NSW
Great time of year SWANSEA
Jason Nunn
The December prawn run is over, and there were plenty of them, although the average size was down a bit. Fishing over the past month or so has improved dramatically, with a lot of bream and whiting throughout our estuary systems. The prawn run has definitely fired them a bit. It’s good timing because it gives both locals and holidaymakers a great opportunity to enjoy productive fishing through early January. If you’re fishing with family or friends and want some seafood for the table, now is the ideal time to do it. With summer getting into full swing through January, flathead in particular will be in really good numbers. During January, most of our dusky flathead in the estuary systems are in spawning mode. This means that you
During the spawning period, I recommend using circle hooks. Circles nearly always lip-hook fish, rather than deep-hooking them, so you’ll minimise damage to any oversize females who are looking to breed. And of course, because it’s easier to remove hooks from lip-hooked fish, you can get your line back in the water more quickly. January is when our lake squid really start to build up in numbers, and the prawn run has really kicked them into gear. Now is a great time to get a few squid, either for a feed or to use as live bait. Areas like the dropover and down towards Murrays Beach will no doubt become very popular through January and into early autumn, with the spawning period falling in February/March. If you’re targeting lake squid, smaller jigs are the go, such as Yamashitas and YoZuris in sizes from 1.5 to 2.2. The most popular
all you need to do is lift it up and down. Downrigging live squid is a good technique for kingfish in the lake. The waterway is busy at this time of year, and downrigging allows you to cover more area and get away from the crowds somewhat. Live squid are also productive on mulloway. Over the past month or so we’ve had a good run of blue swimmer crabs, but it’s unclear as to whether that will continue this month. Still, this spring was one of the better seasons we’ve had for blue swimmers, so hopefully that will continue all through summer. Remember that you must release any females carrying eggs, and also bear in mind that some crabs will have lost condition due to spawning, and be useless to eat. If you catch a crab that feels light and a bit spongy, you’ll know it’s no good for the plate – it’s flesh will be far too shrunken and watery. Later in the season, after the
A nice flatty caught at this time last year. It fell to a Squidgy Fish in red rum, coated with Sax Scent. Image courtesy of hook__in. tend to see large females moving into the channel areas, shallowed by smaller males. Around a single female, you can find up to 10 of these hopeful, milted-up males hovering close by, so there’s some good fishing to be had. Please remember that the regulations for dusky flathead have changed – there’s a bag limit of five fish, and you can’t keep any fish over 70cm. This is the first year where all fish over 70cm will have the opportunity to breed. Hopefully it will result in many flathead throughout the systems, with lots of trophy fish on offer in the coming years.
approach is to just cast out your jig, sometimes with a small weight on the nose of the jig, and let it slowly sink through the water column (you’ll be fishing in 5-8m predominantly). That slow sink enables you to do a bit of a jig flick and roll, and work your way through the water column. However, when summer really kicks into gear and we start to see the squid numbers further increase, a lot of guys will put down a paternoster rig and suspend the squid jig off a side loop. Then they’ll slowly jig it off the bottom and try to entice the squid off the bottom while drifting. It’s good for the kids because it’s easier than casting around –
crab has put on condition, it will be perfect for the pot. BEACHES At the beginning of December, water temperatures on the coastal strips started to increase to around 19°C, and the fish started to turn up in better numbers. Dart hadn’t been on the beach for months, and then suddenly they turned up, accompanied by a lot of whiting. The whiting and dart should continue to be plentiful throughout January, and I reckon quite a few bream will show up as well. Mulloway will also be on this cards this month, and the build-up to the moon will really come into its own for these fish.
It’s a great feeling to watch fish like this swim away. Image courtesy of hook__in. All in all, January is a great time for anglers and their families to soak up the summer sun on our beaches, and have a bit of a surf and a fish. OFFSHORE Over the last few months or more, our coastal fishing has been starting to kick into gear, with a lot of snapper on the inshore reefs and a big increase in trag (teraglin) on most of our offshore reefs. Trag are a beautiful eating fish and a very good fighting fish. It’s a good sign when we see trag showing up early – this year it was as early as late October – and sure enough, there are now plenty of trag around, which is great. One species that is conspicuous by its absence is bonito. Some years they can turn up in December and some years they can turn up in January, so hopefully by the time you read this the switch has flicked on, and they are in full force. After the bonito you start to see a few mac tuna turning up as well, with some kingfish mixed in, and tailor as well. It’s still a little bit early for dolphinfish (mahimahi) at the FAD, but they should start to pick up in the coming weeks. The best time for dollies is generally late January through to March. At the time of writing, the water temperature along the coast is 20°C and blue. We recently fished the shelf and the best temp we got was 21.5°C, which is the warmest it’s been for a while, and that’s where the fish were. We caught a striped marlin, the first marlin caught off our coast this season, to start off the game season. The amount of baitfish that was out off the shelf was staggering – there were shoals of slimy mackerel everywhere. If you drove 3-4 miles in one direction you’d go over dozens of schools of baitfish,
including cowanyoung, sauries and slimies. Further north, there have been reports of a few yellowfin, and this month there should be plenty of reports of these fish, along with marlin and dollies, being off our part of the coast. The current at the moment is very slow, which is a good thing because it doesn’t disrupt the build-up of bait we’re seeing out in the deeper water. This month, providing the current doesn’t pick up, we could be in for an absolute cracking game season. • 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 competitively-priced 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.
Scott Thomas was trawling for flatties with a Lively Lure in Central Qld when he hooked an incredible double catch! A mangrove jack and a rock cod on each treble. JANUARY 2023
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