NEW SOUTH WALES Pittwater

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 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 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

Blue skies and hard fighting kings always bring a smile.

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A Christmas flathead. Ho, ho, ho!

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

What is a Fishway?

Fishos and DPI Working Together To Stock Trout

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

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 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.

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 constructed to suit the characteristics of a particular site.

For more information go to the DPI website and search “fishway”.

Help Stamp Out Illegal Fish Traps

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.