Autumn sessions off the stones

Austin

It seems absolutely crazy to think that we are almost out of autumn already. The good news is that our awesome winter fishing season is about to really kick off in earnest, which means lots of big blue-nosed bream, stonking snapper, and black drummer!

Wallis Lake has seen plenty of rainfall over the past few months, but target these big, smart bream, there are a few simple things that you need to remember. Firstly, the lighter you can fish, in both line weight and sinker size, will have a huge impact on how many fish you catch. Fishing a nice, light line translates to more hits for one very simple reason: it’s thinner and harder for the fish to see.

The downside of going thinner and lighter is that it’s a lot harder to pull the fish out from the gnarly structure that they love to

Secondly, presentation is very important. Whether you are fishing bait or lure, your presentations have to look ‘natural’. These fish are insanely smart, and if they can see too much hook hanging out of your bait, or if your soft plastic isn’t quite swimming right, they won’t even think about eating it!

Flathead are still a reliable target within the estuary despite the change in seasons. Those anglers that have moved a little way up into the system have been finding really good numbers of fish. The average size is still great, with plenty of fish up between 50-70cm. 3-4” soft plastics and soft vibes are working wonders out there, with areas such as the Wallamba River, Regatta Island, The Cut and Wallis Island all worth checking out.

The local luderick fishing is slowly simmering away, and seems to be getting better by the week. Although the huge numbers of ocean-run fish are yet to come in and settle on the rock walls, there are still decent numbers of fish hanging about. They are taking most offerings at the moment, and if you are struggling to find weed or cabbage, imitation weed flies are working.

Beach reports have been very consistent: bream and tailor! Most beaches have been producing both species in decent numbers, and there are some absolute horses about on the tailor front for those people wishing to hit the sand early. The key to finding these really big fish is to offer them something on the larger side, such as big stickbaits, poppers and plugstyle lures. All have been working well.

The local stones have seen a fair bit of activity in recent weeks, and most anglers have found a bit of a mixed bag out there waiting for them. For the land-based game enthusiasts, longtail tuna and cobia are still about, however the reports are very few and far between. Expect to put in some long, hard days if you want to get results. most of it. despite this, the fishing is still cruising along fairly nicely. Bream numbers are beginning to really stack up throughout the bottom of the system, with some great fish caught this recently from the rock walls and down around the bridge.

Throwing lures can be a very productive way to fish the rocks at this time of the year. There are nearly always tailor, salmon, bonito, mac tuna and the odd kingfish cruising about. Soaking a slab bait, piece of crab or cunje can be a rewarding way to pass the time on the rocks as the weather cools, and there have already been some great sessions on the ‘bread and butter’ specialties that are drummer, bream and luderick.

A little further out, reefs in 40-60m are holding good numbers of trag (even in the daytime), the odd pearl perch and plenty of pan-sized snapper.

We are still seeing a flutter of pelagic action for some lucky anglers, with some cracking Spanish and spotted mackerel being landed along with the odd cobia. Unfortunately, the bites are very few and far between, and with the cooling water temps, the fishing will only get harder for these warm water loving species.

If you really want to hang around! The trick is to find a happy medium between maximising bites and minimising bust-offs. This will vary from angler to angler, but you will definitely see those anglers using 4-8lb leaders hooking many more fish than those fishing 10lb and up.

Heading offshore during May is almost always productive, particularly on the reefs to the north. The shallow grounds fish really well during late autumn/ early winter, but the bite times can be very narrow so make sure you hit the skinny stuff nice and early in the morning or late of an afternoon to make the

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