A sensational season ahead

PORT STEPHENS Paul Lennon

Inside the estuary it has been an absolute boomer of a flathead season, and it shows no signs of slowing down just yet. Plenty of quality fish are being caught from the Karuah River through to Tilligerry, and all the way down to Shoal Bay and Jimmys beaches.

If you fish the shallow flats areas through these parts with soft plastics and hard bodies on the high tide, you should get results. Just remember to cover ground by constantly keeping on the move.

If you’re unsure where to start looking for flathead, get out and have a walk around the flats on low tide and you should be able to spot the indentations referred to as ‘lays’ in the sand where the flathead have been sitting.

It’s then just a matter of going back to the same areas on the high tide.

Whiting are another summertime fish that are still being caught in great numbers in the bottom end of the bay. Fish live worms or nippers around the shallows along Shoal Bay and Nelson Bay beaches or Barnes Rocks through to the Boulders near Yacaaba. All manner of baitfish are pouring into the estuary system right now, from whitebait and frogmouth pilchards to garfish, slimy mackerel and yellowtail.

It won’t be long before surface fish like frigate mackerel, bonito, mac tuna and longtails start finding this smorgasbord of food, so keep your eyes out for any bird activity and fish bust-ups, and have those casting rods ready for action at all times.

BEACHES

March always provides some fantastic ocean beach fishing opportunities, with big bream starting to move. There are still plenty of big elbow-slapping whiting being caught too. A freshlycaught pipi or a live worm will significantly out-fish other baits when chasing bream and whiting from the beaches. You can also pick up dart and even mulloway as a by-catch.

If you are chasing mulloway specifically, you should be fishing late in the afternoon into the night with larger baits like tailor heads squid or mullet fillets – or even better, a live legal tailor or whiting.

Dawn and dusk periods are well worth having a spin with some metals around 20-40g, with plenty of tailor to over 1kg coming from Fingal Spit and Box Beach.

OCEAN ROCKS

Land-based game anglers wait all year for the next three months as pelagic fish such as mac and longtail tuna terrorize baitfish along headlands and rock ledges.

Tomaree is one of the best and most popular ledges on the east coast to do this style of fishing. However, there are plenty of other lesser known ledges close by, which can also produce action of similar calibre.

By far the most popular method is to catch yourself a live bait such as a slimy mackerel or yellowtail, and send it back out suspended 2-4m under a float and then play the waiting game.

Offshore

The epic inshore marlin bite is continuing, with plenty of black marlin still being caught in close. Slow trolling live baits is by far the most effective method for targeting these fish.

When it comes to catching these fish, most of the skill comes down to knowing where to locate them. Sea surface charts like rip charts are well worth consulting, giving you an idea of where the best water will be. Then it’s a matter of focusing your efforts around areas holding the baitfish. Often this will be around reefy areas where bait typically congregates, or the edges of temperature breaks. Live baiting can be a real lucky dip at this time of year, with the chance of marlin, cobia, longtail tuna, mac tuna, kingfish and even a big snapper.