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
DECEMBER 2021
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
