Coffs is right in the middle of the mackerel run

Coffs Coast

Rob Taylor

What a month March turned out to be, with warm currents licking the coastline and bringing with them a whole host of pelagic species. Spanish and spotted mackerel were the main targets, with big numbers of both fish falling to trolled live baits and lures, stickbaits and dead baits.

Slimies have at times been hard to come by, and this has sometimes meant the difference between scoring a full bag or just ones and twos. Regardless, it’s been a great season on the mackerel so far.

The creeks and rivers have also been fishing well, as is typical for the end of summer. Bass are biting well on hot days, and there are flathead, jacks and GTs in the salt for both lure and bait fishos. Some big jacks, 60cm plus, have been taken at their regular haunts during the night, and now is the time to chase a couple before the water starts to cool.

The land-based game scene has been patchy at the time of writing, but there have been some notable captures, such as Brad Bye’s big Spanish off the north wall on 20lb leader and no wire while he was spinning for bonito. Not to be outdone, Joel McCabe also scored a big Spaniard while spinning for mulloway on a homemade lure!

CREEKS AND RIVERS

We should continue to see more of the same for the month of April in our local creeks and rivers. Jack numbers will start to thin out by the end of the month, but they are still very much a fish worth chasing throughout April.

There will also be plenty of whiting and flathead up on the flats, and the bass will be starting to stir for their downstream spawn run, so locating them in a given system will be a fun challenge. Find them and you will still have an epic session before things get too cold.

ROCKS AND BEACHES

There have been good numbers of garfish off the harbour walls, and they will remain in these areas while the water remains warm. Fishing with pencil floats and small hooks is a fantastic way to secure a delicious feed of these little fish, and the other good thing about them is that kids love chasing them.

We’ll start to see an