Fishing Monthly Magazine | June 2023

Page 60

NSW

Deep drop fishing at Macquarie PORT MACQUARIE

Kate Sheldon

One of my favourite types of fishing is deep drop fishing, and on the Mid North Coast you’ll find

local commercial fishers came home with fish that seemed bigger than me, and I dreamed how I’d love to catch fish like that. The most common species caught on the Mid North Coast are blue-eye

affordable for recreational fishers, and technology has advanced since the old days. Now I know a lot of you will say it’s cheating to use electric reels to catch fish. However, there is a lot of skill in deep drop fishing, and when you want to hit a fishing mark the size of a caravan in over 400m of water, the current and wind can make that a real challenge. One of my first deep drop sessions was with a local commercial fisher nearly 10 years ago, and I’ve

been hooked ever since. I used to own a big electric reel called a Miya Epoch, but I found these reels a bit slow for me. I now own two Shimano Beastmaster 9000s and I cannot fault them. These reels have hauled in fish up to 40kg and have lasted me through the years. My partner and I started making a few deep drop rigs for local fishers, and the rigs became so popular that we now sell them on eBay. WHAT’S BITING For the Macquarie Coast fishing update on

The author with a bar cod she caught off Crescent Head. Image courtesy of @bayexplorermarineservices. numbers have picked up noticeably, with both cabbage and weed flies successful. The break

schoolies along the Hastings River break walls, and a few fish have also been found in the Macleay River and in

Troy Boese with a cracking hapuka caught off Lake Cathie. Image courtesy of @troyboese. some of the best deep drop fishing spots in Australia. Deep drop fishing is a technique that commercial fishers have used for many years, targeting fish in depths of up to 600m. I remember as a kid, Dad and I would be at the boat ramp as the

trevalla, bass groper, bar cod, hapuka, kingfish and gemfish. These fish are some of the best tasting in the sea and can weigh over 50kg, so you will want an electric reel to bring them up from the depths. The good news is that electric reels are now more

Gary Randall with a great blue-eye trevalla.

Camden Haven fisho Chris Hayward with a tasty blueeye trevalla. Image courtesy of @chayward93. 60 JUNE 2023

Image courtesy of @gazzarandall.

the beaches, tailor are now consistently the target species, with most local beaches holding great numbers of fish. Lures, pilchards and whitebait will all prove successful, as will slab baits fished on or after dark for the odd larger model. Bream numbers have also picked up around Camden Haven. For those inclined to fish the darker hours, school mulloway remain in solid numbers from most locations, with fresh garfish the go for these school-sized fish. Now the mullet are migrating, look for the larger sized mulloway to shadow these travelling schools. In the rivers, flathead catches remain excellent as we head into the cooler months. Live herring and soft plastics are currently working quite well. On the luderick front,

Port Macquarie local Dan Croft with a monster bass groper he caught off Port Macquarie. Image courtesy of youtube.com/@dancroft4781.

walls and local wharfs are certainly worth a look, and it shouldn’t be long before a few luderick should show up in Lake Cathie. Further upstream in the local rivers, bream numbers remain solid, with both mullet strips and lures working well. On the mulloway front, there are terrific numbers of

Lake Cathie. • Kate is the proud owner of Bay Explorer Marine Services and specialises in making deep drop fishing rigs for blue-eye trevalla, bar cod, kingfish and bass groper. For more info look up ‘Bay Explorer Marine Services’ on Facebook and Instagram, or find her store on eBay.


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Articles inside

GEN III

0
pages 118-119

Anglapro Sniper 444 PRO with Yamaha T60 4-stroke

3min
pages 116-117

Healey Drops 5.24kg on Final Day for Hawkesbury win

5min
pages 112-114

at Sydney BREAM event

3min
pages 111-112

Morgan completes rare Open double

3min
page 110

Morgan doubles up on epic run to take BASS Open

6min
pages 108-110

2023 World Sooty Championship

4min
page 107

2023 Great Northern Cod Nationals

3min
page 107

ECBS ROUND 2 RESULTS

2min
page 106

Trout and redfin are flourishing

7min
pages 104-106

Pilbara visitor paradise

3min
page 102

Demersal $10m support package

3min
page 101

Watch out, there’s sharks about

1min
page 101

Glory between the chill

3min
page 100

Scratching that itch

4min
page 99

Going beach prospecting is well worth it

2min
page 98

It’s salmon time, baby

4min
page 97

Prepare for a land-based assault

4min
page 96

Cool winter nights fishing off the beach

1min
page 96

Spying on yellowtail kingfish

1min
page 95

Victoria’s fishing licence: how to boost revenue

7min
pages 94-95

Pick your day and pick your location this month

6min
page 93

New releases from Daiwa

2min
page 92

Making the most of winter weather windows

1min
page 92

Aggressive pre-spawn trout are on the chew

1min
page 91

Luring up some tasty redfin at Lake Elingamite

1min
page 91

The winter bite is underway

4min
page 90

There are fewer fish but bigger sizes this month

2min
page 89

Locals catching crankbait-crunching golden perch

2min
page 89

Time to take winter walks along the river banks

2min
page 88

Putting in the hard yards is producing the goods

4min
page 86

The fishing at the moment is full-on in the flow

1min
page 86

Scoring cool catches on our chilly local beaches

1min
page 85

Rec Reef renamed to Rhys Reef

2min
page 84

Heading down to the beach in June

0
page 84

Here come the salmon and perch

4min
page 83

TTs supports oyster reefs

2min
page 82

Winter whiting, flathead and bream on offer

1min
page 82

More fish habitat into the Gippsland Lakes

0
page 81

Closure at Lake Wendouree

3min
page 80

Bracing for bigger bluefin tuna

1min
page 80

The fishing is still going strong

4min
pages 78-79

Trial by ice in the UK

5min
page 77

Great time to target southern calamari

1min
page 77

Local catches are well worth the numb toes

3min
page 76

Attractive options for freshwater anglers in June

2min
page 75

Bream and EP are still active in the estuaries

1min
page 75

It’s happy days in Portland for offshore anglers

2min
page 74

The best spots to focus your efforts

4min
page 73

Last chance to fish for wild trout

5min
page 72

Fish are heading down deep for the winter months

3min
page 71

Hunting for big, fat Murray cod

2min
page 70

Tathra Wharf gets upgraded with a new makeover

1min
pages 68-69

Some big fish down south

1min
page 68

NEW FROM RAPALA! RAP-V BLADED JIG

0
page 67

Enjoying cool, crisp days fishing in Batemans Bay

5min
page 66

Making the most of all that’s on offer in June

6min
page 65

Lake Mac trolling in a winter wonderland

3min
page 64

Anglers cashing in on the crossover period

3min
page 63

Focusing on targeting the right species this month

2min
page 62

Great time for targeting snapper

3min
page 61

Deep drop fishing at Macquarie

2min
page 60

Keep an eye on those offshore water temps

3min
page 59

Abuzz with the epic run of mulloway

2min
page 58

Tempting winter fish with fresh baits

5min
pages 56-57

Shore-based anglers reap the winter rewards

6min
pages 54-55

Soft plastic prawns are picking up the pace

3min
page 53

DPI crackdown on taking invertebrates

2min
page 52

Winter species are becoming more numerous

1min
page 52

THE FREEDOM To Escape.

5min
pages 48-51

Gary’s Marine Centre

8min
pages 46-47

Make the most of the mixed species

1min
page 46

Tagging Tales

2min
page 43

Baffled, but not broken!

5min
pages 42-43

June fishing is jumping

2min
page 40

Big bountiful barra

3min
pages 38-39

New dynamics in FNQ

2min
page 37

Cold water tactics

1min
page 37

Time to head upstream

2min
page 36

Smaller lures and lighter gear work well in winter

4min
pages 34-35

Expect the unexpected in the coming weeks

6min
pages 32-33

Celebrating a year of the Women in Recreational Fishing Network Queensland

0
page 31

Ready to land the fish of a LIFETIME?

0
page 31

New rules for Spanish mackerel start 1 July World Oceans Day:

0
page 30

Cool changes make a difference to fishing tactics

4min
pages 28-30

Calm winter fishing approaches

6min
page 26

It’s worth braving the cold

9min
pages 24-25

Mountains of mulloway

2min
pages 22-23

PROVEN WORLD LEADING ANCHOR DESIGNS

1min
pages 18-19

School migrations move north

2min
page 18

Beach gutters, rock ledges and headlands

4min
pages 16-17

Know the rules — no excuses!

2min
pages 14-15

PRECISION XTREME PENCIL

2min
pages 9-13

Making memories at Moura: catching saratoga

5min
pages 8-9
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