NSW
A great start to summer COFFS COAST
Rob Taylor
Despite La Niña’s best efforts to stifle early summer fishing on our part of the coast, the waters
recent floods. In the saltwater creeks and rivers, the jacks have turned up right on cue, with red devils being caught from snags in the upper reaches to the rock walls and bridge pylons down around the
dropping out wider. There have been plenty of kingfish around the islands with the majority being rats. The occasional bigger model has been cruising under the rats. Further out and the gamefishing season has
There should be some solid reds around over the Christmas new moon period. local creeks and marina are good places to start. Floating live mullet or casting lures into snags will find jacks, and also drifting the break walls with bait or lures will no doubt turn up some fish.
Other man-made haunts such as the local marina and Urunga train bridge at night is a sure-fire way to find them, and I find the larger fish tend to come from these places. Live baits are deadly.
Also worth targeting at this time of year are big flathead and whiting. Quite often these two species will be in the same area: sand flats. I like to drift with a live yabby behind the boat
Rhea Taylor with a beautiful mahimahi taken from fish traps. started strong, with most boats raising billfish when the weather permits. I’ve already boated a few stripes and had an epic 3-hour struggle with a 180kg+ blue that won the day in the end. Hooking it on a mackerel rod didn’t help. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer for December. CREEKS, RIVERS AND ESTUARIES As mentioned, the fish on everyone’s lips at the moment is jacks. Plenty of local fishos wait in anticipation for summer to arrive so they can target mangrove jacks, and the
There have been some epic striped marlin captures already this season. Expect this to continue throughout December.
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mouths. The mangrove jack bite will pick up as we head into Christmas, so now’s the time to bag a jack if that’s your thing. Big flatties have also been taken on the flats now the water is warming up, and there are plenty of summer whiting also falling to baits and lures. Offshore has seen a cracking start to summer, with several species really turning it on for boaties. Snapper have been consistent although we haven’t seen many huge fish coming over the sides, and pearlies and trag have both been filling fish boxes for anglers bottom
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around Coffs have been producing some pretty consistent bite windows for those willing to put in the time. From bass up in the hills to marlin out beyond the continental shelf, it’s actually been a solid start to summer. With the bass season now in full swing and the cod rivers officially opened, it’s been a great time to be in the sweet water hunting natives. The Clarence has been on fire, and rivers such as the Mann, Nymboida and Bobo are now all open and hopefully returning to fishable levels following
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