Fishing Monthly Magazine | April 2022 by Fishing Monthly

• AUTUMN TRANSITION • EASTER HOLIDAY FISHING • Technique Spotlight

Sean Thompson shows us how to get the best out of Easter holiday fishing QLD

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Easter holiday fishing • Lake Macquarie tips and tricks • Starlo: Fishing to stay sane • Sustainability of morwong stocks •

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CONTENTS

OUR COVER April 2022, Vol. 2 No.12 VIC

TAS

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

20 22 24 28 30 32 34 38 40 42 44 46 46 47 48 50

NEW SOUTH WALES Pittwater Sydney North Sydney Rock Sydney South Coffs Coast Hastings Forster Port Stephens Swansea Central Coast Illawarra Batemans Bay Bermagui Tathra New England Rivers Hunter Valley Batlow Albury/Wodonga Lithgow/Oberon Canberra

58 61 60 62 64 65 66 68 68 69 70 71 72 72 74 74 76 77 75 78

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

84 84 85 85 86 88 90 92 94 94 95 95 96 96 97 98 99 98 101 100 101

TASMANIA Offshore Hobart 6

APRIL 2022

From the Editor’s Desk...

80 81

Cara Cummings, WIRF Leader, had a great family day out and caught this beautiful, and very fat, rainbow trout.

SUBSCRIPTIONS STILL POPULAR Every month we get a final report from our online subscription sales portal, iSubscribe. Every month we are heartened by the fact that year on year subscriptions are still continuing to rise. We have always known that there is something about getting your magazine delivered to your home each month in the mail. And despite my personal and our corporate dislike of Australia Post, it seems that most magazines get there safely. Maybe it’s because people are staying home and trying to avoid catching COVID? Or maybe it is the fact that your local newsagent possibly isn’t the exciting place

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Get the best out of holiday fishing this Easter QUEENSLAND

Sean Thompson

With our busy lifestyles and restricted movements over the last couple of years, the thought of a holiday is very

swimmers, surfers and numerous anglers at your favourite fishing locations. This certainly presents challenges, and without a doubt fishing during the busy school holiday periods can be harder than most times.

little fishing towns across Australia. Alternatively, you could head inland and stay at a caravan park at an inland dam or camp by a river somewhere. If you do manage to book in at one of these

there are still certain times and days when the crowds on or around the water can be smaller. Making the effort to get up and start fishing just before the dawn can really be worth it in the holiday periods. Those early starts also don’t have to be quite so early by the time Easter rolls around (or the September holidays) as daylight savings have finished in the southern states and the sun is rising quite a bit later than over summer. The best thing about dawn is that the boat traffic in busy estuary or freshwater dams/lakes is usually pretty thin. Likewise, you may even have the beach to yourself until the first joggers/walkers arrive and they aren’t going to affect your fishing anyway. One thing to be aware of though

Hooked up on a nice golden trevally at Noosa during the school holidays.

Dusk, no crowds, and a double hook-up. enticing. However, parents with school-aged kids know only too well that your holidays are restricted to the busy school holiday periods including Easter,

But all is not lost – there are locations, times and plans you can put in place to avoid, or at least minimise, the impact of the crowds on your fishing results.

locations where you haven’t been before, be sure to do your research first. Search up some articles on the area on the internet, and give the local tackle shop a call about what you can expect. Social media group pages on a particular region can be another source, but be aware, there are a lot of keyboard warriors or so-called experts who either don’t know as much as they think they do, or even take weird pleasure in trying to give as much misinformation as possible. BEST TIMES DURING THE HOLIDAYS Not everyone can book into (or may want to go to) a quiet little location, especially when you consider other family members’ preferences. So if this means you do end up at a popular tourist destination, all is not lost fishing-wise, as

Tailor are a great beach option at dawn in the cooler months. is that on days when the wind forecast predicts a glass-out, the boat ramps, particularly with close access to offshore locations, can still be very busy even at dawn, so get

there an hour or more before you might usually. While maybe not as quiet as dawn, dusk is of course your next best option to be hitting the beach or

Escaping the crowds at night in the middle of a big tourist town. June, September and the Christmas holidays. And for locals in popular holiday destinations, their quiet little town can become very busy with tourists. What this all means from a fishing perspective is that the waterways, beaches and boat ramps at these locations can become very, very busy, especially during the peak times of about 9am-5pm. This means there are jet skis, powerboats, stand-up paddle-boarders, kayakers, 8

APRIL 2022

CHOOSING YOUR HOLIDAY DESTINATION Obviously, when it comes to the choice of holiday destination, the bigger the location the more likely that crowds are going to be a problem. One option is to jump on Google Earth or look at a map and explore up and down the coastline to find some smaller little coastal villages and see if you can book in. You will be amazed at the number of

Finding a spot to fish on a jetty can be tough during the middle of the day!

waterways (provided you have all the correct lighting if you are on a boat). As the sun starts to go down, or that evening chill start to fill the air, most of the families and thrill-seekers on jetskis, powerboats etc. will be heading for home, so this is the time you want to be arriving to set up. Of course, you can check out your intended beach gutter during the day, or if in a boat gather some local knowledge about your intended spot, or just get all your gear and extra rigs ready. Aside from dawn and dusk, weekdays will also be that little bit quieter, even during busy school holidays (with the exception of public holidays). In addition, there are also a few days of the year, which despite being a public holiday, can be a very quiet time on the water or beach. I don’t want to encourage anyone with young children to miss that excitement of

Easter morning with your kids, but if you don’t have young kids, the morning of Easter could be for you. Otherwise, one public holiday that I have fished myself and found surprisingly quiet is New Year’s Day, or at least between dawn and until about mid-morning. I put this down to all the hangovers and the late night seeing in the New Year. So, if you are prepared to have an

fish available to catch. However, the problem many casual anglers have when fishing the beach is they just turn up to the same popular locations that swimmers or board riders do. Often that means these anglers wet a line in the closest spot the track brings them out – which is normally where many of the swimmers can be found, even on unpatrolled beaches. Instead, take a walk a

hundred metres or more away from the crowds to some likely looking gutters. It is worth it. Even during the middle of the day, shallow little gutters close to shore will see legal whiting and bream available if you use fresh live bait like beach worms or yabbies. If you are after bigger fish like tailor, Australian salmon and mulloway target those deeper gutters at the change of light

New Year’s morning at a popular bass dam near Brisbane with only pelicans for company.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! Chasing banana prawns in the ‘mosh pit’. early night or are able to pull yourself out of bed early, you will be surprised just how quiet it can be very early on New Year’s Day! FINDING FISH AWAY FROM THE CROWDS Ok, so we have discussed places to stay, times of day as well as days of the week and year to minimise the crowds. Let’s now turn our attention to particular areas on those days, or even during one of the busier holiday times and places. Beach fishing To me, beach fishing is one of the most underutilized locations when you consider the vast amount of beach available to fish and the many and varied legal size

periods mentioned above. Reef and bay fishing As noted above, on a public holiday with a light wind forecast, the boat ramps nearest to offshore locations can get extremely busy, even at dawn. This means there will obviously be a lot of boats out on the water. However, there is a lot of water out there to fish, even

The results of a good night session when most other people have gone home.

Landing a fish on the shallow side of an island in a river at a popular tourist spot.

in bays or offshore spots close to some of the bigger cities, like Moreton Bay near Brisbane, Port Philip Bay in Victoria or Botany Bay in Sydney. Whilst there are many popular fishing

‘hotspots’ in these locations, even at dawn and dusk these spots can be like a carpark during the holidays. For that reason, it can pay to spend a few hours early in To page 10

APRIL 2022

channel side which can be full of jetskis and all sorts of boat traffic during the holidays. You can then fish the melon holes and slightly deeper drains in the shallows with live baits like worms and yabbies, and catch thumper whiting, bream and flathead with the family. In this same spot, it can be worthwhile pumping yabbies into a sieve at high tide to

From page 9

your trip (or beforehand if you are a local), to try to find your own ‘new ground’. A brilliant way to do this is utilising some chart features on many of the newer charts available for your sounder. For instance, in my new Lowrance HDS live I have been using the ‘shading’ option which shades different areas of the seabed with a different shading category. This basically gives you terrain information on your chart. In addition, I then use my C-MAP Reveal chart to create an additional overlay of depth contours using my own live sonar soundings. When combined, these features can help you pick up isolated little reefs or rises away from the crowds

thoroughfares or your rope is likely to be cut by propellers. Be aware also that ‘share farmers’ (thieves) can be out in force, so if you can, fish close to your pots to keep an eye on them. Another good option is to take some crab pots up those sneaky shallow bays and creeks I mentioned earlier, because few people go up

Small boats or kayaks are a great way to fish the shallows away from boat traffic. catch fish such as bream, flathead, mangrove jacks, grunter, estuary perch or bass (depending on your location of course). A live unweighted prawn, yabby or mullet thrown into these spots can also be deadly. Even during the middle of the day, you can catch fish in these spots – just fish the banks on the ‘shadowed’ side because that is where the fish will be holding. Yet another location you can try in a busy estuary is the shallow side of a sandbank or island opposite the ‘mad’ deep

An electric motor will keep you quiet in shallow, quiet creeks and bays. create a berley trail. You will be amazed at the fish you will catch in such circumstances, even with noise and traffic going nuts behind you on the deeper, busier side. Other locations In freshwater dams, a good spot during the holidays is to fish around heavy structure, such as drowned trees and rocks that the jetskis and

them or can only access them around the high tide. You can place your pots there on a late afternoon high, and return in the morning as soon as the water will allow you on the rising tide. Finally, as the saying goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! In Queensland from around January through to May/June, you can join the

Even in locations close to big cities, you can usually find a quiet patch of beach somewhere. that may well hold fish, especially when the fish are spooked from all the traffic in the more popular spots. Once again though, aim to fish these at the change of light times to maximise your chance of success, and try to be as quiet as possible to avoid spooking the fish when you arrive and while you are fishing there. Estuaries There are a few little tips and tricks you can apply to your estuary fishing to increase your chances of catching fish during the busy holiday periods. One thing you can do if you have a small boat is to track down hidden bays or sneaky little creeks where fish will take refuge from heavy boat traffic during the middle hours of the day. You should move very quietly in these locations using an electric motor while you cast to the edge of weed beds, melon holes, drains or fallen timber. In these shallow bays you can also troll small hardbodies or weighted soft plastic tails with an electric motor to cover more ground. I recall one particular weekend in an 10

APRIL 2022

estuary down on the NSW south coast when a popular Canberra fishing competition was on, so I sought ‘shelter’ in a very shallow hidden bay few people knew about, or were able to take their bigger boats into. Back at the ramp everyone complained of a terrible day on the water except us. My brother-in-law and I had two days in a row of unbelievable flathead fishing on lures in water less

than 2ft. I’ve looked for other such locations at busy holiday locations since. Another option on big tides around the full and new moons is to sneak right up little shallow arms of creeks and rivers in the hour or two either side of high tide. These little creeks are great places for throwing your very lightly weighted soft plastic or little hardbody right into the structure to

Trolling the shallows in a creek at high tide.

Dawn on the beach can give you a nice break from holiday crowds.

skiers will keep well clear of. This will not only be quieter, but is excellent structure to hold the fish. If you are limited to a busy jetty or wharf, use a berley bucket near your bait, and fish unweighted or very lightly weighted. Like the little creeks, the same principle applies to jetties, wharves and even bridge pylons. The fish will hang in the structure around the shadows, so don’t cast way into the distance. CRABBING AND PRAWNING If all else fails, or you just want to increase your chances of a feed, you can try doing a bit of crabbing for sand or mud crabs. Be aware though, don’t leave your pots in channels or busy

packs of boats in the creeks, rivers or bays chasing a feed of delicious banana prawns. You will be amazed how even in this ‘mosh pit’ of boats, most people are good natured and when the prawns are on, you can get a nice feed very quickly! So, there you go. Chasing seafood over the holidays can be a bit tricky but there are times and places to increase your chances of taking home a feed, or just having some fun with catch and release. I hope this helps you to get a few over the busy period. In the meantime, be sure to jump onto my social media pages including Facebook, YouTube and Instagram under the name Ontour Fishing Australia for more tips and reports.

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Lake Macquarie tips and tricks NSW CENTRAL COAST

Jamie Robley

With a giant volume of water and an angling reputation to match, Lake Macquarie is certainly one of the major coastal

old days and can still be tough these days. So just because there are no nets here, it certainly doesn’t mean you can just go out at any time and hook into some great fishing. As well as the big lake providing excellent angling

from fishing there in August. In other words, this place is very seasonal and in order to enjoy what’s on offer, you should match the time of year to the species, technique or location. As a general guideline to begin with, the warmer

The water is at its warmest through this period, and this means that small baitfish, crustaceans and other life is virtually hyperactive. There’s a lot going on and bream, flathead and other fish are often feeding quite aggressively. On the other hand, the months of July, August and September can be extremely tough, with August having a reputation as the worst month along this part of our coastline. During this time the water is very cold and often lifeless in some parts. Fish can still be caught, but you have to be on the ball and be prepared to finish up empty-handed. Having said that, there are options well worth considering during winter and early spring, and the main species worth chasing are tailor, salmon and luderick. However, this time of year can also be good

The lake is home to plenty of flathead like this. They are more likely to be encountered around the shallow margins in summer, and deeper water in winter.

Most fish tend to be found in quite shallow water in the warmer months, and deeper places in the depths of winter. Local angler Glenn Helmers is lure casting for bream here in a shallow bay during late summer, and this spot is about 1m deep. waterways of NSW. Situated between two of the largest cities in the state, it also sees a lot of people on or around the water, fishing, boating or just taking in the views.

options for a variety of species, Lake Macquarie can also be a very tough place to pull fish when things aren’t on your side. Like anywhere around the country or the world, fishing isn’t always

months (from about early October through to the end of May) provide better fishing for common targets like bream, flathead and whiting. We can also throw in flounder, tarwhine, mullet, garfish, crabs and prawns as species worth chasing during these months. The peak angling months for most of the aforementioned fish, and bream in particular, are from early December through to around the middle of April.

Lucy’s Wall, just inside the mouth of Swansea Channel, is one of the more popular shore-based spots. Regardless of the specific spot or which species you’re aiming to catch, Lake Macquarie isn’t always an easy place to extract fish from.

Vibes 30-50mm are the go-to lure for bream from about April until September. This solid bream came from 3m of water near Mannering Park. Since the removal of commercial fishing from the lake 20 years ago, there has been a lot of talk about how dramatically the recreational angling has improved. However, we need to be realistic. I’m old enough to remember what fishing was like when the commercial fishers were here, and whilst I’d say things are better now, fishing was still good in the 12

APRIL 2022

easy, and despite one’s angling prowess or how good a spot is, there’s still an element of luck! With that in mind, this article is all about reducing the tough times and increasing the odds in your favour when fishing around this big body of water. MONTHS AND SEASONS Fishing Lake Macquarie in February is very different

Silver trevally are a common lake species that are much more prevalent during the cooler months. They’re generally a decent size and make for great sport on average bream gear.

for mulloway, silver trevally, bream and bigger flathead. Rather than looking for fish over the shallow flats or in more secluded parts of the lake, it’s often more productive to head over to Swansea Channel or stick to the deeper sections of the lake, adjacent to major points such as Bolton Point, Coal Point and Wangi Wangi. WEATHER PATTERNS The weather also plays a major role when it comes to fishing here. Any large, open body of water like this is obviously at the mercy of wind, regardless of the direction. I’ve been caught out by strong wind while kayak fishing here a few times in the past. Luckily, I was in very shallow water and not too far from shelter, but it’s definitely a situation to avoid. So before planning any sort of kayak or boating venture, the very first step

is to check weather forecasts. By that, I don’t mean just looking at the weather on your phone, which may give a very simplified forecast like ‘fine and sunny with a maximum of 25°C’. You need to find a proper app or website with a detailed forecast, including wind strengths, directions and other finer details. Learning to understand and read

a synoptic chart will also be very beneficial when it comes to wind. Aside from the safety issue, some wind directions are better than others for fishing. In general, the first 48 hours after a southerly hits is normally a productive period to fish, if it’s not too windy. The opposite of this is when the wind is coming from the north

or north-west. These wind directions also correspond with barometric pressure and the synoptic chart. When a southerly hits it normally means a high pressure system is starting to move over us, meaning the barometric pressure is rising. This often makes for good fishing, especially for bream. However, as a high pressure system starts

Mulloway can turn up almost anywhere around the lake at any time of year, but they are more likely to be encountered during the cooler months in deeper water, adjacent to some of the major points.

Some locals despise them, but the author is one who enjoys hooking into the sambos when they enter the lake during winter. It’s very common for salmon and tailor to be found ripping into baitfish together.

moving further out over the Tasman Sea, the rotation of the high pressure over the eastern part of the country makes for northerly or north-westerly wind or airflow. The barometric pressure is now falling, and fish begin to sulk. This is more noticeable with bream, but it also contributes to the mood of most fish to some extent. So if you can possibly try to time an outing with a

light southerly or rising barometric situation, you’ll probably enjoy better fishing than with northwesterly winds and a falling barometer. Another very simple contributing factor which is weather related is temperature. Quite simply, warmer weather during the warmer months will make for better fishing than unseasonal cold snaps. Throughout spring

and summer and into autumn, our weather and temperature varies and it’s to be expected. However, if we experience any sort of temperature which is much cooler than the norm for that time of year, the fish are likely to go quiet. This is particularly noticeable with bream, flathead and whiting. A mild cool change generally doesn’t make much To page 14

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difference, but let’s say it’s November or December and suddenly you find yourself reaching for winter clothing. If that happens there’s a good chance the fish will switch off. If a cold snap moves through during late autumn or winter then it doesn’t matter, because that’s when it’s supposed to be cold anyway. If it’s a warmer month though, fish like it to be warm, not cold! TIDE AND MOON For the most part, there isn’t much in the way of tidal flow throughout the lake, although the current can be extremely powerful through the Swansea Channel. Tidal flow is also very noticeable in Dora Creek, which is the largest feeder creek into the lake, but it’s also apparent in some of the other smaller creeks and bays around the margins of the lake. When fishing for most species, around the majority of the lake, tides don’t make a great deal of difference. However, you certainly need to be

aware of the tides around Swansea, as the larger or higher tides also make for the strongest currents, which in turn can be rather

difficult to fish. Moonlight is another issue that can make quite a difference at times. In general, really bright

The lake is well known for bream fishing, and tournaments are held here. However, if conditions aren’t entirely favourable, the fishing can be extremely tough.

Although it’s possible to find a few tailor during any month of the year, they are much more common from about May through to the end of September.

Some very solid tailor can show up in Lake Macquarie. This specimen may look pretty decent, but much bigger fish aren’t out of the question.

moonlight right on the full moon and a few nights after it tend to make for poor fishing. The light, more than any tidal influence is what makes the difference. So the brighter the moon, the worse the fishing may be. If, however, the sky is very overcast and the moonlight is turned right down, it doesn’t seem to have such an impact. The first few mornings after a bright moonlit night can also be pretty slow most of the time. HOT ZONES Rather than nominating a specific spot, it makes

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more sense to describe the type of area or zones to look for at different times of year, for different species. The lessons learnt here can be applied to fishing anywhere, from Swansea to Dora Creek or from Speers Point to Chain Valley Bay. Through the warmer months, most fish prefer the warmer shallows, around rocky points, large open bays or some of the hidden backwaters dotted around the lake. Bream, flathead, mullet and whiting are particularly fond of the extreme shallows less than 50cm deep. During January and February when water is the warmest, it’s common to encounter lots of fish in water that hardly covers their heads. So from about October through to the following March it pays to concentrate more on quite shallow places. The shallows are normally more productive and full of life early in the morning and later in the day towards sunset. This is when I pick up the majority

of my bream, flathead and whiting whilst kayak fishing. Sure, you can still catch fish throughout the day, but those early and late periods are far more productive. As the weather and water starts cooling off around late April, a large

The big lake is well known for its bream fishing. This solid specimen was caught in early summer by the author in about 1m of water. That’s an ideal depth at that time of year.

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percentage of fish move into slightly deeper areas, often between 1-3m deep. This mid depth zone is well worth concentrating on during April, May and into early June. Things are changing dramatically by July, as water temperatures

Although Lake Macquarie is known to yield very big bream, the majority of fish encountered here are much the same as most East Coast lakes and estuaries. This is a very typical example.

drop. Fish like bream and flathead can still be found in shallow spots at times, but they’re generally more likely in water at least 3m deep, if not more. Bream also become harder to find as we move from mid to late winter, and the lake sparks up with rampaging tailor and salmon. Although things can be quite tough during July and August, you can have a ball by targeting these predators as they zoom around, smashing into patches of baitfish. It’s also not uncommon for mulloway, bream, trevally and even the occasional kingfish to be found under the feeding frenzies, lured in by the scraps and commotion. Each year is different, but some winters I’ve seen amazing feeding frenzies a long way inside the lake that would look more at home in the deep blue ocean.

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Fishing to stay sane! NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.fishotopia.com

As we discovered during the pandemic lockdowns, a lot of us tend to go a little nuts when we can’t get out fishing! But it’s actually no joking matter: our sport can genuinely help maintain your mental health! Depression and anxiety are the world’s leading cause of disability. In Australia, it’s estimated that close to 50% of the population will experience a mental health condition at some point in their lives. That’s every second person. Each year, well over a million Australians experience depression, and more than two million suffer from anxiety. Sadly, those numbers are growing, and they surged during the COVID pandemic. Unfortunately, a tendency lingers in some parts of our society to dismiss mental issues like depression and anxiety as character traits: a weakness of personality marked by an inability to deal with the challenges of life. There are still some whose well-meaning advice to sufferers is to “buck up”, “get over it” or even “harden up”. Others ask: “What have

with a broken arm! Depression and anxiety are real and can affect anyone, at any time. Sometimes, these conditions are triggered by

Dean ‘Hammo’ Hamilton is the affable man-mountain behind ‘Forge Through’: a mental health initiative for first responders and military personal that uses knife-making and fishing as parts of its program.

Matt Tripet is the founder and driving force behind the ‘Fly Program’ initiative, which uses fishing, mountain biking and various other outdoor activities as part of a full spectrum of responses to mental health issues, and which has recently expanded its programs to include women. specific incidents of trauma, grief or stress. More often, there’s no obvious catalyst. The root causes may be chemical, genetic or social, but the end result is very real… and potentially fatal. In more extreme cases,

Size isn’t everything! Men are great at talking about fishing, but tend to be less forthcoming on matters of the head and heart. you got to be depressed about?” Wherever we look there are people in much worse day-to-day situations than ours. It feels almost indulgent for citizens in a country as lucky as Australia to talk about depression or anxiety while those in less fortunate parts of the world go hungry, or flee the horrors of war and oppression. But the fact remains that clinical depression and severe anxiety recognise no boundaries and are rarely a reflection of economic or physical status. They’re illnesses, like any other. Telling someone with depression or anxiety to “pull themselves together”, “toughen up” and “get over it” makes as much sense as offering the same advice to a sufferer of measles, malaria or meningitis… or to someone 16

APRIL 2022

these common mental disorders become truly debilitating, making it impossible for sufferers to function normally, go to

work, or maintain healthy relationships with family and friends. Left untreated, severe depression or anxiety can ultimately lead to self-harm or even suicide. Suicide is an epidemic, especially in the developed world, out-stripping many more obvious causes of death. On average, around nine Australians take their own lives every single day (up from seven a day before the pandemic). Stop and think about that for a moment… It adds up to more than 3,000 souls each year: almost three times the number of people who die on our roads. Those figures don’t include attempted suicides, nor a significant number of unexplained deaths from causes such as singlevehicle accidents on straight stretches of road, at least some of which are most likely attributable to suicide. Staggeringly, three

The author with a beautiful brown trout he caught and released during one of Matt Tripet’s brilliant ‘Fly Program’ residential workshops in the Snowy Mountains.

quarters of all those Australians who take their own lives each year are men. There are probably a few reasons for this statistical anomaly, not least the fact that men tend to choose lethal, non-reversible methods of suicide. But there’s also no denying that most men simply aren’t as well-equipped — emotionally or socially — to either recognise or deal with mental illness, nor as likely to seek help from others in dealing with it. Aussie men are notorious for bottling up their emotions, suffering in silence, and ‘self-medicating’ with alcohol or other drugs. They pay a high price for their apparent toughness. In fact, too many pay the ultimate price. I’ve suffered from bouts of depression and anxiety through a big chunk of my own adult life, and I’ve met plenty of other men who’ve been through similarly dark times. Some are willing to talk about their experiences, others less so. For a lot of us, however, fishing and the great outdoors have played a vital role in dealing with our disorders. But let’s get something straight: fishing on its own can’t cure depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress. It’d be nice to think that it might, but it can’t. Recreational fishing is simply not an effective form of therapy on its own. In fact, just like self-medicating with alcohol or other drugs, fishing can actually end up amplifying the very condition we’re attempting to escape from. If we take our depression or anxiety into our fishing, we run the risk of creating a toxic feedback loop in which the activity itself becomes part of the problem, rather than a component of the cure. Sadly, depressed people tend to make depressed anglers. Negative thoughts and anxieties are easily transferred onto the task at hand, meaning that fishing’s inevitable setbacks and hurdles can actually feed the black dog, rather than driving that cursed hound from our doorstep. Blank days, tangled lines, snagged lures, lost fish, failed trips, social media envy… Let’s face it: our sport carries

its fair share of challenges! All that said, fishing can certainly form a part of any comprehensive treatment strategy. For starters, physical activity and exercise are proven to produce chemicals in the brain that reduce the impacts of depression and anxiety. This link between the activity involved in angling and relief from depression or anxiety is more than a theory. It has been proven in clinical studies. In addition to the beneficial aspects of exercise and exposure to fresh air,

of many of their recovery programs (in concert with other therapies). Two of the best such organisations I know of in Australia are Matt Tripet’s wonderful ‘Fly Program’, and Dean Hamilton’s ‘Forge Through’ initiative for first responders. You can easily get on line and find out more about each of these wonderful organisations, especially if you think that you, or someone you know, might benefit from them. The first and by far the biggest step you can take

Beloved Aussie actor and comedian Garry McDonald knows that the fish don’t have to be huge to make big smiles! Gaz used fishing as part of the recovery process from his highly publicised bouts with depression and anxiety a decade or two ago. the whole angling process demands sufficient focus on the present moment and the intricacies of the activity at hand to help clear our minds of most other things, including negative thoughts, self-doubt, worry and stress. Much like gardening or cooking, fishing demands a hands-on presence in the here-and-now. This is exactly the definition of the new-age concept of ‘mindfulness’. Groups devoted to helping people overcome mental health issues have embraced this notion of ‘mindfulness’, and activities such as fishing now form an integral part

on the road to recovery from any mental health condition is recognising and acknowledging that you have a problem, then discussing it with others: family and friends to begin with, then a health professional like your GP. You also need to understand that you’re not alone… Not by a long shot! Tight Lines. Important Note: If this story has raised any issues with you personally, or given you reason to be concerned for someone you know, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyondblue on 1300 22 4636, or MensLine Australia on 1300 78 99 78.

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Southern

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Small weather windows THE TWEED

Leon McClymont

The rain stopped, the wind subsided and the bluewater pushed in, and the mackerel have been chewing hard. I was lucky enough to hit the water on three consecutive mornings. With conditions offshore looking the best they had been in several months, excitement levels were high. On the first morning we had planned on trolling dead Tweed Bait bonito and garfish, but in our haste to hit the water (and a bit too much time off the water) we had left the esky bag with the bonito in the back of the ute. Oh well, we’ve all had one of those mornings! With the plan now out the window, I quickly made a plan B of grabbing some livies and getting out the hardbodies. Once we had collected our livies we made

our way to the mackerel grounds. Upon arrival the water was a little green for my liking, but we put out a couple of livies anyway.

This trevally couldn’t resist a Halco Slidog.

Ryan Floyd with his first ever Spanish.

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After close to an hour we had no runs or hits, and with plenty of other boats around doing the same thing and no sign of any bent rods, I said

we needed to head wider in search of clearer, blue water. We adjusted our course and went wide. Arriving on the 18-fathom mark I noticed the water clarity was much better. It didn’t take long to confirm the fish were there because we saw aerial Spanish leaps just metres from the boat, and we sounded up a good school. With the livies out the back our confidence levels had risen, and it felt a run was imminent. Our eyes were locked on our rods, just waiting for them to load up. To our disbelief we didn’t get our first run on that pass. It took around an hour of slow trolling to hook up, and we boated a nice-size Spanish mackerel. With a new set of livies out again we kept at it, but after

another hour of slow trolling we couldn’t seem to find a second fish. We even gave the hardbodies a run, but to no avail. I began to become bored and started looking around the boat for new ideas and strategies for one last run before we headed in to get the fish on ice. That’s when I noticed I put the berley bucket in the boat that morning. I dived in to see what it would hold, and just like a gift from the gods I found an old frozen bonito rigged on a chin weight that I had trolled on different occasions, and just put it back in the berley bucket and refroze. The condition of the bonito wasn’t the best, but I thought I could get it to swim. With a quick pre-swim we sent it back. Now with only one bait out I thought it couldn’t hurt to throw a lure out also, but before I could get the lure in the water I heard that that noise we had been waiting for: pppzzzzzzzz! The line was peeling off the reel and we were tight. I had Ryan Floyd on board that morning, and with a first blistering run we got the fish boat-side and he managed to land his first Spanish. With that, we headed straight in. The next morning I had learnt from my previous mistake, and put the esky and bait in the boat. Now armed with the best bait, we headed straight to the 18-fathom mark where we were at the morning before. We quickly

Nathan Thomas presenting his Spanish mackerel. head shakes that the Spanish provide when trying to shake to hooks. With a classic high five we celebrated his first ever Spanish and reset our baits. We ended up landing four fish, and it was an epic session. The next morning I had Nathan Thomas on board – an avid land-based Tweed Valley river and estuary specialist. He taught me a lot back in the day and relit my fishing fury. It was good to have him on board and show him a style of fishing he wasn’t used to, and to impart what I had learnt over the years. Remember, no one knows it all and you can always learn something from other anglers. I still make mistakes and ask questions,

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got our chin-weighted bonitos out the back and set our pace at around 3-5 knots. It didn’t take long and we had our first run. I had Ryan Ziets on board, he was on the end of the rod and the smile on his face said it all. He couldn’t get enough of the sound of the drag screaming, and the erratic

and you should too. That way, you’ll learn and succeed more often. So the baits were out once again, and just like clockwork we hooked up on our first pass. Once that fish was on the end of the line, Nathan made short work of the job and bought it in like a pro, no need to worry about

that part when he has the rod in hand. We ended up boating 4 fish that morning and were back in by 10am. Over the three morning sessions we went 10/10 on the mackerel and here are the stats: 5x Spanish on slow trolled bonito; 2x Spanish on hardbodies; 2x Spanish on livies; and 1x spotted mackerel on slow trolled garfish. At time of writing this the east coast is experiencing more rainfall and the rivers are swollen and dirty once again, so the troll gear is back on the shelf and the land based jew gear is out. See if I can upgrade that P.B. The longtail tuna should be showing up any day now, haven’t seen or heard of many catches in the area and believe they are holding up in Moreton and Hervey Bay once they arrive you can beat they will be putting anglers shoulders to the test smashing baits and lures meant for mackerel. Wahoo, black marlin, and yellowfin are showing up in close on the 18fathoms but are mainly targeted between the 36fathoms and 100fathoms. Snapper, pearlies and good size amberjack have also been taken on the 36 and 50fathom marks as of late so don’t forget these species whilst all the attention is on the pelagics has we all know they can be there one day gone the next. The rivers and estuaries have been fishing well with reports of plenty of flathead up around the old piggery and flats around Chinderah bay and Terranora Creek. The whiting are on the chew on baits like prawns, worms and yabbies around Ukerebagh island and back of the golf course. Still plenty of mangrove jacks being caught also on strips of mullet and baits alike. With the dirty water again flushing out of the river the jew and GTs will push in to feast on the free offerings being pushed out by the fresh.

Southern

OLD

Good catches offshore GOLD COAST

David Green

April is usually a productive month on the offshore grounds off the Gold Coast, and it’s one of the better months to chase blue marlin on the wider grounds. The East Australian current starts to slow down a bit, and large, productive eddies often form beyond the continental shelf. This year the current has been particularly strong, sometimes running at up to 4 knots. Beyond the 100m line there is always a chance of finding a blue marlin, but most of the productive water is found between the 200

few marlin in attendance as well. While most of the fish in this deeper zone tend to be blue marlin, there are also quite a few striped marlin and some solid black marlin as well as wahoo, yellowfin tuna and dolphinfish (mahimahi). Trolling large skirted lures on 37kg tackle is the preferred method, and most of the blue marlin encountered are around 140kg. These fish have one of the most spectacular first runs you will ever see, grey hounding out of the water as they take several hundred metres of line. On the closer grounds the black marlin have generally moved on, but there are still a few striped and black marlin to be caught by live baiting the deeper bait schools at

Spanish mackerel run should be in full swing this month, and Spanish and spotted mackerel should be in good numbers on the Gravel Patch, Mermaid Reef and Palm Beach Reef. The recent floods will take a while to clear, but when clean water returns there should be good fishing. Deep trolling live baits or slow trolling rigged dead baits is generally the most reliable method of catching the bigger run of Spanish mackerel. If the fish are thick in the surface layers, trolled minnows can also be quite effective at times. According to Fisheries research, Spanish mackerel are at less than 17% of their base stock and it’s likely the fishery will be increasingly restricted in the future. I

A quality mulloway caught on a trip with Lucky Strike Charters. and 400m lines. This marks the start of the continental slope. Schools of striped tuna, flying fish and sauris commonly school in this area, and there are always a

spots like Deep Trag and Spot X. As the water starts to cool down a bit, increasing numbers of striped marlin often turn up in April. Closer to shore the

find the conclusions to this study don’t match my observations; there seem to be plenty of mackerel around this year. April is also a good

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Spanish mackerel are in good numbers at the moment. month to try for wahoo off the Tweed coast. The Nine Mile Reef is the most famous wahoo spot in the area, and when the current is running it can be extremely productive. There are a variety of effective methods, with the first being high-speed trolling using metal headed lures such as Hex Heads. I usually run these at a troll speed of 10-12 knots. The strikes can be spectacular, and most of the wahoo caught in April are solid fish from 12-18kg with the odd bigger fish encountered. Trolling live tuna is another good method, and trolling bibless minnows and hardbodied lures is also effective at times. These fish are also susceptible to spinning using large stickbaits. Bottom fishing traditionally improves this month as the water cools slightly and the current slows. The 50-fathom reef should produce squire and pearl perch, and closer inshore on the 36-fathom reef there should be a few squire, parrotfish and teraglin. Deep jigging using metals and soft plastics can produce kingfish, amberjack and samsonfish. If the current slows there should be good opportunities to try

deep dropping for bar cod and flame snapper. RIVERS AND ESTUARIES April is a transition month in the estuaries between summer and winter fish species. As the water cools, a lot of fish start to move up onto the flats and there are generally a lot of prawns found throughout the whole system. Whiting are a good target species this month. I’ve recently had some good success casting unweighted yabbies on the flats as the fish move up on the first of a run-in tide. It isn’t always easy, but when using 2lb braid and light 3lb fluorocarbon leader, an unweighted yabby can be cast to feeding whiting in the shallows. It is an interesting way to fish and can be very productive. It’s important to give the fish plenty of time to get the bait down before striking. Some of the better whiting have been between over 40cm long. The recent floods are going to take a while to clear but the estuaries should be excellent for fishing when things settle down. As I write this the entire Broadwater is a sea of mud. April is a good month

to chase crabs and prawns. The run of banana prawns in the southern end of Moreton Bay has been excellent up until the recent flood, and the prawns have been quite large. It is also a good month to chase mud crabs in the Pimpama River, and the recent flood has definitely moved the crabs out of the shallows. Sand crabs can also be found in numbers in the central Broadwater, from Crab Island to Tipplers. Work your pots in depths from 4-7m close to the eelgrass beds. Fresh fish frames are the best bait for sand crabs, although mud crabs also like fresh chicken frames. There should be a few flathead about as the water clears up, and quite a few big fish will be up on the flats chasing whiting and mullet in the shallows. The flathead fishing starts to improve from April onwards. Mangrove jacks start to move towards the Seaway area in April before the bigger fish move offshore. Small live baits fished close to the rocks at the north wall of the Seaway can produce some big jacks this month. There should also be a few school mulloway around in both the Seaway and Jumpinpin entrances.

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Southern

OLD

What to chase after the rain JUMPINPIN

Bo Sawyer

At the time of writing, South East QLD has experienced some pretty intense rain, which is going to really

us to change our tactics a little bit. The best fishing will be found in the lower reaches, where the tides will bring in the cleanest and saltiest water. Other ideal locations will be river mouths and

found myself improving my angling skills the most when the fishing is hard. Just be careful when driving around because there will be a fair bit of debris floating around. Anyway, that’s enough yapping from me. Let’s get into what’s biting. The prawn and crab fishos will be licking their lips after this downpour. Crabs should fish well this month anywhere from the Logan down to Jacobs Well. Fresh bait is best. Just north of the powerlines should see plenty of prawns filling up your top pockets, but

I can’t stress enough how well the rest of the system produces them as well. I’ve been seeing thousands of them flicking everywhere, and also good shows on my sounder, so don’t just give up if you’re not catching them in your usual spot. Just drive around and do some sounding. The flathead bite has been on and off, and I’ve found them to be more active when there’s little wind and a high barometer. I’ve been fishing for them with soft plastics personally, but pilchards, fresh prawns and

Nikki with a very healthy whiting caught on a live bloodworm.

Laurie with a few nice whiting caught on live bloodworms from Jacobs Well Bait & Tackle. stir the entire Jumpinpin system up. As much as I hate this weather (and I’m not the only one), it will set up very favourable conditions coming into winter. For now though, we are left with fresh and dirty water, which will require

also deep holes, where the water will be saltier. Dirty water will fish better for bait than lures, but unfortunately the bait will bring a lot of vermin such as the dreaded catfish. Personally, I love the challenge of fishing tough conditions, and I’ve

Rob landed this cracker flatty flicking soft plastics.

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live bait will get them biting as well. I’d be focusing my efforts more towards the Pin mouth, Kalinga and also Crusoe Island down to Tipplers because the water

quality is usually better along here. Work drop-offs and drains on the low, and push up onto the flats and/or mangrove lines on the high. Whiting have still been firing. Sandbanks around Jacobs Well out to the lagoons on Straddie have been fishing well on live worms and yabbies. Try to keep your bait fresh by changing the water frequently, and keep it out of direct sunlight so the bait doesn’t go soft. The tailor have been going absolutely nuts some days. I caught around 15 good-sized ones along Kalinga Bank just recently and got bitten off by one that would have been a good 60cm. There’s been some real quality fish amongst the smaller ones. I was using a paddle tail soft plastic, however they will smash

small metal spinners and vibes. If you fancy bait then use pilchards or whitebait. If you find big bait balls or see birds diving, it’s on! In the coming weeks, you can look for jewfish (mulloway) around the Pin mouth and along the deeper water off Swan Bay. There should be a few around the clean water line pushing in with the high tide. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve found when the dolphins are around the jewfish really shut down. Anyway, that’s it from me. I hope you all stay safe out on the water, and remember to keep an eye out for branches and other debris while you’re out there. Tight lines. • To see more of my fishing adventures on Instagram, follow The Bobo Boat (@ thebobo_boat)

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Greg with a good-sized snapper. It’s always a nice surprise getting these inshore. There should be a few around in the coming months.

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Southern

OLD

Expect good fishing after floods SOUTHERN BAY

Nick Whyte

There’s been plenty of rain around the last month and the run off from the floods and continued storms has really messed up the southern bay. Once the dirty water starts to settle down we should see some really good fishing in the following months. There’s not a lot to report from the last month but looking forward we should see a lot of movement with mud crabs. There may be an opportunity for prawns in the northern part of the bay in areas around Nudgee. Fishing should be concentrated on areas closer to bar entrances or the bay from Peel Island North to try and get some reasonable water quality. It’s a great time to try and target mulloway around the

Sam Hitzke with a nice Jumpinpin flatty.

Using vibration baits, like the Zerek Fish Trap, will help get the bites in the dirty water.

A McArthy paddle-tail was the undoing for this cod.

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Jumpinpin bar and Brisbane River mouth. Large paddle-tail soft plastics, like the McArthy 6” paddle-tails are perfect with lots of tail action to attract the predatory fish in the area. Live baits are also a great option.

Don’t be scared of using bigger baits of 20cm+. Fishing for whiting can be quite productive in the dirty water. Using fresh blood.worms and being patient with your baits is the key. Once again try areas close to the Jumpinpin bar with a little cleaner water and around the powerlines and bottom end of Russell Island when the water clears a little. Flathead fishing will be best close to the Jumpinpin bar area or the Amity banks up towards the south passage bar. Try to use noisier lures in the dirtier water with vibes and large paddle-tails or trolled lures, like the Zerek Tango shad, can be a little more productive in the 0-2m of water. Look for cleaner water areas with dirty water lines being areas to concentrate on. Fishing areas with good amounts of bait is also a big step in the right direction. Try using more bright colours to get the contrast in the dirtier

water as well. Tuna and mackerel will be looking for the cleaner water. Rainbow and Rous channels may hold a few fish on the last half of the run-in tide. Try from Harries north and along the eastern side of the bay. The birds will be their give away sign. Use smaller 20-30g slugs to match the hatch. There’s a lot of mac tuna in the bay that aren’t that good on the table but great sports fish. It may take a bit of time to locate some longtail but worth it if chasing a feed. Sometimes you’ll get these guys feeding on bigger stick baits but are usually quite finicky in the bay. Once the dirty water

clears a little, the bay islands shallows should really fire. Juvenile snapper, sweetlip and bream will have plenty of bait to feed on. Bird and Goat islands, South West Rocks and northern ends of Coochie and Macleay will make for some fun fishing. Fishing from two through to about 10-12ft along the reef edges will be productive for those pan-sized fish. Concentrate on areas with a reasonably sharp drop off the reef and exposed to a bit of current. Look for the jut outs in the reef. Hopefully that will help you put a couple in the esky over the coming month. Tech it easy.

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APRIL 2022

Casey Murdock (16yo) caught this 3lb yellowbelly while fishing at Undulla Creek.

Aaron Wilk with a nice pan-sized juvenile snapper.

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Southern

OLD

Floods deliver more baitfish BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

As the weather cools down over the coming month, anglers will notice a slight change in the more prominent species. However, there will still be a broad array of fish and crustaceans on offer throughout Moreton Bay and filtering waterways. The mornings and evenings will be somewhat cooler, and the daylight hours will begin to shorten. The floods have altered the fishing opportunities somewhat, however there will still be good fishing this month for prominent species including longtail tuna, snapper, threadfin, prawns, sweetlip, mulloway and school mackerel.

to get ahead of them, then cut the motor to wait for them to bust up nearby, as their direction of movement is more predictable. Mostly they have fallen for smaller chrome slugs to around 30g but at times they will engulf quite large offerings. You just have to keep trying different profiles until you get a result. These can include chromed slugs and slices, jigheadrigged soft plastic jerk shads, stickbaits, pencil poppers, GT Ice Creams, baitfishprofiled flies and weighted casting minnows. Birds are a good indication that some form of surface activity is about to take place. Birds will often follow individual tuna just waiting for them to push baitfish to the surface. The height that the birds are above the water is basically a mirror image of the depth below

Andrew recently caught this quality snapper out from the Brisbane River. Their numbers should be healthy over the coming months due to increased nutrient levels inshore. LONGTAIL TUNA There have been decent numbers of quality longtails throughout the bay in recent months. Anglers commonly find schools along the edges of the shipping channels, the northern side of The Paddock green zone, Middle Bank, along the front of Bribie Island and out from Deception Bay. Sometimes the schools are fairly substantial, with 20-30 fish in each. More commonly in recent years they have been in smaller numbers, smashing baitfish randomly. In mid-February I often found them along the edges of coral spawn in the main current line on a falling tide. This often makes it easier 30

APRIL 2022

the water that the baitfish are. Therefore, birds will give you a good indication of when the longtails will surface and smash baitfish, thereby allowing you to jockey into casting position. Additionally, birds can be seen from a long distance away which makes searching for tuna and other pelagics a lot easier. Whilst travelling throughout Moreton Bay it definitely pays to have a 20-30lb spin rod rigged and ready for when you come upon some pelagic action. Live baiting is another great way to score a few longtail tuna. You can drift along the current lines, deploy baits adjacent the shipping channel beacons or

in areas that hold bait, such as the Benowa Track area and along the Comboyuro and Cowan ledges. Slimy mackerel, yakkas, cowanyoung, white trevally, pike and even grinners can be used. I like to have one bait within a couple of metres of the surface and another mid-water. I commonly employ a twin snelled circle hook rig with the leading hook pinned through the nose of the fish and the trailing hook pinned lightly through the skin near the tail. You should fish with your overhead or Baitrunnerstyle reels in freespool with the ratchet on and just enough tension to prevent an overrun when the strike comes. Once the tuna has taken the bait and line is playing out, engage the reel and allow the tension to take up. You can also wind the reel handle but do not strike as you would do when using conventional J-pattern hooks. When fished correctly like this, the circle hook will set in the corner of the mouth where it is highly unlikely that you will get rubbed off during a long fight. At the time of writing, it is hard to predict whether there will be good numbers of longtails around during April because waters will still be discoloured from the flooding in late February. There should be healthy baitfish numbers in the bay but the water clarity will still be low. The eastern and northern areas of the bay will likely be your best bet. PRAWNS Prawning had been excellent throughout most of January and February, and only time will tell whether the late February flood has put a halt to the productivity for the rest of the year. Before the flood, the regular rainfall forced them out of the creeks and rivers and out into Moreton Bay. However, flooding will usually push them well out to sea. The lower reaches of the Brisbane and Pine River holds some decent schools early in the year, however more open areas of the bay, such as out from Pelican Park at Clontarf, Nudgee and the southern bay island spots such as Jacksons Hole, Salt Works, Giants Grave, The Powerlines and the eastern end of the channel between Lamb and Karragarra Islands generally fire around April. Prawns will commonly lift out of the mud and silt around the changes of the tide, but the action can even start a few hours before the change at times. Different locations will often prawn better at different times, but generally if you are there between an hour before to two hours after the change

then you are in with a good chance. When the prawns are on in an area there will be large numbers of boats jostling around and casting nets. I generally find most people getting amongst them and unlike fishing, a large number of boats congregated in an area doesn’t shut the action down. A good quality 12ft top-pocket only cast net is ideal for this pursuit. You may need to add an extension rope for some areas of the southern bay islands which can be in excess of 17m deep, such as The Saltworks. I have been using a Pro Throw 12ft top pocket-only net for more than four years now, and it has performed well and has lasted due to having much heavier duty mesh than most other production nets. Despite the last month or so being almost hopeless for prawning, we may see some of these tasty crustaceans return to the deeper holes around the bay islands throughout the month. You are not going to find them sitting at home so get out and have a look around. CRABS After the flooding in late February, it took a while for it to settle down again for sandies in the bay. Results have been mixed, but those willing to move their pots around a bit have generally scored some decent catches. The deeper areas have crabbed the best, especially those on the eastern side of the bay where the water quality has been better on the higher tidal stages. The deeper edges of the banks in the Rainbow Channel and Rous Channel plus around

Chris with a solid flathead taken around Mud Island whilst chasing snapper. the Sand Hills area have been a good option in the southern bay. Further north, I would assume that the Comboyuro and Cowan Ledge would be worth a try. The mud crabs have been a good option in recent weeks after they were well and truly flushed out of all creeks and rivers and out in the main bay. They will gradually make their way back up into these systems but they have been a regular score for those setting pots in the lower reaches of the river systems and even as far out into the bay as Mud Island. Some people have been walking

February saw some quality prawning action with plenty of big bananas like these, which were part of a catch from the Nudgee area. It will still be worth looking for prawns around the southern bay islands during April.

the flats and scooping up the larger bucks with a landing net. Night sessions are often ideal for this, and a highpowered headlight will assist in locating the dark shadows as they slowly move across the shallows. This can be extremely hard work at times though, with hours of trudging through mud to score a few legal bucks. An easier approach is to set a few safety pots baited with fish frames, whole mullet, chicken carcasses and other baits in likely areas where crabs will travel and feed. These include steeper drop-offs, gutters, holes and drains leading from the mangrove expanse. Remember to check that your crabbing apparatus meets current regulations, ensure you have a measuring device with you and that you know the relevant size and bag limits for the various crab species. SNAPPER AND SWEETLIP With such an enormous flush of nutrients into the bay from the February floods, I am predicting that the snapper fishing should be good throughout the coming months. Higher nutrient levels promote increased baitfish presence, and also results in larger fish hunting in shallower water due to the lower clarity in which they feel less conspicuous. After the 2011 and 2013 floods the fishing in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and around the bay islands was top notch for snapper and many other species, especially mid-year. Dirtier water also results in a more aggressive bite

Southern

OLD

because it makes hunting more difficult for all predators. Usually if they can see potential prey they will smash it. The usual offerings will all work, with many anglers using jighead-rigged soft plastics and soft vibes when fishing around the bay islands and artificial reefs. Micro jigs are handy for probing deeper areas when the fish are holding directly below the boat. Trolling deep diving bibbed minnows is a good way to cover ground, and works well around the fringes of the bay islands and shallower artificial reefs such as near Peel, Scarborough and Coochiemudlo. Baits are also a great way to score a few quality fish, especially live offerings such as yakkas, slimy mackerel, pike, squid, small grinners and banana prawns. The struggling vibrations emitted by live offerings will entice predators in from some distance away. Simple rigging with a single suicide pattern or circle hook will work well for the smaller baits. A twin hook snelled rig is much better than ganged hooks when presenting the larger live offerings. Use just enough lead to get the baits into the strike zone, which is generally the lower third of the water column for snapper. With the dirtier water around during April, the snapper

will be less particular with leader thickness, but 20-40lb is all you should need. There will also be great numbers of grass sweetlip around over the coming month or so. They are always more common after serious rainfall, and April is one of the better months for them anyway. These will react to the same approach as snapper and can be randomly caught in the same areas. However, I

generally find it’s better to fish a little wider of hard underwater structure, where the softer bottom and aquatic vegetation is dispersed amongst the reef and rubbly areas. The eastern side of Green, western and northern sides of Mud and all around the reef edge at Peel are worth trying. Coffee rock areas are also prime locations, and several spots in the Rous and Rainbow channels will produce

sweetlip as well as tuskfish with regularity. I like pieces of fish fillet from pike, gar, grinners, mullet, bonito and tuna (especially salted) as well as fresh squid strips and heads for targeting grassies. I think the next few months will offer some excellent fishing for both snapper and sweetlip throughout Moreton Bay, with anglers getting good catches in many shallow water areas.

Cooling water temperatures and healthy baitfish numbers should result in some quality mulloway being caught in the coming months.

MULLOWAY With larger numbers of baitfish in the rivers and estuaries, as well as cooling water temperatures, mulloway will be a good option over the coming month or two. The lower reaches of the Brisbane River and the artificial reefs are good places to concentrate your efforts. Casting lures or soaking live baits will be your best bet, but dead offerings such as fillet baits, pilchards, whole squid and others will produce. Mulloway will likely be found around the fronts of the major jetty and wharf terminals, prominent bottom structure such as wrecks, ledges and deep holes as well the leads beacons at the mouth of the Brisbane River. The dredge holes at the mouth of the Brisbane River and the declines into the main riverbed are ideal places to anchor and deploy live baits such as herring, prawns, mullet and pike. Casting lures to the fronts of the jetties and wharfs, allowing them to sink to the bottom and then hopping them down the decline is another proven method. Jighead-rigged paddletail and crustacean plastics are ideal for this. Soft vibes also work well, and I have had great success on the Samaki Thumpertail and Vibelicious

in the whitebait, pink head chartreuse, slimy mackerel, motoroil orange and UV mullet colours. The lit areas around jetties, restaurants and other bankside buildings will begin to fish well as the water cools down. These upriver spots should start to produce both mulloway and threadfin salmon for anglers venturing out during darkened hours. CONCLUSION The late February floods definitely decreased the fishing opportunities over the last month or so, but we should see an improvement during April. At the time of writing, I predict that anglers should still be able to score well on mud crabs, mulloway, snapper, sweetlip and numerous other species – but that’s only an educated guess. Pelagics such as longtail tuna and school mackerel are still possibilities in the eastern bay if water clarity has begun to improve, because the baitfish prominence will be a good enticement for them. The estuaries will still be a little tough except out towards the entrances, but you will still be able to score a few flathead, bream and other species. April fishing will be on the improve and we should see some quality angling in the future months, so get out onto the water and have a go.

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Southern

OLD

Post-flood tactics NORTHERN BAY

Tackle World Lawnton

The recent flood event the South-East Queensland region has received has most defiantly given our local waterways a big shake up, pushing massive amounts of fresh water out into the bay. Even though the floods have

to more time on the water! ESTUARY A lot of our resident estuary species will be making their way back home after recent Brisbane flood events. With this in mind, it would still be recommended to be fishing the more downstream stretches of our rivers and creeks, along with possibly timing fishing outings around

effective. When fishing these areas you should fish light line and close to structure, and don’t be afraid to bump those lures into the pylons and rock on the retrieve! If you are finding you’re getting a lot of taps but not hooking up, a pause is generally a great way to get full commitment from a bream chasing your crankbait down. Soft plastics

Snapper catches will increase as the water cools.

The floods will definitely have an impact on how we fish in April. slowed down the fishing in the short term, it’s given our waterways a muchneeded flush and almost a reboot in a way. If the waterways follow similar trends to 2011 we can look forward to some excellent fishing to come in the Moreton Bay region in the coming years. In the meantime, when it comes to techniques and fishing

the high tide where we will see a higher salinity level in the water. We can’t forget our dams are still quite high, so it’s expected to see a few more fresh water flushes in the near future. This month we will see good numbers of bream schooling around deeper bridges and structures, as well as some of our inshore reefs and rubble along the Redcliffe

Marley with a nice creek bass before the floods hit. locations, we have a great opportunity to think outside the box, change things up and discover newly-created fishholding areas. Regardless of recent rain events, April is always an exciting time of year, being the transition to the cooler months. We can expect a few of our favourite winter species to start to show up, along with more consistently calmer weather, hopefully translating 32

APRIL 2022

Peninsula, feeding up in preparation for their spawn in the coming months. This is generally a great time to run into some of the trophy-sized bream on offer due to higher aggression when feeding. A lightly-weighted strip bait drifted along bridge pylons or over a rocky area is a deadly presentation. For the lure guys, slow rolling crankbaits along bridge pylons and over the reef is very

are often another great lure of choice to fish these structures. A good approach is to fish small 2-2.5” grubs and paddle tails lightly rigged and hopped around structure. Expect to run into a great range of by catch fishing these areas at this time of year. Anything from the likes of flathead, snapper, grassy sweetlip, cod, tailor and even the elusive mangrove jack are all fair game! DAMS/FRESHWATER With the recent drastic rise and fall of water levels in our local dams, it’s hard to predict what the fish activity will be like. A lot of the bass out of Lake Samsonvale (North Pine Dam) appear to have gone over the wall in the recent spill. Those fish that have remained will probably be slightly uncomfortable at the moment due to the fluctuation of water levels, temperature changes, pressure changes as well as changes to vegetation and habitat in the water. The expectation is a lot of fish will have moved to deeper water to find more consistent conditions, and they may be somewhat off the chew. In this situation, reaction baits like TN60s, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and rattling trolling lures can be enough to annoy the bass to bite. Without certainty of the bass’ activities, it’s always a good idea to mix things up until a pattern is found on the day. Considering the amount of fish that have come out of our dams recently, creek fishing could be a great way to pick up large numbers of

hungry bass. The Youngs Crossing area as well as the upper reaches of the North Pine River would be a fantastic place to start. Smaller presentations like chatterbaits and crankbaits are generally great options. BAY With the water starting to cool down, this is the time of year to start dusting off the snapper rods and get out into the bay. The bay islands, artificial reefs, wrecks and offshore reef grounds will be your best bet, with low light periods providing heightened activity. Start shallow at first light and move out to deeper water as the sun rises. Snapper can be caught on a large variety of techniques on both lures and baits, and are a great fish on the table. The longtail tuna will continue to terrorise schools of baitfish in the northern bay through this month. Not only are they an excellent sportfish but they go great on the table, and are often a favourite choice for sashimi. The longtails cop a lot of pressure in the bay at this time of year, and are quite tuned into the sound of a boat motor or even a lure hitting the water. A lot of anglers see tuna disappear

as soon as they are within casting range. A stealthy approach is the most effective. Pick the direction of a school and cut the motor a distance in front of their path, waiting for them to come to you. Casting past the

school rather than into it and burning the lure back through can also help your chances of not spooking them. Generally, the tuna will be feeding on small baitfish so matching that profile with your lure is key!

A mud crab haul before the floods. The muddies will be spread out now.

Bream will be schooled in numbers this month.

Smaller stickbaits and slugs are effective, but sometimes they’ll still spook the schools on impact. A jerkshadstyle soft plastic in the 3-4” range is very effective as a subtle presentation, and will generally get the bite when other lures can’t. • For more up to date information on fishing in and around Brisbane call into the guys at Tackle World Lawnton and they can point you in the right direction. The friendly staff at Tackle World Lawnton cater to all levels of experience and offer the widest range of brands at the best prices. They are located at 640 Gympie Road Lawnton (07) 3205 7475 or find us on Facebook and Instagram.

2294 sandgate rd, Boondall 4034 QLD 07 3265 8000 info@nsmarine.com APRIL 2022

Southern

OLD

Hunting for trophy-size fish NOOSA

Peter Wells

Weather conditions have been a little hit and miss but there have been plenty of windows for anglers to head offshore. There still seem to be plenty of pelagic activity in the Bay and the closer reefs. Mackerel are in good numbers, along with tuna (longtail and yellowfin). They seem to be feeding

shallower reefs have been working really well. Give the Duo Realis cranks a go as these lures will swim down to 20ft or more depending on the line you are using. Sunshine Reef has been fishing very well with some great trout, snapper, sweetlip, pearl perch, cobia and mulloway all on the chew. Fishing hard to the reef with live baits has been the most productive. Anglers have also had success fishing a paternoster rig with a bait on

Zane Gordon with a monster 60cm+ mangrove jack taken in the dead of night, which was quickly released. on larger baitfish, so bigger slugs and smaller stick baits have been ideal. For the bait anglers, pilchards or garfish have worked well when fished through a wellmaintained berley trail. For those that are throwing slugs the Mustad Mezashi Casting jig has been very popular in the 40g size. Those that love fishing the reefs have been doing well with plenty of early season snapper on the chew, these fish are around the 50cm mark so ideal for a family feed. For those that like to try things a little different, deep diving crank bait style lures slow trolled over the

Boat d e r u t a e F

one hook and a plastic on the other. A lot of the time the smaller fish will pick the bait to pieces before the big fish get to it, have the plastic there will keep you in the game when that bigger reef fish comes along. Go for a lighter sized jighead so the plastic will swim that bit better. For those that want to do the run up to the ground off Double Island there has been plenty going on. Pearl perch, bigger snapper, red emperor and even the odd nannygai have been on the chew from the bottom. Again, the pelagics have been in good form with some of those big Spanish catching

anglers unaware and blasting off into the distance. These fish can sometimes be 30kg or more, so they do take a bit of stopping. Tin Noosa River has been really firing for flathead at the moment, we have seen plenty of fish over the 60cm mark over the last month with some fish touching 80cm. Small live fish bait or live prawns worked around the drop offs has been the easiest way to pick up a big lizard. Some of the more dedicated flathead anglers are trying larger soft plastic with bigger paddle-tails, like the Keitech in the 5” and 6.5” working well. With plenty of rain over the summer season the jacks have been on the chew. These fish have amazing eyesight and love a bit of dirty water giving them cover and will quite often be out feeding even in the middle of the day. Live baits will always stand you in good stead for boating a great Noosa River jack but if you love being sporting about it there is nothing better than picking one up on a lure. Lures that have been getting the job done have been the Smith Cherry blood, Jackall Squirrels and the Lucky Craft Pointers. Any of these lures in a red or part red colour have been a real favourite and have all claimed fish. The river mouths of the Noosa and Maroochy have been fishing very well for predatory fish like trevally, queenfish and mulloway. Fast moving slugs have been great on the trevally and queenfish while prawn profiles have been good on the mulloway. The New Armour Prawn from Chasebaits have been a popular choice around the river mouths with all these predator species seeming to love them. There are still some crabs

to be had with some good bucks finding there way into pots, good fresh bait is the key so fresh mullet, fish frames or chicken carcases are perfect. This will be getting close to the end of the fuller crabs as we move into the quieter part of the year. Don’t forget to mark those pots and floats with your name and phone number. With the school holidays upon us this is a great time to get the kids into beach fishing, with plenty of dart whiting and bream in the closer gutters they should be catching. Look for those closer gutters that are easy for the kid to cast to, use small baits of worms, pipis and prawns on a size 4 bloodworm hook. Use a running sinker rig with a size 2 or 3 ball sinker and about a metre of leader down to the hook. There are plenty of whiting around but sometimes it can be a little difficult to get a bait past the dart. If you want to really target whiting, then try the run out tide. Night anglers that loaded up and headed up the Noosa

Graham Jordan with a cracking bull shark off the local beach before he landed a snapper. North shore have had success on the evening high tide with mulloway and the odd tailor taking a liking to fresh mullet or pilchards. Fishing the new moon is key for mulloway

Jeremy Hoover with a stunning 68cm grassy sweetlip.

anglers. With very little light these fish are happy to move into the closer gutters in search of smaller fish, worms and squid. It is very important that you do not let that beam of light over the water as this can spook the fish. For the Rock hoppers Double Island and the Noosa National Park have been hot spots with plenty of fish on offer, these closer areas have been fishing well for squire, sweetlip, mulloway and small cobia. Tuna have also been in the mix with some good schools getting in close. • 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 and Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola can provide you with the right equipment, bait and advice to ensure success!

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Grass sweetlip on the chew BUNDABERG

Luke Truant

At the time of writing, the Burnett River has been running fresh for weeks, so the crabbing has been very good with bucks up to 2.5kg being reported. For most recreational crabbers, that is a once-in-a-lifetime crab! In our neighbouring rivers, the Kolan and Baffle Creek, the crabbing has also been really good now for an extended period. If you haven’t crabbed during a run-off before, don’t put your pots directly in the freshwater. You need to find backwaters towards the mouth that have deep water with the salt sitting down low, or areas that experience some salt flow from the ocean. April is traditionally an amazing crabbing month, and May as well. Once nice thing about the crabs through April is that they’re generally more full, so you can catch a better feed. There are indicators that a crab is probably full, such as a sandy-coloured belly (not white), ‘tar’ stains, barnacles on the shell, and worn ‘teeth’ on the claws. If you’re not

sure, flip the crab upside down and press what looks like their ‘six-pack’ area (the abdomen plates next to the third legs). If the shell flexes, it means there’s not much flesh underneath. In between flushes, some of the black jew caught in the creek were ginormous. Most were caught in the deep holes using large live baits. If you don’t have any livies, you can use long, skinny mullet strips, hanging like a worm behind a large hook. I like 8/0 live bait hooks, and if you make up a snood rig (there are tutorials on

April is an excellent month to go crabbing.

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YouTube), so much the better, as long as you can get the bait to sit long without drooping in the middle. There’s a bit of current in the deep holes which washes the bait around, so you want the bait to sit long in the water and not do circles and loop de loops. By the time you read this, however, you’ll have to use this info for next year because the annual quota has probably been reached, and the season will be closed. Check the Qld Fisheries website to be sure. OFFSHORE The offshore fishing has

been quite spectacular over the past month or so – at least for the few people who managed to sneak out amongst the stormy days. April is THE month for grass emperor (grass sweetlip). I personally like to fish all the rubbly areas for grassies, around very scattered reef areas. If you find hard reef somewhere, fish on the sides of it. If you’re fishing inshore, whether north or south of Bundaberg, stay within a mile of the shore and fish in 10-15m of water on the edge of the reef (make sure you’re not in a green zone). I recommend using squid baits, allowed to drift down with as light a weight as possible. Flesh baits will also catch their share of grassies, but squid is more effective. Local squid works best, if you can get it. When you’re targeting grassies, it’s very important to fish a bit lighter than you would for other bottom species. If you’re fishing in 10-15m of water around rocks, I recommend going down to 30lb fluoro leader and you’ll increase your bite rate 10-fold. In their lighter ranges, fluorocarbon makes a massive difference over mono, because fluoro is more abrasion resistant and the fish are less likely to bust you off. In deeper water (25m+) it doesn’t seem to make a difference whether you’re fishing light or not. As expected, the inshore fishing (within a few miles of the coast), has been excellent in areas where there’s not heavy runoff. In areas with

clear water, Spanish mackerel have been thick. April is traditionally a really good time of year to start targeting snapper in close in our shallower water (barring further storm run-off). Good spots to try include 15m of water in rubble areas, and even the artificial reef. The best time of day is the hour before sunrise. After that you’ll be very lucky to hook a snapper. If you don’t like waking up early, you can fish during the late afternoon up to an hour after dark. However, mornings are better; I’ve never experienced an evening bite as good as the morning ones. At this time of year if you’re a bait fisher I’d be using whole slimy mackerel or yakka fillets with minimal weight, float-lining style. If you’re a lure fisher, I recommend 90mm soft vibes in bright colours. Watch out though because school mackerel like the vibes as well, and you can lose a lot of lures to the schoolies’ razor-sharp teeth. If you want to actively target the schoolies, you don’t need a bait or lure – all you need is a shiny new no. 6 bean sinker and a 7/0 long shank hook. Let it sink to the bottom and wind it back as fast as you can, and the mackerel won’t be able to resist. Otherwise you can drop down a chrome lure (e.g. 40g Halco Twisty) and commence a vertical retrieve as fast as you can. Just be careful when it gets near the surface that you don’t wind it in too far. The Cochran

Now is a great time to fish for grassy emperor. Artificial Reef has schoolies for most of the year, and the 2 mile in front of Bargara is a good location too. MANGROVE JACK Some monster mangrove jack have been caught this year in the Burnett and Kolan rivers, and in Baffle Creek. These fish can often be found congregating together after an influx of freshwater, often holding around a colour change/saltier areas. The deep holes and rocky sides seem to work really well when there’s a bit of extra fresh. It doesn’t seem to matter too much whether you’re using lures, dead bait or live bait when targeting jacks, as long as you’re fishing around heavy structure. I personally fish fairly heavy, with 40lb fluoro trace on 40lb braid. If you go much heavier you’ll scare them off, and much lighter they’ll bust you off. A jacks’ favourite pastime seems to be stealing lures, but it’s worth it for the fun you’ll have. If you’re fishing with lures, you may need to exercise

Black jewfish have been taking livies in the deeper holes.

a lot of patience; sometimes it takes a while to finally annoy the jacks enough to bite. True, sometimes you’ll get an instant hit on a surface lure, but at other times you’ll need to flog the water to foam. A range of lure types will work on jacks. I’ve had great catches on 100mm paddle tail plastics, and I run fairly heavy jigheads to get a decent sink rate down amongst the structure. I then commence a medium-speed retrieve, interspersed with a few pauses, jiggles and bumps. In the summer months I love throwing shallow diving hardbody lures for jacks inches from the rocks where they meet the water. While you’re targeting jacks, there’s a reasonable chance of catching a barra as bycatch. Quite a few times I’ve been throwing off the rock walls for jacks, and unexpectedly had a freight train go in the opposite direction of the snags and it’s turned out to be a little barra. It’s always a nice surprise. PRAWNING Hopefully the banana prawns will come on in the coming weeks, as they usually do after a big fresh. You can catch them in the deep holes (up to 12ft) with quality top-pocket nets. If you use a cheaper net in these deeper areas, it will sink more slowly and close up before it gets to the bottom, and you won’t catch nearly as many prawns. If you go prawning and see other anglers catching heaps, ask them what net they’re using and they’ll put you on the right track. • Truansea Charters specialise in 10-hour day trips chasing prized reef targets such as coral trout and red emperor, as well as arm-stretching pelagics like Spanish mackerel. The maximum number of anglers is 6, so you’ll never feel crowded. The price is $330pp (or $300 pp 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, or you can Like them on Facebook or call Luke on 0423 015 490.

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Central

OLD

Shorter bite windows MACKAY

Cameron Christian

February saw frequent small storms, and current projections suggest a prolonged wet season. As a result, April should continue to provide great barra action if you work with the rain, and focus on catchment areas that have seen little rain, or small systems that have had a chance to

juicy prawns should prove a reliable barra bait through April. As the rain subsides and waters clear, live baits may produce better results in Mackay systems. Electric motors will be useful for sneaking up and cast netting good prawns – remember that the best offerings should be saved for prize barra and jacks. Many good baits can be lost to the huge numbers of undersize estuary cod throughout Mackay systems,

Liam Robinson (pictured) and his teammate James Wilson have perfected using live imaging and Fish Traps to precisely work structure like the weed edges at Kinchant. clear. Predictions suggest autumn conditions will be delayed, and cool weather tactics will likely be delayed accordingly. Consistent rainfall through February and March should see continued prawn runs and as a result, big

however persistence with bait, or preferably lures, can produce the larger cod, which always prove a great catch. When cooler weather becomes an issue, barra may be targeted around warm rock bars and rocky headlands, particularly on an incoming

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tide after the rocks have been baking in the sun. Consequently, April may see plenty of barra and jacks in the upper reaches of the Pioneer River including Dumbleton Weir, with intermittent rainfall before the onset of autumn temperatures. Persistent lure fishers may get great surface results as autumn conditions encroach. Surface lures such as poppers, suspending shallow divers and floating stickbaits should be worked as slow as possible for barra, when wind and current permit; try waiting 20+ seconds between delicate twitches. Alternatively, anglers may use wind and currents to annoy fish to strike, by drifting surface lures onto snags and slowly working them out before allowing them to drift back onto the snag, and repeating the process. Working the surface during April in Mackay creeks may also see anglers tapping into queenfish and resident tarpon. In addition, queenfish should be prevalent, along with golden trevally and snub-nose dart, around inshore islands and headlands, including their adjacent beaches. Anglers should look for small garfish, a favourite food for queenfish, and imitate these baitfish with surface lures. Surface lures, including lightly-weighted soft plastics, may also prove useful for targeting barra on the flats during April. Actions may need to be sped up for the actively-feeding fish, typically found in the shallow waters on the flats on the warmer days during the incoming tide. Autumn conditions should see flathead activity persist and can provide great bycatch, along with queenfish and golden trevally, when working the flats. Later in the month, if the weather calms, water temperatures cool and the fresh has cleared, mackerel should be readily available. Local tackle shops will have their ear to the ground and can provide up-to-date info on

Barra are prime targets but Bonnie Robson was over the moon with this estuary cod caught on charter with Inshore Fishing Mackay. where and when the mackerel are available. Up in the dams, reduced rainfall should keep barra action consistent, and anglers may notice increases in activity as the barra try to fatten up and brace for the colder conditions ahead. Normal barra tactics will remain but once the fish have been found, retrieves may need to be varied considerably. You’ll need to quickly identify which retrieve works best on the day, to make the most of the shorter bite times typical during cooler conditions. Anglers can increase the likelihood of productive sessions by planning for typical bite times such as tide changes, sun or moon rise and set, and moon overhead or below foot. As usual, following prevailing winds will help anglers find barra and bait shifting with the current. Using good sounding devices with side- and down-scanning are essential for pinpointing the areas worth working by revealing active bait and barra. Modern live imaging sounders have revolutionised this practice, with many tournament anglers using them to target individual fish or find ideal casting corridors to optimise their placement in the strike zone.

As conditions become cooler, anglers may need to locate warmer sections of water in the dams. This may be achieved by focusing on warmer parts of the day such as late afternoon to sunset, and in shallow areas in the backs of bays where the wind has blown the warm water from the surface of the dam. In these shallow areas, anglers

Sunrise and sunset are hot bite times for sooties, and are great for tournament anglers like Brendan Pollard to figure out which lures and snags to hammer during a competition.

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will need to persist by ripping lures through weeds, working over the tops of weeds, and finding pathways and channels where lures may be effectively worked. Sooties of course are always on the chew, and indications are very positive for the INDT 2022 World Sooty Championships at Eungella Dam on 30 April and

Balin Tweddle was getting in some practice for the INDT 2022 World Sooty Championship, and landed this 52cm sooty from the timbers in Eungella Dam.

1 May. Recent catches include many ‘sootballs’ over 50cm on both topwater and in the depths around the timbers. To nominate for the INDT 2022 World Sooty Championship, head to www.trybooking.com/ BWZRH or the Mackay Area Fish Stocking Association Inc. (MAFSA) Facebook page, which will give access to nominations, merchandise and catering packages. Numbers are capped at 120, and nominations close on 18 April at 5pm, so get in early to avoid missing out. The comp is the major fundraiser for MAFSA and provides a great competition atmosphere, with fantastic prizes for both young and old anglers.

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OLD

Getting the timing right TOWNSVILLE

Dave Hodge

Despite all the turmoil in the world, one thing that stays true is that the fish will still bite, so there’s something to take our minds off it all. Fishing truly is an environment that helps our minds process life’s challenges more clearly.

gear. Usually a 60lb leader does the trick. Sitting in that reasonable casting distance from the reef edge is an exciting way to come in contact with some incredible reef species, including the monstrous trout that are being reported. The one big change that’s come about in recent months has been the red-throat emperor (also called trickies and red-throat sweetlip);

Britney caught her first lure-caught jack skipping plastics into some thick cover. On neap tides, the sections closer to the mouth of systems work well. The rivers and creeks have been a bit of a doubleedged sword, with the barra showing up at the right time, but the commercial nets pulling them out as quickly as they can congregate. One of my favourite creeks was netted almost daily for the two months leading up to closed season, to the point where no one could find a legal-sized barra. Not just the lure chuckers like us, but the live baiters and even the locals were bewildered at how defeated the system was. Smaller species like bream and were there, but anything that wouldn’t fit through that mesh of death was gone. How long it will be before local governments recognise how valuable the rec sector is to the economy? Anyway, on with the report. At the time of writing this, the mackerel fishing hasn’t shown any sign of slowing down, with most anglers targeting the macks finding success relatively easily. Lures such as the Laser Pro 190mm deep have been a reliable option, with wolf herring being another traditional technique that’s working well. Reef edges are also providing some jacks for those trolling lures deeper for trout and the like. Pretty standard tackle is 50lb braid on either a spin or overhead 42

APRIL 2022

incredible. The trickies are definitely full-on at present. CREEKS AND RIVERS In the estuaries it’s been quite a mixed bag. At the time of writing, many of the barra are still waiting for some serious rain, and they’re sitting out wider and quite deep. After a couple of smaller rain events, it hasn’t been enough to bring them all into the bay and rivers. The flats leading up to mangrove lines has been a pretty reliable spot to target the barra, but your timing has to be spot-on if you’re to have a go at this risky technique. Whenever we do this, we use the electric as a guide to know when to bail, and as soon as that blade starts to rub the bottom, we head for deeper water. Surface lures work well, as do the shallow divers. However, in the thicker stuff, weedless plastics are really the only option. The young fella and I have been stalking the brackish stuff of late, and while there are unpredictable dead days, we’re often hitting some decent fish to keep us going. The Halco Roosta Popper 80mm has been very effective for us in getting strikes, and the hook-up ratio is very good as they sit tail-down at rest or in between the bloops. Nothing wakes you up like a surface

Barra love to smash poppers. them is on an EWG Atomic Seeker jighead in the 7/0 size in 1/4oz weight very specifically, as the lead on the heavier models comes up the hook’s gape a bit too far for the rigs I’m using. If I need more weight, I’ll add in a small ball sinker to the loop knot, which helps to sink the lure more nose-down. This allows it to reach the desired depth more easily. One more alteration to the rig that helps me to rig a compact, well presented plastic is to remove the spring that comes with the hooks and rig them as follows. First of all, slide the point of the hook into the nose of the Paddle Prawn and bring it out through the belly about 20mm from where you insert it. Push your fingers hard up behind the plastic and bunch it up so that the nose slips up over the existing weight (this doesn’t damage the lure because it’s made from that super-stretchy RST material). Roll the lure’s body over as it hits the ‘R’ bend so that the belly is now facing downwards. Measure where the hook’s bend lines up with the plastic’s body and insert the hook point at 90° to the body, and bring it out in the middle of the

back. If it all sits straight you’re laughing. Now we come to the tricky part of the rig. Cut the point of the leader into a needle point and then insert it through the plastic, then the eye of the hook and then out of the other side of the plastic where you can finish your loop knot as per

A double header caught on 80mm Roosta Poppers.

The way this Paddle Prawn is rigged is compact, presents well and has a good hook-up ratio. they’ve just come out of nowhere in massive schools that have been seeing anglers bag out in no time. All of normal gear works on them, from soft plastics, to bait to vibes to jigs and anything else you can think of to throw at them. The screen shots and images we’ve seen of the sounders have been truly

strike from a barra, and it’s what every angler dreams of. Soft plastics are an obvious choice in shaggy locations, and larger models (e.g. 6” Paddle Prawns) are our go-to lures for the bigger fish. Even though you do get the odd rat, bigger fish love lures like these. My favourite way to rig

normal. This rig is compact, skips well, and has a pretty good hook-up ratio. If you have trouble rigging it or understanding the way I’ve described it, jump onto our YouTube channel at ‘Hodgie the Barefoot Fisherman’ for a detailed video on how to do it. For a little while the

Tannhym Hodge landed this 91cm beast on his lighter outfit in thick cover. It took a White Atomic Prong rigged weedless.

jacks were hard to come by, but there has been a bit of a shift in that lately. If you’re an early riser then the surface stuff has definitely been worth a go, along with shallow water plastics on the push-in tide. Additionally, thinking anglers are getting good results on smaller hardbodies. If you’re getting flashes of colour but not getting the bent rod result, the fish may just need a smaller profile to get them to follow through. It’s been a tactical variation used by barra and jack fishers for a long time now, and that’s because it can be a game-changer. We’ll have to see what happens weather-wise over the next two or three weeks, but it definitely feels like it’s building for something, and all fishers will be sweating on it arriving soon. Cheers and good luck.

OLD

Hinchy is busy for barra! HINCHINBROOK

Ian Moody info@ianmoodyfishing.com

It will be interesting to see how April pans out with the wet season in its final last hurrah before the cooler months of May, June and July kick in. At the time of writing, I’d have to say it’s been a fairly dismal wet season as to what was forecasted for a promising La Nina significant weather event. So far it has appeared that most rainfall has occurred in the South East corner of the state, whereas we have experienced a few very hot months due to northerly winds in the Hinchinbrook area. Fishing shallow flats in the Missionary and mainland areas have had temps of up to 36ºC, which in turn can make barra somewhat very difficult to bite at times. It has the same effect as during cold winters. However, catching live bait can be even more of a problem when they are dying easily when subjected to hot water temps in your bait tank. Nevertheless, they have to eat and their bite periods can be a bit shorter. The last few weeks of March, barra seemed to like

the influx of cooler waters being pushed into the shallows from out in the deep, as opposed to water being pushed from off shallow flats. I have found they have had more of a liking to imitation prawns, like the chasebait or Holt Prawns, with a 6/0 jighead being very slowly retrieved and flicked along the bottom. Around 80% of captures for March has been from these plastics. I’d consider April the last good month of bigger tides until September to target

your metre-plus barra at Hinchinbrook. When winds turn from the north to the east or southeast it will be your better periods as the water cools slightly to around their optimum temp of 28-30ºC. Another species which has shown up lately in good numbers is the threadfin salmon in various sizes between 65-80cm, we have been having a ball chasing them in the afternoon warmer water on the flats in Ramsay and Missionary bays where

Barra like April as the influx of cooler waters are pushed into the shallows from out in the deep.

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APRIL 2022

they have been chasing the jelly prawns. Live baits placed in front of them did the trick, as well as a few succumbed to slow rolled hardbody lures. They are one specie that love the freshwater influences from wet seasons and it really gets them active. It’s great to see threadfin salmon making a bit of a comeback in the channel after noticing a hiatus from most of their regular haunts over the last two years. They are also quite partial to the humble mud

@13fishingaus

Kyle Noy with a fantastic 90cm barra. herring, which you can catch really easily around the Port Hinchinbrook marina area. Fingermark are still better off fished in areas a little further away from the coastline, like near Gould Island, Cape Richards or any areas well clear of freshwater inundation. By the end of April and into May they should return in great numbers back into the Hinchinbrook channel when salinity returns to normal levels. Greenback herring schools should be thick at this time of year and are often my go-to live bait for them. I’d expect the threadfin salmon to continue in the shallows during April and also some good fingermark catches should start to increase. I’ll also be starting to head more

often to the wonky holes once water temps drop at the end of April, large mouth nannygai should be in better numbers much closer to the coastline, especially if we get a good end to the wet season. For those visiting Cardwell, a reminder you will need at least 1.4m of tide to launch or retrieve most vessels up to about 6m in length. Bigger vessels will need a slightly bigger tide. • If you’re looking to do a barra charter with us for this years barra season, Bookings are filling up quick so now is a good time to get in and get your name down on some good dates. For bookings please email us at info@ ianmoodysportfishing.com or phone myself directly on 0402339459.

Runaway crabber in hot water A fisher has been fined $5000 in the Caboolture Magistrates Court after being caught in illegal possession of a female mud crab by Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers at a Bribie Island boat ramp. Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol questioned the fisher at the Sylvan Beach boat ramp, Bribie Island, when he threw the crab away and fled the scene. He was questioned again when he returned to the boat ramp hours later. Officers released the female mud crab back to the water and seized two stolen crab pots and a number of styrofoam floats. The fisher was charged with interfering with fishing apparatus, using unmarked crab apparatus, and obstruction. For information on Queensland’s fishing regulations, visit fisheries.qld.gov.au, call 13 25 23 or download the free ‘Qld Fishing 2.0’ app from Apple and Google app stores.

Do your part. Be SharkSmart.

Planning to drop a line some time soon? Keep in mind that throwing fish waste and scraps in the water can attract sharks scavenging for food.

Many species of sharks will happily take an easy meal if it’s on offer from a fisher or a boat. If you are fishing, don’t throw your scraps, fish frames or leftover bait in the water unless you’re far away from where people get into the water. Never chum or berley (scatter bait on the water to attract fish) in areas where people swim. Dispose of your scraps and rubbish in a bin on land.

Cressbrook Dam structures lure fish and fishers Our efforts to improve fishing at Toowoomba’s Cressbrook Dam are going swimmingly! A recent report shows the dam’s 615 fish attracting structures are successfully luring Australian bass, golden perch and prey species. This makes for great fishing! Fish attracting structures have also been installed at Mackay’s Kinchant Dam and Mount Morgan Dam No 7 near Rockhampton. We have also released best-practice guidelines to help community groups such as fishing and stocking clubs construct and deploy fish attracting structures.

Keen to drop a line? •

Check out fisheries.qld.gov.au and search ‘fish attractors’ to find the structure locations.

•

Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme (SIPS) permits can be purchased online by visiting qld.gov.au and searching ‘SIPS permit’

Check out qld.gov.au/SharkSmart for more SharkSmart tips.

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

DAF1643 04/2022

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

OLD

Clean water spells awesome autumn fishing CAIRNS

Dan Kaggelis dkaggelis@gmail.com

The best thing about living in the tropics of Far North Queensland is that there is no such thing as transition months.

bring some success. Alternatively flicking large paddle tail plastics around the many wharves and artificial structures across the way can also produce some excellent barra fishing. There are still fish to be caught of the snags and banks and

as it has an awesome cup face but also walks across the surface. It really can fire up the jacks and get them hammering the lure hard. The beachfronts have continued to fish really well right through spring and summer and they haven’t let up. There are still some

The Inlet will be your best bet for a barramundi this autumn. runs in the Trinity Net Free Zone. It is certainly worth your efforts to drop a few pots at this time of year as

and destroy your pots in the process. Next, on the big tides keep them out of the main flow as they

Next month should be much the same and the water should really begin to clear up in a big way

Big jacks on surface are on the menu in April. Whilst other locations may start to see a shift towards cooler water temps as we move away from summer and a drop off in the ‘bite’, Cairns and the Trinity Net Free Zone continues to fire. In fact, April is actually one of the better months to be wetting a line in the creeks and rivers because we have typically seen the last of the big monsoonal rains. The creeks and rivers have had a good flush and are beginning to return to a sense of normality and the fishing is all better for it. Clean water and healthy populations of bait spawned by the runoff can only lead to some epic fishing. The Trinity Inlet will be the place to wet a line for a big barra as this system’s size lends itself to the bigger fish. The mud flats opposite the marina on the run-out tide is a good spot to focus your efforts. It’s a good spot to sit and wait for the fish to come through and either wetting a couple of live baits or flicking prawn style lures or vibes should 46

APRIL 2022

just downsize your lures to 3-4” to hedge your bets. This time of year, I love flicking surface lures for jacks. On the neaper tides when the mangroves are more exposed, flicking a popper or frog up underneath the branches can see some awesome jack attacks. I love fishing the Lucky Craft G Splash

awesome threadfin salmon and barra being caught between the mouth of Trinity Inlet and Yorkies Knob on both live bait and lures. The schools of fish are a little smaller but with some effort and persistence you can definelty score some awesome fish. Finally, April sees the beginning of the mud crab

Mud crabs will be on the move so don’t forget to pack your pots. they will be moving. But just a few tips: First, don’t over bait your pots as the crocs will help themselves

will disappear. Finally, it pays to move them around over a few days to find out where they are running.

as the tides change over. This is only good news for lure fishers and the fishing should be awesome.

Tricky times in the northern tropics PORT DOUGLAS

Lynton Heffer www.fishingportdouglas.com.au

Sometimes the weather is a bit unexpected living in the tropics. At this time of year we expect rain (being the wet season) but get concerned when it hasn’t happened to the extent we anticipate. However, you have to be careful what you wish for! Calm, warm days along the coast sounds great for boating purposes but for our fishery it’s necessary for solid rain to fall for the longevity of how the rest

of the year will pan out. There’s still time for a late wet season and I suspect if it does come, it will come in spades. Just as an example, the recent massive heavy rainfall in South East QLD and along the NSW Coast should have been earmarked for our region further north. It was an event we were half expecting, hoping for, and definitely would have coped better if it did. If we receive a similar event in FNQ in the coming month or so, it could be a lot more complicated. The reason being our water

temperatures are through the roof both inshore and offshore. A recipe for a ripping cyclone to occur late in the wet season if a big low pressure develops in the Coral Sea. In saying all this, the fishing to date has been all about quality and not necessarily quantity. Along the coastal reefs and outer reefs the fish have been of good size. Red emperor, large mouth nannygai and bar cheek trout have been the notable species. Sure you need to travel or explore that bit further but in time you will find a good bite. There’s also been some

great action on the bludger trevally species, which have added a lot of zap for the angler who likes to have their arms ripped from their shoulders. There are not notable table-eating fish but a great sport fish to go head-to-head with. Once again though, there is a cry from our skippers to bring down the sea surface water temperature and only a good dose of rain will assist efforts. Even all the pelagic surface species, such as mackerel, tuna and talang queenfish are burying themselves deep down in the cooler water

and very hard to source. On the rivers and creeks the prolonged hot days without the necessary rainfall are drying up the resources. Live bait is scarce and the fish are more content to siesta, especially during the heat of the day. Nevertheless when they do decide to exert some energy there’s been some excellent quality. Fingermark, mangrove jack, grunter, golden trevally and the odd barra have all made up the piece of the puzzle. It takes a specialist guide with quite a bit of nous at To page 47

OLD

Humidity high, fish firing COOKTOWN

Justin Coventry

The conditions have been humid to say the least but the uncomfortable conditions have had the fish fired up. The upper reaches of the rivers have seen some nice mangrove jack smashing soft plastics and they seem to love the run in the water at the moment.

rain has fallen down south but that could all change in an instant, as the wet season isn’t considered over until the start of May. We have had some pretty big falls in May some years back. I can remember a local fellow woke up in the middle of the night to a banging sound on a wall of his house and when he went to investigate he put his foot down off the bed to find water into his bedroom.

you have to be mindful of rapid changes. However, rivers need a good flush out and the fish can travel large distances in these systems when levels are high. Fishing the runoffs can be so much fun as fish are travelling and very hungry. Finding the right area at the right time is the key. The first flush is so much fun here and kids can have a ball chasing small barramundi

Dave and Dale with a double hook up on Spanish mackerel.

A nice stormy weather barramundi caught by Vikki Jackson. Barramundi have also put in a show and some nice fish have been landed up stream in the bigger river systems where access is available at the moment. The roads are holding up well as most of our wet season From page 46

the moment to produce these special moments. Rain and a bit more rain is what they are requiring to pick up

The noise was the freezer floating on floodwaters hitting the wall. That was from a thunderstorm that occurred late May and dropped over 250mm in few hours. The weather can be a little unpredictable and

heading downstream across our river causeways but that has already past so better to concentrate on the flows in the river and hit those barriers where feeding fish wait in ambush. Rock bars and

the pace and just cool things down. As you can gather we are wanting some much needed rain to improve the fishing but we don’t want a

catastrophic system to spoil the much anticipated tourist rush coming to the Far North in the weeks ahead. It will be a balancing act to pull it off!

Despite the lack of rain this season, there have been some quality catches.

intersecting rivers can produce well at this time of the year and as rivers drop the bigger holes will provide some hungry larger specimens that have found new homes along the snags. With water temps high, travelling fish settling down feeding will be a priority for them and they will be quick to chase anything. So it’s a great time to target some larger barramundi in the bigger holes and expect some terrific action as they will be hungry. The westerly winds of late have caused a shut down on the reef fishing but there has been some great catches of mackerel about. One local had multiple strikes on a recent outing and came home with some nice specimens. As I have previously mentioned, Spanish mackerel are on the cards to have some tighter regulations put on catch rates and there is even talk about closing it. I know there are quite a few meetings with fishing groups about it so make sure you go along and, not only be informed about the management options, but also to have your say. Communication is key and having an open mind to learn is always helpful. We all want a sustainable fishery so working together and making sure all voices are heard can force government departments to make more informed decisions. The high humidity around at the moment can make it very hot out to sea and the storms have been quite fierce in the afternoons with some strong winds and pelting rain. I had some crab pots in the river and left late one afternoon and the rain descended with so much force that it was hard to see and I had to hold up a little esky lid in front of my face to combat the stinging

rain and have any chance of seeing what was up ahead. I would not have liked to be out at sea with that coming as the storm front had some very strong wind gusts. Those venturing offshore have headed out early and returned early. Smart advise for this time of the year. Staying close to the shore is also a good option when the westerly winds are blowing as it is usually calm and the further out the rougher it gets. Also the wind tends to move around to the north in the afternoon and the storm clouds start to form and weather conditions can turn ugly.

The wharf has been slow as floodwaters have had an impact on the bait schools and the fishing is hard without bait around. However, if conditions clear and bait returns there should be some nice fish to follow and large barramundi can be expected to be looking around for an easy feed. Right time, right place as they say. Fishing around the low tide would be the best at the moment. Night fishing also seems to do well and luring around the lights at night can get results. Still plenty of options available and some hot sessions to be had at the right times.

This time Deb got into the action too, with another double hook up for her and Dave. APRIL 2022

OLD

Now is the best time CAPE YORK

Tim O’Reilly wildrivercompany@gmail.com

There is not a time I like more up the Cape then April to May. This late autumn period is usually a great climate for locals, with clear creeks flowing

opportunities as April. Plenty of southerners will be hitting the road for Easter holidays. So long as there is no late sting in the tail of the wet season, which is VERY possible, the roads will open or begin opening. Some more remote destinations start coming into play for the

so much opportunity for those with a single-minded focus on fishing. There is so many species and ecosystems in a relatively small geographic area, including wetlands, lagoons and billabongs, springs, creeks and rivers. Plus a multitude of shallow and medium depth reef

This lovely fish came from brackish water on a plastic frog. systems, littered right up and down the coast. Nothing compares in grandeur to the Great Barrier Reef

pockets of good weather will be rewarded with excellent fishing. The flats and shallower shoals

heading into and back out of neap tides will be most rewarding. The right mix of current and clean water

How casting off a remote sand cay should be done.

A tasty feed over the coals.

into clearing rivers past green grass. Sunrises and sunsets are exotic shows between a variety of grey clouds. Remember you still get showers amidst moisture pushing against the coast from freshening trade winds. This is a time of plenty for fish and fishers alike. Most species will be putting on weight this time of year, with food webs supercharged following the wet season. A healthy barramundi should be firing on all cylinders about now, super eager to chase down a feed. Which is what we anglers need! Aggressive fish ready to pounce on a lure would be fantastic year-round. Alas some months don’t quite hold the same 48

APRIL 2022

A colourful set of flats critters.

on the opposite side, yet productive all the same. Consistent fishing might be harder to find over on the east coast, yet

should begin to fire up as cooler water again begins to pump life and nutrients up into the shallows. Fishing tides either

many stationed around various parts of Cape York. Accessible spots on either side of the Cape’s coast will start to see a few people again. A few of the locals over on the East coast will be lamenting the return of dry season trade winds. Reality is, you are better off planning offshore trips in Cyclone season up in these parts! However, the west coast of the Cape will become picture postcard perfect for the next six months. Notwithstanding the chance of a cold strong southerly breeze sneaking in here and there. This is why charter operators work these waters with fervour during stable periods. Fishing down the Cape’s west coast offers

A lovely large mouth nannygai from the shoals.

can combine for sharp bite periods, especially around tide changes. Nothing beats a tough morning on the flats, followed by a sudden fire up in activity where the fish just seem to turn on and come from everywhere. You wonder what they were doing the rest of the time. I remember a recent bite turning from a donut into multiple species including coral trout, Chinaman fish, red bass, long nose emperor, Maori wrasse and various cod. You need to fish hard when it’s happening because things can quieten off again just as quickly. April will be a month of cautious optimism. The fishing is usually first class up in Cape York, yet the weather can play a big part. Light wind and rain are two things, which need to combine to get the most out of fishing this month.

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OLD

Fresh start for our freshwater TOOWOOMBA

Jason Ehrlich fishability1@bigpond.com

Where do I start after what we received at the end of February? The relentless rain in Queensland’s South East had to be seen to be believed. Even up on the hill near Toowoomba it didn’t let up for days. As I write, dams are overflowing and rivers are still in flood. It’s almost a month on but this report will be a little different this month as we discuss what’s going on, what to expect and look at some of the best options for April and in the future. With hundreds of millimetres of rain widespread between the coast to the range from the Burnett through to Northern NSW, big changes have taken place in the lakes and rivers. The major flooding has dirtied up our waterways to the point it will be some time before they become productive again. Often a rise in level in the lakes is a good thing

and can fire fish up, or at least give them new feeding areas over freshly flooded ground. This time round, it has just been too much water. The dirty water will have stained all our lakes to the point they will be tough to fish with lures. If you are into bait fishing or just want to get out for a day fishing off the bank, you are in luck. The fish will need to adapt to their new environment and flooded banks provide a lot of new food for them and the smaller fish they feed on. This will see good numbers of fish move up closer to the edges where they can be caught on baits fished from the shoreline. Usually I would say live shrimp are the best bait but under these circumstances, even worms are effective. Think what they would be feeding on as they explore this flooded country. The edges do get quieter as the flooded grasses and vegetation die off, the water is less attractive. There is only a brief window left to get into this action. Look for the areas with less dying

vegetation. With such intense flooding causing dams to spill or be released, fish can escape or at least try. Some will be lucky enough to have a safe ride to the water below the dam wall but others will not make it alive. It’s sad to see these fish get out after all the work done by stocking groups but try to take a positive look at this and consider all the new great fisheries it will create. Fishing the creeks and rivers below the dams will be red hot. Be sure to stay safe and follow the rules. Stay out of restricted zones and don’t go where you are not allowed. Making the effort to gain access to private property can give you some of the best access points. The dirty water will slow down lure fishing for a while but we are likely to see some of the systems below the dam clear up enough this month; more on that later. If you don’t want to worry about heavily affected waters this month, there are still spots around the edges of the flooded

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areas and beyond that are fishable. Warwick was on the edge of the rain band and initial reports right after the rain were very positive. Good numbers of fish were caught last month. Glenlyon missed the bulk of the rain so is worth considering if you want to head away for a golden perch or cod fish. To the north, Monduran had a slight rise. Boondooma only had a small inflow and Waruma and Cania missed out. If you’re spot is inside that big semicircle there’s a pretty good chance it was smashed with water. I’ll cover some good options towards the end of this report. So how long will it take for the fishing to come good? This will change for each spot based on the amount of suspended sediment in the water brought down from the catchments. The sandier or heavier soils will settle faster. As soon as visibility reaches 30cm the fish will be catchable on lures and will only improve as it gets better. While the waters are stained, flashy and vibrating lures are a good option. Hopping blade baits close to the bottom and in front of fish is a good way to get a response. Lighter blades around 1/4 or 3/8oz are perfect for this as they are easier for the fish to find as they pulsate through the water and fall a bit slower than heavier blades. Another good lure option is a spinnerbait. These lures are great for peppering the edges of the dams around flooded grasses, trees and bushes. Usually smaller spinnerbaits work well but I don’t mind something with more size when the water is dirty. The extra flash and vibration will

Syd Collins landed this 51cm golden perch at Boondooma Dam while trolling a golden Smak lure at around 3m. make the fish aware of its presence and they are quite willing to feed on bigger foraging bait fish for the same reason. Spinnerbaits in the 1/2 and 5/8oz weights are well suited to the job when fished on 10-20lb braided line. I won’t cover the South East Queensland lakes in this month’s report but some of the first to be ready to fish will be Maroon, Somerset, Cressbrook, Leslie, Borumba and Gregory. Keep an eye on these lakes as they should be producing fish as you read this. If lures aren’t

pulling them, bait will be. As much as the floods damage what is in their path, they bring life back to these systems. The flush of nutrients will kick off the food chain including algae and planktons for smaller fishes and crustaceans to feed on. This smorgasbord kick starts their breeding and soon there will be ridiculous amounts of new food for the bigger fish. We are now set for many years of great fishing to come. Until next month, buckled rods from the Colonel.

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APRIL 2022

Adam and Joan Krautz teamed up to lure this Callide barramundi on a trolled soft plastic swimbait.

To page 51

OLD From page 50

REDCLAW HEAVEN One of the first critters to make their presence felt after a dam rise is

redclaw crayfish. These tasty crustaceans love a good inflow and they will be up in the shallower areas over newly flooded ground.

Redclaw are introduced to SE Qld waterways so there are no bag limits but there are strict rules about catching them so make sure

you are up to date on this. The correct style of traps baited with rockmelon, parboiled potatoes, cat food and all manner of

smelly vegetable and meaty offering will lure them in. Some people like to boil their crays in salty water but I am a fan of butterflying

this year. The majority of fish are on the smaller side but there are some big ones mixed in. Jigging dark coloured blades like the ZX40 or ZX43 is producing good numbers of fish. The smaller fish won’t hold back on these little offerings. If you want to upsize your lure

and reduce the number of smaller fish caught, try jigging or hopping a soft vibe. Lures like the Jackall Mask Vibe or Zerek Fish Trap are ideal for this. If you are chasing a cod, try trolling a spinnerbait or chatterbait in 4-6m of water around structure and drop offs. Electric motors are the go for this style of trolling to control boat

speed and present lures at the correct depth. GLENLYON CLOSEST TOWNS: STANTHORPE, TEXAS The golden perch have fired up. Glenlyon missed the bulk of the last lot of rain so the water is great for luring. Murray cod have been a bit quiet but there are heaps of small goldens on the move. A lot

of these fish are undersized so make sure they go back safely to grow a bit more. Jigging with blades and vibes has been receiving most attention. A lot of the action is in shallower water around 3-4m deep. • The Glenlyon Tourist Park will have you covered for accommodation. They have powered and

the fishing. Casting spinnerbaits has been a great way to get into some fish with action coming from the basin and up both rivers. The flooded banks have plenty of features to target with fish coming from smaller schooling

bunches. A lot of the fish are smaller but there is the occasional good one mixed in. When the schools are found, smaller blade baits hopped through them have brought hem undone. Some of the best lures last month were the 5/8 Midget Spinnerbait in white and ZX40 in black.

ISIS BALANCING STORAGE CLOSEST TOWNS: CHILDERS, BUNDABERG The Isis Balancing Storage (Lake Gregory) gets topped up from the Burnett River. The Burnett has been dirty for ages so waters pumped in are also dirty. The colour of

the water in the dam may not be too appealing but the fish are still managing to have a good chew. Bass are loving chatterbaits and spinnerbaits fished around the deeper weed clumps. You can also work suspending lures around the weed faces. These lures seem to attract bass and a few saratoga as well. There

good run on the fish. The big barramundi are quite mobile in Callide and this makes them not only difficult to find but even harder to catch. When you have them dialled in and expect to catch more, they can just move on and take up residence somewhere

else and the search starts again. Trollers using the 3m Classic Barra have been successful. The most active fish seem to like this depth and you can also troll soft plastic swimbaits like the Molix shad 140 or 5.5” Zerek Live Mullet. If trolling these sinking plastic lures, alter the

amount of line out and the boat speed to get them tracking at the right depth. I like to base my troll at around 2.5 to 3km/h with a full cast out. Quite a few barra will be hugging the tree line about half way up the lake in the Pelican Point area. These fish sometimes take soft plastics when they are out

and cruising but suspending hard bodies will pick them off when they are tighter to the structure. The Jackall Squirrel and Samiki Redic are good lure choices. Make sure your gear is up to the task and fish 50lb braid with a minimum of 60lb leader. • You can stay close to the dam at Lake Callide Retreat. The park has basic

GRANITE BELT REGION LESLIE CLOSEST TOWN: WARWICK Leslie Dam was on the edge of the big rain. The area copped a good drenching but it did little to change the fishing on the dam, which was already full. The golden perch fishing has been next level BURNETT REGION BOONDOOMA CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSTON, KINGAROY Boondooma had a small run last month but the dam was already full so the new water did little to change CAPRICORN REGION CALLIDE CLOSEST TOWN: BILOELA Giant barramundi just keep popping up. If you take a look at Lake Callide Retreat’s social media you will soon see what I am talking about. Every now and then anglers have a

the tail and cooking the beautiful white meat on the barbecue in a marinade of honey, soy and garlic. Yum! unpowered campsites and a bunch of comfortable cabins. Brian and Debbie also carry a great range of lures and fishing gear in the kiosk. You could spend an hour just checking that out and I’m sure they’ll share some info on where to find the fish. You can call the kiosk for information and bookings on (02) 6737 5266. is a growing population of these sportsters and they are a fish best released. The saratoga isn’t known for its eating qualities and they are a prize catch worth sharing over and over again. • Call in at Tackleworld Bundaberg for your fishing supplies and info on this dam. camping, powered sites for camping and vans and also self-contained cabins. There is a well-equipped camp kitchen and toilets and showers up in the main part of the park near the office. Make sure you bring all of your fishing tackle. The kiosk has a limited amount of fishing gear but it is well suited to the lake. ADVERTORIAL

Garmin unveils new LiveScope Plus system Award-winning live-scanning sonar continues to change the game for recreational fishing. Garmin today announced the LiveScope™ Plus System, the latest addition to Garmin’s revolutionary live-scanning sonar line up with brilliantly clear live scanning sonar returns and 35% improved target separation over the existing system. Now with sharper resolution, reduced noise, and Garmin’s clearest images, it’s easier than ever to see structure, bait and fish around the boat in real time, even while stationary. With three modes – Forward, Down and Perspective – the LiveScope Plus System also includes the popular Perspective Mode Mount. “LiveScope truly transformed the world of fishing by delivering live images and movement so clear and precise that anglers could actually distinguish between species of fish,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales. “With the adjustments we’ve made to the screen clarity, transducer sensitivity and target separation in LiveScope Plus, you can even see your fishing line now – not to mention your lure and how the fish are responding to it.”

IMAGE DEFINITION LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN Optimised for precision and accuracy, the new design of the LiveScope Plus transducer not only delivers 35% improved target separation, it’s also capable of identifying and separating targets as small as 14” at distances 100ft from the boat. With brilliantly clear sonar returns – available with seven vivid colour options – anglers can see exactly what they need to with improved image stitching, reduced noise and fewer on-screen artefacts that impede the picture of fish and structure. LiveScope Plus is also equipped with additional sensors that allow it to constantly adjust the sonar beams to compensate for boat motion, so even in rough conditions, anglers will still see a steady sonar image. THREE MODES IN ONE SYSTEM The LiveScope Plus System delivers three unique vantage points with one mount that can be easily adjusted to fit an angler’s fishing techniques and preferences, no tools required. Simply turn the transducer forward for a live look at what’s out in front of the boat; point it down to see

directly beneath the boat; or turn it sideways with the included Perspective Mode Mount to enable the ‘top down’ perspective mode to see a wide view of what’s in front of the boat up to 50ft away. Select the LiveScope mode that best fits that fishing spot, and the view will automatically change on a compatible Garmin chartplotter2 screen. UPGRADE TO THE LIVESCOPE PLUS ADVANTAGE The LiveScope Plus System includes a compact GLS™ 10 black box with a LiveScope Plus LVS34 transducer, along with a trolling motor barrel and shaft mounting kit, perspective mount bracket and a simple plug-and-play Garmin Marine Network connector for easy installation and integration with a compatible chartplotter. With a free software update, the LVS34 transducer (sold separately) can be added to an existing LiveScope System black box for customers who want to upgrade. Both the LiveScope Plus System and the LiveScope Plus LVS34 transducer are expected to be available next month, with suggested retail prices of AUD $2,699 and $1,899 respectively. LiveScope Plus is compatible with a wide range of Garmin GPSMAP® and ECHOMAP™ chartplotters and combo units; click here for the full list of compatible devices.

APRIL 2022

Sustainability of popular morwong stocks MELBOURNE

Ross Winstanley

During 2019, teams of fisheries scientists around the country conducted the fifth in a series of assessments of major Australian fish stocks. Among those covered in the Status of Australian Fish Stocks 2020 report were species taken by commercial and recreational fishers in two or more states. These included assessments of popular coastal and offshore morwong species: • Banded morwong, Cheilodactylus spectabilis • Blue morwong, Nemadactylus valenciennesi • Grey morwong, Nemadactylus douglasii • Jackass morwong, Nemadactylus macropterus These and other morwongs are taken by a number of methods within the wide range used by recreational and commercial fishers: spearfishing, hooking, trapping, gill netting and trawling. To counter the paucity of information on these species in the SAFS report, additional information on recreational catches has been taken from state surveys of recreational and charter fishing. BANDED MORWONG Growing to almost 60cm, banded morwong are a popular target species on open coastal reefs for spearfishers off southern NSW and Victoria. Previously regarded by the commercial fishery as a discard or by-catch species, targeted gillnetting for the

Banded morwong are popular among spearos in NSW and Victoria. Photo courtesy of Jordan Hill. live fish market developed in Tasmania and Victoria during the 1990s. While there is no information on stock structure, the SAFS assessment considered the Victorian and Tasmanian fisheries to be based on distinct populations. Tasmanian fishery Banded morwong is a minor species among Tasmania’s recreational fishers. This was reflected in the 2017/18 survey which found the recreational catch to total two tonnes. Until the lucrative livefish market began during

the 1990s, this species was disrespectfully referred to as ‘carp’. After rapidly peaking at 145 tonnes in 1993, the new small-scale commercial fishery declined to 35 tonnes in 1999. Introduced in 2008, a Total Allowable Catch has been stepped down, to 39 tonnes in 2012, then to 31 tonnes in 2018. While banded morwong have been aged to 96 years, fish older than 20 years have become rare. At the same time, the proportion of fish younger than eight years in the population has increased and shown signs of faster growth and earlier

maturity. A slot size (36-46cm) and spawning closure provide additional protection to help stabilise the population and its spawning potential. These conservative measures contribute to the classification of banded morwong in the Tasmanian ‘management unit’ as a “sustainable stock”. While not shown in the SAFS report, Victoria’s commercial fishery is closely managed under measures including a TAC, seasonal and spatial closures, and a size limit. Banded morwong in the Victorian management unit are classified as “undefined”. BLUE MORWONG OR QUEEN SNAPPER Although it occurs in coastal waters, from NSW to southern WA, the stock structure of blue morwong is unknown. Consequently, the stock has been assessed at the jurisdictional level. The SAFS report states, “the species is not a major component of recreational landings”. This is an understatement as only WA has a recorded combined recreational plus charter catch: 16 tonnes in 2017/18. At 44 tonnes in 2018, WA is also

Regarded as unlikely to be targeted by recreational fishers, there are no annual estimates of blue morwong catches. South Australia Blue morwong are not considered a “major component of recreational landings” and commercial catches have averaged 1.4 tonnes in the past 20 years. Hence, fishing has little impact on the stock. SA’s 2013/14 recreational fishing survey found that 2705 blue morwong, weighing about three tonnes, were landed by recreational fishers. In the same year the commercial catch was one tonne. Western Australia In contrast to the other southern states, both recreational and commercial fishing regularly report catches of blue morwong, from the lower west coast and the south coast. Taken by hooking and spearfishing, the recreational catch in 2017/18 was more than 4000 fish, averaging 3kg and totalling 14 tonnes, while the commercial catch in 2018/19 was 45 tonnes, taken mainly by gillnetting. Commonwealth Blue morwong occur as an incidental catch in

spearfishers, this is a popular species and is widely referred to as blue morwong. In the absence of information on their stock structure, they have been assessed as a single East Coast stock. With few caught off Queensland, and few records of catches off Victoria and Tasmania, the major fisheries are by NSW recreational and commercial fishers and by Commonwealth-managed commercial fisheries. Total annual catches have declined from 90 tonnes in 2010 to 40 tonnes in 2018. Queensland The few grey morwong landed commercially as incidental catches off southern Queensland are recorded with other morwong species in combined annual totals of less than one tonne. Recreational catch numbers are equally obscure. New South Wales Records show that commercial catches of grey morwong have declined since the 1970s. The shorter series of recreational catch records show a fall from 156 tonnes in 2000/01, to 22 tonnes in 2017/18. The sizes of fish landed have “declined

Dusky morwong, butterfish or strongfish are the largest morwong species. Photo courtesy of Jordan Hill.

Blue morwong or queen snapper are popular with offshore anglers in WA. Photo courtesy of Lachy Warren. 52

APRIL 2022

the only state where average annual commercial catches exceed one tonne. New South Wales While well regarded as a table fish, as blue morwong are not targeted by recreational or commercial fishers in NSW, catches are consistently low (one tonne in 2018/19). Hence, the impacts of fishing on the stock are considered to be small. Tasmania Annual commercial catches total less than one tonne and occur as a small by-catch from gillnetting.

Commonwealth-managed hook, gillnet and trawl fisheries, with a combined catch of 21 tonnes in 2018. Based on the scant available information overall, blue morwong stocks “are classified as sustainable in WA, negligible in NSW and SA, and undefined with limited data in TAS and by the Commonwealth.” GREY MORWONG Grey or ‘rubber lip’ morwong occur on the continental shelf, from southern Queensland to Tasmania’s east coast. Among

substantially” and there is no sign of recovery of the species off NSW. The estimated numbers retained by recreational fishers fell from 43,000 in 2013/14 to 27,000 in 2017/18 (including 4000 from estuaries). Despite the continuing decline, grey morwong still feature prominently in coastal recreational catches. A 2017/18 study showed that, with 14,000 retained, this species is ranked third to bluespotted flathead and snapper among catches from the charter fishery, particularly off the central to

south coasts. The classification of grey morwong off NSW as “overfished” in 2008 led to measures aimed at reducing fishing pressure. These included an increase in the minimum length, to 30cm, and a reduction in the recreational

fishing bag limit, to 10/day. The 2020 assessment concluded that fishing pressure continues to prevent recovery “from a recruitment impaired state.” As the NSW data provide the only basis for assessment, East Coast grey morwong are classified as a

“depleted stock”. Commonwealth Grey morwong are taken as an incidental catch, mainly by trawling, with small numbers spread across other Commonwealth-managed gillnet, hook and trap fisheries. The combined catch from

SPECIES LIMITS State NSW Banded morwong Grey morwong Jackass morwong Red morwong

Size limit

Daily bag limit

– 30cm 30cm 30cm

5 10 10 5

Victoria All species

23cm

5 combined

Tasmania Banded morwong Jackass and other morwongs

36-46cm 25cm

2 10 combined

SA Blue morwong

38 cm

WA Blue morwong, West Coast Blue morwong, other regions

41cm 41cm

2 4

Current daily recreational catch limits around southern Australia. Note: additional fishing restrictions, apply in some states.

Grey morwong are popular among anglers and spearfishers in NSW coastal waters. Photo courtesy of Jordan Hill. PRODUCT NEWS

New TTs logo launched Tackle Tactics Pty Ltd, an Australian owned manufacturer and distributor of quality fishing products, has released a new logo for two of its major brands, TT Lures and TT Rods. The new TT logo will replace the current logos and bring all TT products together under the one unified brand. It delivers the same tested and proven, quality and reliability that anglers have come to expect from TT products, with a fresh new look. The new design was inspired by the brands’ dedication to innovation and a passion for all things

Yes!

This is one of the logos to find! fishing, while still paying homage to the original TT Lures logo by maintaining

Subscribe to the free TTs newsletter at www. ttfishing.com to see helpful tips, tricks and videos.

some of its classic aesthetics. The new logo supports the evolution of the brand, and will allow for further growth moving into the future. “TT is renowned for delivering quality products that improve the fishing experience for all anglers,” said Gareth Williams, owner and managing director of Tackle Tactics. “Our new logo encompasses this dedication to anglers, while providing a distinctive and easily recognisable look, that unifies our offering and makes it easy for customers to seek out our products. We’re excited to launch the new logo and share it with our fans.” The new TT logo will be rolled out across product packaging over the coming months. Bring it on! To check out the latest product releases, and subscribe to the TTs newsletter, head to the Tackle Tactics website at www.ttfishing.com. - FMG

these fisheries in 2018/19 was 21 tonnes. JACKASS MORWONG Jackass morwong occur from northern NSW to the Great Australian Bight, with some evidence of separate stocks east and west of Tasmania. Eastern management zone The assessment of this part of the stock is based on a stock assessments for the Commonwealth-managed trawl, hook and gillnet fisheries, which include data from the small NSW, Victorian and Tasmanian fisheries. From 2010, the total commercial catch from this zone fell from 366 tonnes to 149 tonnes in 2018/19. Catches, principally from NSW’s commercial trap and line fishery, have ranged between one and ten tonnes in the past decade, presenting little pressure on the stock. Recreational catches in 2018/19 were rated as “negligible”, with just 306 fish recorded from charter fishing; the commercial catch was 2.6 tonnes. Victoria recorded zero commercial landings in 2019/20 and recreational fishing pressure is low.

Tasmania is where this species comes into its own among recreational fishers. Also known as silver perch, juveniles are taken by hook and gillnet in inshore waters while larger adults of up to 70 cm long are hooked offshore. Like the overall commercial catch, Tasmania’s recreational catch fell from 16 tonnes in 2013/14 to eight tonnes in 2017/18. The commercial catch in 2018/19 was 2.3 tonnes. On the basis of considerable evidence and ongoing assessments, jackass morwong of the Eastern management unit are classified as a “sustainable stock”. Western management zone The only significant catches of jackass morwong from this zone come from the Commonwealth trawl fisheries, from Tasmania to the Great Australian Bight. Apart from reported annual catches of about one tonne off Tasmania’s west coast, there are no reported catches by commercial or recreational fishers off western Victoria and SA. Unlike the trend in the Eastern zone, total commercial catches have remained stable:

45 tonnes in 2010 and 42 tonnes in 2019. Based on the available evidence, jackass morwong in the Western management zone are classified as a “sustainable stock”. OTHER MORWONG SPECIES Several other morwong species are taken mainly by spearfishers and anglers on coastal reefs around southern Australia. Dusky morwong Dactylophora nigricans, commonly called butterfish (Vic and Tas) or strongfish (SA) is a particular favourite among spearfishers as it grows to more than 10kg. It is edible at smaller sizes, but larger fish have a strong weedy flavour. In 2013/14, SA fishers were reported to have taken 4928, and a WA survey found that 51 were taken in 2013/14. Magpie perch Cheilodactylus nigripes, painted morwong Cheilodactylus ephippium and red morwong Cheilodactylus fuscus are also caught in relatively small numbers. In 2017/18, NSW recreational fishers landed an estimated 8247 red morwong.

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APRIL 2022

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Tokuryo Line Lab fishing lines: Remember the name What we discovered here at Fishing Monthly Magazine (mid 2021) while researching a comparison of braided lines, was that anglers have a diverse range of reasons for their choice of fishing line. They included everything from brand loyalty to abrasion resistance, to line diameter, to breaking strain against actual breaking strain and even the colour of the line.

what anglers wanted to know about lines. What I am testing The Tokuryo Line Lab range includes products that will suit most anglers’ needs. There is everything from finesse PE lines to jigging braids, fluorocarbon leader/ line options, monofilaments and shock leaders. To see the full range, go to www. jurofishing.com and click on the Tokuryo Line Lab link. For this testing booth I am using the Casting Pro 8 carrier braid, the Finesse Game 4 carrier braid, the Fluorocarbon 100% leader and the Pro FC casting fluorocarbon line. You will find a fact box with more detail on these products. These are all based around light line applications. Tokuryo Pro FC fluorocarbon I am the first to admit that fishing using straight-through fluorocarbon line is something I have steered away from. Not

Tokuryo Line Lab lines are new to the Australian market. The author was very excited to have the opportunity to put them through their paces. completely losing the sensitivity/feel that this combination provides. The reason super lines took the market by storm in the first place (how much more the angler can feel). My first impression of the Pro FC was that it felt more supple than other spinning fluorocarbons I had used and, with that, the line lay better on the spool when I put it on my spin reel. This also resulted in very neat and tidy knots. The first outing using the Pro FC was trout fishing at Lake Eucumbene. The majority of my straight-through fishing had been for trout. The aforementioned

All of the lines impressed the author with how well they sat when spooled on a reel. In this case the Tokuryo Casting PRO 8. Other things that couldn’t really be tested, but were important to anglers, were things like good knot tying, knot strength and fit for purpose (finesse or heavy applications). This feedback provided me with a great base to do this testing booth on these Tokuryo Line Lab products. I knew exactly

8.8lb Finesse Game braid and 11.6lb Fluorocarbon 100% leader had no problems dealing with this bit of bycatch when flathead fishing. because I haven’t had success using it or because the benefits of using it aren’t compelling, more because the ones that I have tried have given me nothing but grief while I was using them. Line memory and line fatigue being the two main issues. There is nothing worse than being unable to control how line comes off your reel or to see sections of line that have been compromised during a fishing session (especially in the middle of it). However, I am putting the cart before the horse. Why use straight-through fluorocarbon line? Fluorocarbon line is virtually invisible in the water and doesn’t leave a line shadow for fish to be spooked by. If you are fishing clear water, pressured fishing locations or require stealth in your presentations then straight-through fluorocarbon can be a clear advantage. Tournament bream anglers use straight-through fluorocarbon a lot when using hardbody and surface lures for this reason. Fluorocarbon line also has a little bit of stretch, much less than monofilament line, but much more (that’s what it feels like) than a braid/leader set up. For those of us that are used to the braid/leader set up, this means a fraction more time for a treble hook to find its mark and then a bit of cushioning to keep it there when fish jump or shake their heads, without

A beautiful brown trout caught casting from the shore at Yens Bay – Lake Eucumbene. One of many caught using the 4.5lb Pro FC spinning fluorocarbon. 54

APRIL 2022

The author is super impressed with the Pro FC spinning fluorocarbon from Tokuryo. He has had none of the issues that had haunted him using this type of line in the past. cushioning with sensitivity and invisibility have been the driving factor for this. Two outing over the Christmas break to Yens Bay and Anglers Reach casting lures from the bank was a great initial test of the Pro FC. Lots of casts using different weighted lures, against the wind, with the wind, dealing with rocks, timber and weed. Most importantly also tangling with

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PRODUCT GUIDE more than my fair share of trout as well. The outcomes I took away from these two outings were: straight-through fluorocarbon will out fish a braid/leader set up on trout (15:1 on this trip). After two solid outings there was no sign of the line memory or fatigue issues I had previously experienced using other straight-through fluorocarbon lines, and that the Pro FC has very good abrasion resistance. One of

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that it had rubbed against rocks and had been wrapped around a tree, but it didn’t give, leaving me a very happy camper. Finally, I am very happy to continue using it, which definitely wasn’t the case with the previous lines I had tried. I didn’t leave the testing process there though. The bream in my local can be fickle at times and although I have had some success on hardbodies in the past,

Finesse line options are just as effective for anglers using bait as they are for lure anglers. The author with a nice catch of King George whiting.

The author has been using the 12lb Tokuryo Casting Pro braid on a medium outfit to cast lipless crankbaits. The extra casting distance and depth on retrieve the ultra thin Casting Pro offers is gold or bronze in this case. the better brown trout had me wrapped around all sorts of debris before coming to shore (it really should have won its freedom). The 4.5lb Pro FC had the signs

Line like the Tokuryo Finesse Game X 4 combined with a Fluorocarbon 100% leader offer many different fishing options. Catching squid is just one of them.

plastics have always been my best option. Two outings have proved to me that I need to have a hardbody outfit on hand and that bream residing on shallow open water flats are more likely to eat a lure attached to straight-through fluorocarbon line than one using a braid/leader combination. The same can be said around structure as well. Tokuryo Finesse Game X4 braid and Fluorocarbon 100% leader Finesse Game X4, as the name suggests, is a 4 carrier PE braid. 4 carrier braids are renown for being affordable, very fine in diameter, better suited to finesse forms of fishing, and in situations where abrasion resistance isn’t the most important factor. Add to that great castability and excellent bite detection and you have the perfect PE line to get to know and understand the positives that these lines (braids) offer anglers. Tokuryo Finesse Game X4 is a great example of exactly that. A well made, affordable PE braided line which, when matched with the appropriate Tokuryo Fluorocarbon 100% leader material, has you set to get out dabbling in the world of lure and soft plastic fishing. Like the Pro FC, the Fluorocarbon 100% leader is a supple 100% fluorocarbon material available in seven breaking strains and comes in 50m spools. Again, like the Pro FC (due to the suppleness of the line) it

allows you to tie great knots, either leader to braid or to your favourite lure or jighead. I was given a spool of the 8.8lb P.E. 0.6 (hi-vis yellow) to try out. Perfect to either leader down (breaking strain) to target bream, whiting and the like, or to leader up and focus on flathead, bass, squid etc. This is one of the advantages of a fine diameter braid. As much as I did manage to target and catch many of these species and found

the combination of the two products to be excellent. The Fluorocarbon 100% leader offers not only great knot strength, but good abrasion resistance too. On numerous occasions I had bream venture to the wrong side of bridge pylons and back, and yet still finding their way into my net. The leaders may have been shredded, but they didn’t break (not all of them anyway). Continued over

FACT BOX Product

Line Classes

P.E. Rating

Diameter(mm)

Spool size(m)

PRO FC Fluorocarbon

3.7lb, 4.5lb, 6.8lb, 9.2lb

0.8-2.0

0.161 - 0.257

150

Fluorocarbon 100%

3.7lb, 5.7lb, 6.8lb, 9.2lb, 11.6lb, 15.5lb, 19.8lb

0.8-6.0

0.16 - 0.418

Finesse Game X4

5.9lb, 8.8lb, 10.1lb, 15.4lb 25.3lb, 29.9lb

0.3- 2.5

0.09 - 0.26

150

Finesse Game X4

29.9lb, 49.9lb, 79.9lb

2.5-8.0

0.26 - 0.48

300

Casting PRO 8

10lb, 12lb, 15lb, 18lb, 25lb

0.4-1.5

0.05 - 0.16

150/300

NB: Finesse Game X 4 is available in three colours – dark green, pink and hi-vis yellow Nick Willett (author’s mate) was keen to try the Finesse Game X 4 for himself and picked up this nice flathead.

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au APRIL 2022

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From prervious page

What I do want to mention is the advantages lines like the Tokuryo Finesse Game lines offer in a bait fishing situation. Bite detection is the most obvious, however fine diameter lines also mean you can fish deeper water using less weight, meaning you have a better chance of catching fish. A perfect example of this happened in

all I did was remove the Senshi whiting rig tied onto my leader, replaced it with the said rig and was happily catching gar and tommies (plus a few KGW as a bonus) in minutes. So, this so-called finesse set up is just as effective for bait anglers as it is for those who use lures. Tokuryo Casting Pro 8 carrier braid Last, but certainly not least, is the Tokuryo Casting Pro premium 8 carrier braid. Tokuryo Line Labs have a dual braiding technic during the construction process that produces ultra thin, very strong, super castable PE lines. When I say ultra thin, check out the diameters, 0.16mm for 25lb braid – wow! In this case, finer diameters (heavier breaking strains) means better castability and add a special coating (SI treatment) and with the right outfit even smaller lures

Fine line diameters aren’t only beneficial when bait fishing in deeper water. This fish was caught on a plastic in 35 feet of water using a 1/6oz jighead. The author would normally use 3/8oz – 1/2oz in this depth of water. Back in Brisbane this same outfit has become my favourite to use when throwing lipless crankbaits. They cast a mile, travel a little deeper on the retrieve (thanks to the finer diameter line) and can be deadly when fished across large flats or

behind them, they were destined to succeed. I could see this while putting them to the test. All the key features you are looking for are covered. Each line lays on your spool beautifully. They all provide excellent castability and each produces

Bream and finesse fishing go hand in hand. Here a Strike Pro Enticer 2inch finesse grub in motor oil colour was the undoing of this fish. The line and leader were 8.8lb Tokuryo Finesse 4 X and 3.7lb Tokuryo Fluorocarbon 100%. Port Vincent in South Australia. The target species was King George whiting and even though we were only fishing in 25-30ft of water, the current meant bigger sinkers were required (2-3oz). Not so much the case for me (1oz) and luckily or inevitably many of the fish fell to the lighter outfit (3:1 ratio). To double down on the effectiveness of using this Tokuryo lines combination. Once the whiting had stopped biting, we moved to shallower water to focus on garfish and tommy ruff (Australian herring). While most anglers will fish with a float rig drifting it down a berley trail, I prefer to use a single long shank hook with the smallest possible spilt shot above it and drift it down the berley trail. In this case,

Another beautiful Lake Eucumbene brown trout caught using the Tokuryo 4.5lb Pro FC spinning fluorocarbon. can be cast using heavier lines. This certainly proved to be the case. Although the fish didn’t join the party, I took a medium outfit to Canberra with me specifically to fish small/medium hardbody lures for golden perch and possibly Murray cod. High water levels meant the fish were hard to find, but it didn’t stop me trying.

A light spin outfit spooled with Tokuryo Pro FC is now a permanent fixture in the author’s boat. along weed edges. The Tokuryo Casting Pro braid is still a work in progress for me, the prime time for this type of fishing kicks in about the same time that this issue comes out and again around September/October. Having said that, there are plenty of fishing options out there, that having a finesse line that packs a punch, would be suitable for. Final thoughts There is justifiably a lot of hype around the Tokuryo Line Lab fishing lines. Using quality Japanese components and having so much research and development No question this bream wanted to eat this lure. Another Pro FC spinning fluorocarbon victim. 56

APRIL 2022

strong neat knots and when used in combination, complement each other. For fine diameter lines I found their abrasion resistance to be very good, however keep in mind I was not using them in situations where keeping fish out of heavy cover was my first priority. In short, they tick a lot of boxes. To check out the full range of Tokuryo Line Lab products go to www.jurofishing.com or check them out at your local tackle store. - Peter Jung

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PRODUCT GUIDE

SAMAKI TELESCOPIC ROD CASE

The Samaki Deluxe Telescopic Rod Case is leading the pack in design concepts for rod efficient travel. With a three-part design and two-colour concept, the Deluxe Telescopic Rod Case extends from each end in a telescopic manner, with the blue sections being able to be placed in more than one travelling position. From 1.5-2.2m, the Deluxe Telescopic Rod Case can carry up to 10 rods. It has internal wavy foam that is adjustable to suit the guides, tips and butts, and aid in the protection and secure travelling of your precious cargo. There are six locking mechanisms, as well as two points for padlocks to prevent unwanted opening of your case. A flat design ensures that your rod case won’t roll around in the car, ute or aeroplane, and allows you to pack on top of it in all circumstances. For information and stockists visit the Samaki website, or follow them on @ samakifishing at Facebook and Instagram. Price: from SRP$239.95 www.samaki.com.au

DAIWA 21 LEXA TW

A reel that’s synonymous with strength, power and value, the Lexa line-up welcomes a new arrival with the 21 Lexa TW. A step forward in design and performance, the new Daiwa Lexa features many of the technologies that have made Daiwa baitcaster reels industry leading, with CRBB Bearings, EVA Knob, UTD Drag, and now TWS (T-Wing System) leading the roll call of design features. TWS delivers a new level of performance and control to the Lexa, while a stainlesssteel pinion gear, high grade brass gears, aluminium frame and side plate, and Swept Power Handle provide ultimate strength and power. The Lexa WN features 13kg of drag, 8 CRBB and is available in two sizes (300 and 400) and four models. Whether it’s targeting the giants of the estuaries or muscling offshore species the 21 Lexa TW is the ultimate heavy-duty baitcaster. www.daiwafishing.com.au

SIMRAD NSX

Simrad’s newest MFD, Simrad NSX, offers the latest evolution in chartplotters and fishfinders for powerboaters as a new midrange product. The NSX is available in 7”, 9” and 12” display sizes and is based on a new operating system that redefines boating experiences. The innovative interface provides a new, intuitive touch screen experience with crystal clear views. Charts include powerful C-MAP navigation capabilities and compatibility with sonar, radar and autopilot systems. They’re simple to set up and easy to manage, with a Setup Wizard that walks users through the process. Other features include: support for the next-generation C-MAP Discover X and Reveal X marine-optimized charts; the full suite of Simrad technology available at the touch of a finger, with multiple networking and connectivity solutions; drag-and-drop screen customization and fully editable instruments bar; hi-res bathymetry that shows accurate contour lines down to a 1ft level of detail with compatible charts; and Simrad’s fastest-ever Autorouting with improved planning and route plotting. Price: SRP $ 2,199-$4,999 www.simrad-yachting.com

WHAT’S NEW FISHING

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EUREKA METAL LURES

Eureka Lures Australia has released some impressive new metal lures to complement their range of Metal deep sea jigs and game lures. They have released two new sizes in 20g and 60g in their popular range of 3D Baitfish lures, which feature single in-line hooks. The Eureka K.O. BaitZ is an exceptional metal lure that has an enticing swaying action. These lures also feature a reflective prism for added attraction, and glow-in-thedark bodies. They are highly effective when cast or trolled at high speed. They can also be vertically jigged with a rip and drop action, and are available in 40g and 60g. The Eureka Boil BaitZ is a traditional baitfish lure in improved colours that is highly effective when worked at high speed. It can also be carefully bent to increase the lure’s action, it’s available in 20g, 30g and 40g sizes. The Flashmaster is a classic chrome slice in an exciting range of new colours that emits a fantastic flash effect in the water. The Flashmasters are available in 20g, 30g, 40g and 50g sizes. All the Eureka metal lures feature quality black nickel trebles and are effective on salmon, tailor, mackerel, barracoota, bonito, tuna and pelagic species. www.jurofishing.com

OKUMA ROCKAWAY SURF REEL

2 3

A long cast spool and plenty of line pick up makes the Okuma Rockaway a perfect addition for anglers fishing the beach, surf, rocks and other applications where long casts and quick line management swing the advantage in favour of the angler. The Rockaway RA-6000 features a compact body, loaded with 4BB + 1RB stainless steel bearings, 5.3:1 high-density gearing providing 104cm of line pick-up per revolution, a rigid metal handle design to reduce flex, and Cyclonic Flow Rotor technology to help remove moisture from around the reel body. Other features include multi-disc oiled felt drag system, corrosionresistant graphite body, slow oscillation system, precision worm shaft transmission system, heavy-duty solid aluminium anodised bail wire, TPE ergo handle grip, Hydro Block watertight drag seal, and more. Built for big casts and big fish, the Rockaway maintains Okuma’s focus on quality, performance, and value for money, and it’s backed by a 10-year warranty. Price: SRP: $139.90 www.okuma.com.au

MUSTAD MEZASHI CASTING JIG

The Mezashi Casting Jigs from Mustad have been designed to give anglers lightweight casting options for inshore work. Species such as snapper, tailor, salmon, flathead and mulloway will fall to the attractive action of these lures in the salt, while freshwater species such as Australian bass, redfin and trout will eagerly chase down these brilliant jigs. Mezashi Casting Jigs are cleverly designed to give two differing actions on the fall. When the jigs fall with the triangle side down, they give a beautiful sliding action. When the jig falls on the rounded side, an enticing flutter is seen. To make things even better, when the jig is retrieved, it gives an intense wobbling action that pelagic predators adore! The Mezashi Jig comes pre-rigged with a Jawlock treble on the rear and a 1183SP assist hook on the front. The range includes in eight colours and five sizes – 15g, 20g, 30g, 40g and 60g. www.wilsonfishing.com

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APRIL 2022

Sydney

NSW

Dirty water fishing PITTWATER

Peter Le Blang plfishfingers@bigpond.com

What a month it has been! We have just about had more water fall from the sky than what is in Pittwater. I am joking of course, but when you have unbelievable amounts of rain for an extended period it does seem that way. With all the extra fresh water that has been running into Pittwater, our normally clean, clear, blue water is a chocolate brown instead.

It just means you will have to approach fishing a little bit differently to get the rewards. For most of my life I have been told to get the freshest bait possible to maximise catch rates. Now, however, there is a different avenue to take, and that is to introduce smells when fishing dirty water as well as bright colours or noises when using lures. When we fish Pittwater in the deeper water, that murky brown will disappear usually a few metres from the surface, and clean water will be

Flatties like this one are ready to pounce on lures around the weed beds. Unfortunately, for some species it’s not ideal but there are a lot of other species that can be targeted.

below that. The area of the cleaner salty water will be where a lot of larger fish will congregate, but being

at a depth where the water is colder, they won’t bite as often. In these cleaner water areas, by using live baits and fresh baits you should be able tempt some larger fish such as jewfish, flathead, and a variety of midwater species such as kingfish and tailor. Throwing out the anchor and using a weighted berley bucket of oily, finely-ground fish to disburse sparingly should see some success. By using lightly-weighted fishing rigs and floating baits down into the berley trial you should see a great deal of success providing you have the patience. Live baits such as yellowtail or squid should attract any midwater pelagic species that are in the area to have a look. By placing these baits midwater, cruising pelagic species should find them irresistible. Quite often when using yellowtail in deeper water I will splash on a bit of glow bait on the yellowtail. This fluorescence will make the offerings stand out and hopefully be seen from a greater distance, or become a target when fishing around a larger school of yellowtail. If you are going to fish the shallower areas, I would suggest using smellier types of bait such as strips of pike, slimy mackerel and even granddad’s old recipe of cheese and garlic mixed with bread and cat food tuna. If you use this recipe, you’ll go home smelly after a day’s fishing but you should have a few bream to feed the family. When using granddad’s recipe, you will also attract a lot of other species whilst fishing the dirty water. Using a float and a small amount of the bread mix recipe should see many different species being attracted and getting

It’s fun for young and old once the kingies are found. caught such as bream, leatherjackets and even flathead or flounder. For the lure fishers it’s time to break out those freakishly, brightly coloured, noisy lures to use. In the brown water, brightly coloured lures with a rattle will attract the attention of species such as bream and flathead as well as jewfish. Direct your efforts to the edges of weed beds or drop-offs like the ones you will find up and down Pittwater. Holes up the back of many of our bays will see larger fish waiting to ambush smaller prey coming from the shallower waters or soon-to-becomebare mudflats. Some of these larger holes will house monster flathead, and there should be some nice bream and even a jewfish or two to tangle with. Both hardbodied lures and soft plastics will work in these scenarios. Soft plastics will put vibration through the water, which is exactly what noise will do as well. If you have S factor or Halco paste in your tackle box, don’t forget to coat your lure

with a smear. Another small lure to try in the shallower, dirty water is a popper. By causing splashes of activity on the surface of the water there are quite a few species that will be excited by this, and the commotion may trigger a whole school of fish to become active. There are many different types of lures on the market, and fishing dirty water can be a wonderful place to try them all out. For those anglers wanting to catch larger fish, fishing offshore may be the better option once some cleaner water has been located. When I mention the cleaner water, I’m not referring to the colour of it but more the amount of debris that is travelling along the coast. With many rivers that have been flooded along our New South Wales coast, there have been lots of logs, garden furniture, plants and a host of other objects to annoy you. I am hoping the next month should see good snapper and reef species being caught in water

COHOE MARINE PRODUCTS Sales • Service • Repairs Dinghies • Tenders Boating Accessories 209 Australia Street Newtown PHONE: (02)

9519 3575

cohoemarine@bigpond.com

APRIL 2022

Decent squid are easier to find in the cleaner water near Palm Beach.

depths around 60m, and as per usual try to find baitfish before lowering your baits or throwing out the anchor. We will quite often use pilchards or frozen squid when fishing 60m of water, but we will also use yellowtail or other baitfish that are caught whilst fishing these areas. Our headlands along the coast will also see kingfish being caught and targeted by many anglers. Downrigging yellowtail or slimy mackerel will normally see you catching a few but do not forget to cast lures out as you are travelling along. By casting lures out the sides of vessel you will give fish a chance to chase lures to the boat, and if they do not smash your lure there will be live baits to tempt them anyway. Long Reef attracts a lot of attention nowadays, but with a little study of maps you will also see there are many other reefs that will attract these fish and you will not have to deal with a lot of the crowds. So, as you can see, even though we have had a lot of rain, catching fish is still possible – and by using new methods, heaps of fun can be had by all. I hope this report sees you dry and excited to get out fishing with your mates and loved ones in the near future. If you have difficulties catching fish, remember to call your local charter operator and book a day in with them. Most of us are quite happy to share the information that we have gathered over many years, and this alone will increase your knowledge in a short period of time. • Peter Le Blang operates Harbour and Estuary Fishing Charters, phone 02 9999 2574 or 0410 633 351, visit www. estuaryfishingcharters .com.au

Recreational Fishing Update Chase Your Dream Sportfish Onboard A Licenced NSW Charter Fishing Boat! With the calmer autumn weather along the NSW coastline, now is the time to get offshore and chase your favourite sportfish onboard a licenced NSW charter fishing boat. Whether it be mackerel on the north coast, or marlin down south, one of the best ways to catch those elusive gamefish species is onboard a NSW charter fishing boat. Licenced charter fishing boat operators bring a wealth of experience, expertise and are well equipped and capable of putting you on the spot to potentially have a once in a lifetime sport fishing experience. Book your next charter trip by finding an operator on the DPI website and searching ‘Go Charter Fishing NSW’ use the interactive map and following the links to book your trip.

Making Your Crab Gear Safer For Other Wildlife!

twine or an electrical cable tie to close the entrance in one or two places. It is considered that a maximum entrance size of 30 - 32cm is appropriate to prevent turtle entry. • Convert your witches hats to hoop nets. To reduce the probability of entangling non-target animals, witches hats can easily be converted to a lift net by removing the float from above the mesh and re-attaching the float line with several lengths of lines directly to the ring. • Check your crab gear regularly. Reducing set time for any fishing gear reduces the chances of harm to accidentally caught aquatic animals such as unwanted fish or protected species such as turtles. It also reduces the loss of gear which can sometimes move in tides and current and become marine debris if left in the water. For more info visit the DPI website and search “responsible fishing, crab traps”.

Get Your Go Fishing Guide Today!

Did you know that sea turtles can drown in crab traps? Unfortunately, they can force their way into the trap or become entangled and are unable to return to the surface to breathe. Here are some handy tips to make your crab gear safer: • Reduce the entrance size of your crab trap to lessen the chance of a turtle entering (this is particularly important for large mouthed rectangular crab traps). This can be done by simply using either

Autumn is a great time of year for a family getaway or a fishing trip with mates. We’ve made it a little easier to explore that new fishy destination. The “Go Fishing” series of handbooks are packed full of useful information with easy-to-read maps detailing popular local fishing spots, tips and techniques for common species plus rules, regs, and other relevant info. The great news is the series covers a range of many popular locations in both fresh and saltwater. More great news is that we’ve added two new guides, The Great Lakes region on the mid north coast and Burrinjuck Dam in the state’s south west. These new guides are packed full of all the mentioned information with a bonus feature focus on how to catch whiting on bait and topwater lures and Murray cod on lures in the Burrinjuck Dam guide. Both are ready for download on iPhone and Android or in hard copy from fishing retailers and tourists centres. There are now 17 guides available: Thompson Creek Dam, Burrinjuck Dam, Blowering Dam, Snowies Trout Waters, Lake Windamere, Botany Bay, Jervis Bay, St Georges Basin, Bermagui, Coffs Coast, Hawkesbury River, Tuross Head, Lake Macquarie, The Great Lakes, Parramatta and Lane

Cove Rivers Wharves and Parks, Middle and North Harbour Parks and Reserves, and Sydney Harbours’ Wharves, Piers and Parks, head to the DPI website and search, “fishing information local fishing guides”, to view them all and download your favourite ones. The DPI “Go Fishing” guides are a great example of your fishing fees at work.

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au

APRIL 2022

Sydney

NSW

Good catches in clear water SYD ROCK & BEACH

Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au

In Sydney we have had one of the wettest summer/ autumn periods we’ve seen for a long time. The brown water flowing out of the estuaries lasts for a long time as the fresh water run-off continues up to several weeks after the rain has stopped. The positive side for us anglers is that the nutrients feed the plankton and tiny fish, boosting the food chain in our estuaries, inshore and offshore. Below are the reports of what’s happening along our Sydney northern suburbs. ROCK FISHING The current direction and swell direction can determine the water clarity at your local spot, and the stage of tide may also have a bearing on how discoloured the water is. If I’m targeting pelagics like kings, I prefer to fish the clearer water as these sight feeders prefer less fresh, discoloured water than species like mulloway (jewfish). True, I have

Nathan Ye with a stud whiting caught on beach worms. This species can be targeted in pretty rough seas or near flat surf conditions.

Narrabeen Gutters near Turimetta Beach, and further south at Flat Rock south Curl Curl has some luderick as well. Rock blackfish, also known as black drummer or pigs, are not normally on anglers’ minds yet. Groper are also regarded as a wintertime species. Anglers prefer to fish for them when the water temperature cools down and the days are substantially colder. They are a residential species which can be caught all year round in Sydney. Rock blackfish to 2.4kg and groper to about 7-8kg have been landed in recent times. Red crabs are the best bait for the groper, and peeled prawns, cunjevoi and cabbage weed baits are best for the pigs. Bream are in good numbers as well. Some massive fish are being caught, with the average being from 28-35cm. Crab segments and half pilchards are amongst the better baits. The crabs can withstand the attack of species you may not want to catch, like sweep and mados, which are in absolute plague proportions. Still, you may want to consider keeping sweep, as they are pretty good on the plate. I am seeing more and more anglers, especially from the ethnic communities, catching and keeping sweep. These fish have a white flesh and they’re in big numbers (up to 0.5kg+),

Craig Mcenvoy has caught a lot of beach mulloway. This beautiful 18-20kg fish was caught on a DUO Fangshad 140mm shallow runner minnow.

Sebastian Su with a nice king. Fishing the deeper easterly exposed headlands can produce better kingfish and pelagic action. The water clarity is normally clearer. caught kings in dirty water before, but clearer water is better. Kings to 80cm have been landed by anglers and clients lately, with both lures and bait getting good results. The Shore Spartan Break Through 140mm and 7” Bait Junkie Jerk Shad are two of the artificials that have been catching kings of late. The old reliable sea gar also works well, but they’re pretty expensive nowadays as the human population demands have 60

APRIL 2022

risen for this delicious fish. The downside of using sea gars for bait is that there are a lot of other species that love them as well. Tailor are be increasing in size and numbers, so using hardbody lures may be a better choice than the gars. Another good option for the kings is a live yellowtail lightly weighted and suspended under a float with the float stopper set between 2-6m deep, depending on the water depth. Try Bluefish point,

Flat Rock South Curl Curl, and North Curl Curl for pelagics and kings. Luderick have been around in relatively good numbers. You can get some pretty good results off the ocean rocks fishing Collaroys Long Reef off the ledge known as Snapper Ledge. If you’re fishing Long Reef, remember to bring in your own bait (cabbage or hair weed) because it’s illegal to take any bait from this area. Further north at

This king fell for a 140mm Shore Spartan Break Through in the blue sardine colour. The smash you get from a kingfish on a lure is savage!

so getting a feed would take mere minutes, especially at the deeper rock spots. BEACH FISHING The tailor are migrating and we’ve been seeing good catches off the ocean beaches of late. There is still that mix of small chopper/ tailor from 30-35cm being caught, especially before dark. If you fish after dark, the tailor increase in size to the larger 40-50cm+ fish. Tailor have very sharp teeth, and when they attack a smaller fish like whiting, mullet or yellowtail the tailor will chop it in half and may or may not eat the rest of the fish. It creates a natural berley, floating to the bottom and attracting scavengers like bream and flathead, so you can expect to catch those species as well. The most common way to fish for tailor is with ganged pilchards. Ganged hooks are a trail of three hooks in a line. The best ganged hooks to use are the ones with swivels in between the hooks. The top hook has a swivel at the bottom of the curve of the hook. Then another swivel at the bottom of the second hook To page 61

NSW

Sydney

Avoiding the taxman SYDNEY NTH

Steve Winser

With the relentless rain and wind of the La Niña cycle still continuing, the inshore waters have turned to cappuccino... more like latte actually! Temperatures are up though, and if you can actually manage to get out, the fishing hasn’t been too bad. Kingfish can be found in numbers in the upper harbour reaches – everything from swarms of rats to a better run of fish in the 80-90cm range. The channel markers have been producing some nice fish on the run-out tide, and squid is once again the go-to bait, with the odd fish coming on live baits and lures. If you prefer to flick plastics, the Slug-Go type From page 60

and then your third hook. Two swivels make up one set of a 3-hook gang. Size 3/0 and 4/0 hooks are the best for the average pilchard, which is the most common tailor bait. You can grab a bag of IQF (individually quick frozen) pilchards at your local tackle shop. Alternatively, fish strips cut into lengths of 15cm long by 2cm wide work very well and are affordable. Yellowtail fillets or whole yellowtail are a good options too, and they can be caught at your local jetty or wharf. Garfish will also

plastics in the 9-12” range in white are going well. The water in the lower levels is still cooler though, as is evidenced by numbers of trevally, big tailor and some nice bonito taking strip baits and livies. There’s also still the odd snapper in the mid-50cm range taking strip baits in the deeper areas. One less than awesome aspect to this current cycle has been the influx of sharks. The ‘men in grey suits’ have been everywhere lately; we’ve had kingfish chopped in half, and we regularly see the sharks chasing hooked fish and just cruising round on the surface. As a result, they are moving the fish around. If you find a patch of good fish, you need to make hay while the sun shines before the party poopers show up. With this rise in

temperatures and this flush of fresh water, we should see a few nice jewfish turn up next month, and the kings should also remain consistent... let’s just hope the sharks don’t! • Fishing Sydney Tours takes pride in tailoring every trip to the customer’s preferred species, style of angling, and level of expertise, all within a friendly and relaxed atmosphere at competitive rates. There are some excellent fishing spots that can be accessed straight off Sydney, and we will show you where. We offer harbour, wash and offshore fishing for species ranging from kingfish and mulloway through to snapper and mahimahi. For more info go to www. fishingsydneytours.com.au, call 0481 120 600 or look up ‘Fishing Sydney Tours’ on Facebook.

work well, but they’re too expensive nowadays. Whiting numbers are great this month as they are getting ready to roe and milt up for the run in the next month or two. Fat fish to 40cm and bream to 38cm as a by-catch when whiting fishing are common off the beach. It is common knowledge to catch whiting in close, but how close? That last wave that breaks just before the shoreline can be as close as only 5-7 off the sand that you’re standing on. A light flick out just beyond where the wave breaks close to the shore can produce some

great whiting and bream. The reason they are in so close is to pick up small pipis, worms, crabs, tiny shrimp etc. These little invertebrates become disoriented after being tumbled around by the wave action, and it takes a few seconds before they can escape back into the sand again. Often they don’t make it, because there are whiting, bream, dart and more hunting to pick them off. The best bait is live beach worms, or pink nippers if you cannot catch worms. Alternatively, you can purchase them from reliable tackle shops. Some very nice jewfish have been caught by anglers

Al with his first kingfish capture. in recent times. Fish around that 17-20kg mark are falling for tailor baits, live yellowtail and hardbody lures. Sharks, tailor and salmon are there in good numbers as well. The beaches to fish are Palm Beach, Newport, North Narrabeen, and Dee Why, for all of these species. There

have been quality fish caught from all of the beaches of late, providing the structure like beach gutters are there. All in all, the autumn period is a very good time to fish. The hot sun is not beating down on you, which makes it way more comfortable. Don’t miss out

on this month! • For rock and beach guided fishing or tuition in the northern Sydney region, visit www. bellissimocharters. com.au, email alex@ bellissimocharters.com.au or call Alex Bellissimo on 0408 283 616.

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APRIL 2022

Sydney

NSW

Finding a quiet spot to target autumn offerings SYDNEY SOUTH

Gary Brown gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

As I sit here putting this report together, parts of NSW and Qld are still devastated by their worst ever floods. My heart goes out to them during these extraordinary times. Over the past month, the fishing in Botany Bay has been a bit up and down. One day you will find heaps of legal-size trevally at the oil wharf and Trevally

Alley, and the next day you will struggle to find any. The same goes for trying to find the bream, whiting and flathead. One day they’ll be at the 3.5m mark off Towra and the foreshore at Brighton, and the next day you will have to move to the deeper water off Silver Beach and the end of the third runway. Most of my bait fishing is done while at anchor because I don’t do much drift fishing in the bay. This is mainly due to the fact that when I bait fish I

There are some ripper bream about that have been taking 4” soft plastics meant for dusky flathead and kingfish.

always berley. Trying to do this when drifting is very hard; you end up drifting away from where you have just berleyed. I have been known to drift while trying to locate the fish in Botany Bay, but once I have found them, I will put a waymark on the Lowrance HDS 12” sounder and go back and anchor up so that I can concentrate on fishing that area. What I have also found over the past year or so is that there are so many more boat users on the water, especially on the weekends. This tends to create a crowd at places like the end of the third runway, the oil wharf, Trevally Alley and in Yarra Bay on the weekends. I am very lucky as I can go for a fish on any day through the week – that’s why you may not see me out there on the weekends, because I prefer to fish during the quieter days of the week. If you can’t get out during the week, I would suggest that you try other areas, other than the ones mentioned above, because most of the time you will have it to yourself. As we all know, the fish will move about the bay due to the coming and going of the tides, the movement of the baitfish, the wind and the weather. My suggestion would be ready to move after about 30 minutes if you haven’t had a bite, and don’t forget to berley when you are anchored up. For those of you that are venturing offshore, there are good reports of snapper and sand flathead being caught off Coogee in 20-30m, off Kurnell and the JD Reef off the southern side of the entrance to the

No other boats at Trevally Alley during the week. One of Scotty Lyon’s clients caught this legal kingy while fishing for trevally on a Monday morning. Port Hacking. Kingfish, bonito and salmon can be trolled up working the washes from Bondi and down to Garie Beach. The FADs have been producing kingfish and dolphinfish (mahimahi) on both lures and baits. On the weekends the FADs get very crowded, so getting there early usually gets you a few fish. You can also do better if it’s overcast and raining, because many anglers tend to stay at home. The rocks off La Perouse, Kurnell and Boat Harbour have been producing drummer, trevally, bream, luderick, snapper, kingfish, salmon and bonito. It’s just a matter of keeping an eye on the swell conditions and the weather. I had a very productive short session chasing

bream off the rocks at Cronulla a short while ago. Five bream were caught on peeled prawns in just under two hours. To get them I had to be prepared to move about a bit to work with the incoming tide. Check out my session on my YouTube channel, ‘Gary Brown Fishing’, and look for video #12. I was fishing with an Okuma Barbarian rod, Azores reel and Platypus line – all ideal for this type of fishing. By the time you read this report, hopefully the rains will have eased. If not, caution will need to be taken when driving your boat as there are plenty of objects of all shapes and sizes floating around. If you are going to try your luck in the Georges and Woronora rivers, I would suggest that if you

are fishing from a boat, try and stick close to the shore as the fish will tend to get out of the current. The Port Hacking is another stretch of waterway that can get extremely busy on the weekends. Even so, this waterway can fish well during the weekend. It’s just a matter of getting out and finding a quiet area, anchoring up and getting a small and steady berley trail going. You will need to also fish as light as possible. Garfish, mullet, bream and flathead are worth a shot along the main channel and over the weed beds. Don’t forget to keep those pictures coming into gbrown@iprimus.com.au or call into the BCF store at Taren Pont on Wednesday or Thursday and say hi.

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Anglers have been getting good bags of bream off the rocks. 62

APRIL 2022

NSW

Peak time to head offshore COFFS COAST

Rob Taylor

A massive rain event that took lives and damaged parts of Brisbane and all but destroyed Lismore has completely shut down the local fishing scene. However, just before the skies opened the fishing was hotting up, with the arrival of the pelagics including Spanish and spotted mackerel, tuna, marlin and wahoo. Some big snapper were also falling to plastic flickers inshore, and bass and jacks were the talk of the

rivers and creeks. At present though, the only fish I can manage to tussle with are the resident

luderick schools and visiting silver trevally at the local marina. With the impact of the

with the bass starting to think about their annual spawning run downstream. Cod, both eastern and Murray (in their respective systems), will also be worth chasing throughout April. For those anglers wanting a more gentle fishing experience, you can head to the highlands up around Dorrigo and Ebor to throw your preferred presentations at rainbow and browns. In the salt reaches, if you

Some solid Spanish mackerel will be taking live baits this month, but good luck getting them past the sharks.

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and at places like Urunga road bridge and the marina rock walls at night. Big flathead, along with bream and whiting, will be moving about the sandflats and dropoffs in the lower reaches. Plenty of solid lizards are caught at this time of year. Walking the flats while drifting unweighted live yabbies on an incoming tide is a sure-fire way to bag a delicious feed of whiting. ROCKS AND BEACHES Just before I wrote this column, the land-based game scene was starting to turn on with the arrival of the longtail tuna and mac tuna schools. A couple of decent Spanish mackerel were lost off the stones before the water turned brown, so fingers crossed we’ll still get a shot at them before they move out

wide. Longtails, however, will still be viable targets for months yet. I caught my last one in mid-September. Some big greenback tailor have been stealing livebaits off the stones, and the spinners have been getting decent bags of choppers. We can expect tailor numbers to increase as the water cools. The cooler water will also see drummer, groper and luderick feeding in the washes. Off the beaches, the gutters should be worth a look for whiting, bream and flathead. Those anglers targeting mulloway should look to the bigger gutters during the high tides, particularly where the high tide coincides with that hour after dark. Sharks can be a menace, but where are they not a menace these days? OFFSHORE On the offshore front, the good numbers of mackerel, tuna and snapper that were on the chew before the rain should be hitting their peak. Before the floods we were having a ball on the juvenile yellowfin and wahoo at South Solitary, and I bet the islands will be producing the goods throughout April. The inshore reefs and gravel beds out on the 30-40m lines will be the places to hunt big Spanish

NSW

Fooling fish in April THE HASTINGS

Mark Saxon castawayestuarycharters@bigpond.com

For most of this year, the fishing in the Hastings region has been really variable. Sometimes the fish were shut down when

to deeper holes and using your sounder will help on those days when the fish are a bit lure-shy. Evening bait fishing from the town wall is extremely popular at this time of year, and cut fish baits, prawns and nippers will all catch fish. During autumn and

and as the temperatures drop the keen fishos get ready to target them from boat and shore alike. Port Mac and Camden Haven give up some truly magic fish, and if you’re chasing that dream 20kg+ fish, the best time is April onwards. Boat anglers will anchor in their favourite spots, and there are many in the Hastings such as coal wall, Settlement Point Road, rowing club and a few deeper drop-offs as well. Bait fishing with live baits such as mullet, herring, tailor and luderick are all good. Squid and fresh slab baits also account for plenty of fish each season.

Some good flatties are waiting to play on the sand flats.

Emmett with one of many smaller mulloway in our system since the rains. the heavy rains turned water conditions to mud, while at other times we enjoyed good fishing in areas as the water cleared while waiting for the next downpour! The benefits of these somewhat trying conditions will hopefully start to really show this month and coming months. The rivers have definitely had a flush, and towards mid to late April is usually time for mullet to gather to start their run to the sea for spawning. With this we also will start to see bream schooling in the deeper sections of the rivers, and into next month we should really start to see a good deepwater bite, with the walls of the river a good place to be. Fishing plastics, blades or soft vibes will get you into the action. Moving positions from walls From page 64

mackerel. Depending on depth, slow trolling live baits will find fish or, if you are in close-in water of 20m or less, don’t discount

moving into winter the fishing only gets better, with mulloway and luderick also prime targets around our river mouths. The mullet run is a renowned time to chase the elusive big mulloway,

Cooper landed this bream on a vibe in deeper water.

Bass season comes to end at the end of April, and it has been a tough time for these fellas over the last couple of seasons. It is great to see fingerlings being released in the Hastings, Wilson and Macleay systems – well done to all involved. Mud crabbing has been exceptional during the, let’s say ‘wet season’, and there is no reason you guys shouldn’t be able to get a feed for your Easter break. Lake Cathie has also had one of its best prawning seasons in years, and it will be interesting to see whether this month produces. It will depend on what happens with opening

of this system. There have also been plenty of blue swimmers in the lake and by all accounts, flathead fishing has been good towards the mouth. The Easter break will hopefully turn on some great weather for locals and visiting anglers so we will all get the chance to wet a line. April is usually a very entertaining month, with flatties and whiting still on the sandflats, mulloway haunting the bream and mullet in the deeper water. When you combine this with a few pots for a feast of mud crab, you have a seafood lover’s dream.

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Good bags of flathead and bream are common in April. bobby corking from an anchored boat. Some of my best fish have come from this old-school technique. Bottom fishing will also fire throughout Apri,

Jellybean yellowfin tuna are still worth a shot at the islands in April.

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with reds and pearl perch anywhere out to the 80m line. The pearlies will tend to be found in depths from 40-80m, and the snapper will be hunting the shallow reefs on first light and will also be out wider where the pearlies are. Bar cod may also be worth a look for those anglers who like to fish really deep. On the game fishing front, there were not a lot of reports of fish at the time of writing, although the big tournaments to the south of us produced some good numbers of blue marlin. This is when their numbers should peak, and I for one will be out there on the good days dragging some pushers in the hope of finding one.

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APRIL 2022

NSW

A perfect fishing month FORSTER

Luke Austin

How good is autumn – offshore winds, warm water and too many fishing options! April is an absolutely perfect month to get out on the water to chase a fish or two.

(towards the mouth of the estuary) as they prepare to travel and spawn. This year’s season is shaping up to be a cracker! There have been plenty of nice fish pulled from the rock walls and leases lately, with most fish falling for lightly-weighted strip baits or whitebait. Chasing these big travelling fish can

Ethan caught this nice longtail tuna while throwing plastics for snapper. Flathead are still fishing very well for those wishing to chase a tasty feed. These fish are spread out all over the place now, but your best bet for numbers of fish is to get up around Wallis Island or down past Green Point and target the weed edges and drop-offs with soft plastics and vibes. There are still some very nice fish being caught down along the rock walls and around the bridge, with live herring and mullet proving to be particularly effective. With plenty of rain falling over the past couple of months, bream have really started to stack up throughout the bottom of the system

sometimes be a frustrating and very challenging affair. If you fish too light they’ll bury you in the structure before you get a wind on them, and if you fish too heavy the buggers won’t touch your offering! For those wishing to fish the flats, there are still decent numbers of bream sitting up about The Cut and on the weed beds around Green Point/Coomba Park, although most of the fish are just legal or undersize. These fish are very responsive and will hammer small hardbodies, poppers, stickbaits and bent minnows, which can be very fun on the light gear! The luderick season is yet to kick off in earnest but

there have been some reports trickling through of decent numbers of fish sitting down near the Fish Co-op as well as along the northern rock wall and the bridge. While you may not hit your bag limit this month, you will generally be able to find a few fish willing to feed, and there will be the odd monster mixed in with the smaller fish. The local beaches are a beautiful place to be in autumn. Flat seas, offshore winds and warm water make them a delight to fish, plus there’s generally plenty of fish. The tailor bite we have had over the past month has been great, with just about every beach holding decent numbers of fish. They are taking both lures and bait, and there has been the odd bonito and salmon mixed in with them. Bream numbers have been good on the beaches, but finding the better-quality fish has been a bit tricky. You will probably have to fish through a fair few barely-legal fish to find the big ones. Hopefully

Curtis Chalker with a cracker cobe. There is always plenty of cobia action in April.

about for a while yet if the water temperature holds. You will find though that as the water cools these fish will feed less and less, so your ‘effort to catch rate’ ratio will blow out significantly! The deeper reefs are fishing very consistently. Reefs in the 60-80m depth range are particularly productive at present, yielding nice mixed bags including teraglin, pearl perch and the ever-present snapper. We also find the odd nice kingfish out on these reefs during April, which is always a welcome surprise. Deep drop enthusiasts love the calm weather that April brings, and results are generally very good with tasty mixed bags of bar cod, nannygai, bass grouper and gemfish coming back to port with each trip. • Luke is the owner of Great Lakes Tackle – your ‘local’ bait and tackle store. They sell only the best brands and offer sound, friendly advice on where you can go to land your next trophy fish while visiting the wonderful Great Lakes region! They are open 7 days in the main street of

Fishing from the local stones in April is very exciting due to the number of different species on offer. The water is nice and warm and there are plenty of pelagics cruising along the coastline, so casting lures or floating baits out is definitely worth the effort. In between the big guys there are great numbers of solid tailor, mac tuna and bonito so you can rest assured that a day on the rocks will be filled with plenty of action. Bream and luderick are slowly schooling up, with some great fishing on offer in the washes down around Elizabeth Beach and Jaineys Corner. Sea conditions during April are often about as good as we can get, which results in loads of anglers heading offshore, and most will find plenty of action. The local snapper have been good in the shallow stuff; most reefs under 20m have produced

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Mackerel mayhem with Mitch and Luke. by the middle of April this will change, and there will be more good-size travelling along our beaches. Unfortunately, whiting seem to be very hard to find at the moment. Anglers are reporting plenty of small fish but not too many big ones. The better reports have been coming from 7 Mile Beach and down around Seal Rocks.

fish lately, and the fish have been of a good size, with not many reds under 40cm being reported. Chasing big fish in skinny water is very addictive. Just about every report on the shallow water snapper this month will end with “and they were just the ones we could stop, there was twice as many that we couldn’t turn!”

April is a great time to chase the inshore snapper. The same shallow reefs are still playing host to mackerel, tuna and cobia, and these fish may well hang

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NSW

Hunting autumn pelagics PORT STEPHENS

Paul Lennon

Inside the estuary, schools of frigate mackerel, bonito and tailor have been gorging themselves on frogmouth pilchards and whitebait schools, providing great fun on 1-3kg outfits. You will find them anywhere from Shoal Bay through to Middle Island, with bird activity being the best indicator of a good starting point. Once you’ve located a school, start flicking light metals from 5-10g through the bust-ups. Don’t be surprised if their bigger cousins show up, as longtail tuna should also find their way into the bay this month, feeding on the same bait schools. You will need to up your gear to successfully target these torpedos, with a minimum of 300m of 30lb braid and 30lb leader. The water temp has not dropped off yet, so flathead are still biting well along most of the estuary beaches and river mouths. As always, soft plastics or hardbodied lures around the

100mm mark will be your best weapon of choice when targeting flathead. Whiting are also hanging about Jimmys Shoal Bay and Nelson Bay beaches on the high tide. Live worms can be the difference between

Longtail tuna will be patrolling the headlands this month. catching nothing or a bucket full of whiting. Bream are starting to move into the bay and should only get better over

687 Contact Paul Lennon :0434370 mail.com email: paul.lennon.fishing@g

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APRIL 2022

of the racks, that is. Lure fishing around structure from Soldiers Point, Pindimar and the Short Cut area will also produce plenty of bream on lightly weighed 2” plastics or hardbody crank-style lures. ROCKS If you’ve ever wanted to catch a longtail tuna off the rocks, now is the time to do it. Most of the rocky ocean points that jut out into deeper water will see longtail come past them, especially those with adjacent reefy bottom that holds baitfish. Tomaree, Fingal Head and Sunny Corner are prime examples of these kinds of places, and the best way to fish for tuna is by live baiting. This is best done using an overhead reel with 10-15kg of mono line connected to a 2-3m leader, and a running torpedo float down to a 7/0 live bait hook. Catch a live slimy mackerel or yellowtail on a bait jig, hook it up and feed it out 20-50m, then leave the reel in free-spool with the ratchet on and wait for it scream. While longtail tuna are the

ens estuary system the beautiful Port Steph signed g charter that can be de with a calm water fishin to g family bait fishin to suit your needs from hing anglers. fis hardcore lure and fly

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main target, you could catch anything from a trophy cobia or snapper to mac tuna and sharks. BEACHES Excellent catches of bream being reported from Fingal Spit, Samurai and

There are still some marlin about on the shelf.

There are a few nice flathead getting around inside the estuary.

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the next couple of months. Fish the leases at the back of Soldiers Point through to Garden Island with unweighted nippers on the tide change and you will catch some thumpers – if you can pull them out

One Mile, particularly when the high tides are corresponding with dawn and dusk periods. Whiting have also been showing up in the mix, with a few crackers to 40cm being caught.

We are seeing mulloway from the southern end of Stockton Beach as well as both sides of Middle Rock. The anglers who have been having the most success are those who have taken the time to source live bait. OUTSIDE While it hasn’t been a great year for inshore black marlin, they are still worth targeting this month around the inshore reefs from the Vee to the Gibber and up to Seal Rocks. Further offshore, on and beyond the shelf line, the marlin fishing has been

performing better, with boats getting several shots a day on mainly stripes and blues. Snapper will really start to fire this month, with fish up the magic 20lb mark not out of the question. While you will catch good reds on the deeper reefs over 30m of water, at this time of year most of the better fish will actually come from the shallows. Reefs holding baitfish in 10-25m of water are where you should be focusing your efforts, and the key is to fish those early morning and late afternoon periods.

Fishing after floods SWANSEA

Jason Nunn

There’s not one suburb, town or inlet that hasn’t suffered flooding of some degree, but there are better times ahead. The rain is forecast to ease, allowing both communities and waterways to recover. At the time of writing this report, visitors to our store have been saying the lake doesn’t look good because it’s dark. I point out that Lake Macquarie is a catchment, not a river system, so we don’t have a major river that feeds vast amounts of freshwater into it. If you fish deeper in the lake, underneath the freshwater, the fish will still bite. Usually the run-out tide is a good time to fish estuary systems, but not after a big flush. If you want to fish shallow water or inlets after a big influx of freshwater, make a point of doing it on the run-in tide. At low tide, the saltwater is displaced so only the fresh remains. I don’t know whether this will continue into April; hopefully it won’t. Remember that you can catch good fish in dirty water, so don’t write it off

completely. Dirty water can even be your friend, because the fish don’t spook as easily as they do in clear water. As is normal for this time of year, we’ve seen a lot of flatties leave the estuary and head offshore. They have been busy spawning, and already we’ve had reports of flatties along our coastal beaches and breakwaters, and no doubt you can catch a lot on the bottom side of close inshore reefs. These flathead should move back into our estuary systems in the latter part of April and into May, barring further large rain events. In the meantime, if you want to catch a few flatties (plus some bycatch), I recommend fishing the beaches. Walking along the beach with 5-6” soft plastics is a very effective way to catch flathead in April. I recommend using paddle tail or grub tail plastics, because you want good tail action at slow speed. Good colours include white, black/gold, and mullet type patterns. If the water has a lot of colour, you can use brighter patterns. Let your plastic sink down into the gutter (the jighead needs to be heavy enough to reach the

bottom) and slowly work it back to the shore. Alternatively, you can use pilchards on a gang. That will get both flathead and tailor, plus the odd Australian salmon and even possibly a mulloway. We can expect the bream to bite quite well this month. At this time of year we see the travelling bream move along the coast and come into the estuaries. Unlike the resident bream, these silver travellers have a small head and a high back, so they have more flesh and are great eating. Bait fishing is the way to go, whether you’re fishing the surf or estuary. The most effective baits are oily baits such as mullet, mullet gut and pilchards. When fishing for bream off the beach I would use 6kg line, while in the estuary I recommend no more than 3-4kg line. Mullet will also be moving along our coast this month, and there has been a significant increase in tailor numbers. In the coming weeks we should see good numbers of tailor build on our offshore reefs (around 20-40m). There should be teraglin, bream and tarwhine and flatties on the backs of those reefs To page 69

NSW

Great bream fishing CENTRAL COAST

Jamie Robley

I mentioned last month how I love autumn because of the great fishing and stable weather encountered at this time of year, and then things promptly went a bit wet and soggy. This will make it the third year in a row we’ve had solid rainfall through late summer and early autumn. We’ve really got to take advantage of good weather or favourable conditions for

our chosen style of fishing, because the good times rarely last. This was on my mind through February, as I was getting stuck into the plentiful supply of bream on offer around Brisbane Waters and our lakes. Patchy rainfall throughout summer kept kicking things along nicely, but unfortunately the frequency and intensity of the rain eventually increased to a detrimental point. One of the great aspects of being into fishing and living here on the Central Coast, is the variety of

species and range of different spots to fish – everything from brackish creeks through to rock, beach and offshore options. I also thoroughly enjoy just about all forms of fishing, and so when we’ve had too much rain for the estuary and lake fishing, I simply turn my attention to rock and beach. Historically, April is the peak month for rock and beach fishing here and I always look forward to making the most of it. Considering the numbers of bream I’ve witnessed in the

This is quite possibly the best month of the year for rock and beach fishing. So be sure to make some time to get out there!

Bream fishing in the lakes and Brisbane Waters has been great through the warmer months, and the author got stuck into plenty of them. If the area doesn’t cop too much rainfall, you can still expect good bream fishing this month.

lakes and Brisbane Waters through summer, and the fact that we’ve had all that rain (which encourages bream to move out to sea), I would pretty much bet we’re going to have excellent bream fishing along the beaches and rocks in the coming weeks. I’ll be armed with bread for bait when rock fishing, and at the beach it will either be pilchards, tailor, pike, mullet or pipis for bait. Despite being a lure fishing addict in the calm water, I still prefer old-fashioned bait fishing techniques for rock and beach bream. The aforementioned baits can also tempt other species like luderick, drummer or whiting. If the weather behaves

way, you won’t get tangles when you turn a corner, and you’re also in with a chance of getting fish that are closer to the surface, chasing bait balls. This kind of fishing is a something that the family can do in the school holidays. You just bring a lunch and chill out trolling the bays and working the bait schools. Look for the bait on your sounder, or if you don’t have a sounder, look for bird activity. It’s lovely at dawn or in the evening at this time of year, because it’s not too cold and you get a rest from the wind. You can troll until lunch time if you like, and still catch fish. You can also catch the odd flathead on the troll, and possibly even a mulloway on your deep diver. Even squire around 1.5kg will readily eat some of those deep drivers. Over the last month there’s been a phenomenal number of bonito around. Most have been small but there are a few larger specimens in the mix. They’ll should stay in our system into April, and I still think they’ll be around on the offshore reefs this month. We have seen a few different species such as

water will cool down, and I still think we could salvage a striped marlin season in April-May. There have also been some yellowfin off the coast moving down the current, with some large 60kg+ fish caught. This winter we might see the mighty yellowfin again, fingers crossed. April is a very good time for blue swimmer crabs. Look for the salty, deeper water around 7-8m as we head into winter. • Fisherman’s Warehouse Tackle World has a large range fresh and frozen bait as well as a huge range of rods, reels, lures and accessories. They also sell and service outboard motors, and have a competitivelypriced selection of new and second-hand boats. The friendly staff are all experienced local anglers, and they’re always happy to share their knowledge, whether you’re a novice or experienced angler. Drop in for a chat at 804 Pacific Highway, Marks Point, or give them a call on (02) 4945 2152. You can also find them on Facebook, or check out their website at www.fishermanswarehouse .com.au.

From page 68

as well. Easter/April is a very good time for diversity. If you are after tailor in particular, the most effective bait is pilchards. Alternatively, if you are fishing the beaches, you can use a chrome slice around 40-65g. You need a slightly larger metal on the beach to punch out a long cast with a 10-12ft rod. In the estuary, when fishing with a 7ft rod, you can get away with a lighter slice. Tailor will be hunting in our lake during April and May, and trolling is one of the more effective ways to catch them. This is for two reasons. First, you can cover a fair area to find them (a lot of the bait will be deep) and second, the better-quality fish are generally caught in that deeper water, and readily take deep divers which get down to 8-9m. Good lure options include the TDD11 Deep Tail Dancer and Halco Crazy Deep. I recommend running two depths at a time – one that gets around that 8m bracket, and one that runs around 3m. That

Watson’s leaping bonito mixed with regular bonito, along with frigates and some very nice tailor and small kingfish. The bonito have been taking on chrome slices, floating pillies and trolling, but we can’t guarantee they’ll stick around along the coast in April. Good numbers of tailor have been coming into the lake chasing bait. Other predators such as mulloway, flathead and kingfish will also be shadowing the bait this month. If you want to catch kings, you can try live yellowtail, live slimy mackerel or live squid. The squid are still around, so you should be able to find a few to convert into kingfish. There are a lot of undersize kings around at the moment, but hopefully there will be some better fish caught in the coming weeks. Last month there were kingfish at Moon Island, the bridge and the dropover. There were catches of big blue and striped marlin offshore before the rain set in and canned the action. Things should be better in the marlin fishery in April; the current will abate, the

itself and the ocean remains clean and calm inshore, then calamari squid are a sure bet right now. There are many excellent squid spots scattered along our stretch of coast. The south side of Catherine Hill Bay, Snapper Point, Wybung Head, Norah Head, Toowoon Bay and Terrigal all have some reliable and safe spots to cast squid jigs (when the sea is calm of course). I normally like a natural style size 3 or 3.5 jig, but sizes from 2.5 to 4 in a range of different colours will work on our local calamari population. This is also prime time for mulloway and kingfish, so if you’ve caught some calamari squid, they will come in very handy for bait. In fact, if you put a live squid in front of a kingfish it is guaranteed to get demolished within seconds. Freshly-cut

heavy tackle this month. I’ve always said that if there’s one month of the year you’re going to hook a jewie at the beach, April is it. The only issue is if the weather is going to be favourable or not. Jewfish certainly like to hunt in dismal, wet or windy conditions, but obviously the seas or weather can turn a bit too nasty to make fishing a practical exercise. If the beach gets a bit rough we can use a heavier sinker or try to find a more sheltered spots, but of course, there are limits. Tailor have been showing up in better numbers and sizes along this part of the coastline over the past five years or so. April is also one of the best months for tailor here, along with May and June. I love catching tailor, simply because they’re so aggressive and basically just a fun fish to chase. If you encounter good numbers of

It should be quite easy to find a few bream around the rocks over the coming weeks. Be sure to cast baits into the shallower washy water, rather than too far out into the deep stuff. strips of calamari are also extremely deadly baits for smaller kings. April and May are when we tend to see a better class of kingfish around the headlands, bommies and inshore reef, and you’re less likely to encounter those tiddler rat kings that are more common through the summer months. In other words, pack the big gear! Beach anglers should also be bringing out their

them, be sure to try a few different types of lures such as surface stickbaits, fizzers or sinking stickbaits. Soft plastics also work well, but they don’t last too long when chasing choppers. To be honest, I always look forward to April and wish I could fish every single day this month. Realistically though, when time allows, I hope to be fishing the rocks and beaches for calamari, tailor, bream and mulloway. APRIL 2022

NSW

Livebaits catch quality ILLAWARRA

Greg Clarke

The fishing just keeps going from strength to strength as March blends into April, with great weather and some fabulous angling prospects in all departments. Snapper are always the big movers in April along this part of the coast as they travel in closer to shore over the shallow reefs. Sometimes they can be found in almost knee-deep water, mixing it with the bream. The full moon over Easter is always the prime time, particularly during the evenings and very early in the morning. Bombo Rocks, the south side of Bass Point, the Peg and the Crankshaft, the front of Honeycomb, Bellambi and Brandy rocks or in front of the cemetery at Wombarra are all places

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worth a try from the boat or off the rocks. A little berley always helps, and the top baits are fresh squid and large fillets of fresh slimy or frigate mackerel. Fishing as light as you dare gets many more hook-ups in shallow water, but don’t go too light because some of these reds are up to 7-8kg at this time of the year. You may get distracted by the bream if you are using the mackerel baits, as there has been a marked increase in bream numbers along the rocks over recent weeks. They should become even more abundant as we move

headlands. The beaches are still fishing well for bream, tailor and salmon on whole and pieces of pilchard, while beachworms are accounting for some very nice whiting on most beaches. If you want a little extra fun, keep your eyes open on the calm days, particularly if there is a bit of a westerly blowing. You will spot frigates and tailor chasing baitfish close in along the beaches. You may have to wade out some days, but small lures and light tackle can give you a ton of fun spinning these mini

There will be plenty of solid live bait-stealing bonito about this month.

Always keep a livebait out, even when snapper fishing, to tempt any stray longtail travelling down the coast in close. further into April. A light outfit with smaller baits will pick up the bream, but there’s always the chance that big red will grab a bream bait and do you cold in the process. You either have to fish heavier at the risk of missing a few bream, or target the bream and risk losing a big red. Sometimes it’s a tough choice. Also on the rocks the drummer seem to have made a bit of a move even though the water is still very warm. Fish over 2kg are about in the washes mixing it with increasing quantities of blackfish, around most rocky headlands. If we get heavy seas over the coming weeks, the harbours at Bellambi, Wollongong, Port, Shellharbour and Kiama should fish very well for blackfish. The calmer days should see schools starting to move around the headlands. If you want faster action around the rocks there are still plenty of pelagics along the deeper ledges with mac tuna up to 8kg taking live baits and lures, bonito, salmon, a few frigates and tailor. If you persist with the live baits there are some solid kings around the Kiama area, and even a few longtails up to 20kg moving along the

torpedoes as they blast along just behind the small surf. Now you have your tailor and frigates for bait you can target the jewies during the evenings. Most beaches with a decent deep gutter should attract a jewie or two, particularly in the latter part of the month where the big tides during the early evening coincide with the new moon. There have been plenty of schoolies around, with a few fish over the 15kg mark popping up from time to

time. As is usual at this time of the year, whaler sharks are a problem in the surf after dark so keep plenty of hooks handy. In the estuaries things have slowed a bit, but there is more than enough action to keep you busy. Flathead are about but you will have to work for them. As always, the main channel and the drop-off are the pick of the spots, with Tallawarra producing a few flatties, along with Mullet Creek. Small chopper tailor

are taking their toll on soft plastics around the drop-off. Blackfish are about the weed beds and just west of the bridge near the jetty if you can get a spot. The pick of the fishing is down at the entrance, where there are some quality whiting taking worms over the sand flats. Minnamurra has some nice flathead up around the edges of the weed beds at the back of the river, but beware of the big eels if you’re using live baits. Bream are around the bridges during the evenings, and there are still enough whiting to keep you interested east of the bridges over the flats. Offshore is still humming along, with just about everything with fins wanting to play given the right conditions, usually a bit of current from the north. Dolphinfish (mahimahi) are still out around the FAD, with live baits scoring the best results. Do yourself and the others fishing these spots a favour and keep the revs down when moving back upcurrent. Screaming back at 5000 revs doesn’t do anyone any favours, as does trolling. You get a couple and the day is over. There is still the chance of a marlin of any species this month. There are big blues out beyond the shelf

Easter always means solid snapper in close.

and on the Kiama canyons, stripes along the shelf and a few blacks in around the 60-fathom mark and the odd one or two over the closer reefs. Striped tuna and small yellowfin have been taken out wide on small skirts and Christmas trees, while in closer the salmon, frigates, tailor, bonito and mac tuna have been working the headlands and the backs of the beaches. With a bit of luck, the large schools of anchovies will move in on the beaches, sparking a feeding frenzy from Wollongong down to Jervis Bay. Kingfish are back around the islands and Bass Point, with early mornings soaking live yellowtail, mackerel and pike just out from the rocks the way to go. Live frigates trolled very slowly around the same areas will attract the attention of any big fellas that may be about. Getting the hook-up is simple – getting the fish to the boat is another thing. Extra-large bonito are notorious for grabbing live baits at this time of the year, so if you run into a school of these predators, drop down in line class and have some fun. They often run at better than 5kg each fish. Trevally are starting to make a show over the shallow reefs and around the headlands as the water cools, but at the moment it is still warm enough to keep the GTs, samsonfish, rainbow runners, cobia and even the stray spotty mackerel around. You stand the chance of picking up almost anything over the coming weeks. For the bottom bouncers there are plenty of nice flathead over all the sand patches, while the reefs and gravel are holding nice pan-sized reds, leatherjackets, mowies, sweep, the odd trag and samsonfish. So, as you can see, there is still plenty for everyone this month, but get in now because in a few weeks it will start going downhill. Good fishing.

NSW

Here comes the rain again BATEMANS BAY

Anthony Stokman

“Falling on my boat like a memory, falling into my estuary, I want to cast in the open wind, I don’t want any wind knots too, I want to fish in the dirty ocean, is it raining with you…” Cabin fever is kicking in and has me rewriting music lyrics*. More rain could be on the way, so

out to the shelf, it can hold dolphinfish (mahimahi), so if you’re trolling for marlin and you spot some flotsam, give it a pass by to see whether anything is holding there. The one place that is least affected by the floods and dirty water is out on the Continental Shelf. April tends to be the last month of the majority of the visiting marlin, so make this month count if you’re after a stickface.

you’ll get onto a couple of 3-5kg fish, while on other days it’s a mixed bag with some smaller snapper or flatties. But in general, the reef fishing has been a good option. Rock fishing and the ledges have probably suffered more with the dirty water. There have been some big salmon, the odd bonito and very odd kingie. But the dirty water has kept these fish looking for cleaner places holding bait. Each year seems to see the bigger kings further south. Snapper don’t mind stirred-up water, and a couple of days after rain and swell is the time to try your luck off the stones. Hopefully this April the water will clean up a bit and we’ll see the run of bonito that I was hoping for this year. The beaches have been pretty roughed up as well. However, but there is plenty of beach along our coastline, and if you get around the corner to some more protected places, or find a clean beach like up Bawley Point way, you can still catch some whiting. Salmon, tailor, flathead, trevally and

bream are always on the list of by-catch here on the south coast. With all the lakes opening, it makes the surrounding beaches great for bream fishing. The dirtiest water of all is spewing out of our estuaries. The rain just didn’t give up this season – all summer, just as it was looking to clear and give us a couple of days of fishing, it would rain again. However, fish need to feed, and fishing out the front of the estuaries is the go. Here there is more salt and more chance of finding fish that want to chew. The lakes can be less muddy than the river systems and you can have a better chance there, particularly if you are using live bait such as mullet or nippers. Upstream has been a was-out, and we are hoping for the most of the water to have come and gone throughout April, giving us another crack at bass. Other than being totally washed out coming into autumn, April should be the month with a lot more stability and the last chance for our pelagic species like marlin and mahimahi. Then we’ll Badluck Doug with a nice striped marlin. start looking towards tuna again. The inshore reef fishing is always a reliable option at this time of year, as can be our beaches and rock fishing. It’s the estuaries that can fire at this time of year, and April is one of the last months to make the most of it before the cooler weather starts to set in. Some autumns also see the larger mulloway moving through the system in good

Georgia Poyner has been finding some of the bream on offer. don’t unpack your rain jacket from your tackle bag just yet. Rain is good as it fills up our lakes, dams and systems. It brings life to the land as well, but too much can be not so good – just ask the residents in Northern NSW. A good break in the weather is what we need. Just as the river (and ocean) is looking to clear up a bit, more rain comes down to the point that it floods. This flood water devastates the river with dirty water and debris gushing out to sea. It’s not good for our river oysters, and the debris creates boating hazards, so keep your eye out when you are travelling through dirty water. Heavy flood water pushes the inshore black marlin out, and the squid move out to clearer water and the estuary shuts down. This has been occurring of late, and we are all hoping for get some stability in April. The positive to flood debris is that once it gets

Check the FADs and fish traps because dolphinfish are bound to be on them. There has been a good run of them, but mostly on the smaller side. Another target that’s on the cards is tuna. I can’t mention tuna enough with the amazing few years we have just experienced. It doesn’t get any better, and at the start of March we had yellowfin on our northern seamount which is a great sign, and it shows that these fish are available all year round at the moment. I’m praying and hoping for another solid run of tuna this year, and it would be great if it could stay like this for years to come. Inshore reef fishing hasn’t been too bad considering all the rain, swells and winds. Once there is a window when the aforementioned factors aren’t hindering the action, the fishing has been good. The snapper bite has been fairly constant over the last few years. On some days

numbers. Let’s see what happens this April. *The original song is ‘Here Comes the Rain Again’ by The Eurythmics. • For more up-to-theminute information on what’s biting where, drop into Compleat Angler Batemans Bay and have a chat to Anthony or one of the other friendly staff. They’re located at 65A Orient St, Batemans Bay (02 4472 2559).

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NSW

The benefits of floods BERMAGUI

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

Yep, it has happened again! Rain, rain and more rain, not only along our section of coastline, but all along the eastern seaboard, resulting in more flooding. This has made life difficult for anglers, although there are still fish to be found with a little work. Some species actually

thrive in these conditions. One such species is the humble bream, which increase their feeding intensely, especially in the lower parts of an estuary. Once the flooding has eased these fish will flock into the rivers and lakes, pushing over the flats with the rising tide and saltier water to feed on the vast array of food stirred up by the flooding. Worms, nippers, shellfish, prawn and shrimp are all on the menu, and these

small creatures attract not only bream but a host of their friends like whiting, luderick, flounder, mullet and flathead. Often all that’s required to catch these fish is a bucket of the same bait the fish are feeding on (my preference being nippers), then you sight some of these fish moving over the flats and anchor up. Broad cast your baits 360° around the boat, then sit back and wait. It won’t take long. Not only was the estuary

There are multiple species of bream to be found in Wallaga. According to Fisheries, this is a hybrid.

Tarwhine are normally on the small side, but there are some larger specimens to be found.

fishing good just after the rains, it’s still continuing to fire, and this looks like continuing well into the winter months. All of the lakes or rivers along the coast are currently fishing extremely well. Following these flushes in the estuaries, beach fishing is also excellent with some lovely gutters formed and plenty of food pushed out into the ocean. Not only do the ocean-dwelling species react to this event, so too do the estuary fish pushed out of the rivers and lakes. Some of the

species being captured include dusky flathead and blackfish taken in the middle of the beach on baits designed for other species. The more common captures like bream, mullet, whiting, mulloway tailor and salmon have been prolific along nearly all the beaches, along with an influx of sharks like small bronze whalers, gummies and the odd unstoppable “what the hell was that fish?” Rock anglers have also benefited from this, with hard-pulling drummer available in good sizes

and numbers. The groper are also on the chew, plus plenty of wrasse, bream and trevally. There’s plenty of pelagic action too, whether you want to toss a lure or float a bait, with passing schools of bonito, salmon, frigate mackerel and kingfish. Early morning starts provide the best action before the wind gets up. The beneficial effects of the floods have also filtered offshore, providing excellent reef or bottom fishing. Up at Montague Island the kingfish action To page 73 (Bermi)

Just give it time TATHRA

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

The river systems that flow to the ocean in and around Tathra, especially the Bega River, have experienced rain events this season not seen in modern times. This has led to poor fishing, particularly in the Bega River, with the freshwater shutting down those species that prefer saltier conditions. However, if you are patient, you’ll find that the future angling should be nothing but spectacular. It is not all doom and gloom as there are still plenty of fish to be found with a little thought and effort. The rising tide will be an angler’s best friend as it will bring with it all sorts of species pushing into the estuaries, looking to feed on the variety of food stirred up by the floods. Be prepared to do most of your fishing towards the entrance of these systems, especially in the Bega River, where 72

APRIL 2022

you are likely to find bream, flathead, whiting, trevally and luderick that are only too willing to pounce on a

well-presented bait or lure. These floods have also affected the beaches, creating some fantastic

Luderick just love squirt worms.

There should be flathead around this month.

gutters and great fishing. Just about every species you would wish to encounter along our coast has been caught in recent weeks. Jewfish, sharks, salmon, bream, tailor and whiting have been the main captures, with a few other different species mixed in. Most of the beaches surrounding Tathra are

fishing well and should continue to do so. School holidays are with us, and Tathra Wharf is the place to take the kids. Species commonly caught off the jetty are slimy mackerel and yellowtail, which can keep kids entertained for hours. These can also be used for live bait for some of the larger

predators like salmon, kingfish, tuna or sharks that may be passing. Lures cast to schools of frigate mackerel are a lot of fun, too. Most of these larger pelagic species are also haunting the adjacent rock platforms. Apart from these predators, the stones are hosting the To page 72 (Tathra)

NSW

From page 73 (Bermi)

has been great all season, and it’s continuing to do so. They have been joined by schools of bonito, frigates and striped tuna, with an odd marlin making an appearance. Out from most beaches adjacent to any estuary that has now opened, sand flathead and gummy sharks are in good numbers, providing plenty of good feeds the table. Around the

reefs, those ever-present morwong, both blue and jackass, are plentiful. They have been providing plenty of action in between the snapper bites, which have also been great. There are plenty of other species to be had as well over the reefs, while just off them the tiger flathead are providing fast and furious action. Sadly, the marlin fishing hasn’t been as good as we’d hoped, although it hasn’t

been too bad either. They are there, they just need a bit of effort to find, and remember – April is one of the best months for big blues. There are plenty of striped tuna starting to show, which hopefully may start to indicate the beginnings of the tuna season. Already there have been some yellowfin tuna taken on the troll, but unfortunately at this stage not in any great numbers.

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usual rock-dwellers like groper, silver drummer, black drummer and trevally, while around in Kianinny Bay there are plenty of garfish to be caught. Leaving Kianinny Bay boat ramp, offshore anglers are also benefiting from the floods. Out from most beaches there are sand flathead aplenty.

These fish seem to have benefited from the food flushed out from the floods, along with the gurnard and gummy sharks. The wider reefs up and down the coast have all been fishing consistently, with snapper the main target species. They have been in good numbers with plenty of morwong, nannygai and leatherjackets mixed in, while out over the edge of

these reefs tiger flathead are in plentiful supply. There are some gamefish around, and those anglers wishing to venture wide to the shelf are likely to encounter marlin, some yellowfin tuna, stripies, and the odd dolphinfish or shark. In the past when good rain has fallen in February, it has often been followed by a good tuna season. Fingers crossed!

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NSW

Fish putting on condition NEW ENGLAND RIVERS

Adam Townsend

To say the last few months have been extremely tough along the East Coast is an understatement. Much of the country has been belted hard with torrential rain and flash

are all up around full capacity, or even spilling over from large downpours, life hasn’t been too bad here. Fishing and camping opportunities have been available to the keener guys who are willing to get outdoors and brave the wild weather conditions we have all been dealing with of

This cod ate a Kingfisher Surface Paddler off the top early in the morning while still holding a fresh craybob in its mouth.

Throwing big lures can trigger aggressive bites from big fish at this time of year. Pictured is a Murasame Wake Bait 7’10’’ Heavy rod, Daiwa LEXA300HD reel, 40lb Daiwa braid, 40lb Jinkai leader, and Megabass Vatalion 190mm swimbait with Daiwa Lure Case.

It is hard to predict exactly what the fishing will be like in the next few weeks, with more harsh weather apparently on the way. However, going off previous seasons, this time of year can be really productive for catching those more aggressive fish that are feeding up early for the winter period. As mentioned in the previous report, having a mixed variety of lures is a must, as every waterway is different and you never know what situation you could find yourself in, from very deep water holes to shallow, even to flowing hard etc. At this time of year as the weather starts to cool off, I like to cover ground with any type of lure that creates attention, such

can also be very effective when the smaller style baits are not producing results, as it could be that one little factor that triggers the bigger fish to bite, which may only be out hunting that one large meal at that particular time. The trout fishing is still very productive during April, and with many little creeks and streams to explore around the New England, they too are very fun to catch. They would not be a bad option to target while the bigger river

Although it can make for tougher fishing, the results can be well worth it when fishing flooded rivers. Native fish, especially Murray cod and golden perch, wait in ambush for a fresh meal coming downstream to them. systems are in flood. If you are reading this on 1 April and are interested in the moon phases, then tonight will be the new moon (actually not a Fool’s Day joke), while the pink moon (full) will

What transition brings HUNTER VALLEY

Nick Price

This month I will look at the transition bite – the bite in between the summer and winter bite. This can be a difficult time but I find the trick is to keep an eye on the water temperature and fish accordingly. With the continued

rain and steady inflows into both Glenbawn and St Clair, both lakes have been rising steadily. The water temperatures have not been consistently high, and the bass have been caught on a variety of methods. The bass have consistently been caught in very shallow water out to 10m. They have been feeding on gudgeons. In Glenbawn the gudgeon

The rivers have had another nice flush, and the cod are in beautiful condition as we head into the cooler months. flooding that has broken records. However, we who call the Northern Tablelands home have been very lucky, and a lot more fortunate than most. Although some rivers have broken their banks and the local impoundments 74

APRIL 2022

late. You can only imagine the heartbreak for the guys up north as well as further down south that have had it 1000 times worse. We can only cross our fingers and hope that everyone who has been affected will recover quickly and strongly.

as wakebaits, swimbaits, diving crankbaits, spinnerbaits and even chatterbaits, which can be worked quickly through snags and over shallow weed beds in search for a reaction bite. Upgrading to a larger bait presentation

be overhead on 17 April. Both Pindari and Copeton dams are sitting around full capacity at time of writing. Good luck to all getting out on the water this month. Be safe and tight lines.

Glenbawn bass are fat!

population has exploded, and schools of gudgeons can be seen everywhere in the lake. Gudgeons are a small native fish that bass love to eat. The bass have been gorging themselves on these little baitfish, and have been putting on weight at a great rate of knots. These bass have gone from being To page 75

NSW

Cool nights, warm fire LITHGOW/OBERON

Glen Stewart stewie72@bigpond.com

If there’s anything better than a warm fire while camping on a cool autumn night, I’m yet to find it. ‘Bush TV’, as I like to call it, is even better with good company. Conversation just

get a little stretched in the heat of a good yarn, but that’s par for the course, especially with a few brews under the belt. Laughter and a good ribbing will usually bring the storyteller back to reality! OBERON DAM Frosts up high in the catchments drop surface water temperatures quickly. Oberon Dam is a case in point. Trout

levels in Oberon Dam have encouraged weed growth in some areas, which also encourages trout to feed along its edges. Small soft plastic grubs and diving minnow style lures worked around these weed bed edges are a good choice, especially if the wind has activated the edge. Fly fishing the same edges sub-surface with a mudeye (dragon fly larvae) imitation could also be worth a try. Trout rising to the surface to feed in low-light conditions is also a very real possibility in Oberon Dam, especially as those surface layers begin to cool. GLORY DAYS The streams around the Oberon district have seen a return somewhat to glory days. Two wet seasons and good restocking rates are having a very positive effect on the area. Most of the fish are small but it does bode well for the

Hope to see you on the water soon. Until then, tight lines.

Not a big Murray cod, but a hungry one. Our natives are looking to put on condition for the winter months. coming years, especially if the next drought is a year or so off. It’s hard to go past an inline spinning bladed lure such as the old Celta or Mepps in the creeks I reckon. They are easy to cast accurately, they can be fished in a variety of depths and water flows, and the trout just love them. Shallow-diving 5-7cm minnows are also well worth having in the kit. Trout are very cannibalistic at larger sizes, and think nothing of

hammering smaller trout. THE NATIVES ARE RESTLESS Cooler nights are also a good thing when it comes to targeting our native fish. The drop in water temperatures brings these fish up higher in the water column, which makes it a little easier to target them consistently. Deeper water will still hold more fish during higher light levels, but as those light levels drop, cod and golden

The trout in the area are in really good condition. This little brown was caught on a Bullet Lures Five-0 minnow. seems to flow when you’re relaxing around a campfire, with stories of the one that got away, and the ones you’ll catch tomorrow. Yes, truth can sometimes From page 74

lean and weak to fat and strong. Even small bass are fighting hard and making a mockery of light tackle. These gudgeonengorged bass can be difficult to catch. They are definitely not hungry, and I have found it necessary to elicit a reaction response to catch fish consistently. Lipless crankbaits worked at a steady rate have been producing the best results. Spinnerbaits and chatterbaits have also been working in the same manner. Work the lures from the shallow water into the deep. If you notice fish hanging deeper, just let your lure sink to the required depth and work it through the school. A steady retrieve has been working best. The fish need to see the lure and hit the lure without thinking, i.e. a reaction response. Fishing soft plastics slowly to mimic a gudgeon or wounded baitfish has been catching a few fish, but it’s not catching fish consistently. I think the bass have too much food! The gudgeon schools are everywhere. I am hoping that over winter the plastics

can move quite quickly back into shallow margins, especially if the temperature drop is aligned with a level rise. Consistent high-water bite will take off, as the fishing will be sensational. With the inflow of water the carp have bred, so be prepared to catch lots of carp. These fish have been hitting all lure types, from surface

Light lines and leaders can change the odds in your favour if the fishing gets a little fickle at Windamere.

perch will be moving into shallower water to feed. Windamere has benefited recently with a good level rise, and this is great to see. It’s an encouraging sign for future years. Water over new ground encourages underwater ecosystems to flourish. In fact, in Windamere it can be a little to its detriment when it comes to nutrient levels; too much of a good thing can trigger algae blooms. Edge bites on golden perch during autumn can be a little fickle. That said, sounder technology has come a long way, and making a call on where to start usually begins with a scan of the area. Narrowing down the percentages is game changing. However, seeing the fish and catching them are two very different things, especially in hard-pressured water. A stealthy approach is key, and lighter lines and leaders will give you longer casts, giving you a noise buffer between you and the fish. Sometimes this is all it takes to convert the odds.

poppers to lipless crankbaits to swimbaits! They are also big and fat, and will demolish light gear. Please remember that carp are not wanted in our waterways, so you should remove all that

The author with a carp caught on a swimbait.

Two nice St Clair bass caught on TN60s.

you catch. With the school fish sitting in 15-25ft of water, bait has been very effective with shrimp and yabbies being the pick. Remember to keep moving until the fish are found, and if the bite stops then change location. The consistent rain has kept the trout in the Barrington Tops active and healthy. The fishing is still sensational, with trout

being caught on Celta-type spinners and fly. As the season nears to a close, the trout will get a rest from the constant pressure and will be able to grow and spawn. I am looking forward to next season when they will be bigger and stronger. The growth of the trout shows how healthy the waterways are in the Barrington; we just need consistent rain. Next month I will start

looking at winter fishing, in particular plastics and jerkbaits. My prediction is for a fantastic winter bite. Remember, if you’re heading to Glenbawn or St Clair, please drop into the shop at the turnoff to Glenbawn in Aberdeen and ask about the different techniques and what they are biting on. We stock all the quality tackle that you need. APRIL 2022

NSW

Spectacular shore-based fishing for April 100mm will put you in with a good chance of catching a big Murray cod or two. The best places to troll are the old river bed up the top end of the dam, heavily tree-lined banks and bays, and any rocky point would be worth running over once or twice. Golden perch can also

BATLOW

Wayne Dubois waynedubois@westnet.com.au

April is a great month in the world of freshwater angling, as it is one of the few months of the year where you can go out with the confidence to target and catch a good mixed bag of fish. The water temperature is still warm enough for the natives to be very active, but it will start to cool rapidly and this tends to fire up the resident redfin and trout as well. It is a great month for jigging for redfin, as these fish will start to form massive schools this month and move out into open, deep water, making it very easy to go and catch a feed. Schools can be located easily with the aid of a good sounder, and once a good school is sounded it’s time to start jigging either with bait like small yabbies or worms rigged on paternoster rigs, or

Murray cod will be on the top of many anglers’ lists this month as these fishos try to get their last fixes before the long winter ahead. with lures such as ice jigs, blades, heavily-weighted soft plastics, rubber vibes or lipless crankbaits. Murray cod are also frequently caught this month and are best targeted with large deep diving lures or spinnerbaits on the troll, and swimbaits, Angel Baits or glidebaits on the cast. The bigger, the better. Lures such as the 150mm AC Invaders are perfect for trolling and casting, but any lure over

The land-based redfin fishing has been insane, with crazy numbers of fish around the margins of most impoundments making it possible to catch them two at a time on a fly rod. This will all change this month, so get your last landbased fix before they move into deep water.

Lures designed for hopping, like this Insanity Tackle Yab blade, will give you the best chance of getting a few of those deep-holding fish from the bank.

The trout fishing in our streams has been so great you’d have to be the living dead not to have fun whilst targeting these magnificent fish in even more magnificent surroundings. 76

APRIL 2022

be caught in the same areas as the Murray cod at this time of the year, but it would pay to downsize your lures if you really want to target them specifically. The best lures to troll for yellas are the Trollcraft Double Downers, AC Slim Invaders, size 2 and 3 StumpJumpers, Balista Dyno 60 and Dyno 75, and

The Tumut River is regarded as the most consistent tailrace trout fishery on the mainland of Australia. With countless fish like this throughout the system, it’s easy to see why.

lipless crankbaits like Prism Murrins, Mazzy Vibes, Balista Juggernauts and Insanity Tackle Slap Walkers. Trolling soft plastics is another great way of targeting the golden perch in the lake, and my preferred plastics for trolling are paddle tail style plastics like the Ecogear Grass Minnows and Power Shads, which the goldens absolutely love. The other great thing about plastics is that you can troll them at whatever depth you think the fish are holding at – simply use a heavier jighead if more depth is required, or use a lighter jighead if you find your plastics are tracking too deep. It’s worth mentioning that all of the above-mentioned lures work sensationally on the cast as well. RIVERS By the time this article hits the shelves the Tumut River should be in low flow (fingers crossed), making for some spectacular fishing. Whilst it is in low flow, almost the entire river is accessible on foot, which makes it both easy to fish and quite easy to walk to another spot if your favourite hole or section is being fished already, or isn’t To page 77

NSW

No better time to chase cod ALBURY/WODONGA

Connor Heir

I can’t deny that April is definitely one of my favourite months to be out chasing cod. While cod fishing at any time is special, the month of April is particularly rewarding. As the days gradually get cooler, it makes the physicality of chasing these fish just that bit easier. Additionally, the water temperatures do drop a few degrees, which can also help the fish turn on, and not only Murray cod, but other species as well. No matter what style of fishing you do when chasing cod – whether it’s walking the banks of small creeks and rivers, kayaking or boating – you can be assured that April is a fantastic time to be on the water to catch these special fish we are privileged to have in our waterways.

Over the past few months we have seen significant rainfall, as I mentioned in last month’s edition. As many rivers and creeks around the region

are on the mend from dirty water flushes, the fishing potential increases. As many cod anglers will understand, there’s nothing better than seeing

about walking the banks of small water, casting lures into the snags, waiting for that crunch from a Murray cod. As always, the harder you work for these fish

Another perfectly conditioned Murray cod. and the more dedicated you are, the more likely you are to have results. Some days you can go out and catch cricket scores of them, then some days they are so stubborn that you pretty much have to land the lure right on their head to make them eat. This leads me into something that I believe will help you catch Murray cod, especially as we are coming into the cooler months. It’s something many experienced cod anglers will agree on. The tip is to fish on structure as close as you possibly can. This may be

Catching good numbers of smaller fish carries on in April. old news to some anglers, but it truly does make a difference especially when the bites are tough. As I mentioned, sometimes you need to land the lure right on the fish’s head to make them eat. This is often referred to as a ‘territorial/aggression hit’. When cod are not active, they will often sit tight against structure such as logs, roots and rocks, so working these areas closely and effectively can be the

key to making them eat. Change up angles and lure styles to suit the style of structure you are fishing, and persist with it. That’s it for this month. It’s time to get the baitcaster out, tie on your favourite lure and hit up your local, or try somewhere new. That’s the beauty of living in this region, we are just so spoiled with choice on where to catch Murray cod. Tight lines!

Recent flushes of our waterways has created allyou-can eat platters for Murray cod. From page 76

fishing as well as you’d like. Lure and fly selection in the low flow doesn’t get much easier. If you’re casting lures all you will need is some spinners, small hardbodies and some soft plastics. If you’re fly fishing and would like to target fish with dries, you will have to fish the first hour of daylight in the morning or the last hour of light before dark for your best results. Alternatively, if you want to catch fish all day long then it is hard to beat a small bead-head nymph suspended about 1-3ft below an indicator or highly visible dry fly. The Murrumbidgee River should also be in relatively low flow this month, which will make all the canoe and kayak

enthusiasts very happy. Whilst the river is in low flow it is very hard to fish by boat as you can only fish small stretches of river, normally only a few hundred metres or so before you come across an impassable shallow rock bar or fast rapid. Whilst fishing from a canoe you can get through these rapids easily, and successfully fish long stretches of river with relative ease. Casting lures is really the only way to go for regular success during the low flows, and it’s hard to beat the good old spinnerbait due to its snagproof abilities. However, on tough days it is also worth casting Angel Gaits, shallow running hardbodies, lipless crankbaits, chatterbaits or big paddle tail soft plastics to give the fish something different to have a go at.

your favourite waterways looking promising in terms of height and water clarity. Due to these recent flushes, the condition of fish being caught have been very good. Many fish are fat, and present well in colour and shape. While it can be a bit annoying seeing dirty water and high flows so frequently, the outcome on the other side is very much worth the wait. WHAT TO EXPECT IN APRIL As it gets cooler, the potential for bigger fish does become more likely, and many cod anglers will begin to chase the bigger fish. But for April in general, I personally think it’s a great time to still be chasing numbers, especially in the small water systems. There’s something special

This high 70s cod had this carp down its gob, and still wanted to eat a 75mm Mudhoney. You can see why it’s important to carry a pair of long-nose pliers, and a set of small wire/bolt cutters. The hook was cut off near the barb on the rear treble, preventing damage to the fish’s gills before release. APRIL 2022

Canberra

ACT

Keeping keen and positive CANBERRA

Toby Grundy

A decade or so ago, I rediscovered my passion for fishing after a long absence from the sport. The trigger which lit the fire was a trip to Merimbula wharf in autumn. My wife and I were staying with friends and my mate, in a matter of fact kind of way, mentioned there was a wharf nearby and that his colleagues spoke highly of the fishing. I remember standing on the edge of the wharf, looking down the 5m or so to the water below, then back to my 2-4kg spin stick and wondering how I was going to pull anything up. In the end, I was right to wonder as we hooked and lost three salmon and only managed one small tailor. Last week, I revisited Merimbula wharf because, yet again, the weather has closed in on Canberra and we are looking at another extended period of tough fishing conditions. The fishing at Merimbula was outstanding. There were marauding salmon smashing surface lures, tailor-crunching divers as well as the usual suspects like trevally, flathead

locations across the lake. This is because the fish have to feed heavily to put on condition for the cooler months, and the lake does remain quite stable because of water being constantly released at the Scrivener Dam spillway.

productive patch on Lake G throughout summer, but once the heavier rain came through, the fish shut down and it has been harder to coax the better native fish into taking a lure. I went back to the drawing board and

because there is more bad weather incoming. Still, Lake Ginninderra is sometimes hard to predict, and it may be that the fish will fire again for a brief period before the cold weather really sets in. Lake Tuggeranong

There are plenty of salmon about. Jackall TN60 in peacock is my lure of choice when fishing Lake Tuggeranong during April because the cod and yellas need something

Back to where it all began. Flash and contrast are the key elements when choosing a lure in a likely location, with a black paddle tail plastic coupled with a beetle spin being my go-to, especially if I’m fishing areas like the rock

dropped my line and leader down to 6lb braid and 4lb fluoro leader, and downsized my jigheads as well, but this has had little impact. It might be a while before the fishing action on the lake improves

Smaller cod are feeding in the back waters.

The cod are still hitting surface lures. and bream hitting plastics. In short, it was a brilliant trip and this time, I came prepared and managed to land plenty of big salmon at the wharf. I think April is going to be a real test for local anglers, and it may be that trips to the coast interspersed between a few lean local sessions might be the secret to keeping keen and positive as we head towards the colder months. LOCAL LAKES Lake Burley Griffin is still fishing reasonably well despite the recent rain. Yes, the action has slowed somewhat but there are fish on the chew in a variety of 78

APRIL 2022

wall behind Lennox Gardens. It is here that the golden perch feed most prolifically in the run-up to winter, with dusk being the best time to try this area. If you’re after a cod, there is an interesting stretch of water behind The Boat Shed restaurant, where it is possible to work both really deep and quite shallow sections of the lake. The green fish love this spot because the bait tends to hold just off the shallow rocks. Spinnerbaits are a good choice if you’re fishing this location. The fishing action on Lake Ginninderra is starting to slow. I had a really

doesn’t mean that there aren’t opportunities to catch a green fish. I target the quieter backwaters during periods of flood, and though I never catch any really big fish, I do get plenty of smaller fish on spinnerbaits and surface lures. SURROUNDS Googong Dam has been fishing particularly well for several months now, and this has continued into April. There have been many big cod caught in recent weeks by anglers vertically jigging vibes, and also by those casting swimbaits near recently-submerged timber. The redfin fishing has to be experienced to be believed, with many anglers catching over 100 fish a session. The Googong reds, when in the mood, will hit almost

copped a lot of rain, but this lake bucks the local trend and does produce even when conditions are terrible. There have been some good cod caught near the dam wall over the last few weeks by bait fishos using yabbies and worms, while the lure fishos have caught a fair few reddies and some golden perch by hitting the dam wall and the bays near the dog park. The

Googong is really kicking off at the moment.

Trevally are a great autumn option.

with a little extra noise and shine. The Murrumbidgee River is in flood again, which is a bit of a shame as it was fishing well through February and into March. It will be some time before the river settles, but that

anything, but wriggler-style plastics in green seem to be the one lure that they will hit again and again. Golden perch tail the reddie schools, especially at this time of year, so size up your leader, especially if you’re fishing from the bank.

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Go Behind the Scenery

Tasmania

SBT set to turn it on this April OFFSHORE

Kelly Hunt

It’s undeniable. We cannot avoid it any longer. It’s cold, the days are short and… did I mention it’s cold? We have a bleak outlook most mornings in Tasmania at this time of year, but April does hold some positives: it’s big southern bluefin time, and the winds are stable and on point when it comes to the forecast. There is no possibility of

leader size can climb in breaking strain and quality. It pays to be prudent to strip 50m off the top of your main line and re-tie your double, as it’s been a long summer season and there could be some nicks and abrasion. A large, powerful 100kg bluefin will find any chink in your armour. Use your eyes and fingers to look at and feel for any issues. Make sure your rollers on your rods are moving freely and there aren’t any dents or sharp edges on your rod

you want on hooking and fighting a fish of a lifetime is not having anyone keen or confident to gaff the fish. The fish is still in the box seat at the side of the boat, and has plenty of tricks up its sleeve. If you have fought this fish for 1-2 hours, the last thing you need is a bungled gaff shot and the fish taking off again and taking another 100m of line with it. To maximise your chances of success, make sure the people on your boat have a good idea where the gaff is kept, get it in hand and have a feel of it, and even have a few practice swings. In all other sports it’s acceptable to go through a few practice shots and swings, so why not with something as technical and as important as a gaff shot? There is no reason why you can’t put something in the water and at trundle speed, try to gaff it back into the boat. A good item to use is the lowly plastic bag. It will float low in the water on the surface, and at trundle speed it’s a simple yet effective practice target. This will allow you to get an idea of your feet position and the sea state condition in relation to the swing of your arm. Then, after you have managed to gaff the plastic bag a few times, you can move onto something a bit trickier. Have a couple

of goes at gaffing some school-sized or smaller fish, and get your confidence up. WHERE TO FIND THEM Nowadays, finding the bluefin is very exciting. There used to be just two spots where they were thick – the hallowed bluefin grounds of Eaglehawk Neck out of Pirates Bay and Pedra Branca were the places to be in April. Pedra is not for the lighthearted, as is situated some 16 nautical miles off the south coast of Tasmania. It’s out there in the middle of nowhere, so a really good weather window is needed and a good all-day forecast. Fishing in a group of boats is always a good idea here as well. This place is wild and prehistoric, with rock formations lifting out of the water as cliffs. The grounds hold plenty of bait, and that is what the big hungry 100kg tuna are after. Get your spread out and running true, and it shouldn’t be long before you have a big fight on your hands in April. Eaglehawk is a sensational starting point for those new to jumbo hunting. You can fish it in most sea conditions and wind directions, as there are plenty of coves and bluffs to hide and tuck into. Anglers used to think you had to be off the bottom of Tasman Island or in and

Glenn Saltnarsh and Craig Tuthill have found multiple jumbos off Devonport, proving it’s no fluke.

Bass Strait jumbos are extra oversize and have been caught in super shallow water. any late afternoon breeze springing up due to the heat rising off the land, mainly because there is no heat… everything is frigid. JUMBO FEVER The only heat is on the brow of the seasoned jumbo fisher, as the fever of catching a fish in excess of 100kg courses through mind and soul. These fish are in big numbers at this time of year across the coast of Tasmania, and they should not be underestimated. They demand a checking of gear, and up-rating of equipment and a different mindset. The bigger lures can come out for a swim and the 80

APRIL 2022

eyes. The speed and power of these fish generates a considerable amount of strain and friction. Friction is the enemy of mono and braided lines, and needs to be avoided at all costs. GAFFING A very important tool in your arsenal if you are going to take a jumbo is the gaff. We prefer the Hook’em range for their excellent quality and value. However, it doesn’t really matter what gaff you have, or if it is home-made or purchased from a store, as long as it has two essential traits: it must be fit for purpose, and someone on the boat must be able to use it. The last thing

Jumbos bring the smiles and good times!

around the Hippolyte rocks to have success. However, this has been proven wrong on many occasions. The area holds sensational amounts of bait in every cove and point. Tow your lures over them running nice and free of weed, and you are in with a chance. The east coast also has runs on the board when it comes to these giant swimming torpedoes. Leaving Triabunna and fishing the eastern side of Maria Island can prove effective, and further north at Coles Bay the area in and around Schouten Island also holds plenty of big fish in April. The forgotten game fishing area of St Helens can also give up big southern bluefin at this time of year, and I believe it still holds the record for the heaviest bluefin caught at around 160kg. NEW GROUND The buzz around the fishing circles is of the brand-new fishing grounds off Devonport for jumbo tuna. Glen Saltmarsh pioneered it, and there are several people who have followed his lead and captured very big fish in To page 81

Go Behind the Scenery

Tasmania

King catches on the up and up this month HOBART

Andrew Large

Tasmania’s bumper summer season continues to have lasting effects into early autumn, both in the north and south of the state, and across both salt and freshwater. Kingfish continue to amaze and be highly sought-after by anglers. The average size is up, with some fish in the south breaking 700mm while on the northwest, the magical 1m mark has been broken for Tasmania. Good numbers have been caught through the Derwent River, North West Bay, Blackmans Bay and further afield along the East Coast from Port Arthur to St Helens. Sand flathead have been biting well in good numbers, and the sizes have been larger than average in the Marion Bay

Joe Mangan with an east coast Tassie kingfish.

The kingfish have been biting well. From page 80

these waters. Up until quite recently there seemed to be only big tuna and very big tuna following whales and dolphins into Bass Strait. Some schoolsized fish were found in late February and early March, so that’s an exciting development. These fish are in shallow water, and it’s quite strange to be trolling in 20-40m of water in full view of your home valley for jumbo tuna, very strange indeed. Skipper Clinton Howe and I managed to hook and fight a very large specimen late last season, but through some heavy-handed

work by myself, the hook was pulled out of its mouth. This was from youthful exuberance and stupidity, as we had a 60kg outfit out we use for sword fishing, and this is the outfit the tuna picked up. The fight was amazing and quite weird as the fish was on the top and moved very quickly very high in the water. Of course, this is due to the fact we were only in 25-30m of water fighting the fish. I manhandled the fish on 60kg gear and was too heavy-handed. I had the drag lever pulled back from the full strike position of 20kg set tension, but even then, it was 15-18kg of drag pressure. I had the harness on and with my weight could sit on the

fish in the harness, and I pulled the hooks. Very disappointing as I know better. It’s a cautionary tale to take your time and use the drag to tire the fish. I will do that next time, I promise. RUG UP The weather may be cold and inclement and the days a lot shorter in April here in Tasmania, you should not let that bring a halt to your fishing. Big bruising bluefin tuna are coursing our coastline and if they are back from another lap of the migration, they are bigger than last year. So, plan, rug up and gear up for the cold and enjoy what Tasmania has to offer: a world class southern bluefin fishery.

and Dunalley areas. Giant Australian salmon (2-3kg) have been caught over the last week around the Iron Pot, Denison Canal at Dunalley and Coles Bay. Try a Halco Slidog 105 or the new 85 in H50 for some awesome surface action! There have been strong runs of sea garfish, with good reports of some decent-sized fish and numbers being caught in the Norfolk Bay, Pittwater and Derwent. Autumn runs of this species statewide can be outstanding, with fish responding well to a light mix of fish oil and breadcrumbs. Snapper, a rarelycaught species in Tasmania in years past, are starting to appear more frequently in southern Tasmania, the north always being somewhat of a recognised stronghold. In the south, localised pockets of this species have been targeted by those in the know, however over the past few summers there have been fish in Storm Bay, the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and the lower and mid Derwent estuary. As the water temperature falls, arrow squid are seeming to dissipate in numbers over the traditional beds they were found over in summer. This is paving the way for southern calamari, which prefer cooler water. They have been steady in the lower Derwent, Blackmans Bay, South Arm, Marion Bay, and Bruny. Sand whiting continue to bite well state-wide and will continue to do

so into late autumn and early winter. King George have been a little quiet over the peak summer months, but they should begin to run in the northwest shortly. Good fish have been caught by persistent anglers across the northwest, north and northeast coasts. Autumn heralds peak season for tuna in our subtropical waters, which have pushed up as high as 20.5°C in the south so far this year. Southern bluefin tuna, albacore and striped tuna have all been caught inshore over the last few months. Strong rumours of yellowfin are circulating along the East Coast. Black bream are smashing lures in the Derwent and Huon estuaries, while the east coast lagoons are continuing to produce incredibly well on topwater lures. Tasmanian freshwater is beginning to wind down, with the brown trout seasonal closure starting on 30 April for most waters.

Great Lake has produced healthy pre-spawn browns to 2.1kg, and its exceptional run of rainbow trout continues as well. Fishing in April, unlike the warmer months of February and March, sees fish feeding right through the day and putting on as much condition as they can before spawning. Lake Pedder is producing good quality 7kg browns. Fishing a surface lure at night has made a real comeback in recent seasons, and has been a traditional fishing method late in the season. Arthurs Lake fished well towards the end of summer, with most anglers saying that once again this water is showing signs of recovery and an improvement on last year. Making the most of good autumn fishing opportunities in Tasmania is paramount, and so far this year is really turning it on, with both fish and weather cooperating. Get out and make the most of these opportunities before the onset of the cold.

This is just one of eight gummy sharks caught on Apollo Bay Fishing Charters, along with a swag of other species. APRIL 2022

www.vrfish.com.au #makefishingbetter

VRFish Advocacy Update – It’s what we do! “Going fishing” in Victoria is finally hitting its straps with some truly amazing outings being reported. The importance of enjoying the water and catching a fish has never been so evident as now. Even I’ve managed to witness the odd sunrise over the rods and marvel at just how lucky we are.

Water Our inland systems are also proving how important water is. Watching carry over water being lost to the system while big cod rot on the shoreline of drying lakes is not something VRFish or recreational fishers should cop. Greens Lake in Corop and 3rd Reedy in Kerang are now prime examples of how stupidly one sided our water legislation and its accompanying decision-making is.

Things will have to change. VRFish is going to the State election with a punt gun pointed squarely at the legislation that allows enough water to fill both Greens and 3rd Reedy twenty times over to be sent passed these waterbodies because too much rain has fallen in the upper catchments and recreational benefits are only to be “considered” in decisions by water authorities when assessing likely impact on customers not communities. How is a $3 Billion dollar direct

Then and now: Australia day 2020 had more than 1000 campers… today VFA are rescuing meter long cod and giant yellowbelly.

www.vrfish.com.au/snappersurvival 82

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PO Box 4574, Geelong, VIC 3220, AUSTRALIA

expenditure contribution annually to the Victorian economy from recreational fishing ($7.2B combined) allowed to wither on the vine due to legislated decision making on par with ‘considering’ a biscuit while having a cuppa? And it gets better, even our environmental flows are now disadvantaging recreational fishers with forced water release timings in the lower Goulburn meaning these flows are delivered at less than optimum times for both recreational fishers and the environment. We’re copping it from both ends and if we don’t fix this clearly broken legislative framework, recreational fishing will continue to lose inland waters until pay ponds become our choice of fishing destination. Bycatch As I write this, we are on the cusp of the netting buyout in Port Phillip Bay becoming a reality. From April 1st there will be no commercial netting full stop. In 2015 the Andrews Labor government introduced legislation to facilitate the buy out and more importantly to duly compensate affected commercial operators. The legislation also established two more important items, a “limited longline fishery” and the reason for the netting buyout. The first sentence of the 2015 media release from the Premier announcing the legislation entering parliament defines the reason apply. “Legislation to end commercial netting in Port Phillip Bay will be introduced into Parliament today, delivering on a key element of the Andrews Labor Government’s plan to boost recreational fishing”.

P 03 5221 1104 E info@vrfish.com.au

The intent of the election promise, and even the legislation, recently came into focus with a proposal from the commercial sector to allocate an unlimited bycatch regime to the remaining 8 longline licences. The Victoria Fisheries Authority counter proposal of 232 tonnes of bycatch was the subject of some intense VRFish advocacy, with the Minister for Fishing and Boating ultimately rejecting both proposals. Infrastructure Piers, Jetties and Boat Ramps are a continuing priority for VRFish advocacy. Land based fishers deserve a better outcome than constantly closed piers and jetties with the reporting from our infrastructure managers of future closures being dire. A third of the Port Phillip and Westernport piers and jetties face total rebuilds withing the next term of State Government. The importance of these assets to recreational fishers will be a key plank in the VRFish State election policy agenda. Boat ramp projects are bubbling away nicely across the State. Planning for better service levels in areas around closed ramps needs improvement though. Next Up VRFish will be delivering a series of regional forums to discuss our State-wide Habitat Strategy and Election policy agenda for the looming State election. Keep an eye out on our Facebook page or member news emails for details and please drop in to say hello.

Ben Scullin - Executive Officer

Here are the priorities VRFish are working on to make fishing better, for everyone:

ACCESS

Fixing our boat ramps and defending your fishing rights to access our waterways.

HABITAT

Improving our vital fish habitats through protection, restoration and enhancement.

WATER

Keeping our rivers flowing and defending recreational and environmental water allocations

PROMOTE

Promoting fishing in Victoria, creating new and vibrant fisheries and supporting the next generation of fishers.

BEST PRACTICE

Supporting our fishers to take a lead role in the stewardship of our fish and waterways, fish responsibly and promote fish for the future.

VICTORIA'S RECREATIONAL FISHING PEAK BODY

HABITAT

WATER

Visit the VRFish website www.vrfish.com.au to join and contact us on issues affecting recreational fishing.

ACCESS

BEST PRACTICE PROMOTE

#makefishingbetter APRIL 2022

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The gift that keeps on giving WARRNAMBOOL

Mark Gercovich mgercovich@hotmail.com

Why is it that summer appears to be so fleeting, and winter seems to drag on forever? Particularly so when we haven’t had many really hot days here in the southwest of the state this summer, especially when compared to other regions. Combine this with some very prevalent south-east/easterly winds, and you could easily feel short-changed with what the weather gods have delivered recently. Fortunately, summer tuna fishing is the gift that keeps on giving, and when conditions have allowed, plenty of schools of these fish have been encountered along the coast. Come April, the kings may be gone but there should still be plenty of tuna around. Good catches of gummy shark have been taken as well, and these fish are also a prime offshore target in April as we often get some prolonged flat days and light winds at this time of year. King George whiting have been biting well of late

in Warrnambool harbour, around Killarney and Point Fairy bays and should also be a good option during April before they thin out over the cooler months.

The fishing in the Hopkins River has been a little quiet during the last few months, but things have turned the corner recently. With rising waters due to a

Good estuary perch are often on the move in April in the freshwater rivers.

closed mouth, the fish have pushed up into the shallows where they can be taken using shallow or surface techniques. Pink grubs, Daiwa Slippery Dogs and OSP Bent Minnows have all been clambered over by willing bream and perch, providing some exciting surface action. When they haven’t been on the surface, shallow-running hardbodies like the DUO Realis minnow have been producing the goods in waters only a few centimetres deep. April often sees the mouth reopen, with Easter high tides and a bit of rainfall, which usually correlates with some good fishing as well. Trout will also start to be an option again, depending on how quickly the waters cool down and what rain we receive. Not only do the browns start to stir as the water cools, but the estuary perch can also begin to be on the move as they prepare to head down to the estuary over the cooler months. There have also been plenty of bream in the lower freshwater sections of both the Merri and Hopkins that add to the variety of what you may come across in your wanderings. Packing lightly

Tuna have been keeping offshore anglers busy of late. and wandering along the river banks flicking soft plastics or hardbodies (e.g. 6cm Presso Minnow or the new 48mm Double Clutch)

is an enjoyable way to spend a session. The likelihood of snake encounters also diminishes as the days get cooler and shorter.

More comfortable fishing PORTLAND

Nigel Fisher

In this month’s report, the first thing I would like to do is send well wishes to all the Queensland and NSW communities that were devastated by floods. I hope you are recovering well, and keeping your spirits high. Now to the fishing in Portland. April is generally the start of our tuna season although as most anglers know, our season never really stops. However, this

Darren got this feed of pan snapper from the north shore.

Whiting and trevally from the trawlers wharf. 84

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time of year is when we start to see the bigger tuna and bigger schools show up, anywhere from Lawrences Rock to Bridgewater Bay. We also see the weather patterns turning more west than east, which makes fishing more comfortable on those bigger trips. Generally, April, May and even June can see the better fishing conditions than summer here in Portland – you just need to rug up more so you don’t freeze! Conditions can also be better for shelf trips, and hopefully good results on albacore. Last year before the big lockdown we saw some great results on albacore, with sizes that we haven’t seen for a while.

Let’s hope this year is just as good. At least we will be able to continue this year with our season, and everyone can enjoy coming to our great town. If you aren’t into tuna fishing there are certainly other options, ranging from deep fishing to land-based. The shelf can also fish very well throughout autumn, with blue eye, pink ling, gemfish and makos, just to name a few. At Bridgewater Bay, some big flathead and some good-size gummies will come in when the conditions allow. Around Cape Nelson, most fishos are hunting tuna but sharks and reef fish can also be on the cards. Lawrences Rock can produce good feeds of sweep, salmon and good size pike, plus some quality flathead at times caught drifting around that area. From Lawrences Rock to Pivot Rocks there is still a chance of a whiting, plus salmon, flathead and so on. Drifting or anchoring with berley can increase your chances of a feed. The bay fishing is also pretty much the same, with a few whiting, salmon, pinkies and the odd shark. The north shore along the reef lines can still produce some pan-size snapper and sharks. A good berley up will

A nice feed of calamari from around the harbour. generally stir up something. We usually start seeing some quality salmon around the breakwater, Pivot Rocks and along the beaches at this time of year. These fish are

great on lighter gear, and are lots of fun to catch. Other land-based options this month are the town jetty, Trawlers Wharf To page 85

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Coming home with the goods COBDEN

Rod Shepherd

The offshore scene is really firing, with wind being the only problem facing boaters as well as surf and rock hoppers. Gun local angler Darren ‘Wal’ Wynd ventured out on the briny recently on his mate Mick’s boat, and came home with the goods in the form of four solid gummy shark. Wal loves his flake, along with whiting, and happily gives away ‘lesser’ seafoods that he regards as bycatch (such as crayfish) to family and friends. What a guy! Other species available include schooling yellowtail kingfish that are moving in and around inshore reefs and bommies in search of prey. The bommies (that are upwells from channels

that cut through any reefy area up to a cliff face) are holding pinkie snapper to 38cm, some silver trevally and sweep to 1.5kg. Rock cod are also being caught (don’t throw these away) along with the everpresent wrasse. Those in the know who can gather lettuce weed (a type of kelp) off the rocks at low tide, have caught some sizeable luderick in several spots located within the township of Peterborough. Not well known in Western Victoria, luderick are a mainly weedeating fish more commonly found in Eastern Victoria and all of NSW. While flake is the basic fish fillet available in Victorian fish and chip shops, luderick or ‘blackfish’ are the staple in NSW fish and chipperies. Many luderick specialists fish a clump

of the weed on a hook suspended under a needle float, and allow it to drift around any structure along the coastline or in estuaries. Some luderick lose their veganism and will take prawns, nippers, sandworms and shrimp. These fish are favoured by most for the table as the flesh tastes less weedy. Some schools of barracouta are about, and if eaten fresh and properly boned, they are considered by many as the ‘chicken of the sea’. Plus, the head with a bit of neck meat attached makes a great bait, especially for large snapper when rigged on a sliding snell double hook set-up. When a school becomes evident, trolling a lure as simple as a piece of broomstick with a large, shark-sized hook screwed to it, fed out the back of

the boat on clothesline cord, will suffice to catch you heaps of ‘couta. Their frames make great fish stock or berley, too. Some squid are also about, and if fished unweighted inshore and allowed to slowly waft down, fish like snapper will leave the bottom and come up and take this succulent bait. Squid and cuttlefish are currently breeding and laying eggs. The females guard the eggs and don’t eat. By the time the eggs hatch she has basically starved to death, and her carcass, if allowed, will slowly float to the surface and become snapper food. Crayfish continue to be taken by amateur netters and divers, especially inshore around our stacks and reefs in spots that the pros can’t easily access in their boats.

Darren with a couple of school sharks destined for the table.

Getting into the gummies APOLLO BAY

Daniel Kent

At the time of writing, the fishing has been awesome. It had been slow going in February, but really picked up in March. The majority of our catch has been made up of smallish gummy shark around the 6kg mark, and there are good numbers of them at the moment. On some charters our clients have caught up to From page 84

and canal. These are great family fishing options and can fish well. Not far from Portland we have a few productive river systems to fish this month. At the Surrey at Narrawong you can target bream, mullet and eels, and the Fitzroy has bream, mulloway (jewfish) and estuary perch. You can also make a short drive to the great Glenelg River, where the main targets are mulloway, bream and

14 gummies. If you want to target gummy shark, you ideally want to be fishing over sand in around 35-50m of water, not far from a reef edge. Fish the slack water period of the tide changes, with fresh fish fillets as bait, such as barracuda or salmon. These baits are typically fished on a 2-hook paternoster (dropper) rig, with 5/0 hooks and a 12oz sinker to hold bottom. When it comes to the outfit, I use 10-15kg rods in the 6’6” to

7’ range, with a 5500-size spin reel spooled with 30lb braid down to 80lb mono leader. Some people like to anchor up and berley for gummies, with berley cages tied to the anchor,

well; the flatties are still really thick on the sand in around 35m of water. The tuna fishing has been sporadic at best. One day you’ll find multiple schools, and then next day

estuary perch. All these areas are also good for beach fishing throughout autumn. • If you are thinking of making a trip to Portland, whether it’s for tuna or general fishing, call in to Portland Compleat Angler and say g’day to the Fisher crew, and learn where the fish are biting. The store is located at 61 Bentinck Street, Portland right next to the Gordon Hotel. You can also contact the team on 03 5521 1844 or check out their Facebook page.

Anglers are encountering good numbers of gummies.

A nice pan-size snapper.

These big albacore were caught last year off the shelf.

but I personally like to drift to cover more ground. The snapper are back in good numbers around the 1-2kg range, holding around the reef edges. I like to drift onto the reef to catch a few snapper, then drift over the gummy ground and catch those too. You can expect to catch a few flathead this way as

they’ll all be gone. FISHING IN APRIL In the coming weeks, keep an eye out for the tuna as they will start to move in. You can catch them on metal slices cast into the surface bust-ups – just keep an eye out for diving birds and bait balls. Alternatively, if you have a number of anglers

on board (as we do during our charters) you can get good results trolling skirted lures around the bait balls. Around 5-6” seems to be a good size for the skirts. The snapper should continue to bite through April, with some bigger specimens to 4kg in the mix, so there’s plenty to keep anglers busy. • Apollo Bay Fishing Charters is captained by local Daniel Kent, who has a wealth of knowledge and tournament-grade fishing skills. His 4-hour Family Fun Fishing Charter is a great option for people of all skill levels to try their hand at catching a fish,

while the 6-hour Outer Reef Fishing Charter is aimed squarely at keen anglers, fishing further out for snapper, flathead and gummy sharks and more. The Bluefin Tuna Charter speaks for itself – just book the boat and grab your mates to chase those fast-moving schools of tuna! Regardless of which option you choose, you’re guaranteed a good time and a memorable adventure. For more information visit www. apollobayfishingcharters. com.au, or check out their Facebook page. You can also contact Dan direct on 0428 376 426. APRIL 2022

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The benefits of bait GEELONG

Neil Slater slaterfish@gmail.com

Well, here we are. April – and still talking about tuna. It’s certainly been a great year for school-sized fish with plenty around

went off at 7am in 45m of water, their second bite was at 7:55am in 50m of water and their third rod went off 8.45am – nice start lads! They also managed a double hook-up in 55m but lost one. The lads hooked all three fish blind trolling. Alan said there were plenty

a ripper bronze whaler he estimated at around 50kg. Rock fishing is an increasingly popular form of fishing, but the danger is real. There have been tragic deaths in recent years, with several rock fishers swept off rock shelves and reefs. Two of the 10 identified ‘high risk’ rock platforms where rock fishers must wear life jackets are on the Surf Coast: the rock platform opposite Sheoak Falls south of Lorne, and Artillery Rocks west of Lorne. This is part of a 2-year trial aimed at keeping rock fishos safe. For more info, head over to vfa.vic.gov.au/rockfishing. Whiting always provide an option during April and into May inside Corio Bay,

Keep an eye on the sounder because often tuna are holding deep.

Kevin caught this ripper bronzie on a yakka. the 8-15kg mark plus the odd fish over 30kg. We’ve had plenty of windy days making it harder for small boat operators to get offshore, so the fish haven’t been absolutely pounded. Larger boats such as charter operators have done very well, catching clients some solid fish to 30kg, mainly trolling lures. There have been some days where nobody has caught a fish, and other days when they’re on and ‘just about chewin’ the paint off your prop’, as my mate Mick Allardyce would say. I have heard of anglers putting the lures away and throwing the tuna a rigged pilchard, which has turned a tough day into a better one with fish landed. Bait fishing for them has not been widely explored like the 1980s and 90s, where cubing for tuna was the norm off famed NSW tuna hotspots Narooma and Bermagui. It might be worth a shot on tough days. Launching at Ocean Grove, Nick Mahoney and Alan Falzon headed out the mouth of the Barwon and into Bass Strait in search of tuna. Their first rod 86

APRIL 2022

of birds in the area circling but none diving on bait. Two of their tuna went around the 12kg mark and one was around 10kg. Alan also noted there was a lot of algae in the water between the 25m and 45m mark, which he says to avoid. The top lures have been skirts, with purple and green doing well when trolled around 6-10 knots. The Halco Laser Pro 190 has also been popular for trolling, while cup-faced poppers and stickbaits have been an exciting way to fish for the tuna when they are visibly feeding on the surface. Kingfish catches have tapered off, and I’d expect the tuna to back off too as the waters cool. There have been some big schools of salmon off Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove so let’s hope they move into the beaches this April. Sharks have kind of taken a backseat this season, with all the tuna excitement offshore. Last month, Kevin McLoughlin sent out a berley trail off Torquay in 35m of water hoping for a shark. Using an unweighted yakka as bait, Kevin boated

Alan with one of the three tuna he and Nick caught trolling lures in Bass Strait. and solid pinkie snapper are a soft plastic target early in 4-6m of water from Point Henry to Clifton Springs, and along the Geelong waterfront. The water in Corio Bay outer harbour has been quite discoloured due to the constant easterlies. This has made squid fishing difficult, but the whiting seem to like it and will bite all day in quite shallow water. Most of the whiting out off Clifton Springs have been from legal length to 35cm, while fish on the northern side of the bay and around at St Leonards have been a better average size. April sees an increase in snotty trevally along the Geelong waterfront. Set your bait off the bottom, but fairly deep, and time your run with a dawn or dusk tide change to be in with the best shot. These fish love raw chicken, pipis and pilchard fillets. Soft plastic anglers have done well using Berkley Gulp Turtleback

Worms, and some have modified their Worms by cutting them shorter when the fish are timid.

Pinkie snapper to 35cm have been caught by anglers bait fishing from St Helens rock wall, Limeburners and Cunningham pier. The baits of choice have been pilchard pieces and bluebait. The Barwon River in Geelong has been brown now for some time due to all the rain we’ve had. That hasn’t stopped the carp biting though, with plenty being grassed from small to 4kg at the time of writing. Kelvin Baldwin has been catching some estuary perch on lime green single-tailed grubs over the past few weeks. VFA first stocked estuary perch in the Barwon around 2018, and there are reports of them up to 30cm already, which is great news. Local reservoirs, Wurdee Boluc and Stoney Creek, are pretty much full. Wurdee has a bit of colour to it, but it’s still worth flicking lures there as the redfin have been biting well. Most have been around the 30cm mark, but

a few nice fish up to 40cm+ have been caught. Stoney Creek reservoir most often remains clear during periods of heavy rain, so it’s well worth a look if you plan on flicking lures. The Barwon River estuary has also copped the brown water, making fishing difficult. However, during the incoming tide, the water clears up and silver trevally have been caught up as far as the Sheepwash in the clean salt water. Fish HARD – Die Happy! • Catch a few around Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula or Surf Coast to Lorne recently? Send in a report to slaterfish@ gmail.com with “FMG” in the subject field or give me a call on 0408 997348. Please include where (without giving away your secret spot!), when, what on and who caught the fish. Pictures are always great, but please make sure they are at least 1mb (file size).

Australian lure maker, Raymond Parry, with a nice little golden perch caught on one of his single spin spinnerbaits.

Port Phillip Bay now free of commercial nets All commercial net fishing has now ceased in Port Phillip Bay. That means more fish for recreational fishers on Melbourne’s doorstep: more snapper, more whiting, more calamari and more flathead. The compulsory buyback of netting licences in the bay commenced in 2015 and was funded by the Victorian Government as part its groundbreaking $71 million investment into recreational fishing over the last eight years. Not one cent of your fishing licence fees has funded this buyback! That means more money left in the Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Account to do other great things like record fish stocking, more fish habitat, and improved access and facilities. From 1 April 2022, eight commercial operators will remain in the bay, continuing to supply fresh snapper to consumers. They will no longer use nets and the fishery will be carefully managed by limits on catch and gear restrictions. There’s never been a better time to be a recreational fisher in Victoria. See you out there! Learn more at www.vfa.vic.gov.au

Go Fishing Victoria More people fishing, more often

Authorised by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne

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Changes this April PPB WEST

Alan Bonnici alan@fishingmad.com.au

What happened to summer? It feels like it came and went in the blink of an eye. It didn’t help that we had strange weather conditions, with both air temps and water temps well below normal yearly averages. Because of this, the snapper and whiting fishing over the past few months have been very inconsistent. For me, April usually means a change of fishing mindset and tactics. The water temperature is on the

decline, daylight savings is just about over and I start to mentally prepare for cooler mornings on the water. At this time of year, you will still find fair numbers of pinkies, whiting, flathead, squid, salmon and gummy sharks, but you will need to be agile and make changes on the go to get them in big numbers. I have spent much time this past month in full experimental mode on my Hobie kayak, chasing whiting on soft plastics around Port Phillip Bay. It’s still an uncommon technique. Most anglers around Port Phillip Bay prefer to use bait to target

whiting from their boats and yaks – anchoring in a trusty location, berleying heavily, throwing out staple baits like pipis, mussels or squid strips, and waiting patiently for a bite. If you try this and nothing is forthcoming after 20 minutes, just move and repeat the process until the bite finally comes on. Targeting whiting on plastics is different – it’s a lot of fun and can be a successful technique that keeps you active. I have been targeting whiting on plastics in stretches between Werribee and Geelong. I have had much success in shallow

The author enjoys catching whiting on soft plastics. areas between 2-5m deep, drifting whilst eagerly seeking out areas full of weed and sandy patches. The key with whiting fishing on soft plastics is how you set up. Whiting love worm-imitation soft plastics such as the 4” Berkley Turtleback worm. However, although you’ll

an additional eyelet – one to tie your fluorocarbon leader and the other to run 8cm of fluoro to a small assist/stinger hook. This allows us to have a finegauge hook 3/4 of the way down a worm imitation soft plastic and because of this, your catch rates are greatly improved. The 1/12oz

Risky Critter. The Ned rigs are to be worked very slowly as they make the soft plastic stand up, and the buoyant little nippers of the soft plastic flutter in the water when not being worked. I generally use my sounder to mark waypoints, and set drift lines as opposed to looking

Stephen Vessey was happy with this solid PPB whiting.

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A gummy shark caught on a vintage reel. get many bites, you can expect low hook-up rates because whiting have small mouths. They will take the soft plastics but not quite enough for you to set the hook. I have taken this style of fishing to the next level by having custom jigheads made up by local friend Jason from Southern Edge Lures. We have taken a standard 1/12oz TT HeadlockZ finegauge jighead and added

jighead allows time for the soft plastic to sink slowly in shallow waters, and the assist hook turn those enquiries into catches. Another effective method is using ned rigs. I recommend using something like a 1/10oz or 1/15oz NedlockZ jighead paired with a 2” Sandworm or 2.5” yabby imitation like a ZMan TRD Craw, Savage Gear Manic Creature or new Daiwa Bait Junkie

for fish. You should look for ground that resembles weed, with strong wiggly lines, and set drift lines over productive fishing grounds. I just find this style of fishing enjoyable and am always actively on the hunt searching for fish, as opposed to anchoring and waiting for them to come to you. If you have never tried this style then I highly recommend it for something different and out

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of the box. This is also a great time of year to be targeting gummy sharks. I venture to the top end and middle reaches of Western Port quite a bit, tangling with lots of small gummies and schoolies in the shallows and some 10-15kg gummies in the deeper reaches. Gummy sharks love high currents and flowing water, which they use to swim

through the channels, feeding on crustaceans. The gummy shark is a beautiful yet powerful creature that will create a frenzy on deck with plenty of reel-screaming action. Usually, one person tangles with the gummy whilst the other on deck rushes to bring the rods in to prevent a tangled mess. We plan for this, and yet it’s always chaotic when it happens.

Still, that’s part of the fun. We like to target gummies in the early and late hours, hoping to land that big one after a tide change. We have had great success on the initial hours of a run-out tide using large chunks of mackerel, salmon, trevally and crabs. Around Port Phillip Bay, productive ground will continue to be high current areas such as Symonds

channel and south channel, or in shallow areas with less current for your pup sizes. Rod and reel choices will very much depend on the strength of the tide of the area you are fishing. You’ll need to go quite heavy to a 20-40lb rod in strong current situations, and much lighter in light currents. Catching big gummies will test your gear but it’s always very memorable. It’s a great form of fishing.

Until next time, good fishing everyone. Please feel free to reach out to me directly to share your fishing experiences and catches around Melbourne, Port Phillip Bay and beyond which we can feature in next month’s article. You can contact me by email at alan@fishingmad.com.au. Please consider becoming a FishingMad member at w w w. f i s h i n g m a d . c o m . au/member for fishing workshops, detailed

reports and exciting monthly giveaways. Also, don’t forget to follow my fishing adventures on the FishingMad YouTube channel www. youtube.com/c/fishingmad and on social media on Facebook page www. facebook.com/fishingmad. com.au, Instagram page w w w. i n s t a g r a m . c o m / fishingmad.com.au and on Channel 31 Tuesday evenings at 9:30pm and Saturday afternoons at 3:00pm.

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VIC

Get out and get your fix PHILLIP ISLAND

Craig Edmonds

Another month without restrictions! With luck, we’ll be able to get through winter without restrictions, and we

will compound once things normalize, as the last two years catches up. COVID assistance will dry up, and the reality of no help will set in for many business owners, left to fend for themselves in what could be a very

for the next season to start. Unfortunately, those who put their boats away for the winter can miss out on some very good fishing on chilly but productive days. Many people have had their fix of tuna for this year, and have moved back into the bay looking for table fish in the form of whiting and snapper. While bigger snapper have been a little hard to find, there have been plenty of pinkies around of all sizes. We have been plagued again this year by very small undersized pinkies, and it has been very frustrating at times trying to catch anything of size. Still, when you found the trick there was some quality to be had.

Seb and Archer headed out with dad for a quick fish, and managed to take a feed home for mum.

Kev with one of the numerous tuna caught this season. can go into the spring like a normal season. Regardless, it’s important over the next 3-4 months to check on your mates and even local business owners, regardless of what type of business. Much of people’s stress

quiet winter period. Your quick 5-minute visit or call could be all they need to help get them through. Easter is that last chance for an extra-long weekend before everybody gets heads down and works through the winter period, waiting

Thomas was very happy with his catch.

Lake Mulwala will be the focus of many anglers wanting to catch a big Murray cod, like this one caught by Sunny Martins.

APRIL 2022

For some reason, whiting have been moving almost weekly from the deep to the shallows then back to the deep, all season. Very rarely did we get reports from both in the same week. Normally their patterns are more settled and they stay in one place for a while. Whiting reports have been reasonable from the land as well this season, with Ventnor and Cleeland Bight being the best spots. There were a couple of reports from the jetties but very few, and more of an accidental catch, whereas those caught from the beaches were actually targeted. You won’t find them all the time from the beaches though, and you need the tides to be right. High tide late in the evening is ideal, or even a

high tide very early in the morning. I can’t remember ever having them reported from during the middle of the day. The size from the land has been good also, with several around the 40cm mark. Back in the boats and it’s just a matter of searching a bit of ground to find them because they are there, they haven’t all disappeared out to sea. The sizes are very mixed, and the reports from now are almost what you would expect during the early part of January – very mixed, from undersized to almost 50cm. With the size of the whiting in the bay being so good over the last couple of years, we haven’t had a report from anybody chasing them in the boats offshore, around Smiths Beach. I guess when you are getting bags of 40cm+ from in the bay there is no need to go out and look. Apart from the tuna offshore this season, there are flathead to 55cm, salmon to 3.5kg, 1m long couta and pike, kingfish to 1.2m and gummies to 15kg with some very big bronze whalers, hammerheads and whites being spotted. You would have to say it’s been a very good season that should still continue for some time yet, with the perfect autumn and early winter days that will now show up. I haven’t even mentioned the bait that’s been around – yakkas, mackerel, redbait, arrow squid and even pilchards. You would think marlin or albacore are only a few years away, with some very strong, warm currents finding their way down to our area more and more often. Those who travel out past Cody Banks will know what I am talking about, where at times it seems as if you are 100km north. I am told wind patterns at the right times of the

year, which send bait our way, has a lot to do with what happens, as well as a shifting water flow. I don’t understand a lot of how it all works, but when it is explained by experts in this field it all seems possible. I guess time will tell, but one thing is certain: it is working so far. The baitfish are bringing the bigger fish, but windows will be short. You have to be lucky enough to be at in the right place at the right time. While there will still be plenty of opportunity for boating, many anglers will soon concentrate on beach fishing and bait collecting for the upcoming season. I’m not sure if it has anything at all to do with what’s happening offshore, but the bigger snapper are showing up much earlier. Maybe it’s just a cycle we are going through, like the tuna. Only time will tell, but I remember fishing when I was much younger and catching plenty of 20lb snapper through late July and August, which is what we have seen over the last five years or so. You don’t see huge numbers that early, but we definitely see new season fish, and what we do see is lots of small schools, not a handful of big schools of fish. This always comes later, once the snapper are in the bay and settle. We have a few weeks under our belt in the new shop now, and we are getting things sorted and will soon be looking to the future. Once we get into winter, we will start to look at next season and how we are going to add and improve what we do. We will be looking at increasing some of the stock lines we have now, as well as adding more, and are taking direction from the requests of our customers to supply what they want.

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The Find the ZMan Logo prize winners for February were: R Chown of Glendenning, D Corfe of Forster, A Stoffels of Yarrabilba, K Chubb of Caringbah South, C Sullivan of Salamander Bay, S Hawes of Ashtonfield, L Weiss of Hughes,M Handley of Pacific Haven, A Sinclair of Lethbridge Park, P Ryan of Redland Bay, C Rowe of Loganholme, G Ball of Mooroopna, M Blandthorn of Murtoa, R Drendel of Mt Helen, B Schnitzer of Cooma, D Hutchins of Bundaberg, A Davenport of Warner, T Pinkerton of Wingen, M Dunford of Young, W

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VIC

Estuaries are refreshed MARLO

Jim McClymont mcclymont@net-tech.com.au

Just when the fishing was back to normal with anglers catching their bag on most outings, the Snowy Rivers is in major flood again. The flood water is running fast and furious as it rushes to the ocean, taking with it any debris that was left from recent events. The good thing is it will deepen the entrance,

Dave Shanahan with a 43cm bream.

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enabling big schools of fish to come into the estuary when the flood water resides. Before this latest flood event, the fishing was great with bream up both the Snowy and Brodribb rivers. Reports were coming in of goodsize bream being caught all the way up to the highway bridge at Orbost and up into the old Brodribb. Mullet were everywhere in the system, luderick were schooling along the mudbanks and rock groynes, estuary perch were holding on structures and snags in both rivers, and the world was good. Then it rained again in the high country and the deluge come down the Snowy again, with the torrent lapping the river banks. Still, as sure as day turns into night the water will recede, and the estuary will refresh again, and making our estuary a fishing mecca. The fishing from the beaches is great all year long. This month is no exception, with big schools of salmon and tailor on the chew during the day, along with gummy shark and plenty of other species

A range of shark species are being caught along our beaches. such as big bronze whalers, hammerheads, and other shark too big to take home – strictly catch and release. Offshore the fishing has been particularly good, but for some reason the kingfish

are not being caught in the numbers of other years. Maybe this is due to all the fresh water that has flowed into the ocean from our flooded rivers and inundated the inshore reefs that the fish usually school up on.

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Lakes coming back to life GIPPSLAND LAKES

Brett Geddes b.geddes@bigpond.com

The lakes are continuing to fire up and shake off the effects of the big floods. Bream, flathead and perch are all starting to show up in their normal autumn haunts. The whiting still dominate most of the catch, and kingfish continue to taunt anglers.

bream comps is that with so many gun anglers searching far and wide, eventually the fish are found. During the ABT BREAM qualifier in February, Daryl Baird was quick to work them out at Paynesville on crab lures, and followed that up on the second day to take out a well-deserved win. Jesse Rotin wasn’t far away in 2nd spot, but there was a big gap of nearly 3kg to the rest of the field. It was very tough going for most, and as I

Not all bream captures have been big fish lately, but there are good reports starting to come in and the next few months will get even better. The good news is that the whole lakes system is now clearing up from all that muddy flood water, and in a lot of places now it’s so clean you can see fish swimming around in water a metre or more. BREAM AND PERCH The best thing about

expected, very few fish were landed at Hollands Landing, which is usually a sure bet for big fish. With the field really struggling to find bream in so many of the usual hotspots, Harry Young stunned all anglers with a real trophy

bream. He caught one of the biggest comp bream ever seen, with a 1.93kg brute and probably the biggest recorded for a non-boater. The fact that he caught this fish during a very challenging event makes his catch even more impressive. After the BREAM comp, bream anglers flocked to Paynesville and slowly scored good numbers of nice bream, and Newlands Arm is now producing big fish. I decided to look much further west and had another look around the Lake Wellington and Latrobe area. The rivers are running fairly low and clean now, and my first visit saw me land 16 bream and 13 estuary perch, all on blade lures. Now that sounds good, and yes, I had a lot of fun, but nearly all of my catch was under 25cm. More importantly, I was sounding huge numbers of fish that looked like large schools of small bream and EP. I scored a few bream around 28cm, and it was very nice to see so many young, healthy fish that will grow, and the future looks good. I returned a few days later, and after about six hours I had a real flop. My first capture was an eel about a metre long, and soon after a massive carp that looked well over 6kg! It was so big I had no hope of fitting it in my net, but at least I got my lure back after nearly being spooled. I did end up tricking another three small perch

around 24cm. I’m almost certain they are some of the 200,000 stocked perch released by Fisheries in this area back in 2020. I really believe this is a great example of how hatchery-bred fish are having a big impact on the stocks of Gippy Lakes perch. We are lucky to be living in an era when our Victorian waterways are being boosted with so many fish. WHITING AND KINGIES I’m not going to go too much into the whiting because once again, the numbers are still amazing. There are plenty of happy anglers from Metung and now even right up to Loch Sport. Of interest, however, is the type of baits that anglers are now trying to catch the whiting on, mainly because of the absence of pipi baits or the price per packet. Frozen shrimp is definitely a winner, along with mussel and cured sandworm. Fresh bits of prawn meat are also working, and now I hear good success with even cooked prawn too. Small pieces of bluebait or whitebait are being used, and of course one of the best and indeed toughest baits is squid strips or tentacles. I still believe lure anglers can cash in on these whiting by using soft plastic worm lookalikes, and small blades with stinger hooks. My good buddy Greg Jerkins, who owns the Mini Golf near the footbridge in town at Lakes Entrance, rang to tell me all about the kingfish that were swimming

Expect bigger perch to show up during April and May. This 50cm EP attacked the author’s Hurricane Sprat 85 soft plastic, and was a nice surprise in skinny water recently. around basically out the front of his shop! He often sees birds diving on baitfish there, and people walking over the footbridge tell him they saw schools of kingfish tearing around at high speed, with most of them looking 60-80cm. Boat anglers are having trouble keeping up with the kingfish to get lures to these power packs but I’m thinking it’s only a matter of time before they are caught because anglers are a very persistent lot, and always determined to find a way to trick these prized fish.

DUSKY FLATHEAD Once again the flathead numbers continue to improve, especially in the lower reaches of the Gippy Lakes around Metung and Nungurner, but you’ll have to work hard to find them. They are good fish around 45-60cm, but they’re mainly being found by lure anglers putting in big hours with fairly big soft plastic lures. I recommend using blade lures too, because they cover a lot of water and you can fish them fairly fast to work out where the flatties are hanging out.

Autumn quality harvest LAKES ENTRANCE

Steven Pryke

Cool crisp mornings are a popular scene throughout East Gippsland. Autumn has well and truly taken hold and our local waterways have begun to cool making for changes to the fishery, with the water quality improving and many species are up for offer. LAKES ENTRANCE It’s hard to talk about our lake system without mentioning the King George whiting these days. They have continued strength-tostrength over recent times and many anglers are solely coming to lake to target the whiting. With the water quality improving, they have begun to work their way back up the lake system so it won’t be too long before we start hearing about anglers catch 40cm+ whiting at Paynesville. Popular areas, such as 94

APRIL 2022

Fraser and Rigby Island, are ideal areas for anglers to start their whiting efforts as the many isolated weed

beds and scattered shell beds are ideal areas for these fish. It has become a common sight to see 20

Lucas Smith with a decent pinkie snapper taken off one of the local beaches.

Lindsay Pryke with a solid luderick accidentally caught while targeting bream.

or more boats anchored up on these ideal spots. I like to search a bit harder for out of reach areas where there’s a bit less angling pressure. Barrier Landing is somewhere a lot of anglers overlook these days but it can hold some of the biggest whiting in our lake system. With the lake cooling, another species has started

to take over the many rock walls, jetties and bridge pylons – luderick. The same old school methods of well weighed float and green weed have worked best, then it’s just a matter of persistence. The many rocks walls leading to the entrance have been an ideal area for anglers to start their search. Mixing up the depth of your fishing has

been a key to consistent success lately so fishing with a friend has been truly helpful as you can both fish different water depths to find out where the luderick are sitting on that particular day. The size has varied on the day but 45cm+ luderick have been seen fairly commonly lately. To page 95

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East Coast

Great catches at Mallacoota MALLACOOTA/EDEN

Kevin Gleed captainkev@wildernessfishingtours.com

At the time of writing the Mallacoota lake system is now in flood, and the entrance area is moving

down the beach towards Bastion Point. As the water comes down Harrisons channel it can’t turn quickly enough at Captain Stevens Point, and just keeps moving towards Bastion Point. Let’s hope it can drag out some of that sand from inside the

Jimmy Blaz with a nice flathead caught on a ZMan GrubZ in the shallows in the Bottom Lake.

entrance and leave behind some deeper areas. Over the past month good fishing has been had both offshore and in the lake. Those anglers heading offshore chasing flathead have enjoyed good weather, with plenty of calm days making for a great day on the water. Both tiger and sand flathead have been getting caught, with bag limits being filled on most outings. Fish have been getting caught down around the aerials, and out towards Gabo Island is also fishing well, with gummy sharks also being caught in the same area. The gummies have been around for quite some time now, and there have been some good size fish caught. This is great to see because they are a desired fish for the table. The beaches have seen a few salmon caught, along

with some nice-size tailor, and the recent rain should fire up the bream and whiting fishing as they move from the lake to the ocean. At this time they are in top condition, feeding up on all the food available when floods occur. The past month has seen great fishing in the lake for flathead. As usual for this time of year, the fish are spread out, with good fish being caught well above Gypsy Point and right out to the Bottom Lake. The key is to find an area with flatties, and fish it thoroughly with a variety of lures. You will be surprised how many fish can be caught in the same area. Yellowfin bream have been caught in good numbers in the Bottom Lake, and a reliable spot has been the Goodwin Sands shallows. The recent fresh will see these fish drop out into

At 80cm that’s a great catch from the shallows. deeper water, with blades being a good choice of lure. Black bream are also being caught in good numbers out in the deeper water, with the areas around baitfish schools

being the most productive. The coming months should see some great fishing in the system, with a good entrance after the rains bringing about good tidal flow.

Finding the quality bream BEMM RIVER

Robyn Sturgess

Autumn is always a great time to visit Bemm River, with crisp, calm mornings, followed by warm days and cool nights. Anglers have reported that the channel, opposite the blowhole, is a hot spot for quality bream and flathead. The preferred bait has been frozen prawn. Josh Nixon and crew recently had a successful fishing trip using soft plastics for good size bream and flathead. Josh’s hot spot was from between the entrance of Mud Lake and the entrance to the river. From page 94

LAKE TYERS The lake has been full of surprises this year with monster trevally down the

Bream have been snapping up soft plastics. front, to masses of prawns that have been caught each night. Silver trevally have been the talk of the town.

The many large sand holes in the lower lake have held some absolute monsters with 60cm trevally being landed. Small soft plastic

The cool crisp waterways will produce good quality catches this autumn.

grubs have been a great option and have produced the majority of the bites. Bream fishing in the lake has been extremely productive with masses of prawns throughout the system. Bream have been seen smashing helpless prawns of the top, which has made for some great fishing with surface lures like Bassday Sugapens in naturel colours. Early morning and dusk have been the best for success. Areas, such as the Glasshouse Flat and the channel marks have been an ideal area to start. HAVE YOU BEEN FISHING? If you have been out for fish lately and have a great pic please send to stevenprykefishing@ gmail.com with short description and you could be featured in an edition of Fishing Monthly.

Josh Nixon with a cracker flathead. The river has been rather quiet, producing fish but not of quality size. The surf has been producing any amount of salmon and tailor. At the time of writing the entrance is closed and the water level is rising. Winter is fast approaching, the hot spots for the winter bream season will be Bobs Bay, Mahoganies and Mud Lake. The Bemm River Angling Club and Alvey Reels Australia are conducting a surf fishing competition on 13-14 May. This is shaping up to be an amazing big weekend for keen surf anglers. Get in early to book your accommodation and go online to the Bemm River Angling Club’s site to register. There are lots of fantastic prizes to be won.

For more information contact Peter McCoy or Tony through the Angling Club site. For your surf bait requests, contact us prior to arrival on 0488 037 806. Please also ensure your safety gear is in order for your boat, and your fishing licence and boat licence is current. Fisheries visit often and check these details in order to maintain safety on our waterways. • For on the spot and up to date fishing reports check out Robyn’s website: www. bemmaccommodation. com.au or ‘like’ us on Facebook – Bemm River Holiday Accommodation Phone: (03) 5158 4233/ Mob. 0427 584 233 Email: bemmaccomm@ bigpond.com. APRIL 2022

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And the heavens opened up ROBINVALE

Rod Mackenzie codmac@bigpond.net.au

And just like that the heavens opened and the rains spewed forth, filling our lakes, impoundments and rivers. It’s been a very wet summer and the start of autumn looks to be no different, with big rains and high rivers predicted to continue. It’s been a tough gig for cod fishos, with big flows and poor clarity a real problem for those looking to cast lures. As one river starts to settle and clear, another rises and becomes discoloured. It’s been a

There have been some good cod caught in most of our local waterways this season. Don’t be afraid to use bait if the clarity is not good for lures. chicken and cheese are all accounting for fish, and while you wade your way through a good number of small cod, that next solid fish is just one bite away. It’s great to see so many smaller cod in the system, with some groups of anglers reporting catches of

50+ cod over several days. Golden perch have been a little slower in this area, but you can generally raise a couple of goldens by bobbing shrimp or fishing cocktailed baits of shrimp and worms. The Wakool River at Kyalite continues to fish well, with several reports of Murray cod up to metre landed on both bait and lures. Some good-sized golden perch have also been caught in the mix. It’s great to see this river spring back to life as it has always been a popular fishery in the past. The Edward River has also been fishing well in this area for cod and perch on bait and lures. From Boundary Bend downstream to Robinvale the Murray River has continued to produce good numbers of Murray cod on mostly bait. I have only heard of a few 1m+ models landed, but there have been plenty in the allotted size slot providing anglers a

With dirty flows in much of the Murray River, Levi and Zavier Clark headed to Eildon for a chance to run some new lures and ended up catching this ripper cod. matter of timing – get it right and you are in with a chance at catching some good fish. Bait anglers have had a much better run in the dirty water, cashing in on the

good cod bite that comes with the flows. At Swan Hill on the Murray River, good numbers of Murray cod to a metre or more have been angled on bait. Grubs, yabbies, worms,

Clinton Hann with a solid golden perch on bait. They have been a little slow in most areas but you can always find a couple.

Autumn ushers in some excellent topwater opportunities. Clinton Hann with a honker on the Bassman Aussie Crawler. feed if they should like. Perch have also been a little more cooperative in these areas, with most anglers bagging a few on shrimp, small yabbies and scrub worms. The Murray River from Wemen to Colignan has plenty of smaller cod to size on bait and lures when the clarity suits. The biggest fish reported recently was a 94cm cod on a grub. This section of the Murray is making a real comeback and should continue to fish well over the coming months. Mildura tackle proprietor Kym Sykes says the fishing has dropped off a little this past month, but some good-sized fish have been landed on lures. He says it’s not so much

the lack of fish, it’s more the lack of anglers fishing that’s making it hard to get reports. The Murray River around Mildura and Wentworth has fished very well for big cod this season, and with plenty of fish in the area I’m sure we will hear of some good catches once a few more anglers get out on the water. All up, it’s been a little hard with all the flows, but there are good numbers of Murray cod in most areas, providing plenty of opportunity and scope to visit almost any location down this way. With the autumn break comes the start of the best surface fishing for cod, and I am sure we will see a few good catches by the time my next report is due.

Great time to have a red hot go BENDIGO

Roger Miles codhuntertours@bigpond.com

April is one of my favourite months to spend time on the water chasing fish. During autumn we often will see a change in the weather patterns; highpressure systems often are larger and slower moving, and this can help produce some favourable fishing conditions, with days of minimal wind occurring more regularly. When these high-pressure systems are replaced by cold fronts, we will see significant movement in the barometer which can lead to some productive fishing. The temperatures during the days become more pleasant, and it’s a welcome change after being 96

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baked in the summer heat. So, while the conditions are good I encourage anglers to head out and make the most of their opportunities. LAKE EPPALOCK Water levels have continued a steady decline over the last month. At the time of writing this report, Lake Eppalock is currently 51% of capacity. Water clarity is still good in the majority of the lake, but some of the shallow bays do have an increased amount of algae in them. Redfin are making up the majority of anglers’ catches at present. Finding a good concentration of redfin is not easy. Anglers should be prepared to put the time in and hunt around a lot before locating a good concentration of fish. Most of the redfin are only small to average in size, but if you put the time in there are small numbers of quality

redfin measuring up to 45cm in the mix. The best concentrations of redfin have moved into shallower water over the last month. At present, the most productive depth ranges for the redfin have been between 5.5-7.5m. Trolling deep diving hardbody lures continues to be productive. Vertically jigging ice jigs, and casting soft vibes and a range of soft plastics adjacent to the bottom has been working well also. Small numbers of golden perch are still being caught. Most are being caught off the submerged weed beds or around the edges of standing timber. Casting lipless crankbaits and blades have been the most productive option when casting the weed beds. Trolling small to medium sized hardbody lures along the edges of the weed beds has been producing a few fish as

well. For those anglers casting the edges of the standing timber, lipless crankbaits, blades, small spinnerbaits have been working. Slow rolling soft plastics and jigging soft plastics around the standing timbers has also been a productive method. CAMPASPE RIVER The fishing has been good but patchy in the Campaspe River over the last month. The reduction in the catch rates has been because of a reduction in the water clarity. The poor water clarity has occurred for two reasons. The first was some increased flows released down the system from Lake Eppalock. The second has been the run-off from thunderstorms, which have flushed dirty water into the system. Golden perch have been making up the majority of anglers’ catches. The average

This nice Murray cod was caught in the Campaspe River. It took a lipless crankbait fishing the front edge of a tree stump. size has been good, at around 40-50cm. Jamie Stevens from Bendigo managed his personal best golden perch in the Campaspe River recently. It measured 60cm and was caught on a Cod Hunter Flathead lure. He managed to land two other quality goldens that session on the same lure, and also got drenched by a large Murray cod which smashed the lure right beside his kayak. The

cod peeled a heap of line and managed to get to the bottom, before making a couple of head shakes and dislodging the lure. The average size of the Murray cod caught lately in the Campaspe has been 50-80cm. Productive lures include surface lures during low light conditions, spinnerbaits, hardbody lures To page 97

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Autumn action on offer lucky and drop onto a school of bigger models. Anglers have been using a variety of methods to catch them, including using baits like yabbies, worms or gudgeon, or fishing lures like bobbers, ice jigs or vibes. Brian Rivett and I have been getting amongst the reddies at Tullaroop over the past month. On one particular trip we struggled to get onto the fish; we sounded them up but could manage only a few smaller models. Then we came

BALLARAT

Shane Stevens

After a sluggish start to the year, anglers around the Ballarat and Central Highlands region of Victoria are finally starting to see a few fish caught from most of our local waters. Most of our fishing around the region is dictated by water temperatures. Generally, most of our fisheries are of a shallow nature, and during the summer months the water temperatures rise, which is OK for some species like redfin, but other species like trout prefer cooler temperatures. Autumn is here and so are the cooler nights. This has already impacted the water temperatures, which have dropped significantly. This has meant that the trout stocked by Victorian Fishing

Rod McNeight and his two boys, Justin and Thomas, have been getting amongst the redfin at Tullaroop on soft plastics and vibes. Image courtesy of Rod McNeight.

Newlyn, Hepburn, Wendouree and Moorabool all had ripper spring hatches, especially out at Moorabool where there were millions of mayflies. Fingers crossed this fishing does happen, as there is a lot of talk and chatter around the traps of the excellent fishing we are hoping to have. Tullaroop has been the

standout fishery over the past couple of months, especially for those anglers who target redfin. Tullaroop has been a revelation over the past few years since boating access was allowed on the reservoir. There had been a population of redfin which had been breeding year on year, and the shore-based anglers were never going to put a dent in the population. How things can change. Anglers from all over the state are now making the trip to fish Tullaroop and targeting the redfin, and most definitely reaping the rewards. The redfin are not easy to catch – you still need to put in the hard yards to catch them. Anglers aided with the use of depth sounders certainly increase their chances of catching some quality redfin. When you find a school, it can be a matter of weeding out a lot of small ones to get to the bigger ones, or you could be

lures such as number 3 StumpJumpers and Custom Crafted Basshunters in the shallow bib model have been working well. Dark colours like black and purple have been consistently productive. Casting over the top of the submerged weed beds with lipless crankbaits and blades has been working well. Anglers jigging and slow rolling plastics around the standing timber are catching a combination of redfin and golden perch. Small numbers of Murray cod have also been caught by anglers casting swimbaits and trolling swimbaits around the edges of the lake. LODDON RIVER The fishing in the Loddon River has been good. Water clarity has been good in some sections of the system but only average in other sections. The more productive fishing has been in those areas where water clarity has been good.

If you go to one section of the Loddon River and the water clarity is poor, my advice is move to another section with better clarity. A good combination of both golden perch and Murray cod are being caught in the system. Most of the golden perch have been 38-45cm, and the average size of the Murray cod has been 45-65cm, with only the occasional cod above 75cm being landed. Fishing with surface lures during periods of reduced light has been productive on the Murray cod. Spinnerbaits, medium sized hardbody lures and large lipless crankbaits have been working. Good lure options for the golden perch have been small to medium sized hardbody lures, both trolling and casting. Also casting lipless crankbaits along the edges of the weed and edges of fallen timber. We should hopefully see the water clarity continue to improve this month.

John Cody is hooked on fishing after landing his first ever brown trout from Lake Wendouree. Authority into all our lakes and reservoirs are once again up and about, feeding. Autumn also signals the return of the mayfly, from mid-March through to the end of April. If the hatches throughout this autumn period are anything like those this past spring, we are in for some ripper fishing. Waters like From page 96

and lipless crankbaits. One significant change in the river system has been that a lot of the weed beds have died off. There is still a good amount of ribbon weed, but some of the other weed has reduced in its volume. This has reduced the amount of bait and fish holding along the weed. Anglers are still catching a few fish along the weed, but not as many as before. CAIRN CURRAN Water levels have continued a slow decline, with Cairn Curran at 63% of capacity at the time of writing. The fishing remains very good at this location, with good numbers of golden perch, Murray cod and redfin. Trolling in the depth range between 3-4m of water has been a productive for the golden perch and Murray cod. Small profile

Brian Rivett landed this whopper of a redfin from Tullaroop Reservoir. It measured in at 48.5cm.

Peter Cartledge landed his first ever brown trout on a mudeye suspended under a bubble float from Lake Wendouree. onto a school of good ones, and it was game on nonstop action for the next 3.5 hours. We had to go home and left the fish still biting. We caught fish after fish, all on ice jigs, it didn’t matter what colour – the redfin were definitely on the chew. A couple of notable fish we caught within our haul were a couple of rippers 48.5cm and 42cm. Rodney McNeight and his two sons Justin and Thomas have been getting amongst the reddies as well at Tullaroop, catching some good bags on soft plastics and vibe lures. Rodney said you have to weed all the little guys out or move away from that school and drop onto the bigger-sized fish once you find them, using the spot lock on your electric motor to sit on the school. Rodney also mentioned he marked the spots where he caught the fish on his sounder using GPS coordinates, and has been back to the same spots a number of times and caught fish every time. Hopefully the redfin will continue to bite over the next month or so before the water temperatures drop, which turns them off the bite. Tullaroop has been one of my favourite trout waters over the past few years, and during the autumn months it fishes very well. The fishing last year during autumn was sensational to say the least, with the fish feeding up prewinter/spawn on smelt. The smelt fishing can be frustrating and rewarding

at the same time, and I’m certainly looking forward to the fishing at Tullaroop. The fishing on Lake Wendouree has started improving, which has coincided with some cooler nights and the water temperatures dropping. I have been out fishing mudeyes on Wendouree with work colleague Peter Cartledge and his brother-in-law John Cody. The boys are only novices at the fishing game, but I’d suggest after our fishing session they are well and truly hooked. We started off our session by collecting some bug/spider mudeyes from Wendouree; both Pete and John had never seen mudeyes before. We then ventured out into the rowing lanes and anchored up in the weeds with the wind at our backs, fishing into the deeper water

of the rowing channel, which is the deepest and coldest part of the lake. We suspended our mudeyes approximately 3ft under the bubble floats, and over the next few hours the boys had an absolute ball catching a dozen trout – a mixture of browns and rainbows in varying sizes – and lost as many on the rowing lanes. I managed to snag a ripper rainbow of just over 50cm, which happened to be full of bug mudeye. It was great to see, especially for Pete and John as they both now have a greater understanding of what bait to use etc. Lake Wendouree will be a destination point for many anglers, especially flyfishers targeting the mayfly feeders. Anglers using mudeyes should definitely get amongst the fish, both from the shore and boat. The autumn months over the past 4-5 years have produced some excellent fishing for guys who like to cast lures, especially surface lures like bent minnow patterns. The cooler water temperatures and pre-spawn feed ups really turn the trout on – exciting times on Wendouree for us anglers. Moorabool Reservoir. Newlyn Reservoir and Hepburn are all holding significant higher water levels than in previous years. I haven’t received any reports recently from these fisheries, but I would suggest they will improve over the next couple of months, and Moorabool is definitely on my radar. I, like many other anglers around the district, am looking forward to some excellent fishing.

The author holding a couple of ripper redfin, caught from Tullaroop Reservoir using ice jigs. APRIL 2022

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Enjoying April weather WANGARATTA

Robbie Alexander

April is one of my favourite months of the year. It’s not the best month of the year for fishing, but the

Lake Mulwala is the place to head during April. For some reason it always seems to fish more reliably than the Ovens River in the autumn. I could be wrong, but I suspect that it has something to do with the modified flow of water

the more aggressive trout that may be getting ready to spawn. Fluorescent-coloured lures usually work a treat. A bright orange Super Vibrax spinner is a great lure late in April. Also, larger minnow

A Lake Moodemere carp caught recently on a bunch of Jan Juc bait worms. summer rainfall, the streams are all looking great at the start of autumn and I am expecting the trout fishing to be really good this April.

redfin in small creeks in April will be working out which creeks they are actually in, and then getting permission from the land

There is now a healthy population of yellowbelly in the Ovens River thanks to fish stocking, but most are still small as the stocking

This carp was caught in Reedy Creek near Eldorado on the morning of writing this report. weather here in North East Victoria is usually amazing during April, with a few great fishing options still available. MURRAY COD The Murray cod fishing has usually slowed down a

released by the larger lakes such as Lake Hume and Lake Dartmouth, whereas the Ovens River is unregulated from top to bottom, apart from two small lakes on two on the larger tributaries. In the rivers, I suspect

lures can work very well later in April and in May. The trout will strike the minnow out of aggression more than out of hunger, so don’t be afraid to tie on a long, skinny minnow of 8-9cm. Thanks to some decent

A Merriwa Park silver perch caught recently. The mass stocking of silver perch in many areas is a very exciting thing for freshwater fishing in Victoria.

April is one of the best months of the year to fish for redfin in North East Victoria. lot in the Wangaratta area by April. I find fishless trips are more common than successful fishing trips. However, I do still have successful fishing trips, and that is what keeps me going. I do catch Murray cod, and trout cod (as a by-catch) each April in the Wangaratta area, but I usually have to work harder for them than I do during summer. In saying that, some of my best, and more memorable Murray cod fishing sessions have been in April. April Murray cod fishing is hit-and-miss, but the hit can be great if you get there on the right day. If you want consistency, 98

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that bait fishing will be more productive than lure fishing, however don’t be shy to cast a few lures around, particularly around the twilight times of the day. TROUT April is an awesome month to go trout fishing in the Wangaratta region. There are no trout in Wangaratta itself, but within one hour you can arrive at any number of amazing trout streams. In the first half of April, when there are still a few black crickets around, I find anything black is usually a good place to start – a black spinner, black soft plastic etc. In the second half of the month I usually start to target

REDFIN The cod may slow down in April, but the redfin don’t. April can be an amazing time of the year to target these fish. Lakes Hume, Buffalo, William Hovell and even Lake Sambell in Beechworth will all be worth fishing for redfin during April. Last year my dad and I experienced some amazing redfin fishing in Lake Buffalo in April. It’s not just the lakes that will fish well – the small creeks that hold redfin will also be worth fishing. The hardest part of catching

owner to access the creek. If you can cross those hurdles you should experience some great redfin fishing. And with the wet summer and decent water flows, there could be a few decent sized models getting around this autumn, with a bit of luck. YELLOWBELLY April can still be a good month to target yellowbelly, although I do find that they tend to slow down a little bit as the water starts to cool. Lake Nillahcootie is definitely the place to head in April to target yellas.

A small high country trout caught on a Royal Stimulator fly at Mt Buffalo. Up there above the treeline, it’s more about the amazing colours of the fish than the size of the fish.

program only started in 2017. There are a few legal fish turning up, but most are undersize. My largest Ovens River yellowbelly is 39cm… so far! OTHER SPECIES As usual there will be plenty of carp around in April, and all of the likely carp fishing places will be worth fishing. Lake Moodemere is a personal favourite of mine. I love fishing over there. Also, many of the small creeks that have held water all summer will be worth fishing. As I type I have not long been home from a carp fishing session in the region’s most popular gold panning creek, Reedy Creek. I caught one carp using corn as bait, and lost another. Even that will be worth fishing for carp during April. Also, the region’s stocked small ponds will be worth fishing for silver perch in April. Merriwa Park in Wangaratta, Allans Flat Waterhole in Yackandandah, Stanley Dam in Stanley and Upper Sandy Creek Dam at Sandy Creek have all been stocked quite heavily with silver perch… and this excites me!

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Goulburn a standout this month SHEPPARTON

Nick Brown teamriverrats@hotmail.com

The Goulburn River has been fishing well this past month, with many legal cod reported between Shepparton to Murchison. The key to the great fishing we’ve been experiencing can be put down to consistent water heights and favourable fishing conditions, making it easier for more of us to get on the water. Bait fishing has been a stand-out, with cod being caught on baits such as chicken, cheese and sausages. Casting surface lures in low-light periods has worked well too, especially on the calmer, more humid nights. Early autumn is a good time to fish the Goulburn, and if the river stays at a steady level, we should continue to see good cod and yellowbelly fishing in the coming weeks. BROKEN RIVER This season has been a stand-out for yellowbelly with again plenty of reports coming in. Normally we get the early spring bite and the rise in water bite in the Broken, but it’s just fished consistently well for yellowbelly, and the past month was no different. Shrimp have been working

best, with scrub worms a close second. You can also get good results casting Fish Traps. You can cut the front-facing trebles to leave you with a

over 30cm being caught. Trolling small Codgers and Old Mates in around 15ft has been the best method, with or without a soft plastic in front of the diving lure.

fishing action at the lake this year, with summer being a tough bite time, but there is plenty of positivity for the fishing in the weeks to come. The weed-harvesting boat was yet again in town, cleaning up plenty of the weed. By the time this issue hits stores, everything will have settled down, and we’ll be able to target fish in the lake more easily. If you’re chasing redfin or yellowbelly in the lake, you can get results casting small chatterbaits or lipless crankbaits with single hooks around the grass hill or boat ramps, or you can slow roll a soft plastic with a beetle spin along any weed edges that are left.

Jacob Pemberton with a double hook-up at Waranga Basin.

Amelia Elliston with a Murray cod from the Broken River. double hook when fishing the snags, or just use the Fish Trap Weedless model. Anglers casting surface lures downstream of the Archer Street bridge have reported some legal cod being caught and released, both in the morning and evening low-light periods. WARANGA BASIN It’s hot fishing at the Basin, with reports still coming in of many redfin

Casting around the edges has also been a great method, with 2-3” Keitech Easy Shiners in green pumpkin chartreuse being the stand-out plastic, rigged with a beetle spin. Bait fishing has again been great, with plenty of redfin being caught deeper or on the edges. Worms have been the stand-out. SHEPPARTON LAKE There hasn’t been much

Josh Dohnt from the Native Project with a nice Shepparton yellowbelly.

GREENS LAKE In February the Victorian Fisheries Authority were busy at Greens Lake to salvage and relocate Murray cod and golden perch. With the water level in Greens Lake now very low, the VFA (working together with Goulburn-Murray Water and contractors) have managed to catch the many fish and transport them to new homes. The cod will be relocated to the new native fish hatchery at Arcadia, with some other natives being released into the Goulburn River. Plenty of yellowbelly will also be released into Waranga Basin.

Trout catches march into April WEST/SOUTH GIPPSLAND

Billy Auldist

Bill was off sick this month, so his report has been supplied by Martin Auldist. In West Gippsland the

late spring and are now perfect for fishing. Will Thompson from Allways Angling in Traralgon reports that recent weeks have brought “the most amazing fishing ever”, with local anglers landing bulk numbers of the normal

the Tanjil River as having been particularly productive. Further west around Noojee, the Latrobe River and its tributaries, the Loch and Toorongo rivers, have also been giving up plenty of trout, while the evergreen Tarago River is always worth a look as well. Spinners such as Mappsos, Mepps and Vibrax have been doing the damage for lure fishers, while the ever-reliable earthworm continues to take plenty of fish for bait drowners.

Fly fishers have been having a ball too, with dry fly patterns such as the Stimulator or Dunn working well at the change of light later in the evening. Bead head nymphs have been a good option for during the day. The large river blackfish of the West Gippsland region offer a unique angling experience for those willing to venture out later in the evening and into darkness. Find a large, deep pool

Dylan Powis reaping the rewards of searching for new dams with a typical South Gippsland redfin. warmer weather of late summer has brought increased insect activity, and the trout have been biting like crazy! Water levels have dropped from the highs of

sub-30cm trout in both the brown and rainbow varieties. Occasional bigger fish have stretched the tape to 40cm – very good fish for the streams of this region. Will nominates both branches of

Luke Batt caught this bass from the banks of Blue Rock Reservoir after dark.

Cody Fleming with a solid local brown trout caught casting a Rapala lure upstream. and cast a lightly-weighted earthworm into it, and it shouldn’t be long before you have an inquiry from one of these endearing native fish. If you are successful, please consider releasing them. Over at Blue Rock Reservoir, the water is still quite high, providing good fishing for both shore and boat-based anglers targeting trout with diving lures or bait. The bass continue to fire as well. Round 1 of the 1300Fishing BASS Pro Series was held here in early February, attracting a good turnout of competitors and resulting in some good fish coming to the net. I’m told

that the best bass caught was around 49cm long to the fork, and was landed on a black Gulp grub. Other anglers found success in 8m of water using jigs around the many dead trees. Looking ahead, the early parts of autumn typically see good amounts of grasshoppers in the grass lining the streambanks, so larger terrestrial flies and small bladed spinners are likely to be productive in all the usual rivers. At Blue Rock the good fishing should continue, with the additional option of targeting carp on surface poppers. APRIL 2022

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Quantity over quality EILDON

Peter Burtchell

During mid to late autumn, Lake Eildon and surrounds fish extremely well. Large Murray cod continue to feast on anything they can catch, the cooler water temperatures excite the yellowbelly and redfin, whilst trout in abundance begin to stir in the main body of the lake, awaiting their spawning runs. Headwaters will remain very active as yellowbelly and redfin make easy meals of yabbies that traverse down from the high country to more fertile grounds. The yellowbelly will take lures and baits in the shallowest parts, just shy of the river rapids, whilst large Murray cod will lay low in many of the deep holes succeeding the rapids. Yabbies and worms on floats cast from

Rusty headed to the Goulburn Arm for a successful day’s fishing, with multiple cod and yellowbelly hits.

Jordan, wearing his Dino Lures T-shirt, got amongst the action. the banks and allowed to follow the flow are effective when targeting Murray cod, yellowbelly, redfin and trout. Larger Murray cod in the deep holes will take swimbaits, spinnerbaits, divers and surface lures, and just about any bait you present to them once they are active. Remember that the rivers flowing into Lake Eildon do have a closed season, unlike Lake Eildon itself which is an all-year fishery. If you are fishing the lake when rivers are closed to fishing, remember to stay in the main body of the lake, away from any flowing water from the rivers. The best thing about fishing Lake Eildon is that it’s not always about the

largest fish you can catch. Many anglers often chase quantity (smaller fish) in lieu of quality (larger fish). These smaller fish help to hone the skills of any angler when it comes to preparedness of lines, knots, landing gear and photographic equipment. Added to these are the landing, fish care, unhooking, photographing and releasing skills, especially if you fish a lot on your own. For anglers trying this style of fishing, it is quite easy to land and release a dozen or more smaller fish in the same time it takes to target one larger fish. Anglers new to the sport don’t tire whilst awaiting that hit of a lifetime because they are continually hit, and there is always a chance that they will be hit by a once-in-a-lifetime fish; anything moving in the water is a target for them,

even if outside their normal feeding times. Another benefit of this style of fishing is you will get to know where most of the smaller fish are, which also means that you will know where larger fish will be, as those larger fish await the change of light into the evenings, throughout the night and sunrise to hunt

remained very low. Spinners and shallow-diving lures proved to be the best tackle. The pondage when full fished very well, with mudeyes and wet flies in the mudeye imitation. If you would like to listen to a weekly update of what is happening around fishing at Eildon, be sure to tune into UGFM Eildon 88.9 FM

Rusty with a healthy spinnerbait-caught Murray cod in the Goulburn Arm.

Relax and enjoy delicious food and warm hospitality.

John Wood with a 53cm yellowbelly.

Open for breakfast from 6am 7 days a week (Closed Mother’s Day)

Coffee Light meals Pastries Cakes Bread 10 Main St, Eildon Victoria 3713 03 5774 2362 0438 881 629 100

APRIL 2022

Baily used his Dino Spinnerbait to entice this nice yellowbelly.

in the productive area. This comes in handy should you wish to change from small baits and lures to larger ones to target those larger fish at the appropriate times. Swimbaits, twitchbaits, sub-surface and surface lures are the preferred methods when targeting these larger fish in the identified productive areas. The Goulburn River and Eildon Pondage will also fish very well in mid to late autumn. In early spring the Goulburn was a haven for larger 3-4kg trout, as the dam outflow water temperature

and or 2REM 107.3 FM Shamdonk Fishtalk. Craig’s updated fish activity report on UGFM is every Thursday and Saturday morning from 7am with his Shamdonk report being broadcast on Thursday nights from 6pm to 9pm where tips are provided regarding water flow, fish activity and the most successful baits and lures being used. Craig also mentions any angling competitions and events that are scheduled for the lake. This year’s competitions begin in earnest with To page 101

VIC

Surface cod opportunities YARRAWONGA

Tony Bennett codclassic@bigpond.com

You can’t help but get excited about the continued excellent fishing that Lake Mulwala has produced over the last few months. Fishos have continually turned up larger than normal numbers of cod, with a healthy population in the 20-50cm bracket. The numbers being caught per session are far better than anything I have heard of or seen here over the past 30 years. The ‘scopers’ are continually reporting many monsters they are seeing on their sounders, with the skilled technicians landing meteries on a regular basis. Undoubtedly, the surface action at this time of year can’t be beat. On a beautiful autumn evening

(or morning if you get up that early!) with minimal wind, you can’t miss this opportunity to get out and throw a few topwater lures around. If it’s numbers of cod you’re looking for, casting spinnerbaits or hardbodied lures in the 70-110mm size around timber in the 1-3m depth is prime territory. A problem most anglers are encountering at the moment is the weed. The ability to fish in and around it, casting as tight as possible without being snagged up continually, will see you increase your chances of landing a fish or three. The bait fishos who love to ply their trade below the weir are coming up with some great fish. Local gun David Chase had a day out recently landing two beauties, one at 110cm and another whopper measuring 124cm. Further downstream

there have been solid reports of quality yellowbelly being taken on bait bobbed around the snags. The recent Humminbird Da$h 4 Ca$h Super Series proved a hit, with 52 teams returning after the ‘Dash’ was cancelled in 2021. Weather conditions were fair on the Saturday and windy on the Sunday. Kim and Billy Danckert took the cash in the Saturday morning session, narrowly beating young Pat Wescott and Glen Joyce. 3rd place was filled by Rick and Rueben Doyle. These three teams all landed two legal-wsized cod. A 100.6cm beauty as taken off the ‘scope’ by the Blow boys, which saw them finish in 4th. Saturday arvo saw all anglers return rejuvenated after a couple of hours’ break. Phil Keetelarr and Richard Cambridge got stuck into the cod quickly, and had two on the board in

no time to secure a popular win in this session. A couple of young ‘cowboys’, Cody and Joel Kenyon, fished well to take out 2nd whilst the ever-consistent team of Derek and Kade Blow finished 3rd. Sunday’s quick 3-hour session carried the biggest cash prize for the weekend, with the winners taking home $2500 plus a new Humminbird sounder. Jamie Roberts fishing on his own had a blinder landing a 107.5cm and a 63cm cod to easily earn the win. Once again, Derek and Kade Blow presented two legals to the weighmaster to take 2nd, whilst Dave Lawson and Ed Parks finished the weekend off with a creditable 3rd place. If you’re visiting town, I urge you to call into Lake Mulwala Fish Camp and Ski, the shop with the big green cod out the front (opposite the

Rohan Thwaites with a 60cm surface cod taken close to town, with the town lights in the background. Post Office) in Mulwala, or our Yarrawonga store located between Rivers and One Zac in the heart of

town. We are Yarrawonga/ Mul wal a’s f i shi ng specialists, and specialize in all things ‘green’!

High water levels CRATER LAKES

Rod Shepherd

Lake Purrumbete has been fishing well for some, with the odd giant redfin and rainbow trout being caught along with quite a few a few sizeable browns. Cheetah and tiger trout up to 2lb are also being taken, and most anglers are releasing these to grow further, which is great. Trolling or casting a variety of lures around the lake’s fringes in depths up to 8m has seen some good results. Smaller school redfin are still being detected at depths around 50ft

(15m+) on the sounder, and are responding to live minnow or gudgeon and/or soft plastics and hardbodied jigs worked just off the bottom. Bait anglers are also scoring some fish with gudgeon minnow fished just off the bottom or suspended under a float. Mudeye also fished under a float not far out from the lake’s weedy fringes is also a deadly option when the fish are hungry. Just don’t suspend the bait lower than a metre under the float or have it floating too close to any weed bed, otherwise you will lose quite a few baits to pesky, small redfin. Lake Elingamite’s levels remain high at the time of writing, still

allowing easy access to tinnies to over 4m. When the sun comes out and the temperature rises the redfin really come on the chew, with plenty being caught. However, it does seem that the smaller fish are outracing the larger specimens when it comes to chasing a trolled or cast lure or plastic. The redfin activity on those rare, still, hot days is a blessing, as the heat usually shuts down any trout activity except for possibly first and last light. When the trout are on the chew, plenty of feisty browns are taking lures cast and trolled, along with a few rainbows. The latest release fish have put on a bit of weight and

A Elingamite redfin that engulfed a Damiki Saemi lure on the troll. are now considered a good pan size, however fish from the previous year are now over 1kg and any left from two years ago are now

From page 100

the Lake Eildon Fishing Challenge returning to Lake Eildon. Fishing begins from 2pm Friday 13 May, and presentations begin at midday on Sunday 15 May. This annual communitybased fishing competition raises much-needed funds for Variety The Children’s Charity, and has been running since 2017. Held on Victoria’s premier inland fishery, Lake Eildon anglers have the freedom to bait or lure fish non-stop for the two full days and nights of the competition. Whilst the 2022 event will inevitably be run under a COVID Safety Plan it’s still going to be a fun, action-packed weekend. Details of the event can be obtained via their website (lakeeildonfishingchallenge.

Joel with one of 10 smaller Murray cod landed and released in a late afternoon session.

measuring well over 60cm and 2kg+. I suggest we let these smaller fish go for future catches, and keep one or more of the larger com) or Facebook page. There is an early bird registration prize if you register for the competition prior to April 15. The competition is open to Bait and or Lure Angling with or without a boat. The Prize categories for the longest fish captured and released include Murray cod, yellowbelly, brown trout and rainbow trout, There are also junior prize categories to be won for the up and coming junior anglers. The second competition to be hosted in May 2022 is the Lake Eildon Cod Masters, a competition designed for the Murray cod angler who thinks they have what it takes to be crowned champion of Lake Eildon. To keep up to date with this event, sponsors, entry forms and rules, visit their

specimens. The best time for the trout is straight after a southerly blow, which stirs up the lake as well as firing up the fish. Facebook page: Lake Eildon cod Masters. Registrations for both competitions are conducted at Jerusalem Creek Bait and Tackle, 501 Jerusalem Creek Road, Eildon (ph 03 5774 2585). • The Jerusalem Creek Marina & Holiday Park is a friendly, family-orientated annuals cabin park, and makes the perfect home away from home. While there you can opt to hire one of their floating apartments (Boatels), hire a fishing vessel, or book a guided fishing tour. For more information on all of these services and other attractions in the area, visit jerusalemcreek.com. au, give them a call on (03) 5774 2585 or email info@ jerusalemcreek.com.au. APRIL 2022

101

New start for Macquarie perch WIRF

Cara Cummings

Autumn fishing brings us crisp mornings and fresh starts. Whilst the last couple of years have been challenging, it is worth looking at the positives and reflecting on what we have learnt. This may have been finding new fishing spots, fishing for different species or perhaps researching and learning tips and tricks on how to target the species that have once eluded us. So, as we ease back into life as we once knew it, we can resume fishing at our favourite hot spots and start exploring further afield and see if the research has paid off. GO FISH NAGAMBIE Our WIRF leaders put on a great show at the Go

The WIRF event at Go Fish Nagambie. ball assisting the VFA and fellow team from WIRF. This mostly saltwater fisho rekindled her love of casting

lures in rivers and freshwater. We had a great time talking to lots of ladies about the wonderful WIRF Network

WIRF Leaders Caitlin Berecry, Amanda Keilar and Niki Duckstein. Fish Nagambie competition, and ran a very successful event which encouraged and educated women who attended. There was a significant female presence noticeable across the weekend, and it was great to see an increase in women attending and participating in these types of competitions. “What a turn out we had for this year’s Women in Fishing Function at GoFish Nagambie. 135 women plus their kids and supporters attended this amazing event last Friday night. Together they learnt from some of the industry’s best and left with new knowledge and skills. Thank you to everyone who attended the event, we can’t wait to do it even bigger and better in 2023!” – Karen Rees. “I had an absolute 102

APRIL 2022

and assisting in the various clinics during the WIRF event.” – Amanda Keilar. It was great to see many WIRF members present at the event, and we jointly celebrated their catches and wins across social media. Sarah Bermingham caught a lovely 86cm Murray cod using a yabby and cheese combo as bait. She came 18th overall in the competition! BUSHFIRE MACCA RECOVERY WIRF leader Shea Bloom shares the exciting update of the Macquarie perch restocking as part of the bushfire recovery program (as featured in the December 2021 article): “It’s been quite the journey, starting with the Macca chopper late last year, which transported the mummies and daddies all the way from Lake Dartmouth to our Snobs Creek hatchery for breeding. Our baby Maccas have now been delivered safe and sound to the Cudgewa Creek, King River and Buffalo River, providing

Ruth, Niki (host), Chantal and Robyn during their WIRFinar.

Sarah Bermingham with a nice Murray cod.

Shea releasing some baby Macquarie perch. a much-needed boost to Macquarie perch populations in north-east Victoria. “Now their offspring are happily swimming away in their new homes, thanks to the grant we received from Landcare to recover Maccas in bushfire-affected areas of northeast Victoria. “We’re pretty sure the fish are just as excited as we are, since Maccas haven’t been abundant in the Cudgewa Creek in almost 100 years! “We’d like to thank our fantastic partners at Upper Murray Landcare Network, Ovens Landcare Network, Taungurung Land & Waters Council, WIRF Network, Corryong Angling Club, North East CMA and DELWP for their incredible collaborative efforts over the course of this project.

“This Landcare-led bushfire recovery effort has been supported by the Australian Government’s Bushfire Recovery Program for Wildlife and their Habitat.” WIRFINAR KAYAK FISHING This month, the topic of our WIRFinar series was kayak fishing. WIRF leaders

Chantal Meehan, Robyn Grellet and Ruth Beeby educated those attending on how they kayak fish, spots to try, gear to bring, safety, and how to join the competition kayak fishing scene. As with all our WIRFinars, the session recording is available in our Facebook group should you have missed it. • To stay up to date and see

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what else has been happening within the network and for upcoming events, please head to our Facebook group www.facebook.com/ groups/womenrecfishing/, @wirfnetwork Instagram page or via the VFA website/ Facebook page. Are you a WIRF member? If not, we’d love to have you on board! Join us on FB today.

RECIPES THAT ARE ‘WIRF’ IT

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APRIL 2022

103

Tournament Calendar 2022 DATE

Tournament

Location

State

Contact

10 Apr

East Coast Bream Series R1

Lake Macquarie

NSW

wsbreambass@gmail.com

23-24 Apr

BASS Pro Clarence River

Grafton

NSW

www.abt.org.au

23-24 April

BASS Electric Toonumbar Dam

Kyogle

NSW

www.abt.org.au

Mandurah

www.abt.org.au

APRIL

30 Apr-May 1 BREAM Mandurah

MAY 4-5 May

BREAM Swan River

Perth

www.abt.org.au

15 May

East Coast Bream Series R1

St Georges Basin

NSW

wsbreambass@gmail.com

21-22 May

BREAM Hawkesbury River

Sydney

NSW

www.abt.org.au

5 Jun

East Coast Bream Series R1

Hawkesbury River

NSW

wsbreambass@gmail.com

5-6 June

BASS Pro Cania Dam

Monto

QLD

www.abt.org.au

12 Jun

BASS Electric Lake Macdonald

Cooroy

QLD

www.abt.org.au

18-19 Jun

BREAM Tweed River

Fingal

QLD

www.abt.org.au

9-10 Jul

Humminbird BASS Electric Aus Open

Hinze Dam, Nerang

QLD

www.abt.org.au

16-17 Jul

Samaki BREAM Queensland Open

Brisbane

QLD

www.abt.org.au

Rapala BASS Australian Open

Somerset Dam

QLD

www.abt.org.au

9-11 Sep

Venom BARRA Aus Open Lake

Awoonga, Gladstone

QLD

www.abt.org.au

10 Sep

BASS Electric Wyaralong Dam

Beaudesert

QLD

www.abt.org.au

17-18 Sep

BREAM Gladstone

Gladstone

QLD

www.abt.org.au

18 Sep

East Coast Bream Series R1

Botany Bay

NSW

wsbreambass@gmail.com

3-4 Oct

BARRA Lake Tinaroo

Yungaburra

QLD

www.abt.org.au

5 Oct

BARRA Tinaroo (all night)

Yungaburra

QLD

www.abt.org.au

9 Oct

East Coast Bream Series R1

Sydney Harbour

NSW

wsbreambass@gmail.com

4 Nov

BARRA Teemburra Dam

Pinnacle

QLD

www.abt.org.au

5 Nov

BARRA Kinchant Dam

Kinchant

QLD

www.abt.org.au

7 Nov

BARRA Faust (all night)

Proserpine

QLD

www.abt.org.au

8-9 Nov

BARRA Faust

Proserpine

QLD

www.abt.org.au

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST 27-28 Aug

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

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. 104

APRIL 2022

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105

ADVERTORIAL

2022 Fishing Challenge Australia’s Biggest National Fishing Challenge Saturday and Sunday April 23 and 24

This year, the Challenge is offering a record $280,000 in CASH AND PRIZES

Australians across all states and territories are being encouraged to prepare their fishing gear for the 2022 PIRTEK Fishing Challenge. The challenge is an online national fishing competition open to all ages and experience levels. All competitors receive a limited-edition cap, brag mat and sticker with junior competitors receiving a bonus packet of Berkley soft plastics. This year’s challenge will be a two-day event taking place on Saturday and Sunday April 23 and 24. Competitors will fish for their favourite species, photograph their catch on the brag mat with their angler number and codeword clearly visible; then upload the photos to the website for judging. The Challenge is a major fundraising initiative assisting to raise funds and awareness for Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA). More than 19,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in Australia every year. PIRTEK has been partners with PCFA since 2009 to help raise vital funds for prostate cancer research, awareness initiatives and support programs by hosting Australia’s biggest single day fishing competition. The challenge is also a major fundraising partner for the Peter Duncan Neurosciences Research Unit, which has recently been lauded as the number one Neuroscience Research facility in Australia. The focus of the Unit is to study adult stem cells and their role in causing and exacerbating neurological diseases. The goal is to find and apply new neuroscience techniques for patients suffering from diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s, and other neurological infections and stroke. There are 22 target species nationally covering all states and territories both fresh and saltwater. This year, the Challenge is offering a record $280,000 in cash and prizes. PIRTEK together with Berkley, BCF, Stacer, ABU Garcia, Lowrance, Valvoline, Sea-Doo, Club Marine, Minn Kota, BAR Group and Mako Eyewear have delivered a fantastic prize pool of over $280,000 for this year’s competition. PIRTEK are keeping all competitors in the hunt with twenty-two $4000 cash mystery length prizes totalling $88,000. The mystery length is awarded in each category for the fish measuring closest to a secret measurement determined by the event organizers. This length is generally an average sized fish giving everyone the opportunity to win. Every competitor is also entered into the $100,000 ‘On The Water’ prize draw proving you don’t have to catch big to win big!

PRIZES INCLUDE:

• A cracking Stacer 469 Outlaw side console boat motor trailer package with 75hp Mercury outboard, Lowrance sounder and 12 months Club Marine insurance. Valued at $39,749 • Get ready for some fast fishing with a Sea-Doo Fish Pro Scout including trailer and 12 months Club Marine insurance. Valued at $22,883 • The Club Marine Tinnie which features a Stacer 389 Territory Striker, 25hp tiller steer BMT package. Valued at $14,827 106 40

APRIL 2022 MARCH 2021

• Forget the anchor with a Minn Kota/ Lithium electric motor package. Valued at $11,275 • Find more fish with a Lowrance LIVE 9 sounder and GPS unit. Valued at $3,899 • 1 x $2000 and 4 x $1000 Berkley/ABU Garcia tackle packs to make any fishos day. • Along with a host of prizes from Valvoline, BAR Pressure washers and Mako eyewear. Promotion authorised under NSW TP/01590; ACT TP 22/00081; SA T22/2. Michael Guest, Event Director, commented, ‘the Challenge is designed to allow people of all ages and experience to get involved and enjoy a couple of days on the water. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an experienced angler or picking up a rod for the first time. The PIRTEK Fishing Challenge is all about getting together with your friends and family, having fun and supporting our charity partners.’ Competing anglers can look the part by purchasing from the extensive range of merchandise available on the website, including fishing shirts, t-shirts, neck buffs, shorts, broadbrim hats and head torches. For more information and to register visit pirtekfishingchallenge.com.au Registrations cost $25.00, plus postage and handling.

PIRTEK FISHING CHALLENGE 2022 TARGET SPECIES State

Target Species

ACT/ New South Wales

Tailor Flathead Bream Whiting Luderick

Queensland

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Barramundi Trevally (all species)

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107 41

BASS SERIES presented by

Interstate anglers clean up in Victoria At ABT we love when dams have decent service because it means we can run our LIVE app-based events and anglers can enjoy the benefits of being able to keep an eye on each other. Thankfully, the 2022 13 Fishing BASS Pro series at Lake Glenmaggie is one Scan the QR code to watch the Boater winner interview

of these dams! However, as Mitchell Cone found out, this comes as both a blessing and a curse when the competition is nipping at your heels on day two. Fortunately for Mitch his 3.353kg day one bag alone was enough to keep him in first place after what was a tough day two for many

turned it off for day two. Leading the charge in the non-boater division, Wil Stockton pulled off a pretty rare feat on the ABT circuit, taking a second consecutive win from the back of the boat and kick-starting his campaign with a tonne of AOY points too! Stockton weighed a total of 4/6 fish for 1.316kg to claim a massive come-from-behind victory over the rest of the field on the final day. A MITCHELL CONE MASTERCLASS IN GRUBBIN’ Hailing from mighty NSW, Mitch Cone made the long haul to fish the two Victorian rounds via flight, borrowing a boat off Bryce Abbott (whom he would like to thank for his generosity) so he could fish the events. Mitch is no slouch on any bass impoundment, even ones he’s never been to

It’s become commonplace for anglers rocking Mercury motors to rule the top of the leaderboard. From left to right: 5th place (3rd place Mercury owner) Corey Goldie; 1st place Champion Boater (1st place Mercury owner) Mitchel Cone; and, 2nd place Boater (2nd place Mercury owner) Keeghan Painter. As a NSW angler, Cone is well accustomed to vertical fishing deep and slow, it’s a bread and butter technique on his home lakes of Glenbawn and St Clair during the summer months. Coney was able to apply the same technique to the bass at Glenmaggie. The lure of choice was a 3” Black Berkley

Gulp minnow grub on a 1/4oz Bassman Spinnerbaits jighead – a combination that has cashed a lot of cheques for bass anglers, including Coney, in years gone by. After locating the isolated fish on the sunken timber, Cone dropped the grub down to them, where he could watch them on his Garmin

The stakes in the Non-Boating division have never been higher with the introduction of the Rapala Bonus bucks for 2022. Throw in the $500 Buck n’ Big Bass for 2nd place, Jake Hardie (left), and you’ve got yourself a profitable weekend from the back of the boat! In the middle is 1st place Wil Stockton and on the right is 3rd place Brandon Scott. anglers. This round was sponsored by Garmin, and Coney channelled a bit of sponsor Karma to get him over the line. Coming in second place and not far behind after day one was well-travelled Queensland angler Keeghan Painter. Painter managed a 5/5 fish limit on day one for 2.778kg, which alone was enough to hold onto second place when the weather

Scan the QR code to watch the Non-boater winner interview

before. This was evident as he was fresh off a second place at Lake Blue Rock and was out for blood in the second round, running away with the event after day one with the only

bag over 3kg for the whole tournament. During his pre-fish, Cone located a patch of sunken timber in the main basin approximately 80m squared in area and in 40ft of water depth. After a slow start to the first session, it wasn’t until he moved out onto the deep timber and hunted isolated fish with his Garmin LiveScope unit that he began to find the better quality of fish.

BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 108

APRIL 2022

Angler Mitchell Cone Keeghan Painter Mick Johnson Dane Pryce Corey Goldie Tom Deer Tim Oakley Matthew Langford Rick Goward Rhys Harris

Fish 6/10 5/10 10/10 4/10 7/10 9/10 6/10 10/10 8/10 1/10

NSW angler and our champion boater for this event, Mitch Cone, is charging ahead on his quest for the AOY trophy. With the next two rounds on his home lake and coming off good form, he’ll be hard to stop in the Hunter Valley next month.

Full results at abt.org.au

Weight(kg) 4.518 2.778 2.578 2.013 1.918 1.873 1.697 1.234 1.151 1.02

Payout $2000 + $250 bonus $1000 + $125 bonus $750 $550 $75 bonus

BASS SERIES presented by LiveScope unit follow the lure up and down as he agitated them into biting. “Some fish you really had to work on them, you might sit there for five minutes watching them follow it up and down as you rolled the lure dead slow, however nearly all of the fish ate it when it was all but dead-sticked in front of their face,” Cone said A proud Millerod’s sponsored angler, Cone used a custom-made 7’6” Millerods’s FinnesseFreak LC paired with a Daiwa Fuego 3000 spinning reel, 4lb Berkley Fireline Crystal and about 10ft of 8lb Daiwa J-thread FC leader. The longer, slightly heavier and more powerful design of the 7’6” FinnesseFreak LC meant that the fish could be Scan the QR code to watch the Day 2 Highlights

stopped from heading back to the timber far easier than a lighter set up, one of the key factors in his rod selection. A second place followed by a first place finish to begin the year has Coney spearheading the 2022 AOY battle and, with the next two rounds on his home lakes, he will be among the favourites to get it done again. Watch this space! BUCK N’ BIG BASS Non-boater Jake Hardie took out the events Big Bass

prize of $500 cash for his 1.214kg caught on day two. That kicker fish alone was enough to bump Hardie into second place where he earned himself another $125 Rapala Scan the QR code to watch the Day 1 Highlights

bonus bucks! THE QUEENSLAND ROAD WARRIOR TAKES SECOND Driving from Brisbane to almost Melbourne to fish the first two rounds of the season puts second place boater Keeghan Painter squarely in the hardcore category of BASS anglers – and road warrior as well for that matter! Fishing out of his new (to him) Nitro Z20, one of the first upgrades he made to his new vessel was the addition of a Garmin LiveScope unit. “I couldn’t fish without it now and I think you’re definitely at a disadvantage if you’re fishing without it. Plain and simple, I wouldn’t have caught my limit on Saturday had I not been using it,” he said. Painter relied heavily on this technology to target fish hugging tight to structure, such as the bridge pylons up the river, where he was able to catch three out of his five fish limit on day one within half an hour of each other; all were better than average fish for this lake, around the

Wil Stockton has made an impressive start to his ABT career, winning the first two ABT events he’s ever competed in. This 824g bass was the kicker that launched him into first place. 32cm mark. These bridge-dwellers all fell victim to the same wellplaced black Berkley Gulp minnow grub as champion boater Mitch Cone, however Painter rigged his on a 1/4oz size #1 TT Demon jighead from his sponsors at TT Lures. Once more, fishing slowly was important but when the fish wanted it, they hit it hard. The last bass in his day one bag required the use of a more traditional piece of technology. A good old-fashioned pair of Costa polarised sunglasses. With his Costas on, he was able to spot

It pays to run Mercury, as Keeghan Painter knows all too well. His 225hp Mercury ProXS earned him an extra $125 cash in the form of a 2nd place Mercury owners bonus cheque.

NON- BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Angler Wil Stockton Jake Hardie Brandon Scott Bradley Turner Tony Neal Daniel Holder Luke Gilbert David Lawson Leigh Mirams Bryce Abbott

Fish 4/6 1/6 6/6 6/6 4/6 4/6 6/6 5/6 3/6 4/6

Weight(kg) 1.316 1.214 1.150 1.026 0.922 0.475 0.464 0.459 0.362 0.314

a submerged tree at the end of a rock wall in the main basin that he otherwise would have driven straight over. Instead, he stopped and began to scan the tree with his LiveScope unit where he found bass holding around the timber, which he was able to convince into eating a midnight oil coloured ZMan Slim Swim in the dying hours of the first session to complete his bag. The go-to outfit Painter used was a 7ft medium-light TT Black Mamba spin rod paired with a 1000 sized Okuma ITX spooled with 8lb Platypus Bionic braid and around 10ft of 8lb Platypus stealth FC leader. BACK-TO-BACK FROM THE BACK OF THE BOAT Winning his first ever ABT event obviously just didn’t cut it for Wil Stockton, he only had to go and win the second! Winning the first round at Lake Blue Rock, Wil Stockton’s win at Glenmaggie makes it two wins in as many attempts in the non-boater division, giving him a 100%-win rate in ABT tournaments. Not a bad start to a tournament career! Stockton drew boaters Steve Morgan and Graham ford for day one and day two respectively and used a crankbaiting technique around the edges of the dam to catch his fish. After bringing just 0.76kg in on day one, it was

always going to be a big ask to come from such a long way back to win. However, cometh the hour cometh the man, as they say. Stockton was able to weight a solid 1.24kg bag on day two, which went on to remain unbeaten as the biggest non-boater bag for the whole event and rocketed him up the leaderboard into 1st place. Admittedly a bit of a Daiwa fan, Stockton used a Daiwa TD Black paired with a 2500 Daiwa Kix, Sunline invincible braid and Daiwa J-thread FC leader to throw his deep diving brown suji shrimp Jackall Chubby at the standing timber and rock Scan the QR code to watch Mitch Cones insight into Livescope

edges encompassing the dam. Nothing fancy in his technique, just a slow, steady wind all the way back to the boat. The proof is in the pudding, this technique accounted for his 824g kicker on day two that bumped his bag well up over a kilo. Thanks to the outstanding efforts of Rapala, his exceptional angling efforts also got him paid, raking in another $250 Rapala bonus and bringing his total for the two events to $500 cash from the back of the boat.

Full results at abt.org.au

Payout Rapala prize pack + $250 bonus Rapala prize pack + $500 + $125 bonus Bassman prize pack + $75 bonus Maui Jim prize pack Ecogear prize pack Prolure prize pack Keitech prize pack Toadfish prize pack Toadfish prize pack APRIL 2022

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BREAM SERIES presented by

2022 BREAM Australian Open Tournament The time of year has once again come for the ABT to travel down to glorious Sydney for the jewel in the crown of Australian bream tournaments, The Daiwa BREAM Australian Open. The open is our Premier APP-based Live event for the year, bringing you (the viewers) the best coverage possible on our social media and YouTube platforms, thanks to our legendary observers and anglers with cameras on board. Typically, our anglers would battle it out over three days, with day one and three held on Sydney Harbour and day two on the Hawkesbury

Adam Bertoldo. He recorded the biggest bag ever at an app-based event of 6.560kg and nearly one of the biggest bags of yellowfin bream in all of ABT history! Finishing off the podium in 3rd place was South Coast angler and long-time supporter of ABT Steve Nedeski with a 10/10 fish bag for 8.033kg. 1ST PLACE: JAMIE MCKEOWN Day 1: 4.731kg Day 2: 4.732kg Total: 9.463kg It’s hard to find any more consistent form than that of Jamie McKeown in the past three years of the Daiwa

thanks to the dirty water and big swell out at sea pushing fish around Barrenjoey Head and onto the flats. Admittedly not being very familiar with the ‘carpark’, he began the day with a 3” Powerbait Bass minnow before cycling through just about every soft plastic in his box on a 1/24oz jighead, eventually landing on a 2.5” Daiwa Baitjunkie grub in motor oil and switching to a 1/8oz head Scan the QR code to watch the Day 2 Highlights Pittwater

The Greg Lee Memorial trophy will be getting pretty comfortable at Jamie’s house by now. current from the reef and spotlocking his electric motor, McKeown exclusively fished a 65mm olive Cranka Crab, changing to a spotted crab midway through the session when the bite shutdown. When asked about technique he had this to say, “There isn’t any room to fish it like a normal crab where you let it hit the bottom because if it finds the reef you lose a crab. Instead I cast it just off the reef and let the current wash it in until I think it’s getting too Scan the QR code to watch the Day 1 Highlights Sydney

Incumbent champion, Sydney’s Michael Colotouros, dint manage to pull a rabbit out of the hat this year to mirror his 2021 heroics. River system. Unfortunately, due to weather warnings, day two was restricted to the Pittwater only and day three had to be abandoned, leaving it up to two days of superb angling to write Jamie McKeown into history as a two-times Australian Open champion. Despite the rough weather, some exceptional fishing was had with the big tides and turbid water the perfect recipe for a Pittwater flats Masterclass from 2nd place angler and Sydney local

BREAM Australian Open. He’s netted himself two wins and a second place from three starts and regains the Greg Lee Memorial trophy from the bloke who took it from him last year, Michael Colotouros. Heading east of the Harbour Bridge on day one, McKeown braved the big swells and went straight to the Sow and Pigs Reef (newly re-named to ‘Jamie’s reef’) that continues to produce year after year. Positioning himself up

RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 110

APRIL 2022

Angler Jamie McKeown Adam Bertoldo Steve Nedeski Tim Vickers Liam Carruthers Tom Slater Cohen Callaghan Morante Michael Colotouros Mahmoud Mafoud Mark Thompson

move away to rest the spot, the big fish came out to play. In the dying moments of the first session, McKeown’s heartbreak of losing a kicker fish boat-side due to being knocked over by ferocious swells was promptly replaced with euphoria as a last cast special yielded a 41cm-fork giant and put his bag up over 4.5kg. McKeown believes his day two efforts on the Pittwater flats were largely

and later a 1/4oz due to the overwhelming wind and tide. As the water got dirtier, the motor oil grub became an oil flash UV Baitjunkie grub to garner a bit more attention. The technique was to slowly draw the rod tip upwards slowly before dropping it to let the lure fall, with all the fish hitting it on the drop. For this flats technique, he had to reach deep in the rod locker to find a light combo – something he very rarely does these days – which consisted of a 762 Samaki Zing Extreme Daiwa Silver Creek 2000 spooled up with PE .08 Samaki X braid and 4lb leader.

close and I wind it back in and repeat. The bite isn’t the standard peck either, most of the time the line just starts to move away from you and you lift your rod tip and load up.” Heavy structure requires heavy tackle and Jamie had three identical Samaki C12 V3 7’ 1-4kg rods paired with PE .08 Samaki X braid and 8lb Samaki leader, all with crabs ready to go. As the tide dropped the reef became more visible to the point the swell was actually breaking on it and after a lull in catches and a

1.8kg worth of reasons to smile! Second place Adam Bertoldo brought to the scales one of the biggest bags of yellowfin bream ever seen in ABT, including this Pittwater flats dinosaur.

Full results at abt.org.au

Fish 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10

Weight(kg) 9.463 8.583 8.033 7.591 7.531 7.456 7.281 7.280 6.854 6.457

Payout $5000 $2500 $2000 $1500 $1000 Daiwa reel Daiwa reel

Spot lock on McKeown’s Minn Kota Ultrex was vital to holding him on the fish and not drifting off them once he caught one. This helped him secure an almost 3kg bag in under 15 minutes as the fish began to move through just Scan the QR code to watch the Presentation Highlights

BREAM SERIES presented by before the tide change. 2ND PLACE: ADAM BERTOLDO Day 1: 2.023kg Day 2: 6.560kg Total: 8.583kg Outside of Jamie winning yet another Open, the talk of the event would without a doubt have been 2nd place Adam Bertoldo’s gargantuan 6.5kg day two bag from the Hawkesbury River – the biggest bag from any of ABT’s app-based events to date! The smallest of his five fish limit wasa 37cm-fork, and his biggest was a whopping 43cm-fork length 1.801kg monster and the biggest bream for the event. With the East Coast receiving some good drops of rain lately, Adam chose on the first day to fish the numerous stormwater drains that run into the harbour. A decision that was reinforced by local Sydney gun Ross Cannizzaro, in a chance meeting at, where else, but Bunnings. “I actually bumped into Ross at Bunnings a few days before the event, and I had to ask him what he

Yep, still smiling! And why wouldn’t he be? Adam jumped 18 places overnight from 20th into 2nd place and just have a look at the quality of fish that got him there. When the smallest fish in your bag is 37cm, you know you’ve had a pretty remarkable day. Barrenjoey Point and sitting out wide in 3.5m of water, casting even wider towards the very edge of the weed and once he found the fish, spot-locking and targeting them precisely. “I started out throwing a Berkley Gulp 2” shrimp

bag was caught with a bunch of quality Daiwa gear, including his Daiwa Infeet 702 EX matched with a 2000 Airity spooled with 8lb Gosen braid and a generous length of 3lb FC Rock leader. Spot-locking in only a few key areas on the flats,

instead he headed straight for a flat near Birkenhead Point. There, he fished a deep running brown suji shrimp Jackall Chubby by winding it down and banging it into the sand and giving it a pause, at which point the bream would nail it. Scan the QR code to watch Steve Morgan’s Day 1 LIVE FEED

A last cast kicker for Jamie McKeown on day one. Jamie fished a submerged reef in the harbour with a technique he’s refined over the past few years. thought about fishing drains and he backed up the idea for me, which was good,” said Adam. The decision proved fruitful, fishing a Jackall Chubby in brown suji shrimp colour he was able to fill his bag with a decent sized average around that 27-30cm-fork mark. Going into the second day sitting outside the top 10, Adam went out completely undeterred and with just one unwavering goal: Catch Jamie McKeown. With a cocktail of big tides, big swell, wind, rain and a restricted venue, it didn’t take much convincing for Adam – a Sydney local who knows these waterways very well – to make the decision to fish the Pittwater flats; or as anglers have affectionately named it ‘The Carpark’. Adam picked a section of the flats to the north of the boatshed, drifting towards

on a 1/24oz jighead but once the current and wind became stronger, I couldn’t keep it down in the strike zone. So, I changed over to a Berkley Bigeye blade in bandicoot colour to maintain Scan the QR code to watch Steve Morgan’s Day 2 LIVE FEED

contact and keep it tight to the bottom where the fish were,” Adam said about his lure choice. Making a big cast, Adam let his blade sink right to the bottom and gave it five little twitches and a pause, working the lure like this about halfway back to the boat before reeling it in and making another cast as the fish were only eating it a fair way out from the boat. On the tackle side of things, the whole day two

he was able to consistently chip away at his bag all throughout the session until he had upgraded all of his fish, weighing a bag of yellowfin not seen on ABT scales in a very long time and climbing a ridiculous 18 places from 20th into 2nd. 3RD PLACE: STEVE NEDESKI DAY 1: 4.080kg DAY 2: 3.953kg TOTAL: 8.033kg Motor troubles on day one was never going to be enough to stop veteran ABT angler Steve Nedeski from catching fish, especially on his birthday! Unable to fish the open in recent years due to work and family commitments and being resigned to living through live streams year after year, he decided it was his year to step up. Setting off on his electric motor, his plans to go to Hen and Chicken Bay were thrown to the wind and

By a stroke of birthday luck, he gave his motor one more crank after he had caught his bag near Birkenhead, in the hope he could get home quicker. The motor fired and he was off to Lane Cove for the last stop of the day. “When I pulled up at Lane Cove, I actually left the motor running because I didn’t want to get stuck if it didn’t kick over again!” he said. Nedeski used a G loomis DSR 820 4-8lb drop shot rod paired with a 2500 sized FE Stella spooled with 16lb Gosen casting braid and a long length (approx. 10m) of 4lb FC Rock leader. The trip to Lane Cove proved well

worth it as he netted himself three upgrades in the last 45 minutes of the session before scooting back to weigh in. With motor troubles resolved, Nedeski knew he was heading straight to the carpark for day two. “I tried fishing in close to the edges straight away, but the water was too dirty and too shallow, so I moved deeper” he said of his first hour on the flats. The strong current and wind meant that Nedeski couldn’t fish his typical flats combination of a 2” Camp Gulp shrimp with a 1/24oz or 1/32oz jighead. Instead he chose a Berkley Dam Deep 1/8oz size #2 jighead rigged with a 2” camo Gulp shrimp, a real confidence bait/jighead combination for him. A different rod and reel combo was called upon for the flats, being a 7’ 2-4 kg Duffrod’s SSP 842 paired with another 2500 sized FE Stella, 16lb Gosen braid and 4lb Sunline FC Rock leader. Like most passionate anglers, Nedeski has a very understanding wife at home who he’d like to thank for her support in fishing tournaments. A sentiment shared by many Steve!

Liam Carruthers conrinued his run of form with another high placing on the BREAM tour. APRIL 2022

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Download the new Recfishwest rules app From humble beginnings to more than 200,000 downloads, Recfishwest is very proud to have launched its upgraded fishing rules app. If you haven’t already, be sure to go to the Apple or Google play stores – depending on your phone or tablet – and download the latest version of the Recfishwest fishing rules app. Having the upgraded version on your device will make it even quicker and easier for you to have all the fishing rules at your fingertips while fishing, even if you’re out of phone range. Recfishwest Operations Officer Sedin Hasanovic, who helped develop the app alongside Perthbased app developers Redi Software, said: “Because it’s effectively a new app – any information you have stored on the ‘My Tools’ section of the app, including safety gear and licences, won’t transfer across to the new version,” he said. “Apologies to any of you who have lost this info as a result. “If you have not yet upgraded to the new version, make sure you screenshot or make a record of your info so you can reload it into the new version once downloaded. “If you don’t already have automatic updates for apps on your device, updating the new version is simple and will take just a couple of taps on your phone or tablet.”

boundaries; • New fish species bringing the total on the app to more than 240; • Map locations for artificial reefs, fish aggregating devices (FADs) and fishing safety infrastructure such as angel rings and rock anchor bolts; and, • Refreshed content throughout the app. It’s been six years since the Recfishwest team, working with Redi Software, developed a free, simpleto-use app that could make accessing and understanding the often-complex fishing rules easy. More than 200,000 downloads later, it is WA’s most successful fishing app and shows West Aussie fishers’ commitment to looking after our fish stocks by sticking to the fishing

rules and ensuring we can continue to do what we love doing, forever. Over those six years, our good friends at Shimano have come on board as supporting partners for the app and we added interactive GPS-responsive marine park maps helping you navigate what fishing and boating activities you can and can’t do in multiple marine park zones. We are committed to delivering high quality products and outcomes in everything we do, and with the funding support of the State Government and Shimano, we’ve now rebuilt the app using upgraded, state-of-the-art software. We hope you like the upgraded app and it continues to help you enjoy your fishing.

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FAST, EASY TO USE AND GREAT NEW FEATURES The new version of the app is even easier to use with a fresh new look and with exciting new features – but with the individual species rules, fish ID function, maps, ‘My Tools’ section and the always-popular species edibility rating remaining largely untouched. The upgraded app’s new features include: • Significantly less memory taken up on your device by the app resulting in much quicker download speeds; • Updated marine park info; • Clear seasonal closure

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The fishing is Esperance has continued to fire, with both beach and boat fishing producing great numbers of mixed species. The good weather at this time of year makes the experience even more enjoyable, with plenty of sunshine, less wind and warm conditions. Water Lachy Warren with the result of a quick evening temperatures are also session down the local. Image courtesy of @lachy_warren. still high. Beach fishing has seen are good just before dark, and schools of tuna out wide as plenty of salmon still being once it’s dark the salmon and well, with the occasional sample caught as they continue their herring pretty much disappear, going over 10kg. You can troll schooling and migration to be replaced by mulloway for the tuna, or pull up on them through to the west coast. They and gummy sharks. and throw stickbaits like a will then return and keep fishing One of the better beaches Halco Slidog, or metal lures numbers strong. Plenty of fish lately has been Alexander like Twisties. The tuna are very going 7kg being caught, with Bay, which has seen good size aggressive on those. MELBOURNE the ALBERTON best local beach still being salmon in big numbers, which At the jetty in town we are MELBOURNE CENTRE ALBERTON Salmon BeachMARINE and Fourth are then being chased by the MARINE still seeing plenty of herring Beach, along with Mile, bronze whalers. Bigger skippy being 39 Johnson Street14Alberton 92 Hallam South Roadcaught, Hallam some smaller Roses and5183 out to Munglinup up to around 3kg are 9703 also 2003 skippy, and plenty of small P: (03) 2344 P: (03) to the west. Heading east, being caught there. It’s also sharks. The younger crews have F: (03)beaches 5183 2219 melbournemarine.com.au choice have been been good enoughW: weather for been targeting sharks by putting W: albertonmarine.com.au Poison Creek, Thomas River, the smaller boats to launch out out tuna heads or mullet under MORNINGTON Alexander Bay and Duke of from Alexander Bay and head PENINSULA balloons, and then promptly MY nannygai MARINE blowing up reels and rods on a BENDIGO Orleans. A good way to out wider, catching target salmonMARINE is with&simple around the 50cm mark, Highway 7-8ft unstoppable. Even if you Cnr Nepean & BENDIGO OUTDOORS a paternoster a ganged yellowtailPlace avoidDromana being wrapped around Ponderosa 160 Midlandwith Highway Epsom plenty of sambos, pilchard. I like a 4/0-5/0 gang kingfish, queen snapper, and the pylons, you still have the P: (03) 3988 P: (03) 5987 0900 on top (e.g.5448 Tarpon hooks) and breaksea cod. challenge of keeping the shark W: bendigomarine.com.au mymarine.com.au single 3/0 circle on the bottom We are alsoW: still seeing out far enough for you to walk (e.g. Black Magic KL) which plenty of bluefin tuna being off the jetty and down to the MORNINGTON MELBOURNE is small enough to get herring caught, which tend to be in PENINSULA beach to get it ashore. It’s not during the day. At night I’ll run big schools both NAUTICAL close to the easy but it’s good fun regardless. MARINE BL MARINE a 5/0 circle. you shoreline and out141 wide. They Road Bandy Creek boat harbour Hotham 612614 Alternatively, Plenty Road Preston can use shiny metal lure that are being taken on trolling is producing plenty of King Sorrento P: (03) 9478 1420 George whiting, flathead and F: (03) 9470 4638 P: (03) 5984 1666 flounder, with the occasional black bream making its way W: blmarine.com.au E: info@nauticalmarine.com.au down from the lakes. The local W: nauticalmarine.com.au lakes still have plenty of water SHEPPARTON from the summer rains, and BOATS AND MORE TOORADIN are producing plenty of bream P&J MARINE SERVICE CENTRE P/L anglers use 207 Numurkah Road Shepparton over 40cm. Most P: (03) 5822 2108 101 Tooradin Station Road Tooradin a standard paternoster whiting rig with prawns for bait, but F: (03) 5821 2908 P: (03) 5998 3107 you can also catch them on W: boatsandmore.com.au E: pjmarine_services@bigpond.com small grub-tail soft plastics (e.g. 2.5” Slim SwimZ rigged MORWELL MELBOURNE on a Nitro Bream Pro 1/16oz CRAWFORD MARINE THE MARINE SHOP jighead). Throw your plastic as 71-77 Chickerell Street Morwell as you can, don’t let it touch 6 Holland Drivefar Melton the bottom, and wind it back P: (03) 5134 6522 P: (03) 9747 0588 without pausing. If the plastic F: (03) 5134 6455 F: (03) 9747 3999 touches the bottom the bream W: crawfordmarine.com.au W: themarineshop.com.au won’t touch it. There have been some good catches of nannygai Next month we’ll see ECHUCAlately. Image courtesy of Black Jack Charters. MELBOURNE salmon coming back from the EADES XTREME MARINE west coast, and there will be TRIPLE M MARINE gets24you outStreet into the schools, shallow divers 117 likeNorthgate Halco plenty of fishing opportunities Sturt Echuca Drive Thomastown suchP:as(03) a Halco Laser Pros, and jet heads such with good weather, calm winds 5482Twisty. 2333 P: (03) 9465 8787 Mixed in with the as Black Magic Jetsetters. and low swells, which means F: (03) 5482 2133 salmon have been plenty of Anything with a F:bit(03) of 9466 pink, 1418 less weed. We’ll also see the W: reasonable xtrememarine.net.au tailor, size skippy, purple and/or silver seems to start of more gummy sharks W: triplemmarine.com.au plenty of big bull herring and work well. coming in a bit closer, and the the BRAESIDE occasional decent-size Boat fishing out of skippy will start to be caught in flathead. We are also still seeing Esperance itself has seen bigger numbers and sizes, with JV MARINE WORLD plenty bronze whalers 878ofSpringvale Roadbeing Braesidethe bluefin tuna in close, fish up to 7kg. A few more squid caught, as well as gummy along with plenty of smaller will also be caught this month as P: (03) 9798 8883 sharks and mulloway. A few nannygai, bigger queen the water temperatures start to F: (03) 9798 7554 of the mulloway caught lately snapper, sea sweep, and snook. cool down a little bit. jvmarine.com.au haveW:been over 20kg. The best There have also been plenty • Established in 1986, Southern locations to target those are of King George whiting, and Sports and Tackle specializes Thomas River, Israelite Bay herring being caught in the in the supply and servicing of and Munglinup. The best rig bay, plus the occasional squid. fishing equipment. They have an is still a live bait rig using If you get the opportunity extensive knowledge of the local herring for bait, running a to head out further, around area and provide all brands, sliding sinker and loose drag. 30-50km, there have been whether you’re fishing from You should ideally fish the plenty of bigger samsonfish, beach, jetty or boat. Come and high tide, and the best fishing yellowtail kingfish, nannygai chat to the friendly staff at Shop times are dawn and dusk for going 65cm and plenty of 16, The Boulevard, Esperance these beach species. Salmon dhuies. There are also big or phone 08 9071 3022.

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MANDURAH MANDURAH OUTBOARDS 53 Gordon Road MANDURAH P: (08) 9581 7224 F: (08) 9581 6305 E: james@mandurahoutboards.com.au W: mandurahoutboards.com.au ALBANY RUSTY’S MARINE U2/205 Chesterpass Road ALBANY P: (08) 9842 1022 E: rustysmarine@bigpond.com W: www.rustysmarine.com.au WANGARA HI TECH MARINE 12 Uppill Place WANGARA P: (08) 9309 2888 F: (08) 9309 2397 E: sales@hitechmarine.com.au W: hitechmarine.com.au

APRIL 2022

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Salmon run worth waiting for AUGUSTA

Anthony Gillam

So here we are, waiting with rod in hand for the 2022 salmon run to come sidling through Augusta. The anticipation and hope is for this season to be much better than the last; where things went out with a fizzle rather than a bang. Most disappointing when you wait all year for a chance to sight cast into a thousand ravenous fish. The latest information to hand is that after leaving Esperance the salmon have started moving on their way towards Albany, just very slowly at this stage. Although they are in small numbers so far they are definitely beginning the

Salmon time has come around once again. Georgia Gillam with a lure caught Cosy Corner thumper.

Light gear and solid salmon means a whole lot of fun. trek around the coast and school numbers and sizes should increase quickly. It is expected that in the next month or so the schools should reach Augusta as they head towards the metro area waters. Unfortunately it was a very warm summer and autumn so far, keeping the water temperatures in close to shore above 20ºC. This has previously meant that schools stay out in the deeper, cooler water instead of coming in close to shore where shore based anglers can get a crack at them. Here is hoping for a sudden drop in temperature and big schools of bait. If you are shore bound try your luck at Hamelin Bay where most schools seem to come in very close as the beach shelves quickly meaning that often a school will be only several metres from shore and can be fished by even the youngest member of the salmon chasing fraternity. The beach can be accessed easily from the car parks at Hamelin Bay and you can find very comfortable accommodation at the caravan park only 100m from the beach. Any of the beaches 114

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from Colourpatch around to Skippy Rock are all two-wheel drive access and only a short walk from parking down to the water. The schools can generally be observed from the carpark and then the short trek down to the water made anticipating where the school is heading and casting bait or lures at the head of the schools. If you have a 4WD then there are many more options open with Boranup Beach accessed by Bobs Track, Deepdene from Cosy Corner Road and Conto’s from Caves Road. All of these beaches are salmon magnets and allow plenty of places to set up and wait for them to come to you or also allow you to patrol the beaches searching for them. Make sure to have lures or baits ready to go because once a school comes through the action can be frenetic leaving those that are unprepared standing there wishing they were more organised. Any lure from 30g up is worth a try and they have a penchant for mulies and herring tossed out in front of them. While waiting for

the salmon to turn up try honing your skills on the ever-present herring who’s numbers also increase as the season progresses. Not only

are they miniature versions of salmon they also breed during this time and migrate along the same path. Being a food source for salmon they are a good indicator that they are on the way. Numbers of herring on the beaches will suddenly increase and there will be a large amount of mature females ironically known as ‘bull’ herring aggressively competing for food to nourish their ever growing eggs that can number as much as 100,000. They will be released around Augusta in late May to create the schools for the future. Typically herring love anything they think they can swallow that moves much like salmon. Almost any lure will work but I have a preference for chrome bubbler style lures such as the Halco Streaker that has a red plastic flasher tab mimicking

Peter Nash with a decent bait-caught Flinders Bay dhufish captured on a trip with Leeuwin Marine Charters.

Mal Swarbrick with a beautiful example of a harlequin landed while working on Leeuwin Marine Charters. the red gill flash of fleeing prey. Any lure in the 10-30g range will work but if you swap out the treble hooks for a single inline hook you will be able to catch and release any unwanted fish without damaging their mouths. Should a salmon come along and take the lure you have a much better chance as they are known to wreck inferior treble hooks. For quick changing of lures try a Mustad Fastach clip, not only are they strong but the time you save will result in more fish when the pressure is on. Lure changing takes only a couple of seconds. During Easter the night fishing off the Ellis Street Jetty and Town Jetty is very active with plenty of tourists settling in for a few hours of bread and butter fishing. The bright lighting on Ellis Street Jetty provides for a safe night fishing spot for children to experience the difference to daytime fishing. Tailor and herring are a certain visitor to the jetty with the lights bringing them darting in to pick off any of the baitfish or insects attracted to the light. Recently there have been some legal sized flathead, flounder and black bream coming up with the regulars. Try small chrome lures straight off the jetty towards the channel for herring and tailor, prawns, glass shrimps and cockles for whiting and black bream and drop nets for crabs. Autumn weather out on the bay can be absolutely magic with light winds, low swells and flat calm days that are perfect for spending your time looking for new secret spots. With good polarised

sunglasses it is great fun to fish the shallow water reef that abounds in Flinders Bay where you can spot the predators hit a soft plastic jigged in front of them. The advantage of fishing these shallow waters in the 12-15m range are that barotrauma can be almost entirely avoided with any demersals that are undersized. Places like Bessies Reef and Little Bessies are perfect for this type of fishing and the size of some of the dhufish and pink snapper will amaze you. Just pay attention to the sounder because the reef can get really close to the surface in places and there is nothing worse than damaging your hull or sheering off a prop because you are too busy sticky-beaking at the fish on the bottom. Soft plastic jigging is the perfect way to chase everything living on the reef. Try bright colours like fluorescent orange or green in the 5” range. If you get the chance to head out deep and wide then make sure you are prepared, try to go with other boats and take plenty of fuel just in case the weather comes up which will cause you to chew through the fuel scary fast. Keep your eye on the weather reports and if there is a chance that it’s going to turn then err on the side of caution and head back. If you are not confident enough to give it a try then why not go on a charter trip? Leeuwin Marine Charters operate from the Augusta Boat Harbour and will take all the work out of getting onto the fish as well as providing the security of a well equipped To page 115

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New autumn targets and top techniques that’s been evident lately with some solid specimen taking unsuspecting fisho’s dhu baits. What a problem to have! With no surprise, shark catches have escalated lately with the salmon running up the coast coaxing the toothy critters along with them. Plenty of tigers and bronzies

BUNBURY

Whiteys Tackle and Camping

With a long hot summer behind us, the cooler weather will drop the water temperature and bring in a whole range of new fishing targets and techniques. Salmon will be schooled up thick and ready for action along the local beaches, including the Back Beach, The Cut and Buffalo. When the salmon school do come through Bunbury region they do seem to be in a hurry to head up to the breeding grounds, so be ready to move around and hunt your target on the day. Saying that, they do seem to school up in places like the The Cut and Spot

This Collie River mulloway couldn’t resist a soft plastic.

Scott Macleod with a soapie mulloway. X hanging around the rock walls and reefs. I’ve spent many mornings and afternoons chasing the salmon up and down jetties, rock walls and beaches around Bunbury just to feel that screaming From page 114

boat and experienced skipper and crew. They will get you catching without any of the hassle. Beach fishing is currently pretty good with lots of reports of sand whiting along the eastern and western beaches with excellent catches off the Dead Finish sand as well as Ringbolt where King George whiting have also made a good showing. The beach at Elephant Rock has provided some nice whiting and also some small bronze whaler sharks that are mooching around. The marina rock walls are currently alive with fish and spending a bit of time just looking from the advantage of height will show you what to set

catching and releasing some slabs, which is even better. It has been an exceptional year for the mulloway in the river with a massive amount showing up in force. The majority of the mulloway would be classified as soapies (in the 30-60cm range) but there is always the chance of a bigger

run on light gear that we don’t always have the opportunity to experience fishing land-based locally. If you’re fishing the jetties and rock walls, I’d suggest a well-balanced soft plastic around 6” in length. I find your sights on. Plenty of herring, squid and garfish are getting smashed by monster samsonfish so it’s a matter of matching the lure to the prey or catching a live bait or two to get your arms stretched. If you are more into bottom dwellers go up to the northern end of main rock-wall for the chance of a pink snapper or breaksea cod. Rock fishing at Elephant Rock has also been excellent with herring, tarwhine and the odd demersal and small bronzie coming in when berley has been used. Choose your spot wisely as some of the sections of rock in this area are steep and slippery. Don’t take risks! Choose a spot that allows you the chance to seek refuge from any king waves and don’t

those areas to have more sharp drop offs or ledges, which will benefit from having your lure get close to the bottom, something a diving lure can’t always accomplish. Whilst fishing the

beaches, I’ll take the heaviest metal slug or minnow profile hardbody lure that my rod will allow. Having that bit extra weight with a well matched line can be the difference of 20m on your neighbours cast and ultimately first punt at the school of bruisers. Both boaties and landbased fishers have been collecting some impressive numbers of herring both for their breakfast toast and as excellent bait for their bottom bashing. Half the fun of the trip is the bait collection beforehand. Boaties are experiencing some pretty hefty sized squid that are pillaging their drift baits around the 15m mark while baiting for hungry snapper. As well as some fat skippy and tailor showing up in the shallow waters. As always, plenty of dhufish to be had in Bunbury waters when you’re happy to put in the time and effort sounding up new grounds. King George whiting quite often haunt the same grounds as that of the dhuies and

A squid caught off the beach by David Moore. Balloons can help get your offering out further. taking the baits recently, particularly around Dalyellup beaches and further south, making for some exciting sports fishing. A slab of the Mandurah mullet we have delivered weekly have been enticing them well but can never go wrong with a fresh caught bait. Black bream catches this time of year start to ramp up. Local fanatics are fishing the higher ends of the Collie in chase of the 40s with a few being successful both in

Salmon off the rocks near the marina are a common sight during the Easter run.

unit jumping on that will give your gear a real good workout. Hands down the easiest way to get onto them is to use a 3” plastic, load on the scent and fish slow in any deeper areas. • The crew at Whiteys Tackle and Camping are always more than happy to share their knowledge of the Southwest and fishing techniques so don’t be shy, come on in and say hi, show off your catch and ask any questions you may have. let calm conditions fool you into thinking you are safe. Rogue waves are just that and can quickly result in being thrown into the water. People have died here after being washed off by king waves. • 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 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. APRIL 2022

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Metro catches continues to shine METRO

Jacob Crispe

It is looking like it will be a great Easter for Perth metro anglers. The fishing has been excellent and I see no reason for this to change.

in these areas and there is every chance you will get a few flathead. Tailor have been thick throughout the system. The fish are not huge (up to 40cm), but can be caught using most techniques, making them accessible to most anglers. My

system (E-Shed markets to Guilford). Most anglers are using live baits to target them however it is well worthwhile trying larger soft plastics or vibes. Keep them close to the bottom and retrieve them using small hops or a slow roll. You might be surprised

abundant at this time of the year. The area between the Canning Bridge and Heirisson Island is always a good place to start. ROCK WALLS AND BEACHES There will be lots of people taking advantage of the good fishing to be had from our local rock walls in April. Areas like the Sailing Club, South Mole and Cottesloe are popular locations. For many anglers it is about King George whiting. These great eating fish frequent the sand patches or broken ground that is within casting distance of the rock walls. Fresh baits are the key and as always, a little burley always helps. The other usual suspects will also be about. Tailor, skippy and squid are usually plentiful, with the

Sunny Close is all smiles with an absolute cracker of a dhufish he caught while out with his dad James Close. Trigg, Floreat Drain and Mullaloo. Mullaloo is also a great mulloway fishery, so it is well worth your

Anchoring on broken ground in 3-8m of water and fishing the sand patches are the best option when

Chris Webster with a big bull mahimahi caught out at the FADs with his brother Troy, what a day! SWAN RIVER The fishing in the Swan continues to be excellent with many species continuing to push to the extremities of the system. Bream in particular will follow the baitfish up the system in numbers making them a popular target for anglers. Structure and bream go hand-in-hand, so whether you are bait fishing or using lures, find some structure to cast near and there is every chance you will find a bream or two. It has been an exceptional flathead season and this is set to continue until we get some rain and

Levi De Boni with a solid yellowfin tuna caught trolling out wide in 400m of water. This was one of many caught by Levi and his mates. Jazz Charters knows how to have a good time when putting a group onto a school of yellow tailed kings. with your results. Easter is always a popular time for anglers targeting blue swimmer crabs. They are generally

tailor and squid improving in size as the year goes on. Tailor will also be on the minds of most beach anglers. It is the time of the year that the bigger tailor are about. Most beaches will fish well, but good places to start would be

while to send a fresh tailor fillet back into the surf, targeting one of these amazing fish. INSHORE Squid and King George whiting will be popular holiday fishing targets on our inshore grounds.

Troy Slaven away at the FADs bringing home the gold bull. the fish move from the flats into deeper water. Not a lot of rain is expected at this point so find a shallow flat with some undulation or structure (weed, etc), fish either shallow running hardbody lures or plastics 116

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preference is to use small metal lures or stickbaits. Tailor are great to catch and eat well if bled and eaten fresh. Like the bream, the Swan River mulloway have spread throughout the

Left to right: Rob, Matt and Marco from Anglers Fishing World with an epic triple hook up on big pinks out north of Rotto! If you don’t know where to find the fish, go have a chat with these guys.

targeting whiting. It is a must to have a squid jig on standby when fishing these areas as they inhabit similar areas to the whiting. The reefy areas from Fremantle to Two Rocks continue to hold lots of skippy (silver trevally) and tailor. The drop offs around these reefs can be quite deep (up to 8m) and the skippy and tailor use the structure to ambush the baitfish that hide there. Casting stickbaits around these areas can be So much fun. Snapper fishing is always good in April, many snapper anglers will focus on the low light periods, anchor in a likely looking areas and set up a burley trail. Fresh baits fished in the berley trail tend to then be eaten by the snapper as they work their way up the trail. Behind Rottnest Island is a great place to do this type of fishing. Snapper are not the To page 117

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Autumn fishing flourishes MANDURAH

Jesse Choy

April marks a great time to get out fishing, with the autumn weather offering a pleasant experience temperature wise and lots of different fish on offer as well. Whether you are hoping to experience fishing around offshore Mandurah, or perhaps around one of the dams, there is plenty available for every type of angler

around until you find where the crabs are abundant. A chunk of spleen, mullet or chicken neck bait is ideal and be sure to check your pots regularly. Fishing either the Dawesville or Mandurah channels into the estuary will yield results, with species produced dependent on what you are targeting. Anglers are reporting that there are good numbers of prawns around at the right time and also some good-sized squid

tailor still getting around at our northern most beaches despite the fact numbers appear to be thinning out. Using a simple 3-way rig, with a small star sinker, gang and pilchard is ideal for targeting these fish. Using bigger presentations like chunks, strips or fillet baits will produce, and who knows what you may catch at this time of the year. Plenty of school sharks are willing to sniff out fresh bait and for the lucky

systems. Bait is a great representation that fish are nearby opportunistically hunting, so be sure to try your luck around bait school as fish start to be less reserved with the cooling of temps. Fishing the low to mid stream sections of the systems is likely to yield some cracking black bream, with the odd mulloway also thrown in for some great rod bending action. If fishing in the rivers on bait, prawns are a great option and a small chunk of fresh mullet will work well too. The 40-60m zone remains a good place to be, if you are chasing a mix of dhufish, pink snapper or baldie offshore. Reports indicate that it is also worth drifting lightly weighted baits back in shallower water for good results. If targeting pelagic fish, there has been an abundance of big tuna schools and the odd metro mackerel still getting around. If chasing mackies, it is well worth trolling 2m divers like the

Good squid like the one pictured can be hard to come by in Mandurah, but they are around if you spend enough time looking for them.

Driving on to the beaches can be a great option, as you can fish directly from your boot. and whatever fish you may be looking to tick off. If you are going to head into the estuary, the flats are currently bountiful and full of life. Fishing sand patches with weed between, there are some good yellowfin whiting, the odd tailor and salmon trout too. Plenty of blue swimmers are making their way around, with those scooping and drop netting both reporting regular hauls. If it is viable, drop nets are most effective due to the fact you can move

patrolling the rock lines, particularly at night. If fishing around the bridges or rock points, there is some good whiting around, the odd skippy and plenty of herring for those who are after a bit of fun. A bit of squid, prawn or cubed pilchard lightly weighted on a small hook is ideal and will produce a great variety when fishing around these locations. If you feel like getting the sand between your toes, there are some great sized

fishermen there is also some chunky mulloway getting around in the gutters. If fishing some of our southern beaches, you are likely to still come across some good sized tailor, the odd pink snapper showing up on the cast or drone and also some gummy sharks if you are spending a bit more time down on the beach. There is plenty of bait in the rivers, with some big mullet and an abundance of small prawns littered throughout both

From page 116

only demersal species available, dhufish, Breaksea cod, red bite fish and baldchin groper are also available in 30-50m of water. Yellowtail kingfish will remain a popular target species in April. They have been around in big numbers (particularly off the West end of Rottnest). Trolling and using live baits will be your best options to target them. OFFSHORE Fishing around the FADS continues to be one of the main focuses of our offshore anglers. The main target species have been Spanish mackerel and mahi mahi

Paul Coehlo has been getting into some absolute cracker Swan River tailor on surface lures.

Bream are quite a good looking fish, the further you look into their patterns and colours! ever-productive red head or chrome pink around and following a good reef line with contour close by. If with the odd wahoo also being caught. The mahi mahi numbers seem to be endless and the size of the fish are getting bigger. Using live baits or stickbaits has been the most successful way of targeting them. They are great fun to catch and eat well as well. Deep dropping is always an option as long as the weather allows. 150-500m is the zone you are looking for. Any structure on the bottom will more than likely hold fish. The best part is that any fish caught from these depths, generally is great eating. While you are searching for likely looking areas, it is well worth trolling a lure behind

targeting tuna, anglers are reporting that jellybean skirts are producing well, so too are smaller

presentations like 4” plastics and 30-40g metal slices rapidly retrieved back to the boat.

Freo legend Anthony with excellent pink snapper, sent in by the boys at Anglers Fishing World. the boat, as there are plenty of tuna about, which will willingly take a lure. I would like to wish everybody a happy Easter

and I hope you have the opportunity to wet a line. Don’t indulge in too many Easter eggs and I will catch you next month. APRIL 2022

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Great Lancelin fishing all round LANCELIN

Peter Fullarton

Fishing around Lancelin goes off this time of year! Great timing for school holidays and the Easter break. No matter where or how you fish with kids,

try using a big bait and up the hook size to a 10/0 circle hook. Queen snapper have been notable in a lot more bags than usual. Dinghies and kayaks have been getting some good catches too. The lumps in 10-15m

have been caught within a few hundred metres of the shelter from Lancelin Bay. Trolling hardbody lures is effective and covers good amounts of ground to find the fish, usually at 6-8 knots. Two areas that produce better numbers of fish are behind the first

way to get the bait out well offshore. BAY FISHING The bay’s been teeming in herring and size has been sensational with fish over 30cm and 400g. With the fish the size they are, it’s great sport catching them on suitable matched gear. They respond well to a range of lures both trolled or cast, avoiding the blowfish that are about the bay. Lately, I have been casting small surface poppers like the Ecogear PX55 for them on 2kg gear from the kayak. Great fun having them launching out the water like mini barramundi on the strike! There are some good size blue spot flathead and King George whiting around the sand holes, and skippy and tarwhine move into the bay this time of year. Casting the

Small bronze whalers and spinner sharks have been around in good numbers along the surf beaches.

Dave’s catch off the drone, a few good feeds for the family! big boats, small boats, kayaks or those who like to keep the sand between their toes, there is plenty of options to get out there and amongst them.

have some good breaksea cod and dhufish. Setting up a berley trail around some of the reef to sand edges 8-10m behind the first line of reef can quickly attract

line of reef, where it drops from 8-10m, or behind the white bank in 15-20m. If you find any good baitfish schools, there will almost certainly be some mackerel not far away. Either troll lures around the schools or my preference would be to catch a few to use as live baits and dead slow troll them around the perimeters of the bait school. Mackerel feed very close to shore at times, with a handful caught from cast baits each year. Easterly winds will give the opportunity to put some baits further out aided by balloon. Drones are another

Steven Toothill fishes most of the Lancelin Angling Club comps and seems to always find a good size dhufish. ZX Ecogear vibes on the light gear is another way of dodging the blowfish while having some serious fun.

Samson fish have been roaming the bay harassing the schools of herring down in the southern shallows, or

Samson fish are a by-catch of the drone that can be an effort to drag in from 300m out! DEMERSALS Fishers heading out wide dropping in 35-80m have been getting onto some great dhufish in the 8-15kg range. Drifting the depths out from the mid to high 20s, there is no shortage of baldchin groper, although there are small females mixed with the big blue males. To separate the larger fish from the small ones 118

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good pink snapper. PELAGICS April is absolute prime time for the more tropical species that come down on the Leeuwin current each year. Out wide there is the chance of wahoo, large tuna or billfish. Closer to shore there is more likely to be mackerel or smaller tuna. You really don’t have to go far to be in with a chance, some of my best mackerel

Sam Kenyon with a cracker pinky off the drone drop.

at times raiding the baitfish around the jetty. BEACHES There is so much changing along the beaches this time of year. Herring have been great for months, a huge size and plenty of them, but the official start to the season is Anzac Day. Herring will always be attracted to a good berley trail. A session might start slow, if the berley is done well the fish should continue to improve. Dart have been around in very good numbers this season too. North of town is where most are caught, with some larger specimens in the gutters along the bombing range. Tailor will be spawning this time of year. We get the fish spawning twice per year usually late November/December and April. Once these fish spawn, the tailor fishing slows right down along this stretch of the coast as the water begins to cool. Now To page 119

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Change to consistent catches GERALDTON

Graham Maunder & Michael Triantopoulos

Fishing seasons usually have a reasonably steady progression from one to another, but sometimes the fish don’t know this! When the fishing has been so consistent it’s a bit of a shock when the quality fish you have been catching seem to have disappeared. There are still plenty of

tailor around, but the size and condition has dropped off a lot. Consistent reports of quality mulloway are few and far between but whiting and dart anglers are catching and releasing lots of juvenile mulloway under 30cm in length so maybe future years will be good. Herring are in reasonable numbers with the majority over 20cm and some over 30cm. In general beach fishing

has not been easy due to weed movement, but if you can get onto the reefs at Flat Rocks, Southgate, Drummonds, Cove and north to Autumn Bay or fish Separation Point then there are still enough tailor about to make an early morning or evening fishing session worthwhile. Most of the many species of sharks we catch along the Mid-West Coast tend to be of good eating size (70-150cm) or too big to

There have been plague quantities of these baby whaler sharks around all Mid-West beaches.

handle on normal surf tackle, but over the last few weeks there have been widespread reports of large numbers of juvenile whaler sharks (25-40cm) showing up after sunset taking almost every bait thrown out for tailor or other surf targeted species. BOAT The pelagic activity has seemed to quieten off a lot, with reports off Spanish mackerel very patchy. Yellowfin tuna to 20kg have been around in reasonable numbers to the south of town along with schools of striped tuna and Watsons leaping bonito. Larger yellowfin tuna have been seen working bait schools inside the reef at Coronation Beach. Good numbers of pink snapper from inside Pensioners Bank out to 25m NW of town along with some better sized fish around South West Bank along with WA dhufish, coral trout, bald chin grouper, spangled emperor and red throat emperor. WA dhufish south of town from Southgate to African Reef have been in reasonable numbers, along with some good pink snapper. Samson fish and yellowtail kingfish have stretched a few anglers arms, which is a very welcomed by-catch to some.

There are good numbers of Western Rock lobsters about. The inshore fishery has been fishing well, reports of consistent squid with hood lengths to 30cm from St Georges to Point Moore drifting along the sea grass beds. • Geraldton Sports Centre is the Mid Wests specialist

Fishing tackle store. Drop in and see the friendly professional staff for local advise and knowledge and browse the extensive range of Fishing equipment on show at 204-208 Marine Terrace Geraldton WA, Phone: 08 99213664.

Warm water mack attack KALBARRI

Stephen Wiseman

The warm water is still flowing from the north with plenty of macks and the occasional wahoo to be found in the abundant baitfish balls. Fish can be found from north of the sand patch all the way down to Bluff Point and out in From page 118

is the time to try. They are very active feeding and respond great to lures. However, I do find feeding times can be unusual this month. Often, they can be going crazy during the middle of the day yet be completely shut down by sunset. Mid-morning or mid-afternoon often the best time to be chasing them. Big mulloway come out to play in the surf this time of year. Very big fish to 30kg will be widespread along the beaches. Fresh bait and fishing around the new and full moon will greatly increase the chances of seeing one of these majestic fish hit the sand. You can catch them at pretty much any time of the day, although evening and mornings are best.

front of Wagoe. Some very nice yellowfin tuna have made a good showing in the same areas and the odd XOS YFT have been lost after a shortish one way fight, my estimate of the barrel I lost was over 35kg which ended with retrieving my lure minus the middle treble but still with a squiggly piece of wire that was the split ring, big fish.

On that same trip I was excited by the sight of a bill smashing a small tune that was being brought to the boat, a small black marlin showed his head then swam off as his mid morning breaky was dragged away from him, bugger! The occasional tailor are still on offer at Red Bluff and Shark Fin Rock with the odd fish being taken at Chinamans and

Oyster reefs. After foaming the water with poppers for half an hour, change to bait, the best bait is mulie. In the river both bream and whiting have been hard to find but the odd fish have been taken up around the pens. No reports of mulloway over the last few weeks but if we get a bit of water down the Murchison then a run will follow and the

Yet it gets better! It’s also a great time to be chasing land-based pinkies, a handful of carefully

guarded spots around Ledge Point, Lancelin and Wedge Island will find fish in casting range at

dawn. When a swell has been through, there’s a lot more chance of picking them up as they are more widespread long the coast. Drone fishing for pinkies has been getting more popular by the minute! When the forecast is good, drone fishers far outnumber those casting these days. It’s been a great run-on pinkies with nearly everyone I am talking to getting some good fish a session. Getting a few hundred metres out, finds them feeding best early morning in 4-6m. Location is not that important this time of year. Samson fish roam the nearshore reefs this time of year as well, so make sure the drop leaves enough line on the reel to battle one of these beasts.

Lovely colours in the predawn light on Chris’ pinky.

The author with a tasty Spaniard. river mouth will be the hot spot for all fishing. Hot spots offshore for the boats would be in the area of the 3 Mile Patch West of the river mouth, other hot areas are to the north around the sand patch in 20m+ and further north to

Bald Face out in 30m+. Check all your gear before you go out in the boat as DoT are checking flares and EPIRBS along with all your gear, jackets and anchors. Safe and happy fishing. APRIL 2022

119

North Coast

April crabs are coming DAMPIER/KARRATHA

Troy Honey

The Karratha wet season came to a halt after the good rains we saw in February, so the river

seen some good rains inland in the Pilbara, which has helped bring the landscape into colour, but all along the coast is very dry. However, there’s still a chance of a late cyclone or tropical low, so fingers crossed we finish

further north around Cossack and Point Samson, as well as further north at Balla Balla, have been much more productive this season than the Karratha creeks, both in fish size and quantity. The build-up to

Ricky Mclean with a night-time barra caught in the Karratha region. days we have had. On the larger spring tides that stir the white water up, large poppers cast and retrieved at speed over

20kg mark. Amongst the GTs there has been plenty of queenfish getting in on the action, as well as a few solid coral trout that

this will taper off towards the end of the month and then the demersal fishing will gain traction amongst the locals and tourists.

Ricky Mclean displays the tackle he uses to entice and land Karratha barra. and creek systems haven’t seen the kind of flow they received in previous years. The barra season as such has been relatively slow, although with the lack of cyclones and strong flows there has been a wider spread of fishing days, because the fishing hasn’t been shut down by storms.

the season off with some heavy falls. Water temperature near shore and in the creeks averaged 32.5°C from mid-February to mid-March, which has been ideal for barra fishing. A handful of locals have been very successful despite the struggle of the wider spread

the spring tides, especially on the new moon, have fished extremely well. Fishing these systems can be challenging on spring tides, due to the times the boat can be launched and retrieved as well as moving about in the creeks on the low. However, by putting in the hours and timing the tides right, the success rate is substantially higher. On the pelagic front, March has been massive in the Dampier Archipelago and the Montebello Islands, with multiple great catches of large GTs, Spanish mackerel and longtail tuna. All the common areas are fishing well, especially over the shoals where trolled lures have been deadly for the Spanish mackerel on the many calm and clearwater

Ricky boated quite a few barra in the 600-800mm range during a weekend out in March. the water wash has proved to be the most successful for hooking up on the GTs. Many have been over 15kg, with a few exceeding the

couldn’t resist the lures. As we head into April, we will see barra and the pelagics still being caught in the warmer conditions, but

The huge spring tides in March brought out the mud crabs. The author found quite a few in the Mardie creeks south of Karratha. The forecast for the 2021/2022 season was for a greater number and severity of cyclones due to La Niña, but that forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology has not eventuated. We have 120

APRIL 2022

of anglers who have fished Karratha and surrounds. Nickol and Airport creeks have been fair at best, with most barra landed in the 500-700mm range. The creek systems

Night-time is ideal when chasing barra in the Karratha region. Coryn Bradley knows the secret spots the barra can be found at night, and regularly lands solid specimens.

Demersals are still being caught, and quite a few red emperor and saddletail seaperch have been landed from waters 40m or more in depth, with the new moon spring tides being the most productive time. Brightly coloured jigs and vibes are working well on the reds, and have the added benefit of not being as attractive to sharks. Closer to shore in depths from 15-30m, the blueline emperors have been firing. Amongst them the chinamanfish have started turning up, as they always do in March each year. Coral trout are being caught in all depths, from 5m through to 50m, and there seems to be no stopping their relentless attacks on baits, jigs and lures. This is a great problem to have, except when being caught in deeper waters, where they are retrieved quickly to minimise shark losses To page 121

North Coast

Changes in autumn EXMOUTH

Barry Taylor

This month’s report has been supplied by Paul Bourne The fishing has been steady as the autumn transition period sets in. The blue marlin are starting to slow down, while the inshore blacks and sailfish are starting to pick up. You can catch them in around 30-40m of water in behind the reef only half a kilometre out. If you haven’t tried this style of fishing

before, I recommend that you troll a spread of lures such as Richter Soft Grassies or Bonze Rambos. The sportfishing has been reliable too, with the usual catches of giant trevally and spangled emperor. The spangos have been biting particularly well in response to the turtle hatchings. The most productive lures for them lately have been Nomad Mad Scads and Strada Tempest 110s. Or you can just bait fish for them with a dropper rig baited with fish

strips or mulies. The mackerel have been around too, taking trolled divers such as Strada Tracka 160s. We are still seeing plenty of whiting and mullet along the beaches. There have also been quite a few mangrove jacks taken in the marina over the past month or so. The jacks will start to wind down in the marina as the water cools, but you’ll still get bream. The bream can be caught on peeled prawn baits along the rock walls, and you

Cooper Watson with a beautifully marked trout. Image courtesy of @indepthangler_josh. can increase your chances by throwing in a few berley pellets first, and/or the shells of your peeled prawns. When it comes to bottom fishing, there have been good gold-band snapper taken around the 100m mark, plus the usual island fishing for rankin cod, trout and so forth. APRIL FISHING At the time of writing, GameX hasn’t finished yet, but we’ll be able to report on the results in the next

issue. Looking ahead, the Australian Junior Billfish Tournament will be running from 22-24 April, during the school holidays. It’s always great to see kids out there having a go at game fishing. As we start to move into the cooler month, the Spanish mackerel will get thicker. They are a popular target for out-of-town visitors during the school holidays, along with bottom fish. • For all the latest news on

what’s biting and where, drop into Tackle World Exmouth at 3 Maley St, Exmouth or give them a call 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.

PRODUCT NEWS Josh Cheong with a quality jack from the marina. Image courtesy of @cooperrwatsonn. From page 120

and suffer barotrauma. Bluebone catches have been widely reported near shore throughout the Karratha region, with the majority coming from the Burrup Peninsula area. All these species – blueline emperor, chinaman, coral trout and bluebone – can be expected to be caught throughout April in the same areas nearshore and further out, with other species such as Spanish flag, darktail snapper, spangled emperor, goldspotted and black-spotted cod as well. I always get really excited as April approaches because this is the start of our blue swimmer crab season in Karratha. These delicacies have been caught during March, but the average size has been smaller (although still legal). Once the water temperature drops in Nickol Bay and around Cleaverville and Cossack is when they really move in, and the pesky small sharks tend to move out into deeper water and generally leave the drop nets alone. I’m looking forward to bringing you many photos of local crab catches in the next issue.

Plenty of flathead are being caught in the Karratha creeks. Trolling diving lures off the shallow banks at slow speed is the easiest way to entice and strike.

New Daiwa spin reels Two of Daiwa’s latest spin reels for 2022 are the TD Black MQ and the Certate SW 5000/6000. TD Black MQ Combining Daiwa’s advanced Zaion V material with Monocoque body (MQ) design results in a TD Black reel that is lighter, stronger, and more precision designed than ever before. Daiwa’s biggest evolution in spin reel design, MQ allows for the use of larger gears for enhanced power, precision and longevity, with its single piece construction increasing body strength and rigidity and eliminating unwanted water and grime ingress into the reel. The TD Black MQ’s list of designs and features doesn’t end there with LT Concept combining with Tough Digigear for optimum reel power and refinement, while Zaion Air Rotor allows for flawless rotational balance and minimal start up inertia. A Magsealed body provides unmatched protection from the elements, and ATD Drag delivers ultra-smooth stopping power and control. LT’s Long Cast ABS spool, Machine Cut Screw-In Handle, Airbail,

and CRBB bearings complete the TD Black MQ’s extensive list of design features and technologies, and combine to make this one of the standout reels for 2022. Certate SW 5000/6000 The rockstar of the saltwater spin reel world, the Certate SW range welcomes two new smaller models with the release of the 5000 and 6000 Certate SW. Tailor-made for the angler who wants the power and precision of 20 Saltiga but in a smaller package, the 5000 and 6000 Certate SW have all the designs and features of their big brothers, with a Monocoque body headlining the list of features. A large G1 Duralumin drive gear, Zaion Air Rotor,

Magseal line roller and body, ATD Drag, Infinite Anti-Reverse, Air Bail, and Eva Power Knob help complete the reel’s extensive list of features, and combine to make the new smaller Certate SW models the ultimate pocket rocket powerhouse. Whether it’s muscling kings from cover, terrorising the local snapper and fingermark population, or jigging and spinning for tuna and macs, the new smaller sized Certate SWs are the reel to get the job done. For more information on these and other new releases from Daiwa, visit www.daiwafishing. com.au. - FMG APRIL 2022

121

Cooler water on the way FRESHWATER

Peter Fragomeni

April can be an exciting time to go trout fishing, especially in the latter part of the month. With the cooler days comes cooler water, which results in trout moving into shallower water

into each water starting from autumn, with the completion of stocking by late spring. Present at the meeting were three staff members from Fisheries WA, comprised of Biosecurity, Translocation and Senior management from Pemberton Hatchery. Others present were three staff from Recfishwest,

Topics for discussion were generally around stocking, but other business on the agenda included Environmental flows out of Bigbrook Dam, new stocking location near Pemberton, AFT projects, continued use of electric-powered vessels at Wellington Dam should the removal of skiing be imposed. We also discussed a catch-and-release policy for brown trout, with a possible slot limit. Unfortunately, the latter was rejected, with myself being the only one in favour. It was the view that there should be no restrictions on brown trout as they are stocked and should be available to all anglers who purchase a licence. It was interesting to hear Fisheries concern

Wet wading is possible in autumn before the cold weather sets in. This rainbow was caught sight fly fishing the shallow area of one of our dams. recorded only minimal losses during our hotter than usual summer, and although yearling rainbow numbers are down 8,000 to 32,000, the brown trout

rainbow broodstock and 600 browns will be available for stocking in autumn, as they won’t be required as breeders and are now being held as a sportfish to boost

A number of tagged trout were released into Harvey Dam last year. If you happen to catch one, please take a photo on a brag mat or ruler and text the details to the number on the tag.

Ben Kelly from South West Kayak Anglers holding one of the trophy browns being stocked by Fisheries WA. There should be around 350 large rainbow and browns up to 4kg going into a few locations this year. closer to the bank, or taking up station in any available flowing water in our streams and rivers. A few reports have come through by those few keen anglers who have explored the local dams and southwest rivers. Some people are reporting there are good numbers showing up in our streams and rivers in the Pemberton area. This could indicate that a good proportion of trout have survived our very hot summer. Redfin have also showed up in varying numbers and sizes, with few nice specimens being landed in some of our dams and rivers throughout the south of the state. The Recfishwest FFRG (Freshwater Fisheries Reference Group) met via a zoom conference in March. This group was set up to advise WA Fisheries on preferred stocking locations, and also to recommend numbers to go 122

APRIL 2022

a representative from Australian Tr o u t Foundation WA, WA Trout & Freshwater Angling Association and a number of keen freshwater anglers including myself.

that it could attract unwanted attention from animal welfare groups, as catch and release is already on their radar, and any new laws along those lines could fuel their debate. In my view, this could question the minimum size limits on all species, not just trout, as we are already required to release undersized fish. It’s good to report that the Pemberton Hatchery

locations easier, eliminating the boom and bust situation of previous years. Upgrading the hatchery with oxygen meters, dead trout egg sorting trays, and a better automated feeding system should improve conditions in the future. I must add that the current management and all the staff are doing a great job down at the Hatchery, considering we are in a challenging environment with summer temperatures exceeding any other place in the world where trout are bred solely for angling. AUSSIE NATIVES The latest climate projection released recently shows a warming trend, which would put more strain on our marginal trout waters in this state.

yearlings are well up to around 12,000. It’s also good to see the fingerling numbers will be drastically reduced to only 150,000 from 350,000 last year and 750,000 the previous year. Stocking will take place only in streams that are void of redfin and retain reasonable flows over the summer period. The other good news is that some of the 3,000

Redfin perch are by far the most common species in South West WA. Since the early 1980s their numbers have exploded.

The Pemberton Hatchery are focusing on better quality larger fish over large quantities. Apart from the usual stockings of yearlings and brood size trout, there will be around 350 trophy fish up to 4kg available this year.

the angling earlier in the season. I’ve been pushing for this for years, and hopefully it will continue in years to come. A new purpose-built transporter will make stocking at different

Our Fisheries Department has so far refused to allow the introduction of a better suited species, as has been done on the East Coast. With redfin in most of our dams, the damage has already been done

(and they are spreading rapidly), so the Fisheries Department’s arguments of environmental impact have no merit in these waters. I keep bringing this up, because it’s what many anglers want, but I lack any real backing around the table where it matters. I have warned them that if we don’t act now, we could lose a number of freshwater anglers who want to fish

attention and is handy for those from Perth and Peel regions. All agreed, and for the first time this water will get 400 large rainbows (up from 200 last year), 75 large browns, around 800 larger yearling rainbows and 500 brown yearlings this year. Logue Brook Dam Some nice little rainbows have come out of this water, but a lot of effort

PREDICTED DAM LEVELS FOR SW WA Overall storage in our dams that allow public access and recreational activities are currently 62.9% as of the end of March 2022 compared to 34.9% at the same time last year. The cooler weather we experienced in March slowed the demand for irrigation water, so our dams are looking better than at this time last year, which is a good thing for any early trout stocking. WAROONA DAM DRAKESBROOK WEIR LOGUE BROOK DAM HARVEY DAM WELLINGTON DAM GLEN MERVYN DAM BIG BROOK DAM for species other than trout and redfin. The few lucky anglers fortunate to have access to these native species are reporting that the hot summer has had no

51% 82% 71% 61% 70% 58% 78% is required for success. No ex-broods will be stocked this year as it’s a semi-wild fishery, and seems to do well with yearling stocking and spring fry with the

A nice little early season rainbow caught fly fishing in one of our irrigation dams. ill effect on their fishing, and have actually recorded better than normal numbers. DAMS Waroona Dam Most of the reports coming in are from anglers catching redfin, with trout absent in most situations. Concerns were raised of the potential of this dam as a trout water, and reduced stocking was proposed. I challenge this, and others agreed that the redfin have reduced the available food source so trout find it hard, but being close to the metro area it provides a useful winter/spring fishery of stocked trout. Around 400 large rainbows and 75 large browns along with 1000 large yearlings will go in this year. Drakesbrook Weir Redfin numbers have increased of late but the really big models seem to be scattered. A few trout have shown up, but size and condition is a concern. I pushed for a bigger stocking this year because this little dam gets a lot of

absence of redfin. Around 800 yearling rainbows, 500 brown yearlings and 20000 rainbow fry will go in this year. Harvey Dam One of our most popular freshwater fishing locations, Harvey Dam has not been living up to its usual reputation as a reliable redfin water. The trout fishing has been slow

Not many people realise that Murray cod exist in a few locations in WA. They are highly regarded by those who target them. as well, although trout anglers normally wait for cooler weather like we experience at this time of the year before giving this water a good crack. Hopefully, around 900 large rainbows in the 40-50cm size range will get this water fired up, and another 120 large browns will also help boost the fishing. Around 5000 yearling rainbows and 1000 brown yearlings will also be stocked throughout the season. Glen Mervyn Dam Not a lot of reports come from this water, however it will receive 200 rainbow yearlings this year. Wellington Dam By far our biggest dam with public access, Wellington, was formed by flooding 22km of the Collie River. This resulted in a catchment of 188 gigalitres, covering 186 hectares when full. It’s a hard water to crack because the redfin are normally in scattered groups, but if you are lucky enough to find them you will be in for a good time. Last year Wellington received 10,000 rainbow yearlings, and a further 5000 will go in this year.

A good lure retriever is essential, especially if you are fishing in heavy timber.

each year. It also will receive 150 large rainbows and 75 large browns up from 30 browns last year. All the above dams will receive an earlier than usual stocking of large trout as the numbers are no longer required for fry stocking like the previous years. This will be made possible because the translocation and health certification will be submitted a lot earlier than previous years. Again, this is because of the great work achieved by the Pemberton Hatchery management team. RIVERS A full stocking list will be in the next edition. Northern rivers and streams Murray River This water should pick up with some rain later in the month when trout become more active. Redfin

Warren River The upper section around Rooneys Bridge is turning up some impressive redfin from the deep pools by those using big soft plastics cast to the big laydowns that stretch out well into the river. The middle section is starting to fish better at the stream mouths with fly and small lures. A couple of WATFAA boys explored the bottom section around the Colonel’s but found the fishing tough. Lefroy Brook This is a nice time to fish this little brook that meanders through the town of Pemberton. The fish can be easily spooked by a careless approach so crouch low and use any available cover. They can be found right through the system, both above and below the Hatchery. It was alarming

Brian Norton with a nice brown trout he caught from his kayak. It’s good to see that 2000 brown yearlings will go in; this is the first time since 2003 that this dam has had a brown trout stocking. It was proposed that 900 of the 2850 ex broods rainbows get stocked as well. I challenged this because the dam is so big they would most likely get lost in the dozens of bays and legs that are hard to access. It was agreed to reduce the number to 500 rainbows and 100 large browns to attract more anglers to the water. Norilup Dam Only a very small dam near Greenbushes, this dam doesn’t get much attention. Although redfin are present it gets 200 rainbow yearlings and can at times fish well. Big Brook Dam A couple of colleagues fish this water and were surprised by the number of fish sighted, which confirms what the crew from Southern Forrest Freshwater Angling Club have reported previously. Big Brook is only half the size of Drakesbrook Weir but it gets around 1500 rainbow yearlings and 1000 brown yearlings stocked

are being caught throughout the whole system but size is a bit on the small side. Nanga Brook is holding small rainbows. Brunswick River Worth a look above the highway as it gets a stocking these days. Collie River below Wellington Dam Some reports of trout turning up in the extreme downstream section below Honeymoon Pool but the going is tough. Collie River above Wellington Dam No reports but redfin are always willing to take lures and soft plastics casts around any available structure. Preston River Not many people realise that trout were stocked last year so give it a go – you may be surprised. Capel River Redfin are still being caught around the winery. It’s best to have a kayak to explore the area. Blackwood River This is the month to explore the section from Bridgetown to Nannup. Some good-size trout are available but don’t expect great numbers.

to hear that Watercorp has requested that the hatchery cease stocking any trout above the town weir, but this was strongly opposed by the FFRG as they tried this before and were overturned. Hundreds of cattle graze the foreshore so water contamination has no merit in this area. Donnelly River Very low in the top section so I would concentrate low down below Vasse highway. Boat landing can be a productive area, but a boat or kayak is the best way to explore this section. Casting into the stream mouths and trolling lures between spots was a favourite of mine in past years. As you can see, there are many different locations to chase trout and redfin in our southwest, but don’t expect big numbers. The risk of fire is lower but check as some shires have restrictions and certain times of the day you can light a fire. Limit your catch, don’t catch your limit and remember brown trout in WA are rarer than other states so please consider releasing them for others to enjoy. APRIL 2022

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Fishing Monthly Magazine | April 2022

Articles inside

Freshwater

Lancelin

Exmouth

Mandurah

Karratha

Metro

Augusta

Bunbury

Eildon

Tournaments

Fun page/Sub

Shepparton

Ballarat

Hobart

Phillip Island

Albury/Wodonga

Geelong

Canberra

Offshore

Lithgow/Oberon

Batlow

Batemans Bay

Central Coast

Forster

Sydney South

NEW SOUTH WALES Pittwater

Sydney Rock

Sydney North

Testing Booth: Tokuryo Line Lab

Cape York

Sustainability of morwong stocks

Freshwater

Cooktown

Hinchinbrook

Townsville

Gold Coast

Northern Bay

Noosa

Easter holiday fishing

Southern Bay

QUEENSLAND The Tweed

Jumpinpin

Starlo’s back to basics