NEW SOUTH WALES Pittwater

Enjoy the moment

PITTWATER Peter Le Blang

plfishfingers@bigpond.com

With another lockdown in Sydney it has meant most of us charter operators have been unable to do charters for a long time now. We unfortunately have been restricted when it comes to numbers of people, distances and areas that we could fish, and a lot of the time it just hasn’t been feasible to charge the amounts of money to one customer for a fishing charter.

Hopefully in the very near future this will change. We are all looking ahead over the next month and waiting to be given the green light to do a job that we all love so dearly – showing customers beautiful areas, new techniques and ways to catch fish.

When we are given the green light to go ahead, every day will be precious, as we will not look at our jobs or beautiful areas the way that we used to. Most of us enjoy the company of meeting new people but everyone enjoys our beautiful country, and this will not be taken for granted ever again.

So over these next few years we should all enjoy the moments that we are able to grab when on the water. Some of us will be spending time with family or friends and loved ones catching fish and enjoying the outdoors, with other anglers will be enjoying the peace and serenity of fishing alone.

I am looking forward to the fast-approaching kingfish season along Pittwater and Broken Bay, with the odd trip along the coast. This month we should start to see more kingfish coming from the north with the East Australian Current as it pushes its way south.

Each year we see schools of baitfish getting pushed into Broken Bay as well as Pittwater, and hot on their tails are kingfish as well as other pelagic species that we can all tangle with over the warmer months.

In my area, the first places to see kingfish being caught tend to be Broken Bay at Barrenjoey Head, West Head and towards Lion Island. Working seagulls and seabirds tend to mark the areas that schools of kingfish are feeding at. This surface activity is always exciting and it doesn’t matter how many times you have seen it in your life, your heart races, the adrenaline pumps and expectations climb.

Casting soft plastics and metal lures can be the undoing of many of these fish, and most times matching the size of baitfish they are chasing is crucial to hooking up on one of these hard-fighting, brutal fish.

There are other ways to target these bruisers, and of course live baiting as well as downrigging are great ways to catch good numbers of fish. Yellowtail and slimy mackerel can often be used as well as squid strips.

If you are going to downrig around the surface activity it’s important to make sure you don’t travel through the school and to target fish at the edge of the school whilst casting surface lures. You’ll not only attract fish towards the boat but have some fun with lures at the same time.

After a week or two the surface activity usually moves into Pittwater, making it easy for everyone to find them. It is amazing though that after only a short time of the kingfish being in Pittwater, they seem to change over to preferring squid instead of yellowtail. They will happily feed on small hardyheads or whitebait but yellowtail doesn’t seem to appeal to them on most occasions.

Other species to chase along Broken Bay include flathead and flounder, and jewfish should make their presence known as well. Flathead can be encountered whilst drifting between Patonga and Lion Island whilst using pilchards, fish fillets, prawns or squid strips. Drifting with a paternoster rig and using two hooks will quite often see two flathead come into the surface once a patch of fish has been found. Most of the points around Broken Bay (providing they have some current) should also see a few flathead being caught for those of you who wish to anchor and berley.

The areas to target jewfish include Flint and Steel Reef, Walkers Point, Juno Point, Eleonoras Bluff and the pressure wave between the last two mentioned points. All these areas over next month should see jewfish of varying size being caught. All these areas are more productive around the change of tide, and by using a berley trail you can attract baitfish to your boat, which will bring in the larger fish.

Squid along Pittwater can be caught in all the usual haunts, with some of the better areas being Mackerel Beach, the weed beds at Palm Beach, Careel Bay as well as Coasters Retreat, just to name a few.

Most of the squid will be pretty small so using size 2.0 squid jigs should tempt most. A variety of colours should be ready to use because normally at this time of the year they’ll prefer natural colours one day and then fluoro colours the next.

For those anglers wanting to go offshore, the 50m mark over the sand will traditionally see a lot of blue-spot flathead being caught. Drifting these areas should also see the odd snapper as well.

The deeper reefs from 60-80m of water should also see a lot of activity, with passing schools of kingfish as well as morwong being caught, along with snapper, trevally and so on. Remember to find schools of baitfish hanging around deep in the water column before you start fishing.

So as you can see, this upcoming month should give you plenty of opportunity to enjoy a great deal of things.

Please support your local charter operator because these last few months have been difficult to say the least. Most of us thrive on seeing smiles on faces whilst catching fish and enjoying the scenery. One of the best things for customers is the knowledge they are able to gain whilst on charter. This knowledge can be new areas, new techniques and even using new fishing equipment that you are able to use yourself once back in your own areas.

Hope to see you aboard soon! • Peter Le Blang operates Harbour and Estuary Fishing Charters, phone 02 9999 2574 or 0410 633 351, visit www.estuaryfishingcharters. com.au

A couple of tasty squid destined for the dinner plate.

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Sunny days, calm water and decent kingfish – what else would you need for a smile?

New Angler Opportunities Near Lithgow

Keep An Eye Out For Tagged Trout Marlin Travels From Port Mac To PNG

The hard work of dedicated volunteers from the Wallerawang branch of the Central Acclimatisation Society (CAS) is paying off as two important recreational fishing enhancement projects near completion.

This work involves the construction of an access platform at Lake Wallace, a popular mixed fishery near Lithgow, plus site enhancements at The Mill Pond, an exciting new trout fishery being developed at The Foundations at Portland, about 30 minutes’ drive from Lithgow.

Both projects are supported by the Recreational Fishing Trusts and it’s great to see proactive organisations such as the Wallerawang CAS take the initiative to enhance access for local and visiting fishos.

For more info on The Mill Pond fishery, search the The Foundations Portland online and check projects on the site.

Anglers fishing for trout can help NSW DPI fisheries find out more about trout survival and growth rates in several NSW impoundments.

If you’re lucky enough to catch a tagged trout, forward the tag number, species, length and location to NSW DPI online and search tagged recapture.

Anglers who report details of their tagged catch will receive a lure as a reward for their help.

Tagged trout as part of DPI’s tag recapture program can be found in Ben Chifley Dam, Blowering Dam, Carcoar Dam, Dumaresq Dam, Khancoban Dam, Lake Lyall, Lake Wallace, Malpas Dam, Oberon Dam, Thompsons Creek Dam and Wyangala Dam.

Anglers should keep an eye out for new signs that are being installed at the various impoundments over the coming months.

Bass/Estuary Perch Season Now Open

Following a four-month spawning closure which ceased on September 1 anglers are once again able to take Australian bass and estuary perch in rivers below impoundments and estuaries.

When fishing in these waters a total bag limit of two of each species per person and a total possession limit of four applies, including only one fish over 35cm in length.

The four-month closure protects schools of fish during spawning season in estuaries, with the September 1st opening marking the period where Australian bass and estuary perch return to feeding grounds higher in the catchment.

Fishing laws are designed to protect, conserve and improve our fisheries resources for future generations. Information on freshwater fishing rules can be found in NSW Fisheries printed rules and regulations handbook available at most tackle retail outlets, alternatively download the FishSmart app or check the NSW DPI website online. From time to time NSW DPI receives details of recaptures that come from remote regions of the Pacific Ocean.

Recently, details of a black marlin recapture were emailed to the NSW DPI Tagging program from MRAG Asia Pacific, an independent fisheries management consultancy firm. One of their associate fisheries observers had received the details of the recapture from a local subsistence fisher who was fishing offshore of Rabual, Papua New Guinea. The fish was recaptured on 7 July 2021 and was estimated to be 50kg.

A search of the tagging database revealed that the fish was released offshore of Port Macquarie, NSW, on 10 January 2021 during the annual Golden Lure tournament. The fish was caught and tagged by Newcastle and Port Stephens GFC member Joel Abercrombie, who was fishing aboard The Omen. The Omen team went on to win champion boat for the tag and release category of the competition.

The juvenile black marlin was estimated at 40kg when released. The fish had spent only 178 days at liberty and but was caught more than 1625 nautical miles (~3005km) from its original release location.

Each reported recapture contributes to our understanding of pelagic fish species. If you are lucky enough to recapture a tagged fish, please ensure you report it using our online recapture form which can be found on the NSW DPI website by searching “tagged recapture”.