NSW Fishing Monthly April 2017 by Fishing Monthly

SPINNERBAITS FOR SNAPPER – DO THEY REALLY WORK?

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Features

Snapper on spinnerbaits • Ultimate crab lure comparison • Choosing the right boat for you • Tackling tackle mistakes • Kiwi kingfish tactics •

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April 2017, Vol. 22 No. 9

Contents BYRON COAST The Tweed 24 Tweed Inshore 25 Ballina 26 Yamba 28 Iluka 27 Wooli 29 COFFS COAST Coffs Harbour Coffs Game South West Rocks

30 32 33

MACQUARIE COAST Port Macquarie 38 Forster 40 Harrington-Taree 41 HUNTER COAST Port Stephens 43 Hunter Coast 42 Swansea 44 Central Coast 46 SYDNEY The Hawkesbury 12 Sydney North 14 Pittwater 15 Sydney Harbour 16 Sydney Rock and Beach 17 Botany Bay 18 Sydney South 20 Western Sydney 22 ILLAWARRA COAST Illawarra 47 Nowra 48

From the Editor’s Desk... CRAB TIME It’s been a while since Fishing Monthly has had a good, in-depth look at an emerging section of the market. This month, we’ve rustled up all of the crab imitation lures that have evolved in the Australian market over the last five years. It was 2012 when the industry first saw the prototype of Cranka Lures’ Crab. In the half-decade since, there have been tens of thousands of fish caught on these lures, and also on the other crab imitations filling up the niches in the market. Looking back, it’s a wonder that it didn’t happen sooner – after all, there’s not too many fish that will knock back a feed of crab when given the chance. The rockier the terrain, the more likely it is that a crab will form a part of a fish’s diet. And, for once, the local market is dominated

by baits that have been either designed in or modified for Australian conditions. It seems that we are leading the global charge in exploiting this emerging market. More broadly, we’re seeing a swing towards hyper-realistic lures. Maybe it’s taking advantage of the adage that ‘lures are designed to catch fishermen, not the fish’, or maybe it’s a fact that fish are getting more heavily pressured and are wiser when it comes to being deceived with metal and plastic. Or maybe it’s both. The end game is that there’s now a ‘CRAB’ box

permanently in my arsenal, and if you fish anywhere between 100m of water and the brackish stretch of your local river, you should consider having one as well. We know there’s probably a list of fish that don’t eat crabs, but I guarantee you the list of fish that do eat crabs is bigger. READER COVERS GOING CRAZY Thank you to all of the readers who have already entered our Front Cover Competition. From day one of the launch of the comp, we have received plenty of high quality entries. It seems that each year that the standard keeps getting

better and better. If you are considering entering, remember that the photo MUST be portraitshaped, which means it needs to be taller than it is wide. It doesn’t matter how good your photo is, if it’s the wrong shape, it won’t make it – sorry! IS 30 THE NEW 20? Fishing Monthly Magazines started in 1987 in Southeast Queensland. Later this year we’re coming up on our 30th birthday for the magazine group. And despite some naysayers shouting that ‘print is dead’, the thousands of subscribers and tens of thousands of posted entries we get to our competitions each year reinforce that there’s a really strong group of anglers that just love their fishing magazines. Thank you for that – you’ll see some pretty sweet competitions coming up to help celebrate this year.

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SPECIAL FEATURES Snapper on spinnerbaits Kiwi kingfish tactics Ultimate crab lure comparison Tackling tackle mistakes

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Daniel Dalle-Nogare was fishing the Blowering Dam in NSW when he caught this huge murray cod. He was using Black Maghic 60lb Tough Fluorocarbon Trace.

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Black Magic C Point 4/0 Hooks were used to catch Jem Abbott this excellent snapper. He says, “I’ve had a lot of hooks break or straighten while fishing from the stones for reds, but not these hooks. Can’t beat them.” Jem was fishing from South Durras.

Sean Elliss was fishing with a paternoster rig he tied with Black Magic 100lb Supple Trace and Black Magic KL 7/0 Hooks when he caught this 124cm mulloway.

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Snapper

Presenting a fresh spin on catching snapper SNAPPER

Stephen Worley

Here’s a story that’s not only for the snapper anglers looking for something new, but will hopefully also inspire other anglers to explore new ways to freshen up their fishing. A few years ago I was hooked on thinking outside the box when it came to my fishing. Working at Fishing Tackle Australia meant there was no shortage of different lures to experiment with. My experimentation was

wouldn’t provide any useful info for the shop on how they worked in the fresh, but I was determined to try my idea anyway. The next time I was offshore, I started throwing the spinnerbait around, assuming it would have to work in the wash for tailor and kingfish. I got a tailor on one of the first few casts I made with it, and then started fishing off the front of the wash targeting a school of rat kings. I was getting plenty of follows but few takes, so after a few casts I let it drop down under the school and felt a

you can pretty much transfer your technique straight over to spinnerbaits. Spinnerbaits can be used in basically the same situations that you would use soft plastics for snapper. You can fish them over shallow inshore reefs, from headlands and island washes, and over rubble beds and deep reefs. I have no doubt they would work on the mussel farms in New Zealand too. When luring snapper, you need to get your offering down in the zone, generally the bottom third (it doesn’t have to be right on

Chatterbaits have been almost as successful as the spinnerbaits and should not be overlooked as a big snapper lure.

Rigged and ready with the weapons of choice. mostly just a bit of fun. It was more about fishing with something weird for the challenge, rather than thinking it might be the next big thing. Often the lures that worked best were the relics from the bottom of a random tub somewhere – the type that had been discontinued for years and not another one was left in existence! There was one experiment, however, that was different, and it has stayed with me. Not only did it work, it became one of my go-to snapper techniques for the last few years. It all began one day at work when we received some new spinnerbaits that we wanted to try out. I’d never really fished much with spinnerbaits. When it came to freshwater fishing, I preferred to use either surface lures or hardbodies. I had been trying a lot of new things offshore though, and I couldn’t see why a spinnerbait wouldn’t work in the salt. I knew that fishing them in the salt 8

APRIL 2017

telling ‘tick’ on the loose line. I lifted the rod and watched it load up, and the line tore across the front of the wash. After a bit of a sketchy fight, I was able to land a solid 4kg snapper only half an hour into my spinnerbait experiment. And that snapper wasn’t the only one that was hooked that day. I caught a number of snapper in that session, and I was instantly addicted – hook, line and spinnerbait. Nothing enhances your fishing more than confidence, and nothing boosts your confidence in a technique more than immediate debut success. It wasn’t long before spinnerbaits had replaced soft plastics in my snapper kit. THE SPINCIFICS Over the last couple of years I haven’t really found a specific technique or retrieve required for catching snapper on spinnerbaits. I haven’t really had to. If you’ve used soft plastics for catching reds

the bottom), and vary your retrieve. Fast, slow, up and down or in a straight line. These are all fundamentals of fishing with most lures, and are also applicable with spinnerbaits. The type of spinnerbaits I’ve used haven’t varied that much. The snapper responded to the first spinnerbait I threw in the salt, so I haven’t found the need to vary too widely. I have also brought chatterbaits into the same fold in my fishing though, with similar success. Realistically, probably the number one requirement for a spinnerbait or chatterbait intended for reds is that it can hold up to the rigours of one of the crunchiest mouths in the sea. Decent hooks and

wire are needed to resist the force that snapper are capable of inflicting on your spinnerbait. These lures are generally not made with such punishment in mind, and they aren’t usually intended to be used in saltwater either. That means you should look for a spinnerbait with as much stainless steel as possible, and good quality ball bearing swivels on the blades are a must if you want to get more than one session out of your lures. I mostly use spinnerbaits with mixed Colorado and willow blades. I have had the most success with the darker brown and bronze coloured baits, or purple and silver, but again, I haven’t had to experiment too much. I always use a stinger

Even with all the bits and pieces sticking out, a snapper can still find a way to get a spinnerbait into the back of its mouth.

hook and usually have it dressed with a soft plastic. I find that the short strike rate is through the roof if you’re just using the single hook and skirt. ZMan Pop FrogZ and Keitech Crazy Flapper are my preferred trailing plastics. They create a little more flash and movement as well as a bit of body to make the fish bite down a little harder and hold on for longer when striking the bait. I’ve found the TT Striker spinnerbaits fit the bill best for me. They are well built with a solid hook, can cope with the saltwater and are reasonably light on the wallet. This last attribute is very desirable, as you will probably lose a few. The type of gear you want to fish with is similar to your standard soft plastic snapper setup. You want a rod that can throw a bit of weight and isn’t going to load halfway down the blank just from retrieving the spinnerbait. These lures do tend to create quite a bit of resistance through the water on a normal retrieve. SPIN TACTICS As with soft plastics, you can fish spinnerbaits in many different ways. One of the great things about spinnerbaits is that they’re working all the time they’re in the water. They will drop down a slope, hovering just off the reef, and all the while the blades are spinning, whirring and flashing, the skirt is wafting and the trailer is squirming. Compared to most plastics there is a lot less ‘dead time’ during a normal cast and retrieve. When casting from your boat or kayak, you can either use a slack line or tight line presentation. If you leave the line slack, the spinnerbait will whirl its way down and back towards

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It’s on big snapper that spinnerbaits have been very effective for the author. you at a steep angle. You will be able to see a hit on a slack line presentation by watching the braid sitting on the surface. If you see it start to straighten out faster,

or see a tick or bump, lift your rod and wind up tight. Your rod will either load up with a fish or simply lift the spinnerbait in the water column. If the latter

Nothing raises your anticipation like watching your spinnerbait drop down into the ‘zone’ just in time for some fish arches to appear on screen.

Sometimes there’s not a lot to see on the sounder apart from that one ominous little arch sitting down on the reef.

occurs, just raise it up with your rod and allow it to glide back down under slack. If the snapper misses your spinnerbait, it’s pretty rare that they won’t strike again if it’s still down in the strike zone. This is where a quality sounder can really help. Knowing the depth, structure and, even better, where your lure is in relation to them dramatically increases your success rate. If you go with a tight line your spinnerbait will glide back to you at a more shallow angle. For this reason it’s often better to use a tight line when casting at shallow washes and reefs so that the bait will swim out and away from the rocks. You can fish these lures while drifting, as you would a soft plastic, by casting downwind ahead of your drift and bouncing the bait back to you. The retrieve is a little different, as spinnerbaits are quite stable in the water so you can’t really make them jerk around like a plastic. Your movements will be a little smoother, raising the spinnerbait and letting it glide down. You can target areas like washes and pinnacles – just blind cast ahead of your drift or even just let it hang out the back while drifting as the insurance rod. SIGHT AND SOUND FISHING No matter what technique you use, a sounder is key to making sure you’re in the right areas and fishing where the snapper will be. One of my favourite forms of fishing with spinnerbaits involves searching around with my sounder for active snapper, and then dropping the spinnerbait straight on top of them. The key to this technique is looking for fish in the

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APRIL 2017

Snapper From page 9

right feeding mode. I scan the drop-offs and bumps around the reef looking for solid fish arches sitting in clear ambush positions. Simply scan slowly over the reef, looking for fish sitting in behind (down current) of a notch in the reef. Fishing from a kayak makes this a lot easier to do without spooking the whole reef. Obviously you will need to do this very stealthily in a boat.

One convenient attribute of the spinnerbaits when using this ‘digital sight fishing’ is that they also show up quite well on the sounder. In the right situation, you’re able to watch your spinnerbait glide down right into the zone. If you’ve found the right fish you will actually watch on your sounder as the fish come up to meet your spinnerbait on the drop. Hopefully your focus will then shift to the real world

where your rod is loading up and line is leaving your reel! Essentially it’s ‘sight’ fishing via ‘sound’. In my opinion it is as exciting as real sight fishing, and has been one of my most successful techniques using the spinnerbaits. It also accounts for many of my bigger fish. You can do the same thing with soft plastics, but it’s harder to get a plastic swim well in this situation. A spinnerbait will glide down with all its

Snapper have some pretty nasty jaws, so strong spinnerbaits are preferred for this caper.

Snapper on spinnerbaits started off as an ‘experiment’ by the author, but now it’s his go-to method!

bits and pieces whirring and flashing as it goes. Obviously, this technique means you’re actually fishing a little less, but you will only be targeting fish that are active. The more you use this technique, the better you will be at spotting the right fish in the right mood. VENTURE OUTSIDE THE BOX All too often we anglers place boxes around certain species of fish, or

techniques that we use. We keep ourselves closed to new ideas on how particular fish can be caught. With this kind of thinking, it’s easy for our fishing to get stale. Even if the same old way is still productive, there’s nothing more refreshing than a new slant on an old favourite. It may be a favourite technique tried out on a less traditional species or location, or a favourite species targeted in a new way you haven’t tried before. Just look at what

light line lure fishing did for the bream fishery, and the development of targeting whiting on surface lures. Of course, soft plastics for snapper changed that fishery forever, and now slow jigging is doing the same. Maybe your next experiment could start the next big thing… Is your fishing being restricted by a stale vision of the fish you’re chasing? If so, it’s time for a fresh spin on your fishing!

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A flurry of activity in the Hawkesbury THE HAWKESBURY

Dan Selby dan@sydneysportfishing.com.au

Some good rainfall over the last month or so, coupled with cooler air temperatures, has sent things into a flurry on the mighty Hawkesbury and its tributaries. Flathead are starting to concentrate back down towards Wisemans Ferry from the upper tidal reaches of Windsor, which they found to be very bountiful over the summer months. They will be following the bulk of the prawns back down on the new moon, and this is a great time to target them on the run-out tides this month. Live, fresh or frozen prawns will all account for flathead when they are in good numbers like this, but a more productive and ‘clean’ way to target them is with lures. Soft plastics on an appropriate jighead are the standout, but a soft vibe, bibless minnow or blade cast around the sand bars, back eddies and drop-offs will allow you to cover ground and catch bigger fish and better numbers. Bream are also a drawcard at this time of year, as they too

start to school back up and head downstream. They can be quite ravenous at this time of year, often grabbing bigger lures and whole live baits aimed at mulloway. Trophy bream of better than 40cm are a common capture throughout the cooler months of the year, and I always look forward to our encounters with these great looking fish.

Fresh baits fished in a berley trail along the many rock walls and the few reefs like Bar Point will put runs on the board for those anglers wanting a more relaxed approach. However, lure fishing is my preferred way to tangle with the wily bream. I recommend casting to the rock walls with curl-tail grubs and creature baits like the Pro

Bass are a great target for fly fishers. Surface poppers will work this month before we have to switch to intermediate and sinking lines and flies as we approach winter.

Lure Live Yabbie on light jigheads to suit the conditions. Leaders don’t have to be too light, as the terrain is quite unforgiving. My minimum is 6lb, but usually run 8lb. You won’t lose too many fish this way, especially if your casting is up to scratch. Mulloway are on the top of most anglers’ wish lists when they venture to the Hawkesbury, and for good reason – it produces some monsters! When you work out the system’s idiosyncrasies and gain an understanding of this waterway as a whole, it’s quite common to encounter decent-sized mulloway on a regular basis. Only time on the water will help you gain this valuable knowledge and put the pieces of the puzzle together. Live baits of tailor, pike, yakka and squid will give you the best chance of catching a better fish. These baits need to be presented well on a tide change early or late in the day. Use the lightest line you can get away with to encourage bites. You can worry about landing the fish once you have hooked it! Lure fishing is starting to kick into gear, catching several good school mulloway to 1.1m. We’re also seeing a

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lot of soapy-size fish being caught alongside bream and flathead. Stickbaits and paddle tails from 3-6” are working just as well on light jigheads cast around heavy structure at the key times of the tide. Bass and estuary perch are firing in the upper tidal reaches. Small soft plastic grubs, paddle-tails and minnows are the standout for finding the active schools. T-Tails in bloodworm, pumpkin seed, motor oil and pearl white on light jigheads of around 1/8oz are my favourite option when I’m on the search for perch in the upper tidal reaches.

Finding back eddies along weed beds and rock walls is the key for these fish. A sounder helps but it’s not essential; you can visually see most prominent eddies that are worth a cast or two to see if anyone is home. There will still be a bit of surface action available for those anglers who like to pop the top or roll out a delicate fly presentation alongside a big boulder or fallen tree. Early and late in the day are best for this, and the minimal ski and wake boat activity is a massive advantage at this time of year.

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coming in this month from both offshore and inshore. Some good fish are also being caught from the stones, and the estuaries have been holding their own as well. As the warm east coast current nudges our coastline, marlin reports are on the increase. Some great fish are being caught on skirted lures and live baits. Schools of striped tuna are also present, along with a variety of sharks. With the water temperature offshore up to 26°C, it’s a fishy playground for bluewater anglers. Trolling small skirted lures and baits are proving very successful

captures of metre-plus fish in recent weeks. Light jigging combos have been suitable for the smaller models up to 90cm, but heavier kits to 80lb are the norm for the bigger fish, particularly in shallower water. Some good-size snapper are still being landed offshore by trailerboat fishers, with most fish being between 45-70cm. Big baits fished deep and the bigger soft plastics are favourable options. I recommend using a solid 30-40lb braided outfit with suitable 30lb+ leader. Warmer than expected days have had the barometer spinning, and this has

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techniques for hooking these fish. Zane Levett was one of the anglers getting into the action, hooking and landing a black marlin on a recent trip out wide. Some mahimahi are still on the wide FADs and always provide for some mad visual fishing. These fish are easy to see in the clear offshore water, and you should offer them your biggest live baits first. This may deter the smaller fish just long enough for a healthy size model to find your bait. Don’t hesitate put out a big cowanyoung or oversize slimy. Closer inshore on the local reefs, schools of kingfish have been prolific all summer. Various methods like downrigging, popping, live baiting and trolling have all been proving successful at times. Some of these schools have had big numbers and sizes of fish, and there have been many

certainly brought the fish out to play. Some terrific captures from within the harbour have made anglers hungry for more. Anthony Ocsing fished from his kayak around Manly and landed a very healthy 84cm female

Zane Levett was stoked to land this Sydney black marlin. flathead on a vibe lure. After a couple of quick photos the fish was released. Kingfish are on the prowl around the headlands, with trolled yellowtail and hardbody lures working for Dom Poletta and Mike Nielson who landed four fish to 86cm near Middle Head. If it’s live bait you’re after, there are plenty of squid available around most of the local kelp beds, and schools of yakkas at Balmoral are readily taking bait jigs. Drifting around the Spit Bridge has been successful for bonito, and they have been readily taking metal and hardbody lures on the troll at North Head. Whole unweighted strip baits and rubber vibes worked along the bottom are accounting for some good flathead around Quarantine on the drift, while Middle Head and the Clontarf moorings have been yielding squid on the 2.5 size squid jigs. Customers have also been getting whiting from

Kingfish have been prolific all summer. This harbour king was caught by Nathan McManus.

the Grotto Point sand flats on king worm baits from our store. I have a couple more customer catches to report. Nick Williams landed a feed of flathead using 4” soft plastics and bladed lures fishing around the Clonny drop-off. West of the Spit Bridge, Nathan McManus and his brother Joel fished with their dad recently using live squid, and Nathan landed a 66cm king on light tackle in amongst the moorings. A solid school of kings were sighted under the boat harassing small tailor, and after a couple of photos the captured king was quickly released to fight another day. The excessively warm water temps around the shallows may have some species heading deeper to cooler water, so be prepared to fish a little wider of your favourite spot this month. With the weather still good, early morning popper and stickbait sessions have been popular amongst anglers chasing kingfish. Just remember that surface lures work best before sunrise. As the sun gets higher the fish will go deeper, and you’re better off switching to sinking stickbaits, either hard or soft. All those moorings around The Spit bridge in Middle Harbour have been good places to go looking. Slimy mackerel are still available in the harbour, so it’s worth moving a couple of times from baitfish locations to see if you can raise them in your berley trail. This species is a cracker bait for many species, from kings to flathead and even big snapper.

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Autumn madness in Pittwater PITTWATER

Peter Le Blang plfishfingers@bigpond.com

What a difference a few weeks can make in the world of fishing! Along Pittwater, fishing has certainly improved as well as out on Broken Bay and along the coast. Kingfish are finally showing themselves, and on most occasions they have been hungry. The usual scenario applies, and that is to get out and find some surface action at first light and then catch some squid, yellowtail or slimies to downrig for a decent kingfish on Pittwater. The surface activity on Broken Bay is hard to pass up at the moment, with boils and activity coming from kings, bonito, salmon and tailor. Using metal lures in the 10-20g range will see you hauling them over the side. Remember to drift towards the surface activity with your motor off, and often the fish will come to you. If you are going to cast out a soft plastic, be prepared for the toothy critters to rip it apart pretty quickly. If you want to target kings amongst the melee, I recommend using a popper instead. Not only is it a great visual way to fish that excites all anglers, it’s also cheaper than constantly replacing plastics. If you use a 90g micro jig and work it near the bottom you may be lucky enough

to tangle with a flathead or mulloway, as well as being in the hunt for those species that are smashing the surface. Drifting the areas where there is surface action using bait will also see a few decent fish caught. If you can remember to place a live bait out on the bottom as you drift and cast for surface feeders, you will have both bases covered. Targeting squid along Pittwater will be a little trickier than in previous months, but the same areas are still producing a few. Barrenjoey Head on the ocean side of the headland seems to be one of the easier areas to pick up a few using paternoster rigs and drifting around the schools of baitfish. On Pittwater Palm Beach weed beds, The Basin, Mackerel Beach and Careel Bay seem to be the better areas when targeting squid along Pittwater. The better coloured jigs to use still seem to be the fluoro colours for the cloth jigs, and the clear or pilchard coloured hardbodied jigs. If you’re after yellowtail, you can get them at West Head, Box Head and Barrenjoey Head. Alternatively, if you are staying on Pittwater, Mackeral Beach and near Palm Beach ferry wharves will see a few rise in your berley trail. Next time you are catching some live baits, deploy the first one in mid-water and you may get a surprise visit from a rogue

Blue skies, big kings and smiling customers – this is what makes being a guide so rewarding.

king or other pelagic species. Once you have gathered enough bait to start chasing some yellow-tailed thugs, the areas to try are the Kingfish Highway, the Supermarket and around Scotland Island. The other area to try is at Towlers Bay. Cover your ground and watch the sounder for balled-up baitfish, and stay close by. The bigger kings seem to be popping up around the sporadic surface activity, so watch for localised bird activity. For those of you that want to target flathead and suchlike, the Pittwater drop-off between Mackerel Beach and Palm Beach is seeing a few caught. If you want to cast a few soft plastics, Towlers Bay and

in a weighted berley bucket near the bottom as the current races through, and raise the berley bucket higher in the water column as the current backs off. By doing this, the change of the tide will see a hot bite if there are any fish lurking around the area. The last month has seen decent fishing at Juno Point, Elanoras Bluff, The Middle Grounds and Walker Point. All of these areas are known mulloway areas, and produce other species as well. Whiting, bream, tailor and flathead are regularly caught in these areas by anglers waiting for a blistering mulloway run. Along our part of the coast the kings are playing at most prominent headlands. The better

Bryce with a lovely 92cm Pittwater king that couldn’t resist a live squid. bit of a mixed bag, but there are snapper, morwong, the odd teraglin, flathead and trevally. If you head to the Ordinance Grounds there’s still the odd rock bar cod to be caught as well. As you can see, the fishing has really picked up a notch or two, and it’s certainly worth dangling a line. If you

want some help maximising your catch rates, feel free to call us so I can show you some of the great fishing on offer at the moment. • Peter Le Blang operates Harbour and Estuary Fishing Charters, phone 02 9999 2574 or 0410 633 351, visit www.estuaryfishing charters.com.au

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“Pimped” There’s lots to catch on Pittwater at the moment. Careel Bay are two great areas to start. There are mulloway showing up on Pittwater, and they are best targeted on the change of the tide. Using a fine, oily berley trail in an area with current such as Stokes Point will see you in with a real chance. The better bait to use has been live squid, but I am sure a slab of bonito will also work a treat. With all of the action on Broken Bay, the Flint and Steel area is starting to fire up. Anchoring at the edge of the reef will see a variety of fish caught. You can encounter mulloway, flathead, flounder, bream and trevally in this area, as well as passing schools of pelagic species. Use berley

fishing has been at Newport Reef, Barrenjoey Head, Whale Beach and Mona Vale Reef. Downrigging or slowly towing live baits on the surface has been the best way to find the hungry fish. While slowly trolling, just cast out poppers or soft plastics and create some surface activity to excite the fish. Squid strips are also catching fish once a school is found, which saves your live baits for when the next school needs to be found. Fishing for snapper and other bottom-dwellers has also started to fire up in water depths of 30-60m. Finding baitfish before deploying lines is essential. The species that are being caught are a

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Pedal to the metal when you see amber SYDNEY HARBOUR

Craig McGill craig@fishabouttours.com.au

This season has been on fire for mulloway. In fact, it’s been the best I’ve seen in 10 years. They are being taken throughout Middle Harbour and the mid reaches of the harbour. The mulloway are following the early mullet and tailor run, so obviously, mullet and tailor are a good choice of bait. Big live squid and strips of squid are also great baits.

Don’t discount shallow water at night either, especially if there are high concentrations of mullet, such as you might find at the weir at Lane Cove River, or creek junctions like the ones above Roseville bridge. Blues and Balls Heads in the harbour and Seaforth Bluff, Killarney Point and Pickering Point in Middle Harbour are great places to sit with live baits or a big slab of fresh squid on the turn of the high tide. The very warm water off Sydney this season has attracted some tropical

An amberjack from Middle Harbour.

School mulloway love fresh squid strips.

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ring-ins including the best cobia run in many years. Your chances of catching one are slim, but might be improved if you target them specifically. They are generally caught between February and May. Most captures have coincided with a large influx of sharks into the harbour, and captures of remora in the same area. The cobia I cleaned recently had three stingrays in its gut, which is a fair indication that cobias feed on or near the bottom. Discussions with LGB boys revealed that the best locations are rock platforms that fall onto a sand bottom. We have taken our biggest ones in Middle Harbour around Bantry Bay. The best baits include sand crabs, yakkas, squid and slimies. The best spots in the harbour include Cannae Point, North Head, Middle Head, Middle Harbour and Clifton Gardens. Cobia are the most delicious pelagics I have ever eaten, with flesh that tastes more like a reef fish than a game fish. This most likely is due to their diet. Samsonfish are much more common, but their numbers fluctuate. Our best year produced over 50 and our worst only two. Generally, they appear to be coming more common. They can come in as early as December but are most prolific around Easter. You will also find that the years when amberjack are at their most prolific, the samsons are not, and vice versa. Samsonfish are most often taken in the lower reaches, but we have caught a few upstream in Middle Harbour. They are caught in most of the spots that you take kings, and are usually a by-catch. We have taken a few trolling lures along the Washaway/Dobroyd run and over in Quarantine Bay, but

these fish are primarily a bait target. The best bait is squid by a long way, followed by yakkas and slimies. I generally fish just below mid-water for kings, but if you are specifically targeting samsons you should drop it

include the Spit for the larger fish, Dobroyd, Middle Head and North Head. We have taken a few up at Pickering Point in Middle Harbour as well. They have very similar eating qualities to kingfish. This year has been patchy for kings due to the overly warm water, but when we’ve found them they’ve been in good numbers and sizes. They can be found all the way from Goat Island through to the heads, and then all the way back up Middle Harbour as far as Bantry Bay. If you go to the trouble to learn to catch squid you will always catch a lot of kings. That is the only way I know of to catch them consistently. If you go to the trouble of going to the fish markets and buying very fresh squid, you will catch a few kings sometimes, but not as often. If you use squid heads, rather than whole squid, you can expect a mixture of small and big kingies. With live squid, you will get fewer fish because small kings

There are some thumping kings being caught, with the best yet to come. a bit deeper (but not on the bottom). On average, they run at about 3kg but we did get one weighing 6kg one year. The best spots are Fairlight Point, Dobroyd and Quarantine Bay. Samsons are good eating. Amberjack can be very common at times. One season we were taking one amber to every two kings. Their average size is about 2kg, but every year we get a handful at 6kg and once again they’re usually a by-catch of king fishing. Unlike samsons, amberjack are targeted specifically with the same method you would for kings. The little ones are happy to eat squid strips, but nearly all the big ones we’ve caught took live squid. We have taken a couple on deep jigged Slug-Gos, but these fish are mostly a bait proposition. We have caught ambers in February and March, but they are at their best in April and May. The prime spots

don’t like whole live squid. However, the fish will be bigger on average. A whole squid gut is not only an exceptionally good bait, it is also the best berley that you can use for kings. It’s all about the guts. Use the guts and especially the ink to entice the fish. You can burst the ink sac before you send the bait down or you can let the first king burst it for you.

The gut is always the first bait to go, which must mean it’s the best bait. Strips of squid cut from the tube are good baits too, particularly after the guts and heads have worked the school into a frenzy. Rub it all in ink. Kingies mostly hold from mid-water down, so this is a good place to present your bait. The times when you’ll find them really feeding are high tide and the first two hours of the run-out, early in the morning and late in the afternoon. That’s also a good time to catch squid. You won’t have to worry too much about tides or time of day if you pay close attention to what I said earlier about the guts and the ink. Kings are easily turned on and then off again if you know what buttons to push. The worst thing you can do when targeting kingfish is to keep presenting something that has been rejected, in the same manner. A school of following kings can be turned into a school of taking kings by something as simple as changing the presentation angle. This applies to both lures and bait. If they follow a lure or show interest in a bait for more than three times without taking it, don’t present it again. They are the exact opposite to barra in this sense. Barra can be teased into striking whereas kings can be teased out of striking. They are stubborn fish, and the more you shove it in their face the more they’ll reject it. Change lure size, let it sink, change presentation angle or best of all go away, try another spot and come back in half an hour. One final but equally important tip is to fish with your reel in gear and with your normal fighting drag. Don’t feed kingies any line when they take your bait. Once a take is felt, lower the rod and move with the fish. Once the rod reaches the water it’s time to strike. • If you are interested in doing a guided fishing trip on Sydney harbour with Craig McGill please call 0412 918 127 or email craig@fishabout.com.au.

A pair of quality North Head kingfish.

A fresh flush of fun species SYD ROCK & BEACH

Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au

The diversity of species at the moment is great! A client was spinning with a 25g Sure Catch saltwater Lazer Jig in a pink colour and managed six species in the space of an hour – kings, tailor, salmon, frigate mackerel and bonito. All off the ocean rocks. You

also one of their food sources. The ledges at the front of South Head near the harbour entrance and Bluefish Point (there is a vertical cliff climb there) are good places to start. South Curl Curl (a small vertical cliff climb) is another great location. It does get really crowded at this ledge but there is a fair bit of room providing it’s under 0.8m around the high tide period. Try the point of South Curl Curl/Freshwater

A mid-70s size king for Canberra fisho Slaven Kraljevic. Often when the kings are about, there are a few other species of pelagics available, so have a lighter spin outfit on standby as well as your heavy outfit. couldn’t see any surface action so it was pretty much blind casting to these fish. Funnily enough you could see surface boils and at times several fish following the metal, but no baitfish spraying on the surface. Most of the kings caught on the small metals have been in that undersize 60-64cm class, but the occasional fish to 70cm has really been testing the light 6-8kg spin gear, and of course testing the angler! For those people who have not been introduced to the wrath of a king, I can tell you they’re one of the most exhilarating and challenging species on the east coast. They are a structure species, using cover, stealth and sudden bursts of speed to catch their favourite food. Unfortunately, they also use structure to damage or cut your braid or mono/ fluorocarbon line, dragging it over sharp structures like submerged ledges, boulders, and more. Catching this species off the land is a much bigger achievement than catching them off a boat. For now, let’s look at where the kings have been caught of late, along with the smaller pelagics which are

below the ramp (providing it is below 0.8m), and North Whale headland point. North Whale’s SE Point is fairly small and can generally only fit four to five anglers comfortably, so have a plan B ready. Having a plan B is a good idea at any of these spots really, as you might

arrive to find they’re too crowded or too rough. Good numbers of luderick are being caught, as well as quite a few bream. Snapper distance casting from these spots has also been successful. If you’re after luderick, the best bait is hair or cabbage weed. For the bream I recommend pink nippers, half pillies or Hawkesbury prawns. The kings are being taken on Silstar 9” Slapstix in the cream colour or clear silver speckle with a red head, and of course salted sea gar on gang hooks. When it comes to pelagics, anglers have been getting into salmon, bonito, tailor, frigate mackerel and a showing of mac tuna. Small metals are the go for all of these fish. You should keep your metals under 50g and even as small as 15g, especially for the fussy frigates. Mulloway will be on the prowl this month off our diverse and beautiful beaches of Sydney – Manly, Curl Curl, Collaroy and Newport. There have been reports of fish to 13.5kg from a few locals. Fishing during a downpour when the drains, lagoons and estuaries are flushing out brown water can be very productive. The flush attracts a lot of the smaller species, and they in turn attract predators like mulloway and sharks. Not only that, the freshwater pushes the mullet, whiting, small bream, tarwhine and more to the ocean from the estuaries and lagoons for waiting predators. When that opportunity happens, be prepared and fish the gutters, which will essentially turn into a bait supermarket for the predators. You can expect the tailor and salmon to be there as well.

WHITING AND BREAM The whiting and bream are continuing to increase in numbers for their annual migration. I have been putting in a few sessions just before the crack of dawn into the early morning, and again before dark into the evening. Most fishos who target these species only fish for them during the day, and pack up when it gets dark. This is a shame, as some of the best results come well into the night – providing that it is not too rough, as this can make it quite difficult to fish. On those more calm nights, especially when it is relatively flat, it can go gangbusters after dark. Manly/Queenscliff Beach is a good night spot because it has plenty of light and is close to the car. Dee Why Corner near the drain pipe to the surf club is similar to Manly, and has been producing good results for the evening angler of late. Other beaches producing are Collaroy, Narrabeen, Avalon, and the Whale. You should scope out the gutters that you intend to fish before dark, and then move from gutter to gutter when you’re fishing. Fish light so you won’t be weighed down carrying your gear from gutter to gutter. RIVER AND ESTUARY Fishing the stiller waters of the closest estuaries to my local Sydney Harbour, Narrabeen Lagoon and Pittwater has been an on-and-off proposition. The fish have been on one day and off the other. Barometric pressure seems to have an influence on fish activity. A sharp drop can put the fish into a feeding frenzy, and then you can get a shut-down period when it has plummeted and is on a slow increase. The tranquil waters

Soft plastics are a great alternative to fishing with baits like sea gar. Val Meyer caught this one on a 9” Slapstix. It was one of six kings caught on the day. of McCarrs Creek near Scotland Island in Pittwater have a few nice whiting, bream and flathead available. Fishing with topwater lures like the Silver Wolf Slippery Dog 65F in sushi prawn has produced a couple of nice whiting. It’s a lot of fun to get a nice whiting on a lure, and a few bream have been smashing topwater lures as well. If you really want some fish for the plate though, it might be necessary to have some bloodworms as a backup, just in case. Narrabeen Lagoon from the entrance on the top of the tide to about half out has been producing whiting, bream and some nice dusky flathead. Bloodworms, pink nippers and live poddy mullet around that 10-12cm size are the best baits, rigged with a light ball sinker to a swivel, 12-15lb fluorocarbon

leader and a 1/0 red long shank hook. Just cast out and slowly wind back to catch yourself a flathead. Up past the Ocean St bridge further west, you can wade out on the sand bank and use the same technique. All up, it looks like we have a good month ahead of us. The pelagics are going to be in better numbers off the beaches and ocean rocks, along with bream, flathead and whiting in the estuaries. Just remember to prep before you go, so you can end up fishing quality time rather than quantity time, for more consistent catch rates. • For rock and beach guided fishing or tuition in the northern Sydney region, visit www.bellissimocharters. com.au, email alex@ bellissimocharters.com.au or call Alex Bellissimo on 0408 283 616.

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Night bream fishing requires some finesse. David Nevell’s son John caught this impressive 40cm bream on 3kg mono.

www.saxscent.com APRIL 2017

Patience pays off when catching a good feed BOTANY BAY

Gabe Quercigrosse gabeandgabe@bigpond.com

The fishing is still going strong for Botany Bay and its tributaries. The water has cooled down a shade, and trevally numbers have increased in catches. While the blurter trevally may not be regarded as a top table fish, it is first class tucker when smoked, and makes excellent sashimi when fresh.

specifically target trevally, but sometimes these fish won’t give any other species a chance to take a bait. When the trevors are in that biting mood, it’s nothing to catch 40-50 of them in a single session. Trevally will take a bait in either tide, day or night. They mainly prefer deeper waters, such as the container terminal, Molineaux Point, the airstrip extension and the centre of the bay over to the middle tank moorings. You will get them in lesser

10 black swivel to prevent the line from twisting or kinking. Thread on a nipper or prawn and cast as far as possible. This setup will sink slowly and quite often the trevally will rise up to the bait and take it quickly. If you berley when targeting these slack water fish, it will help to keep the school in the area. Putting two or three loaves of stale bread in a keeper net behind the boat, weighed down by a small sinker, is a good option, and hand fed prawn nuggets also work a treat. Quite often the bite of a trevally is a slight pick. When you feel this, simply turn the handle of your reel two or three times and lift, and you will feel the weight of the fish. There’s no need to strike hard as this will only pull the bait away or tear the hook out of the trevally’s soft mouth. During the fight, move your rod to the left and right to stop the fish swimming in circles.

I have been fishing the bay for over 60 years and I’m still learning new things and ways to improve my fishing. While I believe that tides play a major role in good catches, the technology available to us can also boost catch rates. The now Navionics app showing all the man-made reefs, type of terrain (e.g. sand, shale, gravel, mud reef, weed) channel markers, depth contours and GPS management. I would suggest you obtain this app and spend a day placing markers, routes and tracks and your fishing will change dramatically for the better. In recent weeks we have been fishing the Quibray Bay area, which is located between Towra and Bonna Point. This is a vast section of weed and sand corridors and at times it produces very well. We’ve averaged between 10-15 bream to 35cm and 8-10 whiting to 43cm during the outgoing tide. It is very simple to find

A tasty mixed bag from Towra. Trevally are at their peak from April on, but they can be taken in lesser numbers all year round. The last few years have seen them migrate up the Georges to Liverpool Weir, and they are appearing regularly in catches. They are tough fighters and relish pink nippers, bloodworms and Hawkesbury prawns. Few anglers go out to

numbers just about anywhere including Watts Reef, Towra Point, Brighton Beach and Kurnell. In slack water I use a rig that has resulted in many fine catches. Use no trace and tie a size 1 Mustad 9555B hook with a no. 0 ball sinker running directly above the hook. About 30cm up the line above the hook, tie a no.

Paul caught these off Currarong. our spot because we cast to a yellow buoy marked BBY5C. However, you must use live bait or you’ll be wasting your time. Elsewhere in the bay, land-based anglers have been doing well on Congwong and La Perouse beaches, with whiting to 42cm. These places are worth the price of petrol for your car alone. The eastern side of Bare Island has been productive for luderick to the 1kg mark. They’re not as common as they are in winter, but their size has made up for their numbers. Another sneaky spot has been the breakwall adjacent to the Yarra Bay Sailing Club. Good size tailor and leatherjackets have been featuring in catches. The artificial reef in Astrolabe Cove has big squid taking 3” orange jigs. These squid are a really good size and make excellent tucker. The Sticks Drift, usually so reliable, copped a hammering from anglers in recent weeks, and is a bit the worse for wear. I have counted more than 20 boats fishing this area, so it’s only natural that this has taken its toll. Watts Reef has started to fire but only at night. I believe

this is still the best bream spot in the bay, although not as good as 20 years ago. Pick a night with a high tide around midnight, get there at sunset and fish with a small split shot right on the hook. I often see anglers using large sinkers, and I know they will come home empty-handed. You have to move your live bait all the time, with a short, slow jigging action. That is the trick to catching big bream. The hot water outlet at Kurnell has been productive for choppers to 40cm during the full moon period, but this spot has not been fishing well for some time. The drift in front of the runways continues to fish well for trumpeter whiting of excellent size, sometimes over 30cm. There are also a few flathead and flounder in the same area. The Towra weed beds have been producing a few fish, but not as many as in previous years. As a by-catch you can always use a drag net on the run-up tide for a feed of prawns. This area has weed beds mixed with clean white sand and is free from snags. The San Souci Sailing Club flats are fishing well for good size bream and whiting,

Ollie’s catch from a Hawkesbury trip last month.

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APRIL 2017

Marcos’s first keeper in Australia, caught in Botany Bay. No monster, but legal and tasty!

and a few school mulloway. I dropped a few schoolies very close to the anchor rope; I simply was not good enough to land these fish. Bald Face Point has been producing flathead, bream and school mulloway right on slack water. The fish are

there for a couple of hours before moving away. If you’re fishing around Oatley I would suggest the Caravan Head at night. Although it’s hard fishing, persistence always pays off. Fishing at the Moons has been spasmodic, with only

Ollie had yet another blinder at Towra.

Gabe and Reno got 16 calamari from Port Hacking.

the odd stray bream landed. The Woronora RSL crew have had afternoon sessions in the Wonnie but without much luck. If they can’t catch them, there’s not much hope for everyone else. OFFSHORE The offshore scene hasn’t been too bad, with by-catches of mahimahi from all the FADs. Just remember it’s vital to get there early. I’ve listed below some of the grounds that have fished surprisingly well. • The Gap (33 51.010, 151 18.000) is often ignored but produces mixed bags in depths from 65-185m. • The HMAS Encounter (34 54.600, 151 20.900) is a premium kingfish wreck for all sizes of fish. • Plonk Hole (34 00.160, 151 26.282) is very

consistent for Chinaman jackets. It’s 14km out from Botany Head. • Kurnell Lighthouse (34 02.195, 151 14.000) is very close but very deep. • Boat Harbour (34 03.000, 151 12.570), 36m for flatties. • The Pinnacle (33 57.343, 151 18.658). • Long Bay Wide (33 58.097, 151 18.810). I trust this information will assist you in getting a feed. SQUID It wouldn’t be fair not to mention the recent squid catch jigged off Captain Cook’s Landing Place at Kurnell. I’m still old school, in that my jigs are made of balsa wood, but things have changed. Reno Asquino, the best squid fisher in Sydney by far, showed me how it is

all done – with a single long stroke, then a few reel turns, then repeat. This was an experience not to be missed. My wife likes to cook squid by cutting them into strips around 3/4” by 3”, then she adds five slices of anchovies, a handful of capers, two tins of Cirio tomato paste, garlic and parsley. You let it simmer for 45 minutes and then pour it over linguine pasta (preferably homemade). It’s to die for! FRESHWATER On the freshwater scene, the boys from the Wollondilly Bass Club have had good results from the

stretch between Douglas and Menangle Weir. The average size is around 30-33cm. There are a few being taken at Theresa Park and Wallaga Bridge as well. Additionally, good carp are at all the recognised spots and are taking worms. The best carp I’ve seen nudged 8kg. All up, getting a feed is not easy at the moment but it’s possible. You need a lot of skill and patience, and need to stick to the early morning run-outs and afternoon run-ins. With all the rain we’ve had in recent weeks, the deep water is where you’ll find the fish.

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APRIL 2017

April tactics can be unexpectedly flexible SYDNEY SOUTH

Gary Brown gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

Do you need to get out for a fish very early in the morning or late into the afternoon to catch more fish? Or do you need to go fishing at night to catch more fish? I say no!

Early morning or late into the afternoon and night are prime times to catch fish, but I prefer to work the tides. If the parts of the tide that I prefer to fish (an hour or two either side of the high or low) coincide with an early morning or late afternoon start, that’s even better. April will see just about everything on the chew.

What I would suggest is that you pick a fish species and where you would like to fish – beach, rock, out of a boat or off the shore are some suggestions. Decide whether you are going to bait or lure fish and when you next have a few hours to spare. Bream on the surface during April may not be the pick for most anglers. Don’t

Carl Dubois with a 38cm fork-length bream caught while working a lightly weighted soft plastic over the shallows.

knock it until you try it. Just recently I had the pleasure of fishing with Stuart Hindson from Aussie Fish Estuary Adventures on the Bega River. Over the two days I learnt so much about surface fishing for both yellowfin and black bream, my head nearly exploded. It changed my way of using surface lures and lightly weighted soft plastics. Whether you are fishing from a boat or off the shore, make sure the outfit that you are using allows you to cast as far as possible with your surface lure or soft plastic. The longer a lure or plastic is on the surface, the longer the bream has to look at it. For depth of water, don’t think that 2.5m is too deep. I have had dusky flathead, whiting and bream smash a surface lure in that depth. On the other end of the scale, when is shallow too shallow? Try a cast up on the sand and then work the lure into the water, and you might be surprised. The speed of the retrieve is extremely important. You have to decide – it slow or fast? Is it slow and then stop and pause, or do you work it fast and stop? Maybe it’s slow and then speed up when

A nice bag of five bream caught while chucking Cranka Crabs along the rocky shoreline in South West Arm. you see a bow wave behind the lure or soft plastic. This is something you will have to work out on the day. I was working a 7cm lure slowly across the surface only to have a huge bow wave come up behind it. I paused the lure and the bow wave went away. On the next cast the same thing happened again, so I increased the speed and this time a bream smashed the lure. Recently I’ve used the Shakespeare Slingshot Engage 1-3 and 2-4kg outfits. Both have been spooled with 2kg line. For surface lures, I have been using the Berkley 48mm Scum Dog, Stiffy

Poppers and 7cm Sugapens. The soft plastics have varied from worms to grubs to shrimps in 2.5-3”. All of them have been on light jigheads around 1/24-1/50oz. The next time you are out on the water during April, give surface lures and soft plastics a go. It’s mind blowing the types of fish you can catch from both the shore and out of a boat. To give you a run down for April, here are the hot species now, and where and how I would target them this month. Try fishing off the rocks for bream, trevally, drummer and luderick. Bread or chicken pellets for

Fishing from Sydney Harbour commuter wharves You can help keep these facilities open for fishing by following these basic rules

these wharves  Collect and dispose of all litter, bait, fish waste and discarded tackle responsibly  Be considerate of local residents and keep noise to a minimum

 Follow all recreational fishing rules  Respect your access to these facilities  When fishing in NSW waters you are

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APRIL 2017

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berley and peeled prawns for bait would be the go. Off the beach, you could try for salmon, tailor, bream and whiting. Try beach or blood worms for bream and whiting and either whole or half pilchards for the others. In the estuaries, you will find bream, whiting,

flathead, garfish, tailor, salmon and bonito. Luderick will start to increase in numbers. I can’t stress enough that when you are at anchor you will need berley to increase your catch rate. I mainly use chicken pellets (dry and wet). You can also try white bread, smashed up

Andrew Humphries muscling in a silver trevally that was feeding along the edge of the sandbank in the background.

pilchards or even a bonito or tuna frame. If you are going to fish in Botany Bay, anchor up at the patches off Towra in about 2-3m of water. Once the boat had settled into place, throw out a handful of chicken pellets, bait up the rods and cast them out and then place them into the rod holders. Throw out another small handful of chicken pellets, sit back and wait for the action to start. If you would like to target bream and trevally during the run-up tide in Botany Bay, try any of the following places: the Drum, the Yarra Bay fish balls, Trevally Alley, the end of the third runway and the patches at Towra. During the run-out tide, I like to fish wide off Towra, the oil wharf (remember to be 100m away), the end of the wall at Trevally Alley, Bare Island, Henry Head and Sutherland Point. Further upstream in the Georges and Woronora River you could try drifting for whiting, bream and dusky flathead at the Moons, Lugarno, Bonnet Bay, Picnic Point and Cattle Duffers. The Georges River State Park is a great place to fish from the shore. Maroubra, Coogee, Wanda and North Cronulla beaches should start to fire in the early mornings and

Who wouldn’t be smiling after catching these beauties while out with Stuart Hindson on Wonboyn Lake? late afternoons. Don’t forget those overcast days with light rain – this is when the fish come out to play. Whiting, bream, trevally, tailor and luderick can be caught in most of the deep bays in the Port Hacking River. If you anchor you need to berley, as it can be an extremely hard place to fish. South West Arm would be my pick of the spots. If you are fishing from the shore, try Gunnamatta Bay, Bundeena and Maianbar. Pink nippers would have to be the pick of the baits. Remember that you

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APRIL 2017

The fishing heats up as the temperature cools WESTERN SYDNEY

Peter Jacovides

This time of year the minds of freshwater anglers in Western Sydney turn to estuary bass and Blue Mountains trout. I’ll talk about trout next month because my mind right now is full of visions of big bronze battlers tearing back to their snaggy lairs with my favourite lure clenched firmly in their toothless jaws. They all seem set on

creeks and rivers of Western Sydney, and of course many other places along the East Coast. However, as autumn and winter go into full swing we fish for them in the tidal reaches of our rivers. It’s now that our hunting grounds shift to the brackish zone of the mighty Hawkesbury River to the northwest and far removed from the hustle and bustle of Sydney. From 1 May to 30 August there is a closed season on the taking of Australian bass in NSW rivers, but most of

Mangrove Mountain, and I can tell you we caught thousands of spawning fish which went on to have millions of babies during that time. Handled carefully, catching and releasing them doesn’t appear to affect their breeding cycle. There are also many bonuses to be had fishing these brackish areas of our rivers, as more often than not these bronze battlers are mixed in with schools of their close cousins the estuary perch, and many other of

Noah Buttigieg with a great rainbow trout. All the stocked lakes will be worth a throw for trout this month. Look around midstream snags, drop-offs and other submerged structure or simply cast to bank side structure. From the first proper rains of autumn to the first flooding rain of spring is the best time for these fish. Cast and troll lures and flies. Avoid bait, which they may swallow deep causing injury. Try a casting rod, spin

spawning season, so all the stocked lakes will be worth a throw. Redfin have bitten their heads off all summer and we expect more of the same right through the autumn. These fish are great fun, pretty easy to catch (a good family option) and awesome on the plate – it’s almost a shame they are a pest fish.

water temperatures cool. Lake Burrendong is worth a try, and even better up in the Macquarie Arm and Wyangala Dam, with the Lachlan River below the dam the best option. The secret to catching big (and small) cod is big, big, big lures and I’ll talk about these next month. • Peter Jacovides has been the owner/operator of the

Jack Azzopardi with a whopper estuary perch. stealing my new deep divers and spinnerbaits, leaving me shaking but ecstatic at having battled and lost to a big bass or EP stocking up for the breeding season in the salt. Of course, Australian bass are primarily a freshwater fish and all summer we stalk them in the

us never keep bass anyway, no matter what the season. For the bass men and women of Western Sydney, to take a bass is taboo. They are way too much fun to catch just once. My introduction to winter bass about 25 years ago was collecting broodstock for the bass hatchery at

our favourite estuary species. Working in a tackle store up to seven days a week over the summer season leaves little time to get right into our favourite pastime, but as the weather cools our casting arms warm up. For a good location, try the tidal water from Wisemans Ferry to Windsor.

Michael Buttigieg with a huge rainbow.

Olly Phillips with a lovely little cod caught on fly. 22

APRIL 2017

or baitcast or fly rod up to 8wt, a handful of diving lures (deep divers are excellent), spinnerbaits, soft plastics and vibes. Handle those fish carefully and release them to ensure future stocks. This month fishing options in the west are many and varied. Trout should be feeding up for the upcoming

Try lake Oberon, Wallerawang and Wentworth Falls closer to home. Burrinjuck, Carcoar and Ben Chifley are all good places too. Redfin fall easy prey to small lures and plastics. I love ice jigs on them. This season has been a beauty for Murray cod and should only improve as

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Cooler species are wound up by the wind THE TWEED

Anthony Coughran

With predominant northerly winds blowing this month, we’ve had cooler offshore water temperatures. Fewer predators have graced us with their presence. With these northerlies, jacks have been firing, destroying live baits, strip baits and artificial lures. These red dogs are the talk of the town, with good numbers

taken over the past month. OFFSHORE With water temperatures sitting at around 25-26°C on the close reefs and 27-28°C on the wider reefs, we still haven’t had the pelagics show in good numbers. Only a handful of mackerel have been caught over the last month, so it’s a very slow mackerel season. Colder water temperatures on close reefs have seen snapper, jobfish and spangled emperor still hitting drift baits and soft plastics, with good Chris Bulter with a cracker red dog caught on live bait around one of the bridge pylons. numbers of them caught over the last month. Try drifting plastics and baits around the Fidos, 5-Mile, South Reef and 9-Mile. There are mackerel and GTs on the 9-Mile. Look for southerlies and troll swimbaits and big stickbaits for the best results. Mahimahi are around the FAD and on the 24 and 36s. Small black marlin are around the 36s and on the 50m lines. Trolling 6” skirted lures is producing the goods. There are a few blue marlin out wider and out on the shelf in small

The author with a nice 51cm jack caught in shallow structure on half a pike.

numbers. A few packs of mac tuna have been caught around 9-Mile and 5-Mile. It can be really fun flicking

banks around Terronora, Cobaki and the Piggery. Yabbies are still working the best for these ghosts of the flats. GT and bigeyes are around Jack Evans Anchorage and at Boyds Bay Bridge at night. Live bait, small micro-jigs and blades are still doing all the damage. You can find the odd luderick hanging around the rock walls and bridges. Try cabbage weed or stringy weed for the best results. Muddies have been moving around with these warm water temperatures. Try a back creek or a hole in one of the Broadwater systems for a big can opener. BEACHES Northerlies aren’t the best

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Dan Le Mura with a barrel of a mac tuna caught at South Reef. metals for these speedsters on light gear. ESTUARY Northerlies mean jacks. With the water temperature sitting at around 27-30°C, and the lack of bait in the system, jacks are hungry and angry. They have been terrorizing anglers on the Tweed, with good numbers caught all through March. Be prepared to lose tackle on these brutes. If you’re not losing tackle, you’re not in the structure enough. These brutes and their evil tactics have anglers stopping only one out of three. Jacks definitely win the battle more than you do. Boyds Bay Bridge, Highway Bridge, Cobaki Bridge, Barneys Point Bridge, Chindrah Rock Wall, Oxley Cove Rock Walls, Stots Island, Tumbulgum Bridge and Condong Sugar Mill are all worth soaking a live bait or flicking a 3” plastic at for these red devils. There are still a few good size whiting around on the top of the tide over the sand

winds for our beaches. They normally bring the bluebottles in and give a side wind to our beaches, making it hard to cast. North winds and a big swell have seen good gutters forming right down to Hastings Point. Try one of these gutters on a draining tide. Beach worms and white bait seem to be working the best to get a feed. FRESHWATER There have been good catches of bass around Banora Point and the upper reaches of Duroby and Bilambil creeks recently. Look for running pools and fish them with cicada lures for some exciting surface action. Clarrie Hall Dam is fishing quite well with a few fat bass taken this season. I haven’t heard of anyone catching a freshwater jack yet, so it could be worth a drive to Clarrie Hall Dam. Cicada lures, deep diving hardbodied lures and jig spins still do the most damage on these opportunistic hunters. NEXT MONTH With more northerlies predicted for the next month, we’ll see more jacks feeding and fattening up for the last months of warm weather before winter. They seem to take more dead baits and strip baits as they try and bulk up for spawning season. Hopefully we will see a bit more southerly wind action in the next month to bring the toothy critters in. Mackerel, marlin, wahoo and mahimahi like warm water brought in by southerlies.

Chris Butler with a fat old Tweed bass caught off the top on a cicada lure.

Adrian Butler with another monster Tweed bass.

Something different for the land-based angler THE TWEED INSHORE

Tim Latter

This month’s article focuses on options for the land-based fisho that are by no means a secret, but are often overlooked: tidal suburban lakes. These lakes are dotted around our local area on this side of the border and just to the north, and they are well worth a look. They can produce some of the best light tackle sportfishing around. I can think of at least six of these waterways within 10 minutes of my house, and they all hold a range of species and a variety of ways in which to target them. Generally they all hold a massive amount of bait, the tidal run is reduced and the water

temperature can be 2-3°C warmer than the main river. All you need to do is adjust your usual game plan to suit the conditions. I spend most of my time working the inlet/outlet pipes where there is tidal flow, as the bait tends to get pushed around here and the predators are usually in waiting. Like a dam, you will also find that the wind will push bait to different sides of the lake, so it pays to take this into consideration too. One of my favourite things about these lakes is the ability to scale down your main line and leader size, grab a bream weight outfit and a small box of lures and tangle with species such as giant herring and tarpon, trevally and mangrove jack, and your usual bread and butter species as well. Throwing surface

stickbaits like Bassday Sugapens or Atomic K9 Bulldogs is a really exciting way to get into some lake dwellers. Small, lightly weighted soft plastics can also be dynamite when the sun’s up. Even the humble slug gets a run from time to time, accounting for plenty of catches over the last ten years or so that I have been fishing the lakes. A slightly bigger offering such as 4” paddle-tails will get the attention from the red fish. When one belts you on the light line, you will well and truly know about it. Without the structure from their more natural environment, you can take your time and enjoy the fight without locking up and dragging them out like you would in the main river. Twitching suspending minnows can rack up a

A solid jack taken from a small suburban lake just north of the border.

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few catches too, so be sure to have a couple in your tackle box. The bream fishing at times can be insane, so I like to cover ground when targeting bream in the lakes. Some 2” grub-tails are probably the place to start. If I find the fish are playing the

game, I’ll usually try a small Bent Minnow to get them fired up and fighting over my lure. Smaller crankbaits work really well over the flats too, and you can often sight cast to these fish, which is also super exciting. April is a great month for fishing and it’s a bit more

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Dirty water stirs up the crabs I recommend 1/4oz for both plastics and blades, but bearing in mind if it’s really windy, this might be a struggle. There are still good numbers of pipis around, and these little fellas are a great fresh bait for most bread and butter species. Just remember you’re not allowed to take these from the beach as per NSW DPI rules. The rock walls have produced some decent mangrove jack. While not in good numbers, better size specimens have come out

BALLINA

Joe Allan

The beaches around Ballina and Lennox Head have been fishing really well and should continue to get better. Look for gutters on Patches Beach and back to South Ballina as well as the beaches along Seven Mile Beach north of Lennox Head. There have been good catches recorded of tarwhine and flathead on soft plastics and blades.

to play in recent times. The breakwalls have been a little quiet for mulloway, but the town stretch of the river has been fishing well for these beauties. Live mullet seem to produce the best catches. Mud crabs are showing up in North Arm and Immigrant Creek. The dirtier water has definitely stirred these guys up. If you’re after a feed, get out and get into them. Dans Lane and Pimlico Island flats have been very consistent producers of bream. If you’re into soaking

dirty water has hurt the numbers of whiting caught. If you’re after a feed of flathead, try the stretches between Pimlico Island and Broadwater. Whitebait and fresh prawns are the go if you can get them. The prawns are on the move at the moment, so if you can find them, you’ll find great numbers of the tasty fish. If you’re into throwing hardbody lures, troll some deep diving hardbodies that will get down to 3.5m in the holes around the Wardell Bridge and areas close by. Bright colours are best. Once you’ve found the drop-offs, it’s always a good idea to have a 3 or 4” soft plastic with a 1/4oz jighead and 3/0 hook ready to go. The freshwater stretches of the Richmond and Wilsons rivers have been patchy. There have been reports of people catching 15-20 fish one day and then going back the next and getting one

Jake Stewart with a big bream taken while chasing mulloway. or two. The best lures are spinnerbaits with big gold blades, and lipless crankbaits with bright colours. The noise and flash is what’s attracting these fish in this dirty water. The creeks around Bangalow and Corndale are worth a cast

now that they’ve cleaned up a little. Downsize everything that you’d normally throw in the main river. You’d be surprised how big the fish that live in these small creeks can get. Small 2” plastics and bream or trout-size crankbaits are what you should look for.

Joe from Casino Outdoors with a bass from the upper reaches of the Richmond River. bait, nippers are one of the best baits and are good fun to catch with the kids around. If you’re into throwing lures, small crankbaits and small topwater poppers are always my go-to. You’ll pick up a few whiting too, although

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Whatever location you choose to fish, the most important aspect of your search should be to ensure you won’t get caught out by the weather. Now the Bureau of Meteorology has made it even easier to check the weather and ocean conditions with the introduction of a few simple tools and tips. The Bureau’s Tide Prediction portal has been upgraded to provide predicted tide heights and times for over 700 locations around Australia. Just check the extended weather forecast and the tides a few days before your fishing trip to help inform where and when might be the best and safest place to go fishing. The Bureau’s graphical mapping tool MetEye can be used to visualise the weather forecast and zoom to any location. MetEye

provides information on the height and direction of different swell conditions, as well as wind waves and total wave height. Rock fishing is a popular recreational activity, but it’s also one of Australia’s most dangerous sports. The Bureau has developed a guide on how to use MetEye for rock fishing. You can find further information

about weather safety checks for rock fishing on the Bureau’s website. These pages are translated into traditional and simplified Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Malay. Rock fishers can also read up on a new blog that outlines how and when to check the weather. The Bureau recommends three vital weather safety checks:

tides, waves and winds. The Bureau also has a new mobile app, BOM Weather, which can be downloaded for free and used to check warnings, view the rain radar for current conditions, or to check the forecast for storms or strong winds. The Bureau of Meteorology’s National Manager of Marine Weather Services Neal Moodie urges fishing enthusiasts to take advantage of these tools, intended to make fishing a more enjoyable and safe activity. “Australians enjoy the great outdoors all year round,” he said. “Stay safe by making the most of the Bureau’s range of marine and ocean information, and be prepared to make alternate arrangements if conditions change.” – Bureau of Meteorology

Rain events give waterways a welcome boost ILUKA

Ross Deakin

We received some significant downpours a few weeks ago, and these rain events very quickly improved the fishing. We are now seeing some

awesome flathead catches occurring down our end of the river. Bream and whiting have also been around in good numbers, as have school mulloway. The usual hotspots have been around Browns Rocks, the North Arm, Collis Wall and the breakwall. The river

has really needed this rain to flush it out, causing a knockon effect right through to the ocean where there has been plenty of action with tailor, trevally and longtails. There are so many baitfish around it makes it hard to compete. We have seen some great catches of tailor on the open

Recent downpours have really improved the river fishing.

beaches and in the river using lures and ganged pillies. There have also been some crackers up to 4kg taken on poppers from some of the headlands, such as Woody Head and the Bluff. Stuart Bowers from Iluka weighed in a 3.9kg greenback late last month and there have been others. Mulloway catches have been on the improve, with some decent schoolies in the river. Wazza Bell from Brisbane landed a very nice mulloway weighing 23.5kg caught off Iluka Beach. Spotty and barred mackerel are being taken on pink squid skirts, pillies, live bait and hardbodies. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best to get out early for them and troll around Woody Head and Shark Bay. There are cobia, snapper and trag close in, with Black Rock seeing some good action. Get out for some tuna action off the wall, tailor off the beaches and headlands, or flathead, whiting and bream in the river. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget the crab traps as muddies are also in good numbers. Make sure you pop in to us at Iluka Bait and Tackle and weigh in that awesome catch for your chance to win $40 to spend in the shop.

Mulloway are around in good numbers.

Tailor have been chowing down on the plentiful baitfish.

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Exciting Easter estuaries and late mackerel run YAMBA

Dave Gaden

Good rains at the end of February and early March should have stirred things up a bit for this month. The continual dry weather and northeasterly winds

will not be missed. The change in weather patterns will bring calmer seas offshore and hopefully a lot of hungry fish. While the estuary gets a nice drink of fresh water upstream, this should push the fish to the lower reaches of the system.

The estuary has fished really well this summer, with great bass all the way from the gorge to the mouth of the mighty Clarence. The big dusky flathead just kept coming. A few of my regular customers coming in the shop reported that they released up to three big girls

ba Prawn Blade s” “Yam There will be a lot more activity on the water with the late arrival of the spotties.

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a day and still got a good feed of 50cm fish. It doesn’t get much better than that. Whiting have been around, but not in the numbers they were earlier in the summer. There are still some good fish amongst them but bag limits are rare. The shortcut between Hickey and Dart Islands is always worth a try for these fish; popping late in the afternoon and changing to live nippers as it gets dark gets me a feed most times. Crabs are still sensational throughout the river, with reports of nice muddies upstream to Grafton. Those crabbing between Lawrence and Maclean have had some great success. Remember, if you intend to crab this stretch of the river you are only allowed the use of hoop nets or dillies (no crab traps upstream of the old ferry ramp in Maclean). For those closer to the mouth, Oyster Channel and the run up to the lake will get you a feed. For those anglers out there who like to ‘stick watch’ (and I’m one of them), the luderick are around in

reasonable numbers with plenty of fish pushing the 1kg mark. Cabbage seems to be the flavour of the moment, although some anglers are getting fish on weed flies pretty consistently. Mulloway will love this colour change in the river, which brings with it the schools of mullet. Oyster Channel Bridge will hold nice school-size fish. Some nicer mulloway are being taken on the Zerek 70mm Live Shrimp, fished close to the surface. Bigger fish will as always be taken from the breakwalls. Speaking of our magnificent breakwalls, for those who like the landbased gamefishing, this is a great time to try and crack a big Spanish mackerel or northern longtail tuna off the wall. It’s always amazed me how many of these big ocean predators cruise the seaside of these walls. I have seen cobia, yellowtail kings, mackerel and even manta rays come right up to the wall over the years. Offshore the water will still be nice and hot with the usual suspects out there for the taking. Spanish mackerel are quite often best in April

Sam with a nice Spaniard weighing in at 11kg. I’ve mentioned this before – this is the latest start to mackerel season I can remember and not just here. North and south of Yamba they have been a pain in the neck. That’s now over, thank

A good haul of spotted and Spanish mackerel trolled up early. and May, and with the late arrival of the spotties I think the water’s going to be alive with mackerel. The first week of March gave us the hottest bite of the season, with bag limits trolled up by 8am in the morning.

goodness! Along with the macs is the other fun stuff: yellowfin tuna, mahimahi, striped and mackerel tuna. All of the above are fish we take daily on your basic 6” pink squid trolled at around 9 knots at the back

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APRIL 2017

The girls had a ball on the spotty mackerel.

of the bubble trail of the boat. That’s cheap tackle that doesn’t break the bank when you get cut off, and it’s easy to make yourself. April also means snapper are moving from the wide grounds to the more accessible grounds closer to shore. I like the grounds off Shelly Headland in about 14-16 fathoms (24-30m) of water. The reef here has no real high pinnacles, but you will find bumps of around 2m and a lot of areas with underwater caves. I quite often find the snapper holding tight on the south side of these rises, with the predominant north current flowing over them. Anchoring in just the right spot is vital. If you don’t get it right, pull the anchor and do it again until you do. Sitting 20m from a good fish is no better than staying at home. Berley heavily at this time of the year and try to float lightly weighted cut baits down the trail. With the water so shallow you will often see snapper right at the boat working up the berley trail. Mutton birds can be your undoing though, as they have their last feast before the big migration back to the artic. To combat this problem, try berleying with prawns or prawn shells. Snapper love them, for some unexplained reason the mutton birds won’t eat them, and they sink fast. While chasing the snapper in the shallows you are in line to catch a huge range of exotics this month. By-catches will include pearl perch, venus tuskfish, Maori cod and Moses perch to name a few. This shouldn’t cause you much stress.

Lots of surface activity WOOLI

Stan Young

The east Australian currents are doing a great job this year by bringing the clear blue water in close, and with it come the pelagics and large bait schools.

wahoo. If you don’t know where it is, look on the FAD website or call into our shop and we’ll help you out. We have two islands off Wooli – North Solitary, which is the bigger island, and North West Rock. They’re about 13km out, and you can see them from the break wall at Wooli.

Spanish mackerel have been smashing the bait schools. There has been plenty of surface activity, with Spaniards and spotties going crazy, and some big wahoo being landed. There are a few longtails being caught as well, mostly on live baits meant for mackerel. Yellowfin ranging from 5-20kg have been taking lures at North Solitary Island. They go well on skirts but I like using Halco Laser Pro 190s in the white red head or the red neck. We troll three to four lures at once, and often get multiple hook-ups. All hell breaks loose when that happens, with people running to stop crossovers with lines, as it’s the first few seconds that make or break it. The FAD has been doing well for mahimahi and also

There are a few snapper showing up but it’s still a bit early. Some good fish have been caught while

live baiting for mackerel; snapper love a live slimy or yakka. If you’re live baiting for mackerel and you have small slimies, use only one hook just under the dorsal fin and not too deep into the fish. If you have a large slimy or pike, use a double hook rig, with one hook just forward of the dorsal fin and the second hook under the rear dorsal fin. When trolling for mackerel we use either 4/0 or 5/0 Black Magic KS hooks, or their Teflon-coated DX hooks. When live baiting we use 44lb Halco single-strand. Don’t set your drags too tight as they will go straight through the wire and you will lose the fish. When trolling for mackerel it’s better to up to 105lb single strand. Put one hook under the bait’s chin and through the clear spot in the top of his nose, and one hook trailing just behind its tail. Some people use a treble in about a 1/0 or 2/0. Catching mackerel with plastics is awesome as well, and we’ve been having fun using 7” ZMans in glow and smokey shad, 7” Gulps in pearl white and anchovy, and 5” Samaki Boom Baits in ghost bait colour. The Wooli locals have been catching plenty of tailor up to 4kg off the beach and break walls, mostly on spinners. Soon the bream and the blackfish

Some good snapper are being caught while live baiting for mackerel. will be running, and plenty will be caught in the river. I recommend trying artificial weed for blackfish, either store-bought or made yourself. I’m happy to show you how to make them. Call into our tackle shop at 43 Riverside Dr, Wooli and we’ll help you with rigs,

knots and more. Our charter business has two boats, Erebus (11m Steber) and the Kraken (12m cat), both purpose built for chartering. If you want a fun day out give us a call on (02) 6649 7100 and talk to Stan or Claire. We also provide accommodation overlooking

the Wooli River. After having breakfast overlooking the river, you just walk 50m and you’re on the boat. We supply sandwiches, tea, coffee, soft drinks, all tackle including rods and reels, and ice for your fish. All you need to bring is an esky to take home your catch.

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APRIL 2017

Coming in or getting out? COFFS HARBOUR

Stephen Worley info@tdsimages.com.au

Daylight savings is out for another year, and something tells me there will be no lack of recreation this month. Last year the Easter rush was done and dusted by April. This April is going to be a lot busier around the Coffs region ,with school holidays and Easter spread throughout the month.

FISHING LOCAL There’s no shortage of activity around the Coffs Coast at the moment, no matter what type of angling you’re looking for. In the rivers the mangrove jack and trevally are still firing. There are no real secret spots for chasing them. The upper estuary sections are where they’re most active. The Bellinger River is the most accommodating for a larger boat and also the most conducive to a bit of landbased angling too.

Kalang rivers offer extensive breakwalls to hop around, and all of the smaller coastal creeks have great areas of sandy flats and rocky shores to explore. In these areas anything can be caught, from bread and butter bream, flathead and whiting to mangrove jack, trevally and mulloway. In all areas of the estuaries there has been one lure over the last couple of months that has dominated reports, and that’s the Bassday Sugapen. If you’re going to cast

Jason O’Brien with the kind of cod that makes a trip out west a very worthy weekend getaway. That means there’s two things to think about. For those who are visiting the area, the question is where to find the local fish. For the locals, however, it may be a good time to think about where you will escape to.

The upper reaches of the smaller coastal creeks are mostly surrounded by bush so the land-based fishing is limited. In the lower parts of the estuaries there are a lot more opportunities for those on foot. The Bellinger and

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around one lure this month, follow the local form. Offshore anglers visiting our coastline will be happy to know that the water has been warm and the fishing hot. If it’s your first time launching at the Coffs Harbour Boat Ramp it’s worth warning you that although the extension works completed last year have decreased the wave action in the boat ramp basin, when a decent swell is running there can still be a significant surge on the ramp. It is also worth reminding visitors and locals alike that there will be days of high congestion at the boat ramp. Please remember that we’re all there for the same thing. Being patient and thoughtful of others will ensure everyone gets out there and back safely. For many of you, April holidays mean mackerel. The mackerel have been obliging with good numbers from the inshore reefs out to the islands. The spotties outnumbered the Spaniards by a long way this summer, but the numbers of Spaniards have been picking up slowly though the season. This month we normally see the peak of the mackerel action, as well as the longtail tuna. Besides the mackerel there have been plentiful cobia, mahimahi, kingfish and the ever-present snapper. Live baits have been the preferred offering. We have

had a buffet of baitfish off our coast recently. Schools of slimy mackerel, yakkas, pilchards, garfish, herring and bonito have all been madly trying to hide their presence to no avail. It makes it a little hard to ‘match the hatch.’ If you catch something on your bait jig, just go with that. Sometimes when all your local favourites are too crowded it’s time to get out and have an adventure away from home. Here are three options for escapes that can be an overnighter or a weeklong adventure. HINTERLAND ESCAPE Not far from Coffs Harbour is the mighty Nymboida and Mann River system. There is great bass fishing in stunning locations – the type of fishing trip that gets you away from it all. The Clarence Gorge has always been the go-to bass getaway in this area because it’s the place people know. The Nymboida has always been revered as a great fishing river, but it was a bit unknown and harder to find places to camp. This is no longer the case. The Clarence Valley Council have put together the longest canoe and kayak trail in the country, over 195km. The trail starts on the Nymboida River and runs down through the Mann River and into the Clarence. Each section is described and there are campsites along the whole trail. If you want to get away just for an overnighter or spend a few days in the kayak moving down the river, look up the Clarence Kayak And Canoe Trail and download the guide. INLAND ESCAPE If you want to get further away out west where you can feel the morning chill of winter coming, there are

A live yakka tempted this kingfish into jumping on Jordy Viti’s line out at South Solitary Island. a number of locations west of Coffs that can provide the perfect cod weekend. Copeton Dam is an obvious choice. It’s far enough away to feel very different to home, it’s close enough to be a reasonable weekend trip away and, of course, it has huge cod, as well as its fair share of goldens. The big swimbaits have been a real feature of the fishing at Copeton, in particular the shallow water wakebaits. A surface hit from a big cod alone is worth the drive. THE COASTAL RUNNER If you want to stick with the salt and only hop out

of town a little way, there are plenty of options for a quick coastal getaway. Ducking up north to one of the national parks or coastal villages between Red Rock and Brooms Head is within easy reach of an overnight crowd reliever. You will have to pick your spot though, as some of these little places are more crowded than Coffs in the holidays (*cough* Station Creek *cough*). Whether you enjoy this crazy month in town, or anywhere around the region, I hope the fish are biting and your lines are tight.

Go for the ‘get away from it all’ experience on the Nymboida River, part of the 195km long Clarence Kayak and Canoe Trail.

Craig Hanlon showing these golden perch can keep you well entertained even if the cod aren’t co-operating.

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Tough times but we live in hope! same here, worse luck. There have been more weather windows in the past month than in the past four combined, but the motivation to get out there and have a look is low and the game fishing scene in general has a very ho hum feel about it. You can only do so many miles and burn through so many

COFFS GAME

Glen Booth

Hands up who wants to cancel this Coffs Harbour game fishing season and start afresh in a few months’ time? Ok then, motioned carried unanimously. Hmm. Well it’s more of the

litres of fuel before the penny drops that it’s largely a waste of time. Blue marlin remain the target out wide, with the water on the shelf edge being less than fantastic, which has produced the odd striped marlin hookup. At this time of year we’d expect to have a couple of blue bites each day, but the

The only decent ones have mostly been blind strikes while targeting marlin with lures, and even then they’re few and far between. There’s a couple of jellybean yellowfin tuna lurking at the light, and Mark Mikkelsen got one over 20kg at the start of March, which was a pleasant bit of bycatch. The good news has been on the mackerel front. After a slowish start — by the standard of recent years where they’ve come on the chew in early summer — the bite has been pretty steady. There’s been some impressive Spanish about, with fish from 15-20kg not raising too many eyebrows. Spotties have been reasonably consistent, and of a good average size, even if they do have trouble finding the hooks in the bigger slimies. In some instances the 38 and 44lb single strand wire most commonly used has been insufficient to prevent bite-offs. If it’s not a numbers game and a trophy bar-ee is the goal,

Pete Mallia nailed this trophy bar-ee at the bait grounds, and was also bitten off twice. heavier wire, even light multistrand, will produce fewer bites, but it may keep you connected to that long dreamed of 50 pounder. Setting a trap for a big fish includes fishing bigger baits such as live bonito or mac tuna, either caught in situ or kept alive in tuna tubes. The water remains pretty ordinary inshore, but

the mackerel are in it, and bait remains pretty easy to come by most mornings. There’s been the usual rumours about ciguaterainfected fish, but unless they’re properly tested, people getting sick could easily be the result of poor handling practices post capture — especially when the fish is too big to fit in the average icebox.

Now the weather has settled, hopefully a few more blues will start to show.

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crews that have put in the hard yards over the edge have only been encountering ones and nones, which is extremely frustrating. And as for the inshore blacks, well, they’ve gone the way of the dodo it seems… After last year’s spectacular wahoo season, Dr Hoo has been practically non-existent this time round, with only the very occasional one caught. Ditto for that other summer standby, the mahimahi. The FAD, the waver recorder buoy and sundry trap floats in 40-60 fathoms have been holding fish, but they’re nearly all rats, with very few keepers amongst them.

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APRIL 2017

TO FILL Alex Qasabian, fishing out from Mona Vale aboard Murrifin, caught this yellowfin tuna on a Black Magic Jack Slammer in fruit salad.

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At last some consistent good water has hit our region, and we’re starting to reap the rewards. Bait species including bonito, mac tuna, slimy mackerel and pike are in abundance, and the bigger predators that eluded us earlier in the year are now about in numbers. Mackerel catches have been fairly good, and there seems to be equal amounts of Spaniards and spotties. Slow trolling live baits and anchoring up with a berley trail have been the most productive methods for catching mackerel. However, with the amount

of bait that is present, sharks have become a bit of an issue. This is a common problem at this time of year. To avoid these sharks for a while when they are thick, try fishing away from the pack, or trolling hardbody lures and skirts around areas holding bait. Some solid cobia have been caught from around the bait grounds from Grassy Head down to Hat Head, and there have been a few decent kings hanging around Fish Rock. The waters outside of Fish Rock have been alive with small tuna. Large patches of bait like this are hard to go past at this time of year when it comes to locating big fish. The crowds on the headlands are starting to

grow now, with cobia and kingfish being present as well as Spanish mackerel coming in on the bait schools. Bluefin tuna will hit our area any day now, and these fish are a very popular land-based game species on the mid north coast. Lately the river has been full of baitfish. Kingfish, cobia, mulloway and even some small mackerel and tuna have been found terrorising these schools on occasions. Flathead are in good numbers in the mid reaches of the Macleay between Jerseyville and Smithtown. Most fish are being found tight against the rock walls, waiting in ambush for unsuspecting prey. Big bream are coming out of the same regions, with lightly-weighted grub-tailed soft plastics accounting for the trophy fish. Big schools of trevally are in the river as well, and they’ve been consistently found as far up as Smithtown and into the Belmore River. These

Bait like this mac tuna can be trolled up by putting a lure out while towing your live baits.

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A perfect example of how frustrating mackerel fishing can be on occasions. This bait had three hooks in it.

Spotted mackerel are responding to both live and dead baits. This one took a slow trolled pike.

fish become very explosive when they round up a school of fish, and are awesome fun on small surface lures if you’re in the right place at the right time. Now is the beginning of the prime time for beach fishing in the Macleay region. It pays to get in early though before the commercial presence

and the river definitely looks better for it. Bass fishing has been fair upriver, however the fish will start moving down into the salt soon for their winter migration. The surface bite has still been pretty good of an afternoon, with spinnerbaits and divers producing the goods during the day.

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Contact: David Hayman (Stumpee) Mobile: 0411 096 717 info@swrcharters.com.au APRIL 2017

Yellowtail Kingfish

Kiwi kingfish tactics for Aussie anglers NEW ZEALAND

Chris Firkin

In December’s issue I talked about what us kiwis do a little differently as far as trout fishing is concerned. This month we talk about our biggest asset as far as most Australian anglers

exactly that. They grow to 50kg+. Where I’m from (Whakatane) 30kg is classed as a good one and 40kg is a trophy. The largest kingfish ever caught officially in the world has come from this beautiful part of New Zealand at 52kg (two have been caught from here officially at exactly the

Young Jake Milbank landed this kingy off Whakatane while chasing snapper in 8m of water. He couldn’t put too much drag on the fish and that’s probably the reason he caught it. The harder you pull on them, the harder they pull on you.

While fishing one of the Junior competitions in Whakatane, 15 year old Charlotte Knight landed this nice chunky kingy on an original Black Magic Snapper Snatcher rig. are concerned and the reason to travel across the ditch. We call them ‘hoodlums’ and they are

same weight) with fishos losing even bigger beasts every season, as they can prove a little hard to

slow down at 30kg, let alone at 50kg. The largest kingy officially caught off the rocks in NZ weighed in at 42.6kg caught by Richard Baker, while live baiting off Great Barrier Island. Kingfish can be caught consistently anywhere in NZ from the top of the South Island all the way up to the Three Kings Island group where hoodlums abound in big numbers and size. Offshore Islands like White Island in the Bay of Plenty (where the biggest kingfish has officially come from), the Aldermans, Mercury Islands group and Great Barrier off the Coromandel, further north to the Poor Knights Islands and Bay of Islands all hold good numbers of big kingfish. We are definitely spoilt for numbers, size and areas to chase them. It’s how we chase them that should interest you. With the numbers available, which can get a little out of hand during mid to late summer, they can become a little bit of a

Hooking up to 11 or 12 kingies while targeting something different, the loss of gear alone starts adding up. Every once and a while, Lady Luck will be on your side, if you can get your anchor up fast enough and get on top of the fish quickly. Then your chances increase tenfold. One thing I have learnt while fishing from the rocks for kingies is the harder you pull on them, the harder they pull on you. A smooth drag from your reel is important, as always. Play the fish smoothly and calmly without too much panic. Fighting the fish erratically won’t help your cause.

At over 40kg, this fish was weighed on a wet sheet, tagged and released to fight another day – a scrap the author won’t forget in a hurry. pain when trying to target other species like snapper, tarakihi and trevally, which we often chase in shallow water on relatively light line. Hooking a 20kg or 30kg+ king in shallow water on light line is basically a recipe for disaster.

Deepwater live bait rig

15-37kg mainline depending on size of fish targeted Ball sinker 4-8oz depending on drift, current and depth Soft lumo bead between HD swivel and sinker

Heavy duty swivel only 1-2m 130lb

Deep structure 60–200m

APRIL 2017

Visiting Whakatane for a weekend produced some good results for Ernie Lengyel while trailing the new Black Magic DX point hooks.

Yellowtail Kingfish SHALLOW WATER TECHNIQUES To be fair, the methods we use to chase kingfish are similar to what you Aussie anglers use, but in saying this, the bait we use when live baiting differs depending on location. More often than not, when fishing from the rocks we live bait with small kahawai (Australian salmon). They are readily available and kingfish in NZ find them irresistible. Squid are nowhere near as prevalent in NZ as they are in Australia, but we all know kingfish love them and most of the kingy fishing I have done in NSW has been trolling with live squid. When fishing from the rocks or boat in shallower

The Coromandel Peninsula is kingy heaven for those fishing land-based or from a boat. your livey from tangling up with the bottom. Secondly, it’s an indicator to where your live bait is and when it is being harassed by a predator. The length of the dental floss between your balloon and swivel should be around 4-6”. WHEN FISHING DEEP A very simple and deadly technique we use when drifting live baits over deep structure is to attach a tournament swivel to our main line or shock leader with a 4-8oz ball sinker, depending on current and depth, running up the main line or shock leader. Place a small soft lumo bead between your sinker and swivel as a stopper to prevent your sinker from damaging your knot. Then tie 1.2m of 130lb tough trace to your swivel to your shorter shank live bait hook, once again making sure your hook is the correct size for the size live bait you have chosen to use. Firstly sound out an area looking for prominent signs of bait, then drift through those areas, dropping your livey to the

bottom. Then once you have hit the sea floor with your sinker, very slowly wind it up a couple of metres then slowly drop it back down. Believe me when I say that you know when your bait is about to be eaten, as the livey gets a little

agitated – funny that! OTHER METHODS Stickbaiting, poppering and technical jigging are all very effective and productive techniques that are no different in NZ than they are in Australia. Live baiting tends to produce bigger fish on

average compared to jigging or stickbaiting. If you’re lucky enough to place your lure in the right place at the right time catching, the big one is still very possible, just not as consistent on bigger models. Why are our kingfish on average much bigger than their Australian cousins? It’s simple really – a good food source, less commercial pressure than Australia and a lot less anglers all contribute to why New Zealand has the numbers and consistently larger fish on average. Interestingly, the largest kingfish officially caught in Australian waters was caught at Browns Mountain off NSW a long time ago. That fish weighed 52kg, the same weight as our largest ever officially caught. Most keen Australian anglers are fully aware that places like Port Augusta in South Australia also hold consistent numbers of large kingfish, but unfortunately through commercial and recreational pressure, most places class a metre long kingfish as a good one.

Kingfish are always curious, especially when you are retrieving what they like to eat to the boat.

Land-based or shallow water rig for livebaiting for kingfish John Taylforth tagged and released one of many kingfish caught that morning. Keeping only what you need means more for future generations. water, live bait with 15-24kg line attached to a 6-8m shock leader of 80lb tough trace. Connect this to a good quality tournament swivel (not a snap swivel), knotted to 3-4m of 130-200lb tough trace or 120lb fluorocarbon preferably with, importantly, the correct size live bait hook, depending on the size of the live bait you are using at the tail section of your rig. Lastly, tie some mintflavoured dental floss

to the top ring of your tournament swivel, then tie a blown up biodegradable balloon to the other end of the dental floss. The size of your balloon is dependant on the size of your live bait. You don’t want too small a balloon for a 2-3kg kahawai, as the live bait will continually pull the balloon under the water and not break away as easily when that hoodlum attacks. Your balloon is there for two reasons – one is to keep

6-8m shock leader 80lb tough trace Blow biodegradable balloon up to suitable size depending on size of live bait

15-24kg mainline

HD swivel (Not snap swivel)

3-4m of 130-200lb tough trace Important to use correct size hook depending on size of live bait

APRIL 2017

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Fishing Fill-its

Waverider range The Waverider range of boats are soon to be offered as ‘off-the-shelf’ boats built to survey for commercial buyers. They’ll start at 4.5m long and be available in 500mm increments with no foreseeable end-size to stop at. Can you imagine a 50ft police boat? This means that any customer can order an off-the-shelf Waverider of their chosen size and choose a layout from up to five provided internal configurations: tiller, centre console, side console, bowrider and half cab for 6m and up. The customer doesn’t need to apply for plans, wait for them to be drawn by a naval architect and then for a builder to quote on them, meaning the customer saves thousands of dollars. This seems to be the first time in Australia that a boat manufacturer is building a range of boats approved for commercial use, that customers, either safety-conscious recreational fishers or commercial businesses, can select their boat and order it, knowing the hull is already approved for survey. The builders at AusShips P/L met with Pat, the original

designer of the boats, to discuss the lack of boats available for commercial use that must have Level Flotation and be built to high NSCV standards, which include the boat to be fully welded and more. Owner and Head Naval Architect at AusShips, Tommy Ericson said, “By drawing the plans to survey for the Waveriders at the same time as the standard plans for non-survey, it allows the price to be comparative.” The Waveriders will be available in both non-survey and survey approved forms with

the surveyed boats slightly more expensive due to the thicker material and longer time to build. AusShips are happy to discuss personalised and customised plans for the internal layouts of the boats, but the high performance hull is to remain untouched and standard. They look forward to helping you shed some light on the differences between surveyed boats and standard boats, and outlining the new AMSA laws regarding small commercial boats. – Kapten Boat Collar

Customers will soon be able to select their boat and order it, knowing the hull is already approved for survey.

The S5100 is perfect for offshore anglers Announced recently, the Simrad S5100 HighPerformance CHIRP Sonar Module is the first sonar module to offer three fully independent sonar channels to deliver high-resolution sonar across multiple depth ranges, making it a perfect fit for offshore sportfishing anglers. The S5100 delivers true simultaneous coverage of up to three different depth ranges, whether connected to three single-channel transducers or one dual-channel and one single-channel transducer. Simultaneous split-screen viewing capability puts anglers in complete control of the water column, while advanced processing technology allows fishing with noise-free clarity at all depth ranges without ever losing bottom depth tracking. Users can mix and match their favourite transducer coverage and transmit power for wide and narrow beam widths to reveal more fish, detecting small and tightly spaced fish and identifying thermoclines. Additionally, users can adjust specific CHIRP frequencies from 28-250kHz and ranging from 300W up to 3kW to precisely target specific

depths and produce big crisp arches with clear target separation. Using the Simrad S5100 with Airmar wide‐ angle CHIRP transducers provides enhanced coverage of the upper water column, a perfect setup for targeting pelagic species. Wide-angle transducers are also useful in shallow water, where traditional narrow beam angles offer limited bottom coverage. A wider coverage area speeds searches and makes individual fish targets easier to see. “The Simrad S5100 sonar module brings a new level of high-performance sonar to offshore sportfishing anglers with greater detail and resolution,” said CEO of Navico Leif Ottosson.

“We are excited to add this serious fishing tool to integrate with Halo Radar, our new autopilot line and the NSS evo3.” The S5100 features highspeed ethernet connectivity, making it easy to install anywhere onboard, and is compatible with Simrad NSS evo3 and NSS evo2 multifunction displays, NSO evo2 glass-bridge systems and the S2000 series of fishfinders. The S5100 HighPerformance Sonar Module will be available in early 2017. For more information on the Simrad S5100 or the entire line of Simrad Yachting marine electronics, visit www.simrad-yachting. com. – Navico

The S5100 is easy to install anywhere on board and is compatible with several other devices. APRIL 2017

Offshore action for everyone THE HASTINGS

Mark Saxon castawayestuarycharters@bigpond.com

If you haven’t been offshore this season, you have been missing out on a great run of black marlin, which have

turned up in numbers once again. They have been well within reach of the smaller offshore vessels, and even the kayakers are getting in on the action! Another favourite target at this time of the year is mackerel. Both Spanish and

spotted macks are being caught from Plomer Bay all the way to Grassy Head. Live bait has been the go and a fair few have been taking lures as well.

Other offshore species like mahimahi have been caught near the FAD, and Crowdy Head is also throwing up a few. Cobia have put in an appearance with a few caught

Martin had this good bream chomped by the local bull shark population.

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while trolling live baits for the mackerel. As always, there are days when the sharks can be a complete nuisance taking fish, so I’m not in a hurry to take my kayak out! THE HASTINGS RIVER Let’s hope this month the whiting make amends

for one of the quietest seasons I’ve seen in recent times. A lot of the flats have been barren for whiting this summer. I know a few fishos have been getting them in the deeper water on baits and vibration lures and they’re not big catches.

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Damien Rafter, Helen Stone and Deacon Stone with some great mackerel from a recent trip with Rush Hour Sport & Gamefishing. Maybe it was too hot for them in the shallows. Time will tell if this goes down as a bad year or not. Bream have been excellent and surface fishing has still been the go-to method. Cicada or prawn imitations both get the job done. Most of our surface

fishing has taken place in the upper reaches and casting into the bankside structure. Accuracy in casting your lures is paramount here, as a correctly placed lure inevitably gets hammered! In saying that, the only way to get accuracy is to get out on the water and hit

a few snaggy looking areas. Remember, fortune favours the brave and the tackle store owner, so get your casts right in there. Lures to use that have been doing well for us are the ever-reliable Bassday Sugapen and a reasonably new player – the SF62 Pencil from ProLure.

There have been a few mulloway showing up in the river. Recently you have really got to put in the effort, especially with lure fishing. The fish have been patchy. Conditions can change quickly, so if you’re after a silver ghost, keep fishing your spots. They will turn up. Night time bait fishing has produced good results on the mulloway lately. A well-presented livie or a slab bait of mullet, tailor or bonito will give you a great chance of getting action. While you’re doing this don’t forget your crab traps. Muddies are still on the menu and at least this way you can stay close to your traps to keep a safeguard on them. I’m sure you know why. Flathead in the river have been quite good and plenty of fish have been caught up to the 50cm mark. Some days you go 50/50 with undersize and legals, so remember the legal size for dusky flathead is 36cm. If you are keeping these fish for a feed, any smaller fish should be returned to the water as quickly as possible. Locating flatties has been simple – find some weed beds and cast your lure or bait next to them and a hungry flatty will not be too far away.

The author with a bass that liked a surface lure over a weed bed.

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Easter treats in Forster FORSTER

David Seaman dseamo@bigpond.com

The seasonal change is upon us, with the darker mornings and cooler nights that will lead up to the cold weather. While some people find the cold crippling, I see it another way – it’s a good time for all things that love the wintery water conditions. We get to see the positioning and aggregation of migrating fish from the estuary come to its peak. Easter is the traditional mark of the mullet run, and the slightest westerly breeze will see them pour out from the entrance of the lake and onto the beach. If they are lucky they’ll miss the

nets and have a successful spawn, and be able to make it back into an estuary at their leisure. More importantly, there will be tonnes of bream and blackfish evacuating the estuary system all along the coast around the same time as the mullet. The repopulation of big bream and blackfish along the coastal fringe is exciting. As the water cools off, the rocks will produce a great mixed bag, including an increasing number of pigs and some solid tailor. Currently there should be a heap of slimies travelling the coast, and with them the shadowing schools of longtail tuna or northern bluefin tuna. I know many anglers look forward to early mornings spinning and live

This is the quality of the bream you can look forward to from the rocks in autumn and winter.

baiting the stones, and I think this year may just have an extra surprise in store. I believe it is quite possible there may be a small black or a decent Spanish landed along the mid north coast this LBG session. Offshore, anglers trolling the warm currents are hoping for more marlin. Spotties and the odd Spanish mackerel should be surfacing while the tail end and thinning of the big bonito schools will be obvious over the next month. With the numbers of bonito dwindling, the pressure on the slimy schools will not let up. And with the northern blues come mac tuna and sharks, so those anglers fishing offshore or live baiting from the rocks will be in for a hectic session or two. Just a note for anyone fishing the rocks over the Easter break, please take your rubbish home with you. It’s not fair that the guys who value the access to spots have to clean up all the crap left behind by a few anglers too filthy to do the right thing. THE LAKE In the lake the migrating fish are starting to gather around leases and structure in the lower part of the lake. Places like leases around the Wallamba River, Mosquito Point and The Paddocks should hold fish, as will the bridge a little later in the month. The bream that have been tucked up in the headwaters of tributaries start to move downriver and gather at significant structure along the way, so target any likely spots throughout the system. The closer we get to May, the more concentrated the fish will be in the lower sections of the lake mouth. Flathead are still easy victims of slow-rolled plastics or drifted bait, and

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APRIL 2017

Along the rocks there are tailor, salmon, pigs, bream, blackfish and the odd mulloway to keep everyone happy. with the numbers of shallow sand banks and channels around The Paddocks you don’t have to go far from the boat ramp to get a feed. Breckenridge Channel has been a productive area of late; from Blue Peter’s back to Gloria Jeans is worth a drift, especially if you grab a coffee first. The break wall will fish well over the next few months as it traffics the bream and blackfish out of the lake. Evenings are the prime time to fish, and the best baits are lightly-weighted yabbies and prawns. The attraction of all the mullet and blackfish evacuating will not be lost on the mulloway either. Mulloway are always an option for the angler who wants a bit of a challenge and a decent feed. Sadly the measure of a hot summer is often the extent of the local fish kill. The local freshwater often suffers from heated water and low flow through summer, and even excessive weed growth. Consecutive mid-40°C days in February impacted on a

section of the Manning River, causing a significant fish kill. There were masses of dead bass, eel, mullet and catfish, and across all four species it was the largest specimens that had died.

I have no doubt the river will bounce back though, and not suffer any lasting effects. And hopefully we’ll get a flood this winter to transport the bass for a big spawning year.

The break wall should have a few of these big bruisers waiting for a bait (the mulloway, not Todd).

We are sorely in need of a good watering HARRINGTON-TAREE

Ian Pereira ianpereira@aapt.net.au

We need rain – lots of it. The freshwater part of the Manning is very low. Some of the old timers are saying that it’s as bad as they can recall. Very little rain has fallen in the hills and the river is barely moving. Further north from the Manning catchment, things are just as bad. Up above Tamworth, the cotton crop is very poor due to the high temperatures causing the flowers to die, so the resulting crop is very small. The whole area north of the Manning catchment needs good sustaining rain. We, on the coast, have been experiencing varying sea temperatures from as low as 19°C to as high as 25°C. Some days the fish are on and some days they are not. ESTUARY The estuaries have fished the best of all the locations. School mulloway to 6-7kg have been caught on live baits, soft plastics and slab baits from the wall at Harrington, from Chinaman’s Point, in the

lower part of the Lansdowne River and up around Croki. Flathead have continued to bite fairly well without causing a frenzy in the angling ranks. Bream to 800g are taking yabbies, mullet strips and prawn

BEACH AND ROCK At last some decent tailor have shown up on Crowdy Beach. The best of the fish are over a kilo while most are around 600g. They are taking metal lures and pilchard baits. Early

Anglers have been getting good snapper from the shallow reefs. Photo courtesy of Harrington Bait & Tackle. baits fished from the upriver part of the wall. Whiting have been caught on poppers and yabby baits from the sandspit and the backwater behind the hotel. Some anglers have been scoring a few luderick at night on fresh yabbies, but they don’t bite every night.

morning and late afternoon are the best times to throw a bait for these little scrappers. The southern end of Crowdy Beach has produced catches of bream and whiting during the day on beach worms and pipis. The colder water seems to be close inshore all of

the time and this keeps the bite down. OFFSHORE At last the baitfish have arrived. The sea from Mermaid Reef to Crowdy Head is packed with slimy mackerel, garfish and yellowtail. They have only just arrived and it should not take too long before the predatory fish arrive. Already small bonito have turned up in great numbers. Spanish mackerel, mahimahi and mac tuna should be here soon. The northern grounds have fished well for snapper to 2.5kg, pearl perch and trag. Down around Old Bar, flathead and morwong are biting well. April is the month that the mullet run, usually around ANZAC Day. A westerly wind will send them out of the river as the tide turns from high. Schools of fish will continue to leave for two or three weeks. When the mullet are schooling up along the wall and in the lower reaches of the river, mulloway and sharks will be harassing them day and night. A fresh slab of mullet floated out near the schools of fish is sure to draw a run from a mulloway or a shark.

You need a strong rod, a reliable reel and strong line to handle these fish. Generally, the sharks will cut the line. If you happen to hook one in the side of the mouth a battle of up to an hour can take place.

This is when you need a mate to handle the gaff and shine the torch on the rocks so you don’t slip. It is possible to get two or three hook-ups fairly quickly, so it can be a tiring session. It’s great fun though.

A stonker bream like this doesn’t come along every day. Photo courtesy of Bohnock Bait & Tackle.

APRIL 2017

Here’s the current situation HUNTER COAST

Gary Earl earlybird13@optusnet.com.au

This month should see the sea change direction, with the water running back up the hill again to banana bender territory. Additionally, the fish that moved down on the warmer currents way down south will pass us. This makes April a great time to fish around the whole Hunter Coast, especially the rocks and beaches.

I have been bending a rod or two lately, and with moderate success. I have found the corner of the beaches and the headlands and rocks to be the best places to land a bait or spin with lures. Tailor are moving through, and of course salmon have been around as well. I have seen stray salmon all through summer this year – the numbers of them have been that great lately. Luderick are schooling and entering the river as well. They must be passing the bream as they school up, tending to go on their

Bream are running on the beaches at the moment, with the best time being late in the afternoon. Fresh prawns and pipis are the best baits, but bream will also take pilchards and almost any fresh cut slab or cubed baits. You just need to find a good gutter or hole.

spawning runs, so there should be fish around the two break walls and close to the harbour mouth now. It’s also not a bad month to livebait for mulloway off both of the walls, especially if you can get a live squid, legal tailor, a slimy mackerel or yellowtail. Sometimes herring school around under the wharves through April, and with the smallest livebait jigs on the market you can fill up the livie tank pretty quickly. A handful of mashed bread can entice them to move closer to your boat if they’re well under the huge shipping wharves, or if you’re standing on the wharves themselves. They are a great bait for mulloway and large flathead. Cut fresh they will also take bream, flounder and tailor. A few big sergeant bakers were caught off the Stockton wall while I was there not too long back. These are usually a deep sea reef species, but I think the warmth of the water had brought them in close. Myself and the angler who caught them thought the first one was a huge flathead. He was pretty disappointed and released them. They’re not great on the chew, even though they are white fleshed and large.

Drummer should be turning up now in the suds, and if you like doing battle with these hoons of the crevices the end of Stockton wall will give you some. When I say ‘some’ I mean the ones you can actually get up to the net or gaff. The end of the wall is so rugged it makes for a hard slog when battling these brutes. Heavy gear such as large Alveys and 40lb line and sometimes even heavier line is the best way to nail them. A berley mixture of bread, sand and a bit of strand or cabbage weed also helps. Groper hang here too from April through to winter. If you get some red crabs on the spot, the same gear can get these blue and red balls of muscle as well. Newcastle anglers use Alveys a fair bit when chasing these big, hardpulling fish as you can hand cup the reel and actually get some leverage on the fish. You can go one-on-one without a drag system that may slip halfway through that powerful first run for the rocks, and you can lift them up as they make their deep dive. The rougher the water the better, but be careful and choose your spots wisely. Offshore has been hit and miss. Some lucky anglers

Drummer should be more numerous from this month onwards. Don’t forget the heavy gear and cleats for traction on the slippery rocks. have returned with a lot of sand flathead, squire-sized snapper (3kg is the best one I have seen in the past few weeks), teraglin and school mulloway. Some sizeable sharks are also over the reefs and in Stockton Bight. Late afternoon and early morning have been the best times, as well as tidal changes through the night. This is probably going to be the last chance you will get to chase marlin, mahimahi and other pelagics. With the water cooling, the marlin have been an on-and-off affair. Some days a few have been caught, and then nothing for a week.

The inside reefs usually fill with school kingfish, nannygai, red and blue morwong and squid in April, so this is an option for those who want to dart out for a quick fish before or after work. This is also the last month for blue swimmer crabs, so drop a few pots on your way out through the river. If the fish aren’t on, a feed of sweet crabs might put a smile on your dial. All in all, I really think you should get on the water this month as it sees the changing of the guard from summer to winter species. The fishing won’t be the same later in autumn.

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April is prime time for a range of species sight casting lures at the bust-ups, with small metals in the 15-30g size range. If you’re land based, head to the Salamander Shores jetty or the Anchorage rock walls to get in on the action. And don’t be surprised if a school of longtail tuna starts erupting through the baitfish. We are coming into that exciting time of year when these torpedoes enter the bay. Dusky flathead are still in good numbers, with most of the shoreline from Karuah to Shoal Bay worth a flick with plastics, especially on the high tides. Mulloway have also revved up thanks to all the

baitfish around, and can be found in the drop-offs around Soldier Point and along the breakwalls. Using In my opinion April is the live baits and fishing the pinnacle month for fishing tide changes will give you in Port Stephens as it’s the best chance of mulloway prime time for so many success. Daytime is best for different species regardless deeper water, and night is of whether you’re fishing more productive around the the beach, estuary, rocks break walls. or offshore. Stacks of blue swimmer ESTUARY crabs have been reported The lower half of the from North Arm Cove, estuary system is currently Tilligerry and Karuah. Just brimming with schools of bear in mind that witches baitfish. Pelagic species hats are banned in Port such as tailor and bonito Stephens. are taking full advantage BEACH of this bounty. These Off the beach, whiting predators can be easily remain in excellent caught on calm mornings numbers. Live worms, long shank hooks, a nice looking gutter and a high tide are the keys to catching them. The bream by-catch Quality snapper are on offer this month, with the best times being dawn and dusk. that comes from fishing for whiting with live worms catching a longtail tuna is should also increase this not hooking onto a fish but month as these fish start to rather getting it back to the rocks and past the ruthless migrate along the beaches. Mullet will also be sharks. On bad days anglers starting their annual can have several hook-ups migration out of the and no fish to show for estuaries, moving north their efforts. along the beaches attracting There’s also the chance some serious predators. of a cobia from the stones The mighty mulloway is at this time of year. There one predator that will take have already been a few advantage of the mullet run. reports of cobes landed in Putting in some time after recent weeks. 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