Fishing Monthly Magazine | August 2022 by Fishing Monthly

• WINTER FISHING TIPS • CHASING MULLOWAY •

VIC

TAS

MPETIT CO I

NSW

THE 13 F ND

QLD

NEW• FI N• O

G LOG HIN O IS

Features

WE TEST

ANIMAL 7

•

- Stessl Boats latest Mad Hueys Rig

Chasing silver ghosts • Beginner’s bream on lures • Lazy fisho’s guide to kayaking • Sustainability of WA stocks • Boat test: Stessl 730 Coastrunner

NSW

Species Spotlight

Aaron Roddam shows us how to chase mulloway

August, 2022 ISSN 2652-5798

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CONTENTS

OUR COVER August 2022, Vol. 3 No.4 QLD NSW

VIC

TAS

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

From the Editor’s Desk...

16 18 22 24 26 28 32 34 36 37 38 38 39 42 46

Neil Simpson with a 95cm king threadfin salmon he caught at Hinchinbrook on charter with Ian Moody Sportfishing Charters. An Ian Moody image. Come and visit Fishing Monthly Group’s official Facebook page for all your monthly fishing information. Download QR Reader to access.

NEW SOUTH WALES 52

Sydney Rock

Sydney North

Sydney South

Coffs Coast

Hastings

Forster

Port Stephens

Swansea

Central Coast

Illawarra

Batemans Bay

Bermagui

Tathra

Albany/Wodonga

Hunter Valley

Batlow

New England Rivers

Canberra

VICTORIA Warrnambool

Portland

Cobden

Geelong

Port Phillip West

Port Phillip

Phillip Island

Marlo

Gippsland Lakes

Lakes Entrance

Mallacoota

Robinvale

Bendigo

Ballarat

Wangaratta

Shepparton

Gippsland Freshwater

Crater Lakes

Eildon

AUGUST 2022

TASMANIA Hobart Offshore WESTERN AUSTRALIA Esperance Augusta Bunbury Metro Mandurah Kalbarri Lancelin Exmouth Karratha Freshwater

106 107 106 110 108 113 112 115 114 116

REGULAR FEATURES Chasing silver ghosts Starlo’s back to basics Sheik of the Creek Kayak: Lazy fisho’s guide Fun page WIRF What’s New Fishing Tournament Calendar Tournaments Sustainability of WA stocks Trades and Services/Tide page Boat Test: Stessl 730 Coastrunner

8 12 41 48 63 94 96 92 98 104 118 122

COMPS AND OFFERS Find the logo

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others see it as more a networking event. Regardless, if a fishing tackle store makes you act like a kid in a chocolate factory, then the AFTA show is definitely for you. As AFTA says, “This is a great opportunity for you to speak directly with manufacturers, importers and brand representatives about their products. You can check out some of the great new products in the recreational fishing industry.” It is held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre between 10am and 3pm. Kids come for free and adult tickets are only $10 each. Seriously, it costs more to park under the building than to go to the event. Of course, if you live in a part of the country that is not near South East Queensland, you may be upset that you can’t get there. Fishing Monthly will be doing our best to bring you the latest and greatest from the event. You can pre-purchase tickets on the website afta.net.au, although cash sales will still be accepted at the door. FAULTY MAGAZINES Thank you to the readers who contacted us and told us about the magazines that had multiple, duplicate sections included. This was an error from our printer and it is a very rare occurrence. As always, if our printer or Australia Post doesn’t deliver, we will do so for you and send you a replacement copy of the magazine. Just give us a call on our free call number 1 800 228 244 and Kym can sort you out.

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THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR AFTA We have had a couple of false starts through the COVID times, but it looks like this year the AFTA Trade Show and subsequent Public Day will be all systems go. Without the pandemic, this would likely be the fourth year a Public Day was included in the industry’s biggest show, but it is what it is and everybody is welcome on Saturday, August 6th from 10am. Historically, the AFTA Trade Show has been a business-to-business event where none of the public are allowed access. In 2019, the show organisers (the Australian Fishing Trade Association), trialled a public day after successful models in Japan. And fishing fans loved it. You need to understand, however, that the AFTA Show is not an event where you can buy fishing tackle. It is a show where you can see the latest and greatest gear that will hit the market in the upcoming months. Tackle stores use it as an opportunity to make their Christmas purchases while

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Chasing silver ghosts QUEENSLAND

Aaron ‘Roddo’ Roddam

Chasing mulloway, also commonly referred to as jewies, can be a time consuming and

activity and fishing. Evidence has shown that new moon and full moon are some of the best times to go fishing, this is because of the bigger tides during these moon phase periods. The bigger tides stir

more fish activity, meaning more chances to catch fish, especially mulloway. The best moon phases to chase mulloway is the lead up to the full and new moons, this is typically between two to three days

Winners are grinners. A determined fisho, Harley Price, with a sizeable mulloway caught on a Gen-X soft vibe lure. Whether from a boat or land-based, persistence is always the key to success.

Late evening on the beach, lines out lying in wait for that elusive silver ghost. exhausting effort for little or no reward. Many anglers have put in hundreds of hours, not to mention hundreds of dollars, trying to catch these elusive fish, known as the silver ghosts of the sea. I am one such fisherman, having spent countless hours troubleshooting and perfecting my mulloway fishing techniques. Unfortunately there is no easy way to catch mulloway, but there are a few things that can help you land a cracker silver slab. Firstly, moon phase. A lot of people disregard the moon phase as nonsense or perhaps know little about the effects of the moon cycles regarding fish

beforehand. Combine this timing with an early morning or late evening, which also coincides with a tide change, and you have

the perfect recipe to catch that trophy mulloway. Mulloway hunt in the cover of darkness, so regardless of moon phase, it’s always better to fish at dusk or dawn to increase your chances of success. Now let’s talk about baits and lures. Which

Pretty much anything that is native to the environment that you are fishing. Although they’re not too fussy on type of fish when it comes to live fresh bait, do remember when choosing bait, fresh is always best. Finding the live bait

The mound shapes, known as boomerangs, show a schooled-up group of mulloway cruising along the bottom of the riverbed.

MULLOWAY RIG 3 Way swivel 15lbs 33lbs Main line braid

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AUGUST 2022

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The author with a little soapie caught on the mighty Hawkesbury River, a river system renowned for big mulloway. A lot of the small soapies tend to school up together, so it’s not an uncommon occurrence to get double hook ups, but once one is caught the rest are easily spooked. rig is going to land you that big fish? Mulloway are a predatory fish so will take most baits and lures. Live baits work extremely well, so think something like salmon or squid, yakkas, mullet and even slimies.

might require some time and can be quite tricky. Most modern fish finders have come a long way in the last few years and are quite advanced nowadays, so they can be very effective at finding these bait schools. Then once

you find the bait school a sabiki rig can be used with a soft lift and hop action. This method has proven very effective for many anglers in catching a variety of live bait. Mulloway can be caught on a simple paternoster rig (refer to Fig.1). A lot of

tackle stores sell pre-rigged jigs, which makes the process a heck of a lot easier than to tie. In the event that you do decide to tie your own, the main line should be 15-33lb braid, attached to 35-65lb fluorocarbon leader, tied with an FG knot. Then

approximately 30-40cm down the fluorocarbon leader add a 3-way swivel. On one side of the swivel attach 40cm of fluorocarbon leader down to a double hook snelled rig using 7/0 to 9/0 J hooks. Same again from the other side of the swivel, attach

When it comes to bait, fresh is always best. Fresh garfish rigged with a double hook snelled rig, using size 6/0 hooks attached to 30lb leader, is a temptation no fish can resist.

! W NE

30-40cm of fluorocarbon leader to a 4-5oz triangle/ pyramid sinker. With this sitting down the bottom of the water column, it’s only a matter of time before you land your first jewie. This rig is perfect to catch mulloway, although more than likely your first few catches will be smaller mulloway (not of legal size) known as ‘soapies’. Don’t let this deter you though, as these are all steps in the right direction for you to catch that elusive silver ghost. I’ve also had a lot of success using soft plastic lures and soft vibes for mulloway. There is a huge range and a variety of colours of soft plastics on the market today, pre-scented lures like Berkley Gulps are one of the best when choosing soft plastics. I’ve found the pre-scented 6’” paddle tails in dark colours like dark blues, purples and black and gold work extremely well when fishing rock walls or rocky headlands. In this environment it is imperative that you pay attention to the swells because fishing off the rocks can be very dangerous and you can easily be swept into the sea.

This mulloway was taken on a Gen-X soft vibe lure. These lures mimic small baitfish. Jerk shads and paddletails are very handy to have in any tackle box, not just for catching jewies but a variety of fish species, with a lift-hop-hop-pause action, which mimics a

small baitfish darting up and paddling back down the water column. Mulloway will generally hit it on the pause or on the drop. They also mostly hang out on the To page 10

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bottom of the waterways, this is why they are often caught by a lot of anglers as a by-catch when chasing flathead – so remember to stay in the zone. Whether you choose

soft plastics or hardbodies, lures put out vibrations through the water column, which are picked up by fish via the lateral lines down both sides of their bodies. These vibrations signal that there is a fish

nearby, thereby enticing your target to dart in for a closer inspection. So pay close attention to your line, because 99% of the time that knock you felt on your lure was a strike. Now you know when

A river mouth with double entry access points – a perfect place for predatory fish, like mulloway, to lie in wait for an easy meal. With all this rain about, there are a lot of food sources being flushed out into the waterway. to go and what to use, all that’s left to learn is where they hang out. Mulloway can be

oat

B Featured

Top and bottom: Exactly what you want to see on your fish finder – mulloway chasing a school of bait fish.

found in a broad range of locations. Near and around offshore reefs and beaches, as well as rocky cliff faces, but also in most waterways and shallow estuaries. They also tend to hunt around these areas too, although bridge pylons, rock walls and river mouths are just a few more spots of interest that you can target when chasing mulloway. My favourite spot for catching this elusive fish is on beach gutters, where they can be found cruising up and down beaches for an easy meal when the baitfish and squid are abundant. These silver assassins hunt under the cover of darkness so they tend to seek shelter or cover just like all fish do. In daylight hours, there is little to no cover on a beach, so I always aim for the white wash/foam cover. This is an ideal spot

for mulloway to pass on through or hang out in wait because the white water waves will stir up all the beach worms and cockles, etc… where the baitfish come in close to feed, and baitfish are an easy meal for predatory fish. Try to stay away from rips on the beach because it’s hard to naturally present a bait in these waters, not to mention that it would take a lot of effort for a mulloway to stay in these moving waters. Whilst all of the techniques above have helped me and countless other anglers in the pursuit of mulloway, at the end of the day, like all angling, persistence is the key to success. So don’t be deterred if it takes a few fishing sessions before everything comes together, because with some perseverance you too will be holding your very own silver ghost.bassco boats

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Bream on lures: getting started NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.fishotopia.com

It’s been said that if you can consistently catch bream on lures, you won’t have much trouble with any other species. That’s true, too. Lure fishing for bream can seem rather tricky. But if you master the basics, success will follow. There are actually several species of fish from the Sparidae family commonly known as bream living in Australian waters, with the three best known varieties being the yellowfin bream, southern black bream and pikey bream. However, they’re all similar enough in their habits to lump them together here.

Bream on lures are great targets, even during the coldest part of the year when fishing for many other species can be tough going. fishing gear, especially if we use overly thick lines, heavy sinkers, big swivels or clips and other clumsy items of terminal tackle. For all these reasons, we

Bream have powerful, crushing jaws and rows of rounded teeth perfectly suited to crunching crabs, shellfish and the like. Keep your fingers out of there!

Light, well-balanced tackle and spools nicely topped up with fine line are the keys to effectively casting small lures for bream.

Small hard-bodied lures can be deadly on bream, but you’ll need light, wellbalanced tackle to cast them well. Bream are popular fish. That’s not surprising when you consider that they look good, fight pretty hard for their size when hooked, and are reasonably tasty to eat. They have a fair bit going for them. They’re also abundant and widespread throughout the year, even on the doorsteps of our busiest coastal cities and ports. Bream are found in both salt and brackish waters, and even swim well upstream into freshwater at times. But they’re most common in our 12

AUGUST 2022

tidal estuaries, rivers, bays, harbours and inshore waters, as well as along beaches and rocky coastlines. While they can grow to at least 50cm in length and weigh more than 2kg, most of the bream you catch will be a fair bit smaller than that. However, fish up to 35-40cm long are reasonably abundant in many places. Bream eat a wide range of food. They love prawns, crabs, worms, oysters, small fish and other tasty, natural morsels, but they’ll also scavenge on dead

creatures and discarded food scraps, and even occasionally munch away on algae or seaweed. So, they’re not particularly fussy… Or so it seems, until we try to catch them on lures! Even on bait, bream have a well-earned reputation for being tricky to catch at times. They possess sharp eyesight and a bunch of other keen senses, and they’re also nervous, flighty critters by nature. They’ll dart away from shadows, spook at loud noises, and flee into deeper water at the slightest hint of danger. They’re also pretty good at detecting and avoiding our

While bream aren’t bad to eat, more and more anglers are choosing to let the big ones go. This fish could well be 30 years old! need to be sneaky when we’re hunting bream, especially on lures. That means not waving our arms or rods around too much, moving quietly, avoiding wearing bright clothing, talking softly, and not thumping tackle boxes or backpacks down on the bottom of the boat or the

STARLO

Scan this QR code or go to the “Starlo Gets Reel” channel on YouTube to watch a Masterclass video about catching bream on soft and hard lures.

They won’t all be the size of this winter bruiser Jo Starling nailed on a soft plastic! This fish was just a few grams shy of the magic 2kg mark.

decking of a wharf or jetty. When casting lures for bream, you’ll need a light or ultra-light rod with a flexible tip. One between 2-2.2m long is perfect. Some rods have suggested line strengths and casting weights printed on the blank. Look for one rated

for lines between about 1-4kg, and casting weights from a few grams up to perhaps 10-15g. A small spinning reel will match perfectly on this rod – one around the sizes most brands refer to as their 1000, 2000, 2500 or 3000 models. Fill your reel’s spool up with line that carries a rated breaking strain between 2-4kg. The lighter the better for bream – within reason! You can use monofilament (either nylon or fluorocarbon) or braided line, but if you’re just getting started, you may be better off to kick off with mono. The best lures for catching bream imitate the sorts of things that bream like to eat, and that means these lures are small: mostly under 10cm in length, and ideally between about 3-7cm long. They’re also light, which means they’re hard to cast very far if you don’t choose the sort of tackle I’ve just described. You can catch bream on soft plastics, hard-bodied lures, blades or vibes, little jigs and a variety of other styles, but they should all be small and look like food. Think about the kinds of things you’re trying to imitate with your lures — worms, crabs, prawns, little fish or whatever. Work on making your lure move through the water exactly like these things and bream will eat them! Bream are one of our most rewarding fish to target on lures. There are lots of them out there, even at the coldest time of year, and you often don’t need to travel very far to find a few. Best of all, becoming even halfway good at catching bream on lures will train you to be a much better angler, and that’ll make it easier to go on to catching all sorts of other species.

Industry News

Scan the QR code to watch Bob James Interview

30 years of Horizon Boats Horizon Aluminium Boats had its beginning in 1992, founded by Bob and Christine James and has grown to become a wellrespected, quality brand within the marine industry. Horizon started in a

little shed in Burleigh, producing just a couple of models. Today Horizon Boats produces 84 different models, catering for all markets and producing approximately 1500 hulls annually. Bob James has over

45 years of experience in the marine industry, from skippering yachts, working for well-known manufacturers to winning power boat championships. Bob stands by the company’s mission statement in

There’s definitely more room at the new digs than the old ones - but they’re already looking for more space. The COVID boom has been kind to Horizon! 14

AUGUST 2022

designing and producing a range of Australian made boats to suit everyone. And making family dreams come true. The Horizon name is highly regarded among the public and government departments for quality, ride, and value for money. Horizon Boats prides itself on being a family owned and operated company, with two generations involved in the company. Horizon Boats has a strong commitment to research and development, with new models being released and constant improvements to production techniques to stay at the forefront of boat design. Horizons suit all brands of motors. Horizon Boats have enjoyed much success over the years, with exclusive contracts and awards such as manufacturing a range of boats for Mercury Marine and building the Queensland State Emergency service response boats. They built the Modern Boating 2008 “Family Boat of the Year” - their 540 SeaBreeze bowrider. All these boats were designed and developed at Horizon Boats’ factory on the Gold Coast. Talking to Bob at their new factory in Coomera’s marine precinct, he was undeniably proud of their hull #1. They still have it!It’s been given a new coat of

Main: This is Horizon boat #1! The family still has it and it’s been given a fresh coat of paint. They were last seen trying to work out where to display it in the new Coomera factory. We reckon it’d look great hanging off the wall. Above Insert Left: A couple of original Horizon logo stickers made the package complete. Above Insert Right: Here’s the original compliance plate. Back when people probably only did weigh 75kg per person. Above: Workers assemble the boats in individual bays. paint, but the hull looks as solid as the day it was built. Fishing Monthly was there to watch Bob re-applying the original sticker branding to the rig.

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Southern

OLD

Sensational winter sessions THE TWEED

Leon McClymont

Winter sessions off Tweed, the species are endless whether you’re a beach fisho or a boaty. Your options are very open this time of

of these systems feeding on schools of mullet and prawns. Anchoring up and presenting these baits or similar is a great technique and proven to be very successful. Fishing an hour each side of the tide changes is where you want to put in your time and effort.

David McAndrew with a solid 65cm tailor. year, as the currents have slowed and the cooler water is moving in bringing the big schools of bait in with it. Starting from the estuaries and making our way out to the shelf, I’ll let you know what’s biting this month. If you want to get the kids out though august and chase some whiting and flathead the sand flats in Pottsville and Kingscliff Creek provide perfect kiddie fishing. Pumping your own yabbies is a great option to get all the kids involved and hands on. Look for those distinctive yabby holes on low tide to collect your bait, then fish the incoming tide as the fish move back in over the sand flats to feed. If you’re looking to tick off that big river mulloway this year, or for the first time ever, August is a good month to target big specimens inside the river. Bigger high tides at night will give perfect opportunity for big mulloway to work their way up into the upper reaches

Anchor up in the deeper holes of the river or eddy points where the mulloway will lay and wait for passing schools of bait to ambush. Plenty of tailor and school

size mulloway have been showing up in the gutters along our beaches, headlands and break walls. Some good gutters I’ve noticed lately are back of Cabarita Hotel, Wooyung Beach, Casuarina and North Kingscliff. All these gutters are worth a look. For chasing your big mulloway from the sand, a raising tide and raising 3/4 moon is my favourite; not because I’ve caught heaps of them doing this but because I listened to an old timer who once thrived on chasing these silver ghosts from the sand. He swore by those words and sequence of events, and one day he said, ‘It’s lining up this evening, mate!’ Unfortunately, on that night I was too busy to join him, so he fished solo and, sure enough, upon arriving at work the next morning he is there with a monster mulloway in the back of the Ute. There have been some big mulloway caught from the headlands and break walls in the last month. Casting hardbodies and plastics lures have recently been the

A nice mulloway taken on live bait by the author.

The author was happy with his catch.

Jake displaying a colourful mahimahi.

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one in the range of 30-35kg at the boat ramp last week when arriving back from offshore. Anchoring up, setting a berley trail and fishing live baits or dead baits top and bottom is the best technique for chasing cobia. They are scavengers and will feed on the bottom and top, so it always pays to offer both options. Heading a little wider now, mahimahi are still in abundance on the FADs.

We bagged out the other day fishing away from the FAD and drifting down to it. This way you get longer drifts, optimal fish time and not spook the fish. Giving them berley/cubing pillies to feed on and keep them excited is a great option to keep them feeding. Also leaving one fish in the water whilst on the line is good to keep the school of mahimahi around the boat – giving you time to throw a lure

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go-to for those successful anglers chasing these ghosts. However, don’t dismiss big live baits or cut bait options, as a big mulloway isn’t going to turn a nose at a fresh wellpresented bait. There have been plenty of snapper on the chew in close on the inshore reefs. Some anglers have also been hooking the odd Spanish mackerel float lining while chasing snapper. Most of the Spanish though seem to be hanging up the Gold Coast and Moreton way in that slightly warmer water. Cobia have turned up and in good numbers, and there are some real solid ones amongst them. I’ve seen the frame of

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or bait up on another set up and get it in the water, this is a great technique to get your numbers or bag limit and move on. There are plenty of pearlies and trag jew feeding this time of year. Fishing paternoster rigs with cut baits and pillies is a great option when the currents are not roaring too bad. If the current is up a bit much to fish baits, using heavy jigs ranging from 180-230g can be a better option. Heading out to the shelf, deep dropping for bar cod, flame tails and other delicious ingredients is what August is about – slight winds and light currents allowing for optimal fishing conditions. I haven’t had many reports of billfish being caught recently but I’m sure the odd ones are still around. I happened to have got super lucky and spotted a juvenile black marlin just a few weeks back with the drone that was only a couple hundred metres off the beach. Whilst writing this I’m packing and heading northbound for a fishing adventure to 1770, so hopefully might have a few tales to tell in the coming issues.

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Southern

OLD

Rolling in the deep GOLD COAST

David Green

There should be some great fishing this month off the Gold Coast. The water temperature drops to around 20ºC on the inshore grounds but out on the continental shelf is generally a couple of degrees warmer. The closed season for snapper and pearl perch ends

If you catch any pike they are deadly. Fish your live baits close to the bottom and leave the reel in gear. In general, the fish will hook themselves. Circle hooks are very effective on mulloway. This season around 90% of mulloway have been over a metre in length. Out on the 50 fathom line there should be plenty of amberjack, samson and kingfish this month. Jigging and deep live baits are quite

marlin from the 50 fathom reef out to around 300m. The winter marlin fishing off the Gold Coast can be very good at times and there is always the chance of a blue marlin as well. Trolling slightly smaller lures is a good tactic in August as both tuna and striped marlin prefer something slightly smaller than is usually used for bigger blue marlin. A straight running lure positioned well back works

The author is already out there targeting flathead in preparation for the upcoming Flathead Classic. season has been excellent after a lot of recent rain. They have been everywhere! In August, big flathead start to move into the deeper estuary entrances in preparation for spawning. Deep jigging using soft vibes and big soft plastics is worth trying this month and the numbers of fish in the deep increases throughout

late August into September. A lot of these fish are over the maximal legal length of 75cm and should be handled very carefully prior to release. If fish carrying roe are stressed they can resorb their eggs, so take good care of them. As well as big flathead, deep jigging produces quite a few mulloway at this

Mulloway are quite active in August and fishing live mullet on tide changes can produce big fish over 120cm throughout this month. These fish actively feed on the masses of tiger mullet that school up along the seaway walls and the mouth of Swan Bay at Jumpinpin. Live pike are another deadly bait. We have

There are plenty of good options off the Gold Coast, like this flametail snapper. mid-month and after this time snapper should be in good numbers after having a one month respite. So far this season, snapper fishing has been excellent, which is probably due to the recent rainfall. Fish over 8kg have been relatively common. The 36 fathom line reef is probably the most reliable area to target snapper in the second half this month. Low tide changes around dawn and dusk generally provide the best fishing, and in August quite a few big snapper over 6kg are caught. Deep dropping in depths out to 400m has become increasingly popular on the wide grounds off the Gold Coast. Bar cod, flame snapper, bass groper and ornate job fish are generally the commonest species caught. Deep dropping requires a fair investment if you are going to use electric reels, but some anglers are doing well jigging metal lures in depths up to 400m. I’ve just bought my first electric reel and am very keen to start fishing the deep water. There should be plenty of mulloway around on the inshore reefs and also on the artificial reefs in 23m located north east of the seaway. These fish are at their best just on dark, and live tailor, slimy mackerel and yellowtail are all effective. 18

AUGUST 2022

effective and the addition of a small piece of lumo tube can increase the effectiveness of the rig when fishing with bait. Be careful if the wind blows up from the northwest. It can be a long slow wet ride home if you get caught in a big westerly. Fish the high pinnacles and be prepared to lose a bit of gear as these fish will bust you off on the bottom. For the game fisher, August can produce yellowfin tuna out wide on the thousand fathom line as well as striped

well for yellowfin. RIVERS AND ESTUARIES As the water cools, a lot of estuary fish become very active, and it is a great month to target bream, flathead, mulloway, luderick and squid. A lot of anglers are already out there targeting flathead in preparation for the upcoming Flathead Classic. It’s all about trying new spots, new lures and refining your techniques in preparation for the big event. The flathead fishing this

Deep dropping can produce a variety of species, like this ornate job fish.

Deep dropping in depths out to 400m has become popular on the wide grounds.

time of year. Squid are another good option this month. Fish areas over the top of weed beds on the top of the tide. Calm still days tend to fish the best. Drifting over weed patches working a good quality squid jig is generally quite productive and a feed of squid is always welcome. In general, more natural coloured squid jigs in browns and green with a hint of orange are very effective. A lot of the cheaper jigs tend to delaminate after a few squid bite them and lose their attractiveness. Most of the squid caught over the tops of weed beds are northern calamari, while the smaller arrow squid tend to be in the deeper sections of the estuary. The new range of Shimano squid jigs are excellent.

recently had good success jigging with soft vibes in the deeper holes of the estuaries in daylight hours. If you are fishing the Seaway area just float out your mullet without weight on the change of a high tide and be patient. It may take a while to get a run but the size of the fish makes it very worthwhile. Overall, August is a very productive month on both the offshore grounds and estuaries and most of the fish caught are excellent eating. Just be careful of westerly winds if you venture far offshore, and make sure you have logged on with VMR before heading out. With all the recent rains the estuary is in excellent condition with a stack of white pilchard schools attracting plenty of fish, and the offshore grounds are also fishing well.

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Southern

OLD

Hot fishing in the chilly climate SOUTHERN BAY

Nick Whyte

The fishing has been red hot over the last month. Flathead, bream, tailor, winter whiting, squid, late season prawns and snapper have all been plentiful. The water has finally cleaned up after all the rains and we have a lot of bait and prawns throughout the Logan, Southern Bay and Jumpinpin areas.

Big mulloway will be patrolling our bar entrances and river mouths this month with all the tailor and mullet running. For those keen to soak big live baits, the rewards can be great but also can spend a lot of frustrating fruitless hours in waiting. Drifting the bar entrances with larger vibes or big paddle-tail plastics, like the 6” McArthy paddle-tails can be very productive when the fish are present. Concentrate your efforts around the neap

with it. Small slugs like the 20 and 30g Mustad Mezashi casting jigs and larger stickbaits, like the Zerek 115mm sinking Zappelins, and topwater lures have been doing the job as well. Don’t forget about the trusty old floating pilly as well. There have been some better quality around the central Bay islands and are a great target on larger topwater poppers. I find cup-faced poppers in the 100-140mm range will attract the larger

doing the most damage; 3-4” lures seem to account for more than their share of big fish. I think matching the bait size they are feeding on is the key. Working along the edges of the reefs early mornings and late afternoons in the low light periods should see the best results. Make sure you adhere to the closed snapper and pearl perch season from July 15 through August 15. Bream are everywhere at the moment. The spawning run is well and truly underway. There are fish stacked up in the deeper section around the Pin. The front of Short Island and along the deeper edge of Crusoe Island. The Logan River is also holding good numbers on the deeper rock bars. The Amity Rock wall is also a great place to find some quality bream this time of year. Small soft plastic prawn imitations are deadly on them when schooling like this. Squid started off a bit

The business end of a threadfin salmon. There’s a 95mm Fish Trap in there somewhere!

A nice southern bay mulloway. The prawns are having a great late season run with good numbers coming from around the Saltworks, Lamb Island, the front of Redland Bay and down towards the mouth of the Logan and even up the river itself. They are a good size at the moment and best results have come around the turn of the tides.

tides or the tide changes around the moons, look for the current lines and back eddies just out of the main hard running water. There are plenty of tailor getting around with a lot of choppers inside the Pin bar at the moment, especially on the top of the tide. With the cleaner water pushing in, it brings all the bait along

fish. Working the edges and flats of the shallow reefs are the best starting points. South west rocks, hole in the wall and the spit beacon at Peel are all worth a look. Snapper have been in great numbers of late. Plenty of big fish have been caught at Harries and the West Peel artificials. Smaller presentations have been

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Brenden Whyte with a nice flathead on 5” McArthy paddle-tail. small last month but are in full swing now. Any weed bed or broken rock areas are worth a cast. Light leaders down to 4lb will make a big difference to your catch rates. Weedy areas in the Rous and Rainbow Channels, as well as the Pelican banks and rocky headland areas, are all great places to start.

Once you catch one or two, work the area over for a little while. The flatties are everywhere at the moment. Lures, plastics or baits, it doesn’t matter as long as you have one in the water you should see some activity. There are plenty of fish around the mouth of the Logan

River, Jacobs Well Channel, Pandanas Island, along the eastern side of Garden Island and the weedy edges along the Rainbow Channel. If you have a great capture from the southern bay you would like to share email them through to nick@ techfishing.com.au Till next month Tech-it-easy.

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There are plenty of quality flathead around.

Southern

OLD

Fish will move deeper BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

As winter months begin to taper off, weather can be relatively unpredictable. We often experience some rather strong westerly winds during August, which will create very clear water conditions, especially in the western sector of the bay.

Minimising sinker weights so baits descend slowly to the bottom with resistance minimised when a fish picks up and moves away with the bait. Baitrunner reels or overheads allow the fish to mouth and run with the bait with only minor resistanceideal for those larger, more spooky specimens. All these little additions to your bait fishing approach can easily make the difference between a successful day or returning

Chris Deeks with another quality Moreton Bay snapper taken on a 7” jerk shad from the bay island margins. While this is welcomed by the foreshore squidding fraternity, it is less desirable for most other anglers as it promotes many species to move to deeper waters or makes them harder to tempt in the shallows. Popular targets during August can include snapper, mulloway, squid, cuttlefish, school mackerel, mulloway, tailor and bream. With water conditions clearing, anglers often have to fish in a more finesse manner to get the bites. This can entail using lighter leaders, especially fluorocarbon which doesn’t attract or deflect light, making it more invisible than monofilament in the water. Inserting hooks well into the bait with just the points proud is also advisable. Keeping baits uniformed and aqua dynamic so they don’t spin in the current will greatly increase bites. Baits such as pilchards should be presented nice and straight so they waft in the current instead of spinning unnaturally. 24

AUGUST 2022

home with a donut. Lure fishers can also increase results by fishing lighter fluorocarbon leaders, using more natural colours, lighter jigheads and more subtle retrieves. The addition of scents such as S-Factor or Pro-Cure can turn hesitant fish into strikers. SNAPPER It has been an exceptional season for snapper so far. Murkier water conditions, increased nutrient levels and exceptional amounts of baitfish have enticed more quality fish into the shallower waters of Moreton Bay. Anglers have achieved some exceptional results on snapper to over 90cm on both baits and lures. Many anglers have returned home with a full bag of quality fish for a few hours of effort. With fuel prices so high, scoring quality fish from inshore waters makes a lot more sense than heading well offshore for your piscatorial fix. The usual spots have been fishing well with artificial

reefs, the bay island margins, wrecks and numerous ledges holding quality snapper and numerous other desirable species. Anglers use many differing techniques and offerings for results, which just goes to show that snapper will respond to many different approaches and you do not need to only target them using one method. As the waters clear due to the westerly winds, snapper will become a little more pedantic. Aforementioned additions to your approach may turn the odds in your favour. Deeper waters are also more likely to reward than the shallows, especially during higher light periods. However, the periods at the extremities of the bay, dawn and dusk, will often produce some quality fishing. This is exceptionally obvious around the bay islands where fish will move from one depth to another, dependent on light variations. For example, during the lower light periods snapper will venture into quite shallow water to feed. Once the sun begins to peak over the horizon, the increasing light will make them feel conspicuous in the shallows and they will move into deeper waters further from the island. This timing will all vary dependent on the terrain, tides, baitfish presence and water depths. Often baitfish may be seen acting nervously or flicking on the surface around the bay island margins. This often indicates a larger predator such as a snapper is in the area. A soft plastic or soft vibe cast to the general area will often be engulfed shortly after splashing down. Deeper areas, such as submerged wrecks and artificial reefs, also hold baitfish and snapper. These depths are often worked in more of a vertical manner with soft plastics, soft vibes

Both arrow and tiger squid will be available in good numbers over the coming weeks around the foreshores and channel edges. and micro jigs working well. The bait fishers can drift live baits such a yakkas, slimy mackerel, pike, squid and garfish across the tops of these submerged structures with positive results. Dead baits such as pilchards, fillet baits, banana prawns and the like will also work, however live offerings will definitely tempt a better class of fish more regularly. Trolling for snapper has been a productive method for many years with deep diving minnow lures being used to probe the depths around the bay islands, artificial reefs and rubble grounds. Commonly, lures which dive between 5m and 8m are used with Classic Dr Evil, Nomad DTX 100mm, Atomic Hardz Shiner, Killalure Barra Baits and many others working well. These are trolled close to the bottom using the thinness of braid to get them into this zone. Strikes are usually very aggressive which makes this a fun way to fish. Common by-catch includes estuary cod, school mackerel and sometimes mulloway. MULLOWAY The artificial reefs will also produce some quality

mulloway in the coming months with specimens over the metre mark not uncommon. These are often taken by those targeting snapper however going to the effort to specifically target them will boost results. I prefer mulloway over snapper on the plate and will specifically target them whenever I get the chance. Sometimes larger schools of mulloway can be found roaming the artificial reefs. Presenting a lure or soft bait in their vicinity will generally result in some action when competition is increased with multiple fish. With shark activity minimal during the colder months, anglers have a much greater chance of landing the majority of fish hooked. Brisbane River anglers will also be able to get amongst the mulloway over the coming months. They will be caught well upriver at times with anglers fishing lighted areas in the city reaches often scoring them whilst casting lures at night. This presents great opportunity for those fishing via Shank’s pony as

A 115cm silver slab of prime bay mulloway taken on the ever-reliable Samaki Thumpertail soft vibe.

most of the lighted areas are accessible from land-based locations. Down towards the mouth, mulloway can be found anywhere that baitfish are likely to congregate. The fronts of the numerous wharves and jetties, submerged ledges, dredge holes at the mouth and the declines into the main river basin are all worth checking out by casting lures (soft vibes, micro jigs, numerous soft plastics and blades will all produce) or soaking baits. Live mullet, herring, banana prawns and pike are ideal, however pilchards, fillet baits and whole squid can also produce. Mulloway are a great fish to catch and exceptional eating and many quality fish will be caught over the coming months. CEPHALOPODS Both squid and cuttlefish can be on the menu over the coming months. As clarity increases (due to the effects of westerly winds) and water temperatures drop, squid will become a lot more prevalent, especially in inshore waters. Shorebased anglers will be able to readily score a few whilst casting egi around the Wynnum foreshore (including the T Jetty), Amity Rock Wall, Wellington Point, Victoria Point, Scarborough, Redcliffe, Manly Harbour and Manly Rock Wall plus many other locations. Out in the bay, the shallows of the bay islands (Peel, Mud, Green, Bird and Goat), weed bed areas north of Tangalooma, weed beds and discoloured edges in the upper Rous Channel and many other locales will produce. Drifting a squid jig or baited skewer behind the boat whilst drifting around catching whiting in the Rous, Small Ships Channel and Sand Hills area or whilst casting plastics for snapper around

Southern

OLD

the bay islands, will often reward. These egi can even be fished on a handline, which makes it easy to have a rig ready to use when the occasion arises. Using a just-positive buoyancy float will allow you to fish the skewer or egi at the desired depth and acts as an indicator that a squid has connected. When the float dips, simply retrieve your tasty calamari treat. Cuttlefish will occasionally be caught with this method but are much more readily caught in the deeper channels such as those that run from Green Island up towards Ormiston. The egi is generally weighted so that it gets down close to the weed and rubble on the bottom. A paternoster style rig is ideal for this purpose. The junction of the Rous Channel and Small Ships Channel is another good spot for try for cuttlefish and I have also caught them along the northern side of the Harry Atkinson artificial reef. Both squid and cuttlefish are best cooked on a high heat for a short period and eaten immediately. This can include deep frying with a crumbed or salt and pepper coating or simply seared over an open flame on the barbeque and then

dipped in olive oil, garlic and soy. Yum! TAILOR At the time of writing there were a lot of tailor down the southern end of Stradbroke Island, however not a lot further north along the beaches. The occasional decent school was located at the Sand Hills, Rainbow Channel and around the

Southern Bay islands but it was fairly hit and miss. However, by now the tailor should be more widespread and anglers will be encountering them around the artificial reefs, bay island margins and well into the Brisbane River. Tailor are ravenous predators and locations with good concentrations

Andrew Tennant and Chris Deeks with a pair of superb bay snapper from a double hook up.

of bait are likely to hold numbers of tailor as well. They will respond to a wide array of lures and baits, especially flesh strips or whole baitfish. Lures, such as chromed slugs and slices, blades and topwater offerings such as walk-the-dog stickbaits and poppers will all work a treat. Trolled minnow lures are great for covering some area whilst looking for tailor schools. Often they can be seen feeding close to the surface on balled up bait. Under the Gateway Bridge is often good at night as the lights attract baitfish and therefore numbers of these hungry predators. Red Beach at Bribie Island can be a great spot to soak a few baits early morning or in the evening on a high tide. The Amity Rock Wall, Manly Harbour Rock Wall, Scarborough Jetty and Woody Point Jetty are other spots that are worth trying for the land-based anglers. All these spots are best fished during the low light hours. BREAM Bream numbers have been excellent along the eastern facing beaches and throughout the estuaries. Big ‘snowy’ bream have been caught from the Bribie Island, Moreton Island and

Stradbroke beaches by anglers using baits, such as mullet fillet, chicken hearts, chicken fillet, whitebait, beach worms, pipis, half pilchards and many others. Bream are scavengers and will eat a broad array of food items including baitfish, crustaceans and even foreign baits such as dough conglomerations and fowl gut. They can be rather aggressive and many anglers have made an art out of catching them on lures and flies. Understanding their habits and where they are likely to be holding at certain stages of the tide will greatly increase opportunity. Casting lures into these zones is only half the battle. The type of lure and more importantly the way it is fished will ultimately decide your results, especially when they are being fussy. Small soft plastic curltail grubs, T-tails and crustacean patterns are often fished on very light jigheads. Small blades, Cranka Crabs, diving minnow lures and soft vibration baits are some of the lure types used successfully. In the estuaries, common areas where bream can be found will include around pontoons, along rock walls, bridge pylons, mangrove

snags, river wrecks and underneath moored boats. Anywhere that provides cover and where food sources are likely to pass nearby are likely areas to score a few bream. Obviously these same areas can also be fished with quality baits, preferably lightly weighted and with finesse rigging. Bream are one of those species where a kid with a few metres of line, a hook and some leftover ham from his school lunch can catch a quality fish. Their availability, numbers and willingness to eat a wide array of species makes them ideal targets for anglers of all abilities. CONCLUSION With such a broad array of species available, anglers will often achieve multiple species during a day’s fishing. In addition to the species highlighted, anglers will also be able to target desirable species such as flathead, sweetlip, mangrove jack, threadfin, tuskfish and cod with good results. Those willing to search may even be able to score a feed of prawns, mud crabs or sand crabs. Personally, I am looking forward to the warmth of summer however the quality fishing on offer now makes braving the elements worthwhile during August.

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Southern

OLD

Bring on spring species NORTHERN BAY

Tackle World Lawnton

As we start to taper off to the pointy end of the cooler months, we can begin to look forward to some of our favourite spring species. But not before we enjoy the last month or so of some of our cooler weather targets.

notably inshore reefy and rubbly ground around the Redcliffe Peninsula. We’ve also seen some fantastic flathead activity with plenty of captures towards the mouths of our river and creek systems. RIVERS Usually this time of year we would see our estuary predators pushing up the

Bikrant has been doing well on arrow squid. As we all know mid-July saw the start of the 30-day snapper ban for Queensland waters. Anglers took advantage of the final days before the ban and some cracking snapper catches have been seen consistently throughout the northern bay,

back of the rivers to feed up on bait but due to the rains we have seen far more consistent activity towards the lower parts. For mulloway anglers, fishing deeper holes and around bridge pylons will keep you in the most likely

haunts. Matching the hatch to smaller mullet profile soft plastics fished tight to the bottom will put you in for a good chance, whilst a live bait will provide an irresistible option. As always, there is a fun array of by-catch while chasing mulloway at this time of the year with tailor, trevally and flathead frequenting in these same areas. Expect to see good numbers of winter whiting continuing to be caught throughout the Deception Bay area. Don’t be afraid to keep moving until you find some numbers. A well-presented worm is an irresistible choice, but squid strips and artificial worm baits are also a fantastic option. We are getting very close to the time of year flathead like to spawn so expect good numbers to be caught towards the mouth of the Pine and on the flats throughout Deception Bay. Take advantage of the cooler weather and fish shallow earlier in the morning where big duskies will be sunning themselves on the flats. Slowing your retrieve down is also recommended to entice these often lazy fish. A casted or slow trolled hardbody diver is always a go-to presentation on the flats! BAY This year has seen a fantastic extended run of sand crabs throughout the northern bay with some record numbers coming in. It appears numbers have tapered off over the past

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Bikrant with a nice local snapper. few weeks in the shallower waters but you can still expect to find good numbers all year round in and around the shipping channels. Make sure to weight your pots and run a long rope, as these areas do see lots of current! With our waters having had plenty of time to clean up with consistent westerly winds, this is a great time to be out targeting a feed of calamari. Arrow squid are best targeted at night with an aid of a glow stick on your line 30cm above your squid jig. Areas like the Woody Point jetty are a great place to look. Long casts with a slow retrieve generally do the trick. Tiger squid can be found in similar locations but tend to prefer areas with weedy and reefy ground and can be targeted effectively during the day for those that prefer their beauty sleep. Anglers that take advantage of the snapper open season in the second half of the month will be rewarded with some freshly replenished grounds and good fish to be caught while we still have this cooler weather. DAMS Whilst the dams have been slow this year due to earlier flood events we still look forward to what some would argue is the best

time of the year to target impoundment bass. We will continue to see fish schooling in the creek beds and basins of the dams but the best thing

Plenty of arrow squid for dinner. about August is the size of bass we see after feeding up large on big schools of bony bream throughout the winter. The latter part of the afternoon will see more consistent bite periods with bass hoarding schools of bony bream up onto the

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edges of the creek beds and gorging themselves. Dropping spoons, like the 20g Slow Blatt, into the schools can see hours of

Try your luck chasing a mulloway or two this month. If you put the work in, you will be rewarded.

entertainment on a good session. It can be common to find bass schools ‘shut down ‘ at times so dropping down to a more finesse presentation, like a 2.5’ soft plastic, can sometimes entice a bite, otherwise moving on to find a more active school is another worthy option. Don’t forget to always have a deeper diver trolling off the back of the kayak whilst between spots because you never know what you could come across! • 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.

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Southern

OLD

Full moon, bring on the fish! NOOSA

Peter Wells

With the full moon on the 11 August we would normally be getting excited about chasing snapper and pearl perch but with the monthlong closure not finishing

belts. Snapper tend to move in and out depending on the water temperatures and, with the cooler water, the larger fish can usually be found in closer. One of the most popular ways to target snapper is to run a good quality berley trail and then run a floater bait down that trail. Another

to use a slow fall jig where the emphasis in on the drop and not on the lift making jigging that little less strenuous. Slow fall jigging has become very popular and very effective with some of the better anglers out fishing baits. On the beaches, good schools of tailor are really starting to show up in numbers; using gang hooks with strip baits of mullet, bonito fillet or whole pilchard baits have all worked perfectly. Fishing along the Noosa North Shore has been very popular with the Double Island end seeing some bigger fish on the morning and afternoon tides. If you are fishing around a group of bait anglers and there are regular hook ups, then this is a great time to switch to lures. The Halco Twisty is the main stay and has been very successful

and mullet schools that move up the beach at this time of the year. For the long casters using a small chopper tailor as a live bait is a great way to attract a metre-plus mulloway. Mulloway tend to love the darker conditions so time around the new moon is best, but you can also pick them up on the full if you’re fishing the period between sunset and moonrise in the evening or moonset and sunrise in the morning. There is still a strong presence of whiting and dart in most of the close gutters so make sure you call into the shops and check out the range of Whiting Wacker rigs. These rigs are dynamite on these species and loaded with worms or squid tentacles, work a treat. You can buy them in running sinker or paternoster rigs.

John Atkin was very pleased with his 80cm flathead. straight from the cast net that are fished hard up against structure has been key to tangling with a red devil. Fishing in the evening after a warmer day on the run-out tide is also another good tip as these warmer currents will make these fish more active. There have been plenty of good-sized bream taken in the rivers even after all the rains, it was thought that the late rains may upset their spawning run this year, but it seems they have adapted and plenty of the larger breeders have been taken in the river. A good thing to remember is to maybe keep the medium sized fish and let the bigger breeders go to keep improving stocks. Of course,

Rieley Schultz with a decent snapper he caught at Mudjimba Island. until the 15th we have had to look for other species to target. Some options to target have been coral trout, mulloway, sweetlip, cobia and tuskies, with reefs like North Reef, Double Island reefs and Sunshine Reef all reporting good fish. Using a live bait rig to get some live baits, like slimy mackerel or yakkas, has proved to be worthwhile as these baits seem to be getting inhaled as soon as they get to the bottom. Large strip baits have also been popular with mullet and hussar working well. Once we do see the snapper and pearl perch closure lifted, we usually see a good number of quality fish taken from or middle to close reef

popular way to target them is to use soft plastics, some of the most popular colours are nuclear chicken, coconut ice and bubble gum, these are all ZMan colours but similar can be found in other brands. Those that have larger craft have done the run to the outer reefs as there were plenty of offer, with some big amberjack, kingies, cobia and cod climbing on any live bait down close to the reefs. Knife jigs have been working well for those that love the work out. Jigging is a great way to get amongst the bigger fish without your bait being picked to pieces. Dropped to the bottom and ripped up at speed has seen plenty of monster fish leave the bottom in pursuit of these jigs. Another option is

Logan Dexter with a 75cm golden trevally. over the years. Another option is the Mezashi Casting jig from Mustad, these jigs come equipped with assist hooks on the front and trebles on the rear and come in a great range of colours and sizes. Mulloway are also about and love to feed on the tailor

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The Noosa River has been fishing well with some outstanding golden and giant trevally taken around the current line and the deeper sections of Woods Bays. Surface presentations like the Lucky Craft G Splash have been working well early morning and late afternoon. As the sun gets a little higher golden trevally have been taking well-presented smaller micro jigs. You may need to upgrade the assist hooks on your jigs to deal with the bigger fish. Live beach worms and freshly pumped yabbies fished on a light running sinker rig with a long fluorocarbon leader have accounted for some nice whiting along the banks of the dog beach. These elbow-slappers can also be attracted with a surface presentation like small poppers or surface walkers. Two of the most important tips when fishing surface for whiting is to use mono leader (as it floats and won’t upset the lure), and to work the lure consistently back to your feet, if you stop a lot of the time you will spook the fish. Quality flathead have been caught around the banks near the mouth of the Noosa on

Aiden Chadband with his mate Lleyton caught this 9kg coral trout at Murphy’s. the run-out tide. The Power Bait Nemesis plastics fished close to the bottom have claimed some quality lizards. Drifting whole fish baits, like frogmouth pilchards, on a small set of gangs has also been a productive method for targeting some nice sized fish. Winter mangrove jack have been making their presence known, live baits

don’t forget that photo for the brag wall! • 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!

Central

OLD

A prime month to fish BUNDABERG

Luke Truant

Over the past month, nearly every trip has been a blinder, with hardly any small fish. We have been struggling to catch smaller species like hussar, sweetlip or tuskfish. Instead, we’ve been almost exclusively

the biggest red emperor caught last month was 85cm (approximately 12kg). Livies have been doing nearly all the work, so if you want to catch big fish and you don’t have livies, you’re pretty much wasting your time. Only around 10% of our fish have been taken on dead baits, which were mostly butterflied yellowtail

A beautifully marked bar-cheek trout. catching coral trout, red emperor and cod. It’s unusual for the hussar to go off the chew at any time of year, but we’re not complaining when there are bigger A-grade fish on the chew! The average size trout over the past month has been 65cm, with hardly any under 60cm. We’ve also had coral trout over 80cm (around 7kg), and

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scad that were originally caught for live bait. Strip baits have been catching the odd fish here and there. When it comes to where the trout are biting, lately there has been no apparent rhyme or reason. At this time last year we were catching 95% of our trout in less than 23m of water, but over the past month or so we’ve been catching trout almost

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anywhere we’ve stopped. Even places that have never yielded trout for me before have been turning up good fish, even in water up to 55m deep in flat fern country! It seems that as long as you’ve got livies down, you’re in with a very good chance of catching trout. Another welcome catch has been the big nannygai (saddletail snapper), with a couple going 85cm+ caught in recent weeks. Our nannygai have all been taken in deeper water of 45m+ on ferny, flat country. Most of our red emperor have been taken in 33m+ of water in fairly flat country, and they’re definitely still suckers for live baits. Still, anyone who follows us on Facebook may have noticed we got a 10kg specimen recently on a strip bait in amongst the live baits, so you never know. You should always have a designated dead bait fisher on the boat, as the dead bait will release an enticing smell and get the pickers active, creating a commotion to attract the bigger fish. And who knows, it may even get snaffled by a hungry red fish. When fishing for red emperor, I recommend using fish heads for bait every now and then. Don’t worry about using the rest of the frame or having wings, just cut the spine off a couple of centimetres behind the head, and you’re good to go. Insert the hook up through the bottom lip and out through the top lip, leaving the whole hook exposed to get a solid hook-up. Remember that the head is hard so it won’t fold away like a soft bait would, which is why you need a fully exposed hook. The artificial reef off Bundy yielded some really good catches of snapper before the season closed on 15 July (it reopens on 15 August). The biggest fish was just shy of 10kg, which is a pretty big fish for 15m of water. Snapper like eating strip baits, especially in the shallow water. Mullet strips have been working particularly well lately. When targeting snapper in the shallows, you should fish as light as you’re confident with. If possible, go weightless or with a tiny sinker. Last year there were some good snapper caught on plastics as well. 7” Gulp Jerkshads in bright and light colours seem to be effective, possibly because you’re fishing at dusk and dawn for snapper, so the bright/light colours are more visible. The average size is around 50cm at the moment, which is a nice size fish. If you find yourself catching lots of tiny ones, you may

Some nice nannygai have been showing up in catches lately. need to increase the size of your baits. If you’re using large baits, you’ll catch more legal-size snapper (the minimum legal size in QLD is 35cm). As forecast last month, solid gold-spot cod have been going crazy for live baits. The average size would be around 10-12kg, caught as bycatch while targeting red emperor. In the river, some of the people targeting bream have been consistently getting 1.1kg+ specimens. A prime bait for big fish is mullet gut. AUGUST FISHING August is traditionally the best month of the year for weather. In the average August we’d get offshore at least two out of three days, and hopefully this year will be no different. Live baits are still definitely the go-to, and you should try to get them every trip. You should still be able to find the livies all through August. Generally speaking, August is what I’d consider to be the best red emperor month of the year. You have to wonder what we’re in for this time around, because the last few months have been so good! If you’re shore-based or if you’ve got a smaller boat, I recommend targeting the river mouths for flathead this month. This time of year is when they get really thick, and it’s common to catch them above 90cm. You can

get good results fishing the sand banks near the river mouth on the drop-offs. Ideally you want to fish half an hour either side of both tides. A fun way to fish for flatties is to flick plastics such as grub tails. I love 4” Gulp Jerkshads in nuclear chicken for flatties, rigged on fairly light jigheads around 1/8oz. It’s important to work your plastic slowly and make sure to intersperse pauses in your retrieve. The flatties will usually strike on the pause. For flicking plastics

you want a light, whippy graphite rod and a spin reel. I use 16lb fluoro leader onto 4kg braid. Flatty fishing is great fun for kids. They don’t have to cast far from the bank – just 2m can be enough. When my son was 4 years old he caught an 80cm flathead at my feet in a foot of water! Don’t be afraid to fish that shallow clear water, especially on a making tide. • Truansea Charters specialise in 10-hour day trips chasing prized reef targets such as coral trout

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August is a great time of year to target red emperor.

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 $350pp (or $330pp 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

Lots of winter favourites about MACKAY

Cameron Christian

August is typically snapper time around Mackay, however poor weather and above average rainfall through winter may hinder offshore anglers’ opportunities to get amongst them. There are plenty of other winter favourites however, like bream and flathead for

of snapper anglers will be heading out to catch the sunrise on cool calm days. Snapper can be found around structure like the rubble grounds, such as those around Hay Point, and rocky reefs like Danger Reef, Round Top and Flat Top islands. There are plenty of spots like these around Mackay – easily accessible from small tinnies on good weather. Anglers should check in

Matt Richardson with a Pioneer River lizard caught on a Berkley Pro Tech Twitcher. the estuary fisho and sooties and the odd barra for the freshwater freaks. When the weather does provide an opportunity to head offshore, plenty

with local tackle shops for the best spots as snapper progress through their migration. Good sounding equipment can be used to

find the structure holding the bait schools, snapper are usually found sitting underneath and caught by jigging through the schools. Golden trevally are typically found hanging with the snapper and provide great fighting by-catch, along with a great feed when looked after properly. Popular snapper baits include pillies, squid, large prawn and live herring or mullet. Mackerel belly flaps are also a great option, especially with plenty of exposed flashy skin. Popular lures include large soft plastics like swimbaits and grubs, soft vibes and metal jigs. Lures like these can be effectively jigged above the structure and around bait schools ensuring that plenty of weight is used when large currents are around. August is also still spawning time for pikey or black bream and this aggressive fish provides a great option in the creeks. Pikey bream can be caught on just about any bait but fresh baits can produce the best results. Sitting baits as close to dense structure as possible will almost always score a bream. Small divers, soft plastics, poppers and flies can also be cast or pitched tight into dense structure, like mangrove roots, canopies and rock bars throughout all the systems around Mackay. Fishing for bream can also lead to a variety of by-catch like archerfish, cod and tarpon, the odd barra and jack will also gladly tear apart bream gear helping to remind anglers 10lb line might not be the

best choice around Mackay. There are plenty of quality flathead in all the systems around Mackay, and August is a great time to target them. Flathead are typically found around flat areas like sand and mud flats and efforts should be focused on prominent features like gutters, drains, rocks and mangroves. When there is plenty of current around, look for clam edges and shallow flats protected from the current, which can help to find where the bait will school. Big flatties can be found picking off this bait while sitting in the shallowest of waters. When the tide turns these flatties are usually found off the flats and around the drains and gutters picking off the bait retreating with the tide. Baits, like fresh prawns, yabbies and strip baits as well as live mullet and herring can all produce great results. Lures are also definitely worth using and can be a better option than most anglers realise. Small divers and soft plastics can be rolled along bottom of flats and along structure. Soft plastics and vibes can also be hopped around or along the features mentioned above to entice ambushing flathead to strike. Keeping baits and lures small will help to pick up whiting, which commonly hang in the same areas as flathead during August. Focusing on the edges of rubble patches like those around the Pioneer River and Eimeo Creek can also pick up the odd grunter while targeting flathead. Sooties don’t mind

Callum Ewart with a nice sooty from the freshwater reaches of the Pioneer River caught using a Chasebaits Smuggler. the cold weather and can become very prolific during the winter months. Mackay systems are full of sooties and popular spots, including Dumbleton Weir, Marian Weir, Cattle Creek and of course Eungulla Dam. Surface lures can be a great option in some of these spots due to shallow water, dense structure and the need for land-based fishing. Surface lures, like poppers and shallow divers, can be slowly twitched and paused for up to 20-30 seconds to provoke this aggressive fish to smack a lure. A fast retrieve can also be a great option, especially when the sooties are clearly feeding on bait, bugs or other prey. With recent barra stocking into Platypus Beach by MAFSA, it will be well worth investigating

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Mark Gifford with a great snapper caught on a Berkley Skid jig.

the freshwater reaches of the Pioneer River during winter. There are plenty of sooties available during the cooler months and knowledge of this system leading into summer should result in some great local barra fishing opportunities. The cooler months are always hard for catching dam barra, however the odd barra can still be caught with persistence, alternatively many are usually caught during short bite times a lucky angler happens to find. Bite times can include the tops and bottoms of tides, moon rise and set as well as moon overhead and underfoot. Sunrise and sunset are also great bite times with sunset sometimes being more reliable during the winter months as it is the warmest part of the day. Fishing the warmer areas can sometimes be a profitable technique during winter, for example barra can often be found soaking up the sun on the shallow flats created by high weeds. Vibes, shallow divers, poppers and lightly weighted soft plastics can be worked over these areas remembering to vary retrieves to find what provokes a bite for that session. Plenty of barra can still be found in the deeper water around timber and weed edges during cool times. Jigging around dense trees or weed bommies can be a good method of targeting these barra. Live imaging shows that barra in these areas will almost always take a good look at a lure even during very cool times. Hence if barra can be seen hanging around on down imaging sounders, the odds are that they’re probably looking at your lure.

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OLD

Getting the perfect match TOWNSVILLE

Dave Hodge

With the cold snap that hit last month, the fishing has been a bit on the hard side – at least when it comes to catching decent-sized fish. There have been plenty of rats in that 50-55cm range, but bigger fish have been a bit scarce. The one constant at the moment is the larger fish are

been radioactive rooster and white. Rigging is simple – you want to add weight in the nose to reach the greater depths. We’ve been using a 1/4oz 5/0 Atomic Seeker EWG hook with a small ball sinker 0 to 1 size, tied onto the loop knot. It is important to put the ball sinker on the leader after the loop has been formed, and then enter the hook’s eye from the bottom. The reason for this is simple:

a killer. We usually rig them on Atomic Seekerz jigheads in 1/6oz or 1/4oz, with a 1/0 or 2/0 hook. There have been many times when a couple of hours of quiet fishing has been turned around by rigging the smaller lures described. Leaders too are downsized. Even though we get dusted every now and then, 20-25lb and a max of 30lb in Unitika or Dangan FC gets more bites for sure.

offerings and slower retrieves helping angers gain enough confidence to take the ‘risk’. These fishers have quickly realised what they’ve been missing out on. Lighter lines and smaller lures and jigs account for a very high percentage of fish caught on the reef these days, and the more people who take the plunge, the more they tell other anglers of their new found ‘secret’. Some truly big fish are taken every time the weather is good enough to get out a bit wider, and thinner braids of PE 3 and PE 4 and lighter fluoro leaders in the 40-50lb class are helping anglers hook many more fish than previously. Yes, you will get dusted every now and then, but even when using 80lb braid you’ll never stop them all. If this style of fishing interests you, the one thing I’d say is buy smart when setting up a combo. The average combo we sell at work is between around

When barra get to this size they need to be targeted using quality heads and hooks. This one was caught in 40ft+ of water and took a 4” Atomic Prong rigged on a 1/2oz, 4/0 Seekerz head. The fight was quick and the fish released well.

If you’re to take on jacks in the snags, hooks and plastic combinations need to be matched well. The 1/4oz head weight is just right to get the parts moving on the Prong when sinking. sitting down deep. Whether that has something to do with the increasing wind chill, with relentless breezes over 15 knots, I don’t know. The water was down to 18.4°C

it’s to stop the hook rolling over during the retrieve, which causes it to snag more readily. It’s a well-known fact that smaller lures work well

I don’t think enough people have confidence in their ability to extract jacks on this light a leader, but if you give it a go, I’m sure you’ll notice a big difference in your strike rate. Offshore, the more modern approach of using jigs, vibes and soft plastics for reef species has been increasing in popularity. Many YouTube channels have been demonstrating the benefits of going lighter, with smaller artificial

When these buggers are around it’s not hard to figure out what lure pattern is going to be firing.

Whether you’re eating them or live baiting with them, prawns are plentiful at present. the other day when we went to check out a creek we hadn’t been to for a while, and although we got three legal-sized barra, the rats were in higher numbers. If you’re a subscriber to our YouTube channel (Hodgie the Barefoot Fisherman), you’d see the colours that have been the most effective in the more dirty waters. In the Halco Paddle Prawns, bright orange and pink have been the main fish catching colours, while in the Atomic Prongs it’s 36

AUGUST 2022

for barra during the colder months, but many people don’t know that jacks respond even better to small presentations. One of our favourite rigs is the smaller 4” Paddle Prawn rigged on a weighted 2/0 weedless hook. Pink and orange for the dirty water is a go-to for us, and the raw prawn colour for clearer waters. The 3” Atomic Prong will seem way too small for most anglers chasing barra, but when the barra are feeding on jelly prawns, this little plastic is

Catching barra from a beach doesn’t require massive stopping power, and they can be allowed to run and tire. During winter when they’re eating jelly prawns, we generally fish the 3” Atomic Prong on 6lb braid and 20lb leader.

$600-$800, and this will get you a quality outfit that will last years if you look after it. Popular reels are the Shimano Ocea Jigger and Tranx, the Daiwa Lexa 300 and 400, the little Penn Fathom 8 and Abu Revo Beast for the abovementioned line classes. Plenty of smooth drag is important, and these reels have that. Rod-wise, the Samurai range is very popular, as is the Shimano Grapplers, Samaki Vanquish and the Daiwa Spartan. As is often the case, you’re better off sticking with well-known and reputable brands for this sort of thing. As mackerel time rolls around, the bait has been thick in the bay here, and plenty of doggies and greys have been taken on bait, trolled lures and cast slugs To page 37

OLD

Trade winds trade off HINCHINBROOK

Ian Moody info@ianmoodyfishing.com

The previous month was a good time for doing that boat refit or major project, as it would have made good use of the almost never-ending days southerly to southeasterly trade winds that seem to blow forever.

calmer travelling. Heading into the mangrove fringes is where a lot of smaller barra, jacks, bream and other estuary species will generally play ball during these colder conditions. A lot of the bigger barra will be a little pickier or generally feed in smaller windows of each tide. A very recent trip was quite hard going for the bigger fish when

work at any given time. Winter fingermark have been another highly targeted species we have been fishing for during these months as we get a lot of smaller, or neap tides this time of year. They can aggregate in very large numbers in deeper parts of the Hinchinbrook Channel. And with smaller running tides, they often hang on the one spot for longer. If

Dick Irving with 94cm of barra.

Winter golden snapper have been a highly targeted species and are fishing well.

Scorpions and other quality lures in this size will usually bring home the goods. Moving to land-based estuary fishing, right now is a great time to target bread-and-butter species like bream, flathead and whiting. Smaller lures work well on these fish, and by now keen lure chuckers are becoming more aware of the lure sizes, types and head weights most suited to this type of hunting. Water depth is going to be your biggest consideration, followed by hook gape and gauge. Stickbait-shaped plastics need less weight than the models with flapping and moving bits, which need water pressure on the drop

September, October so get in quick to get the best tides left. Gift vouchers can still be purchased if you’re looking for birthday gifts. You can email us at info@ ianmoodysportfishing. com or phone us on 0402 339 459.

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A lot of the bigger barra will be a little pickier or generally feed in smaller windows of each tide. or forward momentum to get them moving the way they’re designed to. Hook gape comes down to the size of the gob on the target species. A hook that’s too small will result in fewer positive hook-ups. Hook gauge will determine how much stopping pressure that can be put on a fish to land or stop it quicker in environments such as snags, reef and so forth. An example would be chasing grunter on a shoal or mudbank where the snags are just about non-existent. Here they can be targeted with lighter lines and smaller lures, and allowed to be tired out over a longer fight, so

extra strong hooks aren’t necessary if you have smart fighting tactics. In contrast, let’s take fingermark or jacks. Maximum pressure is needed to pull them up before they get home, as they’re nearly always found around structure. The wire’s gauge needs to be thick and tough enough to max the line leader line combination and get that fish out, otherwise what’s the point? Speaking of points, it’s important to pick a good, strong jighead, and if you can’t get the hook to stick you won’t have to worry about fighting any fish because you won’t hook many of

them. You’d be amazed how many fish suck in or bite down on a lure and realise instantly their mistake, trying to eject it. You want that hook point to pick up on the way out, giving you time to set that hook. All of this takes place in a fraction of a second, so if you have experienced plenty of missed strikes it may be time to start trying other heads. We use Atomic Seekerz, which are built on super-sharp Gamakatsu hooks. That’s it for this month. I hope this report has cleared up a few things if you’ve been having issues with hook-ups or catch rates. Cheers and good luck.

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From page 36

and slices. Berley is relied on by most angers chasing the smaller-sized doggies, but I’d avoid any fish flesh berley if you want to avoid the sharks. The pellet form of berley, which is hung in the basket at the back of the boat with some tuna oil, is the most commonly used berley in these parts. Unweighted pilchards allowed to waft around in that oil slick shouldn’t last too long before a mackerel gets involved. Trolling smaller profiled hard-bodied divers is also a failsafe for many anglers, and the Laser Pro 120, the 90mm/4m

we persisted all day on schools that were spread out and hugging the bottom for very little result. It was only when we had the wind drop out and a brilliant dirty water line develop, a good school of mullet push into it from off the flats on a start of an incoming tide which sparked a 20-minute surface bite. After plastics and live baits not providing much joy, it was smaller shallow diving hardbody lures which is what they wanted and resulted in 3 hook-ups during the 20 or so minutes. All of which were larger fish of 80cm and bigger. Pays to be very versatile this time of year, as one of any method of fishing for larger barra can

are great tucker on the dinner plate. Through August, Spanish mackerel will be in great numbers around areas like Eva Island and Cape Sandwich. If we can just get a few days of good weather, they should be there for the pickings. Look for birds diving in the distance to find bait schools where the Spanish will likely be feeding. Pretty simple techniques of trolling gar/deep diving lures or casting metal slices will likely work. • Still quite a few good dates for August,

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It has been a good time for me to catch up on a lot of maintenance and work on progress of the new vessel for offshore charters. She is coming along nicely and will be a real class act on the water. While the offshore fishing will be few and far between in July and August, inshore is probably the better place to concentrate on during these last two months. While it remains a southerly wind, Hinchinbrook can be fished and travelled quite easily if you know how to hug those mainland side coastal and channel areas for protection. You can also head into Missionary Bay using the headlands for

you have a bit of structure or a depression on the bottom in shallower water of, say 4-5m in depth, it pays to pull up 80m away and turn off your outboard and approach on a electric bow mount motor to avoid spooking them as much. They are foragers so can easily be shifted wider away from structure if they get spooked. Sinking stick baits, live greenback herring and small mullet have been working very well lately on fingermark. Some schools have been producing up to 55-60cm models, which

AUGUST 2022

OLD

Winds abate, fishing is great! CAIRNS

Dan Kaggelis dkaggelis@gmail.com

August is the coldest month of the year for the far north, but the good news is this is also the month where the southeast trade winds begin to let up. Whilst the winds came a little late this year, they certainly didn’t let up with solid 25-30 knot days pushing right through June and July. It will be good to see the back of them that’s for sure as they make for some tough fishing conditions. With the southeasters letting up it will mean the creeks will begin to return to some form of normalcy with clearer water and less wind chop. It will also be a lot easier to be throwing lures. The other good news is the daytime tides

Fishing the smaller offshoot creeks will be the best for jacks.

Barra will be a little slow but vibe lures or live bait will still get a bite.

will also begin to get bigger. This will trigger an increase in feeding behaviour during the daytime as more run equals more fun. The fish that will be loving these conditions is the mangrove jack. Jacks tend to wake up a bit earlier than the other warm water fish due to their aggressive nature. The best place to snag the bigger trophy jacks will be at the top end of the Trinity Inlet. The smaller creek systems towards the top of the system will be a better option than the more exposed wider areas. Fish these smaller offshoots on the run-out tide and you will encounter some good jacks. It’s not uncommon to run into fish up and over the 50cm size, so make sure you are fishing reasonably heavy. 20-30lb braid and 40lb leader are good sizes for this type of fishing, especially in these tight

Sandy flats are found around the mouths of the creeks in the NFZ, and the flathead this time of year are plentiful. creeks where the fish don’t have far to run to find cover. Other systems like the Barron River, Thomatis Creek and Moon Creek will also be likely jack spots but you will need to work for them. Barra will still be a little sleepy and will most likely respond better to live baits than lures. If you are keen to lure up a few then vibes are definitely your best bet. In fact, vibes are a good option for all fish during August. The other fish that will be out hunting the flats will be the humble flathead. Find

any patch of sand and you are in flathead country. Once again small vibes hopped off the bottom will provide the perfect imitation bait to snare these fish. August usually sees the last run of the mud crab, and it is still worth dropping in a few pots whilst having a fish. Next month the sun will be shining, water temperatures will begin to build and the wind should begin to die off. This is the start of the best fishing in the Trinity Net Free Zone so if you are heading up this way don’t forget to drop in and wet a line.

Mid year muddle PORT DOUGLAS

Lynton Heffer www.fishingportdouglas.com.au

Over recent times the Douglas Region in the Far North has seen a decent number of people visit the area, but unfortunately with limited opportunity to explore the wide expanses of our fishing opportunities. The locals have also fallen victim to circumstances and it has been directly attributed to the relentless winter southeasterly trade winds pushing bullets of strong wind and rain along the coastline. Not only does it affect the fishing offshore, it eventually takes its toll on the inshore fishery as well, with dirty water and chilling 38

AUGUST 2022

water temperatures for the tropics. The upside is that once the weather pattern stabilises for the better, it will be back to the good old times. On the reef there hasn’t been the continuity to establish its real potential for this time of year. The rare days spent out there have been under duress, even for the bigger vessels. Coral trout and bread and butter species such as sweetlip, trevally and stripies have made up the main bulk of fish caught – even when forced to fish the more shallow and protected grounds there’s always something to be caught on the GBR. Nevertheless, the word around the traps is that the likes of nannygai, red emperor and Spanish mackerel will reignite everything back into the

groove very soon. Those that have spent enough time up here agree it has been one of the longest extended bouts of bad weather, but it simply can’t last. For the smaller boat brigade they’ve literally had no choice but fish the inshore calmer systems. It was fishing quite well with the odd barra being caught, a solid run of golden trevally around, and some great 1m queenfish entering the bigger river systems, like the Daintree. As the days grew colder and associated with a brisk breeze, this did taper off somewhat. It has for a period been resorting back to targeting bream, dart and grunter to turn a reel. However a turn in the weather for the better, just like offshore, it will soon turn around and restore the fishing back into the black.

Due to the strong winds, anglers have stuck to the inshore calmer systems for species like golden trevally. Looking ahead we just have to ride out the storm, so to speak, because we know the period coming

up will ultimately let rip, given the opportunity. Forward bookings remain very high and we just hope

we can value add any fishing trip with some great angling in a magical part of Australia.

OLD

Jurassic encounters COOKTOWN

Justin Coventry

With the cold snap hitting Australia over the last month, the north has seen temperatures drop

biting is a bonus when temperatures are cool to say the least. As always the way, try smaller lures and if you capture one keep trying to see if that bigger one is down there waiting for the right moment to strike.

There is lots of fun to be had, as the rivers continue to flow and the weather starts to warm up it should produce some great sessions in the coming months. The cold weather has

Despite the drop in temperature, there are still good captures of barramundi available. up residence. More and more large crocodiles are showing up around the area. One fishing trip with the kids in the tidal area

of a river, I could see the evidence of large croc tracks underwater – it was very shallow at the time and you could see the tail

been fishing well with some nice mangrove jack caught, when the bait has been showing up – bait means predators are nearby.

Often a snag in the river at the right spot has a number of barramundi on it, with the small ones racing out to attack the lure first.

Winter fishing can be great. considerably, which can make the fishing hard. However, there have been some interesting sessions with some great captures of quality barramundi. The rain seems to continue, and the rivers are all flowing well, which has the advantage that the fish can still move around from hole to hole and they feed as they do so. Their numbers have been impressive although their size has been quite small. The bigger fish seem to be laying low. Often a snag in the river at the right spot has a number of barramundi on it, with the small ones racing out to attack the lure first, but constant capture after capture the bigger fish show interest. It’s been a case of getting through the small ones before getting the fish you’re after. Nevertheless, having fish

seen the local crocodiles spend lots of time out of the water sunbaking as much as possible, so sightings have increased. It’s scary thinking that these creatures are in the waterways normally but not seen. It brings me to the important consideration that all fishers here should live by, and if they want to keep living by, is that there should always be the assumption that there could be large crocs close by when you are fishing. The famous croc bend here in the Annan River has seen another large specimen over 4m take

The author with another great barra from the snags.

The cold weather has seen the local crocodiles spend lots of time sunbaking on the shore.

marks through the debris on the bottom. The size of it reminded me of a dinosaur trail and it would have been easily a 5m croc. Nervously I went along fishing and luring but it was always on my mind that that I was sharing this area with a potential beast that could see me as a food source. But it does show that if it wasn’t for the sign of this beasts’ presence that I might have dismissed the possibility and let my guard down. It’s a reminder to be vigilant and better to be cautious. I always say that if there are barramundi there, then there is a likely possibility that crocodiles are there too. Large specimens inhabit our waterways and they are territorial, so numbers are increasing, and their range is expanding, so be aware. The local wharf has

Mackerel should start to show up soon, along with the queenfish and trevally, so options are plenty at the wharf and well worth a fish. Live bait is the key and the running out tide seems to be the best at the moment. Luring the rock wall can produce some nice fish and vibing around the pontoons can produce a bit from any barramundi lurking under them. The winds have been strong, and the winter southeasterlies seems to blow day and night. The reef options seem almost a distant memory but the day will come when the wind drops. Having the boat and gear ready is important so that when it does, you don’t miss out. Maintenance and servicing your boat is a great option now and then it’s all ‘go’ once the wind drops. AUGUST 2022

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Kane Fairchild with a nice trevally from his kayak.

AUGUST 2022

OLD

Winter in the Cape CAPE YORK

Tim O’Reilly wildrivercompany@gmail.com

By now the cool chill of winter will have well and truly gripped Cape York. Clear skies, chilly mornings and balmy days will be typical and

water, with a long and late wet season. Generally, this is a great thing for the fishing throughout winter and into spring. Let’s take a look at some winter feasts available up in Cape York, available to those with a car or boat. This is usually a time of quite predictable

what you are going to get. A lack of rain this time of year and clear starry nights are real features of staying on the road. Camping with friends and family and eating what you catch can make very special memories. Collecting mud crabs either by wading, walking mangroves or in crab pots is an enjoyable process. Winter certainly isn’t prime time for crabbing in most areas, however with a little effort, a feed can normally be procured. Fresh bait and regular checking, particularly after tide changes, will aid success. With clearer water during neap tides, crabs can at times be spotted walking the flats and shuffling with the tide. It is amazing how tasty a mud crab is when fresh cooked in the coals,

Many of Cape York’s creeks and rivers still hold running water, which is a great thing for fishing throughout winter and into spring.

Even though now is not the prime time for crabbing, there are still a few about. it is a fantastic time for travellers. Many of Cape York’s creeks and rivers will still hold running

tides, winds and weather patterns. Trips can be planned with a little more certainty, having a fair idea

The author with his fishing buddy, Izz, and a great looking queenie.

Clear skies, chilly mornings and balmy days means a fantastic day on the water. 42

AUGUST 2022

and the shell is easier to crack. Firstly though, either stab the underside of the crab with a knife to kill it or dunk it in ice water momentarily; this will make the process more humane and prevent them throwing claws in the fire. Crayfish are quite prolific at this time of year up much of the East Coast and into the Torres Strait. You don’t have to be an incredible diver to be able to spear a crayfish. Composure is needed underwater and having an appropriate weight belt helps enormously when grovelling around reef and rocks for crays. Right along the Barrier Reef coastline, both green and ornate crays will inhabit inshore reefs, coming

back to the same rocks and cracks year after year. Travellers love a feed of free oysters. Some of the more remote beaches, headlands and shallow rocky reef can hold both smaller milky oysters and the much larger black-lipped oysters. All that’s needed is some decent shoes, a flat blade screwdriver and any old rock to tap it with. Oysters are always best eaten straight off the rock during the cooler part of the day, with cooler saltwater lapping at the shell making for a more refreshing experience. Anyone with a scrap of bait or small soft plastics and a spinning rod can usually catch a stripey or a bluebone from shallow rocks or headlands around the Cape. These fish are fantastic gutted and scaled and cooked whole over fire. Most reef species with smaller minimum size limits are great when cooked like this, especially when fresh and complemented with some scented leaves or fresh herbs in the cooking process. Even a cast netted mullet or whiting can be turned into a fantastic feed if treated delicately. Lastly, smaller queenfish and trevally, which are available along most Cape beaches are a brilliant source of protein, either filled and fried up fresh or cut into thin strips and cold cooked as numus, in vinegar and citrus juice. Just add pepper, chilly, some sugar and diced onion for a flavour explosion! You don’t always need the postcard high-ticket items to put a great feed together on the road in Cape York!

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Women in Recreational Women in recreational Fishing Network fishing network

The Women in Recreational Fishing Network Qld Facebook group is a safe space for women who love to wet a line or are keen to grow their fishing knowledge. The network has been established as a place for women to pick up handy fishing tips, share and trawl through impressive catch pics, and hook into leadership opportunities and events for women in fishing. While the group is primarily for women living in Queensland, you are welcome to join the discussion if you’re from another part of the world too. Search Facebook for ‘Women in Recreational Fishing Network Qld’ to find out more.

Murray cod

Mary River cod

Murray cod are a no-take species from 1 August to 31 October in all Queensland waters in the Murray–Darling Drainage Division.

Mary River cod are a nationally listed endangered species in the wild and may only be taken in certain stocked dams or weirs outside of the Mary River catchment. A possession limit of one and a minimum size of 60 cm applies.

This closed season protects Murray cod during their breeding season in the northern Murray–Darling Basin. It is also illegal to deliberately target Murray cod for catch and release during the closure, as the stress of capture may prevent fish from spawning or protecting their nest. Murray cod caught accidentally must be immediately returned to the water unharmed. Murray cod can be taken in Beardmore, Connolly, Cooby, Coolmunda, Glenlyon, Leslie and Storm King dams during the closure.

To further protect the Mary River cod population during breeding, you must not possess or use a fishing line from 1 August to 31 October at the following locations: • Albert River (upstream from the junction of Canungra Creek and Albert River –includes Canungra Creek) • Christmas Creek • Coomera River (upstream from the junction of Guanaba Creek and Coomera River – includes Guanaba Creek) • Mary River and adjoining waterways (upstream of its junction with Six Mile Creek at the creek’s northern bank, other than waters up to the full supply level of Baroon Pocket Dam, Borumba Dam and Lake MacDonald) • Running Creek Stanley River (above Neurum Creek and Stanley River junction).

Murray cod Search fisheries.qld.gov.au for ‘closed seasons’ or ‘closed waters’ to find out more. Head to qld.gov.au and search ‘SIPS’ to purchase your permit to fish in Queensland’s Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme dams and weirs.

Mary River cod

Download the free ‘Qld Fishing 2.0’ app from the App Store or Google Play DAF1716 08/2022

Fad-tastic time to switch fish Snapper (also known as ‘pink snapper’ or ‘squire’) and pearl perch are no-take species from 15 July until 15 August. The closure of snapper and pearl perch stocks applies to all fishers (commercial, charter and recreational). It protects snapper during spawning and helps rebuild stocks. The closure also provides temporary protection for pearl perch stocks, which are often caught with snapper. There are lots of other great fish to target during the closure. Mahi mahi are one of the most common fish found around the fish attracting devices (FADs) installed off South East Queensland, along with other pelagic fish such as cobia and amberjack. Search qld.gov.au for ‘FADs’ to find out where they are and how to fish them.

An alluring day out The Queensland Government is pleased to support the Australian Lure, Fly and Outdoors Expo on 30 July 2022. Described as a celebration of Australian lures, lure making, fly tying, boating and outdoor gear, the expo is a great place to spend your Saturday. The expo features Australian-made lures, lure collectors, fly tyers, cottage lure makers and commercial lure makers and is considered the biggest gathering of Australian lures and flies under one roof. Australian Lure, Fly and Outdoors Expo 9 am to 3 pm, Saturday 30 July 2022 Fernvale Show Grounds 32 Banks Creek Road Fernvale Qld 4306 Visit lureshow.com.au for more information.

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Get ready, it’s about to start! TOOWOOMBA

Jason Ehrlich fishability1@bigpond.com

It’s been pretty quiet fishing on a lot of the freshwater lakes over the past six months. The tough fishing can be attributed to the flooding events earlier in the year and the cold winter months. While the dams may have been hard work, you can expect things to improve this month. If there’s no more big rain, the bass fishing should be back to its best. The slight hint of warming from longer days and the urge to spawn will see the lakes fire up and they can go from painfully slow to insane in the course of a day or two. Late August is my favourite bass fishing time and the bite will continue right through

September. The trapped bass in the dams get all excited about a breeding event that can never take place without brackish water. The females will fill with eggs and put on a lot of condition making them big, fat and hungry. The bite will be different across the lakes and may even differ from previous years on waterways, which are usually quite easy to work out. The water colour will play a role when making lure choices but so too will the current source of bait species. With the rises in levels and constant inflows over previous months, bait species thrive and breeds up in big numbers in the nutrient rich waters. Matching lures to the size of the bait can really pay off. On the Murray cod scene, the closed season kicks in from the 1 August and

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND CRESSBROOK CLOSEST TOWN: CROWS NEST Cressbrook Dam is looking great after filling. It was closed for a period at the start of July but should be open this month. The closure was only due to the water trickling over the dam wall and the council took immediate action. A small fish kill took place back in June and it took some of the lakes biggest bass and bony bream. I had great fears after hearing this as the numbers of big fish aren’t that high in comparison to other lakes. Luckily, some good catches have been made since and deeper schooling fish are quite active and looking very healthy. With a lot more water

to explore, the bass are now even harder to find. When they bunch up in tight schools it leaves a lot of barren water between the fish. It is great once you work out the lake and where the fish are most likely to be. Search the major lake points and look for fish in deeper water over 8m deep. Spoons are probably going to be the best option on the deeper fish. Once you are out in this depth, there is little in the way of dead grasses and weed to foul up your lure. If they are sitting shallower, keep this dead vegetation in mind and avoid the lure touching the bottom too often. There will still be a few bass and golden perch around the edges and these fish can be caught on suspending hard bodies and jerk baits. It is

will extend to 31 October. In Queensland waters, you can’t target them in the rivers and creeks. There is a list of stocked lakes where you can continue to cod fish over the closed season on the QLD DAF website. The breeding fish can start to get harder to target. Nesting activity will soon be in full swing and when they guard the nest they won’t take lures and should be left alone. I take a portion of the available fish out of the game. You would think this would make things a lot harder but either side of breeding, cod get very hungry and can be found in certain areas in good numbers. Golden perch and barra will be a bit quieter and will take another month or two to fire up. They need the warmer water to get their cold bodies out of their

lethargic state. You can still catch them in the cold months but make sure you pick the nicer weather where the days are warm with little in the way of wind and weather pattern changes. I have had a big rest from most freshwater fishing this year with only a fraction of the trips I would usually do. I think August will change that and I’ll be back on the water most weeks to enjoy the start of the great fishing we are about to experience. If you are prepared to travel, there’s always somewhere the fish just want to chew their heads off and a fish a cast is my style of fishing. I don’t mind working to find them and suss them out but once I’ve found them, I like to whack them. Until next month, buckled rods from the Colonel.

likely this shallow area was the section of lake affected during the fish kill but new fish will have moved back in to the area now. Early morning and late afternoons are the best times to chase fish up in the shallows but you will get a few right through the day. The new Halco TB55 suspender was working well for us at Cressy during its testing stage. I just need to get back out there and try it again. Golden perch numbers seem to be better than in previous years with a lot of smaller fish turning up. They will get more active as it warms up but expect to see the odd one mixed in with the bass. The goldens have been holding in pretty good numbers at the top of the dam where the water runs in from Crows Nest Creek and Perseverance Dam.

• Fish’n’Bits in Toowoomba has all the gear and tips on how to chase the Cressy fish. They are an excellent store specialising in all freshwater lures and tackle. The dam is on winter hours so the gates will be open from 7am to 6pm. SOMERSET CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY Somerset has been fishing tough for months now due to the dirty water. It’s not abnormal for the fishing to steady up over winter even in the good years but the bass are set to fire up late this month. It is often the first run of unseasonal warmer weather that fires things up. The bass will school in big numbers around the dam and we can take advantage of this by being ready for them when the switch flicks and they start chewing. I really hope the lake clears more before they start to feed. Often spoons and soft plastics are the preferred offerings at this time of year. Poorer visibility will really make things interesting, as it will change the way they hunt for food and maybe we will need to rethink our lure choices and presentation styles. Even the depth at which they hold could change. The deeper fish we see down the bottom end of the lake may sit a lot shallower this year. When you are searching (and you will need to do a lot of this) take note of your sounder and study where all the life is. The isothermal, winter water allows fish and bait to move right through the water column and it isn’t uncommon to catch fish at 20m deep. I have a feeling we will see less of this and fish will be shallowed this year but only time will tell and water clarity will have a lot to do with it. The top end

Don’t be afraid to fish very shallow early in the mornings. This bass was caught less than a metre below the surface on a suspending jerkbait. 46

AUGUST 2022

Luke Sticklen braved the cold to fool some Maroon bass on suspending jerkbaits. of the lake is where most of the bigger bass are likely to school up. The flats around Kirkleigh and up into the timber along the Stanley River will be the places to search. This end of the lake is the first to dirty if we have any more rain events. A change of approach could pay off if this happens. While you won’t pull the same numbers, spinnerbaiting the edges north of Kirkleigh could produce some giants if the water is discoloured. • Somerset Fishing has their store based at the area above the day use boat ramp. The store is open over holidays and otherwise from Thursday to Sunday. Orders can also be made online via the website www. somersetfishing.com.au. They have an excellent range of gear suited to fishing for bass and golden perch. MAROON CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH, RATHDOWNEY It’s a great month to play around with different techniques at Maroon. Surface fishing will be a bit steady but other styles of fishing will be great. The shallows will produce some quality bass but you will need to experiment. Soft plastics and suspending jerkbaits are likely to be the most effective. You could dress up your soft plastics with a beetle spin blade but I think it is still a little too early to go for the full reaction style presentation of a spinnerbait or chatterbait. In the deeper water, bass will start to school. A lot of smaller fish will be holding in these schools but bigger ones can be nearby. Fishing shallow edges on the perimeter of the schools can produce some of the better quality fish. To extract a few

straight from the schools try spoons and soft plastics. It is breeding time of year so you never know what will turn up and there may be some quality ones among them. • The lads at Charltons Fishing at Redbank are all over the fish activity at Maroon and Moogerah. Call in and grab your supplies and hit them up for tips on where the fish are biting. MOOGERAH CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH, ARATULA Moogerah has fished quite well over the past month. Bass have been chewing in the shallower water up the back of the dam. Searching the flats either side of the main creek bed should reveal their location and once found they are suckers for hopped blades and Jackall Mask Vibes. Fishing pressure can shut the school down so if you are able to rotate between schools and rest them, you should get better numbers of fish. At times there have been good numbers of bass holding right up the back of the dam in the clearer creek water but these fish will probably have moved out into the more open waters. The breeding urge will see the fish move around quite a bit until they find spots to bunch up together. Based on the fact they were still shallow last month, I’d be searching 4-7m of water trying to find the best concentrations. The fish may work their way from the back of the dam and onto the timbered flats so be prepared to put in the time searching. Soft plastics and spoons will also be worth a try.

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excellent numbers last month with a lot of the action close to the boat ramp, in front of the sailing club. We have had some super cold days and surely they will have slowed the action down for August. It will still be worth a troll but be prepared to

hop blades and cast lipless crankbaits as well. These lures can be worked much more slowly to suit the mood of the fish. Bait fishing with live shrimp and saltwater yabbies will also continue to produce. LESLIE CLOSEST TOWN: WARWICK The golden perch and

winter. As it gets brighter, switch to deeper diving jerkbaits and keep them tight to the weed edges with longer pauses. Out in the deeper water from the boat ramp to where the arms meet together, the bass have been schooling for some time. These fish have been tight lipped but be ready for the switch to flick this month. When they decide to chew you can nail ridiculous numbers by using spoons and soft plastics. The G2 Gang Banger and 20g Halco Twisty are the perfect offerings on this

lake. Small fish will be mixed in with bigger ones out in the deeper parts. Sound around to find the best concentrations of fish and be aware they may move about throughout the day. Keep searching when things go quiet if you want to notch up a big score. • A trip to Bundaberg Tackle World is a good move if you are heading to this lake. The store has an excellent range of bass lures and some of the staff specialise in catching them. Due to its location, they carry a huge range suited to impoundment fishing, rivers, creeks and offshore.

DARLING DOWNS AND GRANITE BELT COOBY CLOSEST TOWNS: HIGHFIELDS, TOOWOOMBA The golden perch have been very surprising this winter. They just don’t want to stop chewing deeper trolled lures. Lures that dive around 4-6m accounted for BURNETT REGION GREGORY CLOSEST TOWNS: CHILDERS, BUNDABERG This is a great little lake to fish and a touch warmer than the southern bass lakes. The bass can be caught up around the weed beds throughout the day. Starting and finishing with shallow jerkbaits in the low light hours is a fun way to pull them from on top of the broken weed beds which haven’t yet reached the surface. Topwater lures should also produce a few bites even though it is

cod activity slowed down last month. The dam will still be worth a fish to target a big winter cod before breeding season gets into full swing. The big cod should now be up shallow and roaming the flats in the mornings. Multiple fish can be found in an area as they search and compete for

nesting sites. Big swimbaits, like the Jackall Gigantarel, are perfect for exploring the flats early in the morning. The bite will be as good as over by mid-morning so have some lighter tackle suited to golden perch. These fish will now take jigged ZX40 blades in darker colours. Other lure fishing

methods will be very slow but bait fishing should produce a few. • The local tackle blokes who work at Warwick Outdoor and Sport in Palmerin Street, Warwick, phone (07) 4661 3533 can point in you in the right direction and hook you up with the good gear and bait to catch the fish at Leslie.

FISHING NEWS

Pro fisher caught out The Qld Government has vowed to come down hard on rogue fishers who think they can flout the rules. Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said the State Budget committed a further $28.1 million over three years to the ongoing 10-year Sustainable

right thing, but when people take fish illegally it is a slap in the face to every fisher who is doing the right thing,” he said. “We will keep the pressure on through enforcement measures and the great work of the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol, and we will never go soft on illegal fishers.” Last month a commercial fisher was fined $25,000,

night with white light at each end; using set mesh nets in foreshore waters while using mesh nets in a river or creek; using a net across more than half the width of a waterway; using set mesh nets in a river or creek with an excess length; using an excessive number of set mesh nets; failing to immediately release

The sunsets are worth fishing at this time of year just for the view. Krautzy managed to nail a late arvo bass around the Isis Balancing Storage weed beds.

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“ Right on Awoonga’s doorstep. All set up for fishos, with tranquil surroundings. “ Fisheries Reforms. “We want a sustainable commercial fishing industry in this State, and we want a sustainable recreational fishing industry as well,” Mr Furner said. “These reforms are all about maintaining the stocks of fish that belong to all Queenslanders.” Mr Furner said illegal and black-market fishers were a direct attack on fish stocks and the wider fishing community. “Most fishers do the

forced to forfeit 16 fishing nets, and lost his licence for almost 10 months after pleading guilty to a range of charges in Normanton Magistrates Court. The Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol (QBFP) brought 28 charges against the fisher relating to fishing breaches they detected in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria. The species being targeted included barramundi and king threadfin salmon. Breaches included: failing to mark set mesh nets used at

a mud crab; and failing to ensure that everyone acting under the authority was complying with Fisheries laws. Mr Furner said all fishers need to be aware of the laws, and comply with them. For information on Queensland’s fishing regulations, visit www. fisheries.qld.gov.au, call 13 25 23 or download the ‘Qld Fishing’ app from Apple and Google app stores. – QLD DPI

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Kayaking

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The lazy fisho’s guide to paddling paradise BRISBANE

Troy Brown

The day I first sat on a kayak, I was the epitome of that ‘kid in the candy shop’. Anything fishing related was bound to be enjoyable, but the challenge of fishing from a kayak for the first time, while also switching from bait to lures, really got my heart racing. I started my journey with high expectations, many hours of research and a brand new kayak. Sadly, expectations are sometimes unmatched by reality. It seems watching Youtube and re-runs of my favourite fishing shows, didn’t prepare me for such a dramatic change of fishing style. I realised quickly that being a good ‘bait soaker’, didn’t translate to being a decent lure fisho. After eight trips (yes, I was counting) without a single fish landed, I was ready to sell the kayak and burn all of the shiny lures I’d purchased. Quite simply, I was broken. I didn’t understand at the

The lazy fisho technique is not a cure-all for confidence, but it is a great hack to reduce some of the symptoms of impatience. attempting to learn advanced methods from the best lure anglers on the planet, research the behaviours of specific species and still catch the dreaded donut. In the moment, you think you’re doing everything right, but an experienced observer can pick the signs of a frustrated fisher. If you’ve watched a fellow kayaker winding

The great thing about fishing with nice people is that you enjoy their successes nearly as much as they do. time, but I wasn’t missing a secret technique, throwing the wrong lures, or just plain unlucky. The missing ingredient was the one thing you cannot buy or learn, but which was also being sapped after each unsuccessful trip, confidence. Without confidence, everything you think you know is worthless. Without it, your technique will always break down when under pressure. Having been a victim of the mojo monster, I can recognise the symptoms displayed by struggling anglers, but I’m still the worst at self-diagnosing when I’m afflicted with a confidence collapse. Why is confidence so important? You can watch hours of fishing videos, 48

AUGUST 2022

a little too fast, retrieving the lure after it’s been in the strike zone for only moments, or casting to all the wrong places, you’re not necessarily looking at a poor fisho. What you’re more likely seeing, is someone whose lack of confidence is degrading their ability to trust their own skill. As part of my own struggles, I developed a technique to help break the confidence drought. It’s based on advice that broke my run of donuts, when I first started fishing with lures. It was a simple statement from Patrick Coldwell, who told me I should stop trying to emulate the techniques I’d researched and simply fish my lures ‘like bait’. It

seemed stupid at the time, as my logical self was a continuous highlight reel of TV anglers working their fishing gear like they were in a fight to the death, with rapid lifts and aggressive strikes. The idea of fishing a lure like bait made no sense, as lures surely needed a great deal of interaction to appear life-like? I sat for a while, before I finally worked it out. I think that day, I caught around 10 fish with roughly 20 casts. I was so excited, I abandoned the rest of the day to proudly share my excitement with my wife. That day taught me a few things. Firstly, doing nothing can work, as often just the movement of a lure in the current can entice a strike. Secondly, there is a ‘sweet spot’ between doing nothing and doing a lot, at which you’re far more likely to catch fish. I later discovered the third part of the equation, which is that with certain species, or under certain circumstances, doing a LOT can be better, as fishing isn’t a one-size-fits-all scenario. The fourth and final part of the story is you often need to change this technique mid-trip, as fish behaviour can change in the matter of a few casts. Knowledge of the need to alter your technique is a fundamental part of success, but like many others, I can

they want to emulate the success of the fishers on their favourite fishing show, becoming despondent if fish aren’t instantly leaping into their kayak. They’re not aware that a half hour of footage may involve three days of filming, or the fact some of these shows are shot in pristine fishing locations we simply cannot access. Dispirited after 2-3 casts without a strike and not having the confidence you only achieve with years on the water, it’s no surprise their technique becomes a hot mess of poorly weighted casts and staccato retrieves. When I find my own confidence waning, I invariably find myself

to even worse performance, I developed my own ‘lazy fisho’ technique. I joke about this being a patented method, as it really can be a game-changer for new or struggling lure fishers. Using the ‘fish it like bait’ advice that broke my original donut streak, when my mojo is shattered, I resort to doing nothing. Nothing is a slight exaggeration, as you need to get the lure into the water to catch fish, but once it’s in the wet stuff I literally let go of everything I know and let the lure do its work. It’s a reset switch of sorts, as it’s hard to cast into the wrong spot, retrieve too fast, or strike too aggressively, when the rod is firmly planted into the rod

Everyone can get caught in a rut using the same method or lure, despite the absence of success. So mix things up and you’ll find results. caught in a rut of using the same method or lure, despite the absence of success. Confident anglers don’t make that mistake often, as they’re not afraid to deviate from their favourite technique, or from what they think they know about fishing. If something’s not working, they’ll cycle through their entire arsenal of lures, retrieves and locations, as they have faith they’ll find the fish. New anglers lose confidence quickly, as

doing all the things I advise others against, as my impatience overcomes logic. It often takes too long to realise my mistakes and I frequently kick myself, as the realisation typically happens as I’m loading my kayak for the return to home. It’s frustrating when success doesn’t come, but even more so when you realise your mistakes after the fact. To combat those confidence sapping days, which only lead

A few good captures can restore any angler’s confidence.

holder on my kayak. Golfers talk of letting their clubs do the work, but it is even more true for someone using the lazy fisho technique, as you’re fishing completely hands free, at least until that rod loads up! This doesn’t work with a hardbody, or at least often enough to try, but it’s ideal when drifting a soft plastic. By dropping a lure down until it hits the bottom, allowing enough line to be well clear of your kayak, yet gently lifted and dropped by swell, you are mimicking the slow retrieve, lift and stall of a patient angler. Once that first fish strikes, your confidence in a more patient fishing style is quickly restored, allowing you to find the best rhythm to restore your damaged self-assurance. Mojo is a real thing and it occasionally needs some restorative work! The lazy fisho technique is not a cure-all for confidence, but it is a great hack to reduce some of the symptoms of impatience felt by those with broken

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mojo. You simply cannot do anything wrong, when you’re doing nothing at all. If you catch a fish, which trust me you will, then it’s a bonus. If you don’t, as you didn’t try, you didn’t fail. It’s a win-win! Suffering from lack of time on the water over the past months, most of which was a few moments snatched at inopportune times after heavy rainfall, my mojo has been horribly scarred. The insignificant time I had spent fishing was wasted with poorly designed prototypes,

battling flooded waterways, which looked like Willy Wonka’s chocolate river, or simply fishing like a total numpty. The rot had truly set in, and my confidence was broken, nearly as badly as my ego was bruised. Luckily, I had an invitation from fellow members of the Qld Hobie Crew, Ray Hawes and Maz Watters. If I had customordered a duo to set me straight, I don’t think I could have done better than this pair. Ray is a true Mr Consistent, who can score

a bag of species nearly every time he hits the water. It’s done without fuss and fanfare, while he also enjoys some friendly banter over the radio and when the yaks are drifting nearby. Maz is one of the most relaxed and welcoming people I’ve met, always ready with a smile and optimism that can lift even the most mangled mojo. On top of that, she’s also a pretty impressive fisho! Hitting the water with this pair (I was, as usual, late to the party), it’s impossible to dwell on your fishing woes.

Sometimes just doing ‘nothing’ can reset an angler’s ‘fishing mojo’, which can result in excellent captures.

Herein lies my second cure for your confidence curse; fish with enthusiastic and friendly people, as their attitude is infectious. Kayak fishing is an awesome adventure, but it’s made far more enjoyable with the company of great people. Kayaks make socialising on the water far more accessible, as you’ll rarely find a fellow kayaker who doesn’t welcome a chat. Why wouldn’t you, as there’s no noisy motor or anchor to scare the fish, so you can stay on that hot bite while having a chin-wag. Despite being more relaxed than I’d been for months, I still had a realisation that I needed to catch some fish., It’s quite difficult to write about kayak fishing, if you don’t actually catch anything. Oddly enough, I really didn’t try at all, but I quickly hit double figures and then lost count before the day was finally called and we went home. My best for the day was a solid trevally on ultralite bream gear, which gave my drag a solid workout before eventually submitting to my net. At 54cm, it was a solid specimen and incredible fun, but frankly I enjoyed catching under-sized bream almost as much. Mojo, you are officially restored! Ray and Maz were quietly amassing a cricket score of

Kayaking

A chilled out day on the water can produce good results. fish, with a number of solid trevally among a swag of species. I knew Ray was catching at a ridiculous rate, as his excited voice regularly sounded from the UHF radio. The great thing about fishing with nice people, is that you enjoy their successes nearly as much as they do. Another key to fixing your confidence, is finding the fish. It’s not an easy feat, as even the best fishers have bad days. Just ask Steve Morgan, who’s not only the driving force of Fishing Monthly, but a genuine giant on the competitive fishing circuit. Steve, your fishing lessons are amazing, but your honesty on the tough

days is inspiring. Luckily, not only did I have the company of some excellent people, Ray let me sample his dirty little ‘go to’ spot, which is a location he’ll hit when he absolutely wants to ensure a decent catch. I’m a little torn, as on one hand, FM want me to write about kayaking locations. I’m a bit of a rebel, albeit not the James Dean type, plus I don’t want to upset a mate by disclosing his favourite fishing spot. Should I tell people to launch at Paradise Point, honouring that commitment to the magazine, or perhaps just stay off topic and talk about mojo? Geez, it’s a hard call. Sorry Ray!

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Good catches in the cold PITTWATER

Chris Leslie

The fishing has been amazing lately, although the weather has been off-putting for a lot of anglers. Personally, I’m not too discouraged by poor weather when there are tons of fish around, and I’ve been stubbornly fishing in rubbish conditions! Hopefully by the time you read this, the weather will be more kind, and there will still be plenty of fishing opportunities. Before the low-pressure system moved in, the water temperature was still warm and the rocks were fishing well, along with Sydney harbour and Pittwater. Narrabeen Lakes were also fishing well until the rain, although it’s hard to say what will happen once it clears. The beaches have been a bit quiet, which is to be expected at this time of year. Rock fishing, by contrast, is exceptional at the moment. It’s a shame that most people put their rods away once summer finishes, because they’re missing out on some of the best fishing of the year. The rocks are producing bream, trevally, snapper, blackfish, drummer and more. If you find that one species isn’t cooperating on the day, there will always be another species, so you shouldn’t have to worry about getting a feed of fish. If your target is drummer, all you need is a small sinker sitting on top of a hook. The weight should be heavy enough to beat the swell, but not so heavy that you’ll keep snagging up. When doing this, you can also catch trevally, bream and leatherjackets. Berley is the secret to success when fishing from the headlands (and many other places). I’s ridiculous how well these fish respond to berley, it’s their downfall. It’s like throwing petrol on a fire, that’s how effective it is! The stable ingredients for the berley are chicken pellets

and bread, but you can also throw in a few prawn heads, and maybe mash up a couple of pilchards to add some oil and smell. The most common mistake when using berley is to not keep up a steady trail. Some people will throw in all their berley at once, catch 2-3 fish and it’s all over! Other anglers will do the right thing and create a trail, but then drop the ball when they take time out to put the fish in their bag, put another bait on, and come back 5-10 minutes later. At this point, there’s now a 20m break in their berley trail, and the fish have left to follow it. I recommend wearing a shoulder bag with bait in one section and berley in another section, and then you can always flick in little bits, even when you’re bringing in fish. I fish light for drummer, because I’d rather go home with three or four pan-size fish than one big fish, or none at all. I generally fish 6kg mono; you can go up to 10kg but I don’t recommend that you go any heavier. The heavier you go, the fewer bites you will get. Line that’s around 15lb/6kg will allow you to stop some pretty good fish, it’s easy to handle, and light enough to fool the fish into biting. I use no. 1/0 or 2/0 Mustad Red Baitholder hooks because they’re strong and sharp, and perfect for a bit of prawn or cunje. Mustad Big Red suicide hooks are good as well. When it comes to rods for rock/beach fishing for drummer, bream, trevally, snapper and so forth, you’re looking at a 10-14ft rod from around 6-10kg. That length will allow you to keep away from the edge of the ledge/ water, and helps with casting and controlling the fish. The best baits off the rocks for most species are prawns, cunje and pilchard. You can get snapper fishing in the wash using prawns or half pilchards in a berley trail, to attract the fish in the area, and whet their

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appetite. Or you can catch them distance casting out to the 60m mark (or further if you can), to where the fish are sitting past the reef over the gravel and sand. A good time to target them is after a swell and bad weather, because the snapper move in closer at these times, looking or small prey items that have been wounded or washed off the rocks. Kingfish are being taken off the rocks using poppers, stickbaits, live bait and squid. Persistence pays with these fish. Please exercise common sense off the rocks, and be prepared to walk away if a spot is unsafe. Some people drive a long way and are determined to fish a particular spot no matter what, regardless of the conditions. That is one of the main things that bring people unstuck, along with not keeping an eye on the water. If you’re new to rock fishing, it’s good to fish with someone more experienced, or book a guide to show you how to catch more fish while staying safe. Moving offshore, the deeper reefs are producing heaps of kingfish on jigs, in the usual locations including Texas and Long Reef wide, mostly in depths of around 100-150m+. At these depths, you can do well on 80-150g knife jigs. In shallower water you can obviously go lighter. Although jigs generally work well through the winter months, it’s always good to have live bait, so stop and get some live yellowtail if you can. There are plenty of snapper and flathead being caught drifting in around in around 40-60m of water. You can catch snapper all year round, but they’re e at their peak in our area when the whales are migrating, in winter and spring, but you can catch them also all year round. They will take a jig, they love a soft plastic, and they’re suckers for a bait and a berley trail. If you’re using soft plastics, the snapper seem to like white and pink colours – as do the kingfish. Most anglers fishing soft plastics for snapper prefer the 4-6” size range in a curltail or paddle-tail, such as a Gulp Grub, Gulp Nemesis or ZMan Curly TailZ. The lighter the jighead the better, provided you can still get to the bottom. You can opt to fish at anchor, but drifting over reef areas lets you cover more ground. Try throwing your offering ahead of the drift, and jig it back to the boat. This seems to create a more natural presentation than going against the drift. Vary your retrieve to see what’s

Marc with a nice kingfish at Long Reef. working best on the day. August is a tough month for chasing mulloway; it’s better to fish for them from September through until around April or so. Still, if you’re keen, you can definitely still catch them at this time of year. I’ve picked up a few legal jewfish in August, generally while fishing for bream. Contrary to popular belief, moon phase isn’t that important for mulloway. The most important thing is to fish the

tide change, i.e. the first two hours of the run-out to the last two hours of the run-in. Look for water temps of at least 19°C, and use the freshest possible bait that you can get. I’ve caught a lot of my big jew on fresh mullet, fresh tailor and fresh squid. Other baits will still catch fish, but not as many. • If you need fishing gear, quality bait or a chat about what’s biting, head to Narrabeen Bait and Tackle. Owner Mark, his son Marc

and long-time staff member Chris have been local fishermen for 30 years – so there’s not much they don’t know about Pittwater or Northern Beaches fishing, and they are happy to answer any questions you may have. The store stocks an extensive range of tackle, and their live and fresh bait range is renowned as one of the best in Sydney. It is sourced locally and includes live beach worms and nippers.

Robert Gill hit double joy with this twin pair of flatties, both measuring 72cm. He caught them while fishing Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River and, after a quick photo, released the old girls to fight another day.

Recreational Fishing Update Beat The Winter Chill! Why not escape the cold and take advantage of the 21 amazing fresh and saltwater Eco Fishing Hut locations available to book across NSW. The Recreational Fishing Trusts 33% discount applies right across the full range of Eco Fishing Huts till 31 December 2022. If you hold a NSW recreational fishing licence (or hold a valid exemption) you can jump online and book your fishing holiday today, just go to the DPI website and search “Eco Huts” to find out more. The Eco Fishing Hut initiative is a great example of your fishing fees at work!

Harvest Festival Draws In The Crowds!

Research Angler Program Expands To Include A New Collection Point!

along the NSW coast where you can donate your frames. To find out more on the program, and the drop off locations head to DPI website and search “Research Angler Program”. The RAP is another example of your licence fees at work.

Try Fly Fishing Day At DPI’s Dutton Hatchery! If you live or holiday on the Central Coast of NSW it is even easier to help with the Research Angler Program (RAP) and learn more about your catch with BCF Tuggerah joining our donation locations! If you are interested in donating the frame from your catch to the RAP drop into the Tuggerah BCF store at 150-158 Pacific Hwy, Tuggerah 2259 and the friendly staff will happily accept your donations. Instore they will have everything you need to donate including donation labels and bags to donate your frames for our staff to collect.

The central region education officer and team of dedicated Fishcare volunteers spent the June long weekend over at the Harvest Fest on the Central Coast. The free casting clinic was a big hit for the young and old, with all participating kids receiving a rod/reel combo, sunglasses and a tackle box! Our Fishcare team also chatted with hundreds of grassroot fishos about saltwater and freshwater rules and regulations and the various fisheries programs currently underway in NSW. For more information on the Fishcare volunteer program and how you can get involved, head to the DPI website and search “Fishcare Volunteer”.

If you want to get involved, all you need to do is donate the frames (or skeletons) of mulloway, snapper, kingfish, dusky flathead, blue spot flathead, pearl perch or spotted and Spanish mackerel, after you fillet fish for the table. Each frame you donate to the RAP you not only get to find out interesting biological information about your fish but also give you a chance to win one of five fantastic $50 fishing tackle vouchers in our monthly prize draw! The RAP now has 34 participating locations right

The weather was a little chilly, but the sun shone when DPI’s Dutton trout hatchery hosted a collaborative day between Fishcare and the Coffs Coast Fly Fishing Club Inc to provide the opportunity for individuals and families to experience first-hand the serene art of freshwater flyfishing. The day was aimed at complete novices to the sport, with attendees learning about stream knowledge and trout behaviours’, rod and fly selection, casting techniques and catch and release techniques. Experts in the craft of fly tying gave demonstrations and tips to the eager group, with everyone then putting the day’s lessons into practice with a practical fishing session to try and catch trout from the stocked dam.

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au AUGUST 2022

Sydney

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The tough get going SYD ROCK & BEACH

Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au

Most novice anglers will fish only in pleasant weather conditions. When the weather becomes chilly, too windy, the water is too choppy, or

coast, and how to safely handle these conditions. You realise that if you only went fishing during clement weather, you wouldn’t do as well. Really, who cares if it’s cold, a bit windy, or there is some light rain? You’re putting your skills to the test, and proving

A bag of six rock blackfish to 50cm and a snapper caught by Costa Vacopoulos and Tim Tribisonna. Several trevally were caught and released as well. You should only berley up if there is not too much current. the swell picks up a bit you just pack up and go home. Then, as you progress in your fishing career, you learn that you need to bring a raincoat, a spare jumper etc on your trips. You learn more about the weather, the wind and rain forecast, and the swell conditions when fishing on the

to yourself that your techniques not only work in perfect conditions, but also when the going gets a bit tough! It might be cold at the moment, but that shouldn’t stop us from catching fish. ROCK FISHING The kings and tuna species typically go quiet at this time of the year.

Having said that, we had an abnormally late run of bonito, with some still being caught in mid-July. Unusual! Quality snapper up to 45cm are being caught by the distance casters. Distance casting means casting far out, normally between 60-110m out past the reef edge to the sand, rubble bottom. Snapper like to feed around these areas. N ormally w hen distance casting, you’ll use 3-5oz snapper sinkers. Using a Mustard 3/0 92554NPNR as a standard snapper hook is better than the smaller sized hooks, in my experience. When using smaller hooks you may hook more undersize reddies. I use a variety of baits, including squid strips, salted and un-salted slimy mackerel, and peeled and un-peeled headless king prawns. Oily fish like tailor strips are also great. Snapper to 45cm are being caught, and normally we get 1-5 fish per outing, ranging from 32-40cm. Trevally, Aussie salmon, the odd tarwhine and even tailor can turn up as by-catch on some outings. Try fishing for them at South Curl Curl/Freshwater headland on the northeast face. All along that face there is a reef to sand edge at a varying distance from 40-80m out. North Curl Curl and the front of Mona Vale pool ledge are also good. In rougher seas, the high ledges of South Curl Curl and Warriewood are good as well. Rock blackfish are prolific with this cool

There’s still the odd king about, and Dave Vella caught this one spinning sea gars. The kings will be back in numbers in the coming months. water. Apart from being one of the toughest species you’ll encounter off the ocean rocks in this part of the coast, they are excellent on the plate. Fish amongst the sunken boulders and submerged ledges, generally in water depths of 1.5-4m. The go-to baits for this species are: peeled king, banana or endeavour prawns; white bread (I prefer sliced bread as it’s easier to bait up), and cabbage weed. Cut crab (crab segments) are a great bait for rock blackfish too. As with snapper fishing, you will often encounter a by-catch of various species, including trevally, leatherjackets, bream, and

even groper. Spots that are producing this brawler are Barrenjoey Head (a long walk out there), Warriewood boulders in flatter seas and also the

these species. BEACH FISHING If you’ve been having trouble finding salmon and tailor lately, try fishing for them after dark off the beach. They will come in

Alan, George and Darn with a mixed bag. Often when you catch tailor, the salmon are not far away, and vice versa.

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Tailor, salmon and flathead to 55cm for father-son Lee and Josh Wood. The fish were coming through in bursts, and the bite started well into the dark. Cubes of pilchard for berley and ganged pilly baits did the trick.

high ledge in rougher seas, and Long Reef and Little Bluey at Manly. You should preferably fish for this species from the 2nd hour of run-in to about the 2nd hour of run-out tide. Groper and luderick can be found at these spots as well. The groper can be caught on red crabs, and the luderick on either hair or cabbage weed baits. Little Bluey ledges at Manly, North Curl Curl, Long Reef, Warriewood, Bangally head and Barrenjoey Headland have great structure for

and feed on the baitfish, using the cover of darkness to do their reconnaissance missions. August can often mean flat sea conditions, so casting out a country mile is not necessary. The predators like tailor and salmon may only be 5-20m off the beach in flat sea conditions. During your outing you may get a by-catch of sand or dusky flathead, bream or trevally. Calmer seas make berleying a practical option. The ripping parallel To page 55

NSW

Sydney

Consistent fishing SYDNEY NTH

Steve Winser

Just when we thought it was safe to wave goodbye to this La Niña cycle and its wind and rain, we got a rude shock. According to the Bureau of Mediocrity, these conditions are now said to continue right through the winter and into next summer. Still, while conditions have been challenging at best, if you are lucky enough to be able to get out in the good weather windows, the

fishing has been good. Water temperatures have dropped sharply in the harbour, and have been up and down in the near inshore areas. Kingfish have been reasonably consistent, with a bunch of rats mixed in with the better fish. In the harbour, once again squid is the key. You can find some big ones over the kelp beds. Those little cuttlefish, which can often produce when all else fails, have been plentiful over the ribbon weed beds. For these you want smaller jigs in the 1.8-2.0 size.

All set for a fish fry-up. From page 54

current often associated with beach fishing is at a medium pace, so throwing out pilchard cubes every couple of minutes can attract the fish and also hold them. One of the very best ways to hold salmon and tailor in your beach gutter is to have several fast anglers fishing beside each other. As fish are being wound in, pieces of pilchard are shaking off the ganged hooks. While one angler unhooks a tailor or salmon, other anglers still have baits still in the gutter, and the process is repeated. If this isn’t an option, you can get similar results by putting two bait containers around your waist, one with whole pilchards for your gang hooks, and one container filled with pilchard cubes so you can constantly throw out small amounts. This will help you to hold

fish in your area for an extended period. When you’re fishing for salmon and tailor, you may get some pecks from other species that you cannot hook. This is because your hook size may be too large. You can either get rid of the gang hooks and tie on a 1/0 or 2/0 hook (e.g. Mustad 92554) and bait it up with a half pilchard. The bream and trevally will become easier to hook because the bait and hook size matches the size of their mouths. Other baits you can use are tailor and salmon. Fillet and cut in 2cm wide by 12-15cm long strips. Bait it up like a whole pilchard. Yellowtail strips, mullet strips or even squid strips also work a treat as a substitute for whole pilchards, and they work great for the bream and trevally you may encounter as well. When you catch a tailor or salmon that you want to keep, it’s good to bleed

The inshore reef drifts are producing well, with numbers of the reef standards – snapper, morwong and some solid blue-spot flathead – ensuring a feed with just a couple of minutes’ run from the heads. Those popular winter stalwarts, the shallow water bream and blackfish, have fired up. Fish to 1.5kg have been freely taking bread and prawn baits in berley trails around the ribbon weed beds and rock shelves. The wash fishing has been on fire with the drop in water temperatures. Solid black drummer, blue groper, squire, trevally, bonito and more have been in abundance in the harbour washes. We have been fishing bread, prawn and crab baits for these, using 8ft+ rods with 18kg braid, and a small running sinker to a 2/0 extra strength suicide pattern. Generally I’m looking for a rising tide in the afternoon on this one, and the majority of the action comes in that final hour or so. One of my regular clients, J.C., came out again last week and you can see his catch in the photo on this page. Pretty much the whole bag was taken in that last hour. Next month we should see a stabilisation of the water temperatures at a lower range, and the consistency of the fishing of the aforementioned winter staples should only improve. That’s provided you can get out there in the current weather conditions! Tight lines. • Fishing Sydney Tours takes pride in tailoring every trip to the customer’s preferred it right away. I like the smaller salmon for a feed as the flavour is less strong. In August, the chance of catching a jewfish is slimmer than the warmer months in Sydney, but it’s still worth having a go. Beaches to try for all of these species are Manly/ Queenscliff, Curl Curl, North Narrabeen, Newport and Avalon. All of the surf beaches produce, but these are the ones that have worked better lately. Of course, this is subject to beach structure, wind and swell direction. If you find that one beach is super quiet, get back in your car and drive to another beach. • 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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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

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If there is no run, there is no fishing fun! Kangaroo and Bald Face points are worth a shot on a run-up tide for mulloway, sharks, flathead, bream and the odd kingfish. Try using live yellowtail and poddy mullet on a long leader while at anchor. Soily and Picnic Point will have luderick feeding along the shoreline. The

SYDNEY SOUTH

Gary Brown gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

Over the past month the fishing has been great in the Southern Sydney area, with reports coming in from anglers who have been fishing the beach, rocks, estuaries and offshore. Sure, it still may be cold, but you don’t have to get up so early in the morning to get yourself into a few fish. Of late I have been hitting the water between 8-9am and fishing for a few hours, and still getting a feed of fish. The main thing is to work out what the weather conditions are going to be, and fish the tides. Remember, no run, no fun. Coogee, Maroubra and Bondi beaches have been fishing well for bream and whiting, and this will continue into the month of August. The best baits for the bream have been strips

Rob West sent in this photo of a 85cm kingfish that he caught while slow trolling live yellowtail near Port Kembla. will have started to show up in numbers. It will be a matter of finding the bait and you will find the fish.

the past month, but there have still been great reports coming in of trevally at Trevally Alley, the end of

The author putting his Okuma outfit through its paces while fishing with Rob ‘Kingfish Whisper’ West out off Port Kembla. of mullet and half pilchards, and for the whiting live beach worms or nippers have been the go. You could also try fishing the gutters that run parallel to the rocks and the ends of these beaches for bream, trevally, drummer and luderick. Fish from the top of the tide and until the bite stops. Make sure that you have a small and steady berley trail going. For those of you wanting to fish off the rocks for drummer, trevally and bream, you could try the corner of Little Bay, the northeast corner of Bare Island and the Kurnell Peninsula. Large peeled prawns, half pilchards and mullet gut would be worth a try. Offshore, the snapper 56

AUGUST 2022

to Greenhills has been eroded so much that it has filled up many of the deep gutters off the beach. There are still a few gutters about, but you’ll need to be prepared to move about to find the bream, trevally, whiting, dart and tailor. Jibbon bombora is worth a shot for kingfish,

There will also be good numbers of sand and tiger flathead in the 20-40m depth range. If you like the pulling power of kingfish you should try slow trolling live baits in close along the coast for them. Slimy mackerel, yellowtail and squid have been working the best for me, and I like to set up two rigs. One will be on the top while the other will be on a poor man’s downrigger, and the trolling speed is a very slow walking pace. Once I have hooked up, I will continue trolling at the same speed. Heaps of the times the other bait has been taken while slowly moving along. Botany Bay has been a bit on the quiet side over

the third runway and at the entrance to the Cooks River. More should be moving over and through the area at Towra called The Patches, and schooling up on the run-out tide at the oil wharf and Bare Island. This month you can try drifting with either bait, soft plastics or blades in 2.5-3.5m off the shoreline from Brighton to Dolls Point for flathead. Once I have found a small concentration of them, I like to mark them on the sounder and then anchor up. The reason behind this is that they are feeding in the area and if you berley, you are in with a good chance of getting some trevally, bream and whiting. Further upstream at the Captain Cook bridge there will be luderick feeding along the bridge pylons, plus bream, trevally and leatherjackets at the bridge pylons on the Tom Uglys Bridge.

Lachlan and Reily Brown with a great haul of bream that were caught in Port Hacking on pink nippers. hard part may be feeding a good supply of green weed. The Port Hacking should have cleared up a lot by now, and the luderick will be feeding along the edges of the rocky point and weed beds that are near the main channels. I have been slowly trolling live yellowtail and strips of squid in South West arm for kingfish and mulloway of late. The beach from Wanda

Bream should start to school up off Towra and feed throughout the tide.

salmon and the odd bonito using live baits. Look on your sounder for the bait schools and you will find the fish. Garie and Wattamolla beaches are still closed due to road works being carried out. Once they open up the fishing will be insane there, as nobody can get down there. Coalcliff Point is worth a shot for snapper, trevally, bream, tailor, salmon, squid and the odd bonito. Just make sure that you check out the swell conditions before you go, because the rock platform is fairly close to the water. On another note, I have been working closely with Tackle Tactics Fishing in fine-tuning parts of their website. To see my gear rigging techniques, go to tackletactics.com.au/ Rigging-Guides, click on the ‘Knots & Rigging’ icon, and then select ‘Gary Brown’s Essential Bait Fishing Rigs’. I also recommend Justin Wilmer’s Bait School videos. To see them, head to youtube.com and search for ‘Justin Willmer’. Until next month, don’t forget to keep sending in those short reports to gbrown1@iprimus.com.au.

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Ghosts and snap attacks COFFS COAST

Rob Taylor

There are two fish species that have been on everyone’s lips and in ice boxes this past month:

snapper and mulloway. We have seen a pretty epic start to our winter snapper run, with most boaties managing a good box of reds every session, including the odd horse fish of 8kg or better. Most

of the snapper are being taken anywhere between the 20-40m lines, and they’re falling to a variety of techniques, including bait and plastics. The local beaches have been the focal point for

Cameron Hall with a brace of solid river bream.

ba Prawn Blade s” “Yam Gavin Hackett with a solid red from out around the islands.

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This is why it’s worth braving a cold start off the Coffs Coast in August.

mulloway (jewfish) anglers fishing the night-time high tides, with plenty of midrange fish being taken by those willing to brave the cold. We’ve also seen some good catches of tailor, drummer, bream and blackfish off local rocks and beaches, and you can expect these species to continue to dominate throughout August. Surprisingly, there are still some good flathead on the chew despite the drop in water temperatures, with some good fish being taken over the flats on rising tides. On the sport and game fishing fronts, there have been a few lingering mackerel around, including a late run of spotted mackerel terrorising snapper plastics and putting a dent in tackle boxes. When the weather has permitted, pods of longtail tuna were swimming within drifting distance of the local headlands, and a couple of striped marlin have also been prowling just on the first shelf drop-off. Let’s take a look at what August should produce.

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CREEKS AND RIVERS A lot of anglers will transition away from targeting flathead and whiting in the creeks and rivers, in favour of chasing bream and blackfish. The winter run of both species looks to be off to a good start, with some solid captures being reported. Bream will be fairly widespread throughout the local creeks and rivers, but you can’t beat the rock walls near the mouths as the best spots to find fish, or at least start prospecting for them. Both lures and bait will work on the winter bream run. You can also expect some soapy jew (small mulloway) to crash the party, but few anglers complain when this happens! Blackfish will also inhabit the local rock walls, and any rock structure around the local creek mouths will also hold luderick. Creative anglers will find success using weed imitation flies,

but drummer do). It sounds out of place to still be talking about LBG options in August. However, I was still catching longtails off the stones in September last year, and with a stack of fish still reported to be south of us, I’d wager there will be some fairly hot live baiting sessions on offer this month. All the usual haunts will be worth drifting out a live bait or having a spin, and if nothing else, mac tuna are guaranteed. OFFSHORE As mentioned, the big news for offshore fishos is the solid start to our winter red run, and this should continue through August and into September. This time of year sees some solid snapper

ROCKS

Brad Bye with a typical offshore mulloway taken off Coffs. while traditionalists will more than likely bag out on conventional sea lettuce and horse hair presentations.

ROCKS AND BEACHES As mentioned, the big talk of late has been the amount of mid-range

Mulloway are common bycatch in the rivers at this time of year.

mulloway being taken from local beaches by those willing to put in the time and brave the cold. Fresh strip and live baits have accounted for some great catches at night, and we can expect this to continue throughout August. Pick up some live yellowtail at the local marina and send them off the beaches to the north of Coffs and you’ll be hassled by sharks, but you’ll also be in with a good chance of a prize mulloway. Time your session with a high tide just after dark to increase your chances. Otherwise, there’ll be plenty of tailor and bream off the beaches and rocks, and I’ll be throwing metals such as Halco Twisties into the white water for some great tailor action at this time of year. If you like bare knuckle fishing then the rocks will also be worth a prospect for luderick, drummer and groper. Again, look for areas with good whitewater coverage but steer clear of any churned-up sand (blackfish don’t mind

up in the shallows and out to the 60m line. Drifting with plastics is a sure-fire way to attract a snapper’s interest, but don’t discount a good old-fashioned float lining session to bag a feed of fish. Pearlies and trag will also be feeding on the deeper grounds from 40m out. Expect the odd solid jewfish to also be taken in the same areas. For sport and game boats, we should now see some yellowfin out off the shelf, along with striped marlin. For the deep droppers, bar cod will be feeding on their usual haunts along the 100m line. All up, this is a great time to be out on the water, so rug up and good luck!

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Cool mornings, fishy days! THE HASTINGS

Mark Saxon castawayestuarycharters@bigpond.com

It seems this year every column written has been about dirty rivers flooded or just running brown from consistent top-ups. While our rivers have copped a flushing, a few interesting things have occurred. Firstly, the juvenile mulloway have returned in bigger numbers, which is very good – especially if anglers do the right thing in handling and releasing them. In a lot of systems commercial netters still catch these fish in big numbers which does not help, however, the

Paul Oshea with a great upriver mulloway. Regardless of the reasons, this is not sustainable. It’s also very hypocritical when recreational anglers cannot catch them in closed season because of spawning. New South Wales Fisheries need to really look at it because it isn’t enough that the fish population was hammered by bushfires and flooding

in our local river and lake systems will be worth a try, with lots of different species to fish for. Bream have been exceptional, with some top quality and good numbers about. Anglers using nippers and cut baits off the break walls have been getting good fish, and anglers fishing the deeper

James recently caught this mixed bag of bream and flatties.

Mandy with a surprise bass while fishing for mulloway. Hastings is a recreational fishing area (RFA) so we do not have this problem. This makes the Hastings a premier waterway to target mulloway – or pretty much any estuary fish, for

that matter. While on the benefits of RFAs, it’s very disturbing to see footage on socials about the recent netting of a very large quantity of bass in the Macleay River.

A sneaky little lure testing effort got a good result for the author.

water using vibes, blades and soft plastics have also been getting plenty. Luderick anglers have been up and down, with some good bags being taking on the bend of south wall and quite a few on coal wall as well. It has been a bit hot-and-cold lately; you’ll get a few days of good fishing and then they’ll taper off. Hopefully this month they will be more reliable. Flathead continue to be a worthwhile target, with plenty of fish from down the front up to Rawdon, and also in the Maria section. Soft plastics and soft vibes have been accounting for many fish. Mulloway have been

– now the remaining survivors are getting picked off with mesh nets! Fishing during August

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Oscar with a better than average bream from the Hastings River.

To page 60

NSW

Staying flexible FORSTER

Luke Austin

August on the mid north coast of NSW is often associated with cold temperatures, strong winds and generally tough fishing

conditions. However, those anglers with their finger on the pulse will still manage to find loads of fish and fishing options. The trick is to try your best to work with the conditions and let the prevailing weather dictate what you choose to fish for

on any given day. Wallis Lake can produce all sorts of goodies this month, with bream, luderick, whiting, flathead and snapper all on the cards right now. You can fish in just about any part of the system and expect to find a fair bit of success.

There are plenty of cracking flathead on the move!

The estuary is stacked with luderick at the moment.

Down the front, luderick are still powering with the southern rock wall remaining the most popular spot. It’s holding great numbers of fish which are of a really good size. Breckenridge Channel is also producing some great bags of fish, and is a better option for those land-based anglers who are not so confident on the rock walls. For boaters, think about having a look in and around The Paddock and up around Wallis Island – there are plenty of fish schooled up in the lake and they are feeding well on just about any weed bait or artificial weed offering. While there have been some really nice bream holding on the weed beds down south, the majority of the action remains along the rock walls, bridge pylons and oyster leases down towards the mouth. As is nearly always the case, the better action has all been around the top of the tide, and if you can time your outing to be on an evening high tide you are almost guaranteed to get a good bag of fish. As far as reports go, flathead would have to be the

standout of late. There have been great numbers of fish being caught from all over the lake, with quite a few up to about 80cm being landed. The bridge is holding plenty of fish, the weed beds and flats up around Coomba are firing, The Cut is fishing well and there have been loads of good fish caught right up into the rivers as well! Soft plastics, soft vibes and shallow diving hardbodies have all been working well, and the fish seem to be feeding on either the run-in or run-out tide. The local beaches are still holding good numbers of tailor and salmon. The average size of the fish seems to have dropped a little but most are still coming in at between 35-50cm and they are very healthy fish. There is still the odd nice bream sitting under the tailor, with some great reports of fish up to 1kg coming from down at 7 Mile Beach. Fishing the stones in August can be very productive providing there is enough swell about to create a bit of wash to get the drummer, bream and luderick feeding. The ledges to the south are still

holding plenty of bait, and for those wishing to put the time in there are some cracking tuna still about, along with the seemingly ever-present tailor. The snapper fishing offshore is still cruising along very consistently. The shallow grounds up north are producing some red-hot action, however most anglers are reporting a fairly narrow bite period that is very much centred about the low light periods of the day. Those reefs sitting in 40-80m are still out-fishing anywhere else, with mixed bags of snapper, trag and pearl perch hitting the deck. Unfortunately, there are plenty of leatherjackets sitting out in the deeper water, so you may need to move about a bit to avoid losing too much gear! • Luke is the owner of Great Lakes Tackle – your ‘local’ bait and tackle store. They only sell 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! Open 7 days in the main street of Tuncurry, ph: 02 6554 9541 or find them on Facebook to see what they have been up to!

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Give Kris a call for a quote! It’s hard to beat shallow water reds. From page 59

good, with the walls producing a fair few fish of late. Bigger soft plastics and hardbodied lures have accounted for a lot of them, but I’m pretty sure a nice fresh bait or livie would do the job as well. As mentioned, quite a few juvenile mulloway are upriver, but persistence in the deeper sections will see you tangle with better fish. Both the Hastings and Maria rivers are

worth fishing this month. With the beaches fishing so well lately for tailor, bream, flatties and mulloway, we can only hope this continues. North Beach, Lighthouse Beach and Lake Cathie end have been great recently, and it seems more and more anglers are hitting the beach with soft plastics, vibes and hardbodies, more like we are used to seeing in estuary scenarios. These guys are getting seriously good results, and I will

talk more about this in a future article. Offshore, the snapper guys have been getting into some good fish, with a lot of pinkies as well as the odd bigger model. Soft plastics in the 5-7” range have been getting results in depths of 25m or less south of lighthouse. The current will play a major part in where you fish for snapper, as sometimes the wider grounds can be harder to get a lure into the zone without going too heavy.

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Employ winter strategies for great results and oranges. ROCKS The washy whitewater zones fish extremely well right throughout winter. If you fish the right way you open up a real lucky dip of what you can potentially pull in. The best rig is a 00 or #1 size weighted sinker running to a 1/0 hook with a peeled prawn or chunk of cunjevoi, cast into the white water and allowed to slowly waft down to the bottom. Don’t let the bait sit on the bottom too long, or you will just end up snagged. Most bites will come as the bait sinks. When doing this you can pull in a range of species, including drummer, bream, squiresize snapper, leatherjacket, luderick and grouper. The only thing you might miss are pelagic fish like salmon

PORT STEPHENS

Paul Lennon

August is probably the toughest month to fish the waters of Port Stephens, but you can still do well if you target the right species in the right areas. In the bay, luderick are thick along the two main rock walls as well as on the other side of the bay around the Short Cut through to Windy Whoppa. The tide changes will fish best, and sourcing the freshest weed or cabbage possible will greatly increase your catch rates. Bream are another high percentage estuary target during August, and the Nelson Bay marina and break wall are good places to catch them. Pick a high tide just after dark and fish unweighted baits like nippers or prawns, and you should clean up on quality fish, with some well over the 1kg mark. Other areas worth a try will be the Tomaree Torpedo Tubes and Little Beach Jetty.

The odd mulloway is caught in August. Schools of tailor on first and last light have been terrorising baitfish in front of Shoal Bay and Salamander jetties. Small metal lures around 15g or

3-3.5 off the ocean rocks for best results. BEACHES There have been quality tailor caught along Fingal, Samurai and Box Beach, with dawn and dusk being the prime times of day to catch them. Stickbaits around 50g work well for this, or you can use a metal style slug or pilchards rigged on gang hooks. This month you should be able to pick up a few bream in those corners of the beaches where they meet headlands. Fish at night time with live worms or nippers, and if you’re really lucky you might nail a mulloway in those areas too. OFFSHORE There are good reds on the offshore reefs, with the 21, Gibber and Vee reefs holding fish to 4kg. Paternoster bait fishing rigs

whole ganged pilchards are doing the damage. If you do use pilchards, cast out and retrieve your bait rather than suspend it under a flat and you will

Bream are a reliable catch from the Nelson Bay break wall. catch far more. You can catch squid in the moorings around Shoal Bay weed beds, as well as the weed beds opposite Jimmys Beach. Small jigs 2.0 to 2.5 sizes will work best here, and my favourite colours are pinks, greens

and tailor – which is why it always pays to have a second rod rigged with a 30g metal lure. Squid love the protected bays at this time of year especially around Boat Harbour through to Fingal. Use jig sizes around

have been working the best. The surrounding reefs off Fingal and Broughton islands are holding a bigger class of snapper. Unweighted baits and soft plastic lures have been accounting for fish up to an impressive 20lb.

Blackfish are a great August target species.

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TTs pro staffer Dan Hutchinson with a 44cm blue-nose bream. In that session he also caught a good flattie and a bag out of tailor, including one in the mid-60s.

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NSW

Facing the challenge CENTRAL COAST

Jamie Robley

Welcome to what is typically the toughest month for fishing along our home turf. With that

fishing has generally been kind to me through the latter stages of winter, so that’s what I have been doing, and plan to do more of in the coming weeks. Since the start of the year and through to early winter, bream and

hooks, in order to give yourself a decent chance of success. While this approach may seem a bit boring or outdated to some younger anglers, there’s no denying its reliability. By all means, try other baits or perhaps lure

A couple of bream from the surf that the author took home for a feed. A few bream may still be found along the beaches this month, but you’re more likely to hook salmon.

Luderick are one of the more reliable fish to target during August. If you haven’t chased them before, now is a good time to start. Beware though, they can become very addictive! bad news out of the way, is there any good news? Luckily, the answer is yes. Let’s take a closer look and see if we can extract some fish from this challenging time of year. Firstly, it’s important to be chasing the species that are actually around at the moment and willing to take a bait. The main August fish we normally have on offer are luderick, drummer, salmon, tailor and snapper. Other species that are still a good possibility are trevally, bream, jewfish, leatherjackets, groper and kings or tuna out wide. Historically, beach

tailor have been the most common fish in our surf zone. Salmon, which often show up in good numbers as early as late April or May, have been more spasmodic this year. I assume this is because the water remained a bit warmer for longer. Whatever the case, salmon are now showing up in more numbers and bream have tapered off. I’ve also started encountering more emptyhanded sessions, which isn’t uncommon for mid to late winter. So, taking everything into consideration, I’d strongly suggest using good quality pilchards on ganged

casting if you see the salmon turn up in bigger numbers, but don’t neglect the good old pillie on ganged hooks! Another challenging aspect of surf fishing commonly encountered during August is finding the sweet spot between dead flat seas and big, powerful swell rolling in. A percentage of local anglers are also into another popular pastime here, which is surfing. They will probably have an app or two saved on their phones or check online daily surf reports. I don’t surf, but I do check Newcastle and Central Coast surf reports regularly. The general idea

A few silver trevally may still be encountered this month, mainly off the rocks or around inshore reef. They respond well to a bit of berley and soft baits like peeled prawns, cunje, pilchard strips or white bread. is if they say it’s a solid or building swell with waves of 6ft or more rolling in, it’s quite possibly going to be a bit problematic to fish

Stocking

the beach. Ideally, something like a small swell, with 2-3ft waves is what you want. (Yes, surf talk is normally in feet, rather than metres!)

Rock fishing obviously suffers the same problem, but in this case, bigger swell can also mean it’s simply To page 65

Stocking

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Lake hits its straps SWANSEA

Jason Nunn

The weather has restricted offshore fishing in recent weeks, but fortunately the lake has been a bit better because it’s more protected, and if you pick your days you can get out there and have a go. At this time last year, we got a weather window that allowed us get into the yellowfin offshore. After one glorious day of hot fishing, we were locked down, restricted to inshore fishing. All we could do was look forward to next year’s yellowfin season. Now the season has arrived, but the water out

here is too warm for them at the moment. The temp on the shelf has been hovering around 21.5-22°C, which may have contributed to all the rain we’ve been getting. The long-range weather forecast predicts aboveaverage rainfall throughout August and into September. Still, if we’re lucky enough to get a break in the weather and a change in sea surface temps off our part of the coastline, there’ll be the opportunity to go out to the deeper water and have a look for a yellowfin. In the first week of August last year they were prolific, and it’s possible they’ll be in good numbers again this year. At the time of writing, there are a few being caught out

It’s rewarding to see a big girl like this swim away. From page 64

too hazardous to fish the rocks. If the surf report indicates solid swell or 6ft waves then I would be avoiding the rocks. What’s even worse is a building or increasing swell. In this case, conditions may still look quite safe to fish, so you’ll head down to the rocks and start fishing. But as the swell increases it can be deceptively dangerous, and what was a nice safe, dry spot can cop big waves crashing over it within a short space of time. So remember to avoid a building or increasing swell. If conditions are suitable and you put in some effort then luderick, drummer, groper and salmon are the main species you’re likely to hook. However, it’s certainly not out of the ordinary to score a few bream and tailor either. Personally though, I’d be chasing luderick or

salmon simply because of their reliability factor. Offshore anglers also suffer similar problems at this time of year. If the seas are flat that’s not an issue, but westerly winds that tend to be at peak strength from about 9am until midday are annoying, particularly when trying to fish the wider marks. So, if you have a full day off work, it could be a good idea to head out later and fish through the middle of the day or the afternoon instead of launching at sunrise. Our lakes and Brisbane Waters can be very tough places to catch fish in August. Once again, it’s largely a matter of targeting what’s available and putting in a bit of effort. Luderick are perhaps the main fish to consider at the moment, but a few bream, flathead and trevally are still possible in places like The Entrance or from Woy Woy down to the Rip Bridge.

wide of Sydney, which is a promising sign. That deep water out at The Farm off Swansea is offering a bit of choice at the moment. The currents traditionally decrease at this time of year, putting you on track for plenty of snapper. In late June we had a big run of reds on The Farm in that deeper water after some big weather events. We’re looking for some settled weather to get out and fish that deeper water while we can, because when September rolls around the current will pick up. Snapper, kingfish, longfin perch and so forth, which are more prolific in that deeper water, are worth some consideration this month. Inshore fishing has seen an increase in popularity, due to the lockdowns last year. At that time, offshore anglers weren’t allowed to head out wide, so it was inshore or nothing. Many of these guys had never fished the inshore grounds before, and they discovered it was actually pretty good! It’s definitely worth doing when the weather prevents you from going offshore. It’s likely that the inshore snapper fishing will continue through August, along with blue-spot flathead and trevally. Land-based sportfishers are wondering where the salmon have gone. Over the last 10-15 years these fish have been prolific around the beaches and rocks, and into Swansea channel, but this year they have been noticeably absent. There was a big school in March/ early April, but after two weeks they were gone, and we haven’t seen them since. Perhaps it’s due to commercial fishing, the weather conditions and/or the lack of mullet. Hopefully the salmon will turn up soon, as they’re an excellent sportfish. Interestingly, we’ve seen an abundance of mac tuna, Watson’s leaping bonito and silver trevally being caught. It’s unusual to see these species here in big numbers, but nobody’s complaining! Anglers fishing the estuary and off the ocean rocks are getting into the luderick and drummer. August and into September is a peak period for these species, and with a bit of luck we’ll be able to get down to those ocean rock platforms to have a crack. The Swansea Channel areas like Lucys Breakwater, down towards the bridge and Swansea Channel itself should yield plenty of luderick. Through August and towards September, as they start to school and spawn, they’ll be in incredible numbers. Unfortunately, it’s

August is a great time to target flathead. difficult to source green weed at the moment. The rain has been washing it out of the drains, wetlands and streams, and giant seas have been scouring the rock platforms where we look for weed and cabbage. It may be best to use imitation weed flies this month, and only use weed for berley. September might be better because there’ll be some wire weed in Belmont lagoon. When targeting drummer off the ocean rock platforms, it’s ideal to fish a rising tide with just a little bit of swell, creating some white water. In those washy gutters and exposed outcrops, the key to holding the fish in is to use a good, solid berley, such as bread and laying pellets. Some anglers use floats, but I prefer a sinker straight to the hook. You’ll want to use a strong hook like a 1/0 Mustad 542 or a small Big Gun. When it comes to the line class, some people go as light as 7kg, while other guys chasing bigger fish use up to 15kg. Drummer are great fighting fish, and the smaller ones are good eating. They taste quite different from luderick. Drummer around 1.5-2kg are just about perfect, with firm white flesh. Lake fishing will hit its straps this month. At this time of year it traditionally fishes well for tailor, flathead and mulloway. This year has been one of our better years for tailor, and through autumn and early winter there have been good numbers throughout the lake itself. August is a great time to target tailor because it’s the month before they leave

the estuary, and we should get some prevailing westerly winds and will see some action on the surface. It’s great to get out on a nice, crisp winter’s morning for a troll, and see the tailor jumping and smashing into the bait schools. Lately some schools have consisted of solid fish to 60cm, while other schools have held 35-45cm fish, so you may need to move around to find the bigger fish. You can also catch the tailor on metals cast into the bust-ups, and as a bycatch when jigging for flathead off the bottom. There are a lot of flathead around at the moment; we’re seeing them start to move around in anticipation for spring. Spring is a better time to target school jew, and we’ll talk more about that next issue. With the water being so cool in the lake at the moment, a lot of bream fishers are frequenting the southern end of the lake, where the power stations release their warm water. Vales Point power station in particular puts a lot of warm water through, increasing the water temp by at least 2°C, and areas such as Chain Valley Bay and Sunland Point have been very productive. When fishing for bream at this time of year, you can get good results on little vibes, whether they be metal vibes or soft vibes such as Zerek Fish Traps or Samaki Vibelicious. Small soft plastics such as 3” grubtails and paddle-tails can also be effective in areas such as Chain Valley Bay. When using a lighter jighead, these plastics have a good action on that slow drop, and you can then tweak them on

the bottom. When you’re fishing in that 15-20ft depth range, you can also encounter flathead and mulloway. The preferred time is early in the morning, but you can catch fish on lures throughout the day. Bait fishers are also catching their share of bream, and the prime times for me are late in the afternoon and into the evening. You don’t need a lot of weight because there’s minimal current there, and you don’t have to get right to the bottom. At this time of year, oily baits are the go, such as strips of mullet, mullet gut, chicken gut and half pillies. These baits may also entice a tailor or flathead. If you get bitten off a few times you’ll know there are tailor around. A bit of berley is good, such as laying pellets, bread, and maybe a bit of tuna oil mixed in. Tuna oil makes it more likely that tailor and flatties will show up, too. • 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. AUGUST 2022

NSW

There’s still time ILLAWARRA

Greg Clarke

August is a strange month. It can be a feast or famine, the start of the new season or, at worst, a prolonging of the winter doldrums. The good side is there will still be plenty of snapper in over the reefs chasing cuttlefish for the first couple of weeks. July produced some good fish on plastics, but most were caught on cuttlefish baits.

stick to casting, and it’s more fun anyway. This month will also see a few striped tuna get right in close. They will be the ones moving very fast with the terns over them, rather than the seagulls that follow the salmon. Their numbers aren’t anywhere near what they used to be, but but this month is when we see extra-large stripies, with fish up to 10kg getting about. That is a solid, very fast, hard pulling fish on the right light tackle, and extra

A few kings should start to show on the deeper reefs and the islands. To catch a feed, put down the anchor over your chosen northern reef, hit the berley well before sunrise, and fish unweighted cuttlefish baits down the berley trail. All sizes of snapper will be attracted by the berley, with that trophy fish always in the mix at this time of the year. If you want a bit more fun you can toss a few soft plastics around the reefs, but you will need plenty of plastics as the leatherjackets are ferocious at the moment. You can also cast unweighted baits at floating cuttlefish. It’s all good fun, no matter what you do. Salmon will be about in schools around the islands and Bass Point and up north around national park, chasing very small baitfish. Light lines and long casts with small lures are required for best results. You can be lazy and troll lures around the schools but you will catch only few fish, put them deep and off the bite quickly. With fuel the way it is, you’ll spend a lot of money for a few sambos if you are lucky. You’ll get better results if you 66

AUGUST 2022

good bait for anything that swims, too. Over the reefs there will be plenty of snapper of all sizes, mowies, trevally and piggies, along with plenty of leatherjackets. The ‘jackets are good tucker and easy to clean, so if you want to target them just drop down to a long-shank no. 4 hook and be prepared to lose a few, and take the chance of something bigger grabbing the bait and straightening the hook. Squid or cuttlefish are the best baits because they are tough and last a bit longer than fish baits, but leatherjackets will eat just about anything. The flathead were still being caught well into winter as the water stayed warm for a lot longer this year, and they have only slowed in the past few weeks. Another few weeks and they will be up and chewing again. Kings will start to show on the reefs with a bit of structure, and around the islands. Just keep an eye on the sounder when moving about to see if a school shows. Jigs and live baits fished deep should get a

bite or two. One species that will be present all along the coast this month, and making a nuisance of itself, is the dreaded barracouta. Whether you’re chasing snapper on the pick or bottom bouncing, you will find the ‘couta and lose some gear, it’s a given. They can be fun when you really get them going on lures with a bit of wire, as they will jump out of the water to grab a lure just suspended in the air. They even jump into the boat at times. Just be careful of those teeth because they will cut you to shreds. Further offshore, it might be worth a deep drop while chasing tuna as the current is generally slower at this time of the year. Gemfish are around the canyons with the odd hapuka and bar cod, ling and other assorted deep water ooglies. The yellowfin tuna made their June/July appearance, and they usually show again in late winter and early spring, along with albacore and maybe even a late bluefin. Keep an eye on Facebook posts for the latest on when and where they show up. Mako sharks are always about at this time of the year. The little tackers make a nuisance of themselves in the snapper berley trails, and the big ones scare the life out of anyone they find in small boats. The estuaries are quiet, with just a few bream about, and you will have to work hard for them as well. The feeder streams like Macquarie Rivulet and Mullet Creek are worth a shot with peeled prawns cast into any snags. The beaches are not too bad for this time of the year, with salmon popping up in the deeper gutters all along the coast. Very chilly early mornings are the best times. The opposite is working for some quality tailor. You can catch them just on dark during the evenings, particularly on the northern beaches. You will get both species at other times but these seem to be the peak times. You can also catch some nice bream, which seem to come on the bite after a few salmon or tailor have been chewing on the pilchards, creating a bit of natural berley in the gutters. Some nice jewies will be getting around this month, with fish to 15kg+ always a chance. The hours of darkness are always best, so if the salmon or tailor suddenly stop biting, a big jew in the mix could be the reason. On the rocks it is winter fare only: drummer, blackfish, salmon, trevally and bream with the odd snapper thrown in as a bonus. Most ledges will have the drummer, bream and blackfish, while the deeper ledges are a better option for

There’s still plenty of time to find a nice red or two. salmon, trevally and snapper. As always keep an eye on the swell, and if it looks even the slightest bit unsafe, go home or find somewhere a little quieter. ROCK FISHING NEWS Wollongong council are looking at making it mandatory to wear a lifejacket/PFD when fishing on all rock platforms in the Wollongong council area. Yes, we have a very dangerous platform at Honeycomb that takes lives, but for the rest of the Wollongong area (bar maybe Coalcliff) the rocks are pretty safe. A blanket rule covering every stone along the coast just isn’t feasible. I defy anyone to get washed in at Towradgi, Bellambi, Woonona, Bulli, Sandon point

and Thirroul. And if you tried and managed to, you can just stand up as it is shallow, and the rocks face away from the water so you can’t get actually washed in. It is pretty much the same from Austinmer to Coalcliff, although there are one or two odd places you might slip up if you were really stupid, and that is the coast covered. Then there are the break walls at Bellambi, Wollongong, and Port or would they be exempt? I suppose you could fall in but I have never heard of that in my lifetime. Then there are those fishers who have no idea at all, like the tourists who come to have a look on the rock shelves for shells and crabs

and other interesting things. Will they need to wear a lifejacket as well, because they get washed in, too. I hope council get advice from people who actually have spent a lot of time on the rock,s not some academic with a laptop and graphs who wouldn’t know a mullet from a marlin. One shoe doesn’t fit all. I wear lifejackets all the time where it is necessary, like bar crossings, and I’ve been wearing them even before it was made mandatory. I also wear one in conditions where it is just common sense. Lifejackets are a great tool when used in the right place, but issuing a blanket rule to cover every rock is not the way to go about it I’m afraid.

FISHING NEWS

Floods: good and bad Rain and run-off can benefit fish, providing food and flows to support migration. Too much rain, however, can lead to flooding. Flooding can also provide benefits for fish, but the changes made to catchments and floodplains mean that flooding can also destroy habitat and create conditions that have a negative effect on fish. This year’s floods provide a storyline that has been used to outline what floods mean for fish – the good and the bad*. First of all, as heavy rain sets in, drainage systems begin to reach capacity, and the overtop banks carrying

loose-leaf litter and woody debris is slowly washed into the river. From the land, beetles, spiders, worms and crustaceans are dislodged and swept into the water. Built-up sand and silt that

glues the leaves to the ground is slowly loosened, with particles also breaking away into the water. As the rain continues, the clarity of the water decreases. Every handful of mud, silt and sediment turns the river brown and discoloured. Bankside plants bend in the torrent, and their roots struggle to hold tight, buried deep in shoreline soils, sands, and gravel. Eventually, these roots lose their grip and the banks slide into the water, taking shrubs and trees with them. As the rushing To page 67

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Tailor turn on big time BATEMANS BAY

Anthony Stokman

There are cycles, seasons and patterns that we can follow and plan around, but nothing ever stays exactly the same. An example of this is the explosion of tailor this winter.

on, they picked up to 50-60cm, and lots of them – even a monster 77cm model. The numbers of big fish are probably due to the amount of bait that is on our shores. If you want a crack at them, fish from Batemans Bay to Eden off big beaches, headlands, and break walls along surf beaches where

Major Craft, Samurai and Ocean’s Legacy, to name a few. You might want to add some nice little sinking stickbaits to your metals, too. It always feels nice using nice gear, but it never feels nice when you lose it, especially first cast. If you’re getting bitten off by a tailor’s sharp teeth, you might want

Cody with a massive 77cm tailor.

Harry Young from Offshore Adventures with one of the many smaller tuna out there. Salmon and tailor are reliable species to chase throughout winter, mostly found on our beaches, and also headlands, ledges and into the estuaries. Both species have been in great to exceptional numbers this winter season. The start of winter saw a solid run of tailor around the 30-40cm mark, then as winter went

the bait is present. The best arsenal is a lengthy rod and a pocket of metal slugs. When spinning metals (e.g. Halco Twisty, Knight, Samaki Torpedo and Nomad Ridgeback), I recommend using a nice 9’ to 10’ graphite rod. Over the years the range has become massive, with models from Shimano, Daiwa, Abu Garcia Veritas,

to go up in fluorocarbon leader or even use a short bit of wire to save your lure. The lure hook debate continues: singles, doubles or trebles? For me, I don’t care. I use them all and they all have their pros and cons. Singles are better for releasing fish. The best thing is to use them and decide for yourself.

cause a detrimental inflow of nutrients, pollutants and silt. They can also cause deoxygenation of the water – a ‘blackwater’ event – and no oxygen means dead fish. Blackwater has been the cause of many fish kills in coastal NSW rivers and the Murray-Darling Basin. These negative effects are more pronounced where land management practices have exposed soil, reduced water infiltration, enabled erosion and reduced vegetative cover. The extent, duration and timing of the flooding

also contribute to whether it will harm native fish populations. Flooding can also allow invasive fish species to travel between impoundments and waterways. Fortunately, the negative impacts of floods on fish can be reduced with improved land and water management. For more information on the impacts of flooding, and what is being done, visit ozfish.org. au/category/news-blog and search for ‘floods’. *Images courtesy of ozfish.org.au. – Newstreams & Ozfish

From page 66

water becomes more unpredictable, any surrounding litter in the area is carried into the path of least resistance – the direction of the water – with bridges and weirs creating a build-up zone on anything that tries to get under it. As the pressure and amount of water increases, the riverbanks burst. Anything in the path of water becomes part of the river, with house debris, cars, bins and fences all joining the mountain of water pushing downstream. But what does this mean for the marine life in our waterways? Some of the long-term benefits of floods for fish include the formation of pools and deeper channels, and the positioning of large woody material to provide shelter. Flooding can also reconnect waterways and create seasonally important connections between channels and floodplains. However, floods

Yellowfin tuna are the pinnacle winter fish, and they have been in reasonable numbers up and down the south coast. They have been caught in a variety of sizes, from small to large. One kind of tuna that has been exceptionally large for its species has been the albacore, which have ranged from 15kg to over 20kg. There have been some bluefin caught lately too, including a massive 155kg model at the Northern Seamount. After a slowish start for May, June and into July, we are expecting the best to come, and August could be that month. The consistent snapper fishing continues, with a few slow patches here and there, which is to be expected. They can’t be on the bite every day, but they are giving it a good crack. They have been getting caught in all depths, with plenty of big ones in the shallows on soft plastics. Micro jigs have been fishing well in all depths, and now every fisho has a micro jig combo these days. Snapper have also been successfully targeted from the stones, and it’s fresh bait that generally works best in this case. Having said that, if you chase them enough and cast plastics enough, you’ll succeed. It’s not only snapper, salmon and tailor from the rocks – the number one winter rock fishing species, the drummer, will never let you down. Cooked prawns and cunjevoi with berley are all you need to enjoy the best white flesh going. Luderick have also been in good numbers this winter, and have been in great condition also. If you can’t find any fresh weed to bait your luderick hooks, imitation weed flies have been successful, and we have a variety in store after having a long absence of them due to supply chain issues. The estuary has been fishing quite well over the

colder months, with some good to average days on flathead, trevally and tailor. What has improved the most of late has been the mulloway. After a couple of years of an abundance of

one of the many advantages of living on the south coast. From 1 August the lobster quota will go from 2 to 3 per person. The only other thing to have in place is a well-kept vegie and

Kate Rogers with a solid ‘fin. juvenile mulloway we are now seeing some 1m+ fish on the chew. This could be a good lead up to spring when they can fire up. Squid fishing is always a great option in winter, and they have been quite consistent and quite large. Fresh calamari rings with tuna sashimi as an entrée and lobster as a main, backed up the next night with abalone entrée and drummer main, is

herb garden, and you have your own supermarket. That might be a project to do this August. • 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). AUGUST 2022

NSW

Luderick are on the chew BERMAGUI

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

In the clear crystal water of the Bermagui River, luderick are on the move. They are concentrating in the lower part of the river system where they can

be easily sighted before moving further up the river to graze over the sea grass beds. Anglers who are good enough can take advantage of this migration and have some interesting late winter angling. For those who are land based, now is the time

to start looking in the Bermagui River. With this system never closing to the ocean, fresh fish stocks often enter on a regular basis at this time of year. Luderick often lead the way, concentrating around the bridge and adjacent rock walls at low tide before heading upstream with the

There are plenty of quality luderick in the Bermagui River all year round.

rising tide to feed over the flats where the seagrass beds occur. Polarizing from the bridge, these fish can be spied in their hundreds as they await the tide. At this stage all that is required to gain their attention is a light 1-2kg outfit, a no. 2 bug sinker, a no. 4 bait holder hook and a bucketful of nippers. The window in which you have to catch these luderick, or the bream, whiting and trevally, may only be short so be there right on the turn of the tide. The bite may only last for half an hour, but in this time the action can be frantic. Then suddenly, it will be like they never existed at all, disappearing with the tide. Reef fishing can best be described as reasonable, with good catches of snapper and morwong from the reefs, while around the fringes tiger flathead are increasing in numbers. Most of the reefs south of Bermagui are holding most of the stocks, with Goalen Head, 6 Mile south, providing the best action. Here anglers can choose a variety of ways in which to pursue fish, ranging from both shallow or deepwater drifting with bait, anchoring

Green or cabbage weed is very effective for luderick. to berley, bringing the fish in range of floating baits and soft plastics, or just drifting over the pinnacles working the plastics in the

To page 69 (Bermagui)

direction you’re going. Further afield out around the Twelve Mile Reef, this deep water is

Keep on the move TATHRA

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

A lot of anglers will catch fish in one area, then spend most of their fishing time in the same spot with diminishing results, while other anglers will realize when the area is starting to fade and move on to other areas hunting the fish, with excellent results. It really does pay

to keep on the move. In many years of exploring the south coast I have found each fishing town has its own little drawcard that attracts anglers there for that particular form of fishing, and with Tathra it is definitely the reefs. On leaving the boat ramp and turning south, the coastline is rocky for quite a few kilometres, allowing access to the many reefs only a short distance out. If you’re visiting the area and you wish

to find out the better spots to fish on these reefs, just cruise over them with your sounder on, looking for the pinnacles and structure where you should be able to see fish showing. Once located, simply drift over them to see what sort of results you have. If this method produces for you, repeat your drift while that spot is still fishing, then move on looking for a similar one, then repeat the process. In the opposite direction

Bream are being taken on lures under the bridge at the entrance of the Bega River at Tathra.

Some people are just too comfortable on the Tathra Wharf. 68

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travelling north, the coastline changes with rocky headlands, bays and long sections of sand beaches in between the headlands. Out from these headlands, anglers can use the same system as down south to sound out the better spots. All these areas are producing a mixed bag of snapper, morwong, ocean perch, pigfish and those ever-present leather jackets. Out from the beaches this area is producing plenty of action on the flathead front,

with both tigers and sandies being taken consistently. There have also been good numbers of gummy sharks as well as red gurnard caught in the area, along with flathead. Not only are these inshore grounds producing well, the deep reefs the locals are fishing on a more regular basis are producing some very sizeable Tassie trumpeter, and a host of other species as well. These are just inside the continental shelf, where a sounder becomes an

important item in which to fathom out your quarry. With modern technology and electric reels, deepwater fishing out in the Canyons is gaining popularity for those deepwater species like hapuka, blue-eye trevalla, gemfish and many cod species. If offshore fishing is not your cup of tea, you can fish more accessible areas like the Tathra Wharf. This spot always To page 69 (Tathra)

NSW

From page 68 (Bermagui)

producing most of the common reef species, with some very tidy Tassie trumpeter mixed in. Further out over the Canyons, anglers who are now taking advantage of modern technology and are using electric reels to fish the deep water are coming up trumps on large blue-eye trevalla, hapuka, ghost cod and gemfish on a regular basis, with lots of other odd balls mixed in. Drummer are still the main attraction for the rock fishos, with plenty of good fish being taken at dusk and dawn around the main rock headland. Cunjevoi is the number one bait for these fish, while cabbage weed and red crabs are also producing, with the crab accounting for some nice groper. The beaches are quiet with no sign of any bream or whiting. Salmon seem to be about the only fish consistently on the chew, while tailor are being accounted for of a night. Bermagui has never been noted for jewfish coming from the beaches, however over the past few months more and more school jewfish are taking a liking to a well-presented beach worm, as anglers within the area learn more about their habits. From page 68 (Tathra)

produces some action, and at present it’s in the form of trevally and salmon. These two species are a constant catch at present, along with the ever-present schools of yellowtail, the odd garfish and quite a few luderick close to the rocks, which have a liking to a wellpresented piece of cabbage weed. Use of this weed will account for more blackfish off the rocks below the pub, where drummer are also present in good numbers. These fish also

Offshore game anglers are awaiting spring and the hope of an early run of tuna. At present, a few

mako and blue sharks will turn up in a well-presented berley trail, however things are pretty quiet.

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Luderick will often eat nippers. have a liking for cunjevoi and red crabs, as do the blue groper or the many wrasse that frequent there. Salmon are constantly passing along the coastline between the Wharf and Kianinny Bay, where switched-on anglers can present a well-placed lure or bait to find plenty of surface action. In the Bega River, anglers are awaiting spring and warmer weather in order to get in a more active mode. For now, the fish have to be enticed to strike at a well-presented lure or

bait. There are quite a lot of black bream hugging the structure, where they can be polarized quite easily. You may sight several fish holding on a snag, and if you place a suspending lure in the right spot with the right twitching action you may entice a strike. You may have to do so with several schools before a result may occur. This method also works with estuary perch, which can be clearly seen at this time of year in the cold water. Take note, persistence will eventually pay off.

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Tailor are a great winter option in the Bega River, on the beaches or at the wharf. AUGUST 2022

NSW

Is it August already? ALBURY/WODONGA

Connor Heir

Winter is nearly done! It’s your last chance to hook our prized cod before the season closes, or you can opt to mix it up and chase other species. My predictions of flow and river heights have definitely gone pear-shaped,

due to there being so much water! All of the dams in our area (except for Lake Mulwala), are so high! NSW was recently officially declared drought-free, and this is such fantastic news. Not only is this good news for farmers, it’s good for fishos too, because it means lots of water to fish! Last month I predicted flows on the Murray River

Now is your last chance to catch cod before the season closure.

below Lake Hume to be reasonably steady, with the draining of Lake Mulwala still occurring. While the lake has been no more than a river channel and a big mud hole, it will start to fill again sometime this August. The flows from Hume have been greater than many people expected, even with the draining occurring, so fishing the river has been substantially more difficult due to this. While it’s still very possible to catch fish while the water is high, it’s not ideal for lure fishing as we know it. That doesn’t mean we should write it off entirely though. Remember, you won’t catch cod on the couch! With water flows increasing, the trout fishing in the river below Lake Hume can be a great alternative, and something different. Keep in mind, unlike streams and other rivers, the Murray below Hume is open to trout fishing all year around. Anywhere around the Albury Wodonga area along the river will hold trout. Many ponds and small lakes around the region have also been stocked with trout, aimed at getting kids into fishing. If this is something that interests you I’d suggest going into your local tackle store and asking about these spots, or you can ask me directly on my social media

There are some nice trout on offer at the moment. pages – Instagram (@ nativefishing) and just search my name on Facebook! For whatever advice you may need for the region, I’m happy to steer you in the right direction! With the river not being ideal of late, more keen cod fishers are now pushing towards fishing the impoundments such as Blowering, Eildon and Burrinjuck. While it can be frustrating that our river locally isn’t perfect this winter, it’s sometimes good to go on an adventure somewhere totally different, and out of our comfort zones. Learning different fisheries in general will make you a much better cod fisher as a whole, too! PREDICTIONS FOR THE MONTH As mentioned, flows in

the river will be high for August, and this will interfere with a perfect season end for Murray cod fishing. They will still eat, however, so if you are prepared to have a crack, you may receive! It was around this time last year

that the trout in Lake Hume started to fire, so if you are keen on your trout, Hume is definitely a good option. There are some absolute trophy trout in Lake Hume, so it can be well worth the effort! Tight lines, and good luck!

Pond fishing for redfin can earn you some fantastic eating fish.

Catch more with ice jigs HUNTER VALLEY

Nick Price

This month I will continue looking at winter fishing, particularly ice jig tricks. The winter bite is currently insane with big angry bass. I have looked at fishing plastics deep, both fishing horizontally and vertically. I have also

looked at fishing weedless plastics and jerkbaits, such as Double Clutches, shallow on the edge. Ice jigs are a lure that can be used all year round, but they excel during the winter months. Ice jigs are small lures that are jigged up and then allowed to sink down. They have a shape that makes them move erratically, both when jigged up and on the

drop. Fish hit the jig both on the lift and on the drop. The erratic movement causes a reflex response, and at times fish cannot resist an ice jig. When fishing ice jigs, you first need to find a school of fish. When looking at Glenbawn and St Clair, look off points, cliff faces and timber. Use your sounder to move around until you find a patch of fish. This could be

School bass are lots of fun when hitting ice jigs. 70

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anything from half a dozen to thousands of fish during the winter months. Once the fish are found, using your sounder drop the ice jig into the suspended fish. With a short, sharp movement, lift your rod tip and then let the ice jig sink back down on slack line. If the fish fire up and get excited you may end up catching many, many fish. However, sometimes the fish are not interested and ignore the ice jig. If this happens and you persist, you should eventually catch a few fish that cannot resist the reflex response. At other times the fish see the ice jig and its movement and take off. When this happens, put the ice jig away. Once away the fish will school up again; just give them a bit of time. I then like to try something else like a plastic or a blade. Another ice jig technique is to work the ice jig on the bottom. By bouncing the lure up and down off the bottom you create little puffs of sediment that attract the fish. The ice jig then looks like a little shrimp or yabby darting away before fluttering back down to the bottom. This

More yellowbelly get caught in Lake St Clair than in Glenbawn. can be a very productive technique. The fishing in both Glenbawn and St Clair has been running hot and cold, with fish dying in both lakes. The temperature changed very quickly, and this variation caused problems. Hopefully now this is all behind us. There are still tens of thousands of fish in both lakes, and as the water warms up and we head towards spring the fishing is going to be sensational.

There are many big carp in Glenbawn, and these have been getting caught on all the bass techniques, from jerkbaits to ice jigs, fighting hard and making anglers think they have a bass of a lifetime. There have also been a few yellowbelly being caught, with Lake St Clair producing more of this species than Glenbawn does. Next month I will start to look at spring fishing. To page 71

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Time to transition to spring easy to entice them with any vertically presented bait or lure. Just remember to keep your lure or bait presentation moving, and you’ll fill your esky before you know it. Murray cod also follow these redfin schools around during winter, picking off any stragglers. These cod will often eat a hooked redfin or eat the lure you are jigging for redfin. This certainly helps to keep it interesting and it pays to always be prepared. GOLDEN PERCH Blowering Dam’s golden perch usually start trying to warm up this month, and can be seen sunning themselves in the shallow weed beds. These fish are well worth targeting, especially if you like a challenge and get into polaroiding fish in the shallows. The best time to target the golden perch is from around lunchtime through to mid-afternoon, when the water temperature is at its warmest. If the fish are in

BATLOW

Wayne Dubois waynedubois@westnet.com.au

Winter isn’t quite over just yet, but anglers will already be getting itchy feet as they anticipate the warmer weather and better fishing ahead. The weather should be starting to warm towards the end of this month which is great for fish and anglers alike, but it won’t be warm enough for the skiers just yet, so anglers should get the lakes to themselves. This transition from winter to spring can really get some fish species fired up, so it pays to make the most of it while you can. Trout have been a main target over the last couple of months and will also be very active, but there are plenty of other fish species now starting to really fire to give anglers many alternatives to trout fishing. MURRAY COD Bait fishing for Murray cod in particular can be a bit of a hit and miss affair at Blowering at this time of year. Anglers that understand this prefer to take advantage of Murray cod’s territorial side by trolling or casting with oversized lures (if there is such a thing when chasing Murray cod). Lures really need to be at least 90mm in length to have the best chance of making a big Murray cod strike out of territorial aggression. Big profiled spinnerbaits with a thumping action are ideal for both casting and trolling, as are the highly underrated big lipless crankbaits. Swimbaits, glidebaits, large soft plastics, wakebaits and even true From page 70

September is traditionally a transition month from plastics to spinnerbaits, and I am predicting great

Col Robinson with one of the cod he picked up whilst on a hot Mini Vibe bite for redfin. Murray cod spend a big chunk of their time following redfin schools around during winter, and are always a welcome by-catch.

August is big redfin month, and these stunning and tasty fish can be caught hopping lures in the deep, like the Mini rubber vibe pictured. surface lures are also worth casting and even trolling. REDFIN The redfin fishing is normally sensational at this time of the year and they are often overlooked as anglers are generally either trying to get a Murray cod fix or, as I said earlier, are still targeting trout. Redfin can be caught

in huge numbers, and some very large specimens are encountered at Blowering Dam at this time of the year. Just like the rest of winter, these fish are best targeted vertically with lures, jigs or bait. The fish are normally still sitting fairly deep at this time of the year, anywhere from 7-20m down, but once a school is located it’s quite

fishing this spring. 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.

The streams might be closed, but the trout lakes offer year-round fishing. Big Jounama trout can be caught in the freshly flooded margins on bait or lures, and they will also snaffle a well-presented fly.

Big, fat bass are currently on the bite.

an active mood they will literally hit anything cast or trolled past them, but when they are not quite switched on (or are constantly following but not hitting), bass-style soft plastics might see you get in on some action in the crystal-clear waters. There are many types of plastics on the market

these days that do the job well, but I like to stick to the 2-4” paddle-tail style plastics in natural colours. These types of plastics have regularly helped me snare a few golden perch when all my usual offerings were getting refused. The other gun lures to use when the goldens are

not quite switched on are shallow running suspending lures. There are quite a few on the market these days, and most will do the job so it is up to personal preference as to which model you use, but stick to natural colours for Blowering Dam. JOUNAMA DAM The trout fishing at Jounama Dam has been good of late, with some very big trout caught, and this should continue this month. There should also start to be some native action, with the resident golden perch now starting to pop up around the grassy margins of the dam. Bait fishing in amongst the freshly-flooded pockets of weed can be very rewarding, but fly or lure fishing in these areas can be just as rewarding. Fly fishing with large wets and/or nymphs usually brings a few trout undone, and is probably the best way of hooking into one of the big, smart trophy-sized trout this lake is famous for. Casting shallow running hard bodies in the plentiful shallows is another exciting way of fishing the lake. With good stealth it’s fairly common to spot or polaroid fish before you cast to them. Blind casting with sinking hardbodied lures, small soft plastics or the everreliable lipless crankbaits is another great way to get amongst them, especially during the middle part of a sunny day when most fish are holding in deeper water. As you can see, it’s all about to happen, so now would be a great time to get everything serviced and ready to take advantage of the great fishing ahead. AUGUST 2022

NSW

Slowing down retrieves is key to winter fishing NEW ENGLAND RIVERS

Adam Townsend

August in the New England can be a very special time of year for fishing opportunities, and just getting outdoors in general. With the shortest day of the year already

the 3-month spawning period, so August is the last month to actively target the cod until December. At the time of writing, Copeton Dam and Pindari Dam have been sitting up around full capacity for many weeks now (Copeton is at 99.5% and Pindari is at 100%).

XL cod at sunrise on big lures, and then soaking in some warmth while chasing yellowbelly a short while later as the sun is up. However, out of both of the larger impoundments, it has been Copeton Dam that has still been one of the more popular waterways for activities of late.

Smart, old Murray cod don’t get caught very easily. Slowing down your approach can be a huge factor in getting a bite in winter. to get outdoors and hit the local impoundments, with good numbers of quality fish being caught as well as some awesome camping weather for this time of year. The added bonus is that both lures and baits

right conditions, however I think with the cold water temperatures, slower retrieves are definitely the key. This is where the more natural presentations really pay off at this time of year, such as swimbaits,

closed for trout breeding season (local DPI Fisheries have been present, making sure people are doing the right thing). There are also several other rivers around the New England Tablelands, including parts

A healthy bucket-mouth Murray cod caught on a shallow diving crankbait at a slower pace than normal. come and gone, the days are only starting to get longer now as it starts to warm up again, as we get ready to head into some nice spring weather at the end of this month. On that same note, Murray cod season will close on 1 September for

. This has seen the fish feed a lot more actively in patterns, with some cracking Murray cod caught on surface lures as well as big golden perch throughout the day down deeper on vibes. From experience, I must say it’s pretty hard to beat targeting

There’s plenty of space along the dam’s edge for camping, soaking baits and/or casting lures and so on – especially compared to Pindari, which has very limited camping available when around full capacity. The school holidays proved to be a good time

Winter in the New England and Murray cod fishing, wouldn’t want it any other way.

The cold can make it hard sometimes but getting outdoors is always worth it. This chunky cod ate the BigM crankbait as it was tea-bagged on top of the water only metres away from the kayak (you can see the line going over the branch above). 72

AUGUST 2022

have been catching their fair share of fish, while the baitfish numbers and other prey species for the natives are lower than normal during these colder months. For the bait fishers, worms can be a good all-round bait as most species love them, and they can still be found abundantly during the colder months. The shrimp and yabbies will be a bit harder to find as they tend to go more dormant in the cold. Most lure types will also still catch fish in their

wakebaits (water-dragon style lures). Surface lures and slow sinking swimbaits worked in the shallows, and chatterbaits or crankbaits in the deeper water, are my favourite ways to target fish during the winter months. They have been my most effective techniques, especially while the water visibility is clear in both impoundments and the local rivers. This month the full moon is on the 12th and the new moon is on the 27th. Just a reminder, The Beardy River is fully

of major river systems such as the upper Macintyre, Severn and Gwydir rivers, which are closed or partly closed. Check DPI website for more info if needed. Trout season will re-open on the October long weekend. In the meantime, you can contact Deano at Deano’s Springwater Smoked Trout on 0427 750 182 for all your trout needs. Good luck to everyone getting outdoors and hitting the water this month. I hope you catch the big one before season end. Tight lines.

ACT

Canberra

Time for cool action CANBERRA

Toby Grundy

August is here, and this means there are 30 or so days to head out and try for one last cod before 1 December. I wouldn’t say this cod season has been particularly memorable. The weather has been shocking, and with the constant flooding, there have been very few large cod caught out of the river. Even the local lakes have been quiet for the most part, with the odd big fish turning up here and there. With closed season so close though, the time for excuses is gone and the time for action is upon us. I really like fishing for cod in August because it feels like the clock is against me, and the dwindling odds always make me fish harder and longer. Every missed hit feels 10 times tougher to take, and every fish landed is extra special. LOCAL LAKES Lake Burley Griffin is fishing surprisingly well. I hadn’t fished the lake for a few weeks after the wind and rain, but when I did, I encountered plenty of big redfin sitting a few metres from the reed-lined banks near the Yarralumla Nursery. These fish hit wriggler-style plastics in natural colours, and also hit small divers fished slow near the bottom. I also landed a few small golden perch in the same area, which turned up about

anglers using large plastics and fishing deep near the rowing lanes. And, as always, large carp can be targeted using wriggler style plastics in darker colours at Nerang Pool. If you’re thinking about fishing the back of the museum on foot (a popular fishing

golden perch come from the lake for a few weeks. The carp though have been feeding up, and there have been plenty of massive mud marlin caught up the back of Greenway by bait fishos using corn. This latest round of rain should kick the perch fishing into gear though, and

This is your last chance to nab a winter cod before the closed season.

Pejar Dam has been fishing well. spot in August), let me save you some time. This part of the foreshore has been shut due to asbestos which has surfaced after recent rain, and there are fences and signs. Steer clear and stay safe. Lake Tuggeranong is still very much a mixed bag. There have been some

the first stop should always be the spillway where the bigger golden perch bite on overcast days. Lake Ginninderra has been quiet. There has been the odd big fish landed, but overall the action is slow. That said, I have caught a few nice redfin by walking the bank and casting at the

Ginninderra but they are definitely there. I witnessed one angler land a nice yella using a creature bait, and he landed another bigger fish a few casts later. The Murrumbidgee River is definitely worth a look over the coming weeks. The fishing has been tough and it will continue to be so, but you never know what can happen, especially if the big fish suddenly switch on late in the season. Though the water is still running fast in a number of different sections, it is still possible to pull a fish from the rapids if you’re fishing surface lures at dawn or dusk. The quieter pools are also worth a look, and though the fish won’t be quite as big, there’s usually more action in these areas right throughout the day. SURROUNDS Googong Dam is fishing reasonably well. Boat anglers with LiveScope tech have caught some big cod by targeting ‘The Triangle’, which consists of three banks up towards the back of the dam where cod almost always hold throughout the cooler months. I am not going to give away the exact position of these banks, but they aren’t too hard to find. There is good redfin fishing from the bank at the southern end of the dam, and it’s possible to land a cod in this area. I know of

one lucky angler who got the surprise of his life when a large cod climbed onto his small blade and pushed his light spin gear to the limit. I don’t often write

these fish bite well right through the cooler months. I like fishing the dam on calm, clear days if chasing trout, and overcast, windy days when targeting the

Golden perch are hitting lures late in the day. about Pejar Dam but it is definitely a great alternative when the weather turns foul in Canberra. This unique fishery near Goulburn holds both bass and trout, and

resident population of big Aussie bass. Try the dam wall first and cast plastics near the edges. I have caught plenty of good bass in this location in recent weeks.

There’s plenty of great fishing to experience at the moment. halfway through the 2-hour session. Lake Burley Griffin sometimes fires up well before the warmer spring weather hits, and if this early action is anything to go by, we could be in for a bumper September on LBG. There have also been a few decent cod caught by

great cod landed by boat anglers fishing surface near the dam wall, and these fish have all been fooled by paddler-style lures. However, the fishing from the bank has been pretty slow. The reddies haven’t been as prevalent of late, and I haven’t seen a big

pylons under the bridge. All the fish I have landed lately have been fooled into hitting Jackall TN50s fished at a medium pace along the middle of the water column. Flashier colours brought on the better fish. It has been a while since I have landed a golden perch at Lake

Reddies are on the chew. AUGUST 2022

Go Behind the Scenery

Tasmania

Anglers get the green light OFFSHORE

Kelly Hunt

Look out… after two months of the crisp cold of June and July, we come steaming out of our caves here in Tasmania for trout season. Trout season opens on the first weekend of August, and this year that is on the 8th. This date used to have a lot of hype surrounding it as traditionally all waters were closed, and this was the green light for go time! The Fisheries department in Tasmania have slowly grown the ‘year-round fishing’ waters to the point it has watered down the anticipation for the weekend we could finally chase our beloved Salmo trutta (brown trout) and Oncorhynchus mykiss (rainbow trout). The anticipation hasn’t been watered down for the faithful, however. Each year

Ashley has found some amazing King George whiting out of the Tamar.

in August many groups brave the cold and often snow to have opening weekend trips, either camping or staying in family shacks. These shacks have often been passed down for generations, and it’s a great time for families to spend some time away. Then we have the migration of the whitebait and eels up the western rivers, with people chasing truly monstrous big residents and sea-run trout. August is a little early, most would say, but some people like to beat the crowds that can be at the hotspots and prove people wrong. At this time of year the water flows from the power stations and outflows can be extreme, so you’ll need bigger gear and leaders, far heavier than you would expect. Drop into your local tackle shops and ask about lures and jighead weights, as it’s a specialist field. The build-up to trout season To page 75

Sam and Jack Quin managed to find a nice bluefin.

Sampling winter treats HOBART

Andrew Large

Anglers have been hampered by fronts of cold wintery weather in recent weeks, severely limiting fishing escapades, although the trout season opening is making up for this. Also, in the saltwater around our coastline, small breaks in the weather have made targeting the following species a real possibility. Normally a tad quiet in winter, sand flathead are

starting move in some areas. Water temps are still down but some action has been seen throughout Storm Bay. Large Australian salmon have been sighted off Kingston Beach in large numbers. Cremorne and Pipeclay Lagoons are experiencing a limited run of good fish to 2kg; good days have been a bit patchy but the rewards are there for persistent anglers. Huon River is also experiencing a good run of smaller salmon from Dover upwards. Winter sand whiting have been encountered around Lewisham in the south, while

Thomas Beard was excited to catch this mid-winter calamari. Yamashita jigs are his favourite during the cooler months. 74

AUGUST 2022

good runs of King George have been experienced along the northern coastline and northeast of the state. Late winter tiger flathead are still very quiet, but rumour has it some fish have been caught around Bicheno and further south around Maria Island and the Mercury Passage. Storm Bay these days really is providing some sensational snapper! These have, not surprisingly, been taken recently around Betsy Island and Channel areas in the south, which is a tad early for this species. Big calamari are staying well offshore for the moment due to storm surge-related wave activity in close. Patches of fish can still be found, but a little searching may be required for some quality fishing. Adventure Bay, Nubeena and Marion bays have seen reasonable captures. Quality southern bluefin tuna remain somewhat plentiful for the moment, and are still taking the odd lure in Peninsula waters. Captures out of Pirates Bay have filtered through of quality fish around the 25kg mark. In recent weeks the state’s estuary fishing has been incredible to say the least. Huge sea trout are running well in nearly all southern rivers. The River Derwent has been fishing well since early August and shows no sign of slowing for the moment, particularly with annual whitebait runs beginning to build. The Huon and further south have been a little slow but are producing fish – slowness due to high river levels in recent weeks.

A rare photo depicting spin, troll and fly anglers all having a ‘tackle and tactics’ chat at Great Lake recently. Bibbed lures and soft plastics are being smashed during some hot black bream action as bait populations increase. The lower to mid reaches of estuary systems are probably the go-to zones as fish haven’t pushed all the way through to the upper reaches just yet. Taylor to 45cm have been caught by those anglers chasing bream and sea trout. These fish are patchy but are mixed in with feeding schools of Australian salmon and bream. FRESHWATER It’s the start of our 2022-23 freshwater angling season! Trout anglers all over Tasmania have been waiting patiently over May, June and July for the annual opening of our trout season over the first weekend in August. Our highland areas have been battered by fierce weather fronts and snow over the last 4-5 weekends, but weather has been surprisingly fine during the week. The pick of the lakes are as follows. Lower in altitude, Bronte Lagoon is without doubt the

number one water in the state so far this season. The fish are fitter than they were last season and are eager to hit a lure or fly. All methods are working well – spin, troll and fly – both land-based and from the boat. Anglers are finding Four Springs in the north to be second only to Bronte by a smidge, and have seen rainbow trout to 7lb landed so far this season. There have been rumours of good mayfly action on this lake already. Lake Leake has dropped back a little in tempo from last season, but it’s still producing good brown and rainbow trout. This water is full and was spilling. Again, all methods are working well. Presently the lake is spilling and should continue to do so for a while. Arthurs Lake is also producing good number of short, fat fish around the 2lb mark. Fish have been found around the edges all over the lake, with both fly and spin anglers all reporting good bags. High altitude and windswept Great Lake is a little slow, but again I put this down to cold snow melt inflows

and extremely low water temperatures. Marsh-like Woods Lake, being lower and not as snow affected, has been fishing well. Spin fishers drifting the edges have taken quality fish to 1.8kg. Fly activity will increase now that ambient temperatures are on the rise. Fly fishers are being well catered for as Penstock Lagoon has been fishing well, and has offered a little bit more shelter on those blustery days. Fish started off in close around a month ago and have recently started to hit flies on sinking lines out wide in the mid reaches. Once again Little Pine Lagoon started off slow for the season – again, lower alpine temperatures have been limiting fish activity. Recent days have seen fish starting to move on this water. Enjoy the patches of good weather and get out there, whether it be salt or fresh, and enjoy some of the winter treats our waters can yield over the next few weeks!

Go Behind the Scenery From page 74

used to be great for tackle stores as they provided licences, but nowadays people buy licences online and foot traffic can wane, so please support your local tackle store. Some of the advice and little shortcut suggestions can save you time and mean a successful trip. THE TING ARE ON FIRE King George whiting are one of the best eating fish in the sea, and the good news is they are on the chew at this time of year. With rain falls and river outflows slowing, the water is clearing up to target them. Getting your tide right and finding some nice open sand on an edge of weed or low rubble reef works well. It can take some time to perfect your anchoring when targeting these fish. It’s worth the effort to get it right, because if you get too close to the weed and rubble you will get rubbish by-catch. The same can be

said if you’re fishing too far out on the sand as well – you can get nailed by mullet and Australian salmon. These are the better of the by-catch species, so I like to default wide on the sand if I can’t get my vessel laying back on the anchor quite right. I like to use a very fine berley mix to get the whiting interested, and get it down low on the bottom of the estuary or coastline. You should drop your rigs out with just enough weight on to deal with the current. It’s important to have a good selection of sinker styles and weights to get your baits to hold inside the berley mist you have created. I favour mashed squid strips as bait – a little strip with one end tapped with the blunt edge of a knife, just enough to break the skin membrane and make the end soft and mushy. I also recommend bringing a landing net. Sometimes here in Tasmania you can come across some absolute monster King George whiting that are so

big they look like another species. If one of these beauties flips off or breaks the line at the boat, no one will believe how big it was. BIG BASS STRAIT TUNA The big tuna migration across the front of Bass Strait is back on again. July and August was the time of year people of the northwest coast could put their boats in and troll for the bluefin tuna of a life time. It has been a marvel of discovery for some four or five years now thanks to a number of people. One man stands out, Glen Saltmarsh, who has helped many people in to getting a hook-up, offering advice, and even climbing on board to help at the end of a fight. See him and the boys down at Seamaster Devonport for advice on where to start. These fish are following the big dolphin schools and the whales that move through the Strait at this time of year. Find these and troll a respectful distance off them and you are inevitably putting your lures over tuna. The big question is will the

Tasmania

Skipper Noel Devlin (centre) and crewmembers Rodney Ablitt and Will George with a Bass Strait barrel of 119kg.

colours and actions of your lure incite a bite? Anglers leaving from Low Head and searching off the Tamar have done the best as they troll towards Port Sorel. The Devonport crews have been going far and wide, having luck in random depths both west and east of port. The Ulverstone crews have had some luck off Penguin, and so to have the Burnie crews. There have even been very good-sized bluefin caught in and around Sisters Beach. As you can see, they are coming through in big numbers. Colours that have been going well are the saury bait and lumo skirts from most manufacturers. There are a number of great Australian and even Tasmanian based lure manufacturers that have insane levels of experience with our sea conditions and fish species. The one thing I can guarantee is hours spent on the water, so have heaps of supplies and water to make the day pleasant, and work as a team to find those fish.

READER’S STORY

Count on a cobia Skipper Sam, Gav and myself set out on one of our usual early morning Sydney sessions with a tank full of yakkas. Conditions were fine with only a

light breeze blowing as we headed to Wedding Cake Island, Coogee. We deployed our first yakka at first light and soon enough Gav come up tight, converting it to a solid

Sydney snapper. After a top start to the morning, the fishing went up a gear as my Stradic starting singing. The 6.5” Berkley Nemesis soft plastic lure I was flicking was inhaled in 10m of water and a blistering first run followed. Sensing the fish was in the ‘unstoppable’ category, Sam navigated us to the relative safety of some deeper waters to avoid being reefed. Close to an hour later we got colour and Gav recognised the characteristic dorsal fin of an oversized cobia. This is an infrequent visitor to Sydney waters, particularly a fish of this size. After multiple attempts, Sam and Gav combined efforts to gaff and land the fish. The fish measured 155cm and weighed 30kg, it was caught using 20lb braid and 20lb fluorocarbon leader. Cobia are considered to be sustainably stocked along the Eastern Australian Coast. Following a quick photo the cobia, aka ‘wagu of the sea’ was despatched. Emotionally drained after an adrenaline fuelled morning - the lads and I returned to the Captain’s Camperdown Clubhouse. The fished weighed in on the bathroom scales at 30kg and measured 155cm. The lads shared a beer and consolidated the memories of landing this magnificent fish of a lifetime. – Chris Reeves AUGUST 2022

VIC

There’s plenty going on WARRNAMBOOL

Mark Gercovich mgercovich@hotmail.com

It may be winter but the fishing can still be hot here in the southwest. There has been plenty going on to keep anglers from putting the rods away. The great winter saviour we have is the local river trout fishing, where a session can always be had despite any

horrid weather. The Hopkins, Merri and Mt Emu waterways are open all year to trout fishing, allowing anglers to access these fish during winter. We haven’t received any massive dumps of rain to dirty the rivers up yet, but just enough to get the fish moving and feeding well. There continues to be plenty of small fish in the 400-800g range being taken in all three rivers. This is a bit unusual; our local rivers

Xavier Ellul with a glidebait caught mulloway.

generally produce fewer but larger fish. It’s probably a result of some heavier stocking rates in the Emu and Hopkins in particular. This will hopefully all go well for the next two seasons, so carefully release these smaller fish as they may be next year’s ripper. Amongst the smaller fish, there have been some quality specimens in the 2-3kg range taken. It does make for an interesting session when one cast can produce a squeaker and the next thing you tangle with is a big hook-jawed monster. With the water still being fairly clear there have still been some big freshwater estuary perch encountered by trout anglers, and those targeting them in the upper Hopkins. Come August though, those bigger perch should have moved down into the estuary where they will be schooling up, preparing to spawn. The estuary scene in August should see anglers targeting bream and perch populations in the deeper

There have still been some good trout taken lately. sections of the river. A lot of keen bream lure anglers aren’t big fans of luring in the deep water in winter, and for sure it doesn’t compare to a summer surface bite. It can also be frustrating when the sounder is lit up with schooled-up fish that refuse to bite. However, it can be a very effective way of catching fish at this time of the year. With many other angling options also out of action with the weather, a leisurely session drifting up the centre of a local estuary and throwing some blades, soft

plastics and vibes can be a lot of fun. Another good thing is that the fish can be targeted all day as opposed to those early morning starts often required in the warmer months. There is always a slight chance of encountering a mulloway this way too. A few good mulloway were taken in the Hopkins recently so they should still be around unless we get too much fresh water flowing though. When the weather permits there is always to the option of hitting the offshore grounds

in search of some school or gummy shark. There have been some excellent ones taken recently, including a 26kg fish taken by Tom Powell. Locally tuna have been a bit wider and have been mainly encountered by those heading out or back for a bottom fishing session. Most tuna anglers have been focusing their attempts on the massive amount of school fish present off Portland, or travelling further west to Pt MacDonnell in search of the bigger barrel-sized fish which are still being taken there.

Lots of bluefin opportunities PORTLAND

Nigel Fisher

The winter fishing in Portland is still going well. Of course, the main target is our ever-popular bluefin tuna, and they have been in good numbers. In June the school fish were cruising around the 35-150m range, harassing the bait schools. Around the Cape Nelson lighthouse area has been very productive. Local fishers and annual anglers are hoping to see the bigger tuna this month, and if the weather is kind to us they will be very keen to hook into some big ones.

One of the most popular lure ranges this year so far has been extra-deep hardbodies such as Halco Laser Pros and Samaki Pacemakers. Reds,

AUGUST 2022

winter’s days, with low wind and swell, a big trip around to Bridgewater Bay is always on the mind of local anglers as the flathead can really be in good form in July and August. The most productive area has been in 50-80m. The chances of a good gummy and latchets are on the cards also. Quality baits work the best, and Squid-Em Rigs with bait also do really well. The Bay/North Shore area is still a great fishing spot through winter, especially when the deepwater fishing is too rough. We have still seen some numbers of whiting in the bay; maybe not as many

Bag Out Charters with a good feed of tuna.

A big old 7-giller. These guys are always cruising around in the winter months.

Jimmy and Reece with a winter snapper taken off the breakwater after a big swell. 76

greens, blues and whites have been the standout colours. Running your favourite colour skirted lures is a bonus, plus teasers to entice

the fish in harder conditions. If the bigger tuna come around to play and are like the big tuna in Port Mac, bait fishing seems to be the go, either dead or alive – plus cubing pilchards to keep them excited. Time will tell. Out the back of Lawrences Rock to Cape Nelson area is also productive for bottom fishing. 30-80m can produce good table fish such as snapper, flathead and sharks, just to name a few. They like big baits such as squid, pilchards, mackerel and so on, and pretty much anything fresh like salmon, couta and slimies. Another option is to jig, which is getting more popular every day. The results have been great, and the excitement of loading up on a good fish certainly keeps you coming back for more. On the really good

Ben with a 68cm snapper off the breakwater after a big swell. as the summer months, but certainly the size makes it all worthwhile. You can also troll along the Town Reef or Minerva Reef for good-size snook and salmon. I find that smaller deep diving lures do a great job, but I don’t use my favourite ones in case of couta ripping through the lines. Sometimes small skirts are very productive also.

On the good, clear days we can also start picking up squid around the patches in the shallow waters under the water tower area. The breakwater, jetty and Trawlers Wharf are a good, safe option for fishos and their families. The odd big whiting has been coming off the jetty and Trawlers, plus salmon, couta and so on. We have seen

some quality salmon off the breakwater, and sharks for the guys putting in the time. Beach fishing around the area is also very much the same, with salmon off the surf, and night fishing can produce some goodsize sharks. For the guys fishing the estuary water, make sure all your gear is ready to go as the winter bream, estuary perch and mulloway are great targets at this time of year. With dirty water through winter, live baits work very well, along with hardbody lures and soft plastics. • Remember if you’re planning on a trip to Portland, call in and see us for all your bait and fishing needs, and to find out any up-to-date info. Compleat Angler is located at 61 Bentinck Street next to the Gordon Hotel. You can also contact us on 03 5521 1844, or check out our Facebook page for further information.

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Catches from Hopkins COBDEN

Rod Shepherd

Despite the wintry weather there are plenty of keen anglers still out and about chasing fish in our estuaries, freshwater lakes as well as out on the briny. Firstly, there’s no point talking about the Curdies estuary as no one is fishing it and if they are, no reports are coming in. We won’t know the full extent of the damage done to the bream and perch population until the system fills to the extent where it is manually opened to the sea and given a good flush-out. Of course, the system will see replacement species such as salmon and mullet enter the system ,and maybe a mulloway or three. Then and only then will we know what bream and perch are left, if any. I strongly suggest that

a catch and release only rule should be placed on these two species for the next few years to give the fish a chance to repopulate. In the meantime, the size and weight of what’s possibly left will give us an idea how bad the situation is. Meanwhile, the Hopkins is fishing well for all three species, including mulloway to almost a metre in length. The mulloway are responding to live baits such as mullet, as well as fresh cut baits of filleted mullet and salmon caught in the river earlier on. Decent-sized soft plastics and minnow lures in excess of 120mm are also picking up a few. The prime time is still after dark, especially around a change of tide. The mouth around the danger board, the road bridge pylons as well as any shallow mud flats (around the top of the tide) has seen

good fish hooked, lost and landed. Your leader should be a minimum of 12lb breaking strain, and I recommend using quality fluorocarbon material over monofilament for a better result. Speaking of mulloway, there are plenty inhabiting the Glenelg River along with positive reports also coming out of the Fitzroy and Moyne Rivers. Heaps of school southern bluefin tuna to 7kg are available right along our coastline, and with the help of binoculars and a good view from the shore, feeding frenzies accompanied with diving seabirds can easily be seen not far out at all. The odd larger specimen has been seen amongst its smaller brethren. Make no mistake though, the small tuna still put up a hard fight and are the perfect size to keep for a feed or two.

Unlike the Curdies River, these Hopkins bream are still readily available to anglers in the know. These beauties took unweighted cut crab opposite the Mahoneys Road boat ramp, and were released.

Reliable salmon catches GEELONG

Neil Slater slaterfish@gmail.com

August has always been cold and windy in the region, but you’ll always find a fish if

has seen consistent captures of small trout for anglers flicking winged lures and heavy spoons. The reservoir has been near capacity for a while now, and heavy rain can make it discoloured. Bait fishos armed with mudeye

seeing for Aussie salmon! They’ve been super busy around the Bellarine Peninsula, and there have been some real whoppers down the Surf Coast. The Geelong waterfront has been a real go-to for salmon fishos as they have been fairly reliable here. Sometimes, they’re smashing baitfish on the surface and other times,

patrolling deep. They’ve been caught on just about everything, including soft plastics, divers, surface lures and almost any bait. Most of the fish here have been from 35 to 45cm, with a few over 50cm caught. David Le has been loitering down the waterfront a fair bit and catching plenty. He has been fishing deep for them

Andrew released a bigger gummy off Barwon Heads but kept these for a feed.

Marc Ainsworth has been using squid with a pilchard tempter as bait. you’re prepared to throw on a beanie. Wurdee Buloc Reservoir near Moriac 78

AUGUST 2022

and float set-ups should do well with a light easterly around dawn and dusk. What a season we’re

Matt waded through the tiddlers to beach this 2kg salmon from eastern view.

using soft plastic lures and working them slowly close to the bottom. David has filmed a bit of the action on his YouTube channel ‘Fishing with David’. For boat fishos, these fish can turn up absolutely anywhere inside Corio Bay. If they’re not smashing bait on the surface, you may have to troll for them

and cover some water. Trolling from the entrance of Limeburners rock wall, Geelong waterfront, Rippleside, bulk grain piers and around to north shore covers a lot of their haunts. Point Henry and Point Wilson are other places to visit with the boat if the weather To page 79

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allows. The most effective way to catch multiple fish is by trolling lures to locate them, then casting at them once they’re found. Portarlington pier

fishing the Bellarine and getting a few whiting up to 40cm. Marc says most have been 32-38cm with the dawn bite being best, and often in less than 3m of water. The best baits

David has been ripping the salmon in along the Geelong waterfront.

Marc Ainsworth has done well around the Bellarine, with fish to 40cm. has also seen numbers of salmon as well, but they’re a bit smaller at around 30cm. Salmon move around a lot, which means they can be flat stick one day and gone the next. Put the time in and you’ll bend a rod with them eventually. For land-based fishos, St Leonards pier has seen calamari and whiting caught, and the best time has been after dark. Take a good mix of colours as they have been a little fussy. Around 4m of water seemed to be the goldilocks depth for them last month, but moving around and swapping jigs is the key to locating them. Whiting have been unpredictable but a few dedicated anglers have them figured out. Typically, St Leonards down to Queenscliff is the ‘go-to’ for consistency, but remember that this time last year the 6m mark off Leopold was going off its head whiting-wise, so it pays to just keep moving and keep trying the spots you’ve caught fish from in the past. Marc Ainsworth has put in a solid few weeks

few tuna about off Lorne – both in amongst the salmon schools and out by themselves. Alby also managed to land his first ever tuna, which he was very excited about. Keith also notes the pier at Lorne has been fishing well with big salmon, trevally, snapper, calamari and whiting being caught by anglers prepared to rug up. Gummy sharks have been making themselves known offshore, with some solid models to 15kg being caught. Andrew McLaughlin from Leopold Angling and Aquatic Club boated three off Barwon Heads. He released the largest, a 15kg female, and kept the two smaller males for a feed. Dave Reynolds fished with Grant Greenwood out off Barwon Heads where the lads also boated a few gummy sharks, plus a pair of whopper 7-gill sharks fishing in 30-35m. The Barwon River estuary has had a good run of silver trevally and

have been a squid strip topped with a small piece of pilchard, and Marc has not needed to use pipis. He has been using a size 2 Mustad circle hook on a paternoster rig, with his best sessions yielding around 15-20 fish, and the worst was a 5-fish outing. Clifton Springs boat harbour entrance has been a real hazard on low tide, with many boats running

Rita with a 2.811kg sambo from Lorne.

Alby with his junior club record 2.96kg salmon – better than the old blokes!

aground. A long-reach excavator was put to use to dig the entrance out near the end of May. Marine Safety Victoria have advised to navigate with caution. The Surf Coast down to Lorne has seen plenty of salmon caught, with some around 2kg along the beaches and rock platforms, and up to 3kg caught near Lorne. Matt Golding fished Eastern View on the incoming tide where they caught plenty of small salmon around the 20-22cm mark using pipis. Just as the tide peaked, Matt’s rod (baited with bluebait) went nuts

and he beached a ripper of around 2kg. Keith Miller, the commodore of Lorne Aquatic and Angling Club, says the salmon fishing has been sensational with lots of anglers having a ball catching them. Recently, Alby Dawson set a new junior club record with a 2.061kg salmon which was nudged out by Rita De Bon with a 2.811kg fish! Rita held the record for a short time but then Alby reclaimed it with a 2.96kg salmon which is now the current junior record and is actually heavier than the senior record holder. There has also been a

salmon to 40cm on the incoming tide. The best bait has been pilchard pieces, and small soft plastics such as 50mm single-tailed grubs have worked very well too. • 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). AUGUST 2022

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Land-based winter warrior in Melbourne flicking the ever-reliable Turtleback Worm in open water and along the boat hulls, and we caught plenty of mullet using unweighted bread and pipis. We caught snook with 75mm Double Clutches and we also accounted for a few grass whiting, snot-nose trevally and countless bay trout on soft plastics. My second trip was up the Mornington peninsula

PPB WEST

Alan Bonnici alan@fishingmad.com.au

Call me crazy but I think there is something special and unique about fishing in winter around Melbourne. It takes persistence, perseverance, and unparalleled motivation to go time and time again in often slow and cold conditions. It’s a grind that requires a strong mindset. The key to success during this time of year is to really understand what species are fishing well and where to invest your time so your days on the water are productive. The good thing about fishing in winter around Melbourne is there are many different species you can target and many ways to target them. Landbased anglers will have no shortage of options, with

A colourful grass whiting caught on a plastic. the garfish fishing well far and wide around Melbourne and both the Mornington and Bellarine Peninsula.

As usual, the bream are fishing well in the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers. It can be hit-and-miss

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sometimes when walking the banks flicking shallow diving lures and small curl-tail or paddle-tail soft plastics. I have had some success flicking the new Mussel Vibes along any visible stricture, especially the bridge pylons. Baits like yabbies and maggots always seem to fish well here. Just recently I had three land-based fishing sessions, and all were memorable. My first trip was fishing the Geelong waterfront opposite the town centre. I love this form of fishing – it’s back to basics targeting bread-and-butter species with lightly-weighted soft plastics and unweighted baits. We caught pinkies

Land-based pinkies are a welcome catch in winter.

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fishing the Mt Martha cliffs. It’s one of my favourite land-based fishing destinations because of its beautiful scenery and clean water. As usual, it didn’t disappoint, yielding a bag of squid. Nothing of substantial size, but lots of fun nonetheless. I was flicking size 3 squid jigs with a longer than usual spin outfit to get ample casting distance.

A nice winter squid.

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session of the week was in Port Melbourne targeting garfish off Kerferd Road pier. It was a tad slow at first, but I landed about 15 gars on the tide change, and berley was a key. I recommend ultra-light 1-3kg rods, 1000 reels and light line. You never get too old to see those floats disappear. Even the most simple and basic forms of fishing can be a lot of fun. I also had a quick stop on the way back fishing near the west gate bridge, picking up a few small pinkies, flathead and bream on 2.5” GrubZ. For me this just highlights that there are many possibilities when it comes to land-based fishing in Melbourne during winter. You’re only limited by your imagination and ROCKLEAmotivation levels to get out and catch a few fish. Yes, BRISBANE & LEISURE youBOATING can expect a few slow 1713 Ipswich Road sessions, but Rocklea there will also be plenty P: (07) 3875 1600of good ones too. On the boat and kayak, E: sales@kareemarine.com.au the bread-and-butter W: www.kareemarine.com.au species like whiting, squid,

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being rounded up by those simple message serves me pesky seals. really well at this time of Periodically, the year. Some of my most big schools of salmon productive sessions have will swim by so always been close to home. be prepared with a spin You should also give rod and reel rigged with some thought to what the a paddle-tail soft plastic, weather conditions will curl-tail soft plastic, do to the system you’re shallow-diving hardbody planning to fish. For or micro-jig ready to cast. example, will the water Recently the schools have poor water clarity of salmon around Werribee due to strong winds in a were crazy. The strange certain direction in the days thing however was they leading up? Will the moon weren’t always in an and tide impact your target eating mood. On several species? Little nuggets like occasions on the boat, we this can really help you noticed masses of birds to plan your day and get diving into one area, and you thinking about how, we approached and noticed where and what you should both bait and salmon target. For me it’s critical everywhere. On some to improving my catch occasions they would smash rates. And remember, when anything you presented at the weather isn’t great for them and at other times the boat or kayak, there they were extremely timid. are plenty of great landVery NORTH unusual behaviour based options. ROCKHAMPTON Until next time, good for this time of year; in RIFEN if BOATS the past you found fishing everyone. Feel free Dooley Streetalmost North Rockhampton to contact me at alan@ them 6 you were guaranteed fishingmad.com.au to share P: (07)some 4927fun. 9150 The gummy sharks your fishing experiences, E: rifen.boats@bigpond.com are also fishing well this photos and catches around W:year. www.rifenboats.com.au time of They thrive in Melbourne, Port Phillip the cold water conditions, Bay and beyond, which AIRLIEpatience BEACH will be we can feature in next but much WHITSUNDAY OUTBOARD CENTRE required when targeting month’s article. Please them.17I William have had some a Murray Drive consider Cannonvale becoming P: (07) 4946 7286

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FishingMad member at w w w. f i s h i n g m a d . c o m . au/member for fishing workshops, podcasts, detailed reports and exciting monthly giveaways. Also, don’t forget to follow my fishing adventures on the FishingMad YouTube channel (youtube.com/c/ fishingmad) and on Facebook (facebook. com/fishingmad.com.au), Instagram (instagram.com/ fishingmad.com.au) and on Channel 31 on Tuesdays at 9:30pm and Saturdays at 3:00pm.

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AUGUST 2022

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Crisp, calm days PORT PHILLIP

Gerry Morsman

With species from garfish to gummy sharks we still have it all here, so don’t put the boat away yet as you will be sure to find a good feed. One of the best things about fishing throughout winter down here in

Sorrento and Rye. A more popular approach is to cast squid jigs around. I find this much more entertaining and I believe it gives you a better chance as you are covering much more ground. Being that you want to fish clear water you should be able to see the reef on the bottom, and you want to be fishing in anywhere from 2.5-6m

Casting metal slugs is a great way to target salmon off the beach if you want to cover more ground. Melbourne is that you will find plenty more windows to get out as you tend to get much more calm weather. Yes, it gets cold, but it’s nothing a warm jacket and a set of hand warmers can’t fix. SQUID (SOUTHERN CALAMARI) If you are after a sure feed during winter then you can’t go past chasing a few squid. Aside from the fact they are beautiful to eat, they are also very fun to catch. There are two very popular ways to target squid, and one of those is to catch them on a baited jig. Go to your local tackle shop and get yourself a squid spike, silver whiting and a float, and the staff will be sure help you set up the rig. Once your rig is set up you simply cast it out over reef or broken ground and watch for your float being pulled underwater by a squid. There is a lot of great reef around Portsea, and this area has been popping up in all the reports lately along with 82

AUGUST 2022

of water. If you want the smaller squid, your best bet is to fish around Mt Martha and McCrae. The more popular sized jigs for these areas are 2.0 and 2.5. GUMMY SHARK This is the time of the year that most keen gummy shark anglers get excited about. There are generally not as many boats on the water and the quality of the sharks, especially offshore, are consistently bigger. Heading out off Barwon heads in around 45m of water over reef and anchoring up is the way to go at the moment, so the reports say. All you should need is a bag of pilchards, as that will be enough to catch the bait you need to successfully catch gummy sharks. Fishing over the reef you have found will have all the bait you need. Tie up a paternoster rig using small pieces of pilchard as bait and you should see yourself catching small reef fish like Barber’s perch and parrotfish in no time. These are the perfect offshore baits for gummy sharks. If you don’t want to head offshore, don’t stress because there are still plenty of big gummy sharks being caught in the South Channel all the way from Portsea to Rye. Fishing the edges of the channel using a nice fresh bait will put you in the strike zone. Gummy sharks move up and down the channel edges with the tide looking for food, and they have an incredible nose so if there

Garfish are tasty and fun to catch! Eion Keaveny gives us his approval.

Bodhi Griffen’s face says it all with this nice gummy shark capture while fishing with his dad, Adam. is one in the area, there is a good chance that it will find your bait. GARFISH Never have I seen so many reports of garfish here in Melbourne! From the city all the way down to Rosebud, people are finding huge schools of garfish. Some key areas would have to be Frankston, Seaford, Mount Eliza and Mornington. One of the best things about chasing garfish is that you don’t always need a boat. These fish will come within meters of the shoreline to feed, so you can actually target them off the beach. The piers at Mornington and Frankston are also holding very good numbers. The best baits have been silverfish and maggots under a float. You might find the gar are feeding at different depths, which is fine because you can adjust your rig to suit. Berley is the key to gar fishing so make sure you have plenty with you. It is what will bring them to you and it’s what will keep them there. You can use mashed up pilchards in a burley bucket but make sure you keep the bucket up high and not on the bottom. You want the berley to fall slowly through the water column. There are all sorts of berley options you can get from your local tackle shop so go in and check it out. Another very important thing is the hook you are using. These fish are small and have quite a hard beak, so having an extra small, light gauge hook that stays sharp will be the difference between a good and a slow day. AUSTRALIAN SALMON The back beaches off Rye and other surf beaches

such as Gunnamatta are doing their usual winter thing, producing great numbers of Australian salmon. Yes, these fish are a great bait but I, along with

to look over, this will give you a huge advantage as it will allow you to see all the gutters which the fish love to feed in. The gutters will be the darker water which is

Southern calamari are a year-round target, and Adam Griffen proves just that. a lot of others truly believe these are quite a nice fish to eat. They do have to be well looked after, but that isn’t a hard thing to do. Once you catch them, simply bleed them straight away and take the guts out. Put them on ice, or at the very least leave them in a cool area. I think you might be surprised. If you can find yourself a high point at the beach

the deeper water. The best baits are squid, pilchard or bluebait, which is a salted pilchard. It just makes it a bit tougher and stays on the hook a lot better. Another great approach is to cast metal slugs. This will keep you entertained the whole time and you will cover much more ground moving from gutter to gutter.

VIC

Seeking sheltered spots PHILLIP ISLAND

Craig Edmonds

This winter, the weather hasn’t been playing its part at all. At one stage early in the winter we went three

at times with the wind often sideways to the tide. Fortunately we had a lot of winds that were offshore, and after a bit of bashing through the bay conditions it settled offshore, at least out to about the 50m line.

fishing around the old quarry at Woolamai. We have noticed an increase in the reels we have been spooling for landbased drone fishers, and it’s only going to be a matter of time before we start getting

Typically we see this type of mixed bag reported for the winter period. weeks without seeing a boat on the bay, let alone anybody standing on the beaches. Fortunately, the weather settled a little mid-winter and we started seeing a few getting out and about. The problem was, with no history over the preceding weeks, it was a bit of a lottery as to where to go. Many anglers didn’t travel too far as the weather was unpredictable, and nobody wanted to be caught too far from the ramps. Because of that there were very few reports of gummies or snapper in the bay; it was mostly calamari and whiting from the shallower areas, although this was difficult

This not only opened up the flathead, gummy and snapper grounds but allowed some of the keener anglers to drop a few lures for tuna. Hopefully because of the ordinary start to winter we will see an early and settled spring. It still seems strange to be speaking of tuna as a species that you can catch in the area, as it’s really only been the last couple of years that the numbers have been good enough to add them to the list. The strange part of it though is that tuna catches from around here are nothing new when you go back through the history books. They were regularly caught by the pros, rec fishers and even land-based anglers

reports of these anglers landing tuna land-based. I wouldn’t expect a barrel but come Christmastime when the school fish are expected, and if they are in the same or better numbers than last year, it won’t be a huge surprise. The only problem we have as a stockist of tuna gear, and also being anglers who target them, is not if but when the bubble will burst and they decide to head to somewhere else for the summer. Until then we will be well stocked and customers as keen as ever. It might be this year or in 10 years’ time but what we will and already have seen is people doing different things. Most of the barrels

caught this year have been on a cube trail and live bait or stripped pilchards, and some are even pushing further out to sea. 10km or so past Cody Banks is a whole new world, and with people now believing anything is possible I don’t think it will be long before someone returns with maybe a marlin, albacore or even a mahimahi (dolphinfish). Whiting and calamari have made up the reports for the last couple of months, mostly because even in the wind you could sneak into a quiet, shallow part of the bay. While neither have been in huge numbers, both have been reasonable in size and they’re worth the effort for a feed and to start the bait collection. Cleeland Bight has been the best of the areas, with the winds more favourable to fish there. Dickie Bay and the end of the channel around the top light at Newhaven are also producing. Another spot worth the time but not fished enough is Boys Home channel on the low tide change. No matter what’s happening around the channel there is protection from the banks around it, making fishing possible during the prime time, when the water starts to come in and up onto the banks. There is only a small window if it is windy, but the variety possible in this channel is underestimated often. Over the years, apart from the whiting, calamari, garfish, salmon, mullet and snapper, we have seen kingfish, gummies, mulloway and of course plenty of stingrays of all varieties. So, if you are looking for somewhere different to fish, head up the channel, and take a variety of gear with you, including something heavy for running a live bait back in the current.

Seven gills may not be everyone’s target species but for others they are the biggest fish they’ll ever catch. In late June I started seeing my fruit trees at home budding up, and even the tea tree is looking that way, so I wouldn’t discard an early snapper season. In previous years when we have seen a very wet start to winter, we have seen a snapper season that kicks off mid-August, then we get a wet, windy start to spring and the snapper kick off again in late September. Time will tell what happens this year, but I would be starting your

snapper fishing through August if the weather settles. Regardless, now is the time to start filling the bait freezer. You don’t need the perfect conditions for a boat, just the time to head to a jetty or back beaches at Woolamai and Ventnor for calamari or one of the surf beaches on the island or Kilcunda for salmon. Don’t forget the vacuum sealer so months later your bait will be as fresh as the day you caught it.

FISHING NEWS

Bumper bay spawning for Port Phillip snapper A recent fisheries survey in Port Phillip Bay has recorded the third highest abundance of baby snapper since monitoring began nearly 30 years ago. Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) CEO Travis Dowling said the positive results complement significant investment in Port Phillip Bay through the State Government’s $35 million Go Fishing Victoria plan to get more people fishing, more often. “Coupled with record abundance of baby snapper detected back in 2018, the two strong year classes combined should see terrific snapper fishing for the next decade,” Mr Dowling said.

“Two of the bay’s best three snapper spawning events in nearly 30 years have occurred in the last four years, so recreational fishers who love snapper have a lot to look forward to.” Strong spawning of iconic snapper is fantastic news for recreational fishers and seafood consumers, who can look forward to fresh Port Phillip Bay snapper from the eight remaining commercial line fishers following the end of netting in the bay on 1 April. Scientists undertake the surveys of baby snapper in March every year and know to expect variation in spawning success depending on environmental conditions. The surveys measure the

abundance of newborn snapper between 3 and 10cm that have survived from the previous spring-summer spawning. Port Phillip Bay is the most important spawning area for snapper in central and western Victoria and the record 2018year class will begin to join the adult spawning migration from around 2023/24 onwards. In the meantime, recreational fishers can enjoy great fishing for pinky snapper as most of the 2018-year class are now larger than the legal minimum size of 28cm and widely distributed. Recreational fishers have also recently celebrated the installation of a kingfish reef near Port Phillip Heads and other reefs at several sites near Geelong and further afield

at Dromana and St Kilda. Launching a boat is now free too and facilities are being improved across the state including boat ramp upgrades, new fish cleaning tables and more fishing platforms. Mr Dowling said there has never been a better time to be a recreational fisher in Victoria with record fish stocking, commercial net fishing buy-outs in the Gippsland Lakes and Port Phillip Bay, a new fish hatchery at Arcadia, better access and facilities, and free fishing events for newcomers to the pastime. Learn more at www.vfa. vic.gov.au/gofishingvic. – Fisheries Victoria AUGUST 2022

East Coast

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Winter bream bag bounty GIPPSLAND LAKES

Brett Geddes b.geddes@bigpond.com

For this report I could use two pages to get through all my news, and even that wouldn’t be enough! The fish are stacked thick from the Mitchell River all the way to Lake Wellington. There are a lot of bream being caught, so let me get right into it.

emphasis put on targeting only big bream, especially by lure anglers. Personally, I will actively and very happily go chasing bream in areas where most of them will be around 30cm or even a bit smaller. Recently I walked the Paynesville jetties and over about six hours landed 42 bream, all on lures. Most of them were 26-32cm and I had an absolute ball! It’s fair to say they were very hungry and

Little fish, big fun. The Paynesville jetties have been full of bream of all sizes, but mostly from 26-34cm. PAYNESVILLE The big number of bream living around the jetties is such a joy to see, and probably the best I’ve seen in about 10 years. They aren’t all big models, but I have a saying when catching a lot of smaller sized bream: “little fish, big fun”. There is so much

easy targets, and for once not having complete lockjaw. It’s rare to have them so happy to attack small blades and soft plastics, and every now and then a surprise 38-40cm bream turned up. That made them real trophies. Fighting bigger bream on foot around jetty pylons can involve blood, sweat and tears!

I loved the challenge and it was a ripper day out for me, and as good as brawling with nasty truck bream in snags out of my kayak. I also caught a surprising number of small yellowfin bream during the session, which added to the experience. Other anglers in the area are also finding plenty of fish on bait and lure, including the nearby Newlands Arm and Raymond Island jetties. Brayden Kohte is a local gun angler who is often land based, and he has found some much bigger bream, and he also proves that systematically working jetties far and wide will return big dividends. Bryan Lazzaro and his son Isaac once again caught a fantastic tally of about 50 bream while exploring their favourite Paynesville areas. DUCK ARM AND LAKE VICTORIA It’s been nice to see anglers back in this area catching some thumper bream, and although the numbers of fish are not up with other areas, the size of bream will not disappoint. It seems a lot of the fish are around 42-45cm including one picture sent to me recently at 47cm. This enticed me into a trip, and I ended up with a modest eight bream but two of them went 44cm and another one 42cm. I used soft plastic grubs on 1/12oz jigheads. Kevin Beams also found about 10 cracker bream in the area and is fast

becoming another advocate for the Muss and crab lures. Clean water has been pushing up towards Loch Sport, and a few anglers are getting nice bream on blade lures. My tip is to try the lake up close to the entrance of the Straits with live shrimp or suspending hardbody lures. HOLLANDS LANDING Some of the best tallies and sizes of bream are coming from the Straits. I will declare this winter up with the best of them, especially when it comes the numbers of bream from 40-47cm. The huge influx of fresh water over two years has certainly invigorated the Straits, and it’s rarely fished better. Recently, four of us launched our kayaks and here’s our tally while using blade lures (mainly the Hurricane Sting blades in cracked black and Gippy bling). Rod Tatterson was the star of the show with 31 bream landed, including a trophy 47cm model I weighed at 1.72kg. My buddy Havo wrestled in 30 bream to 42cm but was a little unlucky, dropping at least six other very big fish. Tony Pettie ended up with 42 bream, and his best six fish were around 43cm and I also stacked a good tally with 40 bream and my best were a 45cm fish and two at 44cm. We also scored a lot of fish around 32cm, so it’s good to see a nice range of fish sizes to keep the future alive and well. All

A ripper 47cm truck put a big smile on the face of local angler Rod Tatterson. It was one of 30 bream he caught on lure for the session. up we scored about 140 fish between 7am and 2pm, and for me that’s about as good as luring for bream gets. But now for the bad news, and those who know the McLennan Strait well will relate to the following. There are times the Strait flows incredibly fast and it becomes unfishable. I’m talking about a flow rate of 4 knots or even more, and when you combine this with the countless snags it’s time to pack up and go home. Lures and bait rigs get hopelessly tangled and impossible to recover. Sometimes you arrive and the flow prevents you from even launching a kayak or boat, and even bait

fishing from the bank doesn’t work. The fish also shut down in the high flow, and so it becomes a complete failure of a trip. This is why Hollands Landing can be boom or bust, and for those who want to learn how to fish the Strait I can assure you it takes more than just a few casual trips. There is no predictable rhyme or reason to work the flow out, due to the number of variables involved, including high winds, flooded rivers and a small tidal influence. Over the last month the flow has been OK in the morning, but by 11am it starts flowing hard and eventually ripping out and sadly putting an end to the fishing by lunchtime.

Back to life, back to reality MARLO

Jim McClymont mcclymont@net-tech.com.au

With my fishing holiday done for another year, I will give readers a quick report on our results in the Russell International Yellowtail Tournament for 2022. On day one the weather was very rough, making fishing difficult, but we fished nevertheless, only managing a couple of bites – or ‘runs’, as the term goes. Second day fishing down

Jenkin Steed with a 30kg+ NZ kingfish.

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south at Our Rock we all had several runs, and I was lucky enough to get a good one on the line. I fought the kingfish for an hour and half and got sharked at the boat, only landing the head that weighed 6.85kg, which is above the minimum 6kg weight limit. Our decky Ricky boned the meat out of the head and we all had a good feed of fish that night. On day three we went north to the Cavalli Islands, gathered bait and proceeded to fish. After several tangles one of our champion crew, Jenkin Steed, hooked up on what seemed to be a goodsize king. The fight began and after many runs and almons two hours, Jenkin managed to get the big kingfish alongside our boat. After a couple of attempts the crew managed to get a couple of gaffs into the big king, and haul it aboard. On board the kingfish seemed to grow before our eyes! It was huge and weighed in at 31.85kg, caught on 6kg line. It was a catch of a lifetime and scored in the competition accordingly, netting a massive 3296.87 points. That fish alone gave us 7th place in

The head of this NZ king weighed nearly 7kg. the tournament. We couldn’t help but wonder what might have been if my fish had been landed whole! Our team consisted of skipper Ross, decky Ricky, Jenkins, Colin, Terry, Cameron, and me. We had a wonderful time and managed to get plenty of awards and won the Calcutta for biggest fish of the tournament. The cash is going towards next year’s trip. On the home front, the

winter months and cold, wet weather have really settled in. It’s reached the point where even the keen anglers are having second thoughts venturing out to their favourite fishing spots. I haven’t been back for very long, and haven’t heard of much fishing being done, so as the weather fines up hope to be able to let you know what is going on in our area next time.

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East Coast

Nippers get the bites MALLACOOTA/EDEN

Kevin Gleed captainkev@wildernessfishingtours.com

Mallacoota at this time of year, with the cold winter weather, sees very few visitors. At the time of writing, sea temperatures

are just about as cold as it gets, at around 14°C, and it will be no surprise if it gets even colder over the coming weeks. With the cold ocean temperatures and the lack of visitors in the area, there have been very few boats heading offshore fishing. In

Live nippers are an excellent bait for all estuary species.

reality, with the cold water temperatures at this time of year, there is little on offer. Once the water starts warming up, that will be the time when the fishing will pick up. As always, the beach fishing over the winter months is all about salmon. Bastion Beach down through to Tip Beach and Betka Beach are all holding fish, with plenty of good gutters. The easiest way to get amongst some fish is to walk the beach tossing metal lures into any likelylooking gutters. If the fish are there it won’t be long before you will be amongst the action. When you’re catching salmon don’t be surprised to see a few good-size tailor put in an appearance, too. Winter is the time to be chasing fish in the lake. All species are available, it’s just a matter of rugging up and heading out for a day on the water. This time of year sees the flathead group up, and to catch fish it’s important to stay on the move until you find areas where the fish can be found. Once you’ve located the fish, work the area and don’t be too fast when retrieving your lure. Any number of lures will work, just make sure you

Bream love nippers. Getting the hook back can be tricky at times. are moving the lure slowly. The Bottom Lake, particularly around the town jetties, is always worth a cast, with trevally and blackfish a regular catch. Bait fishing these areas should see you catch a feed, with fresh nippers and worms a great choice of bait. It’s great to see that the nippers (one-armed bandits) are back after many years of tough times trying to obtain bait. There were always a few around but it took a while to get enough

for a fishing session. Up towards the front of the lake is the place to try for them, and it won’t take too long to pump enough for a fishing session. With a few worms in the same area, it’s well worth the effort as you will rarely miss out on catching a feed with good, fresh bait. The winter months sees the bream on the bite. Once again, you should keep on the move until fish are found. The Mallacoota area may be large and hold a lot of fish, but they can all be concentrated in a few

areas. This means there are a lot of areas with no fish. Once again, fresh bait is worth having, with squirt worm a top bait when fishing upstream over the winter months. If tossing you’re lures, blades, soft plastics and hardbodies will all catch fish– it’s just a matter of changing lures and finding the best option for the day. That’s it for this month. It won’t be long before the town gets busier as the weather starts to warm up as we head into spring.

Algae still looms LAKES ENTRANCE

Steven Pryke

The blue green algae grasp over the area has continued to grow in strength, with algae warning along the 90 Mile Beach and throughout the Gippsland Lakes. Everyone has been encouraged to reduce contact with our local waterways, unfortunately this has had a major impact to the town in recent times. Hopefully it won’t be long and the algae will clear up and everyone can return to fishing and enjoying the Gippsland Lakes. LAKES ENTRANCE With current algae situation the local fishing scene has been pretty quiet. Some anglers have ventured out, Metung Yacht Club has been a popular spot for bream lately with anglers getting great results fishing metal blades around the basses of the jetty. A good sounder has been very handy as the bream have been moving up and down the wharfs, so locating them can be

one of the hardest tasks. Once you’ve located these schools, dropping a metal blade close to the structure or school and slowly worked

back to the boat has been a deadly approach. Silver trevally have been a common by-catch lately and find it very hard to say

A solid Lake Tyers bream taken on an Atomic Shiner.

Bobby Sproule with a solid Lake Tyers perch.

no to a well worked blade. LAKE TYERS The lake seems to be getting better and better lately. At the time of writing the lake has dropped down to 13ºC water temperature yet masses of bream remain on the flats and have been destroying minnow style hardbodies and soft plastics. It’s the most consistent I’ve seen the bottom lake fish with most days seeing me land 20+ bream and majority ranging from 35-40cm. After a few red hot

sessions lately I’ve found myself going back to the same couple of lures each time, the Atomic Shiner 45 and Atomic jerk minnows. They have been highly productive, along with the old Squidgy Flick Baits or Ecogear Aqua, fished extremely lightly weighted and cast up into the super shallows or cast towards any active fish you can see. With the water temperatures getting colder, it’s hard to say how long this brilliant edge and flats bite

will remain. I haven’t been fishing anything deeper than 1.5m lately, and with some fish coming out of 20cm water on clear sand flats or sight fished as the grub and feed off the bottom. HAVE YOU BEEN FISHING? If you have been out for fish lately and have a great pic please send to stevenprykefishing@ gmail.com with a short description and you could be featured in the edition of Fishing Monthly. AUGUST 2022

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Tough times on Murray River ROBINVALE

Rod Mackenzie codmac@bigpond.net.au

It’s been a tough old slog on the fish front this past month, with not a lot of action in our local waters. The Murray River is

visiting fishos as a trip to the river almost calls for a second mortgage. We just went through a couple of years of mandatory lockdown with the bug, and just when it looked like we were off the chain the fuel companies are locking us down again. I guess we will

Swan Hill, taken on bait. While the bite is not full on, if you take the time you can generally find a fish or two. Perch have been slow in the Murray, as is usually the case when the water temperature drops away. Some anglers are reporting some good-sized Murray crays getting on the line while waiting for a fish. A reminder that while the cray season is open it’s illegal to target them in the Murray River downstream of Tocumwal. All crays, regardless of the size, must be returned to the Murray River in our local waters.

It is, however, encouraging to see their numbers on the rise, and perhaps in time we will see fishing for these tasty critters introduced once again locally. On the redfin front, some good catches of these tasty fish have been coming from Lake Boga on small hardbodied lures. Soft plastics and vibes have also been scoring a few, with some sessions yielding up to 60 fish or more. While most are small there are always a few bigger fish in the mix. The Wakool River has seen some good catches of golden perch on shrimp.

While the golden perch bite has slowed a little, the average size is good, especially in the Wakool River. running high and looks to go up even more, with full catchments and winter rains swelling the system. Dirty flows have left the lure brigade high and dry, and fuel prices have slowed

just have to see how it goes and get out when we can. It’s not all bad news though, as a few good-sized cod around the metre mark have been caught in the Murray River upstream of

A good-sized Murray cod ready for the net.

There are a few yabbies about with the higher flows, especially in the Darling. Some of these fish have been up to 57cm, with the average specimen coming in at 45cm+. Worms too are working well, as are small yabbies if you can get your hands on a few. The run of good cod that were biting in the Wakool have dropped away, with few reports this past month. Moving downstream to Wemen, some smaller cod have been biting on bait, with the biggest of these measuring around the 65cm mark. There are still a few smaller cod being taken on bait, but the bite has slowed since the water cooled. Perch, too, have been a little

on the quiet side, with just a few to size taking baits of worm and shrimp close to the snags. The Murray River at Mildura has been fairly quiet, with just a few smaller cod to 70cm on bait, along with the odd perch. All up, the fishing has been pretty hard this past month, and as we push our way through winter and battle the rising cost of fuel and high flows in the rivers, I’m expecting the next report to be pretty similar. I can’t wait for the warmth of spring and the roll-on effect it has on our golden perch. Keep ya bottom lip up as there are better times ahead.

Fishing on the go slow BENDIGO

Roger Miles codhuntertours@bigpond.com

The Bendigo region has been experiencing some very ordinary weather over the past month. Cold days in the low teens or below 10°C have been common. This has not helped the productivity in the fishing, and has also put a lot of anglers off wanting to go and try and catch a fish. The good news for those anglers heading out during the middle of the week is you’ll often have your chosen section of waterway all to yourself. I, like many anglers, am looking forward to the weather slowly starting to improve a little by the end of August. LAKE EPPALOCK Water levels have continued a very slow rise over the last month. At the time of writing this report, Lake Eppalock was at 49% of capacity. I believe the trend of slowly rising water levels will continue for the rest of August. The water catchments for Lake Eppalock are now saturated, and any heavy rainfall will produce some good runoff. The three catchments (Upper Coliban, Lauriston and Malmsbury reservoir) 86

AUGUST 2022

still need good inflows over several weeks before they get near capacity. Lake Eppalock will not get large inflows until these three impoundments reach capacity. At the current rate I believe it won’t be until September before these impoundments get to high levels, and Lake Eppalock starts to receive high inflows again. Some heavy spring rainfall is what is going to be needed to see Lake Eppalock water levels rise significantly. The potential is there but there is still a long way to go. On the fishing front at Lake Eppalock there have not been a lot of reports due to the low numbers of anglers going fishing. If you want to spend some time out on the lake then redfin continue to make up the majority of anglers’ captures. The water clarity is currently very good in the lake. Finding a good concentration of redfin has not been easy, and anglers need to move around to find them. The majority of redfin are being caught in deep water. The most productive lures have been ice jigs and soft plastics. Small numbers of golden perch are still being caught around the edges of standing timber. Bait fishing with worms, shrimp and yabbies have been producing small numbers of golden perch. The best lure options for these fish have been soft

plastics, lipless crankbaits and blades. CAMPASPE RIVER The water clarity in the Campaspe River is currently good at the majority of locations. Water temperatures are very cold, and the productivity in the fishing has been low. The occasional Murray cod and golden perch are being caught by those anglers who are putting in the time on the water. Good options for the Murray cod have been swimbaits and lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits with dark coloured blades have also produced. Good lure options for the golden perch have been lipless crankbaits, and small profile spinnerbaits with dark coloured blades. The next two months will be a good time to target a large redfin in the Campaspe River. The resident redfin will be getting in the early stages of spawning over the next couple of months. This tends to lead to some good aggression from some of the larger redfin. The numbers of redfin you will catch most likely won’t be high, but if you put the time in there are some quality fish waiting to be caught. My favourite tactics when targeting redfin in the Campaspe is fishing tight along the front of cumbungi-lined banks or along the edges of weed beds. Good lure options for the redfin are spinners,

blades, soft plastics and small hardbody lures. CAIRN CURRAN The water clarity in Cairn Curran remains pretty good at this stage. At the time of writing this report, Cairn Curran was at 55% of capacity and slowly rising. The catchments around Cairn Curran are now saturated, and any heavy rainfall will produce some good run-off. I am predicting that water levels will continue a slow rise over the next couple of months. Hopefully with the change of season in spring the catchments receive some significant rainfall and this impoundment will reach some high water levels again. The numbers of anglers fishing this location over the last month has been low. Redfin continue to be the main targeted species for anglers fishing this location at this time of the year. Soft plastics and ice jigs have been good lure options for the redfin. If water levels do start to rise quicker, then fishing around the shallower banks targeting some trout is worthwhile. Casting shallow diving lures, winged lures or bait fishing with worms, corn or gents are good options for targeting the resident trout population. Small numbers of golden perch are still being caught by those anglers fishing around the trees. We should see a good increase in the numbers

Paul Vlaeminck caught this golden perch while doing a slow rolling retrieve on a Jackall TN65 lipless crankbait. A slow retrieve speed is critical in the cold water. of golden perch being caught in this location by the end of September. At this stage, water temperatures will be starting to increase and water levels should be rising nicely, and this will help switch the golden perch into feeding more aggressively. LODDON RIVER The water clarity is very good in the Loddon River at the present time. The good water clarity should continue for the next month or two until we receive some heavy spring rainfall, and shortly after this the water clarity will deteriorate. How much the water clarity reduces depends on the volume of rainfall the catchment receives. There has been a reasonable number of anglers

fishing this location over the last month, but most of them haven’t had great success. There has been the occasional large Murray cod and a few smaller Murray cod being caught, and good lure options for these have been swimbaits and large lipless crankbaits fished very slowly. Small numbers of golden perch have also been caught in the Loddon River. Lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaits with dark coloured blades have been working best. The occasional good redfin has also been caught by those anglers fishing the edges of the weed beds and cumbungi-lined banks.

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Reward for effort BALLARAT

Shane Stevens

The winter fishing around the Ballarat and surrounding regions is all about reward for effort. If you’re prepared to put on your winter woollies and rug up, you should be rewarded – just like other anglers have been over the past month.

Winter and low water levels provide an excellent opportunity for anglers to have a good look at the landscape we are fishing over. Get out there and have a good look around for any gutters, channels our holes in the exposed shorelines. When the water levels rise again, these are the areas we should target, as the trout mainly will use these to cruise in and out of

Jakey Young with a pair of nice sized Lake Wendouree redfin caught on Micro Chatters. Image courtesy of Ben Young. Many of our waterway’s levels are low at the moment; they have been driven down for irrigation and potable water needs, exposing a lot of weed. This makes some of our fisheries hard and challenging to fish. The drawdown of these waters is an essential part of our ecosystem, as far as I’m concerned. If our water levels remain high all year round, the weed will grow to surface as it looks for sunlight, leaving our waters choked with weed. When the water is drawn down, the weeds tend to die off and take a period of time to grow once again. Then, as our water levels rise, we have weed-free water until it starts to grow back again. The challenge for anglers is to find and fish the clear pockets of water during the winter months prior to the water levels rising, as these will definitely hold fish. Waters like Newlyn, Hepburn, Moorabool, Cosgroves and Talbot, just to name a few, are impacted by low water levels and excessive weed exposure, and the fishing will be difficult but not impossible. Some of the reports I’ve received over the past month have proved these challenging conditions have been worth the effort, with some magnificent fish being caught.

the deeper water to feed. Professional guide Tom Jarman, one of our country’s best fly fishers, likes to target quite a few of our local waters around Ballarat during the winter months, and he is certainly rewarded for his efforts. Tom has been fishing a couple of our more challenging fisheries at this time of the year for reasons already mentioned: Newlyn and Hepburn. The fishing in Hepburn is

especially challenging, as I recently found out. On a trip last month I found lots of weed and a few clear pockets to fish, and unfortunately I couldn’t tempt a fish on that day. Tom, on the other hand, has had some excellent results, landing some lovely brown and rainbow trout over 5lb on the fly. Tom said sometimes it’s just about being in the right place at the right time when they are on the chew. I walked around one section of Hepburn the other day and there were a couple of fishing smashing through smelt. I was able to put my Magoo fly pattern in front of one of the feeding fish, and the big brown had no hesitation in eating the fly. I then went onto fish some pockets of clear water, where I have had success previously, and nothing. Hepburn is well stocked annually by Victorian Fishing Authority and, as mentioned by Tom, if you put in the hard yards you never know what you might catch. Tom has also been fishing Newlyn Reservoir, just down the road from Hepburn Lagoon. Once again, he said it’s a matter of putting in the hard yards. Sometimes I’m the only one fishing as I have been out in some pretty inclement weather conditions and been rewarded, catching some lovely brown trout. I’m happy to walk right around the whole of the reservoir in search of a fish. Preferably I’d like to cast at a feeding fish, but unfortunately that’s not the case, especially during the winter months, when there is little or no insect life at all. There may be the odd midge which, in spite of their small size, the trout seem to find very tasty. Or you might walk along and see a trout smashing through a school of smelt, which gets the heart racing. The smelt are pretty much the staple diet for a lot of trout during the winter months, so it pays to fish with

Talbot Reservoir is small fishery, which produces the odd big trout. The author recently landed this ripper brown trout on a Bent Minnow T26.

Tom Jarman caught this smelt feeding brown trout fly fishing at Hepburn lagoon in the clear pockets of water in amongst the weeds. Image courtesy of Tom Jarman. flies or lures that imitate these small baitfish. Tom said he likes to use Magoo fly patterns, in a variety of colours, when fishing for winter trout. He uses two flies, one being a coral on the top dropper and a green, back or gold Magoo on the point, with excellent results. The Newlyn trout have certainly taken a liking to the coral (bright orange colour) recently. Tullaroop Reservoir has been producing some very nice-sized rainbow and brown trout for those who like to target them, and for those anglers who chase the reddies, they are on the chew still. I have targeted the trout heavily over the past month, casting a mixture of hardbodies and surface lures. We have been targeting the shallower shorelines and weed beds with mixed results. Some days the fish have been up and about, while on other days you only get a few opportunities. Overall given the time of the year, the fishing has been good. Geoff Cramer has been targeting the trout land-based casting lures as well, and he has been catching some nice sized browns and rainbows averaging around the 1kg mark. Geoff said it’s a matter of finding some fish and putting the lures in front of them, and they are quite willing and eager to eat the lures. Vern Barby has been fly fishing, targeting the shallower bays, hoping to come across smelters. Generally during the winter at Tullaroop the trout feed on them, but this year is different for whatever reason. I myself have been waiting for them to start smelting, but they haven’t at this stage yet. Fingers crossed they do. On one of Vern’s recent trips, the weather was a bit milder, and a few midge started to hatch, and the trout were only too happy to eat them. Vern finished up catching four lovely rainbows around the 1kg mark. I mentioned that the reddies were still on the bite for anglers targeting them, and I spoke with some local anglers who were just pulling their boat out at the same time as us. They showed us a lovely big bag of redfin, which they had caught on local minnows, including a magnificent

specimen of 47cm. The guys have been fishing around the same area in recent weeks, getting a good bag every time. They said they had been using a standard paternoster rig with a couple of minnows, resulting in heaps of smaller fish with the odd big one in the mix. They said they look for the schools on the sounder and when they find them, put the electric on Spot Lock and drop the baits down. Sometimes the fish move around, while at other times they stay put and you catch plenty. Talbot Reservoir, a very small local water which is stocked annually by Fisheries, produces some very nice-sized

and bring him into shallower water. He didn’t want to give in, but eventually I landed a magnificent 60cm brown trout, which I estimated to be around 6lb – a big fish for this small fishery. After a few happy snaps, I let the big guy go free. I have been back to see if we could replicate the catch, but didn’t even get a look in. Lake Wendouree has been fishing consistently over the past month, with good reports of some solid brown trout around the 40cm mark being caught on flies and lures, mainly cast out of drifting boats. Ben Young and his son Jakey have been out targeting

The brown and rainbow trout have been eager to eat lures at Tullaroop over the past month. The author landed this brown trout on a T26 Bent Minnow. brown and rainbow trout at times. I recently took my son Maxi up there for a look to see how the water level was and see if we could catch one. Upon arrival we found the water level way down and weed was everywhere around the shoreline. There was only a small area of fishable water approximately 100m long. We started casting our lures into a slight breeze, with no interest for a while. I changed lures a couple of times and went back to my trusty T26 Bent Minnow, and a fish had a swipe at my lure just as I pulled it out of the water. I continued to cast around the general area, when suddenly, my Bent was nailed by something big and strong. The fish took off at a rate of knots, and I managed to turn him around after a while

the winter redfin casting lures. The redfin become very aggressive during the winter months whilst in their spawning mode. Jakey and Ben generally work different areas of the main rowing channel with soft plastics and micro chatterbaits. Jakey certainly showed Ben up one of their most recent trips, landing a couple of very nice-sized reds around the 40cm mark. Steve Angee has been out chasing the redfin as well using similar techniques and lures. Steve has nailed some ripper redfin up to 48cm over the past month – you just have to cover plenty of water and make the most of every opportunity that comes your way. I cast my chatterbait the other day for about three hours for one bite, but when you catch them mid-40s it’s worth it. AUGUST 2022

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Patient anglers rewarded WANGARATTA

Robbie Alexander

For me personally, August is possibly the most exciting time on the fishing calendar. The fishing

TROUT With the trout season still closed throughout August, trout fishing is restricted to lakes. My lake of choice is Lake William Hovell, where I often spend long hours sitting on the bank,

A Damiki Vault 42 or a TT Switchblade will work well. They’re the ones I have used, but there are plenty of other brands that should work. Blades are quite an underrated lure for this type of fishing.

for the larger fish. The best trout fishing I’ve ever had in Khancoban Pondage was about 15 years ago with my friend Sandy. We were fishing with live mudeyes suspended underneath a float, and caught several large trout over 50cm in length. Also during August there should still be a few trout in the stocked family-friendly waterways. These would have been stocked for the

Redfin are sometimes caught as a by-catch while targeting other fish in August. This one was caught recently while targeting carp at Lake Moodemere.

A small Murray cod caught bait fishing in August in the Ovens River a couple of years ago. isn’t usually the best, but it’s improving, and the anticipation of the spring fishing just around the corner delivers a mountain of motivation for me to get out and wet a line. MURRAY COD Although it’s a slow time of the year, August definitely isn’t the worst month of the year to go Murray cod fishing in the Wangaratta area. Each year in August I manage to catch a few Murray cod, usually on bait and usually towards the end of the month. This is depending on the water levels in the local river of course. If the rivers are flooded, then the cod closed season comes early for me. If the Ovens and King rivers where I live in Wangaratta are at a level that is suitable for fishing, I will usually go bait fishing for Murray cod, with cheese being my preferred bait. I like to fish at twilight for Murray cod, and in winter I like to allow plenty of time because bites from Murray cod can be quite infrequent in the cold water. Where possible I like to fish for around 3-4 hours either later in the afternoon until sunset, or from pre-dawn until late morning. In August patience is the key, and the patient angler is often rewarded with a Murray cod or two. I rarely target Murray cod with lures in August as the water is often discoloured or high and flowing very fast. I prefer to use August for low-paced bait fishing sessions, sitting in the sun with my hands in my pockets and leaving the lure fishing until December. 88

AUGUST 2022

bait fishing with worms. The trout fishing at Lake William Hovell is never great off the bank, although I do sometimes manage to catch a few. Most fish are

For the best lake trout fishing, it is worth a longer drive to either Lake Dartmouth or Khancoban Pondage. Dartmouth for the most fish, and Khancoban

A Lake William Hovell brown trout caught angling off the bank with worms recently.

A typically cold and damp winter’s day bait fishing at Lake William Hovell. small, with the odd one up over 30cm. People fishing from a boat generally do very well trolling winged lures at sunrise and sunset. Most trout caught are not huge, but a few over 35cm turn up each year, and every once in a while a monster of 4lb or more will show up. Sometimes I head up there in my kayak, targeting trout in winter using the above mentioned technique. I also pick up a few trout trolling small diving minnows, with the twilight periods of the day being the best. A lure that I have had a lot of success with at Lake William Hovell is the blade.

July school holidays, but most of these waterways will still have a few rainbow trout in them waiting to be caught. REDFIN Redfin are typically few and far between in August, and usually turn up as a by-catch while targeting other species. I never really set out to target redfin at this time of the year. If I wanted a feed of redfin, I would probably head to Lake Hume, as that is the premier redfin fishery in the area, and at only an hour or so up the road it is worth the drive. If you want to fish from the bank, I would be fishing with worms in August. If you’re boat or kayak fishing, I would troll small diving lures that get down really

A few yellowbelly usually start turning up in dribs and drabs late in August. This one was caught very early in September at Lake Nillahcootie last year.

deep, such as the RMG Crazy Deep, and if I manage to hook a couple of fish I would stop in that area and cast a soft plastic around. I caught a few redfin in the Tallangatta area of Lake Hume in August last year using this technique from my kayak. Hopefully this August it will work just as well. YELLOWBELLY Yellowbelly tend to fire up in the spring time when the weather starts to warm up, although I do sometimes pick up the early season yellowbelly in August. Over the last few years I have managed to catch August yellowbelly in Lake Nillahcootie, Broken Creek at Katamatite and the Ovens River in Wangaratta. Catches have only been of one or two, never big numbers this early. Big numbers of yellowbelly tend to turn up in October and November. The key to August yellowbelly fishing is to be very patient while waiting for a bite. I like to use worms as bait at the twilight times of the day, and later in the month, closer to September is usually better as the days start to get longer. The ‘warmer than average’ days (which are still quite cool) seem to be the best. A calm, sunny day of 15-16°C is usually a great time to try to catch an August yellowbelly, provided the weather gods have a copy of your work roster and can time those rare days for when you have a day off.

VIC

Trout are on the chew SHEPPARTON

Nick Brown teamriverrats@hotmail.com

The trout are stocked up and on the chew in the Shepparton Lake. It’s great to see so many younger anglers get out to the lake and chase these fish, which range in sizes. Better yet, it seems many anglers are practicing catch and release, which is a great way to extend the great bite period in the lake. Small Keitech soft plastics and X-Rap 4s have been the pick of the lures this past month, with the Strike Tiger Nymph also accounting for some fish. Bait fishing has been best around the grass hill, with lightly-weighted worms and PowerBaits working well. GOULBURN RIVER There have been a fair few early morning frosts this past month, and that has only helped the cray fishing in the

Goulburn River. I have had reports all the way from Nagambie to Shepparton, with heaps of legals caught amongst plenty of smaller undersized crays and berried up females. Chicken necks, livers and pumpkin have been the best baits reported for craying in the Goulburn. Native fishing has slowed down a tad but we have had the odd cod report, with bardi grubs working best. Those fishing with scrub worms have reported plenty of carp around the Moira Park area. BROKEN RIVER The Broken River is running high at the moment, with the dirty, cooler water affecting the number of reports I am getting. The reports I have had are from those using worms who have been catching plenty of big carp. Cod and yellowbelly reports have slowed right down. You may still get the odd legal-sized fish on bait or lures in the cooler months but the bites will

be less frequent. It’s the last month of cod season so get your last-minute cod fish session in, as come 1 September there is no targeting cod in almost every waterway. IRRIGATION CHANNELS The levels in the channels are down low and the fish are now mostly holding hard up on structure or in the deeper syphons. I have been getting reports of cod and yellowbelly being caught on Bassman Shorties in the syphons. Casting as deep into them as possible has been working the best. The bites have come both on the drop and also on a slow retrieve. Around the bridges, square bills like the Bassman Tubbys or small divers like the Old Mates have been great. Slow rolling and pausing when you hit the bottom has been the go. With the water levels low there has also been

A beautifully coloured rainbow trout. a number of big fish relocated from the channel system to nearby rivers and lakes. We should start to

see the an the

the channels fill up in coming weeks, so keep eye on this and once levels fill up and settle

the fishing should fire. The first main rise can be tricky to fish so it’s best to wait until everything settles.

Challenging fishing WEST/SOUTH GIPPSLAND

Billy Auldist

The fishing in our region is almost at its slowest during this time of the year. Cold temperatures and high water flow make it very difficult for anglers wanting a fishing fix. Persistent fishos can always find a way to succeed in our region, it just becomes more challenging during this period. Since the closure

of trout season, a lot of the attention has turned towards has turned towards carp and redfin. These two species can be found in almost all waterways across our region and can be caught using relatively basic techniques. In the rivers and streams, using an unweighted worm is ideal, but in most circumstances a small splitshot sinker will be needed. In some waters you may be able to see the fish before presenting a bait to them, which adds an extra element of fun. However, for people fishing

in lakes or dams, a small running sinker rig, again using a garden worm as bait, is sure to get the job done. Notable waterways are the Moe River, Little Moe River, Hazel Creek and Blue Rock Reservoir, which all hold both redfin and carp. It is also worth prospecting local estate dams, which tend to hold populations of these species and aren’t usually exposed to much fishing pressure. While fishing for trout in our rivers and creeks is still off limits, we can still

Matt Bow displays an urban carp caught casting an unweighted worm.

A typical redfin for the region. This one was caught on a yabby.

target them in lakes and dams. Blue Rock Reservoir is a prime spot to visit while targeting impoundment trout in the cooler months. Land-based fishos will find trout by walking the dam bank casting Tassie Devils, spinners and hardbodies, trying to cover as much water as they can. Boat users usually have better success than the landbased fishers, collecting a better number of trout while trolling winged lures at a depth.

Another option in our area during this time is the river blackfish. Often overlooked, targeting blackfish can be a great pastime during winter while trout are out of action. A majority of the rivers in South West Gippsland hold these fish and are largely unknown. Fishing a deep hole on dark with a garden worm or insect of any kind puts you in the running for a blacky, and fishing structure like a snag also plays a big

part. Rivers such as the Latrobe, Loch, Toorongo, Tarago and Bunyip are all good places to start when searching for a river blackfish. Without a doubt the fishing this month is going to be tough, but the fishos who get out in the weather and have a crack will still find success. As always, if you have anything to report feel free to get in contact with me at billy.auldist@ gmail.com. AUGUST 2022

VIC

The main attractions EILDON

Peter Burtchell

With the lake continuing to rise, and higher than average rainfall predicted, the hope is that Lake Eildon will reach full capacity sometime during this spring. Trout, Murray cod and crays will be the main attraction for many visitors during August, following on from many great midwinter catches that were witnessed during July. One of the memorable catches was from Wil Tippet, who travelled all the way from Horsham with his family to chase large Murray cod. After a brief discussion with the fishing guides, and armed with the correct advice, Wil soon landed and released one very healthy cod. He could not thank the staff enough for pointing him in the right direction.

Wil, a year 11 student, has always had a fascination for fish and the complex nature of the ecosystems that support them, and he did some work experience

with NSW Fisheries in year 10. He plans to study Environmental Science with the goal of working for a fisheries authority or within the fishing industry.

Kate and Brendan sharing the moment with a 108cm cod.

Jordan said his brown trout was the catch of the trip.

Bailey with a tasty cray.

Regular visitors to the lake – Bailey, Jordon and father Richard – targeted Murray cray and trout on their most recent fishing trip. Jordan landed a nice brown trout trolling, however it was not the trophy-sized fish they were targeting, whilst Bailey was tasked with lifting their cray pots. Smaller trout were plentiful along with Murray crays, however most of the crays they caught were females and quickly released. The boys also managed to land several redfin as they fished with soft plastics around the many trees in the main arm. The locals were also amongst the thick of it again, with Kate Norman and partner Brendan Everett again landing some nice metre-plus fish whilst introducing their NSW friends to fishing for large Murray cod from the comfort of the Boatels at Jerusalem Creek. Kate managed a 108cm fish and Brendan a

105cm one, whist friends Josh and Darren landed and released a 93cm and an 80cm Murray cod, which was a great effort for their first trip to Eildon. Kate and Brendan were back at the lake the following week as they both studied for their commercial operator’s license that forms part of the qualifications required to conduct guided fishing tours on Lake Eildon. Sea School International conducted the training, and provided the nationally accredited qualifications. Sea School Victoria offers Coxswain Grade 1 NC (MAR20321 Cert II in Maritime Operations, Coxswain Grade II NC (MAR10418 Cert I in Maritime Operations and MARSS00008 Shipboard Safety Skill Set. All of their services can be found at www.seaschool.com.au. To find out more about legally conducting commercial activities such as boat hire, fishing tours, tag along fishing, ski schools, and sounder tuition you can check out Goulburn Murray Waters By-Law No. 1-2013 Recreational Areas Commercial Activities at www. goulburnmurraywaters.

com.au. For all other national commercial boating regulations you can go to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority at www. amsa.gov.au. August will be a busy month for the township of Eildon as it prepares for the

Josh Reed with a 93cm cod that couldn’t resist a 10” Magdraft. annual Goulburn Fishing Festival, which is to be conducted on Saturday 3 September from 9am to 3pm. The event is run by the Victorian Fisheries Authority and coincides with the opening of the trout

Relax and enjoy delicious food and warm hospitality.

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 90

AUGUST 2022

season. Jerusalem Creek will once again have their fishing guides attending, so please drop in and say hello. They will present Australian, Megabass and Asakura lures, Murasame rods, the latest in Garmin fish finder technology and

Wil Tippet with a healthy Murray cod.

also be on hand to answer any questions relating to guided fishing, sounder tuition and accommodation options around Lake Eildon. • For more information on fishing events at Lake Eildon you can contact the Jerusalem Creek Marina & Holiday Park, a friendly, family-orientated annuals cabin park and houseboat marina, that makes the perfect home away from home. If you’re visiting Lake Eildon you can opt to stay in one of the floating apartments (Boatels), hire a houseboat or fishing vessel, visit the Megabass Elite Pro Store, or book a Megabass Elite Pro Fishing Tour with one of the many leading Australian fishing guides operating from Jerusalem Creek. For more information on all of the activities and attractions that Lake Eildon has to offer, visit jerusalemcreek.com.au, give them a call on (03) 5774 2585 or email info@ jerusalemcreek.com.au.

New reef to lure in kingfish The installation of another recreational fishing reef in Port Phillip Bay has created more fish habitat, this time for iconic kingfish. As part of the State Government’s $35 million Go Fishing Victoria plan to get more people fishing more often, 16 purpose-built reef modules were deployed north of Observatory Point, inside Port Phillip Heads. The reef’s location will help boat fishers target kingfish outside shipping channels and the turbulent waters of The Rip.

Modules are each four metres wide and five metres high and have been grouped into clusters of four at: 1. 38° 17.939’ 3. 38° 17.950’ 144° 40.615’ 144° 40.658’ 2. 38° 17.925’ 144° 40.647’

4. 38° 17.965’ 144° 40.629’

This reef is in addition to others already installed and complements the recent end to all commercial net fishing in Port Phillip Bay and free boat ramps throughout Victoria. Learn more at vfa.vic.gov.au/kingfishreefs

VIC

Battling the cold CRATER LAKES

Rod Shepherd

Big browns are beginning to move around, becoming very active due to the seasonal effects of winter. In the wild, brown trout can put feeding to one side as the urge to spawn takes hold. The fish also become very aggressive and often attack lures and bait out of aggression rather than as a direct food source. Shallow running gravelly streams are what the fish are looking for, as the female makes a shallow depression in the gravel and lays her eggs as competing males fight to cover the eggs with their spawn. Stretches of the Gellibrand, Aire, Merri and the Mount Emu and their tributaries can supply areas conducive to successful breeding, however this depends on rainfall and low air temperatures which we have now. In lakes, the browns

are forever patrolling the shoreline in search of an outward flowing waterway. Even an inward flowing stream attracts attention, as many big browns will congregate around the inflow or ‘waterfall’ from the springs in the nearby Stoney Rises that empties into Lake Purrumbete. If this could be better accessed and fished by anglers, the amount of trophy browns taken out of Purrumbete over winter could easily double. Meanwhile skinny stickbait, shallow diving hardbodied lures in excess of 90mm are taking fish. The upper reaches of the Hopkins prior to the falls as well as the section around the Framlingham forest are hot spots for big trout. Upstream of the Dennington railway bridge to right out of the city of Warrnambool, and into farmland north of the metropolis, also are holding trophy fish. They are responding mainly to cast

lures from the bank. Bullen Merri’s population should be moving into the shallows. They are targeted by trophy-hunting intrepid anglers who spend most of the night fighting off the bitterly cold weather whilst watching their rods, which are generally baited up with live bait such as scrub worm and/or local minnow and gudgeon. These baits can be suspended under a bubble float or fished unweighted on the bottom. Cow bells attached to the rod act as the perfect wake-up call, especially for those anglers who have nodded off or who are hibernating in front of an open fire. These campfires should ideally be located further up on the bank, so the light won’t spook any fish moving around close to shore. Purrumbete’s redfin are still schooling at depth, and jigging at 15m+ still sees good bags of fish taken, Again, depth sounders are invaluable when locating school reddies,

Plenty of pan-sized redfin are still available to boaters when jigging at depth on Lake Purrumbete.

Tournament Calendar 2022 AUGUST 20-21 27-28 Aug SEPTEMBER 9-11 Sep 10 Sep 17-18 Sep 18 Sep OCTOBER 3-4 Oct 5 Oct 8-9 Oct 9 Oct 15-18 Oct 20-22 Oct 22-23 Oct 23 Oct 23 Oct 29 Oct NOVEMBER 4 Nov 5 Nov 7 Nov 8-9 Nov 18-20 Nov 19-20 Nov 25-27 Nov DECEMBER 3-4 Dec

Vic Bream Classics R4 Rapala BASS Australian Open

Marlo Somerset Dam

VIC QLD

www.vicbreamclassics.com.au www.abt.org.au

Venom BARRA Aus Open Lake BASS Electric Wyaralong Dam BREAM Gladstone East Coast Bream Series R1

Awoonga, Gladstone Beaudesert Gladstone Botany Bay

QLD QLD QLD NSW

www.abt.org.au www.abt.org.au www.abt.org.au wsbreambass@gmail.com

BARRA Lake Tinaroo BARRA Tinaroo (all night) Vic Bream Classics R5 East Coast Bream Series R1 BASS Elec Grand Final 2022 Cardwell Barra Bonanza BASS Grand Final WA Bream Classics Boat R3 WA Bream Classics Kayak R3 Carp/Tilapia Eradication Comp

Yungaburra Yungaburra Warnambool Sydney Harbour Wivenhoe Dam Cardwell Clarence River Swan River Swan River Wyaralong Dam

QLD QLD VIC NSW QLD QLD NSW WA WA QLD

www.abt.org.au www.abt.org.au www.vicbreamclassics.com.au wsbreambass@gmail.com www.abt.org.au cardwellsportfishingclub.com.au www.abt.org.au watournamentanglers.com.au watournamentanglers.com.au John Cumberland, 0426266303

BARRA Teemburra Dam BARRA Kinchant Dam BARRA Faust (all night) BARRA Faust Vic Bream Classics GF WA Bream Classics kayak GF BREAM Grand Final

Pinnacle Kinchant Proserpine Proserpine Metung Albany Mallacoota

QLD QLD QLD QLD VIC WA VIC

www.abt.org.au www.abt.org.au www.abt.org.au www.abt.org.au www.vicbreamclassics.com.au watournamentanglers.com.au www.abt.org.au

WA Bream Classics Boat GF

Blackwood River

watournamentanglers.com.au

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. 92

AUGUST 2022

Stacer Sets the Standards with its 2022 Lineup

Advertorial

It’s only up from here – Stacer sets its sights on an exciting future as it releases an updated fleet of boats. Redefining customer expectations with a next-to-none product offering, the brand raises the bar for all Australian boaties.

Scan the QR code to watch Steve Morgan cover the highlights from 2022 Stacer media launch.

Launching a newly updated fleet of boats, Stacer again showcases why it has fondly become one of Australia’s leading boat brands – epitomising quality, versatility, longevity, and effortless boating. First founded in 1971, Stacer has established a token name within the boating community, with an engrained history in exceeding customer expectations through its finessed designs and build quality. This year Stacer is set to further raise the bar, with consumer demands and product evolution at the core of all design updates. “We are passionate about taking the feedback of our customers and dealers on board to continue enhancing our overall product experiences,” Sam Heyes, General Manager said.

“Together with a strategic market research approach, we also have a dedicated team who solely work to form product enhancement recommendations based off wider societal trends, latest technologies, overall performance and all areas of opportunity.” Taking to the water this June, the new line-up will comprise the Sea Master, Crossfire, Sea Runner and WildRider. Rolling out across the hottest models in the most popular lifestyle segments, the new line-up serves almost every boatie, with the Sea Master serving as an ideal versatile boat featuring a car-like layout inclusive of a spacious deck, sleek dash and vast customisation capabilities. Whilst the WildRider meets the needs of families and friend-groups big and small, delivering an expansive person capacity, comfortable forward and rear seating, watersports capabilities and more. The Crossfire delivers the ultimate crossover boat – designed as a barra-bass and bowrider hybrid to meet the needs of any boatie with the convertible casting platform for fishos or bow lounge area for the family, and expansive

customisation for endless opportunities. Or take adventures to diverse waterways with the Sea Runner – designed around the Revolution Hull to expertly handle offshore conditions for some serious fishing, whilst its spacious cabin provides protection from the elements for all passengers. “With decades of expertise, Stacer has invested in the development of a product for every boatie whilst making the purchasing process straightforward to continue bolstering the number of new entrants,” Sam said.

Become part of the Stacer community, or find out more about the 2022 Stacer range today by contacting your local dealer via the QR cade or www.stacer.com.au/buying-aboat/make-an-enquiry.

to deliver improved or completely new underfloor storage capacity, whilst a number of models have also seen enhanced fuel tank sizes. To enhance the overall ergonomics of all newly updated models, for all captains of all ages, tilt steering will become available on a range of models.

For the first time, 429 Sea Master models will come standard with an underfloor fuel tank, plus both 429 and 449 models will see an in-floor battery box location. Along with many other design updates across the 2022 range, Stacer will also see an all-new model added to its line-up with the 539 and 589 Crossfire Rear Centre Console added to the mix. Designed to meet the needs of Top End boaties, the Rear Centre Console layout boasts a 360-degree, uninterrupted forward deck and bow area. Together with the optional CrossFisher Casting Platform, the Rear Centre Console becomes a game-fishing beast. Owned by BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products), Global leader in Powersports, the future is only up from here.

To revolutionise boat buying, Stacer will release an all-new boat package system, providing customers with easy boat configuration options suited to the most popular on-water lifestyles. Informed by market research, Entertainer’s packages will comprise key options for a comfortable day out on the water, Travel packs entail options designed to enhance the driving experience, and Angler’s Packs will include the most commonly purchased fishing options. Alternatively, customers can opt for the base model for no-frills boating at an entry-level price, or upgrade to the SE model to enjoy the ultimate on-water experience. As the need for protected storage space continues to evolve, Stacer has reviewed its product designs AUGUST 2022

Brag-worthy catches this chilly season WIRF

Cara Cummings

Despite the wintery and cold conditions that we have endured this season, it certainly hasn’t affected the success of amazing catches from our fisherwomen! As our network grows, we

are seeing more women try their hand at fishing and many have surprised themselves at how much they are enjoying this new hobby and how addictive it can become. MEMBER’S BRAG MAT WIRF member Sharon Stomilovic headed out near Clifton Springs on one of her first snapper trips and

was in for a treat when she landed some lovely fish. “This was my very first snapper catch and now I’m hooked!” she said. “Bring on snapper season!” Imagine Alona Tomakin’s surprise when she headed out to Gunnamatta for the first time to practice using her new surf rod, and ended up

Caitlin with her 110cm cod.

Nikki with an estuary perch.

with a great catch of Aussie salmon to take home! “I ventured out solo surf fishing at Mornington peninsula after work, I was just there to practice handling my 12ft surf rod,” Alona said. “The salmon were a bonus!”

Sharon with her very first snapper haul.

Alona’s surprise catch of the day. 94

AUGUST 2022

WIRF FISHING LEGEND You Tube superstar Nikki Bryant recently headed out to Lake Tyers fishing for estuary perch and bream and shares with us her tips. “I was fishing up

the Nowa Nowa arm of Lake Tyers casting small hardbodies into the snags on the edge. The key was to shake the lure but keep it in the snags so the fish hiding could see the lure. The fish would come out from their hiding place, look at the

and broke a few myths in doing so, catching this lovely 84cm Murray cod off the surface! “What a highlight it was hooking up to this big girl on the first cast of the morning and throwing the boys (and it seems everyone else’s) theories out the window

on a technique they had virtually ruled out using in this impoundment,” Karen said. To find out more info, tips and techniques on Karen’s trip, you can head to ‘Social Fishing’ socials. To stay up to date and see 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

Simple mini flake wraps INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4)

Karen was happy with this healthy 84cm cod. lure and then inhale it. “What happened next was absolute chaos, with every fish trying to get back into cover and me trying to pull it out. Sometimes I won and sometimes the fish won, either way my heart was racing and the adrenalin pumping. There was a nice mix of black bream and estuary perch amongst the snags, meaning you never knew which species you would catch on each cast.”

2 fillets gummy shark 1/2 cup corn flour Zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon 2 tbsp vegetable oil 8 mini wraps Tartare sauce Lettuce Sliced gherkin pickles Sliced tomato METHOD 1. Combine the lemon zest with the corn flour in a bowl. 2. Cut the flake into 5cm strips and

thoroughly coat in the flour mix. 3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the flake and cook over a medium heat for approx. 2 mins on each side, until golden. 4. To make the wraps, smear a spoonful of tartare sauce 3/4 down the centre of the wrap, then layer the lettuce, tomato, and gherkins. Place the flake on top and squeeze a little lemon juice to finish it off. To fold the wrap, bring in the sides, and fold up the bottom to hold it all together. * As seen weekly on Ch 31’s ‘Talking Fishing’ TV show or catch up via YouTube.

Lake Tyers is never disappointing with catches like this.

Harry and Sunny Morris had a terrific day at Eaglehawk Neck in Tasmania recently. The duo went out fishing with Stuart Nichols from Personalised Charters and caught a swag of tuna. They used large overhead reels and skirted lures while trolling, and said the scenery was exceptional.

To see the video of Nikki’s trip, check out her YouTube channel, ‘Purple Patch Fishing’. WINTER COD FEELS WIRF Leader Caitlin Berecry managed to find a gap in her work roster so took advantage and headed off for a quick fishing trip to Mulwala. She was ready to give up after watching her partner successfully catch several cod, with her only accolades being the net woman! However, this is a story of why persistence pays off! “For two and a half days I netted fish, after fish, after fish for the other half. We were using the exact same lures, casting in the same places, everything identical. But do you think I could catch anything? No. No fish for me. By Tuesday evening, he’d boated over 10 cod including a 120cm, a 95cm and an 82cm as the three best. “However, in a successful turn of events, three days of casting finally converted into this 110cm Murray cod. I have never (and probably won’t for a very long time) appreciated a fish more in all my life.” WIRF Mentor Karen Rees also had a successful cod trip at Wyangala Dam AUGUST 2022

PRODUCT GUIDE

OLLTOLOS FINESSE SHANGRILLA

NEW ZMAN COLOURS

X-Braid delivers Olltolos, the finesse range of the XBraid line up by YGK, offering you the latest technology from Japan, the largest braid manufacturer in the world. Finesse Shangrilla has been developed to bring you an ultra-tight pitch that creates a perfectly rounded profile enabling precise casting accuracy when fishing at pontoons, along oyster racks or amongst timber structure. Olltolos WX8 features an ultra-hard coating to ensure maximum abrasion resistance, which in turn aids in eliminating wind knots. All these features are important and due to its ultra-thin diameter, you have an asset which makes it the ultimate in finesse braid ever to be released in the Australian market. Shangrilla is available in PE0.5 and PE0.6, each in 100m spools and of multicolour design. For more information visit the X-Braid Australia website, or follow them on Instagram and Facebook @ xbraid - australia. www.xbraidygk.com.au

Tackle Tactics has released some new ZMan colours that are sure to contain a few future favourites. Joining the lineup, in the ZMan 3” MinnowZ, is fried bologna, gitter done, tater salad, troutcicle and beer run. You will also find gitter done and troutcicle in a ZMan 4” DieZel MinnowZ, gitter done in a 4” and 5” Scented Jerk ShadZ, along with fried bologna and beer run also in the 5” model. Fried bologna will be popular on flathead and a stack of other species, with its pink belly and natural brown back with black fleck offering contrast. Gitter done features a classic green and gold combination that will produce in the fresh or salt, with natural translucent green top and translucent belly loaded with gold glitter to create scale flash, even in low light conditions. Tater salad has a shrimpy green fleck in a glow body, with a lime tail to draw the strikes. Troutcicle has a purple back and silver pearl belly for excellent contrast, especially in dirty water, while beer run has already proven a favourite in previously released models thanks to its natural pearl back and scale flash from the glitter filled, translucent belly. www.z-man.com.au

TICA DYNASPIN AND GOJIRA

GARMIN QUATIX 7

Two of the latest reel releases from TiCA are the Dynaspin GH and Gojira GGPT. The Dynaspin GH reels look fantastic in their beautiful pearl white body with blue trimmings. These reels feature TiCA’s patented Cybernetic Frame System, made from aluminium. Other quality features include an aluminium spool, ISO Intelligent Oscillating System, instant anti-reverse, computer balanced rotor, carbon drag washers and 6 RRB rust resistant bearings. The Dynaspin GH series reels are available in five sizes: 1500, 2500, 3500, 4500 and 6000. The TiCA Gojira GGPT Reels offer plenty of quality features at an affordable price. These reels come with a high tensile strength body, aluminium spool, thick bail arm system, instant anti reverse, carbon drag washers and three stainless steel ball bearings. They are available in three sizes – 2500, 3500 and 4500 – so they have all sizes covered for bread and butter species. www.jurofishing.com

DAIWA 22 APPAREL

Dressed to impress in 2022, the Daiwa apparel range welcomes new designs for the savvy, well-dressed angler. Daiwa’s popular jersey line-up now includes the new Ripple jersey design, a water inspired design available in three colours (navy, moss, and gray) in both hooded and non-hooded styles. Made to fit Australian sized anglers, the Ripple jersey range is cool and comfortable to wear and available in sizes S to 3XL. The new Ripple design features in Daiwa’s hat range as well, with curved and flat bill models in navy, moss, gray, and black colours added to the extensive Daiwa hat range. There are nine new models, including traditional curved peak designs, and a new navy coloured Boonie-styled bucket hat. www.daiwafishing.com.au

AUGUST 2022

WHAT’S NEW FISHING

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

The Garmin quatix 7 Series is purposebuilt for life on the water and packed with tech for everyday fitness, wellness and convenience. It offers new boating features designed to strengthen onboard integration, such as multifunction display (MFD) control, anchor drag alerts and more. The 7 Series boasts new touchscreen display options that complement the existing 5-button design. It integrates seamlessly with Garmin chartplotters and other select marine electronics. When paired with compatible onboard equipment, quatix 7 enables convenient control for autopilot and Fusion Entertainment systems, and it can stream important information about the boat, including water depth and engine RPM, directly to your wrist – from anywhere on board. There’s a host of built-in activity profiles, like fishing, kayaking, surfing and more. There’s also support for BlueChart g3 costal charts and LakeVü g3 inland maps. Other features include battery life of up to 16 days (up to 18 for sapphire models), 10 ATM water rating, and sunlight-readable display. Price: SRP $1099 www.garmin.com

VIGILANCE SW5000

The newest big game spinning reel from ATC has just arrived. The Vigilance SW5000 and SW5000H are built tough, constructed and designed for big game fishing and prolonged saltwater use. The series features a 100% waterproof body, preventing water from entering the gear system, and has ATC’s brilliant dual drag system that applies pressure both above and below the spool. This provides a powerful and smooth drag that keeps on working, fish after monster fish. The body, rotor and spool are individually CNC machined from one-piece of corrosion resistant 6061-T6 aircraft grade aluminium, making this reel super-tough and able to handle the extremes Aussie anglers put reels through, day in and day out. Using 12+1 stainless steel ball bearings, and featuring a100% aluminium rigid handle, this reel is made to withstand anything mother nature throws at it, or stop any fish you hook. www.wilsonfishing.com

6 5

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BASS SERIES presented by

Noble wins and Langers gets his three-peat Starting our BASS Pro series in the southernmost impoundments, it was only fitting that the sixth and final round sponsored by Halco went to the northernmost venue, Cania Dam. After a few bleak years, the dam has seen some decent inflows, which is Scan the QR code to watch the Boater winner interview

what first placed boater John Noble focused on, pushing right upriver to win the event from the back of the dam. Nobles’ non-boater on day one Tim Steenhuis made the most of sharing the boat with the champion boater, weighing an impressive 3/3

a second place in the final event of the year Matthew Langford took home his third consecutive AOY title. LOCAL KNOWLDEGE KEY FOR NOBLE Local legend John Noble took out the final round of the year in a big way, by beating a very much in-form Matt Langford by a little over 600g. With streams of local knowledge behind him, Noble decided to focus on the recent in-flow that had pushed bait and bass right up-river. “There’s a lot of shallow weed up the river arm and a bit of a channel running through it,” said Noble, “The fish were either sitting hard up on the weed or timber, or just off the edge in the channel.” The overcast and

Boater John Noble took out the 6th and final round of the 2022 13 Fishing BASS Pro series and punched his ticket to the grand final on the Clarence River in October. giving them access to the fish they could see on LiveScope hiding underneath it. His jerkbait set up was a Samurai infinite 3-8lb paired with a Lews KVD 200 spin reel, 10lb Suffix 832 braid and 10lb sunline leader. On the other hand, his spinnerbait combo was a baitcast model 7ft Samurai Refraction with a

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

Lews Hypermag speed spool with a heaver 14lb leader to put the brakes on those hard hitting fish.

Tim Steenhuis brought a cracking three fish bag in on day one to set himself up for victory. So good in fact that he didn’t need to catch another fish all weekend to win! limit for 2.945kg on day one that, after the dreaded donut on day two, was still enough to see him take out the non-boater division in a very tough bite. With the final round also came the conclusion of the 2022 AOY race between Mitchell Cone and Matthew Langford, and what a shootout it’s been. Ultimately, there could be only one winner and with

spinnerbait very shallow over the top of the weed and fish the jerkbait when the weed got a little bit deeper,” adding that he was most confident in the jerkbait to get the bigger bites. The day really opened up for him and non-boater Tim Steenhuis when the floating weed that had accumulated up the river – blocking a portion of their weed beds – broke apart with the wind,

rainy conditions on day one provided the perfect conditions for reaction baits. Noble used a 1/2oz Daiwa Steez spinnerbait in smoke shad colour to represent a bony bream and a Jackall squirrel 67 in brown suji-shrimp colour. When asked when and where he used each bait, he said “I pretty much fished what was in front of me at the time. I’d fish the

BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 98

AUGUST 2022

Angler John Noble Matt Langford Shaun Falkenhagen Matt Johnson Nick Anderson Malcolm Stewart Bill Latimer Gregory Burke Mitchell Cone Keeghan Painter

Fish 8/10 7/10 5/10 3/10 4/10 3/10 3/10 3/101 2/10 2/10

It was a good, consistent quality of fish, such as this one pictured, that got Noble across the line.

Full results at abt.org.au

Weight(kg) 5.420 4.775 3.685 3.130 3.035 2.170 2.020 2.010 1.830 1.650

Payout $2700 $1500 $800 + $500 Big bass + $75 3rd Merc $600

BASS SERIES presented by Day two and the conditions were polar opposite to day one with the sun blaring and the fish feeling the pressure. It quickly became evident that the reaction bite had died so noble adjusted by targetting fish sitting in the deep channel of the weed, around 15ft deep. Vertical jigging an Ecogear ZX43 (colour 447 being the standout) accounted for just three fish on a tough second day, however it was enough to hold out Matt Langford and take the crown. MR AOY STRIKES AGAIN Writing himself into the history books once again with his third consecutive BASS AOY trophy is the infallible Matthew Langford. His 2nd place finish at Cania Dam means he finished the year with a total of 399 out of a possible 400 AOY points, followed agonisingly close by good Mate Mitch Cone with 398 – a score that any other year would have left the rest of the field in the dust. Using the clues he picked up from a comp a few weeks prior, Langford chose to fish rock edges in the main basin with a lot of submerged structure he knew held fish. Using his LiveScope unit, he was able to save time by ruling out the snags and rocks he couldn’t find fish on and focusing on the

ones with fish. One fish on the first morning fell to a Jackall Squirrel 79 before he picked up a 3/8oz black Bassman Jig and didn’t look back. Scan the QR code to watch the Day 1 Highlights

For a jig trailer, Langford uses a Berkley MaxScent creature hog. The technique was to pick apart the rock and timber in 10-20ft of water slowly, just dragging his jig across the structure and feeling for the bite, which was quite subtle. “It’s hard to explain but I can feel a buzz through the line when they swim off with it, it’s like the line cutting through the water. That’s when I know when to strike,” he explained. He added that the jig bite didn’t start to really get good until about 10 am, with day two being even later again. The bite was tough even on day one with Langford only landing his last legal at 1:45pm and his only upgrade at 1:50pm. With 2.640kg after day one and sitting in second, Langford was in a good spot after day one, he knew he just needed a few good fish to go close on day two. With no bites until 11am, he went on the hunt,

An all too familiar face on the podium – Matt Langford wrapped up the 2022 AOY race between him and Mitch cone with a 2nd place in the last event. He finishes the year with a total of 399 of 400 AOY points. pulling up on a timbered bank in about 15ft of water and hopping his jig off the bottom to be met with the ‘buzz’ he explained earlier and setting hooks into a Scan the QR code to watch the Day 2 Highlights

solid fish around 1.1kg. Proceeding to his, aptly named by Mick Johnson as ‘Langers bank’, Langers added another fish around a kilo to give him a two fish limit almost as big as his full

Matt Johnson caught the events Buck n’ Big Bass. This 1.58kg bass earned him $500 cash plus some great Buck n’ Bass gear.

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

Angler Tim Steenhuis Adam Mears Shaun Ezzy Cameron Hall Heath Kimber Anthony Melchior Zachery Taylor Ricky McGuinness Christina Tschutura Beau Eveleigh

Fish 3/6 4/6 2/6 2/6 2/6 2/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6

Weight(kg) 2.945 2.540 1.540 1.280 1.160 0.975 0.815 0.635 0.635 0.458

day one limit at 2.135kg. “After I got that second good fish I was over the moon. I’d spoken to a few guys throughout the day that said they were struggling, so I knew if I just landed a few good fish, I would go close to winning,” he said, adding “The best feeling was knowing I’d definitely done enough to take out the AOY. It’s an awesome feeling when you know you’ve done enough, and that second fish just sealed the deal for me.” For his jig set up, Langford uses a 7’3” Millerods SwitchFreak UL paired with a 13 Fishing Concept Z reel spooled with 16lb Yamatoyo resin sheller braid. SPONSOR KARMA FOR STEENHUIS Champion of the non-boaters at Cania, Tim Steenhuis, made the most of his time up-river with day one leader John Noble and plonked a cracking limit of almost 3kg on the scales to take victory and, in the end, his huge day one limit was all that was needed. Fishing in as shallow as 1ft at times, the fishing was extremely visual and often the pair would see bass come flying out of the weed over to their lure being worked just below the surface and smash it at full speed. Unlike Noble who opted for a spinnerbait/jerkbait option, Tim chose two baits – a silent, ghost gill coloured Jackall TN60 rigged with single hooks to keep it weed-free and a Bassman

spinnerbait in colour 27, rigged with a stinger hook to minimise any short strikes. “I don’t know if they still make that colour Bassman anymore because every time I ring Glen and Sue they have to go looking for it. But if they don’t, I reckon they should bring it back!” said Steenhuis. The bigger fish in his bag fell to the TN60 burned across the top of the weed and dropped down the face of it where the fish would come out and smash it on the drop. The most crucial technology wasn’t a sounder or a Hydrowave or anything flash and expensive, for Tim it was his polarised sunglasses that were crucial to being able to see the edge of the weed in perfect clarity, as well as the holes in the weed where he could land a lure. Having fished ABT for several years, Tim has collected a number of good prizes that he uses to win himself more prizes, and so the cycle continues! All weekend he used a Millerods SwitchFreak UL that he’d bought with his $500 from a Big Bass prize, paired with a 13 Fishing Concept Z he’d also won, spooled with 20lb Nitlon PE and 20lb Sunline FC rock leader, which, you guessed it, he also won at a previous event. Not that we need anymore, but Tim is living proof that the sponsor Karma is very real and it’s worth channelling!

Full results at abt.org.au

Payout Rapala Prize pack + $250 1st Rapala Rapala prize pack Bassman spinnerbaits prize pack Bassman prize pack $125 2nd Rapala + Maui Jim prize pack Molix prize pack + $75 3rd Rapala Prolure prize pack Keitech prize pack Toadfish prize pack Toadfish prize pack AUGUST 2022

BREAM SERIES presented by

Morgan cranks up 11th win at Tweed In an event that saw him win his 11th ABT qualifying event, Brisbane’s Steve Morgan rose from 13th place after day one to 1st place at the end of the Atomic round of the Daiwa BREAM Series on the Tweed River. Historically, the Tweed is an event that has been won by small bags. Recent floods, however, have enhanced the bream fishery on this river in the Queensland/ New South Wales border. Weights that would’ve won previous events were finishing midfield after the first day’s weigh in. Morgan weighed a 5/5, 2.49kg limit to sit in 13th place behind the two leading Victorian anglers (Byron Hill and Cam Whittam) and a bunch of others.

on day two, I was ticking off places I thought hadn’t seen much pressure on day one. One of these was the main Fingal rockwall between the boat ramp and the river mouth. It was a popular spot in earlier events but must have been overlooked by most of the field,” Morgan continued. And it didn’t take long for the decision to pay off. Cranking the wall on the last of the run-out tide with Atomic Hardz Deep 38 crankbaits in muddy prawn and Tim’s prawn yielded instant results with a 600g fish eating on the first cast. “The bream were sitting on the seam between sand and rock at 6-8ft down and the Hardz got to the right depth at the bottom of the

Two blokes with plenty of reasons to smile! Champion Steve Morgan and his counterpart in the non-boater division, Adam Wilson. boater Drew Griffith. Drew didn’t get out for a pre-fish on Friday, instead however he relied on his knowledge from his pre-fish on the weekend prior to the pre-fish ban to get him through. “I got out for a pre-fish before the ban ended and found a lot of good fish holding on the small reef out the front of Kennedy drive boat ramp up the Terranora creek arm,” he said. The reef is only shallow – about 2.5m of water –

however the current is strong through the channel, so he needed a bait that stayed down amongst the fish. For this, Drew chose a variety of colours in the Berkley Gulp 2” Shrimp, rigged on a 1/8oz Atomic Seekerz jighead with the main selections being natural shrimp, banana prawn and swamp gas colours. Drifting his plastic above the reef with short sharp hops accounted for four of his fish on day one at Kennedy Drive before he made the

Morgo bounced back from tough results in WA in a way that only he can, by winning the next event from 13th place the day before! He caught early fish on the outback breamer ‘Muss’ before cranking up a limit along the Fingal wall, as well as adding a vital kicker upriver on a soft plastic prawn imitation. “I had what I thought was a reasonable limit by noon, so I spent the last few hours fishing mangrove edges in the Terranora arm of the system,” Steve said, “because this river usually fishes tough on day two and I wanted to know if there was legal fish on the subtle structure.” A solid session on unweighted Ecogear Aqua solidified the plan with a couple of late upgrades. “As I sat at the start line

Scan the QR code to watch Steve Morgan and Adam Wilson Interview

tide. As the current slowed, so did the bite. There was a small window, and I was lucky enough to take advantage of it,” Steve said. “After that the kicker fish came one after another and by the end of the drift, there was about 2.75kg in the well,” he said. You can watch the action from Morgan’s livestream in the highlights by scanning the QR code hereby. After that, he finished by

upgrading the two smallest fish on the high-tide Aqua pattern in the Terranora arm. He fished the crankbait on a Daiwa Infeet EX 6101ULRS matched with a Caldia LT 2000S reel and 3lb Daiwa J-Thread fluorocarbon. The Aqua rig was an Infeet Z 732LFS with a Revelry MQ 3000, 6lm Daiwa J-Braid and 6lb Chinu Harris leader. The salt and pepper bait was rigged on his favourite #1 Magic Beak worm hook. REEF FISHING MASTERY FROM DREW GRIFFITH Another local claiming back the podium from the southerners who held it on day one was second placed

BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 100

AUGUST 2022

Angler Steve Morgan Drew Griffiths Jamie McKeown Byron Hill Tristan Taylor Peter Cashman Michael Horn Cameron Whittam Jacob Kelly Mark Saric

Fish 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10

Weight(kg) 5.550 5.430 5.360 5.245 5.235 5.185 5.105 5.075 5.050 5.040

Drew Griffiths slotted into 2nd place behind Morgo and he did so with a number of cracking tarwhine he caught late on day two off the southern break wall.

Full results at abt.org.au

Payout $2500 + $250 1st Merc bonus + $1,440 Atomic bonus + pro option $1500 $900 $600 + $125 2nd Merc bonus +$500 Big Bream $500 + $75 3rd Merc bonus

BREAM SERIES presented by move down to the mouth of the system to finish his day fishing the reef in the middle of the main channel at the front of the Jack Evans Boat Harbour. On day two, the current was ripping hard through Drew’s Kennedy Drive spot and with fishing pressure, the fish weren’t playing the game. “There was too much Scan the QR code to watch the Day 1 Highlights

current there, so I decided to make a move to down the front to the reef where I got fish at the end of day one and just stick it out down there,” Drew said about his decision to move on from spot one on Sunday. Moving from 2.5m deep to 4.5m deep down the front of the system, Drew changed his jighead from a 1/8oz up to a 1/6oz to make up for the deeper bottom. Also expanding his soft plastic choice, he added a smeltcoloured Gulp 4” minnow to his quiver, which accounted for its share of reef fish too.

Byron Hill was leading the event after day one with an exceptional Tweed bag, however he wasn’t able to hold on for day two but did hold onto the $500 Buck N’ Big bream. “We actually stumbled on a pretty hot bite along the south wall on the turn of the tide in the afternoon. We were just drifting Cranka Crabs along the rock face and I picked up a 36cm tipper for my first upgrade, then I got a couple of donkey tarwhine around 900g to upgrade nearly my whole bag,” said Drew. Four Chris Britton custom rods are what Drew

sheer volume of fish they were getting. Working through the numbers paid off as his 3/3 limit for 1.9kg on day one had him leading the non-boater division going into the second day. Growing up on the Clarence River, fishing rock walls and shallow reef is a technique you pick up quickly, so the adjustment from canal fishing to fishing rock walls and reef with Tristan Taylor on day two was an easy one for Adam. He chose two baits to fish the front of the system on day two, sticking with his Aqua set up, but also adding a Cranka Crab rigged on a Daiwa Infeet EX 702LFS paired with a Daiwa Revlry 2500 again spooled with

Scan the QR code to watch the Day 2 Highlights

non-boater division was Tweed local Adam Wilson who was fortunate enough to get to fish to his strengths over two days – Ecogear Aqua in canals, and Crabs on

Mat Cameron is a Atomic-sponsored local non-boater who finished runner-up in the non-boater division.

Tristo summing up how all of us feel at takeoff on comp day! Naturally, a Cranka Crab made an appearance on the reef to contribute to the limit as well. With his bag now in hand and the tide beginning to rip fast, it became harder and harder to fish the reef so by the time of the tide change towards the end of the session, Drew made the move to the southern break wall.

used for the whole weekend – two of which were 6’6” and 7’ 1-3kg models and the other two 6’6” and 7’ 2-4 kg models. For reels, he used Daiwa Esmerelda, Certate and TD Sol models with 8lb J-Braid and 8-6lb Daiwa J-Thread leader. WILSON CLEANS UP IN THE CANALS Spearheading the

deep rock walls. Drawing boater Byron Hill for day one, he was pleased to find out the plan was to fish canals for the day. “I lived on the Gold Coast for 15 years so Aqua fishing is my bread and butter,” Adam said, “I didn’t really expect to get them in the canals, so I was stoked when we did, it’s such a fun way to fish.”

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

Angler Adam Wilson Mathew Cameron Grayson Fong Bernard Kong John Glover Michael Maas Taka Kawasaki David Lonne Mark McKay Lance Marsh

Fish 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6

The pair punished the canal bream with Aqua rigged weightless and weedless on Vanfook Magic Beak worm hooks, skipped around the pontoons, boats, poles and often at times just up onto the sandy and rocky banks. A long cast is important so as not to spook the fish, and for this he used a JML Dragon 7’ 1-3g paired with a Daiwa TD Sol III 2000 spin reel, PE-8 Sunline ADV braid and 5lb Sunline leader. “There were times there when we had double hook ups, or we’d land 7 or 8 fish in the space of 10 minutes. We would have landed 40-50 fish for the day, maybe even more,” Adam said of the

Full results at abt.org.au

Weight(kg) 3.315 3.195 2.940 2.905 2.820 2.730 2.660 2.655 2.650 2.520

Payout $880 pro option + Daiwa prize pack Daiwa prize pack Daiwa prize pack Prolure prize pack Rapala prize pack Keitech prize pack Toadfish prize pack Toadfish prize pack

Sunline PE8 ADV. When asked if he adapted his Aqua set up to suit the deeper structure, Adam’s experience shone through. He said, “I decided to keep fishing the Aqua only I chopped and changed my jighead weight throughout the day from as heavy as 1/4oz when the tide was really pumping, down to a 1/12oz when it lulled.” Increasing his leader to 8lb, due to the harsher environment, made sure that any fish he did hook close to the nasty stuff was getting to the boat, which is especially important when you only have a handful of bites for the day. “I really enjoyed both days, they were two different styles of fishing but two that I’m used to so that made it fun.” said Adam. BUCK N’ BIG BREAM Our day one leader and the man with who weighed the biggest bag for the tournament, Byron Hill weighed in the events Big Bream at 1.02kg, making himself $500 richer in the process. It can be seen eating an Ecogear Aqua in our day one highlights package, scan the QR code to check it out! AUGUST 2022

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BASS SERIES presented by

BASS ELECTRIC SERIES

abt

Ezzy Sliders to victory The Lake Macdonald round of the BKK Hooks Bass Electric series was always going to be tough, with plenty of water entering and exiting the lake and a cold snap leading up to the event. The lake, however, seemed

to produce plenty of fish – undersized and some of the right ones as well. A great turnout of 34 anglers saw 39 bass delivered to the scales. Shaun Ezzy brought a kicker bass of 1.58kg, helping secure the first place

After catching fish like this, Ezzy broke off his lure and gave it to fellow competitor, Peter Woods. Who Shares Wins, we guess!

and some good karma and the ABT motto of Who Shares Wins, with a winning bag of 2/2 2.80kg. “Leading into the tournament, I found the bigger fish had migrated down the dam towards the main basin so I concentrated my efforts in that area. The bubbler had produced some quality leading into the event and again early on prefish morning, but it had a short bite window first up in the morning. Knowing that, I decided to hit the bubbler early for a bag then go searching the flats in the main basin for upgrades,” Shaun said. “It turned out that the fish I got at the bubbler first up would be it for the day. I caught eight for the session there in a short period of time with a few upgrades,” he continued. All the fish were caught on a John Deere Slider grub and a 5/8 jighead rolled slowly through the bubbler. The fish were in 8-10ft of water, the bites would come about a metre either side of the bubbles. “The Lowrance Active Target showed that the bass where grouped in one particular area along the bubbler, which made it easy to locate the exact spot to

Shaun Ezzy broke through for his maiden BASS Electric win at Lake Macdonald. cast,” Shaun concluded. In second place, not far behind Shaun, Peter Woods brought 2/2 bass to the scales for 2.64kg. Fishing from his kayak, he also landed his limit from the bubbler, however he benefited from Ezzy’s generosity when he handed Woods the lure that he was catching all of his bass on. Immediately, he landed

a 42cm fork length fish, which, when added to the bass already in his well, propelled him to second place. “I would like to thank Shaun for his generous offer of the plastic that was working the best on the day. The plastic had a couple of cut downs throughout the day but lasted me until the end,” Woods said.

Bostock dominant at Toonumbar The first round of the ABT BASS Electric round sponsored by BKK Hooks was at Toonumbar Dam, in northern New South Wales. This tournament was almost not going to go ahead due to the local flooding in NSW and SEQ, and the immense amount of rain that these areas had received. It was therefore going to be an interesting competition for the weekend as the water was chocolate brown and had floating debris. 21 anglers took off on Saturday at 12:30pm and finished the session at 7pm, while the second session was Sunday morning from 6am until 12 noon. After session one’s weigh in, it was known that is was going to be a tough event, with small fish hitting the scales and word of a lot of undersized bass being caught. It was still showing that there were fish to be caught but you just needed to be in the right area for the legal size. There was one angler who stood out from the rest, Peter Bostock, who led the field overnight. Sunday morning saw the field take off to do it all again, to see if it would be another day of sorting

102

AUGUST 2022

Peter spent the rest of the evening throwing Chubbies to the edge, hooking up fairly consistently. Sunday saw Peter head back up the creek and he caught a few undersized fish. With 30 minutes to go, Peter lost a good fish at the net – this was to be second keeper. But finally on the last cast

of the day he hooked and landed his second legal. Peter finished the weekend with a winning weight of 3.4kg for 4/4. “Massive shout out to our new tournament director Adrian Wilson, the ABT team and Col Linton from BKK for their support,” Peter said.

Peter’s Big BASS was 1.34kg and earned him a BKK Hooks prize pack. through the small bass again. After the session finished, the weigh in revealed a few bags with single fish and only a couple with the full limit. Toonumbar only produced three anglers that had their 4/4 bag limit. In second place was Charles West. Westy fished the top part of the lake casting the edges that had any sign of weed on them and lily pads. Most of the

legal fish were caught on a 1/6oz jighead rigged plastic in pumpkinseed colour. The winner of this round led the event wire-to-wire, Peter Bostock. Peter had a prefish Friday afternoon for not even a touch. On Saturday Peter headed up the creek where he managed one good fish on a ZMan Slim SwimZ and was the bass that would end up being Big BASS for the weekend. At 1.350kg, it was in great health.

Peter Bostock continued his vein of hot form with a win on Toonumbar Dam in northern NSW.

East Coast Bream Series Round 4 Results A total of 44 boats started the fourth round of the East Coast Bream Series on the Hawkesbury. The morning was cold and windy, and the wind remained for the entire day, which made it a tough fishing.

last Hawkesbury River round with ABT a couple of weeks earlier, I felt very confident with my usual milk run. “I used low tide to start fishing oyster leases far upstream where we were lucky enough to land

make it three”. In second place were Troy Parsons and Ryan Jamieson, Team Hunts Marine/Hurricane Lures. The pair got $1100 for their efforts of 5 fish for 4.30kg. Troy said, “With the comp starting at Brooklyn

First Place: Phoenix Boats All Clear Team - Michael Colotouros, Robert Patruno, John Nacitaa. we decided to head up river and target rocky edges. Throwing lightly weighted Hurricane Sprats we had a bag early and steadily

Second Place: Hunts Marine/ Hurricane Lures Team Troy Parsons, Ryan Jamieson, Simon Morley. Bag sizes were down on previous years, but some competitors managed a good bag of five bream. There were quite a few of 1kg bream brought back to the scales with the biggest bream caught by Michael Colotouros hitting the scales at 1.34kg. Despite the all day wind, the teams managed a full day fishing. All reports for Monday was for gale force winds, which would have probably seen another round postponed. In first place was Team Phoenix Boats All Clear, consisting of Michael Colotouros and Robert Patruno, who won $2000 for a winning bag of 5 fish for 4.31kg. Michael said, “After successfully winning the

a 1.32kg fish straight up. As the tide pushed higher on the banks we started running from Milsons Passage, the Vines, Mooney Mooney and Brooklyn. “Fishing light weighted Daiwa Bait Junkie bloodworm grubs across the oyster covered rocks. Most spots we were lucky enough to land over 800g and consistently adding weight to the bag. “Finding unfished water was the key! Most places were like a car park with boats heavily fishing on top of each other, so we needed to find untouched banks, and that gave us a great advantage. “This is our second back-to-back win on the Hawkesbury and hoping to come back next year to

RESULTS

upgraded through the day. “Both Ryan and myself managed a kilo fish, which helped our bag to a very respectable 4.3kg and

Third Place: Fishin.com.au Team - Jason Graham, Cristian Bermudez, Nathan Young.

2second place.” In third place was Team Fishin.com.au with Jason Graham and Christian Bermudez. They got 5 fish for 3.98kg and won $800. Jason and Cristian chose to fish close to the start line, as they were restricted this round with boat travel times because they were using a slower hire boat for this event. Jason said, “We predominantly fished rock walls throughout Broken Bay by throwing ZMan Grubs lightly weighted and Cranka Crabs tight to the edge, on 6lb line. “We caught a good bag of 5 fish by 9am. After that we caught many more fish, but it took to 1pm to get a couple of upgrades. Our bag weight was helped along as we had two fish over a 1kg. Big thanks to the organisers for making the event happen.” For full results go to www.wsbb.com.au.

www.wsbb.com.au

TEAM

Anglers

Phoenix Boats All Clear

Michael Colotouros, Robert Patruno, John Nacitaa 5

Hunts Marine/ Hurricane Lures Troy Parsons, Ryan Jamieson, Simon Morley

Fish

Weight(kg) 4.31

4.30

Fishin.com.au

Jason Graham, Cristian Bermudez, Nathan Young 5

3.98

Parko

Andy Parkinson, Tyler Parkinson

3.94

Off the Scales

Mitchell Simonis Matthew Simonis

3.69

Smart Fish/Lowance

Ahmad Mahfoud, Christian Wardini, Louie Wardini 5

3.38

Edgey Bites

Adam Hughes, Matt Green

3.29

Bolton Lurez/ Fishfingered

Michael Solomon, Steve Dewell

3.07

On the ChargeFishing

Karl Stait, George Agathos

3.04

Baggin Out

Daniel McCheane, Brad Muir

2.85

OOD SPO GSW RTS KIN

East Coast Bream Series

Third Place: Parko Team Andy Parkinson, Tyler Parkinson. AUGUST 2022

103

Sustainability of popular WA fish 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 (SAFS) report were species taken by commercial and recreational fishers in two or more states. These included assessments of temperate-coastal species popular among Perth recreational fishers: • Australian herring – Arripis georgianus • baldchin groper – Choerodon rubescens • dhufish – Glaucosoma hebraicum • King George whiting – Sillaginodes punctatus • silver trevally– Pseudocaranx georgianus • snapper – Chrysophrys auratus To supplement the

caught from the shore and small boats. After rising steadily over 20 years, and peaking at 1500 tonnes in the early 1990s, annual commercial catches declined, levelling out at about 150 tonnes. This long decline was caused by a combination of reduced fishing effort, low market demand, and falling herring numbers. A succession of assessments indicated the stock to be ‘sustainable’ in 2000, at ‘severe/high risk’ in 2013, and ‘recovering’ in 2018. Recent management measures are believed to have aided a slow recovery of the stock. From March 2015, these measures included the reduced recreational bag limits (from 30 to 12/ day) and the closure of the South Coast commercial trap-net fishery. Aided by recent strong recruitment, continued reduced catches are expected to support the recovery of the stock.

In sustainability terms, WA snapper stocks range from “recruitment impaired”, through “recovering”, to “sustainable”. Photo courtsey of Recfishwest. features make dhufish a standout icon species among WA’s fish: it’s large size, superb eating qualities and uniqueness to WA waters. In common with several popular bottom species, catches and catch rates for dhufish had declined to such a low point that remedial measures were introduced in 2010 to reduce fishing pressure, allowing for stock recovery by 2030. The aim was to reduce catches by ‘at least 50% of 2005/06 levels’, to restore annual reproduction and aid stock recovery. Annual commercial catches have consistently been

estimates put commercial catches at 64 tonnes in 2019, and recreational catches at 149 tonnes in 2017/18. The combination of tightened recreational catch limits, high release rates and high mortality rates of released dhufish add to the impact of recreational fishing on the stock. Based on the available evidence, the SAFS report concluded that, at the current level of fishing pressure, the stock should continue to recover. On this basis, it was classified as a “recovering stock”. However, a 2021

the recreational catch and associated release mortality exceeded the recreational limit and were deemed ‘unacceptable’. The 2021 conclusion was “The current risk to sustainability of WA dhufish at the bioregion level is HIGH”. KING GEORGE WHITING Genetic studies suggest the existence of separate stocks in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. All the evidence indicates that these stocks are sustainable. In what is considered to be a single WA stock, juvenile King George whiting occur in inshore waters of both the West Coast and South Coast bioregions. The adult spawning component of this biological stock appears to be restricted to offshore waters of the West Coast Bioregion. In WA between 1976 and 2000, annual commercial catches fluctuated widely, between 35 and 150 tonnes. Since 2000, catches have been about 20-40 tonnes. A 2013 assessment found that fishing pressure was “moderate” in the inshore areas frequented by juvenile whiting, and “low” where the adults occur, offshore. Fishing mortality estimates indicate that recruitment is secure at current catch levels. Recently, combined commercial and recreational catches have suggested a stable stock size. The recreational catch was estimated to be 29 tonnes in 2017/18, and the

Australian herring or Tommy roughs are on the way back. Photo courtsey of Recfishwest. information on these species in the SAFS report, additional information on recreational catches has been taken from WA state fisheries assessments and surveys of recreational and charter fishing. AUSTRALIAN HERRING While they occur around the coast, from Shark Bay, WA, to Forster, NSW, Australian herring are mostly taken by recreational and commercial fishers off WA and SA. This is not surprising as the only known spawning area is off southern WA and eastward dispersal of larvae depends on highly variable seasonal currents. Herring mature at age two years in all southern states before migrating back to the WA spawning area where they remain, living up to age 12 years. Regarded as a ‘bread and butter’ species for Perth’s anglers, herring are mainly 104

AUGUST 2022

WA’s commercial catch in 2018/19 was 65 tonnes; the recreational boat-based catch in 2017/18 was 17 tonnes. Based on WA’s 2021 stock assessment, the southern Australian herring has been classified as a “sustainable stock”. BALDCHIN GROPER A uniquely WA species, most of the baldchin groper occur in the West Coast Bioregion, i.e. from south of Kalbarri to west of Augusta. A 2007 assessment cast doubt on the baldchin’s spawning capacity to sustain the stock (i.e. possibly “experiencing recruitment overfishing”), as a result of commercial and recreational fishing pressure. Similar assessments of snapper and dhufish prompted tightened management controls on recreational and commercial fishing from 2010. This was aimed at relieving pressure on the spawning fish, to

underpin recoveries of these stocks. The aim was to reduce fishing pressure by at least 50% of the 2005/06 levels. These measures were effective in reducing annual commercial catches of baldchin from 20 tonnes in 2010 to seven tonnes in 2018/19. This left recreational (36 tonnes) and charter (11 tonnes) fishers applying the greatest fishing pressure to the stock. While release rates by boatbased anglers are high, the baldchin’s survival prospects after release are poor. A 2017 assessment put the timeframe for recovery of the baldchin groper stock at about 20 years. Based on the available evidence, the Western Australian baldchin groper is classified as a “recovering stock”. DHUFISH Occurring from Shark Bay to Esperance, three

West Australian dhufish – recovering but still under threat. Photo courtsey of Recfishwest. below the “stock recovery benchmark” or total catch limit. Recreational sector catches have been “around or below” the limit set in 2010. Recent State-wide

Assessment of the status of the West Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource found 2020 commercial catches to be below the limit, and deemed ‘acceptable’, while

commercial catch was 17 tonnes in 2018/19. On the basis of all available evidence, King George whiting in WA is classified as

SPECIES LIMITS Species Australian herring

Size limit -

Daily bag limit 12

Baldchin groper

40cm

2 West Coast 3 South Coast

Dhufish

50cm

King George whiting

28cm

Silver trevally

25cm

Snapper

25cm

spawning success and recruitment to the stocks. In the Eastern Gulf, the commercial catch was nil in 2019 and the 2018/19 recreational catch was about two tonnes,

level, and classified as “recruitment impaired”. As a result, the Total Allowable Catch was reduced to 51 tonnes and measures were introduced to protect spawning aggregations.

“stock recovery benchmark” (126 tonnes) since 2015, and deemed to be “acceptable”. In 2019/20, commercial fishing landed 79 tonnes. In contrast, since 2011, in every year surveyed, recreational

‘Nearshore/estuarine’, ‘Mixed species – demersal’ & ‘All other’ finfish’ bag limits, and additional fishing restrictions apply. a “sustainable stock”. SILVER TREVALLY Among the complex array of ‘silver trevallies’ around Australia, the most commonly seen by WA anglers is Pseudocaranx georgianus, which is assumed to be the main species taken commercially in most jurisdictions.

unlikely to deplete the stock or to lessen its spawning capability. On the available evidence, silver trevally in WA waters is classified as a “sustainable stock”. Note that the 2000-01 National Recreational Fishing Survey estimated WA’s recreational catch of “trevally” to be 249 tonnes,

the Eastern Gulf, Denham Sound and Freycinet Estuary snapper stocks are each regarded as “sustainable”. Under conservative arrangements in place since 2003, combined commercial and recreational catches have been held within ‘target ranges’ and are not considered to threaten Silver trevally are one of several trevallies taken from temperate to tropical waters. Photo courtsey of Gary Bell.

Baldchin groper are rated as a “recovering stock”. Photo courtsey of Recfishwest. Recreational private and charter catches of silver trevally, skipjack or skippies, have trended down, from 32 tonnes in 2011/12, to 15 tonnes in 2017/18, taken mainly from the West Coast Bioregion. The 2017/18 survey of boat-based recreational fishing found that silver trevally were the sixth most commonly retained fish taken by WA anglers, as well as having a release rate of 40% or more. Historically, since 1975, most annual commercial catches were below the estimated Maximum Sustainable Yield (66 tonnes). More recently, most silver trevally have been taken as a bycatch by commercial line fishing, with annual catches ranging from two to 10 tonnes since 2008. As in other states, assessments indicate that current levels of fishing are

reflecting the prominence of tropical trevallies in the state’s recreational fisheries. SNAPPER In WA, snapper are divided into six separate units for management purposes. While genetically close, three biologically distinct stocks are recognised in Shark Bay: the Eastern Gulf, Denham Sound and Freycinet Estuary stocks. Snapper in open coastal waters are seen as a single “semi-continuous stock”, with biological characteristics varying gradually with latitude, from offshore of Shark Bay to WA’s south coast. For management and assessed purposes, they are treated as separate ‘stocks’: the Shark Bay Oceanic, West Coast and South Coast “management units”. Shark Bay Inshore stocks On current indications,

well within the estimated maximum sustainable yield of 12 tonnes. In Denham Sound, the 2019 commercial catch was less than one tonne, and the 2018/19 recreational catch was six tonnes, together well within the maximum sustainable yield of almost 13 tonnes. In the Freycinet Estuary, the 2019 commercial catch was nil. While the 2018/19 recreational catch of 13 tonnes exceeded the ‘target’ limit of four tonnes for this sector, it was “around” the maximum sustainable yield and was not of concern in terms of its effect on stock recruitment. Shark Bay Oceanic stocks The Shark Bay Oceanic snapper are classified as “depleted”. The most recent (2017) assessment found that the spawning stock was around 20% of the unfished

These measures are expected to aid recovery of spawning success and stock size. In 2018/19, the commercial catch was 45 tonnes, and the recreational sector catch was ‘around 25 tonnes’. West Coast stocks The west coast section of WA’s open coastal snapper stock is treated as the West Coast management unit for practical purposes. It extends from the Kalbarri coast south of Shark Bay, to the southern tip off Augusta and includes the coastal waters most accessible to Perth anglers. While the 2020 SAFS report did not address this stock, the 2021 WA Fisheries Research assessment examined progress towards recovery of a number of popular fish in the West Coast Bioregion. It reported that commercial snapper catches have been below the

King George whiting. Photo courtsey of Recfishwest.

catches have exceeded the sector’s “benchmark” of 35 tonnes. In 2017/18, the sector landed an estimated 70 tonnes. This was regarded as ‘unacceptable’. Accordingly, this WA assessment concluded that, for the West Coast Bioregion, “current controls on recreational fishing are insufficient to constrain removals of snapper to the intended levels”. South Coast stocks The South Coast snapper are classified as “sustainable”, with fishing mortality and spawning potential within acceptable levels. The 2019 commercial catch was 38 tonnes, and the 2017/18 recreational catch was about 10 tonnes. With overall catches within historic levels, recruitment to this stock is not a concern. NATIONAL REPORTING The Status of Australian Fish Stock Reports are a series of assessments of the biological sustainability of a broad range of wildcaught fish stocks against a nationally agreed reporting framework. The two-yearly reports examine whether the abundance of fish and the level of harvest from each stock is sustainable. Definitions of “sustainability” and quoted passages in this article are taken from the SAFS 2020 Reports. More details about the status of Australian fish stocks are available at – www.fish.gov.au/reports. Additional information on snapper and dhufish stocks were taken from: 2021 Fisheries Research Report No. 316, Assessment of the status of the West Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource; and Status reports of the fisheries and aquatic resources of Western Australia 2019/20. AUGUST 2022

105

South Coast

Plenty of fish on offer for the keen ESPERANCE

Murray Johnson

Esperance is continuing to enjoy a mild winter, with good opportunities to go fishing for those who are keen. There are still plenty of fish being caught, both close to town and for those willing to travel further afield in search of bigger catches.

In town, the jetty is still producing plenty of big squid, with samples of tubes up to 45cm, along with plenty of herring, and garfish at night. The best times for the squid have been early morning through until about 8am, and then late into the afternoon and into the night. Harimitsu squid jigs in the 3.5 size are working well, with the best colours still being

Anglers have been getting into plenty of queenies. Image courtesy of Blackjack Charters.

dark or white. In overcast conditions and at night the darker colours are working better, while the white stands out when it’s sunny and the water is clear. Tailor Street jetty has also been producing some smaller skippy and the occasional King George whiting up to around 35cm. The local beaches have seen the salmon continue to come back through, with plenty of smaller schools scattered around the coast. The best beaches locally have still been Salmon Beach and Fourth Beach, along with Roses and Munglinup. The beaches to the east have seen good schools sitting at Duke of Orleans, Alexander Bay, Thomas River and Poison Creek. Other species to chase have been mulloway and gummy sharks. There have been plenty of smaller fish at Thomas River, and some bigger samples coming out of Israelite Bay and the cliffs. That area has also seen plenty of big flathead up to around 80cm, with the opportunity to use soft plastics such as 5”, Daiwa Bait Junkie Jerkshads. Let your plastic sink down to the sand and then flick it back through the sand and keep it moving forward, letting it hit the bottom again to create interest. The incoming tide is always a good time to fish. When it comes to boat fishing, there are plenty of opportunities in the bay. There are still massive numbers of squid being caught, and it’s not unusual to get your bag limit. There are also plenty of big sand whiting being taken, mostly on your standard whiting paternoster rig using prawns for bait,

fished around the sand patches off the weed. Alternatively, you can opt to drift along the back of the breakers off the beaches at locations such as Twilight Cove or out from Wiley bay near Lion Island. Around the close islands, anglers are getting good numbers of small samsonfish, queen snapper, harlequin fish and plenty of small nannygai hanging in close. The guys heading out wide are catching plenty of nannygai going 55cm. The bite windows can be short, with the best fishing times being rising up to the peak of the tide, and the last hour of the high tide. These fish are still mixed in with plenty of queenies and the occasional small yellowtail king, with the occasional bigger sample up to 20kg. AUGUST FISHING In the coming weeks we’ll see the continuation of the salmon run as they school up again, and we should start seeing more gummies coming along the beaches as they move in closer. Anglers will still encounter bigger skippy along the beach, with samples going 6-7kg, along with some smaller mulloway. One of the best spots around town for most of those species at this time of year is 14 Mile. • Established in 1986, Southern Sports and Tackle specializes in the supply and servicing of fishing equipment. They have an extensive knowledge of the local area and provide all brands, whether you’re fishing from beach, jetty or boat. Come and chat to the friendly staff at Shop 16, The Boulevard, Esperance or phone 08 9071 3022.

A nice harlequin fish caught on a trip with Blackjack Charters. Image courtesy of Blackjack Charters.

Fortune favours the future BUNBURY

Whiteys Tackle and Camping

With the worst of the weather finally getting behind us. The boaters have been reporting large numbers of dhus and pinks in and outside the bay. Fishing the 30m patch south of Bunbury is likely to produce. Finding small isolated ground is key to a successful trip. Many boaters have turned to using artificials, such as metal slow pitch jigs and soft plastics. A local favourite is the Caprice jig and Haolis in pink/glow and orange/ glow. A slow pitch 106

AUGUST 2022

jigging technique is sure to get results. An always welcome by-catch at this time of year are the mulloway and tailor that frequent our beaches. The last few weeks have been no exception with some horse tailor sessions being had on weightless mulies and stick baits. Squid have been around in great numbers, as well as size. The winter thumpers aren’t all gone yet. There is a common misconception that squidding is a waste of time in Bunbury waters, which can’t be further from the truth. Numbers are higher than ever for the boaties that take the time to target these delicious cephalopods and there are

plenty of land-based spots to target them as well. Night sessions on the weed banks through Koombana Bay or from the local jetties will produce a feed. Those of us that have already been walking the flats are noticing a definite increase in the blue swimmer numbers and sizes, which are looking even better than last year. Good numbers of blue swimmers can be had all year round if you’re happy to put in the time exploring. There are always crabs to be had from the jetties in Bunbury or the Koombana Bay areas while you’re waiting for the temperatures of the estuary to rise. There

is a boat limit of 10 crab nets, which leaves you plenty of nets to set a good prospecting line through your area of choice. Harvey Dam has been fishing well for redfin perch, look for rocky banks with plenty of structure as this is where the redfin hide out. The norm is generally spinners but don’t discount soft plastics. I rig a slightly heavier jig head (around the 1/8oz) to ensure my plastic is getting down where the fish are. • Call into the shop at 1/143 Grand Entrance, Australind for the latest fishing reports and what’s biting, or simply to have a yarn. Until next time, tight lines and screaming drags!

Koby McGlade (7yo) with an excellent a black bream he caught in Albany, WA.

South Coast

Southern winter bite AUGUSTA

Anthony Gillam

Augusta has been brass monkey cold lately, however, hand-in-hand with those freezing

anything in their path causing showers of bait-fish desperately leaping out of the water in a bid to live a moment longer. Mimicking their actions with a small slice lure or hard bodied lure works very well and with

Jason Morgan shows just how big cuttlefish can grow in Flinders Bay with this monster by-catch while chasing dhufish. mornings comes the classic southern winter glass-off. Not only does the river look like you can walk across it bare foot but the ocean isn’t much different. Taking an early morning stroll along the river if you are an early riser has been rewarding but for those that don’t mind beating the sunrise by an hour or so it has generally been the perfect time to catch a feed. The lights at the Ellis Street and Town Jetties are dynamite at the moment, especially with the glass smooth water making for an extreme aquarium effect. The baitfish are desperately trying to find a little shelter but with the light lighting their water world from top to bottom there is little for them to do but pray for a quick death. You can literally watch tailor, skippy and small pink snapper tearing around eating baitfish, river prawns and glass shrimps. The tailor in particular have been aggressively chasing

some of the tailor getting into the 50’s they give a great fight on light line. Prawns drifted down under the edge of the jetty are soon picked off by skippy but you must make sure they don’t make it back into the structure of the

jetty as they will soon cut you off. The whiting are eating bloodworms, squid strips and glass shrimps and you can sight fish for the bigger ones as they swim past you. The current herring catches in the river by far outweigh the rest of the piscatorial species with it being almost impossible to not end up with some of them in your bucket at the end of a session. Having finished spawning, they have quickly put back on the condition they lost in their efforts to procreate. This means they are currently well worthwhile keeping especially once they are in the 25cm+ range. Being an oily species they are ideal for hot or cold smoking either whole or butterfly filleted. Eaten straight out of the smoker they make an excellent meal but also are perfect for having cold and flaked through a garden salad. The rock walls at the marina are also currently holding congregations of herring, skippy and juvenile pink snapper especially on the small east-west wall that makes up the entrance to the ocean. They are attracted to a solid berley trail especially with a good mix of oil and pollard. Unweighted baits allowed to float down the berley trail are soon snapped up by something. Small metal slice lures or jigged soft plastics are the go for the bigger fish but just be aware that I haven’t heard of any of the pink snapper being of legal size. If you turn back towards the land you can also fish the sandy bottom in front of the small beach at the base of the wall where there are currently King George whiting, sand whiting and the odd flathead turning up. Squid, blood worms and fish strips work well and don’t forget the berley. Plenty of opportunities

Sandra Morgan knows how to score big dhufish with a 20kg+ edition to add to her collection from Spot X in Flinders Bay. for boat fishing lately has resulted in a few nice demersal catches especially in Flinders Bay and Hamelin Bay. There were some horrific storms that hung around for a few days but once they died out the pink snapper were ravenously on the bite. They were followed closely by the ever present dhufish. Bait was the go with whole squid and mulies slaying the bigger fish. If you want to keep your hands and boat clean it’s always worth trying large soft plastic paddle tails such as Berkley Gulp 6” paddle-tails or Berkley SloMo but at the moment bait is king. Trolling lures between Dead Finish and the islands will currently produce snook in big numbers as they patrol the area in very large schools. There have been numerous bag limits taken by boats over the last couple of months without any sign of them declining. Halco Laser Pro redhead and Halco Stripey hardbodied lures are dynamite on them. Smoked, battered or fried in butter they make a great feed and are a very underrated fish. Don’t let fish snobs deter you from giving them a try; you will be pleasantly

surprised at their edibility. Rock fishing conditions have been pretty good with the sunshine drying the rocks off nicely. After the storms the are massive amounts of maggots washing into the water from the rotting seaweed and it has resulted in a flow on effect all the way up the food-chain. Herring, skippy, garfish and whiting off the rocks have

end up with. • Rock fishing at this time of the year especially with some of the heavy rainfall we have had means it is dangerous at times. Careful consideration of where and when you fish must be done. Unpredictable weather can quickly affect the fishing conditions and slippery rocks are a recipe for disaster. Please remain vigilant when rock fishing;

The Ellis Street Jetty is a Mecca for assorted species of fish attracted by the bright lighting. Ideal for taking the kids, to hook them on the excitement of catching a fish.

A typical Augusta winter skippy caught on bait off the rocks near Ringbolt Bay.

been followed up by pink snapper, breaksea cod and sharks so it’s a lottery what is going to turn up. Just make sure you have a variety of gear just in case you strike something unusual. Set out a slide bait rig with a whole dead or live bait while you use light gear on the bread and butter species and you never know what you will

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. AUGUST 2022

107

West Coast

Changing seasons and varying species MANDURAH

Jesse Choy

Many anglers will be looking forward to seeing the end of winter, welcoming the warmer conditions as we move closer towards spring weather and all it has to offer. We can expect some patchy weather during the month and as a result we will also see change with regards to what species are around. A lot of what we can catch in Mandurah will be available around this time of the year, so it is worth getting the family out and seeing what fun you can get stuck into. There is plenty of herring and whiting at the local beaches, with small cubes of prawn or squid being the ideal bait when it comes to targeting these fish. Although the schooling fish are gone for a few more months, anglers

will find that there is a few good-sized mulloway lurking around in thinner numbers. Fish that are caught ahead of the warmer weather can sometimes be picky, so if you are fishing from the sand hoping to come across a silver ghost it is wise to keep your baits fresh and well presented. You have a good chance at capturing a beach-based pink snapper if you put in effort and fish hard off a few different beaches. Although catching pinks off the beach can be quite difficult to pattern, many of our beaches with a reef system nearby will produce good quality fish when fished correctly. If chasing pinks, fresh bait and berley will add to your chances of success when regularly tended to. Fishing from the town or Dawesville Rocks, there are reports of some good schools of herring showing up and there is also a few smaller whiting getting

trees will often result in fish being caught. When chasing trout in the dams, the best option is to cover ground and fish different depths. Although trout can be quite lazy, they appear a lot more active than red-fin

as they can be fished at various depths and they allow you to cover ground to find fish. Covering ground isn’t necessary; as it will generally work wonders in helping you present your lure to a fish that wants to

How’s this for some big squid that were locally caught? caught near the estuary entrances by families. There are reports of some

and into structure. Bait fishers will find results in fishing lightly weighted presentations, though lures are a great option and are a lot of fun. With the colder weather still here, bream can get quite lazy and fishing vibrating lures will often attract fish out of their comfort zone. If fishing lures up the river, smaller bait fish patterns and natural colours will best imitate what food sources are in the water. Like the river systems, our surrounding bodies of freshwater are a great option for a spot of fishing

Creature baits work really well for bream on our local systems, so well they swallow them whole!

Catching a pink snapper like this one from the local beaches is a great effort.

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AUGUST 2022

good pink snapper still being taken from the ocean side rock walls and fish are best targeted when there is a decent cold front about. If you are looking for something different to do, throwing jigs around for squid while walking the rocks can be a great way to spend time and get some exercise. Catching landbased cephalopods around town can be quite difficult due to the lack of ground for them to live on, though if you are persistent you are likely to come across a few and some grow quite large in size. Our river systems are firing, so now is ideal to get to the river and get your line wet. Fishing the middle to lower sections of the rivers is a good option, with the slow seasonal changes encouraging the bream to push further up

Rainbow trout are some of the prettiest fish out there. and will produce good numbers of quality red-fin perch. If targeting perch from the shore, fishing around structure like rocks, drop offs and submerged

most of the time and harder to find in these bigger bodies of water as a result. Baits will work on both species, but lures such as the spinners are preferred

eat or is willing enough to react to it. Keeping that in mind, you are best opting for something like a natural coloured diving minnow, blade or spinner.

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Email: sales@trmarine.com.au Website: www.trmarine.com.au AUGUST 2022

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West Coast

The fishing is heating up METRO

Jacob Crispe

August is generally one of the better fishing months of the year. The winter pattern has well and truly set in and although the weather is cold I expect

giving the predators every reason to be there. Areas like the mouth of the river and the various yacht clubs nearby offer lots of structure, and the Swan River bream will take full advantage. Fresh baits, soft plastics and hardbody lures will all be a good option

smaller side, but can be a lot of fun, especially on light gear. Small heavy metal slices are your best option. Try to match the size of your lure with the size of the baitfish they are eating. Mulloway will hold around these feeding fish,

numbers drop, however the size of the squid you catch makes up for it. Areas in proximity to broken ground will be your best option, however large bait schools or lots of bait activity will draw the squid in too. So, if you are fishing open areas always have a squid jig on hand. Outside of the squid, herring, skippy and tailor will be the main targets. Fishing the light changes are always best, with the evening being the better of two. There are always plenty of locations to try. Good fishing can be found all the way from Fremantle to Mindarie. Sharks, rays and mulloway are common by-catch for anglers targeting them. It is pretty amazing what will work its way up a burley trail. Inclement weather will see the storm snapper anglers rushing to our local

The Big Kahuna is all smiles with this haul of whiting he caught with his son Hools Orifici!

Mel Simons with a donkey Cockburn pink! Coming in at 101cm and being her second ever snapper, she caught it on a whole scaly fishing 10m. cleaning up the scraps, as the tailor tear through the schools of fish. A good way to target them is to use fresh baits or live baits. Just remember that if you are using live baits, legal sizes can apply. Flathead will hang around these feeding fish too, looking for an easy feed. They tend to prefer the deeper water during the cooler months. ROCK WALLS Squid will be the highlight this month. As mentioned last month, their

James Closey with a healthy looking sambo caught in a shallow inshore reef system.

When it comes to squid, Hools Orifici from Anglers Fishing World Freo has his finger on the pulse. the fishing to be hot. SWAN RIVER As with most of our winter fishing, it will be focused towards the mouth of the river. Higher concentrations of baitfish will be holding around the structure (artificial or natural) in the lower section of the system, 110

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to catch them and don’t be surprised if you pick up a few juvenile snapper while targeting them. Small tailor will be prolific in the system. It is not uncommon to catch a fish a cast when you find them at this time of the year. As mentioned they will generally be on the

Nolin Unwin has been catching plenty of winter tailor. He’s been fishing the gutters using fresh whiting on 5/0 owner circles.

rock walls. The closer we get to snapper spawning time, more fish frequent the walls, meaning anglers keen to tussle with them will be there. If you plan to do so, it will pay to wear a life jacket. It is always better to be safe than sorry. BEACHES Tailor, whiting, mulloway and snapper will be the key targets for beach anglers. When I say tailor, I mean big tailor. It is that time of the year. Low light periods will be best, with evenings and into the night likely to produce the better fishing. At the time of writing anglers using drones to drop baits from our beaches targeting snapper have been doing very well. Anglers doing this north of Perth have also been catching the odd dhufish as

LIGHT, POWERFUL, DURABLE… Big squid are another common and very welcome

well, including some very BIG specimens. Gummy, reef sharks and rays are also common captures during the cooler months. INSHORE There tends to be a focus on snapper at this point in the year.

West Coast

LIGHT, POWERFUL, DURABLE…

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popular target in the cold clear water that winter produces. 40cm plus tube length squid are not uncommon. Fishing 3-8m of water with a broken bottom will more likely end with success. Skippy, King George

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enter our waterways, so it is no surprise to me that anglers go out and try to take advantage prior to the coming demersal fishing closure. With the snapper come dhufish, harlequin fish, Breaksea cod and samson fish just to name a few. You need to focus on water that is 25-50m deep and fish with either fresh or live bait. A

weather window to allow you to get out and do it. Fishing 150-450m of water can offer a number of 5-star eating fish, from eight bar cod to blue-eye trevalla. Every month is a good month to go fishing, however August may just be one of the better one. Get out and give it a go and I will catch you next month.

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AUGUST 2022

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West Coast

Taking on the challenge LANCELIN

Peter Fullarton

August can be one of the more challenging times of year to fish the Lancelin Coast. Big swells make land-based fishing difficult, and beaches are treacherous to drive on, whilst boats can be hard to launch without

difficult at times to catch anything else. Even for these fish, the average size seems to be creeping up year on year. This year, within the bay and along the surf beaches, there have been masses of small fish. These fish are well under size but a great sign for the future. There has been a lot of doom and gloom about

areas. This indicating a level of stock recovery through to 2030 if retained catches are maintained at or below original catch recovery benchmarks of 50% of 2005/06 levels. This is including effects of release mortality for sublegal sized fish. The percentage rate of 25% being used for estimation of post release

The author managed to get onto a hot bite on a glorious night, releasing several fish at sunset.

Lucky last for the season? With the cool water they will be hard to find now. getting bogged and it can be unsafe exiting the passages of the bay. During moderate swells, it can be easier to beach launch at low tide when the outer reef breaks the surge, fishing inside the bay’s safety. The bay’s shelter offers good landbased fishing. The southern bay beaches can produce flathead, skippy, King George whiting, herring and tarwhine. The northern point is well sheltered by Lancelin Island and can fish well for herring, sand whiting, sharks and even the odd mulloway. The jetty can have hordes of herring gathering under the lights each night, stormy periods even the odd pink snapper. Avoid fishing here during the day as blowfish have been a huge problem. It seems 2022 has been the year of the pink snapper. Most of the larger fish have been caught along or inside the white bank. Plenty have been caught on drones within a few hundred metres of shore and it would be the most snapper I have seen off the cast for at least ten years. At Lancelin, typically, there are generally not a lot of larger specimens caught out deep, although there have been plagues of smaller fish, making it 112

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demersal species and the need to reduce the current levels of take by a further 50% on the existing reductions already in place. However, the 2021 stock assessment indicated it is not required for the recovery of pink snapper stocks in our region! In southern areas, (inclusive of Lancelin), age classes ≥10 years old generally represent a greater component of age classes in each year than in northern

mortalities are also questionable, largely based on an older study using cages to hold the fish at depth. Since that study was done in WA, a better cage design was used in a QLD study, which indicated very much higher survival rates of 3% for pink snapper. Also, work has been done using hypobaric chamber to replicate catching snapper at depth revealing very high resilience to barotrauma in snapper.

Chris Hartanto with a cracker pinky from the middle ground.

Graeme ‘Mulloway’ Doodson with one of the many fish he has caught and released in recent months.

Hook design might be one of the most important ways to reduce mortalities. Fisheries WA really needs to get a new study done on our iconic endemic species like dhufish (currently estimated at 50%) and baldchin groper (80%) to make decisions based on the best and most recently available science. So why are we taking a 50% reduction on all demersal species? Because the 2021 stock assessment of the West Coast’s demersal bioregion was based weight of evidence assessments of stock status for only two species WA dhufish and snapper. Yet, the conclusion to reduce all species by 50% is seemingly largely based on the dhufish results? I am not against

a reduction in effort, in fact I totally agree the reduction is desperately required on dhufish and most likely many of the other demersal species. I would question if snapper were currently on track to meet the benchmarks, then why is the TOC being reduced the same 50% as dhufish? There are ways to protect dhufish and allow snapper fishing. There are already snapper breeding aggregations protected in Cockburn Sound and Shark Bay/Carnarvon. Similar actions can be done to protect and allow breeding aggregations to occur of dhufish in offshore waters. Also, no one is talking about what happens after 2030? Will TOC return to normal or will changes To page 113

West Coast

Late run of macks and tuna KALBARRI

Stephen Wiseman

The big push of hot water from the north still continues and is holding the fabulous late run of macks and tuna close to the coast from north of the sand patch to well

down along the cliffs around Bluff Point. My latest trip was out west about 9 mile and, after salting an area with mulie chunks, the yellowfin tuna turned on a blistering session. Most fish were in the 15kg range but the occasional big barrel glided past with one monster

grabbing my unweighted mulie rigged on the 24kg gear. After a blistering run I was gutted to be blown away, nick in the line or something I did wrong saw this fish win hands down. I still managed to bag a 15kg fin for the box on lure. Macks are getting fatter and now averaging

The author had a successful day on the water chasing yellowfin tuna. From page 112

remain permanent? An unnecessary reduction now on snapper may have permanent unnecessary consequences! Anyhow enough rant! The larger snapper have moved out a bit deeper now and boats

have been doing well in the middle grounds 10-15m along with the snapper, breaksea cod, samson fish and the odd dhu has been landed as well. There are still a few snaps coming off the coast, mainly just after a storm has past. Baldies have continued

15-20kg along the cliffs, with local George getting among the schools. Most of the catches have been on deep diver lures, 20+ seem to be doing the job. Crabs have appeared in the river but not in big quantities. Most are a little small so be careful and check the size, best areas are up river from the pens down to the sand spit. River fishing has been good for the bream but whiting have been hard to find, the occasional mulloway has been taken from the sand spit with some fish still going over the 1000mm mark, which is a good fish. Some nice mulloway have been taken down the coast from Lucky Bay by contractors taking time off from the relentless repairs in Kalbarri caused by Cyclone Seroja 15 months ago. A few gars are being taken from Red Bluff but it’s hard work and watch the swell. Just off the rocks is a prime spot for baldies at this time of year with some nice catches of late. Pink snapper are still in plague numbers all along the cliffs and around the 20m line all the way to the sand patch. As long as the warm water prevails, always try for the speedsters just west of the Murchison River mouth.

George has been getting amongst the macks.

to dominate the bags from the boats fishing out wide and dhufish captures have been up on what they were in recent months. Last few competitions held at the Lancelin Angling club for 2021-22 season were heavily weighted with dhufish and

It’s prime time of year to gather some cobbler with a hand spear on calm evenings.

Matt Martinovich always has something impressive in his icebox each Lancelin Angling Club comp.

baldchin landings. Inside the bay, dinghy fishers have been having a ball bagging some good catches of squid. Herring have been the staple, and there have also been snook, tarwhine and skippy featuring in the landings.

If you do manage to nose the dinghy out of the bay, some larger skippy are schooling on the near shore reefs to 50cm. Tailor have been slow, as we would expect this time of year, and numbers seem to be down year on

year the last few seasons. Hopefully not the next species requiring catch reductions? Mulloway, sharks and snapper have been falling to the fishers putting in the time and effort. AUGUST 2022

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North Coast

Billfish, squid sessions and crab catches The key to catching squid in Karratha, like all areas is clear water, this will generally always line

DAMPIER/KARRATHA

Troy Honey

Karratha has really turned it on this dry season for the whole range of fishing options, billfish, demersals, squid, crabs, and prawns, what more could you want in a sunny and warm northwest holiday? I’ll work through each and then we’ll move onto what is on the horizon for fishing in Karratha as the fishing is only just starting to heat up for the region in 2022. The annual Argonaut Billfish Shootout was held in June in Dampier and

Sailfish captures dominated the Argonaut Billfish Shootout, but there were also a few black marlin raised and tagged over the three day event. and northern tiger squid are found in Karratha, so we are really spoilt for both table fare and sport. Both species are found throughout the archipelago with the calamari found in the shallower bays surrounding the islands earlier in the season and the tigers found in the deeper water over reefs and shoals on the outer boundaries of the archipelago at this time of year. As we progress further into September and October the tiger squid will make their presence known in the shallow bays as well, as they move in to breed and can then be caught in water so shallow, they can barely swim.

July to October is prime time around the Dampier Archipelago for squid. Neil Grant from Fanta Sea Fishing caught plenty last month, which were used to make plates of tasty squid rings and plenty left over to use as one of the best baits for chasing red emperor.

Marni Alexander and the author enjoying a successful day in Nickol Bay targeting blue swimmer crabs in July.

You don’t need a boat to catch squid in Dampier, as Neil Grant proved last month with a few good squid caught while walking along the Dampier foreshore. 114

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up with neap tides, high tide change and low wind or find areas throughout the islands that are protected

this year, like many before, really turned it on for the competitor’s fish wise but the wind did make for a challenging event. The event was dominated by sailfish which Dampier enjoys solid numbers of at this time of year and there were also a few black marlin raised and tagged over the three day event. Nearly 30 boats entered the comp, which produced great competitiveness among the teams. If you are looking to enter a billfish comp next year or want to learn the art of billfish fishing, the Nickol Bay Sportfishing Club offers nights before the event each year where you can learn rigging and other skills and there are plenty of members only too happy to help other anglers on their billfish journey. Talk of the town throughout July in Karratha is the exceptional squid run we have been enjoying. Both southern calamari

Andrew Churchman enjoyed the rewards many strive for when he caught this beautiful sailfish amongst the ship anchorage off the back of the archipelago.

from the elements and fast currents. Then look for rocks and weed, line those two up with the clear water and you will be in for a great chance to catch a feed of Karratha squid. Needs to be mentioned that both species of squid are readily caught land based around Dampier, Karratha, and Point Samson, I cannot count the number of times I have been land based fishing for bluebone and watched squid swim past, even in the warmer wet season months, and remember, neap tides, high tide change and low wind days to set yourself up for success. The larger tiger squid are an ocean delicacy and taste superb, I think they taste better than the southern calamari, but you need to tenderise the flesh carefully and thoroughly to ensure they soft enough to enjoy and if done right, the flavour is unique and very tasty. A little trick I learnt long ago was to tenderise tiger squid with papaya. Papaya is a natural tenderiser, and the squid mantle and fins can be marinated in blended papaya juice for anything To page 115

North Coast

Cracker fishing sessions EXMOUTH

Barry Taylor

This month’s report has been supplied by Connor Luff. Last month or so one of the more noticeable things has been the Spanish mackerel on the west side. Most people have been catching them on trolled deep divers, as usual, with the favourite being the old reliable Halco Laser Pro. It’s good to run a 2m diver and a 6m diver

to hit both levels in the water column. This will allow you to find where the fish are holding, and after you can a fish on one lure, you can then run two at the same depth. With the colder water that’s come in on the west side, we’ve been seeing plenty of tuna – mostly striped tuna, but there are still a few yellowfin and longtails mixed in as well. Lots of people are getting them on both bibbed lures

and skirted lures as well, such as Richter Oscars and Soft Grassys. In the Gulf there have been a few tuna as well, mostly longtails. A fun way to catch the tuna is on small stickbaits, such as the Halco Slidog in the 85 and 105 sizes, and metal slices like Halco Twisties in 15 and 20g. The bill fishing is still relatively consistent, with a lot of guys having fun getting into the little blacks and sails. Josh Cheong had a cracker day on the water with Benno from Ningaloo Sportfishing and Connor Luff in some glass off conditions. Image courtesy of @indepthangler_josh.

Team member connorluff06 making the most of his days off with a longtail tuna on fly. Image courtesy of @tackleworldexmouth.

The annual Argonaut Billfish Shootout really turned it on for the competitors this year. From page 114

from 15 minutes to 4 hours or so, you can also use kiwi fruit. August and September will see the continue of productive demersal fishing in the Karratha region. Red emperor, ranking cod and saddletail seaperch have been the dominant species caught in waters from 40m with blueline emperor and coral trout being the most caught in under 40m depths. We won’t see the water temperature start to rise until late October so

now is the time to take advantage of the more pleasant days and head out wide to target demersals. We are now enjoying renewed access ability to many of the local creeks via the off-road tracks as the moisture in the soil has dried out completely from all the unusual, out of season rains we experienced a couple of months ago in the region. This access reduces the risk of becoming stuck in mud and clay while travelling to the creeks to target mud crabs land based or towing your tinny in. While those

The bottom fishing has been keeping punters entertained over the holidays, with good weather and hungry fish. Anglers have been able to get red emperor, rankin cod, coral trout and so on. You can catch them on large 7” soft plastics such as Bait Junkie 7” Jerk Shads, or jigs such as Vex Dhu Drops. However, however bait fishing is the more popular method. Guys going a bit deeper have been getting gold band, pearl perch, ruby snapper and so on. The crabs have been coming on lately, and in recent weeks we’ve been seeing good catches of blue swimmer crabs, mostly who have access the creeks with a boat via the mouths have still been enjoying good catches of mud crabs, the lack of land-based access has lowered fishing pressure during the last two months and setting up August and September for some excellent crabbing. Blue swimmer crabs are still around in the bays, but the numbers are starting to drop off. Although the large size of the crabs being caught is certainly making up for the lower numbers. Prawns are also about in Nickol Bay with the most productive fishing time is the week after the new moon when

caught dropping nets in in 2-5m of water in the Gulf. Although most guys like to use nets from boats or kayaks, you can still catch a few crabs on foot by wading for them using a scoop. It’s nice to spend time walking the Gulf beaches with a scoop, particularly at night with a torch. You can get good catches that way. AUGUST In the coming weeks we will see more mackerel being caught, with the action staying pretty hot. August is usually a pretty good time. There will also be lots of assorted trevally (gold-spot, golden and giant) in the Gulf, with queenfish mixed in, so there’s definitely some good

sportfishing to be had. Lots of spangled emperor will be around inside the reef on the west side for those guys wanting to catch them on plastics and stickbaits. • For all the latest news on what’s biting and where, drop in to 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.

Joel Edmonds with a rather large Dampier Archipelago sailfish caught fishing with mates on a recent day out with Fanta Sea Fishing.

The key to catching squid is clear water, which will generally line up with neap tides, high tide change and low wind.

the prawns move out of the sand, they have been using for protection in the brighter nights the full, waxing, and waning moons brings. Great to see many tourists and travellers enjoying the Karratha region again this year and all the caravan and camping grounds full. Plenty of options to enjoy and always recommended to work out what fishes best with the moon, tides, and wind on any given day for your best chance of some fishing success. AUGUST 2022

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Seasons are getting later FRESHWATER

Peter Fragomeni

It was once written in one of the best freshwater fishing books published in WA, “In August, the water starts to warm and the trout move onto the newly flooded ground.” This may had been the case back in the early 80s, however, nowadays I find this normally doesn’t occur until late August, and in some years not until early September. In any case some good fishing can be had in our dams, and the rivers can be running hard in all but the driest years. The lack of good rains throughout early winter is a concern, especially after a record year we had in 2021. The fishing has been varied and judging by the reports coming through

The author releasing a nice brown trout caught trolling in one of the irrigation dams after an epic fight on light gear. it has indicated that not everyone has had success with the trout. Redfin have been fairly active and some reasonable sized fish have come from our irrigation dams and even some from the better known rivers. The Pemberton Trout Hatchery are very busy stripping the brood stock so hopefully the numbers should equal those of last year. AUSSIE NATIVES Silver perch have been very slow in this cold

Watercorp have their Catchment Management rangers on patrol throughout the drinking water catchment and have a strict no fishing policy. The recent decision to mobilise these rangers onto Harvey Dam campers has caused a uproar as this water is used for irrigation only. large specimens turning up at well guarded locations. DAMS Waroona Dam I fished here recently and can confirm that the water level was very low

reported that a very large brown trout followed one of their lures in but turned at the last minute. Further casts in the vicinity proved fruitless, however, if you can believe their story then

Ryan Smith was lucky to land this little rainbow on a Celta after it followed his lure a number of times.

Wendy keeping warm on a cold winter’s day. A good sounder comes in handy if you are fishing the dams. Anglers normally troll until the fish are found and then cast using a number of techniques from fly, lure to soft plastics.

A selection of lures that are successful on trout and redfin in WA freshwater dams. The slimmer profiles are more suited to trout and the larger bibbed lures get down to where the redfin sit. 116

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weather with a number of farm dam owners reporting the same as what I’ve witnessed out here in the western wheat-belt. This is the time for big Murray cod and, according to those that are lucky enough to have access to these Aussie icons, there are some truly

and this reflected the fishing. I was surprised to see the lack of large hatchery rainbows that normally make up most of the catch this time of the year. Chatting to a couple of spin fishers working the bank where I launched from was very interesting. They

it was a very large fish of over 8lb in the old scale. Redfin were more co-operative, but their size lacked what was on offer a few years back. Drakesbrook Weir A few nice fat yearlings are showing up throughout this pretty little water,

however, as of time of writing the larger fish seem to be elusive. Good redfin are being caught on soft plastics with the better numbers coming from those able to get to the back of the weir trolling any of the

annual Harvey Bash fishing competition and a meeting with the authorities are planned to see if some compromise can be reached to enable this well run 2-day event to proceed in October.

Redfin are a good by-catch when fishing the Lefroy Brook. John Gavin was happy with this 43cm specimen that fell to a 5cm Rapala. popular hardbodied lures. Logue Brook Dam A bit quiet recently with a few trout being caught around the dam. The condition of the rainbows are a concern compared to previous years so I’m hoping that the decision to stock brown trout doesn’t upset the balance, as some suggested would be the case. The few browns getting caught are in very good condition so it’s hoped that they are returned and treated as a sport fish that will offer our younger generation a bright future. Harvey Dam The recent decision of enforcing the no camping policy by Watercorp has made this waterway difficult to fish. It’s a good two hour drive from Perth, add the current fuel prices and the tightened economy and unless you are a local, fishing this water for a day can be expensive. As far as the fishing goes it has been very productive for redfin by those out working the timber using a vertical drop with soft plastics of all shapes and sizes. There are also discussions by all the stakeholders over the

Wellington Dam A mate of mine fished this large dam recently and reported that the trout were hard to locate, but he managed a couple in the Collie arm well up from the wall. He didn’t do as well with the redfin, although others have fared well fishing the timber adjacent to the farm upstream from the wall. Glen Mervyn Dam Some big redfin have been caught on lures but the trout have been hard to locate. Norilup Dam This is the time to fish this little waterway next to Greenbushes. A fast sinking line fished from the drop off can turn up some nice size rainbows, you may also be lucky and land a large redfin using this technique as well. Big Brook Dam This dam has filled nicely and has stirred the trout up. Some nice x-brood trout have gone in recently so they should offer some good fishing by both fly and lure. If you are visiting from the East Coast then I would suggest you go for a drive and witness the beauty this place offers, even if it’s just for a picnic.

RIVERS Murray River The section from Nanga Road Bridge up to Charlie’s Flat has turned up some nice redfin in the deep pools by those using soft plastics on medium jigheads cast hard up in the timber. The secret is to use the jigheads with a soft hook that straightens if snagged, this will save you a lot of gear as getting snagged is a common occurrence. Trout are harder to locate and with any decent rain this river runs a banker. Northern Jarrah Streams This is the time of the year when the trout run up from the dams on their annual spawning run. I must stress that although a number of these waters are open to fishing all year they are very fragile and I would encourage anglers to catch and release to preserve the stocks. Light gear with small flies and lures are the go. Just a warning that some of these streams are controlled by Watercorp and heavy fines apply if you are caught in the area. Collie River above Wellington Dam Some very large redfin are coming out from this river, however, getting the exact locations are very hard. I would suggest you try down from the township to the little weir and some have been caught below but the going can be tough. Collie River below Wellington Dam Things have slowed down as this fishery fishes better in the irrigation season. A few trout still get caught but I think there are better places to fish this time of the year. Preston River This river has recently been stocked with rainbow yearlings and it is unclear

Australian bass are less common in WA waters but the few that get caught prove they do well in our environment. They are unfortunately classed as an introduced species and are frowned upon by our authorities. just how well they have fared. A few reports indicate that a few are being caught so I would suggest it may be worth exploring the section between Boyanup and Donnybrook. Blackwood River Not too many reports are coming through so either none are being caught or those that are catching trout are keeping tight lipped about it. The problem is that if it is proving to be an unproductive fishery then the large amount of stocks may be better allocated to more productive waters. Warren River This river keeps stamping itself as our best freshwater destination

when it comes to river fishing. Whether you want to chase trout in its fast flowing sections or chase large redfin in the slow deep pools, this water offers it all. Unfortunately, this month can be hard with high water making it difficult to get to the better areas, so I would suggest you check levels before you proceed with a trip to the area. Lefroy Brook A few good reports have come through of some nice big brown trout being caught in this stream recently. It is unclear if they are Hatchery stocked trout or from previous stockings of yearlings. One thing that seems certain is they

Some of the trout fry grown at the Pemberton Trout Hatchery. The recent decision to stock less fry and more yearlings is positive for the South West freshwater fishery. Photo courtesy Andrew Beer Fisheries WA.

are not natural recruits as the brown trout fishery was nearly lost due to the lack of suitable spawning conditions in the area when they ceased stocking for a period in the late 90s. A simple tagging program of all the large brown trout stocked would help determine the origin of these fish in future years. Even just a simple clipping of the fins as was done many years ago would also assist in recognising these fish. Meanwhile it seems this fishery is doing well considering the marginal trout fishing we have in this state. Donnelly River Heavy stocking of brown trout yearlings has resulted in this river being a go-to destination if you want to tangle with one of these nicely marked salmonids. It seems they are faring better than the rainbows, however without a study this will remain unclear. The going can be tough so a good satellite mapping unit is a must as mobile reception is limited through this area. Good rains are needed before the upstream section becomes viable. This raps up another report so if you are a travelling angler or a local then remember you need an Inland Freshwater Licence to fish in this state. Unfortunately, although we have tried to get Fisheries to introduce a day, week or month licence like on the East Coast, they are not willing to implement it at this stage. Until next time, stay connected. AUGUST 2022

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