Sydney Rock

Get ready for what’s on offer

SYD ROCK & BEACH Alex Bellissimo

alex@bellissimocharters.com.au

The fishing scene is hot at the moment. You can target just about anything that Sydney has to offer and be in with a chance to catch most species when you target them.

For me, fishing is like exercising. It’s better go home fishless? Having the heavy rock gear for a king (24kg+ size outfits) will likely be suitable for a groper as well. Harvesting crabs at the location you’re fishing for kings may be an option (always check that you’re allowed to harvest bait at that location).

Another option is having lighter spin outfits suitable for pelagics such as salmon, tailor and, at this time of the year, frigate mackerel, mac tuna and of course, smaller kings. Spinning with metals like the 40g SureCatch Bishop is a good happy medium – small enough to entice fussy feeding pelagics focusing on little baitfish, and heavy enough to still get distance in a punchy wind. Sometimes the pelagics won’t be within 50m off your rock ledge so you need to be able to cast it out a longer way.

A 7-15kg outfit like the Daiwa Over There 109MH will be suitable, with 10kg braid like J-Braid Grand and 20-25lb fluorocarbon leader and a suitable reel like the 500D BG MQ. This rod is also great for spinning metals and plastics, and is also a good outfit for wash snapper and rock blackfish off the rocks.

For the bonito, I like the Shore Spartan Break Through 120mm in the sardine colour, and the Shore Spartan Power Splash popper 140mm in the dekanago colour.

Kings up to nearly a metre long have been caught by some anglers off the rocks. A client caught one recently that went near 80cm on a whole sea gar on a set of Mustad 6/0 gangs with an occy skirt that goes over the garfish beak as an added attractor. I’m not sure why it works well; maybe the king thinks that the gar has grabbed a squid or small octopus, or the occy has grabbed the garfish?

Luderick are in good numbers at the moment, with bags of 6-10 fish being quite common. Many anglers assume that luderick are solely a winter species, but these fish can actually be caught at least nine months of the year and, in a lot of cases, all year round.

Some quality groper are showing up as well. A solid 78cm fish was caught by a client of mine, and it was his very first fish – how crazy is that! The big blue groper was estimated at least 10kg, and was released. Two more fish to 57cm were caught as well, and the brown groper were kept for a feed. I have a new policy that any blue groper over 70cm are to be released. That’s because they are a residential species, and the big blues gets fished pretty hard in Sydney. The Fisheries bag limit is two fish per person, with one blue groper over 60cm and one brown groper. At the end of the day it is up to you whether you want to keep a big blue when fishing on your own trips.

Snapper have thinned out a little but they will increase in numbers again. I recently caught a nice 50cm+ fish on a fresh slimy mackerel fillet distance casting with 5oz snapper sinker, casting out approximately 100m at North Avalon rocks around the front near St Michaels cave.

There are also good numbers of rock blackfish. Peeled prawns (king, the activity that’s going on. Whiting up to 40cm, sand flathead to 42cm and bream to 34cm have been coming off this beach of late, caught on live beach worms.

Manly can be a very good tailor beach in March. Chopper/tailor are active and quite reliable just before sunset and after sunset as well. Tailor from 32-40cm are being caught on a set of three 3/0 or 4/0 gangs and a whole pilchard bait. Salmon are also in the mix and are very often caught whilst fishing for tailor. Other beaches you can fish for good results are Curl Curl and Dee Why (although kelp weed can be a problem) and Bungan Beach.

ESTUARY FISHING

Kings have been biting of late, along with other pelagics like tailor, salmon and small tuna species like frigate mackerel and mac tuna. Some bonito are still around although they will become fewer as the month progresses.

You will find that the pelagics can be fussier about the food they eat in the Harbour. These predators can be focussed on smaller baitfish, and matching a lure to suit can be challenging.

One method that can work is using a small plastic occy skirt, no. 1/0 or 2/0 hook, approx. 60cm of 20-30lb fluoro leader tied to a 30kg swivel, then a size 2-4 ball sinker then a turnip float (you can also purchase the weighted version) and a float stopper approx. 1m above the float. A 3-5g metal works well too because it is matching the size bait that the

Iyad Jayyousi with a 43cm whiting caught off the beach. This fish was released, and the smaller 2933cm whiting kept for a feed. Having live beach worms will greatly increase your chances of success. The author caught this snapper distance casting up to 100m out to reach the sand/rubble patches. Fresh slimy mackerel fillet was the bait.

to have frequent, shorter exercise sessions than it is to have rare, long exercise sessions. If you want to maintain your fishing ‘fitness’, it’s a similar story. Keep your gear at the ready in your car or at home, and pick it up and just GO! Even if you fish for just a short period, at least you’re getting out there, maintaining your knowledge, learning new things and, as bonus, maybe catching a few fish for a feed or sport.

Here’s what’s been caught lately around Sydney off the rocks and the beaches.

ROCK FISHING

When you target kingfish, remember they can be one of those species that might let you down on the day – sometimes for no apparent reason. True, the kingy fishing can be great on a lot of days, but if it’s quiet you should have a backup plan. The same deep ledge you are fishing for kings may be a suitable location for a groper as well, so why endeavour or banana) in the larger size are preferred compared to the smaller school prawns. On some occasions the sweep, mados and yellowtail are so prolific you are best not peeling the prawns. The shell acts like a temporary shield against these baitevaporating pests.

Some spots to fish for kings, bonito, frigate mackerel and mac tuna are the deeper ledges like The Hat and Bluefish below the climb, both in the suburb of Manly. Luderick, bream and groper can be caught from there as well. Other areas include Flat Rock at South Curl Curl for luderick and pelagics, and for rock blackfish North Curl Curl and Mona Vale headland.

BEACH FISHING

Beach fishing for the smaller species like whiting, bream and flathead has been quite good. The crowds at Manly Beach don’t seem to deter the fish too much, although it often deters anglers because they think that fishing on a crowded beach is out of the question, except for night fishing opportunities. Look at it this way – Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay can be very crowded with lots of activity from boat traffic and commuter water craft, but the fish get used to it and still feed as usual.

Fishing Manly beaches South Steyne to Queenscliff you have several options to fish. You can normally find a patch where there is a good gutter away from the surfers, surfing school, swimmers and walkers on this beach. I often take my clients here and have some great catches despite all of