Anglers cashing in on the crossover period

Port Stephens

Paul Lennon

May would have to be my favourite month of the year to fish the waters of Port Stephens. It’s a real crossover period, with many species’ seasons kicking in as other species start to taper off.

In the bay, regardless of what you’re chasing at this time of the year, it can pay off to always have a 30lb casting rod rigged up with a stickbait or 30g metal lure ready to cast. Longtail tuna have a habit of erupting when you least expect, so you want to be rigged and ready to go. The best areas to target them are around the Anchorage rock wall through to Middle Island, with bird activity the greatest indicator of where to concentrate your efforts.

Smaller pelagics such as frigate mackerel, bonito and mac tuna are also feeding in these same areas, and can provide great fun on light gear while you wait for the big boys to show up.

Flathead in the bay are starting to slow down, but it’s still worth fishing for them around North Arm is a super effective way to fish for bream. Alternatively, if you prefer lure fishing, slowly cover ground with your electric motor casting either hardbodied crank style lures or a lightly weighed 1-2” soft plastic. luderick, with the first of the run-out tide being the prime fishing time.

Cove, Tilligerry Creek and Tahlee areas.

May is probably the best month of the year to chase bream inside the bay, with big numbers along the rock walls and oyster racks around Soldiers Point and Tea Gardens areas.

Beaches

Some really nice bream have been coming from Fingal and Samurai beaches, with fish over 1kg being taken on worms and pipis, as well as some clunker whiting.

Late afternoons have been producing tailor along Fingal and Box Beach, with whole pilchards or gar rigged on gang hooks the best way to catch them.

Rocks

Longtail tuna continue to be caught from the ocean headlands such as Sunny Corner and Tomaree, as well as a few mac tuna and prized cobia. The preferred method for this style of fishing is to rig up a live yellowtail or slimy mackerel suspended under a float, and then start the waiting game.

Spinning off these same ledges with smaller lures (around the 20-30g mark) is a great way to get connected to some smaller pelagics such as bonito and tailor.

Drummer will start to become more prevalent over the next few months around the white water, and will be eager to eat a well-presented, lightly-weighted peeled prawn or chunk of cunjevoi.

Offshore

Outside it’s still a live baiting lucky dip, especially on the shallow ocean reefs and headlands. Longtail tuna, mac tuna, cobia, kingfish, snapper or even a late season black marlin are all within the realm of possibility at this time of year.

Snapper will be a good target late in the afternoon and early in the morning on the inshore reefs, with both soft plastic lures and bait fishing techniques working well.

While the inshore marlin have slowed down after an incredible season, the shelf is still producing a few striped marlin, with charter boats averaging a few shots a day.

Anchoring up in these parts on high tide, casting unweighted nippers or prawns down a berley, trail flowing strongly in recent years would encourage mulloway or other larger fish to venture inside. Once here, there’s no shortage of food for them, with millions of baby bream and mullet throughout the lakes.

Rock fishing has been reasonably productive so far this year. Once again, tailor have been one of the main players, but salmon, bonito, kings, bream, luderick and drummer have been caught at all of the main venues from South Avoca up to

Catherine Hill Bay.

At this time of year we can get some periods of bigger swell, which can at first appear to be calm and safe for rock fishing. Looks can be deceptive though, so firstly I suggest keeping a close eye on weather and swell forecasts or reports and secondly, just take a good long look at the waves coming in before you decide to walk down onto the rocks. Aside from that, June is normally one of our best rock fishing months here.

Luderick will really start to move into the bay this month, and the Tomaree Torpedo Tubes and Nelson Bay and the caught throughout both waterways, with a sprinkling of jewies in Brisbane Waters and even a few smaller jewfish showing up in Tuggerah Lakes. Over the years I’ve known of quite a few school-sized jewies to be caught in these shallow lakes (and have caught one myself), but they’re certainly not a common catch, that’s for sure. No doubt the fact that The Entrance channel mouth has been so wide and