Local ladies leading the way

THE HASTINGS

Kate Sheldon

What a cracker year the ladies have had so far on light tackle fishing for the inshore black marlin season. One thing that has really stood out to me this year is the fantastic community support for the upcoming junior and seasoned ladies in the game fishing scene. During this year’s Port Macquarie Game Fishing Club Golden Lure tournament,

Coast in Spring. The first fishing location to fire for the inshore black marlin on our coastline is South West Rocks Gaol. From there south the hot spots are off Hat Head, Crescent Head, Delicate Nobby, Plomer Bay, ‘Yabbies’ between Port Macquarie and Lake Cathie, and ‘Old Faithful’ off Bonny Hills. I will generally fish where I can find the bait, between 15-50m of water, and I like to find a minimum of 22°C in water temperature.

Inshore black marlin fishing is my absolute favourite type of fishing. Catching my first black marlin back in 2015 is still one of my greatest memories. I’ve now lost count of how many I’ve caught over the years, and I feel that I’ve perfected the art of catching inshore black marlin, and you can too. Targeting the fishery doesn’t require heavy game fishing gear – most of these fish are only 10-60kg and you can get away with a basic fishing tackle setup.

My reliable tackle setup is a Wilson Venom Overhead 7ft rod (PE 2-5), matched to a Shimano Tiagra 12 (or Tiagra 16), spooled with 10kg main line, 60lb leader and a circle hook. I’ve found the best bait is a live slimy mackerel bridled to the hook, and you want to slow troll at least two separate baits one long and one short closer to the boat. Black marlin can either be very inquisitive or quite shy, using teasers and or dredges can also help. The best bite time usually a few hours before and after the top of the high tide. If you want to know more about targeting black marlin, head into your local tackle store and chat to the knowledgeable staff.

As we head into spring and the warm east Australian current continues to push ladies champion Cassie

Herbert from boat Weekend

Detention was tagging plenty of black marlin, and when reported over the radio, the encouragement coming from the other competitive fishing ladies was heart-warming.

The inshore black marlin season generally starts around a few weeks before Christmas each year, and ends around April. The local fishos usually listen out for how the season is progressing down the coast from around Fraser Island and the Gold down our coastline, we should start to see some good catches of spotted and Spanish mackerel in close and wahoo out wider. Make sure you’re using wire rigs and get ready for Bruce to chase down your catch once hooked.

RIVERS catches reported from the northern end of Lighthouse in Port Macquarie and near the entrance of Lake Cathie.

The fishing is still very productive, and there are bait fish everywhere, including garfish, yakkas and poddy mullet. The Macleay River has been providing anglers with fun flathead sessions on lighter tackle, with some small cobia as by-catch.

Lake Cathie and the Camden Haven River have been yielding some quality whiting on surface lures and bait. Anglers have also been picking up a few nice bream on the break walls, with bonito strips being the stand-out bait.

The best bait has been live

Diamond Head and in Crowdy Bay.

ROCKS

Land-based game fishers have been reporting the odd longtail tuna, along with Spanish mackerel and cobia. No doubt there will be plenty of interest from the rock fishos over the coming weeks, and your best bet is to fish off the northern headlands, particularly around South West Rocks and Hat Head.

Shelly Beach in Port Macquarie has been producing a few good-size tailor at sun-up, along with some bream.

Good luck to anyone heading out for a fish over the next month, and keep on encouraging our lady fishos.

Beaches

Bream and whiting are still being caught consistently, with good

Fluctuating temp and clarity

The warmer water ripping past the coast over the last couple of months has slowed down a touch. More frequent north-easterly winds have begun to roll the water in close, with the water temperature and clarity fluctuating from day to day.

The marlin bite has shifted along this part of the coast, with the bulk of the small blacks now south of Forster. There has been some crazy billfish action down at Port Stephens recently! Locally, there have been a few pelagics showing up inshore, but as to be expected, the fish thin out when the water temperature drops.

There’s been a decent run of cobia to the north, so there should be a few getting around.

At the time of writing this article, there haven’t been any significant numbers of Spanish mackerel or longtail tuna just yet. That said, there are plenty of smaller pelagics like bonito, frigate and mac tuna around if you’re chasing bait or a bit of fun on the light tackle. I’ve still got my fingers crossed that the rain holds off!

In the estuary, flathead, bream, tailor beach worms. There are also plenty of tailor and bonito being encountered around

• Kate Sheldon has extensive experience working on charter boats, and is the proud owner of Bay Explorer Marine Services. She 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.