Sydney
NSW
A transition period for all the Sydney waterways SYD ROCK & BEACH
Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au
You have noticed the days getting shorter and milder. You have to love this time of the year. Some people say it wasn’t a hot summer and early autumn, but it was stifling on some days, especially with the Sydney humidity. We are heading towards what I call the ‘transition period’, when the first of the winter species start mixing in with other species for the next month or two. You will note, especially towards the end of this month, the ocean water temperature will be dropping a degree or two. That not a bad thing, as it has been really warm. It should hover around 20-21°C this month. Now let’s check out what has been biting lately, and my predictions for April.
BEACH FISHING For the last several months it has been a sporadic whiting season. Some beaches would produce great size fish and numbers for a while, and then the complete opposite would happen. Fishing the right time of the day is really important, with the best option being low light periods. I can hear some of you say, “I’ve done really well in the middle of the day”, and I don’t doubt it, but the truth is you’re more likely to get consistent results during lower light periods, either AM or PM. The ideal scenario is to fish a high tide a couple of
hours after sun up or around sunset, but that’s often not practical for the weekend angler, and there are a lot of weekends when the tides are not right. When the tides are low, choosing the right gutters will give you a better result (preferably at dawn and dusk). Look for gutters that do not ‘white out’, which means that during the low tide the gutters still have a reasonable depth. It’s a good option if you are unable to fish the right tides at the right time of the day. You can encounter whiting, bream, tailor and salmon in these low tide gutters. My clients have been catching some great whiting
Michael Assaf was rapt with his first beach mulloway, caught on the last cast of the outing! This fish was around 12kg, and was caught on a live yellowtail bait. We can expect some mulloway action this month.
Power for your GOPRO or VIRB from your navigation light socket
$250 + P&H
yes, they are! April is a cracker time of the year for beach jewfish (mulloway) and dusky whaler sharks. You can have your more regular 2-hook snelled
offs from the sharks, reducing the loss of terminal tackle. There are nights on Sydney beaches where you can hook half a dozen or more sharks. If you’re trying to avoid these
AVAILABLE FROM:
www.tournamentboats.com.au
GOPRO not included
Peter Morris with a stud whiting caught on a beach worm bait. On this outing he had to move around to find the fish. Whiting numbers will increase this month as they prepare to migrate.
to 44cm, with the average size being between 30-35cm. Pink nippers are a great bait. I use them off the ocean rocks, in the estuaries and off the beaches, and they work well everywhere. Of course, beach worms are the number one bait off the beach, but if you suck at catching them, nippers are the next best thing. Bream are a common bycatch, along with dart. Lately some of the dart have been up to 36cm. You may think that’s not huge for a dart, but it’s pretty good for Sydney beaches. If you’re wondering whether they’re good on the plate, I can assure you that
56 APRIL 2023
Greg Powell with his largest beach worm to date. Catching one this size is next level.
Alan Aylward hooked this big salmon on a ganged whole pilchard off the beach. This fish tail walked a couple of times, putting on a real spectacle. Salmon and tailor will be more plentiful this month.
rig with 6/0 to 8/0 hooks, or you can use 50-70lb plasticcoated wire crimped with your hook on the bottom and a sliding hook to reduce bite-
very aggressive creatures, you can move to a different gutter, or just put up with them until you hook another species. People often ask me
