Inshore anglers get into action

Jamie Robley are in for more action.

As we gradually edge closer to the cooler months, our local fishing has been anything but cool. In fact, the ocean currents this year have been warmer than we’ve had here for a number of years. With more warm, sunny weather than the previous couple of summers, our estuary water temperature has also been on the warm side. This all translates to better fishing!

Historically, April is an excellent month for both kingfish and mulloway. Mullet, tailor, garfish and calamari are normally building in numbers and sizes at this time of year, and that in turn attracts the larger predators.

Most of our local kingfish are only rats from around 50-65cm. These are fun to catch on light tackle, but now it’s time to bring out the heavier gear. Put out a live bait around prominent inshore reef or from a major rock ledge like South

Swansea Channel.

Younger or more energetic anglers who have strong tackle for the job may also get some action by casting and jigging oversized soft plastics or poppers. Kings normally respond best to lures that are worked very fast and erratically.

On the beaches, mulloway are more likely than kings, but over the years there have been a few larger kings and even cobia caught in places like Hargraves Beach at Norah Head. This isn’t surprising when you factor in the adjacent reef, a bait at the beach over the next few weeks. Whaler and hammerhead sharks aren’t off the list just yet either. With the warm water and heaps of good shark food like tailor and mullet around, there’s no good reason for sharks to disappear just yet.

Rock hoppers who simply want to score a feed of fresh fish should do quite well this month. On top of the aforementioned bream and tailor, this is also a great time of year for luderick. I would recommend trying small white bread baits pinched over a size 4 to 6 hook to score both bream and luderick, or your standard green cabbage baits pinned to a size 6 or 8 hook if you’re not interested in bream. Rather than fishing only the deep water ledges, I would recommend trying your luck at the shallower rocky outcrops adjacent to beaches this month. Having said that, April is a time when almost all traditional rock and beach fishing species have been known to show up anywhere – from just beyond a beach shore dump, to the deeper ledges like South Avoca.

The author with a solid bream that smashed a surface lure cast over the shallows. Bream will still be hitting surface lures this month, but be ready to look in deeper water if a cold snap hits.

At the time of me putting this report together, the waves lapping our beaches are around 23°C, and a few kilometres offshore it’s up around 25°C. By the time you read this it would have dropped back to about 21°C on the beach and 22°C further out. Providing the weather remains favourable, this means inshore anglers

Avoca or Wybung Head. From a boat, try drifting or slow trolling to cover more ground and find the fish.

30-50lb braid or mono, a 50-80lb leader and a live pike, garfish or calamari are the standard kingy fare. The next two months are also when some bigger kings may be encountered at places like the Rip Bridge or and the fact that mullet are also attracted to beaches and bays which are semiprotected by reef.

Tailor and bream are the other main players along our beaches right now. In fact, this is probably the best month of the year for both species. A few whiting, flathead, tarwhine, dart and salmon are also likely to take

It’s a prime time of year for calamari along our part of the coast. You can get good results using quality squid jigs in sizes 3 or 3.5 cast over shallow kelp or inshore reef.

Back inside calmer waters, bream are also still out in full force right now. They’ll still be smashing surface lures cast over shallow flats and around structure like rocky points, bridges and moored boats, but bream also start to move into deeper areas now, where vibes or soft plastics can do well. We normally experience the first real cold front moving through during April, and when this happens it can switch the bream off a bit. At such times, it’s often best to focus your efforts in depths of 1-4m. We can also expect more flathead, luderick and whiting around the lake margins or creeks this month, and jewies for those who fish Brisbane Waters or the Lake Macquarie. In fact, I’d rate April as one of the better months for Brisbane Water mulloway.