NSW
Monster flatties on the move this January
Some good-size mulloway have been taking live baits lately.
BEACHES Whiting love this time of year on the ocean beaches, and a pipi or a live worm on a long-shank double paternoster rig is a deadly way to get stuck into them. All the beaches will hold whiting but the best ones would be Stockton, Samurai, Fingal and Box. Pick out a deeper looking gutter and start fishing about an hour before the high tide and you’ll do pretty well. While fishing this way you may also pick up some bonus bream or dart. Even a school-sized mulloway is not out of the question. OFFSHORE There have been a few mulloway showing on the reefs, with Looking Glass
ROCKS The wash zone around the ocean rocks will produce a mix bag of bream, squire and the odd late-season drummer. Use a small 0-00 sinker running straight to a large peeled prawn rigged on a 1/0 hook and cast into the foamy white water. Then let it slowly waft down to the bottom and then wind up and repeat. If you want to catch tailor you are in with a good chance from the ocean rocks. Try to find a point that sticks out a little and fish in late afternoon or early morning with a metal spinner around 40g, or alternatively a ganged pilchard or garfish.
We will see some good flathead catches this month.
PORT STEPHENS
Paul Lennon
Despite January being by far the busiest time to be on the waterways in Port Stephens, there’s still some quality fishing to be had. In the estuary, big summer whiting have taken up residence in the clear shallow waters along Nelson Bay, Shoal Bay and Jimmys beaches. Whiting are one fish that don’t mind the school holiday activity, and they can be caught amongst the crowds of busy beaches. The most important thing is to use live worms, light leaders and to fish on the high tide. There are some great whiting to be caught on surface lures too, but for that style of fishing you’ll want to push more up the rivers around shallow intertidal flats. Areas like North Arm Cove, Taylors Beach and Tahlee are good spots to try. There are good numbers of bream around the Anchorage and Nelson Bay rock walls, and the rock bars and oyster racks from Soldiers Point to Tea Gardens. Bream are much more sensitive to the holiday activity and will shut down easily. This is why, if you target bream this time of year, you want to be doing so at first light before the holiday crowds hit the waterway. Flathead are a great
option at this time of year. The bottom ends of Tilligerry Creek and the Karuah River down to the mouth of the system hold monsters up to 1m in length. Soft plastic, hardbodies and vibes will all catch flathead but you need to be constantly on the move covering ground to give yourself the best chance of success. Remember the new laws if you happen to land a big flathead – any flatty over 70cm now has to be released. Squid have been a little tough this season but there have been quite a few arrow squid around the weed beds off Jimmys Beach and Shoal Bay, with smaller jigs in the 2-2.5 size range working best.
and Sandbos reporting fish to 12kg taken on live baits. Trag have been in good numbers over the Vee and Gibber reefs, as well as a few snapper on the bottom. The marlin bite on the shelf has been starting to fire, with boats getting several bites a day. Most of the fish are being taken by boats marking them around bait schools and bombing live baits into them, however it’s always a good idea to try cover some ground when things are slow by trolling some skip or swim baits. There is nothing to report on the inshore marlin as of yet, but they should start any day now so they will be worth a crack if good water pushes in close.
FISHING NEWS
Can’t hide from the law: illegal mud crabs Illegal fishing under the cover of darkness won’t save you! Fisheries Officers from the Statewide Operations and Investigations Group and the Far North Coast Zone, with support from the local Clarence Region Boating Safety Officer of NSW Roads and Maritime, recently staged an operation to monitor illegal mud crab fishing activity taking place in the Toumbaal Creek at
Sandon, NSW. Toumbaal Creek is a tributary of the Sandon River and is within the Sandon River Sanctuary Zone of the Solitary Islands Marine Park. In the early hours of the morning on Tuesday 8 November 2022, Fisheries Officers apprehended a 46 year old man and 39 year old man, both from Brooms Head, after they had concluded their secretive night time fishing escapades in Toumbaal Creek. It is alleged that the two
men were in possession of a total of nine mud crabs, including two of which were of a prohibited size (less than 8.5cm carapace length). The crabs had been taken from within the sanctuary zone. Officers seized the catch along with two unmarked crab traps and two scoop nets. Both men have each been issued penalty notices totalling $1,000, for the alleged offences of, taking mud crab from within a sanctuary zone and the unlawful use of a net or trap. Both men also received caution notices for possession of prohibited size mud crabs and for lighting of a fire upon emergent (inter-tidal) land within the Marine Park. The Toumbaal Creek estuary is an important sanctuary area for a multitude of aquatic plants and animals as well as migratory shorebirds. The estuary comprises high quality remnant mangrove and salt marsh vegetation communities, and due to its headwaters being preserved entirely within National Park Estate, the conservation values
of the area are significant. Fisheries Officers work hard alongside National Parks and Wildlife Service Officers to protect this small estuary for the benefit of current and future generations. To report illegal fishing, call the Fishers Watch phone line 1800 043 536 or report online at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au. – NSW DPI Fisheries
Port Stephens Estuary Charters
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JANUARY 2023
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