Sydney Rock

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.

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