Fishing Monthly Magazine | November 2023

• SUPERB SPRING SPECIES • YELLOWBELLY LOWDOWN •

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SPECIES SPOTLIGHT

Bob Thornton brings us: Taking stock of impoundment yellowbelly

Features

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Taking stock of impoundment yellowbelly • Starlo’s topwater tactics • 10 fishy phrases to get you hooked • Spring fishing in Moreton Bay •

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Port Albert Lakes Entrance

Stock of yellowbelly

8

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Starlo: topwater tactics

14

90

10 Fishy phrases

16

Spring fishing in Moreton Bay 20

Marlo

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FISHING MONTHLY MAGAZINE PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2023

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This great kingfish was caught

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FEATURE

Species

FMM

Taking stock of impoundment yellowbelly BRISBANE

Bob Thornton

Of all the many great freshwater species we have to target in our sunburnt country, golden perch, or yellowbelly, are possibly one of the most underrated and deserving of more praise than they get.

While there is reasonable fanfare for these hard-hitting natives within the southern part of their natural range, there are many fantastic stocked yellowbelly fisheries scattered around Australia. Some of them are large impoundments like Lake Maraboon, which is Queensland’s second largest lake and forms an oasis amongst Central Queensland’s harsh semi-arid

landscape. Others are urban ponds like Albert Park Lake, which lies within hearing distance of Melbourne’s busy CBD. From this it’s clear that these fish are highly adaptable and resourceful, and it’s no wonder they are such a popular fish for stocking groups.

In many areas they are overshadowed by other freshwater sportfish, but by tweaking your techniques a little it’s possible to specifically target them and enjoy, at least in my opinion, one of the most versatile and fun freshwater species on offer.

Before we get into techniques, let’s learn a bit about yellowbelly and how they ended up in so many artificial environments.

GOLDEN FAMILY Yellowbelly go by a few names, but

Above: Small blades are great lures to use when it’s super-cold or superhot! This mid-winter fish was sitting alone in 8m of water, but couldn’t resist a small blade hopped in its face. Main photo: The author caught this fish on a high 30s summer day after fishing the deep water for several hours for nothing. The fish ate a spinnerbait up in the shallows late in the afternoon. In hindsight the fish were probably waiting for the water to cool down enough so they could comfortably hunt in the shallows.

8 NOVEMBER 2023

the most common ones are yellowbelly, yella, golden perch, golden, perch and callop (the latter is only used in South Australia). Most anglers understand them to be native only to the MurrayDarling Basin, but this is not true at all.

There are at least two known subpopulations, one in the vast network of rivers that flow through central Australia into Lake Eyre, the other in the rivers and creeks that feed the Fitzroy Basin in Central Queensland. Not enough study has been conducted to determine whether they are sub-species or indeed separate species, however they are known to feed, reproduce and behave in very similar ways. In addition, successful techniques for these subpopulations are also very similar, if not identical, to those in their main stronghold of the Murray-Darling.

Following a massive decline through the 19th and early 20th centuries from overfishing and habit destruction, stocking began in the 1970s after hatchery-bred fish became available. Since then, stocks have been reintroduced to depleted waterways within their natural range, and also outside this range – most notably in many of the rivers and impoundments east of the Great Dividing Range.

These days anglers in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, as well as many of the regions in between, have easy access to these fish thanks to stocking and good fisheries management. What’s more, in catchments where these fish are alien there has been no reported ecological concerns, and it seems yellas are quite happy to live alongside species like bass, trout, and eastern and Mary River cod.

Yellowbelly need access to flowing water in order to breed, and in the wild are sometimes known to cover hundreds of kilometres to find the

right conditions. They will rarely breed in stocked impoundments; however it has been known to happen in stocked waterways with accessible feeder streams.

Despite breeding in dams being a rare occurrence, yellas will still school up when the water temperature is right in an attempt to spawn. Hooked fish can sometimes have followers that are too focussed on trying to breed with the hooked fish to notice anything else around them. The top fish ate a spoon jigged through a school, and the bottom fish followed it right to the boat. Both fish ended up in the net!

STOCKED YELLAS To my knowledge and from all accounts I’ve received over the years, stocked yellas behave in much the same way as their wild cousins. This is a species that is highly temperaturedriven and will choose its habitat and position within the water column to

Species FEATURE

FMM suit those needs. One notable difference with stocked fish, however, is their propensity to grow extra-large, especially in large impoundments with a suitable biomass of forage species. Any impoundment with good stocks of crayfish, shrimps, small fish species, or all of the above will provide a happy hunting ground for large female goldens. Furthermore, large rocky structures and stands of trees that are often flooded during the construction of dams provide excellent habitat for the yellas, with aquatic weed growth also offering

favourable conditions for these fish.

A surprising number of fish in excess of 70cm and 10kg have been recorded in the last four decades, and almost all of them have come from dams. In my local area of South East Queensland it’s rare to even hear of fish this size, however there are more than enough 60cm+ models swimming around to warrant the use of ‘heavy bass gear’ or ‘light cod gear’, depending who you talk to.

GOING FOR GOLD Chasing these fish, particularly with lures, was once thought of as a

springtime activity only. During this time their metabolism speeds up after lying low through winter, and they scramble to put on condition ahead of their spawning period, making them highly susceptible to lures.

This is particularly true in larger dams that offer the fish structures and depths that allow them stay comfortable when it’s really hot or really cold, and thus, feed throughout the year and maintain their impressive mass.

Weed is always great fish habitat in lakes. It provides cover, oxygen, warmth and food for a range of species, including yellas.

Working small soft plastics in nearby weed is a good ploy during early spring.

While this is a ‘golden’ time to be chasing these fish, it’s not the only time you can chase them with lures, and in fact successful yella fishing is achievable throughout the year! You may need to change your approach a little and even depart completely from some traditional yellowbelly teachings, but there is action to be had all year.

HOT AND COLD Rather than dividing this section up by season, I’m going to look at successful techniques in different temperatures. The reason for this is because their stocked distribution spans a range of latitudes and climates, from alpine lakes and ditches in Victoria to low-lying dams up in the tropics in Queensland.

We have your inland lure fishing covered.

SCAN ME

RAP-V BLADED JIG - FIRETIGER

JABBER JAW - OLD GREGG

RIPPIN RAP - LIVE PERCH

CREEPER - BLACK NIGHTMARE

DT SERIES - DARK BROWN CRAWDAD

SHAD RAP ELITE - GILDED COPPER PERCH

Rapala Australia

@rapalaaustralia

@rapalaaustralia

www.rapala.com.au NOVEMBER 2023 9

FEATURE

Species

WHEN IT’S HOT The hottest day I can remember fishing for yellas was 42oC, and I recall the water in Maroon Dam looking and feeling like soup. We knew the yellowbelly were there, we just needed to find exactly where they were sitting and make them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

The height of summer in Australia can see scorching temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s in all states, and is a challenging time to chase these fish, but it is by no means impossible.

During the session mentioned above, we eventually found them sitting in a hole around 8m deep.

Many lakes provide depths beyond what is available in most rivers, and on these days yellas will usually find these deeper holes where the water is cooler and seek refuge. In rivers and creeks, wild fish may be forced to find a piece of cover or any available shade where the temperature is only marginally cooler, and quite often they will simply sit motionless to conserve energy and wait out the heat.

The relatively comfortable temperatures on offer in the deeper sections of lakes allow the fish to move around and forage at times, and because of this they remain quite catchable even on the super-hot days.

Finding where these fish are is far easier with the use of a sounder. With that said, any areas around 6-12m that are nearby good habitat such as gently-sloping rock walls, weed beds or standing timber are well worth closer inspection, even if you aren’t marking

FMM Sight-casting these demands the use of light spin gear. The water can often be very clear during this time, so 6-10lb braid and 6-10lb leaders are necessary to deliver small presentations without spooking fish.

A small grub soft plastic rigged on a 1/20-1/12oz jighead is a good option for casting in front of a yella sunning itself, and black is a popular colour.

This presentation could represent a tiny yabby fleeing danger, or a small aquatic insect or tadpole on the move.

Fly anglers can also enjoy awesome

This slightly better-than-average Lake Wivenhoe yella ate a spoon jigged off a rocky point in late spring. Fish tend to sit in deeper water during this time but are often very hungry and willing to chase fast-moving presentations. summer’s day, with the gun lures being blades, small 2” soft plastics and ice jigs.

You want to get your lures close to where the fish are sitting and give them small movements. I have found that dull and natural colours like grey, brown and black that imitate shrimp, yabbies and small aquatic insects are good in these scenarios. If your first presentation doesn’t work, try something else, and if you run out of options, try another area with different fish.

Don’t be surprised to find them out in seemingly open water away from everything either, as the topography of some dams may require the fish to swim well away from the bank in order to find a comfortable temperature!

The beginning of spring can often see yellowbelly lacking in condition, like this fish. Quite often their feeding will slow right down through winter, and it becomes a race to get in shape before their spawning urges kick in. any fish on the sounder. Yellowbelly will usually sit close to the bottom in these circumstances, which can make them difficult to find on the sounder, and more often than not they won’t be alone.

Small offerings are the ticket to getting a yella to bite on a scorching 10 NOVEMBER 2023

WHEN IT’S NOT Our southern dams can see winter temperatures plummeting to well below 0oC, and frost is a regular sight for Canberrans on a yella mission in the cooler months. Granted, winter is not considered the ideal time to chase these fish either, but with a

good understanding of yellowbelly habits it’s possible to enjoy some very exciting fishing.

On really cold days, yellas will find the warmest water they can and stay there until they are forced to look elsewhere. In failing that, they will find areas with consistent temperature and wait out these periods.

On days where there is no sun to warm the water, or where there is little structure like timber, rock or weed being warmed by the sun, yellas will descend to a depth that isn’t as affected by the elements. Getting a bite out of these fish is once again best done by presenting small offerings right to their face to give them the illusion of an easy meal.

Once the sun shows its face and begins to beam down on the water, the game changes a little bit. Even on single degree days, a bit of sunlight on the water can draw moody yellas up from the depths to seek out sun-warmed shallows and structures. As these fish bask in the sun, they can often warm sufficiently to begin thinking about food again, and this is where fishing for yellowbelly can get really exciting.

Lakes with a lot of rock or timber around the edges are great places to find yellowbelly sunning themselves on cool days. The reason for this is that rock and timber warms up and can radiate heat, and the yellas will get up into super shallow water at times where the sun’s rays are strongest. Areas with standing timber also make good spots to warm up, even if they are out in deeper water. By sitting close to the timber near the surface, fish will be able to benefit from the heat coming off the timber in a similar way.

Catching these fish presents a challenge, as does any fish that you can see with your naked eye. A lot of these fish won’t even move if a lure is put right in front of their face, but if you present a lure to enough fish you’ll probably have at least a few bits of interest from sun-bathing yellas.

Catching yellowbelly this size on lures isn’t common as juvenile fish tend to eat different prey items to their larger siblings, but it shows that small fish can become very aggressive when the water temperature is right. sight-casting action when the fish are sitting shallow, and some fluff chuckers like to walk the bank, scanning the shallows for fish as they go.

Another very useful tool is a suspending jerkbait. These lures give you the luxury of being able to pause the lure and let the yellowbelly cruise in and decide whether it wants to eat or not. In the cold they won’t make any extra effort to snare a feed, so if it scoots away quickly, they will very rarely go after it. Small jerkbaits in the 4-7cm range with realistic fish scale patterns on them are perfect for this style of fishing. Small, subtle twitches and very long pauses are the way to go in this scenario.

Small crankbaits and spinnerbaits will also work when it’s a bit cooler, but you should only employ them if the yellas are responding aggressively to your lures, otherwise reaction style lures like these will scare them off.

In between days Yellowbelly fishing is undoubtedly at its best when it’s not too hot or too cold. Days with an air temperature between 20-28oC are relatively comfortable for people, and this is a good metric to use when thinking about yellowbelly fishing as well.

In most climates within the golden perch range, spring and autumn

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FEATURE

Species

are considered good times to be out searching for gold.

My dad used to say that his indicator to start fishing for yellas was when the bottle brushes started to flower in early spring. A colleague who used to live in Canberra mentioned that he waited until he didn’t have to wear a jumper in the evening before he started making yella trips.

Basically, if it’s comfortable for you, it’s probably comfortable for our yellow friends, and a range of lures will catch their attention once it is.

One of the most popular lures when these fish are hungry is spinnerbaits.

Spinnerbaits are big, shiny, can be worked quickly and are reasonably snagresistant. During these times yellowbelly like to sit in water between 3-6m, usually around structure like timber, rocks, undercut banks, shady overhangs and so on. Probing these areas with a spinnerbait is a great way to strike gold, and quite often where you find one there will be more.

FMM Crankbaits, especially those that float up backwards, are another gun lure for searching the snags. Well-designed cranks will ride well through timber and rocks, and should you feel the lure beginning to get hung up, you can give them some slack and they should float up out of danger. A diving depth of 2-4m is perfect for getting into these hunting zones, and so long as you’re making at least occasional contact with structure you’ll stay in the game. Trolling these same lures along likely looking banks that have sufficient snags and a medium gradient (fairly steep but walkable – not vertical) is another great spring method for finding these fish.

Lipless crankbaits can be used in a similar way, but be advised that they tend to snag up more easily than other lures. Areas with weed as the dominant structure will suit lipless cranks better and using small trebles or even inline singles will allow you to flick them out of the weed if they get caught up. Quite often yellas will strike a lure while the

angler is trying to shake off trailing weed during the retrieve!

During the heat of the day, these fish will tend to sit closer to the bottom in spring and autumn, so working this area is the way to go. Soft vibes, spoons, creature bait style soft plastics and skirted jigs are excellent for covering this part of their habit. Spring and autumn often see an explosion of bottom-dwelling prey in

column the fish are sitting and feeding at. Once again, natural colours and black are the preferred colours.

Small blades also work well when the fish are close to standing timber, especially those with small assist hooks that don’t catch on large pieces of timber. Assist hooks will pin tentative fish, and yellowbelly can become a little shy in impoundments

A medium-gradient bank with a mixture of rock, weed and standing timber like this is perfect habitat for yellowbelly, and a great spot for casting lures during spring and summer.

Late winter and early spring often provide good sight-fishing conditions, and this is when a small fly can be a deadly presentation. The author caught this fish walking the bank with a small black fly tied with rabbit fur.

12 NOVEMBER 2023

the form of crayfish and large aquatic insects, and imitating these prey items can put you into contact with the larger, smarter yellowbelly in the area.

Small soft plastics are a useful trick to employ during the day. Grub designs are deadly for dropping down beside standing timber when yellas are relating to it – and quite often in spring and autumn that’s exactly where they’ll be during the day. Nosing in quietly with the boat or kayak, dropping the plastics down to the bottom, and then retrieving the lure slowly up the length of the tree is a well-known technique. When fast-moving reaction style baits are not working, a more subtle technique like this is dynamite. It’s a great way of working out which part of the water

that receive a lot of fishing pressure.

FIND YOUR OWN POT OF GOLD Of course, there are many other lures types that will be effective on these great fish, and experimentation in your local area may reveal characteristics about these fish not previously documented!

One of the attractions of yellowbelly is the mystery that surrounds them.

For example, modern science still can’t produce a definitive map for their natural range, or explain why some fish travel in excess of 1000km to breed.

If you’re yet to experience this amazing freshwater species, do yourself a favour and start planning a trip. It’s likely that you live close to an area that has them, and they’re probably there thanks to local stocking groups!

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BACK TO BASICS

Pop goes the whiting, boof goes the bream! get away with to enhance your casting performance. Long casts often equate with success in this game.

Hunt your prey where they’d expect them to be finding prawns or crashed insects: over shallow flats, at creek mouths and under overhanging vegetation. Then do your best to

NSW SOUTH COAST

Steve Starling www.fishotopia.com

Catching our ‘bread and butter’ southern estuary species on surface or ‘topwater’ lures is simply too much fun — not to mention highly effective!

The warmer late spring and summer months ahead of us represent the perfect time of year to target a

Mixed bags like this are far from rare on surface lures in summer.

The Lucky Craft Sammy is a classic topwater tempter! bunch of abundant southern estuary species on surface lures. Foremost among these are the yellowfin, sand, silver or summer whiting, bream of every ilk, and flathead (yes, flathead!). These three popular

a topwater lure at times!

Prawns are the main reason topwater strategies works so well across the next four months or so.

These tasty crustaceans are a favourite food of fish and fishers alike, and when scared or chased, one of their preferred escape strategies is to race to the surface and flick, flick, flick away across the top — often with their tormentors in hot, slurping, sucking pursuit!

Of course, other types of food also fall onto our estuaries and are

even unweighted soft plastics.

The big trick when casting these smaller topwater offerings — either from a boat, a kayak or the shore — is to cover as much water as possible.

Flathead on the surface?

You better believe it!

Catching whiting on topwater lures is a summertime staple, and the new Shimano Bantam Ligen 66F is a superb lure for this purpose.

Always try to cast with the wind at your back for extra distance, and use light gear, longer-than-normal rods and the skinniest main line you can

imitate the action of the food types you’re impersonating. The fish will tell you when you get it right!

There are too many great lures in this category to list, but one that has really impressed me so far this year is the new Shimano Ligen 66F. It’s a ripper! But classics like the Lucky Craft Sammy and Bassday Sugapen will always have a spot in my collection, too, as will small cup-faced poppers like the little Rebel Pop-R. If you’d like to learn more about targeting these great light tackle fish on the surface, there are a couple of recent and not-so-recent videos on my “Starlo Gets Reel” YouTube channel that focus on exactly this subject. You can use the QR code hereabouts to go to the channel, or simply search for “Starlo Gets Reel” on YouTube Enjoy!

Catching bream on surface lures is a blast.

YOUTUBE

families of fish are absolute suckers for a smart topwater presentation, especially once the water warms up.

But they’re not alone. ‘Sundries’ when fishing this way can include things like tailor, salmon, pike, kingfish, mullet, garfish, long toms, trevally, bass and estuary perch. Even mulloway have been known to smack

14 NOVEMBER 2023

Scan this QR code to go straight to Starlo’s YouTube channel.

consumed by these fish at this time of year. Beetles, cicadas, moths, grasshoppers — they’re all grist for the mill.

Smaller surface lures in the 50 to 100mm length range that can be made to imitate a startled, terrified prawn, a crashed cicada, or a hapless moth, or conversely to mimic the sounds made by predators chopping at these critters (or even do both) will regularly attract fishy attention in our temperate estuaries. This includes smaller cup-faced poppers, ‘walk-the-dog’ style stick baits, little fizzers, paddlers, lifelike cicada and prawn imitations and

Yellowfin whiting happily smack surface lures.

FEATURE

Fishing

FMM

Ten fishy phrases that will get you hooked!

QUEENSLAND

Justin Willmer

Growing up in a fishing family and spending my whole working life in the fishing industry, I feel that we as anglers have our own language that we share. This becomes even more

THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM This is a phrase that I learnt from a very early age, getting woken up in the dark to ready the gear and hit the water.

As a young angler I probably thought it was just dad being keen to get away from the chores and out on the water.

Flathead love structure, such as weed edges, drains and drop offs, especially with some water flow.

Weed beds are prime structure in the estuaries and you will catch a stack of different species casting plastics over them on the higher stages of the tide. evident when you’re at a barbecue with non-fishos and you run into another fisho. The fishing talk starts and the non-fishos in the group look at you blankly, may even say they have no idea what you are talking about, and then wander off.

At the cornerstone of this language is a collection of phrases, or sayings, many of which have been drummed into me since I was young, that actually hold a lot of value to us as anglers.

Some of these phrases are found in more common usage, yet still hold value to anglers, while others are very much fishing specific. Let’s have a look at the 10 commandments of fishing, what they mean to anglers and who knows, next time you’re on a tough bite one of these may pop into your head and get you the bites. Fish on!

Go light to get the bite. Ronny fished finesse plastics in half a metre of water and landed a solid bream.

The author found the bait over the weed flats and the fish were not far away.

Once Baz cracked a pattern he landed a stack of flathead in quick time.

16 NOVEMBER 2023

Over the years I have realised that the early morning is a peak bite time due to lower levels of light, reduced traffic on the water and in turn, reduced pressure on the fish. I am often pulling the kayak or boat out as the crowds arrive or dropping it in as the crowd is leaving and there is no doubt it has

increased my catch rates.

STRUCTURE IS KING Another phrase I remember from when I was young and one that has rung true throughout my life on the water.

My dad would anchor the boat and ask me why I thought there would be fish in the area, and over time I realised that structure creates pressure points and eddies, ambush points for predators and offers shelter to a wide variety of bait.

Structure can be artificially made in the form of pontoons, rock walls, stormwater pipes, bridges and more, or natural in such forms as weed beds, mangroves, timber, lilies, and channel edges.

FIND THE BAIT, FIND THE FISH We mentioned bait holding around structure in the previous point, and there is no doubt that fish need to eat and so, bait attracts fish. I have fished banks without bait and thought, I’m not

feeling it, it feels like a desert. Move to another bank that’s loaded with bait and fish on. It’s not magic; fishing is very much a science and an art.

Keep an eye and an ear out for bait movement, flicking or creating nervous water on the surface, holding near structure, or appearing on your sounder. Structure is a great place to start looking for bait, however bait balls will also move freely with the current, wind and tides, so if you do find the bait, you could very well have found the fish.

Big fish eat big lures, all fish eat small lures. A nice flathead on a ZMan 1.75” Shad FryZ.

Fishing FEATURE

FMM

Match the hatch. A bass coughed up this large bony bream and a quick change to a pearl coloured ZMan 4” DieZel MinnowZ got the big bites.

MATCH THE HATCH Now that we have found the bait, what does it look like? Match the hatch was coined by fly anglers looking to closely imitate the insect hatch with flies they tie and fish, however it has made its way into lure fishing and basically means to match your presentation to the bait that the fish are feeding on. If they’re eating prawns tie on a prawn profile, if the baitfish are tiny try a small plastic and if they are eating herring try a soft vibe. Our aim is to closely match the bait in terms of profile shape, profile size, colour, location in the water column and the way it moves. If you match the bait perfectly and still don’t get the bite reverse the theory and throw something totally different at them to stand out from the bait.

a fish will be holding, make the cast, and get the bite. Over time I have learnt more about fishing and can more consistently catch on the tides with less movement, where the fish are often less aggressive and less hurried to eat a presentation, by utilising the Ned Rig System or fishing lighter and slower. There is no doubt though that water movement can reduce the amount of time that a fish has to analyse and reject a presentation, encouraging more aggressive and instinctive feeding, that sees anglers search out water movement and even chase the tidal push as it moves through a system.

GO LIGHT TO GET THE BITE When the bite is red hot, it sometimes feels like you could throw anything at the fish on any gear and get the bite. It’s when the bite is tough that many of these phrases pop into my head and I change things up. This is a common phrase used by anglers and it refers to taking a more finesse approach to fishing. It could be lightening things like leaders, jigheads, sinkers and other tackle to create a more natural presentation and get the fish to bite. Often fishing lighter is also more fun, less fatiguing, and of course more productive, which is the overall aim. The downside is that you may suffer more lost fish, however many anglers will say that you need to get the bite first before you start worrying

about landing the fish.

BIG LURES CATCH BIG FISH, SMALL LURES CATCH ALL FISH A friend of mine said this to me once and it stuck with me as I love fishing light with small lures, with many of my largest fish coming on lures that many would consider small for that that species. I like to throw larger presentations at times, however, if I’m introducing someone to fishing or have heard the bite is tough, then it’s on with a little ZMan 2.5” Slim SwimZ paddle tail. This little paddle tail catches everything from whiting and bream to trevally, flathead, and snapper.

In recent years I have caught more flathead over 60cm on this presentation than any other and put many other anglers onto good fish. Even if we are feeling full after dinner we can still eat that little jellybean.

MIX IT UP/CRACK A PATTERN Einstein is credited with the saying, ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result’, and who knows, maybe he was watching anglers throw cast after cast on a tough bite when he coined the phrase.

The important take out for us as anglers is that it may appear to non-anglers that we are doing the same thing over and over, however good anglers are actually making minor adjustments to their gear, retrieve speed, rod action, cast angle, sink time and many other variables.

After almost giving up Anne did the miles and got the smiles, landing four flathead on soft plastics, including a 60cm+ fish.

NO RUN, NO FUN As a predominantly saltwater angler this is another that was drummed into me early and we would often fish where the water was flowing strong, because it creates pressure points and eddies, disorientates bait, and creates ambush points for predators. When current is flowing you can often pinpoint where

The author matched the tiny baitfish that were hanging around a jetty he had never fished, scoring a few trevally on plastics.

They are effectively mixing things up to entice a bite and put the pieces of the puzzle together.

When they put the pieces together and get a consistent bite it’s often referred to as ‘cracking a pattern’. We mix things up until we crack a pattern and then the bites become more consistent and suddenly, a tough session becomes a hot bite. It’s important to be conscious of what you are doing and the changes you are making when you fish, so that you recognise and remember the pattern when you do crack it.

THE KISS RULE This is a common saying that applies to so many aspects of life and fishing is no different. If you’re getting into fishing, keep it simple. If you’re getting into lure fishing, keep it simple. Do

Remember to keep it simple when you’re getting into fishing. Build a solid foundation and expand from there. some research, focus on a species or technique, set yourself up with the basics, and go from there. There are many variables in fishing and by keeping it simple you will learn a lot more, with this learning then transferring to other species and techniques as you expand your fishing. Don’t be in a hurry to run, take the time to enjoy and learn from the crawling and the walking as this will give you a stronger base and make you a more complete angler when you start running.

DO THE MILES, GET THE SMILES This is probably my favourite phrase, and it sums up those anglers that consistently catch quality fish to me.

Whether it’s going the extra mile in terms of preparing your gear and planning your trip, or physically walking the extra kilometre on the beach, paddling further up the river, or driving your boat or 4WD further from angling pressure, it’s about getting back what you put into your fishing.

Throwing the extra casts, spending the time to gather the best bait, or getting up in the dark, they’re all things that we do as anglers to ‘do the miles’ and when we hold up that new species, new PB, or a catch that we know that we’ve earnt we get the smiles.

NOVEMBER 2023 17

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FEATURE

Location

FMM

There are plenty of fish to catch in Moreton Bay QUEENSLAND

Spero Kartanos

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a million times: “There are no fish in the bay”. People blame the pro fishers, the government, the weather and just about any other culprit you can imagine.

Well, I’m here to tell you that the fishing in Moreton Bay is as good today as it was 50 years ago.

Yes, some things have changed, but overall, things are as good as ever.

Let’s have a look at each of the main target species: whiting, snapper, school mackerel, spotted mackerel and squid.

WHITING In the old days, they were thick

Above: Diver whiting are by far the most common whiting species in Moreton Bay. Main photo: It’s great to head out at sunrise for a day’s fishing on the bay.

towards the Brisbane River mouth and at the Sand Hills, Blue Hole, Amity Banks, Small Boat Channel, Rous Channel, Fishermans Gutter and Maroon Gutter. So what has changed? Well, although we have thousands more boats in these areas, not much has changed – that is, apart from the river mouth due to the port extensions. You can still get a feed of fish back towards Darcy light and in front of Wynnum, and all the other areas have fish too. Catch rates do change from day to day, of course, and some areas are better than others, but the fish are always there. The only time they move is to spawn, or seek out their prey. We anglers just need to keep records of our catches, and take note of what

A nice catch of squid and cuttlefish.

20 NOVEMBER 2023

Location FEATURE

FMM other anglers say about where they caught their fish, the time they caught them, tide, depth, and the bait and rig they were caught on.

It’s wise to keep an eye on where other anglers are fishing, as well. I still find it amazing how some folks go past an area without looking at what boats are doing – and then wonder why they aren’t catching fish. It’s always good doing a drift during a good run in the tide, to see what happens.

The best baits for whiting in the bay are blood worms, cured beach

You never know what species might turn up. This tailor took a metal lure meant for a mackerel.

There are plenty of juvenile snapper in the bay.

worms, peeled prawns and squid strips. A paternoster rig is ideal in the bay.

SNAPPER In the old days, when only two boats fished Harrys artificial reef, we saw good numbers of 20lb snapper being caught. Now, with around 50 boats fishing every day, these big fish are a rare sight.

Despite this, Moreton Bay is still a great fishing ground for snapper.

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the fish’s path.

You’ll want to use nice big baits like whiting heads, whole, small (legal) fish of any kind, small octopus or cuttlefish heads, whole or half crabs, or strips of flesh like mullet.

Rig your bait on a running rig with as little weight as possible. You want just enough weight to get you to the bottom.

My favourite locations for snapper/squire are St Helena, Green, Mud and Peel islands. Even Horseshoe Bay has plenty of snapper.

My best catches over all these years are in daylight hours just depending on the tide.

SCHOOL MACKEREL How the bay has changed since the ban on ring netting for spotted mackerel! Strangely, in the years after the ban, the spotties stopped entering the bay in their thousands – something nobody expected. However, all was not lost because they were replaced by school mackerel.

In years past, schoolies were caught in numbers only in the colder months (the spotties took their place when the water warmed up), but now schoolies are a regular catch all year round.

You can find schoolies throughout the bay, from the northern beacons to Shark Spit to the Sand Hills, Hope Banks, Rous Channel, Rainbow

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FEATURE

Location

FMM

Channel, East of Wellington Point and around Peel Island. It’s just a matter of putting in the time to troll a spoon on a diving board (paravane).

I have been sharing information on this method for years, and so many anglers have gotten back to me to say it’s worked well for them. It’s been

chrome slugs at the feeding schools and catch them. It was so good to see them back in the bay.

The only strange thing was that they seemed to stay only around the southeastern side of Hope Banks and the lagoon at Peel Island between Lazaret and Amity Banks. Nobody was complaining though; it was just great to have them back in the bay.

SQUID AND CUTTLEFISH Most people would agree that squid and cuttlefish are great on the plate, and you can catch some good feeds in Moreton Bay. Winter is a fantastic time for cuttlefish and arrow squid in deeper water of Ormiston, Wellington Point and east of Green and St Helena islands. Catches have improved so much over the years, with anglers learning how to target these cephalopods in deeper water, anywhere from 20-40ft. A ball sinker above a squid jig is the go, and you want your jig to be just off the bottom while drifting in these areas.

Tiger squid can be caught throughout the year, but the best time to target them is in summer. You

Rigged and ready for a squidding session. can find them over weed banks from the close-in islands to the western side of Moreton, and all the banks of Amity and Rous and Maroon Banks and channels. Casting out and commencing a slow retrieve is the

There are many more boats on the bay these days, but the fishery is still very healthy. rewarding to see how happy these fishers are with their success, and to see their catch photos.

Once you have found where they schoolies are holding, another great way to catch them is by dropping pillies on gang hooks. The fish fight much harder when you do this.

SPOTTED MACKEREL 2022 was the best spotty season we’ve had for a long while – very different from other years. After a month or two of picking the odd one up on trolling boards and spoons, they finally started schooling up bait and feeding on the surface. This gave us the opportunity to throw 35g

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Both spotted mackerel and school mackerel can be caught in Moreton Bay, depending on the time of year.

best approach. When the whiting are thick, a jig hanging beside the boat tends to get one or two as well.

At night, you can get good results around the piers and rock wall at high tide, where there is a light shining in the water.

As you can see, there really is plenty to catch in the bay. It largely comes down to the time, tide and weather. When you catch a fish, take note of the location, time and tide.

I catch fish on every single trip, because I have been keeping records for years. If you do the same, you will get the results you’re after. It can also be beneficial to listen to old anglers like me; we are happy to help you catch fish.

I upload weekly reports to w p.fishingmonthly.com.au (sometimes I’ll even provide multiple updates in one week). I provide information on where the fish are, what bait I’m catching them on, and when. My goal is to give you all the tools you need to help you catch a fish or two.

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QLD Southern

FMM

EAC pushing south with warmer water GOLD COAST

David Green

This month sees the water temperature start to increase and the first push of the East Australian Current starts to flow south over the wider grounds off the Gold Coast.

Already the current is pushing south at around 2 knots on most days.

November can be a great month for blue marlin fishing in depths from around 150-400m. Some huge fish are often encountered in November and over the years a number of fish over 300kg have been encountered this

November can be a good month to chase mulloway on big soft plastics in the Seaway and around Jumpinpin.

Lures such as 7” jerk shads worked slowly with minimal movement on as light a jig head so you can just get to the bottom is an effective strategy and most of the bites come on a change of tide. Most of the fish encountered this month will be from 60-90cm long, and make sure you release those fish under 75cm very carefully. The lack of rain has been the main reason that the fishing in the estuaries has been quite slow, and hopefully we will get a good down pour in the near future.

There has been a big school of slimy mackerel in the Seaway that make great bait for mulloway. These are

Striped tuna, mahmahi and wahoo are also possibilities. Wahoo have been scarce over the past few seasons, but hopefully will make a reappearance this year. If you find distinct current edges with a lot of coral spawn it is a good area to troll lures for dolphin fish. My favourite skirt colours are purple and pink and blue and gold for mahimahi.

Bottom fishing this month slows down due to the effects of current and warmer water. There should still be a few snapper and pearl perch out on the 50-fathom line and pig fish and rosy job fish also start to show up in catches as the water warms up a bit. In

Troy Dixon with a flathead.

Kane Barclay with a beautiful mahimahi. month. Nearly all of these have fallen to trolled skirted lures fished of heavy 37-60kg tackle. A water temperature of over 23oC seems to be the key to having the blue marlin turn up in November.

As the current starts to run, mahimahi numbers increase and the FRADs have all been fishing well, although most of the fish have been small.

On the closer grounds we can expect the first run of juvenile black marlin. In most years the main run of these fish begins in December, but if the current pushes inshore and the water is blue and warm the little black marlin won’t be too far away. A good area to try is east of the Jumpinpin Bar in depths from 20-50m. If you find bait schools such as slimy mackerel or pilchards work the area and never leave the bait. While trolling lures is often very effective, slowly trolled or drifted live baits are often more effective.

I am not too sure how this black marlin season will be, as reports from more northern grounds in the spring have been quite poor. Most of these inshore fish in November are small, between 10-20kg. If you cannot find dense schools of bait, lure trolling with small, skirted lures on 8-15kg tackle is a great searching method in November.

24 NOVEMBER 2023

closer to shore there should be teraglin and tailer on the 24-fathom line with a few nice mulloway at night. Cobia also start to show up on the reefs close to the Tweed Bar in November and there are often a few nice cobia caught at Palm Beach Reef this month. There should be schools of small tuna and bonito working the back of the surf line and it is a good time to stock up on bait.

RIVERS AND ESTUARIES The recent Flathead Classic was a great success with nearly 7,000 flathead being caught and released. In November there should still be some good flathead fishing with a lot of the action taking place in the deeper sections of the estuary as the fish are actively spawning at this time of year. The top of the flats is also worth a look at high tide and quite a few monsters have been caught on large swim baits, big soft plastics and long shallow diving minnows. The Duo Tide Minnow has been a great lure on the flats. If the water cleans up there should be some good fishing. The last two hours of a run-in tide seem to produce the best results, and hopefully the fishing will improve. The area around Crab Island has been fishing well and has produced a lot of fish in the 40-60cm range.

Crabs will be around this month, remember to follow the new regulations.

Jack activity will increase with the warmer weather. generally encountered just west of the Seaway Tower near the south wall.

Whiting become a lot more active this month as the water warms up and fishing in the Nerang River at night should produce good numbers of big fish on both yabbies and beach worms.

In the main sections of the Broadwater these fish can be sight cast with either small surface lures or unweighted yabbies. The first push of a big run-in tide is generally the best time and the area at the back of Wavebreak Island is a good place to start. There are also a number of really big flathead in this area as well and plenty of bream.

Mud crabs and sand crabs should also put in an appearance this month. Remember that with the new regulations the bag limit is seven mud crabs per person, and all pots and floats must be labelled with the user’s name, so if you are taking a mate out and have eight pots, each crabber must have four pots labelled with his name and details. Overall, the Gold Coast needs rain, and hopefully the fishing will improve this month.

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NOVEMBER 2023 25

QLD Southern

FMM

Pelagic activity is prominent BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

With conditions warming rapidly during November, anglers will be treated to some hot fishing action. Pelagic activity will be particularly prominent throughout the month as increased water temperatures promote baitfish prevalence throughout the bay. Additionally, many other estuarine and bay species will be encountered regularly. Snapper, tuskfish, cod, flathead, mangrove jack, mulloway, threadfin and whiting are a few that will stretch the string and tempt the tastebuds.

LONGTAIL TUNA One of the bay’s premium predatory pelagic species is the longtail or northern bluefin tuna. These can often be found in sizeable schools with specimens eclipsing 25kg however are more commonly caught in the 8kg to 12kg range. Finding them is often the easy part. Longtails regularly feed on small baitfish species this early in the season and often become fixated on this profile.

Offerings larger than that on which they are feeding are often ignored. Casting small offerings is very difficult, especially when you can’t get close enough to the longtails to deliver into the strike zone.

The fly fishers often have the upper hand in this situation as small baitfish profiled flies such as bay baits, surf candies, polar fibre minnows and silversides can be presented reasonable distances using a fly line. The weight to load the rod for an effective cast is in the line, not the

others can work well, depending on the tuna’s mood and feeding regime. It often pays to try different offerings in an attempt to get a result. Stalking the feeding fish often requires skill and thought. Working out the direction in which the tuna are feeding, anticipating their path and then getting into casting position will increase chances considerably. Birds aid this cause as they will follow the tuna from above, in anticipation of them pushing baifish to the surface. The distance the birds are above the water will roughly mirror the distance the baitfish are below the surface.

As the birds begin to lower you know the tuna are pushing the baitfish up. More than likely you will soon get a chance for a cast to sounding tuna. This regime is the same for virtually all pelagics working baitfish schools.

Live baiting around the shipping channel beacons, along current lines and other areas where baitfish congregate can be rather successful for longtails, especially the larger specimens. Yakkas, slimey mackerel, cowanyoung and pike all make great baits when presented on a snelled-hook rig and fished in the upper third of the water column. Cobia, trevally, mack tuna and kingfish are likely bycatch. Baitfish numbers will flourish over the coming months with increased water temperatures that will promote heightened activity from longtail tuna and other pelagics.

SNAPPER Whilst the cooler months offer greater numbers of snapper throughout the Moreton Bay area, I often find that October and November produce trophy

The author’s new PB Moreton Bay snapper of 92cm taken mid afternoon from a randomly located bait school. fly on the end. A very proficient caster can deliver a fly to over 40m however with a stealthy approach you should be able to get closer than this. Flies can be stripped in a flat-stick, double-handed manner or just allowed to sink like a wounded baitfish. Fly fishing for tuna can be highly effective and challenging yet very rewarding also.

Casting lures such as small chromed slugs and slices, stickbaits, pencil poppers, jighead rigged jerkbaits and numerous 26 NOVEMBER 2023

quality specimens. Often you will need to work a little harder and possibly even target areas away from the main crowds, such as the numerous isolated wrecks that are scattered throughout the bay. Large snapper can be caught on an array of artificials including soft plastics, blades, trolled minnow lures, soft vibes, micro jigs and octo jigs.

Quality fresh baits can also work well and even a store-bought bait such as pilchards or squid will tempt a trophy

specimen on occasion. Live baits are one of the most reliable producers of larger snapper when fished thoughtfully.

Locating areas that hold baitfish congregations, such as the artificial reefs, bay island surrounds and wrecks, will short track your journey to success. I prefer drift fishing live baits however they can be deployed from an anchored craft also. Recently I randomly located a decent bait school sounding from bottom to several metres up well wide of any prominent structure whilst on my way back to the ramp. I had a couple of yakkas still in the bait tank so set up a drift line and deployed one close to the bottom.

I could tell by the shape of the bait that there was something herding it. As the yakka entered the zone it was smashed by a good fish which ended up taping out at 92cm and weighing around 8kg. This was a PB Moreton Bay snapper for me and a rewarding capture at the end of an otherwise slow fishing session.

There will still be a lot of quality eating size snapper in the 45-60cm range to be caught over the coming months and these can be tempted with the abovementioned baits and lures. With warmer conditions, fishing late afternoon and into the night can be enjoyable and rewarding.

Sweetlip, estuary cod, school mackerel, morwong, tuskfish, mulloway and a host of other species can be caught in the same areas where you target snapper, which can result in a mixed bag.

MULLOWAY Over the last few months there has been some awesome mulloway to be caught in the rivers and out into the bay around the bay islands and artificial reefs. Whilst these can be caught on an array of well-presented lures, quality baits (especially live offerings) are more likely to reward on these metre-plus specimens.

I prefer large mulloway over snapper as an eating fish because I think they possess more flavour. I have managed several mulloway exceeding 110cm over the last few months and although I have had to put in a decent effort for each fish the captures have been rewarding.

These have been taken on both lures and live baits, depending on the situation.

Larger schools of mulloway can often be located around the Peel Artificial Reef, Coochie Artificial and the Harry Atkinson (especially near the Tiwi Pearl). Several fish can often be caught from the same location however sharks can often spoil the party by engulfing hooked fish.

MANGROVE JACK Warming water temperatures and a rising barometer presents ideal conditions for those targeting jacks.

Mornings, evening sessions and well into the darkened hours are when the jacks are often most active, offering the best opportunity for those who like to target them on lures. Casting minnow lures (especially suspending models), soft vibes and plastics (such as crustacean

With hot days and a rising barometer, mangrove jack with be smashing live baits, lures and even flies. profiles and paddle tails) is a great way to probe around mangrove snags, bridge pylons, pontoons, rock walls and other prominent structures.

Mangrove jack will commonly lurk around these areas and ambush any passing morsel. Most anglers use 7kg to 15kg line and baitcaster outfits when casting lures as the single-handed mechanics of the cast offer better opportunity for accuracy.

Spinning outfits can also be used but most find them less accurate and more labour intensive to cast. Live baits of herring, mullet and banana prawns can also work exceptionally well when presented close to structure. Don’t have too much slack line between the rod tip and bait or you will be taken deep into the snag before you know it.

Estuary cod will respond to the same techniques as jacks and inhabit similar areas so are high on the list of by-catch.

Trevally, flathead, mulloway and big bream can also be caught whilst targeting mangrove jacks in the rivers, estuaries, canals and harbours. There are several months of prime jack fishing conditions ahead over the coming months. Those late afternoon periods when it has been a stinking hot day and storm activity is increasing (the barometer will be rising) offer the most aggressive activity from jacks but get off the water before storms hit as waving a graphite rod around when there is lightning could be a recipe for disaster.

THREADFIN SALMON During the warmer months, threadfin salmon congregate in various areas in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River, throughout the Logan River, southern bay and other systems flowing into Moreton Bay. Threadfin show prominently on most marine electronics due to their large air bladders however just because you can find them doesn’t mean you will catch them. They are often pedantic eaters, especially when they are feeding on prawn schools. Hopping soft vibes through the schools is generally one of the most reliable techniques. Prawn profile lures such as Chasebaits Flick Prawn,

Southern QLD

FMM Atomic Prong, Samaki Live Shrimp and Pro Lure Clone Prawn are also great options and will benefit from a smear of S-Factor scent.

These should be rigged with a minimum weight jighead that has enough weight to get the lure into the strike zone but still maintains the slower glide action of the prawn on the pause. Slow pitch jigs are also ideal options for vertical fishing, especially oval jigs with plenty of flutter.

Obviously, live baits of banana prawns, herring, mullet and biddies can also work well when fished close to the bottom with a minimum of lead. There will be several more months of prime thready action however they are currently a serious target for anyone fishing in the rivers and southern bay during November.

CRABS Anglers targeting crabs over the coming months will be pleasantly rewarded on most occasions. Sand crab numbers were great during September and October, however many found them a little soft (not very full) on many occasions. By now they should be plump with tasty meat so it is an ideal time to target them. Setting a few safety pots around the bay islands, in the major channels and the gutters leading off the sand flats will likely reward with both sand crabs and blueswimmers.

Bait your pots with fish frames, tuna heads, mullet or chicken carcases for good results. Smaller baits such as fish offcuts,

chicken necks and even a handful of pilchards can be used but will need to be contained in a fine mesh enveloped and secured in the centre of the bottom of the pot. Pickup style dillies (not the witches hat style) can also be used but will need to be checked a lot more regularly than safety pots. Mud crab numbers can also be healthy up in the creeks and rivers during November. Without serious rainfall, the muddies will be deep in the mangrove expanse. Setting pots in the drains leading out of this expanse, or going to the effort to walk the pots into position will increase rewards considerably. After serious rainfall mud crabs will be more readily attainable in the main system

Longtail tuna numbers will increase during November due to increased baitfish prevalence as a result of warming waters.

as the lowering salinity will force them from the mangrove expanse and small gutters. Muddies can be caught with the same pots and baits as the sandies and blueswimmers but possess different size and bag limits so ensure you are up to date with these regulations.

MACKEREL It will be mainly school mackerel that will be caught during November, however the occasional spotted mackerel is a possibility. School mackerel will most commonly be found in the main channels and around the shipping channel beacons.

Trolling spoons behind paravanes in the major channels such as the Rous, Rainbow, Kianga, Small Ships and Pearl is a reliable way to score. Both #3 and #4 spoons will work well with the Halco Barra Drone and Kimberley spoons being productive and easy to source. The start of the falling tide is a prime time to troll the channel edges as the mackerel will begin to move off the flats to patrol these edges and prey on the bait flushed from the flats with the receding tide.

The 6-8m zone between Green Island and Cleveland can be worth trolling on the falling tide. The edge of the bank south of the Harry Atkinson and around to the Hope Banks area can also produce.

Drifting pilchards in these same zones is another option as the mackerel move through these channels regularly. The shipping channel beacons hold various forms of baitfish and this in turn attracts

mackerel to these zones. These vertical structures can be jigged with chromed slugs and slices or probed with ganged hook rigged pilchards. Several beacons can be worked over in a session. Unsuccessful beacons are often worth a second look later in the tide as the mackerel can assemble around them at any time.

Bonito are often regular captures in these zones and occasionally a mack tuna, longtail, yellowtail kingfish or cobia will also take a vertically work chrome slug or slice. Spotted mackerel are usually not that common during November but you may spot the V-shaped wake-telltale of a cruising fish. A cast near it with a chromed slug then a flat stick retrieve will generally get their attention.

CONCLUSION Plenty of awesome species can be caught throughout the Moreton Bay area during November. Whether you prefer the fast-paced action and screaming drags associated with pelagic fishing or the more relaxed approach of targeting demersals there will be plenty of options.

The river and estuarine fishers will also have options with jacks, cod, mulloway, flathead, whiting, bream and numerous others prevalent. Setting a few safety pots whilst fishing can add tasty crabs to the haul. The days will be hot and plenty of slip, slop, slap and slurp will be needed to avoid the elements but the rewards will be worth it. Hot weather equals hot action so get into it.

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QLD Southern

FMM

Summer species are ramping up BRISBANE

Bob Thornton

As 2023 draws ever closer to its conclusion, the action on our local ‘summer’ species is ramping up vigorously. With scorching daytime temperatures and afternoon seabreezes a feature throughout October, it feels like summer is already here!

Several major bushfires in our southern states herald dangerous times

of fantastic captures both inshore and out wide as the mercury continues to climb.

I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks in September trout fishing in Scotland. Fly fishing in remote hill lochs and what the locals call ‘burns’ (a Gaelic word for small freshwater creek) was a nice change of pace. When I returned to Australia in early October, I was greeted with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 30s – my idea of paradise!

My advice is to enjoy these days while they last, because it’s going to be a very

It’s not the traditional method of harvesting sashimi, but it’ll do! The yellowfin have been hanging out super wide, but once found they have been willing to eat stickbaits and poppers. Photo courtesy of Kaspar Lenigas. ahead for Queenslanders, and with a dry summer already upon us it will pay to be vigilant when you’re out and about.

Pay attention to any fire warnings issued by emergency services and remember to have a plan if a fire breaks out near where you’re fishing.

On the fishing front, things have been progressing as expected; with lots

hot summer.

BAY AND OFFSHORE Strong northerly winds have made venturing offshore a little bit difficult for most trailer boats, but if you own a larger vessel or are extremely competent in large swell there have been some excellent bounties out wide.

The action on the yellowfin tuna

has been out of this world, however the schools of big 50-60kg fish have been mostly out beyond the 1000m line. With any luck they will start coming in a little closer to shore through November and December. Trolling skirts is a good way to find these fish, but a few of the more sporting anglers have been finding bait schools and chucking large stickbaits and poppers around them to provoke a strike.

This action should continue until at least December.

There hasn’t been any noticeable arrival of seasonal visitors like small black marlin or big schools of Spanish mackerel and wahoo in close just yet, but hopefully

by November we should start getting a taste of this action.

In the bay the seasons have definitely changed. The inshore pelagics are out in force and have arrived a little earlier than expected. Good-sized longtail tuna are becoming more and more common each week and have been seen in most parts of the northern and southern bay. One regular customer Pete recently caught a 110cm longy off the Shorncliffe Pier casting a Rough Trail Blazin 110 sinking minnow. Every so often these torpedos come in close enough for land-based anglers to grab a piece of the action, so anyone fishing off the Bonagree, Redcliffe, Woody Point or Shorncliffe jetties and piers should keep this in mind.

Spotted or doggy mackerel should be terrorizing bait throughout the bay by now, and the feeding schools should be easy enough to distinguish from the tuna

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Big shallow water snapper in spring and summer don’t come easy, but by focussing on lowlight periods, making long casts and fishing as light as you can get away with, you’ll be in with a chance. schools. The tuna tend to jump clear of the water as they feed, rather than slashing through the bait at breakneck speed as the mackerel do. If the doggies are not feeding on the surface, trolling spoons on paravans or running hardbodies like the Samaki Redic DS100 or Halco Laser Pro 120 is a good way to find a few, and you’ll likely run into school mackerel doing this

You don’t see land-based longtails every day in Brisbane, but Pete just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The fish went 110cm and was taken on a lure, no less!

Photo courtesy of Pete El Tehan.

as well. The Four Beacons and Measured Mile areas are always good places to start, but they can and will show up anywhere in the bay.

The reef fish have been very active in the bay as well. Snapper are still a popular target with bait and lures for both landbased and boat anglers! The numbers of smaller schooling fish have started to thin out, however the larger resident fish have begun to show themselves. Getting out early or late in the day to any shallow reef zones such as the fringes of Mud and Peel islands, North Reef around Scarborough and the edges of the shipping channel around the Port of Brisbane will put you in with a chance. These big snapper feed in shallow water under 5m when the light is low and require a level of stealth more akin to bream fishing. Sure, they don’t come easy, but if you present your lures on light leaders between 10-14lb and make long casts to where you think they’ll be, you’ll give yourself a good chance of hooking one. Landing them is another matter altogether, and generally good teamwork is needed to land such big fish on light gear.

The reefy shallows have also come alive with tropical delights like grass sweetlip, estuary cod and various tuskfish species. All of these fish are regular by-catch when chasing big shallow water snapper, and they all taste fantastic!

RIVERS AND ESTUARIES November is generally a very productive month in the estuaries for a few reasons. Firstly, the rising temperatures bring our tropical river predators like mangrove jacks, estuary cod and barramundi on the bite, while the flathead, bream and summer whiting become hungrier than in previous months. Secondly, the holiday season has yet to kick into gear and the fish aren’t receiving too much pressure.

Plenty of jacks have already hit the deck this spring, with canal systems

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NOVEMBER 2023

QLD NSW

QLD Southern like Newport Waterway and Pacific Harbour on Bribie fishing well. Natural systems like Elimbah, Coochin and Bells creeks have also shown promise early in the season, with the latter two also rumoured to have a few barramundi sitting in some of the deeper holes.

Earlier in spring it was smaller lures and live baits in the 60-80mm range doing most of the damage, but by now these fish should be at their most aggressive and willing to eat offerings in excess of 100mm.

Suspending jerkbaits and paddle-tail soft plastics (rigged standard or weedless) are the most popular lures at the moment, while live mullet, herring and garfish are the favoured livies.

Don’t be afraid to fish quickly if you’re using lures, as hot-tempered jacks love chasing down their prey, and working over ground in this way allows you to cover more water to find where they are.

Estuary cod are another commonly encountered river predator through spring and will inhabit much of the same areas as the jacks. I don’t mind nailing the odd cod between jack captures, especially if it’s a larger model around 50-60cm.

These bruisers pull super hard and are incredible on the plate. I’ve found that you can fry the skin to make excellent fish

Mangrove jack are a prized fish throughout SEQ, and November is an excellent month to explore local creeks, rivers and canals in search of a PB.

FMM

Ethan has the local saratoga dialled in and chases these prehistoric predators in several different rivers and lakes.

Photo courtesy of Ethan Flowers.

crackling – much the same way as you would with coral trout skin.

The Flathead Classic in late September saw some absolute behemoths landed, but even now in November there should still be plenty of large duskies lurking around the flats throughout the northern bay systems. Any shallow flats in the Pine and Maroochy rivers, as well as southern and northern Pumicestone Passage that are free of snot weed are worth a go for a big flatty. Throwing bigger lures such as the MMD Whiting Glide 180 for larger fish or small to medium jerkbaits or soft plastics in the 70-100mm size range for ‘eater’ size fish should be productive.

In these same areas you’ll start to notice healthy schools of summer whiting getting around, and now is the time to start refining your approach to nail some of the big 40cm+ models. Soaking yabbies or beachworms (fresh or cured) over these same banks is a tried and true method of nailing big summeries. If you’re after a bit of sport, small topwater lures worked quickly over the flats work brilliantly for boatless anglers wanting to have a stack of fun on whiting. Lures such as Daiwa’s Infeet Slippery Dog 65F and the 70mm MMD Splash Prawn are designed with this style of fishing in mind. If you can fish

these lures on light 4-8lb braided lines and use the wind to make long casts across the flats to avoid spooking fish, you should be able to put together a nice bag of whiting.

Bream have finished spawning and will be redistributing themselves through all our local estuary systems. At this time of year bream like to use the tide to their advantage, venturing up into the shallowest margins to feed at high tide and falling back into the channels as the tide drops. As jelly prawns start to appear in the creeks in late spring, bream should be looking up and trying to slurp these tasty morsels as they skip along the surface in retreat. Small topwater lures like the ones mentioned above are dynamite when the bream are in this mood, and I can’t wait to spend a few after-work sessions down at my local creek watching bream fight over my lure!

Small bull sharks have been active in the middle reaches of our major and minor systems, with the Pine, Caboolture and Brisbane rivers the standouts.

Freshwater eel is by far the most trusted bait among the sharking community, however mullet and slimy mackerel fillet, as well as a host of live baits like mullet, herring and garfish are productive as well.

Fishing your baits under a float or balloon is a good way to keep them away from the catfish and other bottom dwellers.

FRESHWATER The headwaters of our local systems have been producing good results for the bush bashers and kayakers, with the North and South Pine, Caboolture, Brisbane (below Wivenhoe), Mooloolah and Maroochy rivers home to many bass.

A few drops of rain here and there have allowed them to make their way back upstream following their spawning in the brackish reaches. Up here they can enjoy life away from the bull sharks in a healthy freshwater environment where insects, frogs, shrimps and small fish make up their diet.

Warm mornings and afternoons are a great time to be throwing surface lures, and any lures that mimic terrestrial insects or frogs are almost guaranteed to draw interest. Once the sun is out, switching to a small spinnerbait, chatterbait or crankbait is a good way to keep the action going.

If they’re playing a little hard to get, soft plastics that can be rigged weedless like

Big bream tickling the 40cm mark, like this one from Mitchell, will be moving into shallow water through spring and will only get hungrier as it gets hotter!

Photo courtesy of Mitchell Lane.

30 NOVEMBER 2023

the BaitJunkie Risky Critter or CrushCity Imposter are useful tools if you need to get your lures in amongst the gnarliest cover to provoke a strike. Make sure you’re running at least 12lb fluorocarbon leader when fishing in this way, because even a 40cm bass will make short work of lighter leaders if hooked in tight!

Saratoga and yellowbelly have been making appearances in our local rivers, especially systems with stocked impoundments on them like the Pine, Brisbane and Mary rivers. The seemingly endless rain of last season resulted in many overflows for our local dams, so these fish have likely come from the dams and become naturalised in the systems below.

The local dams have been giving up

The upper reaches of our rivers and creeks are now full of hungry bass. The author never misses a chance to chase these wonderful sportfish on foot. some quality fishing as well. The edges of Samsonvale and Kurwongbah have been worth a go from the kayak, with bass, yellowbelly and a surprising number of saratoga willing to hit cast lures. We’ve even heard from a few people walking along the upper inlets of both dams and sight-casting big toga!

Spinnerbaits and weedless rigged soft plastics are the main players in the local dams, but as it continues to warm we should start to see more topwater action.

Fishing along weed or lilypad edges is the best way to intercept surface-feeding fish, and fly fishers should be able to get in on this action as well, especially as the insect activity increases.

WRAP-UP November will probably be the last month that we’re not cursing the hot weather and spending the majority of the day indoors, so be sure you make the most of spring while you can!

As usual, the options available to you are virtually endless, and decision paralysis can be a big ‘problem’ in SEQ through spring. I certainly didn’t encounter this problem in the Scottish Highlands, but I will say, as I’ve said before, it’s not a bad problem to have!

Thanks as always to our wonderful customers who shot through photos and filled us in with what’s been happening out there. We couldn’t do it without you!

Stay safe out there, remember to hydrate, and I’ll catch you next month.

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QLD Southern

FMM

Hunt for spring Jack!

NOOSA

Peter Wells

With the water warming most anglers are enjoying the perfect conditions for hunting jacks and macks.

With quality mangrove jack and mulloway in the Noosa River anglers are spoilt for choice. Fishing the top of the rock bars from Johns Landing to the

mouth of Lake Cootharaba has been a hot spot for jacks, try casting ZMan plastics rigged weedless into snags as you work your way up and down the river this has claimed some trophy fish.

Trolling hardbodies has also been a great way of getting stuck into some of those notorious mangrove jack, there are some great lures on the market but one of the standouts with great value

Kelvin got this great knobby snapper off the grounds near K’gari.

Blake Cole with a very solid snapper from the reefs off Double Island. This fish was taken on a slow fall jig.

AUSTRALIA’S BEST DEALER SALES & INSTALLS

www.scmarinedoc.com.au 32 NOVEMBER 2023

for money is the Berkley Pro-Tech in the Bazz Baits, this is a suspending lure that comes in a couple of different dive depths.

Soft plastics have been working a treat on the flathead, especially the prawn profiles. Good sized flathead and school mulloway have been cruising the bottom so make sure you have a heavy enough jighead to keep you on the bottom. Set yourself up on the outgoing tide and simply drift your way back on the tide. When you catch one, make sure you work that same area as the fish tend to nest up at this time of the year.

Woods Bays and the current line have been a go to area for early morning anglers. Some good-sized trevally, queenfish and the odd tailor have been feeding on the large amounts of bait brought in on those big spring tides. Surface poppers, like the Lucky Craft G–Splash, has been one of the standouts for those working the surface when you see those tell-tale bust ups. As the day progresses, switch to a deeper diving hardbody or soft plastic, for those of you that just want to put fish in the boat then the good old live bait will just about guarantee you a feed.

Crabs are also starting to come online as we move to those warmer months, make sure you have your

details on your floats, or if you are tying off to a tree make sure your details are above the waterline, remember to only keep the bucks and only four crab pots per person, with a maximum of seven crabs per person and a maximum of 14 per boat. Fisheries are red hot on crabbers but if you do all the right things, you won’t have a problem.

Munna Point and up into the Frying Pan has been producing good numbers of whiting. Live worms, peeled prawns and yabbies have been some of the favoured baits. Also casting over the flats with a surface walker style lure has been a great way to bag an elbow slapper.

The Maroochy River has been outstanding. Anglers are seeing good size jacks up around the Dunethin rock area. Trevally are also in good numbers along with mulloway. The deeper holes seem to hold the mulloway with the Samaki Vibelicious a favourite. The jacks have been firing around the mouth of Coolum Creek.

You may also find yourself hooking into a few flathead, bream or even a stonker threadfin salmon, try the larger size Zerek Live Cherabin, these are rigged weedless so you can really pitch them into the structure.

The areas around Picnic Point have

Leon Ost with a 69cm golden caught around the Tin Can Bay area.

Southern QLD

FMM been a great spot for families with plenty of smaller whiting, bream and flathead to help keep the kids entertained. Small hooks on a running sinker rig with small baits of prawns, yabbies or worms should see the kids catching.

On the beach we are seeing some nice flathead, the females are just starting to head offshore to spawn.

Remember the betterment of the species, so maybe take that photo and let her go to improve stocks for the future. There has been some nice tailor around the river mouths along with trevally and queenfish. Those fastmoving slugs have been very effective first thing in the morning and late in the arvo.

For the kids, fishing those gutters and deeper holes have seen quality sized dart and whiting taken on live beach worms and pipis. Big strip baits of freshly caught tailor have been working well for mulloway and smaller sharks.

For the rock hoppers Noosa National Park and Yaroomba Rocks have been fishing extremely well when we get those quieter offshore conditions. You can expect pretty much anything at this time of the year, from mulloway, juvenile snapper, cod,

sweetlip and maybe the odd kingy.

Offshore, the pelagics have been all the rage. If we can get a good run in the weather, this season should be a cracker. With the warmer water temps moving down the coast that bit earlier, the fish seem to be in better numbers this year. These fish have been in close and a lot of time you can see the fish

feeding from the beach, keep an eye out for birds or surface bust up for the best indication on where to head. There are so many ways to target these fish, slow trolling a well rigged garfish, bonito, or pilchard is very popular, casting metal slugs at bust ups, or trolling a spread of diving lures around reef pressure edges is also very effective. Getting across

Aiden Whiteman with a very nice saltwater barra taken from one of the creeks in the Great Sandy Straits.

those bars just on or before dawn is key to finding those feeding schools so make sure you set your alarms.

Even though there is plenty happening on the surface with the pelagics, the bottom has also been very rewarding with trout and nice sized sweetlip. Trout have been on the chew in and around the bommies and pinnacles of Sunshine Reef.

North Reef has been good for quality cobia as well as some out of season snapper. Chardon’s comes alive at this time of the year with some great billfish action so if you are heading that way make sure you have some teasers on board with the hope of attracting one to the boat.

Further out on the Islands off Double Island has seen quality snapper, red emperor, pearlies, and cobia with pillies, squid and live slimies securing the better fish.

• Don’t forget to check in to www. fishingnoosa.com.au for all the latest up to date info on fishing and bar crossings.

The knowledgeable teams at Tackle World Noosa, Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola our new store The Tackle Shop in Gympie can provide you with the right equipment, bait and advice to ensure success!

Garmin named 2023 Manufacturer of the Year

Garmin, the world’s most innovative and recognized marine electronics manufacturer, has been named Manufacturer of the Year in the large manufacturer category for the ninth consecutive year by members of the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA®) at its annual conference and awards banquet held Sept. 21 in Orlando, Fla. The coveted Manufacturer of the Year title is awarded to the most recognized company in the marine electronics industry for excellence in product service and support in the field.

Garmin was also awarded five Product of Excellence awards in the multi-function display (MFD), autopilot, multimedia entertainment, automatic identification system (AIS) and safety categories. These awards are voted on by NMEA dealers who specialize in installing marine electronics, qualified NMEA technicians and other marine electronics manufacturers.

“These awards demonstrate Garmin’s strength as a team, as they exemplify not only the high quality of our products but also our commitment to providing customers and dealers with exceptional service and support throughout our entire organization.

We are extremely honoured to again be named the NMEA Manufacturer of the Year and very proud to be a part of this organization in its mission to enhance the technology and safety of electronics in the marine industry.” Said Dan Bartel, Garmin Vice President of Global Consumer Sales

This year’s NMEA Product of Excellence honours for Garmin include: MFD – GPSMAP® 8000XSV This 16-inch chartplotter boasts a full HD in-plane switching (IPS) display with multi-touch control and comes preloaded with Garmin Navionics+™ mapping with access to daily updates, Auto Guidance+™ technology1 and more. The GPSMAP 8000xsv offers anglers exceptional sonar detail with built-in support for a wide range of CHIRP traditional and scanning sonars, Ultra High-Definition scanning sonar, and the entire Panoptix™ all-seeing sonar line, including LiveScope™ live scanning sonar. This is Garmin’s ninth consecutive honor in this category.

AUTOPILOT – REACTOR™ 40 HYDRAULIC AUTOPILOT WITH SMARTPUMP V2 The Reactor was Garmin’s first

recreational autopilot system to utilize AHRS technology and boasts usability, installation flexibility, and many other features that prove to be valuable for any vessel. With a new edgeto-edge glass touchscreen display, the included GHC™ 50 autopilot instrument not only looks good, it also makes navigation simple and hassle free. For 11 years running, Garmin has been awarded the top spot in the autopilot category.

MULTIMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT – FUSION® APOLLO™ RA770 MARINE STEREO This marine entertainment system was the world’s first touchscreen marine stereo with Apple AirPlay®, built-in Wi-Fi and network audio sharing capabilities. This extends Garmin’s winning streak in this

category to eight years.

AIS – CORTEX™ M1 HUB Combining advanced collision avoidance technology with proactive alerting, the Cortex M1 hub offers a high-speed smartAIS® transponder and remote vessel monitoring to alert boaters of collision risks, providing key information about the situation to make communications easier and more effective. This is the second consecutive win for Garmin in the AIS category.

SAFETY – GPSMAP 86SCI Garmin’s flagship marine handheld, the GPSMAP 86sci comes preloaded with BlueChart® g3 coastal charts and inReach® satellite communication2 capabilities, including two-way messaging and location tracking. Plus, wireless connectivity with compatible chartplotters and instruments makes it a virtual extension and backup of an onboard marine system.

Engineered on the inside for life on the outside, Garmin products have revolutionized life for anglers, sailors, mariners and boat enthusiasts everywhere. Committed to developing the most innovative, highest quality, and easiest to use marine electronics the industry has ever known, Garmin believes every day is an opportunity to innovate and a chance to beat yesterday. Other Garmin marine brands include Navionics® and JL Audio®. For more information, visit Garmin’s virtual Newsroom,email our press team and connect with @ garminau on social media.

NOVEMBER 2023 33

QLD Central

FMM

Dead baits doing the damage as waters warm BUNDABERG

Luke Truant

We have been enjoying some good fishing over the past month, either side of the finfish closure, with memorable catches of solid red emperor and coral trout. Most of the fish caught have been bigger specimens, with comparatively few medium and small fish coming aboard. The majority of fish caught have been trout, rather than red emperor, which is to be expected in spring. There have also been some nannygai in the mix, mostly in depths of around 30-50m.

The fish have been spread out in a range of depths, from bommies in just 18m of water through to fern country in 45m of water. We have tended to have

Archer with a 75cm coral trout caught on a live bait.

– you don’t want to hear a grinding noise during the retrieve. I recommend using 55lb abrasion-resistant leader in green, which is hard for the fish to see.

ESTUARY FISHING Rising water temperatures are getting the fish fired up, and the action will only get better in the coming weeks. Barramundi are off-limits for the rest of the year, so mangrove jacks are the prime target for sportfishers.

They are suckers for a well-placed live bait, strip bait, 3-4” soft plastic or hardbody lure. You can find the jacks around the rock bars in the Burnett River during the run-out tide, or

inshore. The standard set-up for schoolies is to use a trolling board and a few spoons. If you’ve never used them before, just ask your local tackle store. They’ll be happy to show you how. It’s pretty straightforward.

School mackerel can often be found around Burnett Heads along the lateral marks all the way to the end, around 3 miles out, or Ryans Reef.

Your troll speed should be between 5.6 knots and 7 knots.

At the time of writing, the grunter are really thick in the estuary, and people are catching specimens up to 70cm. I personally like to target grunter on the rubbly sections of the river, with river rocks along the bottom. It doesn’t have to be deep. I usually use long strip baits, whether it’s mullet or mullet gut.

I prefer the run-in or the margins of the tide change for these fish. In my experience, you generally have the best bite on the last hour before a change, or the first hour of the run-in. The middle of the tide can be a lot harder, but it’s still possible to catch fish if you use smaller weights. I use a running sinker with a long trace, at least 50cm long, with a 20lb fluoro trace and size 2/0 hook. Grunter are an underrated fish – they’re fun to catch, they pull like freight trains, and they taste great.

• Truansea Charters specialise in 10-hour day trips chasing prized reef targets such as coral trout and red emperor and arm-stretching pelagics

Both live baits and strip baits have been catching fish over the past month. better catches on the incoming tide, but not always. The best time to fish has been from sun-up to mid-morning. If you fish later than that, you’re less likely to catch good fish.

Recently, two of my clients had a good trip smashing their trout PBs several times each for the day – and zero small fish were caught. There was a light north-westerly blowing for the whole day, which almost always equates to catching big fish. Some people think the fishing is bad on those days, but if you go bigger with your baits, you’ll find that the extra-large fish will still bite. One of the trout caught on this trip ate a whole iodine bream that had been regurgitated by another trout. The boys caught some great Maori cod and a load of huge tuskfish as well.

As the yellowtail scad numbers have dwindled, the red emperor and trout have become less interested in livies. It’s a big change from the beginning of the season, when the predators were laserfocused on live baits. Large flesh baits have been the stand-out on most trips.

You may be tempted to ditch the livies altogether, but I would advise against this. A live yellowtail may still 36 NOVEMBER 2023

tempt an extra-large gold-spot or Maori cod. We have been getting some cracker cod lately on livies. If you’ve got, say, four people fishing in your boat, it’s good to have three of them using dead baits and one person with a livie.

If you catch an oversized cod (the maximum size for a gold-spot is 120cm), it will probably need your help to get back down to the bottom.

Use a knife to vent the swim bladder (a syringe isn’t really big enough).

Next, put some gloves on and massage the buoyant, bloated stomach that’s protruding from the cod’s mouth. After both the air bladder and the stomach are deflated, the cod will be able to swim home.

When it comes to dead baits, two good options are hussar fillets and iodine fillets, both with the tail left on. Wings have been working well, too. If you think your bait is too big, think again! Big baits tend to catch bigger fish.

Insert a single hook at the wide end of your bait so that the tail section can waft naturally in the water. 50lb braid is a good line for this kind of fishing, and make sure it’s nice and smooth

There have been some excellent captures of trout recently, which will continue this month. further upstream amongst the snags.

Flathead are also biting well, taking a range of soft plastics, and there are some solid fish amongst them.

FISHING IN NOVEMBER Good weather windows can be few and far between in November. If an opportunity presents itself, don’t let it pass you by. You could be waiting a long time for another chance to get offshore.

If it’s too windy to get out wide, one option is to chase school mackerel

like Spanish mackerel. The maximum number of anglers is 6, so you’ll never feel crowded. The price is $370pp (or $350pp if you book the whole boat), which includes all gear, fuel, bait, ice, chilled water/soft drinks and laughs!

You’re welcome to bring your own reef fishing gear if you prefer. Other charter options include half-day reef trips, half-day river trips and private guiding.

To find out more, visit www.truansea. com.au, find them on Facebook or call Luke on 0423 015 490.

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YAKATTACK

QLD Central

FMM

What to do when barra are off the table MACKAY

Clinton Hassan

It’s that time of year when the warm, northerly winds hit the coast, and bait schools push in closer to shore.

The days get stinking hot, the mozzies get thick, and the creeks and rivers come alive.

Unfortunately, this increase in activity typically lines up with the closure of the barra season – and yes, the barra are chewing their heads off as we speak. For those anglers who aren’t aware, the closure starts on 1 November and ends on 1 February inclusive each year. Targeting them out of season is totally prohibited.

There are rules and regulations on this on the QBFP website, and on the fantastic app ‘QLD Fishing 2.0’.

Fortunately, there are plenty of other species to target during the barra closed season. With plentiful bait in the systems, mangrove jack, fingermark (golden snapper) and threadfin salmon will all be on the hit list. Neap tides at the start of the month will be perfect for trolling or casting 90-100mm, 2-3m hardbody lures along the flats on the run-out tide. Alternatively, you can work 70-100mm vibes around holes and deep banks throughout the creeks.

There have been good quality creek prawns throughout the creeks lately. Those anglers cast netting gutters and gravel beds for them have been rewarded with enough for a feed and bait. Two or three prawns pinned in the tail, and floated along snags or lightly weighted and slowly retrieved over shallow sand gutters, will entice many species.

PIONEER RIVER The Pioneer River is one of my

favourite areas around Mackay to fish. The river runs clear for most of the year, and fishes exceptionally well all year round when targeting certain species.

Large schools of herring, mullet and gar are abundant due to the northerly winds. Land-based anglers have been taking full advantage, catching an array of species from the local fishing platforms and rock walls. Spanish, spotted and school mackerel, along with GTs, queenies and mangrove jack have been caught using live baits and lures. Be careful when you’re releasing a fish, as there have been a lot of big bull sharks menacing fish and baits.

Live baiting the bridges during the day or at night produces some

jew, fingermark and cobia.

Live baits such as herring and squid can also be caught from the wall using herring jigs, small hardbody lures and squid jigs. Alternatively, using a drawstring cast net along the boat ramp will usually produce plenty of bait.

Boaties working 5-7” plastics along the wall at night have been scoring some solid fingermark and jewfish in recent weeks, while casting metals around the lights has been banging some massive GTs and big-eye trevally.

Josh Grima with a tasty grass sweetlip.

Finlay Mau was all smiles with his catch of redclaw.

38 NOVEMBER 2023

Wayne Townsend with a nice king threadfin salmon.

of the biggest mangrove jacks in the area. Live mullet, whiting and herring on a running sinker rig is the preferred option. Casting poppers and swimbaits around the pylons will have you tied up to some big queenies and trevally.

Bait fishos have been doing well using strips of mullet, gar, ribbonfish or freshly-pumped yabbies around the gravel beds, during the last few hours of the run-in tide. In recent weeks, they have been catching large barred grunter along with bream and butterfish.

HARBOUR WALLS The south harbour break wall will be another hotspot with land-based anglers this month.

Live baiting or casting metals/ weighted hardbody lures early in the morning has been productive.

You can encounter an assortment of species this way, including all mackerel and trevally species, black

Jack Bennet with a ripper fingermark.

If you would like a feed of squid, try fishing the walls around the new moon, if the weather permits (it needs to be calm). Make sure to use berley and bring an assortment of squid jig sizes.

TO FIND YOUR LOCAL DEALER VISIT WWW.ANGLAPRO.COM.AU

e m i t t a h t s It ’ ! n i a g a r a e y of Our Fisheries Queensland East Coast fisheries manager Daniel answers some questions about the Queensland barramundi closed seasons during spawning periods. For Gulf of Carpentaria this is from 7 October 2023 – 31 January 2024. For east coast Queensland tidal and freshwaters excluding selected dams from 1 November 2023 – 31 January 2024.

Why do we have closed seasons?

How are they determined?

Closed seasons are typically developed to reduce fishing pressure on fish stocks during a period of vulnerability.

Typically closed seasons are determined around the time when the fish is most likely to be spawning, migrating or aggregating, and fishing activity may disrupt this important part of its life stage.

How long has a barramundi closed season been implemented in Queensland?

The first barramundi closed season was introduced in November 1980 and has strong support amongst the fishing community. It was expanded into the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1996, but to commence in early October in line with updated information on moon phase and the potential for early rain, in order to protect aggregations of large female fish prior to spawning.

Do we have data about how this has helped populations? How do scientists collect this data and monitor population changes?

DAF2091 10/23

Wild populations of barramundi are routinely assessed every few years using published stock assessments that utilise monitoring data on catch, effort and biology such as length and age of the stock, to understand how the status of the stock changes through time.

In the early 1990’s East Coast barramundi stock was around 20% of unfished levels. Now stocks sit at around 60% on average which is our target biomass.

Do closed seasons need to continue into the future? Will there always be closed seasons?

Closed seasons are an important and effective management tool in reducing a known impact on a fish stock. In the face of changing environments that include weather patterns, currents and flows, and water temperature to name a few, reducing the impact of fishing will assist in improving the stock’s resilience in light of these harder-to-understand impacts.

Some research has been published on the importance of not disrupting barramundi during spawning times, as well as the benefit of targeted closures both temporally and spatially. Closed seasons may change or be removed as new information on the fish’s biology and the effectiveness of a closed season become more available.

They are an effective and fair management measure, as they apply to all sectors equally.

Where can I catch a barra during closed season?

Prescribed barramundi waterways are open to fishing during the closure Barramundi as they are above waterway barriers without fish passage and rely on stocking to maintain a recreational fishery. Scan the QR code for more information about the barramundi closures and prescribed barramundi waterways.

Watch this video for more on barramundi closures Barramundi closures

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

Changing seasons and catch limits

What you need to know Spanish mackerel MANAGEMENT CHANGES* Management changes to recreational catch limits – 1 fish per person, or 2 fish per boat with 2 or more recreational fishers on board a boat.

*the boat limit does not apply to charter fishing trips.

CLOSED SEASON Queensland east coast waters north of 22˚ South (located slightly north of Stanage Bay) • 12 October – 2 November 2023 • 10 November – 1 December 2023 Queensland east coast waters south of latitude 22˚ South (located slightly north of Stanage Bay) • 1 February – 21 February 2024 • 1 March – 21 March 2024

Coral reef fin fish CLOSED SEASON Two five-day closed seasons in October and November each year.

East coast Queensland tidal waters north of latitude 24˚ 50’ south.

• 12 October – 16 October 2023 • 10 November – 14 November 2023

Barramundi CLOSED SEASON Closed during spawning period.

Gulf of Carpentaria • 7 October 2023 – 31 January 2024 East coast Queensland tidal and freshwaters excluding selected dams • 1 November 2023 – 31 January 2024

Spanner crab CLOSED SEASON All Queensland tidal waters • 1 November 2023 – 15 December 2023

Tropical rock lobster CLOSED SEASON Queensland east coast north of latitude 14˚ South and Gulf of Carpentaria waters • 1 October 2023 – 31 December 2023 Note: unless otherwise stated, closed seasons commence immediately after midnight at the beginning of the first mentioned day, and finish immediately before midnight at the end of the last mentioned day.

Join the responsible

rec fisher revolution!

Fishing is Queensland’s number 1 recreational activity and it generates more than $333 million to the economy… but how do you make sure your fishing experience remains for future generations?

To help you Fish for the Future, we’ve prepared a new responsible rec fishing landing page that’s a great tool for new anglers, and those who’ve been around a while as well.

How can you Fish for the Future?

Here’s a snapshot:

• Be aware of the bait you use • Make sure your catch and release skills are on-point • Be SharkSmart and reduce shark depredation.

Keen to learn more? Scan on the QR Code below to maximise your enjoyment and minimise the impacts on our fish populations.

And don’t forget to download the Qld Fishing 2.0 app while you’re online.

• Vary what you catch and where.

Target a new species with plentiful wild stocks, or head away from the coast and fish in a stocked impoundment

More info

Queensland’s unique fish species in the spotlight It’s World Fisheries Day on 21 November and we want to celebrate by honouring the work of one of Queensland’s most committed volunteers, Charlie from the Freshwater Fishing & Stocking Association of Queensland (FFSAQ).

Charlie spreads the word about our unique native fish, their importance and how we can all play a part in ensuring we can all fish for the future.

Here he is catching up with Department of Agriculture and Fisheries DirectorGeneral Chris Sarra at the Ekka.

Great job Charlie and all the volunteers at FFSAQ!

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

fisheries.qld.gov.au 13 25 23 FisheriesQueensland FisheriesQld DAFQld

QLD Tropical North

FMM

Experimenting with different locations jighead-rigged plastics or soft vibes to reach the deeper fish if they’re there.

The old saying “there’s always something to catch somewhere” is usually true. However, there are always those days when, even if you find fish, they won’t bite. That’s fishing, and we take the wins with the losses, always with a smile on our face. It’s great just to be out there.

TOWNSVILLE

Dave Hodge

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the warmer weather usually improves the fishing for jacks and barra in North Queensland. We haven’t really had a winter this year, so the water has warmed up quicker than usual.

Catching fish during the cooler months has been quite a routine procedure, with persistent anglers getting some good results. Timing, though, can be everything; on the bigger tides, you may have only a couple of hours to capitalise on the reduced tidal flow, and pin a few fish in the shallower areas.

We all have our favourite colours to go to when things are tough. This Radioactive Rooster Atomic 4” Prong is one of those for us. Rigged on a 5/0 Atomic Seeker weedless hook, it can be skipped into the harshest snags.

Jacks are usually our target these days, broken up with the odd barra session when the jacks are tough, or if we stumble across a school of deeper fish.

On a recent trip with my mate Mick Rennie, the jacks just weren’t happening up the creeks where we thought they’d be. Undaunted, we decided to head downstream, away from our jack spots.

On pulling up at our chosen location, the side scan sounder gave away the presence of a school of larger barra that were chasing what I assume were small grunter, which is common up here. The turn of the tide at the top of the tide was always going to be the prime bite time, so we hung around for an hour or so, waiting for that magic 40-60 minute window.

I hooked a monster that rocketed out of the water on the hook-set to show us her size. However, after a few minutes of chasing and guiding her into what I thought was clearer water away from the snags, she found a submerged tree and ended the battle. That fish was on a 4” 42 NOVEMBER 2023

the rest exploring can pay off big time for future trips, if you’ve got enough fish for a feed. When you take fuel into consideration, along with bait, hooks, lead, etc., fishing isn’t cheap. Who knows when the weather will be suitable again, so finding closer-in spots that require less fuel can be a big benefit.

With the mackerel holding deep in recent weeks, anglers trolling wolfies

Tannhym has the skip-casting down pat, and out-fished his dad on a recent trip. electric chicken coloured Atomic Prong rigged on a 1/2oz Atomic Seeker head with a 5/0 hook.

Whilst I was re-rigging, Mick threw out an Atomic Real Baits deep swimbait, which got smashed instantly. We chased the fish around for a while before a heart-breaking limp line indicated a disconnection. We discovered that the hooks had pulled after the short battle, which was strange.

Back to re-rigging. Then, before I could finish the knot, Mick had another hook-up. A very determined fish was landed shortly after, and it measured in at 105cm. It was a PB salty for Mick, and watching her swim back to join the school was satisfying.

I’ve relayed this story to show that if the fish aren’t where you expect them to be, all is not lost. If you change your location and/or approach, you may well get the results you’re after.

So, how long should you persist with a technique or location that isn’t producing?

Personally, about an hour is enough for us. If we haven’t been getting enough action to keep us interested in that time, we start to look for deeper snags and holes.

Instead of weedless plastics, we switch to

On this day, the bigger hardbodies and softies weren’t producing. A quick downsize to the 4” orange Paddle Prawn resulted in plenty of jacks.

While casting for jacks, it’s worth glancing at the sounder now and then to see what’s in the deep. That’s how Tannhym caught this barra on a recent trip.

The water temperature out the front has risen earlier than usual, to around 26-27°C. This has fired the fish up, and we have been seeing some great catches of bottom fish lately. Mackerel and tuna on the surface have been consistent as well. However, the weather has reduced catch rates. We’ve had weeks of southern high-pressure systems producing 20-30 knot winds, keeping most people off the water.

When those weather windows do present themselves, the boat ramps are chockers. Glassed-out conditions mean you can be at the reef in quick time, and arrive home by lunchtime with a decent feed – if you can find somewhere that doesn’t have schools of sharks harassing them.

Whether you’re using jigs or bait rigs, trout have been on the chew, and it’s important not to lose track of how many you’ve kept. Red-throat emperor (sweetlip), nannygai and so on are all worth targeting if you’ve bagged out on trout.

If your boat is big enough with enough range, red emperor are another worthwhile target with bigger baits and jigs. Generally speaking, you’re looking at 40m+ of water for the larger specimens around here. However, there are a few little gems that hold good-sized reds in as little as 18m of water.

To avoid losing too many fish to sharks, it’s wise to search for lesserknown marks with lesser-educated sharks. Spending half a day fishing and

and gar have been doing well with chinweighted setups. When the sounder shows deep fish, you just knock the motor into neutral and allow the bait to swim down to them.

Once down there, simply knock the

Mick Rennie did very well on a 20lb outfit to land this barra, which was released after this pic. motor into gear again and swim them back towards the surface. This usually gets the desired result when there are mackerel around.

It’s also good to have a flashy profiled slug/slice rigged and ready to go. If you drop it down and crank it back up as fast as possible, this can be super successful.

That’s it for this month. I hope this finds you well and with plenty of fish in the freezer and photos to stir your mates up with. The upcoming season is predicted to be hot and dry, and we’ll update you on what’s going on as we progress.

QLD Tropical North

FMM

Bye bye barra, hello golden snapper HINCHINBROOK

Ian Moody info@ianmoodyfishing.com

It was probably one of the longest, windiest, trade winds weather periods I’ve seen in a while for September-October, which usually has a lot more calmer weather windows. It made for sporadic good bite periods with quite a few tough times in between.

Every end to a barra season is different from year to year, sometimes it’s diamonds, sometimes it’s dust.

However, commercial gillnetting for barra is now ceased indefinitely with a controversial government-imposed ban on the practice placed in effect from December 2023. While this will hurt the consumer who has to buy their seafood and place some

commercial fishermen out of a living, it will have an interesting impact to the 2024 barra season opening next year and for years beyond. Stock numbers should increase given the example of the Rockhampton net free zone performance since it was implemented many years ago.

We could also see thriving in the Hinchinbrook area after the ban on gillnetting is the threadfin salmon.

While they should have a good spillover effect into the Hinchinbrook Channel from coastal transit areas, not a lot is

more of them spread out in the area.

Many years ago when we had decent wet seasons, threadfin were plentiful in most areas that had a deep hole in a junction or they frequented the headlands on the larger tides.

Baits of live mullet or mud herring on a dropper rig and the use of vibes are the most productive methods to chase them, although they will take a slow rolled shallow diving lure on the headlands during the large tides.

November is a month I like to also head out to the Lucinda Sugar Jetty and

A tasty fingermark caught around the islands.

Brian Ellis with a threadfin salmon.

A decent 45cm fingermark.

really known of their movements or migration according to a researcher I was once speaking to about the species.

Not a great deal of threadfin salmon has been showing up lately around the island and in the channel for quite sometime, but on the northern beaches there have been plenty of smaller models hanging around. If we get an early wet season, we should see a lot

chase the big queenies and fingermark around the pylons. That structure houses some very big fingermark that can be difficult to stop close to the pylons but also are a common hook up fairly wide of the jetty when they are foraging. Unfortunately, over the years the shark numbers here have increased and make it pretty hard to get one to the boat intact, if at all!

PRODUCT NEWS

Fingermark will be a major target during the barra closure with focus on booking trips on the neap tides when they aggregate in numbers in deeper areas of the channel.

Hopefully, during November, I should get my finger out so to speak and get the offshore reef charters up and running with the New Vessel.

Being busy during October has seen my spare time cut down drastically in getting that side of the business up and running.

• We are now taking bookings for the 2024 barra season so get in early to secure the good dates. Gift vouchers can also be purchased if you’re looking for birthday or Christmas gifts. You can email us at info@ianmoodysportfishing. com or phone us on 0402 339 459.

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44 NOVEMBER 2023

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QLD Tropical North

FMM

When the sun comes out the fish will play sees the muddies begin to move around out of their holes. This will see steady catches of crabs for those who are willing to drop in a few pots. It’s best to use baits on the small size this month as the crocs are very active and love a free feed from a crab pot.

Next month should see a continuation of lighter winds and warmer water. The jacks will still be active, however if the

CAIRNS

Dan Kaggelis dkaggelis@gmail.com

It has been a tough couple of months for those fishing the Trinity Net Free Zone as the wind and rain we usually associate with winter has not let up. Water temperatures have remained below 24oC, which has really shut down the fish. The constant rain has also stirred up the water which has been unhelpful for those throwing lures.

The good news is that on the string of days when the sun has come out and the wind has dropped below 15 knots the fish have been biting hard. If there is going to be a change in the weather, then it will happen in November. November is the beginning of the build up in tropical Far North Queensland that is usually associated with light winds and plenty of humidity. The light winds will see the offshore clean water push up into the

Golden snapper will be a worthy target this month and fishing the neap tides on deeper structure is a good idea. creeks and when combined with warm water temperatures the fish will be biting hard.

The one fish that will be on the chew and a real target for anglers in the NFZ will be mangrove jack. Jacks love this time of year as they are in full feeding mode.

Mud crabs will be on the move so it’s always best to throw in a few pots.

They love smashing lures this time of year and paddle-tail plastics like the Molix RT Shad or ZMan Diesel Minnows will be a great place to start. This time of year, it is best to use natural colours on your plastics. The best way to target jacks is to get your lure as close as possible to the snags. The best tides to chase them on are the neap tides this time of year as the larger runs can make it difficult to fish.

As usual, the 4 days before the full moon is always the best time in November to target jacks.

Another species on the chew will be the very tasty golden snapper (fingermark).

Since the removal of the nets, these fish have both grown in numbers and average size. There will be plenty on the wrecks and rubble in the Trinity Inlet and any deeper water structure you can sound up will hold these great tasting fish.

The other species that will be running in the NFZ will be mud crabs. November

Gearing up for a big month PORT DOUGLAS

Lynton Heffer www.fishingportdouglas.com.au

In more recent times we started to see the southeast trade winds ease as the daytime mercury shifted to the next level. Forecasts predict it is going to be an extremely hot and dry summer period in the tropics this year.

With better sea conditions to head offshore, anglers have taken advantage and found the fishing to be quite productive. Coral trout have made a move into the shallows at certain sections of the reef and is all based around their spawning congregation. The general opinion is that the October new moon is when the bulk of the spawning will occur this year. Following the spawn, the trout can really let loose having gone through a bit of a fasting period prior. Timing is everything to catch these prized fish in a really aggressive mood.

It has been a great time to chase 46 NOVEMBER 2023

the ‘reds’ in the open water. Red emperor and large mouth nannygai have been the targeted species. Firstly, you have to find your ground, such as gravel patches and isolated reefs in 40-70m. The best results are four days to the dark (new) moon, with the second best period the same on a full moon. A rising tide has always seemed to produce the best results even at night.

Big fresh fillet baits on ganged/ snelled hooks (8/0-10/0) is a typical set up for day or night. Artificials during daylight also have their moments, if you are prepared to work you will get the results. Some local favourites for artificials are Nomad Vertrex, Squidtrex and Beserker Meat Heads 300g if the current is strong.

It has also been a good time to troll up some great Spanish mackerel and different tuna schools on the light tackle gear on the reef itself. Outside on the shelf, there’s more bonuses to be experienced, such as yellowfin tuna and wahoo on the light tackle gear.

There’s a bit more travel time involved

to reach the shelf but this is the time of year to be attempting this, especially with better conditions.

To take it to the next level there have been plenty of encounters on the big black marlin already and this will only improve. The fish get bigger as the big females turn up from the Coral Sea to breed with the smaller male models. The experts like to skip decent sized tuna or scaly mackerel on the surface or swim queenfish and scad below. All signs are leading to an exciting Port Douglas Marlin Challenge Tournament scheduled for mid-November over four days with registrations still open.

Our main rivers in the region, such as the Daintree have fished very consistently for a variety of ripping fish, such as fingermark, 1m queenfish, golden trevally, river trevally and barramundi. There’s still a great window of opportunity remaining before it gets too hot to fish during the day. Live bait supply remains healthy and will always attract more attention.

For those that can handle the heat,

Mangrove jack will be on the chew in November and soft plastic paddle tails cast as tight to snags as possible will be the best way to target them. water goes over 28oC it is best to fish banks that are in the shade.

The other fish that will begin to show up will be the blue salmon on the open beaches. When these fish show up the larger threadfin salmon are not too far behind and, if past years are anything to go by, then there will be some monster fish on offer.

There have been plenty of encounters on the big black marlin already this season. soft plastics and lures have been productive, especially on the turn of both tides amongst timbered areas.

As you can tell we are gearing up for a big month of fishing in the tropics and all indicators are very positive.

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Warm conditions are creating a hot bite COOKTOWN

Justin Coventry

The barramundi closure comes into effect this month and the season has to be one the best so far. Plenty of quality fish around this year and the winter conditions didn’t see much of a shutdown.

The rain has also been consistent throughout the year and the mango trees in Cooktown are in full flower because of it. There should be a bumper crop of mangoes soon to enjoy. The river fishing has been the same with lots of hungry fish around and good catches of full mud crabs as well. It’s been a strange dry season with some nights getting an inch of rain. It will

This barramundi engulfed a Cape York Lure. have pushed out in some less than comfortable conditions have been rewarded with nice catches of coral trout around the sheltered parts of the reef. Nevertheless, no one is looking to be far from the protection of the

good for the future of this fishery.

The numbers of fish caught here has definitely improved over the last few years. Everyone will be keen to see the 1 February come around so that barramundi can be chased once more and, if the river is flooding at the time, the vibes will be out ready to be cast out into the frenzy that happens as the tide falls at night at the wharf. Some great sessions can be had as the fish move around the mouth of the river in flood and are hungry and looking to feed on anything that might cross their path.

Can’t wait!

The calm periods expected this month should see a lot of reef adventures and exploring around the oceans. The trout will be milling around the usual pressure points and the isolated rocks further off in deep water will no doubt have some nice reds swimming around them.

The excitement is building and I’m getting the boat ready now just in case the weather drops out and I don’t have to worry about fixing or running

Josh with an 87cm barramundi. be interesting to see what is ahead for summer. One old local reckons ‘wet winter, dry summer’ but we will have to see if that’s the case.

The SE winds however have battered the coast for longer than I can remember, and it would be great to see some calm weather. People who

Not bad for the last barra capture for the season.

There were some very big barra milling around at the end of the season.

48 NOVEMBER 2023

reef. So, the deeper areas have had little pressure and should produce some nice reds once the weather allows access.

The wharf should also see the bait return in large numbers this month and therefore bring with it the predators looking for an easy meal. Mackerel have been caught in small numbers and should improve as the weathers warms and bait schools thicken.

Also, no doubt the barramundi will also be present around and under the wharf as the closure takes effect and will be hard not to target but leaving them along will ensure that they breed successfully and produce offspring for another year. The numbers of juveniles around this year does point to the healthy conditions that are present at the moment up this way and looks

into issues that come from the boat sitting for so long. Batteries have been replaced and wiring checked, and fuel filter checks and outboard started so all is ready to go.

The fishing gear is spooled with some new braid and leaders attached and plenty of backup hooks and sinkers.

Just need bait and ice and fuel and we are off to obtain some beautiful fresh reef fish to bring to the family dining table. Our favourite is KFC fish – fresh fish deep fried in Panko crumbs. We role fish pieces in rice flour then egg wash and coat in Panko crumbs and deep fry. Tastes amazing and is so easy.

I can’t wait as there should be some nice weather around the corner and lots of fresh reef fish to consume. Get the boat ready and get out there!

Tropical North QLD

FMM

Nov is a brilliant all-round month on Cape York and the occasional coral trout.

Inshore, the coastline will likely be calm and clean most mornings, especially over the high tide. A change of tide can trigger some fantastic fishing for small pelagics, including queenfish

CAPE YORK

Tim O’Reilly wildrivercompany@gmail.com

Nothing puts the sizzle in Cape York quite like a breezeless November morning. When the road tar starts softening by 10am, you can be forgiven for feeling despair – especially as the hottest part of the day is normally in front of you.

Fortunately, much of the Cape

Red emperor are always a welcome catch. this appears to be the hotspot for both sailfish and black marlin in a variety of sizes – aided by cleaner, slightly deeper water close to the coast, just south of the township. No doubt the sailfish and little marlin chase baitfish schools all around the Gulf’s contour lines.

There is every chance most November mornings in the Gulf of Carpentaria will be flat calm. Basically, if you head out in any direction along

A pigeon pair of mangrove jack.

A change of tide can trigger great fishing for smaller pelagics. experiences either afternoon cloud cover during the build-up to the wet season, or an afternoon onshore breeze to cool things down slightly.

November 1 marks the start of the East Coast barra closed season, making both sides of the Cape no-take for these

marlin season between Cairns and the Ribbon Reefs. World class fishing for the biggest black marlin on earth is the main attraction here, and charter boats out of Cairns and Port Douglas can be found venturing north to the bottom of Cape York around Lizard Island. You’d

A healthy lure-crunching red bass. the coast, you are bound to run into birds and bait of some description.

Tuna, mackerel, trevally, cobia, barracuda and sharks will be present wherever rubble ground is found out wide. Dropping baits, vibes of small metal jigs will increase your chances of

and brassy trevally. Close to shore, giant herring, tarpon and blue salmon will hunt the shallow sand gutters. You may also encounter permit or golden trevally as they push in and out of shallow creek mouths with the tides, hunting crabs, small crustaceans and tiny molluscs.

Queenfish are amazing fighters. iconic sportfish. Luckily, November is a brilliant all-round month for fishing up the Cape, with most species firing in the warm build-up conditions. The only thing that may slow down is the shallow flats and reef fishing, which can sometimes suffer from the warm surface water. Still, even this effect is normally off-set by magic weather and the ability to sight cast doughy fish in clear water.

Heading up the East coast, we are now in the midst of the heavy tackle

think there would be some huge black and blue marlin to be captured out wide further north, but the only reported captures have been smaller blacks and occasional sailfish.

Further north there seems to be a decent run of sailfish through the mid-eastern section of the Torres Strait, and presumably a resident population of sails cutting laps around the foodrich waters of the Gulf. Weipa is the main departure point for those chasing billfish on the west coast, so no surprise

There is some good bottom fishing to be had this month. catching various trevally species, cobia and a host of bottom-dwellers. On a good day this might include fingermark (golden snapper), black jewfish, tuskfish, Spanish flag, grassy sweetlip

As you can see, the entire inshore coastline around Cape York will offer endless opportunities in November, so don a wide brimmed hat and get in on the action.

NOVEMBER 2023 49

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LIGHT, POWERFUL, DURABLE…

The INTUITIVE Guru from Giru CONTROL All of these things have interfered with the Dudds getting out on The Sheik of the Creek the water. And that’s just the last 12 months.

Once we’ve managed through Going out fishing with someone some alignment of miracles, the sign that really knows what they’re doing of the fish aligning with the house is life changing, or at least fishing of the river or some such, we then changing.

Not that me and the Dudds have to get bait. Because one of our founding rules is that we don’t buy don’t know what we’re doing; we bait; we castnet it. do. Simples.

This brings in further levels of We’re going out fishing to try and chance. The odds of us dropping catch something. Anything really.

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NOVEMBER 2023 51

QLD Freshwater

FMM

Emerging patterns in warming waterways TOOWOOMBA

Jason Ehrlich fishability1@bigpond.com

I’m back from an epic trip up north.

We explored some magnificent country in Cape York over a couple of weeks. Most days were spent in the salt catching hundreds of fish but we did fit in a few days on a freshwater stretch of river.

The Cape has some huge rivers and if you explore their top sections you’ll find species like saratoga, sooty grunter, barramundi, archer fish and catfish. Of course, care needs to be taken as these areas are also home to some big reptiles.

We camped far enough away from the water to feel safe from crocodiles and enjoyed the company of other blokes, beers, food and pooping in the outdoors.

Saratoga turned it on and we must have landed at least 40 in our boat. They’re bony mouthed fish so we probably had just as many fall off. With them were SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND CRESSBROOK CLOSEST TOWN: CROWS NEST We finally saw a few schools of bass around. Over the last couple of months, the bass schooled out from the ramp and up at the point opposite Eagles Nest rock wall. These fish have moved on but it was good to see a few still in the lake. The bigger models seemed a lot harder to find with the better fish being in the mid-forties. Our fears may be somewhat confirmed, the big models

Lucky Luke Sticklen found the motherlode of big bass at Wivenhoe.

He showed me how to catch them on the Raptor Slow Fall Jig.

Sooty grunter are balls of muscle and go hard. This fella came from Cape York but they have invaded and can be experienced as close as the Mary River system near Gympie. If you haven’t tried catching them, do a little research and plan a trip somewhere. some thumping sooties, small barra and ridiculous amounts of lure destroying archer fish.

The fishing up north was excellent but now I’m back home, there’s plenty of options this month. A couple really stand out to me. Golden perch step it up escaped with a lot of other fish during the floods. Smaller schools will still be around and anglers have picked up fish on Gang Banger spoons and the Nories Wasabi in recent weeks.

We’ll see the return of good numbers of golden perch throughout the lake. The main basin points all the way up to the rock wall in Cressbrook Creek will be worth a look. Try sounding in 5-8m of water for golden schools. The fish love ZX40 blades when they are found in numbers. The other alternative is to troll diving lures trying to follow the bottom contour. Lures which can reach 4-8m will be effective but the trick is to keep them as close to the bottom as possible. This is a bit difficult in a lake like Cressbrook as it has so many points and bays.

Redclaw crayfish numbers have been excellent around the deeper rocky shorelines.

• 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 all freshwater lures and tackle. The access gates to the ramp and day use area will be open from 6am to 8pm.

Gary’s Marine Centre

3201 6232

217 Pine Mountain Road, BRASSALL 52 NOVEMBER 2023

a notch at the end of the year with the warmest water temperatures. You can catch them luring with blades and small vibes pretty much year round but when it heats up, they’re more open to other presentation. Trolling hardbodies and casting plastics, spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits can all turn their heads.

They are more willing to chase after faster lures and play up when hooked.

The other fishing I love is night sessions on impoundment barra. Barra drop back into deeper water as the water warms and will happily patrol and feed out in deeper areas under the cover of darkness. There is something about the surprising whack and following mayhem breaking the dark monotony. Once you’ve experienced it, you’ll understand how it creates an addiction.

Every year we see patterns emerge across our various waterways. For some reason, some lakes present fish with perfect conditions and they are

just more willing to bite. These bite periods can last weeks and they are definitely the places to hit. We’ve just seen Wivenhoe come through one of these periods and the bass chewed well when they could be found in schools.

Some boats had 100+ fish sessions. I was lucky enough to get out there once for an arvo session and between three of us we smashed 77 big fat bass on G2s and Raptor Jigs. The fish are still there but they have dispersed and moved on to new areas. When they find what they are looking for, the schools should reform and big numbers will be on the cards. This is just an example of what can happen and what to keep an eye out for. Our lakes provide amazing fishing if you keep your finger on the pulse and visit them when they are really on fire. People using social media always seem to drop a few hints as to where the action is.

Until next month, buckled rods from the Colonel.

For the uninitiated, it takes a while getting your head around fishing flats in the middle of a dam. Niki seems to find them and knew the fish would be on this spot kilometres from the closest shoreline on Wivenhoe Dam.

to be gravitating towards the Pelican Point area so I’m guessing that’s where the best numbers will be found. There will be bass caught on spoons, soft plastics blades and chatterbaits. The Spectre Vibration Jig is a clear bladed chatterbait that really shines from this month onward. You can troll, cast or wind drift with them. I like to keep the boat moving to keep the bites coming so present them using a half trolling, half casting technique. The boat moves at 1.5km/h on electric or wind drift and we roll the lure a few turns before dropping back to bottom. Mornings and late afternoons will see the fish most wiling to eat a variety of offerings.

During the day, try the Spectres and trolling or long lining deep diving hardbodies.

SOMERSET CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY The lake is fishing a little slower this year but still producing quality bass. We’ll also see an increase in golden perch this month. A lot of anglers fish Somerset for bass and goldens only come as bycatch.

You can actually catch plenty if you target them. The water north of Kirkleigh holds plenty of goldens through the timber.

The timber around Queen Street, Wyangi Creek and hidden laydowns on Pelican Point are also prime spots for big goldens.

Small blades are hard to beat if you spend the time to find the fish. If you prefer to just get out and take your chances, trolling is a great way to find fishy spots. Diving lures which run close to the bottom will produce best. You’ll need a selection of 5-10m divers to cover Somerset Dam. Deeper lures can be used down in the basin and the shallower ones as you get up into the timber north of Kirkleigh.

The bass have moved around quite a bit over the last month. They seem

Check out the paddle on that golden.

These fish will step it up a notch and be willing lure takers over the next few months. Coolmunda Dam produces some ripper fish.

MOOGERAH CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH, ARATULA The bass can be tricky to find but it is well worth the effort. Searching the flats in the timbered areas should find them if you put in the time. The bass like to hold together in big

Freshwater QLD

FMM bunches so that means there can be a lot of barren water between schools.

Spoons and Jackall Mask Vibes have been a great option over the last month or two. As the water warms, the bass like to suspend higher in the water column. This brings them within range of a wider variety of lures. Spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits and deeper cranks and suspending jerkbaits can all put you in the zone. Lure trollers will have a lot of success as well. Diving hardbodies

need to run at the correct depth so chose the lure based on where you are seeing most of the fish. When they lift up to 3-4m deep, it is hard to beat a slow trolled Jackall TN60.

• 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.

MAROON CLOSET TOWN: BOONAH It’s a great time to hit the water early for some surface action. Maroon is one of Queensland’s better surface impoundment bass fisheries. Before the sun is on the water is the time to toss topwater around the weedy margins of the lake.

Bass schools will be your best bet

as soon as the surface action stops.

These schooling fish love the Spectre Vibration Jig. It’s almost like a magic lure on this dam. The fish just love it.

• If you want to learn more about how to fish them and where to try, get in to see the lads at Charltons at Redbank.

They can offer advice on most of the local lakes and will sort you out. It pays to shop locally and get the right gear and tips from people with their finger on the pulse.

DARLING DOWNS AND GRANITE BELT

excellent fishing with lipless crankbaits and hardbodies. Keep an eye out using the sounder for this fresh weed growth in 4-5m of water and fish lures just above it.

There is still a lot of drowned vegetation throughout the lake. Until the weed takes a proper hold, this will continue to be the best spot to find numbers of goldens. They love to mooch around the dead sticky weeds and will come and go. This can be found in 4-8m up the northern arm and in 7-8m out from the ramp and sailing club.

Small blades and live shrimp will produce good numbers of fish.

They are also ideal for hitting the gaps between the drowned vegetation.

Trolling will see you fouled up and snagged more often. I like to run at least 8lb braid and 12lb leader. If your

knots are up to scratch, you can get nearly every lure back by pulling the dead vegetation up or tearing the lure out of it.

• Cooby is open to paddle and electric motor powered craft. The gates are open from 6am-8pm. Fish’n’Bits tackle store in Toowoomba can help you out with all your bait and lure fishing needs. Live shrimp can be caught at the dam if you spend the time finding them.

LESLIE CLOSEST TOWN: WARWICK Plenty of big cod were caught last month up the back of the dam. These fish venture into the shallows where they find breeding sites. The closed season doesn’t apply to Queensland’s stocked lakes and anglers take advantage of this. There will still be cod about but they will move back out into the deeper water with the warming water

and breeding over.

Golden perch fishing has been next level on this lake. Last year there was a lot of just undersized fish about. These will have grown a bit more and we’ll see a lot more of just legal size. There are some big ones on offer and often they hold together away from the smaller fish. Goldens will be around the drop off to the old creek bed and sitting on structure in 4-8m of water. Trolled lures will account for plenty of fish and are a great way to explore new water and pinpoint the best locations. Once you find a few honey holes, try lure casting with lipless cranks, soft vibes and blade baits.

• 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.

fish heavier lures and wind them faster to skim them across the tops of deeper weed. Forcing a reaction strike is a better alternative as the more time the fish have to study the lure the less likely they are to eat it.

As darkness falls, have your spot picked out and be in position because the lake will be busy. The barra drop their guard as the light reduces their ability to sense something wrong. The fish will start moving more after dark.

Clear water also means darkness is the time to hunt nervous bait fish which are a much harder target during the day. The warmer water will see fish rolling a little deeper outside the weed edges. Swimbaits and heavier rigged soft plastics will get the bites.

Mix it up and try the wind-blown points in the basin as well as right on the edges of the main river channel

further up the lake where there are good weed formations within casting range. When fishing the wind, you need to do exactly that. I hear it a lot where people tuck just out of the rough water on the lee side of a weedy point to get some protection. There are some situations where this can work but usually you need to brave it and hit the face of the weed point where all the energy and wave action is.

• 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 into 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) 4975 0033.

COOBY CLOSEST TOWNS: HIGHFIELDS, TOOWOOMBA It’s an excellent time to hit Cooby for your golden perch fix. The lake is perfect for electric powered boats and kayakers. There are also good banks along the walking trail from the pontoon on towards the rock wall where you stand a good chance of catching from the shore on bait and lures.

Lure trollers will start to see better results. It’s been a couple of months since my last visit so I’m not familiar with the weed growth. It should really take off again this year and you’ll need to be on the outside of the weed beds to score the best action. When the weed takes hold and starts growing off the bottom in deeper water we’ll see some CAPRICORN REGION AWOONGA CLOSEST TOWNS: BENARABY, GLADSTONE It’s shaping up to be a really good year at Awoonga. The higher water level and weed made it difficult to fish this time last year. It is more suited to edge fishing and banging cruising barra this year. The clear water and angling pressure makes daylight fishing tougher. Working edges while under electric power and tickling the tops of deeper weed formations will see you in with a really good chance.

I like to do this in the main basin of the lake on the windy edges. It can be hard to find dirty water lines when fishing the big weed beds so a wavy, broken surface is a big help during the middle of the day. Don’t be afraid to

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NOVEMBER 2023 53

WHAT’S NEW FISHING

DAIWA 23 TD BLACK

1

It’s time to get back-in-black with the new 23 TD Black range. Now into its third generation, Daiwa’s new TD Black series is Daiwa’s largest range of light tackle rods developed specifically for the Australian market. From chasing King George whiting in the south to swimbaiting for cod and barra in the north, the 23 TD Black range has a rod for you.

The 23 TD Black range features HVF Nanoplus blank equipped with X45X Full Shield technology. The result is a range of 36 rods that are lightweight and crisp, and with responsive actions that a selected and designed for optimum performance and application.

Working in harmony with the TD Black’s new blanks is a compilation of carefully selected components. Daiwa’s Air Sensor reel seat delivers in looks, lightness and function, while stainless steel framed Fuji Alconite anti-tangle guides ensure optimum strength, lightness and feel.

New to the TD Black range is Daiwa’s spiral grips. First introduced with the 2019 Tatula baitcaster rods, the spiral grip design enhances in-hand comfort and improves angler rod control when making a cast and also during the fight. www.daiwafishing.com.au

PLATYPUS HARD ARMOUR FC

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The Platypus Hard Armour Leader range includes Australian-made Supple, Tough and Game leaders, covering nylon leaders from 4lb to 600lb breaking strains. To complete the Hard Armour range, Platypus have now added a quality 100% Japanese fluorocarbon leader, designed to suit the most finicky feeders in the toughest environments.

Hard Armour FC is virtually invisible in water, for clear conditions and spooky feeders, while also offering excellent knot strength and abrasion resistance.

Available in breaking strains from 2lb to 50lb, to cover many popular sportfishing applications, Hard Armour comes in valuefor-money spool lengths, with a bonus line tamer included to keep your selection of leaders tangle-free. It’s another quality addition from Australia’s longest running fishing tackle brand, Australian owned and operated since 1898.

Price: SRP from $24.95 www.tackletactics.com.au/platypus

SUFIX X8 EGI LINE

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Sufix X8 Egi line has superior strength, roundness, and line consistency thanks to R8Precision Braiding and fibre technology.

This line comes in thin diameters which are ideal for squid fishing and other finesse applications. The R8 Precision Braiding Technology with a high-tension weaving process results in a round and smooth line that allows you to make long accurate casts. The soft and silky feel of the line gives you the sensitivity needed when a squid attacks your lure.

Sufix X8 Egi line also offers excellent strength to diameter ratio, and with a high abrasion resistance, it give you the total confidence in your fishing game. www.rapala.com.au

PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY NOVEMBER 2023 2023 154NOVEMBER

FISHCRAFT DR STRETCH

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FishCraft has introduced the all-new Dr Stretch lure series, a meticulously designed lure crafted for passionate anglers targeting flathead and a variety of estuary species.

Available in two sizes – 65mm/6.8g and 85mm/12.5g – these lures offer superior performance, diving to 1.5m and 3.0m respectively to ensure extensive coverage across underwater environments.

There’s an array of captivating old school and baitfish colours to choose from, and each hue has been carefully selected to entice flathead, bream, and estuary inhabitants. Whether you’re casting at snags or trolling, this versatile lure delivers exceptional results. www.fishcraft.com.au

HIGH SPEED TUNA CATCHER

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Williamson has unleashed a new high-speed skirt to the market, the High Speed Tuna Catcher. This skirt features a unique painted, triangular metal head that provides more stability, movement and weight needed to impart action at faster speeds.

The Williamson High Speed Tuna Catcher comes fully rigged with premium VMC hardware attached to a Sufix leader, so you can be confident to tie this lure on straight from the packet. www.rapala.com.au

GARMIN GPSMAP 9000 SERIES

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Garmin’s 9000 series chartplotters have 4K resolution with edge-toedge clarity, powered by a processor that’s seven-times faster than previous generations. Thanks to the new Garmin BlueNet gigabit network, these premium MFDs provide comprehensive connectivity throughout the vessel with faster networking speeds.

Available in 19”, 22”, 24” or 27” displays, each MFD can be flat or flush mounted. The in-plane switching (IPS) touchscreen displays provide consistent, accurate colours that can be seen from all viewing angles, even with polarised sunglasses. Anglers can see fish and sonar targets in 4K high definition, too, by adding a Garmin GSD sonar module, Panoptix transducer or LiveScope sonar (transducers sold separately).

The 9000 delivers Garmin’s fastest map drawing and Auto Guidance+ routing, and you can link it with multiple chartplotters, cameras, radars, sonars and more at fast networking speeds.

The 9000 series can also connect to compatible existing Garmin marine systems.

The GPSMAP 9000 series offers expansive integration capabilities with onboard systems, including engine monitoring, music/movies with Fusion audio and entertainment integration, extensive camera support to view footage on the chartplotter, connection with compatible Garmin smartwatches, and more.

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Sydney

FMM

Focus on specific species for better results have a very good understanding of swell direction, height, tides, where to position yourself while fishing, washing up fish, and so forth. I’m a professional guide, and I’m happy to teach you all you need to know.

Other species being caught in close in the sudsy whitewater zones are kings, bream, and late season trevally, with Aussie salmon being a

SYDNEY ROCK & BEACH

Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au

It’s all happening this month! All systems go! If the action hasn’t started in your part of the world, I can pretty much guarantee it will by mid-November – except for the pelagics like bonito, which should show up by the end of the month.

Read on to find out what’s biting, and what we can expect in the coming weeks.

OCEAN ROCKS Kingfish are in reasonable numbers some days and then absent on others. Some of the really talented kingfish anglers have landed fish up to 17kg, but these guys keep their cards close to their chest. The reality is that you need to be there on the right day, fish correctly and be able to land these beasts.

The Saltiga Rough Ride 160mm size is a good hardbody stickbait to use. It’s not as large as what a lot of the topwater kingy anglers are using, but it

A quality 65cm snapper off the Sydney ledges. Hooking one of these on 7kg gear is a memorable experience. This one fell for a three-quarter pilchard on a 3/0 suicide double-strength hook.

Part of a client’s bag of whiting. He also caught and released several other whiting and a bream. It’s important to bring ready-made rigs, a belt bait bucket, a carry bag, scissors, cloth, and different sinker weights. suits most size kings. The smaller fish don’t shy away from it, and the larger fish still show some interest.

Sea gars are also a great way to fish for any size king. You can rig them either with a set of 6/0 to 7/0 gangs or with a two-hook snell rig. Having a stinger treble or single hook can assist you with hook-ups. It also can increase snagging, so time your sink to reduce snagging. For example, if you let your gar sink to the bottom in rough terrain (which is very common kingfish territory), your stinger hook is a snag magnet. So, when you cast out your sinking lure, gar or jigheadrigged plastic (e.g. the Bait Junkie Jerk Shad 7”), count your sink time to reduce snags.

Live baiting is another popular way to catch kings and is much more relaxing. You can catch your live bait at a public wharf or jetty in the harbour/ bay and transport them to the rocks, or catch them on the rocks that you’re fishing. Kings also respond well to a cube berley of pilchards and a lightly weighted whole or half pilchard. Just bear in mind that a lot of the kings are small fish. Spots to try include Old Mans Hat at Manly, Bluefish Point

Manly, and North-South Curl Curl.

On the snapper front, there will be an increase in numbers and, in some cases, bigger sizes as well. I caught a solid Sydney snapper of nearly 65cm fairly recently, along with quite a few fish from 32-45cm. These fish were caught casting into the sudsy whitewater washes, usually in deep or relatively deep water.

It’s important to fish at the right time of the day. This shy species generally doesn’t like a lot of sunlight, so you’re best off sticking to the low-light periods. I like to fish from dawn to approx. one hour after sun up, and two hours before dark.

Fishing to dark on the rocks can be tricky and dangerous, so you need to

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56 NOVEMBER 2023

This small beach worm was David Tebutt’s first one ever, but not his last. It’s always a great feeling when you catch a new species.

Fish from-30-40cm+ are around in numbers off Palm, North Narrabeen and Manly, although it’s best to avoid Manly Beach on the weekend. fairly frequent by-catch. If you’re after a light outfit with plenty of grunt for snapper and pigs, I recommend the Daiwa Over There 109MH (7-15kg), matched to a Daiwa 5000 BG MQ and J-Braid Grand 20lb with J-Thread X Link 20lb fluoro leader. I prefer using 2/0-3/0 bait holder or suicide (octopus) hooks. You can go a 4/0, but you may find that the smaller plate-size fish may be harder to hook.

Light ball sinkers of 00 to 3 size will suit most situations.

Good baits include pilchards, larger prawns, squid strips, bottle squid when you can get it, and bonito fillets when they’re available. Even Aussie salmon can be a good bait as they are quite firm, especially when fresh.

Deploy a constant trickle of berley.

This will work better than deploying large amounts less often.

Try fishing at Bluefish Point’s east front, Long Reef at Collaroy, South Avalon ledge approx. 400m past the swimming pool, and North Whale ledges.

Many anglers assume that November isn’t a good month for targeting rock blackfish, and will opt to target different species. However, November can be a great month for rock blackfish. Cabbage weed baits,

Sydney NSW

FMM cunjevoi and the usual baits like peeled prawns are the go. Cabbage weed baits should ideally be fished with a float rig. A float approximately the size of a quail egg is ideal. A no 1 or 2 ball size sinker will suit most conditions you may be fishing, and you should use a no 1-2 size double strength hook.

Between 1.5 to 2.5m is a good depth, depending on the area you are fishing.

Long Reef at Collaroy and Little Bluey at Manly are good spots and relatively easy to assess.

OCEAN BEACH The summer/winter species changeover is entering its final phase.

Migratory species like whiting are becoming widespread on most beaches in good numbers, and bream are also in the mix. Sand flathead are also picking up worm baits meant for whiting, and pilchard baits meant for Aussie salmon.

The whiting are biting best during the moon periods, namely the new or full moon tides. The reason is that the tides are at the right time of the day and are generally larger, especially the morning tides. Ideally, you’ll want to combine this with low-light periods, but if that’s not possible, all is not lost. You can still get results fishing a late morning run into the high or a mid-afternoon high tide.

When fishing for whiting off the ocean beaches, it’s good to focus your

Ralph Choi with an 87cm king caught spinning sea gars. Even at this size, a kingfish can easily rip 24kg string off your reel and cut you off on the rocks. When they’re larger than this, they can be very difficult to land. efforts on the whitewater. A spread of whitewater over a beach hole will block the worst of the sun’s glare, and the whiting and bream will be feeding in these areas.

A 10ft, 3-5kg rod is ideal for beach fishing for whiting, with preferably with a small reel like a Daiwa 4000 BG MQ. It’s also handy to bring a carry bag with scissors, leader, hooks, sinkers,

accessories, spare rigs, a cloth, a ruler to measure your fish, a bucket with a clip seal lid, and rod holders.

Pink nippers and live beach worms are the best baits, followed by pipis and small peeled prawns.

November is a good month for beach mulloway. Their food source has increased on the beaches, with larger numbers of whiting, dart, tarwhine,

mullet and more. Also, the increase in chopper tailor numbers will encourage the mulloway (and sharks) to feed on the beaches in the evenings.

A swell size up to 1.3m is manageable, and if the gutter is deeper than 2.5m you can fish a swell size up to 1.5m max. Any larger than that, and the gutter entrances can get too sandy and churned up. When these access points are obstructed, the predators can’t access the gutter.

The other extreme is when it is too flat. When this happens, the predators spread out rather than holding in a specific area. A good average swell size for most Sydney beaches is approx. 1m.

The low tide period isn’t the most popular time to fish, but it can produce better during flatter sea conditions, rather than on a high tide when it floods too much.

Other medium-size predators also available are tailor and salmon. The tailor are increasing in numbers, and the salmon tend to be larger this late in the season. You can catch these fish on a set of three 4/0 hooks.

For jewfish, live baits like mullet up to 25cm are a good average size. You can also get results on live yellowtail, butterflied yellowtail, and, of course, fresh squid.

Have a great November, and take advantage of the smorgasbord of species!

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The dusky flathead are gathering in numbers SYDNEY SOUTH

Gary Brown gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

The beginning of the dusky flathead season in Sydney has been a cracker.

Every time I’ve been out lately, I have caught at least two or three flathead on both bait and lures.

Many of you would say that dusky flathead can be caught year-round, and this is true. However, they seem to gather in numbers at the end of the river mouth and creeks from the end of October and through to the end of April.

Recently our manager Adrian, at the BCF store at Taren Point, managed to get seven legal flathead while anchored up at the end of the third runway with his family. They were using a running ball sinker onto a swivel and a leader of about a metre, and peeled Hawkesbury River prawns for bait.

Here are some places that you can try this month.

SPOTS TO TRY IN NOVEMBER First up is Yarra Point, a small and very productive break wall for the shorebased angler. Squid, whiting, flathead, bream, silver trevally and mullet can be caught here on a rising tide. Make sure that you have a constant berley trail going.

Along the Brighton-Le-Sands Beach, there are several places that you can fish.

You will need to put in a decent cast to get to the fish. Bream, whiting, dusky

John Taylforth from Fergo’s Tackle World couldn’t get the smile off his face after netting this 57cm salmon in the Port Hacking.

Monterey. You should try working the edges of the swimming baths here. This location is best fished early in the morning or when the shadows start to form on the water. Pilchards, bloodworms, tubeworms and soft plastics work well off the shore at Monterey.

For the boating anglers, there is a spot that I call the Middle of the Bay. To find this spot, you will need to put your boat at the end of the old runway

of it. Then it’s just a matter of casting out a couple of baits on long leaders and waiting for the bream, whiting and trevally to come past.

If you drive up to the end of Bonna Point, you will find a stretch of beach that is best fished on the run-out tide for flathead, bream and whiting. As the tide is falling, you can cast to the deeper water and work your bait or soft plastic back towards you.

Offshore, there have been some great snapper, morwong, sand flathead and tiger flathead catches from the 30-70m depth off Maroubra, Coogee, Kurnell and Jibbon Point. The hardest thing is finding out where the fish are on any particular day. It can be a bit hit-andmiss. I recently went out off Maroubra and spent about three hours trying to find a snapper. Even though we found the bait schools, we couldn’t get the snapper to bite on soft plastics.

The next day, a mate of mine went out to the same marks and caught four snapper to 3.6kg. All were caught while spot locking the electric motor and slowly feeding out in the current lightly weighted strip of fresh slimy mackerel.

That same mate returned the next day and never lost a bait. He must have moved on as he found that there were no baitfish out at that spot.

Bream, drummer, trevally and tarwhine have been caught in the washes around the Kurnell Peninsula and off Marley Point in the RNP. The best baits by far have been half pilchards and peeled prawns.

Bream, trevally, Australian salmon, whiting and flathead have started to show up in the main channel from Lilly Pilly to the entrance of Gunnamatta Bay. Run-in or run-out tide doesn’t seem to matter. If they go off the bite, just move about a bit until you find them again.

The beaches in Bate Bay are starting to produce good catches of bream, tarwhine, whiting and dart. The best baits by far have been beachworms and half pilchards. Whole pilchards on a set READER’S

of ganged hooks have been producing tailor and salmon early in the morning and late in the afternoon.

FACT 9 We are now up to the 9th fact in my series of monthly fishing facts, and this month’s fact is about flathead species.

After many hours of researching and talking to the guys from the NSW Fisheries, I have narrowed the list down to 14 different flathead species (by scientific names only) in Australia. These flathead can be found right around the coastline of Australia and into many of

Carl Dubois with a 92cm dusky flathead that he caught while fishing one of the Hobie Kayak rounds. the estuaries, rivers and creeks.

They are the long-headed, rock, large-toothed, southern sand, longspined, southern blue-spotted, eastern blue-spotted, northern sand, dusky, marbled, bar-tailed, tassel-snouted, Harris’s and the black-freckled flathead.

Over the years, I have caught the following: southern blue-spotted, eastern blue-spotted, northern sand, dusky, marbled and the bar-tailed flathead. Which ones have you caught?

PICTURE

There are plenty of bonito about, and you can try casting or trolling a metal slice for these little speedsters. Image courtesy of Fergo’s Tackle World at Taren Point. flathead and blue swimmer crabs can be caught here. If you are fishing from a boat, I recommend that you drift and use whitebait or soft plastics, and work the edges of the weed beds.

Another place worth a shot is 58 NOVEMBER 2023

and line up the airport tower and Centre Point Tower. Once you have done this, you will need to travel slowly away from the runway with your sounder going.

Once you find a bit of firm bottom, you will then need to anchor upcurrent

Paul Henry caught this 63cm brown trout while spinning with a Celta Lure off the bank of the Goulburn River.

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Expect the same from Ballina spring fishing BALLINA

Joe Allan

It’s funny looking back over the years at the reports leading up to summer.

Even though the weather patterns have dramatically differed over the last few years, from wet to dry, the spring fishing hasn’t changed that much.

I really enjoy fishing at this time of year on the Richmond and Wilson river systems. It’s not crazy hot, and the sun doesn’t come up at stupid o’clock in the morning for the surface bite.

The freshwater reaches of the system have the bass really fired up, and they are really spread out. The early season surface bite has been good, with weedless frogs and buzzbaits doing the damage. The Bassday Sugapen Splash

75mm has been catching a few in the brackish sections of the river.

When throwing surface-rigged plastics, the Gamakatsu Skip Gap hooks are my go-to. The funny shape of these hooks holds the plastics up on the shank better than other hooks I’ve tried.

Whiting in the Lower Reaches of the Richmond are on and firing on small surface lures. Be prepared to hook a few other species as bycatch, such as small trevally, bream or very hungry

face displaces much more water than the Sugapen 70.

Flathead are well and truly on the bite in the middle reaches of the

and Black Head. The latter can be a little hit-and-miss, though. There are a lot of smaller fish, but these are still great on the plate, and can provide

The crabs are starting to get around and seem to be way up the rivers. river around Pimlico Island, and right through to Woodburn, where I’ve seen numerous 60+ flatties caught recently.

If you’re bait fishing, get some white pilchards (salted keeps the flesh harder), fresh prawns and live poddy mullet. If you’re into throwing lures or trolling them behind the boat, this is a great time of year for this type of fishing.

Get as bright a lure as you can, because

Bill and Olley Latimer caught these fish on Atomic Blades in a deeper corner of the river between Wyrallah and Woodburn.

Marlon Bleakley with a beautiful Aussie bass caught all by himself at a recent NCBB round.

flathead. When water moves over these flats, the fish know it’s time to feed.

The Bassday Sugapen Splash 75 has been working well on the whiting.

It’s slightly heavier than the popular Sugapen 70, which helps it to cast just a little further. It also attracts fish from a little farther away, as the larger cupped

some great fun on light gear.

As the water starts to really warm up, the mahimahi will become very hungry and gather in solid numbers.

The best spots to check are the FADs and the wave buoy.

Further afield, there have still been some nice pearl perch and kingfish showing up.

BEACHES The beaches along South Ballina can produce some amazing whiting fishing at this time of year. Scout the beach a few days before the bigger tides, and then head out with live worms and pipis at night. The pipi numbers will start to increase as the water warms up.

A word of warning – if the northerly

Harrison Clements was the one who caught these silver beauties.

A pair of beautiful Richmond River mulloway caught on live bait.

60 NOVEMBER 2023

flathead can’t seem to get enough of those fluoro things.

OFFSHORE The close-in reefs have been producing a few tuna, bonito and horse mackerel lately. The best way to target these is by trolling big metal slugs or pink skirted lures. If you find a bait school, get your slugs ready to start casting because this action can be crazy, with fish often coming cast after cast while you’re on the school.

There are still a fair few snapper around Lennox Point, Riordans Reef

Dan and Bella Clay fish together and caught these beautiful fish near Wyrallah. is blowing, the bluebottles will be out in numbers. While not deadly, their stings pack a punch and are very uncomfortable.

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It’s a fruitful time to be chasing snapper COFFS COAST

Rob Taylor

With the weather warming, we are starting to see a seasonal shift in local fishing conditions. This transitional time of year is always exciting as we see the first of the warm water species starting to fire up, and the winter fishing fades away until next year.

Right on cue we have seen an excellent start to the flathead season, with plenty of 60-80cm fish being caught right up in the shallows. Our READER’S

PICTURE

Clayton McQuire had some fun frogging in the brackish water at one of our local creeks.

Arvi Roberts went on a recent holiday to Yaroomba with his family and caught this monster flathead from a gutter on the beach. They were fishing early morning on the incoming tide with a gang hooked pilly.

live baits will be productive. Big glide baits and soft plastics are an exciting and often visual way to find a big girl up on the flats. The Urunga, Kalang

Scott Kempton with an epic red taken in close.

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local creeks and rivers are the places to be if you’re after a flattie or two.

The start of spring heralded a sluggish start to local bass fishing. We certainly need some rain events to get the rivers firing and bass moving. There are good fish there but you need to work a little harder than usual to find them.

Out to sea there’s been plenty of kingfish action around the islands and snapper in close. The first of the mahimahi have arrived at the traps, FAD and wave recorder, so a good feed is on offer for the boaties. Some stiped marlin have also been hitting lures on the 100m line, although better numbers have been caught to the south of us.

CREEKS AND RIVERS As mentioned, the creeks and rivers will be the place to be over the next month if you’re keen on tangling with a big lizard or two. Working the sand flats on the run-in tide with lures or

and Nambucca rivers will all be worth prospecting for big flatties from now through to summer.

The mangrove jack run is also starting, and it will only get better as we move into November. Some truly thumping jacks over the magic 50cm mark are caught every year, and now is the time to be chasing them. Live baiting snags in the upper reaches of most of our creeks and rivers, or around the road bridge and marina pylons at night, will result in plenty of bust-ups, but also the chance of a trophy red dog.

ROCKS AND BEACHES Throughout November there’ll be the odd tailor and jewfish off the headlands and in the beach gutters for those anglers willing to put in the time. Drummer and groper will still be around, but their numbers will be thinning out as the water warms.

The land-based pelagic run is yet to start, but the rocks and beaches can still turn on some exciting spinning with tailor, bonito and the odd Aussie salmon all within casting range on the

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FMM right days. Look for working birds on bait balls, and high-speed spin with 40-60g metal lures and you’re sure to have a blast.

In the meantime, it’s bread and butter fun on the beaches, with plenty of bream, tailor, dart and whiting in the gutters.

OFFSHORE There have been plenty of yellowtail kingfish out around the Solitary Islands.

Most of the fish are not overly large (around 70-80cm) but there’s the odd

horse under them which will quickly sort you out on the wrong tackle. The Lighthouse can be an absolute kingy haven at this time of year, and many a session has been saved when the kings are on at the island and they’re in a feeding mood. They’ll take all kinds of lures, including metals, plastics and stickbaits.

Snapper are a fish for which this region is renowned, and surprisingly November can be a fruitful month to chase reds off our coast. Some big reds

Cameron Hall got an early start on the bass run with some solid fish.

The author with a perfect-sized red from the beach, showing just how close they come in to the coastline at this time of year.

will fall to plastics around the 20m reefs, but don’t discount a floatline session as there are some bumper bait fishing sessions to be had at this time of year.

Lay out a consistent berley trail at dawn or dusk, and drift back some fresh baits. Nine times out of ten, the fish will find you. Put a live bait out on the bottom while you floatline, as there’s always the chance of a sneaky jewfish or thumping red.

Mahimahi (dolphinfish) and striped marlin have started to arrive. You’ll find good numbers of mahimahi at the wave recorder, fish traps and FAD all through

November. Flicking livies or lures at anything on the surface in depths of 70m+ will usually find a mahimahi or ten. Good lures include stickbaits, metals and soft plastics.

If you’re looking for something a little more intense, the first of the striped marlin have arrived. Although they’ve been a little thicker to the south of us, I expect their numbers to increase as November wears on.

Finally, if you’re looking to really lose some line in a hurry, it’s not long now until the first of the blue marlin arrive.

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November fishing is a sign of things to come SOUTH WEST ROCKS

Vic Levett

The ocean waters are warming, and this has really got things moving in the estuaries and offshore.

November is traditionally a quiet month for a lot of people in regards to fishing effort. With Christmas around the corner, not a lot of people have the time to chase fish, which means low crowds and plenty of fish to go around for those who can get out.

Zane caught this trophy red on a soft plastic. He decided to release this big breeder.

Mahimahi season is underway. Try to be respectful to others while fishing the DPI FADs. ESTUARIES The river has boosted into life.

Flathead are the main focus this month.

Up in the shallows you will find them sunning themselves, waiting to ambush any easy meal that comes their way.

Soft plastics, swimbaits and shallow hardbody lures are a great way to target flatties on the flats. Some people assume that all the flatties are small in these shallow waters, but don’t be fooled – there are some real trophies getting about.

Drifting the deepwater edges of the river also another great way to come tight with a trophy flathead.

Livies such as herring and mullet can be fished off a boat or shoreline.

Around the tavern, Back Creek and the Jew Bite are good areas to fish from the shore. Now is the flathead spawning

season, so please remember the slot limit of 37-70cm. Any undersize or oversize flatties must be released in the best possible condition.

Mulloway will also be on the move this month. Since the floods of the last few years there has been a real influx of small, mostly undersized (min 70cm) jewfish in the river. A lot of these small fish will be encountered while chasing other species. Please handle them with care as they are the next generation of spawners.

Bream and whiting on nippers and beach worms are also good proposition off the Back Creek wharf or the main river flats. Low tide and a nipper pump will get you as much good quality live bait as you’ll need. You should fish as light as possible, with minimal lead and light leader.

OFFSHORE It’s all about the offshore fishing from now on. The bait schools should really start to pile up this month, and the large pelagics that depend on them won’t be far away.

The DPI FADs have been deployed for over a couple of months now, so they will be a good option for ever popular mahimahi. Livies and pilchards fished with no weight are effective on these fish. Trolling is also another option. When you’re enjoying these recreationally funded FADs, you’ll find that etiquette and some respect towards others goes a long way. Please give other anglers plenty of room, and don’t troll between drifting boats and the FAD. Also, please don’t assume that being the first boat there gives you rights over others.

Anglers with electric motors, using the spot lock feature, have been causing a fair bit of conflict. Selfishly blocking the FAD from drifting boats can be a real inconvenience to others trying to do right thing. In any case, not all the fish live directly under the FAD. There have been plenty of snapper on the 30m and deeper reefs, with all

Longtail tuna have been present all throughout winter, and it looks like they’ll stick around the next few months. Fishing with livies, soft plastics or casting small stickbaits at bust-ups have been the best ways to come tight on one these speedsters.

Both striped marlin and black marlin have been encountered recently from Fish Rock to the shelf. These guys should also become more common coming into summer. There have been some large schools of jumbo slimies out in 100m, with the odd striped marlin in amongst them.

ROCK AND BEACH Lots of small mulloway have been caught along the headlands lately, most by anglers throwing soft plastics. Tailor are also still being found also off the rocks and the beaches.

A great king caught onboard Oceanhunter Sportfishing Charters.

Plenty of people fishing the beaches have been scoring bream, whiting and dart on live beach worms. Luderick have not been around in their normal numbers, but drummer are probably a better target of late for the rock fishos.

Hopefully November will bring some stable weather; we have had some pretty ordinary conditions of late. The

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Jack with a nice lit-up black marlin.

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

OceanHunter Sportsfishing 64 NOVEMBER 2023

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the usual suspects such as pearl perch, tuskies, trag and flathead mixed in with the reds. Drifting with fresh tuna or slimy fillets is one of the best ways to tempt a tasty reef fish.

Fish Rock has had a fairly ordinary run of late, with mostly small kings.

There have also been a few cobia taken at the Rock.

northeasterlies that have been blowing can really have an effect on the water temperatures, and it generally takes a southerly change to bring the ocean back to its normal temperature range.

All signs point to an epic summer of fishing, and November is just a taste of things to come. So, get out and enjoy what the mid north coast has to offer.

Macquarie Coast NSW

FMM

Fantastic start to mud crab season in local rivers THE HASTINGS

Kate Shelton

The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) installed the fish aggregating devices (FADs) in September ready for the upcoming summer fishing season.

FADs are strategically placed along the NSW coast during the warmer months. These GPS-tracked floating buoys are anchored to the ocean floor to attract fast-growing pelagic fish species such as mahimahi (dolphinfish), marlin

Port Macquarie local Michael O’Brien with a cracking blue-eye trevalla he recently caught. Image courtesy of @michaelobrien138.

and wahoo. See below for the GPS coordinates for our local FADs. • South West Rocks 30° 50.534’ S 153° 11.803’ E • Hat Head 31° 00.636’ S 153° 07.795’ E • Port Macquarie 31° 24.567’ S 153° 04.725’ E • Laurieton 31° 39.601’ S 152° 56.235’ E •Crowdy Head 31° 47.000’ S 152° 55.200’ E WHAT’S BITING Down south in the Camden Haven region, we’ve had some recent reports from a few local rock fishing anglers.

While fishing south around Diamond Head and Perpendicular Point, these anglers have scored a few late season drummer, some reasonable bream and the odd snapper.

On the offshore scene, snapper action remains red hot, with most reefs being consistently productive on both baits and lures. A few kingfish and bar cod have also been on offer out wide, with live bait getting the better results.

In the Hastings River region, flathead activity has picked up, as is usually the case when the water begins to warm. Good reports have come in from most locations between the break walls and further upstream towards Wauchope, with some nice fish to 90cm+ on offer. The best results have been achieved by those throwing lures, however whitebait, prawns and mullet strips have all caught their share.

Also in the river, anglers targeting mud crabs have had a fantastic start to the season, with most crabs being caught

Tagging Tales Suntag is a world leading citizen science volunteer fish tagging program that is part of an Australian program that has tagged over 1,000,000 fish and was the first volunteer program in the world to reach that milestone. Recently Infofish/Suntag was awarded the “Best Angler-Led data collection project” at the world recreational fishing conference held in Melbourne recently. Data collected

through the program is used to improve our knowledge base of recreational fishing by providing near real time information on the status of coastal estuaries and inland impoundments.

Thanks to the fish, we can provide you with some interesting stories that they tell.

PENDING WORLD RECORD A recent recapture by Mathew Taylor of a Somerset dam bass has got the Suntag team checking their records. The fish had

Ollie Roods caught this huge mud crab with his dad in the Hastings River. Image courtesy of @brendonroods. further upstream towards Wauchope.

On the beaches, bream continue to be taken from both North Shore Beach and Lighthouse Beach. Anglers fishing the evening high tide have been enjoying the better action. The odd school mulloway has also been encountered in these locations.

Offshore, in October we saw most local game fishing anglers head wide and target striped marlin, with some terrific early season fish caught. Anglers have also had good success fishing the deep water, with some nice bass groper, blue-eye trevalla and bar cod on offer during the sessions when the current has backed off.

Closer in, snapper remain active, but you have to put in the work.

Anchoring and berleying seems to be doing the trick at the moment.

There are plenty of good kingfish around Trag Rock and further north towards Crescent Head on both live baits and jigs.

Further north in the Macleay River region, bream numbers on the beach are better than we have seen all year, particularly in the north around Horseshoe Bay, Goolawah Beach and Big Hill. Fresh worms, squid and prawns have been the baits of choice.

Offshore, the snapper fishing has continued to be excellent, with all reefs producing the goods. The wider reefs have also held a few reasonable kingfish, mulloway and tasty pearl perch. Also, it shouldn’t be too long now until we start to see the first of the black marlin for the season.

Jason Didio with a huge snapper he caught locally around South West Rocks on an OM Fishing & Outdoors rig. Image courtesy of @didioscountry2coastfishing.

Brought to you by been originally tagged 26.5 years before.

This is a pending world record for a freshwater fish recapture (original capture to recapture).

It certainly shows the longevity of our native fish and the quality of the Hallmark tags Suntag uses.

Another interesting note from this recapture was that it had been recaptured one before (2019) and hadn’t grown since that recapture.

The fish was released to hopefully

surprise us again sometime in the future.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU CATCH A TAGGED FISH The information you will need to report your recapture is. The length of the fish and the location it was captured. Get a photo if possible.

To report the details of your recapture you have two options: Call 1800 077001 or go to http:// crystalbowl.infofishaustralia.com.au/ suntag/recaptures/recapture_form_1. html and fill in the form.

In return you will receive a certificate providing the details of the tagging and recapture of your fish, as a thank you for providing the information.

NOVEMBER 2023 65

NSW

Macquarie Coast

FMM

Get stuck into your favourite warm water species FORSTER

Luke Austin

This year’s summer fishing season has kicked in early, and we are well and truly locked into chasing our favourite warm water species. With baitfish galore offshore, prawns flicking in the lake and cicadas singing up the rivers, there are loads of hungry predators on the hunt all over the place. The options really are endless!

The estuary remains the best local fishing option at the moment.

The fish in Wallis Lake are nice and active, and there are plenty waiting to be caught. Flathead sit at the top of many anglers’ lists right now, and for

Discovery Holiday Park at Darawank.

Unfortunately, bait fishers are still struggling to find good numbers of fish. If you do prefer to use bait, your best bet is to fish the run-out tide.

The fish are much more active once the tide falls and the water gets a bit of colour in it.

If you are proficient in lure fishing, the world is your oyster when it comes to flathead right now. If the tide is high or coming in, move up into the shallows and throw surface lures or shallow diving minnows.

This is often the time that you will get belted by that ‘fish of a lifetime’, as the big fish move up into the shallows to feed.

If the tide is dropping, fishing the edges and drop offs with 3-5”

The local bream are smashing prawns throughout the lake. estuary, I was amazed by how many huge bream were getting about. Any bit of broken ground/rubble/oyster rock was surrounded by 10-15 solid bream. You can imagine how quickly I tied on a surface lure to get in on the action!

The nice clear water that has pushed in with the recent tides has done wonders for the local bream, and they seem to be feeding hard over the top of the tide. The rock walls are still holding some reasonable fish, but most of the better fish have moved up the system now and seem to have settled on the flats and oyster racks between The Paddock and The Cut. This middle part of the estuary is full of solid fish that are super active.

Floating unweighted baits into just about any bit of gnarly structure is a sure-fire way of getting your arms

getting good results, with some very nice 35-40cm fish hitting the decks.

Trumpeter whiting are ticking along nicely, with most anglers finding enough to make it worth their while.

These tasty little treats can be fickle at times, so take a few different bait options with you – or at least pack the yabby pump in case they turn their nose up at the baits you have!

Beach reports have been extremely varied lately. There are definitely some quality fish moving along our sandy coastline, with some great bream, whiting, tailor and mulloway landed recently. Unfortunately, sandy sessions close to town have mainly yielded only a few fish each trip, with the better sessions all happening a fair way south of town.

Reports from the stones have been very thin on the ground lately. There are still some great bream getting about, along with the odd small snapper and tailor, but that’s about it.

Offshore fishing is typically a bit hit-and-miss at this time of year. There are some cracking reds in shallow but they don’t seem to be in decent numbers. The deeper reefs have been producing the majority of the fish, with the 60-90m grounds fishing particularly well. Along with some nice eating-sized snapper, they have been yielding the odd pearl perch, trag, flathead and pigfish. You

Rob Voorby with a cracking flathead from the shallows. good reason: there are loads of flatties out there, and they are being caught all over the place. In recent weeks I have had great reports from as far south as Tiona and as far north as the

soft plastics is super effective. This is probably the best way to get a decent bag of fish for the table.

When fishing the flats recently down towards the mouth of the

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stretched! I have been seeing some nice bags of fish coming from the weed beds a little further up, and now that the cicadas have started singing, the rivers are set to fire.

Even though the water is still a little on the chilly side, sand whiting have started to become more active and are proving to be a worthy target on each high tide. The shallow flats up around Lani’s and down off Taree St (between the Wallamba and Jonnel Park) have been fishing well. Both lure and bait anglers have been

have to choose between hitting the shallows, knowing that you might get only a couple of huge fish, or heading wide where you have a better chance at catching a good mixed bag.

• Luke is the owner of Great Lakes Tackle - your ‘local’ bait and tackle store. We only sell 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! Open 7 days in the main street of Tuncurry Ph:0265549541 or find us on Facebook to see what we have been up to!

Hunter Coast NSW

FMM

The early bird will catch the fish this November lakes. Despite the lack of rain, results have been quite good. Bream are normally a little bit slow in the earlier part of spring, and gradually improve as we approach summer.

Flathead have been active and responding well to most lures I’ve been casting. Both flathead and bream, along with whiting, will be very much on

CENTRAL COAST

Jamie Robley

We’ve had a warm, dry year so far, and the trend is likely to continue this month. Although the lack of rainfall obviously isn’t helping the fishing, and it’s a bit of a worry for the upcoming summer, our local fishing doesn’t seem to be suffering too much.

Back in the cooler months, particularly towards the end of winter, we had a lot of westerly winds. That offshore wind direction, combined with the lack of rain, meant the ocean was generally very clear and often too calm in close along the beaches and headlands.

Those sorts of conditions mean it’s normally easy to fish the rocks, beaches or inshore reefs, but the downside is that the super clear water makes it harder to actually catch fish.

Now however, the tables have turned. We’re getting the usual onshore

Although we’re approaching summer, species like luderick are definitely worth pursuing from our local rock ledges. winds, mainly from the northeast, most days. Rain or not, onshore winds stir up the water along the rocks and beaches, and the extra whitewash gives the fish more protection. When it’s like this, common species like bream, luderick,

Flathead have been quite active in recent weeks. The author caught this 60cm specimen on a small metal vibe. drummer and tailor can be a bit easier to catch. However, the same winds also make it harder for small boats to get out and stay out for long. It’s also harder to fish the rocks and beaches when a stiff breeze is hampering your efforts. So, if you’re keen to fish offshore, the rocks or at the beach, by far the best strategy is to fish early in the day and avoid the afternoon period.

Ocean currents are gradually pushing down from the north, bringing warmer water and hopefully more baitfish and other species. November normally marks the turning point from cold water to warm water fishing, so you can encounter a wide range of species – everything from snapper, trevally and salmon to fish like bonito, rat kings and early season marlin. Typically, it’s a bit hit and miss this month, but I’d still be making sure the boat is ready and be keeping a close eye on sea surface temperature maps, apps, charts and so on.

If you’re equipped to fish at night, the closer reefs can also produce mulloway after dark this month. Live yakkas are the standard go-to jewie bait when offshore fishing, but freshly-

caught calamari, pike and good quality pilchards are also reliable baits to try. It’s also definitely worth trying very early in the morning and fishing an hour before sunrise. Yes, I know, you’ll have to be keen to get up so early!

Back inside calmer waters, you can encounter mulloway within Brisbane Waters, the Hawkesbury or Lake Macquarie this month. Basically, the same tactics that work offshore also do well in these systems.

Live yakkas, live mullet, freshlycaught squid or pike are the top baits, and it’s usually far better to fish at night.

However, the change of tide periods, at high or low tide, are when baits will often get taken. So, it’s always important to factor in the tide changes and have your best baits in the water during the 30 minutes either side of the slack water.

From my experience, the most crucial time is just as the first water movement of the new tide cycle begins. I mean the very first few minutes of current flow after the water has stopped for a while.

That is the time to be holding your rod, concentrating and ready for action!

In recent weeks I’ve mainly been chasing bream and flathead around the

Good numbers of flathead are around The Entrance. Be sure to keep an eye on the size though; many Tuggerah Lakes flathead are only around 35-40cm. the hit list in the weeks ahead. They’re always fun to catch, but flathead are my favourite table fish and I’m sure many other readers would agree.

That’s it for this month. My main tips for November are to get out early if you’re into rock, beach or offshore fishing, try at night for mulloway if the winds aren’t blowing too hard, or stick to flathead, bream and whiting within the lakes or Brisbane Waters. Don’t forget that prawns and crabs also become more active at this time of year. Hopefully it should be a pretty good month ahead.

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NSW

Hunter Coast

FMM

Superb spring fishing in the estuary and beaches PORT STEPHENS

Paul Lennon

The estuary has been on fire in recent weeks, with excellent catches of flathead coming from throughout the system.

The lack of rain this season has made for some great fishing in the upper

first two hours of the run-out tide have been having the most success.

Bream on the tide changes are another really good option from the break wall at this time of year. Unweighted prawns and nippers have been accounting for plenty up to 40cm.

Elsewhere in the bay, bream are feeding around the oyster racks, rock

It’s a productive time to wade the shallows for flathead.

Mulloway are a great target species at this time of year. parts of the system, with Allworth producing some big scores of lizards.

We have also been seeing great catches from the upper parts of Tilligerry and the Myall.

The mistake most anglers make is fishing too far out for flathead. You should be fishing the edges of the bank around the bends in the river, the mouths of feeder creeks and edges of contrasting bottom, where weed or rock meets mud or sand. Soft plastics and hard-bodied lures are the best weapons of choice, and anything from 2-5” is a good size.

Luderick remain fairly consistent from the Nelson Bay rock wall, and anglers using fresh weed and fishing the

bars and rocky islands on the western side of Soldiers Point. Lure fishing with small crankbaits and lightly-weighted plastics is a sure-fire way to get stuck into them.

Surface lures will also become an effective weapon for anglers over the next few months, with both bream and whiting feeding aggressively on topwater.

Bream are best fished around the structure. Work your lure with a short, sharp blooping action followed by a good pause. Whiting, on the other hand, prefer shallow flats areas, and the best retrieve is a constant walking pace.

Mulloway will be lurking in those deeper parts of the bay and Karuah

bridges this month, especially on the tide changes. Live baiting is the most effective way to catch them. If you can’t catch live bait, tea-bagging a soft vibe lure will often be rewarded.

BEACHES The ocean beaches are fishing very well, with plenty of whiting showing up along Fingal, Samurai, One Mile and Stockton. A 2-hook, long-shank paternoster rig baited with a live worm or fresh pipi is deadly on these tasty critters. You will also pick up a bunch of welcome by-catch, from big bream to dart and even the odd mulloway.

If you want to specifically target mulloway, get to the beach a couple of hours before dark and try to catch a few whiting for live bait, and then fish into the night. Whiting make excellent mulloway live baits and are a hardy fish that can be easily kept alive in a bucket of saltwater. They will be fine for a good half hour before needing a water change.

Tailor are another option for a live bait, and can be often spun up with metal lures late in the afternoon. Unfortunately,

they don’t last as long as whiting do in a bucket, and need to be put out quickly.

OCEAN ROCKS While it’s not the best time of year to fish from the ocean rocks, you can still pick up some late season drummer and bream while fishing the washy areas with lightly weighted prawns or cunjevoi.

The headlands and points will be worth a spin with some ganged pilchards or metal lures this month, for the chance of a solid tailor or bonito.

OFFSHORE Marlin season has kicked off. There have been quite a few striped marlin caught on the shelf, and they should only get better from now on.

The FADs are out, and there have been a few good mahimahi (dolphinfish) to 10kg caught off them already. Early

There are quality snapper around the islands. season mahimahi are often the biggest of the season.

In close, the charter boats have been picking up plenty of trag on the inner reefs as well as a few squire and odd mulloway starting to show up too.

Some great snapper fishing to be had around the islands on first and last light by casting plastics or anchoring and casting out baits down a berley trail.

The best prawn run of the year SWANSEA

Jason Nunn

The highlight of November is the estuary fishing, particularly the prawn run. Our weather cycle is heading

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into a drier period, but unlike river systems like the Hunter, the prawns in our catchment are less impacted by dry periods. This month’s run will start around the 8th, and run for approx.

7-8 days. Each night, the low tide will

commence around 50-60 minutes later than the previous night.

This particular prawn run is traditionally our best of the year, with quality prawns and good numbers of them. The bulk of our prawns are juvenile eastern king prawns, mixed in with a small number of tiger prawns, school prawns and resident greasyback prawns.

Under cover of darkness, the migrating prawns attach themselves to weed and float down the channel. In other estuaries, it’s possible to catch prawns by wading, but not here. Here, you need a boat to get into the channel, which is around 10-30ft deep. Remember, you mustn’t obstruct the navigational channel here. You can use a head torch or old hard hat with a 12V light hooked up to a marine or car battery, and scoop the prawns as they come down.

The run also raises the condition and quantity of other estuary species, such as whiting, bream and flathead, carrying

Leah King with a nice catch to bring home. us through the summer. Right now is an ideal time to cast lures for flathead in the channel, or drift for them in the shallows. Paddle-tail and grub-tail plastics in natural colours are effective in the shallows, and a couple of good options are the Squidgy Wriggler

Illawarra Coast NSW

FMM

Flathead are hitting everything that moves ILLAWARRA

Greg Clarke

The lake is starting to hit its straps now with warmer water moving in and out with the tides and the shallows warmed by the sun. The first prawns moved on the last dak so all the lakes inhabitants are now well into feeding mode.

As always, the number one target for most anglers is the flathead. They have been increasing in size and numbers in recent weeks, and are now really hitting their straps. The action will only getting better as we move into summer.

The drop-off from the channel into the main lake is always a hot spot, but now they will start to spread out over most of the lake with a bit of sand. Live poddy mullet are always deadly, as are plastics. I prefer prawn-style plastics, and have had great success with them.

That said, there are plenty of other bait and lure options that work. On a good day, the flatties will often hit just about anything that moves.

Whiting have started to get a wriggle on too, and squirt worms are the best bait. Alternatively, a session on a calm morning along the sand flats with poppers can be great fun. Bream will grab the poppers too before they move into deeper water as the sun comes up.

Flatties will come up off the bottom and grab the poppers as well.

To catch a better class of bream, try live prawns unweighted drifted back into the bridge pylons on the run-out tide in the evenings.

You can apply the same techniques in Minnamurra River too, with the added bonus of some big trevally and in bloodworm and Gulp 4” Jigging Grub in pumpkinseed.

If you want to chase whiting off the surface, you can get good results fishing very early in the morning and late in the afternoon with Sugapens, Jackson Panics and Splash Prawns.

A solid Sunday snapper. Image courtesy of Sandy Bottom Boat Charters.

blackfish thrown into the mix on the live prawns.

The beaches have fired up too.

Whiting are now on all the beaches along the coast, and they are getting better every week. Beachworms are a must for good catches. Fish the edges of the gutters on the falling tide as they move off the shallow sand banks and gather in the gutters. The odd stray dart may show up early as the water heats up, and salmon and big bream are always on the cards when using worms in the surf.

The evenings are producing a few mulloway, but they are mostly schoolies with just the odd better fish thrown in.

They will pick up next month as the big fish move in on the big evening tides.

Salmon and tailor are grabbing pilchards on ganged hooks on many beaches, with good deep gutters during the evenings and early mornings.

The rocks are much the same – they

Flatties are on the up and up as the water gets warmer every week.

As you’d expect, we’re seeing an increase in squid numbers in the Swansea channel, particularly the dropover areas.

The squid of an evening are often seen chasing the prawns, with half a prawn hanging out of their beak.

Of course, with the increase in squid, we see an increase in kingfish in the lake, and Swansea Bridge in particular, has been a real hotspot. The marker buoys in the lake have also been producing quite a few kings. The best way to catch them is with a live squid or live yellowtail. If you’re a lure fisher, you can get good results on poppers (e.g. Halco Roosta, Rapala Magnum Xplode), stickbaits (Shimano Ocea Flash Boost), and 7-9” white soft plastics.

Another lure that’s been working well is the Nomad Squidtrex soft vibe. A few guys have been jigging up kingies on these squid imitations lately, so if it’s a bit windy and the surface is quiet, try a Squidtrex and see if that’s enough to entice them.

There are still plenty of mulloway around. When targeting mulloway, the key is to jig up some squid from the channels or Murrays. I recommend using small jigs such as Yozuris or Yamashitas in the

are just getting better as the northeasters start kicking in, pushing baitfish into the deeper headlands. Salmon and tailor, along with the odd bonito and small kingfish, will be chasing these right up against the shoreline, so long casts may not be needed to get good results. Port break walls, Hill 60, Bass Point and Kiama blowhole area will be good spots.

If you set your sights a bit higher there should be a few larger kingfish about as they travel along the coast before gathering at the deeper offshore areas like the Banks. Live baits out early in the morning and late afternoon will have the best chance of a result, but they could swim by your ledge at any time of the day, so it always pays to keep that livie out while you chase other species.

Bream will be in most of the washes this month, along with a few trevally and even the odd snapper if you are lucky.

Offshore it all starts to happen as the warm currents really start to push downhill, then it all stops when the cold water wells up from the bottom.

It can be hit-and-miss, but the hit days are really worth it; the first solid push of warm water generally brings the big dolphinfish (mahimahi), yellowfin tuna, striped marlin and even a few spearfish each year. This will go on until Christmas, then it will all settle down with hot water until April.

Albacore used to be a November staple, but they seem to have been missing in action over the past few years. Maybe this year they’ll be back again. The yellowfin can range from the shelf to right inshore, only a few kilometres out, so keep your eyes and ears out for any info. These days they usually don’t hang around in the same

Snapper Omalley with a couple of nice reds. Image courtesy of Sandy Bottom Boat Charters.

1.8 to 2.0 size – nothing bigger than 2.5.

Three or four squid will set you up for a mulloway session. See if you can keep them alive or as fresh as possible, and fish them unweighted in deeper channels or points in the lake, with a little bit of berley.

Try to have the squid sitting in the middle of the water column.

Little makos are about, and this is why they are so fast.

Check out the streamlining. place for too long.

Striped marlin are always on the cards this month, from the 50-fathom line to the shelf. When they are about, it’s a matter of ‘find the bait and find the fish’.

In closer, there are still kingfish around the islands. They arrived early and have been about for the past few months. To find them, just look for the commercial boats working them – they have been giving them an absolute flogging. It’s been years since we had good, constant numbers of fish in this area, but the way things are going, they may be in short supply by the time this goes to print. The pros have to make a quid, I know, but to just keep smashing the fish to oblivion is not a great result for anyone.

There are good numbers of salmon in the same area, and they seem to be spread all along the coast. You just have to find a school for a bit of fun.

A few nice snapper are about in the deeper water (50m+), with a few in closer and plenty of smaller fish in over the closer reefs.

The odd trag has been caught, along with a few small samsonfish, and plenty of mowies and pigfish on the drift. The idea is to keep both plastics and baits down at the same time to maximise your chances.

A few small makos are still about popping up next to the boat, or grabbing a fish as you land it. They are pretty good on the barbie – just watch the sharp end.

Flathead have arrived over just about every sand patch now. Some are solid fish, and it will only get better over the next six months. The only downer is there are still plenty of barracouta about to snip you off, and heaps of leatherjackets to destroy everything.

The action will continue to improve next month and beyond, so there’s a lot to look forward to.

NOVEMBER 2023 69

NSW

Batemans Coast

FMM

We can expect early summer species this month

in the depths and large kings swimming through, as we wait for more kings, mahimahi and marlin to make their way down. We usually have to wait until December before the estuary improves, with bream and flatties on the chew, plus whiting on the beaches.

This year, however, it all seems to be happening earlier. The water temperatures increased throughout spring, with good catches of 1m+ mulloway, lots of bream and good-sized flathead, and we can expect November to be just as good, if not better. Estuary perch, flounder and trevally have also been a welcome catch of late.

The only species that hasn’t gotten out of the blocks just yet is the Aussie bass upstream. Only a few fishos have been hitting them up with some success, but we can expect this to pick up throughout November and into summer.

Most of the larger mulloway getting caught lately have been responding to a good berley trail and taking fresh or live baits. There have also been some nice ones caught on 4-5” jerkshads and paddle-tails.

Plenty of bream are in the system, taking lightly-weighted fresh baits. They are also getting pulled out of the oyster racks on bibbed minnows and rolling crankbaits. The Daiwa Infeet Kodachis, Spikes, and Rollin Cranks have all been working well. Cranka Crabs and now the Mussel and Clam lures are interesting lures which have been having some success.

Estuary perch have been a bycatch, taking the same lures as the bream. The EPs have also been hitting smaller plastics meant for flathead.

The larger flatties are usually caught on the larger glide baits and big paddletails rigged with stinger hooks. Massive flatties have been waking up, and we can expect the usual consistent run we have here on the south coast from November onwards.

Upstream, the bass take lures below the surface at this time of the year.

Also, as the bugs, beetles and cicadas start populating the area, the bass start attacking surface lures.

We have a lot of small, shallow streams with some good holes here and there, so we have the perfect lures instore to accommodate the terrain. A couple of good options include the Molix Lover, which has a great erratic action with a bib that bounces over structure. You can also get good results on the Molix compact blade (essentially a small chatterbait) and 1/8oz AusSpin spinnerbaits. These lures are perfect before the surface action really takes off.

On the beaches there have been plenty of salmon. They are in massive numbers further south of here, filling up estuaries,

and they continue to be a common catch on our beaches. Tailor have been amongst them, and in the estuaries as well.

We have been seeing more bream and flathead coming on along the beaches, but it’s the whiting that we’re really waiting for.

We had an average run last summer, and we are hoping for a better run this season.

Off the rocks, we’ll continue to see drummer and grouper being caught this month, and a snapper is possible from those typical south coast snapper ledges.

For the ledge fishing enthusiasts, there’s the possibility of kingfish swimming by.

These pelagics will build over summer and by March/April they will be in full swing.

As we head out to our inshore reefs, there will be the usual snapper bite that happens at this time of the year. Snapper are in large schools spawning, and it looks as though they have been since September.

We have been experiencing a great run of snapper for the last four or five years now; I keep waiting for the moment that it slows down, but it never comes. If you are not catching them, it’s time to move – and usually you should move deeper.

Good schools are from 60-100m depths, particularly in November.

Game fishing has seen yet another incredible run on tuna, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some yellowfin and/or albacore caught throughout this month.

With the warmer water already here, we have been seeing striped marlin getting caught since September. I wouldn’t be surprised if more of these guys show up and make for an early season for the marlin.

If you can’t get fresh or live ones, frozen is acceptable. Yes, fresh is best, but it’s still possible to catch a mulloway on an old, smelly squid if that’s all you have.

In the warmer months, the blue swimmer crabs like to move into shallower water, around 5-7m. I have been getting reports from up the northern end up towards the Warners Bay end, and a few down the southern end too. The best bait is mullet, which is a nice oily bait. Crabbers are still allowed to use two enclosed traps and four witches hats for the next three years, at which point Fisheries will decide on a permanent course of action.

Over the past month or so, the beaches have been a bit patchy. Granted, you can target mulloway off the beach at

night, but other than that, it’s been a bit hit-and-miss. Things will improve on the beaches when the water gets warmer in the coming weeks.

The fishing on the inshore reefs has been a bit hot and cold, with a few reds, a few trag and flathead turning up.

November can be a bit hit-and-miss; a big factor is how many northeasters we get.

If we get three or more northeasters in a row, the water rolls over, and this cold upwelling can make things tough for a while. We’ll have to wait and see.

Out wide, we are starting to hear reports of marlin coming down the coast.

We’ll hopefully see some stripes moving in by the time you read this. There’s some warmer water around 60 miles out, and we want the southerlies to push that

warm water into the coast, and bring the fish with it.

In the meantime, the estuary is the place to be.

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The tuna fishing has been exceptional this winter/spring, and they may still be found this month.

Harry loves catching them.

BATEMANS BAY

Anthony Stokman

We’ve had a very mild and dry year so far, and we are seeing early summer conditions on both land and sea.

Usually, November is all about snapper

Scotty with a nice pair of mulloway.

The estuaries are looking good.

70 NOVEMBER 2023

Every Aussie angler wants to catch a dream fish like this from the beach. Vinnie from NZ shows how it’s done.

The FADs have been deployed by Fisheries, and with the warmer water we should start seeing the dolphinfish (mahimahi) coming to the party early.

It’s all shaping up to be a red-hot season in and out of the water. The prawns and crabs look to be coming on, and we are looking forward to them throughout this month and onwards. The short, sharp La Niña period is over; Australia isn’t a country that sits in one place for too long.

It’s definitely the land of extremes, but that’s OK – just as long as the fishing is very good and we anglers are happy.

FMM

OZFISH

Yabby Trap Round-Up protects native species The drive to round up yabby traps in NSW is making a difference with recreational fishers rewarded for handing them in.

As part of an initiative of TierraMar through its Ghostnets Australia program, in collaboration with OzFish Unlimited and the NSW Department of Primary Industries, is helping the rec fishing community participate in protecting the future of fishing and the health of the state’s waterways.

Hundreds of people have dropped off their old and unwanted opera house yabby traps at various round-up events around the state and

received a new Oar-Gee Plow lure to support sustainable fishing practices.

The program, the first of its kind in Australia, will see the opera house traps recycled into useful products

for fishers, with the proceeds being used to support habitat restoration.

“Fishers are part of the fabric of our community and for many it’s more than just catching a feed – it’s a way of life,” explained Anissa Lawrence, Managing Director, TierraMar. “This is why we’re encouraging them and their families to show up for the waterways they love.

“This is a very exciting program,

and the first of its kind in Australia, as the opera house traps collected at these events will be recycled into useful products for fishers, with the proceeds being used to support habitat restoration.

“By bringing in your old traps,

you’re not just adopting more sustainable fishing practices, you’re investing in the future of fishing, and the ongoing health of our waterways.

And as a thank you, we’ll give you a

new Oar-Gee lure.”

The popularity of yabby fishing has put pressure on native wildlife which can unwittingly get caught inside opera house traps.

These traps became illegal in NSW as of April, 2021.

Open-top pyramid and hoop nets are a more environmentally friendly

stored in their garage or shed. Rather than simply throw them out, we’re encouraging anyone with old traps to come and drop them in for recycling and get a free Aussie-made lure.

“The modern open-top nets are fun to use, especially for the kids, as they encourage active yabby fishing rather than set and forget. And they’re

design, allowing non-target species to escape if they swim in while being effective at catching a feed of tasty yabbies.

Native species, including platypuses, turtles, water rats and birds can enter the traps while feeding and drown. “ Yabby fishing really gets going in the summer so now is the perfect time

friendly to other animals too.

“By using pyramid or hoop nets you’re swapping out your outdated gear, and in the process keeping your local waterway healthy and thriving, now and for the next generation.”

NSW DPI Deputy Director General Fisheries Sean Sloan said it was important to promote responsible yabby fishing.

to update your gear and rather than have it go to landfill, give it another life,” said Cassie Price, Director of Habitat Programs at OzFish.

“We know there are loads of rec fishers who have old opera house traps

“This yabby trap swap initiative is a fantastic example of NSW DPI working with recreational fishers and community organisations to encourage sustainable fishing with the added benefit being great outcomes for our unique native fauna,” he said.

South Australia became the latest state to outlaw the opera house yabby traps, as of July 1, 2023.

OzFish’s Adelaide Chapter hosted two opera house net recycling events in October at Happy Valley and Berri as part of the Tackle Loop project.

In conjunction with RecFish SA and Berri Barmera Council, OzFish volunteers separated the nets from the frame for recycling. – OZFish

DROP-OFF EVENTS: • Fishers for Fish Habitat forum at Buronga (November 3-4) • Keep It Clean - Coffs Harbour (November 18) • OzFish Community Fishing Day at Balranald (November) • Keep It Clean - Hastings (January 20) • Keep It Clean - Coffs Harbour (February 27) • Wagga Wagga Lifestyle and Leisure Expo (February) • Darlington Point Riverina Fishing Competition (February) • Orange Central West Caravan & Camping and Outdoor Expo (March)

NOVEMBER 2023 71

NSW

Eden Coast

FMM

Gearing up for the start of the season BERMAGUI

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

Melbourne Cup week means time off for Victorians, and a lot of people don’t care about the race when there are fish to be caught out from Bermagui. Often, the Cup weekend brings a lot of anglers to the town of Bermagui for the unofficial start to the game fishing season.

Already, there is plenty of action on offer in the form of small to medium size tuna, including albacore, yellowfin,

striped and the occasional big-eye tuna.

Most of these are being taken on the troll, with diving and swimming lures providing the most success. If you use these in conjunction with skirted lures, you’ll often see the divers taken first, resulting in other fish from the school reacting to the skirts.

The areas to target are from the Six Mile Reef and beyond, with most fish coming from the Continental Shelf to the Canyons. It helps if you can work with other boats because often one may find a school of fish, and other boats coming

Mac tuna will visit our waters as sea temperatures warm up.

into the area will help keep the fish up on the chew.

With water temperatures increasing, don’t be surprised to see the odd marlin starting to show. So, when rigging lures, make sure your hardware is sufficient to handle an early-season beaky.

I’ve always stated that where there are tuna, there are sharks – hammerheads, whalers and makos. The makos are out there in numbers, and a well-laid berley trail of tuna should attract a mako to your vessel. Do this where the tuna are concentrating for the best results. If you fish at the Twelve Mile Reef, you’ll also have the option of some reef fishing whilst waiting for the big one to come along.

Fishing on the Twelve Mile, you can encounter most of your common reef fish. Lately there have been good captures of morwong, snapper, ocean perch and some lovely tassie trumpeter.

This is also the time of year for big tiger flathead, and you won’t get them bigger than on the edge of the Twelve Mile Reef.

It may be hard fishing out there, but the results are worth it.

Thankfully, those tigers don’t reside just around the Twelve Mile. These fish can be found in closer around the many reefs that surround Bermagui, in as close as 30m of water. However, most medium-

Warm water temperatures have the flathead on the chew. sized fish will be taken from water depths of around 50m close to the reefs, where you can still encounter some of the other reef fish already mentioned.

Closer to shore, sand flatties will prevail out from most beaches,

Catching fish before the trade winds set in TATHRA

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

As we head into summer, the land mass starts to warm, and northeast trade winds are the norm. The wind usually starts around mid-morning, which means early starts for anglers.

However, it’s not all bad news, as we can use this to our advantage. The

Find the weed beds, and you’ll find luderick. They love a well-presented nipper.

There are some solid bass in the Bega River system. You just have to find them.

72 NOVEMBER 2023

drift is usually north to south, keeping you evenly poised in the same depth, so once you’ve found the fish it’s quite easy catch a feed. The other advantage is that you can cover some ground, drifting between flat bottom, gravel, or reef, catching various species.

On the shortlist are tiger flathead, and we are right at the height of the season. If you venture out from the Kianinny Bay boat ramp and travel out to the 50-60m mark up or down the coast, you should acquire a bag of

flatties without too much trouble. If you want to go even deeper, the size of the fish are likely to increase, and there could be some surprises, such as gummy sharks or large sandy flathead.

If you drift over some gravel, you may also encounter a good-size snapper, or even some early-season kingfish.

Out wide, gamefish are making an early appearance with good schools of tuna. Most of these fish are yellowfin, stripies and albacore. There has been the odd marlin also encountered as

well. If you add some berley, you will surely find a shark, probably a mako.

Use plenty of tuna – the fresher, the better.

The bass fishing has been exceptional in the upper reaches of the Bega River, where the water is still sweet. Any relatively deep hole or structure has been holding fish, and they have been responding to a variety of techniques. For a very entertaining way to catch bass in this area, try fly fishing late in the afternoon or early in the morning with cicada imitations underneath the oaks and willows. You will be pleasantly surprised at how many bream are there, too.

Further into the brackish to salt, estuary perch have been making a strong comeback in this system now that the nets have gone. These fish will be encountered in many different habitats, ranging from deep holes to shallow weed beds and structure.

Once encountered, you will likely pull several fish from one area before they wise up.

Throughout the estuary, most other species are also active.

Bream are being taken around the Thompson rock walls, weed beds and Blackfella Lake areas on both lures and bait. Flathead are also plentiful over the shallows towards the mouth and generally throughout the system.

Blackfish are in good numbers

FMM

Eden Coast NSW

providing tasty bags for anglers – with the chance of a gummy shark thrown in for good measure.

Onshore, the land-based and estuary action is hotting up due to the warm water temperatures. With many lakes closed to the ocean this year, those that are open are the places to target, with the Bermagui River being the pick. Luderick are in massive numbers in the river, responding to weed or nippers.

With so many prawns and baitfish in the estuaries, the flathead are actively feeding. Most fish have been averaging around 50cm, with some lovely 70cm+ fish being released as well. Bream, whiting, trevally, and tailor are all on offer, reacting more to anglers using bait.

Around the entrances or adjacent beaches and rocks, salmon are prolific, with some nice tailor mixing in. We should also start seeing other small pelagics travelling the coast in the form of bonito, kingfish, or frigate mackerel, which are in good numbers up at Montague Island.

The action at Brogo Dam is in full swing. The ongoing stocking program of the Far South Coast Bass Stocking Association efforts has resulted in excellent angling within the dam. The average bass is around 30cm, with the odd thumper over 40cm. There are also some nice fish in the river below the dam, but there is now a no-fish zone for the immediate 300m below the wall.

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We can expect to see lots of different small tuna this season. around the weedy areas and the bridge pylons. Tailor are being trolled around the rock walls, where leatherjackets are being taken on bait.

Beach fishing is good in the area. Tathra Beach, adjacent to the mouth of the Bega River, has been producing some very nice whiting.

Worms are the best bait, but don’t be afraid to use nippers on the sand also.

Use the wind for the drift, and you will find the flathead.

Bream and mullet are regular catches, with some nice tailor turning up at night. Salmon are prolific on Bournda Beach to the south, which should also yield some nice gummy sharks and the odd small bronze whaler shark on the moon.

Tathra Wharf is seeing plenty of silver trevally being taken, along with yellowtail mackerel. Salmon schools are passing regularly, with tailor showing after dark. Long casts out from the northeast corner and fishing the bottom will catch some sizeable flathead, while closer to the rocks, anglers fishing weed are catching good blackfish and the odd drummer.

There are good rock platforms around the area that produce a variety of species. Fishing with prawns or cut fish baits has seen many a good catch of trevally, with some excellent leatherjackets, bream, and other assorted species. Anglers fishing with cabbage weed or cunjevoi have been catching many tasty black drummer and silver drummer.

Lure fishing from the stones is relatively good with those passing schools of salmon. The main point adjacent to the wharf and around towards the pub is best, and earlier in the morning, around sunup seems to be the prime time.

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NOVEMBER 2023 73

NSW

Freshwater

FMM

Seek out trout before the summer begins NEW ENGLAND RIVERS

Adam Townsend

As we approach the end of spring, it usually means the summer storm season is not too far away. However, with some very dry weather predicted for the future, this season could be very different from last year across the whole New England area, as well as the rest of the country.

tend to focus your time and energy on the deeper pools or the slower-moving sections during those hotter periods, there are still plenty of fish to be caught.

That’s especially true with schooled fish such as redfin perch, golden perch and Australian bass.

There are a number of larger impoundments that fish really well around the New England area. As mentioned above, although BOM has predicted a very dry end to spring and

Trout season is open! There are many great places to chase these fish after some awesome re-stocking efforts from the hatchery and local fishing clubs.

Copeton Dam in Northern NSW and Blowering Dam in Southern NSW are the only two impoundments that remain open for Murray cod

fishing in NSW waterways all year round. Pindari Dam, as well as others mentioned above, will re-open for Murray cod fishing from 1 December

Many anglers avoid the weed edges and bays, but this is exactly where fish are taking cover while chasing prey through the heat of the day. This golden ate a small blade cast to the bank’s edge, taking the lure after only a few short hops.

The local creeks and rivers have kept a nice flow, and have been fishing really well. However, as we head into the summer heat, more rainfall will be needed to keep the rivers and impoundments up to their ‘normal’ levels for this time of year.

The perch species, as well as the rainbow and brown trout, have all been making the most of the opportunities, and have been really fired up lately. They have been awesome fun to target since the season re-opened on the October long weekend.

If spin gear is your choice of tackle, small soft plastic lures between 1-3” long on a small jighead have been really productive in the smaller streams, as well as hardbodies and small spinnerbaits.

If trout are a new species for you, it’s hard to pass up the old faithful Celta. All lure types mentioned can be worked at different depths and speeds, looking for reaction bites.

Fly fishing has also been really productive of late, with many mayflies and other tiny insects being abundant in and around the waterways, especially early in the morning and late in the afternoon in the lower light periods.

At this time of year, with the warmer conditions, it’s not hard to notice how much bait life is both above and below the water’s surface. Catch rates can increase dramatically. Although it can be hard fishing in the heat of the day, if you 74 NOVEMBER 2023

summer, most of the dams’ water levels are still sitting at good capacities. This has been perfect for recreational activities such as fishing and general boating, or even skiing. Here are the dam levels at the time of writing this report: • Copeton Dam - 89% • Pindari Dam - 79% • Split Rock Dam - 99% • Keepit Dam - 90% • Chaffey Dam - 99% • Glen Lyon Dam - 92%

You can help native fish by removing carp from waterways.

Carp are great fun for all ages, and you can catch them on fly, or just put a piece of corn on a hook with the kids.

The perch football season is here, and lipless crankbaits always prove to be a winner. Any lure up to 70mm that makes some noise and/or vibration is ideal at this time of year.

along with the rivers).

The new moon will fall on 13 November, with the full moon being above around 20:30pm on the 27 November.

There have been many people doing the right thing and leaving the Murray cod alone, which is good to see. If you see anyone doing the wrong thing and targeting Murray cod out of season, please do the right thing and report them.

We all need to help each other out and look after the special waterways that we all share.

Fingers crossed the future predictions are inaccurate and some heavy rainfalls do manage to find their way across the country, as this time of year can really turn it on with fired up fish species. Good luck to all getting out on the water this month, and tight lines.

Freshwater NSW

FMM

Time flies when you’re having fun at Lake Hume ALBURY/WODONGA

Connor Heir

The last month of spring is here. It has come upon us so fast, and what an action-packed last few months we’ve had around the region!

Lake Hume has again produced the goods this spring, and it’s not over yet.

Hume when they are gathered around tree structures.

Most of the fish we’ve caught have been on soft plastics rigged on a 1/4oz jighead, but blades and silent vibes have also picked up a few fish along the way.

Most actively feeding fish will be keen on smacking any of those lure styles.

The fish have been spread across the lake in many areas, which is in contrast

Phil Heir with a bycatch cod caught on a soft plastic meant for a yellowbelly. up quite a few yellas fishing blind like that, and watching other anglers trolling around. It’s something to keep in mind.

Yellas are a truly awesome fish to

Spinwright jigheads. The Spinwrights have an added tow point on the chin for an assist hook, which I now believe is a must-have on soft plastics. It’s amazing

Using live technology gives you an advantage, but it’s not essential for success.

November is usually the best time of year to consistently catch better numbers of golden perch in the warming waters. I have fished Lake Hume for many years, and a rule of thumb is that if it’s warm enough to swim, the yellas will be chewing!

November is a very enjoyable time of year, not only for addicted anglers, but also for the whole family. There’s no better time to

to last season. At this time last year, we found only a few productive areas, with lots of fish concentrated in those small areas. This season, however, I’ve been finding fewer fish in any given spot, but plenty of spots have been holding them.

This has been good, because many of the more secluded, overlooked areas are often less pressured by anglers. It always

Jarrod with a perfect example of a healthy Lake Hume yella. chase. I currently run 8lb braid to 8-10lb leader for spin gear, and I like to use a rod with a light tip because I find it can help with hook-up conversion rates – but that’s just a preference.

I like to rig my soft plastics on

how many fish are pinned on the assist hooks, and it makes me wonder how many fish I’ve missed over the years!

That’s it for this month. There’s no better time to hit the water, so get out and enjoy it!

Spinwright jigheads have a second eyelet for a stinger hook, which can maximise hook-up rates. be out on Lake Hume.

So far, from our results, we have found most of our fish to be in bays with scattered trees sitting around the 8-12m mark. These fish have definitely been the most active for us, with good results using both live technology and fishing blind.

Tree hopping is super effective if you aren’t running any technology to help you find fish, and this is still my preferred technique for chasing yellas in Lake

pays to explore and try new areas.

One thing live technology has shown me is that there will often be fish in open water just cruising from tree to tree, and these fish will often eat. I don’t have live sonar, but my friends do, and I’ve been gleaning valuable knowledge from what I’ve observed on their sounders. For example, when tree hopping, sometimes it’s good to fish in between the trees while you cruise over to the next tree. I’ve picked

This small bay had all the right features to hold a golden perch.

NOVEMBER 2023 75

NSW

Freshwater

FMM

Time to take advantage of the last of spring BATLOW

Wayne Dubois waynedubois@westnet.com.au

You’d have to be crazy to not enjoy fishing at this time of the year. The days are getting longer but the temperature is still comfortable, which means the fish are generally at their most active during the middle to later parts of the day. This is great if you don’t like fishing early in the morning or at night.

With the mild temperatures, the fish feel comfortable at most depths and are generally feeding quite hard. Add to this often-rising water levels sweeping food items into the system, and it’s easy to see why the fish are so active in late spring. I suggest making the most of the great weather, because it won’t be long until it gets too hot for both humans and fish. In spring you can get good catches during gentlemen’s hours, but in summer the best fishing is super early in the morning, or late in the afternoon and into the night.

GOLDEN PERCH It’s no secret that golden perch fire during spring no matter where they are, but this is especially true at Blowering Dam. During the spring months it’s not

If the rivers are too high or too busy, give one of the smaller streams a crack this month.

Rocky outcrops mixed with standing and lay-down trees like this are golden perch magnets. These areas are always worth spending a bit of extra time fishing.

uncommon to land 10 or more in a day.

This month could be your last good chance to get amongst good numbers of big goldens. The rest of the year if you can manage to land more than one golden perch a day, you’re doing quite well.

Bait fishing with worms and yabbies is a popular way of targeting the golden

perch this month as they start to move off the edges and into slightly deeper water. The best results come from actively fishing your bait, as these fish much prefer a moving bait over one that is fixed to the bottom. Try lifting your bait a metre or two off the bottom, then allow it to freefall.

Repeat the process all the way back to the

Big Glenbawn bass are hungry HUNTER VALLEY

Nick Price

November is reaction month, and this year it will be known as 20/20 month.

You will need to use 20lb braid and 20lb leader, otherwise you can expect to lose lots of fish.

The bass in both Glenbawn and St Clair are in fantastic condition – fat and

structure such as a log or rock, it’s good to cast the lure a few times at the structure, working all sides of the log.

Fishing TN60s is all about accuracy of casts and maximising the time the lure is in the water. Quick, accurate casting means your lure will be in the strike zone for longer, and therefore catching more fish. For this type of cast and retrieve crankbait fishing, I recommend using a good quality baitcaster. It’s easy fishing.

taking surface lures late in the evening and early in the morning, and subsurface lures such as beetle spins or little cranks the rest of the day. Bass in the river are a great fish to target on fly, and the local river has many easy public access points around Muswellbrook and Aberdeen.

The trout season has been going for a month, but unfortunately it looks like we are heading into another drought and the lower marginal trout waters are at risk.

The trout in these lower waters are losing condition and are in serious trouble, with the lack of water flow causing poor water quality and rising water temps. If you are coming up to the Upper Hunter chasing trout, I suggest driving a little further and heading up onto the Barrington Tops where the water is cooler. There are still plenty of trout in the lower reaches, but get in quick.

A big fat Glenbawn bass. strong. There have been some big bass coming out of Glenbawn lately, with 2kg specimens being common. November is the easiest month of the year to catch these brutes; the bass are cranky, and will hit a lure aggressively.

I like to start the morning fishing grassy banks with lipless crankbaits such as TN60s. I cast the lures to the edge and work them back with either a steady or erratic retrieve. When there is 76 NOVEMBER 2023

Later in the day when the sun is up and the fish have slowed down, move to a silent TN60 or a small swimbait.

Swimbaits work well at this time of year.

The bass are in an aggressive mood and the swimbait is something that should not be there! Swimbaits are used by only a few people in the know, so the bass are not used to them. Give them a go.

The Hunter River has been fishing really well this year. The fish have been

The author with a nice rainbow. We need the rain to keep the trout alive.

A healthy St Clair bass.

Carp numbers have exploded in the Upper Hunter, both in rivers and in the lakes. Bring your kids, dig some worms and start catching carp! ‘Mud marlin’ are a fantastic target for the fly rod, and there is no shortage of carp to practice on. Many people have been out chasing the carp with a bow, and have been getting cricket score captures.

Looking ahead, December is surface time. The water will be alive with insects, and the bass will be hunting for those terrestrial bugs that have fallen into their aquatic environment.

In December’s issue we will look at all things surface, from cicada lures to frog and mouse imitations, and how to fish them.

• If you’re heading up to the Barrington, Glenbawn or St Clair, you are welcome to drop into the shop at the turnoff to Glenbawn in Aberdeen and ask about the different techniques and what they are biting on. We are happy to help, and stock all the quality tackle that you need.

Freshwater NSW

FMM bank or boat. You will be surprised at how many more goldens you will catch when bait fishing this way.

Lure casting has been awesome in the

and lipless crankbaits have still been the main fish takers. The matt black/ chartreuse tail Insanity Tackle Slap Walkers have been the pick of the bunch.

That said, suspending hardbodied lures and plastics have been the go-to lures when the fish have been too finicky to hit your usual noisy rattling or flashy lures.

Trolling in 3-7m of water is another good way to target the slightly deeper holding goldens. Some of the better lures Some of the small streams in the area hold good-sized trout, most of which will be accessible with a small hike in.

Trolling or casting lipless crankbaits works well on impoundment goldens at this time of year. This fish took a black/chartreuse tail Slap Walker. last couple of months, with cricket scores of big goldens often being landed on the cast. Fish have been encountered in the tops of trees, in the backs of bays and along rocky banks and points, so it pays to fish a variety of areas to find where the active fish are on any given day.

Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, swimbaits

Michael Woo with one of the many Murray cod he landed on wood grubs during a recent visit to Blowering Dam.

to troll are the ones I’ve mentioned for casting, as they work just as well on the cast as they do on the troll.

TROUT Now that the trout season has officially opened, there are so many options to choose from that it’s hard to decide where to fish.

The lakes are still fishing well, but after what feels like the longest closed season in history, it would be hard not to target some trout in the running water this month. The creeks and rivers will continue to fish better and better as more and more insects start hatching, and the water temperature starts to warm up.

Trout will still be gorging themselves after their spawning efforts, especially the rainbows, and most techniques are accounting for fish. Bait anglers are doing well drifting worms. Some anglers are

still catching plenty on dough baits like PowerBait, which imitate trout eggs; this shows that there might be some late spawners still about.

Lure anglers are still accounting for the biggest numbers of trout, and it’s hard to beat spinners like Rooster tails, Cocktails, Bangtails and Bling spins. Alternatively, you can try a small hardbody under 5cm to give the fish something a bit different to have a go at. At this time of the year there will be plenty of small fish around, so you are essentially matching the hatch by using this style of lure.

So, as you can see, there are many fishing options in the greater Batlow area this month. Picking what to target and where should be the only problem you have.

Until next month, good luck, good fishing, and tight lines.

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NOVEMBER 2023 77

ACT

Canberra

FMM

Last thing we should be thinking about is cod CANBERRA

Toby Grundy

I had a phenomenal October. I fished a variety of locations across the ACT and NSW, including some areas I hadn’t seen in many years due to bushfire damage. I discovered fisheries that have bounced back and, in some cases, are fishing better than ever before.

So, for November, I’ve decided

water is very clear. In fact, it is the clearest I’ve seen it in a long time. This means that the fish are quite skittish, and the larger golden perch have headed to deep water.

The rock wall which lines some of Lady Denman Drive is one of the better spots to target a big spring yella, because the drop off is significant (the fish can sit deep) and the yellas can be fooled by a vibe or blade fished slow near the bottom.

While the goldens have headed to deep water, the larger redfin have moved

There are plenty of salmon about.

Huge reddies are feeding up along the edges. to keep up the hot streak and visit a few other old haunts that I’m sure will surprise me and provide some great fishing action. Cod season is only a month away, and it’s easy to get way too focused on the green fish in the build-up to ‘open’. At the moment, the bass are hitting topwater in the upper parts of the Clyde, the salmon and kings are chasing down jerkbaits off ledges at the South Coast, and the yellas are smacking lures in close at Windamere, so the last thing we should be thinking about is cod.

So, for me, November has become about revisiting some old, treasured spots. While I don’t want to take anything away from cod season 2023-24, I’m not going to focus on it too much this month.

LOCAL LAKES Lake Burley Griffin has been full of surprises in recent weeks. For a start, the

in close and are feeding up on baitfish in the shallower areas from the yacht club round to Lennox Gardens. These fish can be targeted with a variety of lures, but a 2”

Sam Hancox with a nice Googong yella.

78 NOVEMBER 2023

wriggle-style plastic in motor oil twitched a few metres out from the bank is the best way to land a solid red.

The Molonglo River mouth also warrants a mention. The golden perch are holding in this area, again in the deeper pockets, but they will hammer a beetle spin coupled with a paddle-tail plastic during low light periods.

The carp fishing has been really excellent of late. I have even started to target them specifically in some areas because they are so prolific, and are great

also worth visiting, as the fish push up into this area at dawn and dusk.

Lake Ginninderra is still very much hit-and-miss. While I have had some great sessions at ‘Lake G’ in recent weeks, they have been few and far between. The majority of my sessions have resulted in a donut. I was hopeful that the lake would really fire through late October, but it may be that things won’t really kick

Windamere is fishing very well. light tackle sport. I use a wriggle style plastic attached to a 1/8oz jighead, and fish the sunken reeds around the shallow areas of Yarralumla Bay. Lake Tuggeranong is fishing well.

I am constantly bemused by the state of ‘Tuggers’; just when I think the fish have completely shut down, the whole place kicks up a gear, and the golden perch feed furiously right around the margins of the lake. At the moment, this is very much the case. I haven’t seen a really big yella caught in the lake for some time, but the mediumsized yellas are smashing anything that moves, ranging from plastics through to small shallow divers and vibes. The half-submerged reeds which line the area about 20m from the College represent the best features to fish for golden perch.

However, the bridge and spillway are

The bass fishing has been excellent. into gear until the big dry spell, which is forecast to hit through summer.

Most of the fish that I have caught (mostly redfin) have been landed while fishing the points with creature-style plastics attached to a ned rig. I like to use this particular rig when fishing the lake as there is so much weed right around the edges.

SURROUNDS Googong Dam is once again my pick of the local fisheries. The golden perch fishing from the bank and from the boat has been excellent lately, with many of the fish landed nudging

Hobart TAS

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Increased fish activity in the warming waters HOBART

Andrew Large

Settled weather under the influence of an El Niño change has resulted in unusually high temperatures across Tasmania in recent weeks, resulting in increased fish activity. Anglers have been making the most of this in both the salt and freshwater.

An unusually high mixing of pacific hot water, not usually associated with the EAC, and cooler southern ocean water is occurring off our mid-east coast.

It’s predicted to bring hot temperatures not usually seen this far south. This hot inflow anomaly is set to increase, and will have an influence throughout our entire summer period. Saltwater anglers are looking forward to an earlier arrival of warmer water species.

Depending on the degree of influence, species from warmer latitudes may arrive early and leave late. This will give anglers more opportunities to target species such as kingfish, yellowfin tuna, striped marlin and snapper.

The downside may be that southern bluefin tuna may be spasmodic later in summer, as water temps may be too warm for these fish during the traditional March, April and May periods. Pockets of these fish may find cooler water though, and offer great angling either inshore or deeper in the water column over the traditional grounds.

For the moment, sand flathead continue to build in numbers and are savaging baits, lures and flies statewide. Lure anglers have been getting good results on the Halco Poltergeist 50 in brighter colours, such as R24 and H65. These lures can be trolled in 4.1m water depths over a shallow, sandy bottom.

Tiger flathead are now running well off almost the entire east coast. The best fishing action for the moment seems

to be the 80-100m contour line, with flathead to 650mm being taken in the southeast. Fishing the top of the tide at either end of the day has been working well lately.

Australian salmon, both juvenile cockies and mature fish, are now prevalent in most locations. Denison Canal, close to Hobart, has been providing shore-based anglers with good action when Cremorne has been quiet. Depending on the size of the fish you encounter, chrome lures like 15-30g Halco Twisties have been getting good results.

Anglers have been taking nice sand whiting in the south of the state, particularly Storm Bay. Squid pieces on a longer than normal paternoster rig have been working well. These fish will become quite plentiful over the coming months.

Storm Bay and the Tasman Peninsula have seen snapper to 3kg caught in recent weeks. These fish normally run six weeks behind their mainland counterparts, and will increase in number over the summer months. For the moment, the rocky ledges and bottom at these locations provide your best chance of grabbing an early Tassie snapper.

Morwong perch are biting well off the bottom end of Maria Island

or exceeding the 60cm mark.

The golden perch switched on a bit earlier than usual this year, and were hitting lures with gusto even before the warmer weather really set in. Small shallow divers have been my go-to lure since the start of October, and I have focused my efforts on the steeper ledges. On these ledges the golden perch are holding high in the water column, despite the deep water.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy session, pack a handful of plastics and take a walk to the edge of Shannons Inlet. Cast out from the entrance to the inlet, and let the lure hit the bottom before bringing it back quickly while imparting a ‘twitch and pause’ style retrieve. The redfin are sitting in this area and will readily chase down a plastic moving at speed.

Carp are hitting lures along the flats at LBG.

A well-conditioned brown trout caught at Arthurs Lake recently. and Schouten Passage. These fish are usually quite plentiful during winter and spring.

Calamari have made a return to coastal shallows around the entire southeast, particularly Bruny Island, Storm Bay and North West Bay regions.

Some schools have been found holding over weed beds out deep in recent weeks, usually after a big swell in that region.

Kingfish have been seen in the

action will begin to wind down with the disappearance of whitebait schools.

Estuary systems nearly the length of the state have seen action-packed sessions for black bream. The tidal flats of many areas offer choke points for ambush feeding. Lure and soft plastic fishers have concentrated on these areas for best results. The River Derwent, Montrose and Cadbury areas have all been producing well, while lower down the coast in the Huon Cradoc, we’ve seen good catches of bream to 42cm (fork length).

In the highlands, the action has been good lately. Blustery northwesterly weather ahead of many passing high-pressure systems has seen the trout up and feeding, just before and during these weather events.

For the moment, Great Lake continues to produce both rainbow and brown trout to 1.8kg. Rainbows have been building condition post spawn, and are feeding heavily on native galaxia and deepwater daphnia. In all sections, the fish have been responding well to bait, lure and fly.

Good sized southern calamari are available off most coastal jetties at the moment.

Tamar River and further down towards Freycinet Peninsula. With temperatures rising, these fish will not be far away.

Last year kingfish were running well by mid-December, almost state-wide.

Our freshwater areas are benefiting from a warmer than normal spring, right on the back of a drier than normal and milder winter. Trout have been highly active at nearly all elevations due to favourable temperatures for insect and aquatic life.

Sea trout are feeding heavily on whitebait state-wide. The west coast rivers are just starting to come online for the year, with some absolute stonkers seen recently from the Henty and Pieman rivers. Rain in these west coast catchments has been minimal, which has allowed these systems to remain clear, with trout easily seeing many trolled bibbed and soft plastic lures. Fly fishers have been experiencing similar results. The west coast activity should continue for another 8-10 weeks, while the northern and southern seatrout

Arthurs Lake has been experiencing a bit of a comeback this year, with some cracking brown trout being caught in recent weeks. The trout have been relying heavily on freshwater crayfish, judging by their stomach contents.

Spinning throughout the sticks and submerged timber has been producing good bags for persistent anglers.

Low water levels in recent months have plagued Bronte Lagoon, but the good news is this water has just started to fill, as Hydro Tasmania shuffle waters around. Trout have responded favourably and are very active at the moment; they have even being seen by fly fishers tailing in the shallows towards the northern end. Trollers have done well with Tasmanian Devils in no.

49 and 50.

Enjoy this month everyone, as it really does set the scene for the rest of summer. To have fish arrive early or become active early in other areas is a real treat, and something to be enjoyed by all anglers at this time of the year.

NOVEMBER 2023 79

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Cod fishing at Lake Eildon is an absolute joke some days, while on other days it all comes together like a perfect flamingolooking sunrise. On one memorable November trip to the lake, I was fishing with my friend Marc Brazzale.

I have spent endless hours and many missed opportunities fishing for Lake Eildon cod. If I had to pick any day to fish the lake, it would be when a thunderstorm is fast approaching. There’s so much shoreline you can hide out of the wind, or you can just have a cup of concrete and

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point. It was a completely still and calm environment – perfect, I thought, for a big cod to hold up in. Maybe even a 25-year-old beast from one of the first stocking programs.

With my sights pointed at a mediumsized root ball, I worked the timber. I was using a 1/2oz purple and chartreuse single-arm spinnerbait, cruising it up and over the thick branches. With every bump into the timber, my stress levels rose. Marc noticed my rising tension, and helped me with some banter and

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When a storm is looming, you’ll often encounter a hot bite. cast until your arm falls off.

Today was that day. With a camp set up in a secret sheltered bay, we set off to our first spot.

It was 35°C and very humid. All the signs were in our favour: a fast-dropping barometer, approaching storm, moon set, 25km southwest wind and a slight discolouration in the water. Surely, we thought, this would be a productive trip.

Still, when it comes to fishing, there are no guarantees. Only time would tell.

We made one cast after another, correcting and bettering every cast on a rock wall that had been holding schooling yellowbelly, but nothing!

We moved to a shallow, heavily timbered bay, and I opted to fish a bank with a wind lane coming off the

distraction. The delightfully skilled wake boats also helped to provide a distraction with waves crashing into the bank. We didn’t let them bother us, though, and kept our eyes on the prize.

At around 4pm, after many fruitless casts, the thunderstorm was right above us. We kept glancing at the darkening sky and the sounder screen, and felt like we were going into battle. We knew it wasn’t long before the sounder would light up like a Christmas tree.

So what happened next? Well, you can see the result in the photos on this page!

When the next summer storm is forecast, I highly recommend that you do what we did and seize the opportunity. – Daniel Piazza

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

MANDURAH 53 Gordon Road, Mandurah PHONE 08 9581 7224

MANDURAH OUTBOARDS This cod couldn’t resist a purple/chartreuse spinnerbait.

NOVEMBER 2023 81

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West Coast

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All fishing platforms start improving this month PORTLAND

Nigel Fisher

G’day everybody, hope you are getting out for a fish now that the seasons are starting to turn. We have started to see some good quality fish around our area In recent weeks.

A quality mixed bag from the deep water.

Matty and Max with a 120kg tuna.

First of all, we have still seen some big tuna coming Into the cleaning tables, weighing between 60-120kg. Most have come out of 50m of water, with some even shallower. So, Instead of searching In deep waters and doing a lot of miles, we have seen very quick turnarounds. It’s possible that the tuna will still be around In the coming weeks.

The tuna that have been caught lately have been very fat and healthy, which has been great to see. A large number of fish have been gilled, gutted and bled on Ice for great quality eating. Many anglers have also been releasing their tuna to fight another day.

In the deep water (50m and deeper), the bottom fishing Is still quite strong, with good numbers of snapper, morwong, nannygai, gummies and schoolies, just to name a few. There are still good numbers of flathead towards Bridgewater Bay. Some of the flatties I have seen recently have been great size fish. There have also been some big gummies taking around the flathead grounds.

Closer In around the bay, we are starting to see an Increase In whiting numbers, and a large number are well

FISHING NEWS

Abalone hoard found

A phone call to the Victorian Fisheries Authority has helped Warrnambool Fisheries Officers protect valuable abalone stocks in southwest Victoria.

The call alerted officers to five men in wetsuits with eskies who were acting suspiciously on rocks near Pea Soup at Port Fairy.

Officers inspected the group, who were found to be in possession of 39 abalone, 24 of which were undersize, the smallest measuring less than 10cm.

The daily bag limit is five abalone per person, and the minimum size for the area is 13cm.

The group were issued with 10 infringement notices totalling nearly $6,000 for a range of offences, including taking more than the catch limit, taking undersize abalone, and failing to carry an abalone measure.

For a refresher on recreational 82 NOVEMBER 2023

abalone catch limits, visit www.vfa.vic. gov.au/abalone.

If you see or suspect illegal fishing, call 13FISH (133474) anytime to speak directly to a Fisheries Officer. You can remain anonymous. – Victorian Fisheries Authority

nights for gummy sharks, as well as large salmon. This beach can prove difficult for access at times, but when conditions are right It’s certainly a great area.

Snapper point to Fitzroy mouth beaches can also fish very well. The only Issue at times Is weed.

Now that we are In November, we should see kingfish moving In around the bay, and school tuna In the shallow waters, so stay tuned.

Until next time, happy fishing everybody. * Whether you’re a local or visiting Portland, drop Into Portland Compleat Angler for all your bait, fishing and boating accessories. We are open seven days a week from 7:30am to 6pm, or you can call us on 03 5521 1844 for any weather or fishing reports. You will find us at 61 Bentinck Street, or you can look us up on Facebook.

A nice 76cm snapper caught off the Breakwater. over 40cm long.

The snapper along the north shore are still a bit slow, but their numbers should Improve as the water warms up.

Squid are also starting to move In, and they should start Improving from November onwards.

Our land-based fishos will be happy to know that we’ve already seen some goodsize snapper coming off the breakwater.

The biggest snapper I have seen recently was 80cm long, with numerous others from 65-80cm. Generally, In November, the number of snapper off the breakwater Increases, especially when the squid and baitfish become more plentiful.

Gummies have been In reasonable numbers off the wall, mostly at night.

All the fishing platforms should start Improving, producing some good quality fish like whiting, sapper, squid and baitfish. All these areas are very accessible and close to the shops and amenities.

There Is also a canal with a family-friendly platform, which Is great for the little ones to catch a fish.

The beach fishing along Discovery Bay has been very productive on the good

Charlie caught these calamari while fishing the north shore.

West Coast

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Inshore fishing fires as the water temp rises WARRNAMBOOL

Mark Gercovich mgercovich@hotmail.com

November is one of my favourite times to fish in the South West.

It’s when winter’s grasp finally lets go, and the warm weather species begin to fire up before the crowds of summer arrive.

Last month I mentioned October was a good month for a chance at

a sea-run trout in the Merri River.

These fish appear far more silver than the resident river trout, and usually fight much harder. They are usually quite a rarity, but I actually managed two recently from the Lower Merri.

Come November there’s still a chance of one popping up, but you are far more likely to encounter bream in these areas.

Estuary perch are an uncommon capture in the Lower Merri, but if you

Both of these trout were taken quite close to the ocean in the Merri River.

The difference between the sea run and resident fish is quite noticeable.

come across one they are usually big.

Not so across town in the Hopkins River, where estuary perch are prolific and have been biting well. November is always a good month to chase bream and EP in the Hopkins; the fish have returned to the edges and can be targeted on shallow running hardbodies and even surface lures.

Close inshore areas should also begin to fire as water temperatures rise. The Killarney area and the inshore areas just out from the Moyne at Port Fairy and in Lady Bay at Warrnambool can produce some good whiting in the 40-45cm range at this time of year as well.

Drifting or using your electric motor to move around the shallow bay areas in calm, clear conditions sight casting to squid is not only a great way to get a quality feed, but great fun too.

Southern rock lobster (crayfish) season will be in full swing this month, with both divers and hoop netters hopping for flat conditions to target their quarry when the season opens on 16 November.

Further offshore, solid bluefin tuna are still being taken at the time of writing this report. Fish between 60-110kg fired up again during spring, offshore from Port Fairy, Portland and Port MacDonnell. With fewer boats on them than earlier in the season, there have been some great opportunities for anglers getting amongst these fish, with some quality bluefin being both taken and released.

Come November, this big fish run

Big bluefin tuna have still been making their presence felt offshore. should be just about done, but the summer inshore tuna schools won’t be too far away.

Whilst most snapper anglers are targeting Port Phillip and Westernport bays, there are still snapper on offer off the South West Coast at this time of year. At this time, you have a good chance of a better fish before the droves of summer pinkies arrive.

The added attraction of bottom bashing for local snapper is the possibility of catching a mixed bag.

Gummies, schoolies, morwong, squid and even a big whiting are all on the cards when you are fishing deeper waters from 25-45m.

Catching a springtime feed around Cobden COBDEN

Rod Shepherd

A few intrepid boaters who have ventured out wide and bottom bounced in depths around 130-150m have come up trumps in the snapper department. Fish to 4.5kg have been boated, although the norm has been more like 2kg+. It won’t be long before they come in much closer to spawn.

Some excellent gummy and school shark have also been boated, along with some scrumptious Tasmanian trumpeter, pink ling, knife fish and blue grenadier.

Pinkie snapper to 1kg have been caught over gravelly reefs in depths around 50m. School shark, leatherjacket and morwong have also been picked up bottom bouncing.

Fishing at anchor and using berley makes a difference, and tough baits such as squid have been the go.

Australian salmon to 2kg have been taken off many of our local

beaches of late. Besides bait fishing, many surf anglers have recently switched to casting metal slices, which have always been an excellent method in which to target salmon. It’s amazing

how many fishing methods go in and out of fashion over the fullness of time.

The Curdies mouth is still closed, however a few boaters have persevered out in Peterborough Lake and managed

A Curdies bream taken at the river mouth on a shrimp imitation soft plastic worked along the bottom.

to catch a few bream on bait. From Doctors Point up to the mouth of the river has been the prime area to concentrate one’s efforts. Heavily scented baits such as packet prawn and whitebait have been catching fish.

Locally-netted shrimp, snap frozen to turn the bait white, has been fishing better than live ones.

The bream are no doubt schooled up in anticipation of moving upriver so they can commence their spawning run. They really should be released because stocks are low after that big fish kill two years ago.

The Gellibrand at Princetown has a tannin-stained flow pushing downstream from the Otway Ranges, and the mouth opens and closes at a great rate. Rumours of some big salmon and mulloway being taken around the mouth on bait are rife.

These predatory fish patrol this area looking for an easy feed, so whole pilchards have been popular. If the fish are there, your pilchard won’t last five minutes. A building tide appears to be the best time.

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Fingers-crossed we get an old-fashioned run PHILLIP ISLAND

Craig Edmonds

The Christmas holidays are only a blink away, and if this weather pattern continues it will be a hot one, as predicted.

The build-up during late spring has been slow, which is a sign that we should get a better season. The fishing so far hasn’t been too bad, and we have had many reports of customers catching multiple species in a trip. Not all have been top table fish, but there has been plenty for bait as well as a good feed.

The sizes have been very mixed so far, with extra-large fish mixing with plenty of undersized specimens.

Ash with a quality little pinkie. they bring the predators with them.

Going into the fourth year of bluefin fishing, I think many are looking for a challenge – and skipping a mac tuna for a marlin would probably give them the challenge they are looking for. I know it’s a stretch to think marlin could be a regular catch off the island, but 10 years ago nobody was thinking we could catch bluefin of all sizes on our back doorstep. If there’s one thing I have learned in 17 years

be bagging out every trip, you have to be happier with 12 whiting between 38-45cm rather than 20 just reaching 30cm. When you consider that there are many more anglers now than there were 10 years ago, our fish stocks seem pretty healthy.

For snapper anglers, last November was a write off with around six boating days for the whole month. This year, things are looking very different already. We could be in for an old-fashioned snapper run starting in earnest Cup Weekend, continuing through to mid-December when the pinkies will move in. We have noticed that the bigger snapper have shown up on the mud and shallower areas of the bay early, almost a detour on the way in before heading up to the top end. They will show up on the mud again later in the season when the midday low tide warms up the mud for them.

I get asked all the time how you catch a big snapper. Sadly, there is no trick. The main thing I could tell you is to know your sounder to find them, and fish big baits – whole squid, fillets of fish, and large whole pilchards. A 5kg or bigger snapper will have no trouble with a whole pilchard or even a medium-sized whole squid. You could even try some live baits, yakkas,

James with a nice trout from the Goulbourn area.

The other thing that has stood out this year is the fish come on and off the bite quickly – particularly whiting and flathead. The lesson here is to stay put.

Instead of moving to a new spot, just have a cup of coffee or a bit of lunch and they will come back on the bite.

This season has been a good one for filling up the bait freezer, with everything

you can think of available in the bay.

Calamari have been patchy (maybe because everything has been trying to eat them), but there’s been no shortage of mackerel, couta, salmon, mullet and yakkas. The last time we had schools of stripies and mac tuna show up in summer, we had a similar lead up through the spring. Let’s hope if they do come back,

Liam reckons that pinkies are the best and the sweetest tasting fish.

Sam couldn’t let his dad James have all the fun. His efforts were rewarded with this solid trout.

84 NOVEMBER 2023

in the shop, it’s ‘never say never’.

While we’re on the topic of looking back, it’s interesting to look at fishing reports from 10-20 years ago, to see what was being caught. Fish numbers seem to have dropped off a bit over the years, but the quality, variety and when they are being caught has improved dramatically.

It wasn’t that long ago when whiting of 40cm were front page news, whiting in 12m of water was laughed at, snapper all year round, and flathead in Westernport worth taking home.

And then there are the calamari. When we first opened the shop, you’d get them from mid-August to maybe October, and we’d be lucky to sell 100 squid jigs for the whole season. The fishing is very different now – and that’s not even mentioning offshore fishing. So, while you might not

mackerel or salmon.

Of course, there’s always the exception to the rule. Every so often we’ll have a customer walk in with an 8kg snapper they caught on a whiting rig with a tiny piece of bait! Luck pays a big part in catching snapper.

Offshore will soon open up for everyone with the settled weather, and the flathead in much closer. The reefs off Kilcunda have produced good-sized gummies all winter, when the weather has allowed, and as the weather warms and settles more, anglers will head out to try their luck. Don’t forget the new rules around flares in the bay, and your requirements if you are heading offshore, which can be slightly different. Remember that Fisheries can now request to see all your safety gear as well as your catch.

Better facilities at

Kangaroo Lake Recreational fishers and boaters can look forward to a summer of fun at Kangaroo Lake now that a new jetty has been installed at the northern boat ramp on Lake View Road.

The stronger structure, constructed of aluminium with steel piles, will stand the test of time and replaces the old pontoon that was in disrepair.

The main structure is the same size as the original and provides a convenient spot for boaters to tie up when launching. The end section is a new addition and features solar lighting, seating and rod holders, with a bait board to come.

Gannawarra Shire Council received two grants to get the job done, including $240K from the Better Boating Fund, which reinvests boating licence and registration fees back into worthwhile projects, and a smaller grant from recreational fishing licence fees.

With this new jetty and more than 1.3 million Murray cod and golden perch stocked since 2003, you’d be hopping mad to pass up a visit to Kangaroo Lake next time you’re in the state’s northwest.

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A red tide of snapper invades the bays GEELONG

Neil Slater slaterfish@gmail.com

Geelong and the Bellarine come alive with the warmth of November. Not too hot to catch a trout and not too cold to snare a snapper, November is the goldilocks zone of water temperatures.

Multiple species are at their peak this month, so gear up and get out there.

Freshwater fishos should spend extra time at first and last light at the local reservoirs as trout move into the shallows to hunt. Flicking a fly or small surface stickbaits around can tempt one of these angry trout, or you can cast out deeper for one of the redfin these waterways are known for. Wurdee Buloc near Moriac has shallow flats at the south end, but wading is prohibited so casting from the adjacent rock wall

over the shallows is your best bet.

Stoney Creek reservoir just out of Anakie is quite small, and the allocated angling area is smaller again, but it does have some good tailing trout on the right day for fly fishos. West Barwon Dam near Forrest is mostly deep water fishing due to the steep banks, so lure casting from the wall or soaking a bait is the go here. At all three fisheries you

Luke gave his dad a touch up with this 2kg snapper he boated off Barwon Heads.

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86 NOVEMBER 2023

Big gummies are about in Bass Strait – just ask Bruce. can get good results casting lures or fishing a mudeye under a float.

November should see the estuary perch in the Barwon fire up, so let’s hope the fish stocked by VFA in Geelong mid-2018 think the same. They should be pushing 28-30cm by now, so it will be interesting to see their sizes once a few are caught. They’ll grab just about any lure, including small topwater stickbaits and buzzbaits worked slowly. Kelvin Baldwin swears by a lime single-tailed grub for the Geelong edition Barwon perch, and I’ve seen plenty caught on worms so they are available to all styles of fishing.

Solid silver trevally either side of 40cm have been showing up in the region. The Barwon River estuary, Portarlington pier and Queenscliff boat harbour are the places to be for silver seekers. Single-tailed grub soft plastics have caught their fair share, with lime green and motor oil colours the standout for lure flickers. Silvers will take just about any bait, but they love lightly-weighted pilchard fillets, and a berley trail keeps them interested.

King George whiting have been very busy, with good numbers of fish either side of 40cm being taken from St

Leonards to Clifton Springs.

My son Max and I shot out for a session off Leopold one afternoon recently. We caught stacks of whiting using squid for bait, but most were undersized or quite small at 30cm.

We kept only five fish around 33cm, but also caught and released a pile of juvenile gummy sharks, which was a new species for Max. Calamari have always been a great fallback in the region when nothing else is biting. Just about any weed bed within 2-5m is worth drifting over with

Bruno Lombardo has been doing particularly well on the XL squid, drifting out off Queenscliff.

Image courtesy of B. Lombardo.

a jig out. October and November often see some real whoppers show up, with some approaching 50cm hood.

For land-based squidders, Portarlington, Clifton Springs and St Leonards piers fish best after dark for squid, and Queenscliff pier can see some good daylight captures.

Chris Pitman from Drysdale Bait and Tackle reports the XXL calamari have turned it on near Queenscliff.

Chris says large jigs up to a size 4 have been working well, along with skewerstyle jigs baited with whole fish such as silver whiting, garfish or tommy rough.

November is best known for the red tide of snapper that invade the bays. Many year classes of fish offer a wide variety of sizes with some nudging 10kg. Tradition has seen anglers fish into the night for snapper however, more and more have been caught during daylight hours over the last few years. That’s either more people fishing these hours or more fish – probably a combination of both. Portarlington and Clifton Springs are angler favourites and with good reason. The shallows leading the snapper grounds have good numbers of squid for bait and the table.

Option b) includes sounding the edge of the channel for a cloud of bait – lately, this has been silver whiting – a real snapper and XL squid snack!

If things don’t go to plan with the red fish, you can always swing back and have a go for whiting. Land based anglers keen on snapper should try St Helens and North Shore as well as Portarlington and St Leonards piers.

Those anglers putting in a few hours after dark have caught snapper to four kilograms in these locations so get amongst it.

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Launching at St Helens, Adam Using squid and salmon fillets weight but virtually no fight, which is It’s a great month to fish the rock YOUR in SUBSCRIPTION START THE PUBLISHED ISSUE Cronin and dad headed over to Point for bait, they anchored 32m off unlike WILL gummies.

Bruce WITH eventually gotNEXT platforms along the Great Ocean Road Henry where they caught plenty of Collendina catching plenty of it to about 5-6m below boat where they for snapper. The best times are first and juvenile flathead and banjo sharks. draughtboard sharks, a two metre realised it was a nice gummy. Eventually last light, and you might want to rig the They were both using salted pilchards seven gill shark, gurnard, banjo sharks heavy tackle as I have had reports of the lads got it in and it measured in at for bait for when Adam’s rod went nuts One* of Bruce’s 7kg fish around at this time of year. The issues incto . gst and or a Sergeant Baker. issues inc. gst a very respectable 130 cm. They also the tune of an 80cm snapper! Adam has rods that was loaded with a fillet of larger fish love a whole pilchard, but if bagged another gummy at about 90cm Name: been fishing the bay for a while so he salmon, gave a bit of a quiver without andName: decided to call it quits with 5 kg of you’re keen on the pinkie snapper that was fairlyAddress: pumped to bag this ripper! buckling over and he took up the slack fresh flake onboard. can run thick along the rocks here, try Address: Leopold Angling and Aquatic Club line. Bruce says there was a fair bit of smallerP/Code: cut pilchards or squid baits.

Simon Willcox headed out off Suburb: P/Code: Suburb: are hosting the Geelong and Bellarine Barwon Heads with his 15-year-old Some massive southern bluefin Daytime Contact No: Daytime Contact No: Snapper Classic from November 4th tuna up to 100kg+ have been caught out son Luke in search of a few snapper Email: 19th. For more info, Email: After a couple of hours with to November recently. in Bass Strait by anglers trolling skirted head over to leopoldaac.com/2023no bites in 45m, the father son team lures.

As the buyer, do you wish to receive annual subscription renewal notifications?

Yes These fish No move around a lot, PAYMENT DETAILS snapper-classic moved into 30m near Black Rock where so the key to finding them is keeping Cheque Money order Mastercard/Visa Signature: Gummy sharks are either seen as one eye on the sounder and one eye they immediately started hauling in Credit Card No: Credit Expiry CCV: scanning for birds, and a snapper by-catch this time of year on the horizon, leatherCard jacket andDate: barracouta. Although or actively targeted.

Corio Bay isn’t keep moving. They’ve been in depths this made it hard Card Holder’s Name: Daytime Contact No:to get the bait down, a real gummy hotspot but there has their persistence paid off with Luke of 30m which is not far offshore, and IF THIS IS A GIFT - PLEASE COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING AND A GIFT CARD WILL BE MAILED TO THE LUCKY ANGLER OR THE GIFT BUYER! been piles of juveniles as well as a few eventually bagging a 2kg snapper! The out to 60m, so having a few mates in to: Subscriber Buyer or Email blank voucher to: (20boats characters around Mail the voucher 3-5kg mark being caught. other outmax) with you can be handy fish put up a great fight but was no Other From or Love From: Larger To: gummies have been caught by match for the young lad! because you’ll cover a lot more water. anglers fish out Birthday! in 15m off St Leonards November used • Catch a few around Geelong, Bellarine Happy Happy ____ Birthday!

Happy Fishing! Merry Christmas!

Happy Fathers Day!to be the time for and Indented Head while Bass Strait to tiger flathead straight out from Barwon Peninsula or Surf Coast to Lorne Torquay always has some solid units in recently? Send in a report to slaterfish@ Heads in about 45-55m. Tigers are one OR visit www.fishingmonthly.com.au around 50m out on the spoil grounds of1the best flatties I’ve ever invited back gmail.com with ‘FMG’ in the subject OUR GUARANTEE 800 228 244 and follow the links to isubscribe Every now and again, near the area known as the graveyard. for dinner, but they have thinned out field or give me a call on 0408 997 348. a copy may not arrive Mailthe Coupon Bruce Thomas fished with his mate a bit over last fiveto: years or so. The Please include where (without giving through the Australia Post FM Subscriptions Free Delivery PO Box 3172 is Loganholme Q 4129 Julian Cook out from Queenscliff with good news they showed up off Lorne away your secret spot!), when, what on System. If this happens to you, was a quickpumped call to us and the intention heading throughdraws the Adam to finally and who caught the fish. Pictures are last month, so let’s hope they move Entry of into the monthly we will post out another Email details to: Rip chasing gummies between Point bag a decent snapper after east and show up off Barwon Heads alwaysOnline great, but- please make sure they ANYTIME Save $$$ FREE OF CHARGE subscribe@fishingmonthly.com.au multiple attempts in Corio Bay. Lonsdale and Barwon Heads. this November. are at least 1MB (file size).

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The peak fishing time has finally arrived at PPB! PORT PHILLIP BAY WEST

Alan Bonnici alan@fishingmad.com.aua

November is my favourite month of the fishing calendar. The perfect combination of comfortable weather and prime water temperature means the fishing will be great. Ensure you get out as often as possible and enjoy the pleasant conditions and great fishing. I know I will be.

The water temperature has risen quickly in recent weeks, and we are now in peak snapper season. The snapper will be widespread by this stage. I will be out fishing by boat, kayak and land-

catching up with other local anglers and flicking soft plastics among the shallow reefs. These days, the range of soft plastics colours, profiles and brands is staggering.

You can’t go wrong with a 4” curl tail, 3” and 4” paddle tails, 4” jerk shads and 7” Turtlebacks rigged on a 1/8oz or 1/12oz jighead with a 3/0 or 2/0 hook.

I like to take a variety of colours with me. Bright colours like nuclear chicken are my favourite, but natural colours, including browns and whites, also catch their fair share.

I have caught many snapper at this time of year in less than 7m of water, sometimes as shallow as 3m. I know these waters like the back of my hand, but I still

reaches enough in my yak. From my boat, I will scour well-known local fishing grounds like P2, Fawkner beacon, and even the western channel from Geelong outer harbour through to Queenscliff.

Here, I will generally fish with baits – ideally, fresh salmon or squid or, if I’m lazy, a packet of pilchards or silver whiting. I carefully rig these on a double snell or paternoster rig. I often have a

technique that has worked for many years.

If you have never caught snapper on soft plastics, I’d highly recommend it. Fishing with lighter spin gear and feeling those strikes is a lot of fun, and probably my favourite form of fishing.

It’s not just the boats and kayaks that have all the fun, as land-based fishing for snapper can also be exceptional. As with all forms of fishing, it does require dedication

The Big Show with a snapper from P2.

The author with a nice snapper in the shallows. based with baits and soft plastics, and I’m expecting to catch many quality fish during this time.

I love fishing in the evenings this time of year in the shallows on my kayak,

rely heavily on the sounder to mark fish and identify reef edges, which I think is key to catching fish consistently.

On the boat, I like to venture into deeper waters, because I cover the shallow

spread of different rigs and different baits.

I generally spend a bit of time trying to mark fish or bait before anchoring, then berley heavily before putting out a spread of rods, then wait in anticipation for a rod to buckle and a reel to scream.

It doesn’t matter how many snapper you have caught, it’s always exciting. Having multiple rods buckle simultaneously – which does happen sometimes – is another level of excitement altogether.

On the boat, I also enjoy getting on the drift and flicking soft plastics rigged a tad heavier; 1/6oz and even 1/4oz at times. Woking these slowly with hops and lifts off the bottom is very effective. When I catch fish, I generally mark waypoints and re-drift those same lines, an effective

and patience. Known land-based spots that fish well around Melbourne include Mornington Pier, Mt Martha Rocks, St Leonards Jetty, Sandringham Breakwell, Port Melbourne Piers, Webb Dock and Portarlington.

When land-based fishing, I prefer to use a paternoster rig. Because the sinker is at the bottom, you can make really long casts and can adjust the sinker weight depending on the conditions.

Last snapper season was a strange one. With floods in November, the run of freshwater in some areas made the fishing inconsistent. However, with the great work done by the VFA, and commercial netting on the decline, we recorded record pinkie numbers. Let’s hope many of those

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season lies ahead for local anglers.

Fishing is a booming recreational activity. Around Melbourne during peak snapper season, the bay, the boat ramps and the land-based spots get crazy busy.

It seems to get busier every single year.

Please be patient and kind to other anglers, and give each other space. Many of these people are new to fishing, and it’s a steep learning curve for them. I remember many years ago learning to launch a boat during peak times at busy boat ramps, and it was a stressful experience.

Until next time, good fishing, everyone. I look forward to seeing you on the water, enjoying the conditions and catching plenty of fish.

• Feel free to contact me directly to share your fishing experiences, photos and

Pinkies are in record numbers in PPB.

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Tommy Magnussen, 9yo, with a solid 48cm Copeton Dam yellowbelly he caught while jigging off the bottom. Dad out fished him (for once) and boated a 55cm model shortly after.

NOVEMBER 2023 89

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LBG anglers hit the beach for monster sharks LAKES ENTRANCE

Steven Pryke

East Gippsland has experienced some crazy conditions, from fires to floods.

We seem to have had it all lately, and it’s crazy to think that summer has barely started.

LAKES ENTRANCE With summer nearly here, Lakes Entrance and many of the other small seaside towns are busy with tourists. As summer sets in, we will see a very busy couple of months ahead.

The main channels around Lakes Entrance have begun to fire up, with King George whiting starting to make their presence known. Anglers have been having good success around the many weed beds and edges of the channels.

Fresh baits such as pipi and mussel are ideal options, and very rarely do these offerings miss. A key to success with all the floodwater coming is to fish the run-in tides. This brings clean clear water into the system and seems to produce the best.

Our local surf beaches will become pretty popular over the next couple of months. With the warmer currents hitting

Drones like the Swell Pro Splash drone are becoming increasingly popular, and have truly changed the beach fishing game.

A solid Lake Tyers bream that came off a muddy flat.

our coastline, all the local land-based game anglers will be hitting the beach in search of monster sharks. Bronze whalers are a common capture along our local beaches, but other species such as hammerheads and the odd tiger shark are becoming increasingly more common.

Eels, salmon, tuna and even stingrays make for great shark baits.

Australian salmon and yellow mullet have been a common catch lately on our beaches. You can have great sessions spinning metal lures in search of the salmon. These great sportfish make for some awesome fun on light spin tackle.

On calmer days, small walk-the-dog topwater lures are great fun, and add a

visual element of watching the salmon smashing at your little topwater.

Yellow-eye mullet have been seen a lot lately in the shallower gutters. Small baits such as squid strips, pilchard and worm are deadly options for them, fished on a lightweight paternoster rig. On the calmer days, a small float with a baited long-shank hook works extremely well, especially if you set up a berley trail.

LAKE TYERS Lake Tyers is a tricky place, and always throws up surprises. We’ve just had one of the trickiest winters we’ve seen for a few seasons, but now with summer nearly here and the lake temperature rising, the edges and many flats throughout the system should begin to fire up. The many shallow bays and points offer up ideal areas for anglers to target the likes of bream and flathead.

Small jerkbait patterns worked across the muddy flats are an ideal way to target both species. Colour patterns that match the whitebait and small garfish prevalent in the system are a great way to start off.

Mixing up your presentation is the best option, so try a variety of lures until you narrow down to what the fish are feeding on. I like to fish two jerkbaits, a grubstyle soft plastic on a 1/16oz jighead, a non-weighted plastic for the timber, and a topwater for summer. Then it’s just a matter of fishing different types of areas and structure until you find a pattern.

• If you have been out for a fish lately and have a great pic, please send it to stevenprykefishing@gmail.com with short description, and you could be featured in the next edition of Fishing Monthly.

New bream regulations in place for Gippy Lakes GIPPSLAND LAKES

Brett Geddes b.geddes@bigpond.com

Some important changes for the bream bag limit in the Gippy Lakes will hopefully see their stocks recover into the future. With river flows well down compared to this time last year, a lot of big bream have moved out of the streams and are being caught out

in the lake shallows right now.

NEW REGULATIONS The 28-38cm slot limit for black bream will remain, but a new bag limit of seven bream has been introduced.

About 4000 people responded to a VFA survey recently, and roughly 50% of them supported a new five-fish bag limit while the other 50% wanted to keep the 10 fish limit. To meet everyone in the middle, it was decided to go with a bag

MARLO

OCEAN VIEWS CARAVAN & CAMPING PARK

limit of seven bream. This applies only to the Gippy Lakes estuary and all its associated streams.

The new regulations will be reviewed

in 12 months’ time, when I’m sure another survey will be put to the public.

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Gun anglers Nikki and Brooke have been getting into the bream in the Nicho.

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Flatties have woken, and salmon are still firing early this season. Although most of them are only around 40cm for now, you can expect them to quickly grow both in size and in numbers. They turned up for me recently while I was chasing salmon and perch, and I was surprised at how many were jumping on the hook. Most have been yank flathead lately, and I’ve also caught some nice rock flathead to 43cm.

I get the feeling they will be just one trip away from really firing up.

The amazing thing about the last few years has been the prodigious amount of rockies, something which none of us had ever seen before. I really hope that turns into big numbers this summer.

Once again, blade lures are your best bet on the flatties, with soft plastics a distant second.

ESTUARY PERCH One of the greatest joys in my

PORT ALBERT

Brett Geddes b.geddes@bigpond.com

Now I can officially say that the flathead are waking up, there are plenty of salmon to play with and a great by catch of other species to keep us all guessing.

It’s a busy time of year, so let’s get on with the report.

SALMON I finally got a good old salmon fix when I teamed up with my buddy James Russell on a trip to Port Albert. We stacked up a heap of them, and the real highlight was watching them constantly smash our surface lures. We found big schools of fish averaging 30-45cm, with the odd big tailor amongst them. It’s just nice to lose a few hours to the joy of busy salmon sport, and I’ll never get sick of

those scrappy brawlers. They are still concentrated at Port Albert, and also at all the other main entrances like Macs, Manns and Kearneys. Sometimes you have to fish very deep for salmon, with

extra heavy soft plastics or blades. Don’t rely on trolling lures behind your boat to find salmon; I find that is rarely effective.

FLATHEAD Some nice flatties turned up very

the last three months has been the amount of bream being caught out in shallow lake water, from Loch Sport and most of Lake Victoria in the west and Metung and Jones Bay in the east. They are even turning up around Raymond Island, and especially out on the Nicho flats and the Mitchell reef.

This would be normal anytime from summer through to late winter, but it’s mind blowing to see these thumping bream showing up back in mid-August and growing in numbers almost weekly since then. In fact, on calm days out on the Mitchell and Nicho flats you can see

he gives every comp a real shake.

Justin was also amazed at how many fish were in the shallows at this time of year, and he got them all on floating hardbodies. It’s quite strange to see this all happening well before summer; usually I reckon bream are just too hard to target from about late August right up until the end of December.

With the water being so clear in the lakes, I’m tipping Bent Minnow lures will become a real option to target bream on the surface. I’m also going to predict that Hollands Landing will start to really fire up over the next few months, and Lake

least 48cm.

I caught some much smaller perch around the same area at the time, ranging from 36-40cm. It was really nice to see them back in fair numbers.

I will say though, their numbers are way down on years gone by, and I put this down to a cycle of high or low water flows. With big floods I know the perch will exit the whole Gippy Lakes and turn up in weird and far-away places like Port Albert. Over 10 years of tagging fish and seeing the recaptures has proved this time and time again.

The opposite can work as well, where the perch can return here, especially because the Gippy Lakes estuary always has a deep, open entrance. Whenever I have declared the perch as no longer present in certain rivers or areas (due to over fishing or maybe netted out), they prove me wrong and turn up in their hundreds!

Let’s hope I’m wrong once again.

NICHOLSON AND TAMBO RIVERS These two rivers are continuing to produce some ripper bream, and Nikki Bryant with her good mate Brooke found some thumpers in the Nicho

Snook can grow well over a metre in these parts, and this 71cm model was a welcome addition to the day’s bag and for dinner that night.

How’s that for a ripper perch? This 2.03kg fish was caught by legend angler Mikey Vukic. dozens of big bream from 38-45cm feeding in certain parts across the whole lake.

Catching those same fish is the real challenge, and it usually takes a bit of ripple on the water or even a stiff wind to encourage a bite on lure or bait. One thing you can be sure of though, is that the bream you land will be trucks. As I was putting this report together, Justin Dingwall was sending me pictures of his day’s catch, and his best five bream went very close to 7kg. It’s no wonder

Wellington will also see big schools of bream move back into it.

ESTUARY PERCH The estuary perch are doing their usual tricks and turning up in the upper Mitchell River, and it has also been nice to see them appear back in the Straits from Hollands Landing and Seacombe. One real stand-out catch was made by Mikey Vukic, who wrestled in a whopping perch out of the snags going 2.03kg. He caught it on a soft plastic, and although he didn’t measure it on the ruler I can see it was at

Tony Pettie with a 43cm, 1.3kg bream that fell to a Hurricane Sprat 85. around 46cm. Even high up in the river past the junction, some cracker bream are holding up around the edges. Tony Pettie found a nice 43cm, 1.3kg model in the lower Tambo recently, and also sounded plenty more around it, but sadly all shut down. All these fish were caught on the Hurricane Sprat 85, which is slowly becoming a real go-to bream lure.

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Good time to be fishing in the lake and offshore MALLACOOTA/EDEN

Kevin Gleed captainkev@wildernessfishingtours.com

Late spring is a great time of year to be in the Gippsland and Far South Coast region. With the weather warming and the ocean temperatures starting to rise, everything comes alive.

At present the ocean temperature is around 14-15°C and rising, and with the northeast wind starting to kick in, you know summer is right around the corner.

All in all, it’s a great time to be fishing, both in the lake and offshore.

If you want to fish offshore this

month, it’s best to set out early. An early start will see you back with a feed of fish before midday, and by heading towards Gabo Island you’ll get a good ride home with the wind behind you. We can expect food catches of sand flathead and tiger flathead in the coming weeks; just keep on the move until you find the fish, then concentrate on fishing these areas, and you should have no trouble catching a bag limit of fish. A variety of bait is the go, this way you can find the best offering on the day. Big soft plastics also catching fish.

Gummy shark are also being caught.

Once again, keep on the move until fish are found.

With summer around the corner the whiting fishing will only Improve. fishing life is to put a good mate onto a big perch. I was able to take James Russell to a few of my honey holes recently, and my mission was to get him a good-sized EP. The first spot was an abject failure, and although we got big trevally, nice salmon and

The smile on his face says it all as James Russell holds up a stunning Port Albert perch.

92 NOVEMBER 2023

flathead, it did not go to plan as far as perch were concerned.

Luckily at my next location we found them, and James quickly hooked a real cracker. Seeing the huge smile on his face really made my day. At 46.5cm it was a stunning fish, with a fat body and a small head to confirm it as a very fast-growing, healthy fish.

A third location was a flop, but then we explored some new water and tricked four very nice EP in super shallow water.

It’s always a joy to discover new waters with a good mate. We only landed about eight perch for the day but pulled the hooks on just as many.

I returned a week later, and once again the perch threw me a major curve ball. All my favourite spots were barren of fish. The perch were hiding in very deep, fast flowing, open water around 5m deep without any structure around.

I’ve never caught them in that depth or open water before, and I was just lucky to have found them. It was a big school of fish and I reckon it was a pre-spawning aggregation.

At one point using a heavilyweighted soft plastic I caught seven perch in consecutive casts, all going between 43-47cm. This is another reason I’m so addicted to estuary perch – they continue to challenge me on nearly every trip. One day I get them on surface lures in 30cm of water, and then four days later I’ll find them in 5m of water using soft plastics on a 1/4oz jighead. Next week they will

The past month there have been plenty of whales sighted as they make their way along the coast on their annual migration. Snapper can also be caught in the area, with the local fishers often heading down the coast to the offshore reefs in the area.

Along the beaches you can expect to catch salmon and tailor, with the good gutters on the local beaches holding fish.

Sand whiting and yellowfin bream will also feature in the catch as the water warms.

Fishing in the lake and up into the rivers has been good, with things really coming to life. Flathead are being caught throughout the system on a variety of bait and lures, with plenty of good eatingsize fish around the 40cm mark being caught. There are some bigger specimens in the mix as well. Please release the big breeders, as you will be ensuring there will be fish in the future.

Sand whiting are also being caught, and the good entrance to the ocean will see more fish entering the system as the water warms. Yellowfin bream and black bream will be spreading out and starting to move around the margins of the lake in search of food. One again, keep on the move until fish are found.

The lake has good numbers of jewfish at present, and the warming water will see more fish entering the system over the coming months.

With the arrival of summer, the bass will fire up as they move upstream, looking for their summer haunts. These fish are great fun to catch, and will take a variety of lures. A hot day before a change in weather often brings the best results.

Catch and release is the norm, as most anglers want to protect stocks of this great sportfish.

probably disappear and I’ll score a donut.

SNOOK AND TAILOR Right on cue for this time of year, the snook have turned up, and some are

them a go, they always give me positive feedback. I’m amazed most people won’t try them.

The tailor have been quite thick

Lauchy with some great bream caught on soft plastics in the Bottom Lake.

Some of the best sport for any lure angler is watching salmon smash surface lures. At times you can watch 10-20 fish fighting over your lure, and that guarantees a few laughs. quite big, over 70cm. Most anglers return them or keep one for bait, but I rate these fish as good tucker. Snook might not be in the top 10 on my list, but they’re still a very nice change to the fish menu.

They come up quite well in breadcrumbs and they are easy to fillet and prepare.

When I encourage other people to give

right across the Port Albert area lately, with fish up to 50cm. They are another species I really enjoy dining on, and they have excellent white flesh when cooked fresh. Then one day I tried them raw and found they are also a top sashimi fish, with sesame oil, honey soy, and chilli jam or a bit of wasabi.

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Local anglers enjoying great springtime bite and will continue to do so as the water continues to warm.

I have noticed this past month the stench of decaying carp at every boat ramp and camping spot along the river I have visited. Mounds of putrid, fly-ridden

ROBINVALE

Rod Mackenzie codmac@bigpond.net.au

With the river returning to normal heights and the flows a little more consistent, it’s great to see good numbers of anglers out and about trying to put a bend in the line.

Redfin have been a regular capture in the lakes between Kerang and Swan Hill on both bait and lures. These lakes include Meran, Charm, Kangaroo and Boga, and they are all very good springtime angling destinations. The channels between these lakes are also producing a few fish, including some pretty solid golden perch.

The Murray River around Swan Hill has a few solid golden perch on bait amongst an annoying number of carp.

A few yabbies are starting to move, and there are good numbers of local river

Redfin have been on the chew this past month. This haul was caught on soft plastics rigged on Bassman jigheads.

Tom Burns with a golden perch landed on a Bassman Tubby below the Euston Weir in the Murray River. shrimp should you need some fresh bait.

There have been a few reports of goodsized golden perch in the Little Murray on bait, and a few bycatch cod guesstimated to be up around the 7-8kg mark.

The Murray River at Boundary Bend READER’S

good numbers of golden perch below the Euston Weir on small hardbodied lures and bait. Small StumpJumper lures and Bassman Tubbys have been cleaning up, with most anglers managing to catch a feed. Once again, carp are quite prevalent at this location, and a common annoyance to the bait anglers.

The Murray River around Mildura is starting to fire, producing some nice perch on bait. We haven’t seen many fish caught on lures yet, but that should change as the clarity starts to improve.

Good numbers of big yabbies are on the chew, mostly in the deeper water where there is a bit of flow. This isn’t where you’d normally expect to set your nets, but it is what it is – and they seem to be enjoying the deeper flow.

Downstream to Fort Courage on the Murray River, better numbers of yabbies

Some good-sized yabbies have been running at most locations along the Murray River. carcasses have been left in the open to rot, for the next angler or camper to suffer as they try to enjoy time by the river. Am I the only one who notices this, or is it normal for anglers to sit amongst the stench, and contentedly wet a line?

Here’s an idea – why not just dispatch your carp and return it to the river, so everyone else can enjoy the river without feeling ill? Yabbies, tortoises, shrimp and other smaller organisms will enjoy eating your carp, and you will be spared

has been yielding a few golden perch on bait, with no shortage of carp to reel in.

No reports of yabbies in this area yet but they too are no doubt starting to move.

Further downstream along the Murray, anglers have been catching PICTURE

The stink of dead carp is littered along most boat ramps and camping spots along the Murray River. The solution is for each angler to dispatch their carp and dispose of them.

Rusty and his dad had an awesome session on the bass at Blue Rock Dam. Rusty was delighted to catch his first bass on the fly rod.

94 NOVEMBER 2023

have kept the pots boiling and the fangs chomping. There have also been a few nice perch landed on bait, and the odd catfish amongst the carp. All up, the bite has improved at most locations,

the stench.

Another alternative is to bury the carcasses. Either way, it’s far better than leaving fish on the bank to rot in the sun.

Freshwater

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VIC

Fishing starting to heat up in Bendigo region BENDIGO

Roger Miles codhuntertours@bigpond.com

The Bendigo region has been experiencing some great weather in recent weeks. The trend of below-average rainfall has continued, and temperatures are rising, increasing fish activity. Due to El Niño, we’ll probably get aboveaverage temperatures and below-average rainfall for the region throughout spring and summer.

LAKE EPPALOCK At the time of writing this report, the water levels in Lake Eppalock have been receding slowly, and it’s currently at 97%. There’s still a small chance we may see some reasonable inflows run into the lake. The southern impoundments are still holding near capacity, so any significant rainfall will produce some good inflows.

However, given the below-average rainfall over the last few months, the catchments have already started to dry out. Inflows into Lake Eppalock have been minimal over the last few months, which has improved the lake’s water clarity.

When you first arrive at the lake, you might think the water looks dirty, due to all the tannin, but when you get up close, you’ll see how clear it actually is.

There are currently good numbers of redfin being caught, but most of them are small. Finding a concentration of larger fish hasn’t been easy, but if you’re prepared to spend some time hunting around, there are some quality redfin on offer.

Trolling small, deep-diving hardbody lures is starting to work well on the redfin.

Kelvin used a very slow rolling retrieve to get this fish to strike.

Casting soft plastics and blades is also productive.

Golden perch numbers are slowly improving, and the fish are also becoming more aggressive due to increasing water temperatures. A good way to catch them is by casting the rocky shorelines with lipless crankbaits and blades, or fishing the tops of submerged saplings.

Over the last two months, anglers targeting redfin have caught a few nice trout at Lake Eppalock. Most of these trout would have come from stockings

by Victorian Fisheries a few seasons ago.

These captures are a positive sign that the stocking was successful, and hopefully Fisheries will stock some more into Lake Eppalock in the future.

CAMPASPE RIVER The water clarity has started to improve in the Campaspe River, particularly in the section from Barnadown upstream to below the dam wall below Lake Eppalock.

The water becomes more turbid as you

go further downstream to Elmore and Rochester. The fishing in the river has been pretty average, but catch rates should improve over the next couple of months. Golden perch are the main target (until the Murray cod season reopens on 1 December). Good lure options for the golden perch are small profiled spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits and hardbodies. Lure colour choice depends on the water clarity and the fish’s mood on the day. At the start of November, when the water is still a bit cooler, I like to use smaller profile, silent lures. In late November/early December, I switch to larger profile lures with a noisy rattle, because the warmer water makes the goldens more aggressive.

CAIRN CURRAN At the time of writing this report, Cairn Curran is at 97% of capacity. The water clarity is still poor, with only a slight improvement in recent weeks.

Unfortunately, I think Cairn Curran

will have poor water clarity for most of this season.

The fishing has been slow for most anglers, with redfin making up the majority of catches. Anglers using bait have been catching them around the standing timber, and vertically jigging brightly-coloured soft plastics has also been producing a few redfin.

The golden perch have been slow for a while, but catch rates have been increasing as water temperatures continue to improve. Casting the rocky shorelines with lipless crankbaits and blades has been catching a few. Bright UV colours and dark silhouette colours have been the most productive. Bait fishing off the shore and around the standing timber has also been producing some golden perch. As water temps continue to rise in the coming weeks, trolling the lake’s edges with hardbody lures will become more effective, ideally in 3-6m of water.

LODDON RIVER The water clarity in the Loddon River is still very poor, and it will probably take a while for it to settle. Cairn Curran, Tullaroop Reservoir and Laanecoorie Reservoir all have poor water clarity, so as the water is released from these systems, it affects the Loddon River.

Still, the benefit of the reduced water clarity is that fewer anglers want to fish there. If you want to give it a go, the key is to be patient. Spend more time casting into likely-looking structure, because fish in dirty water often need more casts to get stirred up. Dirty water can also cause fish to move into the shallows.

Yellowbelly fever is coming soon!

YARRAWONGA

Tony Bennett

At this time of year, it’s hard to know where to start. We’re dead smack in the middle of a closed cod season, waiting with bated breath for the traditional run of spring yellas to fire.

As the gates fly open for the Melbourne Cup, the starter’s bell usually signals that the yellas will be up and about somewhere within the lake, and further upstream around Bundalong and its backwaters. For those who haven’t explored the Bundalong area, the best bet is get onto Google Earth, have a look at what sneaky backwaters and lagoons exist in this area, and start exploring. There’s some great fishing to be had in this region, especially throughout spring.

This time of year also sees a generous amount of yellas school up in the faster running water around the mouth of the main weir near the train bridge, and the Mulwala canal. Your best bet whilst targeting these critters are TN60 Jackals or the like, 50-70mm hardbodied lures,

smaller profiled spinnerbaits, or blades.

September in Lake Mulwala proved to be a non-event until the school holidays hit late in the month. The magnificent spring days in late September led to a flurry of land-based fishing action, with numerous encounters being reported by the kids. I spent an arvo out with good friend Lance ‘Bezaro Lures’ Berriman, casting his amazing hardbody creations in the ‘Bundalong backwaters’. We managed to find two unlucky yellas along with half a dozen other bycatches that were quickly released.

New local lad Rick ‘Coddog’ Goward has been finding some good schools of yellas starting to congregate around the main bridge in town. With the use of his ‘scope’, Rick has been picking up around half a dozen per session. Once again, Jackall TN60s have been producing for him.

It seems that many visitors still don’t know that you can’t fish (or have any fishing gear in position) on or adjacent to the Murray River downstream from the Yarrawonga weir through the Cobram area to the Tocumwal bridge from 1 September to 30 November. Keep this in mind if

you are planning a trip to this region in spring.

For those that are keen on their tournament fishing, places are still available in the upcoming Golden Dollar$ tournament, October 21. Based at Bundalong targeting yellas / Golden Perch, this event gives you the chance to share in thousands of dollars’ worth of cash prizes.

Excitement is building with the iconic Lake Mulwala Cod Classic drawing closer. December 1-3 will see Lake Mulwala come alive, with 2500+ anglers expected to converge on the twin towns of Yarrawonga/Mulwala to celebrate the opening to the new cod season.

Competitors will be looking to share in the massive $100K+ prize pool, which includes five boating packages. You’d be crazy to miss what is now not just a fishing comp, but a fishing festival! When this year’s comp is over, 133 Yamaha/ Quintrex/Humminbird boating packages will have been given away throughout the 24-year history of the Cod Classic. You can enter at www.codclassic.com.au.

Until next edition, happy fishing.

The author with an unlucky 47cm ‘Bundalong Backwater’ yellowbelly.

• If you’re visiting town, call into Lake Mulwala Fish Camp & Ski, the shop with the big green cod out the front (ppposite the Post Office) in Mulwala, or check out our Yarrawonga store, located between Rivers and One Zac in the main street.

We are Yarrawonga/Mulwala’s fishing specialists and specialize in all things ‘green’ (or yellow this time of year!) For any information on upcoming events or fishing reports, give us a hoy on 03 5744 3133.

NOVEMBER 2023 95

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Freshwater

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November is prime time to target yellowbelly WANGARATTA

Robbie Alexander

November is a very exciting time for anglers in North East Victoria. The yellowbelly are usually on the chew, the redfin and trout are biting, and anticipation is building as we get

fishing spot has always been Lake Nillahcootie. However, as the yellowbelly numbers grow in the Ovens River thanks to stocking, I find myself fishing there more often. I like the fact that it’s closer to home.

In the river I like to use worms as bait, or live shrimp if I can find any. In lakes such as Nillahcootie, I love to troll

A lovely springtime brown trout caught on a Damiki Era 55 Minnow.

November is a great time to target redfin in North East Victoria. closer to Murray cod opening on 1 December.

MURRAY COD The Murray cod season is closed in all but one North East Victorian waterway throughout November. It is illegal to target Murray cod during this time, even if you intend to practice catch and release.

Lake Eildon is the only place that is open to Murray cod fishing all year

medium-sized lures from my kayak, particularly around sunset.

There are a lot of yellowbelly in the entire Broken River system, including Lake Nillahcootie. The Ovens River is what I call an ‘improving yellowbelly fishery’, because stocking has only been taking place there for the last few years.

An early season heat wave in September gave us a glimpse of what is to come in Lake Eildon and Lake Hume, with some trophy yellowbelly already being caught. This will only get better throughout November.

REDFIN The redfin fishing is usually very good throughout November in many waterways. The region is littered with small ponds that contain redfin. Disused water supplies, old mining dredges and even lagoons on river flats are all good places to look for spring redfin.

Lake Buffalo has been fishing well for redfin all winter and into spring, so it may be worth fishing in November.

The lower reaches of small creeks can be real hot spots for redfin, but not always. The only way to find out

which ones are worth fishing is to get in and try them. Make sure you seek permission from the farmer if you wish to cross private land.

Allans Flat Water hole near Yackandandah and Lake Sambell in Beechworth are two places that will be worth trying for redfin in November.

TROUT The trout fishing starts to change during November each year as the arrival of hot weather usually slows them down. In the smaller streams that

A nice yellowbelly caught in Broken Creek. November is a great time to target yellowbelly right across North East Victoria. run through open farmland, the first half of November usually fishes well, but the fish can start to slow down in the second half of the month as the water really starts to heat up.

If we get a hotter than average spring, which is forecast, they could start slowing down earlier than usual.

The yabbies came on the bite at the start of spring. They should keep biting well throughout November. round. So, if you need a spring Murray cod fix, head to Lake Eildon.

YELLOWBELLY November is a great time to catch yellowbelly. The warming water is usually a trigger for them to fire up.

My favourite spring yellowbelly 96 NOVEMBER 2023

They will still bite as things warm up, but not as well. They will become more fussy about their food, and will prefer the low light times of the day. During warmer weather, trout will often bite best after a storm or rain event when there’s fresh water in the stream.

The larger rivers such as the Ovens River, Buckland River and Upper King River should all fish very well throughout November. These rivers take a lot longer to slow down and heat up in the springtime because they

This brown trout was recently caught in a tributary of the King River on a Strike Tiger Nymph soft plastic.

flow off higher mountains with larger catchments.

OTHER SPECIES The yabbies came on the bite earlier than usual this spring, thanks to a September heatwave that broke records in many areas. I have been having a lot of fun catching yabbies, and in November they should be plentiful and easy to catch. And of course, there will be no shortage of carp to be caught throughout the region in November.

For those anglers who enjoy a bit of finesse fishing, the small freshwater blackfish, often called ‘greasies’, should be on the bite in November as well.

These small native fish can be a lot of fun to catch. Small streams are the best places to target them, although they do sometimes turn up in unusual places like Lake Mulwala, often in shrimp nets. When fishing for blackfish, look for deep pools in small streams with logs of snags, and use worms for bait at sunset.

Freshwater

FMM

VIC

Going with the flow to catch more golden perch SHEPPARTON

Nick Brown teamriverrats@hotmail.com

The Goulburn River has had plenty of ups and downs this spring.

When the river was at a settled level the fishing was great, with plenty of good-sized yellowbelly being caught.

Small Bassman Compact Spinnerbaits and TN60 Jackalls have been the best lures this spring. The key to the TN60s is to rig them with a single hook.

Bait fishing has also been great when the river has settled, with scrub worms around sand bars working best. Murchison, Arcadia and in the heart of Shepparton have been the best areas to target spring time yellowbelly. There have also been plenty of carp caught, with floating night crawlers and corn working well.

BROKEN RIVER This time of year is all about

fishing the weirs, which seem to produce plenty of fish during spring.

It’s good to focus downstream of both weirs as the fish travel against the flow as they make their way upstream.

You can also fish the river leading into the weirs. Usually a 1/2km stretch will produce good numbers, or you can target the faster flowing water right below each weir.

Single hook rigged lipless crankbaits work well in the faster water, such as a Mask Vibe, Fish Trap or TN60. Spinnerbaits are another great lure in the Broken in spring, but you may need to go up in weight if the water flow is pushing your lure away from your intended area.

Bait fishing the faster flowing waters can be difficult, but if you can float or drift your baits along the edges and let them naturally end up in the little back eddies, you should find yourself reeling in plenty of fish.

WAR ANGA BASIN There have been plenty of redfin

caught recently, although most have been smaller fish. Casting small chatterbaits, TN50s and 2-3” soft plastics has resulted in high numbers of fish caught.

There hasn’t been a stand-out area to target, with numbers of fish reported around Harrimans, the caravan park and the main rock wall.

A few yellowbelly have been caught around the areas with plenty of rock, and submerged structure like old fence posts or tree stumps. I’ve been told many times that if you see any structure with a fish holding on it you can almost guarantee it’s a yellowbelly.

A great way to target the fish holding to the small structures is jigging blades. Drop your blade to the bottom and give a sharp lift of the rod tip to launch the blade off the bottom, stirring up some mud. It’s really important that the lure hits the bottom on the way down.

IRRIGATION CHANNELS The water in some of the main

YELLOWBELLY While fishing the lake in November, I like to keep an eye out for a colour change, as it makes a great ambush point for a big yellowbelly. I like to throw a 50mm curly-tail plastic on the hot days, and then on the cool mornings, a 65mm vibe. The brand/colour of your vibes doesn’t matter all that much; it’s more important that you use the lure correctly. For example, if you have a heavier, noisier vibe, you don’t want

True, blind casting is generally more rewarding, but when you’re time-poor it helps to use Live sonar.

Lazy Lake Eildon yellas love a black curly-tail grub with light jighead.

I prefer to use Jigman jigheads; they’re Australian-made and work well.

REDFIN As it starts to warm up around 11am in November, the surface temperature will be somewhere between 17-19°C, so look for them around 7m deep, or deeper. Sometimes they can be holding as deep as 14m.

Over the next few months the lake’s water level will drop, and this will expose new visible timber and rock structure. These are your targets. You’ll want to keep moving from tree to tree (or other structure) until you find those active fish.

A variety of baits will get good results, including worms, yabbies, and your preferred soft baits.

Personally, I’m a sucker for a 1oz spinnerbait in all white in the warmer months. You just cast it to structure, and vary the depth and speed of your retrieve to find what works on the day. Be patient, and be prepared to

channels has been running pretty hard recently, making some areas harder to fish. If you’re fishing bridges it can be a bit difficult to get under and cast while the water is high. So, a great way to target both redfin and yellowbelly is using a floating diver that you can cast and drift under bridges until the lure is in the right spot, then crank it back.

Another way to target the bridges is to cast spinnerbaits upcurrent and allow them to drop and drift past the uprights. The fish usually sit in between the uprights, and can come out to ambush your spinnerbait on the drop.

The channels with less flow have been producing some nice size yellowbelly on lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaits.

Bait fishing in the flow can be difficult but don’t be worried if your baits drift shallow, as there have been some nice fish caught just off the banks around the rocks and weeds.

Eyes on the prize: big Murray cod in November EILDON

Daniel Piazza

Lake Eildon is full at the moment, so there are plenty of areas to fish and camp high up in one of the inflow arms.

The lake has been a good place for anglers to get their cod fix in recent months. My mate Mark recently caught a 103.5cm specimen – his first cod from Lake Eildon.

November is a good time to fish for

Rib from Mansfield with a beautiful brown trout. them, and if we get a storm front in the coming weeks, don’t let the opportunity pass you by. You will be rewarded with probably the best chance of catching a quality cod. You can catch them on a range of lures, including large swimbaits, surface lures and divers.

to work it too hard. Remember, noise travels much further underwater, so be subtle.

Some days the fish are right up in the wind, while on other days they just sulk and sit a bit deeper, and wait for the food to come to them. Scoping can definitely help when targeting them.

A nice yellowbelly on the deck.

Sam Piazza with one of 20 springtime yellowbelly caught on lures. move around if necessary.

TROUT If you’re in search of a trout in the warmer months, you want to be the first boat on the water. You can still use the method of flatlining a winged lure, or use a diving lure to around 3m. You’ll want to troll a tiny bit quicker.

• As a Fishing Monthly contributor, I’m crazy about fishing and the outdoors, and I’d love to hear about your experiences at Lake Eildon. If you would like to send me a catch photo/info, feel free to contact me at daniel@primalspinbaits.com. You could be featured in the next issue of Fishing Monthly.

NOVEMBER 2023 97

VIC

Freshwater

FMM

Mayflies are hatching and the action is on! hatching and the fish will start to feed on them. We anglers need to be adaptable and change our tactics at times like these.

At Hepburn Lagoon, I have heard on the grapevine that there have been

BALLARAT

Shane Stevens

There is a real buzz in the air around the Ballarat district, and it’s all about a small insect called a mayfly (dunn). The mayflies are hatching on most of our waters, including Wendouree, Hepburn Lagoon, Newlyn and Moorabool reservoirs. Rainbow and brown trout find these little insects irresistible, and feed on them both above and below the surface.

I briefly touched on the mayflies last month, with fly fishers from all over the state and interstate waiting in anticipation of the hatch. Well, it’s started, and the fish are feeding on the mayflies with gusto. Small Brown Nymphs, Possum Emergers and Shaving Brushes are the fly patterns that I use during the mayfly hatches. Fishing these mayfly patterns can

Vern Barby landed seven trout between 40-50cm on Lake Wendouree. He used brown nymph fly patterns to imitate mayfly larvae. Image courtesy of Vern Barby. be done from either the shore or a boat on Wendouree and Hepburn Lagoon, and land-based on Moorabool and Newlyn.

Lake Wendouree has seen angler numbers increase significantly, especially now the word has got around that the mayflies are on the job. Every vantage point around the lake is taken from about 11am onwards, especially on overcast days. The pontoons and jetties are prime real estate for sure. A slow figure-8 retrieve with your flies will bring the brown and rainbow trout undone.

Nick Roche recently had his best day on Wendouree, landing two browns and one rainbow trout between 40-50cm, plus numerous smaller recently stocked rainbow trout. Nick started his session off using a Stick Caddis fly, as he noticed there were a few caddis moths flying around.

The trout found them irresistible. Nick said he couldn’t believe how good it was, and was surprised that the action occurred in bright sunlight, which contradicts what the experts say. He couldn’t hang around 98 NOVEMBER 2023

Donnie Rogers with a magnificently coloured skinny water brown trout from one of the local streams. Image courtesy of Donnie Rogers. for the dunn hatch because he had prior commitments, and he said it was hard to walk away with the trout on the chew.

Vern Barby, one of the best fly fishers going around, told me that Wendouree has been unbelievable.

“I can’t believe how many fish are out there after returning from a few hours out on the water,” he said. “I’ve just landed seven good trout, all between 40-50cm. I got dusted up by a couple of rippers and landed countless stockie rainbows as well.

It’s lousy with fish.”

You’ve gotta take your hat off to Victorian Fishing Authority for the stocking program that is in place for Wendouree. The lake is currently the best it’s ever been, and I’ve been fishing here for many years.

Moorabool Reservoir continues to be one of the best fisheries in the Ballarat district, consistently producing excellent catches of rainbow trout, brown trout and redfin. I’ve personally had my best season out at Moorabool starting off in the autumn months, then it continued through winter.

Now that spring is here, which is the best time of the year, it continues to produce the goods. The size and quality of the fish I’ve caught has been exceptional, with the brown trout averaging 50-55cm and the rainbows 45cm. All have been in excellent condition, which is a testament to the

quality of the water and food sources available to the fish.

Day time fishing for mayfly feeders has started. It’s been a bit slower than Wendouree, maybe due to the water temperature being a little cooler, putting the mayflies a few weeks behind Wendouree. I’m not sure when this will change, but when it does, I’ll be looking to get amongst some of the big trophy browns lurking there.

Whilst the daytime fishing has been slower, the evening sessions have been unbelievable, with the trout feeding on chironomid/midge. You see the fish feeding off the surface out in the lake as they make their way into the shallower water to feed where the midge are more

Nick Roche recently had his best fishing session on Lake Wendouree, landing three brown trout on Stick Caddis flies between 40-45cm.

Image courtesy of Nick Roche.

some excellent catches of brown trout.

They have been caught fly fishing out of a drifting boat. At Hepburn boating is allowed, but limited to electric motors only. Not many anglers fish out of a boat, but those who do seem to reap the rewards of the extra effort that’s required.

The author with a chironomid/midge feeding Moorabool brown trout that ate a size 14 brown nymph slowly retrieved.

Kelsi Gull landed this magnificent brown trout fly fishing on Lake Wendouree whilst participating in the Ballarat Fly Fishers Club ‘Learn To Fly Fish’ Workshop.

Image courtesy of Craig Coltman.

abundant. They can be bloody frustrating and hard to catch at times.

We had some success early just stripping/roly-polying Woolly Buggers, which aren’t the flies you’d expect the trout to eat when they are focussed on little insects. The trout then stopped eating them, and I tried lots of different patterns until we came up with a winning formula.

The flies that have been consistently working well are small brown or black nymphs in size 12 or 14, and a chironomid pattern in size 14, moved very slow, before and after dark. This could change at any time though, depending on how long the midge are around for. I’m sure when they stop hatching, the mudeyes will start

Hepburn has excellent land-based fishing opportunities for lure casters, bait fishers and fly fishers. Access is via the dairy on the east end or the west end where most anglers launch their boats and kayaks.

Hepburn has excellent mayfly hatches and massive mudeye hatches. Anglers should make the most of the current high water levels before the water recedes due to irrigation and evaporation, which exposes a lot of weed.

Newlyn Reservoir, just down the road from Hepburn, is another one of our well-known mayfly waters. It’s targeted by fly fishers during the day for the mayfly feeders, during the evening for the caddis hatches, and mud eye hatches

Freshwater

FMM

VIC

Wet winter sets the scene for a productive month CRATER LAKES

Rod Shepherd

We’ve been fortunate to have had a winter with ample rainfall, as this is standing us in good stead as the days warm up.

There have been some great trout captures happening around the district, with the upper Merri, Hopkins and the Mount Emu Creek providing solid browns to 60cm+ taken in the still flowing, clear waters with shallow diving or surface minnow hardbodied lures. Soft plastics twitched across the surface are also working. Any structure such as sunken timber, or the head or exit area of any pool, is worth a cast or three.

Lake Purrumbete has plenty of solid tiger trout that are fast matching the size and weight of the trophy

One of several nice redfin taken with a deep diver trolled over the deepest section of the lake. browns this lake is known for. We may well be seeing another phenomena where when Chinook salmon that were first introduced into Bullen Merri

quite some years ago and subsequently grew in excess of 20lb. Only time will tell no doubt.

Redfin to 40cm are being taken

around the lake’s fringes, trolling or casting a wide variety of lures close to the weed beds. Redfin can also be found at depth schooling around 18m, which is not far from the bank as this crater lake has a steep drop-off around most of its circumference. The same lures used for trout are also fine for the reddies.

Lake Bullen Merri has tiger trout and Chinook salmon to 60cm taking medium lures trolled in around 8-10m of water. Lofty’s Cobra style winged lures are catching fish, and the best colours have been gold, reds and pinks. Holographic models are also catching fish.

Bank anglers working the north shore have also picked up a few fish using unweighted baits such as live scrubworm, locally-caught gudgeon (in a minnow net set overnight) and PowerBait in red.

Taking on the trout as it warms up WEST/SOUTH GIPPSLAND

Billy Auldist

The rivers have been running a bit higher than expected recently, but that hasn’t deterred fishers in our region.

The sun will soon be out, the fish will be hungry, and we have a ripping month of fishing ahead of us.

The rivers surrounding Noojee have been fishing well, even though they’ve had a bit more water in them than anticipated. The Latrobe, Loch and Toorongo rivers have all been producing fish on a variety of methods, and local anglers are catching some good fish. As usual, the trout in these rivers aren’t very big but they definitely make up for that in numbers.

Spinners, hardbodies and soft plastics have all been catching fish in after dark.

Steve Angee has targeted Newlyn a lot over the past couple of months, casting small hardbodied lures and catching some excellent brown trout to 55cm. Anglers fishing with bait have also been catching their share. The trout here love a spider/ bug or couta mudeyes suspended under a bubble float.

The spring months are a great time to fish many of the small rivers and streams in the district. They are forgotten about by most people, but those anglers who are prepared to put in a few miles are rewarded for their efforts. These waters include to the south of Ballarat Moorabool, Leigh, Yarrowee rivers and to the north of Ballarat Birches, Creswick, Clunes and Tullaroop creeks, just to name a few.

Remember to wear appropriate clothing and tread carefully, because there are lots of snakes along our rivers and creeks.

recent weeks. Keep in mind that when there is more water in the rivers, you are better off casting your lure into slack water or a back eddy instead of the main current.

Bait fishers have been catching fish on the ever-faithful worm, usually anchored in a bit of backwater.

The Tarago and Bunyip rivers, like usual, haven’t been getting heaps of attention from fishers. It is a great time of year to start expanding your knowledge on these rivers, and the trout they can produce. Lures fishers might find spinners or hardbodies a bit more difficult to use in these two rivers due to their skinny snaggy nature, but I find that soft plastics are perfect for either river. The trout love them.

Of course, drifting bait is another successful tactic in these waters. There won’t be many trout that will turn down an unweighted worm cast upstream

this month.

We should see Bluerock Lake start to fire soon; with the weather heating up, so will the fishing. The bass that Bluerock is known for are already being caught in decent numbers. Soft plastics and hardbodies have been the main culprits, however surface lures are only going to get more reliable from here.

Redfin and trout can still be caught in the lake. Hardbodies, spinners and soft plastics should do the damage, and of course bait fishers will catch redfin, carp, bass and trout from the banks.

Lower creeks like the Little Moe and Hazel creek are worthy of some attention at this time of year. Redfin and carp are the main targets, but don’t be surprised if you turn up the odd trout. I find these creeks are best fished with a worm, either unweighted or with a small split shot to hold it down in the current. I’ve also had

some success on redfin in both of these rivers on small soft plastics.

All in all, it’s a great time of year to be a fisho in South West Gippsland. The best is still ahead of us and there are plenty of fish to be caught in our region over the coming months.

Spring is the best time to fish the streams before the water gets too warm and shuts the fish down. In springtime the fish feed very actively and are eager to eat flies, small hardbodied lures, or soft plastics. Donnie Rogers and Mick Fanning have stopped chasing the redfin for a while and started targeting the trout

in our small streams. The boys have been casting soft plastics to catch some quality brown trout.

Donnie said the Ambush 2.75” paddle tail soft plastic has been the pick of the lures/plastics they have been using.

“The fishing is fantastic in the creeks and streams, something that I don’t think a lot of anglers do around Ballarat,” he said. “I’m blown away by the size of the brown trout; some have been around 50cm, and the colours are magnificent.”

The Ballarat Fly Fishers Club recently held a ‘Learn To Fly Fish’ workshop, which was a huge success. Participants registered an expression of interest online, with 20 spots available. The budding fly fishers attended the Ballarat Fly Fishers Clubrooms on Lake Wendouree to participate in the workshop, which ran from 10am-4pm.

Participants were educated on all

facets of fly fishing by our team of club experts. Workshop information included: - Rods, reels and lines - Selecting the gear - Setting up - Bugs trout eat - Which fly and when - Fly fishing techniques - Fly fishing lake education At the conclusion of theory side of the workshop, participants were taken out in boats fly fishing on lake Wendouree by club members. They put what they’d learned into practice, and most participants were able catch their first brown or rainbow trout on fly. Hopefully they are now hooked on fly fishing.

If you are a thinking about taking up fly fishing and would like to know more about it, you can contact the Ballarat Fly Fishers Club at ballaratflyfishers@ gmail.com.

Mayfly imitations: Shaving Brush, Loop Wing Possum Emerger (natural), Loop Wing Possum Emerger (claret) Brown Nymph and Flash Back Brown Nymph.

The sun is out and the trout are hungry.

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South Coast

FMM

Good catches for anglers fishing off the beaches ESPERANCE

Murray Johnson

The South Coast sun is out, which makes life great for fishing. The wind is still relatively light, providing good conditions for both boaters and land-based anglers.

For those anglers who want to have a fish around town this month, the town jetty has been producing plenty of herring and the occasional squid. We’re also seeing the occasional bonito, snook and small skippy being caught, along with the occasional garfish at night. Fishing in close to the start of the jetty has been producing the occasional good-size flathead.

On the beaches around town, such as Stockyards and Fourth Beach, there are plenty of herring around, along with skippy around 0.5kg and the occasional small mulloway.

The odd salmon has been turning up as well.

14 Mile, Roses, Thomas River and Alexander have been producing plenty of gummy sharks, with some samples going 20kg+. The best time to catch gummies has been just after dark. The typical rig for those is a standard paternoster rig, and they

Lachy Warren with a solid tailor caught at sunset. Image courtesy of @lachy_warren.

also like crabs. You can use a sand crab or surf crab, usually with a sliding sinker and a floating bait, similar to a groper rig.

Anglers travelling east towards Poison Creek and Israelite Bay have been seeing plenty of salmon, along with small bronze whalers, some gummies, good-size tailor, smaller mulloway, and at Israelite, bigger flathead. Israelite is also a good spot to take the tinny out, or fish off the rocks for big King George whiting. Some of the whiting caught recently have been 1kg+.

The water levels in the lakes are settling down a bit with the warm weather, so the bream are concentrated together a bit more.

Plenty of bream caught lately have been around the 35cm mark.

Bandy Creek Boat Harbour has been producing plenty of herring, smaller King George whiting, smaller flathead and skippy.

Boat-based anglers close to town

have been getting lots of sand whiting, the occasional squid, plenty of snook, and the occasional bluefin tuna.

Around the islands, they’re catching plenty of queen snapper to 9-10kg (80-90cm). There are still lots of sea sweep around, along with smaller nannygai and samsonfish.

Heading out wide, around the 60-70m mark, there are good numbers of nannygai going 50cm+, harlequin, breaksea cod and queen snapper.

We are also seeing lots of schools of bluefin tuna out wide, and samsonfish up to around 20kg.

• Established in 1986, Southern Sports and Tackle specializes in supplying and servicing fishing equipment.

They have extensive knowledge of the local area and provide all brands, whether you’re fishing from beach, jetty or boat. Come and chat with the friendly staff at Shop 16, The Boulevard, Esperance or phone 08 9071 3022.

Keep an eye out for signs of activity BUNBURY

Whiteys Tackle and Camping

The fish are on! Warmer days are here and the fish have responded. Southern bluefin tuna have been abundant this

general area try and sneak up on the side of the feeding school in casting distance and cast and fire in a metal or stickbait, crank it hard and hold on!

If they are being tricky and keep going deep before you can get near them your best bet is to get out the trolling lures and hang around the area and you will eventually come across them. A bibbed trolling lure is a great option but for covering ground quickly a small skirted lure can be ripped along at 12-15 knots (fast enough to have it skipping every now and then) can really get the tuna fired up and is also a great option while moving between spots without having to slow down too much.

The yellowfin whiting have been in massive numbers on the local Leschenault flats. Fishing the rising tide with small

100 NOVEMBER 2023

Will Eccles loves chasing these speedsters.

David Moore caught a Kraken of a squid.

Harry did a spot of night fishing for this mulloway. year with some of the best numbers on record, with big footy oval sized schools busting up the thick bait schools. The SBTs have been caught as close in as the shipping channel and as far out as 30m.

The key to catching these speedsters is keeping an eye out at all times for signs of activity, whether it’s the birds circling and diving or the Tuna themselves getting airborne in their ferocious attack on their prey! Once you have located the

poppers and stick baits seem to be all the rage. Fishing these types of lures using a slow continuous retrieve with small twitches is your best bet. Long casts are essential so make sure you are always casting with the help of the wind even if you have to walk out first and start casting back into the shore. Even though knee deep water is usually optimal don’t be scared to cast right up into the skinny water along the shoreline as whiting will feed in

Nick Fucile was pleased with this mulloway capture.

water only just covering their backs.

As well as the whiting on offer, the estuary has also been producing some quality herring, especially around the cut area. These speedsters respond well to a variety of techniques including metal slugs and the old favourite the small length of tube under a float.

Crays are in full force and as usual the guys dropping the pots seem to get great results, as the crays are on the move.

Straight out from Bunbury seems as good as anywhere but the ever-reliable

Binningup area will produce better results as summer kicks in. Bait choice for these delectable morsels is always a hot topic but you can’t go wrong with a combo of tuna heads and blue mackerel.

The local beaches have been good of late: Belvedere Beach has been producing some cracking tailor up to 50cm, as the weather warms the size will usually drop a little but the numbers of fish will increase. Binningup and Myalup fishos have been getting good catches of yellowfin whiting early mornings.

Remember to not cast too far for these tasty fish as they are usually right on the edge. Bunbury’s back beach has been going off with herring in the arvos, plenty of berley is required to get them into a feeding frenzy but when you do, it’s on for young and old.

• Any questions on something you have read or just to have a chat, duck into Whiteys Tackle and Camping in Treendale, WA. One of the guys or Whitey himself will be happy to help get you on the right path to that next trophy fish.

South Coast

FMM

WA

Bathing in the warmer waters AUGUSTA

Anthony Gillam

Warm weather has returned to the whole of WA and Augusta has been no exception with mid 20s being the current average. I know that some of our northern brethren will be laughing at 26oC being described as warm but to us southern dwellers it is bringing us out like lizards warming themselves on a rock.

The Deadwater and narrow channel heading through into Swan Lake is currently very hard going for power craft but kayaks are finding the going a littler easier. It also gives you the chance to slow down and actually pay attention to what is in the area. This time of the year the numbers of whiting getting around in very little water is amazing to see. You just have to slow down, get some good polarised sunnies and pay attention to the fish that you have been missing.

It is nothing unusual to see multiple

A typical King George whiting off the rocks at Ringbolt Bay, caught on squid.

You can always tell when the water is going to be fishable as you hear the cacophony of various engines firing up just prior to dawn as the early rising boaties head down to the various boat ramps or the marina trying to get on the water before the crowds appear. This month the sound was like a hive of bees.

The water in the river has continued to flow out to sea through the cut with the deep tannin colour of the fresh mixing

Ben Norton scored this typical mixed bag of species while bait fishing in Augusta. with the salt water to make a murky haze around the coast as far as the eye can see.

As the river outflow decreases this will soon be replaced by the clear blue waters kissing the white sand beaches that we all remember.

The Hardy Inlet certainly has changed a lot over the last year with the amount of sand shifting creating some huge areas of shallow water and sandbars at low tide.

This creates lots of opportunities to chase whiting but also create navigation risks for those that don’t pay attention. There is nothing worse than a sudden stop for you or your fishing offsiders, not to mention outboard motors hate eating sand.

species swimming in the channels even though it may only be 20cm deep in places. There are plenty of spots where you can sight cast at black bream as they hide around the branches of a shrub sitting in the middle of nowhere that has been displaced by the tides. It is thrilling to watch as they bust up on a lure or bait and the water is shallow enough that their dorsal fin cuts through the water like a shark on the prowl.

I generally try a few different soft plastics to see what is the favourite of the day. Whiting are especially finicky sometimes and what works one day won’t the next. I have found that both soft plastics and hard bodied lures that resemble river prawns tends to stay in favour more than anything else. Natural colours also tend to work better in the river but when the tannin colour is dark it always pays to try something a bit brighter, even if that is just a bit of flash that catches the sunlight. With baits, they tend towards glass shrimps, river prawns and worms. If cockles are available they work on everything that swims in the river as even cobbler will seek them out.

At this time of the year the King George whiting are running rampant throughout the Hardy Inlet and small boat fishing has been extremely successful.

Many of the Augusta Xtreme Boat Hire customers have been bagging out in no time at all. The whiting have been coming in thick and fast on cockles and squid but will also take mulie pieces or glass shrimps. A slowly moving bait will be hit hard and aggressively and for the size of the fish currently averaging in the low 30s in the inlet they fight very well. It makes for a lot of excitement as well as a great meal of white delicate flesh.

The demersal ban is off again for a short period of time so boaties have switched from hammering the sand whiting population back to catching their couple of dhufish or pink snapper for a while. It didn’t take long for people to begin reporting pink snapper and dhufish being landed from just about everywhere in Flinders Bay. With some great dhufish being landed in waters as shallow as 12m it made releasing fish confident in their probable survival a lot easier than previously. When you had to do it regardless when there were size limits in place, most people knew many didn’t survive release in waters deeper than 20m. Although people feel uncomfortable keeping fish they would normally release there were plenty of pan sized dhufish taken which leaves the bigger more productive fish to breed. Baits of squid and mulies were slurped down by the bigger fish, unfortunately plenty of wrasse also made some areas unfishable as they destroyed softer baits and soft plastics.

Vexed bottom Meats yet again are doing plenty of catching especially in the deeper waters at the back of the islands.

Beach fishing is always a great way to spend the day when the weather is pleasant and the winds low. Spring is the perfect time around Augusta prior to the change to southeasterlies that dominate summer. Cosy Corner, Deepdene and Boranup Beach have been very popular especially with families over the recent school holidays that were fortunately blessed with two perfect weeks of weather.

With recent refurbishment of Bob’s Track

The Blackwood River has swarms of black bream in this size, great to catch but a few years off being able to keep them.

Campbell Muir with a solid Flinders Bay pink snapper that couldn’t resist a Squidtrex soft vibe.

– the main track to get to Boranup – the number of vehicles has been steadily increasing. It is a great place to spend time fishing and playing beach sports with the family. With a long wide beach there are plenty of holes and gutters to set up and target the usual beach species. For those who like bigger challenges, there are plenty of shark species that can be caught as well as the occasional mulloway. Simple rigs and baits are all you need which are sized up or down depending on what you are chasing.

Rock fishing weather has been perfect and spots on the most popular locations have been premium. It was great to see so many people getting out and having a go at catching some of the ripper skippy that have been everywhere. What was disappointing was the amount of rubbish that was left stuck in the cracks in rocks or dumped in the water. If you take it down with you how hard is it to bring it back and put it in a bin?

There are still plenty of skippy and herring around with some very nice tarwhine rounding out the mixed bag for many people. Using some minced fish pieces or simply mashing up a few mulies has also brought the odd squid right up to the rocks making it easy to drop a jig down to capture them. Then rocks off the marina rock wall and Ringbolt Bay have been producing plenty of fish but just remember to check size limits as there are numerous juveniles of all species around.

I always conclude by saying that rock fishing is dangerous at times and careful consideration of where and when you fish must be done. This was recently highlighted when a woman in her 60s fell around 10m near Skippy Rock requiring rescue. 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.

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West Coast

FMM

Leaving the cooler months behind us METRO

Jacob Crispe

It really feels like we are leaving the cold weather behind us, with only the occasional cold front passing through to remind us that it isn’t summer yet.

As far as I’m concerned, this is the best time of the year to get out and wet

blades or smallish hardbody lures and most likely you will run into one of our flat friends. The hot spots are Point Walter, Point Resolution, Dalkeith, Como Jetty flats and Alfred Cove. My best advice to my fellow flathead anglers is to try to find unfished water, and fish slowly and thoroughly. In many cases the water cannot be too shallow.

Targeting yellowfin whiting on surface lures is a favourite pastime for many anglers, and November is the start of the better fishing around the metro area. For some reason they are harder to catch in the Swan, but that is half the challenge. Areas like Point Walter and Bicton Baths hold good quantities of fish (good sizes as well), but you will need to work out how to get them to eat your lure.

The bream and tailor fishing should continue to be good in the coming

This morning tailor succumbed to the 1.5oz GT Ice Cream cast by Jordan B fishing.

ROCK WALLS AND BEACHES Like the river, our rock walls provide many species to target as the cool weather is left behind. Herring, King George whiting, squid, tailor, snapper, mulloway and sharks are all angling options.

I say it every month, and I’ll say It again: berley is the key. Learn how to set

Excellent close up of a Swan River flatty that has hit a hardbody lure taken by Brad Smith. a line in our local waterways. You are wearing significantly less layers of clothing and there are lots of different species available to target (the demersal closure notwithstanding). It’s definitely worth getting out and wetting a line.

SWAN RIVER The local or the Swan should fish well for all manner of species in November.

Flathead, bream, yellowfin whiting, yellowtail grunter, tailor, mulloway, giant herring and blue manna crabs are all an option this month.

As an avid flathead angler, I will be spending a lot of time this month wading and searching the shallows of the Swan, looking for them. Shallow flats with intermittent weed and sand patches are what you are looking for, with deep water beyond it. Fish It with soft plastics,

A nice mixed bag caught inshore by The Fish Tucker Man, Mr Dom Magoo. weeks. There’s no question they will be spreading further up the system (especially the bream). Focus your efforts around structure and areas that hold concentrations of food. There are plenty of those between East Fremantle and Causeway.

Another two species that are well worth focusing on are mulloway and giant herring. Areas with abundant food sources and a little structure will have these two species patrolling nearby. Live

baits tend to work best for the mulloway, while slightly heavier and larger metals are the lure of choice for the giant herring.

Again, these fish will tend to spread throughout the system as the weather continues to warm. The E-Sheds is always

Chin Moy with an absolute ripper squid caught while wading out from the beach and casting to nice weedy patches.

A welcome bycatch and great photo by the man Hools Orifici – a goat fish, also known as a trilia.

Robbie Riches is no stranger when it comes to trophies like this from the sand! A great shot of a great fish, the elusive silver ghost, a.k.a. mulloway.

102 NOVEMBER 2023

a good place to start.

Blue manna crabs will also be on the move in the coming weeks. The area around the Canning bridge is always worth a try.

up a good berley trail and your fishing will improve no end.

Good locations to try are Fremantle Sailing Club, South and North Mole, Cottesloe Groin, Hillaries and Mindarie.

The rock walls in the northern zone tend to offer the better snapper and mulloway fishing, while the other locaitons are better suited to our beloved bread-andbutter species.

The tailor fishing from our local beaches has been excellent, and this should continue. When the tailor are in the numbers they are, other species like mulloway and sharks won’t be too far away. Herring and sand whiting are

West Coast

FMM

WA

All about town for the summer MANDURAH

Jesse Choy

The warmer weather is properly upon us, so we can expect the fishing to heat up in its own way too. Fishing around town always seems to pick up at this time of the year, with many opting to target tailor schools from the beach, herring from the rocks and some of the species which the estuary is truly renowned for.

willing to put in the work to find where the fish are holding, but in most cases, it is more viable for the average angler to fish one of the dams and target the abundance of fish which are around.

If you are planning to head out on a freshwater adventure to casually chase some fish, a tub of trout nuggets from your local fishing store will work well and so too will some moderately weighted worms on a very small hook.

Baits or bait style lure fishing is a great option for the not so serious fisher as they allow you to cast out and let the fish find your presentation. If you take preference in actively finding out where fish are located, it is very hard to look past fishing with lures as they require constant attention and provide a great sense of achievement when you produce with them. Not only do lures provide a challenge, but they are a preferred method for fishing larger areas of water as they allow you to cover ground and search for where the fish may be holding. Although the options are endless with regards to choices,

Although they can prove quite elusive to catch, squid are definitely in the area. Image courtesy of @Michaelhill Searching a dam surrounding Mandurah is a great way to spend some time as the temperatures are pleasant, with fish also feeding as a result of increased surface activity from insects. Though it can prove difficult to catch during the middle of the day, persistence will be rewarded with some action in the form of trout and redfin eventually. Many anglers like visiting these areas as you can both fish, set up an area where the family can have a barbeque and be right next to the water.

Streams are quite productive if you are

Stocked trout provide a great fight on light gear and they aren’t too difficult to fish for on lures.

a constant as well. Good locations to try are Swanbourne, Trigg, Floriet and Warnbro Sound. If you’re looking to pick up a mulloway or gummy shark, try the northern end of Kwinana Horse Beach.

INSHORE AND OFFSHORE Demersal bans affect anglers heading out into our local waters, but there are still plenty of options. The main focus for anglers this month will be squid, King George whiting, tailor, skippy and

mid to shallow diving hardbodies, blades, spinners and decently weighted soft plastics will work quite well on targetable species.

As we get closer to summer, anglers will find that river fishing has a lot of potential throughout the entirety of both systems. Heading right up stream is not needed to catch fish, but it is a viable option if you are after a different backdrop to look at whilst you wet a line and chase some fish. Now that the flow coming from further upstream has slowed right down, fish tend to follow the saltier water further up and away from other species which do not prefer to be in the upper reaches where salt is less prominent.

During the warmer months, many anglers will encounter a lot of different catches in the rivers which will keep you catching whilst casting for bream and mulloway. Although it is not what you really expect or perhaps want to come across in the river, bycatch like yellowfin whiting, grunter, tailor and giant herring are great at keeping you entertained when casting a line in the rivers.

Fishing from the rocks, herring schools are plentiful and sure to keep you busy for hours if that something you take pleasure in. The estuary side of the cut will produce herring, but you are also likely to catch a mix of sand whiting, yellowfin whiting and some quality tailor will make an appearance too. Ocean side of the cut you will find that there is less whiting around due to the prolific rock structures, though as a replacement you will find more trevally, herring, squid and the occasional samson. Species you are likely to catch in town are similar, though there seems to be more wrasse, resident salmon trout and tarwhine than if you were to fish the cut.

Although you will have some fun on lures when fishing in these areas,

Robbie Riches with a lovely snapper from the sand.

Brad Smith caught this great bartail flathead.

samsonfish on our inshore grounds, and the ongoing good tuna fishing in our offshore waters.

Middle Ground is always a good place to start, with good squidding on offer in broken ground areas in 3-7m of water. The King George whiting are sitting in similar areas (5-12m). In the

Flounder are not uncommon bycatch in the rivers, although you will generally only catch them below Murray Bend. the productive choice when fishing from the cut or town is to fish with baits. Other than your harder to larger species, most of what you will catch tends to prefer moderately weighted and smaller baits. If you are willing to risk not catching anything but are after larger species, whole or larger baits are the best options otherwise smaller cubes of squid, pilchard and coral prawns will produce on most of the species you will likely encounter.

Approaching the tail end of November, expect to see a lot of your warm water fish like tailor and mulloway turning up in greater numbers. Beach fishing will surely be on the menu for many anglers, with people looking to step onto the sand and dip their toes in the lovely water to avoid the warmer temperatures. Aside from beach fishing, boaters will be looking to head out at any given opportunity as there is a reasonable window where demersal fishing is permitted come the middle of December and it is sure to be a bumper season. weeks ahead, the key to success will be to move around, and fish multiple locations until you find good numbers of fish. Windmills is always a good place to pick up a whiting or two. Wash areas (white water) will likely hold tailor, skippy and samsonfish, and maybe (if you’re lucky) small yellowtail kingfish (due to stocking by Fisheries).

For those venturing wider, the tuna fishing around Rottnest Island continues to be good. In fact, it’s one of the best seasons I can remember. It is definitely worth the effort to head out and test your fishing skills out on them, with fresh sashimi or tuna steaks the reward for your efforts.

It’s nice to be able to say that winter is behind us, and that one of the best months to fish is upon us. I hope you get a chance to go and wet a line, and I will catch you next month.

NOVEMBER 2023 103

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West Coast

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It’s the last month to catch decent mulloway beaches. It’s not at all uncommon to capture several per session. Most of the very big ones have headed out wide where they have been reports of fish schooling in 200m depths. On the beach the spring run sizes have been variable with fish ranging from 50cm to over a metre, 15kg being a good fish this time of year. This is a great sign for future seasons, I have not seen this volume

LANCELIN

Peter Fullarton

Lobster fishers are getting twitchy as we near the pointy end of the year, early in the month crays won’t be feeding, rather hiding in the back of the crevices while they prepare and complete the molting process. Once the shells harden late in the month the annual white run begins as the crays become active and start moving west.

Pots will be overflowing with freshly molted pale crays called whites. The white run brings out a lot of boats that don’t see a lot of action, upcoming school holidays and a looming new

Rhys recently spent some holiday time with the family fishing the northern beaches for tailor.

Mason with a typical 75cm spring run mulloway. demersal season leads to all the boat shops not having capacity to service or repair boats in a timely manner. If the boat has not had a service best to book it in now, otherwise you could miss out on having a seaworthy boat for the run.

Before the summer season, it’s always a good time of year to check all the safety gear for use by dates on flares, serviceability of lifejackets, GPS batteries etc. More important this year with boats having been laid up due to the extended closures of the demersal season. Also be aware there are new rules in place for safety gear and mandatory wearing of life jackets on boats under 4.8m more than 400m offshore, check the department of transport website for details.

The demersal season remains closed so the best option for the offshore anglers would be tuna, there have been oodles of them as is usual for the time of year. Baitfish balls are where white bait is pushed up to the surface by feeding tuna in a frenzy of mixed tuna species and sharks. The fishing can be crazy on the balls, make sure to stand off and cast lures to the fish, trolling or drifting through the school will likely break up the action. Small metals, stickbaits or poppers are ideal for this type of fishing.

Lures that cast a long distance are best, I have been having great success with 104 NOVEMBER 2023

the CID Shiverstick in pilchard colour.

It is well balanced flying through the air like an arrow, especially good when the tuna schools are not on the bait and moving fast, when you have to chase them down and only get one chance to get a cast ahead of the direction the fish are going in.

The last few seasons have seen a resurgence in bonito numbers, signs have been good this year with early schools already passing through. Big yellowfin tuna can be associated with the bonito schools so rigging one up as a live bait may well be worth the effort.

Another option during the demersal ban is to jig up some samsonfish, which are preparing for their breeding season by moving out deeper congregating on structure. My favourite lure for this type of fishing is the Black Magic knife jig in pilchard. Just be careful to look for the schools off the bottom before dropping over lumps to avoid targeting demersals during the ban period, down scan setting on the sonar is great for this.

Inshore skippy will be around the reefs inside the white bank and are great fun. The trick with skippy is to find where the structure is they like to hang on, once you have a few spots marked you can normally return on future occasions to find resident schools.

Setting up a berley trail will get them

feeding right below the boat, once I get them in the trail I float down small cubes of pilchard on a small circle hook and have a ball on ultra-light tackle.

Sand whiting are always a good fall back for a feed when the demersal ban is on or, for that matter, anytime!

18-22m depth holds some good size fish, although you can do well in 5-6m depths north or south of town on smaller fish too.

While we don’t get a lot of flathead, they can be quality fish and are very rewarding to successfully target. The species most often encountered at Lancelin is the southern bluespot which can grow to 90cm. They are very aggressive feeders and will smash hardbodies or plastics without hesitation.

It’s a great way to spend some enjoyable time on the water during the ban, give it a try now while the water is crystal clear in the bay and you should be able to catch a couple in a session casting lures

Early morning sessions have been very productive for the author with multiple fish being caught and released. of school mulloway for over 10 years.

November is usually the last good month to chase the mulloway, before the big girls come back in April. Although this season might well be different.

It’s been a stop-start to the tailor season with frequent storms keeping the fish moving out from the gutters.

When the weather permitted, we have seen some great catches of fish around the 80cm mark or at times schools of

Mate managed to pull a 115cm fish from the gutters. to the sandy holes and weed edges about the shallows.

There have been plenty of the bay’s staples of herring, skippy, squid, garfish and snook turning up in the berley trail.

We are still awaiting a review that was due in 2022 into the take of southern garfish?

What’s been impressive is the volume of mulloway being caught from the local

60cm+ fish fighting over the lures. Now the weather is stabilising, the fish will be hungry as they are fattening up for the breeding season.

Herring have been on the increase with stacks schooling around the jetty each night and bull herring have been taking the baits intended for tailor along the surf beaches.

West Coast

FMM

WA

Snap attacks are back KALBARRI

Stephen Wiseman

With the southerly blows starting, fishing from boats has been restricted to inshore shallows for whiting – and a good size they are too around weed and sand patches at Jakes and Red Bluff.

We saw boats eagerly heading north after the bans for a quick bottom drop before the winds start and some nice pink snapper around the 650 mark were put in the esky, along with a few flathead for one local.

Water temperatures are well down so there won’t be any macks until December but the tuna may show early for those prepared to go wide.

Frank with pink snapper.

Rock lobster are still plentiful in depths from 10-20m in front of back beach and the blue holes with only a few having black spots, so there is still a feed available.

Beach anglers have had a great run while bans were in place with catches from most of the local gorges and beaches. Tailor to 450mm, pink snapper to 600mm and a mixture of dart, samsonfish and sharks for the hardy that brave the winds.

Wittecarra has been the pick for consistent tailor catches along with some jumbo herring making a late run, best spot is in front of the cut for tailor.

Rob with a tailor. Beach anglers have been having a great time while the ban was in place.

Good sand whiting can be found in the shallows from the boat hire along to the town jetty in the river. Upriver some nice mulloway are still being found along with a mangrove jack caught and returned by a local angler fishing near Castle Rock on the weekend. Some nice black bream are moving around in the shallows among reed areas with some respectable fish close to 300mm putting on a good show – for their size they put up a good fight on light tackle.

The River Whiting comp will be on again on the first and second Thursday of the school holidays for all visitors, come along and have a great day.

FISHING NEWS

Celebrating King Reef’s 5th anniversary Five years ago, where King Reef now stands, there was a barren, sandy seabed. Today, the area is teeming with vibrant colours, exotic coral and hundreds of marine species, including many popular species like trevally, coral trout, cod and mangrove jack.

What has caused this dramatic transformation? The deployment of the six large, repurposed steel structures and nearly 50 concrete purpose-built modules that make up King Reef – Australia’s fastest developing artificial reef!

This latest spectacular video footage by underwater photographer

Violeta J. Brosig from Blue Media Exmouth captures the rich biodiversity that has grown on the reef, and seen the number of fish species observed on the reef rise to more than 100. You can view the footage on the Recfishwest YouTube channel.

In 2018, a collaboration between Recfishwest, the Exmouth local community, DPIRD, BHP, NERA, Subcon and Curtin University resulted in King Reef – the first integrated artificial reef deployed in the southern hemisphere covering an area of 27,000m – roughly the area of five footy ovals.

With ongoing support from Woodside Energy, the reef has

King Reef’s deployment; now these species are trickling outwards from the structure in great numbers.

Snorkelers have reported seeing red emperor in only 4m of water within the Gulf.”

Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew

transformed the area from an underwater desert into a marine oasis, with coral trout, bluebone, spangled emperor, red emperor, mangrove jack, cod, Spanish mackerel and even sailfish seen patrolling around the reef.

An array of species are now commonly sighted, spicing up the fishing opportunities and species diversity throughout the Gulf.

Exmouth Tackle and Camping owner Steve Riley, who was instrumental in the reef project, said it provides great fishing for anglers in small boats.

“King Reef is perfect for small boat owners,” he said. “Our record time for reaching the reef, having a troll and having two Spanish mackerel in the boat is seven minutes!

“Red emperor, amberjack and Rankin cod were barely reported at all throughout Exmouth Gulf before

Rowland said, “King Reef is a perfect example of how repurposed structures like these can quickly create productive, abundant underwater habitats.

“Deploying habitat enhancement structures like King Reef is a scientifically proven method to increase the productivity of our oceans. We are looking forward to seeing more of the structures in other parts of WA in the near future.” Recfishwest NOVEMBER 2023 105

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Rising water temps boost the fishing in the Gulf EXMOUTH

Barry Taylor

This month’s report has been supplied by Connor Luff.

The fishing has been a bit hit-andmiss over the past month, with the northerlies making things tricky for anglers.

The inshore billfishing has quietened down slightly. If you’re

Josh Lynch with a lovely northern calamari.

fishing for blacks and sailfish on the west side, you won’t get the big days that you did earlier in spring.

However, the sailfishing in the Gulf has picked up. The average size is 10-15kg, whereas on the west side, you’ll generally find them around 15-25kg. Trolling basic teasers and small skirts such as Richter Soft Grassies is the most popular way to catch them.

If you’re prepared to put in a bit more effort, you can use live baits. They can be very effective, and you can collect them on the shoals and from artificial FADs such as King Reef.

At this time of year, the focus generally switches from inshore billfishing to blue marlin. Only a couple have been caught over the past month, but in the coming weeks, the warmer water will hopefully bring the blues. The yellowfin tuna should hopefully improve over the next month or so as well.

Quite a lot of dolphinfish (mahimahi) have been caught on the west side as bycatch by anglers targeting billfish, and a few wahoo have also been showing up. The FADs have been producing good numbers of dolphinfish, mainly on trolled skirts such as Richter Soft Oscars and Grassies. Over the holidays, the FADs can get a bit crowded, so it can be better to hit them at first light. Still, they’re still worth a look at any time of day if you’re already in the area.

The bottom fishing has been pretty good over the past month, with gold-band, red emperor and Rankin cod coming from 80-120m of

water. In deeper water (250m+) on good days, you can get quality ruby snapper and 8-bar cod.

The Gulf has started to fish better due to the rising water temperatures.

There are lots of queenies taking

good catches casting or trolling lures on 8-10 gear. Productive locations include the Muiron Islands and the west side at the back of the reef. The average size has been 10-15kg, with the odd 20kg fish in the mix. These

Blair with a cracker GT. Image courtesy of Connor Luff. stickbaits (e.g. Halco Slidogs and Nomad RipTides), along with golden trevally, GTs and more.

With the increasing temperatures, the mangrove jack fishing should get better, along with other estuary species like bream, flathead and estuary cod. If it’s too windy to take the boat out, it’s good to flick little vibes and 3-4” soft plastics around rock bars and other structure for these bread-and-butter fish. If you prefer bait fishing, you can get good results fishing mulie pieces down a berley trail for jacks and other species.

The mackerel fishing has been good lately, with many people getting

fish are a great target in November, providing a lot of fun and giving you a good feed to take home. There’s also the bonus of bycatch species such as dolphinfish and wahoo.

• For the latest news on what’s biting and where, drop in to Tackle World Exmouth at 3 Maley St, Exmouth or call them on (08) 9949 1315. You can also view the range at www. tackleworldexmouth.com.au, and see the latest catch photos on their Facebook page. This family business stocks a large range of tackle, from light spin to big game. The staff have a wealth of local knowledge and expertise, and are always happy to help.

Anglers gearing up for a long, hot wet season DAMPIER/KARRATHA

Troy Honey

If the heat in October is anything to go by, it will be a long, hot, wet season in Karratha. All eyes will be on the water temperature, and as soon as it gets above 29°C in the creeks, it will be game on for the barra. A few fish are starting to pop up, but only for those experienced anglers putting in the long hours of casting and trolling.

There is a significant amount of bait in creeks such as Airport and Nickol creeks at the moment. This is great for attracting and holding fish, but can also present a challenge because the fish will be well fed.

Further north from Balla Balla to Port Hedland, the creeks and coastal flats are producing more barra, but even in these areas, it’s still yet to fire up. Both neap and spring tides are working for barra, with the latter being 106 NOVEMBER 2023

Gold-band snapper are not an easy find offshore from Karratha. You have to put the time in to reach them, as Mathew Howard recently did.

the better option for threadfin, which are turning up all along the coast, everywhere from Onslow to Hedland.

We should also start to see some good-sized flathead being caught as by-catches to the barra and threadies, as the warming water and similar fishing methods will entice the flatties.

Queenfish, trevally, and bream are plentiful at the moment, especially around the creek mouths when the tide is running.

Mangrove jack are around as well.

Try the oyster-encrusted rocky coastal parts on a slack tide by casting your lures right into the shadows and holes, always pause, and then make a few quick twitches or winds. If a jack is about, he’ll be all over your lure in no time. Wear some good, polarized sunglasses when doing this. Jack fishing is very visual, and polaroids will improve your catch rates, allowing you to observe which lure movements or retrieve speeds attract the

FMM

North Coast

WA

LIGHT, POWERFUL, DURABLE…

strike. Jacks will follow your lure, but only particular movements will engage the strike.

There were mud crabs galore in the Karratha creeks throughout October, and this is forecasted to get even better in November and December. As part of my Christmas planning, I always look ahead and ensure I have some time locked in to go mud crabbing, and have them fresh on the day. Christmas Day is the start of the full moon cycle, so we couldn’t ask for a better setup. Saturday the 23rd or Sunday the 24th on the last two days of the waxing gibbous and a bright night moon are perfect for mud crabbing. Try walking the creeks during low tide and throwing drop nets from tinny or the shore during the high tide.

When it comes to demersal fishing, my focus at this time of year switches to bluebone. Bluebone prefer shallow, ALBERTON warmer water and become much more ALBERTON MARINE active than other common Pilbara 39 Johnson Street Alberton demersal species, such as emperors, which seek P: (03) 5183the 2344cooler waters further offshore.

Over2219 the past few months I F: (03) 5183 have been preparing for land-based W: albertonmarine.com.au bluebone fishing this upcoming wet BENDIGO season, and I will try to change up the BENDIGO & OUTDOORS methods thatMARINE have served me well in 160 Midland previous years.Highway Epsom P:Coral (03) 5448 3988 trout are another demersal W: bendigomarine.com.au species found in the shallow, warmer waters around the archipelago. All you MELBOURNE need is a tinny to troll around the islands BL MARINE with lures such as vibes or soft plastics 612- 614 Plenty Road Preston in depths around the 3-5m mark on (03) 9478 1420 anyP:tide, and trout can be easily hooked F: (03) 9470 4638 up. Even flicking lures or baits, such blmarine.com.au as W: prawns, off the shore around rocky outcrops will result in trout catches SHEPPARTON

LIGHT, POWERFUL, DURABLE…

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E: admin@edencraftmarine.com.au W: www.edencraftmarine.com.au during the wet season. to spot at first, because they change

Spanish mackerel fishing has been spectacular throughout October, and should be no different in November.

Mac tuna and longtail tuna should start showing up more often too, and using these schools to troll through will also produce the mackies.

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colour to camouflage themselves against the reef. However, as soon as you see one for the first time, you will start to spot them a mile away. You will need to be quick, as they don’t venture far from their holes. If an octopus beats you back to its hole, there is no getting it out.

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Early starts are best when chasing trout FRESHWATER

Peter Fragomeni

Some anglers rate November as their favourite month for trout fishing.

However, some years, we get high temperatures, which can see surface water reaching as high as 27oC in our northern dams, especially during the latter part of the month. This is the time to arrive very early in the morning when the water is cooler, and move to deeper water as the day progresses.

frustrated at the lack of action they have experienced this season. It’s scary to think that if the hatchery was to cease producing trout, our fishery would collapse, as it’s reliant on annual stocking in all, bar a few locations.

Thankfully, this won’t be the case after speaking with Andrew Beer, a Senior Research Scientist overseeing the running of the Pemberton Hatchery. He has managed to secure much-needed funds and is updating facilities to help improve opportunities for better growth and size of broodstock and yearlings that will end up in our waters for everyone to enjoy. Pond upgrades, self-feeders, water chillers, fish graders, and a modern fish transporter are some of the upgrades that have occurred this year. We should see some good stocking next year if there are no issues this summer.

REDFIN PERCH The redfin fishing has been as good as it gets, with great catches being had in most locations throughout the south-west of the state. The better-sized fish have

Brown trout are widespread throughout the South West region. Blair Hutton’s YouTube channel showcases some great locations.

AUSSIE NATIVES This is the prime time of the year to be out chasing these iconic species, with ideal water temperatures. Sadly, our authorities

Tyson Groom with a superb redfin he caught in the Pemberton region. The redfin fishing has been excellent, with a few good trout holding up in the faster runs.

The shaded rivers, streams and the southern region tend to stay cooler, and some good fishing can be had there, with lower water levels making access to prime locations easier. Most reports have indicated that the trout fishing has been very poor in our dams closer to Perth, with many freshwater anglers being

Wendy was happy with this redfin she caught in Waroona Dam. This fish, and many after that, had her hooked on freshwater fishing for life. come from the rivers further south, with the dams producing bigger numbers of smaller size specimens.

Andrew Beer (Senior Research Scientist from Fisheries WA) along with Russell Handley (from Trout Foundation WA). Andrew Beer works hard to create a better trout fishery in WA. 108 NOVEMBER 2023

won’t implement a safe stocking program into a few selected dams to provide a yearround fishery for West Australians. This would take the pressure off our ocean stocks and deliver much-needed funds to rural communities, something the trout fishery doesn’t achieve as it is mostly a seasonal fishery that only runs from June until November. The argument the greens put forward of an invasive species creating havoc on our native species in our waters has no merit, as redfin perch have destroyed all bar a few waters in the southwest of WA. I have witnessed what they have done to places like Waroona Dam, Murray River, Glen Mervyn Dam, Warren River and now the Donnelly River. They were all great trout fisheries with an abundance of native minnows, pigmy perch and aquatic insects before the redfin invasion in the early 80s. It’s a fact that stocking Australian native fish into many East

Coast impoundments has reduced redfin numbers, and they are now great trout fisheries. These include Eildon, Hume, and Blowering, which are great trout fisheries while still offering good redfin fishing.

A look through the pages in the freshwater section in other states proves what we are missing out on in WA. Knowledgeable people like Frank Prokop, Kurt Blanskby and others have tried hard to find a solution, and fought against the red tape that has blocked progress here in this state. I just hope Recfishwest will keep up the fight, and someday, West Aussies will enjoy some of the great fishing that our eastern neighbours have enjoyed for decades. I certainly won’t stop fighting.

DAMS WAROONA DAM Waroona is still very quiet as far as the trout fishing goes. Those anglers willing to put in the effort have been catching a few redfin.

DRAKESBROOK WEIR Drakesbrook was the venue for the Troutfest again this year, and lots of stocking should see an improvement in the trout fishing. I fished this water before the event and found lots of fish on the sounder; however, getting them to DAM LEVELS Overall storage in our public dams was 62.1% at the end of September, compared to 75% at the same time last year. The below-average rainfall in July and August continued in September, with Drakesbrook Weir, Harvey, Logues and Big Brook Dam being at normal levels for this time of the year.

WAROONA DAM 75% DRAKESBROOK WEIR 89% LOGUE BROOK DAM 79 % HARVEY DAM 89% WELLINGTON DAM 67% GLEN MERVYN DAM 59% BIG BROOK DAM 100%

Freshwater

FMM bite proved challenging. Changing lures constantly was the key, with a nice little brown that hit a deep diving lure at around 8m. My mate Bretton quickly followed suit with a feisty 45cm rainbow that was holding deep in the same location.

Jonah Chiera fished from the shore when we left, and caught a few nice redfin.

He said this season has been the worst for him as far as the trout go, but that the redfin fishing has been reasonable at times.

LOGUE BROOK DAM A few cold and windy days spent here recently resulted in some newlystocked yearling rainbow and brown trout from both the boat and the shore. A few larger rises were seen, but casting to them proved fruitless.

Later on, someone walking up to us at our campsite, boasting about walking the stream trying to spear large trout with a gidgee. The fact that he was walking the banks with the gidgee clipped to his jacket in plain view indicated he had no respect for the law and our sensitive fishery. After a stern warning and a call to Fishwatch, he will hopefully think twice next time.

bust’ situation that occurred previously by dumping them in all at once. This stocking should commence in late April or early May when the water cools off.

I have talked about this subject with Andrew Beer (Senior Research Scientist from Fisheries WA), who is overlooking the Pemberton Hatchery. He is very proactive and takes any suggestions very seriously. With the new transporter they have, he believes that smaller stockings more often will be achievable in the future.

Having said all that, the redfin fishing has been reasonable, with local angler Darrell Higginbottom catching up to a dozen redfin from the bank early mornings.

WELLINGTON DAM Fisheries are determined to create a viable trout fishery in this impoundment.

The moderate stocking seems positive, with a few nice trout caught at certain parts of the dam. This water, being four times the size of Harvey Dam, will require a large amount of stock, with possibly 10,000 yearlings annually – around a quarter of the total rainbow yearlings

The Collie River below Wellington Dam offers WA’s only real tailrace fishery. Clean, cool water with a trace of salt has resulted in some fast-growing trout. November is irrigation time.

HARVEY DAM I haven’t bothered fishing this dam this year. There are two reasons, the first being the heavy-handed approach Watercorp has taken on freshwater anglers wanting to stay overnight. Instead of policing it to cull out the few offending campers, they closed it, a tactic so often used here in WA. This was the same case at Waroona Dam and now Drakesbrook Weir with the RV 24-hour stay. This is depriving the small country towns of much-needed funds, especially since the new freeway has diverted traffic away from these towns at the base of the dams.

The other is the reports from several experienced anglers who have spent countless hours fishing for trout with no results. This water needs a minimum of 1200 large brood-size trout and the same amount of advanced yearlings from 30-35cm to make it a viable fishery. It only received half that this year because of the upgrades at the hatchery. Hopefully, Fisheries will take my advice and trickle the stockings to avoid the ‘boom and

produced at the Hatchery. It’s a big commitment.

The redfin fishing has been a bit erratic, with some nice ones coming out of certain parts of the dam. I advise moving around as not all of this dam

WA

Ben Kelly with a rainbow from Harvey Dam. He runs a freshwater competition for members of the South West Kayak Anglers Facebook group, with some great prizes on offer. holds good numbers.

GLEN MERVYN DAM No reports, but redfin are always available.

LAKE KEPWARI Nice redfin are showing up at the back near the ski club. A boat is the best way to fish this water.

BIG BROOK DAM This water will host the Pemberton Trout Festival again in early November, so big stocking will occur on the day. As stated before, this water receives more trout per acre than any other dam, so your chance of hooking one is greater here.

Some big trout are there for the taking.

I suggest you practice releasing them to preserve the stock.

PRIVATE FARM DAMS Many of these dams are scattered from the wheat belt right through to the coastal areas and the far south-west. These dams are mainly stocked with silver perch, Murray cod, rainbow trout, brown trout and redfin perch, with a few even having bass and golden perch in them. Access is difficult as you must have permission to fish from the owners. Silver perch are more common as they are available here in WA, and permission can be granted in some locations from Fisheries WA. If you are into trout, WATFAA have access to a number in the Pemberton region that are available to members, with strict rules. Some of these dams

A lost treasure at Harvey Dam. Watercorp’s heavy-handed approach has made this sight a thing of the past. Instead of policing to evict the minority that do the wrong thing, they chose to close it off to everyone.

have amazing growth rates, with some fingerling trout reaching 40cm in 12 months, with the right conditions.

RIVERS Rivers like the Murray, Brunswick, Collie, both above and below Wellington Dam, Capel, Preston, Blackwood, Warren, Lefroy Brook, Donnelly and more all hold trout and redfin. All of these have been fishing well for redfin lately.

The better trout fisheries are the lower Collie below Wellington, which is a tailrace fishery, Warren River, Lefroy Brook and the Donnelly. We can expect good fishing throughout November.

Silver perch are thriving in private dams in WA. If our government ran a trial stocking, it would prove these fish could coexist with other species without harming the ecology.

Check out Blair Hutton Fishing on how he sets up his dam.

That wraps up another report for this special glossy edition of a fantastic, affordable magazine. If you’d like to get your photo in the magazine, PM me via Facebook with your best freshwater photo taken in WA, and I’ll do the rest.

Remember, we are heading into fire season, so take care this month and be aware of snakes around our waterways.

Limit your catches and leave only your footprints.

Until next time, stay connected.

NOVEMBER 2023 109

BASS SERIES presented by

Hunter River exciting new BASS venue It’s always exciting when ABT visits a new BASS Pro venue especially a river. Rivers have proven to make for exciting and productive tournaments with different variables and techniques to lake fisheries.

Some anglers have made the transition easily while others have struggled.

The Hunter River out of Scan the QR code to watch the Boater Winners Interview

Raymond Terrace proved to make an excellent ABT arena for the Ecogear round of the 13 Fishing BASS Pro series, with just under 400 bass and

Matt Langford’s Day 1, 6.912kg bag was elevated with kicker fish like this. Fish in the mid 40cm range are gold in BASS App events.

With 4 consecutive BASS Pro AOY trophies and with a third win for the season, Langford is putting together quite a collection of trophies and cheques like these. estuary perch recorded and anglers fishing all parts of the extensive arena.

Queenslander Matthew Langford continued his 2023 roll and made the Hunter his third BASS Pro win of the year, amassing a 10/10, 12.186kg limit, outdistancing his nearest competitor by nearly 2.5kg.

Day 1: 5/5, 6.912kg Day 2: 5/5, 5.274kg Total: 10/10, 12.186kg He took home $3,000

and a bonus $250 for being the highest finishing Mercury outboard owner.

Langford took the time to visit the area and do some pre-practice before the event, and he identified several areas in the Williams and Hunter rivers that held schooling and feeding fish.

“I flew down with Mick Johnson and we spent a lot of time driving around and scoping out the river and just searching for areas that held

BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 110 NOVEMBER 2023

Angler Matthew Langford Mitchell Cone Mick Johnson Keeghan Painter Braden Schuch Corey Goldie Tim Oakley Ben Hay Bill Latimer Marcus Schembri

Fish 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 9/10 10/10 10/10 7/10 7/10 5/10

Mitchell Cone was happy to play bridesmaid to Langford for his first visit to the Hunter. The pair shared one particular spot right near the start line.

Full results at abt.org.au

Weight(kg) 12.186kg 9.846kg 9.686kg 9.661kg 9.583kg 8.652kg 7.840kg 6.921kg 6.273kg 5.100kg

fish,” he said.

When he came back for the event, he found that there were still fish in the areas he’d found.

Langford started the event on the Williams River fish and put together a quick limit on ZX43 blades hopped off the bottom on a Millerods XFLC and TD Black spooled with 9lb Resin Sheller braid and a 10lb Yamatoyo leader.

He then moved downstream to a series of eddies on some broken bank near Raymond Terrace and upgraded most of his fish on a Rapala BX Brat that he threw on a Millerods SwitchFreak L and 13 Fishing Inception Sport Z reel, spooled with 22lb Resin Sheller braid and a 14lb Yamatoyo leader.

With a couple of kicker fish - both on the blade and the crank, Langford’s limit settled at just under 7kg, over a kilogram clear of his closest competitor.

Day 2 saw Langford head straight to his upgrade spot and although he didn’t catch the calibre of kickers that he did on Day 1, the tight grouping of a limit of bass between 38 and 39cm gave him over 5kg and ultimately, an easy win.

Unbelievably, after three event wins, he still hadn’t locked up AOY after this

Payout $3,000 + $250 Merc bonus $1,400 $1,000 + $125 Merc bonus $700 + $75 Merc bonus $600

event - if Mick Johnson won the next event and Langford finished down the pack, it was still mathematically possible for Langford to lose.

CONE UNKNOWINGLY SHARED SPOT If it wasn’t for a last-hour burst of activity for Mitchell Cone at the end of the first day, his event would have been a bomb. Having prefished the venue on bigger tides and

BASS SERIES presented by catching bass to nearly 50cm up the Hunter River, Cone was confident that he’d be able to put together a great bag upstream.

It didn’t work out that way.

A last minute run back to Raymond Terrace saved his day and saw a string of legal bass come on an OSP Dunk (C28) that he fished on a Millerods XLFC rod paired with a Daiwa Freams reel, 6lb Crystal FireLine and a 10lb Daiwa X-Link leader.

“The tides were much smaller in the event than they were in practice and I didn’t think that would make such a difference,” Cone said.

But it did trigger his search for some run downstream and that’s where he collided with feeding fish. It was a last minute flurry for the ages.

Scan the QR code to watch the Non-Boater Winners Interview

bookends his experience.

He does have one event to go as a Nonnie, though, and that’s the Grand Final at Lake Boondooma. The $3,500 tackle pack that’s the Non Boater prize there would definitely have him all ready to fish the 2024 ABT BASS Pro events.

Lowe fished with Braden Schuch on Day 1 and Tony Thorley on Day 2 and did most of his damage on the black Ecogear ZX 40 blade Scan the QR code to watch the Field Highlights

It’s pretty cool when your winning Non Boater trophy is augmented by an extra $250 for wearing the free 13 Fishing shirt you were given at the briefing! Troy Lowe taking the win from the back of the boat.

It also happened to be the stretch of bank where Matt Langford did a bunch of damage in the morning, meaning that the pair both arrived there on Day 2.

“Matt told me where he wanted to fish and I nodded my head and fished where I wanted,” Cone quipped.

BIG BASS PRIZE

It’s fish like this that elevated Troy Lowe into the top non-boater spot.

Clay Ling proved that you don’t need to be at the front of the boat to take the Atomic Big Bass. He won $500 and a Samurai rod for this fish that measured 45cm/1.778kg.

It ate a Bait Junkie 2.5” Minnow in pearl gudgeon.

NON- BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Angler Troy Lowe Adam Mears Paul Langley Steven Cefai Jake Hardie Rodney Thorpe Allan Murray Stephen Mears Tom Deer Jill Wales

Fish 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 5/6

Weight(kg) 6.270kg 5.451kg 5.340kg 5.151kg 5.134kg 4.964kg 4.937kg 4.798kg 4.635kg 4.501kg

Ultimately, it didn’t hurt either angler, as they finished 1-2.

LOWE BEST FROM THE BACK Queensland’s Troy Lowe won his first ever ABT event that he fished as a non-boater.

He’s now coming to the end of his time at the back of the boat, making the change to becoming a Boater in 2024. His win at the Hunter River virtually Full results at abt.org.au

Payout Rapala/13 pack + $250 Rapala bonus Bassman pack Keitech pack Ecogear pack Nomad Design pack + $75 Rapala bonus Rapala pack ProLure pack Your Outdoor Exp pack Atomic pack TT pack

that he fished on a Daiwa TC Black baitcast rod paired with a 13 Fishing SL-Z slide reel, J Braid and Sufix fluorocarbon leader.

“We were fishing close to the bank and all three of my fish came when Braden had caught a fish, I’d get to the front and hook a subsequent fish each time,” he said.

His Day 1 bag of 3/3 for 3.601kg had him sitting in second place.

One Day 2 he fished upriver with Tony Thorley and bagged 3/3 for 2.669kg which landed him around 800g clear of second place.

“Tony left me enough clean water to fish and I’m grateful that he gave me that opportunity to catch fish and take the win,” Troy said.

Those that know “Big T” wouldn’t at all be surprised about his generosity.

NOVEMBER 2023 111

BASS SERIES presented by

Lennox makes history repeat at St Clair Mark “Reuben” Lennox is a stalwart of the ABT BASS Pro Series. In 2012, he won the Grand Final at Lake St Clair and a trip to fish an event in the USA. In 2023, he repeated the feat - this time for the TT sponsored BASS Pro Qualifier in the 13 Fishing BASS Pro series.

Scan the QR code to watch the Boater Winners Interview

So it’s fair to say that the Armidale builder likes the place. He’s now won a Grand Final and two qualifying events there.

Armidale’s Mark Lennox just loves fishing Lake St Clair in the spring. This is the third time he has won at the venue.

Mark used a favourite Duffrods 2-5kg custom rod that was originally made for casting blades with a beetlespin attachment, but ultimately worked out well as a plastics rod with a light, sensitive tip. He coupled it with a vintage Daiwa Sol 2500 spin reel from 2009 that was spooled with ultrathin 5lb Unitika braid and a 6lb (new) Sunline Rock FC fluorocarbon leader.

His killer bait was a Keitech 2” Easy Shiner in Wakasagi with a chartreuse dipped tail

that he threw on a 1/8 or 1/6 oz jighead towards the bank and worked out from the weedline.

“Al McNamara taught me this over a decade ago and it’s becoming a successful technique in the Hunter Valley lakes again,” Mark continued.

Historically, the area is significant to Mark’s extended family - they owned some of the inundated land that the dam covers before the impoundment was built.

Maybe that’s what he feels such a connection to this beautiful Hunter Valley lake.

Kilo-plus bass like these were what you needed to be in the money at the TT sponsored event.

Fishing in his unique, laid back style, Lennox targeted big fish areas up the Carrowbrook arm after other competitors had already fished them to box two consistent bags that gave him $3,100 and an instant spot in the 2023 BASS Pro Grand Final at Lake Boondooma in October.

Day 1: 3/3, 3.110kg Day 2: 3/3, 3.345kg Total: 6/6, 6.435kg

Lennox started the event at pace, boxing a 3kg limit in the first couple of hours of the tournament, but it was his Day 2 strategy and technique that really paid off.

“Everyone gets up to the top of the arms and chases fish early and does their thing. I just wait until they leave and sneak up there to catch the bigger bass,” said Lennox. The attitude is typical of his relaxed nature.

BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 112 NOVEMBER 2023

Angler Mark Lennox Keeghan Painter Dane Pryce Tim Oakley Ben Hay Cameron Hall Anthony Thorpe Marcus Shembri Robert Tilley Simon Marchant

Fish 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6

Keeghan Painter NEARLY broke through for his maiden ABT BASS Pro win.

Full results at abt.org.au

Weight(kg) 6.435kg 6.380kg 6.245kg 6.050kg 5.740kg 5.455kg 5.415kg 5.315kg 5.215kg 5.150kg

Payout $3,100 $1,450 + $250 Merc bonus $1,000 + $250 Big Bass $700 $600 $550 + $125 Merc bonus

$75 Merc Bonus

KEEGHAN RIDES SPONSOR KARMA TO 2ND For a brief second, TT sponsored angler Keeghan Painter thought he had won his sponsor’s event. It happens all of the time in ABT events and is affectionately known as ‘sponsor karma’.

Anglers were standing in the Starlink’s line of sight as the final bag was weighed, giving a false impression

BASS SERIES presented by of what was needed to take the win and Lennox’ bag hadn’t made the virtual scoreboards yet.

So for a couple of minutes, Painter DID know what it was like to win his first ABT event, until the final results uploaded and resignation set in that he was STILL to win an ABT. Regardless, Painter fished better than everyone but Lennox and there’s some great highlights up on the ABT YouTube channel with him putting together his Day 2 bag.

Painter fished rock walls up the Falbrook arm - with a jerkbait early (Jackall Squirrel 67 in pink eye) and then with a plastic as the sun rose.

He fished a Zman 2 1/2” Slim Swim in motor oil on a 1/4oz #1 Demonz jighead paired with a TT Black Mamba rod, Okuma ITX1000 reel loaded with 8lb Platypus Bionic Braid and 8lb Platypus Stealth leader.

“I threw the jerkbait to try and get an early bag and then I’d upgrade with the plastic later on,” he said.

Adam Mears sealed the non-boater AOY win with an event win. They’s how you do it!

that little bit short, giving Mears the room he needed to overtake.

And he did it throwing jerkbaits. Mears fished a Daiwa 75mm Double Clutch on a Millerods Twitch Freak L paired with a Shimano Vanford Reel and light braid/leader.

He fished with Greg Burke on Day 1 and Graham Ford on Day 2.

“We’d cast the jerkbaits as close to the shoreline as we could without getting snagged up in the weeds and then crack it twice before leaving it for a 4 second pause. It’s important not to move the lure too much

Scan the QR code to watch the Non-Boater Winners Interview

MEARS WINS TITLE IN FINAL NONBOATER QUALIFIER Tamworth’s Adam Mears entered the final two rounds of the 13 Fishing BASS Pro series knowing that he needed a couple of excellent finished

BIG BASS PRIZE

Mears is planning to switch to the Boater division in 2024.

Non boater Troy Lowe and boater Dane Pryce shared the event’s Big Bass. Both landed 1.405kg specimen Dane’s on a jig and Lowe’s on a Calico Candy coloured Zman Slim Swim 2 1/2”. They each took home $250 and Dane gave Troy the Samurai Reaction rod.

NON- BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Angler Adam Mears David Lane Damien Winters Bridgett Currey Jake Hardie Reece Winters Phil Nix Heath Kimber Phil Hoyt Luke Mason

Fish 4/4 4/4 4/4 3/4 3/4 4/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4

Weight(kg) 3.290kg 3.190kg 3.035kg 2.845kg 2.735kg 2.630kg 2.600kg 2.595kg 2.845kg 2.455kg

to achieve the Non Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) title.

After a second on the Hunter River, he finished one better at Lake St Clair to take the event and the AOY accolades.

Going into the final day of competition, there were still three anglers with a legitimate shot at AOY, but Jake Hardie and Heath Kimber fell just Full results at abt.org.au

Payout Rapala/13 Fishing pack Bassman pack + $250 Rapala bonus Keitech pack + $125 Rapala bonus Ecogear pack + $75 Rapala bonus Nomad Design pack Rapala pack ProLure pack Your Outdoor Experience pack Atomic pack TT pack

Scan the QR code to watch the Field Highlights

during the winds,” Adam said.

Luckily, both of his boaters agreed that jerkbaiting the edges was a great idea.

Mears said that the jerkbait replicated the gudgeons that he thought the bass were feeding on currently.

Mears has acquired a 17’ glass bass boat for 2024 and fully intends to make the switch into the boater ranks.

“There’s still a few skills that I need to hone over Summer, but I should be ready to go by then,” he concluded.

With his current form, boaters had better watch out - Adam's coming!

NOVEMBER 2023 113

BASS ELECTRIC GF presented by

BASS ELECTRIC SERIES

abt

Lennon Wins Avator Package at Wyaralong Twenty-nine keen BASS Electric anglers converged on Wyaralong Dam to fight for the best prize in BASS Electric fishing, the Mercury Avator BASS Electric Grand Final title and the incredible prize that comes with it.

Demonstrating exactly what the dam can produce, the Gold Coast’s Chesley Lennon averaged over 2kg a piece for his four fish and easily claimed a $12,000+ Alloycraft boat package featuring Mercury’s new Avator electric outboard.

Supplied on a trailer, it was also equipped with a Minnkota Terrova electric motor, Humminbird Helix 7

out at Wyaralong.

“I actually like wintertime for Wyaralong fishing,” Chesley said, “That’s when it fishes the best for me.”

But the fish were changing as the event approached.

Fish that were present in the many treetops dotting the lake started moving shallower and spreading from their structure.

This started happening a fortnight before the event.

Ultimately, his key location was a shallower flat between 10-15ft in a part of the dam in the southern arm called ‘the Graveyards’. With the flat relatively clear of structure as opposed to the timber laden

Chesley Lennon hadn’t won a BASS Electric Grand Final until 2023, but he treated the field to a bass fishing lesson on Wyaralong Dam and won by more than 2kg to take home this fully rigged Alloycraft P395 boat with a new Mercury Avator 7.5e electric outboard. without running them over with the boat. And for every fish he’s see off the bottom, you could assume that there was another fish or two hard against the bottom.

First, he would cast a Jackall TN60 lipless crankbait with the trebles replaced with a single, backward facing

All bass from the Mercury Avator BASS Electric series are released to catch another day. sounder and a pair of Green creek channel, Lennon would Marine Lithium batteries with target ‘wolf packs’ of 4 or 5 fish matching chargers. that would venture up into the PLENTY OF PRACTICE shallower water to feed.

Lennon didn’t happen on Ches used his Garmin a remote patch of big fish and Livescope in Forward mode to ride the lucky find to a win, he identify these fish and would put in the hard yards before then target them with a two the event, dedicating every lure technique.

Sunday for over a month to He would see fish up to 100 feet in front of the boat going out and working the fish

BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 114 NOVEMBER 2023

Angler Chesley Lennon Adrian Wilson Casey Monagle Greg Rigby Pete Bostock Shaun Ezzy Darryn Love Beau Eveleigh Cristian Manolea Clinton McDermott

Fish 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 3/4

hook. This rigging technique is standard practice in Wyaralong, allowing anglers to retrieve baits through heavy structure with a much smaller chance of snagging.

This bait sunk relatively quickly and he could work the lure once it approached the level of the fish.

Adrian Wilson would have been the odds-on favourite coming into the event. He fishes the lake a lot and seems to always find the quality fish. He was good enough to beat all but Lennon.

Full results at abt.org.au

Weight(kg) 8.07 5.74 5.59 4.40 4.35 4.09 3.98 3.90 3.56 3.32

Payout Alloycraft boat/Avator motor package BIG BASS Nomad pack

Rapala random pack

BASS ELECTRIC GF presented by If the lipless crank wasn’t successful, he’s switch to an OSP Blitz crankbait that he’d cast past the fish and the wind down to depth. This bait he could suspend near the bass and then tailor the retrieve to what he could see on the sonar.

“It’s an amazing learning experience. You’d always see a couple of fish swim up to the bait and have a look – especially when you’d stall the retrieve – but the fish that actually ate the bait would always rush in from further back or below,” he explained.

Such insights into Australian bass behaviour were impossible to work out until the era of live sonar.

On day 1 it took Chesley only about 6 casts to box a limit and only a little more

Wilson caught most of his fish downstream of the winery.

means I lose less fish. The FC acts like a rubber band and keeps the trebles more readily secured in the fish’s mouth,” he explained.

But he additionally mentioned that using 12lb meant that his terminal connection to the lure was much lighter than the 20lb leaders that most of the rest of the field were using.

“That finesse is important in the clear water,” he concluded.

Scan the QR code hereby to watch the winner’s interview and see the prize boat in action on the water!

BASS ELECTRIC SERIES

abt

Scan the QR code to watch the Winners Interview

time to upgrade to his final weight (2/2, 4.01kg). He then spend the time just occupying the spot and resting it until the Sunday. He was fairly sure that if he left the Graveyard, other competitors would come and fish the spot.

The final day took a little longer, yet he still released several fish the same size as the ones in his livewell.

Ultimately, his bags and fish were remarkably similar and he definitely had the potential to box a couple of 10kg limits if the event matched the state limit of five fish per session.

Interestingly, Chesley

Lennon’s bass were like peas in a pod, all around the 2kg mark. He released several fish the same size in each session as well. fished baitcast tackle with soft baitcast rods and 12lb fluorocarbon straight through.

One was a Millerods and the

other a Samurai Reaction.

“It means that I only have one knot or point of failure in the system and it definitely

Casey Monagle loves Wyaralong and he captured third place and this fish which was the event’s big bass. It weighed 2.64kg and ate a brown dog TN60.

WILSON A SOLID SECOND You get to choose your own partner in BASS Electric events and concreter Adrian Wilson chose Toowoomba young gun Casey Monagle to fish with him in the season’s ultimate event. And it resulted in second and third place coming from his craft.

Both anglers relied on the brown dog Jackall, but Monagle bagged the event’s big bass (2.64kg ) from Wilson’s dirty water.

It probably gave Wilson flashbacks on the mega-bag Monagle boxed there in the qualifier in 2022.

AVATOR IMPRESSIVE Competitors were impressed by the prize rig, with the Mercury Avator getting a lot of attention outside the Beaudesert RSL where the briefing was located.

We’re sure we’ll see plenty of these on the electric only dams moving forward.

NOVEMBER 2023 115

BARRA Series presented by

BARRA SERIES 2023

Likely Lads back for unlikely win A few years ago, previous BARRA Team of The Year winners, the Likely Lads (Geoff Newby and Phill Lyons) decided that it was time to retire. According to Geoff, they were having too many ‘senior moments’ with Phill on his 60s and Geoff approaching 70 years old.

Scan the QR code to see the Winning team interview

Their plan was to pair with younger, more energetic partners to compensate It worked well for Geoff.

He won the BARRA Australian Open in 2022 with Keeghan Hayden, but in 2023, the pair decided that it was time to give it one more go and the Likely Lads signed up for the 2023 Zerek BARRA Series.

It didn’t take long for them to encounter success, with three big barra being enough for them to take out the first round on 2023 on Tinaroo Dam - the Wilson 2-Day event.

With unseasonably cold weather slowing down catch rates, big fish made a difference and their two-day, 3/10 barra

The Likely Lads are back and winning events, like the year they won the BARRA Team of the Year title. bag went 53.10kg - just 130g short of perennial bridesmaids, Team Samaki.

The pair reported that their fish came on the Zerek Fish Trap 110 in their reliable Blackjack colour. While Phill cast his on a Millerods combo, Jeff opted for a Shimano baitcast combo to deliver the lure to the zone.

Although never really answering the question about how they set up to fish the bait, we

deduced that they’d anchor a long cast off the bank or point and only hop the vibe off the bottom for the first half of the retrieve - after that it’s wind in and repeat.

They’d keep an eye on the barra coming through with their live sonar.

Using ABT’s length/weight curve to calculate the estimated weight, the pair’s fish measured

105, 111 and 113cm - quality specimens in anyone’s books.

Phill also espoused ABT’s motto - Who Shares Wins.

“You can’t take it to the grave,” he said, but if they keep catching big barra like this, they’ll definitely have a few more trophies to add to the collection before the tournament rods are hung up for good.

BIG BARRA PRIZE

Geoff Newby is the older of the pair and arguably, the captain of the boat.

Wilson FIshing supplied a Blades and Tails rod for each day’s Big Barra. On the first day, that fish was 117cm (23.20kg) and caught by Jordan Torrisi (pictured) on a slow-rolled purple Molix 140.

Aaron Williams bagged the rod on Day 2 with a 114cm (20.7kg) barra.

RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 116 NOVEMBER 2023

Team Likely Lads Samaki T.B.C Casting Mayhem ACM Custom Rods Scale Raisers Compleat Angler Cairns Mundi Madness Hooked on Exploring Knot Again

Anglers Newby/Lyons Wood/Lowry Laine/Williams Press/Mears McLaren/Torrisi Ryan/Williams Bruggemann/Bez Smith/Mainas Calvert/Calvert Dawson/Day

Phill Lyons boated a pair of Tinaroo giants to help them across the line.

Full results at abt.org.au

Fish 3/10 6/10 4/10 4/10 2/10 2/10 2/10 2/10 2/10 2/10

Weight (kg) 53.10kg 52.97kg 38.94kg 38.44kg 33.25kg 29.67kg 26.80kg 16.56kg 16.46kg 15.46kg

Payout $1,650 $750 $600 $500 Rapala Pack Molix Pack ProLure pack Samaki pack Molix pack TT Pack

Slow and steady wins all-nighter There are only two all-night events on the Zerek BARRA Series calendar - and those are at Tinaroo and Peter Faust Dam. The Tinaroo all-nighter is famous for its record-setting bag of Team Anita Barra in 2022 with a 5-barra limit of over 94kg.

BARRA Series presented by

BARRA SERIES 2023

Scan the QR code to see the Winning team interview

Unfortunately the 2023 iteration of the event - sponsored

by Rapala - wasn’t as fruitful for record-setting performances.

A week of cooler than average weather sloweed down the bite and the scoreboard.

Ultimately, though, team Casting Mayhem (Joe Press and Adam Mears) accumulated a 5-fish bag and a solid upgrade to take the win with 5/5, 62.89kg limit. It was

Joe Press was Best Man at Adam Mears’ wedding and the two fish very well as a team. coloured soft vibe that scored them the fish that they needed, rather than frenzied casting that their team name suggested.

“We struggled for the first

Usually fishing the lake with larger swimbaits, Joe admitted that when it comes to tournament time they prefer the vibes and that his Humminbird 360 gave them vital clues to where the fish were positioned.

“Sometimes we’d sit in an area for 30-40 minutes but the barra would eventually come through and we’d cast to where the 360 says they’re moving.

Mears’ rig consisted of a Millerods Beast Buster paired with a Shimano reel, 40lb Power Pro braid and 100lb Sunline

fluorocarbon leader. His bait was a Jackall Transam 95 in ghost red belly black with upgraded 90lb split rings and upgraded Decoy YS81 hooks.

“We actually go pretty light on the fish when we hook them to keep the hooks intact,” he continued. The pair registered 6 barra all session.

“The (cold) temperature really slowed the bite down,” Joe said when discussing the winning weight, which was 30kg lighter than in 2022, “100% it’s temperature related.”

BIG BARRA PRIZE Adam Mears has shown that he’s a cabable from the tropics to the southern impoundments - winning a BASS and BARRA event in the space of a month this spring. a fitting end to a couple of years of competing at this arena and a string of single-digit finishes.

Joe is a Cairns local whereas Adam flew in from Tamworth to make a successful yet unlikely pairing. The pair have been friends for a long time and made their annual catchup profitable with a $1,650 first prize.

Ironically, for Casting Mayhem it was all about a slow, finesse retrieve with a dark

few nights of practice until we slowed right down and used a technique that works for bass when they are shut down. We fished the vibe really slowly, right on the bottom with little twitches like you’re fishing an Ecogear ZX blade,’ Mears said.

Press agreed that the fish they were targeting seemed to be feeding on redclaw.

“They had them coming out both ends,” he said.

RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Team Casting Mayhem Samaki Compleat Angler Cairns T.B.C Wilson Fishing Zerek Dumb and Dumber Venom Rapala Fish With Me

Aiden Tiebel landed the 118cm (24.10kg) nabbed the Big Barra and won himself a Blade n Tails rod in the process. It ate a baby barra coloured Derek Fish Trap just before 3am.

He was hopping the blade with large hops and controlling it on the way down. The fish bit at the top of the hop.

Full results at abt.org.au

Anglers Press/Mears Wood/Lowry Bruggemann/Bez Laine/Williams Cornelius/Mulchay Robinson/Hodgson Tiebel/Gowan Dixon/Meredith Williams/Morgan Edmonds/Dow

Fish 5/5 5/5 5/5 4/5 3/5 3/5 2/5 3/5 2/5 3/5

Weight (kg) 62.89kg 48.20kg 38.45kg 35.94kg 33.97kg 32.57kg 30.72kg 29.25kg 28.90kg 26.75kg

Payout $1,650 $650 $600 $500 Rapala Pack Molix Pack ProLure Pack Samaki Pack Molix Pack TT Pack NOVEMBER 2023 117

FMM

TOURNAMENT NEWS

Marlo and Bemm River Angling Clubs Comp Over 30 members from Marlo Angling Club and Bemm River Angling competed in the annual bream fishing competition held between these two

RESULTS

fish and chip night Friday night at the club house followed by breakfast Saturday morning, then straight into fishing the rivers and lakes that Marlo has to offer.

The weather turned it on for both clubs reaching 21oC with no wind in

Marlo Angling Clubs fish Dave B 44.5cm Helmut K 43.5cm Leon S 43.5cm Gemma K 43.0cm Giaan D 38.0cm Total 170cm Bemm River Angling Clubs fish Tony V 37.5cm Andy L 35.5cm Eris C 34.5cm Darcy V 32.5cm Lyndsay 30.0cm Total 210cm

Darcy Vukovic from Bemm River took out fourth largest bream for Bemm River Club.

monster 69cm salmon! Along with a few more good size specimens.

There were also plenty of good sized mullet being caught up the Brodribb River reaching over 40cm long, taking sandworm.

This competition is based off the longest 5 bream from 5 different anglers.

Local knowledge paid off with Marlo

the morning and a slight breeze in the afternoon.

Fishing was tough for some Bemm anglers who had never fished Marlo before and could only manage some small bream.

Even though it isn’t a surf competition some anglers decided to get a feed of salmon, Peter McCoy Jnr landing a

taking the trophy and prize with a total length of 210cm, and Bemm River went 170cm.

Well done to Marlo Angling Club and thanks to all involved who made this a great weekend to fish.

Next time Bemm River Angling Club aim to get the trophy back as it will be held in Bemm River next year. – Peter McCoy

An impressive salmon catch for Pete McCoy Jnr. clubs on the Saturday 1 September.

However, this is the first time that it has been held at Marlo.

Everyone turned up for Marlo’s

Kaye with a beach salmon.

Sadly the salmon weren’t counted in the competition.

Tournament Calendar 2023 Date Tournament NOVEMBER 4-12 Nov Spotters Peninsula

Snapper Challenge 10-12 Nov BREAM GF 15-18 Nov Marlin Challenge 23 Nov BARRA R3 24 Nov BARRA R4 26 Nov BARRA R5 28-29 Nov BARRA R6

Location

State

Contact

Port Phillip Port Stephens Port Douglas Teemburra Dam Kinchant Dam Peter Faust Dam Peter Faust Dam

VIC NSW QLD QLD QLD QLD QLD

peninsulasnapperchallenge.com abt.org.au portdouglasfishingclub@gmail.com abt.org.au abt.org.au abt.org.au abt.org.au

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.

118 NOVEMBER 2023

FMM

TOURNAMENT NEWS

2023 East Coast BREAM Series Round 4 Itani won $500 with 3 fish for 2.73kg.

“We worked rock walls all day using a range of vibes and Cranka Crabs.

Ended with a bag of 2.73kg just missing out on third place by 10g,” said Ahmad.

Fifth Place, Traces Currant, Aaron Treacey won $300 with 3 fish for 2.65kg.

“Blasted through the fog all the way up to Pittwater. Fished pontoons and boat hulls for my bag. Upgraded

Big thanks to Tackle Addiction for continued sponsorship of our Bream Series. It was crazy foggy when we headed for the starting location and we thought it was going to be a delayed start to the day, but the fog cleared enough for teams to take off on time even if it was at reduced speeds.

53 teams hit the start line for what turned out to be a tough day of fishing with more than usual number of teams

First place team, Fassbasstds Jushin, showing their winning bag.

not registering a fish.

First Place Team Fassbasstds Jusfishin, Judd Kirkland and Justin Boon won $2500 with 3 fish for 3.95kg.

They started in the fog and struggled to find fish for a long time. Moved to fishing rock walls and finally found the fish. Ended with a great bag with an average weight of 1.3kg.

very lucky landing 3 fish all over a kilo.

With 1 hour to go they headed over towards Mooney Mooney, where they landed another kilo upgrade on the ever-faithful Cranka Crab.

“It was a shame not to go for our third straight win at the Hawkesbury, but to be so consistent and finish off in second place was a great result for us anyway and to be so consistent at our favourite waterway is a great feeling,” said Michael.

Third Place, Team Lots of Knots,

a couple of times. Used a range of soft plastics all day. Great to end up fifth,” said Aaron.

Kingswood Sports Club Big

Mark Wilson and Chris Wilson won $700 with 3 fish for 2.74kg.

“We fished the washers and rock walls and caught around 8 bream using Cranka Crabs. Upgraded several times to finish with a bag of 2.74kg. Al-in-all it was a great day on the water. Thanks to organisers for running the comp,” said Mark.

Fourth Place, Team Smart Fish Bagem, Ahmad Mahfoud and Rabieh

Bream,$200 plus $50 club voucher.

Team Hooked up / DTH Plumbing, Daniel Holder, Steven Cefai. 1.51kg.

Caught on the bridge pillions. Places 6-9th all received great packs from Tackle Addiction valued at over $200 each.

Congratulations to all prize winners. Full list of results can be found on our website wsbb.com.au. – East Coast Bream Series

hulls targeting anchor blocks. Lightly weighted mussel lures were used for great success. As soon as the lure hit the bottom the fish would be straight onto the lure within seconds. They got

Second Place, Team Phoenix Boats, Michael Colotouros and Robert Patrunowon $1100 with 3 fish for 3.26kg. They started off fishing rocky edges early in the morning, with not even a bite coming within 1 hour of fishing, so they quickly ditched the idea of rocky edges as the tide was very low.

They headed to Pittwater fishing boat

This is the big bream for the event, which weighed 1.51kg.

RESULTS PLACE PLACE 11 22 33 44 55 66 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10

TEAM TEAM ANGLERS ANGLERS FISH Fassbasstds Jusfishn Judd Kirkland, JustinJarrad Boon, Agst Jarrad Agst Fassbasstds Jusfishn Judd Kirkland, Justin Boon, 3/3 Phoenix Boats Colotoures, Theo Colotoures Phoenix Boats MichaelMichael Colotoures, Robert Robert Patruno,Patruno, Theo Colotoures 3/3 Lots of Knots Mark wilson, Chris wilson, John Wilson Lots of Knots Mark wilson, Chris wilson, John Wilson 3/3 Smart Fish / Bag Mahfoud, Itani, Kalil Itani Smart Fish / Bag EmEm AhmadAhmad Mahfoud, Rabieh Rabieh Itani, Kalil Itani 3/3 Traces Currant Aaron Treacey Traces Currant Aaron Treacey 3/3 Livescope Losers Matt Hall,Hines Mitch Hines Livescope Losers Matt Hall, Mitch 3/3 Outcastin Gary Nano, Adam Viksne Outcastin Gary Nano, Adam Viksne 3/3 Tempt Industries/ ABU Garcia Daniel Scott, Andy Parkinson Tempt Industries/ ABU Garcia Daniel Scott, Andy Parkinson 2/3 Flat Nacky Steven Cole, Daniel McLovin Hayes Flat Nacky Steven Cole, Daniel McLovin Hayes 3/3 Tackle Addiction.com.au Steve Pourniotis, Bill Parasiris Tackle Addiction.com.au Steve Pourniotis, Bill Parasiris 3/3

FISH Weight (kg) 3/3 3.95 3/3 3.26 3/3 2.74 3/3 2.73 3/3 2.68 3/3 2.59 3/3 2.41 2/3 2.32 3/3 2.18 3/3 2.11

Weight (kg) Proudly 3.95 supported by 3.26 2.74 2.73 2.68 2.59 2.41 2.32 2.18 2.11 NOVEMBER 2023 119

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New South Wales Tide Times

Victorian Tide Times

2021 2024 Times and Heights of High and Low Waters20212021 Local Times andLocal Heights of Time High and Low Waters T 33° 51ʼ S Times and Heights of High and Waters LAT 38° 18ʼ S 144° 37ʼ ETime – NEW SOUTH LONG WALES151° 14ʼ E SYDNEY (FORT DENISON) – LONG NEW SOUTH WALES POINT LONSDALE –Low VICTORIA POINT L

SYDNEY (FORT DENISON) – NEW SOUTH WALESPOINT LONSDALE – VICTORIA SYDNEY (FORTLONG DENISON) – NEW LAT 33° 51ʼ S 151° 14ʼ E SOUTH WALES LAT 38° 18ʼ S LONG 144° 37ʼ E T DENISON) – NEW SOUTH WALES POINT LONSDALE VICTORIA LAT 33° 51ʼ S LONG 151° E SYDNEY (FORT DENISON) – NEW SOUTH WALES 14ʼ POINT–LONSDALE – VICTORIA LAT 33° 51ʼ S

LONG 151° 14ʼ E

2023

LAT 38° 18ʼ S

LONG 144° 37ʼ E

2023

2024

JULY MAY AUGUST JUNE MAY Times and Heights of HighJUNE and Low Waters Local Time Times and Heights of High and Low Waters and Heights and Low Waters FEBRUARY APRIL JANUARY and Heights of High and Waters LATLocal 33° STime LONG 151° 14ʼ E Low ONGTime 151° 14ʼm E of High LAT LAT 38° 38°m18ʼ 18ʼ SS Times LONG LONG 144° 144° 37ʼ 37ʼ EE51ʼMARCH Time Time m Time m Time m m JULY Time m Time m Time m JUNE JULY MAY AUGUST Time m Time m Time m JUNE MAY Time m Time m Time m Time Time m2024 Time m Time m Time m Time m 2024 JUNE JULY AUGUST Times and Heights of High and Low Waters Local ghTime and Low Waters Local Time Times Times and and Heights Heights of of High High and and Low Low Waters Waters Local Local Time Time MAY JUNE JULY Time Time m Time m Time Time m Time m m Time Time mm Time m Timem m Time m m Time m Time

JU

LAT 38° m Times Time m and Time

0633 0.53 00061.36 1.68 0519 0.58 0145 1.34 0150 1.40 1.26 0554 0.36 0037 1.78 0057 1.60 0557 0452 0623 0034 0.51 0052 1.4816 02081 1.63 1.41 0134 m1.71 0205 16 1.57 0046 0.69 0122 1.60 0034 1 1.26 0113 1.39 0028 1.52 m1.30 Time Time Time m0.49 Time Time m0.54 16 16 1 1 MARCH FEBRUARY DECEMBER JANUARY SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER OCTOBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER DECEMBER JANUARY 1155 m1.39NOVEMBER 0740 0744 1238 0646 0.43 m 1117 m1.28 0750 APRIL 0.51 0807 0.62 Time m0835 Time Time m 1 0735 Time Time m Time m Time Time m 0735 16 1 1 16 16 1 16 1 16 1 1 16 1148 0.55 1.30 1041 0.38 1158 0.58 1.47 0821 0.65 0637 0.48 0.56 0825 0.55 0923 0.65 0601 0.67 0706 0.68 0642 0.62 16 1 1 1 16 1 16 1 16 16 SU0633 1MO 1225 TU 16 1 1SA0037 16 17251.78 0.65 1345 1.33 1358 1.38 1804 0.76 1303 1.43 16400.53 0.75 1430 1.59 1446 1.43 SU1904 MO 1245 0.80 0006 1.68 0145 0150 1.26 00570452 1412 1.18 0034 1257 1.41 1.79 WE 1430TH 1.31 0623 1.22 0.69 1.18 1.62 1.42 1.36 1.37FR 1900 1.50 1748 1.58 1.54 1245 0207 0.75 TU1.60 TH 1307 FR FR FR 12381.40 SA 14161.34 MO TU 1533 0.51 SA MO TU WE 0557 0046 0049 0.58 1848 0.66 2314 1.71 2110 0.56 2114 0.76 2359 1.88 1911 0.79 1940 0.78 1 0.51 16 1 16 0740 0.49 16 1238 1.30 0744 0.54 0646 0.43 0750 0.51 0807 0.62 1935 0.78 1932 0.32 2028 0.60 1949 0.71 2042 0.88 1910 1928 0.56 1835 0.59 0.74 0.58 16 0735 1.30 1.54 1.44 1.35 1928 1 10938 161 1148 1 1158 1 1041 11616 16 0.55 2319 0735 1.47 1935 1345 1.33 1358 16 1.38 1430 1.59 1 1 1.43 16SU 1 1.47 10301 10.43WE 1804 1606080.760.61 0118 1TH11.27 1616 160.38 11.43 16 1446 1 1.54 1TH 0748 16 FR 1303 MO 16 1427 1900 1.50 1245 1257 1748 1.58 1904 1245 0.75 0030 1.68 1.18 1.25 0.87 0138 1.66 0148 0100 1.58 0.800225 0255 07000.79 SA SA MO FR TU WE 0146 1.50 1848 03070534 1.60 0233 1.63 1.58 0317 1.52 0158 1.41 0108 1.52 0.66 2110 0.56 2114 0.76 1911 1940 0.78 0.74 0135 0.65 0.47 2 17 171928 172 0130 2057 20.6208281.38 2 1.44 2 0.68 17 17 1207 1.25 17 20.67 2 2 0648 2 20801 0.730.521717 17 22 1300 1.31 20043 17 170023 0858 0.65 0.56 1.42 0.54 0.45 2319 0.74 1.54 17 170733 220938 20.58 0739 0.541720724 0955 09411935 0.61 0.65 17 102117 0.65 0853 1922 0.710835 073317 2 21121 0656 1.29 0842 1.32 1.40 0849 1.50 17261.68 0.80 1.34SA 1544FR 1542 1.47 1447 1.35 14510.42 1359 1.49 TU MO 18251.66 0.74 MO 1350 1.62 TH 1.17 15341.25 1.13 15310735 1.17 WE 1636 1.24 1.54 1353 1.58 1.31 1323 1.27SA TU 1538 1.64 SU WE1.47 SU TU 1305WE FR1335 SA 1.41 0030 0255 1.18 0138 0148 0100 0301 1231 0.65 0.89 1.52 0.68 0.85 SU WE SA TU TH 1345 0315 0023 0.74 0135 0534 1.38 0043 0.65 1906 0.77 2227 0.72 2230 0133 0.50 0.57 2019 0.82 2045 0.81 1957 0.67 0.68 2021 0.40 2126 0.68 20530.56 0.79 20521256 0.81 0130 2157 0.47 0.85 1336 1948 2007 0.61 191317 0.66 0853 2 1836 220.54 17 17 0858 0.65 0835 0.54 17 0724 0.52 0828 0.58 0733 0.45 1947 1.44 2019 1.40 1959 1.51 2023 1.50 17 2 17 17 17 17 17 2 2 2 2 2 17 17 17 2 2 2 17 17 2 2 2 17 17 2 2 2 0656 1.29 1043 0842 1.32 0848 1.37 1121 0.42 0735 1.40 0849 1.50 1542 1.47 18 1.3518TH 1335 1.34 1451 1.41 SA 1359 1.49 1538 1.64 MO FR 1.29 TU 181345 18 3 3 0.890342 0406 3FR 1347 3 3 0206 3 18 18 3 1447 18 0421 0.85 1.52 0422 0243 1.53 0248 1.42 0415 3 1.58 01563 1.50 WE 03431336 1.56 1.59 00000.77 1.66 1.16 0239 1.56 0245 1.37 0200 1.48 1.22 0.95 01000.82 1.77 0126 1.63 1231 0.65 1542 1836 1.52 1256 0.68 SU SU SA TU TH 1906 2227 0.72 2019 2045 0.81 1957 0.67 2230 0.50 18 18 08470.570.601830815 18 3 18 3 0116 0.75 0230 0.65 0001 0.75 0144 0.59 0230 0.43 1109 0.63 0.750925 0908 0.75 1119 0.62 0836 0.70 1100 0.64 1053 0.59 3 18 3 3 18 3 0809 0.49 18 0702 0.62WE 0742 0953 0.66 0911 0.61 0825 0.47 1001 0.57 0.50 1947 1.443 2205 2019 1.403 2009 1.383 1959 18 1.51 2023 18 1.50 1723 1.32 1.45 1450 1.45 FR 1451 1.48 1.22 1.12 1421 1.18 17051.22 1.13 1.22 1.44 0808 1.26 0628 0958 1.55 TH TH1.37 SA1433 SU 1.46 MO 13031.63 1.24 1349 TH 1637 1.52 1544 1.40 15431.34 1458 1.57 WE 1656 1645 1.36 1.72 14141.56 1.28 1.41SU 1712SA TU TU0858 SU WE 0945 MO 0406 1.16 0422 0239 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28 WE 13 2127 0.67 2235 0.70 2212 2110 0.76 1.51 1015 1036 1.35 1133 1.40 1238 1.69 1804 1142 0.53 181728 0.47 1210 17241.45 0.60 1.20 2256 1725 0.62 0.76 1759 0.19 1751 0.44 TH TH 1.81 FR SU 13031042 MO SU 13 MO 13 28 13 0942 0.28 0906 0.37 0.52 28 1014 0.46 13 1053 0.62 © Copyright of Australia of Meteorology 1737 0.50 Commonwealth 1820 1540 0.68 MO 1649 0.61 1608 0.59 1715 1855 0.59 0.36 23520.64 1.66 18182019, 0.80 Bureau 2356 1.37 FR SA TU WE 0015 0519 1.28 1.55 0609 0.38 1.40 0500 0.51 0610 0.40 0518 0606 0.45 03551.81 0.52 04431.87 0.28 1.75 1.73 1.61 1.68 1.56 WE 1647 TH 1611 SA 1743 SU 1714 MO 1735 0607 0338 1.48 0446 1.42 0430 1.49 0510 Datum of 0.41 Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide 2347 1.60 2213 2235 1.81 2331 1.64 29 29 14 292318 14 29 14 4Copyright Commonwealth Australia 2020, Bureau Meteorology 15 15 30 1513 301.55 150315 30 15 30 15 30 0619 0.59 1232 1.54 1059 1.30 1213 1.37 1122 1.36 1218 1.40 0952151.37 1044 of1.43 15 15 30 15 30 15 30 30 30 15 2209 0.67 2146 0.75 2318 0.70 2257 0.61 2332 0.60 0100 1.65 0006 1.71 0000 1.46 0114 1.64 0043 1.77 0626 0.58 0537 0.59of 28 13 28 13 28 13 0942 0.28 0906 0.37 1053 0.55 1141 1042 0.52 1014 0.46 1053 0.62 Times15 are in local standard time (UTC +10:00) 30 or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in 15Moon 15 30 15 301804 1.43 1.63 0.55 1622 0.71 1744 0.67 1656 0.61 0.66 1.68 1524 0.66 0.59 atum of 0.51 Predictions is1614 Lowest Astronomical Tide 0816 0.62 1735 0713 1.56 0.59 0540MO 0.43 0727 0.48 07161.61 0.46TH 12211.28 1.32 1154 1.62 TU SU 1254 SA 1838 FR SA 0015 0500 0610 0.40 0518 0.41 0606 0.45 0609 0.38 1647 1.75 1611 1.73 WE 1730 1759 1743 1714 WE TH TU TH SA SU MO Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon New First Quarter 0421 1.50 0355 1.46 0534 1.37 0521 1.47 0558 1.37 1919 0.69 2254 1.78 2319 1.76 2155 1.78 2246 2.01 1416 1.17 1310 1.24 1206 1.93 1330 1.49 1315 1.36 1757 0.66 1821 0.47 29 14 29 14 29 MO TU MO TH FR SA TU mes in local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight time (UTC when in effect 0619 0.59 1059are1.30 1213 1.37 11222209 1.36 1218 2146 1.40 1232 2318 1.54 0.67 savings 0.75 +11:00) 2331 0.39 0.70 2257 0.61 2332 29 0.60 14 0041 14 1131 0.70 0.86 0.61 1827 0.80 1101 0.54 1845 1939 0.66 0.48 14 190029 0.60 1254 0.36 0943 Last 0.39 1.43 1622 0.71Symbols 0.67 1656 0.61 First 1838Moon 0.55 SU TU 1744 WE 0.24 TH 1804 SA 1025 New Moon Quarter Quarter19241120 oon Phase Full 1.46 0007 1.74 0013 1.50 0542 0.34 0545 0.53 0601 0.42 0435 0.54 0106 1.17 31 1731 0534 1.67 1.37 1650 0.69 1.69 1.47 1819 1.55 1.37 1754 0620 1.63 1.51 31 31 TH FR SU MO TU 1806 0006 1919 2254 1.78 2319 1.76 0421 1.50 0355 1.46 1.53 0521 0558 31 31 31 0032 1.64 1.3830 0658 0.47 1514 5 1033 1.32 30 1143 1.38 15 0657 0.45 30 2344 0645 0.52 15 14 1146 0033 1.29 12110.69 1.39 30 0.65 0.74 0.56 14 29 29 29 1025 0.36 0943 0.39 2252 1141 0.65 14 0658 1120 0.61 2225 1101 0.54 1131 0.70 0703 31 31 0717 0.62 0619 0.64 1328 1.56 1305 1.36 1304 1.40 1709 0.66 1710 0.73 1749 0.64 1600 0.71 1346 1.42 SU FR SU TU SA MO 1.50 1.69 TH 0041 1.46 1.55 0545 0.53 0007 1.74 0601 0.42 0106 1.17 1731 1.67 1650 TH FR WE 1813 FR 1220 SU 1819 MO TU 1806 13101754 1.24 1229 1.53 SU WE 1948 0.57 1.51 0622 1839 0.73 15 0507 1859 0.72 1.63 0001 23410.47 1.91 15 1211 2339 1.73 22321.29 1.7530 0658 2030 0.70 1.58 0010 30WE0013 0437 1.44 0.70 1.46 0.59 0.52 0657 1.43 0.45 30 0703 1146 1.39 0.65 2252 0.74 1836 2344 0.56 1838 0.73 1853 0.69 0.51 0645 2225 15 30 15 30 15 1107 0.45 1023 0.43 0630 1.32 1151 0.64 0650 1.35 1304 1.40 1328 1.56 1710 0.73 WE 1305 1.36 1749 0.64 1346 1.42 FR SU TH MO © Copyright Commonwealth of Austr © © Copyright Copyright Commonwealth Commonwealth of of Australia Australia 2022, 2022, Bureau Bureau of of Meteorology Meteorology © Copyright Commonwealth Australia 2023, Bureau of Meteorology1200 0.70 reau of Meteorology 06420.73 0.42 0058 1.37 0213 1.58 1.10 1859 0.72 1948 0.57 2339 1.73 1839 2030 0.70 1815 1.58 1731 1.64 1838 1212 0.79 FR SA MO TU WE 0507 1.43 0437 1.44 0001 0.70 0010 0.59 0018 0.37 0045 0622 1.46 31 1244 1.34© Copyright 312305 31 30 07230.72 0.58 0.70 Datum0726 of Predictions is Lowest Astro Datum Datum of of Predictions Predictions isis30 Lowest Lowest Astronomical Astronomical Tide Tide Datum of 2023, Predictions is15 Lowest Astronomical Tide Commonwealth Australia Bureau of Meteorology 2336 0.71 1.49 1.35 0800 1.47 15 30 15 15 1107 0.45 of 1023 0.43 0630 1.32SA 0650 1.51 1842 0753 1151 0.64 1857 1807 0.73 1353 1.41 1448 1.42 MO TU 0058 1.37 1.10savings Times are in local standardSA time1304 (UTC Times Times are are in in local local standard standard time time (UTC (UTC +10:00) +10:00) or or daylight daylight savings savings time time0213 (UTC (UTC +11:00) +11:00) when when in intime effect effect Times are in local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight (UTC +11:00) when in effect daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect 1815 1731 1.64 1200 0.70 1212 0.79 1230 0.75 1838 1.58 Datum of Predictions is1.58 Lowest Astronomical Tide FR SA MO WE TH TU 2001 0.76 2148 0.68 31 31 0723 0.58 0800 0.70 0526 Full 1.42 Moon Phase Symbols New M Moon Moon Phase Phase Symbols Symbols Full Moon Moon New New Moon Moon First First Quarter Quarter Last Last Quarter Quarter 2336 0.71 2305 0.72 1857 1.49 1842 1.47 1900 1.52 1921 New Moon First Quarter Last Quarter Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon Full MoonTimes are First Quarter Last Quarter in local standard (UTC1.41 +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect 1353 1448 1.42 31 SAtime TU 1107 0.49 2001 0.76 2148 0.68 Moonof Phase Symbols 2020,New Moon Moon First Quarter SU 1815Full1.59 Last Quarter 0526 of1.42 0110 0.37 © Copyright Commonwealth Australia Bureau Meteorology 2351 0.69 31 31 1107 0.49 0832 1.50 Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide 0519 0.58

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2019 0.82

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2045 0.81

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1957 0.67

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1947 0.72 1.44 2227

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2019 1.40

2023 1.50

2009 1.38

20580.41 1.48 2341

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2124 1.47

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1822 0.83

2129 0.81

2015 0.75

2155 0.79

1930 2114 0.641.47

2036 0.65 1.38 2330

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0330 0.71 0426 0.56 0422 0157 0.70 0402 0.43 0.36 05130629 0238 0238 1.56 0258 0354 1.70 1.70 0530 0530 1.58 0458 0458 0458 1.69 0529 0529 1.66 1.66 04580445 1.600.48 0016 0246 1.70 0421 0421 1.79 1.79 03430354 0518 1.66 1.66 0.57 0604 1.54 150320 0.55 1.62 0152 0158 1.18 1.70 0524 1.591.69 1.54 1.66 1.51 0130 1.23 0433 0207 0215 1.56 1.36 1.56 1.32 1.56 03450518 1.46 0256 1.501.58 1.12 1.61 0020 0039 0.32 1.450246 0333 0442 1.28 0422 1.361.35 1030 1.32 1137 1.51 1147 0900 1122 1.64 1.67 11471231 0825 0825 0.55 0844 0936 0.62 0.62 1105 1105 0.62 1208 1030 1030 0.64 1104 1104 0.53 0.53 11551205 0.251.52 0632 0827 0.41 0950 0950 0.53 0.53 10040936 1045 0.61 0.61 1.20 1204 0.59 501012 1.69 0.55 0704 0858 0.77 0.41 1234 0.590.64 0.62 0.49 0.52 0653 0.66 1049 0726 0752 0.46 0.61 0.55 0.78 0.63 10271045 0.74 0956 0.700.62 0.76 0.58 0607 0633 1.31 0.590827 0956 1038 0.62 1016 0.50 1539 0.89 1701 1.00 1709 1418 0.66 1652 1636 1710 0.88 1.33 1720 0.92 MO WE SA 1815 TU FR W SU 1441 1441 1.52 1541 1.46 1.46 1710 1.33 1637 1637 1.42 1.42 1720 1720 1.43 1.43 1921 1.490.99 1241 1501 1.68 1.68 1606 1606 1.58 1.58 1652 1.43 1.43 1818 1.31 1801 1.41 0.45 1.36 1.50SU 1830 1.15 1.18 1801 1.33 1327 1.71 1413 1.68 1.52 1.36 1.30 1606 1.16 1541 1.13 1.53 SU 1136 0.63 1206 0.49 1.54 1626 1717 1.59 1658 1.77 1.33 TU TU 1.64 TH TH 1541 MO MO SU SU TU TU FR MO MO 1501 WE WE SA SA TH FR MO 1348 MO TU TH TU TH 1441 FR 1559 SU MO SA 1339 TH FR SA 1718 MO TU E341626 TH 1512 2215 1.35 2331 1.47 2255 1.37 2308 1.35SU 2137 1.43 2300 1.50 2040 2040 0.37 2115 2138 0.24 2309 2309 0.39 23292311 2232 0.23 2311 0.31 2333 0.67 1928 2055 0.25 2207 2207 0.14 0.14 22042138 2258 0.28 0.28 1.65 1814 18422113 1.87 0.732055 2240 2357 0.68 2342 0.46 21552258 2203 0.79 2052 2043 2349 0.72 0.57 0.25 23452232 0.720.23 0.790.31 2031 0.41 2331 2049 2100 0.61 0.38 0.37 0.59 0.56 0.24 0.69 0.760.39 0.58 0.81 0313 0.62

0432 0.64

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0516 0.50

0545 0.33

0520 0.43

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0104 0.61

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0332 0.49 1006 1.84 WE 1646 0.33 2243 1.34

0418 0.59 1054 1.82 TH 1744 0.39 2342 1.23

0259 0259 1.75 1.75 00430236 0325 1.64 01000350 0547 0.55 0439 0530 0530 0.48 0000 0116 0116 1.36 05370136 0136 1.66 01140215 0215 1.63 0236 1.68 06260325 1.64 1.63 1.771.68 0.581.64 1.65 1.69 00060412 1.71 1.56 1.46 1.36 0.59 1.66 0.60 0.48 0400 0547 0.51 0.55 0827 0827 0.69 0.69 07160809 0853 0.69 08160922 1234 1.38 1111 1215 1215 1.49 0540 0713 0713 0.66 11540715 0715 0.63 07270800 0800 0.74 0809 0.78 12210853 0.48 0.74 0.460.78 1.320.69 0.62 0.59 07131003 0.59 0.54 0.43 0.66 1.62 0.63 1.76 1.49 1038 1234 1.95 1.38 1427 1.43 1.43FR 1315 1450 1.36MO 1416 1827 0.70 1801 0.45 1319 1.35 1327 1.47TH 1330 1351 1.37 TH 1406 1.36SA 1757 1.49 1.37 1.361.36 0.661.36 1.17 1.47 1.24 1.37 1.93 1.35 0.47 1.47 0.43 0.45 0.26 0.70 MO 1536 TU 1604 TH 1427 SA SA 1450 FR FR 1827 SA SA 1801 SU SU 1319 MO MO 1327 WE WE 1351 FR FR 1406 TU 1310 MO 1206 TU 1821 SA 1756 FR 1727 2030 2030 0.18 0.18 19002005 2057 2057 0.26 0.26 19242130 1926 0.49 1927 1927 0.20 0.20 19391953 1953 0.26 2005 0.19 0.48 0.26 0.600.19 0.86 0.21 18272200 0.80 0.39 1845 1926 0.24 0.49 2354 1.26 2325 1.33

0519 0.63 1148 1.69 SU 1832 0.47

0230 1.76 00330230 1.38 1.76 0805 0.61 06190805 0.64 0.61 1413 1.50 1.53 1.50 TU TU 1413 WE 1229 2012 0.14 18532012 0.51 0.14

0402 1.63 00320402 1.641.63 0935 0.65 07170935 0.620.65 1533 1.36 1.241.36 SU SU 1533 SU 1310 2137 0.30 18382137 0.730.30

0446 1042 TH 1720 2254

0439 1.56 1037 0.49 WE 1643 1.39 2233 0.45

SU 1815 1.59 FR 1324 0.84 ustralia 2020, Bureau of Meteorology Times Tide arepredictions in local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time Australian (UTC +11:00) when in effect 2351 0.69 1954 is1.47 for Port Phillip Heads have been formatted by the National Tidal Centre, Bureau of Meteorology, Copyright reserved.

All material supplied in © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2019, Bureau of Meteorology stronomical Tide New Moon First Last Quarter Moon Phase Full Moon good faithSymbols and is believed to be correct.

It is supplied on the condition thatQuarter no warranty is given in relation thereto, that no responsibility or liability for errors or omissions (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) whenDatum in effectof Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide is, or will be, accepted and that the recipient will hold MHL and the Australian of Bureau of Meteorology Australia free from all such responsibility or liability and from all loss © Copyright Commonwealth Australia 2019, Bureau of Meteorology w Moon First Quarter Quarter Full Moon Times are inLast local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (U or damage incurred as a consequence of any error or omission.

Predictions should not be used for navigational purposes.

Use of these tide predictions will be deemed to Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide Moon Phase Symbols New Moon First Quarter include acceptance of the above conditions.

Times are in local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effec NOVEMBER 2023 121 Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon New Moon First Quarter

BOATING TEST BOATING Test

SCAN THE QR CODE FOR EXTRA CONTENT

FMM

MORE ONLINE

Surtees Pro Fisher 610 with Yamaha F130 4-stroke FMG

Steve Morgan s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

Thirty years ago, my sole existence was based on how many longtail tuna I could catch in my home waters of Moreton Bay. Even though I used to chase them out of a 12ft Stessl punt with a 20hp tiller steer outboard, my dream boat was a centre console with double that horsepower.

Sometimes I was invited to go and chase tuna on Rick Grimmer’s renovated Haines Hunter rocketship with a 150hp Merc tower of power on the back. It was all fun.

Fast forward to 2023 and the centre console has evolved a long way, from the remarkably efficient motors through to the insane electronics. And, the level of comfort and appointment in the modern centre console needs to be seen to be believed.

Main: This genre was the Moreton Bay dream boat 30 years ago and the Surtees Pro Fisher 610 is a modern iteration of that fishing machine…but done so much better!

Above: Of course, like all Northside Marine boat tests we do, the bay glassed off. Still, we were able to get some good performance statistics.

On the aluminium side, New Zealand’s Surtees makes a hull as good as any and that are obviously

designed, used and built by anglers.

The water ballast system in the hull takes in water to a keel mounted tank

and can be optionally retained to give the boat more mass and a better ride in rough conditions.

You can appreciate the design of the test boat and that Northside Marine have ticked all of the options to make this rig a fantastic platform to fish local waters.

The imported 610 Pro Fisher came on a twin axle Redco (locally built) trailer and was fitted with a Yamaha F130 4-stroke outboard.

Maximum horsepower for this rig is 150hp, and that motor should be sincerely considered by those serious about putting together their ultimate centre console rig.

As is, it’s a relatively economical craft, achieving as good as 2.4km/L at optimal cruising speed of 36km/h at 3,900rpm. You get a whole kilometre less per litre at WOT, but that’s typical of pushing an outboard to the limits.

With the 200L underfloor fuel

Above: There’s plenty of space up on the raised front casting deck to jump up and cast a lure at pelagic species.

Inset: There’s no problem adding an electric motor bracket – usually positioned on the port side.

122 NOVEMBER 2023

FMM

BOATING TEST

Top: Both sides of the outboard offer a duckboard for easy water egress. Above: Raised casting decks always mean plenty of space underneath to store your bulkier gear.

Yamaha’s F130 was the power plant for this boat, although the rig is rated to 150hp.

Top: A wide console gives more protection from the elements and check out all of that space to mount your MFDs. Above: Here’s the entry to the water ballast system. Close the flap and you’ve trapped hundreds of litres of water in the keel and the ride will benefit from the extra mass.

Rubber decking was a luxury that we didn’t have several decades ago. It was hot checkerplate or stinky carpet.

The soft T-Top is 100% essential in Australia, unless you love getting sunburned and skin cancers.

Top Left: Several shelves under the console offer reasonably dry storage for your important stuff. Bottom Left: This is cool – the esky under the main seating is under a couple of very functional tackle trays.

Right: If you’re nimble enough to go running around the gunwales, then you’ve got a smooth journey underfoot as well.

Left: The rear boarding step is super simple, super sturdy, and super functional. Top Right: There’s plenty of places to grab on to the T-Top. Bottom Right: Check out the seat back that can flip-flop forwards or backwards. Not a new idea but practical and functional in the 610.

NOVEMBER 2023 123

Test BOATING BOATING TEST

FMM SPECIFICATIONS Length ...............................................6.10m Beam ................................................ 2.26m Sides ....................................................4mm Hull........................................................5mm Max HP.............................................150hp Fuel .......................................................200L Water ballast .................................340L Transom deadrise........................19°C Capacity.................................6 persons Tow weight................................ 1,360kg

tank, expect a maximum range of over 400km if you’re trying to drive it economically.

On the trailer, you board via a sturdy transom step that folds up neatly and unobtrusively. Every step is rubber custom decking – and that includes if you walk around the gunwales!

It’s the top level of interior appointment, which is very different from the centre consoles on the 90s.

You’re confronted by a neat seat/ icebox/tackle draw station that has a PERFORMANCE RPM

Speed

(km/h)

Economy

(km/L)

1000 .......................... 4 ............................3 2000 ..........................7 ........................2.6 3000 ........................16 .......................... 1.1 3500 ........................31 ......................... 2.1 3900 .......................36 ........................2.4 4000 .......................40 ........................2.2 5000 .......................53 .........................1.6 5900 .......................64 .........................1.4 reversible backrest. In front of that is a wide console with a big, canvas T-Top with plenty of rails to grab onto while travelling. The dash is massive and hill hold any or all of the electronics that would be sensible to fit.

The helm is comfortable and practical, even though I’m spoiled now and prefer the fly-by-wire engines, it’s smooth enough to drive.

Walk around the console and there’s an elevated front casting deck with some substantial storage underneath.

Storage is often the bugbear of centre consoles, yet the Surtees doesn’t waste an inch. Even under the bait station where a typical NZ tinny would have 124 NOVEMBER 2023

Top: Best economy was ay 3,900rpm, where the Yamaha delivered 2.4km/L at 36km/h.

Above:Open up the throttle and the economy drops to 1.4km/L, but you race along at 64km/h. a battery hatch, there’s a large tackle storage area.

The batteries are situated under

the console.

Most owners of a fishing boat like this would drop a Minn Kota or one of

the new Garmin Krakens up the front to help with virtual anchoring and boat control. Get the shaft length right and this would be out of the way while chasing stuff that needs propulsion faster than the electric could deliver.

And the colour? Definitely a headturner at the ramp. Hopefully the NEW gloss pages in this issue of Fishing Monthly will do the boat and Matt Drinkall’s superlative stills justice.

Otherwise, you can catch the video boat test of the rig by scanning the QR code hereby.

As tested, this boat came in at $120,573 from Northside Marine, although you’d probably be spending the best part of another $10K on a quality electric motor and battery combination to truly make it the ultimate fishing machine.

Reach out to Jason Comino for more details or a test drive or visit www. northsidemarine.com.au.

Left: You can feel the Surtees fall to one side or the other depending on weight distribution, but trim tabs sort this out and are fitted onto the boat. It’s about a $2,000 option that I’d recommend.

Right: There’s no doubting that the 610 is a good-looking centre console that will turn heads all over Australia.

ADVENTURE

WITH CONFIDENCE

Stabicraft are the world’s best designed aluminium chambered boats for business and leisure, bar none. It’s a bold claim, but one you can believe in.

Check out the range at Northside Marine

Stabicraft 2500 Ultracab

Built to Fish since 1993. Fishermen from all over the world recognise the high quality, stability, safety, and practical features of Surtees Boats.

NEXT LEVEL FISHING EXPERIENCE

Check out the range at Northside Marine

Surtees 650 Game Fisher

Northside Marine - Queensland’s Exclusive Stabicraft & Surtees Dealer 2294 Sandgate Road, Boondall 4034 QLD 07 3265 8000 | info@nsmarine.com.au | northsidemarine.com.au

NOVEMBER 2023 125

Built to perform.

Built to last.

More Power, Performance and Reliability – Insist on Mercury MerCruiser.

See your authorised Mercury MerCruiser Dealer today.

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20 Dell Road WEST GOSFORD

22-30 BUCKLEY GROVE MOOLAP

Phone: (07) 5546 2480

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Email: onshoremarine@ozemail.com.au

Email: troy@insincmarine.com.au

Email: admin@edencraftmarine.com.au

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25 Queens Road, Everton Park 4053

3/41 Leighton Place HORNSBY

Phone: (07) 3353 1928

Phone: (02) 9482 2638

Email: info@holtmarine.com.au

Email: sales@shannonoutboards.com.au

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Phone: (07) 3875 1600

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Email: sales@kareemarine.com.au

Email: sales@discomarine.com.au

Website: www.kareemarine.com.au

Website: www.discomarine.com.au

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17 William Murray Drive, Cannonvale 4802

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Phone: (07) 4946 7286

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Email: woc@whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au Website: www.whitsundayoutboardcentre.com.au

126 NOVEMBER 2023

Email: sales@trmarine.com.au Website: www.trmarine.com.au

NOVEMBER 2023 127

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Visit your nearest participating dealer to make sure you don’t miss out on these offers. *Terms and Conditions Apply FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY. mercurymarine.com.au

2024 SUZUK I

Please read your Owners Manual carefully. Remember, boating and alcohol or other drugs dont mix.

Always wear a personal flotation device when boating. Please operate your outboard safely and responsibly.

Suzuki encourages you to operate your boat safely and with respect for the marine environment.

Specifications, appearances, equipment, colours, materials and other items of “SUZUKI” products show in this catalogue are subject to change by manufacturers at any time without notice and they may vary depending on local conditions or requirements. Some models are not available in some territories. Each model might be discontinued without notice.

Please enquire at your local authorised Suzuki dealer for any such changes. Actual body colour might differ from the colours in this catalogue.

SUZUKI AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED 97-105 Cherry Lane, Lavernton North VIC 3026 ACN 001 828 164 www.suzukimarine.com.au 2024 Suzuki Outboard Motors General Catalogue Part no: 990AM-M139-P0S Printed in Australia, October 2023

OUTBOARD MOTORS GENER A L C ATA L OGU E

SUZUKI CLEAN OCEAN PROJECT

CONTENTS 4-5

SUZUKI CLEAN OCEAN PROJECT

6-11

SUZUKI ULTIMATE TECHNOLOGY

12-13

V6 350-300HP Flagship-GEKI Series DF350A/DF325A/DF300B

As the world’s ULTIMATE OUTBOARD MOTOR brand, Suzuki always remains focused on providing the

14-15

ultimate marine experience.

Since 2010, Suzuki Motor Corporation has been voluntarily conducting the ‘Clean-up the World

V6 300-200HP DF300AP/DF250AP DF250/DF225/DF200

16-17

Campaign’ every year to create a healthier and cleaner marine environment.

IN-LINE 4 200-150HP DF200AP/DF175AP/DF150AP DF200A/DF175A/DF150A

Over 8,000 people & 26 distributors have participated in this global initiative so far.

18-19

IN-LINE 4 140-70HP DF140BG/DF115BG DF140B/DF115B/DF100C,DF100B/DF90A/DF75A

Suzuki is committed to taking responsible actions against plastic waste problems by reviewing its own contributions to the environment and introducing new measures to reduce plastic usage and waste 20-21

IN-LINE 3 60-25HP DF60AV/DF50AV DF60A/DF50A/DF40A DF30A/DF25A

Our Commitment

22-23

1. Clean-Up the World Campaign

DF20A/DF15A/DF9.9B DF9.9A/DF8A DF6A/DF5A/DF4A DF2.5

2. Reduce Plastic Packaging 3. Collect Marine Micro-Plastic Waste

SCAN TO LEARN MORE

We believe the actions Team Suzuki takes around the world will be one positive step forward to a cleaner marine environment.

2

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

PORTABLE 20-2.5HP

24-25

PERFORMANCE SUZUKI ULTIMATE TECHNOLOGY

26-27

Suzuki's Drive By Wire Series & FishHunter™ Drive

28

Integrated Control System “SYNCRO-EYE”

30-32

ACCESSORIES

33

ECSTAR ENGINE OIL

34-39

FEATURES & SPECIFICATIONS

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

3

SUZUKI CLEAN OCEAN PROJECT In order to clean the ocean, the Suzuki Marine Team will promote "SUZUKI CLEAN OCEAN PROJECT" together with partners and boat users all around the world.

To reduce marine plastic pollution, Suzuki has set up the slogan “SUZUKI CLEAN OCEAN PROJECT” and has been promoting the activities under the 3 main commitments.

REDUCE PLASTIC PACKAGING

In order to avoid to produce additional plastics, we have been replacing the plastic packaging of outboards and marine genuine parts to eco-conscious materials.

Packaging for Suzuki marine genuine parts

Plastic Packaging

①

Paper Packaging

Oct.2020 – Jun.2023 : Reduced 17.7t.

Replacing the plastic packaging to Paper.

④

②

③

Sep.2021 – Jun.2023 : Reduced 24.7t. ① Outer Carton Fixing（Polyethylene Paper） ② Body Cover（Polyethylene ③ Engine Cover（ ylon

iodegradable Material）

Rayon）

④ ushioning Material Polystyrene oam

iodegradable Material

COLLECT MARINE MICRO-PLASTIC WASTE CLEAN-UP THE WORLD CAMPAIGN More than

As a solution to the plastics owing into the oceans, which are not collected properly on land, Suzuki developed the world's first Micro-Plastic ollecting device MP to install outboard motors.

BEFORE 22 MODEL YEAR

WITH MICRO-PLASTIC COLLECTING DEVICE

15,000 people from 75 groups participated in this activity.*

SEYCHELLES

PHILIPPINES

CHINA

FEATURES >

Will not affect the performance of the engine even if the filter gets clogged since this device

ACE MARINE SEYCHELLES

SUZUKI PHILIPPINES INC.

utilises the used cooling water.

SUZUKI MOTOR (CHINA) INVESTMENT CO., LTD.

>

SPAIN

VANUATU

Garbage-contaminated seawater

Micro-Plastic collector makes the sea beautiful

Will not give negative effects on the environment.

Collected materials

STANDARD

FROM 23 MODEL YEAR

MOVILMOTORS, S. L. *As of July,2023

4

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

INTRA PACIFIC TRADING COMPANY LTD

DF140BG DF140B DF115BG DF115B DF100C*

DRIVE BY WIRE with MPC

DF140BG / 115BG DF140B / 115B DF100C

MECHANICAL with MPC * lack colour model only 2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

5

SUZUKI ULTIMATE TECHNOLOGY LEADING THE INDUSTRY WITH AWARD WINNING TECHNOLOGIES AND DESIGNS, SUZUKI OUTBOARDS PROVIDE FEATURES AND BENEFITS THAT MAKE BOATING EVEN MORE ENJOYABLE.

Durability & Reliability SUZUKI DUAL LOUVER SYSTEM

WATER DETECTING SYSTEM

▶DF350AMD/300BMD ▶DF350A/325A/300B

Dog-leg shaped dual louver at the air intake remove water from the air taken into the cowl.

Durability & Reliability

Performance

Ease & Comfort

Ecology & Economy

. Durable . Notify user before engine trouble . Easy to service,

. Smooth and quick

. Less vibration . Quiet operation . Light & Compact . Easy to use . Smooth and Decisive

. Good fuel efficiency / low-emission . Low maintenance cost . Environment

repair

acceleration at all operating ranges . Powerful torque

shifting

protection activities

ADVANTAGE ■ Prevents water intrusion.

■ Allows a direct intake system, contributing to higher engine output.

A water detecting fuel filter prevents water intrusion.

When water is detected, the system will alert the driver with visual and audio warnings.

ADVANTAGE ■ Prevents lower power output and corrosion by avoiding water intrusion.

SELF-ADJUSTING TIMING CHAIN

TILT LIMIT SYSTEM

▶DF40A AND UP

▶DF50AV AND UP

(not including DF90AWQH, DF60AQH, DF50A/40A)

The timing chain running in an oil-bath can be adjusted automatically by an automatic hydraulic tensioner.

Tilt Limit System prevents the outboard from tilting beyond a selected angle.

ADVANTAGE

ADVANTAGE ■ Prevents damage to the boat or outboard due to excessive outboard tilting.

■ More durable than the belt type.

■ Matintenance-free.

2.50

▶DF70A AND UP

Tilt Limit System

ANTI CORROSION

SUB

GAS ASSIST

EASY START SYSTEM

A AUTOMATIC TRIM

DF200A

DUAL WATER INLET

SUB WATER INLET

▶DF350AMD/300BMD ▶DF350A/325A/300B ▶DF300AP/250AP ▶DF250W

The engine’s cooling system relies on water supplied through two water inlets located on the lower unit.

ADVANTAGE ■ Increases the water flow, providing better cooling performance.

NMMA Award The Innovation Awards (recognizing technological innovation) granted each year by the NMMA (National Marine Manufacturers Association) are considered among the highest honors in marine technology. Of the new marine industry products in that year, they are awarded to “a product that shows technical leadership, is practical and cost-effective, and is truly beneficial to the consumer.”

Starting with the DT200 Exanté in 1987 and extending to the DF350A in 2017, Suzuki outboard motors have received this Innovation Award a total of nine times. Eight of these awards are for 4-stroke outboard motors.

6

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

SUB

OPTIONAL:▶DF140BG/115BG ▶DF140B/115B/100C ▶DF90AWQH STANDARD:▶DF60A/50A/40A

Two water inlets in different directions ensure that the engine does not overheat due to the clogging of algae.

Awarded Prizes

1987: DT200 Exanté / 1997: DF70 & DF60 / 1998: DF50 & DF40 / 2003: DF250 / 2006: DF300 / 2011: DF50A & DF40A / 2012: DF300AP / 2014: DF30A & DF25A / 2017: DF350A

DF350AMD

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

7

SUZUKI ULTIMATE TECHNOLOGY KEYLESS START SYSTEM OPTIONAL:▶DF350AMD/300BMD ▶DF350A/325A/300B ▶DF300AP/250AP ▶DF200AP/175AP/150AP ▶DF200A/175A/150A ▶DF140BG/115BG ▶DF140B/115B/100C ▶DF100B/90A/80A/70A

This system allows you to start multiple engines by placing key-fob nearby.

• One push Start & Stop for up to 6 outboard motors.

• Waterproof Float Key Fob. • Security support with immobiliser.

ADVANTAGE ■ Provides high security.

■ No ignition key is necessary.

SUZUKI ANTI-CORROSION FINISH ▶ALL MODELS

ANTI CORROSION

MULTI-STAGE INDUCTION

HIGH ENERGY ROTATION

▶DF250/225 ▶DF200AP/175AP/150AP

▶DF60AV/50AV

Special protection is applied to the aluminium surface using high strength bonding to protect the aluminium made exterior parts.

ADVANTAGE ■ Protection against corrosion improves the overall outboard durability.

Resin Clear Topcoat Resin Black(or White) Basecoat Primer Undercoat

▶DF200A/175A/150A ▶DF250W

Larger lower units (2.42 gear ratio) make it possible to equip larger 36cm (14-inch) propeller than other models in this class. It owns good acceleration and large power.

ADVANTAGE ■ Powerful torque to carry heavy loads.

■ Quick acceleration with larger propellers.

■ Quick and smooth planing.

ADVANTAGE ■ Increases output during high speed operation with greater volume of air input.

■ Increases combustion efficiency and maximizes torque during low speed operation.

AIR FLOW IN MULTI-STAGE INDUCTION MODULE

DF60AV vs. DF60A size comparison

Suzuki Anti-Corrosion Finish

Manifold pipes are switched between short and long during low speed and high speed operation to ensure the right volume of air enters the engine.

Suzuki Aluminium Alloy

Lower rpm

High rpm

DF60A

SDSM+ (SUZUKI DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM MOBILE+)

DF60AV

▶DF9.9B AND UP*

This app enables you to make a plan for boating with the weather forecast and check the engine condition & operation tips for the next boating. All functions are available for free.* Please check the details in P.31 or on our website.

Gear Ratio

DF60AV

DF60A

2.42

2.27

*SMD/SMG4 and a smartphone running Android/iOS are required.

ADVANTAGE ■ Possible to make a plan for boat trip with checking the weather forecast in advance.

■ Check up on the engines before the departure based on the engine data.

■ Acquire the engine data by scanning the QR code*.

■ Provide the engine data to dealer and ask for maintenance easily. *DENSO WAVE owns the rights of the name and the logo of QR code.

Performance

VVT (Variable Valve Timing) ▶DF350AMD/300BMD ▶DF350A/325A/300B ▶DF300AP/250AP ▶DF250 ▶DF250W

The Variable Valve Timing controls the opening and closing timing of the intake valve depending on the engine RPM.

A direct airflow path from the intake port to the cylinder suppresses temperature rise of the air and improves combustion efficiency.

ADVANTAGE ■ Offers smooth, powerful torque.

■ Provide smooth acceleration over all speed ranges.

ADVANTAGE ■ Delivers higher power output from a small displacement.

TORQUE CURVE

▶DF70A AND UP

2.50

2-STAGE GEAR REDUCTION ▶DF70A AND UP

The engine powerhead is positioned closer to the front, moving the outboard’s center of gravity forward.

This design makes a larger gear ratio possible, allowing it to turn a large diameter propeller.

ADVANTAGE ■ Less vibration.

■ More compact.

■ Stable steering performance.

ADVANTAGE ■ Increased power to turn large diameter propellers, offering quick acceleration.

■ High propulsive efficiency with large diameter propeller.

■ Powerful navigation, maintaining propeller rotation even with a larger load.

1st Stage Reduction : 30:36=1.20 2nd Stage Reduction : 12:25=2.08

Total : 2.50:1

DF200AP

SUZUKI DUAL PROP SYSTEM ▶DF350AMD/300BMD ▶DF350A/325A/300B

TORQUE

OFFSET DRIVESHAFT

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

▶DF350AMD/300BMD ▶DF350A/325A/300B

▶DF200AP/175AP/150AP ▶DF200A/175A

with VVT

8

DIRECT AIR INTAKE

The Suzuki Dual Prop System spins two propellers rotating in opposite directions on a single engine.

With the 6 blades, it can make a good stroke efficiently.

without VVT

LOW

MID

ENGINE SPEED

HIGH

ADVANTAGE ■ Achieve superior stability when driving straight.

■ Powerful reverse thrust and braking force.

■ Good water gripping performance and quick startup acceleration.

GEAR RATIO IN EACH CLASS MODEL

DF140BG/115BG DF140B/115B/100C DF100B/90A/80A/70A DF90AWQH

DF200A(AP)/ 175A(AP)/150A(AP)

DF250/ 225/200

DF300AP/ 250AP DF250W

DF350AMD/ 300BMD DF350A/ 325A/300B

GEAR RATIO

2.59:1

2.50:1

2.29:1

2.08:1

2.29:1

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

9

SUZUKI ULTIMATE TECHNOLOGY Ease & Comfort

▶DF40A AND UP

Optional for Remote Control Models (not including DF250/225/200,DF250W,DF90AWQH)

THREE-WAY STORAGE

SUZUKI SELECTIVE ROTATION ▶DF300AP/250AP ▶DF200AP/175AP/150AP

Counter rotation

This system helps the boat running at a certain speed range in low RPM.

▶DF6A/5A/4A

Function for selecting regular or counter rotation on one outboard with an optional connector and a counter rotation propeller.

ADVANTAGE ■ Either regular or counter rotation can be used on the same outboard.

The design allows the outboard to be removed from the boat and placed on any of its 3 sides for storage.

ADVANTAGE ■ No need to worry about the loading space or method.

SUZUKI PRECISION CONTROL (Electronic Throttle and Shift Systems)

FRONT

▶DF350AMD/300BMD ▶DF350A/325A/300B ▶DF300AP/250AP

Operation from the remote control is delivered to the outboard via an electric signal and it enables the 1 lever operation for up to 6 outboard motors (for dual mount only).

OVERHEAD TANK The integral overhead fuel tank and one-way valve delivers fuel supply by using gravity.

ADVANTAGE ■ Contributes to easy start.

Flush Mount

ADVANTAGE

making boating more pleasant.

10

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

DF200A

BATTERY-LESS ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION ▶DF30A/25A ▶DF20A/15A/9.9B

This technology delivers quicker start, smoother operation, and more acceleration without a battery.

DUAL INJECTOR ▶DF350AMD/300BMD ▶DF350A/325A/300B

A AUTOMATIC TRIM

AUTOMATIC TRIM ▶DF350AMD/300BMD ▶DF350A/325A/300B ▶DF300AP/250AP ▶DF200AP/175AP/150AP ▶DF200A/175A/150A ▶DF140BG/115BG ▶DF140B/115B/100C

The Automatic Trim adjust trim angle automatically depending on the engine RPM without your control.

■ Less noise,

Ecology & Economy LEAN BURN CONTROL SYSTEM ▶DF9.9B AND UP

(not including DF250/225/200, DF250W, DF90AWQH)

The Lean Burn Control System supplies the appropriate amount of fuel and air mixture depending on the navigation conditions.

ADVANTAGE : ■ Significant improvement in fuel economy in all speed ranges especially at cruising speed.

■ Fuel is saved and gasoline costs are cut.

One-way Valve

▶DF350AMD/300BMD ▶DF350A/325A/300B

Resonator

Enables the outboard motor to be tilted up or down quickly with minimal force.

ADVANTAGE : ■ Operates without battery.

■ Quick and easy start.

■ Cleaner and economic fuel consumption.

■ Higher and smoother performance in almost all operating ranges.

NOISE REDUCTION

Intake noise is suppressed with silencer and resonator.

▶DF30AQH

▶DF6A/5A/4A

Over-head Fuel Tank

▶DF140BG/115BG ▶DF140B/115B/100C

Simply turn the key and release, and the starter stays engaged until the engine starts. This system offers a smoother start of the engine.

PORT

▶DF200AP/175AP/150AP ▶DF140BG/115BG

▶DF200AP/175AP/150AP ▶DF200A/175A/150A

DF250W)

GAS ASSIST SYSTEM GAS ASSIST

Dual Top Mount

▶DF40A AND UP (not including DF250/225/200,

*Available with SMD, SMG4, or Troll Mode Switch Panel

Regular rotation

ADVANTAGE ■ Less friction and resistance compared to the mechanical ones.

■ Easy control for multiple outboard motors.

■ Improved fuel economy with the combination of Lean Burn Control System.

EASY START SYSTEM

ADVANTAGE ■ Boat can keep running at a certain speed range in low revs without having to operate the throttle on the boat.

■ Gives you highly precise control at low RPM.

STBD

Single Top Mount

SUZUKI EASY START SYSTEM

SUZUKI TROLL MODE SYSTEM*

The dual injector delivers just the right amount of fuel at the right time into each cylinder.

ADVANTAGE : ■ Contributes to higher output and better fuel efficiency.

Micro-Plastic Collecting Device ▶DF140BG/115BG ▶DF140B/115B/100C

As one of the actions in SUZUKI CLEAN OCEAN PROJECT, we developed the device to collect micro-plastics in the oceans just by running SUZUKI's outboard motors.

ADVANTAGE : ■ Collect micro-plastics through your outboard motors.

■ Does not sacrifice the engine performance.

ADVANTAGE : ■ Helps to keep the appropriate trim angle and contribute to achieve faster top speed and better fuel efficiency. *Available with SMD / SMG4

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11

V6 350-300HP Flagship-GEKI Series SUZUKI DUAL LOUVER SYSTEM P7

DUAL WATER INLET

Dual Louver system is equipped at the air intake to remove water from the air taken into the cowl.

Incorporating a direct intake system makes the highest compression ratio of 12.0:1(DF350AMD,DF350A),10.5:1 (DF300BMD,DF325A/300B) possible, ultimately leading to a higher engine output.

The engine’s cooling system relies on water supplied through low water intakes located on the lower unit. This dual water inlet configuration increases water flow into the lower unit, delivering greater cooling efficiency.

SUZUKI DUAL PROP SYSTEM P9

DUAL INJECTOR

The dual prop system efficiently transmits the horsepower output into propulsion under water. As an added benefit, because each propeller rotates in a different direction, exceptional stability is achieved.

In addition, the contra-rotating propellers produce a strong reverse thrust.

Dual injectors deliver just the right amount of fuel at just the right time into the cylinder.This dual injector contributes to higher output and better fuel efficiency.

Flagship-GEKI SERIES

◆Drive By Wire DF350A / DF325A / DF300B

V6 300-200HP

P7

GEKI: PARTING SEAS A Force to Match the Power of Nature and the Sea Representing Suzuki’s Identity and Heritage. A Symbol of Our Passion and Commitment to the Ultimate in Marine Innovation. * "GEKI: PARTING SEAS" is the logo that represents the DF350A/DF325A/DF300B

DF350A

DF325A/DF300B DRIVE BY WIRE

Ecology & Economy

Durability & Reliability ANTI CORROSION (OPTIONAL)

Performance

(OPTIONAL*1)

Ease & Comfort A

2.29 DF350A

PORTABLE 20-2.5HP

IN-LINE 3 60-25HP

IN-LINE 4 140-75HP

IN-LINE 4 200-150HP

P11

EASY START SYSTEM (OPTIONAL* ) 2

DF325A *1 Available with SMG4

AUTOMATIC TRIM (OPTIONAL*2)

*2 Available with SMG4, or Troll Mode Switch Panel SPECIFICATIONS / FEATURES P34

12

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13

Increased Alternator Output at Low Speed dea or toda o er un r fi that spend a lot of time trolling

n

oat

V6 300-200HP

◆Drive By Wire DF300AP / DF250AP ◆Mechanical DF250 / DF225 / DF200

Flagship-GEKI SERIES

V6 300-200HP

Applicable models : All V6 models (from 21 model year)*

33A

143%

At 1,000rpm

38A

43A

113%

IN-LINE 4 140-75HP

23A

(650rpm)

*Except DF200T/DF225T/DF250T

IN-LINE 3 60-25HP

At Idling Speed

IN-LINE 4 200-150HP

ADVANTAGE ■ Increased alternator output at idle and low speed.

■ Enables the use of more electric pumps, equipment.

Durability & Reliability

Performance

ANTI CORROSION ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS (OPTIONAL*1) ALL MODELS

2.29

2.08

DF250 DF225 DF200

DF300AP DF250AP

ALL MODELS

DF300AP DF250AP DF250

DF250 DF225

PORTABLE 20-2.5HP

STANDARD FEATURES

ADDITIONAL FEATURES FOR DRIVE BY WIRE MODEL

DF300AP DF250AP

DRIVE BY WIRE

DF250

DF225 / DF200 MECHANICAL

Durability & Reliability

Ease & Comfort

Ecology & Economy A

DF300AP DF250AP

(OPTIONAL) DF300AP DF250AP

DF300AP DF250AP

DF300AP DF250AP

(OPTIONAL*2) DF300AP DF250AP

EASY START SYSTEM

AUTOMATIC TRIM

DF300AP DF250AP

(OPTIONAL*2) DF300AP DF250AP

*1 Available with SMG4

DF300AP DF250AP

*2 Available with SMG4, or Troll Mode Switch Panel SPECIFICATIONS / FEATURES P34

14

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IN-LINE 4 200-150HP

◆Drive By Wire DF200AP / DF175AP / DF150AP ◆Mechanical DF200A / DF175A / DF150A Flagship-GEKI SERIES

SUZUKI PRECISION CONTROL (SPC) (Electronic Throttle and Shift Systems)

V6 300-200HP

FEATURES Operation from the remote control is delivered to the outboard via an electric signal and it enables the 1 lever operation for up to 6 outboard motors (for dual mount only).

SUZUKI SELECTIVE ROTATION

Counter rotation

IN-LINE 4 140-75HP

IN-LINE 4 200-150HP

P10

Regular rotation

Function for selecting standard or counter rotation on one outboard with an optional connector.

Noise Reduction Intake noise is suppressed with a resonator, which reduces sound levels and improves the boating experience.

IN-LINE 3 60-25HP

P10

Durability & Reliability

Performance

2.50

ANTI CORROSION ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS (OPTIONAL*1) (OPTIONAL) ALL MODELS ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS

Not including DF150A

PORTABLE 20-2.5HP

STANDARD FEATURES

Ease & Comfort ADDITIONAL FEATURES FOR DRIVE BY WIRE MODEL

A EASY START SYSTEM

DF200AP

DF200A

DRIVE BY WIRE

MECHANICAL

DF175AP / DF150AP

ALL MODELS (OPTIONAL* ) ALL MODELS 2

Ease & Comfort

AUTOMATIC TRIM (OPTIONAL* ) ALL MODELS 2

Ecology & Economy DF200AP DF175AP DF150AP

DF175A / DF150A ALL MODELS

*1 Available with SMG4

DF200AP DF175AP DF150AP

*2 Available with SMG4, or Troll Mode Switch Panel SPECIFICATIONS / FEATURES P35

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IN-LINE 4 140-75HP

◆Drive By Wire DF140BG / DF115BG ◆Mechanical DF140B / DF115B / DF100C, DF100B / DF90A / DF75A

As a solution to the plastics owing into the oceans, which are not collected properly on land, Suzuki developed the world's first Micro-Plastic ollecting device to install outboard motors.

Garbage-contaminate d seawater

Microplastic collector makes the sea beautiful

FEATURES n Will not affect the performance of the engine even if the filter gets clogged since this device utilizes the used cooling water. n Will not give negative effects on the environment.

ollected materials

IN-LINE 3 60-25HP

STANDARD FEATURES Durability & Reliability ANTI CORROSION

SUB ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS

(OPTIONAL* ) ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS

Ease & Comfort

1

Performance A

DF140BG DF115BG DRIVE BY WIRE with MPC

EASY START SYSTEM

DF140B DF115B DF100C

DF100B

with MPC

MECHANICAL

MECHANICAL

■Tiller handle model available (For 115B & 100C)

(OPTIONAL*2) ALL MODELS REMOTE CONTROLMODELS (STANDARD) TILLER HANDLE MODELS

(OPTIONAL) DF140BG/DF115BG DF140B/DF115B/DF100C

(OPTIONAL) ALL MODELS

Ecology & Economy

2.59

AUTOMATIC TRIM DF140BG/DF115BG (OPTIONAL*2) DF140B/DF115B DF140BG/115BG, DF140B/115B/100C DF100C

ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS

ALL MODELS

PORTABLE 20-2.5HP

ALL MODELS

IN-LINE 4 200-150HP

WITH MICRO-PLASTIC COLLECTING DEVICE

IN-LINE 4 140-75HP

BEFORE 22 MODEL YEAR

V6 300-200HP

Flagship-GEKI SERIES

COLLECT MARINE MICRO-PLASTIC WASTE

DF140BG/DF115BG DF140B/DF115B DF100C

ADDITIONAL FEATURES FOR DRIVE BY WIRE MODEL

DF90A / DF75A

■Tiller handle model available

Ease & Comfort

DF140BG DF115BG

*1 Available with SMG4

*2 Available with SMG4, or Troll Mode Switch Panel SPECIFICATIONS / FEATURES P35 P36

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IN-LINE 3 60-25HP Flagship-GEKI SERIES

HIGH ENERGY ROTATION

DF60AV vs. DF60A size comparison DF60A

DF60AV

ADVANTAGE ■ Powerful propulsion and precise maneuvering even with heavy loads.

■ Superior power to turn large diameter propellers.

Gear Ratio

DF60AV

DF60A

2.42

2.27

V6 300-200HP

These outboards are equipped with gears designed with a 2.42 gear ratio, which is larger than the standard model, in their lower units. When combined with a large 36cm (14-inch) propeller, the powerful system can deliver powerful thrust. This is ideal for heavy boats.

IN-LINE 4 200-150HP

SELF-ADJUSTING TIMING CHAIN The timing chain running in an oil-bath can be adjusted automatically by an automatic hydraulic tensioner.

ADVANTAGE ■ More durable than the belt type.

■ Matintenance-free.

BATTERY-LESS Electric Fuel Injection

P11

This technology delivers quicker start, smoother operation, and strong acceleration without a battery.

TROLL MODE + SMG4

P33

IN-LINE 4 140-75HP

DF60AV / DF50AV DF60A / DF50A / DF40A DF30A / DF25A

STANDARD FEATURES

STANDARD FEATURES

Durability & Reliability

Durability & Reliability

ALL MODELS ALL MODELS (OPTIONAL* ) (not including ALL MODELS Gas Assist models & DF50A/40A)

ALL MODELS

Performance Ease & Comfort

DF60AV DF60A DF50AV

HIGH ENERGY ROTATION

■Tiller handle model available

20

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

DF50A / DF40A

DF60AV DF50AV

*1 Available with SMG4

(OPTIONAL*2) REMOTE CONTROLMODELS (STANDARD) TILLER HANDLE MODELS

(OPTIONAL*1) ALL MODELS

DF60A DF50A DF40A

Ecology & Economy

EASY START SYSTEM

■Tiller handle model & gas assist model available

ANTI CORROSION

SUB 1

ALL MODELS

*2 Available with SMG4, or Troll Mode Switch Panel

DF30A

CARGO SERIES

ANTI CORROSION

PORTABLE 20-2.5HP

IN-LINE 3 60-25HP

Allows you to control your troll mode from the Multi-Function Gauge.

Ecology & Economy

DF25A

BATTERY-LESS EFI

■Gas assist model available ■Remote Control model available

*1 Available with SMG4 SPECIFICATIONS / FEATURES P38 2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

21

PORTABLE 20-2.5HP

V6 300-200HP

Flagship-GEKI SERIES

DF20A / DF15A / DF9.9B DF9.9A / DF8A DF6A / DF5A / DF4A DF2.5

OVERHEAD TANK

The integral overhead fuel tank and one-way valve delivers fuel supply using gravity.

THREE-WAY STORAGE

IN-LINE 4 200-150HP

P10

The design allows the outboard to be removed from the boat and placed on any of its 3 sides for storage.

STBD

IN-LINE 4 140-75HP

P10

FRONT

STANDARD FEATURES Durability & Reliability

Ease & Comfort

Ecology & Economy

PORTABLE 20-2.5HP

IN-LINE 3 60-25HP

PORT

ANTI CORROSION ALL MODELS

DF20A

DF15A / DF9.9B BATTERY-LESS EFI

■Remote control model available

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2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

DF9.9A DF8A

DF6A

DF5A / DF4A THREE-WAY STORAGE

(OPTIONAL*1) DF20A DF15A DF9.9B

DF6A DF5A DF4A

DF6A DF5A DF4A

DF20A DF15A DF9.9B

DF20A DF15A DF9.9B

DF2.5 *1 Available with SMG4 SPECIFICATIONS / FEATURES P38 2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

23

Suzuki's Drive By Wire Series a n our oat n e er en e to a new level for your ULTIMATE marine life

Smooth Shift Operation

Drive By Wire (Suzuki Precision Control : S.P.C) is a technologically advanced computer-based control system with electronic wiring that eliminates the source of friction and resistance. While you enjoy smooth throttle and shift operation, the system’s computer is processing and transmitting commands in real-time to actuators at the engine that deliver precise throttle controls with smoother, decisive shifting.

Easy Rigging Luxury Remote Control Fuel ent

u NEW

e

t on

FishHunter Drive ™

FishHunter™ Drive delivers all-new control features for boaters utilising select Suzuki outboard models driven by the Furuno NAVpilot-300 Autopilot. These new features offer enhanced autopilot controls for precision navigation of routes and advanced fishing features for anglers while igging, or trolling.

Applicable Models : All SPC models (DF350AMD/300BMD, DF350A/325A/300B, DF300AP/250AP, DF200AP/175AP/DF150AP, DF140BG/115BG)

Remote Control Box Dual Top Mount

Speed Control

Route Smoothing™

The boat will maintain a presetted speed by adjusting engine RPM.

Automatically controls the speed at waypoints for smooth turns while navigating a designated route. n approach to the final waypoint, the boat will slow down and activate Point Lock™ automatically to hold on the destination.

o nt o

™

Allows the vessel to easily keep a fi ed position by controlling the steering and shift, canceling the effects of wind and current.

SABIKI™ o Expands upon the NAVpilot-300’s SABIKI™ function by controlling both the steering and throttle to maintain stern direction, freeing the angler to focus 100% on igging and other vertical fishing.

SPECIFICATIONS / FEATURES P34 P35 24

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25

PERFORMANCE

Sergio Davi Ventures From Italy to New York with Suzuki DF300B

SUZUKI ULTIMATE TECHNOLOGY

SUZUKI'S UNIQUE ENGINE STRUCTURE. OFFSET DRIVESHAFT & ADVANTAGES OF 2-STAGE REDUCTION GEAR. ADVANTAGE ■

High-performance outboard motors are the choice of professional sailors. With high gear ratios and torque, they deliver top performance even in demanding work environments.

■ Less vibration.

1st Stage Reduction : 30:36=1.20

■ More compact.

■ Stable steering performance.

2nd Stage Reduction : 12:25=2.08

GEAR RATIO IN EACH CLASS

SUZUKI

DF40ADF60A

DF50AVDF60AV

DF70ADF100B

DF100ADF140B(BG)

DF150A(AP)F200A(AP)

DF200DF250

DF250APDF300AP

DF300BDF350A

2.27

2.42

2.59

2.59

2.50

2.29

2.08

2.29

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

2Stage Reduction

Total : 2.50:1

DF200A

SUZUKI ENGINES' LONG LIFE METER

User voice Here you can find the Suzuki outboard motor users en oying ULTIMATE PERFORMEMCE, via the Suzuki Australia Marine TV.

Here is the data of our customers who have used Suzuki outboard motor for a long time. These engines worked for long periods and they are still active.* We would like to express our sincere appreciation to them and we will continuously make our best efforts to provide Suzuki outboard motor so the customers can use it longer. *As of January 2023

Suzuki outboard motor acts as an essential role for the users enganging in professional work.

NORWAY

CHINA

JAPAN

UAE

THAILAND

GUATEMALA

DF140A

DF140A

DF150T

DF250 (Triple engine)

DF250 (Triple engine)

DF115

3,116 hours use for Commercial Fishing

4,291 hours use for Commercial Fishing

3,513 hours use for Commercial Fishing

Suzuki believes giving the highest priority to Durability will make our customers happy.

4,633 hours 5,851 hours 4,632 hours

use for Commercial Fishing

2,957 hours 2,846 hours 2,972 hours

6,163

hours use for Pleasure Fishing

use for Transportation

This is based on the SDS (SUZUKI DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM) and SDSM (SUZUKI DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM MOBILE) data that has been received at periodic maintenance.

26

• Results will vary depending upon operating conditions (boats type, size, weight [load],weather).

PRECONDITION

• The above figures are measured values, not the values for guaranteeing.

■ With periodical maintenance

• The above figures show the operation hours of engines at the latest periodic maintenance.

■ Without engine replacement

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

27

ACCESSORIES

Integrated Control System "SYNCRO-EYE" is a comprehensive system Suzuki has developed which "connects" various devices so that they may work together in synchronisation. This innovative system will also improve the control technology of the boat by "sensing" various situations surrounding the boat and be compatible with future technologies.

SUZUKI DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM MOBILE PLUS (SDSM+)

▶ DF9.9B AND UP*

*Available with SMG

Suzuki's Technology Vision Automatic Docking

You can have more fulfilling marine e periences with S SM . *The S SM is a free app. SMG SM is re uired to access engine data.

Ocean Environment Conservation

Fault Prediction

3 Features of the SDSM+ 1. Plan a boat trip with the forecast

You can make a boating plan along with referring to the weather, wind, and wave condition of a designated point.

The app also shows the weekly weather forecast, which will be constantly updated.

2. Inspect boat and outboard motor in advance

utboard motor can be checked based on the engine data.

You can inspect boat and engine in advance based on the check list.

3. Acquire engine data

You can check the engine condition and your driving tendencies.

You can share engine data with your dealer, which can shorten the service time.

Collision Avoidance

Eco Assist Autonomous Navigation

Apple and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google .

How to Get The Engine Data . The outboard will convert engine data into a QR code* displayed on the SMG . . pen the app and scan the QR code. The app will receive the engine data and automatically attach it to an e-mail. . You can then send the e-mail to your nearby dealer to shorten the maintenance time. * E S WA E owns the rights of the name and the logo of QR code.

Scan QR Code to find out more at

28

0

SUZUKI UT

AR M T RS

0

SUZUKI UT

AR M T RS

29

ACCESSORIES SUZUKI MULTI-FUNCTION GAUGE (SMG4)

SUZUKI PRECISION CONTROL (SPC) (Electronic Throttle and Shift Systems) ▶DF350AMD/300BMD ▶DF350A/325A/300B ▶DF300AP/250AP ▶DF250AUN ▶DF200AP/175AP/150AP ▶DF140BG/115BG

Suzuki's best technology lies in the SUZUKI PRECISION CONTROL (SPC) (Electronic Throttle and Shift Systems).

SPC enables instant, precise throttle response for greater control and accuracy.

Suzuki Multi-Function Gauge provides all performance information in one gauge.

Individual elements can also be emphasised to further enhance user friendliness.

SMG4

FEATURES • Controls up to 6 outboard motors.

• 1-action start for multi-motor boats: Motors start in order from port to starboard.

• Automatic Trim is available with SMG4.

• 1 Lever Operation : This switch allows multiple motor operation with just 1 lever.(Dual top mount only) • Integrated Emergency Switch (Flush Mount only) Remote Control Box

Control Panel

Integrated “Select” and “Throttle Only” switch (All)

▶DF9.9B AND UP

SPECIFICATIONS

ANALOG TACHO & SPEED MODE

• 3.5 Colour Display • Size: 105mm(W)x105mm(H)x16mm(D) • NMEA2000 output • Shows both digital and analogue readouts, as well as day/night mode • Displays the QR code* for SDSM / SDSM+ • Troll Mode Function: Allows user to control troll mode (only for 2019MY ~ models adapted to troll mode)

Engine position

Engine Ground rpm or Water

Fuel

Shift

Trim

Speed

Time Mileage

Troll Mode

*DENSO WAVE owns the rights of the name and the logo of QR code.

DAY MODE

NIGHT MODE

FEATURES Multilingual Menu English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Russian, Japanese Chinese version is also available.

Switch Panel for regular key

KEYLESS START SYSTEM*

▶All SPC models and DF200A/175A/150A, DF140B/115B/100C, DF100B/90A/80A/70A

DESIGN How to use 1. Stand nearby the console with the key fob.

2. Push START/STOP button to start engine.

3. To turn off the engine, push the button again.

FEATURES • 3 types of panels are available: Horizontal, Vertical and Separate.

• 1-push Start/Stop, and controls up to 6 engines. No ignition key necessary.

Automatic Trim Function Automatically adjusts trim angle

RECREATIONAL WARRANTY Suzuki outboards are designed and engineered to endure some of the harshest Australian maritime conditions. To keep your outboard running at its peak performance, you should always undertake routine inspections and have scheduled servicing performed at an authorised Suzuki Marine Dealership.

Suzuki outboards come with 3-year factory warranty and recreational outboards are 3-year bonus warranty period, provided the unit is serviced in accordance with the product service schedule and exclusively by an Authorised Suzuki Dealer using only genuine parts and oils during both manufacturer’s and bonus warranty periods.

Terms and conditions apply, visit suzumarine.com.au/owners/warranty/ for full details.

*Please check applicability with your local Suzuki dealer.

SCAN TO LEARN MORE

30

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31

ACCESSORIES WATERGRIP PROPELLER WATERGRIP is a stainless-steel propeller series offering accurate response to your operation. With efficient conversion of engine power into propulsion, this propeller series meets our customers’ demand for bigger, faster, more powerful outboards.

What is ECSTAR

The WATERGRIP propeller series employs a new interchangeable and square shaped propeller bush that minimizes power loss in delivery.

ECSTAR is a global brand name of SUZUKI Genuine Oil & Chemicals.

WATERGRIP

The ULTIMATE Formulation

PROPELLER BUSH ADVANTAGES • Better resistance over propeller slip • Interchangeable bush

WATERGRIP DUAL

MULTI-FUNCTION TILLER HANDLE

WATERGRIP SPORT

Suzuki Approved Genuine engine oils have all been rigorously tested and certified by Suzuki engineers. You can be confident that they'll help keep your Suzuki outboard in perfect condition, giving you maximum performance and reliability over its lifetime.

▶DF115B/100C ▶DF100B/DF70A-90A ▶DF60A/50AV/60AV ▶DF40A/50A

Replacement Guideline

Main features

(Engine Oil & Gear Oil) Tachometer* with warning indicators

Three-position angle adjustable bracket

Power trim & tilt switch* and throttle grip friction adjuster

Troll mode switch* • Activates SUZUKI Troll Mode System and controls RPM from idling engine speed up to 1200rpm at every 50rpm.

*Tachometer, Power trim & tilt switch and Troll mode switch are not available for 90AWQH.

MAINTENANCE KITS

Interval

1st time

20 hours or 1 month*

From 2nd time

100 hours or 1 year*

*whichever comes first This guideline may vary by outboard motor model, condition of use, region, etc.

Please refer to the owner's manual or ask an authorized Suzuki dealer for more information.

ECSTAR Line up for OUTBOARD MOTOR ENGINE OIL SEMI SYNTHETIC V7000

Suzuki provides Maintenance Kits for speedy and reliable service. Each Kit comes with all the periodic maintenance parts necessary for each model.

Please ask your local Suzuki dealer for the contents of each kit and applicable models.

Availability may differ. Please contact your Suzuki local dealer.

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SPECIFICATIONS & FEATURES SPECIFICATIONS 350A

325A

Starting System Recommended Transom Height (mm)

Electric X: 635 XX: 762 X: 330 XX: 338 DOHC 24-Valve Chain 4,390 239.0 98 × 97

Weight kg*1 Valve Train Valve Train Drive Displacement (cm3) Maximum Output (kw) Bore and Stroke (mm) Operation Range (rpm)

257.4 5,700-6,300

Fuel Delivery System Oil Pan Capacity (L) Alternator Trim Type Gear Ratio

220.7

5,300-6,300

300AP

Propeller Selection (pitch)

250

Electric X: 635 XX: 762 X: 290 XX: 299 DOHC 24-Valve Chain 4,028 220.7 183.9 98 × 89 5,500-6,100

91 Octane 12"-31.5"

225

200

Electric

200AP

X: 635

X: 635

X: 635

Starting System Recommended Transom Height (mm)

X: 275

X: 275

X: 275

Weight kg*1

DOHC 24-Valve Chain 3,614 165.5 95 × 85

183.9 5,500-6,100

Electronic Fuel Injection 8.0 12V 54A Power Trim and Tilt 2.08:1

Digital 94 Octane

250AP

5,700-6,300

Electronic Fuel Injection 8.0 12V 54A Power Trim and Tilt 2.29:1

Control System Recommended Fuel*2

300B

147.1

5,000-6,000

Valve Train Valve Train Drive Displacement (cm3) Maximum Output (kw) Bore and Stroke (mm) Operation Range (rpm)

Electronic Fuel Injection 8.0 12V 54A Power Trim and Tilt 2.29:1

Fuel Delivery System Oil Pan Capacity (L) Alternator Trim Type Gear Ratio

Digital

Mechanical

Control System

94 Octane 15"-27.5"(R/R) 17"-26"(C/R)

91 Octane

Recommended Fuel*2

15"-27.5"(R/R) 17"-26"(C/R)

Propeller Selection (pitch)

All propellers are the 3-blade type. please inquire at your local dealer for details of the propeller. *1: Dry Weight: Including battery cable, not including propeller and engine oil. *2: RON: Research method (minimum octane rating) AKI: (R+M)/2 method(minimum pump octane rating ), (Only North America)

175AP

150AP

200A

Electric X: 635 X: 241

147.1

DOHC 16-Valve Chain 2,867 128.7 97 × 97

110.3

5,0006,000 Electronic Fuel Injection 8.0 12V 44A Power Trim and Tilt 2.50:1

5,500-6,100

147.1

175A Electric L:508 X:635 L: 235 X: 240 DOHC 16-Valve Chain 2,867 128.7 97 × 97

150A

110.3

5,0006,000 Electronic Fuel Injection 8.0 12V 44A Power Trim and Tilt 2.50:1

5,500-6,100

140BG

Black White SUZUKI DUAL LOUVER SYSTEM SELF-ADJUSTING TIMING CHAIN SUZUKI ANTI-CORROSION SYSTEM OVER-REV. LIMITER TILT LIMIT SYSTEM WATER DETECTING SYSTEM FRESH WATER FLUSHING SYSTEM DUAL WATER INLET SUB WATER INLET NEW KEYLESS START SYSTEM SUZUKI DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM MOBILE*1 OFFSET DRIVESHAFT 2-STAGE GEAR REDUCTION HIGH ENERGY ROTATION SUZUKI DUAL PROP SYSTEM VARIABLE VALVE TIMING SYSTEM MULTI-STAGE INDUCTION SUZUKI SELECTIVE ROTATION SUZUKI PRECISION CONTROL QUIET OPERATION OVERHEAD TANK AUTOMATIC TRIM*³ GAS ASSIST SYSTEM THREE-WAY STORAGE SUZUKI TROLL MODE SYSTEM*2 SUZUKI EASY START SYSTEM LEAN BURN CONTROL SYSTEM DUAL INJECTOR O2 SENSOR FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM SHALLOW WATER DRIVE

140B

115B

Electric Electric L: 508 L:508 X: 635 X:635 L: 188 L: 190 L: 186 L: 188 X: 192 X: 194 X: 190 X: 192 DOHC 16-Valve DOHC 16-Valve Chain Chain 2,045 2,045 84.6 103.0 84.6 103.0 86 × 88 86 × 88 5,7005,0005,7005,0006,300 6,000 6,300 6,000 Electronic Fuel Injection Electronic Fuel Injection 5.5 5.5 12V 40A 12V 40A Power Trim and Tilt Power Trim and Tilt 2.59:1 2.59:1

Digital

Mechanical

Digital

Mechanical

91 Octane

91 Octane

15"-27.5"(R/R) 17"-26"(C/R)

15"-27.5"(R/R)

91 Octane 15”-25”(R/R) 17”-23”(C/R)

91 Octane 15”-25”(R/R) 17”-23”(C/R)

*3: DF300AP only

FEATURES BODY COLOUR

115BG

●=Standard Equip. ○=Optional Equip.

350A

325A

300B

300AP

250AP

250

225

200

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Black White SUZUKI DUAL LOUVER SYSTEM SELF-ADJUSTING TIMING CHAIN SUZUKI ANTI-CORROSION SYSTEM OVER-REV. LIMITER TILT LIMIT SYSTEM WATER DETECTING SYSTEM FRESH WATER FLUSHING SYSTEM DUAL WATER INLET SUB WATER INLET NEW KEYLESS START SYSTEM SUZUKI DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM MOBILE*1 OFFSET DRIVESHAFT 2-STAGE GEAR REDUCTION HIGH ENERGY ROTATION SUZUKI DUAL PROP SYSTEM VARIABLE VALVE TIMING SYSTEM MULTI-STAGE INDUCTION SUZUKI SELECTIVE ROTATION SUZUKI PRECISION CONTROL QUIET OPERATION OVERHEAD TANK AUTOMATIC TRIM*³ GAS ASSIST SYSTEM THREE-WAY STORAGE SUZUKI TROLL MODE SYSTEM*2 SUZUKI EASY START SYSTEM LEAN BURN CONTROL SYSTEM DUAL INJECTOR O2 SENSOR FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM SHALLOW WATER DRIVE BODY COLOUR

200AP

175AP

150AP

200A

175A

150A

140BG

115BG

140B

115B

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*1: available by using with SMD/SMG4 *2: available by using with SMD/SMG4/Troll Mode Switch Panel *3: available by using with SMG4/SMD, and New S.P.C

34

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

35

SPECIFICATIONS & FEATURES SPECIFICATIONS 100B

90A

Starting System

80A

75A

Electric

Recommended Transom Height (mm)

L: 156 X: 160

Valve Train Valve Train Drive Displacement (cm3) Maximum Output (kW)

Electric

L: 508 X: 635 L: 157 X: 161

Weight kg*1

66.2

L: 508

Recommended Transom Height (mm)

L: 156

L: 162 X: 166

Weight kg*2

Bore and Stroke (mm)

DOHC 16-Valve Chain 1,502 58.8

58:8

66.2

Operation Range (rpm)

75 × 85

5,700-6,300

5,000-6,000

Fuel Delivery System

Electronic Fuel Injection

Oil Pan Capacity (L) Alternator

4.3 12V 27A

Trim Type

5,300-6,300

Maximum Output (kW)

Operation Range (rpm)

60AVTH/ 50AVTH

L: 110 X: 113 *3

L: 115 X: 118 *3

DF60A: 44.1 DF50A: 36.8 DF40A: 29.4

DF50A: 36.8 DF40A: 29.4

44.1

DF60A/50A: 5,300-6,300 DF40A: 5,000-6,000

4.3 12V 27A

Oil Pan Capacity (L) Alternator

2.7 12V 19A

Gear Ratio Control System Recommended Fuel*2

2.59:1 Mechanical 91 Octane

2.59:1 Mechanical 91 Octane

Gear Ratio Control System Recommended Fuel*2

Propeller Selection(pitch)

13"-25"(R/R)

13"-25"(R/R)

Propeller Selection(pitch)

All propellers are the 3-blade type. please inquire at your local dealer for details of the propeller. *1: Dry Weight: Including battery cable, not including propeller and engine oil. *2: RON: Research method (minimum octane rating) AKI: (R+M)/2 method(minimum pump octane rating ), (Only North America)

Trim Type

L: 121 X: 124*3

BODY COLOUR

Black White

SUZUKI DUAL LOUVER SYSTEM SELF-ADJUSTING TIMING CHAIN SUZUKI ANTI-CORROSION SYSTEM OVER-REV. LIMITER TILT LIMIT SYSTEM WATER DETECTING SYSTEM FRESH WATER FLUSHING SYSTEM DUAL WATER INLET SUB WATER INLET NEW KEYLESS START SYSTEM SUZUKI DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM MOBILE*1 OFFSET DRIVESHAFT 2-STAGE GEAR REDUCTION HIGH ENERGY ROTATION SUZUKI DUAL PROP SYSTEM VARIABLE VALVE TIMING SYSTEM MULTI-STAGE INDUCTION SUZUKI SELECTIVE ROTATION SUZUKI PRECISION CONTROL QUIET OPERATION OVERHEAD TANK AUTOMATIC TRIM*⁴ GAS ASSIST SYSTEM THREE-WAY STORAGE SUZUKI TROLL MODE SYSTEM*2 SUZUKI EASY START SYSTEM LEAN BURN CONTROL SYSTEM DUAL INJECTOR O2 SENSOR FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM SHALLOW WATER DRIVE

90A

80A

75A

90ATH

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Electric*5

Manual

S: 381 L: 508

L: 508

S: 381

S: 381 L: 508

S: 71 L: 72

S: 73*4 L: 74

S: 63 L: 64

L: 70

S: 65

S: 62 L: 63

DF30A: 22.1 DF25A: 18.4 60.4 × 57 DF30A: 5,300-6,300 DF25A: 5,000-6,000 Battery-less Electronic Fuel Injection 1.5 12V 14A Manual Gas Power Trim and Tilt Trim and Assisted Tilt Tilt 2.09:1 Mechanical 91 Octane

Power Trim and Tilt 2.27:1

2.42:1 Mechanical 91 Octane 9”-17”

Manual Trim and Tilt

9”-15”

*3: DF60A only. *4: DF25ATH only. *5: DF25AE only.

FEATURES 100B

30A/25A

S: 381*4 L: 508

72.5 × 76 DF50A: 5,300-6,300 DF60A/50A: 5,300-6,300 DF40A: DF40A: 5,000-6,000 5,000-6,000

5,3006,300

30AQH

S: 381 L: 508

DF60A: 44.1 DF50A: 36.8 DF40A: 29.4

Electronic Fuel Injection

Power Trim and Tilt

30AR

OHC Belt 490

Fuel Delivery System

Power Trim and Tilt

30ATH/ 25ATH

DOHC 12-Valve Chain 941

Electronic Fuel Injection 4.21

30AT/ 25AT

Electric/Manual

L: 508 X: 635*3

Bore and Stroke (mm) 5,000-6,000

60AV/ 50AV

Electric S: 381 L: 508 X: 635*3 S: 102 L: 104 X: 107*3

Valve Train Valve Train Drive Displacement (cm3) 51.5

75 × 85

50ATH/ 40ATH

60ATH

Starting System

L: 508 X: 635

DOHC 16-Valve Chain 1,502 73.6

60A/50A/ 40A

90ATH

60A/50A/ 40A Black White SUZUKI DUAL LOUVER SYSTEM SELF-ADJUSTING TIMING CHAIN SUZUKI ANTI-CORROSION SYSTEM OVER-REV. LIMITER TILT LIMIT SYSTEM WATER DETECTING SYSTEM FRESH WATER FLUSHING SYSTEM DUAL WATER INLET SUB WATER INLET NEW KEYLESS START SYSTEM SUZUKI DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM MOBILE*1 OFFSET DRIVESHAFT 2-STAGE GEAR REDUCTION HIGH ENERGY ROTATION SUZUKI DUAL PROP SYSTEM VARIABLE VALVE TIMING SYSTEM MULTI-STAGE INDUCTION SUZUKI SELECTIVE ROTATION SUZUKI PRECISION CONTROL QUIET OPERATION OVERHEAD TANK AUTOMATIC TRIM*⁴ GAS ASSIST SYSTEM THREE-WAY STORAGE SUZUKI TROLL MODE SYSTEM*2 SUZUKI EASY START SYSTEM LEAN BURN CONTROL SYSTEM DUAL INJECTOR O2 SENSOR FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM SHALLOW WATER DRIVE BODY COLOUR

●=Standard Equip.

○=Optional Equip

30AR

30AQH

30A/25A

60ATH

50ATH/ 40ATH

60AV/ 50AV

60AVTH/ 50AVTH

30AT/ 25AT

30ATH/ 25ATH

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*1: available by using with SMD/SMG4 *2: available by using with SMD/SMG4/Troll Mode Switch Panel *3: DF60A only. *4: available by using with SMG4/SMD, and New S.P.C

36

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

37

SPECIFICATIONS & FEATURES SPECIFICATIONS 20AT/ 15AT/9.9BT Starting System

20ATH/ 20AR/ 15ATH/9.9BTH 15AR/9.9BR

20A/15A/ 9.9B

9.9A/8A

6A/5A/4A

2.5

Electric/Manual

Manual

Manual

Manual

S: 381 L: 508

S: 381 L: 508

S: 381 L: 508

S: 381 L: 508

Electric/Manual S: 381 * 3 S: 381 * 5 L: 508 L: 508 4 X: 635 * X: 635 * 5 S: 52.5 * 3 S: 53.5 * 5 L: 54.5 L: 55.5 X: 57* 4 X: 58* 5 OHC Belt 327 DF20A: 14.7 DF15A: 11.0 DF9.9B: 7.3 60.4 × 57 DF20A: 5,300-6,300 DF15A: 5,000-6,000 DF9.9B: 4,700-5,700 Battery-less Electronic Fuel Injection 1.0 12V 12A

S: 44 L: 45

S: 39 L: 41.5

S: 24 L: 25

S: 13.5 L: 14

OHC Belt 327 DF20A: 14.7 DF15A: 11.0 DF9.9B: 7.3 60.4 × 57 DF20A: 5,300-6,300 DF15A: 5,000-6,000 DF9.9B: 4,700-5,700 Battery-less Electronic Fuel Injection 1.0 12V 12A 12V 6A

OHC Belt 208

OHV Belt 68

Carburetor 0.8 12V 10A 12V 6A

Trim Type

Power Tilt

Manual Trim and Tilt

Manual Trim and Tilt

Gear Ratio Control System Recommended Fuel*2

2.08:1 Mechanical 91 Octane

2.08:1 Mechanical 91 Octane

2.08:1 Mechanical 91 Octane

OHV Belt 138 DF6A: 4.4 DF5A: 3.7 DF4A: 2.9 60.4 × 48 DF6A: 4,750-5,750 DF5A: 4,500-5,500 DF4A: 4,000-5,000 Carburetor 0.7 12V 5A (op.)

Manual Trim and Tilt 1.92:1 Mechanical 91 Octane

7”-12”

7”-12”

7”-11”

6”-7”

Recommended Transom Height (mm) Weight kg*1 Valve Train Valve Train Drive Displacement (cm3) Maximum Output (kW) Bore and Stroke (mm) Operation Range (rpm) Fuel Delivery System Oil Pan Capacity (L) Alternator

Propeller Selection(pitch)

S: 47 L: 48

S: 48 L: 49

DF9.9A: 7.3 DF8A: 5.9 51 × 51 DF9.9A: 5,200-6,200 DF8A: 4,700-5,700

All propellers are the 3-blade type. please inquire at your local dealer for details of the propeller. *1: Dry Weight: Including battery cable, not including propeller and engine oil. *2: RON: Research method (minimum octane rating) AKI: (R+M)/2 method(minimum pump octane rating ), (Only North America) *3: DF20AT/DF9.9BT only. *4: DF9.9BT only. *5: DF9.9BTH only.

●=Standard Equip.

1.8 48 × 38 5,250-5,750 Carburetor 0.38 Manual Trim and Tilt 2.15:1 Mechanical 91 Octane 5.3/8”

○=Optional Equip.

FEATURES 20AT/ 15AT/9.9BT Black White SUZUKI DUAL LOUVER SYSTEM SELF-ADJUSTING TIMING CHAIN SUZUKI ANTI-CORROSION SYSTEM OVER-REV. LIMITER TILT LIMIT SYSTEM WATER DETECTING SYSTEM FRESH WATER FLUSHING SYSTEM DUAL WATER INLET SUB WATER INLET NEW KEYLESS START SYSTEM SUZUKI DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM MOBILE *1 OFFSET DRIVESHAFT 2-STAGE GEAR REDUCTION HIGH ENERGY ROTATION SUZUKI DUAL PROP SYSTEM VARIABLE VALVE TIMING SYSTEM MULTI-STAGE INDUCTION SUZUKI SELECTIVE ROTATION SUZUKI PRECISION CONTROL QUIET OPERATION OVERHEAD TANK AUTOMATIC TRIM*⁶ GAS ASSIST SYSTEM THREE-WAY STORAGE SUZUKI TROLL MODE SYSTEM*2 SUZUKI EASY START SYSTEM LEAN BURN CONTROL SYSTEM DUAL INJECTOR O2 SENSOR FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM SHALLOW WATER DRIVE BODY COLOUR

20ATH/ 20AR/ 15ATH/9.9BTH 15AR/9.9BR

20A/15A/ 9.9B

9.9A/8A

6A/5A/4A

2.5

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THE SUZUMAR INFLATABLE RANGE HAS DOCKED Made to complement The Suzuki Ultimate Outboard Motor.

Reserve online today or visit your local Suzuki Marine dealer for more information.

●

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*1: available by using with SMD/SMG4 *2: available by using with SMD/SMG4/Troll Mode Switch Panel *3: DF20AT/9.9BT only. *4: DF20ATH/9.9BTH only. *5: DF6A only. *6: available by using with SMG4/SMD, and S.P.C

38

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

2024 SUZUKI OUTBOARD MOTORS

39

2024 SUZUK I

Please read your Owners Manual carefully. Remember, boating and alcohol or other drugs dont mix.

Always wear a personal otation device when boating. Please operate your outboard safely and responsibly.

Suzuki encourages you to operate your boat safely and with respect for the marine environment.

Specifications, appearances, e uipment, colours, materials and other items of “SUZUKI” products show in this catalogue are subject to change by manufacturers at any time without notice and they may vary depending on local conditions or re uirements. Some models are not available in some territories. Each model might be discontinued without notice.

Please en uire at your local authorised Suzuki dealer for any such changes. Actual body colour might differ from the colours in this catalogue.

SUZUKI AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED 97-105 Cherry Lane, Lavernton North VIC 3026 ACN 001 828 164 www.suzukimarine.com.au 2024 Suzuki Outboard Motors General Catalogue Part no: 990AM-M139-P0S Printed in Australia, October 2023

OUTBOARD MOTORS GENER A L C ATA L OGU E