Fishing Monthly Magazine | December 2021 by Fishing Monthly

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Features

How sustainable are whiting stocks? • Boat Review: Arvor 705 Sportsfish • For the love of luderick • Advantages of heavy leader • Squid: taking on the tigers • Kayaking: Adventure search • Flathead on soft plastics •

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Technique Spotlight

Brett Geddes goes heavy for bigger catches

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CONTENTS

OUR COVER December 2021, Vol. 2 No.8 VIC

TAS

QUEENSLAND Gold Coast Jumpinpin Southern Bay Brisbane Northern Bay Noosa Bundaberg Mackay Whitsundays Townsville Lucinda Hinchinbrook Cairns Port Douglas Cooktown Cape York Freshwater

16 18 22 26 28 30 32 34 38 40 44 45 46 46 48 48 50

NEW SOUTH WALES Pittwater Sydney North Sydney Rock Sydney South Ballina Coffs Coast Hastings Forster Port Stephens Swansea Central Coast Illawarra Batemans Bay Bermagui Tathra New England Rivers Hunter Valley Batlow Albury/Wodonga Lithgow/Oberon Canberra

58 61 60 62 64 70 72 73 74 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 80 82 83 81 84

VICTORIA Warrnambool Portland Cobden Apollo Bay Phillip Island Geelong Port Phillip West Port Phillip East Marlo Gippsland Lakes Lakes Entrance Mallacoota Bemm River Robinvale Bendigo Ballarat Wangaratta Shepparton Crater Lakes Eildon Yarrawonga Gippsland Freshwater

90 90 91 91 92 94 96 98 98 100 101 100 101 102 102 104 103 105 106 106 107 104

DECEMBER 2021

From the Editor’s Desk...

Fishing Monthly is based in Queensland and with the prospect of the borders opening up this month, there seems to be a real buzz that we can welcome interstate anglers back up to experience our fishing. I’m writing this while running the ABT BARRA Tour on some of Queensland’s finest barra impoundments. We missed the NSW based teams that usually join us this year, but rest assured that when you’re allowed back in, there’s some great barra fishing awaiting you. Our popular southern barra lakes, Awoonga and Monduran, are both on line and firing, and if you want to

This fingermark came on a bream crankbait from Gladstone. A Steve Morgan image.

Come and visit Fishing Monthly Group’s official Facebook page for all your monthly fishing information. Download QR Reader to access.

TASMANIA Offshore Hobart

86 87

WESTERN AUSTRALIA Esperance Augusta Bunbury Metro Mandurah Geraldton Kalbarri Lancelin Exmouth Karratha Broome Freshwater

113 112 114 116 114 117 117 118 120 121 120 122

50 73

REGULAR FEATURES Advantages of heavy leader Squid: taking on the tigers Starlo’s back to basics Sheik of the Creek Kayaking: Adventure search Flathead on soft plastics How sustainable are whiting stocks? What’s new fishing Fun page/Sub page WIRF Recfishwest Trades and Services/Tide page Boat test: Arvor 705 Sportsfish COMPS AND OFFERS Find the logo

110 WIRF

head further north, Tinaroo through Teemburra are yielding plenty of fish. Of course, there wouldn’t be a barra fishery without the Stocked Impoundment Permit and the hard work that the local stocking groups do to enhance the fisheries. Long time Fishing Monthly contributor, Keith Day is one of those guys. Sometimes working quietly in the background and at other times, working noisily at the coal face making sure that everyone from government to the regular punter knows how the system works. His columns for FM have helped thousands of anglers connect with fish in the Mackay area and, sadly, it’s his last article in the magazine this month. We’d like to thank Keith and all of the volunteers that help enhance our fisheries for the work that they do. Enjoy your retirement from FM, Keith! Just think, you won’t have us chasing you every month… Otherwise, enjoy the summertime fishing. It’s some of the best that we have, nationwide, from Tassie to the Top End and from Western Australia to Sydney. Lastly, that’s me on this month’s cover. I make a conscious effort to stay on the water and do a variety of fishing whenever I can. This fingermark came on a bream crankbait from Gladstone. I can’t remember the last time I was on there, although I’m sure that I looked a lot younger and nobody knew what COVID meant.

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Lining up for a better leader: avoid losing big fish GIPPSLAND LAKES

Brett Geddes b.geddes@bigpond.com

All anglers have endured the frustration and despair of losing a fish to a busted leader. The culprit is typically assumed to be the snaggy, weedy or rockstrewn environment where many fish live.

BLIND FAITH Most anglers get lazy and fall into repetitive habits and follow the latest cult fad. I’ve been guilty of this too, and if I ever break the rules, it is only to prove those trends right. So I will try crazy and weird techniques or trial homemade lures and investigate all sorts of lines and leaders. As you’d expect, there

talk about how a rarely a trophy 2kg bream will ever reach a landing net when fishing so light. Over the last five or so years I’ve made a point of quizzing all the anglers I know or meet for the first time, about what leaders they use and why. Nowadays, nearly everyone has said they employ the lightest leader possible because “they have to” or it’s what we all do to beat spooky and fussy fish, “all anglers know that!”. I get the fact that when you first take up fishing you have to start somewhere, and following mates or the gun anglers in the media and competition winners is a smart move. After all, they have the experience and have done all the homework, right? Wrong! I’ve now discovered that nearly every one of the very best anglers I know have never experimented with much stronger leader sizes. I always ask anglers how the hell can you say heavy leaders from 4-8kg won’t ever work when

When you beef your leaders up it’s very rare to bust off big bream once they are solidly hooked.

the result of my constant experimentation. With that in mind, in this article I want to give you concrete proof that heavier leaders work. More on that soon. First, let’s look at how this all began. HEAVY BEGINNINGS My initial lightbulb moment of using much stronger leaders happened when I was fly fishing. Over a period of 10 years, in the early 1990s, well before I ever tied on my first hardbody or soft plastic lure, I was totally fixated on fly fishing, mostly for trout. Of course, I started with traditional super fine lines. In fact, I used commercial tapered leaders down to even 1-2lb breaking strain. They are about 10ft long and start

catch rates improve when fishing light, and often praise a light main line or braid as well. I acknowledge that these gun anglers catch ripper fish, but I don’t respect what they declare to be ‘fact’ when they have no proof. So why do I only use

Ben Hotchkins ditched his 4lb leaders and experimented with lines up to 12lb. He said his results were excellent and is now confident using much stronger leaders. However, many anglers are breaking off fish for no other reason than using super light leaders, because they believe it’s essential. I’ve decided to turn this view totally upside down, with the aid of disciplined, rigorous testing and proof from myself and fellow anglers. When I was new to lure fishing many years ago, I fished heavy, tough leaders. Being so green back then, I really didn’t know any different; I thought everyone used those methods. Right from day one my very first luring efforts always involved using mono of at least 5kg. That ultimately progressed to 8kg at times when large bream, bass and estuary perch were continually lost to shreddings in the local timber. At least with 8kg I could lay enough stick on the bigger fish for speedy snag extraction, and I also had the benefit of greater resistance against the line popping and barnacle-wrapped structure. I landed more by-catch too, like thumping flathead, salmon and toothy tailor. Sure, I had (and still do have) a few fish shred me in an instant, and others brick me deep into structure, but I suspect that even 10kg line would hardly improve those encounters. These days I seem to be getting more frustrated that a lot anglers are complaining of busting off fish, and quite possibly for reasons easily fixed. 8

DECEMBER 2021

have been failures, but also plenty of surprising wins. These days there’s a fixed obsession for anglers to fish super light leaders when luring bream. But I also find it carries over to other species like bass, estuary perch, trout, snapper and even flathead or Australian salmon. Look, I know that big bream can be landed on even 1lb leaders with a little skill and a drag set right, and I’ve caught plenty of big fish on light leaders

A double hook-up during a busy day when both anglers caught about 30 bream and a dozen estuary perch all on 12 or 14lb leaders.

Surely no angler thinks that thumping tailor are leader shy? This fish was specifically targeted with a big lure, but you can also catch plenty of bream and big tailor while using a much stronger leader. 4-6kg leaders, you ask? I often get quizzed more on how it can be done! I find it bizarre that nearly all bream anglers think it’s near impossible to hook fish on 5kg+ leaders. I understand

that when you catch your very first 20-30cm bream or maybe bass, estuary perch even flathead all on very light leaders, it’s hard to make a change. We are creatures of habit, and at times for very good reason. When a lure, location, retrieve method or indeed a type of fishing line all produce fish, why fix something that ain’t broken? I’ll never claim to be a gun angler but the one thing I’m very good at and always happy to share is

Perch don’t have teeth to cut leaders but they love living in line-snapping snags. Mick Selzer rarely uses less than 12lb line. when I’ve experimented with them. However, tying lures onto 1-2kg leaders puts a lot of trust in fine lines that really aren’t made for landing 1.5kg bream that live around snags, jetty pylons or other structure. I won’t even

you’ve never tried them? Some anglers even believe that 6lb leaders will seriously hinder their success rate. IS LIGHT FANTASTIC? We all hear and read about how anglers swear by using light leaders, and say

When throwing lures into deep river snags, it pays to have very strong leaders to quickly wrestle fish out of the structure.

off at around 20lb diameter, graduating down to very fine ends. This allows the energy from the fly line to transfer as efficiently as possible through the leader and tippet in order to straighten out light flies for the best presentation. In the early days, I broke these leaders mostly on tree branches, grass tussocks and rocks (rarely on fish!) with hack false casting while trying to learn the trade. So my tapered leaders nearly always shortened up rather quickly and therefore when I eventually caught a ‘fussy’ trout, it was on a 6lb or even 8lb leader. Eventually I got better and hooked trout on 2lb tippets, but busted so many fish off. Eventually I discovered I could catch all my trout on around 6lb leaders and often even up to 10lb. You can see how this discovery directly transferred into my very first lure fishing forays. HARD LINE FACTS So from day one I lure fished, in the view of most anglers, very heavy leaders. I can hear everyone wanting to tell me that my methods will cost me a lot of fish, and specifically bream. Maybe so, but I’ve

could break finer lines. It’s fair to say most anglers lose a lot of gear due to fishing light. This is a huge benefit to lure makers and it stands to reason that brand representatives will always push for fishing as light as possible! Why is it we think fish see leaders as a ‘threat’ yet we don’t give a second thought to what

fish think about hooks? I mean, hardbodies have two trebles with six menacing sharp hooks on them, yet fish don’t see these as any sort of danger? Not to mention the actual lure that looks and behaves like nothing they’ve ever seen! Yet those same fish are put off by a harmless leader that behaves and looks nothing

like a predator? I think the truth lies in the fact that fish are very opportunistic feeders, and if something moves like food they’ll eat it. Despite

hungry a fish is, are probably far more important. I just think we are all very lucky that fish are willing to eat a totally foreign looking and behaving object.

Tyler recently switched to stronger leaders and is still catching plenty of bream and losing fewer lures. come to appreciate it’s very difficult and even sometimes impossible to prove or measure the results. I’m talking about 20-odd years of me always avoiding light leaders. Over that time I have turned most of my fishing mates towards much stronger leaders because they have fished with me and seen the merit of my results. All of them now rarely, if ever, go lighter than 8lb and often up to 14lb leaders. Yes, there are some people I’ll never turn, and a rare few angling partners simply refuse to accept or become confident using my methods. However, while on the water with those same

guys, I have never begged for a length of their much finer leader material if they catch more than I do. I sometimes get out-fished by mates, probably because they are just superior anglers with better techniques or lures. However, I never notice me having inferior hook-up rates. The only obvious outcome between us is that generally speaking, I don’t lose fish or lures to line breakage. Sometimes I even get the higher score for the day, because I get the fish in and released much quicker and get re-casting again within minutes. Most notably, I often land those very big fish that

Some fish like estuary perch don’t seem to be leader shy, and the author has landed plenty of EP on 14lb and even 16lb leaders.

A handsome river bass from the Gippy Lakes caught on a blade lure tied to a 14lb leader.

what we have dreamed up in our heads about colour, action, leaders, hooks and even scent, these factors can have very little to do with a fish eating a lure or not. Other factors like an angler’s lure technique or even how

EXPERIMENTING LIGHT About four years ago I got paranoid. With a constant barrage from so many anglers about my ‘dubious’ techniques, they all said it’s To page 10

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smashing them off and how there was no hope of turning them. They almost pride themselves in doing half a dozen hardbodies or running out of plastics. Does anyone think about what is going on with all these fish swimming around with hooks stuck in their gob? Sometimes the trebles lock their mouths closed. And then there’s the

From page 9

time I caught more fish and join the ‘more successful’ light leader party. To prove them right or wrong, I had to ditch my firm beliefs, so for nearly one year I went light. Not just for a couple of days or a few trips but for months on end, which turned into over 100 outings. In fishing, just like science, persistent repetition is fundamental to test the hypothesis. I used 4lb leaders nearly exclusively, a few times 6lb in really heavy snags and even 2lb at times in open, snag-free waters. The first thing I expected was to actually land a lot of big fish, and to a large degree that was correct. Did I bust a few off as well? I sure did, and although not that many, it was still very annoying. I found I had to be ever so careful during

Years ago the author caught a swag of yellowfin whiting by-catch in shallow clear water on 14lb leaders while chasing big dusky flathead.

Just a few of many leatherjackets and whiting all caught on 12lb leaders. These leaders also stand up to a by-catch of big flathead and tailor. every fight, with constant drag adjustments, swearing and lengthy, nervous battles. Most people would argue that it’s all part of enjoying the fight, even if the fish that eventually hit my net were a lot more fatigued. But here’s the funny part. While I spent all those months going light, my mates laughed at and refused to join me and stayed with mostly 10-14lb leaders. Slowly but surely, over more than 50 trips, it became obvious I was not catching more fish than them, losing a lot of lures to the snags and at times I was avoiding deep fishholding structure like jetty pylons and tree logs. It appeared the benefits of a light leader were busted, but maybe that was due to me just being a hack angler. So I pushed on across many species including, bream, bass, EP and flathead, and figured that the proof would eventually emerge: surely lighter leaders would work better? After about 11 months I decided I’d had enough. At least give me credit for 10

DECEMBER 2021

because I still lose fish to shreddings, toothy fish biting through line or maybe a rare failed knot, that’s inevitable. All I’m saying is, maybe we can all at least drastically minimise losing fish by simply upgrading our line class. I can hear a lot of anglers moaning and saying their catch rates would

I caught. I lost more to bust-offs but not as many I thought I would. Fishing snags produced the worst results, and I started avoiding them in the end to save losing valuable lures. Did I discover certain areas, or weather conditions, or even species were jumping on the light leader set-ups? Not at all. Look, if I thought going really light would land me more and bigger fish I’d go as light as possible. I’m not going to sacrifice catching fish just to prove my theory right. Maybe it’s about time you tried higher breaking strain leaders to prove me wrong! I actually believe you will see the benefits and have a win. If you don’t believe me, at the very least dedicate a few

during your next session and things get quiet or you have a tough time hooking fish, don’t do the obvious and blame the heavier leader. It’s more likely other factors are involved. Have faith and persist. I can’t stress enough that you’ll be surprised and maybe even shocked to see your hook-up rates remain the same or better. If you’re game, put it into practice and watch the trophy fish hit the

Mick Dee has released a lot of very big bream to 48cm and estuary perch to 51cm in the Gippy Lakes, and only ever uses 12lb or 14lb leaders.

Are flathead really a leader-shy species? Sure, they can be caught on fine leaders, but how many are lost?

The author was given a new pink prawn lure to try, and after a major tangle he eventually extracted this nice bream out of deep timber by using a very strong leader. perseverance and devotion to the cause (something I see other anglers refuse to have when they try my heavy leader theory). At the end of my experiment, the only thing to report on was there was no benefit in number or sizes of fish

sessions to experimenting with heavier lines. FISH WELFARE My passion for this subject is not all about catching more or bigger bream, it’s mostly about looking after the fish. If you do try fishing heavier

net more often and the local tackle shop curse you for not losing more lures! I now also realise that my released fish also benefit from my tough leaders and stronger main line. This brings me to the main reason I refuse to fish light. I think we owe greater respect toward the fish. The goal is to get ‘em in quick and release ‘em quick, then watch them swim off healthy and fit. Some people say you “have to give the fish a chance” during the fight, but I find that comment thoughtless and irresponsible. I see no joy in hooking a fish and have it snap me off because the leader was not up to strength. That’s not sport, it’s just ridiculous. A lot of anglers will recount with proud excitement how a procession of big fish kept

3m of line the fish might have to drag around for a month or more. It seems most anglers refuse to worry about what they can’t see, or as I often hear - “Ahhh well, he will lose that lure soon enough”. It is absolute crap that all fish get rid of hooks or lures in just a few hours or days. Some people still believe hooks dissolve overnight! I shudder to think what happens to all the line when an angler gets partly spooled, due to a drag set for very light line. All this for a bit of so-called sport. In a world where we are so careful and thoughtful about releasing fish in the best condition we can, all this gets thrown out the window when we ‘release’ them due to those fish busting us off. I don’t want to go totally overboard here,

plummet. How do you know, if you don’t give it a fair dinkum go? JOIN THE CLUB Surprisingly, I’m now bumping into anglers who are actually fully converted into using 10lb and 12lb leaders and getting remarkable benefits. Quite a few of them have heard my interviews with Greg Vinall on the Doc Lures Podcast, and what a joy to see technology working a treat. I’ve done four interviews with Greg now and he tells me some of our podcasts are getting over 100 hits a week. Ben Hotchkin and his brother Tyler are two of the most recent anglers I’ve met up with, and they inspired me to write this article. They fished light leaders only because of influential trends, and let’s face it, you have to start somewhere. After listening to the podcast, Ben says he swears going heavier has produced only positive results after many trips now. And all the time the fish are also having a win. My final word on this subject is that most fish are complex critters; on some days they will eat lures without hesitation, or take them just some of the time, totally ignore lures or even spook hopelessly to the exact same presentation. It’s human nature to blame the things we can change, like leaders, rather than acknowledging the things we can’t change.

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Taking on the tigers BRISBANE

Spero Kartanos

Squid fishing and eating has become a real trend over the last 20 years in Australia. Back in the late 50s and 60s, European immigrants (like my parents) started catching them as soon as they arrived in Australia,

channel, all the weed banks on the western side of Moreton and Stradbroke islands – pretty much anywhere where whiting or small fish are. At Days Gutter and Amity, the squid seem to be there all year round. Green Island normally fires up too, as do the foreshore and jetties, also in summer. Arrow squid can also

TACKLE In the early days we made our own squid jigs, similar to the modern squid spikes/ skewers, designed to hold bait. Most of the time we’d put a pilchard or a garfish on the shaft or just wrap on some white material – anything to attract the squid’s attention. We would fish our DIY jigs on a handline or a bamboo cane with the line tied to the end, and we caught plenty. These days things have gone to a new level with all

A tiger squid comes to the surface. Patience and perseverance are key to bringing home a tasty feed. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT After you have netted your squid (I use a small, longhanded net), you’ll want to

hold it up out of the water for a while so that the water can drain out of the squid’s body. If a squid has no water to blend with its concentrated ink, it can’t squirt you. This approach is very effective, although it

A selection of the author’s jigs. but now it’s a pastime that everyone is enjoying along the Australian coast. In this article, I’ll discuss

be found in these areas, but this species isn’t as plentiful in summer as it is in winter. I’ll talk about targeting arrow

They say ‘fresh is best’, but this might be taking it a bit too far! the Japanese prawn imitation squid jigs (egi), available in hundreds of shapes and colours. As anglers we seem to buy all the colours of the rainbow, and sometimes we’ll look at our tackle box and can’t believe all the different sizes and colours we’ve amassed! There’s also a multitude of squid rods available. I like to use light rods around 2-8lb that are fairly whippy. Any of my whiting rods work for me. I rig my jigs on 10-12lb green monofilament line. Prawn pattern jigs seem to be the most effective options locally, and the only size I

All rigged up and ready to go. which gear I use on our local tiger squid, and where we find them in Moreton Bay every year. TIGER COUNTRY The most common squid species caught in Moreton Bay in summer is the tiger squid. Their run starts around December, and they become prolific as temperatures rise, all through summer and into autumn. Tiger squid like grassy weed beds interspersed with patches of sand, and they prefer clean, clear water. I catch most of my tigers in depths of 5-15ft (1.5-4.5m). I like to fish an hour either side of the tide change, ideally at dawn and dusk. But when they’re on they’re on all day. You can find tiger squid in Rous channel, the small boat 12

DECEMBER 2021

patterns, such as dark brown or dark green. Tiger squid are not a night-time target, unlike some other squid species. The technique is easy: just

Hold the squid over the side to help the water drain out of it.

A 50-year-old wooden squid spike with soldered hooks, made by the author’s dad. Squid gear has evolved a lot since then.

A typical Moreton Bay tiger. squid in a future article. The average size of tiger squid in the bay is around 15cm body length, but every year we get a few bigger specimens in the mix, sometimes as large as 35cm. Now let’s take a look at what gear to use.

use for this species is 3.5. Orange/brown and pink/red patterns seem to work most of the time on sunny days. I have also had good results on pilchard patterns (grey/blue) and whiting colours (light brown/tan with green eyes). On cloudy days I use darker

cast and retrieve slowly with a stop-start action. Your pauses should be about 3-5 seconds. When a squid grabs your jig, keep the rod bent and slowly and steadily bring it to the net. This approach is easy and it’s fun to watch the squid approaching your jig. If you see a squid following your jig but not hitting it, give it a few little twitches, let it go down a little, and wait. In my experience, 99 times out of 100 they will take it. The most common mistake I see people making with squid is giving up too quickly.

isn’t foolproof. Sooner or later you will get inked! Once you have brought your squid home, there’s a multitude of ways to cook it. You can BBQ them and add them to salads, add them to pasta or paella, or cook them in a curry. My favourite way to cook a squid, however, is tempura style. If you take care not to overcook it, it can’t be beat. I hope this article has given you some good tips for catching tigers this summer. I hope you all get inked as that means squid are coming aboard the boat!

The author uses a good quality, long-handled net.

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For the love of luderick NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.fishotopia.com

Luderick or blackfish are one of the most prolific species found in the estuaries and coastal seas of our South East: from

scientific circles as Girella triscupidata and belongs to a family of omnivorous inshore fishes that also includes the eastern and western black drummer, the blue drummer or bluefish and the zebra fish. All of these species inhabit rocky shorelines and inshore

Tasmania, and while they become increasingly rare west of Wilsons Promontory, the odd stray specimen can turn up around Melbourne at times, and possibly even as far as South Australian waters, although they’re certainly not predictable enough that far west to be

Starlo poses for a quick luderick ‘selfie’. At 46cm and 1.45kg, this is a very good blackfish by most standards, especially from the estuary. far north coast, especially during summer and early autumn when those waters are at their warmest. At the

estuaries or along ocean rock ledges, breakwalls and from bridges, wharves or jetties.

A catch of blackfish or luderick taken on ‘traditional’ gear consisting of a long, light rod, centrepin reel and a float used to suspend a bait of marine algae such as green weed or ‘sea cabbage’ on a small hook. Queensland to Tasmania. They’re readily available, fun to catch and good to eat, yet many anglers

coastal seas, but the luderick extends that range well up our estuaries, occasionally straying into water that’s

actively targeted. Over the last few decades, the distribution of luderick appears to have shifted somewhat, perhaps due to increasing water temperatures and changes in ocean currents. According to many observers, they are now nowhere near as abundant nor reliable in southern Queensland waters as they once were, and have even thinned out a tad along the NSW

Luderick have small mouths and comb-like teeth well suited to cropping weed growth. Each tooth has three peaks or points, explain the latter part of the fish’s name: tricuspidata. other end of their range, however, luderick are now turning up more frequently in Tasmania’s north east and east, with smaller numbers even being encountered around the Apple Isle’s north western corner.

If killed, bled and cleaned promptly, luderick are very tasty. They’re best filleted and skinned to reveal the firm, white flesh. overlook these barred battlers, or regard them as ‘by-catch’ when chasing other targets. The blackfish or luderick is known in

fresh enough to drink. G e o g r a p h i c a l l y, luderick extend from about Moreton Bay in southeastern Queensland to the north and east coasts of

Starlo with a better-than-average luderick. They’ve been recorded to weights in excess of 3kg, but are more common at a kilo and less. Luderick are handsome fish with reasonably variable colours, but they almost always display a series of dark, vertical bars.

Luderick are powerful opponents and put up a great fight on light gear. 14

DECEMBER 2021

and skin the catch. After that, the flesh can be cooked in all manner of ways, but in my book it’s hard to beat lightly crumbing and shallow frying blackfish pieces, then serving them with salad and chips. I recently made quite a detailed YouTube clip about targeting luderick on ‘traditional’ gear in the estuary and you’ll find it on my Starlo Gets Reel YouTube channel, or by scanning the QR code hereabouts. Luderick are an oftenoverlooked species that remains arguably as abundant in many areas today (even close to major population centres) as it was when white man first arrived on this continent… and there aren’t a lot of

Luderick have a diverse diet. They eat a heck of a lot of marine algae or weed, but also snack on all manner of smaller invertebrates such as worms, yabbies, shrimps, prawns and the like. For this reason, they’re occasionally caught as ‘by-catch’ on various baits and even lures and flies. However, the specialists who target them (especially in NSW) prefer to use floats to suspend weed baits rigged on small hooks and light leaders at various depths, either in the

‘Traditional’ blackfish gear consists of long, light rods (typically 3-4m in length) matched up to simple, direct drive centrepin reels, but you can certainly use spinning or threadline gear to catch them, too. Once hooked, luderick are strong fighters that give a very good account of themselves, especially on lighter gear. While some folks don’t rate them all that highly as a table fish, they’re actually quite tasty if handled correctly. Ideally, they should be killed and bled promptly after capture, then chilled. The best way to prepare them is to fillet

fish you can say that about! If you haven’t done so already, consider giving luderick a try, you just might get hooked! QR CODE

Scan this QR code to watch Starlo’s YouTube clip on catching luderick in the estuary.

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Game on for summer species GOLD COAST

David Green

Welcome to summer! December is a great month to target pelagic gamefish off the Gold Coast. Small black marlin will start to turn up on a regular basis as the East Australian Current moves closer to shore, with fish from as small as 10kg being on the

inshore grounds through to 100kg specimens out on the 70m line. Mahimahi have already turned up and I think December should be a great month for this species. There should also be a few wahoo around this month. In the early part of the season I usually troll skirted lures as I search for bait schools, birds and temperature breaks. In general, it pays

to concentrate on spots with known aggregations of bait. The Cotton Reef east of Jumpinpin is a great place to start trolling, and Sullies, a couple of miles to the north, also holds good numbers of fish. Skirted lures on 10kg tackle are generally effective. I like to use a mixture of head types and colours, and I find small Meridians particularly productive. Trolling dead baits such as gar is also a good

Small black marlin will be regular visitors this month.

way to start the season. One of the most effective method is switch baiting, where hookless teasers are trolled and a live bait is deployed once a fish is raised. The 36 Fathom Reef is also worth a look this month. Out wider there have been quite a few blue marlin and in this fishery you can catch blues every month of the year, and December is definitely one of the better months to target blues. These fish are amazing things to catch and the take-off is one of the most spectacular sights in game fishing. It pays to use at least 37kg tackle. I like a mix of large and small skirts and use a single hook placed well back in the lure. I generally work the contour just wide of the continental shelf in between 200 and 400m of water. If you find bait and birds inside this line work the area. I’ve caught quite a few blues in water depths between 80 and 150m. There should also be a few medium black marlin and striped marlin around in the same area. By-catch when chasing blue marlin includes mahimahi, wahoo and the odd yellowfin tuna. If you catch a big mahimahi on 37kg tackle take great care when

Sebastian Ribinztein Dunlop with a beautiful mahimahi.

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you gaff them. They are very dangerous when brought on board ‘green’! Bottom fishing generally slows down this month as the current increases and the water temperature rises. Deep dropping is also very difficult. If the current slows there should be a few pigfish, pearl perch and rosy job fish on the 50 fathom line. On the inshore grounds Palm Beach and Mermaid Reef should start to produce spotted and school mackerel this month in the week leading up to the full moon. A few Spanish mackerel will also start to turn up. The artificial reef just north of the seaway should continue to produce a few mulloway at night on live baits. It is also a good time to stock up on mackerel baits for the coming season, and there are often schools of small tuna feeding on the run out tide lines just to the east of the Gold Coast seaway. ESTUARIES AND RIVERS Since travel restrictions preventing movement to faraway places, the Broadwater has become a crazy place to fish in the middle of the day on weekends. This will probably get even worse this month. Despite this, there is some great fishing if you can fish early and late before the water traffic starts. Target

species this month include whiting, mangrove jacks, mulloway, flathead and mud and sand crabs. While the flathead slow down a lot this month as the water temperature increases, there is still some good fishing to be had on the top of the tide on the many sand and weed flats in the Broadwater and around Jumpinpin. Casting

long 3 hook hardbodies and unweighted soft plastic stick baits is often effective in December. There are also still a few nice flathead in the deep water around the entrances but by now the spawning run is generally over and the fish have dispersed. The spawning run has been quite late this year, with many fish still in full roe at the time of writing.

Some early season Spaniards.

Michael Green with a big 85cm flathead he caught from the shallows.

Whiting become a lot more active this month. The Pimpama, the Nerang and Coombabah Creek all have good whiting fishing this month. Soldier crabs, bloodworms and shrimp all make excellent baits and if there has been a bit of rain, yabbies work well too. Casting unweighted yabbies on the shallow sand flats on a run in tide is another deadly method. Surface lures are another good option, particularly if the fish are chasing prawns up on the flats. The area behind Wavebreak

Island is a great spot to chase whiting on surface lures. The small Bassday Sugapen is my favourite whiting surface lure. Some of these whiting are over 40cm long. Mangrove jack are active this month and the many floating pontoons in nearly all the canal systems are likely to hold jacks. Both hard bodies and soft plastics are very effective. The Nerang and Coomera systems seem to hold the most jacks. They are notorious for busting lines and fight hard. The key to

landing them is to go as hard as you can on the fish in the first few seconds so you can turn its head and lead it away from structure. Mud crabs start to move about this month and it is definitely worthwhile putting your pots out. The weed beds in the central part of the Broadwater there should hold plenty of sand crabs. Overall, December is a great month to fish the Gold Coast and with the warm water set to arrive the game fish should not be far behind.

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Conditions improve along with the fishing JUMPINPIN

Bo Sawyer

There’s been some tough fishing last month with all the wind around at the time of writing. However, when

night and then deeper water during the day. Gold Bank, northern side of Crusoe, south of slipping sands and the yabby banks south of the powerlines are all great spots. Live bloodworms or

to keep your bait moving around but still keeps you on the bottom. There’s been some amazing flathead catches about. You might need to spend a bit of time finding them but once you do it’s been incredible. Flicking plastics has definitely been the way to go. Try using 4-5” paddle-tails smeared with scent, and when the

water is clear use natural colours (green has been working well out in the Pin area where the water is clean). If you’re flicking in the shallow water and it’s dirty then switch over to a dark or pink colour. If you’re bait fishing then either live mullet, live herring, fresh prawns or pilchards are a great option. Spots that have been producing the goods are

Kerry and Scottie got these two nice bucks from the Jacobs Well area. the conditions have been good, so has the fishing. Early morning or late afternoons have definitely been the best times, especially when coinciding with the change of tide. I’ve had two of my best sessions ever this past month and a couple of ordinary ones as well (in strong northerly winds). So when the weather’s good, do your best to get out there because the fish will definitely be biting. Water quality has been pretty decent and there’s still a ton of bait working its way around the Pin area. We’ve got some great bite times on the 4-5 and 18-19 December with all four days falling on the weekend. It should be a good time to get out there if the wind plays its part. The whiting are continuing to fire up and there’s been some great catches coming in. Try any shallow yabby bank at

yabbies are the pick, but if that’s not an option some fresh frozen prawns will still yield decent results. Use 4lb fluorocarbon leader and a light enough sinker

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Brad and Eden with some very nice whiting caught on live bloodworms.

Ryan with a cracker flatty. He’s been on fire lately catching plenty of big breeders, all released healthy.

Greg took his family out for a fish and was rewarded with this big buck.

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the northern side of Crusoe, Kalinga Bank, Tipplers, Pin bar, Eden Island and a few in Whalleys Gutter. There’s still plenty of tailor with this bait getting around. I’ve seen plenty of schools busting up around the NE tip of Crusoe Island but the overall size has dropped a little. Try flicking small Halco Spinners or lightly weighted pilchards. Try either sounding them up or fish where the birds are diving. Once you get onto a school that’s in a feeding frenzy you should be able to pull in a few fairly quickly. Other spots to target them are Kalinga Bank, Pin bar and the deeper water outside of the northern lagoon on South Straddie. Some nice mulloway have been caught inside the Pin bar. As most of you know the tide pumps through there so aim to fish around the tide changes when the current dies down. Live mullet or whole pilchards

are accounting for some nice fish. A tell-tale sign you’ve missed a mulloway hit is when you’ll wind your live bait in and it’s been scaled. They will often hit your bait, spit it straight back out and come back for a second go. So if you get a big hit on a lively don’t wind it in straight away. There’s been plenty of trevally feeding on the flats

Gordon with a delicious feed of whiting he caught on live bloodworms.

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as well. I’ve been getting a fair few as by-catch chasing flathead. If you’re keen to target them then try flicking plastics on the shallow edges of drop offs. Trevally can’t resist live herring or prawns if you’re a bait fisho. There’s been some awesome muddies and sandies making their way into the local crab pots as well. It’s definitely a good

Lee with a stonker mulloway caught inside the Pin bar.

time to drop them off before heading out for a fish. Try placing them off the little snake drains along any mangrove stretches near Jacobs Well, Eden Island or in the Logan River. Well, that’s it from me this month. I hope everyone gets out there and catches some cracker fish. Don’t forget to stop in at Jacobs Well Bait and Tackle to stock up on some fresh locally caught bait. Tight lines. • To see more of my fishing adventures on Instagram, follow The Bobo Boat (@ thebobo_boat)

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Southern bay shallows are firing SOUTHERN BAY

Nick Whyte

The southern bay shallows are firing at the moment. Plenty of pan size snapper, grass sweetlip and big bream are being caught

a telltale sign of where the fish are lurking. They are feeding on small bait so try to match the hatch and use small slugs or small plastics. A lot of fish have been caught on trolled spoons or slices behind a paravane. The four beacons should

start holding good numbers this month. Mangrove jack have been firing of late. Plenty of fish have being caught on lures and live bait in the canals at Raby Bay. The smaller creeks like Tingalpa and Eprapah have also been

fishing well. Logan River has been fishing well at the moment with some nice jacks and the occasional barra reported on live baits around all the rock bars. There has also been plenty of good cod and Queensland groper as by-catch. Make sure you look after these fish as the Queensland groper are protected and need to be released unharmed. The Jumpinpin bar has produced some nice fish over the last month. There have been a few mulloway and nice sized flathead coming from the deeper water. Usually fishing the hour each side of the tide change we’ll see the best results. There is also some

Wayne Peeters with a quality flathead on a 95mm Fish Trap.

Dave Chown with a cracker bay mulloway. around the shallow reef edges. Small plastics or small hardbodies have been doing all the damage. Larger top water lures have been accounting for fish as well. There are still a few late season tailor around and always a chance of rat kings patrolling the edges. Top water fishing the reef edges is so much fun as you will see a lot of the fish bow wave your lure before hitting it. Early mornings on dawn or late afternoons will see the most action. There have been quite a few reports of some nice school mackerel up through the Rainbow and Rous channels. Look for the birds working as this is always

ER ’S

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B Featured

A nice Brisbane River threadie.

Brenden Whyte with a nice flatty on a 5” McArthy paddle-tail.

good flathead coming from the areas around Tipplers; some of the fish have been up super shallow so don’t be scared to cast up to 100mm of water and use bigger hardbody lures or swimbaits if looking to up the average size. The threadfin salmon have been caught in numbers throughout the Brisbane River the last month. Lots of fish have been coming from

the middle reaches with the better quality coming from around the mouth. Fishing at night around the lights and using shallow diving hardbodies is a great way to target these fish, during the daylight hours you’re more likely to find them closer to the bottom, and using vibes like the 95mm Zerek Fish Trap should see you in with a chance. If thinking about targeting these

magnificent sports fish and looking to release them, you should always have a release weight with you. The threadies will suffer from barra trauma when pulled from deep water and if you want to release them in good condition this is a must for anglers. Summer whiting are in great numbers throughout the Logan River and sand banks close to the Pin bar. Up in the super shallow water you can target these big fish using long skinny poppers. This is an awesome visual technique that really gets the heart pumping and these little guys punch above their weight. It’s great to hop out of the boat and walk the bank and fish that shallow water near the top part of the tide on the last of the run in over the yabby banks. 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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A festive fishing feast BRISBANE

Gordon Macdonald masterbaitertackle@hotmail.com

With the end of 2021 looming, many anglers will look back on their fishing year with a smile on their face. Over all it has been a good year despite the weather not always being ideal and time spent on the water limited due to that virus thing people keep talking about. With hot weather now upon us, there will be some great fishing in the coming weeks. Pelagic species, such as mackerel, tuna, bonito and cobia, will be on fire. Bottom dwellers including tuskfish, grass sweetlip, snapper, cod and even mulloway will still be caught with regularity. In the estuaries you can expect good numbers of flathead, cod, mangrove jack, threadfin and several other species. After recent rains, prawns should be available in many of the rivers. Setting a few pots could easily reward with both mud and sand crabs. You will be able to score a seafood smorgasboard for the family by targeting some of the following options. MACKEREL One of the more popular Moreton Bay targets at this time of the year are mackerel. School mackerel are caught year round and spotted mackerel can turn up at any time over the coming weeks. Last year, spottie encounters were low in the bay but

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hopefully they will be back in healthy numbers soon. During the warmer months, baitfish are a lot more prevalent in the bay and this often results in surface feeding schools of mackerel. This melee is often visible from some distance away due to the surface boils of slashing fish and the sea birds which are often wheeling overhead awaiting their chance to pluck a few baitfish from the surface. Spotted mackerel attack in slashing strikes, which often results in sprays of water pushed skyward. The schoolies are less methodical and will often turn the surface into a boiling errant mass of baitfish soup. Both will respond to the same approaches. When surface feeding fish are sighted, a chrome slug can be cast in the general direction and then immediately retrieved once it lands. You cannot wind too fast for these speedsters to catch the lure. If they are following and not striking then you are simply not winding fast enough. Reels that return at least a metre of line per turn of the handle are highly desirable. Graphite rods between 2.1m and 2.4m allow great casting distance with the 30-50g chromed slugs and slices generally used. Braided line (commonly 15lb to 30lb) and 30lb to 50lb fluorocarbon leaders complete the outfit. Casting to the edge of the school is generally best and will limit the bite

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offs that can occur when you cast into the middle. Mackerel are tail biters and will snip at the tail of fast moving prey to immobilise it. This is fortunate as that is where the inline single or treble hook is on a chromed slug or slice. However, if your lure is fluttering down as it sinks then the mackerel will engulf it in its entirety, generally biting through your monofilament or fluorocarbon leader. Some try using wire leaders but this will rapidly decrease the strike rate so is not desirable. Mackerel can sometimes be found around the shipping channel beacons. Here they can be targeted by vertically working slugs or floating down gang hook rigged pilchard baits. The measured Mile can be a popular yet productive spot. Several boats will anchor in the vicinity and float out pilchards or small live baits. Mackerel are generally in numbers and it can be chaos when a school moves through and everyone gets a strike or two. Trolling spoons (Halco Barra Drone or Kimberley Spoon #3 and #4 are popular) behind a paravane or trolling board is a great way to score mackerel when trolling the edges of major channels and bank systems. Deep diving minnow lures to around 120mm in length are also productive when trolled 30-40m behind the boat on 10-20lb braid. Good numbers of mackerel should be around for a few more months yet so you have plenty of time to score a tasty feed. MANGROVE JACK Hot days and nights are ideal time to be chasing

Longtail tuna should become more prevalent as the warmer waters promote healthy schools of baitfish throughout Moreton Bay. mangrove jack. The warmer water increases their metabolism making them hungrier and more aggressive. Add into the equation a rising barometer and you are usually in for some red-hot red dog action. Casting lures to structure such as bridge pylons, pontoons, mangrove snags, rock bars, rock walls and any other current altering obstacle and you are in with a chance. Soft plastic shads and diving minnow lures are most popular but you can also use topwater offerings, blades, soft vibes, soft prawns, baitfish profiled flies and numerous other offerings. The closer you cast to the structure the better your chance of enticing a jack to strike. Live baits fished around these same areas will also work a treat. Anglers commonly use herring, pike, yakkas, slimey

mackerel, mullet, banana prawns and even silver biddies. These are usually presented with a minimum of lead adjacent to these structures and in the deeper holes around bridges. Early morning, late afternoon and night sessions offer some great opportunity for scoring a mangrove jack. Flathead, estuary cod, trevally, bream and occasionally others are taken whilst targeting jacks. THREADFIN SALMON With the regular showers and storms we have had over the last few months plus rising water temperatures, threadfin salmon have moved down most of the major systems and are now regular catches in the lower reaches again. Rainfall lowers salinity, which forces the prawns out of the feeders creeks, drains and shallows and down the system. The Brisbane River always has good numbers

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DECEMBER 2021

Sand and blueswimmer crabs are always a welcome addition to the Christmas feast.

of threadfin at this time of the year and they are regularly found in schools down towards the mouth. They are often very noticeable on well dialled in marine electronics as their large air bladders produce a prominent return. However, just finding them is often not enough as they can sometimes be quite difficult to tempt, especially with artificials. Good offerings to try will include soft vibes, blades, paddle tail plastics, prawn profiles and even jerk shad plastics. These are worked through the schools of threadies, which are generally close to the bottom along the edges of the decline into the main river basin, the fronts of the jetties, along the ledge in from the sewerage shute, the dredge holes near the mouth and the swing zone. At times they can be seen well in under the jetties ,which makes them hard to target (you must remain a minimum of 30m from the jetties) and even harder to extract if you do get a hook up. At night they can sometimes be found around lighted areas such as docks, bridges and riverside restaurants as they are tempted by the crustaceans and baitfish species held in the area by the illumination. Live baits of mullet, herring, banana prawns, pike and biddies can all tempt threadies when fished close to the bottom with a minimum of lead. Those hot, humid days with storms building can offer some of the best thready action during the warmer months. PRAWNS A select few prawners have managed to get a feed of medium-sized banana prawns during most of the winter period by doing

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night time sessions to areas of the Brisbane River and other systems. However by now, good numbers of banana prawns should be found on occasion in systems such as the Brisbane, Caboolture and Pine rivers. How good the run will be depends greatly on the rainfall we receive during late November and early December. This lowering salinity will force the prawns down the systems to areas where they can be targeted by the prawners. Deep holes along these systems will often see the prawns lift and show around the tidal changes. You might be able to get out and get a few prawns for the Christmas feast and their numbers will be on the incline in coming months. LONGTAIL TUNA There’s a decent chance of finding a few longtails in Moreton Bay over the coming month. The warmer water temperatures commonly see good schools of baitfish in the bay and these are often closely followed by longtails. The numbers and individual size can vary a lot. Sometimes there will be large schools smashing it up on the surface and at other times you may only find a few individuals

cruising around looking for morsels to engulf. They can be very easy to hook at times and downright frustrating at others. It pays to try different profiles until you find one that is to their liking, if at all. It’s amazing sometimes how a 20kg fish will only be interested in a 2cm long offering and will refuse anything larger. Sometimes they will just be cruising around in a casual manner

and slurping up micro bait which are virtually clear with just a black dot for an eye. Obviously this is virtually impossible to find a replica of that which can be cast on a spin rod. Early in the season the baitfish are fairly small therefore I will often resort to casting small baitfish profiled flies in an attempt to get a hook up. Small-profiled chromed slugs will sometimes be small enough to get their

attention yet still heavy enough to cast a reasonable distance on braided line. Even when they are eating small baits they may eat a larger offering at times so it is always worth trying a stickbait or pencil popper if all else fails. Longtail numbers might be sporadic over the coming months but it is always worth having a spin rod rigged and ready whilst transiting throughout the bay.

School mackerel numbers have been great all year. Let’s hope we see some decent schools of spotted mackerel show in the bay during December.

CRABS The warmer months are the best for crabbing. Whether you like to target sandies or muddies, setting a few pots during December will generally reward. Periods after serious rainfall are usually prime for targeting muddies as the lowering salinity pushes them out of the upper reaches and out into the main system. Pots set along the edges of submerged ledges, at the mouths of drains and gutters feeding out of the mangrove expanse and in the deeper holes will generally reward. Safety pots are best set with fish frames and heads, whole mullet, chicken carcasses or even a few pillies in a fine mesh bait envelope. Sand crabs can be caught in the same pots and with the same baits yet are commonly found around the mouths of the rivers and further out into Moreton Bay. The surrounds of the bay islands, the deeper channels between them, submerged ledges and contours out in the bay and the edges of the sand banks are prime places to set your pots. Ensure that your pots are adequately labelled as per fisheries regulations or you risk forfeiture or a fine. Have a proper crab-

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measuring device aboard and check that your floats meet regulations. Milk, petroleum and other bottles are not permitted because if someone hits them they may puncture and sink which results in a derelict or ghost pot which kills marine life. Ensure you can identify different crab species and be aware of size and bag limits which vary for different species. The Fisheries Queensland website will have all the information you need to be legal. CONCLUSION During December there are a lot of great angling targets as well as crustaceans to be caught. You can often target several species in the one session with some planning around the tides to optimise your chances. In the weeks leading up to Christmas I am sure many of you will be out and about gathering fare for the festive spread. With heightened numbers of anglers on the water, many of them inexperienced, a little more patience is often needed on the water and at the boat ramps. I hope you all have a great festive season, stay safe on the water and get some awesome new tackle under the Christmas tree.

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DECEMBER 2021

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Busy bay Christmas bounties NORTHERN BAY

Tackle World Lawnton

The end of the year is here and what a year it has been! Luckily in our neck of the woods we have very limited Covid lockdowns, so we have had much more freedom to hit the water and go fishing compared to our southern friends. December is one of the busiest months of the year in

sometime between launches. Leading up to December we have seen some good catches of summer whiting and flathead in the estuaries and crab numbers have started to increase as well. It’s also been a good start to the mangrove jack ‘season’ with good catches throughout our local estuaries. BAY It’s prime time to be chasing pelagic species this month. School mackerel

is happening. This way you won’t spook the schools too much. It’s also worth targeting the shipping markers as well with some floating pillies on gangs or fast burning some metal lures through the zone. Some Spanish macks may be hanging around in the bay schools as well, but more consistent catches will be out wide. And off the northern tip of Moreton Island. ESTUARY There is always plenty going on in our local estuaries this month – more boat traffic and plenty of fishing opportunities available. Your regular bread and butter species will be the main focus and expect a few mangrove jack and trevally to be around still. It’s worth trying to get away from the regular areas that get fished hard and head up the rivers to areas that don’t get as much boat

traffic. It’s also worth doing a boat trip at night, as there are less boats on the water and it’s always a great time to wet a line. We have been getting some early summer storms this year and all indicators are that this will continue through to the end of the year. For those who love to get a good feed of mud crab for the Christmas lunch, now is the time. Try and get out a day or so after some good rain as this can flush them out and get them on the move. If we get a good couple days of rain it’s worth chasing some sand crabs as well. The southern end of Pumicestone Passage from Donnybrook South has produced good numbers in the past. It’s also worth targeting along the flats around Beachmere/ Deception Bay. We will see the prawns turn up again in good

Flathead are a prime target in December. Franky Gilligan has done well on them lately.

Josh Gollan with a nice jack he caught in the months leading into December.

some opera house traps in if you get a chance. Red claw bait is easy as there not much they wont go for, but I have found rockmelon cubes has usually worked best. But old frames, par boiled potatoes and vege/ fruit scraps can also do the job. Give the pots a good soak and hopefully you get yourself a good feed for the Christmas lunch. Thanks for tuning in. The team at Tackle World Lawnton would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New year. All the best for the Holiday season, and stay safe on the water. • 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

numbers after some good rain. Best to check the usual spots like next to the highway bridge on the Pine River. So get your nets ready, because when the prawns are on, it gets pretty hectic on the water! DAMS Both North Pine and Kurwongbah have been fishing well, and as we come into summer it’s worth targeting some fish on the surface. Early morning and late afternoon is the best time to have a crack. Try throwing some walk-the-dog pencils or cicada imitations and you will be in with a good chance of picking up a bass, or even better a saratoga. With the fish being more spread-out spinnerbaits and chatterbaits along the edges and points will continue to be some of the best ways to get a few fish throughout the summer. For the fish that are

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The jacks have been firing in the estuaries, Franky got this one while fishing from his kayak. our region with people taking time off work, spending it with family and friends and getting out and about doing what we love…fishing! If you’re taking your boat out for the first time in a while, remember it’s important to stay safe and be aware and courteous to others who are out and about on our waterways. It can’t hurt to give your boat and safety equipment a quick check over as well if it’s been

have been consistent lately and we should start to see some numbers of spotties also come in. They can often be spread out and can turn up anywhere. Keep and eye out for bird and bait activity close to the water surface and you will be heading in the right area. Instead of racing your boat towards surface bust up, take it easy and try trolling some diving lures into or around the area all the action

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Jow Dow with a good bass on a small chatterbait. sitting deeper, try fishing a deep diving crankbait along the drop offs. Again, with a bit of rain and some heat in summer the red claw in the dams will be on the move, so throw

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DECEMBER 2021

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Better conditions forecast! NOOSA

Peter Wells

There is much improvement of the offshore conditions as we move to that summer wind cycle with the typical northerlies picking up in the afternoons. Anglers are heading out early then ducking back into the more protected areas as the wind picked up. Most anglers in larger craft can cope with the conditions and hang out there. The reefs off Double Island have been a fantastic hunting ground with some quality fish on offer. With not a lot of run, anglers are able to get to the bottom without too much bother. Snapper, pearl perch, Moses perch, red emperor, mulloway,

tuskfish, cobia and cod all hit the decks. Bait anglers were using the standard pilchard squid combination on paternoster rigs, while the lure anglers were making the most of the conditions and dropping slow fall jig. Pelagics are starting to gather some momentum now. North Reef and reefs off Noosa have seen some nice mackerel along with bigger tuna. With the warmer currents moving south we should start to see those bigger schools of spotted mackerel and larger Spanish off the coast. Gearing up for the mackerel season is all important with a lot of anglers using slugs and targeting the school of baitfish that these fish love to feed on. Matching the hatch with the appropriate size slug

is important and having a range of sizes will definitely help. Another option is trolling larger hardbody style lures, again it is a good idea to have a range of colours and different dive depths to get the best out of your trolling spread. Speed can also be important with most lures these days able to troll at up to 12 knots. Another species making an appearance has been the mahimahi. These fish have been spotted free swimming or hanging around any flotsam that is in the water. They can sometimes be a little frustrating, as you can see them but they will not eat. A good idea is to have a slow sinking bait out if you are drifting; they may take a bait as it gets a little deeper. Fishing this way may also

Halli Church got this very nice Spanish, one of the first for the season, off the Gneerings. It went 104cm and was landed with a little help from dad.

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see you with a cobia as they tend to feed mid water. Sunshine Coast rivers has come alive with some nice trevally, Big GTs, goldens and big eyes have all been prowling the deeper channels and river mouth entrances. There have been some quality fish falling to surface lures like the Lucky Craft Gunfish in the 115mm size and Sugapen surface walkers in the 120mm size, fished a fast walk-the-dog retrieve with both these lures are sure to get you hooked up. Whiting have been in abundance around the Frying Pan in the Noosa River mouth. For the bait fishers, live worms and yabbies have been working a treat with fish over 35cm not uncommon. Walking the flats first thing in the morning flicking smaller popper and surface lures is another great option for these sweet fish. A couple of great options to try are the Bassday Sugapen and the MMD Splash Prawn. A quick tip is to work the lure right up to your feet and to change the back treble for some small assist hooks. Flathead have been in good numbers with bright coloured soft plastics around the 4” size doing the job. Colours that have been working well have been the bloodworm in both the Powerbait and the ZMan, and Sight Flash in the Keitech Easy shiners. For the bait anglers, frogged mouth pilchards on small ganged hooks have claimed plenty of fish. In the Noosa River the area around Makepeace Island has been very good and for the Maroochy the stretch between Petrie and Eudlo Creek has been producing results. Anglers that have fished after dark have been rewarded with mangrove jack well and truly on the

Amika Tippo got this solid sweetlip just out of Mooloolaba. Much to her brother’s disappointment, the fish was returned after the photo. bite. Livies and big strip baits fished around the holes and rock bars around John Landing in the Noosa River have been very productive. For the lure anglers, skip casting plastic under snags between the lakes has also paid dividends. Remember to have your drag set at the right level not too tight to pull hooks but not too loose to lose fish. Crab numbers are really starting to improve with plenty of quality bucks in the pots. With the summer rains look for those deeper sections as the crabs will hold in this area looking for more saline water. Remember four pots per person on board and a maximum of 7 crabs per person or 14 per boat. Mullet and chicken frames seem to be the baits of choice. ON THE BEACHES The Noosa Northshore has been fishing well over the month with some nice gutters around Double Island. There has been a bit of sweep up on the beach with the big tides so you will have to up your sinker size. Tailor are still on the menu as they make their

way back after spawning on the Fraser Coast. Fishing the evening tide is probably your best bet with some quality pilchards or mullet fillet. You’re always in with a chance for a mulloway, in fact tailor is one of their favourite foods so if you are prepared to give up a fillet for bait, you should stand a good chance. If you’re after a good catch of whiting, the word on the street is just up from the Peregian Water Tower between Perigean and Marcus beaches is the place to be. Berley pellets and quality baits of live worms or yabbies are the key here, a sprinkle of berley in the white water along with quality baits will help to bring them on. • 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!

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DECEMBER 2021

Evie Von Hagins picked up this very healthy jack from the Twin Waters Canal system. It measured 50cm on the brag mat.

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Fun times flicking lures BUNDABERG

Luke Truant

The live baits have gone, so it’s back to using flesh baits – but that’s not such a bad thing if you know which ones work best. More on that later. There are some big red emperor prowling around, but unfortunately you have to get through the smaller ones first. Small reds are in crazy numbers in most of the traditionally good fishing areas, but don’t be discouraged. Just because you’ve caught 10 undersize reds in that 45-50cm range, doesn’t mean you won’t catch a big one on the next drop. Try switching things up and put a bigger bait down, and

eventually you should get the bigger red you’re after. Your best bet is to fish deeper than 30m; the sweet depth range has still been around 35-45m locally. In saying that, one

client recently caught a stonking 12.5kg red in only 30m of water, which is really shallow for a big red, so you never know. One of the best baits is

whole squid. Along with red emperor, over the Christmas period you typically get a lot of good tuskies, and the trout fire up even more. It could be that the trout are trying to put on condition after their spawn. Whatever the reason, they tend to feed well for a month or two, which is great for holidaymakers – if you can get the fish past the sharks! I recommend fishing shallow to get the trout in before the sharks have a chance to steal them. Fishing in 10-15m of water is ideal. CHASING TROUT On those hot, glassed-out days over Christmas, it’s always fun to go and flick chromies or sub-surface

Breanna caught this 12.5kg red emperor on a whole whiptail slab. The bait included the backbone and the tail, for maximum appeal to larger fish. stickbaits over shallow reefs out at the Bunker group. Your goal is to annoy the trout, especially on a lower tide in the really shallow areas of

Mackerel can save the day when you’ve been doing it tough on the bottom fish.

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quality Australian squid, and there should be plenty on the market at the moment due to the catches up in northern Australia. Long slab baits are also very effective, and are more likely to produce a welcome bycatch of Venus tuskfish. The tuskies we’ve been catching lately have been real monsters, and we’ve been catching them on huge baits – full-length hussar fillets with tails on, and extra-large

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DECEMBER 2021

the reef. I like to fish with a 35g Shimano Colt Sniper, and I wait until the part of the tide when the individual coral heads are about 20cm under the surface. I flick my lure past them and do a full tuna-style retrieve, causing the lure to flick along the surface for the whole retrieve. The trout hit lure like tuna do – shouldering each other out of the way as they race to eat it. You can actually see the trout collide as they try to reach the lure before their mates do. This style of fishing requires a high-speed retrieve reel. I use a Daiwa Saltist 4500H, but there are other high-speed reels that will work just fine. With subsurface stickbaits,

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I find it doesn’t really matter what brand you buy. Before you start, I recommend doing 20 short practice casts in some clear, flat water, to master the lure’s action. Make sure you’re pulling the lure against the chop to see how it works, and refine your technique. Perhaps it’s one of those stickbaits where you point the rod top at it and crank at speed, or it might be one where you work it slowly and impart little twitches, and see how it pairs with the reel you’ve got. Some stickbaits have a beautiful side-to-side glide with just a little twitch of the rod, and this seems to get the trout worked up and excited. When it comes to lure colours, my favourite a pilchard-style colour scheme, typically bright blue and chrome. I prefer my lures to be fairly short, around 90mm. If you prefer to flick plastics, try prawn imitations in orange, pink or red. The trout don’t really care how the prawns are retrieved, as long as you keep within 5m of the bottom. In my experience, paddletail plastics don’t work well for trout in the shallows, although grub tails do OK. Using a spray-on aniseed catch scent doesn’t help at all – I have seen many clients use spray-on scent and their catch rates have not benefited from it. It’s possible that S-Factor might help on some days, but

I can’t say for sure. A final word on lure choices: just because you’ve seen a particular lure catch fish on TV, doesn’t mean it will entice the fish in our area. The same goes for rods, reels, line etc – your gear needs to suit the fishing you’re doing, or you’ll land fewer fish. Some of the reasons include leader busting off, getting sharked due to slow retrieve rate, lack of shock-absorption resulting

in pulled hooks, or you just can’t feel the bites in the first place. If you’re unsure, talk to your local tackle store about what works best in that area, or use the gear that your fishing guide provides for you. If you’re simply dying to try out a new lure, by all means give it a go, but don’t spend countless hours on it if it’s not producing. It could be that the lure doesn’t work for that particular species, or that it

A nice Spanish mackerel caught at this time last year.

doesn’t work in that area. HUNTING REDS If you want to target reds this month, you must take steps to avoid the sharks or you’ll lose most of your fish. You should fish deep away from structure. If you want to do the latter, get on your sounder and watch the screen as you travel between marks. Don’t take the same route every trip from point A to point B to point C – change it up and travel from point A to point C, etc. That will allow you to find new ground, which is really important. When you see a hump in the middle of nowhere, stop and have a drop. My favourite depth when looking for gutters/humps is 30m+. In these depths, the fish don’t hold on top of the hump. Instead, they’ll hold around the sea floor nearby, often around 150m away. You’ll see a steep drop of 2-3m on the side of the hump, then it will flatten off a bit. That flatter part is where the structure will be, and it should have enough life to hold fish. If you don’t have any luck on the day, you should still mark it and visit another day. • Truansea Charters specialise in 10-hour day trips chasing prized reef targets such as coral trout 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 $330pp (or $300 pp 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

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Barra are busting up MACKAY

Keith Day habdays@bigpond.net.au

Yahoo! Barra are busting up everywhere in our three dams and anglers can still fish for them as long as they hold current Stocked Impoundment Permits, which can be purchased locally at Tackleworld or online from Queensland Government Department Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF). If you want to catch a huge barra I suggest Kinchant or Teemburra dam as both lakes

have a burst of feeding activity. That’s when you start working a point, lily pads, weed islands, standing timber or areas of laydown logs. Most times you will be fishing in water less than 5-6m deep so ultra deep runners are not needed. My preference is for surface lures or hardbody minnows that get down around 1-1.5m. Any reputable brand like, Reidy’s, RMG, Zerek, Rapala, Lucky Craft and a host of Aussie hand-made timber lures will work, just make sure the trebles are up to scratch. Big paddle and curly tails, plastic vibes and stick baits will all score fish in the dams.

activity hasn’t put a fresh through the systems. Flathead will be the main species to chase in December and they are in all the systems, but prefer those with sand and gravel areas rather than mangrove mud. This means clean open water generally and good lizards can be caught right in the centre of the city in the beautiful blue Pioneer River. For a challenge, try catching jacks right in the rocks, mangroves or around other structure. Really hot still humid days will get them on the bite but the lure or bait has to get right into the ‘snag’. Weedless plastics are Jono Clarke is a top angler and his 10yo daughter Lucy is catching up fast. She slow rolled a Zerek Tango Shad off a lily pad edge and had it hammered by this 65cm Teemburra barra. Well done, Lucy! prawn. Soft plastics and vibes are the most commonly used lures, and hardbodies will also get smacked if the grunter happens to run across one. Trolling small hardbodies for lizards will often turn up a grunter or two and they are always welcome in the esky. Get some pots in early for Christmas muddies before those big raging tides happen

and watch out for the pot robbers. Fortunately of late there has been a good run of big muddies, but make sure of the legal size and remember if you have an undersize crab, ignorance will not save you from a substantial fine. Close offshore, I expect plenty of pelagic action up to the end of the year provided the bait schools hang around.

baits of mackerel, strips of gar and prawns will all score fish. Barra style hardbodies, vibes and jigs will also work on these grounds. Similar species will be found out at the reef proper to where the big boats run with the extra incentive of red throat, red emperor and pinkies in the deep water. To all our readers have a very happy, safe Christmas

Guide Paul Dolan got local angler Shane Hultgrwn onto some solid surface fish in Teemburra. This 95cm barra succumbed to a Lively Lures Ziggy SD110. Shane rated the experience as 100% good fun. are going off! Metre barra are no longer relatively rare, with both of these dams having barra over 1300mm. An extra 300mm doesn’t seem very much, but the difference from a 1000mm fish to a 1300mm fish is huge. At that size they are awesome creatures and will test the angler’s skill levels and luck. These huge fish can be quite fragile so drawn out fights on light gear are not on and relatively heavy tackle should be used – 15kg braid should be the minimum with a couple of metres of 25kg mono or fluorocarbon leader to stop bust offs. Get the fish in a big landing net and hold it in the water while you remove hooks, get camera/phone ready, work out your camera angles, and have your brag mat laid out and wet. Support, lift the fish, take a quick ‘hero’ shot and get the big fish back in the water. If you need more photos, do the same for each photo. Your huge barra, or any barra, intended for release should spend no more than a minute out of the water. Now you know how to handle that big fish, here are a few tips/tricks I have picked up from some excellent anglers. First, get a tide diary and an Anglers Almanac or similar and check peak times and tide changes, and fish them hard. Barra in dams spend a lot of time lazing about and then will 34

DECEMBER 2021

The plastic needs plenty of action at super slow speeds and if rigged weedless can be worked through some heavy stuff like old lantana bushes, weed beds and in and under lilies. If you are a visitor or a dam barra novice, this is THE time of the year to get among them, and visiting Tackleworld Mackay you will learn what’s happening in the dams and other waters. For something different in the dams, shoot up to Eungella Dam and tangle with some of the planet’s biggest, meanest sooty grunter. Bring your bass gear but upgrade your leaders and tighten your drag as sooties absolutely crunch a lure and will wreck all but the strongest trebles. Anglers just love the old sooty and the adrenaline rush when they hit is well worth towing a boat out to the dam. Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, vibes, small hardbodies, surface poppers and plastics are all treated the same by sooties—if it’s near enough it gets smashed. Down in the saltwater, most anglers will be looking for flathead, jacks and grunter. Those who think outside the box may take advantage of the calm early mornings and go chase some permit on the extensive sand flats through our area. The creeks are fishing well but do need a good flush and, as at time of writing, the storm

an obvious choice and the various prawn imitations can be dropped down into snags successfully. Bait anglers target them with live mullet, whiting or prawns and again put their baits right into cover to get the hit. Grunter or javelin fish are one of the sweetest eating fish around and they are getting more common in the NFZ where they don’t have to run the gauntlet of gill nets. Grunter have a particular liking for gravelly areas and will take strip baits, live baits, live prawns or yabbies, and even pieces of long dead

Young William Swann shows off a nice jack caught by his dad Tim around the bridge pylons in the heart of Mackay. Tim reports William did a superb job netting the fish, which was caught on live herring.

The flathead are about and Matty Richardson loves getting on the flats with a fly rod. He nailed this nice bar tail, one of several he caught on a multi coloured ‘thing’ fly.

The key is to have E, NE or N winds, which will have the bait right on the harbour walls, around the islands and into the river mouth. Anglers can expect to tangle with various mackerel species, long tail and mac tunas, various trevally species, queenfish and an occasional cobia. Get on the water early, look for the bait schools and/or birds and get ready for some top fun. Mackay Harbour is a good start off point and trolling barra hardbodies and shinies will get you started. Around the islands, there will be action on trout, blueys, cod and grass lippers, but stealth will be needed because the fish are easily spooked in the shallow water. Fresh live baits like herring, belly strip

and a prosperous 2022, and may all your fishing days be good ones. FINAL FAREWELL Finally a huge thank you to our readers and everyone at Fishing Monthly Group over the years as this will be my last Mackay report. What started back in 1994 as a 3-year project to raise some money to get MAFSA established has turned into a marathon. Through the magazine I have met and made good friends with many interesting people who have given advice, support and photos to go with my reports. Without them it would not have lasted so long. Thanks to you all it has been a great enjoyable journey! See you at the ramp.

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OLD

It’s hotter than hell! WHITSUNDAYS

Mick Underwood

Spring has gone, summer is now on top of us and here in the Whitsundays it’s hotter than hell. All the talk about town is when are the rains coming? When are the mud crabs going to stir up and when are the prawns going to arrive?

Coral trout have been the most prominent species that I have seen come to hand and they are getting caught everywhere from the mainland beaches right out to the out reef. Moving into December and this is what we can expect over the coming weeks. Starting up in the estuaries and it’s going to be mangrove jack, which are going to be on most angler’s hit lists.

weight makes them a worthy adversary. Moving out of the creeks now and onto any inshore fringing reef systems around the mainland and inner islands. As already mentioned, the coral trout have been on fire and this trend should continue through December. During this period of the year we do get hammered by northeast sea breezes in the afternoons so

The humble spotty mackerel may not be the biggest fish in the ocean but they are so tasty. Loretta was happy to catch this one. your next trout hunt. Ditch the 80lb hand line and pick up a 15 or 20lb flick stick. If you intend targeting trout on shallow reefs try casting hardbodies or soft plastics around your favourite trout bommies. If the fish are super

is a great time of the year to fish for coral trout using sport fishing techniques. They are not all continually hiding deep in their holes, they will be spending extended periods of time out in the open for the sole purpose of

some light gear to make these fish some fun. Rarely do I see these fish caught on baits, it is normally about either casting or trolling small lures. I locate these fish all over the show but two of the most regular haunts where they hang out

Queenfish will be scarce until next winter but it is still nice when one does turn up. This one was caught by Kevin. Here at Dingo Beach and Hydeaway Bay, the banter about Christmas day has nothing to do with presents, etc. It’s more about ‘are you sneaking out on the water for a few hours’ or ‘are you going to the beach for the day, it might be worth taking a flick stick’? Our little community is very cool in the way that no one really gives a rodent’s rectum about anything apart from fishing. When the weather and the tides both align there are a lot of annoyed bosses in the region. The road is void of cars going towards work in town and our local boat ramp is like Bunnings on a Saturday morning. Over the last few weeks the fishing has followed typical seasonal trends. Of course the barramundi season has come to an end for the year and we are also done and dusted with the annual reef fishing closures. Most pelagic species have become hard to find and there are coral trout climbing into eskys everywhere. On the beaches the fishing has got tougher with the flathead becoming lethargic and the whiting scarce. Spring was not too kind for billfish (well, for me anyway), I got a lot more bites out of these fish during winter this year, which is a little unusual. During spring, which is when we would normally target these fish, we have endured long runs of northerlies and/or dirty water. When we have the odd day or two where things looked right, the fish simply weren’t there. Not to worry though, the reef fishing has made up for it. 38

DECEMBER 2021

This is not an area of the world where you normally see anglers get excited about chasing small fish but I am yet to meet anyone who doesn’t enjoy chasing a red devil or two, and we are very fortunate here in that we have piles of estuaries available to us and they are all loaded with tasty jacks. They have a voracious appetite will readily eat everything from pilchards to poppers. It’s this incredible appetite and aggressive nature that makes them appeal to so many fishers, they are not hard to get bite out of. Getting the bite is only the first part of the game with these guys though. Their lightening fast speed combined with their instinct to find structure and their ability to pull way above their

for the small boat brigade in particular making the most of the mornings will be important for success. Not only do the afternoon sea breezes make things uncomfortable the fish don’t particularly like it either and on most days they generally clam up a little. Dropping pilchards and other fresh baits over the side and dangling them in the fish’s faces is the age old technique for chasing these guys and, why not, it works. This is only my view and I know I’ll stir some people up here, but to me that is like watching paint dry. I regularly stir people up by saying ‘that’s not fishing, that’s wishing’. If you haven’t tried it before why not introduce a bit of sport fishing into

It hasn’t been a bad season for tuna and, as usual, it’s casting chrome slugs that gets the job done. shallow peg a few poppers over their heads, that’s piles of fun. When targeting these guys in water that’s a little deeper, hit them on the head with some jigs. Soft plastics, vibes, chatterbaits, micro jigs, bucktail jigs, they all work. Your options are only limited to what you’ve got in your tackle box on the day. This

Reef the ‘trout slayer’ has been on fire with coral trout.

looking for a feed. Coral trout won’t be the only delectable on the hit list this month, fingermark will be moving into the sights of anglers. Here in the northern Whitsundays they can be caught everywhere from up in the estuaries right out into the deeper shoals in the shipping lanes. It’s generally in deeper water where the best fish are caught. As with the coral trout they can be caught by basic bottom fishing techniques and they will also eat a plethora of lures. It is generally accepted locally though that the best way to get a good bag of these guys is to live bait with squid at night time in deeper water. The pelagic fishing will possibly be a little limited this month, but there will be some options though. There’s normally always a giant trevally or two lurking somewhere and during December we get a run of grey mackerel migrating through the region. With the grey mackerel especially, find the bait and you’ll find the fish. Pound for pound against other mackerel species, I don’t find the greys to be a particularly strong fish so it’s a prime opportunity to bust out

is in Gloucester Passage and in the shallows out at Rattray Island. When I find the fish in these locations casting sub surface stickbaits around the 100-150mm size is gold and watching the strikes always gets the blood pumping. There we go that’s a wrap for another month, as always I wish you all the best with your angling endeavours. Happy Christmas to everyone, I hope Santa brings you some nice fish catching goodies. • Reel Addiction Sport Fishing Charters specialises in light tackle fishing for all tropical sportfishing species on fly, lures and bait. Reel Addiction operates from the beautiful Cape Gloucester Beach Resort, 40 minutes’ drive north of Airlie Beach. Combined fishing charter and accommodation packages are available. For more information, contact Mick Underwood on 0413 882 153 or email mick@reeladdiction. com.au. Resort enquiries can be directed to Julie Houston on (07) 4945 7242 or at info@ capeg.com.au. To stay in touch with what’s biting, check out the Reel Addiction Sport Fishing Whitsundays page on Facebook.

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OLD

Dodging the barra TOWNSVILLE

Dave Hodge

Things are heating up in the north, and water temps have been above 30°C in most creeks for months, and haven’t the barra loved that!

END OF BARRA SEASON The barra were very active in the last few weeks leading up to the end of season. Larger lures became the tool of choice for anglers in the know, and hardbodies and surface lures were getting taken by larger fish. It’s easy to fall into the

fish want on any given day. Sometimes it’s a suspending lure that gets the result, while on other days a floating lure will be more productive. One day you may need a 2m depth and on another day, just 0.5m or so. There are numerous lures that will work, but for us, it’s the Halco Laser Pro 120mm and the Atomic Slim Twitch that are the best shallow water presentations. As for big fish specific lures, the Halco Scorpion 125 is where it’s at for us. For deep snags, the Halco 4m Scorpion or

While ‘wild’ barra like this one may be off limits for a few months, don’t forget the stocked impoundments if you’re still a bit keen. Just get your permit. months, and they will show up anywhere at any time. For this reason, so we are very cautious about some of the normal spots we fish, as the barra can be hard to get past sometimes. Live herring and mullet, or slabs of fresh herring or mullet are going to get plenty of interest from a range of species in the coming months, so be prepared to make a quick release if a barra does intercept your bait. It is illegal to actively target barra during the closure, so if you get caught swinging

Blue salmon are quite prolific when the jelly prawns are around on the flats. Tannhym caught this one on a small 3” plastic cast at a swirl on the surface. Sadly, the barra have copped a flogging over the last couple of months, with commercial fishers coming from hours away to target our local population of fish, which already have an active commercial sector. This increased level of travelling commercial interest has made local anglers concerned about the future of the fishery. Look, I understand that the pros have to make a living, but how much pressure can one area withstand? I guess we’ll find out. CLOSURES After talking to several commercial fishing employees and rec anglers, it seems that the recent coral fin fish closure was based on an inaccurate spawn prediction. In the weeks after the closure, anglers were reporting heavily roed trout and other species coming aboard. It makes you wonder whether the fin fish closures are just a gamble, or whether they genuinely benefit the fishery. It also has me wondering about the proposed Spanish mackerel closure, which would last for a couple of years to allow stocks to recover. Why is it not a viable option to do what they do with barra, and have a closed season to allow the fish to spawn and repopulate the species? You could say, “OK, the Spanish are going to spawn between this month and that month, so let’s ‘spell’ them until they’re done with that”. Considering the speed in which the black jew laws were introduced, it seems quite easy to legislate a periodic closure. 40

DECEMBER 2021

habit of using one style of lure, as it may produce consistently over time, but if you’re prepared to break out of that comfort zone and throw something different for a little while, the results

Jacks will be on the cards for anyone flicking snags with smaller hardbodies and weedless rigs for these amazing sport fish. This one was taken on a 4” Atomic Prong in electric chicken colour. Surface lures are our favoured way to target the jacks on early morning outings, and as the sun rises, our presentations get a bit deeper. Knowing that fresh sits on top of the salt, we need to sink or dive our lures that bit deeper if the jacks aren’t up in the fresh surface level. This often changes from day to day, so, if you’re not getting action in one area try another. It’s not just the jacks, either – grunter, fingermark and other species often sit in that lower depth range to escape the fresh when it’s all flowing. One thing is for sure, you’re going to encounter barra over the next couple of

If you’re not skip casting now then you should learn the technique. Many captures come from a skipped lure into dark hides.

In the freshwater environments a slow floating minnow style lure, like this Atomic Slim Twitching Minnow, will cast well, but make sure you have the right float rate. may just be worth it. More aggressive actions from a lure can often elicit a more positive response from bigger fish, and the rattle of split rings and trebles are often all it takes to get the blood pumping on those larger models. Barra lures that are standouts usually have a few characteristics in common – durability, castability, buoyancy and terminal integrity. However, no one lure is an all-rounder, and it all comes down to what the

a foot-long mullet or tarpon on a 10/0 kahle in a hole up the river, it’s pretty obvious you’re not after grunter. And if you’re trolling a 125mm lure on 50lb braid and 60lb leader, again, it’s obvious what you’re doing, and Fisheries officers aren’t stupid. RIVER MOUTHS In order to find species that aren’t really freshwaterfriendly, try looking out towards the river mouths and in the bays that are up and down the coastline. Sound around until you find some

the Poltergeist have been working well. Vibes and weighted plastics are usually reserved for the deeper water scenarios. Anyway, the season is over now, but hopefully this will help you in deciding what to use when it all opens up again. JACKS AND OTHER SPECIES Depending on the amount of fresh that we get over the next few weeks, jacks are going to be our main target.

This is the time of year when the focus becomes quite tunnel visioned on the jack theme. Nothing is better than the slashing strike of a jack on the surface.

stuff on the sounder, and anchor just upstream from them. Yes, I know… barra will frequent these spots too, but you’ll often find more diverse species there too. Small, plastics and vibes will often be a very effective technique when chasing grunter, so have some of those at the ready. With the wet season predictions all pointing towards a big wet, and a prolonged one also, this should be an interesting few months ahead for us. Remember too, if the storms are around and you’re in a small boat, think twice before putting yourself in harm’s away. They can pop up anywhere, at any time.

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OLD

A Hinchinbrook Christmas LUCINDA

Jeff Wilton jeffwilton83@hotmail.com

Sitting here typing up this article, it is very clear summer has really ramped up quickly. It’s bloody hot, the humidity is rising each day, and it feels like at any stage a wild storm may brew up – typical NQ weather in December. The fishing has been

great, but to be honest it normally is up here! If you can deal with the heat then it is a great time to be getting out there and chasing a few fish. Barra are off limits for a few more months so hopefully we get some big rainfalls to spark breeding and recruitment. Summer in the tropics is normally left for the locals as most southern travellers give it a miss due to the weather, uncrowded waterways and less fishing

Topwater jacks in the summer heat.

pressure can see some great sessions being had. Let’s check out what should be happening during the month of December. HINCHINBROOK CHANNEL It’s all about mangrove jack as this hot dry weather can make these fish super aggressive. Jacks call the entire system home every creek and mangrove-lined bank will have resident jacks. The secret is to fish for these guys at the optimal times meaning careful consideration of where you will be at certain stages of the tide. Good areas will have current moving out and along the fronts of mangrove-lined creeks. Jacks will take up residence in the best ambush zones of each area, so a bigger snag or branch that sticks out a little further than the rest. Throwing a selection of hardbodied lures or soft plastics will get results, but if you want the chance to do even better then learning the art of skip casting is well worth the time and effort. This cast will allow you to place a soft plastic into areas normal casts won’t allow. This style of fishing is also very handy in the heat of

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summer as you can fish shaded areas under mangrove overhangs. Shade lines are often overlooked areas that can hold fish looking to stay out of the direct sunlight plus acts as a great place to hide waiting for food. I have had plenty of sessions where I have skipped plastics deep under overhangs and the fish follow the plastic out and hit it as it is about to leave the shade every time. Summer evenings and nights spent anchored up somewhere chasing grunter and fingermark is a great way to spend some hours. This is a popular time for the locals here as it means you are not fishing in the heat of the day and apart from the odd storm brewing up, it is a very comfortable time to fish. Fresh caught bait will go a long way to getting better results, quality size fish will always choose a fresh or live bait over a frozen alternative. For those new to the area checking out the marine maps and a few hours sounding around will help locate a few spots to try. The well-known areas around the Bluff and Haycock Island do see a lot of boat traffic but for good reason as they always produce good fish. These spots are perfect for those traveling anglers who have no time so sounding around these spots for a few minutes locating some structure, bait and predatory fish before anchoring or deploying the electric. JETTY, ISLANDS AND REEF As I always say, the jetty is worth a fish every day of the year. It is just a magnificent fish attracting area with strong currents and structure, meaning it will hold baitfish and predatory fish. By far the best time to fish the jetty is early mornings or later evenings. Those periods when the sun is lower in the sky means the predatory fish will be hunting a lot more. During the middle of the day these

It always pays to keep an eye on the sounder while fishing. fish seem to go deep and sulk in the pylons not interested in feeding, no matter what you throw at them. Most people will fish for sports fish like GT and queenfish, but it also holds some big fingermark and the odd good nannygai. The Palm Islands will be popular but not really for the fishing. Spending a few hours, a day or even overnighting during the heat of summer is a great idea. The islands offer safe anchorages, clear water to swim and snorkel along with sandy beaches. Best of all, the area is so big that it is not hard to find your own spot away from the more popular spots. Take care during summer and it is best to wear a stinger suit as the chance of an encounter with various stingers is much higher when the waters are warm. The benefit of having several islands all in the same area is dependent on the wind direction – there is always smooth waters somewhere. Overnighting is a very popular past time for locals staying in the boat with a

few rods set and a squid light is lots of fun and can be rewarding with a few fish and tasty calamari as well. The Palms also have several camping locations that need a permit from the national parks to enjoy. Hitting the reef over summer, chasing trout and red fish is always on the cards with a good chance of lighter winds early morning before the northerly sea breeze kicks up around midday. For travellers just be aware that no matter how good the weather forecast is, there will nearly always be a harsh northerly blow up inshore every day. This will extend to about 10km past the islands then potentially glass off, so you can be travelling home in perfect glass to be hit with 20 knots of white caps for the last half of your journey. Not that you should mind especially, if a great day swimming was had and an esky full of tasty reef fish is on board. Cheers to all the readers out there and a Merry Christmas. Bring on 2022 full of more fishy tales.

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DECEMBER 2021

The Palms offer a great place to relax and cool down.

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Fine time for fingermark HINCHINBROOK

Ian Moody info@ianmoodyfishing.com

There have been many signs this year of an early wet season and so far it has shown to be pretty much the case. It’s also a great time of year to be chasing fingermark, aka golden snapper or spotted scale sea

the first species to usually vanish further out to sea. My favourite live baits are the greenback herring or Cooktown herring, the bigger the better too. A mono drawstring castnet used around areas such as the pylons in front of the Marina, the navigational marker for the wreck over near Hecate Point on Hinchinbrook Island or the pylons marking the

Henry Davison with a typical Hinchinbrook fingermark. perch. However, up here at Hinchinbrook it’s best to get in and target them when you can before any real deluge of rain arrives as when floodwaters inundate the channel, fingermark are

entrance to Number 7 Creek in Missionary Bay, usually hold massive numbers of them. It sometimes pays to have a good set of photochromatic sunnies on you to have a look at what size they are before

you throw your net in case you end up with a net of very small size herrings that get stuck very easily in the mesh and die easily. Being quick to get them from the net to a good sized bait tank makes all the difference. There has been an extra intensity of sharks too this time of year, they are just everywhere and it can be quite difficult if you’re fishing deeper water for species like fingermark. I find it’s best once you lose a fish or two to sharks to just move on somewhere else. Heading out at night can be more pleasant than being baked during the day. If you do, keep a keen eye out for storms this time of year, which can build up and come out of nowhere whether day or night. You will have to make a fairly quick decision if you have to travel 20 or 30 miles to shelter! With the incredible heatwaves in between rain periods this time of year, it sends our water temps soaring. One species that loves this is the mangrove jack. Close encounters in timber can be interesting upon hook up. Whether it’s from a retrieved lure or weedless plastic to a live bait, it can be

a real challenge to turn them if there is structure nearby. However, in saying that they can be caught even out in areas on mudflats adjacent to areas of timber being left high and dry at low tide. There has been the occasional thready kicking around but they haven’t been anywhere near as thick as years gone by. Best areas I have found them are usually in junctions where deep holes get scoured out from colliding currents. Usually ones 10m or deeper seem to hold good numbers. Always look on the up current side into the hole or ledge as that is where they will usually hold up. I’m looking forward to trying out the new Berkely

It’s best to target fingermark before the rains drive them further out to sea. Shimma Shrimp soft vibes in the 120mm size on the threadfin salmon during December. I reckon they will

Marcus was very pleased with his 87cm capture.

be a big hit. I hope you all have an awesome Christmas and Happy New Year and indulge in plenty of fine seafood we have to offer here on our doorstep. See you in the New Year. • If you’re looking to do a charter with us during January or the start of the 2022 open barra season in February, Bookings are filling up quick so now is a good time to get in and get your name down on some good dates. For bookings please email us at info@ ianmoodysportfishing.com or phone myself directly on 0402 339 459.

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Summer species smorgasbord CAIRNS

Dan Kaggelis dkaggelis@gmail.com

Summer time equals warm water temperatures and red-hot fishing in the Trinity Net Free Zone. All the favourite species will be chewing hard and it is

can be tricky to fish for, however when water temps are high they become much easier to catch. The best tides to fish for these tasty critters are on the neap tides. This is because they tend to reside in the deeper holes, rubble and bends and when the tide runs too much these spots become

plenty of wreck structures and also some sneaky isolated structure if you take the time to find them. Having a quality sounder like a Humminbird 360 or side scanner will make this much easier and save you a lot of time. When you do find these spots, you have a couple

don’t be too aggressive with your lure’s action. These fish spook easily so small subtle actions and retrieves work well. If you don’t want to use lures, fresh herring is the best bait. You don’t need to keep these bait fish alive, just fresh. Fish them on the lightest weight possible and drift them down to the structure slowly. Wafting baits will always be the first to get eaten opposed to those that are bomb dropped on heavy sinkers. Other species that will be on the chew will be threadfin and blue salmon. Since the introduction of the Net Free Zone the numbers of these fish have significantly improved. The blue salmon will turn up first on the local beaches between Machans and Yorkeys Knob and usually in big numbers. The threadies will not be too far behind. Vibes, Zerek Prawns or sinking hardbody lures will

Jacks will be on the chew across systems in the Trinity Net Free Zone. be a good option when these fish turn up in big schools. I love chasing threading in the Trinity Net Free Zone because they are all trophy fish with an average being around the 120cm mark. The final and my favourite species on the chew will be the mighty mangrove jack. These hard hitting fish will be peaking in December and will be smacking 3-4” lures or baits if they get anywhere

near them. I love chasing them on surface this time of year because they are so aggressive and will come right out of the snags to nail your lure. Favourite surface lures include the Lucky Craft Sammy and G Splash popper. Don’t be afraid to fish them fast. Next month will offer the same options, however conditions will become more unstable as we move into the monsoon months.

December is one of the best times of the year to target golden snapper in the NFZ. just a matter of targeting them at the right times and tides. One of the most desirable species this time of year is the golden snapper or fingermark. These fish

difficult to fish. The best system to chase these fish is the Cairns Inlet, in particular, the main channel where you will find some deep rubble patches. The Inlet also has

of options. The first is use lures, such as vibes or large jerk shads fished as close to structure as possible. Try and keep your vibe or plastic around the bottom as much as possible and

Big threadies will be on the hit list for many anglers fishing the NFZ.

Sizzling catches under the searing sun PORT DOUGLAS

Lynton Heffer www.fishingportdouglas.com.au

Summer has kicked in early this year by several weeks and shall remain for a little while yet until a genuine rain pattern settles in. To date, it has been a warm period in the tropics and it’s been a consistent 33ºC during the day and a balmy 23ºC at night. It’s a guessing game, so to speak, moving forward and each year seems to be slightly different but the humidity will go to another level. If you can stand the heat then you are up for a treat in current conditions. As normal at this time of year fish numbers can dwindle just margainly but the quality is right up there. It is like ordering a super sized meal at a famous take away establishment. I’ll rattle off some of it for you: big marlin, Spanish mackerel, tuna, giant trevally, red emperor, golden trevally, coral trout, fingermark, mangrove jack, 46

DECEMBER 2021

cobia and so much more in the fishing department. You add to this QLD groper at the Marina Docks in full sight, whale sharks coming to the back of the boat on the reef and a pod of false killer whales letting rip offshore into a big school of sizeable

fish. It has been quite eventful to say the least. The game fishing for big black marlin really kicked into gear late October and it coincided with a shift from the northerly breezes to a southeast direction. Even though the billfish were there

prior, they refused to provide a hot bite. Since then consistent big fish have played the game up to the 1000lb range plus a heap of younger stallions strutting their bravado on the same dance floor. Light game fishing has also been good on similar

Darren Calvett with an excellent 25kg GT.

grounds for the like of yellowfin tuna and wahoo. Reports are saying at this point mid December will likely be the cut off date for big black marlin unless you are prepared to travel wider for a few hard kicking blue marlin. On the reef it has all been big stuff of late for bottom fishing. We found on our charter boats that the quality or size of fish were profoundly bigger and numbers were good. For example we were catching regularly 4-5kg coral trout, 7-9kg large mouth nannygai, 6-7kg reef mangrove jack, 12kg Spanish mackerel, 5kg spangled emperor, 7kg red emperor, 10kg cobia and 8kg golden trevally, just as a sample. Even though there were variable winds a lot of the time and a bit of northerly in it, the fishing for the most remained high quality. Fishing as deep as possible will be our agenda when we can in the coming weeks. For inshore enthusiasts, our wonderful Daintree River has been firing on all cylinders and has been nothing short of dynamic

in recent times. There’s been numerous days where quality fingermark have been hammering away on certain structure. Live sardines are the choice bait and it has been good fortune if any other species got a look in. We are so lucky to have such a ripping fingermark system locally and probably the best on the east coast of Queensland I’d go as far to say. In the deeper parts of the channel we’ve come across some big golden trevally to 6kg and grunter over 55cm, both excellent sized river fish. The highlight for the month however was mucking around down at the river mouth on the Daintree. All the classic signs indicated it was a monster trevally and after some considerable chasing a 25kg giant trevally was the reward. An exceptional fish for anywhere let alone within the river and a deserved fish for Darren Calvett the lucky recipient. There’s going to be more of this coming up in our showpiece of wonderful fishing in FNQ.

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Get ready for the last of the dry, start of the wet congregating near water inflows and outflows, whatever the context. From black marlin swimming through their underwater canyons to a coral trout hugging the pressure edge of a reef, water moving past structure works to aggregate fish in the vast blue yonder. It’s a fisherman’s journey to try and figure these places out. How they bite and when, possibly why? Over on the East Coast, sections of the Great Barrier Reef lagoon will be fishing very well. With doldrum weather every possibility in December, fishers can traverse great distances in search of their quarry. A boat out fishing the flats can simply move reef-to-reef-to-reef when conditions are mirror calm

CAPE YORK

Tim O’Reilly wildrivercompany@gmail.com

December is often a transition month up in Cape York. The first few crackling storms will be hitting and always that distant build-up of cloud and thunder in the distance. We often have to wait until January before the wet begins in earnest. So what will all the fish be doing in this last month of the calendar? Under the stifling conditions December usually brings, some fish will be looking for cooler water and current flow. From the creeks out into the bays, across the reefs and islands out into the ocean, the story will be the same. Fish

Spangled emperor are a common catch.

and clear. It is very hard to beat drifting over large sections of reef in around 2-6m of water. Casting all manner of colourful creations into the coral structure in the hope of plucking out some colourful prize. They come in many shapes and sizes from coral trout, to emperors, trevallies, lutjanids, wrasse, all hard pulling. Visual strikes and the white-knuckle combat is what keeps reef flats fishers coming back. Out off the reef edges anglers might still come across mackerel and wahoo. The larger marlin have likely moved south towards Cairns and the season will soon come to an end. Once the winds get a little northerly and To page 49

It’s hot, hot, hot! COOKTOWN

Justin Coventry

Conditions were hot over the last month and looks to be the build up to the rainy season. The barramundi closure is in force and everybody will be thinking how far away 1 February is, but it’s a welcomed break for the barramundi and gives hope that the future stocks can be replenished.

I have seen so many big crocodiles swimming past our wharf, up to 4m in length, so it can be a little risky. Meeting one that big spearfishing would be scary. Responsible spearfishing is about sustainability and choosing the fish you want to eat. Large female breeding barramundi are best left to breed as quality of eating is not as good as a younger fish and allows millions of eggs to be distributed

millions of eggs, having them survive as long as possible can only be a good thing for the fishery. I’m sure there is a sustainable amount that can be taken, and also big barra feed on small fry so removing some of the big ones might even help the little ones have a chance to grow and flood our systems with new fingerlings. It’s the same with coral trout, as a big dominant trout will eat small trout so once removed from a spot then the little ones move in and have a chance to grow. I know it’s a controversial issue and there are different takes on it but good to have the conversation and action to do the best we can to ensure future stocks. The reef fishing has been gangbusters with lots of coral trout and large mouth nanngai showing

The author’s son Jonathan with a 1.25kg mangrove jack that won him the largest jack for kids at the local barra comp. It was his first legal jack and he was very happy. up regularly. The weather windows are getting longer and, as I mentioned last time, there are amble opportunities to do some

Jonathan with a large cherabin that he caught in a pot in Lakefield National Park. The barramundi fishing has probably been one of the best so far this year with some massive specimens caught off our local wharf. There were plenty caught over a metre in October leading up to the closure on 1 November. We also had some of the young spearos in town risking live and limb to target the big breeders as they moved down to the waterfront. 48

DECEMBER 2021

through our river systems. You can see how vulnerable the breeders are at this time of the year and, although some are easkily picked off as they head down to breed, at least some make it through to the closure. I’m not a fan of taking the big fish, especially at this time of the year. Knowing it takes up three years for a barramundi to start producing eggs, with the bigger fish producing many

Ray Wright and the author with some large mouth nannygai on a resent trip.

extended stays out on the reef. However, it is the build up to the storm season and weather can change dramatically and very quickly. I know of one old fisherman here in Cooktown that always leaves early and gets home after lunch as the afternoons is the most likely to see storm activity. I have had some hair-raising trips in the late afternoons through some nasty storms. The lure of fishing longer while you are at the reef can make the trip home interesting. Nowadays the weather forecast is pretty accurate and planning ahead can be done with some degree of confidence. But as the weather forecast goes, expect the unexpected and observe what’s happening not only around you but what you can see on the horizon. Often the weather can be calm behind the reef and even dead calm but off in the distance you can see a big mushroom cloud

rising and there is a good chance the weather is about to change. So take care and be prepared to head home early. The local wharf has been inundated with bait. Herring schools are thick and the pike have moved in. The shadows of barramundi can be often seen from the wharf as they cruise around the schools. I think you see more of them as the closure starts to tantalise the anglers. But with barramundi protected there are still many other fish to target as some big jacks can be around and Spanish mackerel, queenfish and trevally are always circling the bait schools. So a struggling baitfish thrown out the right time can be rewarded with a nice fish for dinner. All the best on your fishing adventures and be back next month with what’s biting around Cooktown.

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westerly and the monsoon period is underway, most people forget the blue water stuff. A drenching or squall overhead is only a matter of time for all who role the dice! Jigging for jobfish, emperor and trout in some of the deeper shoals and reefs should be productive. Slow pitch and vertical jigging techniques have revolutionised how effectively anglers can fish the bottom 5-10m of water. Fish such as nannygai

absolutely love them and it can be a fantastic way to add colour to an esky. Inshore on both sides of the Cape, there will be some amazing shallow reef fishing opportunities. Clean water leaves the reefs readily identifiable and neap tides further clarify the situation. This allows manoeuvrable boats to follow the reef lines and anglers to throw soft plastics, shallow divers and surface lures at bommies and swim throughs. Back closer to land,

the far upstream sections of creeks and rivers will be a little barren this time of year. With some of the larger water holes drying up and the valuable links between pools broken, only the most settled can survive. Early season lily pad growth in the freshwater sections can break down and drift downstream. The same stretches of river that looked so vibrant after the wet season, might feel like a hot, torturous, fishless desert at times in December. Good luck!

A lovely jewie taken in a West Coast river hole.

Clearing fly line as a big queenie runs.

Endless East Coast reef flats.

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End the year with some Christmas fishy fun TOOWOOMBA

Jason Ehrlich fishability1@bigpond.com

As another year draws to an end, we can look back on what was a tough situation for a lot of our fellow anglers. Queenslanders were spared from the worst of the lockdowns and this meant fishing was still a goer. I feel for my southern mates who weren’t so lucky and can only hope next year we can all get out and enjoy what we love to do. For some, fishing and the outdoors will be more appreciated than ever and the perfect way to de-stress. Despite what unfolds in

Golden perch (aka yellowbelly) fire right up in the summer months. They will chase down faster moving lures when they are in this mood.

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND CRESSBROOK CLOSEST TOWN: CROWS NEST Bass will be a bit more spread out. Strong thermoclines seem to encourage fish to suspend out in the open water and not just in tightly packed schools ear the bottom. This is ideal for lure trollers as they are able to cover a lot of water and with fish being all over the place, you are in with a chance of catching at any

trolling the deep, try to pull your lures across the tips of points and cross the drop offs to the old creek beds. The changes in depth are often all it takes for the fish to concentrate. Once you work out where they are holding, you can work that area more or switch over to casting. Lure casters will still be able to catch fish but you will need to spend a lot of time searching for the right ones. They are

our world, the fish are none the wiser. To them, it’s just another day and we should take every chance we can to go and catch them. The fishing at this time of year is pretty full on. Hundreds of boats barra fishing the lakes, bass fishers sharing the waterways with speedcrazed thrill seekers in ski boats and on jet skis and holiday makers and campers all over the place. It can be a busy time and a bit harder to catch a fish due to this. Keep that in mind and try to get out on the quieter days or to the less pressured areas. All the lakes are fishing quite well so you can avoid crowds by going to the spots which seem to fly under the radar. Locations like Ewen Maddock, Baroon

Pocket, Lake MacDonald, Lenthalls, Isis Balancing Storage, Wuruma and Connelly are some of the closer lakes within easy reach for a weekend away. Lakes aren’t the only option. Camping reserves on the rivers might see a bit of action but if you are lucky enough to know a quiet or private spot on the rivers and creeks you’ll soon forget we are coming in to that crazy time of year around Christmas. That’s right - Christmas! It’s almost here so get your orders in with Santa if you want some nice new lures or fishing gear. You’ll enjoy unwrapping that a hell of a lot more than socks and jocks. Until next year, buckled rods from The Colonel.

If you want an early or late session, don’t forget the longer open hours are to 6am to 8pm. SOMERSET CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY December is the start of the good bass and golden perch trolling months at Somerset. Deep diving lures capable of reaching 10m will get the bites in the middle reaches of the dam. Here you will be fishing the open water flats adjacent to the deep drop offs across spots like

Reaction style lures like chatterbaits and spinnerbaits will perform well on the Somerset bass over the summer months.

Tail spinners are one of the author’s favourite lures to pull through suspended bass. They work well cast and trolled, and seem easier than other lure presentations to keep in front of the fish. point. The deeper areas will be most productive. Try trolling medium divers early then switch to deeper offering capable of reaching 10m deep as the sun rises. Directly out in front of the boat ramp and up the middle in both directions is ideal. If you head through the no fishing buoy line past the pump tower, the deep water up the other arm is also worth a shot. When 50

DECEMBER 2021

usually found in small areas so lures like soft plastics, blades and spoons will get them to bite. If you were lucky enough to find a spreadout bunch of fish over a 100m or more, a Spectre Vibration Jig would be hard to beat. • 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.

Pelican Point, Bay 13 and Queen Street. Further up the lake around Kirkleigh the fish hold shallower and can be targeted with 7-8m divers. It is still a similar scenario and the fish won’t be too far from a drop off ledge. Trolling seems to work right through the day. Mornings and arvos can be better but they will still chew even around the middle of the day. Casting at this time

of year is hard. The fish tend to focus on particular types of presentations and lose interest in soft plastics and spoons. You can still bang a few early or late fish on these lure types but if you want to catch all day you’ll need to fish deep spinnerbaits and chatterbaits or long line deep cranks. The Spectre Vibration Jig was built to suit these fussy Somerset fish. These clear bladed chatterbaits are deadly on

them and the assist hooks hiding in the skirt seem more effective than the standard big single hook. It is best to wind drift or slow troll them moving at least 1.5km/h. This covers heaps of water and also stops the fish following and holding below your boat. The Spectre bite should kick off well this month and last until March so if you haven’t had a go, don’t miss out this year. Double figure sessions when fishing these

or trolled hardbody lures will not be uncommon. • 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.

the open water and spread out, it is a good time to troll hard bodies. I’d love to name a few but until you are on the water and seeing what depth the fish are holding, you can’t make that call. I’d be prepared and have a range of divers to cover depths from 3-10m. Lure casters should find good concentrations

around the dam. When the fish favour the deeper water, a prominent point nearby can be all it takes to have them bunched up. Soft plastics are one of my favourites on these fish. Spoons work well but I struggle fishing them as effectively to suspended fish. Tail spinners are one of my go to lures if the fish are suspended as I seem to have better control over their depth.

BURNETT REGION BOONDOOMA CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSTON, KINGAROY Stronger thermoclines will have developed and the bass will be holding out in the deeper water around them. Watching the sounder closely will pay off as the fish can be anywhere from the wall down to The Junction. With fish out in

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lake down. Unfortunately, the colour the blooms introduce and the warmer weather would produce the best golden perch fishing of the year. If algae levels drop to what is deemed to be a safe level, the lake will reopen to boating. • Cooby is an electric-only lake and being small is

well suited to kayaks. Keep an eye on the Toowoomba City Council website or Fish’n’Bits Facebook page to see if the lake has reopened. LESLIE CLOSEST TOWN: WARWICK Leslie has been fishing steady but the warmth of summer should see things step up a notch.

will also work effectively. Plenty of daytime fish were caught last month. This should also be the case over summer months with a mix of fish from the deeper, submerged weed beds and others well out in the open water where they will be suspending. Around the weed, casting soft plastics (both weedless and jighead rigged) will fool the fish. Locating them is the hard part as there are a lot of fishless areas between the good ones. Certain areas will hold and it is a matter of fishing heaps of water to find them. When they are hiding in the weed, sounders aren’t as useful as they are in open water. If you find fish outside the weed, there is a good chance there will be more hiding in the weed nearby. The deeper fish will hold around drop-offs to the old creek and riverbeds. Often they make their way to the deepest parts of the lake out from the dam wall. The mouth of Iveragh Creek and up towards Gold Mine Point will be worth exploring. Trolling diving hardbodies that run

• Justin Nye from Gladstone Fly and Sportfishing runs fishing charters on the lake. He caters to the needs of the angler and can do fly or conventional tackle trips to target the lake’s barramundi. He successfully guides clients onto fish right through the year and has a good understanding of fish movements. It is hard to beat time on the water and this is a great way to learn more about this lake and its fish. You can contact him on 0429 223 550 or visit the website gladstoneflyandsportfishing. com.au. • Mark from Awoonga Gateway Lodge always has a few productive secret spots to share. The Gateway lodge is on the way in to the dam after turning off at Benaraby. The accommodation is great with plenty of boat parking space right beside the comfortable air conditioned, self-contained cabins each with its own veranda. To book in a stay give Mark or Lyn a call on (07) 4975 0033. CALLIDE CLOSEST TOWN: BILOELA Callide has been a bit tougher this year with less

DARLING DOWNS AND GRANITE BELT COOBY CLOSEST TOWNS: HIGHFIELDS, TOOWOOMBA Cooby is closed at the time of writing. I could have guessed it was coming as the warmer months bring on the algae blooms and the council is quick to close the CAPRICORN REGION AWOONGA CLOSEST TOWNS: BENARABY, GLADSTONE The dam has really turned it on this year but there are still plenty of anglers struggling. I have mainly fished late afternoons and into the night and we have found some reliable spots holding good numbers of fish. Without giving away all the secrets, I’d suggest finding a likely looking weed point close to deep water. By deep water I mean the main rivers and creeks, which feed into the dam with at least 10m of depth. Having this deep water nearby has really paid off with more fish filtering past your spot once it gets dark. The weed is healthy at the moment and the submerged beds, which haven’t hit the surface yet have been producing well. With more warmth in the water, the fish may drop a bit deeper at times and will also be found patrolling the edges of the weed where it meets a clearer weedless bottom. For deeper areas

The golden perch love the warm water and go into feeding mode and will happily chase down faster moving presentations. Trolling lures, both bibbed and lipless, will produce good numbers of goldens in the mornings and afternoons. The day time boating activity could get a bit hectic so that’s another good reason to stick to the

early and late sessions. Cod will also be worth targeting. Up the size of your lures and try big swimbaits across shallow flats early in the morning. These fish will likely retreat to deeper water of around 4-5m by mid-morning and hold on structure or ledges. Casting and trolling spinnerbaits close to the bottom is a

good way to increase your chances when the cod are deeper. You can mix it up and run a cod lure while chasing goldens. • The local blokes at Warwick Outdoor and Sport in Palmerin Street can point in you in the right direction and hook you up with the good gear and bait to catch the fish at Leslie.

Ian Ryan had never landed a barra over a metre long until this trip to Callide. He boated a 109, 119 and 120cm fish. This dam has some very impressive fish. a few 100m of the buoy line will see you in with a good chance. Using an electric motor, pull the lures at around 2.5-3.2 km/h and work the upper part of the water column. The deeper fish can also be targeted with heavier offerings but are less likely to bite. Trolling seems to lift some of these deeper fish as the boat passes over and as you move away they are left higher in the water column where they feed better. For this reason, when they are sitting deep, it still pays to run a shallower offering. Late afternoons and night sessions can be tough. Sounding around and locating numbers of barra is the trick to catching them and if you find good numbers expect to hook more. Look around the bays and points in the main basin as these fish seem to bite better than those out deep and suspended. Wind

can be a driving factor to fish movements so check the windy side of the dam first. Out deeper in the middle, fish can still be caught but unless they are present in good numbers the bites are few and far between. These deepwater fish are good at disappearing too. I have never seen the Humminbird 360 Mega transducer in action but maybe it could help you keep track of their movements. Up near Pelican Point, the treelines marking the edge of the main channel always holds reasonable numbers of fish. They can be hard to get a bite out of but when you are lucky enough to strike a bite time, expect multiple bites. Lures like Samaki Redic DS, Jackall Squirrels and Super Squirrels all perform well here. Callide trees are hungry and love to eat lures so make sure you have a pole retriever at hand to bash them free. With multiple light

limbs, the submerged trees are harder to extract fish from than most other barra lakes. Go hard when you can to try and take some puff out of the fish. The free-spooling approach can pay off but the sunken mess of branches means fish are likely to find something to wrap you around. All you can do is try and keep them on a short leash and lead them to open water. • You can stay close to the dam at Lake Callide Retreat. The park has basic camping, powered sites for camping and vans and also self-contained cabins. There is a well-equipped camp kitchen and toilets and showers up in the main part of the park near the office. Make sure you bring all of your fishing tackle. The kiosk has a limited amount of fishing gear but it is well suited to the lake.

Gary’s Marine Centre Awoonga will continue to produce barra after dark. Weed points near deep water have been productive over the last few months. the Molix Shad 140 will be a standout. If working shallower or on top of the weeds try swimbaits, like the 5.5” Zerek Live Mullet or Barambah Bony Shad. Soft plastics paddle tails in the 5-7” range rigged on barra strong 1/2oz jigheads

3-10m deep is a good way to explore and search for fish. At trolling speed, you can still keep an eye on your side image and spot anything in the area. When numbers of fish are located together, casting or trolling plastics will get more bites.

barra caught. The fish on offer are big and the chance of barra to 120cm is pretty high with the average size around a metre long. The morning trolling bite should be in full swing. Trolling soft plastics or Zerek 5.5” Live Mullets through the deep water within

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217 Pine Mountain Road, BRASSALL DECEMBER 2021

Kayaking

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Searching for the adventure BRISBANE

Troy Brown

One of the things I really enjoy about kayaking is the diversity. Sometimes, diversity within locations can mean nothing more than turning left, rather than right. While we can endure some long expeditions on these

wind picks up. As fishing seems to anger the weather gods, those low winds seen midweek are frequently replaced by angry gales on the weekend, which was true to form during our recent visit. The two factors combine to make fishing exceedingly difficult, but like any committed fisher, there were only two words that would leave our lips,

the concept that fish strike a lure-based more on the action than being life-like, it is the ugly concoctions I am casting from the yak! Heading out from Mitchell Park, Nirmal and I took a quick look at our surroundings. The tide was running out, exposing the vast sand banks that are a feature of the Broadwater. While the exposed sand

whom clearly had the barest minimum of experience or etiquette, our aim was to find any interesting changes in the waterway. Sitting so low to the water gives you a unique perspective, as you notice things that may otherwise pass you by when moving around on a boat. Subtle differences can mean an aggregation of fish, or at least an increased chance of finding an isolated fish in a feeding mood. We were looking for a major change, such as a large cut-away in the edge of a sand bank, which can create interesting eddies, pressure points or still water in otherwise predictable

The author managed a cricket score of midsized fish. They are loads of fun to catch!

Hook-up! We beached the yak and SUP, with a plan to fan casts across a section of sand, before moving a few metres and repeating. Nirmal only made it to his second cast before his rod loaded up. compact hulls, the lack of speed means that many larger systems become a series of micro-systems, as they simply cannot be fully explored in one session. An easily accessible example of this for South East Queensland anglers, is the Gold Coast Broadwater. Launching from Mitchell Park at Southport brought back memories of my first Hobie bream competition. While it was an enjoyable experience, it certainly wasn’t a confidence booster, as I joined a number of anglers who walked away with an empty live well. It was a humbling experience, as the heavily fished pontoons and boat hulls proved fruitless for me, with only some undersized offerings returned to the waterway. On that occasion, my departure from Mitchell Park followed the same route of many anglers, eschewing the open waters of the Broadwater to chase bream around structure. Recently, my focussed changed, as I wanted to try my hand in the extensive sand flats immediately in front of the launch point. With Nirmal Sumy tagging along on his stand-up board, we set out to chase flathead on one of the busiest bodies of water in Queensland. Sensible anglers would scoff at our mission, as anyone with common sense would argue that the Broadwater has far too much boat traffic, while also becoming very exposed and unpleasant when the 52

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“Challenge accepted!” Adding to my personal level of difficulty, I’ve effectively replaced any brand-name lures in my box with my own homemade prototypes. Like an

immediately in front of the boat ramp was inviting, we turned left to put some distance between ourselves and the exceptionally busy launch area. Dodging the horde of boaters, many of

Nirmal’s 82cm flatty was proof that flatties enjoy light meals. This beast was caught on a 2” paddletail and 6lb line. evil genius at work (perhaps the genius part is a little misguided), I’ve spent hours computer designing, manufacturing masters and moulds to produce my own soft plastic lures. Whether by good management or simple fortune, I’ve managed to make a few designs that catch fish, so the work has certainly been worthwhile. My lures lack the finish of commercial offerings, but as they are for my own private use, I figure that if the fish like them, why should I worry if they’re not pretty? If anything proves

Pike and toadies are the scourge of lure fishing. When these pests are out in droves, you should stop using scent. Quality scents help deliver a slightly better catch rate of desirable fish, but also seem to dramatically increase toad and pike attacks. tidal conditions. We also paid close attention also to the more subtle changes, such as the surface ripple that indicates a current line, a sudden depth change, or perhaps darker sections which meant either an isolated deep hole, or a large weed bank. While Nirmal cycled through an impressive list of lure models on our way to the ultimate destination, I patiently flicked my own 2” paddletail and grub lures around the same areas, amassing a decent tally of fish before we

reached our stopping point. Watching Nirmal still on the dreaded donut, when I was well into double figures, I was amazed at his run of poor luck. In fairness to him, he was doing everything right. He mixed up the lures, tried different speeds, changed his action and made numerous adjustments without reward, while my simple cast and slow retrieve was amassing a solid tally of fish. Size was lacking and there were a few pike in the mix, however I was ecstatic for my own good fortune,

The moment a fish is sliding into your net is always a relief, even with the smaller models.

while also wondering how Nirmal could do everything right, yet still be empty-handed. We often talk about adapting to suit the conditions and it is possibly one of the hardest disciplines to master. Most humans are creatures of habit, so we fall into patterns in the way we fish, as it may have worked well for us on occasion. Fish are also habitual in many respects, but these habits (instinctive and learned) are affected by weather, tide, bait in the system and several other bite triggers. We can overcome some of these with practise and observation, but we cannot change that one wildcard – luck. Sometimes, it just isn’t your day. Nirmal enabled me to underline that point, as his first catch put some perspective on how one catch can change your entire attitude for the day. Having navigated a little further into the Broadwater, we decided to stop at a sand flat that had been divided by the tide, forming a narrow channel. As Nirmal was having a slow day, I suggested he tried one of my creations, as they’d performed well for myself and I was hoping it may improve Nirmal’s day. As the flats were a great place to stretch, we exited our kayaks on the sand, then Nirmal set about fanning his casts from across the creek, in search of his first flathead for the day. On his second cast, his rod loaded up, his drag started screaming and our excitement level jumped tenfold. I became invested in ensuring Nirmal managed to land the fish, coaching him to land his first fish for the day, totally forgetting that he needed no help. I think I was more excited than he was, although his expression on hook-up was priceless.

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Ultimately, Nirmal landed the flathead, a personal best 82cm tank, which was the fattest flattie I’ve ever seen. It was nearly as round as it was wide, so Nirmal had done a great job landing it on light gear. He did everything right, keeping pressure on the fish while allowing the drag to compensate for light line, while also ensuring the fish kept its head below the water when nearing the shallows.

had a long fight, the fish needs a longer recovery. Some quality lip grips make this easier, with the plastic locking style being a better choice to reduce damage to the fish’ soft mouth. I hate seeing fish hung from metal lip grips and the plastic models are nearly always a better choice. Gently swim your catch in the shallow water, moving it back and forth until the fish starts to

Kayaking

asked if I’d had enough for the day. It was a great way to end the day, so I agreed and we pedalled back to the launch point. Anything I’d caught was forgotten, as that one fish dominated the day and all of the smaller catches were over-shadowed by Nirmal’s change of fortune. It proves that it only takes one thing to keep us coming back. Some days, it’s a PB, others it’s that one fish we

TIPS FOR BROADWATER FLATHEAD • Weather: While the area is surrounded by shoreline, wind plays a huge part in comfort and safety, as it is an open and heavily trafficked waterway. If you’re not experienced or don’t have a stable kayak, pick your days carefully. Even in a quality yak, conditions can be difficult and catching fish near impossible. • Anchoring: If you fish one of the many cut-aways or mini-creeks that appear on low tide, it’s helpful to be able to hold position while you fan-cast over an area. I use a Power Pole, which is the ultimate method to anchor in shallow water, but an anchor with an anchor trolley system will do the job nicely. • Use your legs: In the shallows, it can be difficult to find a position to chase fish without spooking them. In this situation, beach your yak on the sand and walk to a better position. • Surface fishing is amazing fun: Until I started testing my home-made surface soft plastic, I’d never really attempted chasing flathead on the surface. Watching the same fish hit my plastic multiple times was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever seen. Sadly, I didn’t have a hook suited to the plastic, so the fish weren’t hooked, but I certainly was! The aggression of the fish was a huge buzz! • Keep it light: In the Broadwater, apart from some weed coverage you’ve not got any structure to worry about. Use 4-6lb line and leader for ultimate angling enjoyment. The dreaded flathead ‘head shake’ has cost us all fish, but lowering your rod tip and stopping that topwater explosion seems to result in far less bust-offs. It also helped that we’d dismounted and Nirmal was able to gently coax this beast onto the sand, instead of trying to net the fish on the water. That moment a nice fish is close to your net is heart-in-mouth stuff, with any bust-off of a good fish liable to ruin your day. Light lines and leaders make those last moments even scarier, but if you’ve used your drag and fought the fish carefully, the light line will have lengthened the fight and typically tired the fish into complacency. Well, that’s the theory, but flatties don’t always know when to quit. Watching the release of a big fish is always satisfying, but don’t rush it. If you’ve

feel lively. Once your catch is starting to feel angry and wants to go, it’s time to say goodbye! Having endured a tough start to the day, Nirmal was keen to end on a high and

caught to break a donut streak, irrespective of size or species. Some days, we just need to take our medicine and find pleasure in simply being on the water, which is easy when

MIGHTY The moment of release. While your mate is giving the fish a chance to revive, it’s your job to ensure the moment is captured!

That’s a weird looking flathead…. and the fish isn’t right either!

you’re relaxing on a kayak with good mates. I had intentions of talking about techniques I use in the area, the interesting tidal flows and about the gear we use. Nirmal’s fish still gets me excited, with an extra grin due to it being caught on my own lure design. There’s time for tech talk and then there’s the need to celebrate a great win by a mate. Well done, Nirmal, what a great comeback! Kayaking is truly one of the most sociable means of hitting the water and it’s more a community than a sport. If you fish from the shore, or from a boat, grab yourself a yak and discover the passion.

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Beginner’s guide: flathead on soft plastics JUMPINPIN

Bo Sawyer

Flathead would have to be one of the most commonly targeted fish for Aussie anglers. So much so, we’ve adopted countless nicknames for these wonderful fish – crocs, lizards, flatfish, shovels, dogs (get the dogs!) and my personal favourite ‘mud marlin’. It doesn’t matter what you call them they’re available all year round, can be caught on any tide,

choices. They can be used in most areas and are easy to learn. • A slow raise is simply lifting your rod tip up and winding in the slack as you lower it back down. • Double hops are two quick lifts of the rod tip and once again lowering the tip back down while winding in the slack line. Another important step on the retrieval is to pause the lure – allow your plastic to sink back down to the bottom. This is when you will get most of your hits,

the hook to penetrate the flathead’s mouth. It’s really that simple and the results can be incredible. It’s not uncommon to catch 20-30 fish in a single session, although it can take a bit of practice to get up to these numbers. Now that we’ve explained the basics of flatty flicking, let’s get into some specifics. LURE SELECTION You could ask 100 anglers this question and get 100 different answers. Everyone has their favourites

flathead’s stomach. There are also a few styles to consider. Paddletails are my favourite but curly tails, jerk shads and shrimp imitations are great as well (again, every angler is different). I’ll fish the shrimp style when the fish aren’t very active. Then paddle-tails, jerk shads and curly tails when they’re biting hard. So what colours should we be looking at? As a rule of thumb you want natural looking colours in clear water and bright or dark ones in dirty water (darker plastics will create a silhouette and are more noticeable in murky water). There are days when this gets thrown out the window but most of the time it

The author with a decent fish caught in less than a foot of water. It’s amazing how shallow you can find them.

The author out fishing on the Quintrex Hornet Pro. Plenty of casting space definitely has its benefits. and are great fun to chase on plastics! I was lucky enough to test out Quintrex’s new 481 Hornet Pro and couldn’t help but head straight to the flats and start flicking for these awesome fish! GETTING STARTED First things first, rub some scent on your plastic. This will attract more bites and fish will hold onto the plastic longer, giving you a better strike rate. We’ll go over where to cast later in the article. After you cast, there are a few ways to retrieve your plastic – you can flick, slow roll, raise or hop the plastic using your rod tip. I find different retrieves will outperform others on any given day. At the start of the session I will switch it up until I notice one that is working better: • When I’m fishing areas with a lot of weed I tend to use aggressive flicks, this can help remove any weed stuck on your plastic/hook (flathead won’t hit a lure with weed on it). • A slow roll (slow wind) can be effective when fishing a sandy or muddy bottom but is a bad choice when weed is present as it’ll collect a lot of it. • Single raises and double hopping are my favourite 54

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and a pause of 1-3 seconds works well. When flathead are biting hard I’ll leave less of a pause so I can fish quicker and cover more ground, but if they are a little quiet I’ll slow it down and wait 3 seconds. Lastly, the strike! There are a few subtle methods you can adopt here. You can

they swear by but for anyone who’s getting started don’t stress too much. There are plenty of proven plastics that work really well. Let’s start with size. I catch 95% of my flathead using 3.5-5” lures. I will generally start off at 4-5” and if I’m getting a lot of short strikes (the fish

Benno with a nice flathead he caught casting plastics along a sand bank edge. rings true. Ultimately the best colour is what they are hitting on the day and I’ve seen concrete evidence that a change in colour (when you find the right colour) can instantly improve the amount of hits you get. So if one thing isn’t working try something different.

JIG HEADS Jig heads are just as important as the plastics you choose. If you’re not keeping your offering on the bottom, chances are you won’t catch anything. Use too much weight and you’re left with a presentation that looks clunky and unnatural.

A high level drain that’s just about to empty out. Flathead will be waiting in the deeper water to ambush any prey that gets pushed off it. strike as soon as you feel a hit or allow the flathead a second to get it down its gob. I have a higher hook up rate when giving them that extra second but you need to have scent on your plastic for this to be really effective. Just remember a firm hook set is needed for

are hitting the tail of my plastic not up near my hook) drop down a size. If the barometer is low I’ll even drop down to 2.5”, I find that the fishing is much tougher in these conditions and a smaller bait is more likely to get pounced on when there’s added pressure on the

A double hook up! Always a welcome sight when you’re out on the water.

When fishing shallow (0-2m) I like to use 1/4oz jigheads, they are still heavy enough to cast well yet won’t sink too quickly. When working deeper drop offs (2-4m), 3/8oz will help you stay on the bottom much more easily. Lastly, when I’m fishing in deeper water (4-18m) that has more current, I’ll jump up to 1/2oz weights. The important thing to remember is to continually keep your plastic on the bottom while using the lightest weight possible. Hook size will depend on the size of the plastic you’re using. The most common size used is 3/0, if you’re using a smaller plastic you can drop down to 1/0 or 2/0. Flathead have big mouths so there’s no need to go any smaller than that. In fact when I’m using bigger plastics I’ll opt for a 5/0 so there’s good hook exposure with the larger profile. FISHING GEAR When fishing for flathead 8-12lb is going to cover almost every situation you’ll face. I base nearly all of my outfits, braid and leader around these numbers. For reels I like using 2500 series and you want the smoothest drag your budget can afford. High gear models are also a great option when fishing shallow as big flathead will often hit their prey and swim straight into deeper water (if you’re fishing in a boat, that’s usually straight towards you). If you don’t wind in the slack and strike quickly enough, it can be all over in an instant. Graphite rods with a medium-heavy action are ideal to ensure good hook penetration when striking. With a rod length of 6’10-7’ being the weapon of choice for most gun anglers. When fishing in deeper water or areas with a lot of structure you might need to up the ante with 15-20lb

gear. Casting 1/2oz jigs on lighter rods can also damage them over time so check the casting weight rating of your rod and use a slightly heavier setup when needed. For your mainline use braid, this will help you feel even the subtlest of bites. For the leader you want roughly a rod’s length worth of fluorocarbon at the business end – don’t use any more than this as your leader will fray on the joining knot. YouTube braid to leader if you haven’t had experience using these before, I like FG knots but choose one you feel comfortable with. TIDE AND PLACES A couple of hours either

A perfect drain. With large sand banks present, this drain will funnel a lot of baitfish on the low tide and flathead along with it.

A perfectly presented plastic. You’ll be able to do this in your sleep after some practice. The more you do it, the better you get.

side of the low are great times to chase flathead. As water comes off sand banks, fish have no option but to retreat into deeper water. This creates a great bite period, as all the fish that had previously been spread out over the sand banks are now concentrated along drop offs. On the last of the outgoing, focus your efforts on shallow drains. It’s not uncommon to see flathead skimming the surface with their fins out of the water smacking baitfish at this time of the tide. The trick here is to keep your plastic just high enough off the bottom to avoid the weed.

The higher tide can be a little more tricky but can still produce hot bites. My favourite areas to target are the edges of mangroves that are holding baitfish and also weed beds that have sandy patches through them. Fishing deep is also a great option on the high, especially around springtime when the bigger females are more active. In between tides I always like flicking at higher level drains. These are just drains that empty out earlier in the tide and are typically located on islands rather than sand banks. The great thing about these drains is that you can fish them effectively in a short period of time and quickly move onto the next one. Once you’ve found an island holding a high level drain there’s usually plenty more on the same stretch so you can fish several drains in a very short time. BOAT SETUP If you’re lucky enough to have a boat or looking to buy one then here are few things to consider on the set up/lay out of your biggest fishing asset. A big casting deck is ideal. The Quintrex Hornet Pro I took out for this article has this in spades. A massive casting deck up the front and a smaller one located on the back of the boat. Having

plenty of casting space will definitely make your day more enjoyable. Some good storage is definitely handy as well. The less clutter you have in the boat, the more room you have to operate. There’s been so many times when I’m trying to land a big flathead

against the current, cast ahead and work your lure back towards the boat. This will look far more natural than a lure working against the current. GET OUT THERE AND HAVE A CRACK! There’s no substitution for hands on experience so get

Fishing the deep can pay dividends during the warmer months. only to have the net caught up on rods, lures and my tackle bag. Electric motors, such as a Watersnake or Minn Kota, make an enormous difference out on the water as well. You can control your drift much easier and stay in position more effectively when you’ve found the fish. You can also slowly motor

out there and start flicking. I guarantee any one who spends a bit of time casting plastics will be hooked and astonished with the results. • If you have any questions or would like to see footage of some flatty action feel free to check out ‘The Bobo Boat’ on Facebook or Instagram and I’ll be more than happy to help.

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Part I: How sustainable are whiting 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 the 148 species covered in the Status of Australian Fish Stocks 2020 report were species taken by commercial and recreational fishers in two or more states. These included assessments of six whiting species: • eastern school or silver whiting (Sillago flindersi) • King George whiting (Sillaginodes punctatus) • sand whiting (Sillago ciliate) • stout or robust whiting (Sillago robusta) • trumpeter or winter whiting (Sillago maculate) • yellowfin whiting (Sillago schomburgkii) Part one of this article describes the status of eastern school whiting and King George whiting. Part two will address the other four species. EASTERN SCHOOL WHITING This species is viewed as a single stock, occurring from southern Queensland to western Victoria and eastern Tasmania. Its status has been assessed under two ‘management units’: Southern Australia and New South Wales. Historically, the NSW-managed fishery took about 60% of the commercial catch, with most of the balance taken by the Commonwealthmanaged South East (trawl) Fishery. Marketed to anglers as silver whiting, the species

After years of tag-recapture and genetic research, the range, movements and recruitment patterns of King George whiting are now well known. has become popular as a bait for snapper, sharks and squid. Unlike other whiting species, much of the 1,700 tonne commercial catch of school whiting is exported, mainly to Japan. New South Wales The estimated NSW recreational catch of school whiting in 2017/18 was 1.5 tonnes. Since 2019, the statemanaged trawl fishery for whiting has operated under a combined Total Allowable Catch for school whiting and stout whiting. Between 2017 and 2019, the combined commercial catches for the school whiting stock exceeded recommended limits. In 2020, the stock was estimated to be at just 35% of the unfished level. After the NSW TAC for 2020/21 was reduced by 25%, the whole stock was projected to increase significantly, allowing for easing of future

catch limits. Southern Australia In 2012/13, the recreational school whiting catch from Tasmania was two tonnes. The total commercial catch from this southern management unit in 2018/19 was 584 tonnes, comprising 538 tonnes from the South East Fishery, and 41 tonnes from Tasmania’s and less than five tonnes from Victoria’s state-managed fisheries. Based on the overall evidence from both management units, the eastern school whiting is classified as a “sustainable stock”. KING GEORGE WHITING The King George whiting fishery is exceptional: this is the top-priced scalefish in southern seafood markets, keenly sought by commercial and amateur fishers. But uniquely among such

closely managed species, most of those caught and retained are immature fish. During the past decade, total commercial landings have fallen from about 500 tonnes to 350 tonnes. While the species occurs across southern Australia, from New South Wales to Western Australia, including Tasmania, the SAFS 2020 report addresses King George whiting from just three

Victoria While King George whiting may live for 20 years, most of those caught in Victoria’s bays and inlets are 2-4 year old juveniles. The numbers recruiting each year are strongly influenced by environmental factors, notably the strength of winter westerlies that drive postlarval movements around the coast and into sheltered bays. The combination of year-toyear variations in weather patterns, with a fishery based on juvenile fish, results in highly variable numbers and catches over short time frames. The 150-year history shows that the Victorian fishery for these juveniles continues to allow enough to progress to adulthood in open coastal waters where fishing pressure is low. During the past 20 years, Victoria’s whiting fisheries have proved to be sustainable, while fluctuating in response to yearly recruitment fluctuations. Over the same period, commercial fisher numbers have been reduced by a series of licence buy-outs. As a result, from 2022, the only remaining commercial net fishery will be in Corner

is no recent estimate of the recreational catch. On the basis of the available evidence, the Victorian King George whiting is classified as a “sustainable stock”. South Australia In SA waters, the separation of this species into three stocks is based largely on understanding of key elements of the life history”: adult movement patterns, spawning and nursery areas, and larval dispersal. The statewide commercial catch was recently reported as 230 tonnes and the recreational catch was estimated to be 367 tonnes in 2013/14. Gulf St Vincent stock This biological stock occurs throughout Gulf St Vincent, the Investigator Strait and around Kangaroo Island. From the 1990s, the commercial fishery catch and effort declined in step with reduced fisher numbers, while catch rates increased until 2007. Then, between 2008 and 2012, the estimated stock biomass fell, associated with low recruitment or spawning success. In 2016, the resulting review of management

Nothing puts a smile on an angler’s face like a good catch of KGs. states. While genetic studies suggest the existence of separate stocks in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, assessments are presented separately at the jurisdictional level for Victoria and WA. When combined with knowledge of differences in life history, there is enough certainty for the results to be presented for three separate SA biological stocks. There is some genetic mixing between whiting off Victoria and SA, but those occurring off Tasmania appear to be genetically distinct. 56

DECEMBER 2021

Inlet, leaving recreational fishing as the main source of pressure on this stock statewide. In 2018/19, the Corner Inlet fishery landed 94 tonnes of whiting. So, after 40 years, when the Victorian commercial catches ranged from 100 to 200 tonnes, future totals are unlikely to exceed 100 tonnes. Creel surveys showed exceptional catch rates in the bays in 2018/19, reflecting strong recruitment from 2016 to 2019. This strong recruitment is expected to support high catch rates over the next few years. There

arrangements led to the legal size increase to 32cm, a reduced recreational bag limit, and a one-month closed season for the Investigator Strait and southern Spencer Gulf. From 2013, the commercial catch rates increased, with indications that the stock size had stabilised. Based on all recent indications of stock size and recruitment, the Gulf St. Vincent biological stock is classified as a “sustainable stock”. Spencer Gulf stock This biological stock occurs throughout Spencer

Gulf and nearby coastal waters, from western Kangaroo Island to the Eyre Peninsula. Estimates of commercial catch and effort through the 2000s have been lower than those recorded during the previous 20 years. While varying over time, catch rates showed “a long-term increasing trend”, indicating a healthy stock size to present times. The exception was from 2007 to 2013 when the stock size fell, along with a decline in recruitment. The post-2013 recovery in recruitment led to the highest biomass estimates

recorded for this stock. The mid-2000s declines in stocks in both gulfs led to the extensive management review mentioned above, followed in 2016 by tightened controls including the spawning closure for the Investigator Strait and southern Spencer Gulf. On the basis of the most recent assessment, the Spencer Gulf biological stock is classified as a “sustainable” stock. West Coast Eyre Peninsula stock This biological stock

extends through SA’s inshore and offshore coastal waters west of the Eyre Peninsula. Stock size estimates have increased since 1984, reflecting increasing recruitment and decreasing commercial fisher numbers and fishing effort. On this basis, the West Coast biological stock is classified as a “sustainable stock”. Western Australia In what is considered to be a single WA stock, juvenile King George whiting occur in inshore waters of both

School whiting, sold as silver whiting, are a popular bait species among anglers.

Most of the eastern school whiting are caught by trawlers and Danish seiners for export markets.

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. Since 2000, annual commercial catches have been about 20-40 tonnes, following decades of wide fluctuations reaching as high as 150 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 suggesting a stable stock size. On the basis of all available evidence, King George whiting in WA is classified as a “sustainable stock”. 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.

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Regal Marine

DECEMBER 2021

Sydney

NSW

Welcome to the silly season PITTWATER

Peter Le Blang plfishfingers@bigpond.com

The silly season is upon us once again, and it is regarded that way for more than one reason. It is quite astounding to see how many people can hover around one school of surface feeding fish. Over the last month in Broken Bay there have been schools of pelagic species popping up every now and then, inviting everyone to cast at them. Sitting back away from the masses and the multiple lines and lures being cast in the one direction can be quite amusing, especially when anglers are hooking up each other from different sides of the working schools. I know it’s wrong to laugh, but I nearly cried I was

laughing so hard when we saw anglers that thought they were on the biggest fish for the morning only to find their lures had become tangled from others on the opposite sides of the school. There would have only been one thing to make it even more amusing and that would have been the angler calling to back the boat down and chase the fish. So as you can see, there are some fish to chase on the surface at the moment and there are schools of kingfish and a couple of schools of salmon and tailor. These fish are preferring smaller metal lures in the 10-15g sizes or small poppers, which are always fun because you can watch the fish strike the lure. Along Pittwater we are seeing kingfish being caught in different areas every day, and this is because

Blue skies and hard fighting kings always bring a smile.

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DECEMBER 2021

the schools of fish are still moving around Pittwater and are not loaded up in any one particular area. With this in mind, it is better to use the downrigger and live baits to try to tempt these fish. Squid strips and squid heads have worked, and there has been the odd day when you can use yellowtail (but with most of kingfish only being small, the yellowtail have to be small too). However, by far the best bait at the moment is small live squid. On most occasions you can catch 10 squid and fish them on a downrigger, with a live yellowtail on the other rigger on the opposite corner, and you will run out of squid before the yellowtail is even touched. To gather yellowtail the better area seems to be at West Head, and you don’t even have to anchor to catch to them. Once you find yellowtail on the sounder it is as easy as dropping out a berley bucket and drifting, as long as the drift is not too quick. Bait jigs can then be used and in a very short period of time the live bait tank will be full of them. Squid seem to be active in most bays along Pittwater, as well as on the ocean side of Barrenjoey Head. At the moment the better size jigs to use are the 2.0 and 2.5 jigs, depending on where you are trying for them. Along Pittwater the fluoro coloured 2.0 squid jigs seem to be working a treat first thing in the morning whilst using an aggressive retrieve. On the ocean side of Barrenjoey Head, using a paternoster rig and 2.5 fluoro coloured squid jigs will work well in the deeper water. The areas to try along Pittwater are Mackerel Beach, Palm Beach weed beds, Careel Bay as well as Morning Bay. Quite often I am asked whilst on charter where is the best spot to catch squid? The truthful answer is there is no best spot, they are spread along the whole of the shoreline wherever seaweed is found. Places where there are ribbon weed beds seem to be the best places to try for squid. It truly is just a matter of drifting and covering ground to find those little ink machines. The most recent schools of kingfish that we have been targeting have been along the eastern side of Pittwater. These fish do not seem to be staying at the wrecks, especially when 40 boats decide to throw out anchors, deploy a lot of berley and start casting lures and dropping down live baits. In these areas around the sunken boats, when the above happens quite often

the fish will move on, and anglers will be left with pickers that destroy hardearned live squid. With this said, it is better to downrig along the eastern side and find these moving fish in stealth mode wherever possible. For those of you wanting to find a feed of bread-andbutter species, they can be found drifting from Patonga to Lion Island along the channel. There are some nice flathead being caught on pilchards, and the odd flounder or whiting have also been caught whilst using prawns. Flint and Steel is starting to come alive around the change of the tide for such species as bream, flathead, jewfish and the odd rogue kingfish. The jewfish and kingfish don’t seem to be massive but they are still good fun, and both seem to prefer fresh squid. When fishing this area remember to anchor upcurrent of the reef and fish back towards the reef. It is suggested that at the change of the tide you lift your anchor off the bottom and put it back down once your boat starts to swing around to the opposite direction. To fish this area properly you will really need to move once the tide has changed completely to the other end of the reef. Along our coast we are seeing schools of kingfish popping up along most headlands between Broken Bay and Sydney Heads. You can have fun with these fish by casting soft plastics, poppers or metal lures in the 15-20g range. Most of these fish are undersized so please

A Christmas flathead. Ho, ho, ho! take care when handling and releasing them. By moving from one school to another eventually you should come across a couple of larger fish that can be taken home for dinner. Offshore the reef fishing has been decent with some snapper, flathead and morwong being caught in depths of 30-50m. There doesn’t seem to be any favourite bait but the freshest bait possible shouldn’t be refused. Over the sand in 50m of water there are some decent blue-spot flathead to be caught, and there is also

the odd snapper. So as you can see, this coming month is a great time to get on the water, have some fun and let your hair down, while still respecting the space of others. I hope this report sees you excited and looking at joining your local charter operator for a wonderful day on the water learning new areas and techniques. • Peter Le Blang operates Harbour and Estuary Fishing Charters, phone 02 9999 2574 or 0410 633 351, visit www. estuaryfishingcharters.com.au

Snapper from the sand drift are a welcomed sight.

Recreational Fishing Update What is a Fishway? A fishway is a structure that helps fish migrate around artificial barriers such as dams and weirs. By incorporating fishways on those structures it allows fish species to fulfil numerous stages of their lifecycle such as breeding, feeding and seeking refuge. Fishways enable fish to navigate through a series of pools and get to their upstream or downstream location. Fishway sites on the Murray River have passed

over 80,000 fish per day in key migration periods so it’s important that we continue to cater for the migration needs of native fish. There are many different types of fishways that are

Fishos and DPI Working Together To Stock Trout

West, Central Tablelands and Northern Tablelands. Good rain over the past several months is resulting in many rivers and streams running clear and cool. These latest stockings will help ensure the next few seasons offer good – hopefully great! – fishing. More info about fish stocking, including an interactive map of fish stocking sites, can be found on the NSW DPI website, just search fish stocking.

Help Stamp Out Illegal Fish Traps

Each year NSW DPI works closely with Trout Acclimatisation Societies to stock local waterways with trout throughout the State. Recently, the Central Acclimatisation Society (CAS) assisted with releasing more than 150,000 rainbow trout fry, produced by the dedicated staff at DPI’s Dutton Trout Hatchery, throughout various local rivers and streams. These pictures below are courtesy of the CAS Sofala branch which released more than 20,000 fry into various sites along the Turon River. From all reports keen trout anglers are enjoying one of the best late spring and early summer seasons in years, with quality brown and rainbow trout being reported in key regions including the Snowies, Central

Images courtesy of Col Gordon, CAS Sofala.

constructed to suit the characteristics of a particular site. For more information go to the DPI website and search “fishway”.

NSW DPI is asking the public to take a stand against illegal fish traps across the inland by reporting the activity to its Fishers Watch services. Fisheries officers have observed more offenders attempting to take fish using illegal fish traps, as higher water flows have increased native fish movement across NSW inland rivers. Since commencing Operation Guardian on July 1 2021, officers had seized 33 fish traps by October 20 2021, issued a significant number of penalty notices and commenced prosecution briefs after catching offenders using fish traps on the Barwon, Darling, Lachlan and Murray rivers. These include: · A 57-year-old male from Lake Cargelligo, NSW, with three fish traps. · A 49-year old female and 50-year-old male from Cobar NSW using two fish traps near Tilpa, NSW.

A 66-year-old male from Cobar NSW using one fish trap also near Tilpa, NSW. · A 70-year-old male from Brewarrina, NSW, using two fish traps. Additionally, four men (two aged 59 and 71 from Euston, NSW, a 44-year old from Merbein, Victoria, and a 47-year-old from Red Cliffs, Victoria) are likely to appear in court for alleged fish trapping offences. It is common knowledge that fish trapping is illegal in NSW inland rivers. As well as impacting on native fish stocks, illegal traps can also indiscriminately drown turtles, waterbirds and other wildlife. Officers will continue to step up patrols across these rivers over summer using surveillance technology to catch offenders in the act. Report illegal fishing to the Fishers Watch phone line on 1800 043 536 or report it via the DPI website.

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au DECEMBER 2021

Sydney

NSW

A love-hate relationship SYD ROCK & BEACH

Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au

Christmas can be too hectic and busy to even scratch yourself, but on the upside it’s a cracker month for so many species. The beaches are going nuts, the rocks are going mental

casting, and they’re in good numbers too. If you want to try distance casting, you should have a robust 13-14ft+ rod or 4-4.5m capable of casting a load of 180g. 7-15kg or 10-20kg suits fine. Casting out a long way is the norm when distance casting for snapper; you need to cast beyond the reef onto the sand or rubble/grit area

These snapper were caught distance casting. It’s a cracker month for distance casting and fishing in the closer sudsy washes off the ocean rocks, and you can catch a variety of species this way. and the estuary is going gang busters! This month, try to organise yourself, pick the best days and take advantage of some of the peaks occurring this month. Check out below what’s biting, what my clients are catching, and what other local anglers are catching as well. ROCK FISHING Snapper are being caught in the washes and distance

to avoid snags. Sturdy baits are required, such as squid strips or cuttlefish strips. Salted baits like salted slimy mackerel, striped tuna and any oily fish fillets cut in a strip measuring 10-12cm long by 2cm wide. Lately I have been catching snapper to 60cm, with several fish from 35-45cm. The occasional trevally, tarwhine, bream and even the odd king is also being caught.

Places you can punch out a bait with a medium cast of around 60-75m are near Queenscliff swimming pool casting towards Bluefish Point, Freshwater headland car park below the ramp, and approx. 40m walk, casting off those northeast facing ledges. You can also catch snapper in the washes there, and other species like small kings, salmon and bream. Further north off Mona Vale swimming pool, walk straight in front approx. 50-60m and cast towards the east-southeast for snapper, trevally and more. There are some snapper in the wash there too. Good kings are being landed from Bluefish in Manly, south, North Curl Curl, south and North Whale headlands. They are being caught from the deeper rock platforms. Live baiting is a great way to target kings. Try a live yellowtail suspended under a float, or if you don’t have any livies, try salted or un-salted sea gars on ganged or 2-hook snelled rigs. Plastics and poppers are also catching their share of kings. One of the most amazing experiences you can encounter is that explosion on your surface lure and the rod suddenly buckling over on a solid king. A few kings have been falling to the Shore Spartan Power Splash in 140mm. For best results, pop this across the surface at the crack of dawn until just after sunrise. If you want to throw some plastics, I recommend the Bait Junkie 7” Shad in pilchard glo or pink glo. Whichever lure/bait you want to try, I suggest bringing a variety of backup options to see what works on the day. When you’re chasing kings at this time of year, you may encounter smaller pelagics like bonito so it pays to bring a lighter outfit.

A 6-8kg outfit or even up to a 10kg outfit will cast smaller metals effectively. Wind fast for the bonito. If there are tailor or salmon, you don’t need to wind as fast. Wherever possible, it’s good to use metals that match the hatch. You may see the baitfish below you in the white water, and sometimes they’re tiny. In this situation, the best you can do is fish metals that just heavy enough to cast in a strong wind that you may encounter on the day. Metals in the 35-45g weight range may not be as small as the baitfish on the day, but may be small enough to get a strike from the smaller pelagics. BEACH FISHING The whiting run is normally at its peak at this time of year. North Narrabeen Beach has good quantities of whiting from 30-40cm, and you can catch them on a 2-hook paternoster

Father and son Sebastian and Seb Tanase with a bag of whiting and bream to 36cm. This should be common this month. If you fish early in the morning you should avoid the huge crowd of revellers.

John Halford caught this snapper distance casting with a squid strip for bait. It’s important to get your rig out to the sand/gravel located just past the reef.

Big groper are a formidable opponent which will try to cut you off in the nearest ledge. 60

DECEMBER 2021

rig. Some anglers choose to fish 1-hook rigs as there is less ‘hardware’, i.e. fewer swivels, fewer hooks. It’s true that if whiting see less hardware, they’ll be more enthusiastic about biting, however you can still achieve that with a 2-hook rig. Just downsize your sinker clip, downsize your swivels, and use quality fluorocarbon in the 10-12lb range. Check out my Bellissimo Two Hook Paternoster Rig on my YouTube channel. You may have been told by many sources to use a no. 6 or even smaller hook for whiting, but this is not correct! Using a tiny hook enables tiny, undersized

whiting to be hooked deep. I prefer to use a no. 2 or even a no. 1 hook in some cases. The undersized whiting are hooked deep much less often, and they’re much easier to release to grow, breed and catch again when they’re bigger. When it comes to bait, use what’s in the area you are fishing. Live beach worms work a treat. A worm that is 50-70cm long can provide 10 baits, or even more. Pipis work quite well for whiting too. The gut section is best, with the tongue of the pipi not quite as good. When baiting up pipi guts, weave it on your hook. If you can’t get worms

or pipis, you can pump pink nippers (yabbies) in the estuaries with a yabby pump at low tide. Pink nippers work well for whiting off then ocean beaches. Your good fresh/live bait outlets should have a supply of live nippers or worms, but be prepared as stocks can be limited. Give them a call and place an order to avoid disappointment. If all else fails, you can use peeled small river prawns and salted or metho preserved worms. Other fish you may encounter include bream, tarwhine, flathead and even salmon. The dart won’t be far away either, normally in large numbers. This month the tailor are on; we typically see a summer beach run of smaller size tailor, which have the nickname ‘choppers’. The legal minimum length for tailor is 30cm, and ‘chopper tailor’ are around that 30-40cm size range. Any bigger, and they are just called tailor. Another local fish with a nickname is the mulloway, or jewfish. Small jewies (up to 3kg) are called ‘soapies’. ‘School jewfish’ range up to about 8-10kg. Always remember for jewfish, patience is paramount. Multiple outings may be necessary to get a result. Going back to tailor, these fish are great tucker, and make great bait for a range of species. A live tailor of 30-32cm is still small enough to cast out and give you a chance of catching a big jewfish. A whole fillet on a snelled 2-hook 7/0 to 9/0 will fit perfectly. Even a single hook with a no. 6 keeper hook works well. All the surf beaches have To page 61

NSW

Sydney

Stellar wash fishing SYDNEY NTH

Steve Winser

With water temperatures still low and weather changing every day, it’s been a tough month, and as we move into December the La Niña pattern will probably be still with us. The harbour is still producing fish in fits and starts, all depending on whether it’s actually fishable on a given day. The kingfish are still hit-and-miss; the colder water temperature is slowing their metabolism, causing the fish to actively feed only on every second or third day. Plenty of fish are being marked but they’re tough to switch on. At the time of writing this report, the cold-water stalwarts like bream, blackfish and trevally are still plentiful and easy to catch, and it’s a testament to the low water temps when they’re still going strong in November! Once again, the tops of the tides in the shallow foreshore areas with a bread berley trail will guarantee a feed. From page 60

a population of whiting, but some beaches fish better than others. Try mid Palm Beach near the two massive boulders to the southern corner (it can get very crowded, especially on weekends near southern corner), Mona Vale, Warriewood, North, South Narrabeen, and Dee Why beaches. They all fish well for the above species. ESTUARY At the time of writing, Narrabeen Lagoon has discoloured water around the beach bridge area because of all the dredging of sand. Try fishing at night

The other cold-water standby, wash fishing, is also continuing its stellar run. Solid black drummer and blue groper are being

caught regularly. We fish a rising tide in the afternoon with bread and prawns for the drummer and crabs for the groper.

A nice big blue for Baz.

Emilio’s first blackfish. near the bridges (Pittwater Road and Ocean Street) for bream, whiting and flathead. There’s a huge range of plastics and hardbodied lures you can use. The Double Clutch and Bait Junkie Grubs are a couple of options that work well. Pink nippers for the whiting or even beach worms work OK too. Live prawns are deadly for all three species. During the holiday period, the lake is a hive of activity in the daytime. Fishing the evenings, especially late in the evenings, are the go for better results. In Sydney Harbour,

there are kings being caught from Dobroyd and Georges Head. Tailor are being caught early in the morning, and you can catch some squid in the early hours as well. Unfortunately, squid fishing in North Harbour is illegal, but from Middle Harbour onwards it is OK. To all of the readers I wish you a Merry Christmas and have a Great New Year. • 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.

Schools of surface fish, mostly salmon and tailor, have moved in, at first in the lower reaches in pretty solid schools and then breaking up and moving towards the upper reaches. They become more difficult to target when the schools are broken up like that. Most of our fish have been coming on Sugapenstyle surface walkers or small 3” plastics. At this point, due to aforementioned weather patterns, predicting next month will be a tough call. I expect the kings will move into the lower harbour and if we see a rise in water temperatures, they should come on the chew more consistently... fingers crossed! If the temperatures remain low, the coldwater mainstays of bream, blackfish, trevally, drummer and groper will once again provide good action. Tight lines everyone! • Fishing Sydney Tours takes pride in tailoring every trip to the customer’s preferred species, style of angling, and level of expertise, all within a friendly and relaxed atmosphere at competitive

rates. There are some excellent fishing spots that 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 snapper and mahimahi. For more info go to www. fishingsydneytours.com.au, call 0481 120 600 or look up ‘Fishing Sydney Tours’ on Facebook.

Peter with a shallow water bream.

DECEMBER 2021

Sydney

NSW

Keeping on the move SYDNEY SOUTH

Gary Brown gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

Recently I was out on the Port Hacking River with a friend, and the plan was to pump a few nippers when the tide way about midway up, then anchor up near the drop-off at Maianbar and fish for a feed of bream and trevally.

The plan went as expected, and we managed a few bream and trevally. However, as the tide slowed down the bite also slowed down, so we moved to a deep area off Lilly Pilly to chase a few kingfish. Not much luck there except a bust-off by a kingfish that wrapped me around the anchor. Once the tide picked up it was back to the flats to fish the fast run-out tide with a running sinker down onto a

There will be plenty of bream about in Botany Bay, the Port Hacking River, off the beaches and the rocks.

swivel and a leader the same length as the rod. This length of leader allows the nipper to move around a far bit, making the fish hit it harder, causing a better hook-up rate. If you have been fishing the Port Hacking River for a while without much success, you will need to change your approach. There are no tricks to it – it’s just a matter of being prepared to move spots after about 20 to 30 minutes if you have not had much success. And of course, you must berley when at anchor. My preferred bait for bream and trevally is the peeled Hawkesbury River prawn, with pilchards coming in second followed by strips of mullet. Believe it or not, my fourth choice is pink nippers. It’s easy to buy quality nippers from the local tackle store and freeze them, and when you’re ready to go fishing you can just grab some out of the freezer and get going. Pink nippers have a bag limit of 100 and are a great live bait for everything that swims in the Port. Even kingfish will take them. Other great live baits include live poddy mullet, yellowtail, slimy mackerel, garfish and squid. Remember that you have bag limits on all of these types of baits. You are

After you have pumped your nippers on a rising tide, try flicking out one or two as there will be a few whiting and bream picking up the ones you may have missed. allowed 20 small poddy mullet (under 15cm) and 20 squid or cuttlefish. There is a bag limit of 50 for a combination of slimy mackerel, yellowtail, garfish and hardyheads. If you were to catch just one of these baitfish species you are allowed 50. During December you will find that the Port Hacking will be fairly busy and the boat ramps will be packed. This is why I go either very early in the morning or late in the

bottoms, knocking the motor out of gear when the line approaches 45 degrees to let it sink back down, then putting the motor back in gear. Over the past number of months Botany Bay has had a huge increase in boat traffic and this is due to the number of new and old boats that have been brought during this pandemic. Even my son sold his old boat and brought a bigger one. Just recently Scotty Lyons

A local angler hooked up to an undersized kingfish while fishing the flats at Towra with soft plastics.

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afternoon. My preferred time to go would be weekdays, but not everyone has that luxury. Offshore will also be starting to fire up on the pelagics front. Dolphinfish and the like will be caught offshore this month as the NSW Fisheries will have repositioned the FADs after they have been serviced during winter. I love catching squid and I don’t have a problem in getting amongst a few. The only problem is that I seem to bugger them when I cook them. That is why I either use them for bait or give them to my son-in-law who is a great chef and knows what he’s doing. When targeting kingfish while trolling squid I will either use them live, whole dead, just the heads or I will strip them. My main method is what I call ‘poor man’s downrigging’. This rig is comprised of a 10cm long running barrel sinker stopped by a bead above a swivel. A 100lb trace behind the swivel is armed with an unweighted soft plastic paddletail or a floating hardbody. The rig is slow trolled over clean

was out at Trevally Alley and he told me it was so crowded that people were casting so close to other boats that they were almost hitting them. Trevally Alley is not the only place you catch fish in Botany Bay – there would be at least 50 to 60 spots. It’s just a matter of being prepared to move about to find your own fish. Try the end of the third runway, second runway, off Brighton to Dolls Point

beaches, the oil wharf, the drums, the ferries, Sutherland Point, The Sticks, Towra close and wide, any of the marker poles and drums, and the list goes on. As for those anglers who fish from the shore, I would suggest that you use pink nippers, live poddy mullet, tube worms and or freshly caught squid and try just about anywhere around the shoreline of the bay. I will be extremely surprized if you don’t get anything. This month I have hit a milestone in my writing. It was 25 years ago that then editor Peter Horrobin of NSW Fishing Monthly asked me if I was interested in writing a feature and a monthly column for the magazine. The feature was on how to catch drummer, and the area I was to cover was the Port Hacking River and south to Coalcliff. Since then, I have never missed a month in that 25 years, and that is something I am extremely proud of. In that time, I have written numerous feature articles that have covered fishing techniques, fish species, location guides and boat reviews. I would like to thank all the readers for the feedback that I have received over the years, and I will continue to keep writing for many years to come. Also, don’t forget to keep those reports and photos coming in to gbrown1@ iprimus.com.au.

The author’s Okuma outfit and Fish Inc squid jigs at the ready for a squid session off the rocks at Kurnell.

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Christmas cracker fish BALLINA

Joe Allan

Good numbers of small kingfish have been hammering live baits and knife jigs on the wider grounds. Most of the fish are between 60cm and 90cm, but the odd larger fish has also shown up.

– probably the biggest factor – wind strength and direction. Bassday Sugapens are the lures that have been producing the best for us, and these can be retrofitted with either Atomic Trick Bitz assist hooks or Gamakatsu Treble Wide Gap hooks to improve hook-up rates.

Zac Skyring with a chunk bream caught on a Bassday Sugapen 70 in colour C-137 A few snapper and small amberjack have also been mixed in among the kingfish, so it has been a bit of a lottery at times to see what you are going to pull up next. The whiting have shown interest in surface lures in recent weeks, and that’s not surprising as the water temps are up and perfect for these guys to get active, especially in some of the shallow areas such as North Creek and Mobbs Bay. Each day has been different, with the level of aggression towards the lures changing constantly. There could be a few wnincluding Prathis, Blade reasons mba for a Y s “ water temperature, ” sunlight, water clarity and

I recommend checking out these hooks the next time you are in your local tackle shop. While the odd gutter is visible on South Ballina and Angels beaches, the numbers of fish they are producing has been fairly low. Some of the better action has come from Boulders and Seven Mile beaches, with quality dart and bream taking pipis and beach worms during the run-up tide. At this time of year we usually see a few of the straggling tailor make their way up the coast. Late in the afternoon it will be worth throwing a pilchard, mullet fillet or bonito strip out in a likelylooking gutter. You may not see large numbers of these razor-toothed eating machines, but the ones that do come into the gutters at night are generally quality fish, so be ready and have wire traces handy because these larger fish can do serious damage to your rigs. Just remember that when fishing the beach for whiting they do not need a lot of water, so

Luke Atkinson with this stonker 86cm snapper caught off Ballina on the close in reefs. don’t be obsessed with finding the deepest gutter you can. Quite often the whiting are right at your feet in some of the skinniest water imaginable, particularly at night. The bass are on the

some poppers and have a crack. You might be surprised at how much fun and how addictive it can be. Look for any overhanging trees that have cicadas making an awful racket. You don’t even need to be

Atomic Pop 75 as well as the Bassday Backfire 65 Popper are reliable fish catching lures. We have still seen quality flathead from Pimlico Island to the mouth of the Richmond. Most

There are some nice footballs around in the freshwater reaches of the river at the moment. chew and are spread out all over the system. With the balmy evenings the surface bite will really hot up towards Christmas time and all the way through the end of January. If you haven’t tried this style of fishing for our aggressive freshwater natives, get

accurate with your casting because when the cicadas fall, they’re generally out from the bank, not right up the back in the shadows like you need to get to with spinnerbaits or crankbaits. Most poppers and walkthe-dog style lures will also work well. Lures like the

of the larger fish have taken live herring, and the smaller flatties have fallen to dark-coloured soft plastics, prawns and white pilchards. That’s all for this month. Have a great Christmas, stay safe and tight lines until 2022.

A nice Aussie bass taken on a crankbait normally used for bream, the Atomic Hardz Crank 38 Deep.

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Warm water glamour crew COFFS COAST

Rob Taylor

I’m just back from a trip to South Solitary Island (or ‘The Light’, as locals affectionately call the southernmost island in the Solitary Islands chain), and we brought back a couple of 8kg kings in the ice bag. As is usual for this time of year, yellowtail kingfish have been schooling up around the northeast corner of the Light and are falling to trolled lives, jigs and stickbaits. Fish size ranges from 3kg

The author with one of the kings he managed to stop.

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Cameron Hall posted an excellent second placing in the East Coast Sport Fishing Clarence River Bass Open with fish like this.

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Robbie Sullivan (right) and his mates bagged this great feed in close off Station Creek.

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been getting mixed bag sessions, with some fishos finding solid patches of snapper, trag and pearlies and others struggling to get a feed. It’s transition time though as the cool water species start to make way for the warm water glamour crew of pelagics to arrive and take all the attention. Let’s take a look at what the next few weeks should deliver as we run into Christmas. CREEKS, RIVERS AND ESTUARIES As mentioned, bass are pretty much everywhere at the moment and the bite should only improve as the cicadas start their deafening summer shrill. While the bigger systems are sure-fire locations, don’t overlook the smaller creeks as the fish should

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be right up in the upper reaches by now. Cod will also be jumping on lures such as spinnerbaits and crankbaits of all sorts. At the time of writing, access into the Junction on the Nymboida was still blocked (you can of course do what I did and walk in but it’s a fair hike including a heartbreak hill). Hopefully NPWS gets this sorted as the sign on the gate does say it should have opened on 1 November. Expect to find some good bass and cod fishing if you can put the effort in on the Mann and Nymboida systems. In the salt, big flatties, jacks and GTs will be there for the taking, as will large whiting on the flats. It’s a great time of year to be in one of the local creeks or rivers flicking some lures around. Drifting live baits such as poddy mullet along the break

be the first smatterings of Spanish mackerel taken by the super eager anglers. If any Spanish are caught it will be from around the bigger islands of North and South Solitary. Keep an eye on the water temp and current movements as there are always a few lone fish which turn up ahead of the main summer mackerel run in February. As always, snapper, kingfish and bottom species like tuskies and pearl perch will be on the reefs, with the kings etc out on the

deeper grounds from 30m east. The snapper should be fairly well spread out in all depths. Two final words before signing off this month’s report are to wish you all a merry and safe Christmas out on the water, and a quick shout out to local tournament angler, Cameron Hall, who managed an excellent second placing in the East Coast Sport Fishing Clarence River Bass Open which wrapped up in October. Well done Cam!

Laurie Banks with a good-sized king taken from the Light on a trolled livie.

Cameron Hall is fast making a name for himself on the tournament circuit.

walls of the bigger rivers such as Wooli, Urunga and Nambucca will produce big lizards and jacks. ROCKS AND BEACHES Some really good jewfish have been taken by fishos throwing lures off the rocks and baits off the beaches. Pick your time and tide and you too can lock horns with a silver ghost. Tailor will still be around but their numbers will dwindle as the water warms. In their place, whiting, bream and dart will start moving into the beach gutters so all up the rocks and beaches are well worth a prospect at this time of the year. OFFSHORE Way out wide there are still good numbers of striped marlin along the 100m line, and some big blues and small blacks should start jumping on baits and lures by the time you read this. There might, and I repeat, might,

Henry Pallett caught this lovely trout on opening weekend at Niangala, after dropping a lot of fish. It measured 34cm and was tempted by a Jackall Chubby Deep Diver in the shallows.

DECEMBER 2021

NSW

Holiday season greetings THE HASTINGS

Mark Saxon castawayestuarycharters@bigpond.com

Another year is coming to an end, and Christmas holidays are upon us. Hopefully everyone has made it through another trying year and is ready to kick back, enjoy some family festivities and spend some time on the water. Port Macquarie this season may be very hectic with lockdown rules lifted, so it is promising to be a big tourist season. This means boat ramps, car parks and waterways will be busy, and launching and retrieving boats will have delays. Try to be patient and courteous so that everyone enjoys their day. Prawning has been exceptional in Lake Cathie, and hopefully this will continue this month. Some great hauls of good size prawns have been the norm. Both drag nets and scoopers have had success at the boat ramp, perch hole and down the front. Lake Cathie is now closed to the sea but the water is still fine and the fishing is good, especially if you’re keen to use your fresh prawns for live bait. The local whiting and bream cannot resist fresh local prawns, and if you take a light spin rod with you when you’re prawning you can have a fish after and grab a feed to go with your prawns – how good is that! Lake Cathie is also renowned as an excellent whiting fishery, and the shallow nature of the lake lends itself to one of my favourite summer techniques: surface fishing with Sugapens. Wading and kayaking are the preferred options in the Lake, and they are a great way to spend a few hours and get a tasty feed of whiting. Kayaking Lake Cathie can also be productive for the flatties. I like to troll a couple of minnow-stye lures out the back of my yak, and

this can be a very effective way of getting a feed. Offshore boating is always popular at Christmas and New Year. The trick is to get out early and beat the north-easterly winds which

pearl perch plus the long stretches of sand from North Beach to Plomer Point can be excellent for sand flatties. Drifting here usually gets you a feed of fish. Both the local offshore charter vessels

offshore fishing. The Hastings River will have all your summer options, with whiting on the sand flats as well as flathead. Bream will be a popular target as December usually

Gavin and Dylan with a nice feed of Lake Cathie prawns.

Kobi with a bream that got involved in the flathead bite. invariably spring into gear by lunch time. The fishing can be good, with local reefs producing snapper, kingfish,

means either prawn or cicada surface lure fishing. You can have some epic sessions on these feisty little fellas at this time of year. If the cicadas decide to come out then using any of the imitations

enjoy great success so if you don’t have a boat or just don’t want the ramp hassle, check them out for a day’s

An upriver Hastings mulloway the author caught on a hardbody lure on a recent trip.

work well, and as usual black lures are good. Cast your lure around the edges, preferably under any of the bankside trees, and you’re in the game. Crabbing will also be popular, and mud crabs plus blue swimmers can be found. It won’t be hard to work out as there will be crab traps everywhere. Just remember do the right thing, mark your traps according to Fisheries regulations and only pull the traps belonging to you. Hefty fines apply if you don’t adhere to the rules. The local beaches could be the best place to fish and avoid the crowds, and either an early morning session or a late evening night session can be productive. Beachworms are a prized bait for whiting, bream and jewfish and can also be fun to gather your own. Lighthouse Beach in the past has been a good place to gather some worms and then use straight away. Whatever you choose to fish for, have a great time and a Merry Christmas.

Jason and Ryan have been enjoying the run of prawns.

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DECEMBER 2021

Andrew and Kobi with a nice summer bag of flathead from the shallows.

NSW

Catching summer favourites FORSTER

Luke Austin

With Christmas just around the corner, the Forster/Tuncurry area is really starting to buzz. The towns are super busy with holidaymakers and locals keen to get out and about, and our waterways too are becoming increasingly busy both above and below the surface.

at the moment, and if you scoop a handful and keep them alive for the next day (or send them out as soon as you get them) you are almost guaranteed to get a bag full of large whiting. These fish absolutely love a live prawn. The local trumpeter whiting can be somewhat temperamental this month. Although there’s always enough fish about to get a feed in December, you may have to work for them

The local beaches are still fishing well for whiting and bream, and the north end of 9 Mile Beach is producing some particularly nice fish along with the odd tailor. It may well be worth trying for a flathead down around the rock walls as well. We often see a lot of them down on the beach near the mouth of the river over the summer months, especially after we have had a bit of rain. School mulloway up to 10kg or so have been fairly common over the last couple of months which is a great sign. We need to look after these amazing fish to ensure that they will be about for our future generations, so please only take what you need. December can be a surprisingly productive month on the stones if we get some unsettled conditions. There can be some red-hot summer drummer fishing to be had during periods of strong winds and/or swell as

these cave-dwelling brutes fire up and feed hard on all of the dislodged morsels that float about in the washes. When conditions are calm there is a real possibility of running into a large kingfish or early season cobia, and any kelp areas are also worth prospecting with a squid jig as these spots will nearly always produce some nice calamari. Getting out for a fish has been a little tricky due to the wind but there has been the odd window of calm weather, and those anglers that have managed to sneak out have found plenty of fish. The reef fish are biting best out in 40-80m of water, and anglers that have hit the reefs behind the marine park off Cape Hawke have done particularly well, with nice mixed bags of snapper, pearl perch, teraglin and flathead all coming back to the ramp. Unfortunately, the shallows are not holding any real numbers of fish, however

There are some solid mahimahi being reported.

Chris jigged the deeper inshore reefs to find this ripper red. The bulk of the flathead have now well and truly moved all the way down out of the rivers and settled within the first third or so of the estuary. These summer favourites can be found just about anywhere between the mouth of the estuary and Wallis Island with places such as The Cut, The Paddock, Lanis and the bridge fishing particularly well. Soft plastics and vibes are accounting for the majority of fish, however the flatties are also taking baits of pilchard, whitebait, mullet and herring for those anglers wishing to soak a bait. If you are keen on chasing that once-in-a-lifetime beast, get up in the shallows on a high tide and throw some big surface, sub-surface or shallow running lures about. You will be amazed at how many big fish sit in ankledeep water, waiting for an easy meal! Sand whiting have hardly missed a beat over the past month or so. The high tides are beautiful and clear, and the sand flats are teeming with life. Surface lures are the most effective way to chase these fish, particularly the bigger models, however you will also find plenty if you fish the shallows and drop-offs with baits of beachworm, yabby or prawn. The estuary is full of prawns

and possibly hunt about to find the schools. If you are struggling to find them in the usual spots, don’t be afraid to have a look at the deeper channels closer to the mouth of the river as the schools will often move down a bit this month.

Big sand whiting are definitely on the cards this month. this can change literally overnight, and some of my best shallow water sessions have come on hot, windy

days close to Christmas! For the game fishing guys, things are looking very promising. There are loads

of nice mahimahi floating about out there, and I have received plenty of reported sightings of free swimming and free jumping marlin getting about. There have also been a couple of fish caught not too far from here, so it’s only a matter of time before the local boats will be getting amongst them! • 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! They are open 7 days in the main street of Tuncurry, and you can phone them on 02 6554 9541 or find them on Facebook to see what they have been up to!

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Shane Chalker with a Wallis Lake croc!

www.manningrivermarine.com.au DECEMBER 2021

NSW

The magical metre mark PORT STEPHENS

Paul Lennon

When it comes to big dusky flathead, Port Stephens is right up there with the best destinations in Australia to crack the mythical 1m mark specimen. Local fishing guru Wayne Coles proved this recently with an absolute monster of a lizard measuring a whopping 105cm. The amazing fish was quickly photographed and then released, like all flathead of this size should be, due to their breeding potential. Wayne landed the fish in less than 1m of water on a 6” plastic. At this time of year, you’ll find most of the best flathead down the bottom end of the system, with areas like Corlette, Nelson Bay Beach, Shoal Bay and Jimmys Beach being a few of the better areas to target. Whiting have also come on strong in recent weeks, with both lure and bait

feeding on prawns. The shallow intertidal flats on the high tide around Tailors Beach and the western side of Soldiers Point are good areas to get amongst them. Bream are also taking surface lures from Garden Island all the way through to Pindimar Bay. Fish the high tides on first light or late afternoon casting over the

from Stockton through to Fingal holding some rippers to 40cm. Worms are the key, and while dead ones will serve as a decent back-up, you’ll find that live ones will significantly out-fish them, and everything else eats them too. I find the prime time for beach whiting is late afternoon high tides. Find a

Wayne Cole with a massive flathead.

nice gutter and get there an hour before the tide change and fish until an hour after. The gutters along Stockton and Samurai will be worth fishing after dark for mulloway this month, especially around the new and full moon periods. Live baits of whiting, tailor or yellowtail are the best baits to use but you won’t be out of the game with fresh squid, mullet fillets or whole beach worms either. ROCKS It’s not the best time for fishing the ocean rocks but there are some good light tackle spin opportunities from the headlands and points for tailor, and bonito will also begin to show. Metals or stickbait-style lures around the 20-40g range are perfect to get connected to a few. OFFSHORE There are plenty of quality table fish on the offshore reefs, with Vee, 21 and Gibber reefs all producing trag and reds to

Whiting will be on fire in the shallows this month. 2kg. Double paternoster or pre-made Snapper Snatcher rigs have been doing the damage. There are more snapper around the islands and shallow reefs in less than 20m of water, making them the perfect candidates for soft plastic lures. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon is by far the

best time to target them in the shallows. I recommend using lightly weighted plastics around 7” on 1/4oz or 3/8oz jigheads. The inshore run of black marlin should not be too far away, so keep an eye on sea surface charts for that good water pushing into the usual hotspots like Vee and Gibber reefs and Seal Rocks.

Crabbers get some pot luck SWANSEA

Jason Nunn

Port Stephens is one of the best locations in Australia for catching trophy flatties. fishing methods accounting for plenty. If you’re fishing bait, get yourself some live worms and head down to Shoal bay or Jimmys Beach on the high tide and fish the shallows. Alternatively, if you want to use surface lures on the whiting you need to get further up the estuary where they are more aggressively

Port Stephens Estuary Charters

top of shallow oyster bars and rocky edges of islands and points for best results. Crabs, especially blue swimmers, have been pretty good up in the mouth of the Tilligerry Creek as well as the Karuah River, especially blue swimmers. BEACHES Whiting are on fire with most of the ocean beaches

All along the NSW coast, the December prawn run is making its presence felt. The flow-on effects to the aquatic food chain are evident all along the coast, with the estuaries and rivers all fishing very well. Last year, on the back of years of drought, the impact of the prawn run was less significant. By contrast, this year has been exceptional. Prawn runs last for around 10 nights after the full moon. The current run started on 29 November, and it will continue to around 5 December. Judging by the volume and quality of the prawns during the November run in Lake Macquarie, the December run promises

to be excellent. All our local systems, right from the Mile Lakes all the way down to the Hawkesbury River, enjoyed good quality prawns in big numbers. Thanks to La Nina, we anticipate that we’ll have higher than average rainfall through summer and into autumn. This will keep these prawns moving through and flushing out, creating a bounty for predators. NSW Fisheries has announced that in Lake Macquarie, anglers can now use enclosed crab

traps for the duration of a 2-year trial. Witches hats are still permitted as well. The maximum number is four witches hats plus two enclosed crab traps per person – a total of six traps. You can use round-style traps with four entrances, provided the entrance is no more than 32cm wide (if it’s wider you’ll need to use cable ties to be compliant). Rectangular style crab traps are illegal. After the completion of the 2-year trial, policy makers will decide which styles of

ens estuary system the beautiful Port Steph signed g charter that can be de with a calm water fishin family bait fishing to to suit your needs from hing anglers. hardcore lure and fly fis

rters.com www.fishportstephensestuarycha 7 Contact Paul Lennon :043437068 m il.co gma ing@ .fish non l.len pau email:

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DECEMBER 2021

Dave with a decent 15.2kg Lake Macquarie mulloway.

trap(s) will be permitted going forward. Now that we are allowed to head out to the shelf, I was recently able to go on my first bluewater trip in over three months. The water was a nice blue and only 21°C, but there was some much warmer water out a bit wider, as high as 23°C. We lost a few small marlin; they are a bit hit-and-miss at this time of year, and not very big. Still, the fact that they were there is encouraging. There are also a few very large tiger sharks around at the moment. No dolphinfish as yet, but that should improve. There’s some warm water coming down the coast, and by the time December sets in, we’ll hopefully get some warmer currents. On The Farm (100m line), we had reports that the water was 18°C and a terrible khaki green and quite cold, and the guys were struggling. It was a direct result of about five days in a row of northeasters – the scourge of the east coast. If you get two days of northeasters, you’re still OK; three days is bad; and four to five days is disastrous. The water rolls over, causing an upwelling of cold water, and that’s what happened out there. To escape the dirty, cold water, many anglers To page 75

NSW

A good month on the sand CENTRAL COAST

Jamie Robley

Amazingly, we’ve about reached the of another year what a rocky road been. Thankfully

just end and it’s the

weather, fishing and COVID situation have all improved markedly, and with a bit of luck the fishing will get even better this month. Last summer we had quite a bit of rain and towards the end of

the warm weather, we endured some reasonable flooding. Although floods are certainly no fun while they’re occurring, it’s one of nature’s ways of revitalising and replenishing. Thanks to a combination of flooding two years in a row, and

The mouth of The Entrance channel has been flowing very well all year. This should translate to some excellent fishing at The Entrance and throughout the lakes over the summer months. From page 74

have been fishing in really close, and have been doing OK. Quite a few trag are being caught, along with a few nice snapper, and this should continue into December. There haven’t been reports of surface fish like bonito yet, but there are trag, snapper, a few kingies and quite a few blue-spot flathead on the bottom. The beaches have been a bit quiet because of the fluctuating water temperatures. Anglers have been picking up only a few whiting, a few bream and the odd flathead, but catches will improve when the warm water comes in. The tailor and salmon have gone, which is normal for this time of year. Off the rocks, anglers are catching drummer, luderick and trevally, but not in great numbers. It’s a tough time of year because our summer fish are starting to turn up but aren’t plentiful yet. We’ll turn the corner in January when we see more consistent warm water. The estuary is the main thing that’s on fire, as a direct result of the prawn run. We’re seeing some really good whiting right the way through Swansea channel and the lake at the moment. Many are around 30-40cm, with a few bigger ones in the mix. When it comes to bait, local tube worms have been working very

well. These worms are a given if you want to catch whiting not only in the lake, but off the beach. The prawn run has also caused an increase in bream numbers, with some big specimens amongst them. The biggest one I’ve heard of lately was a 45cm fish caught by local angler Bob Mowbray on a Hawkesbury prawn. If you want to flick some lures for whiting (and bream), matching the hatch during the prawn run is a good idea. Good prawn imitations include Sugapens, Jackson Ebi Panics and MMD Splash Prawns. Soft plastics are also catching their share, including Squidgy Prawns, PowerBait Power Shrimp, and of course Gulp Shrimp. However, surface lures are the favourite because it’s such an exciting form of fishing, accounting for good numbers of whiting in the lake and channel system, with a bycatch of bream. Frustratingly for mulloway anglers, squid have been patchy in recent weeks, but as we get closer to Christmas and into January, we should see an improvement. Anglers chasing mulloway have had to resort to using Lund frozen squid, but the results have been better than you’d expect – just as many guys have been catching jew on these frozen squid as on fresh local squid. Fish around 70-95cm have been quite common, with a few bigger specimens

up to 1.25m. DECEMBER FISHING In the wake of the main prawn run, there will hopefully be a reasonable number of stragglers running through December. If not, I recommend using locally-farmed tubeworms or frozen local prawns for bream and whiting. We are starting to see really big tides on the full and new moons, sometimes creating a 1.7-1.8m exchange of water, which makes the fish bite a bit harder. This will hopefully result in some great catches during the summer holidays. When it comes to game fishing in December, signs are pointing to a good season. Hopefully the currents will be kind, and I’ll have some great catches to report on for the next issue. • 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.

ongoing council work, the mouth of Tuggerah Lakes has remained wide open all year. In fact, this year I’ve witnessed the strongest tidal flow into the lakes that I’ve ever seen. At times this has been noticeable as far into the system as Wallarah Creek, which is quite rare. Basically, this means the lakes have been getting a lot of good, clean sea water into them and plenty of fish, big and small. With that in mind, I’d be expecting to do reasonably well on bream throughout the lakes, and some decent fishing for whiting and flathead around The Entrance. Prawning should also produce results at The Entrance, Canton Beach and Elizabeth Bay. However, in the case of Canton in particular, prawning here is also impacted by the council ‘weed eater’ – basically the council’s mechanical efforts to contain or remove weed. If it rips into things too much, it basically does damage to the area and is detrimental for prawns or fish. On the other hand, if weed growth is particularly thick then it’s pretty much impossible to use a scoop net or drag net. Wind is another factor to consider when it comes to prawning or fishing around the lakes in general. As is the case with Brisbane Waters, there is always floating weed around the system. Persistent wind will push floating or drifting

Beach fishing has been going very well lately, with tailor, salmon, mulloway and whiting. This mulloway was caught just before sunrise, but mostly it’s better to target them at night. things a bit easier and more productive. Bream, flathead and whiting are also going well around Brisbane Waters at the moment. As with the lakes or other waterways, these fish love to get right up over very shallow places through the warmer months. Brisbane Waters and the nearby Patonga Creek have plenty of sand or mud flats which can be absolutely full of life

Whiting are back on the cards, especially over the shallow tidal flats around The Entrance and the lower parts of Brisbane Waters. weed in whichever direction it’s blowing. A few days of northeast breeze will push weed away from northern or north-eastern areas, and Canton Beach, for example, falls into a northern or northeastern area. But if it blows from the south, then Canton will end up with heaps of weed pushed into the shallows and along the foreshore. We do get a bit of wind through the summer months, so try to factor that into your plans. It may make

around high tide. Even as the tide recedes, plenty of fish hang around the dropoffs, adjacent oyster racks, rocks or mangroves, looking for a feed. Like many anglers these days, surface lures are my preferred choice around the shallows, and I like to fish early in the morning during summer. By that, I mean be on the water before sunrise. Some of my all-time personal favourite surface lures for bream, whiting and

flathead include the Ecogear PX45 and 55, Viking Lures Pop’n’Crank and most of the small 45-50mm simple surface poppers. INSHORE ACTION Anglers fishing the rocks and offshore at this time of year are full of anticipation, waiting for better currents, baitfish and predators to arrive. Mostly, it’s pretty much the same story each year; we get a small taste of better water and a few kingfish, bonito or even marlin in December or early January, but then it becomes patchy again, until February. Of course, keener boat captains may make a quick pre-holiday dash up to Port Macquarie or South West Rocks, but even that’s a bit of a lucky dip. My advice would be to keep an eye on social media, as well as weather forecasts and sea surface temperature charts via the internet or apps. It’s tough to time things right, with work and family commitments, especially at this time of year, but getting into some decent angling action is all about timing and being ready to pounce as soon as conditions are favourable! Beach fishing is a more laid-back alternative, and fishing has been picking up nicely along our beaches. Salmon are still around in numbers as I sit here typing, and I would expect them to still be here by the time you’re reading this. However, we’ve also had tailor, jewfish and whiting taking baits in recent weeks and from what I’ve seen, I would predict quite a good month on the sand. DECEMBER 2021

NSW

Playing Russian roulette ILLAWARRA

Greg Clarke

Let’s forget the fishing for a moment – if you head out to sea for a fun day and end up dead it really isn’t worth it. It seems obvious, but that’s what has been happening in the Illawarra lately. Last August I wrote about the two lives tragically lost when a boat capsized after driving straight into Peggies, which is a conspicuous, massive bombora off Bulli. Then we lost three more anglers earlier this year when they capsized around Bellambi bombora, an even more obvious, bigger, rougher piece of ocean just out from the Bellambi boat ramp. Then there were the five deaths in two days from the rocks at Hill 60, and then Peggies claimed another life on the last day of October this year. My deepest condolences to all the families involved. What makes these deaths especially tragic is that they were completely avoidable, particularly the most recent. The ocean was not that bad except for a solid swell, 10:30 in the morning on a clear day. How they were in so close and drove into the clearly visible bommie is for the investigators to work out, but if not for a perfect lifesaving

when taken from the water to the beach by jet skis and IRBs. That is how quickly it can happen. The first responders all did an amazing job – over 70 people on the beach working to save the lives of these guys who were in a very bad way. The trauma experienced by all of these responders, some only in their teens, and the three people on the vessel not seriously injured watching all this unfold, will affect them and their families for the rest of their lives. My heart goes out to them, it was a tragic event. So what can be done? Everyone will scream “life jackets!”, and that’s all well and good, but if you don’t get into strife in the first place they aren’t needed. What is sorely needed is education. The local ramps around the Illawarra have been swamped by anglers and boaters from Western Sydney and many don’t have a clue. They are from many and varied ethnic backgrounds and mostly have never/rarely fished in the ocean, which at its best is unforgiving and its worst, deadly. These boaters don’t live on the coast and see the ocean in all its varying conditions, and they come unstuck when conditions turn nasty or when they don’t follow safe boating practices. They just go out and buy a boat –

you’ll only gain experience by being out there, but you first must know where you are going and have the basic seamanship to get there. One item that must be carried is a chart of the local waters. Every boater should get it out, put it on the kitchen table and study it every night for a week and familiarise themselves with the area before heading out. It’s obvious none of the people involved in these latest tragedies have done this, because they would have been aware of the dangerous shallow areas all along the coast and avoided them. Please, until you are very experienced, stay well away from these places. Don’t trust your GPS and plotter; I have a top end unit and I have lost count of the times it has told me I was on dry land when I was hundreds of metres offshore, or telling me I was in the water when it was dry land or, even worse, a dangerous area. West of the range the weather can be totally different from the coast, so if you get here and the conditions are poor, go back home. It may have taken an hour to get here but you’ll live to fish another day. I’m not tarring everyone with the same brush, as I’m sure there are some capable boat owners coming to the Illawarra, but from what

There are usually a few samsons around willing to grab a livie meant for kingies. situation all seven would probably have perished. Bulli SLSC were holding a practice search and rescue with two IRBs and a jet ski only 200m from the incident. Thirroul had just hosted a board race with IRBs and jets skis in attendance for safety and the other close by clubs of Sandon Point and Woonona had just set up patrol for the day and there were several surfers in the water at the actual spot the boat capsized, so help was virtually only seconds away. Still, four people were critical and unconscious 76

DECEMBER 2021

and some are amazing rigs – then put it in and off they go. They lack knowledge of ramp etiquette of prepping and undoing tiedowns before backing down to launch, turning off your headlights while reversing so as not to blind others trying to launch on a 4-lane ramp. Sometimes they’ll drop their boat in the middle of the ramp because they undid the hook to the winch at the top of the ramp – this happens every week. Then they get onto the water and disappear out to sea. This is when the real danger comes into play. True,

I see, many are not – and I regularly observe near misses that could have ended in tragedy. So, for your sake, do some homework before you put to sea. If you are not really confident, maybe get a group together and approach the local maritime services, as I am sure they would be keen to help a group understand the local conditions and coastal features that pose a danger along our coast. Another essential skill is you must learn how to swim. If your boat capsizes or you simply fall over the side and

The bigger dollies like this usually come through early in the season. panic, you will be under and gone in less than a minute. Just knowing how to float could keep you alive until help arrives. Finally, slow down and be vigilant. Your boat may do 40 knots but you don’t have to use every bit of the horsepower it can generate. If you travel a little slower you may see the wave rise up off a blind shallow bommie ahead of you, or avoid a collision with rocks, shallow white water or another boat. Another option to learning is join a local fishing club. They can give you the benefit of decades if not centuries of combined local knowledge and expertise, not just for fishing but local conditions, dangerous places and seamanship. These locals have dealt with pretty much every scenario you may run into, and you may even learn how to fish better and get even more Facebook likes and stay alive while doing it. I make no apologies for being blunt, and if this article motivates someone to seek help with their boating and navigation skills and prevents someone losing their life and shattering their family, it will have been worth it. I don’t ever want to go through Sunday 31 October again as I was one of the first responders on the scene of the tragic incident of seven people in the water with an upturned boat, four unconscious. FISHING IN DECEMBER On a brighter note, the beaches are alive with bream, salmon, tailor and plenty of whiting all along the coast. The bigger jewies will start to show on the big tides at the end of the month. Any beach with a deep hole or gutter and some very fresh bait will see you in with a chance. On the rocks there are some decent kings on the deeper southern ledges. Most are well educated and will take some work with a live squid or slimy mackerel just

before daylight, or you could get lucky and find a travelling king that will eat just about any live bait it sees. Salmon are about too all along the deeper ledges, with a few bonito thrown in the mix as well. Pilchards on ganged hooks or lures will score them. Throw in a bit of berley for some nice bream and a few trevally. The lake is now firing with flatties just about everywhere, and they will get bigger over the next few months. The main channel and the drop-off into the lake proper are the main spots, but they will get busy, particularly towards the end of the month when holidays begin. It will be hectic this season as so many people have not been able to get out and they will be making up for lost time. Blue swimmer crabs are in good numbers too, so keep an eye out for the floats so you don’t wrap them up in your prop. There are whiting all along the main channel from the drop down to the flats at the entrance, with squirt worms and nippers the baits of choice. Beach worms go alright too. If you see a few terns diving down around the break walls or in the channel before the bridge, throw a chrome lure their way as there will probably be a few salmon working baitfish. Minnamurra is pretty much the same, with flatties and whiting on the flats and in the deeper holes, with some solid bream around the bridge pylons. Outside things are starting to get a wriggle on, but it can change from day to day, with warm water full of fish turning cold overnight and turning into a barren wasteland. It will settle down at the end of the month when the good hot water pours down with the East Aussie current. It’s always a lottery until then, but a few striped marlin have been taken in recent

weeks, and there will be some big dollies about before the hard push of hot water and all the rats arrive around the FADs. Yellowfin tuna are always possible with the changing water temps, but the big schools that were in close during October seem to have moved on with the 18°C water they love so much. There is always the chance of a spearfish or even wahoo at this time of year. Later in the month we could even see the first black marlin arrive as our second La Niña in two years could see little blacks show up early. It has happened on previous La Niña events then gone quiet when they should be here in January and February. Fishing, you gotta love it – no two days are the same and it is ever changing. Why do we put ourselves through this torture? Because it is great when it all come together! Closer to shore there are some nice snapper around the 30-40m depth right into the close in reefs in 10-15m. Drifting with plastics and pick and berley are both scoring fish. The samsonfish have already shown up, and even a trag or two. Kingies have been about in all the usual spots from the deeper reefs to the close in shallow spots around the islands and Bass Point, but so far they are hit and miss. If you find there is a bit of current, head to the usual spots with some livies as they love that moving water. The flatties are on the bite on all the sand patches all along the coast now for the bottom bouncers, and will get better as we progress into summer. Mowies are still around in good numbers, along with some pigfish and better than average trevally. That’s it for 2021, thank goodness. Let’s hope next year is so much better with many more days to fish. Stay safe on the water and have a wonderful Christmas and holidays.

NSW

Marlin on the cards BATEMANS BAY

Anthony Stokman

Last December our south coast marlin bite kicked in towards the end of the month. This year, could they be as prolific as the tuna the last few years? With reports of marlin already spotted feeding on bait balls that the tuna were on, the answer could be yes. Seeing marlin in September onwards is a good sign and suggests the same thing as the tuna run: that the currents and water are favorable and there is a good food source. So, it’s possible we may see an even earlier start to the season. Marlin fishing is still probably the most exciting form of fishing, that’s why people throw a lot of money at it. It requires big boats, expensive gear and is great for our economy on the south

business specializing in game gear. You can’t go wrong with these lures, and Black Pete distribute the ever-reliable Moi Moi game fishing line. Using quality line is vital because it’s what connects you to the fish, so don’t muck around there – always buy the best.

Louilad enjoying the south coast life.

Louis getting into the snapper, which can be good throughout December.

Georgia Poyner with a couple of cracker salmon. coast. The fishing sector brings more money into our region than any other sector, and marlin season couldn’t come at a better time after these restrictions and lockdowns. Our community needs the boost, and we expect a lot of boats and fishos to flock to the region. With that in mind, plan ahead, get out super early or a little later to avoid boat ramp chaos, and have patience. When choosing lures, please support Australian businesses by purchasing local brands and/or from Australian distributors. They make worldclass lures and catch just as many fish as foreign lures do. On the south coast we have JB Lures, Frantic and Jett lures, and a great Australian distributer is Black Pete, an Australian family-owned

Current that pushes down the beautiful, cobalt blue water which carries nutrients and bait has the predators following. One of these pelagic predators is the almighty kingfish. Throughout spring and up until now you can find kingies in this blue water pushing south.

Can we expect marlin closer inshore like the tuna spring run? Yes, they have already been spotted in snapper grounds and the odd stripe and black marlin especially can be found closer to shore. Jervis Bay is the mecca for marlin from the stones, and this season could see a good to even better showing of these beak faces. Don’t rule out tuna though; it is possible to see yellowfin tuna all year round, and with the way things have been, it’s on the cards. The only thing is that most boats are concentrating on the marlin on or inside the Continental Shelf, and the tuna could be found anywhere there and beyond. December is when things start heating up water-wise. The warm Eastern Australian

Whenever this blue water pushes close to shore or past our ledges is when you want to be there for your chance of one of these pelagic fish. Another important factor is bait, and if it’s there you want to be there at first light to catch some livies to send out under a balloon, whilst casting your favourite lures (e.g. stickbaits, plastics or metals) to keep up your exercise. It’s a lot of fun catching them on a lure – nearly as fun as watching your livie getting harassed or investigated under the balloon. You can tell by the balloon’s action when something is going on. Most of the time it is still or slowly moving around, then it stops, moves again, stops, makes a few jitters and wobbles around. As you watch you are thinking “my livie has got someone visiting him and making him nervous”, then all of a sudden he starts making a beeline and the balloon is marching out to sea and wobbling along just before it disappears beneath the surface, and you are on! By then you have the rod and reel in hand and you give it a bit of time before you load up the drag and feel the connection, and the fish is hooked up. That’s the easy part. These fish never give up right up until the end, and most scream off and dust you on the reef. If you do get the king away from the bottom, he will get you at your feet when you can’t get him on the ledge. You can see where they get the nickname ‘The Hoodlum’. They are dirty fighters all the way. I’ve had a school of kings in New Zealand swim in and one took my lure, swam past me into a narrow corridor of water down behind me where it looked as though it was going to be a quick and easy win, only to feel my line stuck around a

rock and to see the school of kings swim by me in the other direction. It’s as if he knew what he was doing; he took my lure, swam to the shallows and tied me up around the rocks, busted me off and gave me a wink as he swam away. I thought, “you cheeky bugger”. Another bluewater species looking to visit down here is the mahimahi or dolphinfish. They’re one of the most unusual and beautiful looking fish and are one of the best table fish that exist. FADs are out now and they can be worth a visit during and into late December. The beaches are alive with whiting from here on, and probably one of the most iconic things an Australian can do from December and throughout the summer months is go beach fishing. What makes it so iconic, and why is used in tourism marketing, is first and foremost how beautiful the scenery is. It brings a kind of mediative

calmness to your soul. The other attractions of summer beach fishing is the warm weather and water, and being able to catch another great table fish to bring home to the family. It doesn’t get much better than that. Last year we had a good run of bream on our beaches also, and that would be welcomed this year. For some other anglers, the biggest event of the year is the estuaries. Game fishing brings revenue to coastal areas and so does estuary fishing. Some estuary anglers spend a lot of money on fancy boats and equipment, but it’s not essential. A cheap combo and a pack of prawns can have you and your family enjoying our estuaries. Bream, flathead, estuary perch, whiting and mulloway are the main targets, and they have been present lately. We are looking forward to a great summer on the estuary. The lakes are producing

prawns, and some lakes better than others. This is a great family outing during dark nights. The prawns are also prey for the fish, so using prawn imitation lures can pay off. Our lakes are also great for fishing surface lures, chasing whiting and bream at this time of the year. What also loves a surface lure is bass, and bass fishing is in full swing now. It’s good to take a small hardbody, a compact spinnerbait along with surface lures to cover some options. South coast anglers are starting to become excited for this season as we come out of restrictions, so come and say “hi” and enjoy this great place. • For more up-to-the-minute 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).

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Daiwa Revelry released Daiwa’s new Revelry spin reel family has been developed specifically for Australia and New Zealand. Taking inspiration from the original Certate release, Revelry consists of two distinctive and very different models, built on two completely different frames and built with different styles of fishing in mind. A lightweight FC (Finesse Custom) series caters for the finesse angler, while the robust and durable HD (Heavy Duty’ model is tailor made for anglers that require the ultimate in strength and power. The Revelry MQ HD is the workhorse of the Revelry range and is built on a sturdy aluminium monocoque body (MQ). Revelry HD is strong and robust and is equipped with a high-end forged machine cut aluminium Tough Digigear to give unmatched rotation power and torque. The Revelry MQ HD is available in four deep-spooled sizes: 2500D, 3000D-C, 4000D-CXH and 5000D-CXH.

The Revelry MQ FC is the ‘Finesse Custom’ offering. Crafted from a single piece monocoque (MQ) Zaion frame, Revelry MQ is one of the lightest spinning reels in the Daiwa line-up. The Zaion MQ body is equal parts strength and weightlessness, while a fully forged machine-cut aluminium Tough Digigear drive delivers buttery-smooth

rotation and a long-lasting drivetrain. Revelry MQ FC is available in four shallow spooled sizes: 2000S, 2500, 2500S and 3000. For more information on these and other new Daiwa releases, check out their website or look them up on Facebook or Instagram (@ daiwaaustralia). www.daiwafishing.com.au DECEMBER 2021

NSW

The flavour is offshore BERMAGUI

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

At this time of year, many anglers head offshore for the vast variety of fish available. Those wishing to go to Montague Island will find there are plenty of kingfish and bonito on offer, as well as quite a lot of bottom fish in the nearby areas if the kings are having a quiet day. These bottom fish are not only occurring around the Island – they’re all the way from Montague to way south of Bermagui. Fish like sand and tiger flathead, red gurnard and some very nice gummy sharks are being taken over the sandy, muddy grounds, while on the reefs themselves the usual morwong, snapper, nannygai and pigfish and more are all mixing in anglers’ catches. If you are looking for some larger specimens of these species, try out in the deeper water around the Twelve Mile Reef. If you have the advantage of electronic reels, go wider out over The Shelf where blue-eye trevalla, hapuka, gemfish and ling are all available. Bermagui has always been known for its gamefish, and December usually heralds the start of

Hopefully there should be plenty of flatties this summer, both offshore and in the estuaries.

A nice fish in the net at Wallaga Lake. the season. Small tuna are available at the moment, with the likes of stripies, albacore, and school sized

yellowfin being caught. There is still the prospect of some southern bluefin cruising with the other

species. Out over the Continental Shelf through to the 1000 fathom line is the best area to target them, and you can be sure that where there are tuna, there will be sharks. If you are into chasing them, berley trails with tuna are the way to go. You can expect to find makos, blue sharks and whalers responding to your trail. Water temperatures seem to be rising rapidly this season, so don’t rule out the opportunity of finding some early season marlin. Whenever you are chasing the tuna, make sure you have a lure out that’s

suitable for a marlin. In Wallaga Lake, flathead are in exceptional numbers at present. Anglers fishing either bait or lures are cashing in on these fish, which are biting readily. Early mornings are a great time to lure fish, especially with soft plastics imitating a prawn. The best areas are the back reaches of the lake on the western side and up towards the entrance or even into Narira Creek. In these areas you will find plenty of weed beds, and working lures or bait up along the edges of the weed beds will produce the best results.

Even though there are a lot of prawns around, drifting the margins of the lake with live mullet will also produce some excellent results on the flathead. This is not only occurring in Wallaga Lake – the surrounding estuaries and lakes all have their own stocks of prawns and are fishing equally as well. Flathead are not the only fish cashing in on the abundant food life. Most other species including bream, whiting, trevally and many more are all on the chew as a result. Whichever estuary you To page 79

Golden summer sands TATHRA

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

The Tathra area is renowned for the beaches that surround it, with soft, golden sands attracting people to this area during summer to

soak up the warm summer rays. Many activities are on offer, including surfing, swimming and of course, fishing. There is nothing better than watching the sun rise or set while enjoying the atmosphere of these naturally beautiful beaches while attempting to catch a fish.

So what is on offer? Well, there are many different species to be found, along with many and varied ways in which to target them. Starting with Australian salmon, these exciting sportfish can be caught on bait, lures or fly so if you are into just sitting back soaking a bait awaiting a strike whilst

Salmon will take a liking to your lures as you wander along a beach.

Southern yellowfin bream are a species high on the target list for beach anglers. 78

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enjoying the environment, these beaches are for you. For the more energetic, try walking these beaches with your favourite spin rod casting to the deeper water or maybe even sight casting to passing schools of salmon. Other species like bream, whiting, mullet, tailor or flathead also travel along our coastline, where baits like pipis, pilchards, nippers and especially beach worms will account for many of the species mentioned above. The use of berley can be very effective in attracting

these fish, particularly if you have some deep water close to rocky areas adjacent to a main rock platform. Here you may be pleasantly surprised by the rock species attracted to the berley, such as wrasse, trevally, leatherjackets or luderick and drummer, which can take a liking to fish baits when aroused by the scent. And then there’s night fishing, when larger predators like gummy or whaler sharks may be found. Jewfish are also a very likely candidate, with moonlit nights being preferred. Tailor are a solid

day catch while waiting for the larger predators to arrive. Even though the rivers and lakes are firing there’s lots more to explore around Tathra, with the local wharf being a hot spot. During the school holidays this popular spot becomes a hive of activity as visitors target the many species hanging around here. Species like slimy mackerel, yellowtail scad and silver trevally are great fun for both young and To page 79

NSW

From page 78

wish to fish along our part of the coast, you can encounter a vast array of species. Anglers should also start thinking about fishing the numerous beaches we have within our area, as they are producing some excellent quality fish at present, as well as a wide variety. Those wishing to fish of a night are encountering some excellent tailor, the occasional jewfish and plenty of sharks in the form of gummies and small whalers. During the daylight hours bream, whiting and mullet are responding well

to baits like worms or pipis, while the ever-present salmon are likely to take a well-presented pilchard, strip bait or a lure cast into the waves. These salmon are also featuring along the rock platforms, where again a pilchard or a lure will produce. Mixing with them are some early season bonito, tailor and the occasional kingfish, along with all the regulars off the stones like bream, trevally, drummer, luderick and some exceptional blue groper. Moving away from the coast and going inland to

Brogo Dam, this fishery is really on fire. All the insect life has the bass really on the chew, and anglers in the right conditions can rack up cricket scores, with most fish being up around 30-35 cm. Early mornings or late evenings are a must if you are to gain the best out of this fishery. Working lures to the edge of the weed beds is a proven way to drum up some business. If you are really keen or looking for some exciting action, fish at dusk and well into the night with surface lures or flies. Oh, and be ready for some heartracing, explosive strikes.

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A black marlin eating bait. From page 78

old, while larger species like tailor, salmon, bonito or kingfish will attract the attention of more seasoned anglers. Out at sea, the boaties are also having their share of entertainment, whether it be trolling the coast looking for pelagics like kingfish, striped tuna, bonito or salmon which are

on offer, or if you like your bottom bouncing, Tathra is renowned for its beautiful, succulent flathead, both tigers and sandies. If it is gamefish you wish to pursue, tuna species like yellowfin or albacore, and maybe even early season striped marlin or mako sharks, are all out there awaiting you. Brogo Dam, some 40 minutes northwest of Tathra,

is full of bass that are well on the chew. They have been providing action of plenty for anglers who are notching up cricket scores of them rather than just the odd few. Remember that the action will be governed by weather conditions, with warm, balmy evenings producing good fishing. If there are cold, southerly winds, stay home.

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An assortment of species taken by using tuna as berley and bait. DECEMBER 2021

NSW

Extra fishing opportunities NEW ENGLAND RIVERS

Adam Townsend

As the old saying goes ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ and that has definitely been the case of late. With so many different fish species to target amongst the Tablelands, and a big variety of creeks and river systems to explore, the options can be endless. And now with the Murray cod season opening (1 December), it has also opened up a few of the surrounding impoundments and bigger river systems for extra fishing opportunities. Pindari Dam is one of those dams in the New England which is now opened for actively targeting Murray cod. This time of year is one of my favourite times to be out on the water because the fish can be

whole heap of insect activity (Christmas beetles etc) as well as reptiles and baitfish on and around the water. Matching these species

Cal Trew from Big Bass Dreams Australia with a massive impoundment Murray cod caught on a modified swimbait with a spinnerbait blade for fishing deeper and creating a bigger presence.

with the correct lure at the right time of day can make for some very productive sessions. For example, throwing a water dragon or lizard-style wakebait surface lure in impoundments such

even during the daylight hours, although we all know how good the surface bite for Murray cod can be during the darker hours. During the day as the water temperatures rise and the fish start going deeper, it doesn’t hurt to change things up a bit and start fishing deeper with sinking-style lures, working them along bottom. Lipless crankbaits have always been a favourite in the New England area for many anglers, but the faithful old spinnerbait is not to be looked past in the hotter months while the baitfish are thick in numbers and are very active. With the dams being full this season, it has made the fishing better for everyone as the sub-structure is now plentiful, creating good ambush points for the fish as well as creating more area above the surface for everyone to enjoy together. However, camping spots are now limited along the water’s

Wakebait-style lures are a perfect choice early in the morning when reptiles and sub-surface baitfish are active. 80

DECEMBER 2021

edge so make sure you do the right thing if fishing and/or camping in crowded areas, especially as we head into the holiday season.

One of the author’s most epic moments from years gone by walking the river. Cod can be very aggressive at this time of year, especially after spawning.

Fishing deeper during the hotter parts of the day with sinking lures can be very productive. caught in good numbers, with many smaller fish being active in the warmer months. With the summer storms and hotter weather coming into the back end of the year, you will notice a

as Pindari and Copeton dams has been very effective in the past for many anglers around this time of year, including myself. You can have success

Copeton Dam has been rising slowly, and at the time of writing it’s currently sitting around the 87% mark, while Pindari has sat at full capacity of several weeks.

If you are one of the keen anglers going to hit the rivers this month, you should be in for a pretty good time. With most the rivers being left alone for the last three months, the Murray cod should be pretty fired up and willing to chase a lure or bait down. The rivers are looking

in beautiful condition, certainly a lot better than in seasons gone by, so make sure you have a big variety of lures in the tackle box to keep you covered for all situations, and get out there and get stuck into them. Good luck and tight lines.

Sensational surface bite HUNTER VALLEY

Nick Price

This month I will focus on fishing surface. The surface bite both this year and last year has been sensational. But before we look at techniques, I need to talk trout! The trout fishing on the Barrington Tops in the Upper Hunter continues to be the best it has been for many years. Unfortunately, there are stories of people keeping many trout over the legal limit. As well as being illegal, remember all the trout are stocked by local clubs using local money. The area the trout are found in is not large and is easily overfished. Be responsible please. The trout are being caught on small Rapala bibbed lures

Local fishing legend ‘Big Sump’ with a typical trout.

A typical Moonan trout.

in trout pattern when fishing the larger holes. Cast the lure up near the head of the hole and slowly work it back. If the hole is deep I like to use the Rapala Count Down in rainbow or brown trout colours. For the faster flowing waters, Celtastyle lures are still working. Always throw upstream at about 45°, and bring it back, allowing the current to help impart action to the Celta. The local fly fishers have been out and about, catching and releasing many trout. As the weather has warmed the insect life has To page 81

NSW

Some December cheer LITHGOW/OBERON

Glen Stewart stewie72@bigpond.com

Christmas for most will be a little different this year, given the COVID circumstances leading into such a day. ‘Appreciation’ is one word that possibly sums it up best, and it’s the same with our fishing. My first trip to Windamere Dam out of lockdown was a case in point.

It was raining, the wind was gusting – terrible conditions really – but I was as happy as a pig in mud! It was just so nice to be floating in a boat, fishing to my heart’s content. I even managed a couple of fish, and I held the first golden perch boat-side in the water for a little longer than I usually would to take in its amazing colours and look at the water flowing in and out of its gills, then I watched as it slowly slipped from my grasp and disappeared back

into the green abyss. Driving home, my cup was overflowing with appreciation, and I hope this feeling will linger – not just for me, but for all anglers. COD SEASON December heralds the opening of the Murray cod season for most dams and all rivers in NSW. For the last few years, opening day for me has been spent on one of our local impoundments, but this year will be different. We have planned a hike into Golden perch on fly in Windamere Dam will definitely be on the cards this December, especially early on before it gets too warm.

The passing of Peter Hanrahan back in October was very sad. Peter, or ‘Bagsy’ as he was more affectionately known, was a local angling icon. When it came to catching fish on fly consistently, no one did it better. From page 80

flourished, and fishing dry flies such as the Royal Wulff or Red Tag is accounting for many fish. Fly fishing looks hard but is not, especially when you’re fishing the small streams in the Tops. Casts are not very long, and with a little bit of practice in the backyard you will be on top of it. With so many trout about it’s a great time to learn. Both Lake Glenbawn and Lake St Clair have been fishing really well. The water temperature has risen and the bass are active. In both lakes the fish are hitting surface presentations. Most fishing of this technique is done during the night, or at dawn and dusk, but don’t be afraid to fish surface all day, particularly if the

A calm morning makes for great surface fishing.

A great fly for the Upper Hunter.

day is overcast. If the fish are feeding on surface in the shallows and are hungry, they will take surface lures at any time. Generally, these fish caught on the surface are big bass. They seem to be fooled more easily with surface lures than other presentations. There is a local saying that a bass caught on surface is worth 10 caught any other way, because it’s such a fun and exciting form of fishing. It’s what I think sets bass apart from a lot of other natives. There are two main techniques I use when surface fishing. The first is an

some back country rivers and creeks. It’s been a good two seasons of rain and runoff, so we are hoping for a fresh run of quality fish from lower downstream that have made their way up into the headwaters. Time will tell, but either way it will be fun few days of banter between mates. I might even get the fly rod out and scratch an itch that just won’t go away. Wyangala Dam near Cowra will be on everybody’s lips. It’s certainly cemented itself as one of the premier impoundment cod fisheries in the district. It will be interesting to see how the aggressive presentation. Last year with the mouse plague, this was the most productive presentation when surface fishing. I recommend using a noisy lure such as a Mudeye, Pompadour or Taylor Made – something that makes plenty of splash and noise. Cast the lure to the bank and retrieve at a steady rate. The fish hit the lure in an aggressive way, mistaking it for a small lizard or mouse, and there is no need for light line. I like to use at least 12lb leader otherwise I find myself losing fish. The other style of surface fishing is finesse. This involves using a small lure such as a Soft Shell Cicada. Cast the lure to a likely spot and let the lure sit. Wait for the ripples to go. Then shake the rod or tap the rod butt, making more ripples, and again wait for the ripples to go. Patience is the key when fishing this way. The bass like a pause, which can be anything from a few seconds to a minute. Make sure there is not a lot of slack in the line or you will miss fish due to a low hook-up rate. Next month I will focus on the deep bite using Gulps and your sounder. 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.

cod react to the ongoing pressure being applied to the fishery; I’m thinking there’ll be an early run of good fish followed by a lull in captures. Thinking outside the box will be paramount to anglers achieving success once the pressure has been applied. Always keep in the back of your mind, especially with current developments in technology, that the learning goes both ways! Educating cod by means of learning by association has super accelerated X10. In some instances, it won’t matter – conditions and hunger will mean the switch gets flicked and nothing will deter them from eating a lure – but these times are rare. WINDAMERE GOLD With the COVID hangover still lingering, Windamere Dam near Mudgee will still be a go-to destination for chasing

Gulps is always a standard fall back on such dams at this time of year. It’s relatively easy and such a great way to introduce kids to freshwater fishing. Keep in mind that not all trees are created equal when it comes to a perch house! Sometimes it pays to try a few different types of trees in different depths to find which ones are suiting them at the time. A quality depth sounder with side scan can cut your time searching, but it’s not totally necessary, especially if you’re on the dam for a few days. SPEND YOUR HARD EARNED If you’re anything like me, lockdowns have meant we may have saved a few extra dollars on fishing gear. Travelling anglers spend money before they leave and whilst on the road, and that’s what so many smallto medium-sized business

Keep your eyes peeled for feeding birds on the water at Windamere in December. Quite often it can be a sign that small golden perch have balled up the baitfish from below. golden perch. I might even partake in some early December trips, stocking up on a tank left empty by the dreaded ‘C’ restrictions. If early indications prove correct it could be an extravaganza on smaller fish in open waters, as the baitfish numbers have exploded. The seagulls and cormorants will set the scene. Keep your eyes peeled for such activities because the golden perch won’t be too far underneath. Grubbing trees with

need right now. So many of them have been pushed to the brink by the pandemic so let’s all dig a little deeper, fork out some hard earned and get this show back on the road. Hope to see you on the water soon. Until then, tight lines. • Please note that the above report was supplied prior to the recent rain events at Wyangala Dam. Check for local updates before heading to the area. DECEMBER 2021

NSW

Find the redfin, find the cod BATLOW

Wayne Dubois waynedubois@westnet.com.au

It is finally time to break out the camping gear and make the most of the easing travel restrictions. The

are at the top of the food pyramid for predatory fish at Blowering Dam. In general, if you find redfin there’s bound to be some Murray cod around, as proven with the regular Murray cod captures whilst jigging for redfin. Bear this in mind

when you’re thinking about strategies for targeting Murray cod at Blowering Dam this cod season. Find the redfin and the big predators won’t be far away. GOLDEN PERCH The golden perch are still about but you will have to

Anglers have been traveling from far and wide to take advantage of the great spring yella action at Blowering Dam. Patrick ‘Patto’ Martin and his Gaden Trout Hatchery mate travelled from Jindabyne to join the author for a day targeting yellas. freezing nights are well and truly behind us now, which means you don’t even need a fire to be warm at night. In fact, you might even find yourself going for a swim to cool down instead. Blowering Dam has free form camping around almost the entire lake, which is why it is a favourite place for so many to camp at. You don’t get too much for free these days, so if you’re after a cheap weekend away camping, I recommend heading to Blowering. MURRAY COD During the warmer months of the year, redfin

StumpJumpers is a good way to target the golden perch at this time of the year. The other productive technique during the summer months is bait fishing around shaly banks, rocky points and submerged trees. Arguably the best bait to use whilst targeting Blowering’s golden perch are yabbies, and it’s best to rig them on a paternoster rig to keep them from burying themselves into the bottom. TUMUT RIVER Spinning and fly fishing has been good to great since the opening of the season, and this should continue for a fair while yet. There have been a lot of fish caught on glow bugs and nymphs, especially at the beginning of the season, but there have also been plenty willing to take a well-presented dry fly of late. Lure fishos have done well on a variety of lures, from small plastics to big Tassie Devils, and everything in between. However, arguably the best all-round lures would have to be flashy, spinning lures with a rear teaser, like Rooster Tails, Bling Spins,

Tournament angler Collin Robinson is another who has been making the most of the great golden perch action at Blowering Dam. sinking hardbodies like the Rapala CD range in rainbow or brown trout colours, or Insanity Tackle SSO Minos, again in natural trout colours. MURRUMBIDGEE Most cod will be keen for a good feed this month after finishing their annual spawning run, and they

There have been some giant rainbow trout getting around in the Tumut River this season, including this 10lb+ beast landed by the author in a red-hot big fish session earlier in the season.

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work a lot harder than you did during the spring months to get good results. Trolling with smallish lures such as #2 Prism Murrins, TN50 or TN60 Jackalls, Viking Minnows, Balista Dynos, Trollcraft Double Downers, Slap Walkers or small

and Tsunami Cocktails. Alternatively, if the river has been copping a flogging from anglers, a more natural presentation is needed to entice the trout. The go-to lures at these times are natural coloured minnowstyle hardbodies, preferably

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tend to be pretty keen to hit just about anything thrown their way during the first few weeks of the season. If casting lures is your thing, you can look forward to some good catches, especially with large profiled spinner baits and soft plastics. Trollers tend to do well this month

The trout are in prime condition in the Tumut River at the moment.

on the outside of sharp bends using fairly big lures in the 90-250mm range. Bait fishing at this time of the year can be pretty flat-out at times, especially when using worms, because everything from crayfish to cod love juicy earthworms. However, the best baits to use when specifically targeting natives are shrimp, yabbies and bardi grubs. No matter where you decide to fish this December, I wish you all the best and hope that you all have a safe and happy Christmas break. See you all next month.

NSW

The wait is over! ALBURY/WODONGA

Connor Heir

Every year as 1 December approaches, cod anglers start twitching to get out on the water to chase these incredible fish that we are

something you haven’t done before I highly recommend it, especially if you are new to cod fishing. The spots you can pull fish from will blow your mind, especially when you do fish those low light periods, being the morning and late afternoons. However,

way I’ve walked). I usually give most snags about 10-15 casts before fishing the next piece of structure, but also if a snag can be fished more efficiently using a different style lure I will change and re-fish the hole with something different. For example, if there is a rock ledge or a big root bank where a floating lure like a hardbody won’t get down to depth straight away in the bite zone, I will change over to a spinnerbait or a sinking swimbait to get it right into the zone of the cod. While sometimes it’s good to move along areas quickly to cover water, if fish are playing hard this can be a really good technique and sometimes you can really key into what their behaviour is. Often on my way back I will fish the same holes I previously fished during the day with surface lures on low light. As mentioned, low light periods definitely do standout, so revisiting areas can sometimes unlock their

n Trout Hatchery e d a G

The author caught this surface-eating cod in a pool in the afternoon. Just hours before he had fished there with no bites.

full potential. During the colder months the cod fishing can be hit-andmiss, but in summer the catches are more consistent, and you should be able to pick a few up if you fish hard. Summertime usually provides fantastic numbers of smaller fish, in contrast to the cooler months when anglers

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lucky to have in our very own backyard! I’m predicting this cod season will be a very successful one, with anglers catching good numbers of healthy, fit Murray cod. The reason for this prediction is the recent flows and rainfall had during both winter and spring. It’s been a few years since there has been this much water around in our local area, and it really is something to be happy about. The good flushes throughout so many different fisheries will have really

even fishing during the heat of the day, you can pull fish from crazy spots. Last season on cod opening I remember walking across a shallow section of water and cast a hardbody into a tiny shade pocket that would have been just on knee depth, and my lure got nailed by a small cod as soon as the lure hit the water. Essentially, it was a topwater bite, so I tied on a surface lure to see what would happen. What followed was a short bite window for about half an hour where the cod

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Rhys Wilson with a beautiful yellowbelly taken from a shade pocket during the day. This greedy fish had no problems taking on a good-sized swimbait.

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dial in on bigger fish. You can definitely still target those bigger fish in summer, and they can eat at any time of day if you’re in the right place at the right time. However, for the most part, summer is a really good time to get good numbers of smaller fish. It’s

so much fun, and small water is probably one of the best ways to start. You don’t need the best gear; all you need is a confident approach and be willing to at times catch nothing. With time you will gain knowledge and catch fish more consistently.

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freshened up the food chain, and while it does make it hard to fish in the short term, once it settles and regular flows are more consistent, it can make for some really exciting fishing opportunities, and not just for cod. During summer, I really am sucked into fishing the small water systems chasing Murray cod. There’s something special about wet wading and walking banks of small water, and if it’s

were hammering anything. At the time, my friend was casting a spinnerbait while I had a surface lure on, and he had as much action as I did. A lot of the time while cod fishing, it can be easy to only fish the best-looking structure in the holes, but it really is worth picking holes apart. I like to start at the bottom or top of a hole and work my way downstream or upstream (depending on which

Closed Anzac, Christmas, Boxing day.

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NSW

Get into the goodoo CANBERRA

Toby Grundy

Cod season 21/22 is here, and the anticipation is reaching fever pitch in Canberra. After long periods of lockdown, the easing of restrictions has increased the level of excitement as anglers can now travel to fishy locations.

maximum disturbance across the water. The other thing to remember is to bring a light spin stick on each cod excursion, because casting for a yella can be a great way to pass the time if the cod aren’t willing to play the game. I usually arrive at a likely cod spot an hour early so I can catch a few yellas before the sun starts to set. Fishing is a

wind pushes the bait up into this area during late afternoon, it is possible to catch several golden perch by slow rolling vibes parallel to the reeds. The cod are holding a few metres out from the rock walls along Lady Denman Drive and can be fussy. Large plastics slow rolled through the middle of the water column can get the cod interested but more often than not, the cod end up being a bycatch for lucky fishos targeting yellas on light spin. Lake Ginninderra continues to improve. Though the weed issue remains a problem, the fishing has gone from strength to strength through spring and now into

Golden perch are on the chew.

Don’t forget the light spin gear. I always keep my eye out for new release cod lures which always seem to drop (ironically) during closed season. I like to fish with a lot of new lures during the opening weeks of cod season because I find the fish have usually wised up to the usual suspects like spinnerbaits, but will readily hit something they haven’t seen before. This year I’ll be focusing on surface lures, and the first thing I’ll be casting is the new DStyle Hatch. I’m a big fan of lighter cod lures, and the Hatch is the perfect mix of a light lure coupled with plenty of size, and big wings to create

confidence game, and having a few fish on the board always makes me want to fish longer and harder, all the while knowing the fish are biting. LOCAL LAKES Lake Burley Griffin is fishing really well. I have been out in my kayak over recent weeks and I quickly found the reddies holding just off the points leading from the rowing lanes up to the wharves at Weston Park. There are also plenty of golden perch holding near the reed-lined banks at the Daramalan rowing sheds. This part of the lake is often overlooked by anglers fishing from the shore, but when the

Low light periods are always good times to target goodoo. summer. The golden perch are holding close to the reeds but will readily take a wriggler plastic in darker colours, and also can’t resist a shallow diver worked close to the bottom. Slow rolling mediumsized swimbaits just above the large weed beds which

directly opposite the college. The fish tend to push up into this area in early summer to hunt the baitfish. Match the hatch with a wriggler plastic in dark green. SURROUNDS Googong Dam is my pick of the summer fisheries. The redfin are hitting surface lures, the golden perch are thumping any kind of lure fished close to the trees, and the big cod are actively patrolling the edges in search of an easy feed. If you’re walking the bank, head to Shannon’s inlet and cast small- to medium-sized swimbaits out past the sunken trees and shrubs. Slow roll the

hope of landing one of the resident green giants. Lake Tuggeranong has held massive cod for a long time but they have been proved elusive and difficult to catch. The widely circulated and recent videos and photos from last season featuring huge swimbaits and

The reddies are back at Googong.

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line the edges of the lake near Diddams Close can result in a cod strike. The bigger fish bite well at dawn and dusk, and there is also a bite window at around 3pm. Lake Tuggeranong will really start to fire over the coming weeks. A number of anglers unlocked the secrets of this fishery using Livescope tech towards the end of last season. Other fishos, having seen the spectacular results, have wised up and will be fishing Tuggers hard in the

big cod in easily recognisable locations will mean that most anglers know exactly where to go to hook a cod, and I’m sure it won’t be long before we see a 120cm cod come from the lake. For those fishing for yellas, try the shallow banks

There are still plenty of big golden perch eating lures at LBG.

lure close to the bottom but insert a few pauses as the lure gets close to the snags (even the tiniest shrub) because Googong natives sometimes need a second look before committing. If you’re fishing from a boat, go to the back of the dam and fish the steep rock walls for cod. The Murrumbidgee has been in flood for some time and it could be that the river remains in flood for many months to come. This doesn’t mean the fish won’t be biting but it may be a case of putting in a lot of time on the water to work out where the fish are holding. The landscape of the river will have changed so much since the closed season that it may be a case of testing out areas where there were no fish before, because the regular haunts may now be fishless.

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Go Behind the Scenery

Tasmania

Catching Christmas dinner OFFSHORE

Kelly Hunt

In December, besides thinking about all the cool fishing gear you want from Santa, you should also think about which species to target. The weather was unsettled in November and with so much on in our lives, it was hard to fish for southern rock lobster and stripey trumpeter as hard as we would have liked. This will change as now that we have Christmas feasts to prepare for. Seafood is a huge part of a solid Christmas table spread, and a big crayfish looks awesome on the table. While chasing crays you can enjoy great weekends away with your mates in some amazing parts of the world. One such area is the wild west coast of Tasmania, and

we like to roll out of the heads at Strahan through Hells Gates. We launch from the ramp located at the Macquarie Harbour and steam and take in all the picturesque landscape as we go. It is a fabulous area with a rich history of convicts, settlers, mining and commercial fishing. This place is known as

soaking you can head out deeper and try for some stripey trumpeter or some school shark. The two species occupy similar bottom types and are often found together. A stripey spot can be quite isolated and if you drift over and past for no action, a school shark is often the by-catch. They are both very good eating so I don’t

on the target species in my opinion. True, sometimes the fish can be on and biting hard, and you could send rigs made of chain link down and you will catch them. However, when they are off the bite and shut down, it’s pretty painful. When this happens I put a soft plastic on the top hook with a big tail on it and try

Jarvis Wall with some slow pitch jigging goodies.

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Jacob Howe with a very nice trumpeter from the west. the ‘Wild West’, and for good reason; the weather can be next level bad and very unpredictable. It does pay to have a very good understanding of the weather apps, their forecast and what could be expected. This area is known for its

mind too much, although the striped trumpeter is very versatile for the Christmas table. You can do it in a very light batter, crispy skin pan fry it, or bake it whole. I like to use slightly lighter rigs than I see commercially made for this fishing. The

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to create some attention. It doesn’t always work but it has produced fish when the fishing has been slow. Big dangly baits work well at depth. Make sure you have the bait secured to your circle hook well, but don’t be scared to have a bit of flesh or a tentacle or two flail in the current. This has the effect of attracting the fish over to your bait and, fingers crossed, eliciting a strike.

The southern areas around near Bruny Island and all the way down past Whale Head and onto Pedra are fishing well. Once again, make sure you are all over the forecast because south of Whale Head is no man’s land, and you must have your wits about you at all times. The stripey and cray fishing down there is also superb, and when we fish from down that way we leave from the Southport ramp. Care must be taken on low tide as you come out of the Lune River and navigate the channel past Pelican Island. The channel moves about a bit depending on river outflow. We have been running out of there in the low

DECEMBER 2021

Jarvis with a cool find while slow pitch jigging. big, powerful southern ocean swells, and they look fairly innocuous with no wind on them. Work into the mix a bit of tide and a 15-knot westerly, and it gets very nasty real quick. Pick the weather, and while the cray pots are

commercial rigs are often made with the probability of something bad happening (e.g. a seal encounter) and are very heavy in the leader material. However, the lighter the leader material (within reason), the greater the probability of a hook-up

Skipper Clinton with some West Coast Christmas crays from last year.

light of the morning heading to the fishing ground. On one trip we noticed some seagulls swimming to our port side, and as we got closer it was pointed out to the skipper that the gulls were in fact standing on sand and not swimming. Venturing to both the west and south, it will pay to also pack some tuna fishing gear. The tuna have been caught nearly year-round the last couple of seasons, and there are plenty about. If you see a bust-up or see something of interest on the sounder, throw a spread out and have a crack. The tuna have been popping up in some interesting places of late, and it speaks volumes to the quality and condition of the fishery. In other fishing news, the squid and the flathead fishing has been exceptional. The water is starting to warm up after a slow start, and December should see that improve. There have been plenty of bread-and-butter species being caught and turned into very tasty home meals. The kids have been getting into it as well, which is great to see. Bait and bibbed lures have been effective, but I have also noticed that slow and fast pitch jigging has been gaining some keen followers. This is an effective method to target fish, and has a technical aspect and requires specific gear. Just what we need, another excuse to buy some specialised fishing equipment! So whether you’ll be sticking with your tried and true method of bait fishing, or you would like to cast a lure, get out in December and try your luck. And you never know, maybe Santa will bring you some fancy jigging gear for Christmas.

Go Behind the Scenery

Tasmania

Extra attractions for anglers HOBART

Andrew Large

Low pressure systems battered Tasmania last month, and the effects are still being felt leading into December. Healthy lake levels, increased river flows and estuaries that have felt the benefits of a good flush are just extra attractions to anglers state-wide this month.

In the saltwater we see southern bluefin tuna having slowed a little over the last month, with the jumbo SBT going a little quiet. The temperature was holding a tad under 13°C for most of November, but seems to be well and truly on the rise now according to rock lobster fishers potting recently. Bait schools are prolific and I expect that we will have SBT for the 7th year running at Christmas

Be Song from the Tasmanian Devil factory with a ripper brown trout caught trolling Great Lake on a 12.5g Tasmanian Devil spoon No 7 in spotted dog.

off Eaglehawk Neck in the state’s southeast. As predicted, sand flathead continue to build in numbers and bite well, with good-sized fish being taken around the southeast. Both soft plastics and baits have been working well. A slightly late arrival this season, tiger flathead are beginning to move along the east coast and some parts of the northeast and north coast. Good captures have been coming to light around Bicheno and Fortescue Bay in the south. This action may extend into January. Anglers are making the most of sand whiting which are available around South Arm and Storm Bay and larger channel area. These fish have also been taken at Marion Bay and Slopen Main out of Cremorne. Southern calamari have been a little scarce but are returning in healthy numbers, many schools having moved out deep to evade big seas and crashing swell. The influx of freshwater also had an effect on some locations in the vicinity of coastal creeks during our mega wet spring. Healthy schools of morwong perch are plentiful around nearly all our coastlines. Tasman Island and Munroe Bite have been producing good numbers within relatively close proximity to shore in recent weeks. Nice-sized snapper are being taken state-wide both in the Tamar River near

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Launceston, and Storm Bay and Lower Bruny Island in the south. Our estuaries are firing and are probably the healthiest they have been for many years. Many escapee Atlantic salmon from last year continue to be caught by fishers targeting sea-run trout. These fish are being caught from the CBD to New Norfolk in the Derwent River. The odd Atlantic is being caught in the Huon. Sea trout, what can I say? This has been the best year easily in the last 30 for these fish. And the good news is they are still biting well. Although the clarity of most of our rivers has been murky from the very start in August, this is slowly clearing, and the good news is sea trout are still smashing lures and flies in December. Late season sea trout fishing is reserved only for the very occasional of years, but 2021 seems to be it. The Huon has been firing with whitebait feeders for over eight weeks now for the year, with good whitebait runs increasing the feeding activity of fish. The Derwent continues to fish well from the Hobart CBD to New Norfolk. Again, healthy runs of whitebait in most areas are firing up both resident and sea-run fish. Bream have been a little slow of late, and are probably retreating to lower limits in the rivers pushed back by continuing large amounts of freshwater.

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A healthy brown trout caught at Great Lake on a 13.5g Tasmanian Devil in bloody ripper colour. These fish will come on as water clears and bait increases. Tasmania has not been this alive in our freshwater areas for many years. Our storages are bursting, or nearly full after many years of near drought-like conditions, and the trout (and anglers) are making the most of the favourable conditions. All lakes seem to be producing wellconditioned trout now, and recent rains have seen lakes rising or spilling, with many waterways the fullest they have been in over a decade. Bronte Lagoon, sitting in almost the geographical centre of Tasmania, has seen some amazing ‘tailing action’ first thing in the morning with the fly, while troll and spin anglers do well out wide later in the day. One report has a brown of nearly 4kg being lost boat-side. In recent days levels have begun to drop. In the northeast, Lake Leake has just stopped spilling but is expected to do so again with any further rain this month. Temperatures were low and trout had been harder to catch so far this season, but it’s pleasing to report that with just a slight increase in water temp trout have become a bit more predictable with lure and fly. Persistence is the key, with good fish still being caught. Lake King William fished well last week. Rising

water levels are flooding new ground and the fish are feeding enthusiastically. Larger than life, Great Lake continues to rise. Its margins had been very icy, but presently this body of water is sitting on around 11°C and good quality rainbows and browns have been taken by those trolling with deeper bibbed minnows. Nice browns have been taken amongst the wind lanes by troll and spin and fly anglers. Craigbourne Dam is currently just spilling with recent rain in the southeast, and will do so for the foreseeable future. Good browns and rainbows continue to be caught. Again, Tillins Ashley 2” spinners in 14D, 14B and 11 are taking fish. Hawk Sniper lures in Killer Wasp for the win. Dry fly activity continues to increase in Four Springs, Tooms and Woods, with the odd dun starting to appear throughout the Bronte chain as well. It remains to be seen if this action ceases unexpectantly after Christmas as it did last year… trout seemingly happy to mop up sub-surface prey items and not being too tempted to hit the surface and smash the usual offering of dry flies. Another few weeks will tell. Merry Christmas everyone, and safe fishing wherever you may choose to fish this festive season! DECEMBER 2021

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We are not the government. We are fishers that want to make fishing better for everyone. Whether it’s fish habitat, water security and quality, fishing access and infrastructure or best practice, we aim to work in partnership to make sure Victoria’s fishing experiences continue to improve, be sustainable and more enjoyable for all generations of Victorians.To get the job done, we leverage the skills and passion of our membership and employ a small team of professional staff.

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VIC

Good captures set to continue WARRNAMBOOL

Mark Gercovich mgercovich@hotmail.com

The offshore waters of the South West have been producing some great captures recently and this should only continue as we head into December. The quality deepwater shark

The number of snapper have begun to increase as the season progresses. Amanda Pirotta captured an impressive snapper of around 4.5kg, which is a great snapper for our local waters. Fish to around the 1.5-2kg range have been more common for anglers fishing fresh couta, salmon and squid in 35-50m of water. Towards the end

Last year’s kingfish season was pretty good considering the weather windows of calm, warm weather were few and far between. Things were a little in reverse last year with plenty of school sized fish of around 70-90cm in close around Portland, whereas the island produced bigger fish, but in smaller

Snapper are a popular offshore target this month. fishing has continued to produce school and gummy sharks, like it has for the past couple of months.

of the month anglers will be turning their thoughts towards the summer pelagics in kingfish and tuna.

numbers. Pelagic schools were encountered offshore amongst the tuna a bit more than the previous two seasons

and Killarney and the reefs around Yambuk also had their moments last year. The Killarney area and the inshore areas just out from the Moyne at Point Fairy and in Lady Bay at Warrnambool can produce some good whiting in the 40-45cm range at this time of year as well. Silver trevally, squid and pinky snapper are also common when fishing for whiting in 4-8m waters. The first of the summer run of bluefin usually show up in late December as well. These fish can be encountered very close inshore, sometimes in as little as 10m of water. Keep an eye out for surface action whenever you can as it can lead to some unexpected encounters. The local rivers continue to take a big hit from the rains. Every time they seem about ready to clear and warm up we get another deluge. Surely by December we will be targeting bream and perch on edges and using surface lures in the local estuaries. Despite the dirty water some good estuary perch have been taken recently well up in the freshwater section of the Hopkins by anglers targeting trout. These have been good fish in the 40cm+ range and have been taking shallow running trout style hardbodies

The first kings of the season should show up in late December. and swimbaits. The trout are still providing a good option with the high water levels, and some quality fish between 1.5-2kg are being taken. The largest one I’ve heard of recently was a ripper of

3.2kg captured by Allistar Bourke. Come December these freshwater sections should still be carrying enough running water to produce some trout should the weather wipe out any intended offshore trip.

Holiday fishing in Portland PORTLAND

Nigel Fisher

What a year it has been in Victoria! There have been lots of ups and

downs for us all. Let’s hope we are all heading forward now, and some normality sets in. I would also like to wish everyone a great Christmas and a great holiday season.

Now to the fishing in Portland. We have had some reasonable weather of late,

great snapper over the last month, with one reaching 9kg. We have also seen

Braden Fisher with a very healthy redfin from a local dam.

Some of the best eating fish on one cleaning table.

Izacc with a nice breakwater snapper. 90

DECEMBER 2021

so we have been able to fish some of our favourite areas. First, the Lee Breakwater has been producing some

gummies and schoolies. The sharks have been mainly taken at night, but there’s still the odd good

fish to be caught during the day. Available species include whiting, couta, salmon and squid. The New Town Jetty is now open and has been a great addition to the harbour. Some of the species being taken off the

jetty include whiting, squid, pinkie snapper and slimies, just to name a few. The Trawlers Wharf has also seen a similar mix of species caught. Fishing the bay, we have seen squid To page 91

VIC

Blessed are the beaches COBDEN

Rod Shepherd

The saltwater scene has been profitable for some, especially those beach goers chasing Australian salmon. Some solid fish exceeding 2kg have been landed amongst smaller specimens along most of our beaches. One group of beach anglers employed a drone to locate schools feeding just outside the wash and cleaned up using weighted soft plastic stick baits along with a variety of metal slices. Tough baits, such as squid strips, fished on a paternoster rig are also catching salmon. Offshore, in depths approaching 50m, plenty of gummy shark have been caught along with

the odd schoolie. Mixed in amongst the shark have been plenty of morwong, rock ling and leatherjacket, which shouldn’t be sneezed at when it comes time to have a feed of fish. The Hopkins River has had plenty of estuary perch and bream being taken all over the system. Some of these fish are easily pulling the scales down well over 1kg with fish measuring up to 45cm to the fork of the tail. Soft plastics are working well but so to is bait. Worm (both scrub and kelp) are apparently killing it in the bream department. So too is crab. Mulloway are still in the system and Kinnears is the place to target them. Fishing the deeper

channel with either small live bait or even filleted frozen pilchard has seen fish to 108cm hooked and landed. Night is the go and a boat is necessary, I ‘d go further and say that thermals and thermoses of coffee would also be mandatory. FISHING FROM AFAR The Glenelg River at Nelson is still firing for big mulloway with reports of many schools inhabiting the river from the mouth right up to Donovans – these fish are big with many averaging from 9-13kg. Trolling live baits ultra slow or large deep diving lures in a zigzag fashion across the river’s length is the go. Big bream to 1.4kg have been taken on bait and lure upstream with the caves area being presently

Juicy leatherjacket skinned and barbequed is hard to beat, especially when the snapper are quiet. a popular stretch to work. Live crab or crab imitation soft plastics fished right on the drop off have attracted

interest from the bream. Estuary perch from 700g up to 1.3kg have been taken along the rocky

shorelines in the lower reaches with anywhere upstream of the island being the go-to area for success.

We’re all dreaming of a whiting Christmas APOLLO BAY

Craig Rippon

Finally we are opening up and can start travelling to go fishing. Apollo Bay is open for business and we are all looking forward to the boat ramp being full again, and seeing some old fishing friends that we have been missing. Now it all comes down to the weather gods being kind to us. Fishing has been OK at this point, with some nice snapper holding on our local reefs. This is From page 90

around the Town Reef, plus whiting in front of the water tower, North Shore and Blacknose area. Pinkie snapper are starting to thicken up, and hopefully we will see some good pan sizes. Troll the Town Reef for pike and salmon plus the reef line over the North Shore. As the water warms from now on, we will see the kingfish fire in these areas also. Around Christmastime the school tuna can appear around the ship anchorage and North Shore area. This gives some anglers with smaller boats (like me) a chance to catch these great fighting fish. Julia Reef has been a great spot for sharks and snapper, and again as the water warms up so will the tuna and kingfish in this area. Bridgewater area has been producing some great size flathead, latchets plus

the time of the year when they come good. The water temperature is slowly rising, and when combined with the warm, northerly winds, it makes for good snapper fishing. Fresh baits are best, as always. There have been some nice gummies caught of late, mainly out in the deeper water. The slack time of the tide with a slow drift has been the most productive. The tuna had a great run earlier in the year, and with a few fish caught recently up the coast, who knows what’s out wide of Apollo Bay? With boats

good-size gummies. This area is a great fishing spot when the weather permits. Lawrences Rock to Cape Nelson Lighthouse area is another great spot for sharks, snapper, nannygai and so on. On the really good days the big boys will trek to the shelf, with blue-eye, pink ling and gemfish being the main targets. Last of all, when fishing these deep areas, there’s still the chance of a mako or barrel tuna. When it comes to beach fishing, Snapper Point is always a great land-based spot for snapper, sharks and the odd mulloway. You can also opt to downsize for whiting and trevally. Narrawong up to Fitzroy River provides good surf fishing too. Bridgewater can fish well for salmon off the beaches, or you can make the trek to Discovery Bay. This will require a 4WD. The Surrey and Fitzroy rivers have been producing bream and mullet, plus

now heading out, time will tell. They tuna seem to be about for most of the year now in different parts of Victoria, so they can pop up anywhere at any time. I had a fish for some whiting a couple of weeks ago to see what was about, and I found some nice fish up to 42cm. I berleyed heavily at the start which bought in the trevally as well, but I got a nice bag of fish – with no help from a large seal, who enjoyed a feed of fish at my expense. He probably stole about six whiting from me. Regardless, after all the restrictions we’ve

had, it was just nice to be on the water. After consulting my records, I am predicting a big year on the whiting. They are a great light gear fish to catch because they go hard in the tide. I am now using a slightly longer whiting rod. I have a few favourites but recently was given the new Atomic Arrow whiting rod to use. It is 6’3” and is an excellent rod that’s not expensive. Daiwa Saltist make a good rod in that range, and they have been great to use as well. I still like fishing 8lb mono, but a mate is

slowly turning me over to braid. The longer rods help when you’re using braid, because the rod’s flexibility compensates for the braid’s lack of stretch. I still use a mono leader of about 3m. I have been catching my whiting on fresh mussel and squid, because pipis are hard to get at the moment and also starting to get a bit expensive. I use a thin squid strip as the main bait, with just a small amount of mussel on it. Berley is very important when whiting fishing. Mash up some pilchards and put it down

Ash and Cam with a cracking 9kg snapper off the breakwater.

deep. It’s important to have enough weight in the berley pot to keep it under your boat. As the tide gets strong you don’t want the pot to shift back behind the boat, causing the berley to drift too far from your hook-up point. I hope these tips help you catch one of the best table fish in the sea. The local beaches have been OK for salmon but I’ll have more reports next month when more people start fishing. I hope to see you all enjoying the water again, and stay safe this holiday season. the odd mulloway in the Fitzroy, or you can make your way down to the Glenelg River system. Bridgewater Lakes have been producing redfin, and if you persist, some can be very large. We are lucky that we can travel to many freshwater spots within two hours of Portland; we really have the best of both worlds. So if you are planning a trip to Portland this holiday period, there will be plenty of fishing options to take advantage of. • For all the latest fishing information, call into Portland Compleat Angler and say g’day to the Fisher crew. They have all your bait and fishing needs, boat accessories, bikes and kayaks. Fishing licences are also available. You will find them at 61 Bentinck Street, next to the Gordon Hotel. You can also contact them on 03 5521 1844, or look up ‘Portland Compleat Angler’ on Facebook. DECEMBER 2021

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Signs point to a good season PHILLIP ISLAND

Craig Edmonds

After way too many days away, everybody can finally travel back to regional areas and go fishing. It had been a long time since we had our Melbourne customers into the shop, and we were very grateful for the support they gave us over the Cup weekend, and throughout November. We must also acknowledge our local customers who have been

continuing to support us through this period, making it possible for us to remain open and keep stock on the shelves. As always, there is hope that the lockdowns are finally over, and the buzz around Westernport Bay and Phillip Island is now better than it has been for months. Customers have more confidence that things are turning around, and although it’s a late start for many they are keen to stock up and get out on to the water. This is season number 16 for us in the shop, and

Amanda with a 7.1kg snapper.

every one of them has been different for one reason or another. Nothing surprises us anymore, and we have learnt to expect the unexpected. Traditionally, if you wanted to catch a bluefin tuna in Victoria you would need to make the trip down the highway towards Portland, then travel what seemed to be a similar distance on the water. The last couple of years we have seen a huge change, and while there are still tuna to be found off the western Victorian

coast, we now have a tuna fishery off Phillip Island. That was confirmed again this spring, with more barrels showing up than the previous few years. More importantly, there was a significant quantity of fish on the sounders that weren’t caught, and numerous schools found from the western entrance to Cape Patterson. We just need the school fish to show up again in the summer, and it will be as busy offshore as it is in the bay in the middle of snapper season. Another good thing with the tuna fishing off Phillip Island is they are accessible by most boats that fish in the bay, with most being caught within 40-50 minutes of the Newhaven ramp. Being school fish, you can land them on your better snapper rods and reels, but to increase your chances why not invest in something of quality that will double as a set up capable of landing the forgotten kingfish we have off the island? It took a long time for the snapper to settle this year with the everchanging weather we were having through the early spring, but once they did it began turning into a very good season. We had more bigger fish caught than the previous few years, and started seeing a mixture of sizes much earlier. As we move into

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Loran with a quality land-based snapper. December and as they come to the end of their spawning season, we will start to see some very mixed bags and from a wide area. You will still have your patterns of deep early and shallow late, but as we get to holidays, we see a lot of not-soserious anglers hit the water after breakfast, and this is where we will get the mixed bag reports from. We don’t often see a lot of big snapper from the middle of the day (although the odd one will show up), it’s mostly the small and pan-sized pinkies. The corals will be the best spot to try for a feed of fish, but if you still want to look for that bigger one during the day, try the deeper channel edges. Whiting are starting to thin out, and I don’t mean numbers but quality. Plenty of the summer pencils are now showing up. The bigger, fatter whiting, like the snapper, will become a bit harder to find this month. Over the last few years the quality of the summer fish was quite good, but it’s not looking that way this year, with plenty of pencil whiting reported already. On the upside, these little whiting are a good sign for our future stocks. At the time of writing, there is no sign of the pipis as yet, just those imported clams that no one seems to have much success with. However, by the time this goes to print the pipis will hopefully be back in shops at a reasonable price. The

fear is they won’t show at all, or that if they do, they’ll be very expensive. If this happens, anglers might stick with using cheaper baits of squid, pilchard and mussel, which all catch fish. Offshore will soon start to kick off. A few boats have already been out chasing tuna, but the majority of the trailer boats will be looking for a feed of flathead and other species that have been getting better and better over the last few years. If you’re after some bottom fish, head down the coast to Kilcunda to the various reefs down there. Take the time to use your sounder, go a couple of hours earlier if it’s your first trip after winter, and do plenty of sounding. The very rough weather we have had this year would have changed the landscape a little, and you might be surprised at what has shown up. While the sand gets scoured away, the heavy reef, rocks and other structure will stay and quickly become a food source for bigger fish. If you are looking for arrow squid, they will be on the bottom laying eggs so get your jigs to the bottom. Gummies will be best on the moon phases, and the multitude of other species that keep showing up will be where the food is around some type of structure. I know tuna has been the flavour of the month for the last few years, but don’t forget the kingfish.

Your fishing licence fees at work Lighting up St Helens Your fishing licence fees have helped the Geelong & District Association of Angling Clubs install two solar lights at the northern end of the St Helens rock wall. The rock wall is a popular spot for shore-based fishers with convenient car parking close to the water and six rocky reefs within casting distance. Four more solar lights will be added to the southern end soon, courtesy of additional funding from the new Intermediate Grants Program, which is open to fishing clubs year-round.

A clearer path Better access to Point Lillias is now a reality thanks to another project initiated by the Geelong & District Association of Angling Clubs. Enormous boulders, some weighing 4 tonnes, have been removed from Avalon Beach to provide a clearer path to Point Lillias, which boasts some of the deepest water around for land-based fishers targeting snapper. The project has also tidied up the pathway and added crushed rock to the parking area.

Box Creek housing boom Box Creek, near Gunbower, has welcomed more fish habitat for yellas, cod and silver perch. The North Central Catchment Management Authority installed the structures which combine hollow box timber and root balls sourced from the Echuca-Moama Bridge Project, pinned to the riverbed to prevent movement. The project complements other work in the creek to support native fish, including instream habitat work, fencing, revegetation and the construction of a lock that enables fish passage from the Loddon River near Kerang, through the Box-Pyramid Creek system and on to Kow Swamp.

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VIC

Time to reap the rewards GEELONG

Neil Slater slaterfish@gmail.com

What an exciting time to be alive! The artificial reefs installed around Corio Bay are producing snapper, the

pumped when he caught a solid flathead from Griffins Gully jetty recently. Kim Barnes decided to go for a quick fish off the rock wall at Portarlington before her click and collect the groceries were ready. With only an hour before

one of her reels let out a squeal. She fought the fish with no torch, climbing up and down the rock wall and still managed to land a 4.2kg, 68cm snapper. Corio Bay inner harbour has seen a spike in snapper either side of 40cm. These fish are prime targets for soft plastic fishos and have been caught close to jetty pylons so you need to be ready to fight back or they’ll get you into the timber. Collan and Malcolm Erard fished one of their favourite spots on the channel near Point Henry

for snapper recently. Using pilchard and squid for bait, it wasn’t long before they were into a nice fish around the 1kg mark. I’ve had a few goes out off Curlewis with my 13yo son Max and caught some good numbers of whiting to 38cm. They were taking just about any bait including last season’s old yellow squid I found at the back of the freezer. These fish were all caught in 4-4.5m but they have also been caught in 6m of water off Leopold and some 40cm models have shown

Aaron Habgood helped christen Patrick Dangerfield’s new boat with a 135kg tuna.

Deborah with a salmon she caught from Point Roadknight Beach. region is seeing fantastic captures of whiting and there are massive tuna offshore! Baitfish are thick inside Corio Bay and predators have been hot on their tails. There have been plenty of pike and salmon ripping into them so keep an eye out for birds diving on the leftover bait. Ping a lure into the commotion if you can get close enough and odds on you’ll have a hook up. Salmon have shown up along the Geelong waterfront, Limeburners and Point Henry to Clifton Springs. If you’re tolling for them, remember not to troll straight through the school or you’ll scare them off. This time of year you can also expect salmon of Barwon Heads and in the Rip. Land-based fishos have done well landing snapper, salmon, flathead and trevally from various piers and rock walls around the region. St Helens Rock wall had artificial reefs installed just offshore around 2017 by VFA and we’ve seen plenty of good sized snapper either side of 4kg caught by landbased anglers here. Adam Wilde says his 8yo son Ari has really taken to fishing and was super 94

DECEMBER 2021

pick up, she grabbed a couple of rods, bait, and a landing net but forgot a torch. Kim was about to leave to grab the groceries when

Col and Mal with a few of Corio Bay’s finest. up in Stingaree Bay near Limeburners ramp. Best bet is to cast your bait into the clear patches of sand. Small wrasse live in the weeded areas and destroy

Max Slater has his hands full with these Clifton Springs whiting.

your bait in seconds if it lands in the weed. Calamari were cruising the 2m line at Clifton Springs but I struggled to find them later in the month. I did stumble on a few in 6m of water using size 3.0 jigs. St Leonards and Indented Head have also been producing whiting either side of 40cm and fair numbers of calamari. Larger whiting over 45cm and calamari have been biting in and around Queenscliff while the harbour has been producing pinkie snapper and silver trevally to 40cm for soft plastic enthusiasts. The tide really races through here so

best bet is to fish when the tide stops running. Deborah and Kelvin Johnson from Echuca visited Anglesea recently. They fished from the beach at Point Roadknight where Kelvin caught a decent flathead and Deborah managed a salmon using chicken for bait. The Barwon River in Barwon heads has been producing trevally and salmon on the incoming tide on both raw chicken and soft plastic lures. Most fish have been under 40cm but still great fun. All that fishing is great but the talk of the town has been the incredible tuna fishery developing in Bass

Quick fish before grabbing the groceries – nice one Kim!

VIC

Strait. I guess we’ll never know when they’ll turn up but some whopping tuna have shown up and been

lure in pilchard colour. Peri’s big tuna weighed in at 125kg. Chris Cassar of Cassar

Aaron Habgood jumped on Patrick Dangerfield’s new boat with Patrick and Nigel Lappin. Aaron says the sea was alive with whales, dolphins and plenty of bait. Trolling near the bait, they hooked up but lost a solid fish. The lures

were sent out again and they didn’t have to wait too long for a second hook up. They fought the fish for around 40-50 minutes and it was very erratic at times. The fish was fought to the surface where they were able to get along side it for

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Chris with 141kg of Bass Strait tuna.

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a gaff shot. The fish took an 8” Evil Angel on the long corner and weighed 135kg bled. Aaron says the fish has been enjoyed by all the Cats team mates and our families. FISH HARD – DIE HAPPY! Catch a few around Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula or Surf Coast to

Ari is enjoying the fishing around Corio Bay. caught by lucky anglers fishing around the Rip and Barwon Heads. Peri Stavropoulos from Trellys Tackle in Geelong caught a ripper in 65m south of the Rip trolling an 8” skirted

Fishing Charters caught a beast in 50m of water out off Barwon Heads using an Ali’i Kai fish head lure in pink and purple. Chris’s big tuna weighed in at 141.5kg and 2100mm fork length!

Visiting from Echuca, Kelvin caught this nice flathead at Point Roadknight.

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).

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Peak time has arrived PPB WEST

Alan Bonnici alan@fishingmad.com.au

The previous weeks and months have been incredibly inconsistent, with plenty of hours spent marking up masses of fish that just weren’t in an eating mood. This year the season seems to be about a month behind, with colder than normal water temperatures, but rest

Land-based anglers have had success with varied baits and soft plastics, however whole pilchards seem to be the stand-out choice. I would encourage land-based anglers and kayakers to get out as frequently as possible during this window before the snapper head into deeper waters, which generally happens as the water temperature rises above 18°C. Glenn Moss has been fishing regularly in his Hobie kayak in the shallows around

Billy Gunning with a nice snapper from Mornington Pier. assured we are just about to venture into peak fishing time around Melbourne, and the fishing is about to get very exciting. For our local waters this means consistent catches of snapper, squid, flathead and whiting. Even our lake and estuary species will be caught in good numbers and sizes. This time of year is particularly good for landbased anglers and kayakers. The snapper venture into shallow waters and it’s this time of year that we see some epic land-based catches on social media. The snapper will be spread far and wide around Port Phillip Bay, with areas such as Altona, Port Melbourne, Sandringham and Mt Martha all producing.

Altona, fishing around the 6m mark before the reefs. Glenn has been anchoring up and using full pilchards on his own snelled and paternoster rigs, which he created after watching some of my FishingMad YouTube tutorials. Glen landed three snapper in his first three trips, all between 65-75cm. The excitement is hard to describe when you’re sitting on your kayak anchored up putting in the hours, and then without warning one of the rods buckles and the reel screams. It highlights that at this time of year you don’t necessarily need a big boat to venture into deep waters to catch quality fish. Billy Gunning has been land-based fishing quite a lot on the piers around the Mornington Peninsula. He opened up his snapper account for the season catching a beautiful 4.2kg snapper off Mornington pier using an Ezi rig (aka Westernport rig) and a full squid head. Landing fish of this size elevated on a pier isn’t an easy task, and neither is navigating through other anglers’ fishing lines, but some of the locals helped Billy land this epic land-based

Steve Vessey with a pigeon pair of squid.

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Glenn Moss has been getting into the snapper from his Hobie. fish. As mentioned earlier, Sandringham break wall, Mt Martha Rocks and all scattered piers across the Mornington and Bellarine Peninsula are starting to fish well if you’re prepared to put in the hours to land a fish like this. Anglers fishing on days after strong winds have been doing quite well. Stephen Vessey has been fishing around Campbells Cove on his kayak targeting squid in the shallows. Depths between 2-5m have been fishing well. Stephen spends time scoping out the weed lines and drifting across the edges working one jig in hand whilst also having a sleeper drifting along. This has been a very successful technique. Red jigs have consistently been the stand-out colour, particularly shallow diving ones which don’t get snagged in the shallow weed beds. Stephen has had a few consecutive bag-out sessions so these tips are very worthy of replicating. He has some vids highlighting this on his YouTube channel ‘Fishing With Steve’, which is worth checking out. Whiting fishing has been very inconsistent, but we have finally been starting to see some numbers caught around the usually productive grounds such as Wedge Spit, Corio Bay, Sy Leonards and Clifton Springs. In terms of setup, it’s difficult to go past a light 2-4kg rod and 2500 size reel and light line. Justin Craig was fishing with his good mate Steven Jurcec when he landed a beautiful 50cm whiting using

a squid and pipi cocktail. 50cm seems to be that magical size that we dream about for many local species. This fish was caught in Westernport around Middle Spit, however whiting sizes are on the increase around Port Phillip Bay too which is exciting. Many good

Justin Craig with a Middle Spit whiting. size ones are being caught regularly around Corio Bay and closer towards the heads. My travels out by boat and kayak have been very inconsistent. One day the fish will be going crazy, followed by quiet days of marking good schools of fish that just aren’t biting. The first light bite has been the most productive, often followed by quiet periods. It means that when you hit the water you need to have a Plan B and a Plan C. I have generally been targeting snapper on sunrise and peak tide changes, then

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changing tactics and drifting with soft plastics around the shallows reefs, followed by drifting around known weedy grounds to pick up a few squid. In fact, the squid fishing has been excellent with multiple bag-out sessions. Nothing of great size in our local areas,

The author with a 3kg snapper.

but the squid have been pretty much smashing everything and congregating in numbers. If you catch one quickly, get a squid jig out right behind it and you’re almost sure to land another. Drifting has been the preferred technique, and using the plotter to mark productive spots on your sounder when going over a patch is a technique that will help greatly. This allows you to continually re-drift over an area that’s productive, as opposed to just drifting and hoping. • Until next time, good fishing everyone. Please feel free to reach out to me directly to share your fishing experiences and catches around Melbourne, Port Phillip Bay and beyond which we can feature in next month’s article. You can contact me by email at alan@fishingmad.com.au. Please consider becoming a FishingMad member at www. fishingmad.com.au/member for fishing workshops, detailed reports and exciting monthly giveaways. Also don’t forget to follow my fishing adventures on the FishingMad YouTube channel www.youtube. com/c/fishingmad and on social media on Facebook page www.facebook.com/ fishingmad.com.au, Instagram page www.instagram.com/ fishingmad.com.au.

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It’s all about snapper PORT PHILLIP NE

Wayne Friebe wfriebe@bigpond.net.au

Following another late, lingering winter, and the wet months of spring this year, the bay has been a little different over the past month for local anglers. And much like last year (notwithstanding months of reduced fishing pressure

increasing gradually through the last couple of weeks in November, some prolonged periods of good fishing are expected, which is all set to continue right through the summer months as well. Summer on the bay is all about snapper, especially the early summer months. Local snapper reports have been a little patchy recently, but the amount of quality fish coming from the greater

Some ripper snapper have been caught from the rocks and piers around Mornington this year. during lockdown), many of the seasonal trends from last year have continued into this season as well. Water temperatures have been much cooler than at the same time in previous years, but the warmer air and water temperatures are not far away and will certainly be welcomed with open arms by all the bay’s anglers. Many of the unusual seasonal trends from last year have continued into this season as well. Water temperatures have been much cooler than at the same time in previous years, but the warmer air and water temperatures are not far away and will certainly be welcomed with open arms by all the bay’s anglers. The start to this summer’s season has been strange in many ways, with a few of the trends we’re accustomed to experiencing, both on the bay and farther afield, not being as prevalent as in past years. At the time of writing, the snapper ‘run’ has only really started in earnest in our local areas in the last few weeks. With water temperatures

Mornington area is a great and very encouraging sign for the months ahead. Specifically, shallower areas like the Mussel Farm, Royal Reef and the Gut way at Mt Eliza have all been producing fish in varying depths from 6-9m of water. Good reports have also been coming from anglers fishing out wider from Carrum and Seaford, although these fish have reportedly been much sparser than those in close, but this will all change as the water warms up. Many local anglers have been catching some quality snapper further north in the bay, especially around Black Rock. Traditionally, late December and into January are when our local areas really start to fire up. Locally, anglers have been reporting finding big numbers of snapper on the sounder near large areas of bait, and areas of broken reef and rubble, but with cooler than normal water temperatures, bite activity has been slow at times. This has been the trend especially out from the deeper marks

out in 18-20m, but some great by-catch of solid flathead and gummies has kept anglers happy. Encouragingly, consistent reports of bigger snapper still seem to be coming from land-based locations, especially from Mornington Pier, which is having a blinder of a season so far. The nearby local rock platforms have also been producing well, and are best fished during the worst weather, the rougher the better. No fish is worth risking your life for though – take it from me, when the bite is hot it all happens in a hurry. It’s best to fish the rocks with a mate, and be prepared to get a good soaking from the waves and from above. A long-handled net is very handy also, and removes the need to get too close to the water to land the fish. This year has certainly been the best start to the season I can remember for bigger snapper from the rocks and piers. I’m expecting this consistency to continue out wide for the next couple of months for the boating anglers as well. The whiting have already turned up in our local areas and have been amazing for the past couple of months down further south in the bay, and in Western Port as well. The size and the quality of the fish is the best it’s been in years, and I am expecting the local whiting fishing to keep going strong right through the summer months and beyond, especially around Mornington, Mount Eliza, and Safety Beach in our local areas. The squid fishing around the local inshore reef areas and from the jetties has also had a slower than usual start this year, but is now going from strength to strength. Predominantly windy weather has made the water on the shallower inshore reefs a little dirtier than usual, so 4-5m depths have been the most productive. The shallower areas will fire up as the water warms and clears over the next month or so.

MARLO

OCEAN VIEWS CARAVAN & CAMPING PARK

The author got amongst the action with this 5kg fish from the rocks at Mt Martha recently. With the continued presence of massive amounts of bait and other forage species, I’m also expecting all the other

‘bread and butter’ fishing to improve over the same time as well, so there’s plenty to look forward to over the bay this coming

summer. And with greater freedom and travel back on the cards again, no doubt our local anglers will be looking further afield as well.

Weather gods shine MARLO

Jim McClymont mcclymont@net-tech.com.au

The summer weather has arrived and the water is warming up. Lots of anglers are going out to their favourite fishing spots to try their luck and assess the water to see if the fish are plentiful in the area. They are scouting for a special spot to fish while the weather is good. So far, there have been reports of good schools of bream up the Snowy and Brodribb rivers with fish all the way up to Lake Curlip and up into Lake Corringle. Luderick have started to arrive in dribs and drabs but by next month they will be everywhere. So far, there have been a couple of special captures of big luderick measuring up to 48cm and another 42cm, both caught in Lake Corringle using sandworm. Probably should have mentioned earlier as a point of interest of just how good the Marlo entrance is, and the volume of water is moving in and out with the tides. A couple of days ago a whale body come into the estuary with the tide and you would assume plenty of sharks with

Shore-based game fishing for bronze whaler sharks is in full swing. it, so hopefully it will go out with the tide. Salmon and tailor are entering with the incoming tides giving anglers lots of action. Use either spinning or trolling metal lures. The surf beaches are fishing well as usual with plenty of salmon, tailor, flathead, and gummy shark on the chew. For anglers that are after more action, shore-based game fishing for bronze whaler

sharks is in full swing with several being captured and released. Offshore the fishing is good with plenty of flathead, gurnard, barracoota, pinkie snapper, salmon and gummy shark being caught. Anglers have also reported seeing good schools of bait fish appearing in bait balls, so it will not be long before the pelagic fish arrive in big numbers and making for even better fishing.

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Happy holidays at Gippy Lakes GIPPSLAND LAKES

Brett Geddes b.geddes@bigpond.com

There’s a new type of flood here in Gippsland. Instead of water there are thousands of tourists heading this way from metro Melbourne, finally unchained from those COVID shackles. Christmas accommodation bookings are full to the brim now that lockdowns

and panic buying of toilet paper seem to be a thing the past. Victoria is free and Gippsland is open for fishy business. RECORD BREAKING BREAM If you’ve wondered about the health of the Gippy Lakes, rest assured that if the size of the fish is any measure, things are looking better than good. I’ve been getting reports of some real trophy fish being caught over the last

Ari Wilde might be a young fella but he catches big bream!

month, including a 54cm bream caught in the Tambo River and a 50cm bream from Lake Tyers. I’ve yet to track down pictures but I hope to get a look at the 54cm bream because that’s the biggest I’ve ever heard of for about 30 years! The Nicholson River has a terrific run of bream upstream from the bridges and a lot of them over 40cm, mainly caught on lures and frozen prawn. The best tips for the Mitchell River are around the snags at The Cut and downstream towards Two Bells. I fished with Tony Pettie recently and although the water was dirty after recent rains, we still caught bream to 38cm on Sprat 85 Hurricane Hybrid lures. Adam Wilde and his son Ari were camping at Lakes Entrance recently and went fishing in the North Arm area. Ari scored himself a cracking bream around 42cm, which was a great effort for an 8yo fishing land-based. Adam kindly mentioned how he and his son love the Fishing Monthly mag and all the effort the writers put in. Don’t forget there are so many land-based options

around the Gippy Lakes, especially the jetties of Paynesville and nearly the entire length of the Tambo and Nicho Rivers in their estuary zones. SUMMER WHITING The buzzword for the upcoming Christmas holidays is definitely whiting. Every angler I know has been talking about the ever-growing numbers of King George. Those tasty fish have been biting for the whole of 2021, and for the second year in a row they were caught right through the cold months. The real trick now is work out what bait to use. Pipi baits are now impossible to find due to the closure of the Victorian commercial harvest, and the vastly reduced South Australian quota now goes to the lucrative restaurant or market trade for human consumption. I’ve been using mussel baits, and although they are a bit harder to keep on the hook I swear they work as well as pipi. Shrimp is another ripper bait, along with Bass yabbies, but good luck with using squid because it doesn’t seem to be as effective in the Gippy Lakes as Westernport or Port

Tony Pettie with a chunky bream caught on a Sprat 85 Hybrid soft plastic. Phillip. The well-known whiting haunts include Metung and from Nungurner down to Kalimna. SNAPPER AND GUMMIES Here’s a challenge for those keen to try something a little different over the holiday season. Around the Metung area live a lot of pinkie snapper to about 38cm, and they readily take lures and baits meant for bream and

whiting. They hang around the deeper jetty pylons and along the edges of weed beds. Now, gummy shark also show up at times between Kalimna and Metung, yet hardly an angler ever targets them. I’ve seen them caught to 4ft long at Metung. Try your usual gummy baits, fish the deepest water you can and dedicate plenty of hours to get a result. Merry Christmas and a fishy new year to all.

Hot action in the lake MALLACOOTA/EDEN

Kevin Gleed captainkev@wildernessfishingtours.com

Leaving the cold winter weather behind and heading into the best time of year has seen plenty of people turning up for the summer holidays, and with the warmer weather the fishing has really come alive. The past month has seen some big storms come through the Gippsland area, and

big seas as a result of the strong winds. This has limited the amount of days for fishing offshore. The big seas have created good gutters on all the local beaches with plenty of salmon being caught. The salmon are still coming into the lake with the tide and are being caught in Harrisons Channel and around the Channel markers out to John Bull marker. Those anglers that have ventured offshore are still catching some gummy shark, with the odd sand

flathead being caught. The water warming over the coming months will see both tiger flathead and sand flathead really come on the bite. The real fishing action has been in the lake, with black bream, yellowfin bream and dusky flathead along with sand whiting really coming on the bite. The lake entrance is really starting to shallow up, and with so much sand inside the entrance I wouldn’t be surprised if it closes. A good drop of rain is needed to keep

This yellowfin bream was caught on a hardbody lure in the Bottom Lake.

Plenty of good eating size flathead are being caught in both the Top and Bottom lakes. 100

DECEMBER 2021

it flowing. Those anglers tossing lures have had good success on the yellowfin bream in the Bottom Lake. Fish are being caught over the shallow sandflats around Goodwin Sands and the entrance area, with small hardbody lures working well. Fishing the same areas with fresh bait such as prawns has also been successful. Sand whiting are also being caught in the same areas, with the best bait being beachworm or nippers fished on the

run-in tide. The Bottom Lake also has big schools of small tailor, making it hard for lure fishing, especially soft plastics. The water is crystal clear in the Bottom Lake, making the fishing tricky. The water colouration improves as you head into the Top Lake. Fishing the rock walls has been good for black bream, you just need to keep on the move to find the areas where the fish are feeding, and concentrate your efforts in these locations. It doesn’t

matter whether you’re using lures or bait, you need to keep on the move. Once again it’s the usual story – if you have put in the time fishing this system, you will have no problem catching fish. It’s a big system where local knowledge is an important part of your success. The summer months are the best time to chase bass. With rain events stirring up the upper reaches, the bass should be fired up for those anglers willing to put in the time.

VIC

East Coast

Summer days in the surf LAKES ENTRANCE

Steven Pryke

A bit of normality has finally returned to Lakes Entrance. With COVID restrictions changing throughout the state, small tourist-based towns such as Lakes Entrance have begun to receive the much-needed support. With the days growing longer and warm, the surrounding waterways have begun to warm up. This switching in the season brings more variety to our local fishery. The popular whiting beds have been highly productive, with anglers bagging out on King George whiting. The same old paternoster rig has been very effective. Something that’s been great to see is the variety of species in our lakes since the removal of commercial netting. Snapper have become more and more common in the lake, and areas such as Metung harbour have become good areas to target snapper. The many boat docks and rocks are ideal, and lures such as small micro jigs like the

Stocky size estuary perch have been common in the lake.

Majorcraft JigPara are a deadly approach, especially for the deep areas or when there are large schools of baitfish. Our local beaches have been very popular with local shark anglers. With warm currents hitting our section of coast, places such as Lake Tyers beach are hotspots, and as we continue through summer large game fishing gear will be commonly seen on our local beaches. LAKE TYERS With the lake wide open and no signs of closing anytime soon, the lake is getting a massive flush out which was massively overdue. The lower sections of the lake are crystal clear, with anglers commonly watching large bream cruising across the flats. The combination of light winds and long casts with a Chubby-style hardbody has been a productive pattern to catch these spooky bream. Heading upstream, the timber-lined edges and deep tea-stained waters are ideal areas to target bream over the many snags and muddy flats. Suspending jerkbaits have been highly

A solid bronze whaler caught off Lake Tyers beach. productive, especially natural prawn colours. Estuary perch have become more and more common in the lake, showing that the stocking has worked. If you have been out

for a fish lately and have a great pic, please send it to stevenprykefishing@ gmail.com with a short description, and you could be featured in an upcoming edition of Fishing Monthly.

Amazing estuary catches BEMM RIVER

Robyn Sturgess

It is so good to have our customers back and our businesses open. We are well and truly back on track for the festive holiday season, and there’s no doubt we will be handsomely rewarded with some exceptional fishing. Remember, with summer upon us, it’s time

to get organised and book your accommodation now, to avoid disappointment! In recent weeks we have seen some amazing catches. Bream have been the dominant fish, with flathead starting to come on the bite as well. The preferred bait has been frozen prawn and cut crab. The lure fishing has been a struggle due to the low water level, as the entrance remains open at time of

Anglers have been getting good catches of bream.

Flathead are starting to come on the bite.

writing. Whilst the water level remains low, throw your sandworm pump in because it makes a great teaser bait. The perch have been found around the mouth of Mud Lake, especially on the edges of the weed beds. The river fishing has been reasonably successful, but due to low water it can be tricky navigating the snags etc. The surf is producing

good runs of salmon and tailor. Recently some night anglers picked up some nice gummies and a couple of bronzies. A lot of fun can be had on the beaches with your light gear catching golden-eye mullet in the first breakers – it’s great, actionpacked family fun. • That’s it for this month. If you have any enquiries, give me a call on 0427 584 233 – the phone is always in my pocket!

This was WIRF Leader Greta Duff’s first fly fishing trip to Steavenson River that produced this beautiful wild brown trout. DECEMBER 2021

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Anglers keen for cod open ROBINVALE

Rod Mackenzie codmac@bigpond.net.au

With most rivers still running high, the good run of perch on bait has continued. Shrimp numbers have exploded in the warming flows, and they are easy to get and are excellent bait. Fished on the edge of the current line or the back eddies they will not last long on the hook if there are any perch on the chew. A back up supply of scrub worms gives you an each-way bet and are bound to put a bend in the rod and a fish in the pan. Good numbers of perch have been landed in the Murray from Swan Hill right

With plenty of shrimp in the river there is fresh bait on hand. along through Boundary Bend, Robinvale, Wemen and Mildura. Most fish are taking bait but some good catches

Brent Martin with a chunky golden landed near Swan Hill on a Bassman Tubby lure.

have been reported on lures, especially in the irrigation channels around Swan Hill and below the weirs at Robinvale and Mildura. The weir at Robinvale has been the stand-out location and has fished particularly well for perch on lures, with most anglers catching a few for their efforts. Good numbers of small to medium cod have also been landed and released in the run-up to the open. There have been incidental captures of many cod at many different locations, and this is a promising indicator for what should be a ripper season. In the Kerang lakes, Cow Swamp and Kangaroo Lake have seen golden perch below both regulators on bait and

lures. Some days the fish are running hot, while on other days the action is a little on the quiet side. Still, there is generally a fish if you do the yards. Lake Charm and Boga are both producing good numbers of redfin on bait and lures, with some good-sized perch mixed in. A few cod have also popped up at all of the above lakes as bycatch, and like I said, it’s great to see Murray cod at different locations. Yabbies too have started to run in the flows, with good numbers available if you put in the time. The Murrumbidgee at Balranald has been pretty

A solid golden perch landed on bait at Wemen on the Murray River.

There are good numbers of redfin running in the local lakes and dams. hot for yabbies, and they have been some of the biggest I have ever seen. With cod open about to

start, my gear is prepped and ready to go. It looks like bait will be the go-to chance for the open because the water clarity

will still be poor. A fridge full of grubs and a fresh tray of chicken fillets should see the rods right to go come the open. Having said that, all my lures are pimped and ready to roll should some clear water opportunities present themselves for that open day trip. I like to weigh up the odds and make a last-minute break to the most likely cod haunt for the open. Sometimes it might be a 5-hour drive away, but a few days in the right location can set the standard for the season. All up, things are looking great for the cod open and I’m sure we are going to see both good sizes and numbers of Murray cod landed across the board.

Plenty of good options BENDIGO

Roger Miles codhuntertours@bigpond.com

The Bendigo region is in a lucky situation where there are plenty of good options for anglers to go and try to land some quality fish. The temperatures during spring were colder than normal, and therefore water temperatures have also been cooler. This has produced a slow but steady improvement in the fishing. At this stage there are still small inflows going into the local impoundments. While these inflows have been welcomed, they have been lower than what was anticipated. LAKE EPPALOCK The fishing in Lake Eppalock continues to see a slow but steady improvement. Water levels are currently 56% of capacity. The lake’s resident golden perch have been the main target species of many anglers over the last couple of months. The average size of the perch is around 40cm, with the occasional exceptional fish measuring above 60cm being landed by some lucky anglers. A number of techniques 102

DECEMBER 2021

are working on the golden perch. Trolling small to medium sized hardbody lures, casting lipless crankbaits and blades have been the most productive techniques. For those anglers casting lipless crankbaits, the models which are silent with no rattles have been the most effective options thus far. This month, however, because of the increased water temperatures and more aggressive nature of the golden perch, the rattling versions will improve in their productivity. There is currently a lot of good weed in Lake Eppalock. The volume of weed is the most I have seen in the lake for over decade. The majority of weed is currently growing in 12-16ft of water. Fishing over the top or along the edges of the weed has been producing good results on the golden perch. Good numbers of golden perch are also starting to be caught close to the edges of the rocky banks. Fishing the standing timber during the middle of the day when the edge bite slows down has also been productive. For those anglers chasing redfin, the productivity has been low with only small redfin being the main captures. A few skilful anglers have been able to find a better concentration of redfin in deeper water of

7-10m. We should see the redfin fishing improve this month as the water continues to warm and more redfin move into shallower water. I received one recent report of a magnificent Murray cod which was caught at Lake Eppalock. The fish was well over the metre mark. This is what anglers have to look forward in the future, with more terrific native fish stocking going into the lake again this season. CAMPASPE RIVER Catch rates have finally started to improve in the Campaspe River. Water clarity was poor in the river over the spring months, but the clarity has started to improve in recent weeks and should continue to do so unless the area receives a major rainfall event. At the present time small numbers of redfin and small numbers of golden perch are being caught in this system. Bait fishing with worms and small yabbies has been productive. The most productive lures have been lipless crankbaits and small profile spinnerbaits. The reports of Murray cod being caught has been low but with the opening of the Murray cod season we will start to see increased numbers of Murray

Murray cod will again become the target species for many anglers with the opening of the Murray cod season on 1 December. cod again being caught in the system. CAIRN CURRAN Cairn Curran is currently at 66% of capacity. The productivity of the fishing remains good at this destination. Golden perch continue to be the target species for many anglers. Jason Andriske reports that he and his friends have been getting good results both casting and trolling for the golden perch. In recent weeks, green lures have been the colours preferred by the golden perch while trolling. When casting, Jason has been getting his best results on Jackall Mask Vibes and Jackall Transams, with ghost goodang

and chartreuse back MB being the most productive colours. For those anglers who are land based, the results have been good. Bait fishing off the banks with worms has been producing some quality fish, with some nice golden perch and the occasional Murray cod being landed. I heard one recent report of a 75cm Murray cod caught off the bank on worms. LODDON RIVER The productivity in the fishing in the Loddon River has been slow, mainly due to the cold water temperatures combined with poor water clarity. The good news is that the water clarity has started to improve over recent weeks, and

we are starting to see a slow improvement in anglers’ catch rates. The water clarity can still change quickly at this time of the year if a large flush is let down the system, or we receive a major rainfall event in the catchment. Golden perch are the main species being caught in the system at present. Cast lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits and medium-sized hardbody lures have all been working. The numbers of Murray cod being caught has been low but with the opening of the cod season, more anglers will again be heading to the Loddon to target that trophy fish.

VIC

Murray cod season begins WANGARATTA

Robbie Alexander

It’s hard to believe that December is already here and it has already been 12 months since we all prayed that 2021 would run more smoothly than 2020. December is a very exciting month on the fishing calendar in the Wangaratta region as it is the first month of the Murray cod season. The first day of December is Murray cod opening and many people are super excited and keen to chase the icon green river dwelling log hogs. But there’s more to fishing in December than just Murray cod in the Wangaratta area… TROUT December can still produce some fantastic trout fishing in the Ovens River catchment, however location choice can be critical. As a general rule of thumb, the larger, faster flowing rivers and really overgrown little trickles

cooler faster flowing water. Pretty much all of the regular techniques will work in December, however if there are a few grasshoppers

is too warm and slow for the trout. They can be worth trying. These rural flowing streams often run through

handful of the endangered Macquarie Perch while targeting yellowbelly, which is always an excellent sign.

I’ve shared this photo before, several times. But it fits the report well as this trout was caught on Christmas day about 10 years ago in the Kiewa River. Larger rivers with a strong flow tend to fish better for trout in the summer months than the smaller streams where the water can be a bit warm.

Sunset at Lake Buffalo. The redfin fishing seems to vary from year to year in Lake Buffalo in December. Some years it produces a few redfin and other years it doesn’t. around, which there usually is in December, they will make dynamite bait. Fly fisherman will have a blast casting grasshopper

that the Ovens River is a great Murray cod fishery if you are just wanting to catch a Murray cod or two. There are plenty there, however it is not a great river if you are hoping to catch that 100+cm fish of a

farmland and permission needs to be obtained if you have to walk across private property. This is a very hit and miss way of fishing

With lure fishing experiencing a surge in popularity, many people still enjoy bait fishing for Murray cod. Small yabbies, bardi grubs and even worms will all catch cod. MURRAY COD Murray cod are the words on every angler’s lips in the Wangaratta area during December, as many

life time. The big metre+ monsters are there in the Ovens River, but the rate in which they are caught

Fisheries Authority and their fish survey data mirrors my observations. The ovens is more about Quantity than Quality. In saying that if you see a big tree laying in the river that you just know might hold a monster Murray cod, don’t be afraid to tie on a large lure and cast to it because there are some monsters down there, just not as many as other waterways. Before heading out Murray cod fishing this December first ask yourself what your goal is? Is it to get a score on the board? Or to catch a trophy fish of a life time? Ovens River at Wangaratta: Quantity. Lots of small Murray cod. Ovens River at Bundalong: Quality. More big cod get caught here than any other section of the Ovens River. If you are after big cod, my best advice would be to head to the Murray River downstream of

An 80cm Murray cod caught in Wangaratta a few years back. There are some bigger Murray cod in the area, but they’re not as common as other areas. tend to fish better in December than the slow flowing, more rural trout streams that are usually starting to warm up quite a bit. The Ovens River upstream of Bright is usually a bit of a trout hot spot in December, so too are the upper Buckland River, Upper Buffalo River and Upper King River, upstream of Lake William Hovell. Note the use of the word “upper”. That is because by December the water is warming, and as the water warms the trout tend to push further upstream in search of

imitation flies. REDFIN December isn’t the best month of the year to target redfin in the Wangaratta area. The two main lakes, Lake William Hovell and Lake Buffalo sometimes start to produce a few small redfin in December, however it is not usually until the end of summer that both lakes start to fish great for redfin. Both will be worth trying, but the results could go either way. Some of the trout streams in the region have a few redfin in the bottom stretches where the water

as some streams have no redfin and some have some monsters. YELLOWBELLY Recent yellowbelly stocking into the Ovens River is starting to have an impact with yellowbelly turning up more and more frequently. I would not consider the Ovens River to be a great yellowbelly fishery at this stage, but there are a few to be caught. I do a lot of bait fishing on the Ovens River in Wangaratta and last year I caught 9 or 10 yellowbelly for the entire summer, with just one being legal size. I also managed to land a

Many people will be out on 1 December targeting Murray cod with lures in the Wangaratta area. anglers will travel to town from all around in search of these highly regarded sportfish. I have said on numerous occasions over the years

is far less than that of other areas. The Ovens River is more about quantity than quality. I have seen the graphs produced by the Victorian

Lake Mulwala, or fish in Lake Mulwala. Even the Goulburn River around Shepparton see’s some very large Murray cod get caught each summer. DECEMBER 2021

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Awesome fishing around Ballarat BALLARAT

Shane Stevens

Anglers around the Ballarat and district have been treated to some awesome fishing over the past month, with some of the best fishing I can remember. All our local fisheries have produced some quality fish, with some true trophy ones being landed. The awesome fishing

Trophy tournament, Australia’s oldest and most prestigious fly fishing competition around the Ballarat District. The Wastell Trophy is a catch and release competition, with the longest fish winning the trophy. All fish caught are measured on a brag mat and photos emailed through to a central point. The competition has had to evolve over the past couple of years, in line with COVID-19 regulations, which impacted the social distancing and

landed his biggest brown trout ever – a 10lb 7oz fish taken on a size 12 brown nymph (the subsurface stage of the mayfly hatching). Brian said he saw this big trout porpoise in front of him, feeding on mayflies off the surface. “I just put my couple of small brown nymphs in front of him by about a foot,” Briand explained, “then started my slow figure-8 retrieve. My line tightened and it was game on.” After a long tussle Brian was able to land one of the best conditioned trout you will ever see. The big brown is destined for Brian’s trophy room. Darren Lyle, another mate of mine, has been having a purple patch out at Moorabool over the past month, catching some monster brown trout including his new PB in Australia on fly – a 10lb 5oz fish. Darren has been putting in some long hours, and has certainly been rewarded for his efforts. One particular session Darren landed four

edges smashing through these schools of baitfish, but for whatever reason at the moment they have not come into the shallows to feed. I’m sure when they do the trout will once again move in and feast on them. There is the odd one or two ‘smelters’, as we call them, being caught, and I recently nailed a nice brown of just over 2kg with a smelt pattern. I was just searching along one of my favourite shorelines, casting a couple of smelt patterns, and when I went to lift my flies out to recast, a brown basically launched out of the water and nailed the fly. After a good tussle, I landed the brown and took a couple of photos and then released it to for someone else to catch. Tullaroop doesn’t seem to have fired up yet. There still appears to be a lack of surface activity of damselflies and dragonflies, which the trout feed on with gusto. I’m sure due to the climatic conditions

Luke Barby’s 66cm brown trout from Moorabool Reservoir won him first place in the Wastell Trophy fly fishing competition. Image courtesy of Vern Barby. is a result of excellent trout stockings of our waterways, not only here around Ballarat but all over the state, whether you chase trout, yellowbelly or Murray cod, by Victorian Fishing Authority over the past few years. These stockings are your angling licence fees at work, and we anglers are certainly reaping the rewards. Our fisheries have also benefited from an extremely wet winter and spring, with water levels rising to levels not seen for a number of years. These high water levels have seen a population explosion for the aquatic insects that have thrived on the newlyavailable sources of food, on the flooded shorelines of our lakes and reservoirs. It has caused a flow-on effect, with the abundant prey allowing the fish to grow big very quickly, as can be seen in the quality of the fish caught in recent weeks. I mentioned last month that I, like most other anglers who like to fly fish, were looking forward to the mayfly/ dun hatches that occur on most of our waters in the district. We haven’t been disappointed, with some of the biggest and best hatches seen for a long time. The fish are up feeding on them, making the most of the population explosion of insects. A couple of longtime fly fishermen have mentioned to me that whilst fishing Moorabool the water has been absolutely lousy with nymphs in the water. “There are zillions of them, I’ve never seen them so prolific,” one said. It’s no wonder the fish are doing so well. The Ballarat Fly Fishers Club recently held the Wastell 104

DECEMBER 2021

gathering numbers. Melbourne based fly-fishers who would normally fish the Wastell were in lockdown once again and unable to attend. This year’s Wastell was one of the best that I can remember for a lot of years. Given the restrictions in place which impacted numbers, it was a huge success, with 54 anglers registering online and 31 trout caught and released in varying sizes. The competition times were 6am to 6pm, with eligible waters being Lake Wendouree, Newlyn Reservoir, Hepburn Lagoon, Dean Reservoir, Cosgrove Reservoir, Tullaroop Reservoir, Bostock Reservoir and Moorabool Reservoir. There were some magnificent trout caught throughout the day. Ballarat Fly Fishers Club member Vern Barby taking an early lead with a 62cm rainbow from Tullaroop, then Bendigo member Jeff Willey landed a ripping 65cm brown from Tullaroop, which was going to take a lot of beating. Enter Ballarat’s Luke Barby, fishing at Moorabool Reservoir. He landed a 66cm magnificently conditioned brown trout weighing in at 9lb 5oz before being released. This trout ended up being the longest fish for the competition, and Luke was awarded the 2021 Wastell Trophy by club president James Laverty. Moorabool Reservoir has been our standout fishery over the past month, both for the quality of the fish and the quantity it has produced. There have been some absolute rippers landed. A fishing buddy of mine, Brian Hughes,

Bendigo Fly Fishers Club member Jeff Willey landed this ripping 65cm brown trout from Tullaroop Reservoir. Image courtesy of Jeff Willey. fish weighing 2.5lb, 3.5lb, 7lb and 8.5lb, and lost another big one as well, all on small black nymphs. Darren said it was a matter of putting in the hard yards. “I couldn’t believe how good the fishing was out there,” he said. “I just persevered with the little nymphs, and a slow figure-8 retrieve seemed to do the job.” I expect that Moorabool will continue to fish really well over the next month until the water temperatures really warm up and the trout retreat to the deeper, cooler water. They will still come into the shallower areas in the cool of night and early morning to feed, so anglers will need to change their approach/tactics. Tullaroop Reservoir continues to fish well, although not to its lofty standards of this time last year. This may be due to the higher water levels and the fish haven’t actually ventured into the shallows just yet. One major contributing difference from last year is the lack of smelt in around the edges. This time last year the trout were in around the

A taste of what Hepburn Lagoon has to offer – a lovely rainbow trout caught by Tom Jarman on a Cruncher fly pattern. Image courtesy of Tom Jarman. the season is actually a few weeks late this year, so I expect Tullaroop will fire up very soon. Lake Wendouree has been fishing very well during the lunchtime hours up until 4-5pm. With the mayflies hatching, there have been fly fishers on every vantage point around the lake, trying to catch some of the mayfly feeders. Rodney McNeight has been fly fishing out of the boat, with some excellent results. He has been landing some nice browns up to 50cm on small, brown nymphs, once again matching the hatch. Wayne ‘Rigzy’ Rigg has put in a few sessions casting lures out of a drifting boat with some success. Rigzy said it hasn’t been easy, with lots of little guys following the bents. The bigger models have been hard to tempt, but eventually if you persist one will eat your lure. His best one over the past month measured in at 55cm. Tom Jarman, one of Australia’s best fly fishers, enjoys fishing around our local waters and calls Ballarat his second home. Tom is a professional fishing guide, and

has been having some very good sessions on some of the local waters, which include Hepburn Lagoon and Newlyn Reservoir, chasing the mayfly feeders. Tom has nailed some ripper brown trout, especially from Newlyn Reservoir, on a Bibio fly pattern which Tom has found effective throughout the may fly hatches. Sometimes you just have to experiment when they won’t eat the real imitations, and they seem to have taken a liking to the Bibio at Newlyn. Tom said Hepburn is a different story. The resident trout like the usual mayfly patterns during the normal hatch, also they have taken a liking to the Cruncher fly pattern during the hatch on the dropper. They are eating it subsurface, maybe as a emerger, who knows? Tom said he’s been trying a few different patterns to see what works. I expect that both Hepburn and Newlyn will continue to fish well over the coming months, especially on the overcast days for mayflies until it really warms up. Evenings should see the start of the mudeyes hatching.

Water warms, trout fire WEST/SOUTH GIPPSLAND

Billy Auldist

Early spring has finally provided the quality of fishing we have been waiting for in South and West Gippsland. The water temperatures crept a tad higher and the fish became more active. The

local rivers are in pristine condition and have been producing fish for many people in the region. The most exciting part is that it won’t be slowing down anytime soon! The Latrobe, Loch and Toorongo rivers around Noojee have been producing fish regularly. They are the most reliable rivers in the

Dylan Powis with his bass caught after dark at Blue Rock on a bardi grub.

district and this will not change in the near future. Spinners and hard-bodied lures are doing the damage on both brown and rainbow trout. With the recent release of metro anglers from lockdown, I expect the fishing pressure to go through the roof. It all comes back to finding a stretch of river that nobody has gotten to yet. Most tributaries of these three larger rivers have also been producing fish if you are keen for a bit of bush bashing. The Tarago River is another ever-reliable stream; it is running clear at the moment and is primed for fishing. Local fishing stalwart Wally Ronalds fished a section of the Tarago recently with his grandson, Will Rumble, and they each caught some impressive fish on both flies and soft plastics, which made for an enjoyable few To page 105

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A very Murray Christmas SHEPPARTON

Nick Brown teamriverrats@hotmail.com

Cod season is finally upon us and like every year it seems an eternity since we have been able to dust off our cod gear and target these great fish locally.

GOULBURN RIVER At the time of writing, the Goulburn River in Shepparton had started to settle down, which has meant much better water clarity. The fish seem to react to the better water conditions and bite more regularly, so if you find these conditions are the

Matt Dohnt with a cod caught from Waranga Basin. Over the spring there have been plenty of report of cod being caught while locals have been targeting yellowbelly and redfin but I don’t usually report on these by-catches. I hope the fishing heats up with the weather, and we start catching the cod as often as when we were catching them by accident. From page 104

hours. The Bunyip River is also in excellent condition and worthy of some attention. The majority of the trout caught in the Bunyip are north of the highway but there are still

same in early December then expect the fish to be on the chew. Those who will lure fish this cod season I would be using either the Old Mates or the Codgers. I know I report these a lot but they just seem to account for so many fish in the Goulburn around Shepparton. These lures are fish to be caught along its whole length. The Tanjil River is starting to turn on with a few reports of trout being caught above and below the lake. The warmer weather has brought on the insect hatches,

The author with an average brown trout for the district that was caught while wading upstream casting a spinner.

great on the cast and troll so you don’t have to rotate as many lures throughout the day, which is great. Bait fishing will also fire now that the shrimp and yabbies are on the move. Make sure you’re using the freshest bait possible if you’re chasing yellowbelly, but when it comes to cod fishing you can use random things like chicken, dim sims even a cooked sausage has worked in the past. BROKEN RIVER It’s go time for the Broken River and it’s all about surface fishing or spinnerbaits. The Broken River is close combat fishing with cod exploding out of shallow pockets, deep edges or right at your toes. The Jackal Pompadour has been the standout top water lure for the broken and this season I would expect nothing different. If we do get a river rise this summer make sure you hit the weirs as these areas seem to hold the fish wanting to swim upstream. If you have two rods I would always rig a second with a spinnerbait and if you get a bust up and not hook set, fire your spinnerbait back into the zone. You will find the fish will react to the different lure and up your catch rates. WARANGA BASIN The basin has been fishing well around the edges with plenty of smaller redfin or carp being caught on both lures and bait. Floating worms around the submerged trees has and these are feeding the trout nicely. The Tanjil has been producing mainly small fish but I wouldn’t discount a bigger model or two. The bass in Blue Rock Reservoir should be starting to fire up soon too, and will certainly make for some good fishing. For those looking to fish closer to home there have been plenty of reports. The redfin have started to fire up in many local estate dams and can be readily caught on lures. They will take a wide variety of lures but soft plastics and hardbodies are a good starting point. As for bait, it is hard to beat the garden worm. Creeks at lower elevation have also been producing plenty of reddies and carp for those anglers fishing with bait. There is no shortage of quality fish in our area, but they do not come easy. Regular feature Dylan Powis was rewarded for his efforts twice this month with two exceptional fish for the area. He reports on one occasion fishing an out-of-the-way section of river that does not

worked best and those casting lures have had just as much success casting Diawa Double Clutches or Jackall Squirrels. There have been numerous reports of yellowbelly being caught trolling along the main rock wall with the 15ft Codgers in bright colours, and the white and orange Poltergeist working best. While fishing the rock wall end don’t be surprised if you find a cod as over the past couple of seasons there have been more and more cod being caught at that end of the basin. Matt Dohnt caught a nice cod on an Old Mate on a recent trip to the basin while chasing redfin. IRRIGATION CHANNELS The channels around Shepparton have been a little quiet this spring with many locals reporting low numbers of fish. Both bait and lure fishing has slowed up in early November. I have had some reports of locals bait fishing for carp struggling to get a bite using both corn and worms, which is normally a simple way to catch a fish. There seems to be an abundance of bait fish in the channels at the moment and possibly the reason why catch rates are down. Fish may just have so much bait that a plastic hardbody or lipless crankbait is just not doing it for them. I managed to scoop up some of these bait fish and found the only lure we could match the hatch with

Josh Dohnt with a nice irrigation channel yellowbelly. in the kit was a Rapala BX Brat. This lure has worked well around the bridge pylons and drop bars in recent trips but he has been finding the bites very tentative. If you’re finding you’re getting hits and not getting a hook set, especially on smaller trebled lures, it might be worth using a softer rod. I have been using a Miller Bass Freak M but will now switch to a Finesse Freak just so there is a little more give when the fish takes the lure. Now that we can target cod in the channels I wouldn’t change up your methods too much as there was always the odd cod caught while chasing other species. SHEPPARTON LAKE With the weather warming up we expect to see more yellowbelly and redfin being caught at the lake in the early summer periods. But what may surprise many locals is that there is a healthy population of cod in the lake. These fish have been

Callum Auldist showing that hardbody minnows are as effective as any other technique. see much fishing pressure. In this stretch he caught his PB trout of around 60cm. The other occasion he was fishing Blue Rock Lake at night using a bardi grub and caught an impressive

Australian bass. This proves the reward is out there if you are willing to put in the effort. Moving forward into December, the warmer weather will have well and truly set in. The streams and

transferred over the last couple of years from the irrigation channels and some of these cod are above 90cm. Floating worms on weed edges has worked well when targeting fish, especially at the skate park end of the lake. Those accessing the lake via boat or kayak have been trolling smaller diving lures or casting Jackall TN50 rigged with singles not trebles to help with weed proofing the lure. We have also been getting some reports of yellowbelly being caught on soft plastics at night, with these fish cruising the shallows around the grass hill. It’s not uncommon to see fish swimming these shallows in low light times and can be great fun on light gear. Don’t worry if you don’t own a kayak or canoe as Trelly’s Shepparton now offers canoe hire service. You can enquire online, in store or check out the Facebook page for more info. rivers around the district are still going to be in prime condition and will be holding hungry fish. With the warmer weather, insect hatches will become more consistent and no doubt will be stirring up the local fish. The warm weather brings surface fishing into the equation for lure fishers. Aussie bass at Blue Rock will be hitting surface lures in the first and last light of the day. Targeting snags with poppers or a cicada-type lure will pay off for the keen angler. Around this same time last year, I caught quite a few stream trout on hot afternoons casting a micro cicada surface lure. It seemed to work much better on the hotter days than anything else. This could be a new technique for many people to try out this summer. When chasing trout during summer it is very important to keep their time out of the water to a minimum. With the warmer days coming up this is more important than any other DECEMBER 2021

105

VIC

Avoiding boat traffic EILDON

Peter Burtchell

If the summer’s fishing holds up as well as it has throughout spring, some great catches will be in

caught by shore-based anglers as the cod traverse the barren banks towards the grassy shallows in search of an easy meal. Kate Norman continued her run of great Murray cod catches during November,

John likes to work the rock walls for yellowbelly. store. The lake level is holding at well over 84% and there is still more rain predicted. The multitude of grassy banks now under water are attracting all species of fish as they graze on or hunt the new food sources available to them. Anglers have been very successful as they concentrate their efforts in close to the banks where European carp have been easy to catch. Large Murray cod have also been acting on this opportunity as they lie in ambush awaiting the large schools of carp to pass overhead on their way to the grass beds. Yellowbelly, trout and redfin in numbers are also being caught, as they too take advantage of the new food sources. From late November to early December, the larger Murray cod leave their nests and begin feeding again to regain weight after their breeding and nesting period. Murray cod well over the metre mark will be regularly

targeting them in the areas that were holding large amounts of baitfish. Kate is the head vet at Ovens and Kiewa Veterinary Hospital as well as Dr

celebration, Daniel was up early the following morning where he managed to land and release another Murray cod in Wilson’s Inlet. It measured in at 89cm, and was caught on the same swimbait. Daniel’s efforts are a credit to his fishing dedication. Summer is the best time to target both Murray cod and yellowbelly around Lake Eildon. If you want to fish the main body of the lake and are looking to do that in comfort, it’s best to fish first thing in the morning so as to avoid the ski and wake boats, or after 6pm when they have retired from their day on the water. The many inlets and coves away from the main body of the lake fish well during the day, and this is another way of avoiding the boating wave action of the main lake. For trout, the pondage

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John with a nice 1m+ Murray cod.

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Persistence is key

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106

Paws Veterinary Clinic in Wangaratta, and she’s getting as much fishing in as possible prior to the arrival of her and partner Brendon’s first child. Kate sure has cracked the code when it comes to targeting larger Murray cod. All of Kate’s catches have been in the Jerusalem Creek Arm with Megabass (VatalionsMagdrafts) and Rapala lures being her first choices. She uses a 13 Fishing Concept A3 Reel with a 40lb drag, which has proven to be very successful for slowing the big Eildon cod. Another frequent Murray cod angler to the Lake is Dylan Anderson, who decided to target yellowbelly on his latest trip to Eildon. He targeted them along the Delatite Arm and found that the schools of yellowbelly were located under the slightlysubmerged tree tops. John Keys, another keen angler, spent several weeks

during November traversing Lake Eildon to land and release many Murray cod and yellowbelly. Trolling and flicking provided the best results for John. The release of suburban Melbourne residents for the Melbourne Cup weekend gave those keen anglers a chance to get amongst the fish, with many choosing to bait fish from the banks around the Jerusalem Creek Arm. The best Murray cod caught for the weekend measured in at 107cm and was caught on chicken. One lucky angler, Daniel, set himself a great target for the weekend which resulted in a nice 5kg snapper caught around Geelong in a morning’s session, and after a drive up to Eildon he landed and released a 116cm Murray cod on a swimbait in carp colour. After a much-needed

Rod Shepherd

The fishing at Lake Elingamite is a little tough at present, with many boaters putting in long hours with no guarantee of landing a fish. Most anglers are trolling or casting minnow

lures in and around the surrounding weed beds, and some plump rainbows to over 1kg are being taken, but perseverance and persistence is required. Some plump redfin in excess of 1kg are making up for the distinct lack of trout bites. Lake Bullen Merri has chinook salmon and the

Shane Stevens from Ballarat with a nice Chinook salmon.

odd rainbow taken flatline trolling in close to the shore. Most medium diving minnows are working as long as they are trolled well behind the boat. The Mount Emu Creek near the junction of the Hopkins River has been solid for brown trout to 1.1kg. Casting surface and sub-surface lures near the outlet end of any pool has been the go. So too has the upper Hopkins River around the Framlingham area, with slightly bigger fish on offer, especially for those who prefer to wade the runs between pools. Purrumbete is up and down, and out of the three lakes Purrumbete would have to be the toughest to fish. Many anglers are struggling for a fish, whilst others are managing a fish or two with most weighing in at just under 1kg. The odd brown to approximately 3kg has been boated in recent times by those lucky enough to connect to one. The redfin are still about as usual, To page 107

LIGHT, POWERFUL, DURABLE…

Cod season arrives INTUITIVE CONTROL YARRAWONGA

Tony Bennett codclassic@bigpond.com

COVID lockdowns, the spring racing carnival and anything else you’ve had to endure over the past few months pales into insignificance as the dedicated die-hard cod fishos prepare their assault on another new cod season come December 1. There should only be one question on your mind, not “where should I fish?” but “where in Lake Mulwala should I fish?”. When it comes to cod fishing, nothing beats the excitement of being at the home of the Murray cod – Lake Mulwala – come ROCKLEA opening weekend. BRISBANE LEISURE BOATING For those&fishing the lake early inRoad the season, 1713 Ipswich Rockleaseeking out slightly P: (07) 3875 1600 quieter waters that don’t get excessive, noisy doofE: sales@kareemarine.com.au doof boat traffic may be most W: www.kareemarine.com.au productive. A major problem you’ll find is that much of the NORTHERN GOLD COAST shallower margins of the lake is MARINE starting to choke up with ONSHORE Fishing the Woongoolba edges of the Horizonweed. Shores Marina weed beds is a good option. P: (07) 5546 2480 it comes to lure When E: onshoremarine@ozemail.com.au choice, if you have confidence in something that has worked W: www.onshoremarine.com.au before, stick to it. All things EVERTON‘surface’ HILLS and ‘sub-surface’ have been the rage over the HOLT MARINE past few years, and I’m sure 25 Queens Everton theseRoad trends will Hills continue. P: (07) 3353 1928 Don’t discount any of your traditional methods of casting E: info@holtmarine.com.au or trolling hardbodied lures or W: www.holtmarine.com.au spinnerbaits, as these will be as productive as ever. CAPALABA Once again, the iconic MIKES MARINE Cod Classic (3-5 December) 9 Smithwill Street Capalaba help anglers celebrate the opening P: (07) 3390 3418 of a new season, albeit under a slightly changed E: sales@mikesmarine.com.au format thanks to COVID W: www.mikesmarine.com.au

regulations. The traditional crowd of 3000+ competitors is not expected, but for those who participate, you can guarantee you will have a great time, get value for money and have the chance of sharing in some of the great prizes on offer. Three Yamaha-QuintrexHumminbird boating packages are up for grabs, along with other prizes totalling well in

the question. The undoubted lure of choice has been the Jackall TN 60s. A total of 34 lucky competitors were able to make it to Bundalong for the Golden Dollar$ in late October. The water around Bundalong was fairly dirty and running pretty hard, making fishing conditions tough. Unbelievably, only

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From page 106

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Maxi Stevens with one of the Chinook salmon he caught recently. DECEMBER 2021

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109

Launching new WIRF network WIRF

Cara Cummings

As Victorians emerge from restrictions and are reunited with their favourite fishing haunts, their wonderful stories and photos are being shared across social media. In what has been an incredibly challenging time for all, it is refreshing to see the light that comes from the end of the tunnel. Heading into the festive season and summer holidays, we hope to see anglers ticking off their ‘bucket list’ items and making the most of being back on or near the water! WIRF NEWS Our leaders have been super busy these last few months with lots going on behind the scenes. A very exciting announcement is the recent launch of our new Instagram page. Given our Facebook group is exclusively for women, the time had come

entertaining reels and stories. So please give us a follow and join the WIRF adventure! We also kicked off our

stoked with up to 15,000 Macca fingerlings this summer. “This is very exciting for the Upper Murray, it’s

Emma and Michelle had a ball on a girls’ trip catching squid. Shea with her son (pictured far right) and volunteers making a start on replenishing the creek. virtual trivia nights, which have been a roaring success and bucket loads of fun and laughter. There was no trout

‘School of Maccas’ cakes that won ‘Threatened Species Bake Off’ category. to share with the greater fishing community, the success of the network and this we are able to showcase via our new page @wirfnetwork. The content you can

great prize packs! LEADERS TO CELEBRATE Niki Dickstein celebrated

about it, all participants had a whale of a time. Puns aside, it was a great way to connect to other members virtually and still experience a sense of togetherness, which has

being the first female to co-host on Ch 31’s Talking Fishing. Kicking off from September, Niki led the way and was warmly welcomed by viewers and fans! Niki is a natural on the camera and those live recording nerves appeared non-existent. She has a great wealth of knowledge when it comes to the fishing industry and has been an asset to the show. I challenge to find anyone out there who has a greater passion for Macquarie perch than our very own Shea Bloom. Shea has devoted so much of her own time to raise awareness of the plight and actions to ‘bring back Maccas’. Shea was successful in receiving a grant to restore and replenish Cudgewa Creek in Northwest Victoria as a Landcare led Bushfire Recovery Project, supported by the Australian

been almost 70 years since Macquarie perch have been in the Cudgewa Creek. Thanks

You’re never too old to learn. Sylvia Francis, 90yo, with her first ever fish, a pretty rainbow trout.

to some fantastic partnerships and support we were able to get this amazing project off the ground,” said Shea Bloom. Shea’s baking skills are also on point along with Leaders, Amanda Keilar and Cara Cummings with their contribution of Macquarie perch cakes to the ‘Threatened Species Bake Off’. This ‘bake off’raises awareness for species at risk and gets conversations happening. The combined entry (a school of Maccas) on behalf of the ‘Mates of Macca’s collective’, took out first place in the organisation entry! Congratulations to all involved. The bakers for Mates of Macca’s collective was made up of volunteers from VFA, WIRF, DWELP and Landcare. WOMEN MAKING WAVES When milestones are achieved, they are worth celebrating and we are so To page 111

RECIPES THAT ARE ‘WIRF’ IT

Trout and Parmesan Fritters INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4)

Ingredients 350 g trout fillets Olive oil 1 egg 2 tbsp grated parmesan 1 tbsp chives – chopped Salt and pepper Juice of ½ lemon

METHOD

Lee (L) and Chantal (R) are the new APYAC female leaders. expect to see includes highlighting and celebrating women in the industry, weekly and daily themes covering fishing tips and tricks, brag mat photos, recipes and 110

DECEMBER 2021

been eagerly missed. These are still ongoing so if trivia is your thing, then please look out for the next one in our Facebook group page and be in the running to win some

Government’s Bushfire Recovery Program for Wildlife and their Habitat. This grant will help with planting native shrubs and trees to improve the habitat and the creek will be

1. Season trout with salt and sear (par cook, 1 minutes each side) on a hot pan drizzled with a little oil. 2. Once cooled, roughly chop the trout and place in a bowl with remaining ingredients. 3. Using your hands, mix

all together and divide into 8 balls. Flatten into disks. 4. Place your fritters on a hot dry pan and cook for 2 minutes each side or until a golden crust is formed.

Tips: for a tasty breakfast or brunch, serve fritters with sourdough, baby spinach and a poached egg. As seen weekly on Ch 31’s ‘Talking Fishing’ TV show or catch up via YouTube.

recfishwest Terrific WA ‘whites run’ expected for cray lovers Cray days are coming with the annual ‘whites run’! One of WA’s leading western rock lobster experts, DPIRD Principal Research Scientist, Dr Simon de Lestang, has forecast a terrific 2021-22 run this summer. By the time this Fishing Monthly has gone to print, the 2020-21 would likely be in full swing – with early predictions it would get underway in mid-November. For the State’s more than 50,000 licensed cray fishers who are keen to head out to get a bag of crays this summer

measures of lobster in shallow waters – really good numbers of reds, some of which are currently just undersized and also many which are legal. “Once they begin to walk, the nearshore fishing opportunities for people with pots or those diving will be fantastic.” PREDICTING THE FUTURE DPIRD collect the puerulus – a juvenile stage of a cray – with specialised buoys mimicking natural algae habitat where juvenile crayfish like to settle to forecast crayfish

years once the crays have matured to a legal size. This data allows DPIRD to make accurate seasonal forecasts. Although the puerulus settlement for the 2017 season was just below 2016’s levels, Dr de Lestang said fishers are still highly likely enjoy big bags of crayfish catches this summer. “It’s going to be a much more solid run than we’d ever have expected based off the puerulus because of the residual lobster that were left in the water from last

The nearshore fishing opportunities for potters or divers during the whites run is world-class.

abundance each season. This method allows DPIRD researchers determine how many puerulus have concentrated on these buoys for each new moon period and then determine upcoming recruitment trends and patterns. The settlement information has a strong correlation with crayfish catches in about four

year,” he said. “These residual lobster are going to ensure this is a much stronger run.” WHITE WALKERS The start of the annual whites run varies, but it is usually a safe bet that the whites will begin their northwesterly walk sometime around late November and

early December. As all seasoned cray fishers will tell you, the reason it is dubbed the ‘whites run’ is relatively simple: A ‘white’ cray is a colloquial way to describe crayfish which have freshly moulted with their new soft, pale shell. It is easy to identify a pre-moulted cray because they have a hard, dark red shell. Juvenile crays settle along seagrass beds and rocky habitat close to shore and when they reach sexual maturity – at about three to four years – they migrate from this inshore habitat. During the migration, crays set off towards deeper offshore reef platforms in a northwesterly direction – this is where the ‘run’ in ‘whites run’ comes from. A FIRM FIXTURE IN THE FISHING CALENDAR Once crays start their march, it is an annual phenomenon that generates

and Leader Michelle Brittain headed out on a girls’ trip for some squid fishing. Emma tells us there is nothing better than spending the day on the water with friends – and we

completely agree! “It was such a fun day on the water targeting squid, a cook up, laughs and banter. Just what the doctor ordered after a long lockdown. To be able to go

out on the boat and fish with female friends is so refreshing and builds confidence and independence.” – Michelle. Greta Duff, who is still relatively new to fly fishing

Recfishwest Operations Manager Leyland Campbell is among cray enthusiasts who pull pots before work during the run. before heading to work, this is fantastic news. Dr de Lestang told Recfishwest the abundance of crayfish is set to produce plenty of nearshore fishing activity, as crays begin their annual migration to deeper waters. “We’re expecting another terrific season,” he said. “We’re getting amazing From page 110

proud of two of our Leaders for paving the way for future females in the industry. We congratulate Lee Spyrou and Chantal Meehan for being recognised and voted in as the most suited to the new positions they now hold in their fishing club – APYAC. Lee is the first ever female to become the Albert Park Yachting and Angling Club Boat Captain, and Chantal is also the first female to hold Club Secretary. Now this club has been around since 1909 so what a mighty feat this is! Well done to you both. MEMBERS BRAG MAT Tina Mellett and Jo Fyfe had a great snapper session out on Western Port and shared a few of their tips and hints within the group! Emma-Jean Sommers

Tina and Jo with their snapper from Western Port.

a lot of excitement among cray fishers, with the annual migration providing awesome fishing opportunities for potters and divers. What makes the whites run even better, Recfishwest Operations Officer Aaron Moses said, is that the action taking place at many reefs is relatively close to shore. “The whites run is a major part of WA’s fishing calendar,” he said. “The nearshore crayfish abundance during the whites run is what underpins this awesome fishing experience which sends fishers, like myself, ‘cray-zy’. “During the run, it’s a common sight to see mad-keen crayfishers queuing up at most boat ramps from 4am to get out and pull their pots or go for a quick dive before work. “I’m one of those heading to the local boat ramp, and trust me, it’s actually easy

to spring out of a bed to hit the water when you know the potential reward is a feed of crays.” THE INSIDE TRACK ON THE HOT SPOTS The nearshore abundance during the annual whites run is the contributing factor to more than half of WA’s total recreational cray catch taking place from December to February. The awesome western rock lobster fishing is a testament to great fisheries management. During the run, many nearshore locations to the north and south of Perth produce great numbers of crayfish. For Perth-based fishers who are potting for crays this summer, Dr de Lestang suggested Two Rocks, Mindarie and Garden Island will be strong performing metro locations.

proves that practice makes perfect with her recent trip. “I have only been fly fishing for a year, however I had never fished the infamous Steavenson River until recently. It was a peculiar day weather wise, with sun showers and even hail at some points. However, the fishing was absolutely amazing. Targeting pockets and deep pools with my euro-nymphing set up meant I was able to hook some spectacular trout. As always, I lost a few in between the others that I caught, but hey, that is fishing! “I was very pleased with my two fish however, they were great size and also in good condition after winter, which is always lovely to see. The brown coming out of a lovely deep pool and my rainbow from the soft seam in some fast water. I can definitely see

why the Steavenson River is such popular trout country and looking forward to get back on there,” said Greta. One is never too old to fish. Check out the amazing 90 year old, Sylvia Francis, who had always wanted to try fishing and had never caught nor held a fish in her lifetime. And starting off with this ‘stonker’ of a trout, well it’s safe to say she has absolutely succeeded in her quest! • 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. DECEMBER 2021

111

South Coast

Let’s end on a high AUGUSTA

Anthony Gillam

As I was walking along the river pathway between Ellis Street Jetty and the Colour Patch this morning I was drawn to the struggles of a jewel beetle as it tried to right itself after a spill onto the concrete surface. It was then that I realised that the year was just about done, with these beautiful insects only appearing in the warmer months. With one of the wettest years in recent history occurring over the southwest it has certainly felt like there has been no definite separation of the seasons. Even the fish runs have been out of whack, with whiting especially unpredictable this year. As there has been a large

using river prawns or coral prawns probably due to the discoloured water making the use of soft plastics and hardbodies lures hard work. Closer to town around the jetties there are still a number of large herring and some variable sized whiting but the skippy seem to have moved on at the moment. Those with access to watercraft have been making the most of the current King George whiting run that seems to be better than ever. Many of the biggest fish are in the dead water and the channel at Colour Patch. Unfortunately most of the fish are just size, which means that the recovery amount of flesh per fish is pretty poor. The good thing is that if you persevere there are some fish in the 30-33cm range that make a much better meal. Coral prawn pieces,

but also any lure that resembles them. Trolled lures or jigging are both good options and it doesn’t take long to pick one up, especially around lumps on the bottom or exposed reef out in the bays. As the weather warms, beach fishing options are much more attractive than in the cold blustery conditions of winter. The longer and warmer days give you plenty of chances to pick up a feed from any of the excellent beaches we are blessed with in Augusta. It

Graeme and Kevin are both happy with their respective catches of a beast queen snapper that easily matches the dhufish for size.

Augusta local Bailey Ellis took time off from diving for some topside action and snagged a solid dhufish for his trouble.

Jason Morgan with a pair of dhufish on a pre-closure trip to Spot X. Not to mention the kidney slapper King George in the esky. amount of freshwater entering the river systems it has not only muddied the waters (figuratively and literally) it also had the hangover effect of changing the inshore saltwater clarity for quite some distance. There has been a noticeable lag in when the whiting arrived and also it would appear that the increase in material in the water has also meant that there is a lot more food available for those fish that are around making them a bit more fussy lately. The Blackwood River continues to fish very well for black bream as was borne out by some of the excellent fish captured during the recent Molloy Island Bream Fishing Competition held at the Molloy Island Holiday Park. There where a number of 38cm+ fish around the 1kg mark landed including those by the winning junior anglers. Many competitors were successful 112

DECEMBER 2021

blood worms and cockles are by far the best baits to be using but with the number of herring and small tarwhine around the softer baits soon get destroyed so squid is always a good backup option. Demersal fishing has been off the books with the seasonal closure but that is due to be completed after 15 December. Everyone with a boat is looking forward to getting after some inshore and offshore fish for the Christmas holiday break. One thing I have noticed is that they always seem to be well and truly on the bite straight after the closure. Until that happens we console ourselves with a feed or two of whiting or go chasing some of the common pelagic inhabitants of the area. Kingfish are probably one of the most frequently targeted and provide an excellent feed. They love live baits especially squid, scad and slimy mackerel

also means that you can keep the kids entertained for long periods of time, on the cheap and with a distinct decrease in their screen time. Easily accessible beaches such as Hamelin Bay, Storm Bay and Cosy Corner are perfect for summer conditions and overall are pretty family friendly. That being said, there are always dangers when children and water are concerned so it is important to keep your eyes on them at all times. Water and wind conditions can change quickly and it is easy to be caught out. Beach fishing in general is always good in Augusta and you can pick up a feed

of most of the general bread and butter species without too much trouble. A paternoster rig with two droppers is about

all you need to get into the action. Fresh fish strips, squid or mulie pieces work pretty well. Just use a sinker heavy

I would not recommend taking children to most of them in the area. As with most rock fishing locations, there are a range of fish commonly caught here with a classic mixed bag the usual result. Herring, skippy and tarwhine are always around, garfish and leatherjackets are a reasonably common catch with sharks and kingfish also a possibility. Berley is key and a good trail will bring them from all around and concentrate them in your area. Bottom rigs are often snagged on the reef and lost so I prefer an unweighted line if possible or if needed, the smallest weight that will do the job. Soft plastics jigging grubs and chrome metal lures are also very effective with most common species. Rock fishing can be very productive in Augusta but it can also be deadly. Choose a spot that allows you the

A typical legal sized salmon commonly found in the Hardy Inlet. This one took a bloodworm meant for a King George whiting.

Emma is very happy with a bight redfish, one of the best eating fish in the ocean. Caught on a trip out with Leeuwin Marine Charters.

enough to hold its position in the surge and target any features you think look like they would hold fish. Want something bigger then upgrade the rig size, add a whole fish as bait and you may well pick up a snapper, mulloway or shark. One thing to keep an eye on is the wind, southeasterlies can make the town side beaches unfishable, however, a quick trip to the Hamelin Bay side will usually provide flat conditions suitable for throwing out a line. Many people rock fish when on holidays down this way and when the conditions are calm this can be a very enjoyable experience. Other than fishing off the marina rockwalls and some of the smaller rocky areas such as Flat Rock and Elephant Rock

chance to seek refuge from any king waves and don’t let calm conditions fool you into thinking you are safe. Rogue waves are just that and can quickly result in being thrown into the water. People have died here after being washed off by king waves. • Unpredictable weather can quickly affect the fishing conditions and slippery rocks are a recipe for disaster. Please remain vigilant when rock fishing; 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.

LIGHT, POWERFUL, DURABLE…

INTUITIVE Fish moving CONTROL in closer ESPERANCE

Murray Johnson

out towards Warrenup, you can encounter good flathead, plenty of herring, and salmon. Boat fishing in town and around the bay will continue to produce the occasional squid and plenty of sand whiting. There is also the possibility of bluefin tuna coming back. Some schools have been spotted but they’ve been further out; hopefully they will migrate in closer this month, as they often do. Mixed in with them are bonito and some good size snook. Opportunities still exist

big numbers. You can also encounter bigger mulloway up to 40kg, plus plenty of salmon and big tailor to 3kg. The best time to target these beach species is the around full moon or new moon with the peak tide movement. As the water moves higher up the beach, it creates more food sources and feeding opportunities for predators. Closer to town, salmon will continue to school this month, and the herring will continue to get into bigger schools. With the rising water temperatures, we’ll probably see squid slow up

Here on the south coast it feels like we’ve had an extended winter, with not a lot of sunshine, a fair bit of wind and also rain, which is always good for farmers but not fishers. Now that summer is here we will start to see warmer weather and rising water temperatures, and with that comes a change in the types of species we tend to catch. Herring will come in bigger numbers and bigger sizes, with the bull herring appearing. The best places to fish for them in town this month will be the Tanker Jetty, Taylor Street MELBOURNE ALBERTON and local beaches at Fourth MELBOURNE MARINE CENTRE ALBERTON MARINE Beach and Stockyards. The 39 Johnson Street Alberton 92 Hallam South Road Hallam best approach off the jetty is P: to (03) use 5183 a float 2344and fish P: (03) 9703 2003 theF: surface, using small (03) 5183 2219 W: melbournemarine.com.au long-shank no. 6 hooks W: albertonmarine.com.au and prawn or squid for MORNINGTON PENINSULA bait. It’s important to use MY MARINE BENDIGO a bit of berley to get the Cnr Nepean Highway & OUTDOORS fishBENDIGO into a MARINE feeding & frenzy. I recommend mixtureEpsom of Ponderosa Place Dromana 160 Midland aHighway pollard and fish3988 oil. P: (03) 5448 P: (03) 5987 0900 If the fish get into that W: bendigomarine.com.au W: mymarine.com.au feeding frenzy, it’s a good opportunity to use lumo tube MORNINGTON PENINSULA on MELBOURNE the hook to create a DIY NAUTICAL MARINE BLand MARINE lure, winding it through the612fish.614 YouPlenty can opt to Preston add 141 Hotham Road Road a small to move the Sorrento P: (03)sinker 9478 1420 hook further down in the F: (03) 9470 4638 P: (03) 5984 1666 water column. The best W: blmarine.com.au E: info@nauticalmarine.com.au times to fish are still early in the morning and late in W: nauticalmarine.com.au theSHEPPARTON afternoon. Occasionally a bit of aAND highMORE tide around BOATS TOORADIN lunchtime will keep theShepparton fish P&J MARINE SERVICE CENTRE P/L 207 Numurkah Road moving along, and you can P: (03) 5822 2108 101 Tooradin Station Road Tooradin catch fish then, too. (03) 5821Creek 2908 Boat P: (03) 5998 3107 F:Bandy Harbour will see plenty of W: boatsandmore.com.au E: pjmarine_services@bigpond.com King George whiting caught A nice double-header of nannygai caught thisMORWELL month, although the on a trip with Blackjack Charters. GEELONG average size MARINE tends to be Image courtesy of www.facebook.com/blackjackcharters. CRAWFORD PORTSIDE MARINE CENTRE small at this time of year. 71-77inChickerell Morwellaround the islands 36-38 GeelongaRoad Portarlington Mixed with theStreet whiting to chase bit, but opportunities will (03)plenty 5134 6522 willP: be of flounder, samsonfish andP:yellowtails open up to target bluefin tuna. (03) 5259 1110 small flathead and even the as they remainE: info@portsidemarinecentre.com.au in close, A good way to fish for bluefin F: (03) 5134 6455 occasional blue manna crab. with fish up to 30kg not is to troll shallow water/ W: crawfordmarine.com.au W: portsidemarinecentre.com.au At this time of year, the uncommon. There are surface lures, such as a Black samsonfish of queen Magic Jet Setter in purple or ECHUCA tend to come also still plenty MELBOURNE back in to the beaches snapper, sea sweep, and the pink, with that extra bubble EADEStown, XTREME MARINE THE MARINE SHOP around along with occasional nannygai. action creating more interest 24 Sturtflathead, Street Echuca bigger skippy Guys heading out wide for the fish. You can also troll 6 Holland Drive Melton around the 2333 1kg mark, will still see bigger sambos a Halco Laser Pro or similar P: (03) 5482 P: (03) 9747 0588 andF: a(03) continuation and have in pilchard colour. There 5482 2133 of the going up to 40kg, F: (03) 9747 3999 small bronzies. the opportunity to chase are plenty of opportunities W: xtrememarine.net.au themarineshop.com.au Heading out of town, yellowtail kingsW:around the to throw small stickbaits or one of the best places will 20kg mark. Nannygai around slugs at them too when they MELBOURNE be BRAESIDE Thomas River, which the 50-60cm mark should come around the boat. Good JV MARINE WORLD should see good numbers also be in good numbers. options for this include the TRIPLE M MARINE of 878 salmon, the Road occasional plenty of Drive Halco Slidog and the Ocean’s Springvale BraesideThere are still117 Northgate Thomastown mulloway, bronze harlequin Legacy Slingshot. P: (03) 9798 8883whalers, queen snapper,P: (03) 9465 8787 and skippy around the 2-3kg and breaksea cod too. • Established in 1986, F: (03) 9798 7554 F: (03) 9466 mark. At Poison Creek we In the coming weeks1418 Southern Sports and Tackle jvmarine.com.au canW: expect to see schools of it will be worthW:atriplemmarine.com.au trip out specializes in the supply salmon forming, plenty of to Israelite bay and The and servicing of fishing sharks and also big tailor. Cliffs. There’s 100km of equipment. They have an If you’re heading west pristine white sandy beach extensive knowledge of the of town, there’s always to drive along as you look local area and provide all good fishing at Roses, for opportunities to chase brands, whether you’re which again produces good different species. It’s not fishing from beach, jetty or salmon schools at this time unheard of to catch flathead boat. Come and chat to the of year, along with tailor, to 3kg off the shore, and friendly staff at Shop 16, The skippy and the occasional there are bronze whalers Boulevard, Esperance or bronze whaler. If you head around the 1m mark in phone 08 9071 3022.

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DECEMBER 2021

113

West Coast

Divers are the winner for dinner BUNBURY

Whiteys Tackle and Camping

The warmer weather, and especially the warmer water, has certainly fired things up! The local Leschenault estuary is full of yellowfin whiting, these magnificent fish are able to be targeted with bait (usually bloodworms) rigged with a simple long shank hook and small running sinker or with lures. Targeting whiting on lures is a great option as they hit a variety of lures from vibes and plastics to surface lures and flies. The local beaches are producing plenty of chopper tailor to around 35cm, using a mulie on a set of ganged hooks or casting a metal slice on sunset is a sure fire way to get amongst them. We have had some cracking reports of mulloway around the 10-15kg mark, if you’re wanting to target the elusive mulloway you’ll need a nice gutter to cast into, a well presented bait (fresh is best) and lastly, patience!

The local divers have been getting their fair share of crays. The guys who are a little keener diving the

25-30m patches have been getting great bags of jumbo crays. There have also been plenty of smaller crays in the

Two large western rock lobster destined for the table.

shallower regions as well. The local blue manna crab fishery opens back up on 1 December and if it is anything like the last couple of years it should be a cracker! After two months of letting the crabs get down to business, the onslaught of boaties and scoopers will be trying their luck for these tasty morsels. Last year the people willing to get their feet wet and wander around the flats were getting exceptional results. Numbers were easy to come by, especially in the afternoons that generally coincide with the high tides. The boat anglers were getting their fair share as well but worth moving around if the numbers aren’t great. Another little tip that worked for me last year is don’t be scared to get your pots right on the drop off. You may only be setting the pots in half to 1m of water but it seemed to be the hotspot on a lot of days. When selecting your bait options keep in mind the dolphins and stingrays will show preference to fish-

A huge samsonfish caught while jigging. type bait. So when dropping pots shallow, try mullet or mulies; and when setting deeper, spleen seems to keep the undesirables at bay. Even when the numbers are through the roof, remember to stick to bag and size limits and only take what you need to ensure the crab population for the future.

• Get out there and enjoy the sunshine and if you’re having any issues with your gear or techniques or just need some advice come in and see the boys at Whiteys Tackle and Camping they have a wealth of local knowledge that they are always happy to share. – Josh Italiano

So much to do this summer MANDURAH

Jesse Choy

December is upon us, indicating that we are able to get back into dropping nets for crabs

closure around Mandurah will lift around the middle of the month. Once the ban has lifted anglers can expect the pink snapper to be in reasonably shallow waters, the dhufish to be spread out and to depths of around

of lures available and mix between sizes to account for what they may be feeding on. Although baits can be effective when targeting tuna, lures are generally preferred as they provide an active approach and also

you may catch a few fish, though you will generally find the northern beaches less problematic in terms of gear and fish loss as a result of structure. FRESH Freshwater anglers will find that the area is producing quite well, with redfin and trout abundant around our dams and streams. As the temperature average continues to build it is worth targeting wellshaded areas as at times they can produce a bit better, offering a temporary resting place free from the warmth. All of the options relatively close to Mandurah are worth a crack, with Austin Lakes producing some beautiful stocked fish, if you can’t make it out to the bush to enjoy the scenery.

You can’t beat the colour of a rainbow that has been plucked from a stream! RIVER Bream are littered throughout both the river systems, with more by-catch also making its way up with the salt increase. Anglers are reporting that there are quite a few crabs upstream, the odd whiting, tailor and even giant

Picture perfect sunset at White Hills, you gotta love it! and having a good crack at the local yellowfin whiting population. There really is a lot to do around this town when it comes to recreational fishing during December, including great beach and boat fishing too. Although it can be difficult to endure the temperatures at times, persisting can be very rewarding and showcase one of the best times of the year to get out for a fish around our town. OFFSHORE The demersal fishing 114

DECEMBER 2021

60m. Fishing can be quite good post closure as the fish are well rested, so be sure to check out a variety of marks until you come to a good area that holds feeding fish. If you are heading offshore prior to the lift, there is plenty of King George on the sand patches surrounded by weed. Anglers are also reporting that there are good numbers of tuna making their way around, but they may be harder to tempt with regular presentations. If chasing the school tuna, be sure to keep a good mixture

the ability to stay on top of moving schools. BEACH With the weather returning beaches to a more fishable state, we have a great opportunity to work around the small patches of weed and are also able to soak baits for longer periods of time. There are some great gutters around, offering up plentiful amounts of herring, tailor, whiting and the odd school of mulloway. Much of our beach spots are a viable option when it comes to considering where

Big bream can be hard to locate in summer, but there are some very good fish about if you look hard enough.

herring. When heading up the rivers, don’t hesitate to keep moving upstream in search of fish as they will often swim to the very upper reaches to gorge, usually where there is less competition and predation to worry about. ESTUARY Estuary fishing is arguably the best prospect in Mandurah, coming into the summer months. As the water progressively increases in temperatures, you can expect to see an influx of tailor and yellowfin busting up on the flats. Although these species are well received by many locals, there is also plenty of blue swimmer crabs making their way around the estuary as a whole and some are a great size at that! Whether you are drop netting or scooping, it is a fun activity and is always worth getting out with the family to see if you can score a feed.

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Email: sales@endeavourmarine.com.au Website: www.endeavourmarine.com.au DECEMBER 2021

115

West Coast

Metro fishing festivity METRO

Jacob Crispe

The month of December always sees more people enjoying our waterways in the Perth metro area, and if everything continues as it has been, the fish are joining the festivities. SWAN RIVER Anglers fishing the Swan River in December have a smorgasbord of options as far as species go, with tailor and bream sitting at the top of the list. Both species will be widespread throughout the system. Find a deep drop-off and a food source in the area between Bicton Baths and Causeway, and the tailor will be close by. Add a bit of structure, and the bream come into the equation as well. As mentioned in last month’s report, the many flathead anglers in the metro area are enjoying the improved

of getting a few. ROCK WALLS AND BEACHES The main target species at present are King George whiting, skippy (silver trevally), herring and squid.

Cottesloe rock wall is popular with tailor anglers as it has a reef within casting distance and the tailor like hanging around it. Most beach anglers will be chasing either tailor

Dom Magoo from Dom’s Fishing Adventures getting amongst some great tailor flicking lures into shallow inshore reef. INSHORE Like the rock walls, the key target species in our inshore areas will be squid,

A lovely Swan River tailor caught on the new size Halco Slidog 85 stickbait. or small sharks. Casting small stickbaits and metal lures will be the undoing of plenty of tailor, while fresh or frozen baits will be your best options to catch a shark. Floreat, Trigg, Scarborough, Port and Leighton will all be worth a look. Another tasty option from our beaches is sand whiting. There should be plenty around. Fish worm or prawn baits in the shallow gutters to get the best results.

Mr P Willy reminding the boys how it’s done when it comes to posing with a monster! This fish was caught in shallow water while chasing tailor. similar areas. 3-6m of water that has broken ground and sand patches is ideal. North of Windmills would be a great place to start exploring. The other three species prefer reefy bottom. Areas like Mewstones, Stragglers

Jaye Beard is no stranger to catching big yellowfin whiting. flathead fishing and this will continue to be good all the way through to April. Find areas of shallow water that have some form of structure (weed, rock etc) and flick plastics, hardbody lures and even surface lures around the structure. Any flathead present is unlikely to be able to resist trying to eat your offering. The mulloway are also now spread throughout the river. Wherever there is food and structure, you are likely to find them. Areas worth checking out are Blackwall Reach through to Mosman Bay, the Canning Bridge, Narrows and the Causeway. All have been producing some nice fish, and this should continue or even get better in December. There will be plenty of people looking for a feed of early season crabs. The area between Clairmont and the Narrows bridge is a bit of a hot spot. If you find deeper sections of water and use fresh baits, you have a good chance 116

DECEMBER 2021

King George whiting, tailor, skippy and herring. King George whiting and squid tend to hang around in

The Fremantle rock walls will be a very popular area to target them, with Hillarys another great area further north (an excellent early morning location). Tailor can also be caught from the walls. The

OFFSHORE The world is your oyster once the demersal fishing ban finishes on 16 December. Many anglers have this date set in their calendar. There will be plenty of activity on the water, with dhufish, baldchin groper, pinkies, Breaksea cod and many more species on offer. It also means deep drop fishing is back on the cards, and species like hapuka, blue-eye trevalla and bass grouper will be popular targets for anglers doing this type of fishing. Until 16 December, the main focus will be on species like yellowtail kingfish, southern bluefin tuna and samsonfish. There have been good numbers of kingfish at the west end of Rottnest Island, and the tuna have also been there and behind the 5-fathom bank. Birds and bait are the tell-tale sign that these fish are in the area, so keep your eyes open for them. Samsons tend to hold around structure (barges and wrecks in particular) and are great fun to target with jigs. However, they are not always easy to subdue. My best advice is to wind fast and take lots of

Max Sampson is one of the most consistent Perth anglers when it comes to finding river monsters. This one was caught near Canning Bridge.

Max Sampson with a lovely yellowtail kingfish. There’s nothing this guy can’t catch, he’s everywhere.

Shaun Beard getting it done out wide. He found the birds which showed him where the fish were, and caught this 5-star southern bluefin tuna.

and the Rottnest reefs will be well worth a try. Lures are the best option for the tailor, while anchoring and setting up a berley trail, and then feeding fresh baits down it, will be the best way to catch a few skippy and herring.

jigs with you. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope your wishes come true and that you have a chance to wet a line. Catch you next month.

West Coast

Patchy start due to conditions GERALDTON

Graham Maunder & Michael Triantopoulos

Our summer fishing season was a bit patchy at the start, mainly due to inconsistent weather conditions, but over the last few weeks conditions have been getting better and the fish have been on the bite. Less weed along the southern beaches from Flat

Rocks to Lucies has made beach and reef fishing much more enjoyable, and with the return of WA herring after a couple of years of very poor catches their addition to our bag of species has been very welcoming. The seasonal run of tailor and mulloway is better than last year with tailor up to 2-3kg not uncommon. Plenty of mulloway in the 5-12kg range

Travelling angler from NSW, Gary Sweeney, ticking species off his list with a WA dhufish caught NW of town. This fish was caught before the demersal closure.

has kept everyone hopeful of landing that bragging size fish as well. The first and second points at Cape Burney are producing mixed bags of tailor, pike and a few herring. The beach north of the Greenough River has had mostly tailor and school mulloway with an occasional better fish up to 17kg. The reefs and beaches at Southgate’s have been a bit difficult to fish due to weed build up, and fishable catches have not been as good as they were earlier in the year. Tarcoola Beach north to Mahomets Beach is having its usual morning run of tailor, whiting and the occasional mulloway at the southern end, and larger tailor and mulloway at the north end after sunset. The beaches from Separation Point to the groynes and rock walls north of the Batavia Marina are not producing reliable quantities of fish yet, but as usual anglers putting the most effort in are catching tailor, whiting, pike, herring and squid some evenings. From Drummonds Cove

to Coronation and all the way to Horrocks would have the most reliable beach and reef fishing at the moment with plenty of mulloway and big tailor being landed. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, big snapper are still being landed along many of the same reefs and beaches but as the taking of our prize demersal species is still prohibited until the 16 December they will all have to go back in the water. Remember when you put that fish back our fishing future is enhanced and the information you accumulate in regard to where and how to catch these great fish will pay off in the fishing trips yet to come. BOAT As the demersal ban is still in effect until the 16 December most anglers have used this time for boat maintenances and repairs for the upcoming season. Some anglers have been taking the opportunity to get out when they’ve been able to, trying their luck trolling for a Spanish mackerel. No reports of Spanish as yet, but good

Gun angler Rosne Hajis with a nice mulloway caught along Tarcoola Beach. numbers of Queensland school mackerel. Downsizing your tackle to mid-sized spin and overhead outfits with smaller lures is great fun, the school mackerel respond really well to cubed WA pilchards in a berley trail and casting lures at them when they show up. With the inside FAD being deployed again, it won’t before long until the baitfish will have some hiding structure and the predatory fish won’t be far away. Squid have been hard work, but still around is reasonable numbers, although the size is on the smaller size.

Herring have been in large schools from Pages around to Point Moore, and some goodsized silver trevally (skippy), whiting and pike around the sand/sea grass holes. Until next month tight lines and screaming drags! • Geraldton Sports Centre is the Mid Wests specialist Fishing tackle store. Drop in and see the friendly professional staff for local advise and knowledge and browse the extensive range of Fishing equipment on show at 204-208 Marine Terrace Geraldton WA, Phone: 08 9921 3664.

As the beach returns to normal KALBARRI

Stephen Wiseman

Nearly seven months after Cyclone Seroja some areas of beach are returning to normal, and

showing around the sand flats in front of the IGA and along the sand flats to the boat hire. Black bream are making a good showing around the pens and further up river around to the barbecue

The tailor activity begins to increase this month.

Rob Tenaglia with a tasty tailor. some areas just South of Jakes have reverted to early 70s contours. The old stile holes have formed just North of Witikara and some very respectable tailor to 900mm have been caught and released with some early season choppers being kept for the pan, best bait is still the old faithful mulie on ganged hooks. Fishing for whiting in the river is still a challenge but some smallish fish are

area. The best baits are river prawns, and allow the big fish to have a bit of a run before setting the hook. A recent offshore trip heading out to the 3 mile resulted in a big bite off through wire. Huge splashes and boils erupted all around the boat, the

The greenbacks will continue to be caught along the beaches.

hectic action continued for 20 minutes with not a single fish hooked! My call was big yellowfin tuna but not seeing a fish it was hard to call and no YFT has chewed through wire, so it was all a mystery. A stop off at the mulloway hole for a quick drop produced hazardous conditions with the number of pink snapper in plague proportions, they were so prolific that you couldn’t get a bait past them to the bottom so it was best to move on. When the demersal ban lifts in December the pinks should be around in good numbers for all to have a feed. Beach fishing up the coast across the river has produced some nice mulloway in the gutters, a lot of the fish are being returned to swim again and

There have been some decent flathead caught along the beaches. at over 1m in length it’s nice to hear. A big lizard at 85cm was reported up the coast at the weekend in a mixed bag, including some nice yellowfin whiting as fat as a stubby. Dredging work in the river is stirring up the silt so on the outgoing tide

the tailor and mulloway activity at Chinamans has increased with some nice fish being caught with the best mulla nudging 1250mm. There is still only one launch ramp active so patients is required in busy times, safe fishing. DECEMBER 2021

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West Coast

White walkers are marching LANCELIN

Peter Fullarton

The white crays are creating lots of activity along the white bank, fishers pull pots loaded with lobsters each morning. The old bait is discarded over the side along with undersized or excess catch and fresh smelly bait added to the pot before being reset. All this food and smell acts as a giant berley trail attracting lots of fish. While we can’t target demersal species just yet, they are still around and there will be plenty of whaler sharks, sea kingfish and skippy. Mid-month when demersal fishing re-opens, it is certainly a good chance for dhufish break sea cod and pink snapper. Whilst out checking the pots, it is only a short hop to the 20m line where you can gather a feed of sand whiting, usually without much effort at all. A paternoster rig tied with three #4 long shank hooks baited with some beef heart

Baldies have been becoming more the dominate catch off Lancelin. Maybe a likely result of climate change? It is interesting times.

in front of Grace Darling Park are well sheltered for kayak fishing, herring usual abound here and are easily caught trolling or casting

Ecogear ZX vibes have been a revelation fishing the bay’s waters, you never know what’s going to bite next.

species of fish. Rocky areas hold tarwhine, leatherjackets and wrasse. Weed beds have snook, pike and skippy. Casting a squid jig should find a feed of calamari, although the snook have been destroying the jigs lately. While the broken ground can find some great feeds of King George whiting and the sandy patches are good for whiting, flathead and flounder. Lancelin Island has a sheltered beach you can pull up on and enjoy a lunch break. Casting a few lures or baits on the shallows can score flathead and yellowfin whiting. There is a lookout on the island and the walking path leads to the seaward side that is off limits for fishing, being a ‘fish habitat protection area’ – a great little sheltered spot for a snorkel

Courtney Metcalf sneaking in this dhu just before the close of season out of 35m at Ledge Point.

If you are up for the Xmas holidays and don’t have some good GPS plots, no worries. To score a feed of baldies you don’t need good structure like ledges and lumps, blind drifting usually finds the fish. I wouldn’t

Lancelin Island gives a great break to the day on a bay fishing session.

There have been very good numbers of yellowfin tuna this season. can be pulling triple-headers. Looking out to sea you are just as likely to see some birds indicating tuna schools. Our pelagic season has started as a belter of a year. There have been heaps of bait schools with bonito boiling the sea surface in areas as big as a football field. The species mix has been good too with an early run of bluefin, skipjack and an exceptional number of early yellowfin among them. The flesh is highly prized for eating and the oily heads and frames will make sure the cray pots are full. Demersal fishing is back on the agenda from the 16 December. The water has been in a warming trend since the close of the last season so bald chin groper will likely be in good numbers. 118

DECEMBER 2021

put too much effort in until at least 28m, 30m is even better. You can get them in closer but unless you have the bottom marked up it is less reliable. My rig of choice is a two-hook paternoster with one 8/0 circle hook and a 10/0 preferably baited with a matching size chunk of octopus. I use the large hooks mainly to avoid the undersized fish that have a poor survival on release. Fishing the flats still finds surprising numbers of dhufish and break sea cod. Lancelin Bay offers many opportunities to take the kids fishing on the school holidays. It is ideal for small boats and kayaks. The jetty has some great fishing for sand whiting by day and tailor and herring are caught evenings. The shallow flats

small soft plastics or a 5-10g Halco Twisty. The sand holes can hold schools of King George whiting, and hopping soft plastics along the bottom can also connect to some solid flathead that will be more active now the sun’s warming the shallows well. Deeper areas of the bay fish well for numerous

well. The action is a strong vibration attracting the fish well, while providing a good resistance against the line so it’s easy to have a good understanding on where the lure is and what it’s doing. If you are like me and been slow to pick one up, go out and try one now. On the beach there are less of the big mulloway around. It is moving towards their breeding season, although still worth casting the big baits out. School sized fish are still available and the odd big one over a metre still pops up. Guitar fish are increasing in numbers, and evenings have been finding some small whaler sharks.

and to swim with some playful seals, or to look at the corals and fish. Lately, I have been casting the Ecogear ZX vibes around the bay. I have been astounded just how well they work, it is one well-designed lure. It is not at all uncommon to score more than half a dozen different species in

The Halco Slidog 150 has been getting the attention of the bigger tailor.

King George have been a good fall back to gather a quality feed during the demersal ban.

one session. They have also been very useful to target the King George whiting when the blowfish have made bait fishing next to impossible. They have a weighted rear end that makes them cast a mile, so they can be easily worked from the shore as

Tailor have had a slow start to the season to date, following a lean season last year. On the open beaches they are predominately the chopper sizes now, though some bigger models can still be caught along the gutters up near Wedge Island.

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North Coast

Sailing into the holidays EXMOUTH

Barry Taylor

Report supplied by Josh Cheong The billfishing out wide is really good at the moment, and we saw a good range of catches during the recent Billfish Bonanza. Quite a number of blues, stripes and sails were caught, and the partner of one of our staff members got a grand slam on day one of the competition – a blue, a sail and a stripe. Sailfish have come on pretty well; a couple of teams fished the gulf for sailfish, picking up around 6-10 fish each day. Their numbers should decrease in the coming weeks, but the blues will

continue running. Land-based fishing has also been yielding good results. Lately we had a few guys fly fishing the west side from the shore, and they have been doing well on trevally, spangled emperor, and giant herring. For that kind of fishing, I recommend trying Clousers and small shrimp patterns. I got out on the gulf myself recently and got a few blueline emperor and coral trout. They were taking 7” Bait Junkie Jerkshads rigged on a 1oz jighead fished in 8-12m of water. A few bar mackerel were schooled up as well, but they have been quite finicky lately. I managed to get one on a popper on that trip (they wanted a really quick

retrieve on the day), but you can also catch them by trolling a small lure around. A few flathead are down the bottom of the gulf too. The whiting along the beaches have been really good too for land-based anglers. All methods seem to be working on those – bait, lure and fly. If you prefer to fish bait, we recommend using a piece of peeled coral prawn rigged on a small no. 10 long-shank hook on a running sinker rig with as light a weight as you can get away with. A size 0 or size 1 ball sinker on an 8-10lb line is the norm. If you keep getting baited, add a bit of squid on top of your prawn to make it harder for the fish to steal your bait. The whiting are in really close, almost at your feet, so

you don’t have to cast far. In December as everything warms up, the blue marlin should continue to fish well, and the flats down the bottom of the gulf should start to fire soon for queenfish, permit and trevally. • For all the latest news on what’s biting and where, drop into 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.

Dai with a pretty sailfish. Image courtesy of On Strike Charters.

Bagging big barra in Broome BROOME

Troy Honey

What a month in Broome it’s been when it comes to bagging big barramundi. It’s the time of year when we see the barra comps held and this year,

how it is done. The largest junior fish went to Louise Cross with a nice barra at 62cm. Ryan Duke caught the biggest barra in the male category, with Brittany Boura boating the champion fish of the comp for the ladies. Broome came home with the win over Derby for

boated with one coming in at 75cm caught by Chayse Scott. The first legal barra was caught by Brad Obrien, which came in at 71cm and barely an hour after the comp started. This highlights the great fishery that is the Fitzroy River. Barra fishing in Broome

township of Broome at the moment are anything to go by, it’s going to be a fantastic season for them. Besides the barra there are continuous reports of threadfin salmon being caught, with the majority of them coming from Crab Creek and The Fingers, which are both east of Broome across Roebuck Bay. Among them are bluenose salmon and the odd mangrove jack being caught. We are coming into the prime time for northern jewfish, so it’s definitely worth a stop to fish the holes in the bay as you head over to Crab Creek. Some very nice fingermark (golden snapper) are being caught offshore

Local angler Dylan Howard got stuck into some great barra while competing in the Elite Automotive Barra Comp.

The biggest barra at the Elite Automotive Barra Comp was caught by local angler Chayse Scott. This 75cm fish won him a cool $1,500 for his efforts. although very challenging for the competitors, did not disappoint. And that is why barra are held so high on the trophy fish status, because if it was easy catching them, everyone would have ticked a metery off their bucket list. Two barra comps in the Broome region last month were the Interclub Barra Comp – Broome vs Derby and the Elite Automotive Barra Comp. Both comps were held on the Fitzroy River and there were some spectacular fish caught. At the Broome vs Derby Fishing Club Interclub Comp, largest male vs female fish came in at the thumping sizes of 114cm and 116cm respectively with the ladies showing the blokes 120

DECEMBER 2021

the 2021 year. A week prior on the Fitzroy for the Elie Automotive Barra Comp, we saw plenty of good fish being

will be the top of the target list for the next couple of months, and if the fish being caught in the Fitzroy River and creeks surround the

Brittany Boura with the 116cm horse she caught during the Broome vs Derby interclub comp.

Landing a 114cm barra during a comp would make any angler confident of taking home the win, and that’s what Ryan Duke did in the biggest male category of the Broome vs Derby interclub comp.

from Broome in waters ranging from 20-40m. You will also find the bluebone are starting to fire up in the warmer waters and can be found to the same depth of 40m and right back to the coastline all around the rocky outcrops.

On the pelagic side, there are quite a few large Spanish mackerel still hanging around Broome and they are being caught amongst the feeding schools of longtail tuna. The schools are not hard to find, simply motor out directly off Gantheaume

Point and you should see the birds diving in no time. Queenfish are also on the rise in both numbers and bite periods, and they can be found right along the coast from small cliffs between Crab Creek and To page 121

North Coast

Land of fishing paradise DAMPIER/KARRATHA

Troy Honey

Fishing has been challenging throughout November in Karratha with the predictable winds

That being said, there are still plenty of ways to enjoy fishing by finding protected zones, such as creeks or behind islands or put the boat in for service and make the most of the incredible land-based fishing Karratha

angler has become unstuck in these salt pans while searching for the perfect mangrove jack or mud crab spot and the result can often be a written off 4WD and one very long walk in the extreme heat back to the

mackerel if you are keen to get the drone or balloons out. The aforementioned species are all very credible fish to target and they are all reasonably easy to not only find but catch as well. I sometimes must pinch myself to remember just how good the land-based fishing is here in Karratha. Well, here we are in December already and the temperature has been a tad cooler in the build up to wet season. This hasn’t stopped the predominate wet season fish from firing through with many good barra, bluebone and queenfish being caught from both land and shore

Fishing land-based with a brand new Shimano Vanford 5000 reel setup on an Azusa carbon rod and mullet live bait, Marni Alexander enjoyed plenty of good runs from this queenfish that went just over a metre in length.

On an epic day out in the Point Samson area, Coryn Bradley landed this fantastic 107cm threadfin. Among the day’s catches were plenty of good sized flathead, mangrove jack and her partner Ricky lost a monster barra well over a metre at the side of the boat. that haunt the region at this time every year not disappointing. Early mornings have been okay if you can get out and back in by lunchtime but anything after that you don’t want to be caught out on the water with afternoon onshore wind gusts exceeding 20 knots for the better part of the month. From page 120

Dampier Creek, all the way up to James Price Point. Try fishing James Price Point on the high tide change during spring tides by casting shallow diving lures or poppers to entice the larger queenfish that can be found here. Mud crabs can be a bit hit-and-miss, with the smaller browns the hardest to find. It will be a couple

showcases. The Karratha region has an abundance of creeks, rivers, bays, beaches, rocky outcrops and walls, everything you need is here, access is considerably easy for most spots although some of the best spots require navigation through salt pans that are well known too not be sympathetic to the inexperienced. Many an

main roads looking for help. When I think landbased fishing in Karratha, bluebone, mangrove jack, whiting, flathead, queenfish, barramundi and mud crab are the species I first think about. There are many more options such as trevally, coral trout, spangled and blueline emperor, Spanish flag, shark and even Spanish

of months before the numbers increase, but there are still a few big green mud crabs in Willie and Dampier creeks. Head right up the back of the creeks to drop your nets as this is where they are being caught. Land-based fishing in Broome is always best during the wet season. You can catch a range of species, from whiting along Cable Beach and Coconut Wells to big

bluebone, barra and GTs at the jetty. Try for bluebone on fresh-caught rock crabs during the day, and the barra and GTs at night. All three species are best to target on the high tide changes. Although it is the best time of year for Broome landbased fishers, it is also the riskiest, with the occurrence of crocodile sightings at its highest during the wet season. Please be vigilant at all times.

Brad O’Brien set the scene early for the Elite Automotive Barra comp by catching the first legal barra of 71cm only an hour into the tournament.

Karratha is a bluebone fisher’s heaven but catching the larger of the species from shore is not an easy task. The author has worked hard for years to master what is required to consistently land large tuskies from shore, such as this one caught in November on a large whole crab for bait. and the great threadfin run is continuing and can only be expected to improve as the temperature rises. Reports of barra are coming in mostly around the 70cm to 80cm mark but there have been reports of fish over a metre being surfaced, just not landed. If I am going to go land based fishing for any of the popular species, I will always work it around the spring tides and fish the low or the high tide change. When bluebone is the target, the new moon high tides always produce best and it’s game on as soon as the water rises over the oyster line on the rocks. For queenfish, the new moon low tide change is the best option. Fishing some of the creek’s land based on a full or new moon it can be challenging fishing the low tide in certain places as it often means trekking through the mud to get to the water, but if you can find those deeper holes up the creeks and fish them on a spring low tide, you should do extremely well. Whiting and flathead can be caught on both high and low

tides and barra and jacks are both best on the low tide. When fishing land based for threadfin, they will follow the water in across the flats as it rises over it, and they will fossick for crustaceans

have larger boats to handle the conditions have found a few solid red emperors. The majority of catches offshore have been coral trout, bluebone, blueline emperor and plenty of cobia. It will be another couple of months and the chinaman fish will start firing up in the waters between the 20 and 30 metre mark which are always a welcome fight on light gear. Plenty of sails are still being caught behind the islands with the odd marlin among them. Tuna schools are starting to build and a few good longtails have been caught by anglers chasing spanish mackerel in deeper waters. The spaniards have been hit and miss over the shoals with one day not sighting a single fish and the next day you barely get you lures set before your lines start peeling. Sharks have been very problematic to the spaniard fisherman on the days they are on the bite. My next few weekends are going to be all about mud crabs, flathead, threadfin, whiting and bluebone, all from land with the goal

Coryn Bradley’s 107cm threadfin caught while trolling a Knee Deep OG Bronze Back lure. along the way. Fish the last couple of hours before the high tide change for best results for threadies. There hasn’t been a lot of days in November that has allowed for boats to enjoy a day of fishing offshore with the relentless wind causing havoc. Those who have managed to get out either on one of the better days or

of setting some new PBs. I find it both challenging and peaceful when land based fishing in Karratha which has some of the most picturesque spots to wet a line but with the larger tides and climate changes, especially at this time of year, lining everything up to ensure a successful day is certainly challenging. DECEMBER 2021

121

Cashing in on trout sucess FRESHWATER

Peter Fragomeni

After one of the wettest winters in over a decade, the cool wet conditions persisted well into

remember I mentioned a bold act that Fisheries Bio-security division undertook by raiding a wellknown aquarium retailer recently, and confiscating a number of bass, cod and other species. This put

that a major breeder of silver perch and trout grower has sold up and moved to Queensland. It is unclear whether the new owners will continue to supply quality trout and silver perch to the

may become unviable. WAROONA DAM A few good trout were caught over spring but things have now quietened down. I fished this dam over a couple of days recently and was only rewarded with a few very skinny yearlings and a handful of redfin the size of herring. The redfin numbers have been down for some reason, as well as the size. It was concerning that the Department of Transport has moved the ‘limit of ski area’ to encroach on our safe fishing area to the rear of the dam and bays. With ski season here it can be dangerous to be on the water, especially trolling. DRAKESBROOK WEIR Locals have complained about the lack of trout that have been on offer this season, despite a good stocking. A nice rainbow of close to 3kg was caught recently however this was one of the 3-year-old rainbows that was grown

Andrew Beer, Senior Research Scientist from Fisheries WA, holding one of the many tagged trout that went into Harvey Dam. If you catch one, take a photo of the tag and contact Fisheries. It’s suggested to release them so better data can be collected next year.

The Pemberton Hatchery is growing bigger fish to meet the growing demand of freshwater fishing. Geoff Wood was happy with this 6.5lb rainbow caught just after stocking. spring. This resulted in favourable conditions for our trout, which normally struggle, particularly in northern parts of our south-west in late spring. Although the conditions were better suited to trout it didn’t change the fact that catch rates have been well down, compared to previous years. The southern waters have bucked the trend with some exceptional quality trout and redfin coming out of the rivers, a clear result of the great work the Pemberton hatchery has done in producing thousands of trout for our waters. It was interesting to see a 3.995kg rainbow trout come from the hatchery. This fish was tagged and then released for a recent competition. If caught, it would knock off my own state record rainbow trout of 3.525kg. Although, mine grew up on a diet of natural food in the wild, which has created a debate on whether a pond-grown hatchery trout, fed on artificial pellets, would be worthy of the crown. AUSSIE NATIVES With the warmer weather setting in, the eastern native freshwater species are finding conditions better than our trout, which struggle at this time of the year. Some good fish are coming out of guarded locations, with silver perch dominating the catches. On a sad note, you might 122

DECEMBER 2021

pressure on the existing under-supplied aquaponics industry, which struggles to find suitable fish for their hundreds of customers that produce clean, chemicalfree produce in urban back yards. In a second blow to the industry, I was informed

Aquaponics industry and small farm dams down south. I fear if this is not the case then it will leave a void in the supply chain, and the price of fingerlings may increase to the extent that backyard aquaponics and stocking of private dams

Young Hunter Praed was delighted with this 50cm brown he caught trolling lures with his dad Lee.

Myf Rosenthal took out first place and the $1000 cash prize at the recent Harvey Water Bash. She also won herself a 12-month subscription to Fishing Monthly.

out at the hatchery. A few redfin are being caught from both the bank and by those on the water trolling hardbodied lures. Soft plastics have caught their fair share as well. LOGUE BROOK DAM Very quiet recently with no reports coming in, however, the water is at its highest since the mid 80s. On a recent trip I found it hard to connect onto trout, as dodging ski boats and jet skis occupied most of my time.

HARVEY DAM This location was again the venue for the annual Harvey Water Bash fishing competition, with around 65 anglers battling it out over two days in early October. I attended the weigh-in on the Sunday, and whilst a few good trout were caught, the numbers were down on previous years. A few disgruntled freshwater anglers complain about competitions putting a strain on fish stocks, but only 35 trout were caught, and a lot were released, as they were undersize. A few browns were caught but they were returned as they are not part of the point scoring. As mentioned, Fisheries tagged a few hundred trout with only 50 having prizes to those that registered for the comp. The top prize of $500 was the 3.995 kg rainbow but can only be claimed by those that registered. I sponsored a Fishing Monthly Magazines tag of $100 that is still swimming out there. If it’s not caught it will jackpot to $200 next year.

PREDICTED DAM LEVELS Overall storage in our dams that allow public access and recreational activities are currently 79.8% as of end of October 2021, compared to 49.8% at the same time last year. Harvey Dam rose from just 22% in autumn to around 92% at the end of October. With rain still falling in October, most of the dams are still rising. WAROONA DAM 82% DRAKESBROOK WEIR 89% LOGUE BROOK DAM 86% HARVEY DAM 92% WELLINGTON DAM 93% GLEN MERVYN DAM 100% BIG BROOK DAM 100%

It was interesting to note that a tagged trout was caught within 18 hours of releasing and it had travelled around 3km from release location. If anyone happens to catch a tagged trout it’s advised to release it so better data can be collected next year in the way of growth rate and survival over summer. Only around 100 redfin were caught, which is well down on last year’s total. The overall winner this year was a very keen young lady who has always been in the top five anglers in the past years. She took out the $1000 cash prize and won herself a year’s subscription to Fishing

to conserve this excellent sportfish. RIVERS Murray River A couple of WATFAA members fished this water in October and only managed a few small yearlings from recent stockings. Redfin are becoming more active but size is on the lower end of 25cm. Collie River above Wellington Dam Not many reports coming through but this is the time to hit the water, with redfin the only target species. The usual redfin lures work well, with a splash of red being the preferred colour.

spring, with most of the trout being very spooky as a result. A nice-size brown was sighted in the heavily-timbered section

Bass keep showing up at secret locations. It’s a shame our authorities don’t realise the huge benefits they would bring to rural communities. If we had a controlled stocking program into selected redfin dams, it would boost licence numbers and please thousands of freshwater anglers. high until recently but a few redfin are still getting caught well upstream. Blackwood River below Bridgetown A few trout are getting caught, but those anglers who are getting amongst them are keeping quiet. I

Didier Blanquart holding the 3.995kg rainbow carrying a $500 tag. It can be claimed only by a registered Harvey Bash competitor until June 2022.

Weigh-in on the second day of the comp. Note the board on the left with competitor tags hanging up. If any are missing, out go the safety crew until they are found. Monthly. Hats off to the organisers with this event being run as well as any in the country. A redfin comp is again planned for early December and it’s open to all styles of fishing from bank, kayak and electric boats. WELLINGTON DAM The tremendous amount of water flowing into this dam this year has created a perfect environment for the 10,000 rainbow yearlings that were recently stocked. Not many reports have come in but I believe next autumn will be the best indication of just how well they do. Redfin are hard to locate, with water flooding lots of new ground and drowning timber regrowth. GLEN MERVYN DAM No reports but it’s full to capacity. BIGBROOK DAM It’s alarming to see the amount of fish getting necked out of this dam, including some beautiful big browns. What we must be aware of is the fact that this dam is tiny, covering only approximately 24 hectares, so it’s prone to overfishing. There is a call for new rules to limit the numbers of fish taken in our freshwater, with a possible catch and release rule on large brown trout

Collie River below Wellington Dam With the wetter spring “resulting in less water being let out for irrigation”, the river has been very low,

of the year that dry fly fishers have a ball tossing small dries up into any of the countless small runs throughout the system.

however, a few trout are still being landed by those keen few anglers. Blackwood River above Bridgetown The water was still

It’s good to see the young generation practising catch and release. As with Hunter’s brown, Jessie Higginbottom released this 46cm specimen.

Damian Gansekoele put the hours in trolling from his kayak and came up trumps with this nice rainbow.

know of one nice rainbow of 1.5kg being taken closer to Nannup by someone who tried over a dozen spots in the high water. Warren River All the reports have mainly been of the quality redfin coming out of the upper reaches. You would have to be a very poor angler not to get into a few of these tasty freshwater fish. The better catches are going to those in kayaks or small tinnies, with all techniques from soft plastics, hardbodied lures and the reliable spinners doing the damage. I must say I like soft plastics with their ability to fish well next to logs and structure. A few trout are getting caught right through the system, with the faster runs being the best areas. Lefroy Brook This little water copped a flogging over

Donnelly River It’s good to see the browns showing up in this river. The decision to stock this water was only made by FFRG (stocking committee) a couple of years ago, and all reports indicate it was a wise choice. Rainbows are turning up in the fast runs, but the going can be tough with streamside vegetation making it hard to access some of the better spots. DECEMBER FISHING Although December is not the ideal time to chase trout in WA, there are always plenty of redfin willing to play the game. Just a warning that snakes are very active, especially around water, and fire is a real risk with bans in place, so take care. It’s also a good idea to release all

This well-conditioned 51cm rainbow pulled some drag after being hooked. Blair Hutton got himself some much-needed points at the recent Harvey Water Bash. below town. It refused all offerings, which can be typical of these big, wary browns. This is the time

brown trout as they seem to compete better with redfin and our varying climate here in WA. DECEMBER 2021

123

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Fishing Monthly Magazine | December 2021

Articles inside

Boat test: Arvor 705 Sportsfish

Freshwater

Karratha

Lancelin

Metro

WESTERN AUSTRALIA Esperance

Augusta

WIRF

Recfishwest

Yarrawonga

Wangaratta

Shepparton

Geelong

Port Phillip West

Phillip Island

Canberra

Albury/Wodonga

Lithgow/Oberon

Tathra

Bermagui

Illawarra

Batemans Bay

Central Coast

Coffs Coast

Sydney North

Sydney Rock

How sustainable are whiting stocks?

NEW SOUTH WALES Pittwater

Hinchinbrook

Flathead on soft plastics

Kayaking: Adventure search

Freshwater

Lucinda

Townsville

Whitsundays

Mackay

Advantages of heavy leader

Brisbane

Northern Bay

Starlo’s back to basics

Sheik of the Creek

Southern Bay

Squid: taking on the tigers

Noosa