will become a lot more abundant and active. Although lizards are more dormant in the cooler months, they are always a favourite for cod all year round.

harsh as they have been in recent weeks, and with more mild weather patterns now settling in amongst the Tablelands, the baitlife should start becoming a lot more abundant also.

With more bait-life around and more active fish chasing the bait, it’s not as hard to actively target Murray cod in the warmer months than it is in the winter months, especially when fishing the local rivers (as opposed to the larger impoundments).

There will be times this month when the bite patterns can be a bit harder to work out for many of the waterways. When times are tough and you would just like to catch a Murray cod to end the season (or another fish species), you cannot go past throwing proven lure types such as the spinnerbait or chatterbait.

These types of lures are great for creating reaction bites, as they produce a lot of noise and vibration underneath the surface, and sometimes that is exactly what aggressive fish such as Murray cod and golden perch love most. For me personally, it’s always fun and also very hard to beat throwing surface lures around at this time of

August is the last month to be out fishing and exploring the beautiful rivers and gorge country for Murray cod before the 3-month closure.

For full terms & conditions www.inverell.nsw.gov.au

0 , 0 0 0 1 $

*

TAGGED COD

COPETON DAM, INVERELL

14TH -17TH SEPTEMBER 2023

*TERMS & CONDITIONS APPLY 66 AUGUST 2023

NSW

Starting to transition HUNTER VALLEY

Nick Price

The bass in Glenbawn are big, strong and active! It is a great time to be alive.

August is a time where the air temperature starts to warm but the water temperature is still cold. By the end of August, farmers rely on pastures starting to grow, and this means incredible comfortable weather for fishing.

With the last four years of good seasons in the Upper Hunter, Glenbawn has risen and is full of food. The rising water has unlocked nutrients that kicked off the food chain.

The phytoplankton and then the zooplankton biomass exploded. Following this was the small baitfish that bass love to eat, such as smelt and gudgeon. Smelt can be seen in massive bait balls at the moment, with angry bass pounding the school like a tuna chasing stripies. The bass being caught from these schools are fat. They are heavy for their length and spewing out these baitfish.

Catching these bass is not always easy, but if they are on then you can’t go wrong. The trick is to find a school that is actively feeding. To make your trip more productive, find as

many schools as you can and then keep moving around from school to school. You want to be targeting the active fish, moving off when they stop feeding and then coming back later in the day.

Just keep moving!

To catch these fish, I recommend that you use ice jigs and plastics. Importantly, colour does matter. Have half a dozen different coloured ice jigs and some permanent markers. You may lose some gear on these big, angry fish, so be prepared!

When fishing the plastics, colour seems to be more important than usual. I normally am an advocate for fishing either UV or natural These big, fat Glenbawn bass were full of food and fought hard.

Fishing plastics in 20ft of water accounted for this fat fish. year, as well as slow, suspending swimbaits in search of a clear water visual eat.

This month is also a bit special compared to other months with the bigger moon phases. The full moon will be above twice this month, with the second full moon at the end of the month being the blue moon, as well as the supermoon. Both full moons will be above on

the 2nd and 31st of this month. The new moon will be in between, on the 16th of this month. Moon phases can play a big positive factor when it comes to fishing, and we’ll have to wait and see how the month plays out.

There has been little rainfall of late, but most of the impoundments’ water levels have still been sitting relatively high.

With the majority of them fishing well, it is a good

time to be out enjoying quality time with mates and the family. Copeton Dam always seems to attract a lot of attention during the winter months with the big fish it produces, and this winter has been no exception. There have been some cracking fish caught, with many Murray cod over the metre mark as well as some awesome conditioned golden perch. With the water temperatures also

The impoundments have been fishing well with some cracking Murray cod and golden perch caught. Big fish are still on the move and are only one good cast away.

plastics. At the moment even subtle variations in plastic colour can be the difference between an average and a great day. Make sure you have a variety of colours with more than one bag of each colour. Once you find the formula you will catch many fish and use lots of plastics. It’s a great problem to have! If you are worried about losing too many plastics, just change colour and don’t catch as many fish!

There are definitely cod in Glenbawn. I often get reports of people seeing cod in the shallows that are following hooked bass, and the odd one getting caught on light bass gear. One local showed me a picture of a 142cm beast last year. With

the schooled bass, the cod can be seen working these schools, just like cod working schools of yellowbelly in Wyangala or Copeton. I recently watched two cod on the Garmin Panoptix, but unfortunately, I didn’t have any appropriate tackle with me. You should definitely consider throwing in a big rod when you come up.

CARP MUSTER The Carp Muster, organised by local Jamie, was a great success. Lots of carp were caught, but more importantly hundreds of people had fun fishing at Glenbawn for carp.

Often people get carried away thanking sponsors, but really the person who needs the biggest praise is Jamie McBain, who

got everyone together and organized this great event.

Jamie is organising another one in February and is going to make it a yearly February event.

LOOKING AHEAD September can be cold sometimes, but usually the days start to gradually warm up. The plastic bite, both deep and shallow is red hot.

The jerkbait and plastic bite on the edge is going strong.

The bass are big and angry.

Remember, if you’re heading up to the Barrington, Glenbawn or St Clair, please drop into the shop at the turnoff to Glenbawn in Aberdeen and ask about the different techniques and what they are biting on. We stock all the quality tackle that you need.

starting to warm up in the impoundments, the perch species such as the goldens and silvers will become very active, and they are fun fish to target also.

At the time of writing this report, the current dam levels are: Copeton Dam 91%, Pindari Dam - 84%, Glen Lyon Dam - 97%, Split Rock Dam - 100%, and Keepit Dam - 96%.

Trout season still remains closed until the October long weekend, so be mindful when looking for places to fish this month. With Murray cod season being closed at the same time, the main target species are generally golden perch and redfin perch in the rivers, however, Copeton Dam remains open for targeting Murray Cod all year round.

While they are biting well, that seems the place to be.

On that same note, there are other fun species worth targeting which are only a short drive away in country terms: carp and bass.

Good luck to everyone getting outdoors this month, rug up for the next couple of weeks, and tight lines.

Early mornings amongst the New England Tablelands can be hard to beat. The mornings are still chilly, but the days should only get better as spring approaches.

AUGUST 2023 67

NSW

Great for golden perch and redfin BATLOW

Wayne Dubois waynedubois@westnet.com.au

Winter might not be quite over yet but some anglers will already be getting itchy feet as they anticipate the warmer weather and better fishing ahead. The weather will be starting to warm late this month, which is great for fish and anglers

huge numbers at times, and some very large specimens are encountered at Blowering Dam at this time of the year.

Just like the rest of winter, these fish are best targeted vertically with lures, jigs or bait. The fish are normally found sitting fairly deep at this time of the year, anywhere from 7-20m down, but once a school is located it is quite easy to entice them with any vertically presented

Pick the right location, the right lure and use it the right way, and this is what’s possible this month. but this is certainly not the case. More often than not, the goldens have been going off for over a month before anglers really start to focus their efforts on them. I suspect this is mostly because anglers are still focussing their efforts on Murray cod before the season closes, which is fair enough – but these anglers are missing out on some of the best golden perch fishing to be had for the entire year.

On top of that, at Blowering in particular

there is no closed season for Murray cod so there’s no need to miss out on the great golden perch action when it is happening.

Golden perch will be going off in September, but it might surprise some people to hear that it’s even better in August most years. I say ‘most years’ because this is not always the case; on a really cold year they might not start firing until the very end of August. Conversely, on a good year you will find these fish going nuts from the

Golden perch will be mooching around the edges of the lake this month, and can be targeted from the bank with great success. Lipless crankbaits like the Insanity Tackle Slap Walker are perfect for targeting these fish. very beginning of the month.

The goldens in late winter and early spring will move right up into the edges of the lakes or

Those wanting a trout fix will have to hit the lakes this month, as the creeks and rivers are still closed until October. Beautifully coloured post spawn trout like this big brook trout are certainly worth targeting. alike, but it won’t be warm enough for the skiers just yet so anglers should get the lakes to themselves.

This transition from winter to spring can really get some fish species fired up and at their most active, so it pays to make the most of it while you can.

Trout have been a main target over the last couple of months and will also be very active this month.

However, there are plenty of other fish species now starting to really fire to give anglers many alternatives to just trout fishing.

REDFIN The redfin fishing is normally sensational at this time of the year, but they are often overlooked as anglers are generally either trying to get their last Murray cod fix before the season closes at the end of the month, or are still targeting trout.

Redfin can be caught in 68 AUGUST 2023

bait or lure. Just remember to keep your lure or bait presentation moving and you’ll fill your esky before you know it.

GOLDEN PERCH Most people think that September is the beginning of the golden perch season

It doesn’t matter where you are catching them, it’s impossible to not have some serious fun when you come across a school of active golden perch.

The redfin are forming massive pre-spawn schools in deep water, and they can be targeted with fast sinking rubber vibes from a boat or from steep land-based locations.

sit up in the very tops of any standing trees. They do this to warm themselves, and also to start feeding up on the smorgasbord of food that starts flooding into and onto the lakes at this time of the year. Insect life is really starting to pick up, and this alone warrants moving around the edges whilst mopping them up. The frogs and crustaceans start to get very active this month as well, and they are on top of the golden perch’s diet from now all the way through the spring months.

As well as this, the baby fish from the winter spawn

run are stacked around the edges, so it’s easy to see why these goldens start congregating around the lake’s margins.

These fish are best targeted by repeat casting with lures, and it’s hard to beat small 50-70mm lipless crankbaits. Casting from a boat, especially around the tops of trees that you can’t reach without a boat, works sensationally at this time of the year. Quite often it is possible to see your target fish before you even cast to it. Watching a fish turn and then follow and inhale your lure in crystal clear water is about as good as it gets when it comes to golden perch fishing.

Alternatively, casting from the bank with these same lures will see you rewarded more often than not. Just keep casting and moving along the bank in between casts until you come across some active fish. Remember that at this time of the year the fish will be often schooled up, so if you do catch a fish or get followed, it pays to stick to that area for a little while longer in case the fish has a few friends around.

As you can see, it is not just Murray cod and trout that are worth targeting this month. The redfin fishing should be great and, as I said earlier, the golden perch fishing can often be the best you’re going to experience all year. If you have never targeted golden perch during August before, it might pay to give it a go this year.

Until next article, good luck with the fishing and tight lines.

NSW

Smart anglers doing the miles to get the smiles CANBERRA

Toby Grundy

August is great time of year to be on the water, casting a line. While the weather is always a challenge, the cod fishing switches up a gear as more anglers go in

money for cancer research – and while it is competitive, this comp is about much more than who caught the biggest cod.

LOCAL LAKES Lake Burley Griffin is proving to be a challenging fishery at this time. While there have been reports of

are fussy.

Lake Tuggeranong is another fishery that is proving to be a significant challenge. Canberra has experienced some incredibly cold weather in recent weeks, and this has shut down the lake. The smaller redfin have headed out into the middle

Plastics are proving to be the best lures for targeting redfin on the flats.

Plenty of smaller cod have been hitting lures. search of one last greenfish before the season closes, and the golden perch tend to start moving after slowing down through June and July.

The best part about August (for me, anyway) is the return of the Greg Whitehead Fishing Challenge, which is run every year at Lake Burrinjuck from 18-20 August. This competition is sponsored by so many wonderful fishing companies (this magazine included), and was created by Stu Cattanach in memory of his friend Greg Whitehead who sadly passed away from brain cancer.

The event raises around $40,000 every year, and the prizes have to be seen to be believed. However, it is the sense of community which is the big drawcard for me.

Everyone comes together with the same goal – to raise

some great captures, ranging from big cod on surface through to good-sized yellas hitting lures close to the bank, most anglers have had to really grind through the conditions to get a strike.

For those who have stuck it out, the rewards have been well worth it because once a patch of redfin or yellas has been located, the fish have hit all manner of lures.

I have been focusing my attention on the areas in and around Yarralumla Bay. This part of the lake is always a bit hit-and-miss, but I have found a few patches of schooling redfin close to the shore and have picked up several fish by casting plastics out from the points and twitching the lure on the spot. I usually use a 3” plastic when fishing LBG, but now I’ve downsized to a 2” Wriggler and a 1/16oz jighead because the fish

The big redfin are feeding up.

of the lake, and the mediumsized golden perch, which were so prevalent, have also headed out into the deeper parts of Lake Tuggeranong.

anglers willing to walk a long way to find the fish.

Slow pools with a bit of current are my preference right now. The larger fish like to move into these areas at dawn and dusk to look for an easy meal, and I like to fish these areas with smaller, winged surface lures.

SURROUNDS Googong Dam is my pick of the August fisheries, as the bigger reds are on the bite. This means the cod will be following the active schools of redfin and picking off the stragglers.

The middle sections of the dam are the best place to search for schools of reds sitting off the points. Once located, ripping a small vibe up the water column is a

That said, there have been a few decent cod caught at the spillway by anglers casting TN80s near the wall, and also by anglers casting spinnerbaits near the dam wall. If we get a decent dump of rain and a run of warm days in the lead up to September, the lake may start to fish really well, especially if the mosquito fish appear along the edges later this month.

Lake Ginninderra is fishing much the same as

Even though it is freezing cold, the fishing has been rewarding. brought plenty of challenges, but the biggest challenge has been the influx of fishers hitting the river. The cod simply wised up in what are now really pressured

great method to get the fish interested.

After landing a few reds, it’s good to switch to a much larger vibe like a Jackall Doozer, and try for a cod

The cod fishing has been good for those willing to walk a long way.

LBG and Lake Tuggeranong.

While there have been some excellent native captures, these captures have been few and far between, with most people experiencing fishless sessions without even a touch. The carp fishing though has been superb, with mud marlin aficionados through to novice anglers experiencing a bumper winter carp season on Lake Ginninderra. Most anglers have been using bread or worms and a running sinker rig, but a few carp have been caught casting small wriggler style plastics out along the flats on clear days.

The Murrumbidgee River is very hit and miss.

Cod season 2022/23 has

The golden perch are starting to wake up on LBG. parts of the river, and have shut down. This issue is due in part to the new housing developments that are encroaching further and further into the river corridor, and this will continue to have a negative effect on the fishing for years to come.

There have, however, been some cod caught by

using the same method.

If you’re fishing from the bank, go for a walk from the main carpark and along the banks leading to Shannons Inlet. On overcast days, these banks tend to produce good golden perch fishing in August. While the fish aren’t big, they do hit paddle tail plastics hard and fight well.

AUGUST 2023 69

What’s going on with southern sand flathead?

MELBOURNE

Ross Winstanley

In Victorian and Tasmanian coastal waters and bays, southern sand flathead have been the ‘bread-and-butter’ target species for many

in the sophistication and availability of fish-finding and bottom discrimination aids, there is nothing simpler than targeting sand flathead which have been subject to the liberal catch limit of 20/day.

Many ‘advanced’ anglers who have progressed in

TABLE.1 Size limits proposed to increase the sand flathead spawning stock and protect large females.

Region Southern region Bass Strait islands Remaining State waters, (excluding the southern region and Bass Strait islands)

Current 32 cm 32 cm 32 cm

Proposed min. size 35 cm 35 cm 35 cm

buy-backs and other management measures were implemented to reduce the numbers of commercial fishermen operating in the Bay, using nets, hooks, and other methods. From earlier times when more than 300 fishermen were licensed, during the past 30 years, numbers were reduced successively to 42 by 2010.

From April 2022, after net fishing was banned in the Bay, each of the eight remaining fishermen have been permitted to use hooks to take up to 11 tonnes of snapper, one tonne of shark, and two tonnes of ‘other fish’, but excluding the two top-valued species, whiting and calamari.

Figure 1. Annual commercial catches of sand flathead from Port Phillip Bay, 1920-2015 (tonnes).

TABLE.2 Sand flathead bag and possession limits proposed to reduce extreme high levels of fishing mortality.

Limits Bag limit Possession limit

Current 20 fish 30 fish

generations of anglers.

At times they were also targeted by commercial fishers, but more recently they have been taken as a by-product species.

So, given that anglers generate most of the overall fishing pressure, why have two significant stocks experienced major declines, lasting many years. In Port Phillip Bay, sand flathead have only recently staged a recovery in terms of spawning success and recruitment of fish up to 25cm, after a 20-year decline in numbers. In Tasmanian coastal waters, sand flathead numbers continue to decline despite management measures aimed at reducing pressure on spawning and recruitment.

VICTORIA Since first settlement over two centuries ago, southern sand flathead have been the staple target species for simple hook fishing in Victorian bays and coastal waters. Still today, many young anglers are introduced to saltwater fishing, using basic gear and packaged bait to target ‘flatties’ on clear bottom in shallow waters.

There’s no need for fancy electronic aids to look for reefs or seagrass beds, or drop-offs. In an age of constant improvements 70 AUGUST 2023

Southern region 2 fish 10 fish

their use of specialised gear and in targeting more challenging species, still admit to a fondness for eating sand flathead.

In Vi c t o r i a ’s commercial fisheries today, sand flathead are largely a by-product of targeting species of greater market value, using trawl or other net-fishing methods. In open coastal waters since 2000, the annual catches have varied from 60 tonnes in 2007, to 5000 tonnes in 2020. This wide range results from variations in the numbers of active trawlers and their catch targeting preferences which include the larger and more popular tiger flathead – not necessarily from changes in sand flathead numbers in ocean waters.

The national 2020 Status of Australian Fish Stocks report on assessments of 148 species, rated the Port Phillip Bay sand flathead stock as “recovering” (based on detailed long-term studies) and the stocks from other Victorian waters as

State waters (excluding southern region) 5 fish 10 fish “sustainable” (based on catch and catch rate data).

PORT PHILLIP BAY The most perplexing change observed in Port Phillip Bay fish stocks has been the decline in sand flathead, once the most important species in the bay, and a major source of fresh fish for Victorian consumers.

Between the first records in 1914 until 1960, commercial net-fishing landed an average of about 180 tonnes of flatheads – mainly sand flathead – each year (Figure 1).

Then, as commercial trawl fisheries off southeastern Australia began to offer Victorian fresh fish consumers increasing volumes of attractive, high quality alternative species, flathead in the Bay moved from a fishing target to a by-product of fishing for other species.

Another factor in the decline in Bay flathead landings was a succession of management actions.

In the commercial fishing area, a series of licence

Together, the limit of eight commercial licences, the closure of net fishing and the tight limits on ‘other fish’ means that sand flathead have virtually become a recreationalonly species in the Bay. By the most recent estimate, the recreational catch of sand flathead from the Bay

was about 110 tonnes in the mid-2000s, down from 450 tonnes in the late 1980s.

The management action taken to directly improve spawning potential of the stock was the 2009 increase in the minimum size limit, from 25-27 cm. As few males grow beyond 28 cm in the Bay, this has improved the balance in the numbers of mature male and female sand flathead.

Stock size and recruitment From 1990, estimates of the sand flathead stock in the Bay decreased steadily from about 4000 tonnes until reaching about 500 tonnes by 2012 (Figure 2). Since then, estimates have risen slightly, and there are clear indications of recovery in sand flathead numbers.

While the environmental influences on spawning success are not known, the results can be seen through the VFA’s monitoring of annual sand flathead recruitment in the Bay. Beginning in 1988, monitoring showed substantial early spawning peaks, which, while they reduced in size between 1989 and 1997, were sufficient to support a healthy fishery until the

mid-2000s.

However, low spawning successes between 2000 and 2012 resulted in annual recruitment fluctuating at low levels (Figure 3). Along with fishing pressure, this contributed to the stock decline observed during the 2000s.

Figure 4 illustrates how important strong year-classes are to maintaining the stock size and catch rates. It shows how, in 2005, the strong 1989 and 1993 groups were still prominent in trawl sampling, and in supporting fishing, 16 and 12 years later, respectively.

Modest spawning successes in 2004 and 2013 have helped to maintain the stock, and recent analyses show that, since about 2008, numbers in size classes from 10-25cm long have increased. That trend should gradually extend to the numbers of larger fish.

Better still, in May 2021, the VFA reported the highest sand flathead recruitment recorded for the Bay since 1997. This should further boost the recovery in stock size and catch rates.

A VFA study found no evidence that fishing pressure or, despite earlier speculation, the introduced Pacific seastar

Figure 2. Estimated sand flathead stock size in Port Phillip Bay.

TABLE.3 Proposed changes to commercial fisheries catch limits.

Licence Current Holders of scalefish licences No limit (excluding rock lobster) Holders of rock lobster licences 20kg other flatheads

Proposed max. size 38 cm 40 cm

30 fish combined flathead limit

Proposed (per day) 25 kg sand flathead 10kg sand flathead

Asterias amurensis or the Millennium drought, had influenced sand flathead growth or survival. If further action was needed to boost the stock, the study indicated that a substantial reduction of

the recreational bag limit would be required in order to be effective. Creel survey results showed that reducing the limit from 20 to 5/day would reduce the recreational catch by just 16% as 90% of anglers take no more than five flathead per day.

Right now, with the stock recovering, the main actions required seem to be continued monitoring of annual recruitment and of the revival of the numbers of legal-sized fish, and of recreational catches.

TASMANIA Recreational fishers take most of the sand flathead caught in Tasmanian waters where this species represents about 70% of their marine fish catch. The recreational flathead catch is estimated to be 184 tonnes, with 98% being sand flathead.

Figure 3. Annual sand flathead recruitment in Port Phillip Bay. stock as “depleting” based on detailed long-term studies, as did the national 2020 Status of Australian Fish Stocks report.

were longer than 40cm, reflecting the effect of fishing on the stock over many years. Moreover, the survey results showed that

the populations in most regions around the state “below critical levels.”

Statewide, the estimated fishing pressure was likely to be unsustainable.

So, in 2023 it is no surprise that “interim measures” – a bag limit 10/day and minimum size 35cm – are in place, while catch limits for sand flathead are being reviewed as part of Tasmania’s wider “Scalefish Fishery Rules Review 2023”. The public consultation process closed on 29 May. COMMERCIAL FISHERY PROPOSALS After declining as a by-product of handline, gill net and Danish seine fishing, now representing

about 2% of the total annual catch of sand flathead (3.3 tonnes in 2020/21), the aim of currently proposed catch limits is to reduce the risk of future increases in the catch.

OTHER STATES Southern sand flathead occur in bays, inlets, and shallow coastal waters, from southern New South Wales to southern Western Australia, where their numbers are small compared to those of other flathead species.

The national 2020 Status of Australian Fish Stocks report indicates that sand flathead stocks are “undefined” in South Australian waters, and “negligible” in WA waters.

Figure 4. Strong 1989 (red) and 1993 (green) year-classes were still prominent in the fishery after many years.

FISHING NEWS

Snobs Creek Hatchery Open Day

Figure 5. Proposed bag and size limit changes.

Sand flathead are highly vulnerable to recreational fishing but are a minor by-product of commercial fishing, hence management strategies aimed at rebuilding the stock are largely focused on recreational catch limits.

Tasmania’s 2014/15 scalefish fisheries assessments, showed sharp declines in the numbers of sand flathead above the then-legal size of 30cm, around the state. The recreational fishery was heavily dependent on sand flathead – mainly fastergrowing females – as they crossed the minimum size.

The management response was to raise the size limit to 32cm and to reduce the bag limit from 30 to 20/day, in November 2015. Three subsequent assessments rated the sand flathead

At Ta s m a n i a ’s 2020/21 scalefish fisheries assessments, sand flathead were assessed for the first time as “depleted,” meaning that the stock in Tasmanian waters has been reduced to the point where recruitment or spawning is likely to be insufficient to recover sand flathead numbers.

Management measures already in place had not led to recovery and further measures were needed to ensure sustainability at a productive level. While undersized fish were abundant, female flathead were “likely to be depleted in most regions.”

In Tasmanian waters, sand flathead have the potential to grow to 60cm.

However, in the many samples measured between 2012 and 2022, very few

males, on average, seldom reach the 32cm minimum size, indicating the fishery’s high dependence on mature females.

Despite previous interventions, a particular challenge for managers was that fishing pressure was highest off the southeast and eastern Tasmania where the need for stock rebuilding was greatest. The challenge was best summed up: “Southern sand flathead is highly susceptible to capture by the recreational fishery, heavily fished in its preferred habitat, with evidence of depletion in population biomass, reproductive capacity, and age and size structure.”

Analyses indicated that intensive fishing, particularly on female sand flathead, may have depleted

The Snobs Creek Hatchery Open day has been claimed as ‘a massive success’ and ‘beyond our expectations’ by organisers, after over 600 visitors attended the event on Sunday June 25.

The wildly popular event was so successful that the Victorian Fisheries Authority have raced to begin planning another event in the September school holidays, with organisers confident numbers will soar with warmer temperatures in the spring time.

Despite some visitors describing the conditions as ‘arctic’, the open day provided recreational fishers of all ages the opportunity to see how millions of fish are grown every year, and stocked into waterways to improve freshwater fisheries.

Visitors were provided with

a rare, behind-the-scenes look into daily operations of the hatchery directly from staff, where no question was off limits.

Open day visitors also heard from experts from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action on the work being done to protect threatened native fish. The speakers shared how research, habitat improvement and

translocations are making a positive difference.

“It was fun and interesting to see how the little fish grow and are taken to different spots around Victoria,” said Toby, who had travelled from Wangaratta especially for the event. “I reckon I’ll be taking some of these home with me when I catch them when I go fishing with my granddad later in the year.”

The enormous success of the event has prompted organisers to schedule another open day for the September school holidays.

The Victorian Fisheries Authority has already marked Saturday 2 September, during the Goulburn Fishing Festival and opening of the 2023 trout season, for another open day, with more attractions promised for the public to enjoy. - VRFish AUGUST 2023 71

VIC

We are experiencing trying times in Portland PORTLAND

Nigel Fisher

G’day everybody, I hope you are warmer than we are down here in the southwest.

This winter has certainly tested the best of us, as we’ve had to fight the weather to get onto the fishing grounds. We

the school tuna come in quite close, and water around Lawrences Rock to Cape Nelson Lighthouse can really fire up. In addition to this, another good run on the barrel tuna can be on the cards, but again, it all depends on whether mother nature is kind to us.

Recently, anglers going on trips in the deeper water,

Salty Dog fishing charters with a great variety of fish.

Tony and his mates caught a nice feed of pinkie snapper in the deeper water. generally get some good windows of opportunity in the winter months, but so far it has been very difficult. I am hoping that by the time this magazine comes out, the weather will have settled somewhat.

On a brighter note, when we have had those good weather windows, the fishing has been quite reasonable. The school tuna have been around in decent numbers, but the depths have varied from around 50m to the Shelf (the odd big hook-up on larger tuna is also still a possibility).

Sometimes around August

around 50-80m around Cape Nelson, fishing the bottom have been getting into great variety of fish.

Catches in recent weeks have included gummy sharks, school sharks, snapper and nannygai, just to name a few. We have also seen the odd trumpeter and some nice mako sharks.

Flathead have been showing up in good numbers around Bridgewater, and at this time of year you can get some nice-size flathead around the Lawrences Rock area.

Around the bay, we have seen some good-size whiting showing up, so it may be worth having a fish for them this month. You may not get big numbers, but the fillets should be big.

August is a great time of year for catching large Australian salmon around the bay, either from a boat or land-based off the breakwater or beaches around Portland and Bridgewater Bay. Right now is also a great time of year to try fishing the estuary systems

such as the Surry, Fitzroy and Glenelg rivers chasing bream, estuary perch and the mighty mulloway.

The dirtier water can produce some big fish in

Freshwater fishing is always a great option throughout the colder months, and Bridgewater Lakes is not a bad place to start. These lakes have produced some very big redfin when they decide to bite.

We are also very lucky to have some fantastic fishing holes within a couple of hours away for the chances of redfin, trout and even Murray cod.

So, as you can see, you still have many options to choose from in our winter period. It just depends on what the weather conditions allow us to do.

• If you are looking at coming down to Portland during the winter months, you are welcome to contact us on 03 5521 1844 for any weather and fishing reports, or you can call in and say g’day to the

Local gun Ash with a beautiful tiger trout from lake Bullen Merri.

The result of another great tuna session on Sharkmen fishing charters.

these areas. Live baits are a huge advantage in this scenario, but soft plastics and lures can be very effective as well.

crew at Portland Compleat Angler. You will find us at 61 Bentinck Street, Portland, next door to the Gordon Hotel.

Hang in there, warmth is coming!

APOLLO BAY

Craig Rippon

The fishing lately has been fantastic for this time of year, and the weather hasn’t been too bad either.

Close to home, the salmon have still been really good for the Geelong supporters. We had a couple of them down to have a fish last week where they caught their bag of salmon. They really enjoyed the break down here and got plenty of fish. The mornings have been the best time to fish for the salmon, 72 AUGUST 2023

and metal lures have been out-fishing bait.

The whiting have slowed up a fair bit, with a couple of locals coming home empty on recent trips. There has been a fair bit of freshwater flushing in the ocean, so maybe a bit of freshwater in close doesn’t help out wide.

There have been good catches of snapper and nannygai lately, all decentsize fish. Most guys have been getting full bags, including some quality fish up to 5.5kg.

Gummy shark and school shark have also been really consistent. All the locals that have been

getting out have all gotten their bag limit catches.

Since I wrote my last report there have been some really nice tuna caught, and JB Lures have been working well on these fish. A young lad who came down with his dad on the school holidays got a fish of a lifetime with a 116.5kg bluefin. Some days there’s a really good bite and the next day they seem to slow a bit. The full moon down here seems to knock them around a bit but when they feed again it’s normally a good bite. For the moment, there’s plenty of bait in the water, and I expect it to get better.

The squid have slowed up in the harbour but there are still some good flathead about in 35m of water.

All our local freshwater rivers and creeks have had a good flush out, with plenty of water running in them. There has been the odd bream caught in the Barham River, but they haven’t been that big.

We are past the halfway mark in winter, so hang in there. The days are starting to get a bit longer, and with a dry and hot summer forecast, it will get warmer soon. In the meantime, if you are willing to brave the colder days, there are plenty of fish about.

Jakim (11yo) with his 116.5kg bluefin tuna.

VIC

Top trout fishing on offer in rivers WARRNAMBOOL

Mark Gercovich mgercovich@hotmail.com

The early part of winter was quite harsh down here in the southwest of the state. August, the last official month of winter, is traditionally very cold, but who knows what will happen in the coming weeks. Offshore angling has been virtually a write off for the past month with strong winds and big seas, but fortunately, the river fishing, both freshwater and estuary, has been on fire to make

up for it.

The Hopkins River has been producing some quality bream fishing.

Despite the water cooling down, fish have still been feeding hard on the edges. These fish have been responding well to deep diving lures and soft plastics fished along the rocky edges.

After the recent Vic Bream event was cancelled due to forecast high winds, a few of the keen anglers still went out, and it was 4kg bags all-round. In August, these fish can usually be found quite easily on the sounder in

the deeper parts of the river. Getting them to bite, however, is more difficult.

Coinciding your fishing with an incoming tide does seem to help, as the cleaner seawater pushes in under the dirty freshwater above.

It can make for easier midday fishing, without concentrating on the prime dawn/dusk periods like you need to when the water is clearer. It’s a big benefit in this cold winter weather.

The first mulloway I’d heard of for ages was a 94cm fish taken by Luke Smith on 4lb line whilst fishing for bream.

Good numbers of

Trout like this make battling the cold weather and dirty water worthwhile.

estuary perch have also moved downstream from the freshwater reaches, and are another worthwhile target this month. They are usually taken fishing deep plastics and vibes when fishing for bream, but also are happy to feed up tight on the weed beds despite the dirty fresh water. Casting shallow diving hardbodies like Infeet Sazanamis, shallow running DC75s or Presso Minnows into edges in dirty water might seem a little fruitless, until a 40cm EP jumps on.

The trout fishing in the local rivers has also been on fire. Trout fishing is a popular winter pastime locally, with the Moyne River, Mt Emu Creek and the Hopkins and Merri rivers being open in their entirety during the traditional closed season.

It means most of the prime local trout waters are fishable all winter.

There were a number of reasons for this. Firstly, it allows for anglers to target the trout in what is the most productive time to fish these waters. The higher water levels and cooler water temperatures of winter usually produce the most conducive trout fishing conditions. Also, all these South West coastal rivers are reliant on annual fish stocking, with research showing very little if any natural recruitment, thus reducing the need to ‘lock up’ the rivers to protect spawning fish at the best time to be fishing them.

This Hopkins bream was caught on the deep diving Daiwa Infeet Spike 53 EXDR. As I predicted a few issues ago, after the cool wet summer we’ve had, plus some good stocking, there have been plenty well-conditioned trout on offer. Interestingly, many keen trout anglers have recaptured fish they have already released. Skeeta Andrews, Michael Malone and myself have all had this happen recently. A trout’s spots are like fingerprints,

and combined with features like big hooked jaws or a dodgy fin, it’s pretty easy to compare photos and identify recaptured fish.

Being a fishery reliant on stocking, it is good to know that the fish can handle catch and release well, and you can then give someone else the chance to experience the thrill of a big brown smacking a lure at your feet.

Anglers braving the weather to catch some fish COBDEN

Rod Shepherd

Despite the wind and inclement weather, many boaters have ventured out onto the briny in search of a fish or two. The offshore scene has seen a variety of species caught, including those that dwell rather deep.

On a day of flat seas but with a southerly change due that night, one boat with four on board left Boat Bay and headed south for two hours, with an average land speed of 40km.

They fished a wide ridge in 360-420m of water with electric reels, and an oversized drogue (sea anchor) employed to slow down any drift.

Fishing was slow to begin with, and steady after that.

Often, even using

A trio of Hopkins River EPs prior to release. They were taken near the road bridge late in the afternoon on shrimp-style soft plastics stripped across the surface.

braid, a bite is not detected.

For that reason, every 30 minutes the electric reel is engaged and the long, slow retrieve begins, to see whether there’s a fish on the other end. If a big fish has hooked up, it will become apparent with the rod vibrating at the very least, and the angler can then assist the reel by manually winding up line.

The end result for that session was six hapuka to 6kg, some blue grenadier to 2kg, a couple of knifejaw around a kilo and one magnificent Tassie trumpeter weighing in at 9kg.

Much closer inshore around 40m, some nice pinkie snapper to 2kg have been caught, along with some huge blue morwong or queen snapper to 4kg, leatherjackets to 1.5kg and gummy shark to 7kg.

All have been taken on large, whole squid baits, which can be caught out

there jigging.

Even closer in has seen more barracouta encounters, along with Aussie salmon schools, with some fish exceeding 2kg. Metal slices cast among surface-feeding schools has been a hit for many anglers.

The Hopkins has some excellent bream on the chew in the lower reaches of the river. Fish to 41cm have been taken on bait and lure, with soft plastics being a standout favourite among many fishers.

The flats opposite Lyndoch have been productive early in the morning. Perch have been taken in front of Lyndoch right at first light. The best fishing has been after dark, with the moorings adjacent to Proudfoots providing plenty of action at night using plastics and quality bait flicked next to and under any structure, including moored boats.

AUGUST 2023 73

VIC

Get stuck into quality whiting GEELONG

Neil Slater slaterfish@gmail.com

It’s been cold as a motherin-law’s glare around Geelong and the Bellarine.

We’ve had good rains so

direction and cut the motor.

If you troll lures through the middle, they’ll disappear.

Casting at the school is the best way to catch plenty, but it is possible to troll lures beside the school with long drop backs on your lures – just don’t troll through

jig with a slow sink rate.

We’ve had a great run of mid-sized snapper around the 50cm mark inside Corio Bay over winter. They haven’t been in massive numbers, but they’re a viable target nonetheless. Anglers have caught them on bait and soft

be finished in spring. Head over to betterboating.vic. gov.au for updates.

King George whiting are biting well off Leopold in 6m and Curlew in 2-4m of water. St Leonards to Queenscliff has also seen plenty of whiting caught, with some nudging 45cm, which is a ripper fish.

Chris Pitman from Drysdale Bait and Tackle has been getting stuck into the winter whiting a fair bit, and says he has done very well on the grass beds out off Queenscliff. Chris also caught a big flatty on a pipi meant for a whiting while he was there – bonus!

The Barwon River estuary has seen quality silver trevally to 50cm biting on soft plastic lures, and a wide variety of baits such as pipis, pilchard fillets and raw chicken. The incoming tide where saltwater pushes into

Check out the rock platforms along the Great Ocean Road for salmon.

Chris scored this bonus flatty while whiting fishing. the rivers and lakes should provide good fishing as the year progresses. With those good rains there has been plenty of wind, which has kept most people indoors.

Those keen on trout should give Stoney Creek Reservoir near Ballan a go, as it remains clear after decent rain. Wurdee Buloc Reservoir near Moriac does discolour a bit, but reddies and trout can still be caught.

Further down the Otways, West Barwon Dam remains near full and is a very pretty possie to wet a line.

Hugh Hansen has been out to Wurdee bothering the local fish population, and has often returned with a feed of reddies from 25-35cm. This time of year has produced redfin over 50cm from Wurdee in the past, so it is well worth a trip and the cold breezes. An easterly works best here if you plan on lobbing a mudeye out for a trout, as that will be over your shoulder and carry the float out.

Australian salmon have been harassing baitfish inside Corio Bay. Most of the fish have been either side of 50cm, and showing up in completely random spots.

They are easy to spot during calm weather if they’re ripping into baitfish, but sometimes if they’re not in a feeding frenzy on the surface, all that is visible is a ripple, not unlike a wind riffle.

Always approach the school upstream for their 74 AUGUST 2023

the middle.

The lads at Trelly’s Tackle in Geelong report there have been good numbers of garfish inside Corio Bay plus some XXL calamari around the outer harbour. Garfish are epic on the plate if you can get a few. Best bet is to sling a bit of berley about and load up a quill float with a long shank hook and a tiny bait like a slice of pilchard. The big calamari are taking 3.5 sized jigs in as shallow as one meter of water so pick a

plastics around the Geelong waterfront, Curlewis and Western Beach. Depths have varied a lot, so it pays to prospect a fair bit before you locate a school.

The boat ramps at Avalon and Kirk Point are in line for major upgrades. Both will be out of action for a while but they will be awesome once completed. There will be parking areas, jetty extensions, wave screens and web cameras to check out conditions before you go.

Construction is expected to

You can have some great soft plastic sessions on the trevally in the Barwon estuary.

Chris has been getting stuck into the whiting down near Queenscliff.

the estuary is best, but I have caught a few in dirty water over the years.

Chris Pitman has also been flicking a few plastics around the lower Barwon and had some great sessions on these silver trevally using soft plastic lures.

Southern bluefin tuna have shown up in Bass Strait off the Rip and Barwon Heads over the last month.

Nothing massive, but a few schools of fish around the 15-20kg mark have made the trip worthwhile.

If the weather does allow some offshore work, there have also been a few solid gummy sharks and pinkie snapper caught out in the 40-50m line. Squid has been working the best, and drifting covers plenty of water if you’d prefer not to anchor.

I can’t say I can remember too many schools of tailor showing up off

Barwon Heads in the past, but Peri Stavropoulos from Trelly’s managed to boat a few nice fish in a recent trip offshore, which is a nice surprise.

For the month ahead, the surf beaches should really fire up, with Australian salmon cruising the breakers.

Give Jan Juc, Bancoora and 13th Beach a go. Also, the rock platforms along the Great Ocean Road will always produce salmon at this time of year.

• Catch a few around Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula or Surf Coast to Lorne recently? Send in a report to slaterfish@gmail.com with “FMG” in the subject field or give me a call on 0408 997348. 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).

More fish habitat for our rivers Your recreational fishing licence fees are helping Murray cod and golden perch find new homes in our northern rivers, so they have more places to shelter, breed and feed.

In the Little Murray River, the North Central Catchment Management Authority has installed another ten snag structures, taking the total to more than 30. That’s welcome news for the 155,000 Murray cod we’ve stocked there over the last 20 years.

In Pyramid Creek, there are now over 50 snags providing more fish habitat for the 180,000 golden perch and cod we’ve released along its length since 2003.

Learn more about projects just like these at www.vfa.vic.gov.au/fishinggrants

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Staying motivated during the depths of winter waters), estuaries and freshwater.

FISHING IN AUGUST There are still many good options in our inshore waters.

King George whiting are still fishing very well, although it can be tricky to find the school. At this time of year patience is required, and making many small moves, but when you do find them you should be able to catch them in good numbers and in good sizes.

Squid are pretty much a sure thing at this time of year, and are a great species to target when other species might be a little shut down.

I’ve had countless bag-out sessions all around in Werribee, Point Cook, St Leonards, Blairgowrie, and Mud Island. You name it – as long as there is a good volume of weed patches and clean water, you’ll likely find them.

I’m also finding in patches that pinkies, flathead and salmon are still

PPB WEST

Alan Bonnici alan@fishingmad.com.au

I consider August to typically be the toughest month on the fishing calendar in our local waters.

The water temperature is at its coldest, and for most part in our inshore waters it’s hovering between 11-12°C. It also means those early mornings are bitterly cold and require that next level of motivation to get up and catch a few fish.

I’m not one to let the cold winter chill stop me getting out and catching a few fish. In fact, I’ve been catching a crazy volume of fish, even though I consider this to be the toughest stretch of the year. I think a lot of this comes down to closely following patterns of what has fished well in previous winters. I keep logs, journals, and take lots

John has been catching plenty of bream in our metro systems.

been to find good flowing water and clean water. I am also catching twice as many with soft plastics than I am with bait. Small 2.5” grub or paddletail plastics worked slowly with some scent has been a dynamite combination for many of these wonderful fighting fish.

In our metro systems around Melbourne, including the Maribyrnong and Yarra rivers, the bream fishing has been amazing.

Bait has been king in these waters, with live baits like maggots and scrub worms out-fishing soft plastics and lures.

My mate John Regali has been catching many good-size bream in our metro systems. John swears by berleying techniques to bring on the bream, and fishing around tide changes. He has noted the bream fishing has been particularly well after days of heavy rain.

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The author puts a Hobie Lynx through its paces. of photos and videos. This has allowed me to really tap into the locations and the species that have fished well at different times of the year, and also species and locations to avoid, which have been shut down due to the elements. It helps me maintain a plan to continue to catch, which has become important as my filming requirements have grown, and I highly recommend it.

In August there are still plenty of opportunities to go fishing. I will separate these by type and systems around Melbourne, breaking them up into the bay (inshore

going OK. They tend to be a little hit-and-miss when the water temperature is this cold, but you will have some days on the water when they’re switched on (and other days when they are completely shut off).

In the estuaries, the fishing has been surprisingly exceptional. The snotnose trevally turned up in big numbers around Geelong, and the silver trevally have been in full force towards the openings of many estuaries along the Bellarine peninsula. I have found the trick for both these species has

I have fished the Nong quite a bit in my new kayak, and have been targeting the structure and edges using Cranka Crabs, Mussel Vibes, grubs and paddletails. The fishing has been pretty slow and I’ve done better resorting to fishing with bait, which is a nice change of pace.

The freshwater fishing has also been really good.

I always consider this to be a transition period when the smaller redfin goes off the bite and the trout come on.

Victorian Fisheries continue to do a wonderful job stocking many of our metro

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catches around Melbourne, Port Phillip Bay and beyond which we can feature in next month’s article. You can contact me by email at alan@fishingmad.com.au.

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Winter trevally can be lots of fun. are out and about. It can be slow and challenging but the rewards are massive. I’ve been fishing in systems like Bostock Reservoir, Pykes Creek, Stony Creek and Wurdiboluc. The fishing has

as we slowly come towards the end of winter.

• Until next time, good fishing everyone. Feel free to contact me directly to share your fishing experiences, photos and

Facebook (www.facebook. com/fishingmad.com.au), Instagram (www.instagram. com/fishingmad.com.au) and on Channel 31 Tuesday evenings at 8.30 pm and Saturday afternoons.

AUGUST 2023 79

VIC

Don’t wait, beach fishing is the best kind of exercise PHILLIP ISLAND

Craig Edmonds

Rain, wind, cold, interest rates high and the cost of living through the roof: a perfect recipe for no one fishing. Even on the weekends with fine weather, people are wary of spending any money on going fishing.

Many are waiting for the fishing to improve before heading out.

The weather has been trying, and with very little sun over the last few months, people are naturally pretty grumpy, and aren’t enthusiastic about going outside. To compound the problem, many small business owners are still getting over the financial strain of COVID, and are now dealing with the downturn of

trade because of the cost-ofliving uncertainty.

Having said that, as soon as the sun comes out and the weather warms up, smiles will return, attitudes will change and people will be out and about doing things again.

With the fishing being so good over the last few years, I am finding customers are looking for a bigger challenge and turning to the forms of fishing that don’t need bait.

We have definitely noticed a higher demand for soft plastics and micro jigging lures. I am also finding with so much activity offshore, people are looking for something to do if they catch their bag of tuna early, or just can’t seem to find them (and didn’t bring any bait). This type of fishing can be rewarding because there is a bit of work and a lot of

practice needed, and it’s also a lot cleaner than fishing with bait. We are seeing a variety of fish caught this way from the rivers to the deeper offshore reefs, where some quality snapper and even kingfish were reported last season.

You don’t need to spend a fortune on fancy rods and reels – the gear you already have will get you started – and if you’re just sitting there soaking a bait, you may as well be doing something while you wait for a bite! All you need is a mid-size tackle tray, handful of mixed size plastics and jigheads and the same in micro jigs and metal slugs, and you’re set. Armed with this gear you can head down to the surf, to the river or lake, offshore on the many reefy areas or just sitting in the bay on the coral, waiting for

something to come along. I even have customers that now regularly catch King George whiting on small plastics.

One more thing I’ll say is that it takes time to get it right, and the best way to get it right is not just YouTube, but getting out and doing it.

We have seen a bit of a resurgence of beach fishing this winter. I’m not sure if it’s frustrated boat fishers, or just people who have decided to get out in the fresh air.

Whatever the reason, we have seen far more anglers down on the beach than over the last few years. We have set a few people up with new surf rods as well, using their reels that they already have. Many have grabbed lighter surf rod, a handful of lures and told me they want to walk the beach as a bit of exercise during the

winter months. If you have ever walked a few kilometres along the beach, you will understand the exercise part.

Add in a hundred or so casts, and it’s not a bad workout. The lighter surf rods also make an excellent squid setup, which is great for starting on the season’s bait supply.

While you’re walking the beach, your catch will mostly be salmon, which are a great fighting fish. Many people don’t like eating salmon, but that could just be because they haven’t had it prepared the right way. I recommend speaking to someone who does eat salmon to learn the best way to prepare them.

Salmon also makes very good snapper and gummy baits, and the frames and heads are excellent as a berley.

By the time you read this

report, there will be plenty of talk about snapper being caught. Also, the whiting will be coming back to the cleaning table in numbers, and plenty of freezers will be filling up with baits.

When you head out for an early season fish, remember the last few seasons, where some of the best early season spots were spots that you’d normally fish late in the season. The weather has forced people to try these spots early over the last few seasons, and to their surprise they have been successful.

I get asked all the time in the shop why some people are so much more successful than others, and the answer is simple: they put in the time and are prepared to try all sorts of different approaches and locations.

Fishing wild and windy conditions PORT PHILLIP

Gerry Morsman

It has definitely been a challenging winter, mainly due to the weather, but that hasn’t stopped many

salmon all across the state, and with the majority of the wind coming from the north, the back beaches around Rye, Gunnamatta and Kilcunda have been ideal for the landbased angler to go and catch a fish in these consistent windy

Katrina with a nice handful of winter whiting. She’s still getting out there with their baby not far off. Top job. anglers out there doing what they love most: catching fish. With the wild and windy conditions there is always somewhere you can hide to catch a feed, and for some target species the wild weather can be to your advantage if you are fishing off the land.

For the boaties out there, there have been a few weather windows to get out and chase a number of different species such as King George whiting, gummy sharks, and squid.

Also, for the game fishos, the barrel tuna have turned up for their yearly winter run.

AUSTALIAN SALMON This is the ideal time of year to catch Australian 80 AUGUST 2023

conditions. The wind will blow straight over the top of your head due to the tall sand dunes across all the back beaches.

The bait fishos have had a lot of success using salted pilchard tied on with Bait Mate string. There is a lot of turbulence in the wash of the waves, so having a nice tough bait that won’t fall off your hook could be the difference between success or failure. The ideal hook in these situations would be a baitholder, as it has little barbs up the shaft that assist in holding your bait on the hook.

You want to find the nice, deep gutters that run along the beach, because the fish use these as little highways to find their food that will be tumbling around in them as the waves move in and out. The best way to find these is to stand tall on the sand dunes before you walk down, and look for the darker patches of water. These will be the deep gutters that you want to target your fish in.

Another great way to target salmon is using metal lures anywhere from 30-60g. You

Pat has been finding some absolute thumpers lately. This squid would be near the end of its life, as they only live for around 12 months.

are looking for the same thing as if you were bait fishing, but instead you can cover the whole beach trying to find the schools instead of waiting for them to come to you. A 9ft rod is ideal as this will help you cast much further, giving you a better chance at catching more fish.

SOUTHERN CALAMARI We are very lucky to have such good numbers of this species in our backyard for many reasons. They are easy to catch, they are here yearround, make great bait and are very nice to eat. The perfect species to have around, really.

As always, there have been good numbers of smaller squid all the way from Mt Eliza through to Mount Martha. There’s shallow reef all through this area that is very to pick up on Google Earth or maps. If you can see a reef you can guarantee it will be a hunting ground for southern calamari.

If you want to chase something a bit bigger, you can’t go past Portsea. There have been great reports there lately around the pier. Bigger 3.5 sized jigs are ideal in either the red or gold foiled jigs.

Sorrento has been popping up in the reports also, around the boat moorings near the main boat ramp.

GUMMY SHARKS This is the time of the year when most keen gummy shark anglers get excited.

There are generally fewer boats on the water, and the sharks are consistently bigger, especially offshore.

Heading out off Barwon Heads in around 45m of water over reef and anchoring up is the way to go at the moment, so the reports say. All you need is a bag of pilchards, as that will be enough to catch the bait you need to successfully catch gummy sharks. Fishing

Memphis has been tagging and releasing gummy sharks offshore lately. It will be interesting to see what tagging info comes back. over the reef you have found will have all the bait you need.

Tie up a paternoster rig baited with small pieces of pilchard should see you catching small reef fish like Barber’s perch and parrotfish in no time.

These are the perfect offshore baits for gummy sharks.

If you don’t want to head offshore, 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. They have an incredible nose, so if there is one in the area there is a good chance that it will find your bait.

KING GEORGE WHITING It’s not the ideal time year

for catching King George whiting, but there are still a couple of options if you are keen for some of the best table fish we have to offer.

Blairgowrie has seen a small amount of action lately, just out from the harbour near the green poles. The best baits have been pipi and small squid strips. They key is to not berley too hard in these areas, as there are a lot of small reef fish in the area that will move in and attack your baits. You may also have to move from hole to hole to find the fish because they aren’t as numerous at this time of year.

Portsea has seen a few reports also, fishing at the point near the main pier on the incoming tide. It’s best to fish early in the morning or late in the afternoon to get the best bite times in the colder months.

FUN PAGE AND COMPETITIONS THE MANY MOODS OF THE MUD CRAB I

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Online - ANYTIME AUGUST 2023 81

East Coast

VIC

Late winter bream on the chew GIPPSLAND LAKES

Brett Geddes b.geddes@bigpond.com

With spring approaching, it has been nice to finally welcome some big bream turning up as we coaxed

them into feeding. For what has been deemed an El Niño drier weather pattern, we have had a few significant rain events, with river levels slightly up and running.

MITCHELL RIVER After a minor flood

recently a lot of anglers went and explored the Mitchell River, especially down around the Silt Jetties. The water was briefly a muddy pale brown, and some very big bream turned up in modest numbers, but at least they were hungry. The

How’s that for a ripper bream! Nikki Bryant caught this 47cm specimen on a Hurricane Black Sting blade.

best lures have been black blades, and once again Nikki Bryant proved this by landing a cracker bream of 47cm on a Hurricane Sting lure.

Another trick is to use heavy 1/8oz jigheads with small soft plastics, and retrieve super slow.

Bait anglers are also lining the bank using prawn or shrimp and landing their fair share, with some bream reaching an impressive 43cm. The upper Mitchell near Bairnsdale has also been fishing fairly well, with bass and perch also in the mix.

NICHOLSON RIVER Another Gippy Lakes gem has been the Nicho, mainly because it has remained fairly clean while other streams have coloured up after minor floods. The best bream have been caught upstream from the Straight Six area to the backwater. The best approach has been throwing soft plastics hard up to the edges in the best snags and deeper drop-offs.

Typical for the Nicho, you don’t get a lot of fish, but those that reach your net will be big. Some of the best bream are often between 42-45cm, and that puts them into the 1.5kg zone.

Around the bridges and downstream towards the entrance there is still the odd school of smaller bream hanging around.

These fish are typically 25-32cm and respond best

Clad in wet weather gear, Anthony Havers watches rain-filled dark clouds roll in on him. to small blade lures. For the bait anglers, shrimp baits have been getting the best results on the bream.

TAMBO RIVER For the last few months all the action in the Tambo

has been from the boat ramp and mainly down to the entrance. The bream have been very mobile, and for the best success you need to keep searching all day. A common

The author with a winter bream caught in shallow lake water on a small hardbody lure.

82 AUGUST 2023

VIC

East Coast

Winter gummies, EP and squid PORT ALBERT

Brett Geddes b.geddes@bigpond.com

I was quite surprised to hear about so many winter gummy sharks turning up recently, and it’s good to see them thriving.

Estuary perch and squid are common captures over

along with elephantfish in April and May. This winter it has been the turn of gummy sharks, and it really seems like their numbers are starting to boom. The real feature recently is that they have been found close into shore, allowing them to be easily targeted with a drone or even just casting surf rods. From

but good old blue bait is still a great option. Keen shark anglers also swear by eel and fresh salmon bait.

While fishing the surf for sharks right now you can also expect a bycatch of tailor and big salmon.

SQUID Over at Port Welshpool things are slowly cranking up, with numbers of squid on the rise. Some very windy weather of late has prevented a lot of us from getting out, so reports are a bit thin this month. As we get closer to September though, we can expect the squid to start peaking in numbers and sizes.

Keep in mind the prime time is two hours each side of high tide.

In case you don’t know, if you’re chasing squid and you get one close to the boat, always keep it in the water

before netting and get your fishing partner to cast another jig just behind your squid.

Most times there will be one or two squid following not far behind, and they will eagerly attack another jig.

During really hot sessions we actually try to hook up two squid and leave one in the water at all times to keep any followers in the area. Quite often this can result in four or five squid to hit the bag in quick succession.

Once again, the entrance at Port Albert is not producing many squid at all, but let’s hope that changes into the middle of spring.

ESTUARY PERCH One thing I can tell you for sure is that estuary perch love cold, winter water.

In my opinion they don’t slow down whatsoever as water temperatures plunge

Winter perch are still around, especially on low tide at Port Albert. Soft plastics like this Sprat 65 are deadly on the bigger fish.

It’s not long now until the squid numbers should peak. winter or early spring and I’ve got plenty to report on.

90 MILE BEACH It seems every year since 2018 the surf fishing just keeps on improving for a whole range of species.

Snapper have turned up in huge numbers over the last few years, and some have been 80cm and better.

Salmon and tailor have been in healthy numbers,

Loch Sport right through to Woodside, we have been seeing terrific numbers, and they are mostly male sharks all around a metre long, or a tad bigger. The best part of all is that they are biting during the middle of the day. Night time could be even better, but you will have to rug up!

The best bait is the freshest squid you can get,

mistake amongst anglers is to sit on big schools of bream for way too long. It’s one thing to sound them up and find good numbers of fish – that’s the easy part. You will usually hook a few straight away. However, eventually (and at times rather too quickly), the school of fish will wise up and totally shut down. They will totally ignore all lures or even live baits. I’m pretty sure most anglers have witnessed this behaviour.

There’s some firm science around how bream can communicate and send stress signals to each other. In layman’s terms, the fish that are

hooked and disappear to the surface let their mates know something is drastically wrong. The rest of the school pick up the distress call via the lateral lines along the length of their sides.

To beat this problem, you’ll need to move a significant distance and go look for another school. In my experience it requires a move of at least 100m and maybe more to find ‘fresh’ fish. Sometimes you can return to the old school after three or four hours, but often those fish remain cranky for the rest of the day.

So, when it comes to the Tambo and targeting those schooling bream, even if

Don’t let the cold weather stop you hitting the beach with the drone, because the gummies are there in good numbers right now. you’re bait fishing from the bank, the real trick is to keep on the move.

HOLLANDS LANDING My very favourite haunt is proving to be a bit of a challenge. One trip saw me score around 30 bream, but I couldn’t find many over 34cm. On another day I rounded up a modest 15 bream, but they were all around an impressive 38-45cm. My very last trip to Hollands saw the flow steaming out so fast that I didn’t even launch the kayak, and promptly turned around to go and fish Lake Wellington.

My point is that the Straits at Hollands Landing can be nearly unfishable on some days because it sits

between two huge lakes that transfer a massive volume of water through the deep river-like strait. Even when conditions are perfect for fishing, the bream are so mobile and can be pushed out of the area due to the high flows. You always need a ‘plan B’ when heading to Seacombe or Hollands Landing due to its hit-andmiss nature.

And finally, Vic Fisheries officers have been kept busy at the Hollands boat ramp checking landbased and boating anglers.

Sadly, I’ve heard a few rumours that under-sized bream have been kept by some people, but fortunately most people have been abiding by all regulations.

to around 12°C. I’ve even landed cricket scores in muddy floodwater that was barely 10°C. Just recently I caught some beautifullyconditioned perch on soft plastics, mainly on the Hurricane Sprat 65 and 85 sizes in the tomahawk colour.

Winter can see the perch school up in large numbers, and they tend to fire up the best during the last two hours of low tide. Sometimes they turn up way out in the Port Albert estuary, in deep channels where you would least expect to find them.

Here they can often be found swimming with salmon and even pinkie snapper or snook.

What excites me is that very few anglers even target them out in open water during late winter or early

spring, and quite often there’s only one or two of us out there catching them. Mind you, it’s taken many years of homework and dozens of failed trips to work it all out. But, like in all fishing, reward comes with effort.

The other major discovery I’ve made is that EP will school up about now, and quite often really respond to blade lures worked with an extra-long pause. Sometimes the bite or ‘pluck’ is difficult to detect, or even impossible, and sometimes your rod just slowly loads up. The fish are then nearly always just hooked around the lips, or even foul hooked on the side of the head. I believe they often knock lures in aggression, and aren’t that keen to actually eat them.

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East Coast

VIC

Spring is coming early LAKES ENTRANCE

Steven Pryke

Gippsland Lakes is a challenging and mysterious fishery, it always seems to throw

you a curve ball when you’re not expecting it lately. Strong winds have limited fishing, which is something we usually see in spring, but with the blossoms starting to appear around Gippy I’ve

The author and Lucas Smith with a quality gummy shark taken off a local beach.

got a feeling spring is coming early this year.

LAKES ENTRANCE Our small seaside village has been relatively quiet lately with school holidays over, the town has settled down once more. With cool water, new species dominate the lake with a large number of tailor, salmon and silver trevally being found throughout the lake system.

Anglers have great fun on these light tackle sport fish using small lures matching the white bait and glassy minnows that are common in our lakes. Flick baits and small paddle tail are a great option but small top waters are the best fun – watching your small top water get climbed all over by packs of these aggressive predators is great fun.

Lately I’ve been a bit more sporting and taken out the 6wt fly rod with a combination of sinking and float lines matched to clouser minnows and other similar bait fish patterns.

This makes for some great fun fishing.

Offshore fishing has

A solid chopper tailor taken on fly. been very productive this winter with good numbers of pinky snapper being found on many of the reefs, especially the deeper reefs.

Baited paternoster rigs are extremely deadly for this type of fishing and it’s very rare for pilchard and squid to not turn up a few snapper and many other species.

Closer to shore in the 18-20m, gummy sharks have been in good numbers.

Anglers have found good results fishing large baits such as whole squid heads

and salmon heads LAKE TYERS Lakes Tyers is up to its old tricks, being extremely tricky during the colder months. Commonly Lake Tyers will do your head in over the winter months, either there’s nothing or you can find thousands of fish but they’ll refuse to do anything. Using your sounder to fish schools of fish is best for success.

Areas such Devils Hole, Trident arm and the top reaches of the Nowa Nowa

arm hold good number of bream during the cooler months.

Metal vibes and heavily weighted grub soft plastics are the most effective this time of year in the lake.

HAVE YOU BEEN FISHING? If you have been out for fish lately and have a great pic, please e-send to stevenprykefishing@ gmail.com with a short description and you could be featured in an edition of Fishing Monthly.

year. You need to fish hard and move around a lot to score a feed of fish.

With beautiful winter weather, the place to spend a day’s fishing is out on the lake and upstream in the

lake. Plenty of fish are being caught in the Bottom Lake, and as winter moves on these fish will push their way up towards Gypsy Point.

Dusky flathead are still being caught, and 90% of

whiting and silver trevally.

This is where finding the fish with a depth sounder is important. If you don’t have a sounder, keep an eye out for terns diving and moving around, as that is a

Relaxing winter days out on the lake and rivers MALLACOOTA/EDEN

Kevin Gleed captainkev@wildernessfishingtours.com

The quiet time of year has arrived. Like the rest of Gippsland and the Far South Coast, it’s been cold, with day temperatures getting to around 17°C with very little rain over the past month. The inshore water temperature is a little over the 14°C mark.

This time of year sees the big schools of salmon turn up along the local beaches, with big numbers moving in and out of the lake. They are great fun to catch on light spinning gear.

Along with the salmon are tailor, and you can expect to encounter the bigger fish over the winter months. Due to the sheer numbers of fish about, a metal lure is all you need to get amongst the action. The only reason they enter the lake is to

feed on the big schools of whitebait that move out into the deeper water over the winter months. Although these fish are great fun to catch, I’m not sure that the big numbers are good for the lake, as a tailor is basically a swimming mouth, eating anything and everything in its way.

With the cold water temperatures and the lack of people heading offshore, there is little to report, which is normal for this time of

Good bream are being caught in the Bottom Lake in the deeper water, with soft plastics and blades catching good numbers of fish.

Mikey Vucic with a great lure-caught mulloway from the Bottom Lake.

84 AUGUST 2023

rivers. The good entrance is giving the lake great tidal flow, and this allows all species to move freely from the ocean to the lake.

Mulloway (jewfish) keep getting caught, which would indicate there are good numbers of fish in the

the action at this time of year is in around the 12ft mark around the whitebait schools. In these areas you can expect to catch any of the species that are in the lake, including bream (both black and yellowfin), along with dusky flathead, jewfish,

good indication of where the whitebait schools are moving.

The coming months will see the black bream head upstream, but how far they go will depend on how much rain we get.

Good fishing.

VIC

East Coast

It’s time for new beginnings MARLO

Jim McClymont mcclymont@net-tech.com.au

As we all know the fishing slows down during the cold months, but that doesn’t mean the fish won’t bite.

Bream can still be found throughout most of the estuary, with reports of some big fish up to 42cm being caught in several locations.

Plenty of good-size salmon and tailor are giving anglers plenty of action down towards

the entrance, fishing the incoming tide and either spinning or trolling metal lures. Luderick can be found schooling around the snags or rock groynes that surround the islands and riverbanks, although they haven’t been in big numbers.

Estuary perch aren’t in big numbers either, but they are still holding on snags and structures up both the Snowy and Brodribb rivers.

The surf beaches are still firing with good captures of salmon and tailor.

Offshore fishing from

Cape Conran is a lot easier with the new improved boat ramp, which appears to not catch as much sand.

It’s a lot longer and thus goes out a heap deeper and, with weather permitting, makes for safer place to launch boats.

The weather has been a bit rough, but those boats that have been able to get out have been getting good catches of flathead, salmon, gurnard, barracoota, pinkie snapper and gummy shark.

RETIREMENT With my annual trip to NZ for the Yellowtail Kingfish Tournament over

for another year, it’s time for me to start retirement. A great couple – Matt, Wendy and their son Darren – have taken over my store and have remained part of the Compleat Angler family, giving excellent service to all in our area. They hold a live bait licence and will supply live bait all year round, and they have revamped inside of the store with great displays of all fishing-related equipment.

They will stock or get any brand or item you might need, and I would like to wish them a very bright future in their endeavours.

A good time to catch a PB bream BEMM RIVER

Peter McCoy

This month’s report has been supplied by Darren Dennys.

Fishing in and around the Gippsland Lakes in autumn and early winter has already provided some very satisfying rewards for anglers on the local rivers and waterways.

I am not the earliest of risers, but even gentleman’s hours have provided the goods during some very pleasant late morning and early afternoon sessions.

With the full sun on your back, it’s warm enough to get even the most dormant dusky flathead out of bed.

Combining the presence of baitfish with run-in or run-out tidal flow in the rivers makes all the difference.

A number of sessions saw some great action on 2.5-5” soft plastics rigged on 1/12oz to 1/8oz jigheads worked in 4-10ft. The plastics tempted a good number of fish, providing the kind of dusky action you’d normally expect over the summer months. The well-conditioned fish ranged mostly from mid-50s to the occasional 70cm+ model.

I heard of a local angler hooking his PB dusky of 92cm fairly close to home, and it was landed by a good Samaritan angler in another boat who luckily had a net that was big enough to land

There are always good catches and good memories made at the NZ Kingfish Tournament.

Soft plastics have been tempting some nice-size flathead lately.

The author’s new PB bream caught on a lure from the Nicholson River.

the croc. Rumour has it you could hear screams of joy from the local pub, and that was his mate almost staking a claim on the croc!

The rivers are starting to see the bream move up, with reports of a lot of smaller fish being caught with the occasional kegger in the mix.

Recently I was lucky enough to tempt a big fish, plucking a Sugapen from the shadows beneath a tree. After turning it on full lock of the clutch I manoeuvred the bluenose into deeper water, playing it out eventually hitting the mat at 47cm to the tip. It was my new PB bream on lure from the Nicholson River.

We worked pretty hard that day, moving around below and above the bridges for about eight bream. My mate Jeff was also rewarded with a nice model close to 40cm.

We also hooked a number of tailor, which are pretty thick

at the moment, and a small trevally. We turned the trevally into tasty sashimi with soy, wasabi and chilli, to celebrate a good day on the water.

All in all, it’s a great time of the year to target a PB bream.

By the time you read this, the Gippsland RV & Marine Twin Rivers Bream Classic

Locals have been enjoying the kind of dusky action you’d expect over the summer months. will have been run and won.

Hopefully in next month’s issue of Fishing Monthly, I’ll have some good reports of great fish weighed in, and

maybe some tall stories of the monster bluenose that got away.

Tight lines and happy hooking.

MARLO

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www.marlocamping.com.au AUGUST 2023 85

VIC

What happens when the big river runs dirty ROBINVALE

Rod Mackenzie codmac@bigpond.net.au

In winter you might expect things to be a little cold and wet, but the Murray running a banker this early in the season seems just a tad early;

another flood, is something that many anglers are pondering. I guess only time will tell, but it seems a chance with most lakes, rivers and dams chock-ablock full of water.

In the Kerang Lakes redfin continue to bite on bait and lures, with the water clarity at some

in the cold, unfavourable conditions. It’s a similar story downstream along much of the Murray, with most locations reporting the bite to have slowed.

For my money, on past experience the shallow backwaters and eddies will now be the locations to tempt a bite. Big golden

Kelsie Gull with a good-sized Murray cod taken on a lure near Mildura in the Murray just before the big flows arrived.

Gavin Hann with a solid armload of winter Murray cod taken on chicken. you’d expect such flows to happen in spring.

It has thrown a spanner in the works, with the great lure fishing experienced in some local sections of the Murray now shut down.

The big flows are running a mud-coloured stain, closing off visibility and the opportunity to cast or troll lures. Even the bait anglers are struggling to put a bend in the line as the cold dirty flows sweep their way downstream into South Australia.

Are we going to see

locations far better than the Murray. Blades, soft plastics spinnerbaits and small hardbodies are all on the menu, with scrub worms and small yabbies the best baits. Fish size is generally from not big all the way up to 43cm.

The odd golden perch too is on the cards, and generally puts up a better tussle than the smaller redfin.

Swan Hill in the Murray River has very little to report in the flows, with few anglers venturing out

perch hunt up shallow, and hold position just off the edge of the flow, waiting on the water to deliver a meal. Any logs or good cover at such locations will no doubt hold fish.

Cod, too, will claim a feed on the freshlycovered ground, rooting out all manner of edibles that have succumbed to the rising flows. Grubs, worms and all manner of insects become available, all pushed from cover as the river rises. Carp will also feed in these locations, but

Redfin continue to bite on both bait and lures. These guys were caught on a Bassman jig head and soft plastic.

86 AUGUST 2023

the bite has slowed and most carp encountered will be of larger size.

Patience is the key at this time. Remember that the fish’s metabolism has slowed, and with it the need to move around has diminished. Fish big scented baits tight to the structure on the edge of the backwater and give each spot at least half an hour before moving on. You may

not get as many bites as you would when the water is warm, but the size of the fish encountered is generally worth the time.

With high flows expected for a while yet, anglers will need to work for their catch, but the bite should get better as the fish settle in to the new conditions.

As we roll into the slippery-dip side of winter,

we can expect the perch bite to increase in the lead up to the breeding season. If our river continues to stay high, or perhaps flood, we can look forward to a positive breeding season for the cod, with no chance of blackwater according to expert advice.

Bring on the warmer weather. I’m getting too old for this cold crap!

It’s time to think big YARRAWONGA

Tony Bennett codclassic@bigpond.com

Traditionally, as the weather cools in and around our local area, so does the fishing somewhat.

However, in saying that, those anglers who have been prepared to rug up and do it a bit harder than those hiding away at home (me included!) have gotten some good catches.

As per usual at this time of year, quantity drops off, but quality improves. Upsized lure presentations tend to fare better at this time, with 150mm/6”+ plastics and swimbaits doing the most damage at present.

One thing that must be relayed is that the majority of bigger cod being taken are caught by those using the ‘scope’. While the fishing traditionally slows at this time of year, the new scope technology makes chasing cod

Nicko Kerr with his PB cod of 55cm.

a year-long option.

One fella who has been doing better than most is new Mulwala local Ricky ‘Coddog’ Goward. Rick has just moved into town and has quickly become the Murray cod’s no.1 least favourite person! Rick spends a lot of his spare time out plying his trade, and the results have been wonderful recently.

The recent Central Vic Lure Casters event saw him blitz the field, landing four quality-sized cod measuring up to a very healthy 116cm.

His lure of choice has been his own Coddog swimbait.

Not far behind Rick was Bryce Rabbit, who landed a very unlucky 109cm model to prove he can actually catch ‘em! Well done Bryce.

A couple of kids that had a great time in late June were Nicko Kerr and Dylan McMillan. Young Nicko managed to upgrade his best cod to a nice 55cm model.

Dylan, who is one of the keenest young cod fishos you will find, also managed a new PB with a healthy 69cm fish.

The local kids fishing below the weir have been having some good fun over the school holidays. It has been great to see many of them come instore on a daily basis to let me know

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It’s been cold, wet and dirty The title of this report sums up the current conditions in the majority of locations in the Bendigo region. The fishing conditions are very tough at most locations, so the number of anglers out on the water has been low. As always though, if you are prepared to put the hard yards in, there are still a few fish being caught.

The long-range forecast was for below-average rainfall over the winter months, but this has not been the case so far. The region has received aboveaverage rainfall, and water catchments are now saturated and any significant rainfall is producing good run-off.

The long-range forecast from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology is for above average temperatures and below average rainfall for the next couple of months.

Hopefully this forecast is correct, and with reduced

rainfall we should start to see a slow improvement in water clarity.

LAKE EPPALOCK Eppalock is currently the pick of locations in the Bendigo region. Water levels have continued to rise in recent weeks, and the three impoundments south of Lake Eppalock have risen significantly over the last month and are now getting close to capacity. Another two reasonable rainfall events and these impoundments will all be full.

When Upper Coliban, Lauriston and Malmsbury reservoirs are full, this is when Lake Eppalock can fill very quickly after a good rainfall event. The way the current weather is going, there is a high chance that we may see Lake Eppalock reach capacity and start spilling in August.

Water clarity is currently poor in the Twin Rivers section of the lake due to the recent inflows, but the water clarity is still pretty good in the majority of the lake.

Redfin are making up the

majority of anglers’ captures.

The most productive depth range to target the redfin continues to be between 4-7m of water.

The most productive lure options for the redfin have been a big range of soft plastics and soft vibes. If you find a good concentration of redfin and you are targeting them on a jighead-rigged soft plastic, make sure you are using a suitable weighted jighead for the depth that you are fishing in. A common mistake that anglers make is using too light of a jighead when targeting redfin in deep water. The majority of redfin you will catch at this time of the year are close to the bottom. A suitable jig head allows you to get to the bottom quickly, and with a hopping retrieve on and off the bottom you should be able to produce some results on the redfin.

Small numbers of redfin have also been caught on small deep diving hardbody lures. Jigging soft plastics and ice jigs has also been working well when a

who has been catching what. It’s not hard to tell what lure is working, because as soon as someone catches a cod on something different, that’s what they all want! At the time of writing, the flavour of the week for them all is the Bassman Mumbler. Keep up the great work, kids.

The King’s birthday holiday weekend saw the usual influx of diehard cray fishos looking to get their yearly fix. With a limited bag of two legal size crays per day, those who worked their nets didn’t have much trouble filling their quota. Many large females bearing eggs were caught and returned, along with a

number of smaller specimens.

As the fishing slows, organisation for the 2023-24 fishing competition season ramps up. If you are keen to get your name added to the mailing lists of the Golden Dollars (22 October), Cod Classic (2-3 December), Dash 4 Cash (17-18 February), His & Hers Partners Classic (2 March) or Cod Nationals (13-16 March), shoot me an e-mail at codclassic@bigpond.com.

Whilst on the subject of the Cod Classic, after two years affected by COVID, followed by the 2022 floods, this year the Mulwala Football Netball Club is looking to return its iconic event to the mega show it

was a few years ago. $100K+ prizes, including five boating packages, should get all fishos excited and starting their preparation.

Until next edition, happy fishing.

• If you’re visiting town, call into Lake Mulwala Fish Camp & Ski, the shop with the big green cod out the front (opposite the Post Office) in Mulwala or check out our Yarrawonga store located between Rivers and One Zac in the main street. We’re Yarrawonga/ Mulwala’s fishing specialists and specialize in all things ‘green’! For any information on the upcoming events or fishing reports, give us a hoy on 03 5744 3133.

BENDIGO

Roger Miles codhuntertours@bigpond.com

concentration of redfin has been located.

Only the occasional Murray cod and golden perch are currently being caught at this location.

CAMPASPE RIVER Due to some recent rainfall events, the Campaspe River has seen some high flows for this time of the year, and the water clarity is currently very poor at most locations.

If you are planning to fish the Campaspe River with lures, the best section to try is between Axedale and directly below Lake Eppalock. This is where the water clarity is currently the best.

If you are venturing further downstream from Axedale the water clarity reduces. In the sections of the river at Elmore and Rochester, the water clarity is very poor and bait fishing becomes your best option.

Yabbies, worms and bardi grubs are all good options.

Given the current conditions, I think it will be several months before we see any significant improvement in the water clarity in these areas.

CAIRN CURRAN Water levels have continued to rise over recent weeks at Cairn Curran, and at the time of writing this report, it was at 94% of capacity.

The water clarity has reduced with the inflows over the last couple of months, and the clarity is currently the poorest in the top section of the lake.

The clearest water can be found in the bottom section of the lake, but the water clarity in this section is still only average.

There haven’t been many anglers fishing due to the conditions, but those who have braved the cold

This quality redfin was caught at Lake Eppalock on this soft vibe lure, using a burn-and-kill retrieve. have been catching mostly redfin. They have not been easy to find, and the majority of anglers have only been experiencing low catch rates.

This time of the year is a good time to target the resident trout population in the lake. Trolling minnowstyled lures and winged lures such as Tassie Devils is a good option for the trout. Bait fishing the shallow edges of the lake with worms, gents and corn is also worth a try.

The native fishing for golden perch and Murray cod has been slow, with only the occasional fish being landed.

LODDON RIVER The productivity in the fishing in the Loddon River has been very low. The current fishing conditions are very tough, water

temperatures are very cold and water clarity is very poor. Often at this time of the year the water clarity can be good, but this is not the case this season.

With our impoundments along the Loddon River system approaching capacity, there have been higher than normal flows running down the river over the last couple of months, and the water clarity has reduced. If you are planning a fishing trip to the Loddon River in the near future, and you are planning to fish with lures, you should expect the fishing to be very tough. Lots of lure casting with not much action from the fish is common at the present time, and I expect this will continue for at least the next couple of months.

AUGUST 2023 87

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Getting hyped up for the trout season opening WANGARATTA

Robbie Alexander

August is a very exciting time if you’re an angler in North East Victoria.

It’s exciting because of the upcoming trout opening early in September, and also because of the longer

August, and my favourite cod bait is cheese. I like to buy a block of tasty cheese, cut it into small cubes and put one or two cubes of the cheese on the hook.

During August I will bait fish with two rods, one with cheese and one with worms. The cheese rod is specifically targeting Murray

the Ovens River heavily with yellowbelly in recent years, and their numbers are improving. The VFA also stocks several of the familyfriendly fishing waterways, the nearby Broken River and Lake Nillahcootie as well, and they will all be worth wetting a line during August.

Just like the Ovens River

August is the last month to catch Murray crayfish before the season closes in September. catch redfin in North East Victoria. It’s a bit late for the autumn/winter redfin fishing, and a bit early for the spring redfin fishing.

A little further afield, last winter I did experience some quite good redfin fishing at Lake Hume in August, just angling off the

trout fishing.

I will probably go fishing in one of the many stocked family-friendly waterways to satisfy my trout cravings, or

This yellowbelly was caught at Lake Moodemere on Jan Juc worms in June this year. days and anticipation of the fishing that lays ahead over the next few months.

MURRAY COD The Murray cod fishing can be surprisingly good in North East Victorian rivers during August. It isn’t the

cod, and the worm rod is targeting anything else, i.e. yellowbelly, carp and redfin. Murray cod will also eat worms, although I find I usually only catch small cod on worms.

August is your last

though, you shouldn’t expect to catch big numbers of yellowbelly yet, as it’s still a bit too early. You’re still in with a chance though.

REDFIN I find August to be the toughest time of the year to

A massive oversized crayfish that was released.

There will still be plenty of rainbow trout waiting to be caught in the region’s family-friendly waterways this month. best time of the year to catch cod in this cold part of the world, however the longer days and a little bit more sunshine generally start to fire up a few Murray cod.

I have caught cod in the Ovens River in Wangaratta on lures in August a handful of times, however these have all been in years with below-average rainfall and low river conditions. Most years the river is high and off colour, and as I type this report the Ovens River in Wangaratta is only 50cm below minor flood level, and the water is filthy. For this reason, bait is usually my preferred option during 88 AUGUST 2023

chance to catch a Murray cod for a few months. The season closes at midnight on 31 August and re-opens on 1 December.

YELLOWBELLY August is usually still a bit early and a bit cold for great yellowbelly fishing in North East Victoria.

However, just like the Murray cod, there may be a few around, particularly later in the month. I usually catch the odd one on worms in the Ovens River during August, but I have never caught one on a lure at this time of the year.

The Victorian Fisheries Authority have been stocking

Over the last couple of winters I have picked up a small number of small redfin in Lake William Hovell while angling off the bank with worms, and that has been about it.

In saying that, I have not fished either of the two best redfin lakes in the region with lures in August – Lake Buffalo or Lake William Hovell.

bank at sunrise with worms.

When I say ‘quite good’, I think I caught seven or eight small fish each time.

When fishing for redfin in August, you have to take what you can get.

TROUT The trout season remains closed throughout August, and trout fishing is restricted to lakes and dams. All rivers and creeks are closed to

A small cod caught bait fishing in the Ovens River. August isn’t the best month to catch cod in Wangaratta, but there are usually a few to be found.

I will bait fish off the bank at Lake William Hovell, as I do every winter. I never catch a lot of trout up there doing this type of fishing, but I usually pick up a couple.

When the Victorian trout season opens on the first Saturday in September, we’ll be able to fish the streams again.

CRAYFISH Crayfishing season is still open in August. This is your last chance to get out and catch some spiny Murray Crayfish before the season closes for nine months at midnight on 31 August.

OTHER SPECIES August is still a bit early to catch yabbies, although like Murray cod and yellowbelly, there may be an odd one ready to start feeding.

There will be plenty of carp to catch. The fishing will be slower than it is in the warmer months, but there are always a few to be caught in August. Lake Moodemere, Winton Wetlands and Broken Creek near Katamatite are all carp fishing hot spots at the moment.

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Stocked lake trout make for fun winter action SHEPPARTON

Nick Brown teamriverrats@hotmail.com

During the school holidays, I had plenty of reports of school-aged kids heading down to Shepparton Lake and catching good numbers of trout.

Early mornings have been the best over the past month, with lures such as XR4s or small TN38s catching fish on the weed edges.

As the sun comes up more, small spinners have been working well, especially in the open water areas near the skate park.

Bait fishing has been successful during the day, with most people opting for PowerBaits under a float cast deep into the weed, or just to the edges of the weed.

KIALLA LAKES There have been some promising reports lately at Kialla, with redfin being active around the rocky banks. Casting small soft plastics or small chatterbaits has been working well, with the key to be bumping along the rocks on those banks, causing plenty of disturbances.

Bait fishing with scrub worms or night crawlers has also been great, with redfin caught in the smaller second

lake near the sandbars.

GOULBURN AND BROKEN RIVERS We have seen continuous weeks of high flows in both river systems, and with impoundments still being full I would expect this will be the case for many weeks and months to come. There will be a chance to chase carp on the flooded banks, with worms working best.

Fishing the backwaters with more still waters would be the best areas if you’re chasing carp, but make sure you’re careful because the banks are very muddy, and some are eroding away.

Once the water drops, we hope that the cray

reports will come back, as it was setting up to be a great season from the reports we had prior to the river rises.

FISH STOCKING With the rivers mostly being out of action, plenty of locals have been turning their attention to smaller lake systems. Plenty around Shepparton have been recently stocked with trout.

The best way to chase these stocked fish has to be unweighted PowerBaits, or PowerBaits under a float. If you’re keen to chase them on lures, I would suggest small spinners, plastics or small diving lures. These fish may not be massive, but you can have a ball on light

gear such as a 7ft spin rod with a 1000/2500 sized reel with 6/8lb line.

Stocked trout lakes up to 40 minutes from Shepparton are: Bartlett Lake Tatura – 150, Longwood Rec Reserve Lake – 300, Mooroopna Lake – 150, Numurkah Lake – 150, and Shepparton Lake – 750.

WARANGA BASIN We all know how hard it is to predict the conditions or to see how busy the ramps are at Waranga Basin. Well, there is now a real-time tool to gain that information, with the Boating Vic App up and running. You can log on and check out a number of boat ramps in Victoria, and

it’s a great addition to the ramp upgrade at Harrimans Point. If you had tuned into the camera lately you would have seen a handful of locals braving the cold conditions.

These hardy anglers have been reporting that that redfin are still on the chew. Trolling has been the best method, with the Trelly’s coloured Crazy Deeps working best in around 15-18ft of water.

Those fishing with bait have mentioned that fishing from the banks has quietened off a little, with just the odd fish being caught drifting worms out deeper.

OZFISH NEWS

Why restoring lost habitat is the key to Murray cod’s fight for survival Ask any Murray cod, golden perch or Australian bass angler where they are directing their casts while fishing, and all of them will give you the same answer, structure. However, due to old river clearing policies and human impact, a lot of these native habitats have been removed.

Murray cod love to live in or near relatively deep water and show a distinct preference for cover such

have had a big impact on numbers.

The incremental changes humans have made to river management have also added to their fight for survival.

In the Murray-Darling Basin since the early 1800s, a countless number of woody snags have been removed to improve river navigation.

Sadly, there was also a misconception in that time, that snags caused erosion to riverbanks. But those snags were also home to millions of

as rocks, large snags, smaller woody debris, under-cut banks and overhanging vegetation. Being ambush predators, they use these areas to rest and then pounce on any passing prey.

Unlike pelagic species, Murray cod fight in low gear once hooked – using slow yet powerful lunges to get back to its home. It is known for its opportunistic and at times voracious appetite, allowing anglers to become experimental with the choice of lures they cast.

In the early years of European settlement, Murray cod was commercially and recreationally fished due to its seemingly endless abundance. However, the changes to its natural habitat and competition from introduced fish

Murray cod.

In 1861, four decades before federation, the Crown Lands Alienation Act was passed, which was designed to open the colony to settlement.

It also prompted a rapid clearing of vegetation over the next century and a lot of those properties were on the banks of rivers, which meant the once thick and abundant riparian zone dwindled down to 80 percent of what it once was.

Barriers to fish passage such as weirs dams and road crossings are another man-made issue impacting a healthy waterway. River flow is one of the most important elements of a healthy fishery as it supplies new nutrients, allowing fish to migrate and have their eggs travel downstream to reproduce, plus natural flow also maintains water quality and

temperature. These barriers have also degraded wetlands, salinised floodplains and devastated fish populations.

Many weirs were built in the late 19th century due to a fear there may be a lack of water to support regional towns. They raised the water level on the upstream side of the weir but unfortunately, this also slowed water flow and blocked passage and movement of fish. There are now more than 30 weirs along the Murray River alone.

There are now thousands of fish barriers across our inland rivers in every state of Australia.

Irrigation pumps have contributed to the decline of Murray cod. Native fish species are particularly vulnerable to irrigation offtakes in Australia, especially at the juvenile, and larvae stages.

Research has shown that millions of native fish are lost each year from water bodies within the Murray-Darling Basin as they are sucked into pumps or diverted into irrigation channels.

Water is a prized commodity for agriculture, so dams have been built throughout Australia to store it. When a dam reaches capacity and water is released, it flows from the bottom and not the top. Here, the water is below 2ºC. For native fish, like Murray cod, they cannot handle these temperatures

and fail to feed, breed, and travel when exposed. These sudden temperature changes can even result in illness and fish deaths.

It would be great to say there is a silver bullet solution to reverse the damage but it can only be done by long-term planning. There is hope that incremental steps to restore habitat will have a profound impact on native fish.

There is a closed season for Murray cod fishing across all states during their spawning season to protect the fish’s population. Dates may vary depending on the region, so it is important to check with local fishing regulations in your area. If you catch one during this period, you must return it to the water as quickly and carefully as possible.

For those who live in South Australia, regulations are more stringent with the

fish not being able to be lifted from the water. You should always follow best practice catch and release techniques to reduce stress on the fish, minimise unintentional damage, and release them quickly with minimal harm.

Raising awareness about the many threats to this iconic species is a mission for many conservation groups all over Australia.

OZFISH UNLIMITED OzFish Unlimited is a recreational fishing conservation charity that empowers recreational fishers to participate in habitat restoration, research, citizen science, monitoring and community engagement activities.

Installing complex habitats, such as snags and rocks, is essential for the survival and reproductive success of native fish, particularly the Murray cod.

OzFish has deployed more than 257 woody snags and 215 rocky reefs over the past 12 months to provide this healthy complex habitat to our inland rivers.

Three regional towns – Moree, Dubbo and Mildura – have a full-time OzFish River Repair Bus and they keep a constant eye on the health of their waterway, looking after rubbish removal, enhancing riparian vegetation and controlling weeds.

And before any of this is done, volunteers spend

many hours mapping the underwater habitat in canoes or boats to ensure the correct complexity of habitat is reinstalled for optimal health.

The vegetation alongside waterways also plays a vital role in the water quality and health of the fishery.

Over the past year OzFish has planted 39,910 native trees and shrubs along 376km of riverbanks while removing invasive weeds, such as willows.

This not only mitigates the impact of bushfires and flooding but provides Murray cod with shade and a source of food through insect fall.

OzFish is calling on everyone who can lend a hand to do their part to make the future brighter for our mighty Murray cod and our native fish species.

So the next time you see a community planting day along a riverbank, a carp eradication event, a citizen science activity or even a fish emergency call during times of drought, fire or flood, get out there and give back.

Or better still, join this great charity as a member and be part of the growing number of river stewards at ozfish.org.au. You will be ensuring that future generations can experience the thrill and excitement of our native fish. – OzFish AUGUST 2023 89

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Cold weather and trout on the bite BALLARAT

Shane Stevens

The fishing around Ballarat and district has been sensational this year – it’s actually been the best I can remember for a very long time? It makes me think, what’s different this year compared to other years?

It’s possible that social media is a factor, with more and more posts of where fish are being caught, and what they are being caught on. Or maybe there are other reasons – new anglers joining the sport, fish stockings by Victorian Fishing Authority, or higher than normal water levels.

Possibly it’s just that anglers are not worried about the cold winter weather that greets us every time we head out to wet a line.

Whatever the answer is, it’s great to see so many of us like-minded people enjoying the great outdoors.

Reports have been coming through from all our waters around the district, which differs from other years, as generally some waters shut down and others fire up. At pretty much any waterway in the district, you could head out for a day’s fishing and be confident of catching a fish.

This winter, I have fished most of our local waters and experienced some awesome fishing which makes me want to go fishing even more, other anglers I have spoken too have said the same thing.

MOORABOOL RESERVOIR At Moorabool the fishing has been consistent, and I have been out there fly fishing at least once a week. I have some favourite spots that I generally target depending on the wind direction, but the wind has barely stopped blowing from the north-northwest for the past couple of months.

The water level at Moorabool is steady given the amount of rain we have had this winter. My thoughts are that Central Highlands Water have continued to release water from Moorabool, which I personally think is a good thing.

My fishing at Moorabool this winter has differed from other years. Generally, I cast surface lures like Bent Minnows, with excellent results, but this year I have opted to fly fish. This has proved to be a very good decision, as I have caught fish every trip, or had the opportunity to catch fish.

On one trip which I will not forget, I had trout chasing my flies 90 AUGUST 2023

everywhere, which was frustrating but awesome to see. In the end I only landed one trout, a nice brown around 3lb.

In another session, I headed out around lunchtime, which is my favoured time to fish. I went to my hotspot and was fishing two flies – an orange Woolly Bugger and a olive Woolly Bugger, using a slow/medium rolypoly retrieve. There was no sign of a fish, which was unusual, so I headed off to another spot. I started to work my way along the bank, and had a follow.

Things were looking up.

A few more casts later and a big brown trout launched out of the water with my orange Woolly Bugger hanging out of his mouth. After a good tussle, I landed a ripping brown measuring in at 67cm, with an estimated weight of 6-7lb. After a few happy snaps, he was released on his way.

I then headed back out to the same spot where I caught this big guy, when a trout porpoised in front of me. I cast to the left of where it rose, and retrieved my flies in. Nothing.

Then I cast to the

right in front of you, and you can’t catch them.

I decided to head out to Newlyn for a look, and see if I could catch a smelter. I arrived once again around the golden hour of 11am.

I spoke to another fly fisherman who said he had been catching some nice browns on Woolly Bugger flies. He said one day he only landed a couple, but had lost quite a few others.

I had my fly rod set up with the same flies that I had been using at Moorabool Reservoir – an orange Woolly Bugger and olive

This Hepburn Lagoon rainbow trout latched onto Nick Roche’s black Woolly Bugger fly.

The author landed this 60cm smelt-feeding brown trout from Newlyn Reservoir. right, a couple of strips and my line tightened. It was game on again, and a good tussle ensued, before I landed another nice brown of around 3lb, some happy snaps and she was on her way. I’m hoping that Moorabool continues to fish well for the rest of winter.

NEWLYN RESERVOIR Newlyn has continued to fish well, with plenty of anglers either casting lures or fly fishing, catching some very nice brown trout. There were reports that the fish at Newlyn were smelting (i.e. chasing small baitfish). This can be rewarding fishing and frustrating at the same time, especially when you see these hungry trout smashing through schools of baitfish

Woolly bugger. I started to work my way along the north shore when I saw one fish move, then another. I saw the other fly fisher had a fish on, which he landed.

I thought sooner or later a fish would grab my fly, and sure enough it did.

A nice big brown launched out of the water, which gave a great fight, backwards and forwards.

Eventually I landed a 60cm female brown trout, once again a couple of happy snaps and she was released.

I continued to work along the shore, and got one more

grab but unfortunately the hook didn’t stick.

I headed back out to Newlyn again the next day, to see if I could once again catch another trout while they were on the chew. The weather was ordinary to say the least: rain, rain and more rain. I was the only person fishing, and I questioned my sanity. Then I thought, well, that’s why I bought good wet weather clothing in the first place – so I can fish in poor conditions.

I started working the north shore, starting in the same spot as the previous day. I saw a fish move – a good sign. My line soon

Trinity Layshaun landed his new PB brown trout on Lake Wendouree (59cm) on a Double Clutch shallow diver. Image courtesy of Trinity Layshaun. tightened and a trout was bouncing around on the end of my fly line… and then it fell off.

I continued to work the water, when once again my line tightened. Another trout was bouncing around, and I managed to land a magnificent brown of around 3lb, which I released.

Over the next hour I managed to hook another four fish, which were all jumping out of the water, but I unfortunately lost them all. Still, that’s fishing, and it was certainly a session that I will not forget.

At Newlyn Reservoir the water level has risen significantly from all the rain, and the water is rather discoloured, which will clear. I’m anticipating excellent fishing for Newlyn over the remainder of the winter months, whether you’re fly fishing, cast lures/plastics or bait fish.

HEPBURN LAGOON Hepburn Lagoon, just up the road from Newlyn Reservoir, generally fishes well during the winter months. It can be a challenging place to fish, due to the water levels and extensive amount of weed, which reduces the amount of fishable water.

Steve Angee has been getting amongst Lake Wendouree’s big redfin on soft plastics. Image courtesy of Steve Angee.

A guy I spoke to at Newlyn Reservoir said he had caught a couple of nice rainbows on flies, so I decided to check it out myself. I headed over to the north side of Hepburn and came across a couple of fly fishermen, one being the same guy that I’d spoken to at Newlyn, and the other a former member of the Ballarat Fly Fishers Club, Alex McKee. Alex is pretty much a local to Hepburn as he lives only about 10 minutes away.

Alex said that he’d been catching a few rainbows up to 3lb on Red Magoo flies, with the average size being around 1lb. He said the water had started to rise and become a little discoloured, which didn’t seem to worry the fish. He added that on every successful day, the sky had been overcast.

This day, by contrast, there were bright blue skies and bitterly cold winds, and no one caught any fish. I decided to head out another day, with club president Nick Roche.

We arrived at the north end to find only one other fisherman, who was working the northern shore. Nick and I started fly fishing near the outlet when I saw a trout porpoise on the opposite side of the outlet. I moved around that side and started prospecting the area with an orange Woolly Bugger and a black Woolly Bugger. I have found that trout in Hepburn like black flies.

My flies stopped for a split second and I thought it was weed. I continued my slow roly-poly retrieve when my rod buckled over with a leaping trout of around 3lb on the end of it. After a good tussle, I landed a magnificent golden coloured brown trout, which I released.

Nick moved to fish the western shore as he saw a fish move. He worked the area for a while, and a fish grabbed one of his flies but the hooks didn’t stick.

Nick continued to work

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Sizeable brown and tiger trout are on offer CRATER LAKES

Rod Shepherd

Lake Purrumbete has some excellent browns and chinook salmon up to 8lb and often beyond in the old scale. There are plenty of sizeable tiger trout, too.

Dusk seems the prime time to tackle the browns,

with various methods working.

A mudeye suspended just a metre under a bubble float and allowed to drift towards the weed beds is a good approach. You can also get results casting and trolling minnow lures within a stone’s throw of the weedencrusted bank.

Lake Bullen Merri has been fishing reasonably well

for boaters who have been flat line trolling minnow lures close to shore, as well as bank anglers fishing similar depths using PowerBait, worm and whitebait. Similarsized Chinook salmon, rainbow and tiger trout have been caught by both lure and bait anglers, with some days firing better than others. Fly anglers are also catching fish

Recently Shane Stevens picked up several tiger trout at Bullen Merri on the fly. Image courtesy of Shane Stevens.

Shane Stevens from Central Victoria recently spent a few days in our region. He caught this 8lb brown on a Bent Minnow at Purrumbete. Image courtesy of Shane Stevens.

on a sinking leader.

The weather would be playing a big part in the bite rate, so I would recommend that as soon as the barometer begins to rise after a cold front, get out there if you can.

Lake Elingamite is going OK, with both browns and rainbows to 1kg taking lures and flies fished along

the weed bed edges. The redfin are quiet with only the odd fish being taken.

There are still plenty of yearling fish that have been in the lake for nearly two years now, and they are fast approaching 2kg in weight and are well worth chasing.

Although redfin are scarce at the moment, but as the days lengthen and some

warmth begins to occur I’m sure the reddies will come back on, especially the leviathans that are known to inhabit this lake, and are occasionally caught by some lucky angler. How big do they get? Well, it took me a 10-year period to crack the 2kg mark, but I caught plenty between 1.3-1.9kg during that decade.

Attention turns to suburban redfin WEST/SOUTH GIPPSLAND

Billy Auldist

The trout season remains closed throughout August, but there are still some viable fishing options for those in South West Gippsland. With the region’s rivers and creeks flowing high and dirty, the attention turns to dams and lakes throughout the region. For the anglers who are willing to brave the weather there is still success to be had in our region.

Local estate dams have become a big target of local fishers, and many of these waters are holding redfin, carp and eels. A big majority of suburban dams and the area when his line tightened and a trout started jumping around. After a good tussle Nick landed a ripper rainbow of 3lb on a black Woolly Bugger.

We spoke to a couple of other fly fishers that arrived after us, and they said they had been catching a few in recent weeks. I’m very excited about the fishing at Hepburn Lagoon over the coming months.

LAKE WENDOUREE Lake Wendouree continues to fish well, for both trout and redfin, landbased and from boats. Steve Angee has been donning his thermals, beanie, and wet

Local fisher Rick Rosser with a standard estate dam redfin. weather gear, and chasing redfin on Wendouree, and his efforts have been rewarded with some big fish on soft plastics.

Steve on one trip bagged three redfin measuring 42cm, 45cm, and 48cm, and on another session he got two fish over 40cm as well.

Steve said he worked one area, caught a few small ones, and then suddenly the big girls come along, one after another. He said it was an awesome session.

Steve said he has also been casting some hardbodied lures for trout, but only the odd one has been showing any interest.

One of my son’s mates, Trinity Layshaun, who is a very keen young angler, has been fishing Wendouree with lures. Trinity has been catching some lovely brown trout, including a ripper measuring in at 59cm.

Trinity braved the elements and fished one evening and after dark, when he was winding in his new Double Clutch shallow diving lure, when it was crunched by the big brown trout. After a good fight, Trinity with the assistance of his dad landed the brown trout.

After a couple of photos, the fish was released back into Wendouree.

lakes in our region hold good numbers of fish, and it is just a matter of trial and error. My favourite way of prospecting these new waterways is by casting a small soft plastic on a light jighead. Any paddle tail or curl tail grubs fitted on a 1/12oz or 1/16oz jighead is the ideal presentation. The winter redfin tend to be a little lethargic, so a slow hopping retrieve will give the fish plenty of time to commit to the lure. There won’t be many redfin who pass it up.

These dams can hold some good quality redfin so it shouldn’t come as a shock if you find yourself tangling with a larger model. The bigger fish are often found in dams that receive minimal fishing pressure so exploring new waters is definitely worthy of your time. As for those who target the carp and eels in these dams, a simple running sinker rig with a bunch of worms is more than capable of the task at hand.

Blue Rock Lake is another target favoured by fishers in South West Gippsland at this time of year, both land-based and via boat. The bass fishing has slowed right off but this doesn’t mean they aren’t catchable; those who persevere will still catch bass but not in the numbers you would expect during the summer.

Boat fishers usually turn their attention towards the resident trout, and trolling hardbodies or winged lures is consistently landing both

Rick displays a larger redfin from his prospecting of local dams. brown and rainbow trout.

Trout can also be caught from the bank by casting either of these lures along with spinners and soft plastics.

Redfin are also around in the lake and can be caught on most lures. They will take anything on their day so it shouldn’t really matter.

Those who baitfish can expect to catch any of the species above, along with carp and eels. Worms are usually the preferred option at this time of the year.

Although the trout season is closed and the rivers and creeks are flowing high and dirty, there is still good fishing on offer in our region, and it won’t be long until the trout season is open again and we are back into them. Regarding the trout season, it is important we let the fish have their off season and spawn without interruption, that way we can all hit the rivers and creeks again come opening in September and we should be in for a good season ahead.

AUGUST 2023 91

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WA

Go Behind the Scenery

Tasmania

All geared up and ready for brown trout season HOBART

Andrew Large

As we head into the final month of winter, Tasmanian anglers are making the most of settled weather and are anticipating an exciting start to the 2023 brown trout season (which kicks off on Saturday 5 August) combined with some epic jumbo southern bluefin action on the coast to keep everyone happy.

In general, a variety of popular species are biting well into late winter. To start with, southern bluefin tuna continue to be caught in the southeast of the state around Cape Pillar. It seemed a while back that SBT were stretching from our southern tip to the northwest tip of Tasmania in Bass Strait. Storm Bay has been fishing particularly well, with fish being taken around Betsy Island. Fish over 100kg seemed to liven up during July.

In Peninsula waters, good school bluefin have been taken as well, with reports of good bait coming to light. Solid fish from around 15-21kg have picked up a little in recent weeks around Fortescue Bay. School fish continue to be caught in good numbers, and bluefin are now being caught from Mewstone in the south to St Helens.

Albacore tuna were encountered off Bicheno recently.

There’s a frenzy for

Calamari are in good numbers around various coastal ports in the southeast. southern calamari at the moment, as they are still available in the lower Derwent River and Channel areas. Further afield, good numbers are available.

Winter is a great time for this species.

Sand flathead are continuing to bite well on bait, lure and fly. The best spots for a feed include Storm Bay, Marion Bay, Fredrick Henry Bay and White Beach.

Good-sized Australian salmon have returned to the southeast of the state as part of the lesser-known winter run. Anglers should concentrate their efforts from the Alum Cliffs, near Kingston and South Arm, close to the CBD, as these

seem to be the local hotspots.

Anglers fishing Cremorne in the canal at Pipeclay Lagoon have been reporting fish to 1kg. Larger specimens are available along the east coast surf beaches.

Still nights are a flounder fisher’s best friend. Flounder have been moving well for the time being, and a string of settled nights recently gave anglers a chance to chase these fish in mirror conditions at night. South Arm, Lewisham, Dunalley and Orford area are all reported to be producing fish. El Niño has kept winter flood waters, away meaning crystal-clear water for this night time venture.

Deep waters have been

producing tiger flathead, which have been taken off the east coast wide of St Helens and Bicheno.

Limited time remains for striped trumpeter which have been biting well on the west, south and east coasts. Settled weather has finally allowed anglers to venture out. Striped trumpeter season will close shortly, if it hasn’t already.

Sea-run trout continue to be caught in the mid reaches of the Derwent and Huon estuaries. Both of these waters are open to angling to the Huonville and New Norfolk bridges by anglers holding a current freshwater angling licence. Spin, troll, soft plastics and fly are all producing fish. Next month

we will see Granton firing as the trout begin to chase whitebait.

Faltering just a tad, black bream are still being caught in good numbers around Cornellian Bay, Store Point, Bowen Bridge and Cadbury Point. The use of bait has been effective, and fly and bibbed lures have also been catching their share.

The odd Atlantic salmon has turned up in anglers’ bags as well, mainly as a bycatch by those chasing sea-run trout.

Tasmania’s new brown trout season kicks off on Saturday, 5 August. For the moment, Great Lake (although open 12 months of the year) is producing good fish, and will continue to do so into September and October. Picking the right day early in the season that is conducive to good fishing at altitude is the key. We

are looking forward to more settled weather in the next month.

Other waters such as Lake Pedder and Lake King William are fishing well.

Easterly weather lately has seen these waters relatively calm and sheltered.

Closer to home, Craigbourne Dam has received multiple stockings of both brown and rainbow trout from Great Lake. These fish have settled in and gained weight, and seem to be around the 1kg mark, with scrub worms working well.

Arthurs Lake has produced fish early, which is encouraging for this up-anddown water.

I think that most down this way will agree that this August is unlike the last few. For starters it’s drier and seemingly milder, which at this time of the year is conducive to great fishing.

A healthy Great Lake rainbow trout.

Tournament Calendar 2023 Date

Tournament

Location

State

Contact

AUGUST 19-20 Aug 20 Aug

BREAM R8 BASS Electric R4

Gold Coast Hinze Dam

QLD QLD

abt.org.au abt.org.au

BASS Pro R5 BASS Pro R6 ECBS Shimano Round BARRA R1

Hunter River Lake St Clair Botany Bay Lake Tinaroo

NSW NSW NSW QLD

abt.org.au abt.org.au wsbb.com.au abt.org.au

BARRA R2 BASS Electric GF ECBS Grand Final BASS Pro GF

Lake Tinaroo Wyaralong Dam Sydney Harbour TBC

QLD QLD NSW QLD

abt.org.au abt.org.au wsbb.com.au abt.org.au

BARRA R3 BREAM GF BARRA R4 BARRA R5 BARRA R6

Teemburra Dam Port Stephens Kinchant Dam Peter Faust Dam Peter Faust Dam

QLD NSW QLD QLD QLD

abt.org.au abt.org.au abt.org.au abt.org.au abt.org.au

SEPTEMBER 9-10 Sep 12-13 Sep 24 Sep 29-30 Sep OCTOBER 1 Oct 7-8 Oct 15 Oct 28-29 Oct NOVEMBER 23 Nov 10-12 Nov 24 Nov 26 Nov 28-29 Nov

Add your tournament or competition to this list by emailing jthomas@fishingmonthly.com.au Just supply a date, venue, tournament name, telephone number and contact name.

AUGUST 2023 93

South Coast

WA

Huge numbers of squid are on offer ESPERANCE

Murray Johnson

Winter weather has continued to hound the south coast, with plenty of rain showers and cold conditions.

Still, there have been plenty of opportunities to still go fishing. By choosing the right locations and the right wind directions, both jetty and beach fishing is still very viable at this time of year.

In town off the jetty we are seeing huge numbers of squid being caught, with samples of tubes up to 45cm.

The best times are early in the morning, dusk and into the night, with the lights helping to attract the squid closer to the surface. One of the stand-out jigs at the moment is the 3.5 size Yamashita Egi Oh Live in colour 007 BLP. As well as squid being caught on the jetty, we are also seeing good catches of garfish at night, with the occasional smaller samsonfish cruising past. Some people have even been catching octopus, which like to grab onto bait or latch onto a helpless hooked fish.

Tailor Street jetty has also been producing squid, along with some King George whing

and smaller skippy. Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has been yielding some smaller King George whiting, the occasional flounder, some small flathead, herring and the occasional skippy.

The Bream Lakes still have plenty of water in them, making fishing a little more complicated, but they are still producing fish up to 40cm.

The water is dirty so you’ll want a lure with sound and/ or lots of action. A couple of lures that have been doing well are the 60mm Daiwa Double Clutch and the 60mm Daiwa Sazanami in neutral colours such as greens and browns.

Anglers fishing the local beaches, when the winds and tides have allowed, have been catching plenty of salmon at Stockyards and Fourth Beach. We are also seeing plenty of herring and half kilo skippy, along with the occasional flathead.

Further out of town, at Roses Beach there are plenty of salmon, bronze whalers, tailor and skippy around the 2kg mark. Warrenup has been producing salmon and the occasional groper.

Heading east, there is good fishing at Alexander Bay, with plenty of salmon and skippy.

Anglers are also catching the occasional gummy shark at Alexander Bay and Thomas River. Thomas River has been producing a few bigger skippy around the 5kg mark as well.

Boat-based anglers in the bay have been getting good catches of squid, with some guys catching their limits fairly easily. We are seeing some good snook getting trolled up, and there are plenty of herring in the bay as well. Lately there have been some really good size King George whiting caught, with specimens up to 50cm.

Out of town, around the local bays there are good numbers of sand whiting being caught. The standard approach is to drift in towards the shoreline, work out which depths the whiting are holding at, and then anchor at that depth. A couple of places to try are Whiley Bay and Twilight Beach.

While chasing the sand whiting, some anglers have been getting a bycatch of gummy sharks, which take a bit of work to land on light whiting gear. Samsonfish are another possibility; these fish tend to come in close to the shoreline at this time of year.

Boat-based anglers fishing

around the closer islands have been encountering plenty of samsonfish as they come in closer, along with good numbers of sea sweep, queen snapper and smaller nannygai.

Guys heading out wide (when the weather has allowed) are catching plenty of nannygai going 65cm, and there are samsonfish everywhere up to 40kg.

There’s also the occasional breaksea, harlequin and queen snapper turning up in catches.

AUGUST FISHING As the weather settles, we will have more opportunities to head out further afield, to places like Poison Creek and Israelite Bay for species like mulloway. Good-size mulloway are on the cards in the coming weeks, with specimens up to 24kg on offer.

Bigger tailor and big flathead should start coming on, too.

Local beaches around town should still see plenty of gummy sharks being caught, with areas like Thomas River, Alexander, 14 Mile, Roses, Munglinup all being good spots to try.

Squid will keep biting for a while yet, and will be a good target species this month. We run a comp at the store called Chase the Kraken, where

Plenty of squid have been caught this winter. every competitor pays $20, and the winner gets 70%, and the runner-up gets 30% (the store doesn’t take any money).

After you have entered, you just bring your squid into the shop to measure them. Judging by the number of people who have entered so far, the winner should get over $1000 this year. The comp finishes on August 16, so there’s still time to enter and be in the running

for first prize.

• Established in 1986, Southern Sports and Tackle specializes in the supply and servicing of fishing equipment. They have an extensive knowledge of the local area and provide all brands, whether you’re fishing from beach, jetty or boat. Come and chat to the friendly staff at Shop 16, The Boulevard, Esperance or phone 08 9071 3022.

Chasing shore side pink snapper BUNBURY

Whiteys Tackle and Camping

This has to be the most active time of the year for a land-based assault.

Whether you’re fishing the local beaches, the cut or

swing, thoughts turn to the inshore pink snapper fishery with these pink slabs coming in close to shore in great numbers. The rough weather presents a good opportunity for the pink snapper to forage for food that gets bashed around and dislodged during

Winter bream get sluggish, which means it’s time to get out the soft plastics and vibes. inside the marina or just the local beaches.

If you’re fishing the jetties and rock walls, I’d suggest a well-balanced soft plastic around 6” length, as I find those areas have more sharp drop offs or ledges that benefit from having your lure get close to the bottom, something a diving lure can’t always accomplish.

With winter right in 94 AUGUST 2023

and following the numerous cold fronts that will be coming through over the next few months.

Due to the fact that pink snapper move around a lot looking for their next meal, the best results usually come in the form of setting the pick and getting a solid trail of drift berley snapper cubes going, it will bring the fish to you.

Some days it will only take

minutes for them to appear and once they come up in the berley trail the fishing is generally hot with fish coming one after the other.

A berley that consists of fish frames, old bait and scraps works a treat but can be a messy job to do at home.

Nowadays though, there is quality frozen/premixed berley options available in good tackle shops that are perfect for the job. Once the berley trail is established all you need to do is present an unweighted or lightly weighted mulie/scalie on a gang or snelled hooks with hook size determined by the bait used, 4/0 to 6/0 sizes are the most common.

I have found occasionally they will go off the bite (usually when you drop a fish!) and then it is good idea to change it up to get them switched on again. By that, I mean put the baits away and try a couple of lures, with good results coming on soft plastics, with the vibes being especially deadly, they can change the mood of the fussy pink snapper. Some of my favourites are the Nomad Vertrex Vibes in a 150mm size, or the McCarthy paddle-tails in a 5”. With lures they will hit it out of aggression and can get them feeding freely again.

Another technique to get them biting is to drop down a micro jig in the 5-20g range and this smaller offering flicking and darting off the bottom will replicate a small baitfish.

You could also get a bonus by-catch of any skippy that are milling around the berley trail.

Black bream are a popular target over winter with the Collie and Brunswick River always holding a few. While they can be tough to find, sometimes the quality makes up for it. With the cooler freshwater flow leading into the river, the winter bream get sluggish and that means time to get out the soft plastics and vibes. Slow retrieves using long pauses and small movements are the key to targeting winter bream.

There are certain plastics on the market that have a large amount of scent built into them to provide the bream, a smelly scent-filled target in the dirty water. In this situation some of the most successful plastics would be the Berkley Gulp Crabbies. Generally, you will

A productive night session with a decent pink snapper. need a little bit more weight on the jighead to counteract the harder flowing water, so look at using between 1/16 and 1/8 jigheads with a hook size to suit your plastic choice. In

Pink snapper have been coming in close to shore.

regards to vibes, the River2Sea Baby vibes are an absolute killer with either the darker colours or baitfish colours that give off a bit of flash doing the damage. If you are in the mood for sitting back on the riverbank and chilling out, a small ball sinker running down to a baitholder or shiner hook laced with a fresh strip of mullet will usually fool these cunning fish. Call into the store to get the latest info on where they are biting!

• The crew at Whiteys Tackle and Camping in Treendale are always more than happy to share their knowledge of the southwest and fishing techniques so don’t be shy, come on in and say hi, show off your catch and ask any questions you may have.

WA

Wet, wet, and more wet!

AUGUSTA

Anthony Gillam

Well, winter decided to turn up with plenty of rainy squally weather to make things interesting living on the coast. Winds of gale force, rain inter-dispersed with pea sized hail were the order of the day for much of the last month. As far as fishing conditions go, they were pretty average.

Oh yeah, it was about 5ºC overnight as well.

Happy days!

But then there were a few breaks in the weather that produced those clear wind free days that are absolutely freezing but the fishing conditions are phenomenal.

You can pretty much hit the water and go as far as your boat allows in glass off conditions.

With the demersal season open and perfect conditions, there were plenty of boats coming down to Augusta from all over the southwest as well as the metro region to get into the pristine dhufish territory.

everywhere with some spots on fire with big king George whiting. The biggest fish were taking fresh squid

jigs making it easy to catch a few in no time. Just be patient and you can finesse most of them out of the water and

How could you resist fishing on a winter’s day like this?

Stacey Veitch shows off her latest dhufish taken bottom dropping in Flinders Bay.

Horseshoe leatherjackets are a common catch from the marina rock walls, jetties and rocks and are delicious eating.

The action was fast and furious with most boaties that hit Flinders Bay making the most of the open season and flat waters. Many of the boats that went out at daylight were back in by lunchtime with a bag out of dhufish and pink snapper with queen snapper and breaksea cod helping to round out the bag limit.

Bait fishing was the order of the day with squid and octopus scoring some big fish. This also translated into any of the soft plastics that mimicked squid as well.

Butterflied herring or mullet also made a good showing.

The biggest fish were found in the 40-50m depth range and on reef down towards white point and the back of the islands. As usual there were many fish taken off the isolated lumps that showed up whilst fish finder prospecting in likely areas.

For those chasing whiting, there were plenty in the bay with sand whiting

South Coast

tentacles and sand worms.

The river fishing especially at the jetties in pre-dawn has consisted of herring, squid and black bream as the numbers of all have been excellent. A quiet walk amongst the shallows with a torch has also revealed flounder and flathead in good numbers but they have proven a bit harder to entice a bite out of. Live prawns (scooped in the shallows) have been effective at drawing a bite from the bottom dwellers, however, trying to get them past the herring has been difficult.

The squid are in huge numbers in the river and in Flinders Bay and they are pretty easy to catch on any prawn styled squid jig. Any area where there are weed beds will have squid hunting them and if you are land based the jetties are a certainty at this time of the year. It is not uncommon to have half a dozen squid fighting for your

safely in your bucket.

When you clean the squid don’t throw away the heads as they are excellent baits whole for the big fish like demersals, kingfish and sampson fish and individual tentacles are a winner for whiting.

Boat fishing throughout the Hardy Inlet and lower reaches of the Blackwood River has been much the same as the jetties. The large numbers of herring voraciously feeding on everything that comes within their purview continued throughout the system. If you drifted around the channels and targeting structure revealed that there were plenty of whiting and black bream lurking around if you looked for them. Black bream were located right throughout and with clear water conditions making it possible to see structure quite clearly you could drop a soft plastic

grub, prawn or cockle and drift it right in front of them.

King George whiting are still hunting in the Dead Water and the channels around the East Augusta side of the river. Searching around slowly and testing likely looking passages amongst the many sand bars near Point Frederick often resulted in picking up legal sized fish.

They were taking squid strips, cockles and prawns with blood worms also working.

The Colourpatch cut has changed so much lately it has been quite difficult to navigate the area especially in any craft bigger than a dinghy. The tides have been over 1.2m and the amount of water movement resulted in Dukes Head disappearing overnight which was quite a shock to locals. This has created a vast area of water that is very shallow with only a narrow deeper fast moving channel somewhere on the eastern side.

For those wanting to have a land-based fish around the coast the early mornings were definitely the time to go as the fish fired up once the sun rose above the horizon. Places like the marina rock walls and boat pens provided a good sheltered place to try out your skills with soft plastics and vibes with a good chance of picking up some flathead, herring or skippy. There are also plenty of leather jackets about at the moment which are also excellent eating. They do have a habit of destroying

soft plastics though so it pays to take some bait as once they find you they will hang around. Swap to squid bait with a long shank hook and you should end up with a couple of horseshoe leather jackets for dinner.

Rock fishing is definitely a good go-to if you are looking for a meal at the moment as it is pretty much

a certainty that you will get enough for a meal. That is as long as the weather is dry because wet rocks are a recipe for disaster. Anyone that does consistent fishing off the stones will tell you that even when the weather is fine its only a matter of making one ill placed footstep to have you on your back seeing stars.

A nice sized King George whiting that took a squid tentacle off the rocks at Augusta.

This is a good mixed bag that is common when rock fishing during winter.

• Rock fishing is dangerous at times and careful consideration of where and when you fish must be done.

Unpredictable weather can quickly affect the fishing conditions and slippery rocks are a recipe for disaster. Please remain vigilant when rock fishing; wear a life jacket and tie off to something solid. You can hire one for free from Augusta Xtreme Outdoor Sports at 66 Blackwood Avenue Augusta -the local tackle shop, boat hire and font of all local fishing knowledge. Look for the big green sign on the roof, it’s right next to the BP Service Station in the centre of town.

AUGUST 2023 95

West Coast

WA

Round two demersal closures METRO

Jacob Crispe

In some ways this demersal closure has snuck up on me. The fishing, when the weather has allowed, has been fantastic and not just for the demersal species.

I guess that means

shallow running hardbody lures are favoured by those chasing them, however ganged pilchards and the like will get their fair share of catches as well.

Mulloway anglers will also enjoy the fish being a bit more concentrated, with many focusing their efforts in the area around the E-Sheds. Live baits

This time of year, where there are squid there are also big King George whiting! Here Hools shows off a cracker whiting caught in close on broken ground.

Hools with another excellent capture of winter squid! all bodes well for this current closure and the fishing options we have available to us.

THE SWAN RIVER Our winter rains have certainly affected the fishing in the Swan. The main affect being that the freshwater in the system will focus the best fishing, to be towards the mouth of the system (North Mole to East Fremantle). The main focuses from an angling perspective will be bream, tailor and mulloway.

Most bream anglers will focus their efforts in the section of the river below the Canning Bridge. Structure is always a bream’s best friend, so casting fresh baits and lures around man made or natural structure, will be your best option to catch a few. Although less frequent at this time of the year, flathead and whiting can be a welcome by-catch when targeting bream, particularly using bait.

Tailor are always a popular option when the rains have consolidated (herded) the baitfish into the lower reaches of the system (East Fremantle to the Narrows Bridge).

15-20g metal lures or larger 96 AUGUST 2023

(rock wall anglers well).

You always know when the word greenback is being associated with tailor captures that the fish are better quality.

That certainly is the case at present and should continue into August and beyond. Mulloway often hold in the same areas as the tailor, so a sneaky line out with a fresh tailor fillet can often come up trumps.

Although there will be plenty of anglers hitting our rock walls looking for a feed of herring, skippy, sand whiting or King George whiting, many are

pretty much any wall with some broken bottom nearby is an option to catch them.

Popular locations are

The man himself, Marco Orifici from Anglers Fishing World, with an absolute cracker King George whiting.

An excellent mixed bag from a cold morning from Marco and the crew from AFW.

North and South Mole.

North Mole is considered be more for the advanced angler due to casting distances to get to the deep water, while South Mole offer squid fishing for anglers of all levels. On a side note, fishing either side of these structures offers good squid fishing.

The side I fish generally depends on which way the wind is blowing.

INSHORE The demersal closure definitely reduces your options, however it has been a great tailor season so far, so getting out and chasing them is a great alternative.

Shallow reef structures that produce some white water or surface disturbance are focal points to target them. Stickbaits, metals, shallow running lures and unweighted baits cast in and around these zones

There’s a reason Hools Orifici is known as the ‘Squid Master of Freo’ with catches like this! seem to be the best option at the moment.

ROCK WALLS AND BEACHES Tailor will be a major focus of our beach anglers

likely to be focusing on the squid fishing on offer. The average size of the squid in the cooler months is what creates this popularity and of course the fact that

The big Kahuna with a lovely inshore skippy.

WA

Searching elsewhere for success MANDURAH

Jesse Choy

August marks the end of winter, with many people likely to be happy that we will soon be relieved of the conditions synonymous with the cooler months.

Although there are limits to what we can catch with

enhance your odds at catching fish, be sure to fish areas away from them as some of the residential fish tend not to stray too far from their homes although they will feed when prey comes past their territory.

Species in the river are limited but black bream and mulloway will always be willing to entertain

jetties or rocks surrounding Dawesville or Mandurah is a great way to spend time for many, with the great scenery and marine life always willing to make each trip a memorable one. Whether you are taking the kids for a cast or planning to spend some time alone, there is always a great chance of hooking

for extended periods of time will produce some of your better quality fish, but always make sure to get into a routine of checking that the smaller pickers have not had their way with your bait and left you out there fishing with a bare hook.

Anglers fishing from local beaches will face the usual winter seaweed in many cases, though there is going to be areas worth fishing that are less affected by it at all due to the way winds, swells or tides have been. As with any type of beach fishing, it is a good idea to scout your spots prior to wetting a line, to give yourself the best chance of keeping away from the local seaweed population whilst also keeping your presentation in the ideal location for catching fish.

Though we have seen that other forms of fishing are rapidly taking over on the beach front, casting well-

Gun angler Tom has been getting stuck into some beautiful pink snapper off some of our local beaches with the drone.

Rene, a local tournament fisherman, loves his shallow running hardbodies when fishing for black bream locally. regards to boating, there is plenty on offer for those willing to put some time and persistence into achieving some results elsewhere.

As always, river fishing is a perfect option for this time of the year as it offers great protection from the elements when it presents itself and fish are still willing to chew as usual. When heading up the river, you are likely to see visible signs of schooling bait throughout and it is always a great option to fish closely by. Although fishing bait schools will have every chance of being eaten by a tailor.

Skippy (silver trevally) can also be found in these areas (great fighting and table fish), while broken bottom locations will produce squid and some big winter King George whiting.

It will pay to explore and find the right locations. When you do, you should be rewarded.

Drifting the shipping channel for sand whiting is also a great option in these cooler months.

OFFSHORE The southern bluefin tuna fishing has been nothing short of extraordinary and should continue in August.

Trolling seems to be the

you when conditions may prevent you from your ideal method of fishing.

Chasing these fish can be as simple or as complicated as you wish dependent on the type of challenge you wish to undertake, with both lures and baits are great options landing you a few. If fishing baits, lightly weighted river prawn and mullet cubes are ideal.

If you are fishing lures, bait fish profiles are quite effective at replicating what is in the area and as a result will produce some great quality fish.

Fishing from one of the

up to a variety of fish and you will generally keep yourself entertained for an afternoon on some of the herring or whiting that frequent these areas.

Although it can be quite hard to target some of your bigger species, you will find that patience and slowly piecing a pattern together is key. Fish like snapper or samsonfish are creatures of habit, so it will always pay to take note of conditions and try different things in order to figure out what they most prefer at the spot you choose to fish. Soaking fresh baits

A great catch of southern bluefin tuna caught by gun angler Paul Coelho.

Chunky herring like the one pictured are a lot of fun, especially on light gear. preferred method to target them. Depth of water seems to be more important than location, with most anglers setting lines once they hit the 30m mark and then keeping their eyes peeled for signs of the tuna. It would be unlikely to find birds that don’t have tuna below them. There has been some nice yellowfin tuna amongst the schools as well. They are always a welcome surprise when you hook one.

The southwest side of Rottnest always offers the option of targeting yellowtail kingfish.

Shallower reef areas will hold smaller fish, while the fish tend to be bigger from deeper structure.

Some quality samson fish hold in these areas

West Coast

presented baits is a great yet relaxing way to keep the kids entertained on herring or whiting, though more substantial baits will entice the elusive winter mulloway and pink snapper alike.

Drone fishing from some of our local beaches will produce quality eating fish, but you will want to be even more careful to avoid seaweed and bulk line loss as a result. Fish such as pink snapper, dhufish and gummy sharks are all species you will encounter though you may need to search for a spot that has suitable structure nearby.

Making use of things like google maps will allow you to mark out likely spots, with measuring tools letting you know that drop distance is feasible and will not empty your spool of its line.

Another ripper Skippy from the inshore reef area. as well. Just another hard fighting fish to catch.

A shorter report this month, but still full of fishing

options. I hope you get a chance to go out and wet a line and I will catch you next month.

AUGUST 2023 97

West Coast

WA

Seek alternatives during closures LANCELIN

Peter Fullarton

Fishing for demersals from boats has closed again this month, next season opening will be the

have been given any tags to use for demersal species.

I am not sure what the split is between the boats but on average there is 5.5 fish available per boat per week. It seems quite absurd for Fisheries Minister Don

Lancelin, heading north for better weather and a place they can fish for the key species. Beyond the West Coast bioregion they will head in droves. There are already grave concerns in places, like Shark Bay,

towards spring. While the fish may not be huge, matching the gear to the species can still make for awesome entertaining drag screaming fun and there’s still some great seafood to gather during a day on the water. That is what it is really all about, spending quality time on the water while gathering enough for a feed, not a fillet count.

Offshore there are not a lot of alternatives this time of year, tuna numbers are down to the point it’s not really worth burning fuel on a trip west in hope of finding a random school.

The one target for the boat fishers who want to do some serious fishing would be samson fish. Most lumps will hold fish in the 20-30m depths this time of year, so not a big deal to run out for a look. Samson fish rise to check out the arrival of a boat, making them obvious on the sounder with a clear image of individuals rising off the bottom. Drop jigs or live baits to the rising schools, my favourite is the Black Magic Flutter jig in pilchard blue, they love

Not often targeted at Lancelin, blue spot flathead can be a common by-catch this time of year by the beach casters and nearshore boaters.

Teren scored a number of green back tailor casting the Dr Hook Longtom lure to reef breaks, despite a lot of seaweed on the shore break.

23 September, to coincide with term 3 school holidays.

It has not been good news for charter boats operators or those who like to fish off charter boats.

Only 21 boats out of the 99 operating in the west coast

Punch to think any business could survive keeping a boat on the water and in survey with such a small allocation, it’s likely to decimate the industry.

While the ban is on demersals, most boat fishers will be bypassing

from increasing fishing pressure.

For those of us who remain to fish locally and content to fish for smaller game, the bay’s waters are very clear, between swells and cold fronts expect good weather moving

Zack Haddon’s been putting in the time, recently cracking the code for a PB 20kg mulloway.

Tim Ayliffe has been making good between the passing storms and getting some cracker days out on the boat.

98 AUGUST 2023

it! Sambos are also found along the inshore reefs and about the bay, often raiding the jetty at dawn in search of baitfish among the pylons.

A smaller sports fish to target this time of year

would be skippy, poundfor-pound they punch well above their weight and like to fight side on using their broad shape to offer most resistance to the angler.

Fishing with a 2-4kg outfit will keep you honest and

1-2kg gear on the larger models can be a real challenge.

Berley is the key to bring fish in and hold them around the boat. Smaller fish are usually within the bay, while outside mature fish up to 60cm can be found schooled up in aggregations as they are preparing to spawn.

A species not often targeted for food are the wrasse group. The best two locally are the king wrasse and the brown wrasse. Both species have distinct male/ female colouration, the males are much larger and better eating quality with fine white delicate fillets.

The key to getting some quality wrasse fillets is to take good care of the catch.

Make up an ice slurry, spike the fish ikijime method and preferably eat them fresh that day. Bonus is the largest male wrasse are in good numbers right in close this time of year even within the bay.

This season so far, we haven’t seen the big shoals of herring we usually expect along the southern shallows of the bay, though there are schools randomly throughout the bay. Trolling small lures to locate where the schools are holed up before concentration of the fishing effort has been the best way to grab a few.

Snook have certainly been prolific this year and can be a pain snipping off hooks, small lures or smashing expensive squid jigs. When you can

WA

Lots of good mackerel about KALBARRI

Stephen Wiseman

Warm water to the north of town is still holding good macks. The last trip rewarded us with five nice fat specimens with many more swimming past just cruising with the whales.

Our fish were on average 10kg with some smaller ones in the packs.

Deep divers were not doing the trick, so we used skirts and surface teasers to get the fish active, then the shallow divers went well. It was a

very rewarding day as the sharks appeared to have moved on for winter.

Boaties going offshore have been getting some beautiful fish, with a red emperor going 13kg+ and dhufish well over the 10kg mark coming off one boat.

His mates landed some very respectable baldies and pinks from the same area all on the same morning. Baits are still the preferred way according to the guys who still like the good old mullies.

Activity at Red Bluff has been patchy but reports of big yellowfin smashing gars

is the news I was waiting for. They normally arrive with the black spot gars, but with any luck their activity will continue after the intermittent storms roll through. But be careful while chasing gars off the rocks at Red Bluff, the best rig is the good old blob with a bit of pollard mix and long shank hook with small piece of prawn.

Tailor activity has been hit-and-miss in all the regular spots, but pink snapper have been a regular by-catch for the early and late fishos from the beach

Breaksea cod move to shallower grounds over winter, everyone will be looking toward September to access these iconic species again.

West Coast

and rocks. One nice pink to 70cm was taken at Whitticara late in the week, just before the storm hit.

River anglers are doing fair on whiting and bream in all the regular locations around the river and the best spots have been around the Pens for bream, and the river flats for whiting.

Crabs are still on the move with some lovely big boy muddies around the Pens. I can vouch for this as I saw the biggest muddy I’ve seen in the river on the back of someone’s boat and it was BIG! find a spot where the snook are not too thick there have been plenty of squid. Early morning and late afternoon are the best time to gather a feed. To finish off a nice seafood meal there can a be a few but well-conditioned crabs caught off the jetty or along the bay’s shoreline during the winter months.

Shore fishing along the southern part of the bay is weeded for most the warmer months of the year. Recent storms have blown all the weed away, making for some great fishing flathead, skippy, KG whiting, herring, tarwhine and flounder, which make it an interesting spot to cast some small lures. After

The author had a decent run on the mackerel recently, this is just two of the five they caught for the session. sunset there’s usually some nice big cobbler laying along the shoreline where on calm evenings they can be caught wading the shallows with a hand spear.

Beach fishers can still target demersal species, which means snapper for the drone fishers. Some well-guarded spots will

even produce a few fish off the cast. The beaches have formed up some deep near shore gutters. Larger tailor and school mulloway have been moving into these areas between the passing storm fronts. Expect these areas to continue fishing even better in the coming months.

SUNTAG NEWS

Breaking tagging records Sometimes in this mad, frantic world you need to stop, take a breath and smell the bait. As another financial year ticks over it’s time to take a deep breath and reflect on the year that has just passed.

Most of 2022-23 was a real challenge as, for the first time in 36 years, Suntag was unsuccessful in obtaining funding support from Fisheries Queensland.

That made keeping the tag supply up to taggers very difficult, but we managed to scrape together enough funding to keep things on the rails. Thanks to all those that helped us through that time.

Fortunately, the story has a better ending, with

Fisheries providing a grant for the coming year, so the funding pressure has eased a little.

In spite of the funding challenges, 2022-23 was still a very successful year with many highlights and achievements. Our taggers managed to tag just over 20,000 fish, which was our target and even slightly better than the previous year. That is a great effort by all our taggers. The top taggers for the year were Rick Hughes (1,290), Barry Oxford (1,029) and Kane Rowsell (820), with bass in impoundments being their main targets.

Our biggest achievement for the year was passing 1,000,000 tagged fish in the Fishtag Australia database.

Fishtag Australia includes Suntag, Westag in Western Australia, AFANT tag in the Northern Territory and Saftag in South Australia. This was the first time in the world that a volunteer tagging program had reached that milestone.

And Suntag passed another milestone just before the end of the year, surpassing 900,000 tagged fish.

To mark the 1,000,000 tagged fish achievement, a Celebration Forum was held in February 2023 in Brisbane to mark the occasion, and to recognise the contributions of our top taggers. Michael Dohnt was recognised as the top tagger, having tagged an incredible 25,442 fish and having spent 2,100 days

It’s rewarding to find out how much a tagged fish has grown since its previous capture.

(or 5.8 years) on the water to do that. Gold medallions were presented to taggers that tagged over 15,000 fish, silver medallions for over 10,000 fish and bronze medallions for over 5,000 fish. There were 14 taggers that reached those milestones, having collectively tagged 136,600 fish, or 14% of all the fish tagged.

At the Celebration Forum it was proposed to hold a worldwide video conference of volunteer tagging programs.

This ‘World Volunteer Fishtag Summit 2023’ will be held in August, and will involve around 15 programs in five countries (United States, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Ireland). Infofish/ Suntag is at the forefront of this initiative, leading a committee in the planning of the event and again, this will be a world first.

Following on from that, Infofish/Suntag was awarded the ‘Best Angler-Led Data Collection Project’ at the 10th World Recreational Fishing conference held in Melbourne in late February.

May this year saw the culmination of around two years’ work in the submission

Thanks to the efforts of volunteers and taggers, Suntag is on track to achieve 1,000,000 tagged fish. of a scientific paper for publication. The title of the paper is ‘Using data from long-term volunteer delivered tagging programs to detect changes in recreational fishing effort levels and recreational fisher behaviour’, and it has been submitted to the publication reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries.

The authors of the paper are Owen Li, David Hall, and Bill Sawynok. It may be a while before we know whether the paper has been accepted.

The paper uses Suntag data to look at what fishers are doing above the water, whereas traditionally tagging has just looked below the

water at the fish. The paper looks at changes in fishing effort from resource reallocation (based on the No Fishing Zone in the Fitzroy River), the impact of COVID on distance travelled by fishers, and long-term trends in releasing legal recaptured fish.

Given the challenges over the past year, we can be well satisfied with what has been achieved. The coming year will throw up many new challenges, but we are now well placed to take them on.

Did someone say it’s about time to go fishing? - Suntag AUGUST 2023 99

North Coast

WA

Fisherman’s Basket in Karratha DAMPIER/KARRATHA

Troy Honey

It would be hard to come across a location in Australia better than the Pilbara that has such a wide array of seafood

using the tides and moon to your advantage. Obviously tide changes are the real key for successful fishing in larger tidal zones such as the Pilbara. It is these times that fish feeding or access to spots for oysters, mud crabs, octopus, and crayfish

leaving most methods of southern fishing behind.

Billfish are right in the middle of their run at the moment in Karratha and you don’t have to be a pro to get amongst the action.

There are plenty of tutorials online to assist you with

up a bit and if you have a couple of deckies onboard to share the tasks, switch baiting live or dead baits can further improve your chances. To give you an idea of how easy it can be to get a billfish to strike, demersal fisherman who fish the grounds behind the island often lose jigs and soft plastics on the drop or retrieve to sailfish.

When the are in the area and hungry, they will chase and strike at anything that resembles a fish and is moving at a decent speed.

Get out there and give it a go and try a few different methods, it won’t be long before you hook up and then simply repeat what you did. Your first billfish photo will be worth the day’s work. Please just remember sailfish don’t do well being picked up out of the water. Often when they are finally brought to the boat, they are extremely tired and at the point where they won’t survive if not swam properly and released quickly so, please keep this in mind and take your photos with the fish still in the water and only stop the boat moving for a

There appears to be no slowing of the blue swimmer crab annual run. Numbers this year have been as good if not better than many of the previous years.

Troy Honey with one of many coral trout being caught offshore of Dampier and Point Sampson in July. offerings during what is winter to most Aussies. It truly is a magical time to be living or visiting. The weather is perfect, warm days and cool nights, lots of sunshine ad rarely any rain, although we did have an out of ordinary rain event in June which was most welcomed to get the creeks flowing again.

Accompanying the weather is the range of seafood, you name it, and it is on offer. We have seen great size and numbers of all fish classes, from pelagics, like mackerel and tuna, sports fish obviously marlin and sails, prized demersals being coral trout, bluebone, rankin cod and the whole suite of emperor species, squid in massive numbers, mud and blue crabs, oysters galore and the list goes on. It is only the barra, threadfin salmon and octopus that drop right off at this time of year.

All the above will continue through August, it really is a matter of lining up the tides and moons to suit what you are targeting. Mud crabs on the full moon, blue crabs on the new moon, squid during neap tides or those couple of hours of clear water on the spring tides are a couple of examples of 100 AUGUST 2023

to name a few become available, also the cleaning up of water visibility for squid. Successful fishing throughout northern Australia is obtained by

the ins and outs but simply trolling a few lures and teasers around the shipping anchorage behind the islands will certainly entice some action. Stepping it

Mud crabs tend to be a bit slower through the cooler months in the Pilbara but they are still around if you put the time and effort in to finding them. Full moon is the key.

The archipelago is alive with squid during the dry season, both northern tiger and calamari species

short time.

There are a lot of Spanish mackerel being caught and August is looking to be another good month to target them. All the shoals and even deeper waters of 20-30m all around the islands are producing good numbers of mackies.

Trolling lures around 6-8 knots on the tide changes or at sunrise has been the most productive times.

I spent a full day out on the full moon chasing mud crabs in one of my favourite spots and it was hard work. Only one crab all day and I put this down

to two things, first being the ambient and water temperature at the moment is very cool. Second being, due to the cooler weather and clear waters from little wind at the moment, night time would have been their preferred feeding time to have good visibility and camouflage plus also good protection from threats such as sharks and large cods. August will start to see the temps slowly rise and into September it will be game on again for mud crabs.

Demersal fishing is on fire in Karratha with exceptional catches of usual species, such as rankin cod, red emperor and saddletail sea perch.

Numbers and size have both been equally good with a lot of the catches coming in shallower waters of 30m but if you want consistent size and numbers, the 40m+ mark is still your best option. Have a troll around for mackies, tuna or billfish and mark some ledges and lumps as you go then head back and target them on another day. You don’t need much, in fact, often the larger lumps are holding sharks so best to keep away from them. Small ledges with fish on the sounder are worth trying and often successful. If tide and wind allow, set your drift up as to drift along the ledge to gain the longest fishing in the zone time per drift and see how you go.

A POWERFUL APACKAGE reprieve from the sharks EXMOUTH

40-60HP FOURSTROKE PERFORMANCE

Barry Taylor

This month’s report has been supplied by David Holder.

Lately there have been quite a few Rankin cod moving in with the cold water, and they are good sizes, too.

The Nomad Squidtrex vibe has been working really well on them.

A lot of squid are getting caught at the moment, more in the Gulf than the west side, and anglers have been

North Coast

40-60HP FOURSTROKE PERFORMANCE

Simon Phillips with a tasty red emperor.

are preying on hardyheads, so I recommend catching some on a bait jig and using them as livies. Small 80-100mm stickbaits (e.g. Halco Slidogs) are also catching their share, ALBERTON BRAESIDE as they match the size of the hardyheads.

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A POWERFUL PACKAGE

WA

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W: triplemmarine.com.au Interestingly, in spite of all the pelagics around, the shark numbers seem to be down at the moment, which is great.

Out behind the Muiron Islands in 40-70m of water, anglers have been catching red emperor, Rankin cod and also spangled emperor a little bit deeper. The Squidtrex has been very effective, along with baits of squid or octopus.

This area has had a lot of Jolina Aranda with a beautifully angling pressure this year, marked spangled emperor.

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AUGUST 2023 101

WA

Where are the trout about?

FRESHWATER

Peter Fragomeni

The weather has been very cold recently, which has resulted in many anglers choosing to stay indoors.

I am one of those as

of them are located and are still very low. Most of the good reports have come from the Pemberton region, with very little trout captured in the northern area. I have received a number of comments from anglers concerned that

prosper especially, through our hot summer months.

Having said that, they have offered the only sport in this region with some good specimens being caught in most of our waters.

AUSSIE NATIVES With the cold

should occur in August even though it will be reduced this year with all the upgrades going on at the hatchery. I did manage to land a nice brown, however a huge effort was required to achieve the result.

Redfin fishing has been patchy with some days being better than others. Those braving the cold have come up trumps with a few nice ones from the deeper sections.

Drakesbrook Weir Again very slow with one kayak angler claiming only two trout from 40 visits according to local Jonah Chiera.

Luckily the redfin have made it worthwhile with some good tasting fillets heading home with him.

A few are getting caught along the edges with better success going to those that can get on the water.

Logue Brook Dam A few small rainbows are being caught in the bays on both fly and lure. I did manage a nice trout of

Wellington Dam can turn on some exceptional redfin fishing at times. Dallas from Collie Yak showing how it’s done with his personal best redfin of 47cm.

Brown trout are becoming more common thanks to the increased stocking by Fisheries WA. This one hit a Pegron Tiger Minnow in the middle of the day. farm work has prevented me chasing freshwater species as well. June was one of the wettest for many decades and the relentless cold winds made things difficult to get out on most days.

The Perth metro and far South West received good rains, however the scarp hills missed out and this is not good for our irrigation dams as that’s where most

(unlike most years) have found it difficult to even see a trout in any of our dams. I am mystified as stocking should have taken place by now. This confirms what I have said previously and that is that our dams rely on Hatchery stocking to make them a viable fishery. Redfin are the blame for this situation as they consume most of the food that trout rely on to

conditions being experienced things have been very quiet lately. It will pick up as the weather warms, however we only have a marginal fishery that is reserved for those that are in the know or have access to private water.

DAMS Waroona Dam Trout fishing has been poor at the time of writing, however stocking

This is the time of the year when trout push up to the headwaters to spawn. Carefully released, they can continue to do what they do best, as was the case with Tyson Groom’s superbly conditioned rainbow.

A nice section of the Blackwood River where the author spotted some nice rainbows in the gentle current.

102 AUGUST 2023

45cm on a quick trip there recently.

Harvey Dam Plenty of redfin are getting caught throughout the whole dam with a range of lures and soft plastics.

Finding the schools is the secret and lowering a drop-shot rig over them is a sure-fire method of getting a reaction. Don’t be fussy with your choice of plastics, just change it up until you find what works. Trout have been harder to find with a few turning up around Quarry Bay, Nicholson Point and The Sticks.

Predicted Dam levels for Southwest WA Overall storage in our dams that allow public access and recreational activities are currently 51% at the end of June, compared to 57% at this time last year. These figures are actually less than the May figures, so not sure what the case is? There were very good rains down in the far south and the Perth region with well above average numbers in June, however, the scarp hills below Perth missed out and that is a pity as that’s were most of our catchment dams are situated.

WAROONA DAM DRAKESBROOK WEIR LOGUE BROOK DAM HARVEY DAM WELLINGTON DAM GLEN MERVYN DAM BIG BROOK DAM

55% 90% 65% 66% 60% 40% 103%

WA

Lake Kepwari Some nice big redfin are being caught up by the Ski Club end of the lake, so it’s worth a visit if you are in the area Glen Mervyn Dam Very low water levels, however redfin are still being caught with trolling any of the popular lures doing most of the damage.

Wellington Dam A few trout are

This dam filled quickly and is fishing reasonably well. My mate Stevie fly fished it recently and had good sport catching both rainbows and browns up the back end of the dam.

Redfin have been a bit quiet of late but are there in big numbers.

Pemberton Private Farm Dams There are a number of private dams that hold fast

in town in the way of accommodation with 6 rooms and a huge central kitchen as well. If you are interested in joining them contact WA Trout and Freshwater Angling Association (WATFAA) and mention my name.

RIVERS Murray River Very high and dirty at present so not worth fishing until spring.

Being set up for extended days out fishing is important. Having a good sounder, electric motor and a generator for charging the twin lithium batteries is handy, also a portable gas hot water shower keeps the Mrs happy. fines can be imposed if you are caught.

Collie River below Wellington Dam Flow rate is well down

of my offerings.

Warren River Some nice trout are being caught well upstream where the flow is

and if you decide to give it a go some interesting back water fishing can be had.

Donnelly River This is the time to fish

The south-west region of WA has a number of trout streams that can fish well at certain times of the year. The recent rains have created ideal conditions for trout. showing up in certain parts of this larger dam. It seems you need to be in the right area or you will miss out as that was the case on my visit there a while back.

growing trout up to trophy size in this region that includes Manjimup as well.

I was lucky to get an invite to fish one of about 10 acres in size when I was down

Northern Jarrah Streams This is the time to fish these little secluded waters as trout push up from the dams and can

The south-west region has hundreds of private farm dams ranging in sizes from as little as 2 acres right up to ones you could ski on. WATFAA has over a dozen that are regularly stocked with trout around Pemberton.

Cold winter days can turn on some good redfin fishing. This one hit a trolled RGM in shallow water at Waroona Dam. Dallas from Collie Yak caught his personal best redfin of 47cm and lost one at the kayak that was of similar size recently.

This water can be tricky to fish with some days not producing any fish while others produce well.

Big Brook Dam

there looking at a stud bull.

Although I didn’t hook one I did see a couple that were truly magical specimens.

There is a club that has access to around a dozen of these dams and have strict access requirements for their members. They have a handy club facility

travel tens of kilometres to reach the headwaters to spawn. Now I’m not much for catching spawning fish but if you handle them well they will continue on their way. Some of these trout come from dams that are off limits so be mindful of where you are as big

so not as productive as usual.

Collie River above Wellington Dam I normally only report on the section around the town, however there have been reports of trout cruising the rapids just up from Wellington Dam itself. A few redfin are still being caught in this section with better sizes coming from the deeper sections around Collie.

Blackwood River I fished the shallower water around Nannup recently and managed to hook a couple of feisty rainbows in the gentle rapids. I did spot a large rainbow that refused any

not as strong as the lower section that has the extra water coming in from the vast amount of streams that flow in. Most are in the 35cm class with a few going bigger. August can be tough to fish as this river is normally swollen and runs dirty. A few good redfin are coming from the slower sections as well.

Lefroy Brook By far the heaviest fished location in the south-west, this little brook holds a good head of both brown and rainbow trout.

As with other rivers this month can be tough with the heavy rain and elevated water levels in all but low rainfall years. Check levels

the upper section around One Tree Bridge and above as this river doesn’t seem to flow as hard as others. A few big brown trout have been spotted in the fast runs around the zigzag section upstream with rainbows being more common.

There’s something to be said about sitting around a campfire on a chilly night with a nice red or glass of port chatting about the days fishing with a mate or family. This is what makes our sport standout from others. Although, it can be cold you don’t have to worry about snakes or fire risks, so there’s that.

Until next time stay connected.

AUGUST 2023 103

BREAM QUEENSLAND OPEN presented by

BREAM QUEENSLAND OPEN

abt

Lonne crabs and cranks his way to Open victory Brisbane’s Chris Lonne has made a name for himself in 2023 fishing the popular Queensland Teams Series events on the Gold Coast.

He’s picked up three wins in that series in consecutive events, which made him one to watch coming into the Samaki BREAM Queensland Open.

The trouble with the Open though, is that it’s not held all on the Gold Coast.

The arenas are split between Moreton Bay on Day 1 and the Gold Coast on Day 2.

You need to be good at both to be in with a shot of winning.

Chris Lonne did enough on Day 1 to give him a shot on the Sunday and he grabbed that opportunity with both hands, winning “Geoff”, the perpetual trophy, for the

little patchy - if you miss the tide by 15 minutes you can miss the fish, so I spent the first session fishing in the Brisbane River. I found some spawning fish on rockwalls and bridge pylons there a couple of weeks Scan the QR code to watch the Winners Interview Chris Lonne

ago,” Chris said.

He targeted these fish using Cranka Crabs and his Day 1 bag was good enough for 6th place – well within striking distance of the leader, Steve Eldred.

Sunday was moving day for Lonne, and he started with a bang, fishing moored

Chris Lonne is on a hot streak in the south-east. His Samaki BREAM Queensland Open win added $5,000 to his yearly winnings tally. places for them to hide,” he explained.

But it was one ‘magical’ boat that sealed the deal for Chris.

“I ended up catching

DUO Designed by Ultimate Organizer

104 AUGUST 2023

about 10 bream in a row off this one boat. I’d hook the fish, tow it out, spot lock while I did the pics and entered the fish into the app and I’d just go back and do it

over and over again.

He used a combination of the Atomic Bream Shad and a ZipBaits Khamsin Tiny to get the job done. He tuned the baits to swim under the

Although his Day 2 heroics won him the event, his solid limit from the Brisbane River on Day 1 gave him the platform he needed to ascend. next 12 months and a cool $5,000 cash.

Here’s how he did it: Day 1, 5/5, 2.520kg and Day 2, 5/5, 3.331kg, for a total of 10/10 fish for 5.851kg.

“I do a bit of time on Moreton Bay but for me it can be a

boats at Jacobs Well in the northern part of the arena.

“It was low tide at the start of the session and that’s when I like fishing moored boats the best. The fish are pushed off the flats and there’s not many other

Can Waller has the plan for the prizemoney - $500 to the motor, $500 to tackle and the rest to future events.

RESULTS

Full results at abt.org.au

Place

Angler

Fish

Weight(kg)

Payout

1

Chris Lonne

10/10

5.851kg

$5,000

2

Cain Waller

10/10

5.492kg

$2,500

3

Steve Morgan

10/10

5.405kg

$1,500

4

Jamie McKeown

10/10

5.361kg

$1,000

5

Sam Peck

10/10

5.233kg

6

Steven Eldred

10/10

5.132kg

7

Mark Saric

10/10

4.955kg

8

Drew Griffith

10/10

4.792kg

9

Blake O’Grady

10/10

4.571kg

10

Chris Greensill

10/10

4.564kg

hull and cast them upstream along the boat’s length, cranking them downstream with the tide. Lonne prefers a straight retrieve with few twitches to get the bream to commit.

His gear of choice consisted of a Samurai Reaction 101 rod and older model blue Daiwa Luvias reel spooled with braid and leader.

“I go through phases, sometimes I use straightthrough fluorocarbon but at the moment I’m a braid/ leader guy,” he said.

BREAM QUEENSLAND OPEN presented by And the $5,000?

“That is definitely going to the domestic fund this time,” he said. It might buy him some brownie points for the next high-dollar event in his part of the country.

WALLER FOR SECOND Cain Waller fished the Open in a boat that he rebuilt himself that cost maybe 1/10th of the fancier boats in the field. And, although the Scan the QR code to watch the Second Place Interview Cain Waller

fish don’t know what you’re fishing in, motor issues on the second day nearly cost him his second placing.

For Cain, it was a similar story to Lonne – a mid-2kg mag on the Saturday and a solid bag pulled off a single spot on the Sunday to make a charge at the title.

With a broken motor on the final day and a three minute late-penalty applied after a long sprint along the Broadwater Parklands, Waller lost 150g, but it ultimately cost him nothing apart from a bout of solid exercise.

His results for the competition were: Day 1, 5/5, 2.532kg, and Day 2, 5/5, 2.960kg, for a total of 10/10 fish for 5.492kg.

Cain cranked shallow flats on Day 1 just south of the start location at Cleveland.

He followed the fish up with the tide on the shallow flats and fished in a foot of water the whole session.

“I made long casts with an old Diztek shallow runner that you can’t get any more and I fished it on straight through 4lb Daiwa J Thread fluorocarbon, an Infeet rod and a Legalis reel. I chose the 4lb because I didn’t want the bigger fish I hooked to get away,” Cain said.

He landed around 30 bream for the session.

“It was a slow retrieve.

The secret is to just get the lure moving so that you can feel it and that’s what they wanted,” he continued.

Sunday saw Waller make his move, fishing a single, deeper water spot at the Jumpinpin, which is a maze of mangrove islands between north and south Stradbroke Islands.

“I caught every fish off this one, sunken tree,” Cain said, “At one point I got three, 30cm fish in three casts and at other times the fishing slowed down, but I ground it out to the limit I caught.”

As well as renovating his own boat, Cain makes his own jigheads and fished one of these with a 3” Gulp minnow on 16lb X-Braid and a Sunline FC leader to get the bites.

“Today it was all about dead sticking the bait and giving it little action. When I felt a tick on the line, I’d set the hook and they’d have it in their mouth,” Cain continued.

It was an exciting conclusion to the event for Waller. Some water got into the fuel when he was

nearly back to the finish line, so he needed a quick tow in and then a 200m sprint up the beach saw him three minutes late and gasping for air.

“I was going to make it back, no matter what,” he said. Indeed, another two minutes late and he would have taken home $1,000 less prizemoney.

His $2,500 will be spent on motor diagnosis, tackle and future events.

MORGAN MISSES THIRD OPEN WIN Steve Morgan continued his hot streak of ABT Open success with a third placing to pair with his BREAM and BASS Australian Open wins earlier in the year. Surprisingly, it was his highest finish in the Queensland iteration of the event.

His results were: Day 1, 5/5, 2.809kg, and Day 2, 5/5, 2.596kg, for a total of 10/10 fish for 5.405kg.

“Everyone thinks that because it’s held where I live, then there’s an advantage, but I’ve found the opposite over the years.

There’s too much history

BREAM QUEENSLAND OPEN

abt

Waller caught around 30 bream on Day 1 targeting a foot of water with a discontinued Diztek crankbait. that you end up fishing and it’s no use fishing spots that had ‘em 10 years ago. You

It’s been a year of Open successes for Morgan and the 3rd in this iteration is the best he’s ever done in Queensland.

Big bream in shallow water was a theme for many of the competitors on Saturday in Moreton Bay.

need to fish where the fish are today,” he explained.

Saturday saw Morgan fill an early limit on moored boats at Victoria Point before moving to the Macleay Island flats as the tide filled.

“It was set up well for a moored boat bite in the morning, with a low tide drawing the fish off the flats and the sunshine putting them under the boats. I threw an ultra shallow Cranka Crank on 2lb line straight through. The bream were bigger there than I expected them to be and I headed to the flats with a decent limit,” he continued.

Arriving a little early at the flats, the fish hadn’t moved up, so Steve fished some nearby rockpiles and upgraded a couple of times.

This time with an Atomic Deep Crank 38.

“After the water got high enough, the fish appeared and I caught my biggest fish of the day within a couple of casts,” he said.

Morgan fished the Nerang River mouth on the Sunday early for limited success. It wasn’t until he hit the Bundall Bridge that the fish started to flow.

He caught a quick limit of Cranka Crabs (H, olive) and then headed to his canal milk-run around the casino.

“There were four or five boats fishing in that area, so after wasting a couple of hours, I headed back to the main river and made another three key upgrades at the end of the session, again at the Bundall Bridge,” he said.

Scan the QR code to watch the Field Highlights

“I’m usually too stubborn to change plans like that mid-session, but I’m learning to focus on quality of fish rather than quantity,” he concluded.

Both days, Morgan used fluorocarbon line straight through to the lure. In the bay it was 2lb on a 7’5” Daiwa Infeet combo and the Gold Coast around the bridges it was 4lb on the Infeet ‘crab rod’ which measures 7’8”.

OPEN A WINNER The Samaki BREAM Queensland Open attracted boats form as far away as Rockhampton in the north and Taree to the south and the novelty of the live scoreboard attracted thousands of spectators to check out the rapidly changing leader board each day.

Full results on www. abt.org.au.

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AUGUST 2023 105

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0948 1.30 TU 1507 0.68 2144 1.82

0945 1.43 WE 1516 0.48 2151 2.08

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0233 0.44 0830 1.53 SA 1418 0.50 2047 1.89

0331 0.45 0928 1.37 SU 1455 0.64 2130 1.88

0400 0.33 0432 0.51 0959 1.40 1029 1.28 TU 1526 0.58 WE 1547 0.70 2202 2.02 2221 1.77

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0408 0.41 1007 1.43 MO 1540 0.59 2214 1.92

0459 0.53 1056 1.27 TU 1611 0.75 2247 1.76

0553 0.36 1153 1.37 TH 1719 0.65 2352 1.91

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0633 0.58 1240 1.28 SA 1804 0.79

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0601 0.46 1200 1.32 WE 1723 0.71

0631 0.63 1230 1.23 TH 1742 0.84

0051 1.82 0748 0.42 SA 1358 1.41 1932 0.71

0024 1.58 0716 0.60 SU 1331 1.31 1902 0.82

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SYDNEY (FORT DENISON) – NEW SOUTH WALESPOINT LONSDALE – VICTORIA 38° 18ʼ S LONG 144° 37ʼ E LAT 33° 51ʼ S LONG 151° 14ʼ E LONSDALE –LAT VICTORIA DENISON) – NEW SOUTH SYDNEY (FORT DENISON) – WALES NEW SOUTH POINT WALES POINT LONSDALE – VICTORIA

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Times LONSDALE and Heights High and Low Waters Local Times and Heights of Time High and Low –Waters SYDNEY (FORT (FORT DENISON) DENISON) –– NEW NEW SOUTH WALES WALES POINT – of VICTORIA POINT LONSDALE VICTO 2021 2021 LAT SOUTH 38° 18ʼ 2023 S LONG 144°2023 37ʼ E LONG 151° 14ʼ E SYDNEY 2023 LAT LAT37ʼ 33° 33°E51ʼ 51ʼ SS LONG LONG 151° 151° 14ʼ 14ʼ EE JULY LAT 38° 18ʼ S JUNE LONG 144° MAY AUGUST JUNE LAT 38° 18ʼ S LONG 144° 37ʼ E nd Heights of High and Low Waters Local Time Times andMAY Heights of High and Low Waters

ES 33° 51ʼ S

LAT 33° 51ʼ S LONG 151° 14ʼ E LAT 38° 18ʼ S LONG 144° 37ʼ E Times and Heights of High and Low Waters Local Time Times and Heights of High and Low Waters Times Times and and Heights Heights of of High HighTime and andTime Low Low Waters Waters Local Local Time TimesTime and Heights of High andTime Low Wa Heights ofm High and Low Waters Local Time mm LocalTime Time m Times and Time Time mJULY Time m JULY m Time Time MAY m TimeTime Time m Time mm mMAY JUNE AUGUST JUNE JULY JUNE AUGUST JUNE MAY JULY NOVEMBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER SEPTEMBER OCTOBER OCTOBER JUNE JULY 0452 AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER Time TimeMAY m Time Time m Time m m Time Time mm 1.36 Time Time Time m Time DECEMBER m Timem m Time m 0006 1.68 0519 0.58Time SEPTEMBER 0633 0.53 0145 1.34 0150 1.40 1.26 m 0554m 0.36 AUGUST 0037 1.78 m 0057 1.60 0557 0046 0.69 1.41 0623 0034 mm1.30 m1.28 Time m Time m Time m1.39 Time m Time Time m Time m Time m mmm m Time Time m Time Time Time m m Time Time m m Time Time m m Time Time m m Time Time m m Time m m Time Time Time m1.60 Time Time m Time Time m Time m Time m Time m mTime Time m Time m 0.58 Time m 0633 Time m Time m 0646 0.43 1117 1238 0750 0.51 0807 0.62 1155 0740 0.49 0744 0.54 e0554 m 0.36 Time m m0037 Time Time m Time 0557 1.36 0046 0.69 0049 0.58 0452 1.41 0623 1.40 0034 0.51 0006 1.68 0519 0.53 0145 1.34 0150 1.26 1.78 0057 0735 1.30 1148 0.55 1041 0.38 1158 0.58 0735 T 1.30 0748 1.35 1148 0.551.34 1041 0.38 11580.51 0.581446 0735 07351.59 1.47 0807 0.62 0646 0.43 1117 1.28 1238 1.30WE 0750 1155 1.39 0740 0.49 0744 0.54 1303 1.43 1640 0.75 1804 0.76 1430 1.43 1725 0.65 1345 1.33 1358 1.38 TH FR A SU TU SU MO 0006 1.68 0633 0.53 0145 0150 1.26 0037 1.78 0057 1.60 1245 0.80 1900 1.50 1748 1.58 1904 1.54 1245 0 0247 0247 0.35 0.35 0333 0333 0.40 0.40 0414 0414 0.53 0.53 0452 0452 0.52 0.52 0500 0500 0.64 0.64 0300 0300 0.09 0.09 0406 0406 0.21 0.21 0446 0446 0.53 0.53 0315 0.49 0338 0.47 0119 0.69 0510 0.50 0032 1.32 0201 1.48 0326 0.38 0043 0.82 0157 0.71 0201 0.54 0541 0.36 0045 1.59 01725 0.48 0.65 0227 0.39 0152 0.24 SA MO FR TU WE 05571.38 1.36FR FR 0.69 0049 0452 1.41 0623 1.40 0.51 WE 1245 1245 0.80 19001848 1.500046 1748 1.58 19041.59 1.542114 0.75 0.58 1.43 1303 1.43 1804 0.76 1430 SA1446 MO TU0034 TH 1257 0.87 TH 1358 SU 1640 0.75 TU 1345 1.33 1911 SU MO 0.66 2110 0.56 2359 1.88 0.79 1940 0.78 2314 1.71 0.76 1135 1135 1.75 1.75 0903 1.61 1.61WE 1021 1021 1.79 1.791.47 1119 1119 1.80 1.80 0855 0855 1.49 1.491.560646 0954 0954 1.68 1.68 1049 1049 1.84 1.84 1128 1128 1.93 1.93 0636 0.54 1034 1106 1.54 0815 1.37 12300.51 1.45 1116 1.52 0707 0911 1.33 0936 1248 1.56 0731 0.48 0.43 1238 1.30 0750 0807 0.62 0740 0.49 0744 0.54 82359 1.26 1.88 0822 1.32 0745 1.391.23 1.44 2319 0.74 1928 1935 1.44 1922 1.420 2319 0.74 1928 1.54 0753 2114 0.76 1848 0.66 2314 1.71 2110 0.56 1911 0903 0.79 1940 0.78 0735 1.30 0748 1.350.64 1148 0.55 1041 0.38 1158 0.58 0735 1.47 1935 1829 1829 0.45 1455 1455 0.24 0.240.94SA 1636 1636 0.23 0.231.03MO 1806 1806 0.38 1450 1450 0.42 0.42 1614 1614 0.38 0.38 1735 1735 0.34 0.34 1818 1818 0.27 13090.27 1.43 1532 0.971303 1603 1.01 WE 1334 0.70 FR 17521.59 0.90 FR 16170.38 1.02 TH 1252 1408 1433 18190.45 0.64 SA 1402 1.55 MO 1355 1.40 WE 1 0 0.62 1.33 1355 0.52 1318 0.420.67 SA MO WE FR FRTH SU SU TH SA TH FR SA SU TU WE FR SA SU 1.43 1804 0.76 1430 1446 1.43 1345 1358 1.38 TUMO WETU FR WE SU MO 0.80 1257 0.870.40 1900 1.50 1748 1.58 1904 0.75 0301 SA SA MO FR TU WE 1245 TH 0030 1.68 0608 0.61 0255 1.180.60 1.25 0138 1.66 0148 1.47 0100 1.58 0700 0.43 0023 0.74 0135 0.68 0133 0.572 0534 1.38 00431.25 0.65 0130 0.47 1959 0030 1.68 0608 0255 1.18 0138 2116 1.66 0148 1.47 2214 0100 1.58 0301 2116 1.95 1.95 2244 2244 1.62 1.62 2101 2101 1.61 1.611.451848 2214 1.45 1.45 2333 2333 1.29 1.29 1905 2159 2215 1.37 20461.74 1.46 23481245 1.29 22251.54 1.37 2011 2055 1.38 2050 1.40 1953 0.30 00700 1.79 0.43 2023 1955 2.051.35 0.61 0023 0.74 0.68 0534 1.38 0043 0.65 0130 0.66 2110 1911 0.79 1940 0.78 2114 0.76 1935 1.44 1922 2319 0.74 1.54 0135 0842 1.32 1121 07350.56 1.400858 1928 0849 1.50 1.420848 1.37 0656 1.290.56 0724 0.52 0858 0.65 0828 0.52 0.58 0733 0.450.42 0853 1300 1.311.31 1207 1.25 0724 1207 1.250835 0.54 0835 0.65 0853 0.56 0.54 0828 0.58 0733 0.45 1300 0842 1.32 0656 1.29 1121 0.42 0735 1.40 0849 1336 0.89 1347 0.950 1836 1.52 1256 0.68 1345 0.85 0241 1231 0.65 SU WE0019 FR 1.58 SA TU TH 1335 1.34 1726 1542 1.47 1447 0343 1.35 1451 1.41 0404 1359 1.49 1538 1.64 0315 0315 0.36 0.360.45 0404 0.43 0.43 0500 0500 0.57 0027 0027 1.20 1.20 0019 1.33 1.33 0343 0.13 0.13 0445 0445 0.31 0.31 0003 0003 1.24 1.24 0415 0438 0.46 0233WE 0.63 06060.57 0.48 0120 1.41 0441 0.35 0138 0.83 0.80 0256 0.64 0259 0.48 0049 1.52 0243 1.71 81825 0.45 0.74 0241 0.16 0258 0.38 TH 1.47 MO MO FR SA TU 1335 1.34 1726 0.80 1542 1.47 1538 1.64 1447 1.35 1451 1.41 1359 1.49 1825 0.74 TH MO MO TU 1336 WE FR SA U 0030 1.68 0255 1.18 0138 1.66 0148 0100 1.58 0301 1.25 2019 1.40 2009 1.380 1959 1.51 2023 1.50 0828 1947 1.44 0.89 1231 0.65 1836 1.52 1256 0.68 1345 1906 0.77 2227 0.72 2019 0950 0.82 2045 0.81 1957 0.67 2230 0.50 SU WE SA TU TH 1134 1.62 1203 1.56 0940 1.42 1315 1.49 0644 0.35 0823 0.48 0927 0927 1.53 1.53 1030 1030 1.71 1.71 1136 1136 1.82 1.82 0544 0544 0.69 0.69 0547 0547 0.55 0.55 0950 1.65 1.65 1105 1105 1.79 1.79 0527 0527 0.62 0.62 0716 0.53 0.63 1220 1.59 08211.451.20 1020 1.42 1042 1.54 0023 0.74 0135 0.68 0133 0.57 0534 1.38 0043 0.65 0130 0.47 8 1.28 0837 0855 1.35 19060.45 0.77 2227 0.72 2230 0.50 20190.58 0.82 20450.65 0.81 19570.56 0.67 0724 0.52 0858 0835 0.54TU 0828 0733 0853 1645 0.98 1712 0.99 1448 0.80 1848 0.81 1336 1.63 1446 1.59 1340 1.48 1430 1.44 1730 0.94 1346 0.76 1522 1.00 1545 1.06 2019 1.40 1529 1529 0.43 0.43 1656 1656 0.39 0.39 1830 1830 0.37 0.37 1216 1216 1.66 1.66 1219 1219 1.88 1.88 1548 1548 0.26 0.26 1730 1730 0.29 0.29 1202 1202 1.72 1.72 1947 1.44 1959 1.51 2023 10100 0.61 1.77 1413 0.37 1431 0.50 SA MO WE TH SU TU WE FR SU SA MO TH 1 SU SU TU TU FR FR SA SA SU SU SA SA MO MO TH TH 0842 1.32 0848 06561.37 1.29 0200 1121 0735 0849 1.50 WE TH 0116 1.16 0230 0.65 0001 0.75 1.40 01441.22 0.59 0230 0.43 1.370223 0.55 0000 1.66 1.34 0239 1.56 0406 1.48 0126 0.42 1.63 13590245 1335 1542 1.47 1447 1.352045 1451 1.41 1.49 15380.75 1.64 0422 TH MO FR SA TU 2253 1.43 2313 1.36 1916 0.48 2041 0.19 2 21441.74 1.45 1939 0.51 2031 0.32 23450.46 1.41 2107 2149 1.38 2149 1.39 2135 2135 1.55 1.55 2254 2254 1.38 1.38 1914 1914 0.51 0.51 1912 1912 0.30 0.30 2205 2205 1.82 1.82 2332 2332 1.46 1.46 1858 1858 0.46 90809 1.80 0.49 2.091.32 2056 0628 1.34 0858 1.44 0958 1.55 0808 1.26 0945 1.36 0949 1.40 POINT LONSDALE – VICTORIA 1336 0.89 1347 0.95 1231 0.65 1836 1.52 1256 0.68 1345 0.85 0702 0.62 0953 0.66 0925 0.57 0911 0.61 0825 0.47 1001 0.57 0815 0.50 0000 1.66 0406 1.16 0239 1.56 0245 1.37 0200 1.48 0422 1.22 0100 1.77 0126 1.63 SU SU 0.67 WE FR SA 0.81 TU TH 0.59 0.77 2227 0.72 2019 0.82 TU 13031906 2045 1957 2230 0.50 1209 0.48 MO1637 14021.72 0.78 14530.65 0.92 SA 1449 1321 0.75 1438 0.96 1.01 0116 0.75 0001 0.75 0144 0230 0230 TH SU WE FR 1.24 1.52 1544 1.40 1543 1.46 1458 1.57 1645 1414 1.28 1433 1.41 TU TH SU WE FR 0344 LAT 38° 18ʼ S 0437 LONG 144° 37ʼ E 2009 1.381.66 1947 1959 1.51 2023 1.50 1001 0702 0.62 0953 0116 0.66 0925 0.57 0911 0.61 0825 0.47 1.40 0.57 0809 0815 0.50 03460.38 0.55 00432019 1.33 0200 1.49 0250 0357 0.56 0510 0403 0.421.44 0533 0.45 0551 0.31 0150 1.62 0334 1.77 0344 0.39 0.390.42 SA 0437 0.48 0.48 0115 0115 1.18 1.18 0029 0029 1.25 1.25 0116 1.34 1.34 0425 0425 0.21 0.21 0524 0524 0.42 0.42 0055 0055 1.16 1.16 41934 0.44 0.800.49 0328 0.130.80 0.83 0328 1930 2058 1.48 2124 1.47 0317 2108 1.37 2102 1.350 2036 1.38 1822 2330 0.65 2129 0.81 2155 0.79 2114 0.641.47 2341 0.41 2015 0.75 0628 0858 1.44 0808 1.26 0945 1.36 1303 1.24 1637 1.52 1544 1.40 1543 1.46 1458 1.57 1.72 0901 0.620958 1 1.28 1433 1.41 1052 1.52 06541.22 0.46 09461.49 1.23 1122 1.531.37 1229 1145 1.61 1107 1.58 13150.70 1.65 Times and Heights of1256 High and 1.34 Low Waters Local Time 0752 0.54WE 1645 0738 0.37 0908 0.50 1000 1000 1.56 1.561.68 1107 1.71 1.71 0631 0631 0.74 0.74 0552 0552 0.62 0.62 0647 0647 0.58 0.58 1037 1037 1.68 1.68 1150 1150 1.75 1.75 0612 0612 0.70 TU TU TH SA SU O FR 6 1414 1.29 1.56 0927 0928 1.37 0406 1.16 0422 0239 0245 0200 1.48 0126 1.63 1209 0.48 1402 0.78 1453 1321 0.75 1438 0.96 0220 0.75 0329 0.61 0320 0.53 0052 0.74 0252 0.51 0338 0.39 MO WE TH TU FR 0116 0.75 0230 0.65 0223 0.55 0001 0.75 0144 0.59 0230 0.43 1608 0.85 13500.57 1.53 1458 1641 1.01 1747 1659 1.04 1812 0.94 18351.62 0.82 1410 1.51 1.46 1421 1.67 1528 1.60 1609 1609 0.45 0.450.950825 1742 1742 0.41 0.41 1300 1300 1.58 1.58 1229 1229 1.77 1.77 1314 1.79 1.79 1644 0.32 0.32 1825 1825 0.38 0.38 1248 1248 1.62 1822 0.83 2330 0.65 2341 0.41 2129 0.81 2155 0.79 2114 0.64 1934 0.80 2015 0.75 0056 1.62 0513 1.17 0534 1.25 0339 1.49 0228 1.59 0344 1.31 0310 1.41 10209 0.60 1.68 1506 0.340.84 1508 0.50 TH MO1314 WE 1506 WE SA SU MO TU TH SU FR 1 MO MO WE WESU SU SU SA SAFR MO MO SU SU 1644 TU TU FR FR TH FR 0953 0.66 1001 0925 0.57 0911 0.61 0.47 0815 0.50 MARCH JANUARY FEBRUARY APRIL 0735 1.33 1014 1.53 1103 1.61 2103 0.27 0922 1.27 1044 1.42 1050 1.462 1930 1.47 2058 1.48 2124 2036 1.38 2108 1.37 2241 1.45 1932 0.73 2202 1.33 2245 1.39 2346 1.43 2255 1.40 2010 0.43 2007 0.35 2125 0.14 2212 2212 1.47 1.47 2340 2340 1.31 1.31 2000 2000 0.55 0.55 1929 1929 0.40 0.40 2006 2006 0.34 0.34 2254 1.64 1.64 1953 1953 0.53 0.53 0800 0.61 1046 0.66 1106 0.54 1009 2254 0.59 0905 0.48 0954 0.62 0919 0.49 0914 0.53 2136 5 1.80 2.06 2129 1.70 0628 1.34 0858 1.44 0958 1.55 0808 1.26 0945 1.36 0949 1.40 1637 1.72 1544 1.40 1543 1.57 1433 1.41 Time m 1517 0.85 Time m SA 1608 0.94 Time m1645 Time m 1.46TimeSUm 1458 Time m Time m Time m 1.52 1307 0.57 1422 0.83 1550 1.00 1600 1.02 TU FR SU MO TH TU WE SA FR 1728 0310 1.58 1438 1746 1.80 0513 1453 1530 1.52 1632 1.52 1.66 1525 1.301.68 WE 1407 1.26 WE TH FR 1633 1.47 SA SU MO 1558 00560.75 1.62 1.17 1.36 1.25 0339 1.49 0344 1.31 1.41 0209 0228 1.59 1209 0.48 1402 0.78 0.92 0534 1321 0.75 0.96 1449 2031 1.44 2229 1.46 1.011.70 2126 1.35 2200 2203 MO 1.34 MO TH SA SU WE FR 2330 0.65 2341 0.41 2129 0.810415 2155 0.64 2015 0445 0400 0.90 2200 0448 0041 1.41 0215 0330 0.85 0028 1.48 0515 0348 0.85 0052 1.34 04490.38 0.46 0130 1.38 0238 1.56 0.70 0329 0559 0.392114 0507 0.36 0007 1.36 0054 1.49 0453 0.470.79 02461.48 1.70 0421 1.79 0413 0413 0.44 0.440.91 0515 0.55 0.55 0207 0207 1.18 1.18 0130 0130 1.23 1.23 0215 1.36 1.36 0505 0.32 0.32 0023 0023 1.30 1.30 0152 0152 1.12 1.12 1929 0.84 2234 0505 0.78 2128 0.70 2300 0.74 2230 0.56 0357 82050 0.44 0.82 0.140.72 0220 0.75 0.61 0052 0.74 0252 0.51 0338 0 0800 0.61 1046 0.66 1106 0.54 0354 1009 0.59 0954 0.62 0919 0.49 0914 0.530414 0905 0.48 1930 1.47 2058 1.48 2124 1.47 2036 1.38 2108 1.37 2102 1.350.62 1048 1020 1.15 0726 1133 1.34 0950 0.53 0632 0.62 0752 0953 1.34 0536 0.86 1150 1015 1.27 0653 0623 0.87 0825 0.55 0936 0827 0.41 11561.40 1.62 0735 0.47 11001.531.33 1001 1317 1.71 1244 0624 0.43 0653 0.29 1218 1.64 1036 1036 1.57 1.571.21 1150 1.69 1.69 0726 0.77 0.77 0653 0.66 0.66 0752 0.61 0.61 1125 1125 1.67 1.67 0603 0603 0.54 0.541.68 0704 0704 0.76 0.76 3 1525 1.30 1017 0330 0.71 0426 0.56 0422 0.481 0157 0.70 0402 0.43 0445 0.36 0735 1.33 1014 1103 0922 1.27 1044 1.42 1407 1.26 1728 1.58 1746 1.80 1633 1.47 1632 1.52 1558 1.66 1.30 1530 1.52 1717 1623 0.55 0.71 1302 1.40 1.53 1600 0.28 1150 1.31 WE1341 16301.70 0.36 1212 1.18 0.57 0039 0.32 0433SA 1.45 0333 1.56 0442 1.28 0422 1.36 0158 1.61 TU1406 SU WE SA 1710 TU FR WE WE THWE FR SU MO U SA 0513 1.17 0534 1.25 0339 1.49 0228 1.59 0344 1.31 0310 1.41 1441 1.52 1501 1.68 1606 1.58 1723 0.86 1420 1.56 1629 0.87 1838 0.92 1800 0.99 1.61 1746 0.98TU 1653 1653 0.49 0.490.41 1834 1834 0.45 0.45 1348 1348 1.50 1.50 1327 1327 1.71 1.71 1413 1.68 1.68 1741 0.41 0.41 1236 1236 1.68 1.68 1339 1339 1.53 1.530020 0900 1.35 1122 1.64 1205 1.67 1030 1.32 1137 1.511.39 1147 1.52 1545 0.51 80320 0.60 1.62 1601 0.36 FR TH 1541 1.46 TH MO FR SU MO SA 1 TU TH THWE MO MO SU SUSA TU TUTU1413 MO MO 1741 WE WE TU SA SA SA FR 2352 1857 0.55 2343 1.50 1808 0.24 1838 0.43 1307 0.57 1517 0.85 1608 1422 0.83 1550 1.00 0607 1.20 0633 1.31 1049 0.59 0956 0.46 1038 0.62 1016 0.50 1012 0.55 0858 0.58 2234 0.78 2300 0.74 2230 0.56 1929 0.84 2050 0.82 2128 0.70 TU FR SU MO1902 TH SA 0220 0.75 0329 0.61 0320 0.53 0052 0.51 0338 0.39 14180252 0.66 1636 1720 0.92 2138 1539 0.89 1701 1.00 1709 0.992 20400.38 0.37 0.24 20550.88 0.25 SA2100 2207 0.14 2334 1.47 20110.54 0.65 22551.971.35 0.88 19330.58 0.68 2341 1.42 1046 0.66 1106 1009 0.59 0905 0.48 0954 0.62 0.49 2251 22510.74 1.37 1.37 0919 2049 2049 0.57 0.57 2031 2031 0.41 0.41 2100 0.38 2344 2344 1.44 1.44 1923 1923 0.47 0.47 2052 2052 0.58 WE MO TU FR 2202 1.64 11626 1.79 1.36 2226 1136 0.63 1206 0.49 1718 1.54 1626 1.64 1717 1.59 1658 1.77 1512 1.33 TH FR1.29 1.42 SA SU MO 0922 TU0142 2031 1.44 2200 1.48 2229 2126 1.35 1.36 2137 1.43 0005 2300 1.50 2331 1.47 1.462308 2215 1.35 22550545 1.37 1.35 0043 1.401558 0000 1.401014 0134 1.47 1103 0.56 2200 0447 0.89 0131 1.54 1.39 0735 1.33 1.53 1.61 1.27 1044 1050 1728 1.58 1746 1.80 1633 1.47 THSA 1530 1.52 1632 1.52 1.660.68 WE TH SU MO 1814 1.65 18420304 1.87 2331 0.73 2240 0.61 2357 2342 0.46 2203 0.79 2043 0.81 0559 0532 0.86 0727 0.79 0730 0.50 0316 1234 1.49 0039 1059 1.33 0654 0.77 0031 0519 0.81 0422 0020 0.57 0.32 0431 0433 1.45 0333 1.56 0442 1.28 1.36 1.62 0158 1.61 0215 1.42 0314 1.60 1.70 0511 0035 1.442230 0003 1.44 0058 1.38 0155 1.56 05420.41 0.38 0545 0.38 0339 1.72 0505 1.75 0 0445 0445 0.50 0.500.90 0031 1.23 1.23 0546 0546 0.45 0.45 0117 0117 1.18 1.18 0257 0257 1.11 1.11 0238 0238 1.24 1.24 0304 1.21 1.21 0316 1.41 1.41 0501 0.200.61 0426 1 0320 0.44 0.78 1307 0.57 1517 0.85 1608 0.94 1422 0.83 1550 1.00 1600 1.02 2234 2300 0.74 0.56 2128 0.70 FR SU MO TH SA 04320803 0.64 0313 0.62 0.34 0516 0.500.70 1030 0545 0.33 1012 0.63 0520 TU 0.431 1147 1143 1.17 0507 1315 1.23 0.70 1405 1.51 0901 1712 0.22 1306 1.36 0600 1145 1.28 MO TH TH0709 SA SU 1816 WE WE 0812 0.49 0859 0.57 1200 0645 0.39 TU 0608 0.31 0.43 0748 0.31 1309 1.73 0438 0912 0.47 0.56 12511.42 1.72 1115 1115 1.57 1.571.21 0600 0.62 0.62 1214 1214 1.63 1.63 0646 0646 0.65 0.65 0808 0808 0.80 0.80 0803 0.68 0.68 0829 0829 0.80 0.80 0901 0.63 0.63 0330 0.71 0426 0.56 0157 0402 0.43 0445 0607 1.20 0633 1.31 1049 0.59 0956 0.46 1038 0.62 1016 0.50 1012 0858 0.58 1107 1.551.45 1.62 1036 90423 1.31 1.590.55 0102 0.49 0522SU 1.42 0536 1.27 0531 1.35 0129 0.25 1.54 0304 1224 1.74 1225 1.59 1301 1.72 1.341240 1.59 1129 1.40 1025 1.44 1758 20311743 1.44 1.48 1.46 1644 2126 1.35 2200 2203 1816 1748 0.56 1.36 1931 1.62 0.402200 1954 0.54 2229 1917 1.74 0.21 0.37 1448 1.58 1512 1.52 1.451205 1744 0.86SU 1401 1.72 1337 1419 14511.45 1.74 1837 0.94 1540 1.66 1.55 18210.54 0.84 1743 0.53 0.530.38 1240 1240 1.65 1.65 1844 1844 0.50 0.50 1326 1326 1.59 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14500.50 0.62 FR SA SU 2315 TU WE MO 0.60 FR SA SU MO TU WE FR H 2140 1.28 1912 1.46 2022 1.46 1911 1.43 2045 1.32 2335 1.24 1849 2010 1.51 2339 1.45 0544 0.52 0527 0.33 0417 0519 0.32 0437 0.40 0528 0.38 1956 1.67 1.67 2059 2059 1.55 1.55 2257 2257 1.27 1.27 2315 1.27 1.27 2008 2008 1.86 1.86 2137 2137 1.54 1.54 2157 2157 1.38 1.38 2233 2233 1.34 1.34 1912 1.71 1847 1.94 0338 1.55 0315 1.48 0446 1.42 0430 1.49 0510 0343 0.90 04000.62 0.66 0234 0.81 0200 0200 0220 0.79 0211 0.85 2256 1.41 1448 MO 1807 0.73 TU 2235 0.700.81 2212 0.661.42 21271.81 0.670.76 2318 2110 0.76SA 1353 2245 0.43 2347 1.60 2213 1.87 2235 1.81 2331 1.64 21541.39 2.08 21191.32 1.79 1210 1.45 1142 1.51 1015 1120 1036 1.40 0950 1.19 1049 1.38 1014 0.46 0901 1.30 1.35 0817 1.391133 0808 1.25 0850 1.30 0852 1.19 0.52 2001 2148 0547 0.68 0942 0.28 0906 0.37 1042 0405 0.51 0112 0.59 MO 0238 0.46 0119 0.430.76 0300 0.39 00150.420.72 0131 00160.16 0.78 FR 0214 0.52 SA 0.55 0530 0.48of0.74 0116 1.36 0136 1.661053 0 0220 0220 0.35 0.35 0227 0227 0.15 0.15 0304 0304 0.38 0.38 0330 0330 0.35 0.35 0332 0332 0.49 0.49 0418 0418 0.59 0.59 0400 0400 0.51 0.51 0439 0439 0.60 0.60 0156 7 0.47 © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2019, Bureau Meteorology 1616 0.46 1620 1516 0.42 1427 0.25 1419 0.46 1452 0.45 1424 0.66 FR MO TU TH 1820 0.64 1737 0.501134 SA 1540 0.68 0647 1649 0645 0.611.28 TU 0930 16081.500.59 0830WE 1715 1006 0.591.52 FR MO 1.37 1647 1.75 1611 1.73 1743 1.61 1.68 1.42 1.41 0610 0856 1.45 0446 1049 1.43 12342200 1.38 1215 1.49 0713 0.66 0715 0.631735 0 0824 0824 1.44 0837 0837 1.74 1.741.42 0921 0921 1.63 1.63 0954 0954 1.88 1.88 1006 1006 1.84 1.84 1054 1054 1.82 1.82 1038 1038 1.95 1.95 1111 1.76 1.76 WE TH SA SU MO 2351 1.30 2303 1.42 1714 22491.44 1.33 2202 2145 1.28 2231 1.37 1.49 1.31 1111 0015 1.28 0606 0.45 0609 0.38 0443 0.28 0500 0.51 0.40 0518 0.41 0355 0.52 0338 1.55 0315 1.48 0519 1.55 1.42 0430 0510 1.40 0748 1.28 0729 1.45 4 1.27 Datum of Predictions is 1549 Lowest Astronomical Tide 2347 1.60 2213 1.81 2318TU 1215 1.87Australia 2235 1.81 2331 1.64 16410.33 0.96 TH 1329 0.96 1453 0.990.37 1351 1.00 WE 0.92 12310.550.58 0.75 FR 1422 0.91 18270.26 0.70 1801 0.45 1319 1.35 1.472332 1414 0.44 0.44 1444 0.20 0.20 1534 1534 0.39 0.39 1625 1625 0.25 0.25 1646 1646 0.33 1744 1744 1014 0.39 0.39 1727 1727 0.26 1756 0.43 0.43 2209 0.67 2146 0.75 2318 0.70 2257 0.61 TU FR SA MO TH FR SU MO 1327 WE 1 Copyright Commonwealth 2020, Bureau of0.85 Meteorology 1318 1309 of 0.33 6 0952 0.55 FR 1414 SA SA 1444 SU SU MO MOSU WE THWE FR FR SA SASA1756 0619 0.59 1218 1.40 1232 1.54 1044 1.43 1059 1.30 1213 1.37 1122 1.36 1.37 TU WE 0942 0.28 0906 1053 0.55 1042 0.52 0.46 1053 0.62 0500 0.92 0507 0.56 0333 0.88 0259 0251 0.87 0339 0.80 0327 0.80 Times in local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC wh 2246 1.27 1958 1.42 1744 2116 1.40 2002 1.39 are 2215 1.33 19471.731.49 1614 19172.01 1.44 2103 1.47 2056 1926 0.49 1927+11:00) 0.20 1 2029 2029 1.65 1.65 2056 1.76 1.761.34 2135 2135 1.51 1.51 2226 2226 1.43 1.43 2243 2243 1.34 1.34 2342 2342 1.23 1.23 2325 2325SA 1.33 1.33 2354 2354 1.26 1.261.56 1948 1939 9 1.85 1254 1.43 1804 0.66 1838 0.55 0.59 1622 0.71 0.67 1656 0.61 1524 0.66 1100 1.16 1156 1.49 0951 1.24 0915 0906 1.19 1021 1.27 1017 1.23 um of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide 1647 1.75 1611 1.73 1730 1.63 1743 1.61 1714 1.68 1735 SU TH SA MO TU WE R 0015 1.28New Moon MO 0609 0.38 Symbols 0500 0.51 0610 0.40 0518 0.41 0606 0.45 WE TH 1731 TU 1.47 TH SA Phase SU 1616 First Quarter Moon Full Moon 0421 1.50 0355 1.46 0534 1.37 0521 0558 0.46 1734 0.75 1615 0.43 1530 0.26 1513 0.52 0.52 1542 0.71 TU SA SA SU TU WE FR 1919 0.69 0230 2246 2.01 2254 1.78 2319 1.76 2209 0.671.43 0.75 0.391.76 0.70 2257 2332 0216 0.41 2318 0103 0.75 0.381.37 0.61 2300 1.34 0519 mes are1.30 in1.78 local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect 06190424 0.59 1232 1.54 1059 1213 1.37 1122 1.36 1218 2146 1.40 0408 0408 0.43 0.43 0519 2355 0.630.60 0 2155 0.35 0216 0.10 1.44 1101 2331 2347 1.36 2316 2253 1.27 2339 1025 0.36 09431153 0.39 1120 1148 0.610.63 0.54 0805 0.611131 1006 1.48 0755 1.28 Moon 1.49 1036 1036 1.86 1.86 1148 1.69 1.69 1.43 1838 0.55 SU 1254 1622 0.71Symbols 17440816 0.67 1656 0.61 First 1804 0.66 2on1.33 1.53 SA TU WE TH New Quarter Last Quarter Phase Full Moon 0413 0514 0.74 1.47 0041 1.46 0013 1.50 0542 0.34 0545 0.53 1.74 0601 0.421.37 0.54 0106 0620 1.17TU 1413 1731 1.67 1650 1.69 1.55 1.63 1500 1.04 0534 13060.26 0.85 1712 0.80 1.501806 TH FR 1919 SU 1819 MO 1754 TU 0421 1.500.89 0007 0355 1.46 1.53 0521 0558 1715 1715 0.30 0.30 1832 0.47 0.471.37 TH 3 0435 0.49 1.78 1402 TUMO SU SU 1832 0.69 2254 2319 1.76 THWE 1028 1.31 0658 0.47TU 1148 1.30 0657 0.45 0645 0.52 1143 1.38 1146 1.29 1211 1.39 1.32 0703 0.65 2108 1.37 20042.02 1.41 2340 1.41 2012 0.14 2252 0.69 2225 0.74 2344 0.56 2315 2315 1.33 1.33 2 1033 1.96 2028 1025 0.36 0943 0.39 1141 0.65 1120 0.61 1101 0.54 1131 0.70 MO 1647 0.26 TH 1745 0.55 1.56 1.51 1304 1.40 1.63SU 1328 17091.74 0.66 1710 0.73 1305 1.36 1749 0.641.55 0.71 SU 1.42 1.58 FR TU A 16000.53 MO 1346 0041 1.46 0545 0007 0601 0.42 0013 1.50 0106 1.17 1731 1.67WE 1650 1.69 TH 1813 1819 1754 1806 TH FR WE FR SU MO TU 0507 1.43 0437 1.44 0001 0.70 1948 0.57 18590.65 0.72 0.56 2341 1.91 of Australia 2339 1.73 1839 0.73 22321.29 1.75 2030 1.46 0.70 0657 0.45 1146 0658 0.47 1211 1.39 0.52 0703 2252 0.69 of0645 2225 0.74 2344 © Copyright Commonwealth 2022, Bureau © Copyright Commonwealth of 0622 Australia 2022, Bureau of0010 Meteor ©© Copyright Copyright Commonwealth Commonwealth of ofMeteorology Australia Australia 2022, 2022, Bureau Bureau of of Meteorology Meteorology 1107 1023 1.42 0.43 0630 1.32 1151 0.64 0650 © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia Meteorology 1328of 0.45 1.56 1710 0.73 WE 1305 1.36 1749 0.64 1304 1.40 2021, SUBureau TH FR MO 1346 Datum of 1839 Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide1.43 Datum Predictions Astronomical 06420.73 0.42 00580.70 1.37 1.46 0213 0018 1.10Tide Datum Datum of of of Predictions Predictions isis Lowest Lowest Astronomical Astronomical Tide Tide 1.58 1731 1.64 1200 0.70is Lowest 1.58 FR SA 2030 MO of TU 1838 WE 1212 Datum Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide1815 0507 0437 0010 0.59 0.37 0622 1948 0001 0.57 0.70 2339 1.73 1859 0.72 1.44 1.34 Times 0723 0.58 0.70 or1.51 Times are in1244 local standard time (UTC +10:00) or0.45 daylight savings time (UTC when in effect Times are in local standard time0800 (UTC +10:00) daylight1842 savings saving 0.71 2305 0.72 1857 1.49 Times are areare inin local local standard standard time time (UTC (UTC +10:00) +10:00) or or+11:00) daylight daylight savings savings time time (UTC (UTC +11:00) +11:00) when when inin0.64 effect effect 00) when in effect Times in local standard time (UTC +10:00) or2336 daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect 1107 1023 0.43 0630 1.32 0650 1.35 0726 1151 1807 0.73 1353 1.41 1448 1.42 MO SA TU 0058 1.37 0213 1.10 Moon Phase Symbols New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter Moon Phase Symbols New Moon First Quart 1815 1.58 1731 1.64 1200 0.70 1212 0.79 1230 0.75 1838 1.58 New Moon First Quarter Last Quarter Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon Moon Moon Phase Phase Symbols Full Full Moon New New Moon First First Quarter Last Last Quarter FR Symbols SA Moon MOQuarter WEQuarter TH 0.68 SA TUMoon Last Quarter Moon 2001 0.76 2148 0526 1.42 0.58 0.72 0.70 2336 0.71 0723 2305 1857 1.49 0800 1842 1.47 1900 1.52 1107 0.49 SA 1353 1.41 TU 1448 1.42 Tide predictions for Port Phillip Heads have been formatted by the 2001 National0526 Tidal Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Copyright reserved. All material is supplied in good faith and0110 is believed to be 1815 1.59 0.76Centre, 0.68 SU 2148 0.37 1.42 Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2020, Bureau of Meteorology correct. It is supplied on the condition that no warranty is given in relation thereto, that no responsibility or liability for2351 errors or0.69 omissions is, or will be, accepted and that the recipient will hold MHL 0832 1.50 1107 0.49 andPredictions the Australian Bureau MeteorologyAstronomical Australia free from all Tide such responsibility or liability and from all loss or damage incurred as a consequence of any error or omission. Predictions should not atum of is ofLowest 1324 0.84 1815 1.59 FR SU used for navigational Use of these tide predictions will be deemed to include acceptance of the above conditions. straliabe2020, Bureau purposes. of Meteorology 1954 1.47 2351 0.69 imes are in local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect

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© Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2019, Bureau ofAUGUST Meteorolog 2023 107 tronomical Tide Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon New Moon FirstDatum Quarterof Predictions Last Quarter is Lowest Astronomical Tide UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect

Whittley Sea Legend 27 with twin Mercury 225hp

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The cockpit is spacious and there’s several kill tanks under the floor and rubber decking. The dive door is standard and the battery isolators, live bait tank and deck wash are neatly concealed but accessible.

Is the electrically deployed cockpit sun shade an overkill? Not in a Queensland summer. It stretches out to

Steve Morgan s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

Let us introduce the Whittley Sea Legend (SL) 27, the biggest SL hull they have made to date. Debuting at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, the team from Whittley were excited about this flagship model, and rightfully so, she’s a great looking boat with plenty of chops on the open water.

We took the opportunity to take a spin in one of the first SL27’s delivered, with Alan Whittley and owner Andrew from the Gold Coast.

The SL27 is a freshly minted hull with a swathe of

PERFORMANCE

Main: There’s no doubting that the new Whittley 2700 is a slick looking rig when paired with the black Mercury V6s. Above: Several motor iterations are available on this hull, but the customer chose the twin V6 225hp Mercury 4-strokes with Joystick Piloting.

Want to hear this boat run? There’s a length of raw, running footage at the end of the boat test video. accessories and options that truly makes it a workable blend of fishing and cruising boat.

The hull measures in at 8.55m with a 23º deadrise at the transom, but importantly, has a maximum beam of 2.49m. This means it’s legally towable at any time across the country, as long as your tow vehicle can handle it.

And although on paper, it’s towable by a twin-cab ute, you’d need to be careful with loading it, as it runs close to the line with anything more than a 108 AUGUST 2023

bustle,” Andrew concluded.

This is my happy place and I was determined to get it right.

A few minutes behind the wheel and it sure feels right. The economy isn’t great at around 500m/L at WOT (6,000rpm), but drop down to 62km/h and 4,500rpm and it delivers a much more acceptable kilometre-per-litre class burn.

basic build.

Jumping on board with the new owner, and he was thrilled with the outcome. The test happened just after the boat show and there was no buyer’s regret from his corner.

“There’s nothing in the market in this price range with the features that the 27 has,” he explained, “I bought this boat with both fishing and the comfort of my wife in mind and there’s nothing else around with these features until you get into the bigger imported

brands and the price of those is right up there.”

And with no kids to cater for, Andrew ticked a lot of the options boxes, adding to an already feature-filled rig.

The best way to get a feel for it is to watch the video boat test by scanning the QR code hereby, but let’s run through a few here.

At the transom, twin Mercury 225hp 4-strokes are digitally controlled and they’ve added the joystick piloting option to make docking a breeze. This is important because this boat will live in dry storage.

“I live in an apartment, so

it’s more economical to dry store the boat rather than have a trailer and a big rig to tow it.

I also don’t have to put up with the crowding at boat ramps on the good weather days,” Andrew continued.

Andrew’s favourite form of fishing is slow-pitch jigging, so there’s plenty of rod and tackle storage space, as well as a 19” Simrad to make sure he’s right on the spot. The sounder flush mounts into the dash, impressive for a unit this size.

RPM ............ Speed (km/h) ... Economy (km/L) 600 ............................................ 6 ................................ 1.40 1500......................................... 13 ..................................1.10 1600 .........................................14 ..................................1.10 2000 ........................................ 18 ................................0.85 3000 ........................................ 37 ................................0.95 4000 ........................................53 ................................0.80 4500 ........................................62 ................................0.95 5000 ........................................68 ................................ 0.73 6000 ........................................84 ................................0.54 cover Whittley’s clever, rear facing seating with plenty of storage underneath.

The cabin is luxurious.

There’s a stove, fridge, toilet and a whole lot more. It’s lockable with a solid door and offers a level of luxury often seen in boats a lot more expensive.

“After a morning’s fishing, I can see us relaxing in a quiet spot and enjoying some time away from the hustle and

Want to know what one of these is worth? If you’re too shy to call your Whittley dealer (their contacts are on the Whittley website), you can get dreaming with the Builda-Boat page on the same site.

Option up basic packages to your heart’s content and get a quote.

We’re sure that Andrew and his wife will get years of happiness out of this rig.

Thanks for the ride!

SPECIFICATIONS Length ........................... 8.55m Beam ...............................2.49m Length on trailer .....9.70m Height on trailer ..... 3.20m Transom deadrise........ 23° Fuel .....................................380L Water ..................................120L Max hp.................................450

Economy was about as expected, although the best cruising speed of 0.95L/km was achieved at quite high rpm – 4,500 and at 62km/h.

Top: The SL25 is at the maximum allowable beam for unhindered trailering – 2.49m both on and off the trailer. Above: There’s some tech available to the right hand of the driver, including Joystick Piloting and the new Next Gen digital throttle system.

Of course, nobody is pulling up the anchor on a 27-footer by hand!

Top: For those who want to trailer the boat, there’s a bunk and roller system which is a great compromise between ease of loading and stability while towing.

Above: That’s a 19” Simrad fitting flush in the console right there.

The black rubber decking with teak accents matched the colour of the rig and adds a bit of class.

Whittley is famous for clever seating solutions. These aft-facing seats are more practical than you’d think for fishing.

Top Left: The cabin’s well-appointed with toilet, fridge, stove and plenty of room for a couple of adults. Top Right: This is the first boat we have been on with an electric-deploy sunshade. Granted, it’s not the quickest to extend but it does offer necessary shade to the cockpit. Bottom Left:There’s a massive underfloor wet area in between the two kill tanks that’s accessible by a smaller door-in-door.

Bottom Right: Keep your catch cool and contained in these.

Top Left: The dive door is standard and there’s a deck wash that pops out of the round access hatch to the left.

Bottom Left: Whittley’s Cruiser heritage is plain to see here.

Right: That’s a lot of head room for a trailerable 27-footer. See what I did there?

AUGUST 2023 109

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motorguide.com.au 112 AUGUST 2023