New South Wales Fishing Monthly May 2019 by Fishing Monthly

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MAY 2019, Vol. 24 No. 10

Contents 22

From the Editor’s Desk... Of course, that feeling when you’ve rigged a new lure – one that you reckon that the fish haven’t seen before – is pretty special as well. Our sport revolves around being eternally optimistic. You don’t find too many pessimists in fishing – no matter how they try to cloak it. We love being part of that process at Fishing Monthly. We love delivering you the ideas that may inspire you to try a new technique or a new area. We want to plant those seeds in your head that grow into ideas and that catch you more fish. The Lure Show is one of them. You need to visit it before you die. And when you do, I challenge you to leave saying that you didn’t get any ideas from it. You won’t be able to. Slightly easier is trying to limit your spend. I try to keep mine under $500 each year. And I struggle. From ultra realistic handcarved swimbaits to artwork

for the wall or the lure box, there’s always something new and exciting for me and I’ve been fishing for nearly 40 years and been in this industry for over 30. The other side of the show that I find really interesting is the Social Media Hub. The show sets aside space for popular fishing social media stars to interact with the public and their fans. It’s great watching kids meet their YouTube and Instagram heroes. It’s also interesting that some of them don’t want a bar of interacting with the public. Not that there’s anything wrong with not wanting to be involved, but some personalities only want to be a curated presence to their fans. I suppose that’s the world we live in now… And, as always, we will have a super Fishing Monthly deal there for new or renewing subscribers. This year, it’s a limited edition StumpJumper. If you’re super keen for one

Editorial Manager: Jacqui Thomas Sub-Editors: Bob Thornton Nicole Penfold Annie March Josh Dunn Publishers: Steve Morgan Matthew Drinkall

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and can’t make it to the show, give the office a call the following week and we will be able to hook you up. It’s a free call on 1800 228 244. We’ll see you at the show, or you can like Fishing Monthly Magazines on Facebook to see all of our show coverage. ELECTION LOOMING The Federal election is coming up fast. If you don’t know the different parties’ stances on fisheries issues, there’s an easy way to find out – check out the Australian Fishing Trade Association’s Facebook page. It will be regularly updated in the lead-up to the election (18 May) with information relevant to anglers. Fishing Monthly and AFTA aren’t aligned with any particular party, but I think we can all agree that when we cast a vote, it should be an informed one.

PRO

Christmas in June – it’s Lure Show time! This year’s Lure Show will be held in South East Queensland on 1-2 June. It’s a fair hike but well worth the trip. With the core of Australia’s lure designing talent pushing each other every year, you’ll find that trends and designs that come out of the show end up on your local tackle store shelves. It influences your lure fishing more than you realise. For me, one of the great things about our sport is the quality time you get to spend researching, tinkering with and preparing your tackle. It’s nearly as good as the time you spend in the late afternoon, after a long session on the water, standing around someone’s boat re-living the day’s action and bouncing theories around about how you can improve your catch the following session.

MAY 2019

AUST

BYRON COAST Yamba 34 The Tweed 36 Ballina 38 COFFS COAST Coffs Harbour 42 Nambucca 44 South West Rocks 45 MACQUARIE COAST The Hastings 46 Harrington-Taree 49 Forster 50 HUNTER COAST Port Stephens 51 Erina 52 Swansea 53 Hunter Coast 54 SYDNEY Sydney North 14 The Hawkesbury 16 Sydney 18 Sydney South 20 Pittwater 22 Botany Bay 23 Sydney Rock and Beach 24 Western Sydney 26 ILLAWARRA COAST Illawarra 55 Nowra 56 BATEMANS COAST Batemans Bay 57 Merimbula 58 Narooma 58 EDEN COAST Bermagui 60 Mallacoota 60 Tathra 61 FRESHWATER Batlow 72 Lithgow-Oberon 73 Robinvale 74 Snowy Mountains 74 Orange 75 Wagga Wagga 75 Albury-Wodonga 76 Yarrawonga 76 New England 77 Hunter Valley 78 Canberra 79 LURE EXPO SNEAK PEEK 27 BOATING AND KAYAK 91 REGULAR FEATURES Back to Basics 62 Black Magic Master Class 35 Cooking 67 Dam Levels 73 Fly fishing 71 Fun Page 87 Kayaking Hotspot 92 Tides 90 Trade Directory 88 Tournament News 80 What’s New Fishing 64 What’s New Boating 93 SPECIAL FEATURES Bait up at the beach 8 Experience the joy of Jindabyne 68

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Better beach fishing with bait SYDNEY

Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au

I spend just as much time rock fishing as beach fishing, but there’s something particularly special about fishing the ocean beaches. You’re right amongst the waves and wind, up close and personal with nature, and it’s a unique, primal feeling.

Why? Well, if you’re just starting to learn about beach structures, it will pay for you big time to check out the difference between a sand bar, a beach hole or gutter, or a rip. You can’t just rely on fishing near another angler and hope they know what they’re doing. If you can’t identify beach structure, you’re going to catch far less than you should catch off an ocean beach – even if you’re an experienced angler

area is called the sand bank. The beach hole becomes deeper and wider during the high tide period and has a more narrow gutter passage during the low tide period. Now let’s do a basic run-down on bait collecting. The following baits will catch bream, whiting, dart, flathead, trevally, tarwhine and even mulloway. When you’re gathering bait, remember to take only what you need.

A typical gutter. White water on either side shows you where the shallow water is (sand bank). At the centre there are unbroken waves and much less white water, which tells you that the water is deeper. To be consistently successful on the beaches, you need to know how to ‘read’ a beach, which means identifying structures like holes, gutters and rips, and why the swell is larger on one side of the beach compared to the other. The importance of tides, the correct gear for the target species, the correct bait and lures and appropriate techniques is a process that will take time, but it’s a lot of fun along the way! For now, let’s break it down to basics and take it step by step. BEACH STRUCTURE A good place to start is with a stroll down the beach without the fishing gear.

in your own field. Have a look on Google Maps for a likely beach to check out. Ideally you want a beach that’s at least 1.2km, preferably longer. The longer the beach, the more holes gutters and sandbanks of variable depths there will be, and the more fishing possibilities and options that you should avoid. In the photos hereabouts you will notice a section of water that has less or no wave foam. That is the deeper area of water, or hole, that you should fish. On the left and right of that deeper water is white foam, which is a sign that the water is probably shallow. This shallow water

BEACHWORMING Beachworms are one of the main baits I use for whiting and even bream off the ocean beaches. Catching your own worms can be challenging at first, but also a lot of fun. The best locations are the more open larger beaches; small beaches don’t usually have good numbers. The best time is low tide, around one hour before to roughly one hour in. When it comes to bait, I use pilchards, salmon fillet, tailor fillet or any oily fillet salted (salted fish give a long lasting smell). Some wormers use canned kippers, which work well, while

others use rotten fish. I put my bait in a sock or stocking, take a 1.5m cord and half hitch the top section of the sock. I then half hitch the cord around my wrist. Some people use their sock for berley and hold a bait in their other hand, but I just use the sock as both berley and bait. I also take a bait bucket, belt and a small bucket. When you’re on the beach at low tide, look for spots that have a flat area and a longer run-off where the wave reaches its maximum and recedes to its minimum. You can tell where the beach hole is because the waves break less, and don’t travel as far up the beach, which isn’t ideal for worming. Go to the flatter section of beach 10-20m away from the minimum of the wave receding. Lower the bag down and have approximately 1m of cord with your sock filled with burley. Wave around your bag of berley/hand bait when the wave is at its maximum and at the beginning of the water receding, and then wave the bag in a fan-like motion. That will send a berley scent towards the waiting worms. If you see a V in the shallow water (only a couple of centimetres) there’s a beach worm there. Worms

A quality Sydney whiting. Note the gutter on the left and the sand bank on the right. The medium size worms are easier to catch, so I recommend that you practice on that size. With the big worms you will often lose grip because they are strong and slippery, or you will over grip them and bust off the first few centimetres of the worm. Timing is critical to pull them out without snapping the head section off. When you have enough worms you can roll them in cool, dry sand or put them in a bucket with an aerator and around 15cm of cool salt

where you’d catch beach worms, and get ready to do the ‘pipi shuffle’! Stand at a similar distance as beach worming, around 10-15m away from the minimum of the draw back of the wave. With your feet next to each other, weave your feet into the sand as the water is receding. That will help your feet shuffle away sand, and as the wave is receding allow you to bury deeper in the sand. You’ll either feel the pipis with your feet, or will see them in the water, and you’ll need to quickly grab

The perfect way to start a morning – fishing a nice beach hole. The hole is easy to spot between the shallow sand banks on either side, which have lots of white water.

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MAY 2019

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don’t have eyes but they can sense vibrations, so tread lightly towards the worm. When you have reached the worm, wait for another wave and then place the bag near it. The worm should raise its head again. Put the bag within a millimetre of the worm. The worm has two black pincers which will come out and grab the bag. Place your fingers gently into the sand and press onto the worm firmly and turn your wrist which will allow you to get a better hold of the worm. They are slippery buggers so get some sand in between your fingers to give you a better grip.

water. That will keep them alive for around 2-3 days. Keep a spare bucket so you can change the water, and get rid of any broken worms as they will pollute the water. Whether your worms are in sand or water, be sure to keep them in the coolest storage area possible (e.g. the bathroom). Hot areas will kill your hard-earned worms. GATHERING PIPIS Pipis are a great whiting bait. Harvesting them is great fun, and anyone can do it. It’s best done from the half run-out to the half run-in tide. The more open, larger beaches are best. Find an area similar to

them before they get washed away. The larger ones are best (around 8cm long by 6cm wide) so you can get enough pipi bait to cover your hook. BLOODWORMS Digging bloodworms in estuaries can be well worthwhile, although it’s hard work. Before you start though, you have to find out where you can legally harvest them, and what the bag limits are. The DPI website can tell you this. Bloodworms are generally dug on the mud flats. It’s laborious, messy and smelly, but if you stick with it you’ll get some great

bait. Having a decent size shovel will give you better results. Dig and turn over the shovel full of mud, and break apart the black dirt/mud to look for the worms, which are a deep red colour. Please take only what you need.

PINK NIPPERS In the estuaries at low tide, there are areas of exposed sand flats which are home to pink nippers. Some estuaries can have dozens of acres of low tide sand flat prospects. Look for the

Beachworming is lots of fun. There are two common varieties, the ‘slimy worm’ (pictured), and the shorter and thicker ‘stumpy worm’. With the long beachworm you can get up to 15 baits when fishing for smaller species.

nippers’ holes, which have small mounds on them. When you see a hole, place the yabby pump on it and push down to create a seal, and then pull the handle to suck up the sand. Spray it on the ground away from the hole. Quickly repeat the task on the same hole (within seconds). If you haven’t had luck after 3-4 tries, go to the next hole. If the sand is too gritty or too muddy, move to a more sandy spot, which will give you better results. This could be only a few metres away. CHOOSE YOUR TARGET You may have already decided what species you want to catch off the beach (e.g. mulloway), and don’t want to catch anything else. If you’re an experienced angler in other areas, and you’re prepared to put in the hours, that’s fine. However, if you’re new to fishing, or if you don’t want to spend too long between bites, I recommend targeting breadand-butter species such as whiting, bream and tailor. They will keep you occupied and interested, and will require a lot more casting and fiddling around, which is great – it will help you become more coordinated and improve your dexterity. If you prefer to go for something larger, you can

Pipis can be found on most sizeable surf beaches along our East Coast. They work well on bream, dart, trevally and whiting. Use a knife to open the pipi carefully, and scoop it out with your finger. Thread your pipi onto a no. 2-1/0 long shank worm hook or suicide hook. target the dusky whaler shark or the often elusive mulloway. Basic mulloway fishing off the beach is doable for an intermediate angler, but novices can become frustrated with the slow results. We can look more closely at this species later in the article. For now, let’s look at the bread and butter species. WHITING AND BREAM I prefer the months between mid October to late June for whiting and bream (and also for flathead, dart and tarwhine). There are periods throughout the

season that produce better results, but this varies from year to year and from the South Coast to the North Coast. Whiting and bream are bottom feeders, foraging for pipis, small crabs and beach worms. Around the low-tide period the whiting, bream, dart and tarwhine can’t feed as efficiently as when the tide is at least half tide in to the high tide. That’s because the pipis, small crabs and worms are above the low tide water line. These fish can be found in a variety of depths, but

some depths are better than others. You can fish a deep gutter around 4m and have some success, but your results will probably be better fishing the shallower gutters around 2m deep – or even as little as 75cm, especially during flat surf. Bait Having the best baits for whiting off the beach is important. Whiting love worms, such as beachworms, tubeworms, bloodworms and squirtworms. You’d think beachworms would be the best, seeing as they’re in the To page 10

MAY 2019

From page 9

same area as the whiting, but bloodworms are at least as good. You can also pump squirtworms or pink nippers. Whichever bait you’re after, be sure to check out the areas where you can legally harvest it, and check the bag limits. You can find this info at www.dpi.nsw. gov.au/fishing. Alternatively, you can purchase these baits from a

tackle shop which specialises in live bait. Just be sure to call the shop first to make sure they’re in stock. You may have to place an order and arrange a meeting time at the shop. Rod and reel Although you can catch these species on a heavy rod and reel, your results won’t be as good as with a light spinning reel or Alvey set-up. A long, whippy-

In the estuaries at low tide you can pump pink nippers on the exposed sand flats.

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tipped light rod with a medium action is best. Go for a 3.2-3.6m (10’6”-12’) rod that can handle sinker weights up to 2oz, as this will handle most surf situations that you would fish. Fishing a swell size above 1.5m is quite challenging, and you should avoid it. For the low reel seat rod, I use an Alvey 500B side cast reel. For the medium seat rods, I use a 300 size spin reel. A durable shoulder bag like an Alvey Wading Bag is a must. You should also bring a cloth to wipe your hands with, as well as a rod bucket, belt and bait bucket. A 15-20L bucket with a clip seal lid will hold your catch. Ready-made 2-hook paternosters or single hook rigs will save you the fuss of re-rigging during a hot bite. Line and terminal tackle The line class is 3.5-4.5kg (8-10lb), as the sinker weight can be fairly heavy during moderate swell conditions. You can fish 2.6kg (6lb) braid or mono but it will put a strain on the line, or even snap it if you’re using 2oz sinkers. I recommend braid plus 10-12lb fluoro leader for your spin outfits. If you’re using an Alvey or just prefer mono, try 8-10lb mono. The smaller the swivel, the better. I use 44lb swivels. You’ll also want snap clips

When you hook bream this size off the beach on 3-4kg line, they rip line off your reel. So much fun! This bream was caught on a beachworm bait. for your sinkers so you can change the sinker weight with ease. If conditions are flat, having your sinker anchored to the ocean floor may reduce your chances. Changing the sinker weight in accordance with the wave action and current speed will give you better results. It looks more natural if the bait is bouncing along. You may have been told to use small hooks for whiting, and this is true when you’re using skinny tubeworms. However, most of the time it’s not necessary. Small hooks are more likely

to deep hook undersized whiting and bream, reducing their survival rate and making life harder for the angler as well. I use a no. 1 or 2 red long shank hooks. TAILOR AND SALMON Catching a big salmon is what got me hooked on beach fishing. I was 13 years old fishing the northern side of Seven Mile Beach on the South Coast, and was using a whole pilchard on a set of three 3/0 gangs with my trusty 7’6” glass rod and my 600B Alvey with 12lb line. The full moon was just rising off the horizon. The rod tip

loaded up, and a few seconds later a 2.5kg salmon jumped directly in front of the moon! Playing it out was amazing, and from there I got right into fishing with ganged pilchards in the surf. The peak time to catch Aussie salmon is from around mid May to November. The best time for tailor locally is from October until the end of July. Tailor and salmon are generally caught in the same gutters as mulloway and sharks. They can even be caught in shallow gutters as they forage for mullet,

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whitebait and any small fish which gets too close. Tailor and salmon are pelagics, which means they are free roaming, rather than living in one place for extended periods like bottom species tend to do. Tailor and salmon will look for baitfish

sinker. If there is a lot of side sweeping current, stick to the star sinker, which drifts less. You can get good results by adding a surf popper to your rig. Sometimes you will get the strike with this rather than a pilchard. It’s up to you as to

Presenting your worm bait correctly is important. Thread the hook into the middle of the worm and slide the worm up past the eye of the hook, the knot and up the line for at least 1cm. No half hitch required. in and on the edge of gutters and holes, and often move on unless there’s enough prey to keep them berleyed up. These predators are even found on top of sand banks and in shallow gutters during flat sea conditions. To catch tailor or salmon, fish the edge of a gutter where the white water ends and the deeper green or aqua coloured clearer water begins. Usually gutters and holes are between 20-50m wide, and some can be fished at low tide if they’re deep enough. Some are better fished from the fourth hour in up to two hours out, because the gutter may be too shallow before that stage of the tide. These predators like to use stealth to ambush their prey. Once the baitfish know they’re being hunted, they will escape into the shallower white water and hide there. Rod and reel You need a rod and reel setup that can fish up to 112g of sinker, plus the weight of your sizeable gang hooks and pilchard. That can be around 160g or slightly more if you’re using large pillies. I recommend a 12-13.6ft rod, either 6-10kg or 7-15kg. When it comes to reels, the 600-650 size Alvey reels are good, and are suitable for a reasonably quick retrieve. I have found that 10kg mono is heavy enough to deal with 4oz sinkers, or you can fish lighter in that 6kg line class. If you prefer spinning reels, a 4000-4500 size reel is the go. Line and terminal tackle When I’m chasing these fish I use 10kg braid coupled with 20-30lb fluoro leader. I recommend a 95lb crane or rolling swivel, and 3/0 to 4/0 gang hooks. It’s a good idea to bring two sizes to suit different size pilchards. Suitable sinkers are 1/2oz to 4oz in a star sinker, bean, or even a large ball

whether you want to purchase the 2kg block of pilchards or the IQF (individually quick frozen) variety. IQF pilchards are slightly firmer, and so can withstand the strong current and waves action a little bit better. MULLOWAY AND SHARKS Most beach anglers regard the mulloway (jewfish) as the pinnacle of beach fishing. They’re also the most elusive species for us East Coast anglers off the

as well; there’s less variety of bait, and the mulloway prefer water temperatures of 19°C or above. Most anglers prefer to fish for mulloway from the fourth hour of the run-in to around one hour of the run-out. This can vary from fishing the deeper gutters compared to fishing the shallow gutters. When it comes to moon phases, there’s a mind set to only fish the new moon because it’s the dark phase of the moon, although some anglers will fish the build-up to the full moon period. For me, the full moon and new moon period mean that the tides are at the correct time of the evening. The high tides in NSW will be approximately 1-3 hours after dark during the peak of the full or the new moon phase. I call this ‘social hours fishing’, as the average person can fish the high tides up to about 8-10pm and get home and have a decent sleep for work. Another advantage of fishing the earlier tides is that it’s still light enough for you to check out likely prospects. You can check out your plan A gutter and find a plan B or C. Finding a gutter at night is a daunting task for all but the most experienced anglers. Fishing later into the night can be advantageous though, as the locations you’ll often fish will have swimming pool lights

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A common rig for tailor and salmon is a sinker sliding down onto a swivel, then 40-80cm of 30-40lb leader, then the gang hooks. Add a surf popper to 30cm of 30-40lb leader, and tie the leader to the swivel. The popper often gets hit before the pilchard does. beach, at least in the Sydney region. If you head north or south of Sydney you have a better chance of landing one. Both mulloway and sharks prefer mild water temperatures, so mid-October to June is the best time in the Sydney region. Times, tides and moon phases The best time of the year to target mulloway is between October and June. As the whiting, dart and mullet move in on the beach and the increasing numbers of tailor prowl the beaches, the mulloway and sharks come in to feed. The cooler months don’t fish

nearby, which create a lot of light. Generally they shut the pool lights by 10pm, so the late tides are good for that reason. I like to set up my gear near one side of the gutter between the wave foam (the shallower sand flat) and the unbroken waves (the drop-off of the beach hole). Bait Most mulloway anglers use squid, and the fresher the better. Some anglers simply won’t go mulloway fishing if they don’t catch enough squid, or can’t buy quality squid. But here’s a heads up To page 12

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– there are no weed beds on 99% of all East Coast beaches. That means the mulloway’s prey is not squid, but small to medium size fish. Yes, squid does make great bait, but it’s not the be all and end all.

used, although mulloway do forage for beachworms off our ocean beaches. If you want to use beach worms, use the larger ones for these big predators. Tackle You can scrape by with your tailor and salmon rod

When the swell is up you can fish the end of the beach that’s next to a rock corner. There’s usually a gutter carved out next to the rocks at the end of the beach. It’s a great spot to fish out of the southerly wind and swell at the north-facing corners, and out of the northerly wind and swell at the south-facing corners.

You can catch tailor at dawn, dusk and at night. Most anglers use ganged pilchards, but you can have good success on ganged sea gar, a strip of tailor, mullet, yellowtail or any fresh fish bait. Live bait like mullet can be caught from the estuary, or you can use slab baits like yellowtail mullet or even slimy mackerel. Legal whiting make a great live bait, and are great as a fillet or butterflied bait as well. Tailor are also an excellent mulloway bait. Beachworms aren’t often

MAY 2019

in swell conditions below a metre, but it won’t be suitable for all-round beach mulloway fishing. When the current and swell is a little larger than a metre, and the baits you want to use are double the weight of even a large pilchard, your tailor and salmon gear may not cut it.

A sturdy rod is required, and one that is preferably from 3.6m (12’) to 4.5m (15’). The rod should be capable of handling at least 250g, and preferably more – even up to 350g. That’s a lot of weight to cast, so a rod with a flimsy tip that bends over before you even cast out is going to give you a spongy, smaller cast, and not handle the heavy weights you may require. I use a 7-15kg, 2-piece, 3.6m (12’) rod, and 10-20kg, 3-piece, 4.5m (15’) rod. I couple these with a 4000 size reel spooled with 30lb braid and 40lb leader. When using an Alvey, I use a 15’6”, 10-15kg rod. The length takes some getting used to, but it’s an advantage when the surf is

up to a moderate swell. BEACH FISHING TIPS Fishing the correct sinker weight can add to your catch rate off the surf beaches. For example, if you’re fishing for tailor in slight wind and wave conditions, you can cast out a light sinker and a pilchard or medium-size gar unweighted, or with a sinker weight of only a few grams. It may not sound practical, but it works well when you have found a deep gutter in close. Just casting out and slowly retrieving your bait back in can give you great results. However, more often you’ll need to fish sinker weights from 1-2oz, and on at least half of all of your trips 2-3oz would be

more practical – sometimes even heavier, depending on the species. For whiting and bream, use 1/4oz-1oz as a general rule. When the swell is 1m+, up to 2oz is the maximum for light outfits. For sharks and mulloway you can start with a 2oz weight and go up to 6oz. Why so heavy? Well, large baits create more water drift during moderate swell conditions, and the current will move the sinker as well if it’s not heavy enough. Most of the time when fishing off the beach, the line tilts from 12 o’clock to 1 o’clock, or from 12 o’clock to 11 o’clock angle. If you

don’t walk with the direction that the line is moving to, your line could eventually wash up onto the beach. Moving with the line direction and keeping your line fairly straight out at 90° will help you cover more water in search of your target species, and will reduce your line getting washed onto the beach. Vary your sinker weight according to how much current there is. TRYING IT YOURSELF So that’s your basic guide to beach fishing. Beach fishing is a safe and sociable option, keeps you fit, provides great sportfishing and quality eating fish, and it’s just a beautiful place to be. Give it a go, you’ll love it!

Aussie salmon! These acrobatic fish pull hard, average between 1-3kg, and are found in good quantities off the East Coast beaches, especially in winter. They’re a great species to hone your skills.

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Excellent fishing in the lingering warm waters SYDNEY NORTH

Alex Qasabian

While autumn brings cooler temperatures on land, our local waters are still warm and full of life. The currents are slowing down offshore, and some of our best fishing is in full swing. Inshore, large numbers of kingfish, including quite

a few over the magic metre mark, have been landed on our local reefs and rock faces. Live baits such as yellowtail, slimy mackerel and squid have all been proving deadly on the shallow reefs. As the water starts to cool down, the fish will move out to the deeper reefs. Some decent snapper and trag have been caught for those who are floating baits and bottom bashing.

Offshore it’s all about blue marlin and yellowfin tuna. Already several tuna (50-75kg) and blue marlin (150-230kg) have been caught. Most fish have been caught in 100-1000 fathoms, with the Bait Station, Browns Mountain and Norah Canyons all being highly productive. To stop these brutes, 24kg37kg tackle is highly recommended with 9-12”

A blue marlin ready for release. Photo courtesy of Mark Mackey.

There have been good catches of tailor off the rocks. Photo courtesy of Hayden Webber.

skirted lures. May is one of the best months for big fish, so get out there and have a crack! Off the stones, tailor, bonito and salmon are in great numbers. Small metals and shore jigs provide distance, and a fast retrieve should have you hooked up. Snapper are also in good numbers, with several large specimens being caught on

shore jigs and bait. Even a few longtail tuna have been caught in recent weeks! On our beaches there have been several reports of school-sized mulloway and sharks, for those anglers patiently working the gutters from sunset onwards. Fresh squid has been the go-to bait. • For all the latest info on what’s biting and where,

drop in and chat to the expert staff at Fishing Station, located on 50 Darley St, Mona Vale. They stock an excellent range of tackle and bait, and are open every day except for Christmas Day and New Years Day. You can contact the team on 02 8094 9197, or see regular news and product updates at www.facebook. com/fishingstationaustralia.

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Recent rain brings life THE HAWKESBURY

Dan Selby dan@sydneysportfishing.com.au

Recent rainfall has seen the river come to life with the much-needed nutrient

they will start to head north for their annual migration. Bream and blackfish will follow as the water temperatures start to drop further. Good bags of both species can be caught at this time of year from Spencer

prawn either whole or peeled will get you amongst a few bream. While some fresh horse hair or cabbage weed for the blackfish will get your float rocketing down. I like to pick a major rock or back eddy to position

David was lucky to get this 120cm mulloway in the net after nearly being spooled on the first run. Having an anchor float saved the day, as the author was able to chase the fish down in the nick of time. Flathead will start to concentrate back towards the lower reaches from Wisemans ferry down to Brooklyn as the water temps

plastics or vibes. The odd mac tuna and frigate mackerel are also a nice surprise catches at this time of year when the bait

along the headlands with live yakkas, squid and cuttlefish the standout baits during autumn. Downrigging or drifting lightly-weighted

Foggy mornings and bass boofing surface lures had Will from the UK smiling on a recent trip with the author. run-off stirring up the bait and predators. Mullet have schooled up and headed for the lower reaches where

down towards Berowra and into Broken Bay. Fresh strip baits of bonito, tailor, mullet or the good old school

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myself up current so I can drift my lightlyweighted baits for bream or float rig for blackfish back to the strike zone. Two anchors can be handy for this, but recently I’ve just been using the spot lock feature on my bow mount electric motor, which makes moving spots easy if no action has been had within 20 minutes to half hour. Lure anglers can use a similar approach by casting lightly-weighted soft plastics and small vibes along the rock walls and hopping them down to the depths. Pay attention to where the majority of bites are occurring and make sure your lures are spending more time in this zone throughout your session for some amazing results.

Another fat mulloway falls victim to a live yakka fished around the tide change. in the upper catchment cool off. They will follow the whitebait, herring and school prawns downstream and can produce some great sessions when the concentrations of bait are found using your electronics or by looking out for diving terns. Tailor are a regular by-catch when fishing the white bait schools, so don’t be surprised by the odd bite off if using light leaders with your soft

gathers around Broken Bay. They can be frustrating at times, as the spontaneously bust up on the surface, and then disappear by the time you get a cast to them, to only to pop up 100m away and repeat the same thing! Having a 10g metal slug tied to a light outfit will give you the best chance at getting a lure to them. Kingfish will still be on offer inside Pittwater and

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Bream will be eager to take baits and lures this month. This fish liked the look of the new Squidgies Bio Tough Double Tail G rub in pumpkin seed colour.

baits from an anchored boat are the two preferred methods for Hawkesbury kingfish. Micro jigs and soft plastics are another fun way to get amongst the kings once you have found them on structure or busting up on the surface. Bass will be starting to head back down to the salt, hopefully with the assistance of some more rain in the upper catchment. Although it’s a no take season they are still allowed to be targeted for catch and release fishing, possibly bringing out some big 40-50cm fish, as they compete for food with the millions of other tidal water bass. Big estuary perch will also be on offer with the reaches from Dargle to Wisemans Ferry the best areas to try your luck at hooking these bucket mouthed fish. Mulloway fishing is at its best this month, with lures and live baits both accounting for plenty of school fish, whereas the odd bigger model of 50lb+ is falling for well-presented live baits and larger-sized lures of 6-8”.

2019 Open for registrations

The 2019 Fitzroy River Barra Bash, Australia’s richest barramundi fishing tournament, is now open for registrations

Advertorial Anglers will be vying for a share of $20,000 guaranteed cash and prizes on offer at the Rockhampton event, which runs from 23-26 May, 2019 and limited spaces are available. Frenchville Sports Club in Rocky are proud to conduct this prestigious event, and Club General Manager Damien Massingham said that the 2019 event will be bigger and better with the introduction of a number of new initiatives. “In addition to the actual 2-day barramundi tournament, the event this year has three new exciting additions – a Family Fishing Competition, Family Fun Day at the Club and Iron Jack Ambassador, Nick Cummins aka the Honey Badger will be the event’s special guest. “This year the competition is thankful to have the support of both the Queensland Government and the Rockhampton Regional Council for the 2019 event.” Barry O’Rouke, representing the Minister for Tourism Industry Development the Hon Kate Jones MP, said the Queensland Government via Tourism and Events Queensland is delighted to support the 2019 Fitzroy River Barra Bash. “Three years ago, the State Government ended net fishing in the Fitzroy River with the aim of increasing recreational fishing opportunities and thereby supporting tourism and economic growth,” she said. “This event aligns with our strategy to build visitation and economic growth via tourism for Central Queensland.” Rockhampton Regional Council Mayor Margaret Strelow said the council is thrilled to support the 2019 Fitzroy River Barra Bash and its aim of increasing tourism to the Rockhampton Region. “Our Advance Rockhampton team has worked hard to build awareness of our Recreational Fishing Voluntary Code of Practice so we are delighted to see events like this further promote how great it is to fish in the Fitzroy,” she said. If you are a fun-loving family, the 2019 Fitzroy River Barra Bash is the place to be! Free for

members and their families to fish and enjoy, there’s a full day of fun planned! The Family Fishing Competition kicks off at 6:00am, with free entry and a bounty of prizes, including Biggest Barramundi and Mystery Length Barramundi. You don’t need to fish to be a winner though! Everyone attending the Family Fun Day has the chance to WIN a new boat, a Polycraft 410 Challenger valued at over $24,000, by purchasing a raffle ticket which are now available from the Frenchville Sports Club Reception. After the competition, you can join in the fun at Ryan Park for a full afternoon of entertainment and fun, with food stalls, live entertainment, activities, and prizes to give away, including the major boat giveaway being drawn. For all the details, and to book you and your family’s spot, go to www.fitzroyriverbarrabash.com.au

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May the fish be with you! SYDNEY

Paul O’Hagan

Gamefishing around Sydney this year has been anything but good, with the only reports of blue marlin from a recent competition. On the other hand, the water has been very good

months ago, but for only a short period of time and headed south with the current. Hopefully as the fish start to make their way back up the coast we might see some of the smaller marlin taken. This year the mahimahi arrived on time but the fish are very small. In saying that, after

there has recently been a steady amount of fish caught dropping baits into the depths with electric reels. Closer in there has been a lot of activity for anglers, where fishing on the Twelve Mile Reef has seen some nice kingfish. Heavy jigs and live baits have been the best options; although only when they can get past the hoards of leatherjackets that have taken over the reef lately. Long Reef has been very consistent with a variety of fish available. Diverse ranges of methods have been working, from kings on live baits to bonito and tailor on small metals. For those anglers drifting between the reefs there have been some exceptional snapper and flathead taken drifting baits in

a good berley trail. Fishing from our rock platforms and headlands with stickbaits is producing some very good kingfish, although there are a lot of small fish. The larger models are there as well, but it’s a matter of spending time casting and persisting to see results. While stickbaits are good for the larger kingfish, casting small metals and hardbodied lures have been very successful in picking up bonito, mac tuna and salmon. Just recently there have been a few new species that had arrived along our coast and with the added pickings of longtail tuna and albacore it can’t get much better if you are fishing of the ledges and rock platforms around Sydney. How cool is it to be catching kingfish on your doorstep? Hais Khanat caught this one on a recent trip in the Harbour.

Rochelle McManus with a quality snapper she caught recently. These fish go well with a side of chips and salad! temperature lately and a good cobalt colour, but still not good enough for our bread and butter gamefish like the small black and striped marlin. Some anglers suggest that the fish arrived a few

feeding through the summer months the fish have now put on a bit of weight and there have been some good fish recorded for anglers around the FADs that are further offshore. For those anglers fishing out around Browns Mountain

Zane Levett proving that he knows how to catch a king or two.

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Hopefully this will continue in the weeks to come. Inside Sydney Harbour the mayhem continues and it seems that it will go down on the record books as being one of the best seasons there has been for many years with such a variety of species holding in the harbour. With fish coming through in good numbers, it gives anglers the opportunity

not picking up quality fresh bait. Beach fishing this year has been very quiet. Recent sea conditions and wind that has been pushing around a lot of weed hasn’t helped either. In saying that, over the last few weeks the reports are getting better, right after the large amount of rain we had enabling our lagoons to break out into the ocean. Not only is there a flow of bait being taken, but the systems are now able to get a good flush out, which has been needed for a good while. With baitfish flowing out it was not long before the predators turned up. Constant reports of mulloway being taken along

and hopefully this will continue as there have been a lot of anglers hitting the beaches and going home empty handed. Narrabeen Lake is one of the perfect spots for taking beginners to introduce them to the art of fishing, as it is very safe and with a range of fish species that can be taken on the simplest of outfits. This is also ideal for getting kids into fishing. Using worms or prawns can usually pick up a few whiting and bream in the shallows on an in coming tide. For those anglers with a bit more experience, casting a range of surface lures and small soft plastics in among the weed beds and around bridges has caught

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Andrew Pattinson and Mark Knights with a monster mahimahi. Seeing that first fleck of yellow next to the boat is exciting! of targeting some of the best fighting fish. These fish at the moment are taking anything from very large squid to the smallest metal and soft plastic lures. Squid, yellowtail and slimy mackerel have been available in big numbers – especially down and around the Spit Bridge, so there is no excuse for any anglers

most beaches are making things look good. A heads up for those anglers targeting some of these magnificent fish – there have been a lot of bronze and dusky whalers along with stingrays snapping up baits in the evening, so be prepared. Recently there have been an increase in the number of good tailor and salmon taken

a lot of very big flathead. Early morning and late into the afternoon has seen the best results. Taking the time to catch poddy mullet in a small bait trap is well worth it, as flathead won’t pass up a livey so easily. The lake has a large amount of mullet, so you should be in with a chance of getting a handful.

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Clear waters are clearly the better option SYDNEY SOUTH

Gary Brown gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

For those of you who have fished the Port Hacking River, you will know that it is a very clear waterway. So

side of the ramp at Swallow Rock Drive. A few bass have shown up just downstream of the weir at Audley. This would be part of their migration to the saltwater to start their spawning run. There are also plenty of mullet in the area

leatherjackets. If you find that your plastics are getting devoured, you need to move on. On the other hand, if you catch the odd bigger leatherjacket you can take note of where you caught it and come back on another day and bait fish for them.

The author teamed up with Bill and Scotty Lyons for a pot holing session for bream and drummer off the rocks at Cronulla using whole peeled blue-tailed prawns for bait.

You don’t need a lot of gear when you are chasing luderick and squid off the rocks. clear at times that you can see the ripples in the sand in 6m of water. Just the other day I was out chasing a few whiting in the Port Hacking and I came across a school of whiting feeding in around 3m. I quietly anchored up, set the lines out and started to send down a small and steady berley trail. I had live tube and beachworms and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t raise a bite from the whiting, but managed to get heaps of stingrays. Moving to deeper water still didn’t pay any dividends. Maybe they were in spawning mode or it was because I forgot to take enough berley with me. The next time I won’t forget some extra berley. Places that are worth a look for whiting in the Port Hacking would be the flats at Darook Park, Bonnie Vale, the weed beds at the entrance to South West Arm, any of the sand patches at the ends of the bays at high tide, and either

that will be attracting hungry mulloway. Try working the deeper areas along the banks back down to Grays Point. The fish trap wall upstream of the ramp at Grays Point will start to produce luderick on the outside, while bream, mullet and flathead will feed on the inside during the top of the tide. Tailor should be working in the deeper bays of Gymea, North West Arm, Yowie and Burraneer. Keep those surface lures and metals handy, as they will pop up chasing the baitfish and then quickly move on. There have been a number of reports of bream being caught under boats and pontoons. Try casting hardbodied lures up the side of them so that they run parallel to the edges. Or you can flick unweighted live pink nippers, just like I use to do as a kid. The water temperature will have dropped heaps by now, bringing in plenty of small chinaman

All you need is a paternoster rig with one hook, enough bait to cover

the bend of the hook and a rod that has a fast tapper. The technique that I use is lowering the rig to the bottom and winding up a couple of turns of the handle to allow the weight of the sinker to put a bend in the rod tip. It’s then just a matter

of watching for the bite and striking. For those of you who like a feed of blue swimmer crabs there have been plenty around lately. May will see the numbers slow down. Ever since I was a kid there has been a ban of the use

There is nothing better than taking kids for a fish, no matter where it is. The author’s grandsons love going fishing and he couldn’t resist putting in this picture of their fish that were caught down on the Shoalhaven River.

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of nets and crab pots and traps in the Port Hacking. The NSW Fisheries last year (May 2018) updated their map on the complete closure of the use nets (not landing nets) in the Port Hacking. You should check it out. Offshore will see the increase in the numbers of snapper on the close reefs just outside of the Jibbon Bommie. You could also try Osbourne Shoals, the Merries, the Balconies and The Hump down south. The beaches from Greenhills to South Cronulla will be worth a shot for whiting, bream and dart. Beach and tubeworms are the best baits, followed by nippers and strips of fresh squid. Off the rocks, the numbers of luderick and drummer will start to increase. So, get down to your local wash and start flicking around a peeled prawn. I prefer to fish as light as I can, as I don’t get as many snags this way. Don’t forget to keep those reports and photos coming in! If you have anything to report or have a picture of your latest catch just email it to me at gbrown1@iprimus.com.au.

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The fishing is all good PITTWATER

Peter Le Blang plfishfingers@bigpond.com

The last month has seen some great fishing along Pittwater, Broken Bay and along our part of the coast. Hopefully this pattern of good fishing and warm water will persist for a little longer. Along with fish, Pittwater is producing plenty of squid at the moment, with the majority

coming from most of the bays along the shallows, and weedy sections of Pittwater. Most of the squid are getting quite large but are still able to be used to chase down some kingfish on the downrigger. The usual scenario of finding clean water amongst the shallows should see a few ‘inkers’ come over the side of the boat. The jigs that have been doing the most damage lately have been around 2.5g in

Some pretty solid kings are still active. Persisting and finding the bait is key.

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size and in natural colours. The better areas seem to be towards the mouth of Pittwater, but most bays are holding squid. If you really want to get amongst the kingfish at this time of year along Pittwater, try and spend some time locating and catching cuttlefish. This part of the year is when these small kingfish treats can really make the difference between catching kingfish and going home with nothing. This month, kingfish will be spread all throughout Pittwater and tend to cruise when they want a feed. The Kingfish Highway and around Scotland Island are two areas that are renowned for catching winter kingfish and both areas are always well worth a try. When hunting down these larger fish along Pittwater, make sure that you watch your sounder for balls of baitfish. If baitfish are tightly packed in a ball shape on your sounder, they are under attack or wary of predators close by. This scenario will put you in the hot seat, especially when using live cuttlefish as bait. Other fish to target along Pittwater are the usual

This young fella showed this kingy who was boss. bread-and-butter species such as flathead, bream, leatherjackets and even the odd winter whiting. Most of these fish can be targeted at Palm Beach and the Mackerel Beach area. This area has a massive drop-off that runs from one side of the river to the other and mainly consists of sand and mud. In the shallow areas there is a lot of weed and this is where most of the activity takes place. When fishing this area, especially in the shallows, stealth and berley are essential. Light line with a lightly weighted and well presented bait drifted down the berley trail is sure to see many of the above mentioned species being caught.

and the odd salmon. Both these species can be caught using 15g metal lures but be sure to make minimal noise and have a stealthy approach, as this will see a lot more being caught. Don’t forget to try for some bottom dwelling species such as mulloway and flathead, when you are around these tailor schools, especially if they are close to the mouth of the Hawkesbury River. Micro jigs are a great option when around a feeding frenzy – just drop it to the bottom, put the rod in a rod holder and wind the jig up so it touches the bottom and there is no slack in the line. The benefit of this technique is that it doesn’t require much effort, as the

Newport Reef, and can be tempted with either yellowtail or large squid, both are hard for them to refuse. Further offshore there are some snapper to be caught in depths of around 60m. If you start early in the morning and set up a good berley trail, reefs in 30m of water will put you in with a great chance. Flathead are still being caught in water around 70m and some of the bluespots have been quite large. The top bait at the moment when fishing offshore seems to be fresh squid. with pilchards coming in a close second. The reefs in the deeper water are seeing some kingfish, morwong, the odd snapper and trag being caught.

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The smile says it all! Kingfish are a great species to get the kids involved. Another good bait for these areas is ghost nippers, but be prepared for small fish to take their fair share. Other baits that are less expensive are prawns and salted pilchards, and both will work a treat. Using soft plastics in this area is also a great way to see a variety of fish being caught. If you are fishing this area, make sure you have a rod already rigged with a small 2g squid jig as there will be a few squid that show up, although at times they disappear as quickly as they arrived. In Broken Bay we are still seeing schools of tailor

boat lifts the jig up with any movement from the vessel. Having the micro jigs bouncing along the bottom will attract attention, especially for any predators that have been enticed into the area with the feeding frenzy. Just don’t forget that it’s in your rod holder when you start chasing around the schools on the surface! Along the coast we’re still seeing some kingfish being caught, although they have thinned out and the smaller fish have seemed to disappear, which is fine by me! The larger kings seem to be around areas, such as

As you can see the fishing is quite good at the moment but we are expecting it to change as the colder water moves in. I hope this report gets you excited to take advantage of some great fishing at the moment. If you’re finding the fishing difficult, be sure to use your local charter operator to gain more tips and areas to improve your fishing. • Peter Le Blang operates Harbour and Estuary Fishing Charters, phone 02 9999 2574 or 0410 633 351, visit www. estuaryfishingcharters. com.au.

Botany will continue to mix it up this May BOTANY BAY

Gary Brown gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

The four months leading up to May 2019 have been very good on the kingfish, bream, flathead, squid and leatherjacket side of things. They should keep up during May, and hopefully the silver trevally will be about a bit more, as they have been a bit scarce lately.

on the close offshore reefs, bommies and just inside the heads. Many of the bream that are being caught in the bay are very silvery and should be starting to move up into the Georges and Woronora rivers. Try fishing the drop-offs and mangrove edges with baits and lures. The autumn and winter run of whiting should be starting off Silver Beach. Towra Wide, the beaches from Dolls Point to Brighton, and off the beaches from

in numbers. Places to try would be the Captain Cook Bridge, Bald Face Point on the run-in, just downstream of the Como Bridge, the rock wall at the entrance to the Woronora River, the old Woronora River Bridge, beside the walk across bridge at Prince Edward Park, and back out in the Georges River at Soily Point. There should be plenty of surface action from tailor, salmon and the odd bonito in the bay and offshore. Try

Bic Fox is at it again, this time he’s into the bream in the Georges River. bring it up. It only takes a small amount of bait to be on the line and the leatherjackets will chew through it. There has been a couple of weird reports of barra, being caught in the Cooks River on vibes and soft plastics meant for bream and mulloway. I haven’t seen any photos yet, but the source is

a very reliable angler who fishes there quite a bit. Have you ever thought of using garfish for bait? If so, why don’t you try catching a few? All you need is a no. 12 long shanked hook, a small piece of prawn and bread crumbs for berley. They freeze very well and can be used when chasing tailor and

salmon on a set of ganged hooks. You can also try pieces of fillets or cubes for bream, trevally and flathead. Don’t forget to keep those reports and photos coming in! If you have anything to report or have a picture of your latest catch, just email it to me at gbrown1@iprimus.com.au.

Soft plastics are a great way to fool bream at this time of year. I have had reports coming in of the odd kingfish or two being caught by those who have been trolling squid and yellowtail along the wall at Yarra Bay and at the end of the third runway. Even though the numbers of dusky flathead will have started to slow down, there will be an increase of sand and tiger flathead offshore on the sand and gravel patches.

Coogee to Maroubra are great places to try. Beach and tubeworms will be the best baits, followed by live pink nippers. Not everyone can catch worms, but this shouldn’t worry you, as some bait stores will stock them most of the time. After I have a session on whiting and have some worms left, I will dry them off and put them into

some metal lures, as they work a treat when cast or trolled. The close offshore reefs will have snapper, morwong and trevally moving about looking for a feed. Try the 30-40m depth off Wedding Cake Island at Coogee and wide off Maroubra Beach. Half pillies, squid and prawns are the go on a paternoster rig.

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There should be a few flounder mixed in with your catches throughout the month. Squid are a yearround species that can be caught with squid jigs and suspending a whole pilchard or yellowtail underneath a bobby cork. Bream should be available from the rocks and beaches north and south of the entrance to Botany Bay,

methylated spirits until they stop moving, pat them dry, and then freeze. It doesn’t seem to put the whiting off from eating them. I’m told that you can do this to pink nippers, but I haven’t yet tried it. Luderick will have moved back into the estuaries

There have been a number of reports of anglers losing their whole rigs, and this is usually the fault of chinaman and reef leatherjackets. Just downsize your hooks, use small pieces of bait and make sure that you wipe your rig off with a cloth each time that you

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MAY 2019

Better believe best bait brings better bags SYD ROCK & BEACH

Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au

The going has been tough in some areas of fishing. In other areas though it seems to be smooth sailing – provided you know what you are doing! For the die-hard anglers who insist on targeting only one species, it can sometimes be tough going. The two species that have been tough of late are legal-size kings and numbers of mulloway off the ocean rocks and ocean beaches. Still, things are improving for kings off the ocean rocks and mulloway off the ocean beaches. OCEAN ROCK FISHING One of the more reliable species to target is snapper. Speak to anglers only 8-10 years ago and they would say, “You’re telling me you can catch decent size snapper off the rocks? No way!” Nowadays though, it has become more common knowledge that you can fish for snapper off the rocks and catch decent size fish. In fact, at times you can catch snapper in the size range that even boat anglers would envy. I have been guiding my clients to catch snapper for 13 years now, and have helped many hundreds of happy fishos to catch their first snapper off the ocean rocks, and you can catch them too. So here are the headlands that have been yielding snapper of late. I sometimes refer to them as ‘evergeen’ spots because they are quite

reliable snapper producers. First of all, the eastern front of Bluefish headland has some generally reliable reddy fishing. Anglers fishing the sudsy white water can also catch bream, some trevally and small kings. The snapper and bream are up to 40cm, which is not huge, but they’re still solid fish. And on light

this location has vertical rope climbs of several metres, so only go if you’re okay with heights. Some spots where you don’t have to climb are the South Curl Curl end of Lumsdaine Drive, North Curl Curl off the boulders or off the front, Warriewood high ledge (preferably a

Catching fresh squid for snapper, mulloway and kings will boost your catch rates. If you have leftover squid, vac seal them soon after you get home and freeze them. When defrosted their eyes will still be clear, and the natural colour of the squid will remain – the sign of good quality squid bait. wash fishing gear (6-8kg outfits), they’re a lot of fun. You can also catch luderick and rock blackfish fishing a spot called Tumbledown, which is up the second rope at the southern end of Bluefish. Be aware

swell size of at least 2m at this spot), and South Avalon rocks, at least 300m past the swimming pool. Most of these spots fish best when you’re distance casting. I recommend a 12-15ft rod to suit line class. I like to use

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MAY 2019

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a Wilson 13ft Live Fibre or Daiwa Sandstorm 7-15kg, Daiwa 4500BG or Surf Basia 25QD with 30lb J-Braid and 30-40lb Sufix Invisiline fluorocarbon leader. If you don’t like the idea of full-on rock fishing, you could try the safer rocks that meet the beach. The wave energy is generally reduced in these locations, or they’re just safer overall as far as rock fishing is concerned. Try Freshwater rocks facing to the north and you can expect salmon, tailor and good bream. North Curl Curl boulders near the corner of the beach has bream, tarwhine, tailor and salmon. Warriewood southern rock corner, approximately 80-100m from the surf club, has bream, salmon, tailor, and at times luderick in that corner. I recommend that you have two rods, one with a ganged pilchard rig suitable for 8-12kg line class, and one lighter rod suited to the luderick or bream fishing 4-6kg line class. At all of these safer locations it’s a great time of year for tailor, salmon and bottom feeding species. You can also expect trevally to come on the chew this month. Half pilchards, squid strips and mackerel fillet are some of the baits that have been working of late. OCEAN BEACH FISHING A handful of mulloway have been caught in recent weeks. As I have mentioned in several columns over the years, if you want to target mulloway you have to be prepared to put in long hours over many outings, and be satisfied knowing that you’re targeting this species correctly. However, if you want a better chance of just catching a fish, not necessarily a mulloway, you’ll need to use smaller baits and smaller hooks. When you downsize like this you can catch virtually anything that comes along, but you’ll get fewer bites from mulloway. Smaller baits seem to be less interesting to a larger fish of this species, although you’ll still entice the odd one. We have all heard of a lucky angler who has caught a sizable mulloway on a small bait. To maximise your chances of success, you should go out of your way to catch fresh squid or have a reliable tackle shop that sells quality squid with clear eyes. Why clear eyes? Well, a squid with foggy eyes is just not fresh! This is one of the more obvious signs of freshness, but it’s not the only thing to look for. You may have been told to steer away from any squid that has pink in the skin, and it’s true that there are several shades of pink that you shouldn’t go anywhere near (definitely steer away from purple). To save the

confusion though, just go for a clear or relatively clear-eyed squid before you purchase. When hitting the estuary for a bait outing, go to your local wharf in an estuary and you will find squid, cuttlefish, and most often yellowtail. You may find slimy mackerel and gars as well. Fish the wharfs at a depth of at least 4m. When you go for a beach mulloway outing it pays to have a tailor outfit, some sets of gang hooks and pilchards. While fishing a gutter you can regularly catch a chopper tailor to use as a live bait, or a larger tailor for fillet baits. Both work well. When it comes to chasing mulloway off the beach, the most obvious challenges are the long hours and fruitless trips – but there’s more. You can also expect to contend with the bronze and dusky whaler shark population. Still, they are great fun to catch, and fight at least as hard as a mulloway. Generally in that 0.8-1.4m size, they are great sport. A more annoying problem is the tailor, salmon

Take a head torch, mozzie repellent, and some warm waders so you will not be deterred from fishing super early in the morning or long after sunset. This also applies for good bream fishing. Although great bags can be caught during the day, targeting bream well into the dark can often produce better bags. And while I am mentioning night fishing, the humble whiting is rarely fished for after dark. On those flat sea nights the whiting will forage for food in really shallow water, and you can can expect to catch them in as little as 40cm of water, and as close in as 5-6m off the shore. Some suggested locations, from south to north, are Manly/Queenscliff, Curl Curl, Dee Why, Mid to North Narrabeen, and Palm beaches. All of these spots have been producing of late. My tip for this month is to go out of your way to obtain fresh or live bait before you go out for your trip. If you can’t get livies, go to a reliable bait shop that

Theo Dimitroulakis with a nice by-catch king caught distance casting for snapper. When distance casting with 3-5oz snapper sinkers you normally cast 50-120m out. There are a lot of spots off the rocks where the sand meets the reef edge around 50-75m out, which is well within reach. and bream destroying your hard-earned squid baits. For that reason it pays to have some other back-up baits when these bait stealers are around. Alternatively, you can move to another gutter. Other species that are in good numbers along the beaches of late include solid tailor to 1.5kg, salmon up to at least 3kg, bream and whiting. Often you will find the majority of tailor anglers tend to fish the low-light periods like the crack of dawn to an hour or so after sun-up, or an hour or two before sunset to just on dark. If that’s your thing that’s fine, but you could miss out on the action that is about at night.

has sashimi grade bait. All species will scavenge, even if they are primarily hunters, so don’t shy away from using dead baits. However, remember that anything that a fish scavenges in the wild probably won’t have been dead for long. That’s probably why the freshest dead baits usually produce better results than old baits do. Frozen is fine providing it has been packed fresh beforehand. • 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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Winter bream are coming WESTERN SYDNEY

Cameron McDonald

With the closed season (1 May-31 August) for bass and estuary perch now upon us, we’ll leave them to migrate downstream for the spawning run – hopefully, that is. Remember last year, when there was very little rain at this time of year and I suspect only a low proportion of the fish went downriver. This year some recent rainfalls should encourage the little tuckers to breed. So, with river bass out of the picture we spend a few months focussing on something else – and thankfully bream fishing really starts to fire at this time of year in local waterways. There’s a reason there are a lot of bream competitions on during this part of the year. The Hawkesbury is well known for stonker winter bream (big blue-nose), but there is also a healthy population of Acanthopagrus Australisin (bream) in most other parts of Sydney. From Parramatta River, to the Georges, to Lane Cove River and everything in between. The semi-recent ABT Australian Open was on the Harbour and Hawkesbury, with the winner weighing 13.47kg for 15 fish. Now,

setup. You want to be on the bottom, but not completely anchored, so the bait wafts around a little bit. Berley up with pellets and tuna oil for best results. Most people targeting bream for sport (as opposed to the table) are using lures. Simply put, using lures will catch you more fish. Rather than bait up and wait for the bream to come to you, you

Allen Delaney with a fine Southern Sydney specimen. go to their likely holding places and place an imitation food source in front of them. While a lot of tournament anglers run straight through fluorocarbon in 3-4lb, it’s not a necessity, and for those who have never run it, it takes a little getting used to. The action of some lures feels different, and

MIGHTY The author with a blade caught Hawkesbury bream. This month has bream really firing.

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I’m not a mathematician, but that sounds like a bunch of fish all nudging a kilo each to me. A kilo bream is a good fish in anyone’s book. CATCHING BREAM The preferred baits would be fresh Hawkesbury prawns (peeled or not is a personal choice), squid heads and strips, or even old school bread and chicken gut. A smaller hook around 1/0 with as little lead as you can get away with is an ideal

‘ticks’ of a bream bite to flow down the line and through the graphite rod. With bream, structure is key. From bridge pylons, rock walls, wharfs and jetties to shallow mud flats filled with crabs or prawns, if there is no structure, the fish won’t go there. So, adjust your lure accordingly. A mate and I were fishing mangroves last weekend, 2ft

for some lures (like lightly weighted soft plastics, where feel is paramount) it’s not recommended. Not having to tie on leaders all the time when busted off does have a lot of appeal, and the stretch is a massive plus when running very light line. Put simply, you will get more bites the lighter line you fish. Good quality fluorocarbon leaders attached to braid of around 6lb will enable the subtle

deep at high tide. The bream wouldn’t touch a slow rolled paddle-tail. However later in the day, we were at some moored boats, and the crabs weren’t getting a touch, so we switched a few times, until we worked out a pattern for slow rolled crankbaits. So, what’s the best way to catch bream? The old saying of ‘match the hatch’ is the golden rule. What are they likely to be eating at this location? Keep changing up until you start catching them. Some go-to lures would be: Cranka Crabs, Berkley Gulp crabbys and shrimp, crankbaits such as Atomic Crank38 and Jackall Chubbies, blades such as the Full Metal Sonic in 5g, standard soft plastics like ZMan 2” GrubZ and Juro Firebaits. Chop and change until you work out a pattern, read magazines and look for the tournament write-ups. Keep learning as a 40yo bream has seen a few lures in its life. They aren’t called wily for nothing. At Thompsons Creek Dam the same technique for carp can be fruitful on the trout – just don’t set the hook so hard. Some decent fish of 55cm or around 6lb have been caught (and released) recently. Look for the rocky points leading into shallow bays and be prepared to walk a little. • The expert staff at Australian Bass Angler in Penrith specialise in all fields of fresh and saltwater fishing. If you want to know about the latest tackle or techniques, kayak fishing, or tournament bass boats, drop into the store at 105 Batt Street, Penrith or phone (02) 4721 0455.

1-2 JUNE 2019 • BEENLEIGH SHOWGROUNDS

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EXPO

Lure Show moves to Beenleigh Showgrounds and amazing execution of concepts, with a trophy and the accolades of your peers. You’ll be able to see a full collection of nominated lures in the display cases inside the main entry to the show building.

ON SITE CATERING ••••••••••••••••••

You don’t need to go off-site to eat and drink, with Gabby and her team To page 4

HILLIES SPINNERS AND LURES

The popular Lure Show (as Garry Fitzgerald’s Australian Lure, Fly and Outdoor Expo is affectionately known) isn’t a stranger to moving location. From its birthplace in Fernvale

1-2 June 2019. The good news is there’s plenty of free parking, camping is available and it still costs the same as it did back when it started – $10 bucks for adults and kids under 16 get in for free.

of the show is the extensive collector displays and collector trading area. This year, that’s the whole of the upstairs mezzanine floor. You can be guaranteed that there’ll be some deals flying around that space for the show duration.

• a lifetime of experience! • custom orders welcome! • top quality components! • salt and fresh! • trade enquiries welcome!

people there who can let you know exactly how much that old gem you have in your tackle box is really worth.

LURE TEST TANK • S E E U S AT S T A N D 2 4 •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Always popular is the lure test tank. Available to all exhibitors so that they can show you how their creations swim, it adds that extra dimension to your purchase. I mean, how many times do you get to see how the lure behaves in real life before you part with your hard-earned cash? Just quietly, getting instruction from the person who created it is probably worth as much as the lure. There’s nobody who knows how a lure behaves better than the person who made it.

Lazy Mullet 160

SOCIAL MEDIA HUB • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Want to catch up with some of the guys and girls in the Brisbane River Valley, it first migrated downstream to Ipswich after a couple of years of seam-bursting crowds. From there, Ipswich seemed to be a great fit for the show, which attracts around 2000 keen anglers and lure collectors each year. The trouble is, a multimillion dollar renovation was granted to the Ipswich venue, and the show needed to move again. There are a few things that the show needs to work. First of all, camping for exhibitors is a highlight for the tight-knit community of creators. Free parking ticks the boxes for attendees who want to maximise their spend at the show, and a fair gate price (around half the cost of a national boat show ticket) of $10 keeps the gig accessible to nearly everyone – especially kids, who are free. After several months of searching, the show landed midway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. It will be held at the Beenleigh Showgrounds on

Bony Shad 120

Baby Mullet 120

VARIED DISPLAY AREAS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

The Beenleigh arena is a little different from Ipswich; there’s less indoor space, but better outdoor space. As of the time of printing, all of the indoor stands were sold and the outdoor sites were filling up fast. Being a little more open than Ipswich, there’s now room for a fly casting demonstration and trial area, some outdoor carving and sanding demos, and even room for some boats at the Social Media Hub and Presenter area. One of the highlights

New Swimbaits Coming Soon!

Want to bring in your old Australian timber lures and have them valued? No problems – there will be

that you usually only get to see on social media? The Social Media Hub will again feature presenters like Rod Harrison, John Costello, Jake Newmarch, Liam Fitzpatrick and Steve Morgan. You can take this opportunity to ask questions, get a selfie and hit them up about all things fishing.

LURE OF THE YEAR AWARDS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Each year, the standards seem to rise for the Lure of the Year awards. Voted on by fellow exhibitors, the awards reward clever design

Keep an eye out for

SOUTHERN CROSS LURES at this year’s

Australian Lure, Fly & Outdoors Expo Check out our new flathead, bream, bass & jack lures! 2019 LURE EXPO

The Australian

Lure Fly & Outdoors

LOTS OF PARKING • • • • • • ••••••••••••

3x3

Pimp My Lure

3x3

Predator Lures

1-2 JUNE 2019 • BEENLEIGH SHOWGROUNDS

The Beenleigh Showgrounds is surrounded by plenty of free street parking, but on the Saturday of the show, the markets area (just to the west of the show) is available to park and is an easy walking distance from the gate. On the Sunday, the Beenleigh Markets will be in full swing, so parking will be limited to the street. But there’s still plenty of it. If you’re getting there via public transport, then the

From page 3

dishing you up all the food and drink you need. With some outdoor and indoor seating options, you’ll be able to rest and recharge before getting back into the action. Note that there will be a couple of ATMs onsite as well. The Lure Show team definitely encourages spending beyond your means!

Daiwa Australia

EXPO

Beenleigh train station is an 11-minute walk away.

SNEAKY EARLY-ENTRY TICKETS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Last year, the Lure Show trialled an early-entry ticket for collectors and visitors who wanted to spend up big in a less crowded environment. The 100 tickets sold out pretty quickly. There’s a version of the

early-entry ticket on offer again this year – $25 to get you in an hour early. These tickets are only available online and are limited in quantity. For these tickets and all of your online ticket sales, visit www.lureshow.com.au with your credit card. Print out the tickets after you purchase and bring them with you to the gate. We look forward to seeing you all at Beenleigh! – Lure Show team

3x3 3x3 FILF

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Daiwa Pimp My Clothing Australia Lure

3x3

Predator Lures

6770 68

FILF Clothing

6x6

PRESENTATIONS AREA

6x6

Bait Tackle Store

BEENLEIGH SHOWGROUNDS - 1ST & 2ND JUNE 2019

6x3

Queensland Fishing Monthly

13 3x3

Southern Brisbane Sporfishing Club Inc.

62 3x3

mbah res

3x3

SEQ Fly Fishing Club

Barambah Lures

3x3

Illusion Lures

3x3

Southern Allfly Outfitters Cross Lures

3x3

Illusion Lures

FFSAQ

3x3

54 Infofish

FFSAQ

Queensland Fishing Monthly

3x3

13 3x3

Bassman Spinnerbaits

SHOWGROUNDS 54 53 STORAGE ENTRY

ENTRY

FOOD

2.4x2.4

Lively Lures

Jollip Lures

2.4x2.4

4.8x2.4

Sandfly Lures Dalby

2.4x2.4

Gobsmacked Lures

2.4x2.4

AFN

Lobby Lures

2.4x2.4

Ninja Lures /Ninja Bibs

3.6x2.4

Tricky’s Lures

4.8x2.4

Whiptail Lures

2.4x2.4

C&S Horsey Kneller Lures Lures

Balista Lures

2.4x2.4

Frequent Feralcatt Fish King Flash Lures

TOILETS 1 37 39 38 - LEVEL

2.4x2.4 Zoomy / Mencho Lures

3.6x2.4

2.4x2.4

Bill’s Boxes

Shads Lures

314.8x2.432

34 2.4x2.4

3.6x2.4

Fishing Unlimited

2.4x2.4

50 2.4x2.4

Dave’s Honey Bommie Lures Hole Lures Knocka

INDOOR SPACE

14m2

2.4x2.4

Million Stars

2.4x2.4

Halfcast Customs

STAIRS TO LURE COLLECTORS - L2

2.4x2.4 Wax’s Lures/ Levo’s Lures

2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4

2.4x2.4

Grumpy Morry Lures /

Solo Lures / HM Muggos Lures Lures Kneebone Pav Art Lures

5117

FLY CASTING ZONE

-BOATSOUTDOOR DISPLAY

2.4x2.4

Jungle Lures

15 2.4x2.4

Smak / Freshwater

3.6x2.4

Crossfire Lures

Lively Lures

Jollip Lures

Farm Soft Plastics Hillies Creek Lures Australia Spinners & Lures

CASTIN G

2.4x2.4

Big T Lures

-BOATSOUTDOOR DISPLAY

16 52

OUTDOOR SPACE

2019 LURE SHOW EXHIBITOR LIST

Pakula Tackle

STAIRS TO LURE COLLECTORS - L2

TANK

2.4x2.4

Morry

HM Lures Kneebone Lures

CASTIN G TAN

4.8x2.4

Whiptail Lures

Smak / Freshwater

LEVEL 21 TOILETS - LEVEL LURE COLLECTORS

PLANT & EQUIPMENT

AC Lures

ENTRY 14

PLANT & EQUIPMENT

LURE OF THE YEAR AWARDS

ORGANISERS OFFICE

LEVEL 2 SHOWGROUNDS STORAGE LURE COLLECTORS

LURE OF THE YEAR AWARDS

ENTRY 3x5

MAIN ENTRY -TICKETS-

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Bassman Infofish Spinnerbaits

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Southern Allfly Outfitters Cross Lures

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2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 37............................................................ Fish King Site..........................................................Exhibitor 17.................................................... Lures FLYMuggos CASTING 35............................................... Fishing Unlimited AC Lures 40...........................................................Ninja Bibs ZONE 38 AFN37 39 42 41 40 39................................................... Frequent Flash 78.................................... Fishing & Outdoors 40......................................................... Ninja Lures 4.8x2.4 3.6x2.4 3.6x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 3.6x2.4 3.6x2.4 58....................................................Allfly Outfitters Crossfire77............................................Gobsmacked Lures 50...................................................... OG Reelbots Zoomy / Tricky’s Bill’s Fishing Shads y Lures Lures Mencho Lures Boxes Unlimited Lures by Grumpy Lures 71.................................................Bait Tackle Store Lures 16.................................................... 75.......................................................Pakula Lures 2.4x2.4 30 31 32 34 35 36 Jungle 19.............................................Half Cast Customs 76...................................................... Balista Lures 16............................................................... Pav Art Lures 24..................................... Hillies Spinners & Lures 60.................................................Barambah Lures 68.....................................................Pimp My Lure 15 51........................................................... HM Lures 30..............................................................Basslyfe 69................................................... Predator Lures INDOOR SPACE 14m2 22.............................................. Honey Hole Lures 53.......................................Bassman Spinnerbaits 13............................. Queensland Fishing Monthly x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 2.4x2.4 Grumpy Lures / 59...................................................... Illusion Lures 43......................................................... T Lures 28........................................... Sandfly Lures Dalby Hillies m Dave’s Honey Bommie Million Big Soft Plastics Wax’s Lures/ Muggos Halfcast Solo Lures / ures Australia Spinners & Levo’s Lures Lures Hole Lures Knocka Customs Lures Stars Bills OUTDOOR 61......................................... SPACE Lures 54............................................................... Infofish 34......................................................... Boxes SEQ Fly Fishing Club Pav Art 24 23 20 17 16 25 21.................................................Bommie 21 19Knocka 22 18 48.........................................................Jollip Lures 32....................................................... Shads Lures 15.......................................................Jungle Lures 1..................Brisbane Yamaha / Brisbane Quintrex 14 ............................................. Smak / Freshwater 41...................................................... Kneller Lures 42..............................................C&S Horsey Lures 25........................................ Soft Plastics Australia 18....................................................... Levo’s Lures 36...................................................Crossfire Lures 16.......................................................... Solo Lures 50........................................................ Lively Lures 67.................................................. Daiwa Australia 57......... Southern Brisbane Sportfishing Club Inc. 27..................................................... Lobbys Lures 23.......................................................Dave’s Lures 57........................................ Southern Cross Lures Lvl.2...............................................Lure Collectors 26...............................................Farm Creek Lures 30.................................................... Tricky’s Lur es 31.................................................... Mencho Lures 38................................................... Feralcatt Lures 18........................................................Wax’s Lures 20....................................................... Million Stars 55................................................................FFSAQ 46.................................................... Whiptail Lures 52...................................... Morry Kneebone Lures 70......................................................FILF Clothing 31...................................................... Zoomy Lures 2.4x2.4

C&S Horsey Lures

Kneller Ninja Lures Frequent Feralcatt Fish King /Ninja Bibs Flash Lures Lures 45............................................................

LURE EXPO 2019

The Australian

Lure Fly & Outdoors

• • • • • • • •••••••••••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

For that unique gift for the angler in your life, be sure to check out the OG Reelbots range which will be available on the Lively Lure (stand 50). Using reels and reel components, these quirky handmade sculptures each have a personality of their own, and will be a definite talking piece sitting in anyone’s pool room or office desk.

Hillies Spinners and Lures

Jollip Lures

According to Jim at Jungle Lures (stand 15), for him there are only two types of fish: barra and by-catch… unless it’s jungle perch (his other passion). His struggle to access quality barra lures led him to create Jungle Lures. After much time spent in research and development, and twice as much time out testing, Jim is proud to bring his range of handcrafted wooden lures to the Expo. They have been very successful on a range of freshwater species, as well as his beloved barra. Stop by the stand and be sure to check out the Jungle Water Snake. There will be some great deals going on these lures to celebrate the Expo’s move to the Beenleigh Showgrounds.

Jollip Lures (stand 48) is a family owned and operated business based in NSW’s Northern Rivers. Joey has over 20 years’ fishing experience and has put everything he’s learnt into crafting his lures. The Jollip hand crafted timber lure range has been proven to catch most fresh and saltwater species. Be sure to check them out at the Expo, where they will be releasing six new models to their range.

Muggos Lures (stand 17) are back for their third Lure Expo. Paul brings with him 13 different models of tried and proven lures. In 2019 Muggos are proud to be launching three new models, including the PeeWee, a small diving lure for bass and golden perch, the Midnight Menace and The Marshall. Check them out for some very successful and wellpriced handmade lures.

Muggos Lures

Ninja Lures

One of the very few female-run lure companies in Australia, Ninja Lures (stand 40) have been around since 2013. The Ninja crew have a range to suit nearly every angler’s needs, from cod to barra to collectables. At this year’s Expo you’ll have to be quick to score yourself one of their limited Ninja Turtle Sets, and while you’re there you can also check out the new release Kermit sub surface lure and Prawn lure. They will also have aluminium lure bibs and DIY lure kits for those inspired to give it a go themselves.

OG Reelbots

Grumpy Lures

Cod anglers rejoice! Chris Anderson is bringing Grumpy Lures (stand 16) to the Expo. Alongside his more traditional lures, Anderson will also have some of the more unusual designs he has become well known for. He has developed an extensive timber and hand-moulded range of lures which can be used to fish both fresh and salt water. Each style of lure has been thoroughly tested by experienced anglers to ensure a premium product. Chris’ motto is: ‘Lures should be fished – not collecting dust on a shelf!’

Stop by Hillies Spinners and Lures (stand 24) to stock up on quality spinners and other lures in a range of styles and colours. Neil uses top quality components from the US, including Eagle Claw Hooks. Custom lures and trade enquiries are welcome. For something different, you’ll also find a range of sun catchers, key fobs and Hillies inspired jewellery on display – something for everyone.

Lively Lures

LURES, LURES AND MORE LURES

EXPO

Jungle Lures

Fish King

1-2 JUNE 2019 • BEENLEIGH SHOWGROUNDS

For more than 30 years Lively Lures (stand 50) have been one of Australia’s leading hard-bodied fishing lure manufacturers. At this year’s Lure Expo they will be bringing with them their best-selling flathead lure, super effective surface lures, top rated mackerel lures and their award-winning GT lure.

Bringing his full range to the Expo this year is Don Lobwein – the man behind Lobby Lures (stand 27). Don started his lure making career in the early 1990s with his son David when they worked out they were losing too many lures at Glenlyon Dam and needed to replace them all! The lure making bug well and truly bit upon Don’s retirement in 2005, and he has dedicated a lot of time to perfecting their design. All Lobby Lures are hand carved from aged white beech and red cedar. Bass, yellowbelly and cod are all prime targets for Lobby Lures. 2019 LURE EXPO

Balista Lures (stand 76) are an Australian owned lure company most known for their LED technology, which features in every lure in the range. Since developing this technology in 2008, the team at Balista have spent thousands of hours refining their product range, constantly looking to create innovative new designs that would be highly effective even without the LED technology. Visit the team at the Expo and find out how matching the right Balista lure for the situation can generate strikes when nothing else is working.

Anthony Curtis started making handcrafted lures in 1993. AC Lures (stand 45) timber lures were pioneering in design, with a unique shape that allowed the lure to fly straight through the air, giving precise casts without sacrificing the action of the lure in the water. With the exception of the Minnows and the 40 and 60mm Invaders, AC lures are constructed from injected plastic, which enhances durability, and all ranges use the highest quality fittings, laser-cut Lexan bibs and VMC hooks. AC offer 10 lure designs from 40-150mm, and depth ranges from 3-40ft+ to cater for the popular angling species such as Murray cod, golden perch, trout, redfin, bass, bream, flathead and barramundi.

Whiptail Lures

LURE EXPO 2019

Crossfire Lures

If you’re curious about the lure design process and what is involved in production, a visit to Southern Cross Lures (stand 57) needs to be on your list. The team will be running demonstrations across the weekend, explaining the whats, hows and whys of lure making. They will also have their range of lures available, handcrafted out of red cedar.

Southern Cross Lures

Kneller Lures

Lure Expo Hall of Fame inductee Paul Kneller has been making lures since 1992. Kneller Lures (stand 41) has become well known for producing small runs of often highly detailed timber lures. This means they are able to do something different with every batch and rarely make the same lure twice. They make everything except for hooks and split rings in house, which gives Paul the flexibility to work on anything from a tiny 45mm bream surface lure one week to a 250mm cod wakebait the next. Kneller lures are built to be fished hard.

Trickys Lures (stand 30) are based on the Fraser Coast. Mick has been making his own wooden hardbody lures for decades and over the last couple of years has been experimenting with soft plastics. They’ll be bringing their selection of handmade soft plastic lures, hand painted hardbodies, powder coated coloured jigheads and a range of fishing gear to this year’s Expo. The crew from Basslyfe will joining Trickys Lures on their stand. Basslyfe was created by bass fishermen who live the #basslyfe. They care strongly about our waterways and the homes of our native fish. They offer tips and techniques for targeting specific freshwater species, stories to inspire your next fishing adventure and information on all the gear to help you get out there. Be sure to stop by for a chat about all things fishing!

The team from Whiptail Lures (stand 46) have been busy getting their range of handcrafted timber and moulded lures ready for the Expo. Their lures are suitable for a wide range of salt and freshwater species. They’re looking forward to debuting their new JB95, which is available in a wide range of colours for both salt and fresh. One of the many Lure Expo success stories, Crossfire Lures (stand 36) began when Simon had a goal of developing a surface lure to target flathead. He took himself along to the Lure Expo and found a lure maker willing to help him with his vision, and a few months later Crossfire was born. Since the first 110mm lure was developed, the range has expanded and has become a series that is fast gaining a reputation as a big fish taker and a favourite amongst keen anglers.

For super realistic designs, visit Frequent Flash (stand 39). They are a small family run business specialising in Japanese style realistic presentations.

Frequent Flash

HM Lures

Brisbane’s HM Lures (stand 51) specialise in handmade and custom painted lures. Their motto is “if you can dream it -we can make it”. They will have a range of their stock lures and products on display at the Expo but are more than happy to chat with you about your custom requirements, which they can make to order.

1-2 JUNE 2019 • BEENLEIGH SHOWGROUNDS

AC Lures

Lobby Lures

EXPO

Trickys Lures

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Lure Fly & Outdoors

The Australian

Lure Fly & Outdoors

1-2 JUNE 2019 • BEENLEIGH SHOWGROUNDS

EXPO

Zoomy Lures

Teaming up this year are Zoomy Lures and Mencho Lures (stand 31). This father/son duo will have their wide lure range on display, covering everything for fresh and saltwater fishing, from the creeks all the way out to the bluewater.

Bommie Knocka (stand 21) offer premium handcrafted timber poppers that are genuinely built for giants. These lures feature Australian red cedar timber, single piece stainless steel wiring harnesses and many, many coats of rock hard epoxy to both seal and finish the lure. Their on-water performance is characterised by a huge forward spray pattern, straight tracking and the ability to carry very large trebles. This will be Bommie Knocka’s first appearance at the Expo, and they will be showcasing a limited number of

Barambah Lures

Farm Creek Lures

Terry Baker at Farm Creek Lures (stand 26) has been making lures for approximately 10 years. His handcrafted timber lures are specifically designed for freshwater fishing. Each lure is made from locally sourced Australian timber (favouring red cedar) and every lure is individually tested. Terry makes his own aluminium bibs for larger lures. Check out the new designs at the show.

custom poppers in sizes from 80-160g. Bommie Knockas have proven themselves all over the world by comfortably handling GTs in excess of 40kg. If your scene is the pinnacle of topwater fishing, and you like the idea of a lure that won’t just land you one trophy fish, but a dozen or more, then a Bommie Knocka is the lure for you. Barambah Lures (stand 60) will be showcasing a limited number of handmade timber lures, including the Manic Budgies, Barambah Dragons and Divers. In 2019, Matt has expanded his range of production lures significantly. There are seven new models due to land in July and samples will be available for the public to see for the first time at the Expo. You’ll also be able to watch Matt at work as he will be doing wood carving demos on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, focusing on Dremel tools and intricate lure carving techniques.

CLOTHING • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

How you look out fishing is just as important as what is on the end of your line. Million Stars (stand 20) are a Sunshine Coast based business who have great range of hooded fishing shirts for adults and kids, face wraps and gloves, as well as fully customised fishing shirts. They can design and supply a shirt that is perfect for your fishing club, competition or annual mates’ fishing trip away. Their shirts are SPF 50 rated, and they have what is probably the largest size range in Australia – from kids 00 all the way through to adults 12XL. Marleigh and Kip at Fish King (stand 37) are a fishing mad family business based on the Fraser Coast. They have turned the amazing experiences they had, and lessons learnt while travelling around Australia for a year into creating their ultimate fishing and sun protective shirt. Specially designed high zip collars, large zippered pockets and built-in thumb holes for maximum hand protection are just some of the

Million Stars

Illusion Lures

Bommie Knocka

Illusion Lures (stand 59) are based in Cooktown in Far North Queensland. Wal has been making lures for over 30 years, perfecting his handcrafted timber lures for a wide range of applications. All his designs are the result of years of rigorous field testing and are all built to catch fish. He uses plantation grown and recycled Australian timbers, and every lure has a full through wire construction. Illusion Lures will be unveiling some new designs at this year’s Expo.

features built into the Fish King range. They will also have their brand new women’s brand – MALi Designs – on display at the Expo. Available for adults and kids, be sure to check them out at the show.

CLUBS AND MEDIA • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Southern Brisbane Sportfishing Club (stand 57) will be welcoming new members across the Expo weekend. They will be running a raffle for 50 classic handcrafted lures that will be drawn on Tuesday 4 June – make sure you get your tickets! The club will be representing Queensland Sportfishing and associated clubs in South East Queensland. Funds raised by the club go towards supporting the stocking of Wyaralong Dam (Beaudesert).

Since the very first Australian Lure Expo, Fishing Monthly (stand 13) has always collaborated with an Australian lure producer to create a limited edition collectable Fishing Monthly lure. This year’s lure is a limited edition No.1 StumpJumper. Dan Stead from Pimp My Lure has assisted by creating the colour using the Fishing Monthly logo colours. JM Gillies then produced a limited run of the colour for the Fishing Monthly team to give away as part of a special subscription offer at this year’s show. If you subscribe for 12 months to any one of the four magazines for $65, you will receive a Fishing Monthly StumpJumper free with your subscription. There is a limited number of lures so get in quick!

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MAY 2019

BLACK MAGIC

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Learning about leaders Last month we talked about hook choice and how it’s one of the little things that often gets over looked by anglers but greatly increases your chance of success. This time I want to go into another critical but often over looked element, and that’s selecting what leader you should be using. Depending on what species you are targeting, what size they are and where you’re fishing as well as leader length should all greatly impact your leader choice, in regards to size and material. The two types of leader material to choose from are

Fluorocarbon sinks faster and also absorbs light, making it virtually invisible in the water. The attributes for each type of leader will benefit certain types of fishing but are not so great for others, so it’s important to choose the right one. FLUOROCARBON The greater abrasion resistance fluorocarbon often makes it a great choice for any kind of fishing where you’re likely to encounter structure. It’s ideal for fishing for bream off break walls, for drummer near oyster racks, and for groper off the rocks, but also for locking up on big kings or snapper heading for nasty terrain.

in the estuary, to tailor on the beaches, through to marlin. My favourite choice of fluorocarbon to use is the black magic Tough FL. This stuff is available from 4lb through to 120lb and is quite stiff, even by fluorocarbon standards. This stiffness gives it a decent abrasive resistance. Many standard knots that work with mono don’t work great in fluorocarbon. For braid to leader connection knots in heaver fluorocarbon, Albright and uni knots become quite bulky and it is difficult to get the knot tight. A slim beauty knot is a better alternative, or even better is the PR or FG knot. When tying the PR and FG in

Leader choice will play a big role in your fishing success. lure easier to work and it will swim better too. Knots like the PR and FG are better with mono, and mono also behaves better when casting longer heavier leaders through rod guides. Black Magic Tackle has two ranges of mono leaders, tough and supple, so they cover all bases. They also make a pink coloured version, which although relatively new is proving to be a real hit. Pink is considered to be the first colour to disappear in water, especially in low light or murky water situations. I noticed a difference when

using pink leader for the first time against the clear while live baiting for mulloway in deep estuary holes. The pink noticeably out-fished the clear on several occasions, and for this type of fishing this is all I use now. Another handy leader device Black Magic do to make life easier is a leader dispenser that holds and organizes five spools of line. This keeps everything in order with only a small tag end of each line poking through that can be pulled out and cut to the desired length when required.

Learning the FG knot will greatly increase your success. Not only is it far stronger, but it is about a third of the size of your typical Albright knot (above) making it perfect for casting longer leaders through rod guides. mono and fluorocarbon. Mono is supple and soft with more stretch, while fluorocarbon is a stiffer material giving it greater abrasion resistance.

It’s also perfect for those fish with raspy mouths that can wear through softer leaders of the same poundage during long fights. This can be anything from big flathead

fluorocarbon, you’ll need to take extra care to make sure the knot is tight as it’s much harder for the braid to bite into the tougher material. When it comes to terminal

There is nothing worse than tangled leaders. It pays to have all your leaders ready to go, as you never know which one is going to produce the fish.

connection knots, try doing a few less turns then you would normally do for mono especially in sizes above 60lb. A simple blood knot with out being locked like you would with mono will tie heavier fluorocarbon nicely and never slip. MONO LEADERS While on paper fluorocarbon has many advantages over mono, there is still plenty of fishing where mono is the preferred choice. The suppleness of a mono leader will make lures swim more naturally, especially in heavier sizes where the stiffness of fluorocarbon becomes more evident. It’s also the better option when running more than a rod length of leader, which is often the case for finesse style fishing situations, like targeting spooky trout in a lake system or bream over the flats with ultra light leaders. Mono leaders are also best for surface luring, whether you’re targeting bream, whiting, bass or stickbaiting for tuna. Mono leaders have a slower sink rate than fluorocarbon, which makes the

Black Magic leader storage systems are the best way to keep your leaders in order and ready to go at all times. MAY 2019

A change in season turns it on for fishos THE TWEED

Anthony Coughran

Great numbers of pelagic species finally graced our shores in autumn, and most anglers have been taking full advantage of this. We’ve been seeing great numbers of jacks and trevally this season, and they are still being taken in the estuaries. The high barometric pressure and rainfall has finally fired up the bass. The summer is over now though, and winter is coming. That said, we’re seeing a blend of summer pelagic species overlapping with our winter species, and

it’s such a great time to be fishing. Snapper and mixed reefies are already starting to show up, and are mixing with the summer pelagics.

Flathead are starting to move up into the skinny water and chase the summer whiting in most estuaries. We are already starting

A double hook-up on longtails for Nick and Matt made for a great day out on the water.

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to see the early morning westerlies, which has everyone excited for some trips offshore. OFFSHORE The early morning westerlies are making for great conditions offshore at first light. Once the southerly kicks in, it’s really firing up the mackerel, and Tweed has seen a reasonable late run of Spaniards and spotties this season. Trolled baits and hardbodies, float lines and cast stickbaits or poppers have all been working over the last month. At this time of year, however, I like to sit in a current line in front of a reef, berley hard and send out pilchards under floats or balloons. This will drag any mackerel up from the reef and into your berley trail. While waiting for your drift line to go off and your floats or balloons to bounce, it is always a great idea to work plastics and drift baits in that berley trail, as this should see you put a good mixed bag of reefies on the boat as well. There’s still the odd billfish, wahoo and mahimahi out wide. Try the 24s, 36s, 50s, and the 150 and 200m lines. You will also find the odd Spaniard out on the 36s responding to live baits. A few packs of yellowfin and longtail have been found around the close reefs. Metals and slugs, trolled hardbodies and trolled skirts have been doing all the damage on these barrels of fun.

producing a wide variety of mixed reefies. For those wanting fresh bait, there’s still plenty to go around. You’ll find bonnies at Kirra, Snapper, Point and 10 Minute reefs. Those wanting yakkas will find them at Kirra, Snapper, Point, 10 Minute and Kingy reefs, Cook Island, Kirra bait grounds, the desalination plant and the yellow marker. Slimies are

Dean Swift with a solid Spaniard taken on a close reef off Tweed. thick at Palmy and Kirra bait grounds, while pike can be gathered at Kirra, Snapper and Kingy reefs, the yellow marker and at Cook Island. ESTUARIES The storms over the last month have given the systems a good shake up and has bait moving around.

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Mixed reefies like snapper, tuskfish, pigfish, Moses perch and pearlies are starting to take advantage of the slowing currents and are moving up onto the reefs. Micro jigs, plastics, drift baits and bottom baits are all

year they aren’t fussy either. They will take anything from live bait to large dead and strip baits. Whatever bait or lures you use, be sure to bring the big gear, as you won’t stop any models around that 60cm on anything under 50lb braid and 80lb leader. Most live bait fishers are now using 100lb leaders and are still only stopping about one in every three.

This has the river predators moving looking for a feed. Mangrove jack have been schooling up around the rock walls for spawning. Most jacks that aren’t spawning on the full and new moons are feeding up hard. This time of

The mulloway are starting to show up in the rivers again, and river mouths and deeper holes are starting to produce some good models. Vibes, blades and plastics are good artificial options, while both live and dead baits work really well in the holes and along the rock walls. There’s still some good sand whiting around. They are starting to drop off the sand banks and move into the deeper channels. Yabbies and worms are great baits, while small plastics and blades are working well for the lure anglers. Flathead are starting to move from the mouth of the rivers and push back up into the skinny water to feed up on the leftover whiting still sitting on the sand banks. Fishing well-presented plastics, trolling hardbodies, working vibes and blades and drifting with yabbies will see you boating a few nice flatties in the skinny water. Bream are starting to school up. Small plastics, hardbodies, surface lures, blades and drift baits will start working better as the month goes on. May is normally the start of mud crab hibernation, however, this time of year is normally when the big males are trying to get one last feed before heading for their holes. For this reason, soaking a pot up in the mangroves in the upper systems may see you with the odd bigger full crab.

Blue swimmers are moving around at the moment. Most systems are producing good numbers on nighttime high tides around the full moon. Working sandy

producing at the moment. Fishing a high tide at first and last light around these beach gutters, as well as gutters around the headlands, with metals, whitebait, pilchards,

Nighttime highs should also be starting to produce the odd mulloway. Try soaking a whole worm or whole pike in those deep gutters if you’re chasing big mulloway.

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The soapies are starting to school up, and Scott Isaacs scored two the same size just minutes apart on blades. bottoms in 2-5m next to large weed beds is producing bigger crabs in better numbers. BEACHES You’ll find some really good gutters after the big swell, and they are all

beachworms, pipis and plastics has been productive. Those fishing in this way have found some good dart, tailor, the odd bonito, mac tuna, bream, whiting and flathead.

Some great flathead are stating to show up in the skinny water, with this 80cm model falling to Dylan Powers’ well-worked plastic.

SWEETWATER The bass closed season starts this month, so it’s best to give the river fish a rest until September. Clarrie Hall Dam, which is open all year, is fishing best at daybreak at the moment, and pushing up the rivers and creeks that flow into the dam will see your catch rate climb this month. WHAT’S AHEAD The summer species will slowly start to fade into the background as they keep moving on their migration. As the current starts to slow the winter species will start to move in. The pelagics slow right up and the snapper, mixed reefies and kingies will be moving onto those close grounds. Jacks in the estuaries will start to play second fiddle to mulloway, as they start to shut down for their hibernation period, so anglers are having to start changing their tactics. The jacks will go off the bite as the water temperatures cool down, but the mulloway will start to move around and feed up with that cooler water. Bream and diver whiting will really start to school up as the temperature drops, and the tailor will start to do their annual migration up to Fraser.

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Rain triggers bites from across the board BALLINA

Joe Allan

The north and south walls of the Richmond have been fishing well for bream over the last month. The pick has been south wall on the run-out tide.

over the wall anymore, try hopping blades and prawn imitation soft plastics down the rock face. The beaches and rock walls around Ballina have recorded some good catches of late. The dirty water run-off from the storms weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had lately has really

and tested blue pilchards and metal slugs have been great during the day. In between, the tailor and some quality snowy bream have been showing up. Offshore has been going well for mackerel, with these guys showing up later than expected. Trolling

The Starkey family with a massive 155cm mackerel caught off Lennox Head.

Normally thought of as a saltwater lure, the 70mm Bassday Sugapen is equally as effective in the fresh. Try fishing surface lures like poppers and crankbaits over the porpoise wall when the water is flowing over. There can be some great visual action as the fish come from the depths to hit your lures. As the tide gets lower and you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fish

stirred up the mulloway and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re on the chew big time. There have also been some tailor showing up in very consistent numbers, with the best spots being out the front of Boundary Creek and along the front of the Broadwater rocks. The tried

100-150mm divers seems to be working very well. Once youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve found the active fish, try casting lures for them. Out the front of Lennox Head, the 32-fathom line has seen good numbers of juvenile snapper and, surprisingly, good numbers

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of flathead around the edges of the reefs. Out wider there are also great numbers of quality amberjack being taken. The bigger holes behind the town have been producing good numbers of mulloway, and this should continue as the water starts to cool down. Live mullet have definitely been the best bait, but you will get them on big soft plastics during the day. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re chasing the beasts, the best fish have come on the making tide during the night. You will find some big flathead will come along as by-catch, and these guys are in the holes chasing anything that comes in front of their faces. Just remember, the big girls are the breeders, so please put them back. Once they get big theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not that nice to eat anyway. A couple of snaps before quickly returning them back into the water will go a long way for future stocks of flathead. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great watching a big crocodile swimming back down to the depths. Crabs have been around in really good numbers. The dirty water around the Easter break has definitely stirred things up a bit, and this should continue over the next month or so. Try

mostly upriver from Pimlico towards Wardell. The best baits are whole mullet or mullet frames. One little secret from an old local crabber I got is save your luderick frames and use

with chatterbaits. Try 1/2oz spinnerbaits, as this size really pushes some water and gets the attention of any fish in the vicinity. One cool thing about the dirty water run-off coming out of the

A solid pair of mud crabs caught around Pimlico Island using mullet for bait. them for crab baits. The oily frames seem to bring good numbers in. Freshwater stretches of the river have been fishing well for bass. Big spinnerbaits with gold willow blades are producing the best numbers, along

drains is you can actually fish some pretty big topwater baits during the middle of the day! The dirty water makes the bass a lot less skittish and more aggressive. If you can get onto a pattern like this, try a bigger topwater bait to get their attention.

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A very exciting time for anglers YAMBA

Dave Gaden

This month sees the change in the season as far as water and air temperature is concerned

Middle Wall of a night time would be one of my favourite spots for chasing these guys. Anchoring up over your favourite hole just before dark and consistently berleying will have you getting sore hands

two hours of run-in will return your efforts with a nice feed of good flounder and dusky flathead. I like to drift this area using prawn bait for the flounder, and whitebait for the flatties. Offshore this month there is the real noticeable change. Every year for the

is a significant event. The mackerel will hang around here right up until the whales arrive, and sometimes they can be really on the bite and leave as the big mammals cruise north. The upside is that with the whales we get the cobia cruising with them.

Cody, 9yo, with a lovely spotted mackerel from a recent charter. that was swimming with the whale. The only downside is that you need to make

a decision as to whether you keep a wire trace on in case of a spotted or Spanish

Khye, 13yo, took this nice mulloway all by himself, and it was a real battle for him. in our part of the world. This is an exciting time for anglers, as it means most fish are getting ready for the winter spawn and gathering in greater numbers, consequently making them easier to find and catch. In the estuary we should see bream numbers really grow around the bottom end of the river, and the

from taking so many fish off the hook. Further upstream around Browns Rocks will have good fish all day on top of the reef. You will lose a bit of gear here, but some great fish will be caught, even in the middle of the day. Heading up from there, the channel between Turkey and Palmers islands on the last hour of run-out and first

Simon ‘Bags’ Birchell with a thumping mahimahi. This month will be your last chance to get one of these. last 12 years I have seen the first whales arrive here on either 14 or 15 May. I know a lot of you aren’t actually interested in whales, but it

Sometimes you can have a whale swim past the boat, and if you flick a live bait 10m behind you can be smashed up by the big cobia

A very satisfying bag of tuskfish, with other assorted thrills. Bags like this will be common in May.

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mackerel, or go without it to increase the chance of a cobia hook-up. All I can say is good luck! This month offers great

reef fishing, as all the quality fish seem to come back into the reef. Plumbago and Red Cliff to the south will have nice snapper in

anywhere from 10-35m big eye and Moses perch is around 85-100m, I use fresh fish for the table. of water. Floating baits to name a few. With the a three hook paternoster The grounds up north will bring the big critters exclusion of the red big eye, rig with up to 16oz sinker around Black Rock and unstuck. Be prepared to most of the rest will be weight, and try to put three South Evans Reef will adjust the weight to suit the quality table fair. different baits on, such as literally be trag city this conditions, as you need to For those who like to a piece of blue pilly, squid month, so it’s well worth get as slow a sinking bait as head wide offshore, this and mullet. You will soon the drive, as they will be you can, being ever mindful month is a ripper. A lot of find out which bait is the getting bigger and there of the horrid mutton birds the strong current would best, but there will be many will be enough snapper that will do everything they have disappeared and the occasions where you will and the odd big mulloway can to feed up before they grounds will be easier to get a triple header, and then mixed with them to keep migrate north. This is a lot fish. The northern grounds who cares! you happy. easier if you drift over the 19nm off Black Rock is Most years the FADs in • If you are heading to reef, as you can put a 1/4oz a good hard bottom with NSW will be removed this Yamba or Iluka and would glow sinker right on the bait lots of wire weed and month, so make the most of like to join us on one of and still get to the fish. holds everything including the first two weeks to get our deep sea charters or Brooms Head Reef will snapper, there and get the last of need gear and advice, call rawperch, n Blablue mba Ppearl des”out have really good numbers“Ya morwong and, my favourite, the mahimahi. They really or drop into my shop at of venus tuskfish and pearl black spotted pigfish. have been good this year, Yamba Marina and we will perch on it this month. Try Because of the depth, which and are hard to beat as a sort you out! drifting in 40-45m of water with a standard paternoster rig baited with mullet fillet on one hook and a good piece of squid on the other. Remember even in this “Yamba’s Leading Tackle Shop” deeper water to have one or “IN THE MAIN STREET” 8 Yamba St, Yamba two floaters out all the time, as even if they only take one • fish for the day it is usually a good one. With the water change we seem to catch all the not-so-common species this month. Gummy sharks are a great by-catch, as they fight like big snapper and are good on the plate. • Stocking all major brands They will be all over the • Experienced local knowledge reef this month, and more • Tournament bream gear in stock common than most people • Snorkelling gear in stock think in this area. Along with the gummies are goldspot pigfish, Maori cod, red

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The allrounder month of May COFFS HARBOUR

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Daylight savings is well behind us and the daylight hours are shrinking. The after work fish may have turned into a night session for the dedicated and keen, but there is still plenty of

fishing to be had, whether in the daylight hours or night. Offshore the season has continued to settle in nicely, with the spotted and Spanish mackerel being far more consistent for the last couple of months. Any northeast seabreezes have slowed down to a light puff every now and then, and there has

been some very long periods of fair weather for all. Even on the weekends! Mackerel anglers have enjoyed some high quality sessions, with live baits being taken in minutes and sometimes seconds for entire sessions. Live baits have probably been used the most. Although there appears to be plenty

snapper and cobia have been frequent catches all around too, but mostly for those live baiting for mackerel. The land-based gamefishing is also in full swing at the moment, with the mackerel and longtail tuna running frequent laps of all the prominent headlands. Offshore winds and a lack of swell has made the landbased conditions particularly good throughout autumn. If the light winds and small swell continue through this month, you can expect mackerel and tuna to be regular captures off the rocks this month, too. For those not trying to get their arms stretched beyond recognition at the local headland, there are still plenty of the more standard targets, such as dart, tailor and school mulloway. Luderick schools have also been very easy to target with such good conditions. If you can find a school and have your method sorted, you can catch a good feed in minutes. May also marks the beginning of the closed

Harrison Rhoades found this 135cm Spaniard with a stickbait. season for bass. Most anglers take this as a time to leave the bass alone to make their

way downstream and ‘do their thing’. Over this month we can

Don Cummings with a very common by-catch on the live slimy mackerel setup. Although a welcome capture, the reds can wreak havoc with your wire trace. Reef & Bottom Fishing Heavy & Light Tackle from Gamefishing $ 150pp Sportsfishing

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of mackerel on the coast, it seems a bit harder to find them schooled up in a way that makes them easier for the stickbait anglers. There’s still fish being caught on artificial baits, but it’s the live baits that are more reliable. There is not really any need to talk about specific areas, as there are mackerel and tuna on basically every island, inshore reef and headland. If there’s bait there, there’ll be mackerel as well. The longtail tuna,

Spin gear has been doing the job for Clarke Kable on the plateau brown trout.

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MAY 2019

expect the bass to begin moving downstream into the brackish stretches, meaning they will likely show up for some of the

bream and mulloway anglers in the upper estuaries. If you do end up with a bass on your line, remember that they must

Once you find one spotty you will often find a few, as Harrison Rhoades found on this occasion.

be released immediately without harm. The school mulloway have been ever present in the mid-upper estuary and this should continue. Hopefully a few more big slabs will be making their way around the larger estuaries like the Bellingen, Kalang and Nambucca this month. While the bass season has already closed this month, the trout anglers are madly squeezing in as many ‘last trips’ up the mountain as they can. The trout fishing in the back half of the season has been far more productive as the weather cools, and the consistent rain has kept the creeks flowing well. Although the Dorrigo Plateau trout may not be as finicky as those in other parts of the world, they won’t be quite as focussed on the surface as the weather cools into winter. Sub-surface flies and little diving minnows are likely to be the best performers at this time of year. Most of the trout creeks on the range are in pretty good shape and will have active fish ready for that last trip. Whether it’s your daily morning sessions, or one of the ‘last of the season’ trips, I hope you enjoy favourable weather and active and hungry fish!

INDUSTRY NEWS

TTs acquires Platypus Tackle Tactics has acquired the iconic Australian brand Platypus Fishing Lines. Platypus Fishing was started by George Ross, a Scottish rope maker, in 1898. The business thrived as it was passed down through four generations of the McPherson family, with Stewart McPherson managing the business in recent years. Stewart will continue to work with TTs as a consultant. Gareth Williams, the Managing Director of TTs,

said they were all excited about the acquisition. “Platypus products have been Australian made and owned for over 120 years, and it is our intention to carry on this tradition of manufacturing these quality

products in Australia,” he said. “The acquisition includes raw materials, production equipment, and a selection of key team members with decades of experience with both the products and the manufacturing process. “We would like to thank everyone for their ongoing support of this iconic Australian brand and we look forward to continuing to supply anglers with a selection of quality, trusted, fishing lines.” – Tackle Tactics

MAY 2019

No complaints as the weather cools down NAMBUCCA

Riley Wilson

Usually May is the month when the cold weather really starts to make itself known – a few faint frosts

on the ground and some rather chilly southerlies. While we are enjoying the current fishing, it’s a good bet to start to get prepared for the winter fun! We have seen a great mackerel season, though

after a little bit of a slow start. Mid to late March we saw them kick into gear and the once a year anglers jostled for position on the ramp with the seasoned anglers and pros. Spotties and Spanish were playing

Soft plastics are a great way to target the flathead that are about in good numbers this month, especially lures that imitate a prawn.

The bass season is now closed until August 31. During this time it’s best to leave them alone to spawn in peace.

Tall fish tales told here. Experience the best bluewater, rock, river and beach fishing on the NSW north coast.

the game and thankfully the regular shark numbers have been down, helping many anglers take home a few fillets instead of a head. Slow trolling live bait seems to be the top technique but a few guys are trolling dead baits rigged on a chin weight, with baits such as bonito and small tailor being the top picks. There have been plenty of small bonito all up and down the coast, providing either a fun session off the stones on a slow day or a premium dead bait. The river fishing has been steady. You can catch a feed if you’re lucky, and working hard for them can have you a cracker of a session on the right day. Fish are mostly spread around upstream, as

the rain still hasn’t been enough to push them down (as yet), although I hope for this to change in the near future! As it is now though, sounding around upstream in search of structure, such as rock bars and gravel beds that drop into deeper water, can show you some of the features likely to hold your quarry. Bream are a big fan of these gravel beds and I have found a small blade or curl-tail plastic rigged as light as possible is a sure fire way to find a willing customer. In this dry weather the mulloway can be right upstream hanging around the bream and bass schools, presumably feeding on the same bait as them. Your bream gear can handle some of these mulloway,

but it’s a good idea to have a little heavier outfit set-up with 10-15lb braid and 20lb leader, ready to throw the next cast in with a little more confidence. This cooler weather will also be bringing on the tailor. Look for those first southerly bumps in the swell and some rough weather. That will get them moving. Getting onto the beaches is a great way to find the passing tailor and you can often pick up some big bream and maybe even a slab of chrome mulloway. • If you are fishing on the Nambucca or just want some great gear and the best advice, drop in and see Riley or Rob at the Boatshed Cafe and say hi, they will be happy to help with all your fishing needs.

Grassy Head | Stuarts Point | Horseshoe Bay Hat Head | Crescent Head 1300 425 605 | macleayvalleyholidayparks.com.au While the mackerel season seemed to have a slow start, they’re in full swing now! 44

MAY 2019

Don’t put away the pelagic tackle just yet! SOUTH WEST ROCKS

Paul Martin

You can feel the end of autumn chill in the air now, but don’t put away your pelagic gear just yet, because historically we can get a good run of mackerel all the way until the end of May! Last month was the best run of wahoo I can remember, with multiple bags from the gaol down to Fish Rock. These fish were chasing everything from skirts and stickbaits to wobblers and divers. Grassy Head has some good spotted mackerel in the

a pilchard will do the trick with the spotties. Yellowfin and longtail tuna have been around in numbers from Scotts down to Hat Head. Fishers targeting the bottom are finding good pearl perch and snapper out in about 90m, and this will only improve as the water cools and the current slows down. Make the most of this, because it won’t be long before those tasty but pesky leatherjackets start chewing off your gear. Fish Rock and Green Island have fished well for kings, but as the water cools they tend to move to the deeper water and can be

Good flathead continue to be caught on bigger plastics and hardbodied lures, with the Daiwa Double Clutch being my go-to lure. As the water cools, they usually like to lay in the shallows and creek inlets to attack their prey. Bream numbers are on the increase, but there are stacks of smaller fish taking the baits. The good news is the winter run of bream will start to move in along the walls, and with a well-presented bait and a little fluorocarbon leader you should be able to land a few. This is a great time of year to fish the oyster

A late season cracker Spanish from the ground of South West Rocks. deeper water, while Scotts Head has been producing solid Spanish. Sharks have caused havoc with the fishos this season, with a large percentage of hooked pelagics becoming shark food. Live slimies have been tough to get all season, but luckily floating

found around the wreck. The Macleay is still holding good stocks of mangrove jack in some of the deeper holes in the system, and it’s definitely been one of the better seasons for years. I have spoken to a few anglers targeting these majestic fish, and most are being released.

racks around Clybucca and Fishermans Reach using light gear. Poppers or shallow divers will work a treat. Upriver the Jerseyville Bridge Pylons have been producing some nice school mulloway at night up to 6kg, with small live mullet or scented soft plastic lures

working best. Smithtown is fishing well for whiting, bream and flathead. Don’t forget, bass season is closed from 1 May until 31 August. Rock Hoppers haven’t had much to cheer about lately, but as the cooler water has started to arrive, better numbers of tailor have appeared off the lighthouse ledges while mac and longtail tuna have been lifted here and off the rocks at Hat and Hungry heads. There should be a drummer or two about and some luderick starting their run. With the traditional run of mullet starting in May, the beaches will be busy with netters doing what they do every year. One of the good things that comes out of this is the bream and the luderick run in conjunction with the mullet. Smoky Beach has whiting coming in patches, but really it has been a poor season for these tasty treats off all our local beaches. On the flip side, tailor are increasing in numbers in the same locations. On Gap Beach bream have started to show up with what I would imagine is the last run of dart this year. Whether the fish are there or not, nothing beats casting out in the surf as the sun rises over the horizon! • For the very latest information on what’s biting and where, drop into Rocks Marine Bait & Tackle at 25 Memorial Ave, South West Rocks. You can also find more information at rocksmarinebaitandtackle. com.au, or look them up on Facebook. The owners are retiring, so if you’ve always dreamed of owning a tackle store, now is your chance!

Wayne and Riley Gordon with a fantastic Macleay River mangrove jack each!

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Mullet on the move this May and out for spawning. The lower section of the river is now the place to be and

THE HASTINGS

Mark Saxon

it is providing some great fishing action. Bream fishos can work their soft or metal

continues to be my number one vibe to use in the deep. They are very simple to

castawayestuarycharters@bigpond.com

This month signals the beginning of our deeper water activities in the local rivers. Rock walls are great places to start your plan of attack if you’re targeting bream, mulloway, flathead and luderick. Why? This time of year the mullet schools are in the rivers, but soon they head out onto our beaches for spawning. Bream also school up this time of year and you will find them holding up in the deeper sections of the river as they head down

Gavin and Mandy Saxon with bream and whiting caught from a recent surface lure session. The system has a variety of species on offer this month.

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vibes along the walls such as north wall, coal wall or Settlement Point. For bream I prefer vibes over plastics at this time of year as the leatherjackets can drive you crazy and some days it’s not unusual to go through a substantial amount of softies. However, the plastics do still catch just as much as the vibes. Soft vibes over the last couple of winter seasons have proven to catch a range of species such as bream, mulloway and flathead. A favourite of mine is the 70mm whitebait pattern from Samaki, and it

PORT MACQUARIE

use – just cast up into the current then let them get down to the bottom and hop them back to the boat, if you can feel the vibration through your rod you know it’s working properly. No vibration means your lure is tangled or has weed on it. Mulloway anglers always look forward to May as this area offers some great lure action during the day, especially upon a nighttime when the larger models get around. Live bait, like tailor or mullet, fished along the walls is my recommendation. Although, don’t stress if you don’t have live bait, as cut baits can be just as

The author’s end of season bass fishing with a fly rod was plenty of fun. with many locals concerned about the low water levels and the consistent closure of the lakefront after repeated openings, but failing to keep it open for

great ways to get a few fish in this waterway. Rock and beach anglers will be preparing for the mullet and bream run as much as anyone is, with

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13 12 69

Jason Hicks with a school mulloway caught using the Samaki soft vibe. effective in getting amongst some mulloway. Anchoring along the walls or around the deeper drop-off points and having a couple of rods set is a great way to spend a couple of hours around the tide change. Be sure to rug up accordingly as the nights will start to get fresh. Lake Cathie continues to be a topic of discussion

any period of time. There are many opinions, with one theory being a wall is being built. I don’t know the answer myself, but in the meantime you can fish the lake and nearly wade all over it. Throughout April there was some great shallow water flathead action. Soft plastics, diving minnows and saltwater flies are all

some excellent fishing on offer for the next few months to come. Targeting big winter beach mulloway was once a big part of my fishing, I just couldn’t stay away, with many hours spent chasing the silver ghosts. If you’re keen to catch a big Port Macquarie beach mulloway, then get your gear ready as this month is your best chance.

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Taking your rig into deep or rapidly moving water is risky. Here are some tips to keep you safe. First, before traversing that flooded river, check out how deep it is, how fast it is flowing, what’s underneath, what the best route is, and how you will need to prepare your rig. Walk through and mark big drops and potholes with a stick, assess the ground conditions and the flow. If it’s a raging flood, don’t walk or drive in, but if the water seems reasonable and you know what you are dealing with, prepare for the crossing. BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY Preparation is everything. Be sure to hook up your recovery gear before you hit the water, uncoil your winch cable and sticky it to your bonnet. Should you get stuck, you don’t want to deep-dive under to latch on your straps or unwind the winch cable. Pick out some suitable tackle points on the other side when you walk the creek in case you get stuck in the middle. Be sure there is good air for your rig. You should have a snorkel or RAI (Raised Air Intake) fitted; if not, keep out of deep water. Know the recommended submersion level of your model vehicle. Not all snorkels are watertight. Most 4WDs have air tubes fitted to the diff and drive gear to allow for expansion and contraction as the temperatures shift. The valves on these sometimes sit rather low. They need to be up as high as possible because when you hit the water everything cools down and will suck in air. If the valve is submerged you could be drawing water into your diff. Electrics don’t love water either, so ensure they

are safe. Many of them are fully sealed, if not, dowsing them in WD40 may help, but for really deep water, fit a water bra (a waterproof shield you fit over the front of your rig). Or strapping a tarp over your grill and front end with an occy-strap or three will help push water around your vehicle instead of it gushing straight into your engine bay. It will also help with not letting the water hit the fan, which can bend it and hack into the radiator. GOING FOR IT Don’t hit the creek full blast. For auto vehicles use low range and if possible, choose second gear. For manual 4WDs, low range and second gear all the way through. Don’t change gears in the creek as this can open seals and let in water. Go about the pace of a fast walk – fast enough to push forward against the current and water mass, yet slow enough to be able to react to anything unexpected. IF YOU GET STUCK If you get stuck, stay calm. If you get caught on a big rock or sink in soft mud, first decide if everyone is safe and how to keep it that way. With touch downs, ease your rig back gently without gushing water up your exhaust pipe until you are free, and then have your offsider guide you around the rock. If you dig in and water starts filling your vehicle, turn it off and get the winch cable off the bonnet. Hook up to that anchor point you identified beforehand and winch yourself out. Precaution, preparation, common sense and a clear head will get you out of most sticky situations. Early preparation is the key. Most drivers get all buzzed up at the opportunity of putting their driving skills

and rig to the test, but showing off as you thrash through deep water is not a sign of 4WDing finesse. When you get to water higher than your hub caps, be cautious and check the crossing on foot. Water above the top of the wheels means any large pothole could submerge your engine and electrics, which will be a tad risky. Before you hit the water consider whether it’s the safest spot to cross, if there’s a better spot somewhere else to cross, if there’s a good exit with suitable anchor points, if crossing can be avoided altogether, and whether you feel confident to get rig and crew safely through. If there’s any doubt, don’t do it. AFTER YOUR CROSSING Emerging from the creek will often be on steep ground that is muddy, slippery, rutted or worn. It’s a challenge to drag your waterlogged vehicle out of the water. Once you are on solid ground, stop if it’s safe and let the excess water drain out. Check for any sticks and debris that may be caught on your undercarriage. Next, dab your brakes hard a few times or drive with them dragging for a bit to help them dry off quicker. Otherwise, if a tree is across your track on the next corner, nothing may happen when you slam the brakes on. Ultimately, you’re responsible for getting your crew and your pride and joy back in one piece, so don’t take unnecessary risks. Sure, in my TV show we do some way-out stuff, but this is not what you can do with your average 4WD, nor when you are alone out the back of Bourke. Have fun out in the bush and crossing those creeks – safely! - Jase Andrews, All 4 Adventure

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Since the recent rain events, many things have changed for the fishing and the weather. Although in saying that, we haven’t experienced any bad weather from the south, even though there have been plenty of southerly winds up to 15km/h.

the estuary, making for great fun. Tailor are great food for mulloway and a lot of fish in the 5-10kg range have been hooked from the wall on live bait, soft plastics and hardbodied lures. May is the start of the best bream fishing on the Manning and it continues on into June and July. Mullet strips, mullet gut and fresh yabbies are the best baits. The best fishing occurs before and after slack water

The flathead have just about finished their spawning and have moved back up the river. They may be caught around Cundle Bridge, up above the Taree Bridge and further upstream towards Wingham. Chopper tailor are here in big schools feeding on the many schools of whitebait that are in the area. They can be taken on metal lures, pilchards or strips of bonito. The big problem is the

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A quality 3.8kg flathead that was taken during the competition. Definitely an award winning fish. The red weed is still a nuisance, however, it has died and is no longer red in colour. The weed is now a brown/green colour and smells terrible. The winds tend to move the weed up and down the beaches, depending on the wind direction, meaning the beach is clear one day and choked with weed the next. On the other hand, the cold water has been replaced with water around 25ºC and the fish are back on the bite. In the estuary, fishing is good with big schools of whitebait coming into the river from out at sea and moving up the river, accompanied by great flocks of cormorants and gulls. The whitebait bring kingfish and tailor into the lower part of

on high and low tides. If you can find a school of bream feeding along the wall, then be sure to fish for them every night by fishing a little further along the wall until you start landing fish. Now that the mullet are moving these bream are schooling up and getting ready to move out to sea to spawn. Bream come into the river as they move up the coast and they can be caught as they feed up the wall before they head back to sea. There may be several schools that do this before the bream run is finished. These fish can be taken on the northern end of Crowdy Beach, along with drummer and groper, which have been landed from the rocks at Crowdy Head.

red weed. If you can find a gutter free of red weed then a feed of tailor is a sure thing. Offshore anglers have been scoring good catches of surface fish over the last two weeks. With the temperature hovering around 26-27ºC, spotted mackerel, longtail tuna, bonito, mackerel tuna, mahimahi and Spanish mackerel have been boated. Good snapper have come from the northern grounds, with the best fish going just over 10kg. If you get onto a smaller school of fish, it’s then a matter of trying new areas until better fish are found. A variety of species will be on offer this month and during the cooler months, so you’ll be sure to see good results!

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The Newcastle District Anglers winning team. MAY 2019

Anything is possible in May FORSTER

Luke Austin

As we move into May and edge closer to winter, we enter a bit of a transitional

period for fishing. While the days begin to cool, the water generally remains fairly warm and clear, and this makes for a very interesting and entertaining month where

Good-sized bream are a very worthy target in our estuaries and off the rocks in May.

just about anything is possible. In our estuaries, the summer species will continue to play ball well into May. Flathead, while not as prolific, are still about and will be gorging themselves on the myriad of baitfish that inhabit the lower sections of the system during autumn. Their warm-water counterparts, the sand whiting, will remain very active right up until the water temperature cools (normally about the second or third week in May) and can make for great fun if you get a decent high tide in the middle of a nice sunny autumn day. Throwing stickbaits about the sand flats is about as much fun as you can have in an estuary, and at this time of year you are also likely

breakwalls, bridge pylons and oyster leases and are great fun on light gear. These spawn run fish are generally fairly easy to fool, as they are hell bent on improving their condition while getting ready to do their thing; small soft plastics and lightly-weighted baits will be scoffed down with gusto, you just need to be on your toes if you want to stop them! Luderick and mullet are the other two main species that embark on an annual spawning migration. The annual mullet run (generally kicking off around the end of April) is an important event for the local commercial fishers, as they chase them up and down the beaches and net them by the tonne. For us recreational anglers, this event is a fairly big deal, as it kick-starts

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Local angler Brent Anderson with a decent wash caught black drummer. to encounter lots of flathead and the odd bream. The lower reaches of the lake will begin to fill with big bream as they get ready to spawn over the coming months. They will start lining up along the

MANNING RIVER MARINE N TACKLE

arguably the best time of year to chase that trophy mulloway. As the masses of mullet run the gauntlet that is the mouth of the river, they get hammered by big mulloway, kingfish, sharks and dolphins, so having a nice big soft plastic, live mullet or slab of mullet out under these schools should see you hooking up in no time! On the flip side, while the mullet exit the system, the luderick will do the opposite

Snapper are great fun up in the shallows at this time of year! and come into the mouth where they will school up along both break walls, in Breckenridge Channel, on the bridge pylons and all through the oyster leases as they too prepare to spawn. With so many fish travelling up and down our coastline, it’s no surprise that May is a great time of year to hit the sand. For the serious mulloway anglers, fishing a likely looking gutter on a rising evening/night tide with live or fresh slab baits is about as good as it gets at this time of year. For those who like their sleep, an early morning throwing lures or baits about will bag you some very nice tailor off Seven and Nine Mile beaches, or alternatively, the same gutters fished with fresh beachworm or pipi should see you snag some late season whiting, dart and bream. Tuna and cobia continue to haunt the local rock ledges, and while there is warm water and food about they have no reason to move on. By this stage in the LBG season, the fish are not as numerous, but they are of a very good size and it is often this month

that sees the biggest fish of the year landed. As soon as the first flush of cool water moves through, these fish will be pushed back to the north and anglers will be forced to shift their focus on to the winter ‘bread and butter’ species, such as tailor, black drummer, big bream and luderick. This month is awesome offshore. Snapper have now well and truly started to school up on the inshore reefs and are great fun to chase on light gear using plastics. The key is to get to your chosen reef nice and early to make the most of that prime dawn bite period. The first few weeks in May give anglers an unique window of opportunity where they can start the morning off by catching a trophy snapper in 10m of water before pulling Spanish and spotted mackerel off the same reefs as the day goes on. Mackerel and cobia generally hang about until the second or third week in May and it is now that we generally see 20kg+ Spanish up around Snapper Rock, Dennis Shoals and any shallow reefs in between.

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MAY 2019

There will be a few spotted and Spanish mackerel well into May.

Plenty on offer this May PORT STEPHENS

Paul Lennon

May brings with it some of the best fishing of the year. The fishing scene offers a range of different species as we get a tail

dividends to always have a rod rigged up and ready to go with a casting lure, as these fish have a habit of busting up when you least expect it. The best lures are those from 20-50g. You don’t want anything too big in

Tailor on the beaches, rocks and estuary this month will provide plenty of fun for the kids! end of the summer bite, but also a great taste into all of what winter has to offer. ESTUARY The first week of May will continue to be a good chance to catch a longtail tuna. It can pay big

size, as most of the tuna will be gorging on smaller baitfish like frogmouth pilchards and whitebait. They can show up anywhere from Shoal Bay to the western side of Middle Island, with tide changes a major bite trigger.

The bream fishing inside the port is sensational and gets better the further into May we get. Try any bit of natural or artificial structure from the boulders to Tahlee, concentrating around tide changes. Soft plastics and small shallow diving cranks tend to fish well around theses areas and should result in fish up to 1kg, as will bait fishing by anchoring up and casting nippers down a berley trail. Mulloway will have a big presence through May with the usual haunts (deep water holes, break walls and bridges) all worth hitting with live baits or fresh squid on the tide changes. Luderick season will really kick into gear now and already good numbers are being caught from Nelson Bay rock wall, the Anchorage and also Torpedo Tubes. The best time to fish is half an hour before the turn of the top of the tide and through to about two hours after. Dusky flathead will hang around through May. The best areas to catch them at this time of year is around Tilligerry Creek, North Arm Cove and the lower parts of Karuah. ROCKS Off the rocks it’s still a good time for LBG anglers to chase longtail tuna with early May being your best chance of the year for a cobia. Smaller pelagics are also very active with mac tuna, bonito, tailor and rat kings all good options for anglers spinning lures from the rocks. Luderick are thick in many of the bays and coves from Boulder Bay to Fingal Island. Drummer are another fish that come into season late May, with peeled prawns and cunjevoi

Longtail tuna will still be present in May, so be sure to always have a rod and lure ready to cast at the bust-ups. presented on a 1/0 hook and split shot sinker the best way to catch them. BEACHES Mulloway are a good target species this month, with fish to over 30kg reported off the beach from Stockton and Hawks Nest Beach recently. It’s a great time to bag a few bream, especially in the corners of ocean beaches where they meet

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rocky coastline. Fish these areas just on dark with a rising tide using live worms or pipis. OFFSHORE One thing I really look forward to in May is the shallow water snapper fishing around the inshore reefs and islands. Soft plastics fished on the drift over these areas can be deadly on quality reds, some pushing the magical

20lb mark. Old fashion bait fishing down a berley trail will also produce the goods. With the current slowing down offshore, there is still a good shot at some late season striped marlin. Almark Mountain is producing good kingfish to 10kg on knife jigs and live baits. You will be sure to find reds and longfin perch when dropping anything to the bottom around this area.

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Cool weather makes for some great changes and below the water. This is making for some great changes on the fishing scene. This can be a really hard time to track down some fish, but when you do you’re sure to be amongst some red hot action! A lot

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Aaron Donaldson

Things have really changed since my last report with temperatures dropping drastically, both above

Some nice bream are around this month and showing a liking to the vibes.

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of different species are starting to school up in the estuaries, making for good fishing. Brisbane Waters has been fishing well, as it usually does. Flathead have been the main target recently and have started to move into deeper water as they prepare for hibernation. This doesn’t mean they can’t be caught, but it does mean you’ll need to use smaller lures and get them right in their face so they can’t say no. Most vibe and blade styled lures are great for this sort of fishing. Really small lifts is the best plan of attack as the fish won’t have to move too far to grab it. Flathead can become lazy during these cooler months. Mulloway should be very active this month as the mullet have been moving the last few weeks. The larger mulloway will switch on as the water cools, and they can be found pushing up around the road bridges at this time. Live baiting is popular, with yellowtail, mullet and squid being the best baits. Try fishing areas where the water is lit up by surrounding streetlights, as these areas will attract

bait, followed by hungry predators. Try to plan your trips around a tide change. Rockfishing has been a bit slow this season with the lack of pelagics, especially on the bonito scene. Mostly smaller sized fish have been caught and the numbers have been down. The same goes with the frigate mackerel – only a few small runs here and there. Beaches have been fishing well with huge schools of Australian salmon starting to return as the water cools. They can be a great target for the light tackle anglers, and the kids really love getting amongst the action too. Not to mention the tailor and mulloway, which have also been caught in good numbers. North Entrance has probably been one of the better beaches to try, where there has been some good flathead hanging around the mouth. Although, these fish will taper off as the water quickly cools. Gamefishing has been really quiet this season with very little to talk about. So, let’s hope we see a nice early run of yellowfin tuna to spark the interest of the local gamefishos.

Robyne Abernathy with her first flathead caught from a local wharf. The smile says it all!

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Golden haul seized Months of intelligence gathering and highlevel collaboration between NSW, Victoria and SA has resulted in the apprehension of a 36-year-old Pomona man for allegedly taking and illegally selling 12 tonnes of golden perch worth around $200,000. NSW DPI Director Fisheries Compliance, Patrick Tully, said the operation was led by NSW DPI Fisheries over a 20-month period, and included the Victorian Fisheries Authority, Primary Industries and Regions SA and NSW Police Force. “The interstate undercover operation was established to investigate the unlawful taking of golden

perch from NSW and their sale in Victoria under the guise of having been taken lawfully from SA waters,” Mr Tully said. “On 13 March, 2019, NSW DPI officers pounced near Pomona on the Darling River, seizing the man’s boat, motor and trailer, seven illegal gill nets, a quantity of fish and a mobile phone.” As a result of a search warrant, a further 101 golden perch weighing almost 150kg in a cool room on the property, along with a further eight gill nets, fish boxes, styrofoam boxes, scales and documentation were seized. Four firearms and a quantity of ammunition were also seized by NSW Police Force. Simultaneously, Vic Fisheries Authority investigators obtained records

from a number of businesses in Victoria including a fish wholesaler in Melbourne, where it will be alleged the fish were destined to be sold. The Pomona man now faces a range of charges carrying maximum fines of up to $110,000 and/or 12 months imprisonment. Commercial fishing for native freshwater finfish was phased out from NSW waters in 2001 due to concerns for the sustainability of native fish populations. Golden perch can be legally grown and sold through the NSW aquaculture industry. Anyone who suspects illegal taking or selling of fish can report it to Fishers Watch on 1800 043 536 or www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/ fishing. – DPI

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DPI Fisheries Officers with confiscated equipment and retrieved fish. Image courtesy of DPI.

Change of season brings new fish to target SWANSEA

Jason Scerri coloratolures@hotmail.com

We’ve had some good fishing leading into the final month of autumn here on Lake Macquarie. We had some good rains that have provided a great flush out for the lake, which is always welcomed after a long hot summer. I guess you could say that we’re in between seasons as far as the fish go, but the way I look at it is you have more options when you’re in between two seasons. It’s a great time of year to enjoy fishing here, regardless of whether you’re fishing offshore or the lake itself. Another plus for local anglers has been the opening of the newly finished boat ramp at Pelican. It may not be ideal for all crafts but it is certainly a handy ramp to have and will get loads of use from local and visiting anglers alike. The water temperatures in the lake are dropping – as you would expect for this time of year. This drives many fish into deeper water and this is where you will be searching for good flathead and mulloway over the coming months. Last season we worked these deeper schools of fish and noticed a good number of bream taking our larger lures, so we dropped down to the 3” plastics and had some great sessions on the bream.

catches recently with good numbers about and a few real solid models in the mix. Good catches are coming from the Wangi area and the northern areas of the lake. Belmont Bay is producing a few good fish, but it really does fire more late in the afternoons and into the evening when the boat traffic has settled down. The top end of the lake, Bolton Point, has not only been producing good flathead but also a few mulloway. A good starting point is working the deeper water at 10m around Bolton Point. Soft plastics around 5-6” are working well. Again, I would certainly be using some form of scent on my plastics in this dark, deep water as I find that it not only helps attract the initial bite but if the fish happen to shake free they regularly come back for a 2nd or 3rd attempt. This time of year is also a popular time for anglers waiting for the tailor to show up. Tailor are generally in the lake all-year round, but during certain periods of the year the numbers and size improve and provide some great light tackle sportfishing and also a great fresh meal. Just remember that tailor doesn’t freeze well, so eating them fresh on the day they are caught is the way to go. They really do taste great when treated well, so give them a go and you will thank me for it. Offshore action is still

worth pulling a spread of skirted game lures, which has been the most effective method. The good news for marlin anglers is that with summer over and the cooler weather upon us you’re still in with a great chance at a ‘beaky’. This time of year can see some great blue marlin bites and it is key to increase your tackle and certainly increase your lure sizes. The blues tend to bite out wider than the summer run of blacks and you will be looking at targeting the waters beyond the shelf and concentrating on the canyons out wide. As we look back on recent mahimahi seasons, there has been a great run of large fish late into the season. These fish are always a very welcoming by-catch for gamefishing

Simon with a new PB mahimahi. The end of summer always brings a run of quality fish. strips are really effective in this deep water. Lures fished deep are also well worth a shot. For those anglers looking for a bigger challenge and less

it well are rewarded and seem to love every minute of it (okay, maybe not every minute). The marlin season was not as hot as many had hoped or expected, but in saying that it was still far from a flop. Many crews still experienced some really good bites throughout the season with a few boats scoring double and three way hook-ups, which really gets the blood pumping. With the fish more spread out this season, it is well

crews, as there are not many fish that go better on the plate than mahimahi. More often than not they are caught at this time of year as by-catch on your marlin lures, but it certainly pays to have a few live baits ready to go in case you stumble across some floating debris out wide that often have some solid mahimahi hanging off them. Aside from the blue marlin and the odd mahimahi out wide, there is also a good chance of coming across a few yellowfin tuna, so I would suggest mixing up your lure spread. Keep a couple of big lures in close off the boat and then have a pair of 10” lures off the riggers. I would be throwing in an 8” bullet on the shotgun and hoping for the YFT to rise.

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High quality fishing delivered to your door at an unbeatable price. Matt Zahra with a spectacular pic of a recent marlin he caught from his 4.5m Polycraft. Matt is a gun local gamefisherman who specialises in catching gamefish solo. We are certainly looking to repeat this during these cooler months. Generally speaking, I’m not too fussed on scent these days but I do rate it highly for this deep bite and find it makes a big difference in our success rate over the cooler periods of the year. On the flathead front, there have been some great

good at this time of year and to be honest, the back end of the season has been more productive than the start, so there is still plenty of hope to score a few great fish. The raging currents seem to back right off and also allow a good shot at some prime deep water species that are sensational on the table. Live baits and squid

concerned about scoring a feed, then you’re in luck. Some big tiger sharks are on offer for those up to the task. The size of some of these sharks is just mind blowing and the effort the crews put in is crazy – something that needs to be experienced to truly be appreciated. It’s not for everyone that’s for sure, but those that do it and do

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Cold conditions bring in much bigger catches HUNTER COAST

Shannon Malone

Winter is coming! And as we pass through autumn, it’s again time to start unpacking the winter woollies and get ready for the cold weather. For many fishers, the cold temperatures are too much to endure, so they pack away their rods and tackle and daydream about the warmer months of the year, while some of us carry on regardless and take the frigid conditions head on. The best investment is some thermal underwear, and it’s

also worth taking an extra set of clothes out with you; you can always put them on for an extra layer if need be. Usually at this time of year a lot of anglers target leatherjackets and they are seriously a lot of fun and pretty good on the tooth; definitely one of my favourites to eat. They are easy to catch and clean, and I simply roll them in flour and put them straight into a pan with butter and white pepper – you can’t get much better. They will also keep the kiddies interested if you can prise the phone from their vice like grips and replace it with a rod. Jackets are easily

accessible for everyone and often fishing land-based is the preferred way to bag a few. Any of the piers, wharves or jetties as well as the many vantage points from the rock walls like Stockton or Nobbys are good places to start. Fish light with a size 10-12 long shank hook or baitholder and a small running sinker size around 00-2 down to the hook and you should be in business. Keep it simple, and it should

conditions. At times they are willing to eat almost anything presented to them, bait or lure, I’ve even caught them on a bare jighead after losing my last plastic and retrieving it at speed. Saltwater fly fishing is becoming more popular these days, and salmon are great for learning how to present a fly, and with some of the flies available it’s easy to see why they react to them so well.

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Daniel Fitzgerald with a nice pair of mahimahi caught recently. be fine. A few dollars of school prawns or bottle squid for bait should pretty much guarantee success. The Australian salmon have again shown up in their thousands and have provided loads of reel-screaming action. Pound-for-pound they are hard to beat for such an undesired species, with blistering runs and plenty of aerobatics making for hours of fun in these colder

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Lifelike baitfish imitations in all shapes, sizes and colours will work for salmon. There usually is some cracking tailor mixed in with the schools of salmon, along with a few trevally and some thumping bream under the schools. Stockton Beach continues to fish well, with good reports of some trophy mulloway caught in recent weeks, and the rain we’ve had in the past few weeks has certainly helped to push those bigger fish back downstream. The rain has also been flushing various types of baitfish and

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crustaceans that all add to the cycle of life in the ocean. The harbour is also putting out some good numbers of quality mulloway in the 85-110cm+ range over the last few weeks. You will pick up some nice bream and flatties as the usual mulloway by-catch. The rocks a little further up the coast has seen longtails, mac tuna and cobia for those who don’t mind a trek to secure that perfect ledge or platform to fish from. Seals Rocks and Port Stephens are also reporting some catches. There’s been reports of a couple of longtails landed in our area, with a 15kg fish caught off the rocks at Wybung and another boated off Swansea, which we rarely see. It’s great to see a few

lucky anglers catch them each season in this neck of the woods. Offshore the fishing hasn’t been what we have been used to over the last few seasons, but the hunt goes on. Despite the lack of fish, there have still been some good fish caught. Some decent blue and striped marlin have satisfied those putting the effort in, and plenty of mahimahi of all sizes have been found in massive schools around 40-50cm. This has been keeping anglers busy while waiting for a bigger model to rise up to the offering. There’s also been a lot of striped tuna and some nice yellowfin caught in recent weeks, with a few reports of wahoo as well.

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Preston Alley with a nice 15kg longtail caught on 20lb line. He and his mate had a double hook-up, with Preston’s fish taking 40 minutes to land and his mate spent 2.5 hours on 10lb only for his fish to be sharked.

Mix it up this month ILLAWARRA

Greg Clarke clarkey1@westnet.com.au

There is still a bit of life left in the local area before we get hit with the winter cold and those nasty strong westerlies, so make the most of it while you can. Kingies are the go-to inshore species this month and there are a few decent fish getting about, the trouble is they seem to be moving around from place to place and only holding in areas for a short time.

line knows that they know exactly where the sharpest rocks and reef are and soon enough run you straight through it. If it doesn’t work the first time they will do it again until they break free. Live bait tends to get the best results on local kings and squid are on the top of the list, as kings usually can’t resist them. Slimy mackerel and yellowtail are certainly not too far behind on that list. Down riggers have made catching them even more effective, especially when used in conjunction with a good sounder. Picking up

generally bring them undone. It can be a nice change for the kings too, as they don’t mind a pilly either. Salmon will be feeding around many of the same inshore areas where the kings will be. They have not been as numerous in the past few years since the ban on netting them down south was removed. So now they cop a flogging and it is evident by the instant drop in numbers moving up the coast compared to when the ban was in place. There are still quite a few about and casting

The water is cooling now, so trevally catches will become more frequent and bigger. This could be because they get a hammering from the increasing number of anglers targeting them these days. Social media and mobile phones can bring a whole lot of pressure on a school of fish that are holding in an area and within 24 hours they get battle weary and used to the jigs and baits thrown at them, so they shut up shop and move on. While they are usually not that hard to catch, the constant onslaught can make them hard to find. Even when you do find them, they may just keep their mouths shut and ignore your offerings if they have copped a recent hiding. Over the years you notice that what was a gun lure, jig or bait is now totally ignored, unless they get super worked up and are in a ‘grab everything that moves’ mood. The good old irons of yester-year were deadly when they hit the market, but after a year or so the kings associated them with danger and catch rates dropped right off. The same has happened in some spots with knife jigs, although they still work but not anything like they did when they first came on the scene. They are quite a smart fish. Anyone who has ever hooked a decent one on light

where they are sitting in the water column and adjusting your bait’s depth to suit, you can pretty much put the baits right on their nose. They can be found all along the coast at the moment and for the most part you don’t have to go too far offshore as they will be holding all around the regular spots such as the islands, Bass Point, the Shallows off Shellharbour, Rangoon Island bommie, Bellambi bommie, Coalcliff and the drop-offs around the deep ledges at Kiama. Keep in mind, they will be pretty much anywhere with a good sharp drop off and it will be even better if there is a little current. The break walls at Port Kembla are another good spot where they are frequent, particularly on the run-out tide. Then there are the deeper spots like Bandit and Wollongong reefs, where the jigs and deep fished live baits work best. Some big bonito are hanging around in these areas and can be a nuisance if you’re using large slimy mackerel as bait, as they tend to smash them up and kill them rather than taking them down. You still hook a few, but an unweighted pilchard floated down in the area will

pilchards into the washes around the rocky points and bommies from your boat is always a good way to get a few and even score some other species. Quite a few good snapper fall to this method during this month, as they don’t mind coming into the white water for a feed, particularly

Kingfish will be the best bet this month, with a few solid fish about. good berley trail will get them actively feeding right under the boat. For the bottom bouncers, the flatties have started to slow a bit but there are still enough about for a feed if you put in the time drifting the sands. Mowies and samson have increased in numbers over the reefs, along with the odd trag and there is still the chance of a stray pearl perch. Throw some nice pigfish into the mix – which will increase in numbers as the water cools – and you’ll have the makings of a decent catch. Further offshore the blue marlin are still a good chance on the troll, although yellowfin tuna will be the target fish this month. These days we have to rely on the currents to bring us yellowfin as the annual run of the inshore fish are a thing of the past. A few smaller fish to 25kg have been picked up but they are random at best. In saying that, it only takes a day or so for that to change, so keep an eye on where the longline fleet is and that will indicate how far away they could be. On the rocks it is time to break out the drummer gear as the water in close is cooler and they are responding by getting more active, or could it be we just tend to chase

There will be a few snapper about in close early in the month before they head to deeper water. if there has been a bit of a bump on the ocean over the past few days. Catches will be less frequent as they move to deeper water by the end of this month, but they will be back with a vengeance in July to hunt cuttlefish. Trevally are becoming more numerous and growing in size over the shallow reefs as the water cools down. A

them more when the pelagics become less of an option. Either way, now is a good time to target them. There are good sized fish in the washes all along the coast. Remember to not use imported prawns from the fish market for bait, as there are hefty penalties these days if caught using them. There are plenty of bream and a

few trevally in the suds as well and they don’t mind a little bread as berley to get them going. The pelagics aren’t all done and dusted just yet, with a longtail very much on the cards on the deeper ledges this month and some good solid kingfish are about as well if you use live baits. The bonito haven’t disappeared yet, so tossing pilchards and lures into the deeper water is still quite a viable option with the salmon also on the cards this month. The beaches are starting to slow a little with the flathead only a lucky catch this month. Whiting are about but not in good numbers, the ones you get will be very good fish where half a dozen would be a good mornings work. Bream on the other hand have been schooling in the deeper gutters on many of the local beaches and there are a few thumpers among them. Some quality tailor to 3kg have been about just after dark, and these are a bit bigger than your local

average fish of up to a kilo, so you may think you have a salmon when you first hook them. Some larger mulloway will start moving along the beaches this month and are predicted to get better next month as June is always good for some big fish. This will be something to look forward to. Not a lot to look forward to in the estuaries on the other hand as they are starting to shut down for winter. Flathead are still a chance – if you really work hard you may get a feed. If we get a lot of rain and a bit of a fresh flush we generally see a few become active. But if we get no rain, go and chase some bream as there are a few about around the bridges and the edges of the weed beds on bait. Blackfish will move into the lake and Minnamurra at the end of the month and get bigger and better as we head into the first month of winter. A few whiting can still be found on the sand flats if the shallows warm a bit during the day but they are few and far between.

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Promising results are here for Nowra anglers NOWRA

Johnny Nolan straydog1974@gmail.com

The fishing is still pretty good around our waters. The Basin, the Shoaly and JB are all producing some nice fish. Whereas the beach and rock fishing will only get better this month, especially for the large beach predators such as mulloway and rock

bruisers such as drummer and groper. ST GEORGES BASIN Flathead and bream are still biting reasonably well in St Georges Basin. In saying that, the flatties do tend to slow down over the winter months, so I find trolling a great way to find fish. Minnow style lures at 100mm in length worked around the 10-15ft mark works well and puts the lures right in the fish’s face.

wrong. Just be sure to check out the local maps and you will know where to look. Beaches adjacent to the entrance to estuaries are a good place to start and I know for a fact these areas all produce mulloway of good size. Rocky headlands with good concentrations of bait are sure

north and south of JB with cunjevoi, bread and cabbage baits all working well for the drummer. As for the groper, well, if you’re a groper fisher you know there is only one bait worth using and that’s the red crab. There have also been plenty of salmon around the rocks making for some

Nick Reay with a couple of solid Basin bream.

Greaves or ‘G’ displaying a couple of nice mulloway destined for the table after a night out on the beach with a couple of mates. These fish are fantastic eating.

They always find it hard to resist an easy feed, even with their slow metabolism as the water cools down. Daiwa, Jackall and Atomic all make good trolling lures for flathead, so call into your local tackle store for some advice on what’s working. Just remember to go extra slow with either your electric or petrol motor. The Basin bream are still showing around the edges during the early hours of the morning, looking for an easy feed. Small minnows or topwater lures will get you a couple of fish, but be prepared to move off the shallows as the sun gets up. In this case, it will be time to hunt for those

schooling fish in the deeper water. Blading and soft plastic fishing is what works best in these circumstances and seems to produce the fish. There should also be some bigger reds around, along with those big winter tailor. These will turn up any moment now, making for some great sportfishing. BEACHES May is a great time to fish our beaches for the larger predators – that being the mighty mulloway. We are blessed to have a few really good beaches that produce quality fish all within a stones throw of Nowra. North, south or dead east – you can’t go

FISHING FILL-ITS

$9000 worth of abalone seized A surveillance operation by NSW DPI Fisheries Officers has led to the apprehension of four males for illegally harvesting 1,093 abalone at Baronda Head on the NSW South Coast. NSW DPI Director of Fisheries Compliance, Patrick Tully said the alleged offenders were known to Fisheries Officers and are also suspected of organised abalone trafficking. “Our Statewide Operations & Investigations Group and Far South Coast officers seized the illegally harvested abalone, 792 of which were of a prohibited

size and all of which were shucked,” Mr Tully said. “The 1,093 shucked abalone weighed in excess of 85kg, meaning they would have a retail value of over $9,000. Charges have not been laid yet, but potential offences include: trafficking in fish; possessing more than the possession limit of abalone (aggravated); possessing prohibited size abalone (aggravated); and possessing shucked abalone adjacent to water.” Mr Tully said that people dealing illegally in abalone, and restaurants and seafood retailers found receiving or selling black market abalone, can be prosecuted

and fined up to $22,000 for individuals and up to $220,000 for companies. “An additional penalty of up to 10 times the value of the illegal product applies, and individuals also face up to 10 years in jail,” Mr Tully said. Fisheries officers work closely with NSW Police in dealing with illegal fishing, as often there are crossovers to other forms of crime. NSW Police Marine Area Command Regional Controller, Acting Inspector Christine McDonald said NSW DPI Fisheries and the Marine Area Command continue to work together to detect and

disrupt the illegal seizure of abalone in NSW. “This seizure is a direct result of implementing covert investigative strategies in a partneragency environment to effectively arrest persons responsible,” Ms McDonald said. “It’s a serious crime, and individuals need to be held accountable.” Anyone with information on suspected illegal fishing activity is urged to call Fishers Watch on 1800 043 536, Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 or via the DPI Fisheries website. – DPI Fisheries

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Mark Corbin with lovely flatty caught on a hardbody from his local waters. to set you up for a fishing experience and an addiction you won’t want to stop! Although it may sound quite easy, be prepared to occasionally go home fishless from either crabs eating your bait or being sharked. Then there’s the odd eagle ray that can do a pretty good impression of a big mulloway. But when you do finally drag one up onto the sand and the torchlight reveals a big silver slab, you will know what I mean when I say addiction! ROCKS Black drummer and the odd big blue groper have been taken around the ledges

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MAY 2019

good fun on sunrise with the spin gear. Keep in mind that it’s also getting close to the trout closure for stream fishing. So the spawn run fishery will soon be upon us for those who like heading to the hills and reeling their butt off. It’s a nice change from the norm around here and there are plenty of south coasters who head over and give it a shot – something to think about if you are looking for something different. Let’s hope they get the rain at the right time to help with water levels and the fish moving upstream.

Beach, bay and offshore are the best options BATEMANS BAY

Anthony Stokman

May is the month where we see the mass of the marlin retreat to the warmer waters and the tuna coming into our cooler waters. Once you start seeing those red algae blooms out wide and the big

60kg+ kegs knocking around and testing the drags on our reels. Last year we had a good long showing of tuna and bluefin on our doorstep by June, with the yellowfin coming and going most of the year. So with the way things are looking, let’s hope for a repeat! Mahimahi is another

from that deep abyss. You can also berley the surface out there and chase makos, and we know there are big makos about. We all saw the picture of Jason Moyce’s massive 100kg mako head on his boat go viral on social media. Yep, a 100kg head, the rest of it was eaten! There must be some big sharks out there!

There’s been some cracking mulloway getting around, and Tony has managed to hook-up to a few massive specimens like this. green toads schooling up and stealing our snapper rigs when reef fishing, it’s a good sign that the marlin season is over, and a small wave of disappointed comes over me when I’m out searching and I realise I probably won’t be raising a marlin that day. An end can mean a new beginning, and what has been beginning to swim around are tuna. The end of March and early April saw the water show signs of the changing season. In previous years, the water has remained warm through those months, but with the sudden cool down and currents pushing in this year, we’ve already had a few schools of 10-20kg yellowfin swimming around, and by May we can expect those yellowfin to increase significantly in size. May and June is when the South Coast gets those

loved summer species and we hope they stay as long as possible, but when the marlin start to fade they usually fade with them. Another species that has summer written all over them is kingies, but kingies can bite well throughout the cooler months, and sometimes you can find some crackers. Casting lures or live baiting off headlands or visiting local kingy haunts by boat can reap rewards when looking for these bruisers at this time of year. You can also expect bonito as a by-catch, and there were a few around in the last couple of months, along with mac tuna and frigate. The currents start to slow down at this time of year, and with that the electric reels come out, and then it’s time to target blue-eye trevella, hapuka, gemfish, ling, perch and whatever else comes up

It’s also this time of year on the South Coast when we start to hear about swordfish. Fishos will be sharpening those sword hooks and making the mission out wide to wrestle the holy grail in fishing. I’m also happy to announce that Compleat Angler Batemans Bay not only stocks all the bits

and pieces for sword fishing, but now always have Ian Millers sword rods on hand! Ian came to the shop the other day and delivered not only his swordfish specific rods, but also his range of lure fishing rods, ranging from swimbait specialist sticks to bream luring rods. It was great talking to him about the range, and it is clear his rods couldn’t be any more perfectly specific for our area. He is clearly a great rod builder and he always seems to be in the right place at the right time when it comes to the development of his rods, and I don’t think this is an accident. It’s as if he was born to make fishing rods and is arguably the best rod builder in the country. I certainly wouldn’t argue! The snapper is a consistent fish off our shores and over the years there seems to be a decline in the abundance of the larger sized fish. This is something that is raising questions and some debate, which can only be healthy conversation for the future. However, in the last couple of months there has been a good showing of them that coincided with healthy numbers of squid. Squid will spawn during autumn and it seems as though they started

Liam went commando to catch this bream off the surface with the popular Saku Snoop Dog.

strong early, and with them was some fantastic snapper. Customers were coming into the shop saying they couldn’t

There is no shortage of these guys and when your bait is free on the stones at low tide, you have no excuse. Get out

There’s been some good snapper in close, and George recently found a few working plastics. not find the snapper! It’s always good when you hear that. It goes without saying that fresh squid make for great bait, as well as tasty calamari rings. Flathead have been fairly consistent, along with other reef species like mowies and pigfish. The reef fishing keeps a certain consistency throughout these colder months. Our local beaches are well visited over the colder months by fishers as much as they are in the summer due to the last of the whiting and the chance of a mulloway. What they’re mainly here for, however, is the run of salmon and tailor, which are a stable species in our waters. So now’s the time to break out the 12ft surf rod with the old paternoster rig baited with a ganged pilly. This method work as well as it did years ago. Don’t forget to take your 9-10ft spinning rod for flicking metals while the big baited rig is in the rod holder. Throwing metals while bait fishing is still a deadly way to beach fish. You can use those same rods and switch the rig up when you want to hit the stones for drummer this year.

and collect some cunjevoi and whack it on a small strong hook with a running sinker and you’re in business! So far all this sounds great and easy, and with so many options and so many fish it certainly is, with the exception of the estuary. The estuary will now start to cool right down and approach freezing cold, and the fish will be basically going into hibernation. The estuary is not dead, but it gets much more difficult to tempt these more lethargic fish at this time of year. Make sure you downsize your leader and take a more subtle approach as it cools off, and you still can catch fish. You just have to work a bit harder! May is an exciting month if you embrace the change. There’s plenty on and you will soon have to put plenty of clothing on as it gets colder. Stay warm and enjoy what’s on offer! • For more up-to-the-minute information on what’s biting where, drop into Compleat Angler Batemans Bay and have a chat to Anthony or one of the other friendly staff. They’re located at 65A Orient St, Batemans Bay (02 4472 2559).

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Great flush has lead to some great fishing NAROOMA

Stuart Hindson

Over the last month the Narooma region has seen some decent rainfall, which is great to see. It was enough to get a bit of a flush through the local estuaries, but getting another 200mm would be very beneficial in the long run. While the fishing was a little tougher for a few days

after the rain, it’s all back to normal now, with most systems around the region firing up nicely. Wallaga Lake to the south of Narooma has been fishing exceptionally, with big flathead, bream, whiting, snapper, blackfish and tailor all chewing. All the usual methods are producing results, with fresh strip baits, local prawns, live poddy mullet and the everreliable soft plastics doing the most damage.

The water is a little dirty, but don’t let this deter you, it is still fishing very well. I had a session with a couple of mates a few days after the wet. It was an excellent day, and it produced 40 odd flathead, some cracking black bream and a few legal snapper. All fish fell to softies and a slow presentation was the key to success in the dirtier water. I expect this action to continue. It’s one system that

is underrated and it doesn’t matter how windy it gets, there’s always somewhere to fish with some cover. At Wagonga Inlet things are back to normal after the recent weather events. It got a little dirty, but with the huge volume of water each tide cycle provides, those crystal clear waters are now back. Bream, flathead, snapper, whiting and blackfish have all played the game, and some respectable bags have been

captured. The lower reaches of the estuary are fishing better, with Barlows, Ringland and Fosters bays all producing fish. The main channel has also picked up with bream, whiting and flathead available on the eastern side of the bridge on the run-out tide. Fresh prawns, nippers and lures are working best. Outside Montague Island has really fired up, with kingfish numbers on the improve. Anglers targeting

these fine sportfish have not been disappointed, with bag limits reached inside a few hours on some occasions. The fish are averaging 3-4kg with the odd bigger specimen up to 8kg. Most methods are working, with live slimy mackerel fished close to the bottom a standout for the larger fish. Jigs, squid and lead-lining have also produced the goods, although the size of To page 59

Many options this month MERIMBULA

Stuart Hindson

Anglers heading to the Merimbula region this month will be happy. Almost all methods are working for different species, you just need to find the right time. It really depends on what you want to target and where as to what action you will see. The last week or so offshore has been a little hit and miss for the game crews, with some boats seeing plenty of action and other boats that are

as well. The shelf is still the place to fish, with the water anywhere between 22.5-24.5°C depending on the day. Water temperature is changing quickly with the currents, so having a good look at the SST charts before going out will be advantageous and hopefully get you better results. Majority of fish are coming off bait balls, but a few crews are still getting the odd one on skirts. There is still plenty of mahimahi at the FAD and there have been reports of a few school yellowfin as well. We should start to see an increase in bigger yellowfin

I’ve heard of going 9kg, so not a bad king. The majority of fish being caught are falling to live baits fished close to the bottom in that 17-24m range. They are moving around a bit, so having a decent sounder can be very helpful when the fish hold up on the bottom like they are at present. Inshore snapper and morwong populations have kept anglers busy with most reefs holding fish, although the leatherjackets are a nuisance at the moment. These line-breakers are frustrating to say the least, but if you persist with them a good feed on snapper

An awesome way to start your fishing journey, with a solid 73cm flatty that was released.

Not all mulloway have to be monsters to be fun, as Tom found out. He landed quite a few of these pups in a morning session on plastics. only kilometres away very quiet. It totally depends if you’re on the bait or not as to how much action you are seeing. Marlin that have been caught are mostly stripes, though a few blacks over 100kg have been captured 58

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and albacore over the coming weeks, with May a prime time for both species. Closer to shore, kingfish have been okay but not red-hot. There has been the odd better fish come from Hunter Reef just near Haycock Point, with the best

should result. Gummy sharks and flathead have been quite productive lately. There are plenty of both around in shallower water of 22-28m and it seems the jackets are not as thick in close. Try straight off Long Point, but a

little more SW on the gravel for these fine eating species. Off the stones it’s all systems go and there are certainly some exciting times ahead. At Tura Head reports of NBT (northern bluefin tuna) being hooked and seen is getting anglers pretty pumped up. I know of one visiting angler who hooked two 20kg+ models in a morning session and saw plenty more. Unfortunately, he lost both but at least they are there. It’s probably got to do with the water being a warm 22-24°C with plenty of current and bait. Hopefully someone will stay connected to one of these torpedos, and I for one will certainly be giving it a go. Off the main wharf in Merimbula Bay is firing nicely. There are plenty of kings there, but they are only taking fresh squid strips and it needs to be fresh. These fish are smaller models, around the 60-70cm size, although larger fish have been seen down deeper. The main problem here is landing them as soon as they are hooked, and the pylons become the king’s friend once again and cut most anglers off. If you’re

lucky enough, one will go the wrong way and you could be in business. It does help having the ladder to get to water level if someone is there to help you. In the estuaries, the local systems have been firing. The lower sections of Merimbula towards Mitchies Jetty are excellent for whiting. A few have been caught on pipi and worms, and one visiting angler caught a dozen crackers on strips of filleted salted pilchards. Probably not your standard offering for whiting, but this angler swore by it and the results speak for themselves. Other species, including flathead, bream and trevally, are also being caught with bream numbers definitely on the increase over the past few days. A few switched on locals have been having a ball on the bream with legal bag numbers being caught in short periods of time. Fishing the freshest baits, like prawn, has been the key. Anchoring up and using the slightest amount of berley has been helping things along. Thankfully, anglers are only keeping a few fish and letting the rest go, which is great to see.

Over at Pambula, the lower sections towards the mouth have been excellent for flathead on the draining tide. Fishing the deeper edges around Severs Beach has been good with mid-sized soft plastics in the 70-80mm range doing a lot of the damage. Casting into the shallows and working your lure over the drop-off is the go, with a few flatties nudging 80cm. Off the sand, the beach goers might find it a little tougher with the calmer conditions we have at the moment. This will get better when the swell increase, but I would look at fishing the afternoons into the evenings when the conditions are like this. You will still get salmon and tailor with the odd gummy shark after dark. Look at either Tura or North Tura beaches if targeting the above, with pilchards definitely the go-to bait. If you’re after whiting, then Merimbula Main is the go. The area opposite the airport entrance has been solid, with pipi and beachworms fished on light outfits doing the trick.

From page 58

the fish caught is generally on the smaller side. On the reefs, snapper and morwong to 2kg have been prolific, with the sand and gravel patches between the reefs holding some oversized sand and tiger flathead. Anglers throwing soft plastics have been catching some quality snapper around the washes at the southern end of Montague Island. Tweaking the plastics back from the shallows into deeper water has seen some quality action and is also great fun. The gamefishing scene is in full swing, with numerous

catches of striped and black marlin being encountered. Some switched on boat crews are having three to four shots a day at these majestic fish and usually tagging two to three fish per day. That’s not bad fishing, with a lot of the fish coming off bait balls when you can find them. That seems to be the key, if you find the bait the action won’t be far behind. It seems the Kink area has been solid, with a few fish off the Tuross Canyons. With the water temperature hovering around the 22-23°C mark, this beaky action should continue but I expect it to slow down

over the coming weeks if the diaries are anything to go by. That should then mean tuna and some hopefully big yellowfin will make their appearance when the marlin bite slows. May is prime time for these brutes, I know their numbers are not like they used to be but just having the chance at a 90kg+ torp is enough to keep you going. The rock hopping brigade have had mixed results lately, mainly due to the water temperature fluctuations. Some days it’s a warm 22°C and the next back to 16°C, so it can be a lottery at times. When the

Catching bream and whiting on surface lures is great fun. It’s even better when you out-fish your dad!

The sort of bream that can be found in Tuross and Wallaga lakes. Bobby’s 43cm fish was one of 11 he caught on softies, and all were released. temperature has been warm, school-sized kingfish and bonito have been patrolling the outside wash zones. Smaller chromed lures and whole pilchards have accounted for the majority of fish, with live baits like yellowtail and slimy mackerel also working. The best ledges to fish are Mystery Bay and the golf course rocks. Salmon have been around in numbers most of the time too, but have been more prolific when the water temperature is slightly colder. In the washes good blackfish and drummer are possible, with cabbage, cunjevoi and

lightly-weighted nippers getting good results. Berley has been a key ingredient for better catch rates, it’s a little more work but the end result makes it all worthwhile. Dalmeny Headland to the north of Narooma has been the pick of the spots to fish for the bread and butter species. If the beaches are for you then you’re in luck. Narooma Main has seen bream numbers on the increase with the southern end a standout. A few locals have been getting six to eight bream a session down there, with the afternoon flooding tides best. There has been

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the odd big whiting amongst them, with pipi the preferred bait at the moment. If the pelagics are for you, then Brou Beach just north of Dalmeny is the go. This expansive piece of sand is some 7km long and has numerous gutters along its length. You can expect salmon, tailor along with the possibility of mulloway. I know there’s a great looking gutter at the mouth of Brou Lake, which is about half way along the beach. You can get access there by dirt track near the Brou tip entrance, it’s a bit more work getting there but the end reward will justify that!

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South Coast finally gets a flush MALLACOOTA/EDEN

Kevin Gleed captainkev@wildernessfishingtours.com

Finally this area has had a good drop of rain, enough to get the rivers flowing and green things up. The entrance at Mallacoota has been opened up prematurely, revealing a massive amount of sand inside the entrance. The long term future of the lake system is not looking good, as it is no longer able to build up enough water to clean the system. It’s easy to open the system and let the water trickle out over a number of days, but the challenge is to blast the sand out to sea so you are left with a tidal system that is once again rejuvenated.

This benefits the system for years to come, and this hasn’t happened for a while. The beach fishing in this corner of Australia has been good, with salmon and tailor being caught on both bait and lures, and the rising tide has been the best time to wet a line. Fishing the beaches in the Eden area has also seen anglers catching some good bags of sand whiting and yellowfin bream, with fresh baits like beachworms working well. Those chasing gamefish out around the shelf had a ball, with good numbers of striped marlin out chasing the balls of baitfish that were scattered along the shelf. The main action took place east of Mallacoota. Grant Shorland, a Mallacoota local, raised

an amazing number of fish and landed nearly as many. A great effort by a skilled crew. There’s not too much to report on the kingfish scene, but in the next month there’s always a possibility for some good fishing. Good numbers of sand and tiger flathead are still being caught, and as usual, you need to keep on the move until fish are found, then once found, just keep drifting the same area and you should end up with a bag of fish. A few good catches of snapper have also been reported, and the fishing for this species should only get better over the coming months. The estuary fishing is still going good, with

flathead really on the bite, and soft plastic lures in a variety of colours and brands getting anglers amongst the fish. Good numbers of black bream are also being caught, and this species is feeding up, with the water temperature around 23°C. It won’t be long before the temperature drops, which will slow the fishing down over the winter months. Good size silver trevally are about, and what a great fight they put up when one decides to grab your lure. A few good size mulloway have been caught, and they can turn up anywhere in the lake, so as with all fishing, you need to be lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time.

The recent rain has really fired up the fishing on species like flathead.

Time to chase the marlin lingering out wide BERMAGUI

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

This season has once again proven to be a very good marlin season, where these fish

some switch baiting. The Twelve Mile Reef, along the continental shelf or up north towards Tuross Canyons are the main areas where anglers should concentrate their efforts. It is also that time of year again were anglers converge

Various lures will work, while berleying cut baits of mackerel, striped tuna or pilchard drifted in the trail will also produce the goods, and a wellpositioned live bait may attract that shyer fish to take. While berleying,

Cal Schuback with just one of the many marlin taken this season from trailer boats, and it is not finished yet. are still lingering on well into what is normally the start of yellowfin season. Have in mind that trolling lures may be the best way to find where these fish are still lingering, and once you encounter one there may be more in the area. You can then look at trolling live baits or try 60

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on Bermagui in pursuit of the mighty yellowfin tuna. These fish have been gradually starting to show and by the end of May they should be around in large numbers. Out along the continental shelf and beyond is the most likely area to encounter this species, with either trolling or berley trails being the most efficient way to locate fish.

expect other species to be encountered in the form of a late season marlin that may take a liking to a live bait through to albacore, mahimahi, and always have some wire handy for any cruising makos that are around at this time of year. Up at Montague Island, things have been hot on the kingfish scene all season

and this will continue. These fish are responding to most methods, with live baits producing the larger fish. Mixed in are some very large bonito, and it has been one of the best runs of this species in years, where they are falling to baits or lures. Reef and bottom fishing is improving as the cooler months set in, all the way from close to shore to beyond the continental shelf. A trend that has been developing since the introduction of electronic reels is to fish the deep out wide. This has seen a mix of different species in the form of hapuka, blue eye cod, ghost cod, gemfish and many more odd ball species. Around the rest of the reefs, snapper are showing in reasonable numbers and are increasing all the time. It is a good time of year to anchor and berley for them, where other species will also be encountered. Your usual other species are there on the bottom and include ocean perch, morwong, and of course, both species of flathead. One fish that does seem to be increasing in anglers’ bags of late is gummy sharks, which are being taken regularly out from most beaches in shallower depths. Along the beaches salmon are the mainstay, with nearly all beaches holding reasonable stocks. With the salmon there are plenty of tailor, bream, whiting and mullet, and using berley will enhance your chances of reasonable bags. Night time fishing the beaches can be interesting, with sharks high on the list. Gummy sharks and whalers will be the most common captures, and using strips

of salmon will usually do the job as far as baits will go, where you may find some mulloway also taking a liking to these baits. If you like your drummer fishing from the rocks, then you would not get a better time than now. There are some very large fish around that are responding to cabbage weed and cunjevoi, and mixed in with them are some exceptional luderick. In the estuaries it is

definitely the month of the bream. I find at this time of year in the clear water you can polaroid these fish, which in turn makes finding them easy. They may take lures, however for best results use bait. Strips of tuna in conjunction with berley will produce best, where baits like nippers and worm will produce in shallower water, and most other species will fall to these methods.

Andrew Cutler, 9yo, caught his first cod at Wyangala Dam on an old but reliable StumpJumper lure.

A year since the fires TATHRA

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

While it has been a year since the devastating fires and as Tathra rebuilds on land we wonder, what effect has it actually had environmentally and on fishing, especially the

food sources are available. Worms, nippers and shellfish are definitely on the menu for these bream and all anglers have to do is intercept them as the tide rises over the flats. Fortunately, these bream are not alone; whiting, flathead, luderick and mullet all like dining over these flats as well, so mixed bags are always on the agenda.

time of year migrating bully mullet (sea mullet) will concentrate near the entrance before moving out into the ocean. They are quite interesting to see and catching them is quite rare as they mainly feed on algae along the bottom. Anglers can also concentrate some of their efforts on Tathra Beach

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485 SUNRUNNER The Bega River is full of bream at the moment. Bega River system? Well pleasingly enough, the river is recovering well with healthy stocks of fish being present. Last year the Bega River was closed to the ocean, but with enough rain in the

Most of the fish coming back into the river were moving through the system nicely, with a good indication there was plenty of fish life all the way up and into the freshwater. However, recent minor flooding has

adjacent to the entrance of the Bega River. There are quite a lot of predators feeding on things that are flushed from the system. Recent captures have included salmon and tailor with an occasional mulloway showing up during

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The entrance of the Bega River at this stage is open to the ocean, be sure to get out amongst the action! district and the river levels rising, the authorities were forced to reopen it to the ocean. As a result, fresh stocks of fish have entered the river from the ocean with bream coming through in their droves. These bream, mostly southern yellowfin, were quick to move over the flats where the richest

discoloured the water quite significantly, pushing a lot of the fish back towards the entrance. Most of the discolouration of the water is natural flood colouring, although there may be some ash colouring from the fires – which is seemingly not having any effect on the fish stocks. Also this

a late afternoon or into the evening. Nighttime will be the best if you are looking to catch a mulloway and be prepared, as a gummy or whaler shark may also be lurking in the area. In conclusion, it looks like the Tathra area for us anglers is recovering and fishing well in all forms and it is well worth a visit.

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MAY 2019

Knot knowledge 101 NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.fishotopia.com

Good knot tying is one of fishing’s most basic and vitally important skills. Sadly, knot failure is and

the back of the user’s mind about their actual strength and reliability under practical fishing conditions. So, for most of us, the need to tie knots remains… sometimes, lots of knots. During a big session – when we’re losing tackle to

twists under pressure until the whole thing lets go. The tell-tale sign of total slip failure is a little curly pig’s tail or corkscrew at the end of your line or leader where the hook, swivel or lure once was. Come on… be honest. You’ve seen that accusing

Not a huge mackerel this time, by any means, but strong connections are still vital for consistent success.

It’s at this stage of the encounter that a poorly tied knot is most likely to let you down. will likely remain the single greatest cause of lost fish and gear. But it doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the two most important keys to fishing success are a sharp hook and a strong knot. Everything else is secondary! These days we have no excuse for not using sharp hooks every time we wet a line. Today’s hooks are lighter, finer, stronger and

fish and snags hand over fist, or constantly modifying and re-building our rigs – we might end up tying a dozen knots or even more in just a few hours of fishing. Every one of these connections needs to be as strong as we can possibly make it. Those same knots may also need to be tied as quickly as practical, in poor light, on a pitching boat, in the wind, rain or cold, and often with hands still trembling

little bedspring in the end of your own line, haven’t you? We all have. It makes you feel sick to your stomach and so it should! The second, but equally insidious, form of slip failure is where one or more turns of the knot suddenly slide together, snug down or tighten up fast enough under load to momentarily create an intense friction hotspot. In nylon and fluorocarbon lines, this friction can

like a question mark at the bitter end of the broken line. Interestingly, braided or fused gel-spun polyethylene (GSP) lines are much less prone to friction melting than monofilaments, but even more susceptible to total slippage. If they begin to slip, knots tied in slick-skinned braid will often keep right on slip sliding away until they come undone, especially when lubricated with water. So, a braid connection capable of resisting dry testing can sometimes let go underwater when subjected to severe loading. This is a trap for newcomers to these lines, and helps explain some of the myths that have emerged about all sorts of ‘special’ knots being required when using braided lines. In truth, you don’t need to tie ‘special’ knots in braid… just really good ones! Knots that cut themselves under load are also bad knots. The classic example is the single overhand or so-called ‘granny knot’. This is a passable hitch for tying the string on a Christmas present, but not much use for anything else. It’s worth noting, however, that the single overhand knot or ‘granny’ does form the starting point of many fine loop knots. An overhand or granny knot will effectively halve the breaking strain of any material it’s tied in. In other words, form a granny knot in an undamaged length of 10kg breaking strain line and

you’ve just turned it into 5kg line under a steady load. It may break even more easily – perhaps with as little as 2-3kg of force – if subjected to sudden, intense shock.

these strands becomes the knife and the other the butter. The result is as inevitable as it is predictable… Ping! In the next issue we’ll continue our examination of

Loop knots can be critical to getting the best action from a lure or fly, especially on heavier leaders. But these connections need to be neat, strong and well tied. The weakness of a knot like the single overhand hitch lies in its internal structure, and the fact that, within the knot, one strand crosses over another strand at right angles. Under load, one of

what makes a good knot and look at some basic rules of knot tying that will stand you in good stead, no matter where you fish, what gear you use or which species you chase. Don’t miss it!

We’ve all seen it… that accusatory pig’s tail or bedspring coil at the end of our leader that screams ‘slipped knot’! sharper straight from the pack than they used to be. But for better or worse, you still can’t buy a packet of strong knots! Various clever folks have done their best to come up with nifty gizmos intended to alleviate the need for knots by allowing the attachment of a clip or snap directly to the end of your line or leader via a series of wraps and twists. These things work, to varying degrees, but have never really taken off. Many are a tad bulky, and there’s also that nagging doubt in 62

MAY 2019

uncontrollably after our latest adrenalin-charged bust-off. It’s a big ask! Knots fail for two main reasons; firstly, because they slip under load, and secondly, because they’re poorly constructed or designed in the first place – resulting in one strand effectively cutting another. Knot slippage takes two catastrophic forms. At its most extreme, the knot simply slips completely undone, with the tag end or tail sliding all the way back through the various turns and

literally melt the outer skin of the mono. Causing an immediate knot failure or – perhaps even more gut-wrenchingly – a serious weak spot that will let go later in the fight, most likely as you strain to bring that catch of a lifetime the final few metres to net or bank. It’s harder to identify the forensic evidence left by a friction slip failure, but if you look really closely (perhaps using a magnifying glass) you may actually be able to see the little melt spot and a partial curlicue shaped

No room here for knot failure! A big black jewfish or northern mulloway fights all the way to the boat.

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING RAPALA MAX RAP WALK’N ROLL

The ‘do-all’ topwater bait, Max Rap Walk’N Roll spits, bobs, skitters, and slides across the surface in all conditions. The Walk’N Roll lure is weighted for maximum casting distance and ultimate stability in bad weather and rough conditions. Under a steady retrieve the Max Rap Walk’N Roll spits and rolls from side-to-side, and twitching and pausing creates a walking action. Cranking it in fast imitates a fleeing baitfish, while twitching it in place gives a head down bobbing motion. Fitted with VMC 7554 2X-Strong Ti coated inline treble hooks, the Walk’N Roll has a total length of 120mm, weighs 29g and is available in eight amazing high-quality finished colours that Rapala is world renowned for. Ask for them at your local tackle store today. www.rapala.com.au

MOLIX RT SHAD & SV CRAW

Italian lure company Molix has expanded its range of soft baits with the addition of the RT Shad and Molix SV Craw. The RT Shad’s profile shape and bulky paddle tail give it a realistic movement, and also provide great stability. It has a soft, high density construction, and is effective on both freshwater and saltwater species. The RT Shad is available in a range of fish-catching colours, and it has a special insert with a high concentration of glitter to maximise flash during the retrieve. There are two sizes, 11.4cm (4.5”), 9cm (3.5”). The Molix SV Craw’s has very realistic claws that have been engineered to catch water, resulting in an enticing flapping action. A perfect trailer, it’s loaded with Molix’s exclusive crawfish scent for added attraction. This sinking craw measures 6.9cm (2.75”). www.ejtodd.com.au

SHIMANO SLX XT

The new Shimano SLX XT has been released, and features the new SVS Infinity breaking system. This provides a much wider brake adjustment range than the 2018 SLX, so you have much greater control using the external dial to adjust the braking system with ease. This allows you to cast a wider range of lure styles and weights in varying fishing conditions. The aluminium Hagane body also helps to ensure that the reel is extremely rigid and durable, which is an upgrade on the composite body of the Casitas. Inside the XT’s Hagane Body, durable brass gearing delivers reliable cranking power and now 4+1 bearings to ensure the reel is smoother than before. Developed to replace the Casitas 150, the XT has a more versatile and compact size that is comparable to a 70 sized reel, however the XT offers the line capacity of a standard 150 size. A 48mm Throw Handle across three right hand model options, featuring gear ratios of 6.3:1, 7.2:1 (HG) and 8.2:1 (XG), and the max drag setting is now 4.5kg. Price: RRP $229.95 www.shimanofish.com.au 64

MAY 2019

PRODUCT GUIDE

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

BLACK MAGIC KLT 10/0 AND VALUE PACKS 4 Black Magic’s premium non-offset recurve hook, the KLT, has become so popular that they have expanded the range to include a 10/0 size as well as a value pack option for their 8/0 and new 10/0 size. The value packs offer a bulk buy price for KLT fans. The new 10/0 size will be ideal for a range of applications from live baiting through to skip baiting, deep sea fishing and targeting big fish with big baits. The KLT hook boasts some seriously good features including: light gauge/extreme strength; non-offset recurve; ‘Super Slip’ non-stick PTFE coating for advanced rust resistance and superb penetration; and IGFA legal and NZSFC approved for tournament use. These hooks are made in Japan with premium grade high carbon steel. For more information on Black Magic’s range of hooks visit the Black Magic Tackle website. You can also see the latest news and catch photos on their Facebook page and Instagram. www.blackmagictackle.com

OKUMA SLV FLY REELS

The Okuma SLV Series of fly reels are stylish, lightweight, quality and featurepacked, while still offering excellent value for money. Features include ALC: Alumilite diecast aluminium frame, precision machined stainless steel spool shaft and brass bushing drive system, one-way roller bearing with the ability to quickly and easily switch from right to left hand retrieve and a multi-disc cork and stainless steel drag system for smooth drag control. These reels have a Diecast Super Large arbor spool design for rapid line retrieval when dealing with fast running species, and have non-slip, positive grip rubberized handle knobs. Okuma SLV fly reels are available in five sizes to cover a range of applications, from trout in the fresh to pelagics offshore. Suggested retail prices are $119.90 (4/5 and 5/6), $129.90 (7/8 and 8/9) and $139.90 (10/11). For more information on the Okuma range visit the Okuma Australia website, or check them out on Facebook at www.facebook. com/okuma.australia for catch photos and competitions. www.okuma.com.au

ZEREK PYRA

Designed for shallow water applications, the Zerek Pyra has a unique action and is one of the latest additions to the Professional Craft stable of lures. Built with tough ABS plastics for durability, the 95mm Pyra is equipped with a weight transfer system to enable long and accurate casts. A tight roll gives this lure a seductive action that will prove irresistible to many species of fish. Available in 10 high quality colour finishes to suit varying conditions, the Pyra weighs 11.8g and will make a mark wherever a shallow water crankbait is needed to excite predators. For more information on this and other lures in the Zerek range, visit the Wilson Fishing website. You can also see all the latest news and catch photos on Facebook page (www. facebook.com/ZerekAustralia), Instagram (@ wilson_fishing) or YouTube (www.youtube. com/user/Wilsonfishing). www.wilsonfishing.com

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PRODUCT GUIDE

WHAT’S NEW FISHING

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

WILDFISH FLY SELECTION PACKS

The Wildfish fly selection packs from JM Gillies are sure-fire winners for those new to fly fishing, or for fly fishers who want to target new species or locations that they haven’t fished before. There are nine packs (10 Felty’s flies in each) in the range, and each pack is tailored to individual species and locations. However, there is plenty of overlap between them. For example, the Trout Streamer Pack would easily be at home in the kit of a bass fisher, while the Bass Pack contains flies that are just as at home in many tropical freshwater systems right across the north. And in the Billabong Pack, there are flies that would light up the eyes of a bass angler. All in all, it’s a very versatile selection that has been put together by Peter Morse. The newest additions in the Wildfish Fly Pack range are the Inshore Pack, Flats Pack and Barra Pack, and they are sure to please many fly fishers. www.jmgillies.com.au

Rhino-Rack’s Batwing Compact Awning is packed with all the same features of the original Batwing Awning but redesigned to fit small to medium vehicles. With 270° of shade and 6.4m² of coverage, the Batwing Compact is made from ultradurable, water and mould resistant lightweight material that has been tested in the most extreme environments. It has UPF 50+ sun protection. The Batwing Compact comes with integrated lightweight aluminium black powder-coated legs that simply unclip from the storage position and drop into place, making installation a breeze – even with only one person. The legs also feature moulded fittings to accommodate two pegs directly through the base, to offer further stability in gusty conditions. The whole bundle is stored in a heavy-duty UV-resistant bag with an integrated pocket for the pegs and rope. The kit includes 2 x multi-fit bracket + hardware, 10 x pegs, peg bag, 8 x guy ropes (4 with hooks), 2 x spare hinge knuckles. Price: SRP $769 www.rhinorack.com.au

NEW RAPALA KNIFE 8 AND SCISSORS

QUANTUM SMOKE S3

DAIWA SWIMBAITS

Two of the latest releases from Rapala are the RCD 5” Folding Knife and the RCD Retractable Line Scissors. The RCD 5” folding knife conveniently folds in half to safely secure and protect the handground stainless steel blade when not in use. The easy release lock-back design fixes the blades safely in place when being used, while the non slip soft grip handle with built in safety guard provides maximum blade control. 16cm in length when unfolded with a Blade size of 12.5cm. Safety takes priority when it comes to the Rapala RCD Retractable Line Scissors. Two super-sharp stainless steel blades retract into the surrounding casing when the triggers are released, exposing the blades only when in use. A built-in carabiner allows you to keep these scissors close by at all times. The RCD 5” Folding Knife and RCD Retractable Line Scissors are available now at all good tackle stores. www.rapala.com.au

SHIMANO GRAPPLER 19

COMPACT BATWING 10 AWNING

The new Shimano Grappler 2019 series are the next generation offshore JDM rods, equipped to battle with the largest offshore predators. This upgraded series now features both Spiral X and Hi-Power X blank technology to enhance power, strength and durability. With 19 dedicated Type J (Jigging) and Type C (Casting) models that are PE rated from PE 2.5 to PE 8, there is a wide range of options to suit Australian anglers. The patented high-strength Spiral X enhances torsional and compression rigidity under load without adding extra weight to the blank, providing instant power transmission for precise casting and control over fish. The Hi-Power technology enhances the torsional resistance even further, and creates the optimum balance between light weight, strength and control. These rods also feature Fuji reel seats and Fuji K Guides with SiC tips, and specially tapered grip designs. Whether it be heavy kingfish jigging or topwater GT casting, the rods have been tested in the harshest of offshore environments around the world, resulting in a line-up that is capable of grappling with the strongest of ocean predators. Price: SRP $429.95-$499.95 www.shimanofish.com.au

Barra, bass, and cod anglers will salivate at the sight of the new Quantum Smoke S3 Baitcaster reel. The Smoke S3 packs a larger 35.5mm spool into a compact aluminium X-Frame to provide a large line capacity, longer casts, and greater line pick-up with every crank of the power handle. To complement the larger spool, an advanced and lightweight ACS 4.0TM cast control system has been engineered to minimise the amount of energy it takes to get the spool spinning during a cast. This remarkable system also features additional control brakes that disengage at around 5,000 RPMs to maximise casting distance. The Quantum Smoke S3 Baitcaster includes 10 PT Bearings (10+1) and a Zero Friction Design for incredible smoothness. The reel is coated with Saltguard Protection for added durability in the most testing environments and also includes the remarkable Quantum CSC Ceramic-Carbon Drag System with a huge 25lbs of drag pressure. www.quantumfishing.com.au

The Daiwa Duckfin Live Shad, Hybrid Swimbait, and LiveTrout Swimbait have you covered for this year’s swimbait season. The Duckfin Live Shad features a 3D designed, ultra realistic baitfish profile and swimming action, and is available in two sizes, 15cm and 20cm. This soft plastic shad is suited to slow and fast retrieves and presentations, and can be rigged in a host of different ways, including weedless for barra and as a trailer for large spinnerbaits/chatterbaits when targeting Murray cod. The Hybrid Swimbait delivers the best of both worlds and combines diving lure design with soft plastic technologies. Rigged and ready to fish, the Hybrid Swimbait features a solid head, bib and heavy wire internal construction in the head, 5X strong trebles and a quick release stinger hook. It’s available in two sizes, 18cm and 25cm. For those looking for the ultimate imitation, the Live Trout has few peers. Using 3D printing and design to achieve the perfect trout imitation, the Live Trout features a solid silicone body, 3D eyes, pectoral and anal fins for added realism and stability, internal wire construction, quick release stinger hook, and 5X hooks. It’s available in two sizes, 18cm and 25cm. www.daiwafishing.com.au

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au MAY 2019

WHAT’S NEW FISHING SAMAKI RIBCAGE

ZMAN TRD 13 SPINZ

Samaki has designed you the ultimate weapon when it comes to jigging up a storm. The new Samaki Ribcage flutters, darts and spirals, with an action that is enhanced by the ribcage design on the rear side.The deconstructed ribs aid in the portrayal of an injured baitfish, erupting with bubbles as it drops. With eight fish-catching colours and seven different weights ranging from 20g to 200g, the Ribcage offers the highest UV properties, enticing the most elusive fish to attack. This centre balanced jig comes pre-rigged with premium assist hooks and Japanese Kevlar. It’s ideal for targeting kingfish, amberjack, samsonfish, tuna, coral trout and all other reef species. For more information and stockists visit the Samaki website, or to see the latest releases and catch photos you can like them on Facebook and Instagram. Price: from SRP $7.95 www.samaki.com.au

BONE BLACK RIVER XH RODS

Over 50 years old and still going strong, the Spinfisher VI is built to take on any fish, anywhere! The new PENN Spinfisher VI features IPX5 sealing, so whether it gets hit with a wave, or you let it ride in the spray all the way home, you don’t have to worry about saltwater getting into the gearbox or drag system. The HT-100 drag washers are housed in a fully sealed spool to give the stopping power needed for big saltwater fish. A full metal body and sideplate keep the CNC Gear System in precise alignment under heavy loads. Durability, smoothness, and Precision is what CNCGear technology delivers. By using state-of-the-art software and CNC machinery brass drive, pinion and oscillation gears are cut to exact tolerances. The new PENN Spinfisher VI reels are available in standard, Live Liner and Long Cast models. Price: RRP from $199.99 www.pennfishing.com.au 66

MAY 2019

Combining cutting-edge blank design with great value, the TD Hyper and TD Sol series from Daiwa set a standard in performance. The new TD Sol and TD Hyper feature HVF Nanoplus blanks for heightened sensitivity and lightness, while Daiwa’s X45 blank technology eliminates blank twist and distortion to increase rod strength, function, and sensitivity. The combination of Fuji guide technology with Daiwa’s RR (reduced resistance) guide design system sees the TD Sol and TD Hyper series leading the way in their class when it comes to casting efficiency and performance. The 762ULFS joins the Sol family, and is tailor-made for the finesse angler looking to make longcast presentations, while the Hyper family welcomes three new models with the 661LFS, 742ULFS, and 763LXS, adding great diversity and finesse options to the range. To see the complete TD Sol and TD Hyper range, with a full list of specs, visit the Daiwa website. www.daiwafishing.com.au

BLACK MAGIC BMAX 50

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Add flash and vibration to your soft plastic presentation in seconds with ZMan TRD SpinZ! TRD SpinZ feature a stainless steel centring wire that makes it quick and easy to insert them into your ZMan ElaZtech plastic, or other soft bait. Once inserted they are secured in place by a moulded plastic, dual prong keeper, that locks into the ElaZtech material. Available in silver and gold colours in both Colorado and willow blades, TRD SpinZ have a multitude of applications, from pimping surface frogs, to switching on snapper when fishing jerk shads, or adding flash and vibration to the belly of your paddle tail swimbaits. ZMan TRD SpinZ are available in silver or gold colour, in both willow and Colorado blades, with three per pack. Price: SRP $15.95 www.z-man.com.au

DAIWA TD 14 SOL/HYPER RODS

Bone Rods has released two 7’ extra heavy rods in the Black River range. The two rods comprise of a spin and baitcast rod with the same specs to give anglers the choice of using their preferred fishing style. Each rod combines the power and the finesse needed to tangle with complex situations and dynamic, fast-paced fishing. The length ensure ease of use in tight areas where casting accuracy is a must. Couple this with a soft tip that allows anglers to downsize their lures to match-the-hatch for finicky fish and the new Black River rods look like very impressive sticks. From deep cranking in rock pools to throwing swimbaits into timber and weed, the new Black River rods excel at reaching out and touching the beasts hiding in their element. The two models are the 368BRC701XH (7’, Medium Fast Extra Heavy Baitcast, 15-30lb, 8-50g) and the 368BRS701XH (7’ Medium Fast Extra Heavy Spin, 15-30lb, 8-50g). www.wilsonfishing.com

PENN SPINFISHER VI REELS

PRODUCT GUIDE

The new Black Magic BMax 50s are an expansion to the popular BMax range, with subtle but important differences. These bibbed lures sink slowly and typically dive down to around 1m when being retrieved. They are 50mm in length and weigh 4.0g – an ideal size and weight for casting and spinning into Australian rivers and estuaries, but they’re also great for being slowly trolled. MBax lures come rigged with strong, sharp treble hooks – one on the belly and one on the tail, and are available in a range of eight attractive colours. The BMax range of lures sit at a great price point, and are available at your local Black Magic stockist. To find out more, visit the Black Magic Tackle website. You can also find more information, news and catch photos on their Facebook page (www.facebook. com/blackmagictackle) or check them out on Instagram (@blackmagictackle) or YouTube. www.blackmagictackle.com

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Cooking

Tempura whiting with chips and tartare sauce SYDNEY

Andrew Humphries

Very finely chop the pickle, capers and dill and mix through the mayonnaise. Wrap and set aside in the fridge for later. Preheat deep fryer to 150ºC. For the hand cut chips, you

can either wash the potatoes really well to remove the dirt or peel them. Once peeled or washed cut the potatoes into 1.5cm pieces. Blanch the chips in the oil for approximately 5-7minutes. It is important not to over load the fryer basket. You may have to blanch the chips in two batches. Combine 1/2 cup self-

INGREDIENTS 4 whiting fillets skinned and deboned 1/2 cup self-raising flour + 1/4 cup to coat fish 1/2 cup corn flour + 2tbsp to coat fish 200mL chilled soda water 1 medium size pickle

Finely chopped capers, pickled gherkin and dill.

Hand cut chips ready to be blanched.

Skinned and boned whiting fillets.

raising flour and 1/2 cup cornflour in a bowl and mix in some salt. Whisk in soda water to form the tempura batter. The batter can be made up to 1 hour in advance and kept in the fridge until needed. Turn deep fryer up to 180ºC for later use. Prepare the whiting fillets by skinning and trimming out

the centre bones. Mix the remaining corn flour and self-raising flour and season with salt and pepper. Finish cooking the chips for 2-3 mins or until crisp. Drain and place into a bowl and season. Meanwhile, coat whiting fillets in the flour then into the tempura batter.

Salt and pepper to season with 2tsp capers 1 sprig of dill 1/3 cup mayonnaise 800g golden delight or Sebago potatoes 2-3L vegetable oil for the deep fryer 1 lemon cut in wedges to serve

and serve! Depending on the size of your fryer, you may need to cook the fish in two batches. If this is the case, cook for 1-2 minutes to set the batter. Take out and set aside then repeat again until all fish has been blanched. Cook again for two minutes until fish is golden and crisp.

• You will also need a 2-3L deep fryer – I wouldn’t recommend attempting this recipe using a pot of oil as it is too hard to control the oil temperature on the stove top and there is a far greater chance of injury. It is also important to set up your fryer in a well-ventilated area or under an exhaust fan on a stable surface.

Tartare sauce ready to be set aside.

Blanching or par cooking the chips.

Whiting fillets after being floured sitting in the tempura batter.

Generously coat whiting in the tempura batter and allow excess to drip off before placing into deep fryer, ensuring that when you gently release the fish that you let it go away from you so you avoid the hot oil splashing towards you. Cook for 3-4 minutes, drain oil then place onto paper towel. Season

Peeled Sebago potatoes for the hand cut chips.

Two nice whiting before being filleted, skinned and boned.

Tempura whiting and hand cut chips with tartare sauce.

MAY 2019

Lake Jindabyne – the jewel in the Snowies SYDNEY

Gary Brown gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

It had been a while since I had last paid a visit to Lake Jindabyne in the

Snowy Mountains. When I recently visited for the Steve Williamson Invitational trout competition, I was amazed at how much the area has changed.

There’s one thing that hasn’t changed though, and that’s the brilliant trout fishing that Lake Jindabyne has to offer when the conditions are right. For those of you who have never been there, you

can troll, spin, bait and fly fish for brown, rainbow and brook trout, as well as Atlantic salmon, in the lake, and the surrounding streams and rivers, like

the Snowy, Mowamba and Thredbo Rivers. Lake Jindabyne is approximately a 5-hour drive from where I live in the Sutherland Shire, and is about 3.5 hours from Batemans Bay, 2.5 hours from Canberra, 3.5 hours from Albury and 1 hour from Cooma. It’s a conveniently central place to come and chase a few salmonids. Even better, you don’t have to have a boat to get amongst a few trout. There are plenty of places where you can soak a bait, spin from the shore or in a stream or river. Alternatively, if you are up for it, you can have a go at fly fishing. You can fish Lake Jindabyne year-round, but the freshwater streams and rivers in NSW are open for only a few months of the year. The official opening of the State’s trout season started on Saturday 29 September 2018, and will close on Monday 10 June 2019. This closure allows the species to travel up rivers and streams to breed and replenish numbers. I got my start chasing trout by fishing with some great anglers over the years. The likes of Steve Williamson, Mike Spy and Dick Lewers come to mind, as I have learnt so much from them. Now I hope to pass on some knowledge to you. To get you started on fishing the area, I have selected 16 places I have fished over the years that have been productive for me. If you refer to the map you will see that I have listed spots 1 to 16. Trolling is 1 to 4. For bait fishing refer to spots 5 to 8, and for spinning refer to spots 9 to 12. If fly fishing is your preferred method, try spots 13 to 16. TROLLING Whether you are trolling while using lead lines, down riggers or flat lining, spots 1 to 4 will have you in with a

Dave Tosland with a 54cm brown trout that was caught trolling an unknown hardbodied lure at spot 1. This also won Dave the biggest trout in Steve Williamson Trout comp. 68

MAY 2019

Steve Williamson can teach you all you need to know when it comes to fly fishing for trout. chance of getting amongst a few trout or Atlantic salmon. 1. Try trolling your shallow diving hardbodied lures while flat lining in close

try scrub worms behind a set of Ford Fenders. 3. As you are allowed to have two rods each in freshwater, try trolling. If there are two

4. Take care when trolling here as there are a few shallow boulders. The deeper water is good for downrigging.

There are plenty of places to soak a bait or spin lures from the shore in Lake Jindabyne. This is directly in front of the caravan park. around the islands. Out deeper you could try tying on Tassie Devil No 40 Frog or a No 97 Corrooboree Frog. 2. In close troll Mepps Black Fury Tandem, and out wide

of you in your boat, you can try trolling a couple of shallow hardbodied lures in different colours, and either downrig or use a leadcore line on the others.

BAIT FISHING You will need to check the NSW Fisheries website as many of the rivers and streams that run into Lake Jindabyne are illegal to bait

The author hooked up to a nice brown after casting a Tassie Devil to the shore at spot 5.

fish in. However, you can baitfish year-round in the lake – it’s just a matter of deciding which bait to use. I have found that the best

suspending your bait under a bubble float or a very small bobby cork. You could always try fishing with a small spitshot or an

walking or with a 4WD. SPINNING If trolling and bait fishing are not your cup of tea, and you prefer to

580

FUNSEEKER

A brown trout destined for the smoker. It was caught while trolling an Atomic Hardz deep diving hardbody. time to bait fish is early in the morning or late into the afternoon when the water level is rising. This usually

unweighted bait where the area has a clay or sandy bottom. When fishing amongst the boulders, I

Being able to drive your vehicle down near the shore and set up is a great advantage when it comes to fishing Lake Jindabyne. occurs in spring when the ice is melting. Mudeye fishing is usually done during the summer, and worms are a year-round option.

usually use a running sinker down onto a swivel with a long leader. To help keep the bait off the bottom I put in a bit of PowerBait.

be more active, there are literally hundreds of places where you can take a handful of lures down to the shore and spin for trout. I have just included four in spots 9 to 12 for you to try out. I am sure that you will find plenty more. It’s just about locating where the fish are feeding at different times of the year. The reason I have chosen these spots is that you can use shallow hardbody lures, Mepps spinners or spoons, surface lures and HWS soft plastics in the shallows, and if that doesn’t work you could try casting out wider with blades, Tassie Devils and heavier jigheads with soft plastics. As for the streams and creeks, you could also try them during the open season with a small Mepps No 1 spinner, Rapala CD Minnows or any other small narrow or fat body floating minnow.

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A late afternoon casting and bait session from spot 9 can produce a couple of fish. Other baits that are worth a try are bardi grubs and yabbies. You could also try using Berkley PowerBaits. If you are fishing where there is a lot of weed, try

Spots 5 to 8 are good places to start your bait fish. Just remember to check out the access tracks before you set out, as some places may be accessible only by

FLY FISHING Fly fishing isn’t for everyone, but if you want to try something new, it’s never too late to start. Fly To page 70

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From page 69

fishing is easy to learn but difficult to master; even though it took me only a couple of days to learn how to cast a fly, and only a couple of days more to start catching trout on fly, I am still learning more about how to fly fish every time I go. There is always something new to learn every day.

Winter fly fishing with the aid of a good set of polarised sunglasses can at times be the best of what the country has to offer. The flies that I have had the most success on during the cooler months of the year have been the Woolly Bugger and nymphs. As the water level rises with the spring melt of the snow, and the fish are extremely hungry after

their spawning run, I work the deeper weed beds with a floating fly line with a sinking tip to get the fly down that bit deeper. During the summer months I can’t go past my floating fly line while using my self-tied Red Tag, Royal Coachman, red spinner and Christmas beetle flies. As with all fly anglers I do carry a large range of other flies,

A standard Jindabyne brown trout.

Dave keeping an eye out for those fish arches. Most of our fishing on the last trip came while flat lining.

just in case the fish don’t like what I have on offer. Hopefully I have given you a small insight into what Lake Jindabyne has on offer for you. If you are going to venture down to Jindabyne for a fish, I recommend that you check out the Alpine Angler just out of Cooma as they gave me a few tips on what was happening during my last trip. While you’re at Jindy, you should also call into the Lakeside Lure and Tackle shop and have a chat to the new owner Brian Burns, who has a wealth of knowledge on how to fish the lake.

Try working the streams and river with small hardbodied lures, Mepps spinners and spoons.

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Fly Fishing Scene

It’s time to get jiggy with your fly fishing! CANBERRA

Richard Barnsley

Pomohaka River, New Zealand 2008. It had been a hard slog working our way up the turquoise-coloured river since daybreak. Most of the wading was in deep, fast-flowing water, and it was getting tiring. Danny had taken a couple of sizeable rainbows, Andy had dropped one and I managed to spook a couple. While the boys took turns spotting, I clambered out of the river and forced my way through a thick beech covered bluff. When I finally dropped back down onto the river, I found myself overlooking a deep pool with a dozen hefty sea-run brown trout finning the sandy bottom. Over the next half an hour I tried everything to get a fly deep enough to draw a fish, but the flow and excessive depth made it virtually impossible. In desperation I scoured my fly

Jigs are extremely effective for chasing trout holding in deeper pockets of water. flathead circles on the NSW Mid Coast. The rubber tails were a simple modification to traditional bucktail jigs that had been widely popular across North America. Australian estuary anglers

These tiny plastic bubbles don’t need floatant and will hold the jig just clear of the bottom. Tie a 60cm length of 15lb mono, such as Maxima, from the end of your fly line to the strike indicator, then tie a 120-180cm length of 8lb fluorocarbon around the Maxima so that it butts up against the indicator and attach your jig to the free end. This creates a swivelling, right angle connection that causes the indicator to react with even slight taps on the fly. It’s a classic rig for steelhead and salmon and just as deadly on deep water trout down under. You can lengthen these sections, depending on the depth of the run you are targeting. However, in excessively deep water I avoid the

faster reaction time, which is critical to overcome the limits of a strike transmitting from the deep holding fish all the way to the surface. Around lake margins, jig patterns are equally effective wherever dropoffs such as stream inflows occur. Similarly, down on the coast there is nothing better suited for flathead or rack bream than a simple white buck tail jig. In the salt, I often fish a run-out tide and let the jig puff sand along the bottom in time with the current. Use the tip of your fly line as an indicator, as coast species, even picky bream, generally register a strong hit. Like with the entire pursuit of fly fishing, you can make your jigs as simple

foul on vegetation. Thirdly, the upturned eye and weight tends to increase the fly’s action. Frontmounted weights cause the pattern to dip and rise on the retrieve. Centre-mounted

Port Macquarie’s Bill Hoadley working a prime late season trout run with jig patterns.

A basic Bugger style pattern with rubber legs will draw bottom-hugging trout in most instances. boxes for extra split shot and discovered in a rear zippered compartment a battle scarred Clouser Minnow with lead dumbbell eyes. Finally, a loopy cast rolled the fly well above the pod and I watched the imitation spiral down into the clear depths. On first pass the school split and allowed the fly to drift through. On the second cast I animated the offering and to my relief, a fish rolled away from the pod and hammered the white fly. Jig style flies are now a constant accompaniment in all my fly boxes. Like any pattern, I carry a variety of sizes (and weights) but more and more I find myself tying one on whether at the stream or down in the salt. The first time I ever saw a jig rig was many moons ago when Mister Twisters started appearing in the

adopted them quickly and the rest is history. Essentially, jig patterns offer three distinct advantages. Firstly, they are designed to sink quickly. Admittedly bead head or lead-weighted patterns are designed to get down in the water column as well, but jigs tend to be weighted much heavier. This is especially advantageous in fast water, where runs are often short. The development of Czechstyle nymphing, particularly in competition fly fishing, saw huge advancements in how to fish short and deep. Secondly, jig patterns are typically tied on ‘jig’ style hooks with upturned eyes. This means the hook point essentially rides up and reduces snagging on the bed of the stream. Also, when stripping across weed beds you are less likely to

weights (usually lead wire, but sometimes a small split shot) cause the fly to track straight but at depth. Rear-mounted weights can enhance an erratic drift and with some smaller nymph jigs they will drift ‘head up’ just like the natural. Most traditional nymph and baitfish fly patterns are now regularly tied on jig style hooks. As I mentioned, weights can be added as simply as clamping a split shot onto the shank, or you can purchase pre-moulded offerings. The soft plastic explosion really fired hook manufacturers up and there are a wealth of hook styles and weights to experiment with. One of the most used patterns for trout in lakes and streams is a rubber legged Bugger style pattern. For fast pocket water fishing during the spawn run, I paint the

jigheads hot orange and tie the rough pattern aft. Rattled across the stones these are deadly on the late season fish and it can get down quickly. A weighted fly is much easier to cast than droppers with split shot. I prefer the single fly for this type of fishing, as I maintain direct contact with the fly and don’t worry about the bottom. In moderate depth and fast water I will use a Thingamabobber.

indicator, as I find longer lengths of terminal tackle make the leader unbalanced and difficult to cast. In these situations use the thinnest diameter mono to cut quickly through the water column. Use the tip of your fly line as an indicator and strike at every pause. When fishing any fly deep in the water column, use a strip strike rather than raising the rod tip. This results in a much

or intricate as you want. Successful patterns can be no more than a clump of buck tail lashed to a jig hook. Given the deep, snaggy and often unfriendly water I throw them in, I generally don’t waste time tying as I would with a tiny, delicate dry fly. Get some fly jigs and start throwing them at your favourite fish! I’ll bet you end up with a smile as big as the bend in your rod!

A simple white bucktail jig is terrific for coastal flats. You can add a bit of sparkle flash to doll them up. MAY 2019

Cover water to find fish BATLOW

Wayne Dubois waynedubois@westnet.com.au

Air temperatures are starting to cool down but this doesn’t mean the fish

concentrated in the deeper water as they start to prepare for the annual spawn run. These schools are still worth trolling for, however, extra deep diving lures will be needed. Fish will be anywhere from 20-80ft,

Golden perch will be feeding up before the slim pickings of winter. are as well, the fishing this month can be ‘hot’ especially in the trout streams and rivers. BLOWERING DAM Redfin are a great option at this time of year. Schools are starting to become more

although I find that there is almost always fish holding at that 30-40ft depth mark, so I always start my exploring in that depth. The deepest AC Slim Invader model is hard to beat for this and is perfect for

trolling around and locating schools, as are heavily weighted soft plastics. Even if you don’t troll the heavily weighted plastics it pays to have one rigged, as you can drop it on the school of fish once you’ve trolled around and found them. You can keep doing this until the fish shut down, and then repeat the process again. Also try to have an ice jig, rubber vibe or blade rigged and ready to go, as these lures are just as good and quite often better than the soft plastics. Murray cod and golden perch will be feeding up before the onslaught of winter, which will be worth focusing some of your energy on this month. Mid to late afternoon is one of the best times to target these natives at this time of year. It’s a different story in summer, where most of the action is after dark when the water has had a chance to cool down to the natives’ liking. At this time of year the water temperature overnight and early in the day is much cooler, and the water is at its warmest in the late afternoon. This is when the fish feel most comfortable and they will be at their most active. Natives are a lot like us in the sense that they take in the warmth from their surroundings. So in the middle of a hot summer’s day, they (like us) will seek shade and wait until the sun goes down before becoming active – and at this time of year when the nights and mornings are cool, the

This month is your last chance to take advantage of the trout fishing in our rivers and streams. fish too will be cold and therefore less active. Once that water warms up in the mid-afternoon they become more active. Trout in Blowering Dam can be a bit hit and miss, but from now until the end of spring the water temperature will be more to their liking, and they will be more active than at any other time of the year. I find trolling or casting lipless crankbaits the best

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some consistent fishing and most anglers were rewarded with regular quality fishing. Now that the Tumut River is back to relatively low flows and the creeks are getting a regular top up, the trout fishing is about as good as it gets. With less than a month and a half left in the trout season, if you have been putting off your trout fishing now would be a great time to get stuck into them before you have to wait until next season. Whether you are fishing the Tumut River or one of the smaller rivers or creeks in the area it will be very hard to beat indictor nymphing

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and/or Glo-Bugs this month. In saying this, if you’re not into fly fishing or think that you can’t fly fish, then simply use the flies (nymphs and/or Glo-Bugs) on your light spinning rod. Use a small split shot sinker on your line to help with casting and to get your flies down, then allow the flies to drift along somewhere close to the bottom and you should hook into a few fish.

Murray cod will also be feeding up this month and will be the target of many anglers at Blowering Dam. way of targeting the resident trout. The main reason is that these lures will catch just about anything that swims, so by using them you are not going to miss out on catching any other species in the process. The other reason I like using them is that they are a sinking lure, so you can cover the entire water column while trying to work out where the fish are holding on any given day. TROUT RIVERS AND STREAMS The late summer and early autumn trout fishing in the district was at times pretty tough with very little rain making the smaller

Whether you are fly fishing or spinning it will be hard to beat drifting Glo-Bugs and nymphs this month.

streams run very low and very clear. I personally could see the fish struggling and knew that me catching and releasing them would only stress the fish further, so I gave them a wide berth until we got some significant rain in mid-autumn. On the other hand, during this period the Tumut River was in medium to full flow due to irrigator demands downstream. This made for

Be sure to spin with small to medium sized sinking hardbody lures such as the IMA Sukaris, Sso Minos or Rapala CD minnows in either clear, trout or very natural colours. This is another great way of hooking into plenty of trout this month. The key to getting good numbers of fish using these lures is to keep covering lots of water and seeking out active fish. Keep in mind, once you finish fishing a pool or the fish stop biting be sure to move upstream and get stuck into some more. If you put the hard yards in this month you should be rewarded with plenty of fish.

Dress for success LITHGOW/OBERON

Glen Stewart stewie72@bigpond.com

Wet wading will definitely be out of the question this month. In fact, I reckon I will be double socking in my wading boots, those pinkies will really need the insulation. Winter is just around the corner and with that we see a number of changes, especially with brown trout in Lake Lyell, Oberon Dam and Thompsons Creek Dam, as they become very aggressive towards other

inflows, giving anglers an opportunity to target a bigger class of fish in skinny water. Fly anglers definitely get the chocolates in this skinny water, and soft, repeated presentations with a Glo-Bug and trailing nymph is a deadly skill. SPOON FEEDING Bigger spoons are another great option for aggressive pre-spawn trout. The flash of a fluttering spoon gives off a large profile and seems to attract and trigger an aggressive response. Generally speaking, I will keep the retrieve going at a steady pace, as most

it just makes great sense to be throwing one! WINTER COD Winter fishing for Murray cod is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Being dressed for success is highly recommended. Don’t underestimate the value of purchasing some quality outdoor clothing. People in the northern and southern hemispheres closer to the poles undertake regular outdoor activities for long periods of time in conditions that most of us would deem abhorrent. Some acclimatization would be apparent, but for

Bigger redfin are a real bonus during the cooler months, and don’t underestimate their aggression, as they certainly don’t hold back when it comes to larger offerings. As water temperatures drop, you’ll tend to start seeing a mix of bigger redfin getting caught. Maybe it’s just that the hordes of smaller redfin are less active. Whatever it is, I’m not complaining. Redfin are great on the plate and 5-6 bigger specimens are much easier to process than a dozen little ones.

Trolling lures early on while paying close attention to a quality depth sounder will give you a good picture of what’s going on. While out there you need to ask yourself, are they scattered on a thermocline? Are they grouped up on points? Are they relating to flats close to the bottom? From this, you can work

out a plan of attack, then make adjustments as you go, letting the fish activity or lack of judge what you do next. Keep it simple, as sometimes it may just mean dropping down a line class or two to get the bites. I hope to see you on the water soon. Until then, tight lines!

Your Trusted Local Supplier for: Fishing spoons at any time of year for trout is a good option, but coming into winter they seem to be just that little bit more effective. The brighter the better in the author’s opinion – it really seems to trigger bites. fish. It’s a pre-spawn build up attitude adjustment. Needless to say, a selection of bigger presentations when it comes to flies or lures should be added to the box. I wouldn’t discount throwing something in the 75-120mm range, maybe even bigger. Shad and minnow style lures in this size range are pretty easy to find, but flies on the other hand may be a bit harder to get hold of.

spoons have a built-in action that is quiet erratic, but occasionally I will throw in a lift and drop on a semitaut just to mix it up. It’s amazing how many times I’ve been hit on the drop with this retrieve. Spoons are totally underrated as trout catchers – I never leave home without at least 4-5 in my box. They range in style, profile and colour. Speaking of colours, the brighter the

Being dressed for success when it comes to winter cod fishing is a huge deal. Once you’re cold, you’re done. Do your research, buy the best you can afford and you won’t look back. The Game Changer from Ammo Flies are one such fly that I reckon could fit the bill, and while Chris is pretty flat out and lead times are long, it would be well worth throwing one of these in mid to late May in trout waters. Water levels and temperature can trigger an early run up one of the many

better at this time of year, and it seems to be a real trigger. One of the advantages of fishing spoons at this time of year is the ease at which they can be cast in windy and cold conditions. These weather conditions can be a real trigger for the brown trout to move about and push up the arms of our lakes. So,

the most part the quality of the clothing worn and the attention to detail when it comes to layering is the difference. A football jumper some tracksuit pants and a beanie are never going to cut the mustard, in fact it’s a risk to your health on some nights and mornings. Staying out and staying comfortable is key. Take a break every now and then to top up a mug from the thermos, have a bite to eat, then get back into the task at hand. The nights can be long, so pick your fishing partner carefully. Working in pairs definitely has its advantages, and the obvious one is when it comes time to land that monster cod, which is a fleeting minute of mayhem or two at best. Less thought about are the positive effects that each of you can have on one another in the hours, days and possible weeks of fishing in-between. It might come in the form of a joke or a laugh, or a conversation while fishing about trying something different. This keeps your head in the game, it keeps you out there, and keeps you casting. BIGGER REDFIN It’s a tad early, but it’s definitely time to start thinking about targeting some bigger redfin in Ben Chifley, Lake Wallace and Lake Lyell.

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DAM LEVELS Dam............................... % Full

Dam............................... % Full

Dam Feb March April Blowering 30 26 25 Brogo 99 97 100 Burrendong 9 7 7 Burrinjuck 35 31 30 Carcoar 35 26 23 Chaffey 33 29 26 Clarrie Hall 92 93 93 Copeton 12 12 11 Dartmouth 65 63 62 Eucumbene 26 26 25 Glenbawn 57 55 53 Glenlyon 17 12 11

Dam Feb March April Glennies Creek 59 57 55 Hume 31 23 17 Jindabyne 83 80 80 Keepit 1 1 1 Lostock 99 84 89 Oberon 46 43 42 Pindari 9 6 6 Split Rock 4 3 2 Tantangara 45 38 29 Toonumbar 82 75 73 Windamere 35 34 33 Wyangala 37 33 32

(All levels correct at time of going to press. Dam levels can change at any time, so please check with local authorities to ensure safe boating and fishing.) MAY 2019

Cool mornings kick start cod bite ROBINVALE

Rod Mackenzie codmac@bigpond.net.au

Late autumn’s fresh cool mornings and bright still days herald the start of some truly first class cod fishing. The drop in

cod begin to bite. These furry grubs can be seen crossing the road in the morning. Other signs are more obvious, like clear fresh mornings that are conducive with periods of high barometric pressure. On the water at first light the river is now starting to drape

Stirred water has been the key to catching a few yabbies this past month. temperature sparks a bite, especially where big fish are concerned and the action has already started, with some very good cod landed these past few weeks. This seasonal bite happens around the same time every year and is in tune to some of nature’s more subtle signs. Endless lines of fury caterpillars might seem as far removed from fishing as you might get, but for the past 30 years or so I have noticed they appear on mass at the exact same time the big

in morning fog that rises through the maze of twisted snags. Cold hands fumble at the reel as cast after cast is sent towards the fishiest looking hides. It was exactly so on our last trip, where we fished the early morning light on the Murray River hoping to tempt a surface strike or two. It didn’t take long as the surface paddler was torn from the top in an explosion of lip clad water. The lure had just paddled past an old stump jutting clear of the

current rich water that was obviously home to the cod that was now hooked to the end of the line. Landed and released, it was one of two fish we managed for the early morning session. In the Murray River, around Swan Hill, anglers are still catching goodsized Murray cod, with several metre+ fish landed this past month. Tackle proprietor Jim Credlin says the fishing locally in Swan Hill seems to be getting better every week. Credlin said the biggest cod he has heard of caught locally stretched the truth mat out to 115cm. Good-sized cod to a metre or more have also been caught downstream in the Murray River at Wood Wood, Tooleybuc and Boundary Bend. Most areas are fishing well on bait and lures. Golden perch have been a little slower, but most areas are producing a few on bait and lures. The fishing in the Mildura area has been a little quieter, but as the water temperature continues to drop anglers can expect to see the fish come on the chew. Below the weir at Mildura, anglers continue to catch good numbers of golden perch on small Tubby Minnow lures. A few cod to 70cm have also been landed at this location. Further down the Murray River at lock 9, good numbers of golden perch and

a few Murray cod to 85cm have been landed on bait. One group managed more than 30 good-sized perch over their visit, mostly on baits of shrimp and worms. Some anglers have been lucky enough to find a few yabbies on the move. If you come across water that is stirred and dirty when it is normally clean, that is a good sign you’ll find these yummy crustaceans. I had this on a recent trip and it was not the first time I had seen normally clear water turned to mud without inflow or rain. Based on past experience, yabbies are usually responsible, be it a seasonal cleaning of underwater tunnels or some other event it is well worth testing the water with a few yabby nets to chance a feed.

Good numbers of golden perch and the odd Murray cod have been caught on Tubby Native Minnow lures below the weir at Mildura.

Jamie Stewart with a solid Murray cod taken on a surface lure in the Murray River.

We returned to our location a short time later, this time with six new environmentally friendly yabby nets in hand freshly baited with fish offal. After 15 minutes the first net was pulled, and sure enough a dozen fat yabbies were caught chewing at the bait. Each net had a similar amount and it did not take long to fill the bucket. All up the fishing has been quite good this past month and as the weather continues to cool we can expect to see some really nice cod landed in our local waters.

Some fun in the spawn run for alpine anglers SNOWY MOUNTAINS

Anthony Bentley

The days are getting shorter and the overnight temperatures are getting into the single digits. Thankfully, summer is now behind us and we can get back into some better fishing over the

last couple of months of the river season. The Thredbo River has cooled to a reasonable temperature and we are seeing a few fish start to move back into the flowing water after seeking refuge in the deeper parts of Lake Jindabyne. The upper parts of the river are still producing some very good fish on dry flies.

Hoppers are still around, although their numbers are starting to wane, with a few frosts appearing in the mornings their days will be short-lived. Mayflies, Caddis, and beetles are the go-to patterns. With the cooler weather, trout will focus their attention to feeding more below the surface – a double nymph indicator

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rig will get you into the action. A heavy weighted nymph with an unweighted nymph or Glo-Bug trailing around 45-90cm behind will give the flies a more natural looking drift, always making sure that the flies are getting down to the bottom amongst the aggregate. Hare and copper, Black Flashback nymphs, and pheasant tail nymphs are perfect for the task. Sometimes mixing up some more brightlycoloured patterns can attract their attention. Bigger Celta and hardbody lures in the brighter colours are a must for the lure fisher. The higher streams and creeks are still my go-to destinations for some productive fishing, with Perisher, Spencers and Diggers creeks, the upper Snowy and Gungarlin rivers all fishing quite well. Dry fly fishing should be good until the close of the season on these waters, although lures and nymphs will also be productive. Smaller flies and lures should be used. The smaller creeks and streams at the lower elevations are still fishing

quite poorly and might need to be rested until the next river season, although some cooler weather and a bit more rain could give them one last hurrah, I personally think leaving them alone would be better for the future of these fisheries. Lake Jindabyne is fishing reasonably well in the deeper sections, with a few fish getting caught around the edges. Lakes Eucumbene and Jindabyne should start fishing well from the edges in the coming months. Brown trout are almost ready for their annual pilgrimage up the spawning rivers and streams, a muchanticipated time for the trout angler. After the tough season we just had I’m sure there will be many anglers taking advantage of this year’s run. The Thredbo and Eucumbene rivers can have some of the best ‘spawn run’ fishing anywhere! You can often see and catch fish in the 6-10lb range. The spawn run can be a very exciting time to fish for some very large fish, but you should always be

mindful to watch where you walk (avoid stepping on redds) and photographs of these fish are more prized than taking them to eat! The more fish that can naturally spawn, the more fish we will have to catch in future years. • High Country Outfitters has the largest range of fly fishing gear in the Snowy Mountains, with something for every skill level and budget. Brands include Sage, Rio, Redington, Scott, Simms, Patagonia, Loop, TFO, Vision, Hardy, Riverworks, Scientific Anglers, Airflo and McLean nets. There’s also a big range of flies from Manic, Stu Tripney, Mick Hall and Pisces, as well as waders, boots, vests and outdoor apparel. For all the latest information on what’s biting and where, drop into the store at Nuggets Crossing Shopping Centre, Jindabyne. You can also call them on (02) 6456 2989, like them on Facebook or check out their website at highfly. com.au.

Changing tactics to target even bigger cod WAGGA WAGGA

Rhys Creed

The weather has well and truly changed with the cold setting right in, but this doesn’t mean it’s time to hang up the rods – quite the opposite. Although we will start to see a decline in active fishing and smallersized fish in our region, we can expect bigger fish!

shallow, so if you’re casting lures be sure to keep your distance from the structure to ensure you don’t spook any fish. Casts will also need to be spot on, especially in high sun. With clear water you’ll want to target the shadows as much as you can, and ensure you allow your lure to sink. Spinnerbaits are by far the go-to lure as they can reach deeper areas tight in against logs (in

The Murrumbidgee River is a great option at this time of year, especially for casting lures. MURRUMBIDGEE RIVER The river is running low and clear. The temperature is cool, between 12-15°C, but this means it’s the perfect time to upsize your lures and target the biggest log on the river bend. If you want the best opportunity to land a big fish, May is the month! In saying this, you shouldn’t expect a fish every cast. The fishing will be much slower at this time of year, with the smaller fish beginning to slow down for the winter. This will mean longer waits between bites. It is worth it though, because you’ll have a better chance of hooking into those giants that hide very well throughout the rest of the year. The river will be low and

comparison to a hardbody lure). Upsizing the plastic on your spinnerbait and adding a stinger hook is a good

idea. Not only will the larger profile attract bigger fish, you’ll have a better chance of making those hits stick. You can still bait fish, but lures will out-fish bait at this time of year. When it comes to the colour choice of your lures, darker and natural green colours are best. TUMUT RIVER The Tumut River will start to slow down from the previous month, as the bug activity has all but disappeared. With the low water levels, it still allows for some excellent fishing, especially when it comes to casting. Wading the river is easy, allowing you to cross the river and walk upstream all day long. Be sure to fish the deep sections, fish tight to cover and also the broken water below the rapids. This is where the hungry fish will be. Small hardbody lures, spinners, soft plastics and even Tassie Devils will work well. Anywhere through the township of Tumut up to the wall is the best option. Fly fishing is still worth a crack, with indicator

As the weather cools, more casts are needed to tempt natives.

Tallis fished two nymphs in the deep pool behind him to land this solid rainbow trout. nymphing being your best option. Work the deeper pools with heavy nymphs that will work the very bottom, as this is the best way to catch the bigger fish in the river. BLOWERING DAM I love this place… and even more so at this time of year! This is when we start to get serious about chasing giant cod. In the middle of this month is when you want to start planning some trips up to the lake. At this time of year the big fish start to become more active, and have to move and chase down their prey. This is when they become easier to fool compared to the last few months. If the lake is slowly rising this will be even better, and fishing up on the shallow flats at first light is the best technique. Casting large surface lures, either paddlers or wakebaits, at first light before switching to swimbaits or plastics is

the technique we will be using. The big fish will move from shallow water to deeper water as the sun

keep in contact with the bottom. If you happen to find a bank with heavy timber, work it over with

The rivers are low and cool, which means the bigger fish will start to show themselves. rises, and you want to try to cross paths with them. Another technique is to fish the rocky banks during the middle of the day, and also on last light, in about 3-6m. Plastics and chatterbaits are perfect for this, and you should always

spinnerbaits in the 1-1.5oz range as they will ride the timber better than any other lure. As you can see, the way we approach fishing in the region is starting to change. And as it gets colder, the fish get bigger!

Hit the deep water ORANGE

Michael Collison thegurusgear@gmail.com

Windermere Dam is fishing well at the moment as the weather cools down. The fish will tend to sit in the deeper water during the winter period, so having a quality sounder will definitely pay big dividends. The goldens are starting to move to the trees, with the best way to target them being plastics. My favourite plastic is the 3” Minnow Grub from Berkley, in camo and black colour. These are the best two colours for this time of year. I have had heaps of success on

these colours over the last five years, especially during winter. The best way to use this plastic is a slow roll, and the slower the better. Matched with the plastics is the 1/4oz Bassman jighead, in black or gold colour. Jigheads of 1/4oz are the perfect weight for the fish that are sitting in the deep water, which could range from 20-30ft+. These fish will tend to stay at that depth over winter. With the dam levels dropping, there are some noticeable trees that are poking out their heads where the old river bed runs. These trees don’t get fished as much as the others, which should make it a bit easier to catch fish, as the fish haven’t seen as many lures. This

means they don’t know to be scared and will eagerly investigate your offering. In my opinion, the best rod to use is a light tip 7ft spin, 2-4 kg, as the light tip will help the hook-up rate. My favourite rod at the moment is the Edge Black Widow DSR 6’1”, 4-10lb. I like this rod because as the fish hits the lure it will be more likely to eat it as it feels more natural, and you will find a stiffer tip rod will cause a lot more missed hits. I also find a fluorocarbon leader can make a positive difference to your hook-up rate. Speaking of fluorocarbon leader, my recommendation is 6-8lb Yamatoyo Chinu Harris. I find it’s best when fishing in the trees as it’s strong

Golden perch will be active in the deeper water this month. Try using plastics around the trees for them. and has a bit of give to stop you from pulling hooks. I also like to use 10lb Daiwa J Braid or 15lb

Daiwa Seabass. As the water cools down the fish will be a little harder to get to bite.

But as I always say, it’s time on the water that turns a good angler into a great angler. MAY 2019

Shorter and darker days, bigger and fatter cod! ALBURY/WODONGA

Connor Heir

Autumn has come upon us quickly, and we’re already into May! The days are getting shorter and darker, but it doesn’t mean the fish are turning off just yet!

May and April are my favourite months of the cod season. While it can be a little bit more work to catch them compared to the warmer months, it’s around this time of year that targeting bigger fish specifically becomes the focus. Many cod anglers talk about how the cooler

months bring on the bigger fish, but it usually requires a bit more patience, time and effort. You can get lucky and just go out and crack a good one, but generally speaking it really does just

bring out the bigger lures. Fish can be quite particular about what they’ll feed on, so a bigger-sized lure usually provokes a fish to strike. Diving hardbodies, swimbaits and surface lures

Yellowbelly will be less active than their green friends.

Persistence is the key to finding cod during May.

Bigger lures will be a great tool for finding hungry fish as it cools down.

take time and the will to not give up. May is still relatively comfortable weather to fish in, as the days are usually still in the mid 20s-30s, and the fish are still active. Depending on your area, flow rates, water temperature and other factors can influence our natives’ activity. May is the time I like to

are my three go-to lure styles for this time of year. I haven’t caught a lot of mega-sized cod, however as cod fishers we must all remember that big fish are smart, and they definitely take more than one cast at a snag most of the time. I love to really work an area or snag over for at least 20 casts or more, to really annoy the fish into striking.

Trying different angles of casts can also help, as sometimes they are that stubborn that they won’t attack your lure unless it’s right in front of their nose. Work structure and areas slowly, rather than just rushing through. Really take your time and pause your lures every so often, just in case that’s what they want. A few of my favourite lures are the 100mm Kuttafurra Mudhoneys, Kuttafurra Joe the Rat, Jackall Gigantarel and Gantarel, no. 1 StumpJumper and JD Eddy Python. Just remember

that cod are unforgiving on tackle, so always use good quality, strong lures, and upgrade split rings and hooks if you need to. Overall, May is still a great time of year to be cod fishing. Have confidence in what you’re using, and as I always say, just persist and keep going. It only takes one fish to make it all worthwhile! As it’s getting cooler, my tip is to never forget to take some warm gloves, as nothing is worse than having such cold fingers that you can’t move them! Get out and have some fun, and catch some fish along the way!

May in Lake Mulwala equals big Murray cod YARRAWONGA

Tony Bennett codclassic@bigpond.com

How will Mulwala be affected by a drawdown? If the first four months of the new season are anything to go by, it can only be a good thing. Predictions had anglers guessing that Mulwala wouldn’t fish as well as the past two seasons, but how wrong they were! Mulwala is in

the middle of Murray cod madness, and I can’t see why this wouldn’t continue until winter. Anglers casting any style of lure in the 1-3m range have been getting consistent returns, with surface and sub surface continuing to produce. The bait jiggers and happy trollers have seen great returns as well. Looking back, March could been called ‘Metery March’, because at least 30 metre-plus fish were reported over the month

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Kyle Dalrymple with his 110.4cm monster from the Cod Nationals. – and that’s just the ones we know of! Plenty of other anglers were tight lipped, and prying info out them was pretty much impossible. The ever popular His & Hers Partners Classic was a great way to get the month started, with 60 likeminded couples coming together for a bit of fishing fun. The cod decided to cooperate, with some monster fish caught. At the top of the tree were Steve and Tanya

Cannon off the back of Steve’s 119cm giant caught on a cast 4D spinnerbait. Second place went to Leigh & Shavaun Roberts, who had a wonderful day landing five legals, while Paul and Chelsea Kline took third with Paul landing a beautiful 113cm beast. Helen Pyle was another to tangle with a Mulwala monster, landing a 118cm beauty, but couldn’t follow it up with others to get her into the money.

The 9th Great Northern Cod Nationals was hotly contested between 36 teams in mid March. Wonderful numbers of cod were caught over the three and a half days of serious tournament fishing. In total, 592 cod were captured, with 182 of them being above 55cm. Kyle Dalrymple landed a monster measuring in at 110.4cm, helping him take out the longest cod for the event. Mick Miller had a consistent tournament, taking the Champion Angler title, with Kyle finishing the equivalent of only one legal cod behind him. In the prestigious teams section, Team K-D Fishing’s father and son pairing of Derek and Kade Blow came in a very creditable third. They have finished either second or third over the past three years, and I’m sure it won’t be long until they crack a win. Team Kuttafurra’s Kyle Dalrymple and Mick Caulfield were in front going into the last day, but failed to capitalise. Nevertheless, their consistent fishing helped them claim second place

and over $5K cash for the event. Team Miller Lures, Mick Miller and Ben Scullin had to produce the goods on the last day and hope other results went their way also and they did. Ben’s two legals during the Dash 4 Cash session helped them earn maximum points and ultimately take the title of 2019 Cod Nationals Champion Team. Over the course of the four days they pocketed in excess of $10K cash and prizes. All in all it was another magnificent event that all serious cod fishos should put on their ‘to do’ list. All in all, if you’re planning a trip away to target the mighty Murray cod there is no reason to be driving past Lake Mulwala. Sure, there are other locations out there that promise the goods like Eildon, Copeton or Blowering, but nothing delivers on the consistency of Mulwala. That’s why it is known as the ‘Home of the Murray cod’!

More rain needed to raise the water levels NEW ENGLAND RIVERS

Adam Townsend

Finally, some good rains have fallen across the New England Tablelands in recent weeks and the country is already in a lot better condition because of it. With that said, we still need a lot more rain

months to be walking along the banks casting surface lures or swimbaits through the night and into the early hours of the morning before. The big cod will move back out into the deeper water as the sun rises later into the morning. The golden and silver perch can be targeted during the daylight hours if the cod

This silver perch was taken walking the bank at Pindari. to come yet before the local impoundments and surrounding rivers are to fully recover and go back to a healthy and stable state. Although there has been just enough rain to get the rivers flowing again, both Copeton and Pindari dams are still sitting at similar levels to the last report. COPETON DAM Copeton Dam is currently very low, and with the small releases of water downstream now complete, the dam should start to rise again, as long as we keep getting more rainfalls in the meantime, that is. Boating and swimming are not recommended at Copeton after WaterNSW did some sampling and put the dam on ‘red alert’ for blue green algae. Some parts of the dam are fishing well, and big cod are still being caught by the anglers putting in the time and effort. At this time of year, as the water temperatures start to slowly drop, the bigger fish will start moving in closer to the edges and this is where fishing from the bank can be very productive. May and June are my two favourite

fishing is slow. Although they are not as active as they are in the spring months. Casting small vibe lures or shrimp imitation blades around the rocky banks and trees where a steep drop off is nearby is my preferred method when targeting perch

in this waterway, and usually where you find them, the big cod are not to far away. PINDARI Pindari Dam is still at crazy low water levels, and although it has received some water from the feeder rivers further upstream, it looks like it will stay low for a while yet. There is little rainfall predicted in the near future and up until a couple of weeks ago they were still releasing close to 15ML per day. This has not seemed to shut down the fish too much as there have been plenty of average-sized natives being caught lately. Just like Copeton, Pindari Dam can be very productive for bank fishers during daylight and nighttime hours, whether you are casting lures or soaking a bait. As mentioned in the last couple of reports, the edges of Pindari can be very soft, so getting to the water’s edge can sometimes prove to be pretty difficult. Getting up on one of the higher points around the dam is key, as it has been out of the water longer giving it more time to dry. If you are keen to soak a bait, shrimp or worms are your two better choices at this time of year. For lures, I like to throw noisy lures that attract a lot of attention.

Surfers paddlers, vibes and chatterbaits are my favourites in this waterway when searching for active fish. RIVERS The Beardy River water level is up and is still a little discoloured, however it is looking the best it has been in months. The Severn River also received good rainfalls at the headwaters and from its feeder streams, which has seemed to do the river wonders. Some parts of the river even getting a wellneeded flush of all the weeds that accumulated over the summer months while water levels were at their lowest. The fishing action has seemed to pick up as well, with some quality fish being caught all throughout the river. Like many cod anglers, we always go out with a full tackle box of favourite lures and very rarely use every lure in the box, which has been the case on recent trips. Although I do love to chop and change between lures while on the water, my two most used lures, which are also getting bites, have been the Megabass I-Loud topwater lure and the Vatalion Swimbait. In saying that, I have spent a little more time on the water than normal, and that is usually all it takes to work out a solid feeding

The Megabass Vatalion Swimbait was too much for this Murray cod. pattern or at least what is most effective at the time. There is nothing better than getting out on the water and enjoying the outdoors,

so fingers crossed we get a lot more rain in coming weeks to create even more fishing opportunities as we head into the colder months!

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Keep switching to find the pattern that works HUNTER VALLEY

Peter Phelps

It’s funny as I reminisce back over the last few years, I see a lot of similarities between each one. The weather pattern is almost a carbon copy of the previous. The start of autumn was nice for the Hunter Valley, and some storms have been rolling through consistently and keeping the grass green, giving some relief to the

Valley, and this means the fishing should follow a similar pattern as last season. Without rain, temperature will be a major factor this month in determining how the fish react. May is the end of autumn and can be a mixed bag of where the fish position themselves in the lakes. May can be a time of frosts, followed by warm days, throwing the fish into a spin and spreading them far and wide. Chilly 16°C surface temperatures have

parts of each lake will fish differently due to rain run-off or wind changing the water temperature. Keep an open mind this month and prepare to go from fishing shallow to deep, with fast-moving baits to slower presentations. I don’t expect the fishing to be on fire this month, but small patterns will develop in each area. The closed season comes into effect this month in the rivers, which will have most of the bass downstream towards the brackish water ready to spawn.

the weed beds. If it’s still warm, start out with a small topwater like a popper or a walking bait. A chatterbait, lipless crankbait or beetle

may see them appear out of nowhere. Take advantage of these situations, as they can be gone as quickly as they arrive and not be back

the ice jig gets them darting around and hopefully gets the fish interested in eating the annoying baitfish that’s in their face. A small blade or

Small soft plastics slow rolled to imitate the small baitfish in the lake should catch a lot of fish this month.

Jerkbaits will play a big role as the water cools down in the shallows. farmers and taking away the brown tinge from the land. The lake levels, however, haven’t really changed from the slow decline, as usual. We have not had any major rain events in the Hunter

always been my winter bite change over temperature. Above this, the fish could be hitting topwater and eating reaction baits, and below 16°C paddle-tail plastic and jerkbaits will get more bites. You may find different

As mentioned before, the temperature will be the major factor in Lake St Clair and Lake Glenbawn. I feel both lakes will fish very similar this month. Shallow weed is going to be key for holding shallow water fish.

spin ripped through the weed could get a reaction strike in any warmer periods as well. As the light increases, start to target the outside of the weed and fish down the front of it. Moving out into deeper water the fish may be a little hard to find schooled up. Last year they were spread thin and finding them all together was very

again. I’ve seen it many times, where I’ve had an area crawling with fish first thing in the morning, only to go back in the afternoon to a blank screen on the sounder. In these deep situations, you really can’t beat a soft plastic at this time of year, and whether it’s a paddle-tail or curl-tail, it’s best to either drop straight down vertical

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This weed creates shade and protection for the fish to sit and hunt in, and of course, the bait that hides in it attracts these predatory fish. Low light is always best for getting these shallow fish to bite. If the water is cold, try a paddle-tail plastic or jerkbait up tight over

hard. There were some occasions when they lit up on the sounder and they were easy to catch, but stay mobile while sounding around and you may cross paths with some schools. Certain locations, like a point close to a creek bed or a flat close to a deep section,

onto fish, or cast over them. An ice jig is another great lure for targeting fish holding deep. Heavy in weight, they can be dropped quickly down to individual fish straight under the boat. You can watch your ice jig in the transducer beam and how the fish reacts to it. Short sharp snaps of

tail spinner is another option on these deeper fish if the more subtle presentations of a plastic and ice jig are not getting bit. The closed season has come into play this month, and the bag limit on bass and estuary perch is zero until September. Many of the bass in the river systems will have started their migration downstream at this time of year. While the season is not closed to fishing for bass, you must be wary of what impacts you could have on the spawning. Schooled river fish will often be spawning, and should generally be left alone. Sitting on a school of fish and pounding them repeatedly may be detrimental to their spawning cycle, even if you are releasing them. If you do come across bass in our rivers while fishing for other species, a quick photo and speedy release should see the fish return to its routine unharmed. The fish will be not as aggressive as the summer bite, but they can be still caught. Small plastics like paddle-tails, curl-tails and shrimp imitations will work. Lightly-weighted and fished with the current down rock walls and into holes should catch a few fish. You can also try fishing the shallower cover around timber and rock. Casting accuracy is very important when targeting the shallow structure in the tidal areas. Focus on cover that breaks the current flow and gives something for the fish to sit behind and ambush prey.

Quality over quantity as weather cools down CANBERRA

Toby Grundy

The fishing in Canberra throughout April was very good, with Lake Burley Griffin proving particularly productive during early autumn. As usual, medium-sized

land some nice fish. Fishing in May is a very different proposition to April. The smaller fish which hit lures with aggression during the warmer months tend to shut down and more effort is required to find the feeding fish. However, the feeding fish encountered by anglers during May are usually a

have the vast majority of any given ACT waterway to myself, and I always prefer size over numbers! LOCAL LAKES Boat and kayak fishos are enjoying some success on Lake Burley Griffin by targeting the schools of fish sitting just off the rock walls along Lady Denman

There’s plenty of goldens on offer across the ACT during May. golden perch pushed up onto the flats looking for baitfish, and so did the big redfin, with several anglers landing reds well over 40cm in amongst the smaller yellas. The Murray cod proved more elusive both at the Murrumbidgee and across Canberra’s urban waterways, but a few anglers did manage to

lot bigger. So, although the numbers are down, the quality of the fish is much higher. Despite the better fish on offer, most Canberra anglers pack the gear away as the cooler weather sets in, with the large numbers of bait anglers lining the bike paths nowhere to be seen. I fish a lot more during this time, because often I

While anglers are likely to encounter fewer fish, those they do find will often be bigger.

Drive. These anglers are using their sounders to great effect; locating schools of reddies and then dropping jigs, blades and vibes near the school and then jigging the lures vertically up the water column. Local guns like Jason Naumann have honed this technique to such a degree that they are now converting large cod and yellowbelly on a regular basis, as these fish tend to tail the bait schools during the cooler months on LBG. Land-based anglers have also caught some good fish along the rock ledges at Black Mountain Peninsula and along the walkway at Gallipoli Reach simply by slow rolling jig spins close to structure. One lure that has been very effective is the Ecogear Grass Minnow. This lure when paired with a jig spin is deadly on the resident Burley Griffin golden perch. Lake Ginninderra is fishing well for golden perch and large redfin. Lake ‘G’ is quite an easy fishery to work out if fishing from a kayak or boat, as the fish sit off the

points and under the bridge and can be targeted simply by sinking a vibe or blade down to the bottom, then steadily retrieving the lure back to the top. That said, there are some good land-based options on offer, with several large golden perch and some good-sized redfin landed by anglers fishing around the old police jetty and along the walkway past the bridge. The more successful land-based anglers have been using paddle-tail and shad type plastics rigged weedless, with orange and red colours proving the better colours to use when fishing around the weed beds. Unfortunately, Lake Tuggeranong remains in a bad way. The lake is filled with algae and rubbish and the smell coming off the lake on warmer days is horrendous. A few brave anglers have fished the green sludge and have caught some decent fish, but most fishos are staying away until the lake clears. Once upon a time, the ACT Government

Todd Manwaring took this Googong golden while targeting the points near Bradleys. well, with several anglers landing nice fish on surface lures. Low light periods, as always, are the best times to target cod, but there is a small bite window in the early afternoon. The river is quite low, which means several snags that are usually unreachable are within casting distance.

Chris Armour caught this solid Googong slab of green fishing large plastics. cleaned the lake regularly, but this has not been done for a while. With no solution in sight, it could be some time before the lake returns to normal. RIVER AND SURROUNDS The Murrumbidgee River is fishing reasonably

These rarely fished snags represent the best areas to target over the next few weeks. Googong Dam is producing. This dam usually starts to go quiet towards the end of autumn, but with the low water level and incredible clarity, it

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has bucked the trend and is fishing well. Good-sized golden perch are on offer for landbased and boat fishos. The trick is to target the weedy edges that line the points at Shannons Inlet and near the entrance to Bradleys. Using small spinnerbaits slow rolled parallel to the

bank and fished as close to the weed as possible is a great way to tempt a hungry golden – large redfin will also hit these lures. The resident cod are also on the chew, with several solid fish falling to large plastics fished deep around the middle of the dam.

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Langley takes maiden boater win with $5 fuel bill Paul Langley has been fishing ABT BREAM tournaments for quite a few years now, competing in the non-boater ranks. He was the quiet achiever, never one to be seen at the tubs boasting about his catch or worrying about what anyone else had caught. Langley just fished each comp as it came and enjoyed tournament BREAM fishing for its own sake. But recently, after buying a bass boat, he has stepped it up to join the boaters. While his first boating comp at South West Rocks turned out to be a dreaded double doughnut, coming into his second event as a boater in the ABT Costa BREAM series, he was pretty calm, considering his last outing. He had fished Botany Bay only a few weeks before, and having found the fish on the edges, that’s what he based his pre-fish on. Through the pre-fish day he wasn’t happy with the size or number of fish he was catching, but looking on Google Maps he found a deep reef that looked pretty good and ended up producing a nice fish from it.

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the bottom. Fishing was a little slow, with him only picking up two fish early. He was worried if his little 100m stretch of reef would handle two days fishing, but he stuck it out, knowing that if they bit like the day

before, it would be worth it. It wasn’t until around 11am that things picked up and Langley was able to fill his limit of five fish, giving him a 3.40kg bag and a total of 7kg to take the win at the Botany Bay round!

Paul Langley with his winner’s haul from the ABT BREAM Botany Bay round. Going into day one of the ABT Daiwa Botany round, Langley made the choice to go back to his reef. Only 400m away from the start line, it didn’t take him long to get a line in the water. Fishing this reef in around 4-5m, his lure of choice was the old faithful Cranka Crab

Heavy in olive. Langley was drifting backwards and forwards on one patch of reef all day. Casting his crab out, sinking it to the bottom and dragging it slowly along the reef saw him picking fish up consistently, and even upgrading a few times. He filled his limit of bream on

day one with a bag weighing 3.60kg. Day one’s efforts had him sitting in first place for day two. On day two, Langley made the same 400m run from the start line. Langley started on his deep crab pattern in 5m of water, dragging it along

Paul showing off some of the fish that helped him win.

BOATER RESULTS

Scan the QR code to see Boater winner, Paul Langley interview.

Place Name 1 Paul Langley 2 Grant Kime 3 Peter Cook 4 Todd Riches 5 Mark Crompton 6 Daniel Bonaccorso 7 Richard Potter 8 Ross Cannizzaro 9 Christian Wardini 10 Jamie McKeown

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Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 10/10 7.00 $3000 + $500 Mercury Bonus 10/10 6.43 $1750 + $300 Mercury Bonus 10/10 6.04 $1200 8/10 5.80 $900 10/10 5.77 $800 10/10 5.65 $700 10/10 5.59 $600 10/10 5.50 $500 10/10 5.41 9/10 5.38 $200 Mercury Bonus

Scan the QR code to see Botany Bay day one highlights.

BREAM Series presented by

Kimey slides into second Grant Kime, the 2016 ABT Costa BREAM Grand Final winner, is

no stranger to the bream tournaments. Coming from the St Georges Basin area,

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he doesn’t mind a bit of flats fishing or blading in the deep, so the 2019 ABT Daiwa Botany round played nearly into his hands. On day one Kime fished an area called the Towra flats early, with this area being fairly shallow. The area only produced three bites, but one of those bites ended up being a nice fish over the 1kg mark, which he unfortunately dropped boatside. He says he hung around too long hoping to

get more bites like that, a decision that cost him. After spending another half an hour for nothing, he moved on. Kime hit another area that he caught some fish in on the practise day, and found this is where he should have been all along, filling his bag in less than an hour. Kime was using an Ecogear VX40 blade in 439 pattern in 20ft of water, fishing it with short hops along the bottom. He said that 439 was exactly the same colour as some cockle shells a bream had spewed on the deck. His day one bag tipping the scales at 2.73kg. Day two saw Grant head straight back to his spot, not wasting time anywhere else. This area was wide of the Towra flats in 20ft of water. He got into them straight away, catching almost a fish a cast for half an hour. He ended up filling an impressive bag quite quickly, but had a lightbulb

BREAM SERIES

Second place boater Grant Kime fished hard, but unfortunately fell just short of a win. moment and noticed a tug in the distance stirring the bottom up. His first cast into the area saw him hooked up, and the next hour was spent upgrading his whole bag.

Bringing the biggest bag to the scales for the whole comp at 3.70kg, it may have been that kilo fish he lost at the boat that cost him first place!

Scan the QR code to see Non-Boater winner, Stuart Walker interview.

Walker wins again Stuart Walker is one Kiwi we’ll happily take as our own, winning multiple events and taking out Angler of the Year four years in a row, and it’s no surprise to see him take a win in the ABT Costa BREAM series once again. Walker definitely had a slow day fishing on day one with Russell Babekull, who fished oyster racks all day. He only caught two fish for the session, but one of them was a cracking bream

weighing 1.2kg, which ate a Jackall Chubby, and the other, smaller fish took a ZMan Slim SwimZ in motor oil. His day one bag only weighed 1.72kg, but if anyone can come back from a day like that, it is Stuart Walker. Going into day two, fishing with day one boating leader Paul Langley, Walker definitely made the most of it. On day two Walker made that 400m with Paul Langley, fishing Langley’s little 5m deep reef. Walker landed

two fish pretty quickly and thought to himself that it was going to be a good day, however it went quiet soon after. With the watch tightening, he was a little worried. Come 11am, the fish were on again. He filled his limit by 12pm. Fishing a mix of ZMan Slim SwimZ and GrubZ, he ended up with a limit of five fish weighing 3.39kg, with a total weight of 5.11kg. Stuart Walker had won it again!

Paul Langley came out on top in his second competition as a boater, having not weighed a single fish in his first comp last year.

Rocket takes Big Bream Rodney O’Sullivan ended up winning the Daiwa J Braid Big Bream prize, taking home $500 plus a Daiwa

J Braid prize pack. Rodney said it wasn’t rocket science to catch this 1.4kg bruiser. He just calmly waited for his

boater Chris Seeto to finish crankbaiting a boat hull, and then cast his Cranka Crab Heavy in olive into the back of the boat. The giant fish ate the crab on the drop!

Stuart Walker claims another non-boater win in the BREAM series.

NON-BOATER RESULTS

Rodney O’Sullivan’s 1.4kg bruiser Botany bream.

Place Name 1 Stuart Walker 2 Peter Breukel 3 Rodney O’Sullivan 4 Adam Costa 5 William Lee 6 Louie Wardini 7 Neil Kelly 8 Tani Konsul 9 Josh Carpenter 10 Dallas Blatchford

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 7/10 5.11 Daiwa Prize Pack + $200 Hobie Bonus 8/10 4.00 Fish-Tec Prize Pack + $100 Hobie Bonus 6/10 3.78 Cranka Lures Prize Pack + $500 (Big Bream) 7/10 3.68 TTs Prize Pack + $75 Hobie Bonus 6/10 3.64 Sufix Prize Pack 6/10 3.64 Ecogear Prize Pack 4/10 3.32 Shimano Prize Pack 7/10 3.11 Lucky Craft Prize Pack 6/10 2.80 Keitech Prize Pack 5/10 2.62 Sunline Prize Pack MAY 2019

McKeown breaks weight record at BREAM Open Jamie McKeown is a local Gold Coast angler who most fishers fear on his home waterway, but living nearly 1000km away from Sydney, he went into the Daiwa BREAM Australian Open a bit of an underdog, with so many Sydney locals fishing this comp. Jamie went into this comp just wanting to catch his five fish limit every day. The Daiwa BREAM Australian Open is a marathon of a competition, requiring anglers to compete for three days with sevenhour sessions. The comp was held at two venues, Sydney Harbour for day one and three, and the Hawkesbury River day two. With this in mind, McKeown went and fished what he knows best: Cranka Crabs. Day one at Sydney Harbour saw McKeown fishing two areas called the Wedding Cakes, and Sow and Pigs. He made a quick pass of the Wedding Cakes and got nothing. So he strapped everything down and headed to Sow and Pigs. It wasn’t long before he knew he had made the right move, catching his limit fairly quickly, but was wise

Those who finished on the podium, Jamie McKeown, Ross Cannizzaro and Mark Crompton, fought a fierce battle in Sydney’s premier bream fisheries. enough not to fish it too hard, tactically moving along 50m or so every 5-10 minutes and not fishing. On day one he weighed a great bag of five bream for a weight of 4.43kg, which had him in second place for the start of day two. Day two on the Hawkesbury River saw a completely different set of circumtances. Going into day two, McKeown had some time to kill, as he was waiting for the top of the tide for his key areas to fire. He had a look around Cowan and America Bay, catching three small fish on bent minnow style lures. By

then, the tide had filled and he headed upriver between Bar Point and Spencer. He wanted to concentrate on throwing Cranka Crabs on rock walls in anywhere from 3-6m deep with the falling tide run. Once again, he made the right move at the right time, catching two nice fish back-to-back, before upgrading the three rats he had caught earlier. Although his bag wasn’t as big as day one’s, his five fish for 4.08kg was enough to keep him in second place going into day three. It was back to Sydney Harbour for day three, and Jamie went into it knowing he

had a shot at winning, being only 800g from the leader and last year’s winner Mark Crompton. He headed to Sow and Pigs that had been so kind to him on day one, hoping that it had replenished from

his first day there. It had, and he bagged out around 8:30am, but not long after that a seal showed up and shut everything down. McKeown went and had a look at the Wedding Cakes and Spit Bridge once again for nothing, so headed back to his honey hole and luckily the seal had left. He sat there for the rest of the day upgrading nearly his whole bag, except for a 36 forker he caught there earlier in the day. Once again, all fish were caught on 65mm Cranka Crab Custom Heavys in olive and spotted. He headed in a little early, as his electric motor had run out, which left him wondering whether he had enough weight with his bag of five bream. It was a nail bitting weigh-in, with lots of good bags coming in, but he knew it would come down to the final three to weigh-in, Mark Crompton, himself and Ross Cannizzaro. Cannizzaro was in the hot seat, taking the lead with a

Scan the QR code to see the Australian Open day one highlights. 4.98kg bag. Jamie needed 4.90kg to take the lead, and when the button was pushed Jamie’s bag dragged the scale down to 4.98kg! He had caught the same weight as Cannizzaro and taken the lead by 80g. Day two leader and champ for 2018 Mark Crompton ended up weighing a limit, but only had a 2.95kg sack, which gave Jamie McKeown the win for the 2019 Daiwa BREAM Australian Open!

BOATER’S WINNING GEAR

Scan the QR code to see Aus Open winner Jamie McKeown interview.

Rod Reel Line Lure

Samaki Archer 691 Ecooda Black Hawk Sufix 10lb Coastal Braid and 8lb Sufix leader Cranka Crab 65mm custom Cranka Crab Custom Heavy in olive and spotted

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888 82

MAY 2019

The picture that paints a thousand words: maybe next year, Ross.

Cannizzaro bridesmaid once again Ross Cannizzaro is a Sydney local and always a favourite in the Harbour and Hawkesbury River, and some say the bream in these systems are his pets. They just don’t seem to do what he wants come Bream Open time! This is one comp Cannizzaro has never won, and

unfortunately this year wasn’t his year either, coming second to Jamie McKeown by only 80g. For day one on the Harbour, Cannizzaro started his day fishing from Goat Island to Manly, skip casting a 2.5” Gulp Crabby in camo colour under boat hulls. Cannizzaro says

Scan the QR code to see Aus Open runner up Ross Cannizzaro interview.

Ross Cannizzaro landed some impressive fish to earn him second place.

Jamie McKeown came from below to claim victory in the Daiwa BREAM Australian Open.

by skipping the lure deep under hulls and getting his bait in the shade, the fish would eat it on the drop. If he didn’t get a hit on the first two casts, he would go on to the next boat and repeat the process. This technique filled his bag, but he knew they weren’t big enough to win. So he went to the edges, fishing vertical structure such as rock walls, poles and jetties. Here Cannizzaro fished something new to him, a Cranka Crab, and as Cranka Crabs tend to do, they got him the bigger bites that he needed to upgrade a few times and saw him bringing a 3.54kg bag to the scales.

Day two on the Hawkesbury had Cannizzaro heading upriver past Spencer to fish the rock walls and edges using a Berkley Gulp Pulse Craw on a 1/8oz jighead and Berkley Bigeye Blades. Cannizzaro was casting his Bigeye Blade tight to the edge and hopping it down to around 15ft. The fish would either take the blade on the drop after a little hop, or while it was just sitting on the bottom doing nothing, where he would go for the next hop and there would be weight on the line. The Pulse Craw he fished was much the same way, but it got most bites while dead

sticked on the bottom, with the 1/8oz jighead keeping it on the bottom, even in a strong current. Day two saw him with five fish for a total 4.87kg. On returning to Sydney Harbour, Cannizzaro knew he needed big fish on this final day to win, so he did his milk run, quickly filling his bag like he had on day one with a lure that has been so good to him over the years, the Berkley Gulp Crabby. He felt he was going to need something else to take the win this year, so he went to the dark side and tied on a Cranka Crab, and yes, that crab worked its magic. Cannizzaro pitched it into poles, jetties and rock walls, quickly upgrading his whole bag. Cannizzaro ended up weighing 4.98kg, earning him second place by only 80g.

Scan the QR code to see the Australian Open day two highlights.

Scan the QR code to see the Australian Open day three highlights.

www.fishin.com.au TOURNAMENT TACKLE STORE

ZX BLADES ZMAN GRUBZ

Last year’s winner Mark Crompton scored himself a third in this year’s Open.

CRANKA CRABS

The top five anglers show off their respective share of the winnings.

BREAM AUSTRALIAN OPEN RESULTS Place Name 1 Jamie McKeown 2 Ross Cannizzaro 3 Mark Crompton 4 Liam Carruthers 5 Daniel Bonaccorso 6 Michael Colotouros 7 Mark Healey 8 Kristoffer Hickson 9 Tom Slater 10 Steve Morgan

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 15/15 13.47 $5000 15/15 13.39 $3500 15/15 12.34 $2500 15/15 12.03 $2000 15/15 11.93 $1000 15/15 11.39 Daiwa Prize Pack 15/15 11.24 Daiwa Prize Pack 15/15 11.02 Daiwa Prize Pack 15/15 10.86 Daiwa Prize Pack 15/15 10.39 Daiwa Prize Pack

BENT MINNOWS

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Felippe finds trophy fish in Richmond round The first round of the Casino Outdoor BASS Electric series kicked off from the banks of the beautiful Richmond River at Coraki. It was contested by 37 eager anglers, and although a fair number of competitors struggled, the Richmond did give up some great fish which made for a great comp. Taking out 1st place was Felippe Gapski, who compiled a 2/2 limit for 2.02kg, and also took out the Big Bass prize with a 1.32kg kicker fish. Come take-off, Gapski headed

upstream up the Wilsons Arm, and like most of the field he opted to throw topwater lures for the best part of the day. He was rewarded for his efforts with numerous fish and strikes throughout the session. Being one of the anglers who fishes from a kayak, Felippe positioned the kayak tight to the edge to get the best possible cast in. Throwing tight into this structure isn’t easy with any lure, so he opted to throw a weedless ZMan Frog 2.75” in pearl white to get into where a lot

of anglers wouldn’t cast. Targeting the shady pockets as the sun rose was key, as the fish were concentrated in these areas. Throwing a light frog isn’t an easy task at the best of times, so having the right tools for the job is paramount. Gapski’s choice was the Okuma Cerros 7ft 1-3kg rod matched up with Okuma Helios SX spinning reel spooled with 10lb Berkley Fireline Ultra and 10lb leader. Felippe took home $380 for his efforts, as well as the $150 Big Bass voucher as as bonus.

Felippe Gapski found his fish in specacular style, fishing topwater lures in tight cover and taking out Big Bass in the process!

Wilson winds up Wilsons arm Relegated to 2nd place once again was Mr Consistent, Adrian Wilson, who compiled a 2/2 bag for 1.81kg. During the pre-fish Adrian had also found the better fish holding up the Wilsons Arm, so that’s where he headed

come tournament day. However, Wilson opted for a totally different approach than Gapski, choosing to throw jigs at deep sunken timber he had previously found. Losing two big fish early in the timber, Adrian thought that he had blown

his chances. Fortunately, his experience showed through and he went to work filling out his limit. Wilson’s tactic was locating deep sunken timber, and working his Pro’s Factory jigs through it methodically, covering

every inch of the tree. To do so Wilson threw his jig on a custom made Barrabass IP845 casting rod matched up with a Daiwa HRF highspeed reel spooled with 10lb Sunline and 12lb leader. I would like to thank all the competitors for a great day, and a huge thanks also to everyone who helped out during the event. A big shout-out also to the naming sponsor Casino Outdoor and Disposal for their valuable support.

Plenty of good bags came in to the scales, and Aaron Kemp from Queensland was happy to fill a limit on the day.

RESULTS

Left: Gapski’s 1.32kg Big Bass was a fantastic river fish, and earned him an extra $150. Right: BASS Electric stalwart Adrian Wilson is as at home in the rivers as the dams, it seems.

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888 84

MAY 2019

Place Name 1 Felippe Gapski 2 Adrian Wilson 3 Mark Palazzi 4 Joseph Urquhart 5 Mathew Flynn 6 Glenn Swanson 7 Pete Bostock 8 Nathan Freys 9 Charles West 10 Aaron Swanson

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) 2/2 2.02kg 2/2 1.81kg 2/2 1.67kg 2/2 1.64kg 2/2 1.56kg 2/2 1.56kg 2/2 1.44kg 2/2 1.40kg 2/2 1.33kg 2/2 1.29kg

Urquhart secures second Hinze win The second stop of the 2019 Casino Outdoor BASS Electric series hit the Gold Coast Hinterland, at picturesque Hinze Dam. With reports of the dam fishing exceptionally well, expectations were high and the 55 anglers were eager to start. With a southerly change passing through late the night before, it was evident that it had an effect on the fishing, with a lot smaller bags getting weighed then expected. Taking out 1st place and making this his second win in a row at Hinze was BASS Electric organiser Joey Urquhart, compiling his 2/2 limit for 3.285kg,

making him the only person to score a bag over 3kg for the tournament. Being one of the few boats that made the trip around to the eastern arm, he had the area he wanted to fish to himself. During pre-fish Urquhart had worked out a pattern later in the day, where the fish were holding tight to the base of trees on the very end of the points “You couldn’t see them on the sounder, but if they were there you would hook up straight away,” he explained. Urquhart’s plan was spot on, as the fish were still there. Although initially lacking in size, he made a

move to a point he hadn’t fished the day before and landed two upgrades in two casts, which would later turn out to be the winning fish. His technique was to cast tight trees and let his Valleyhill lv500 lipless crankbait in colour 08 sink to the bottom, where he would commence a slow retrieve. They would usually hit it within the first two winds. Pulling big fish out of heavy cover isn’t easy, and that’s why Urquhart opted to fish with a Raison Jaburo 10-30lb casting rod matched with a Daiwa Ryoga spooled with 16lb Sufix Nano Braid and 20lb Sufix Super 21 leader. For his efforts he took home $760.

Joey Urquhart took out his second Hinze win, with his last win at this venue in 2017. He took home $760 for his efforts.

2kg snorter for Reynolds

Urquhart was kept busy organising the event and weighing everyone’s fish. Talk about having your hands full!

Hinze virgin takes 2nd Securing 2nd place was kayaker Luke Albone, compiling his 2/2 limit for 2.920kg. Albone had never been to Hinze before, so he used his knowledge from his local lake, North Pine Dam, and implemented the same approach.

Albone headed up the western arm, where he abandoned his plan of fishing tight in the tress to go searching for schooled fish, and it worked out to be a good decision for him. Once he located a school he would slow roll his Halco Twisty

rigged with assist hooks through them to get the bites. He used his Shimano Classix X rod matched with a Shimano Sedona HD 2500 spooled with 10lb J-Braid to extract them from the structure. For his efforts he took home $320.

Despite the smaller than average bags, Tom Reynolds managed to find a true Hinze giant, with this 2.04kg beast taking out Big Bass! Taking out Big Bass at 2.04kg was Tom Reynolds. Reynolds caught the Hinze giant up the eastern arm late in the day on a lipless crankbait. He

used a Daiwa Wild Weasel rod match with a Daiwa Certate spooled with 8lb J-Braid and 12lb leader. Tom took home a $150 Casino Outdoor voucher.

Joey would like to give a big thanks to all that helped on the day and looks forward to seeing everyone at the next round at Maroon Dam.

RESULTS

A staggering 55 anglers turned up to fish the BASS Electric Hinze event, however a southerly change made the fishing a little challenging.

Place Name 1 Joey Urquhart 2 Luke Albone 3 Scott Byrant 4 Mick Horn 5 Alan Britcliffe 6 Tom Reynolds 7 Jesper Noiesen 8 Liam Dutton 9 Paul Mchugh 10 Christian Manolea

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) 2/2 3.285kg 2/2 2.92kg 2/2 2.725kg 2/2 2.610kg 2/2 2.595kg 2/2 2.540kg 2/2 2.490kg 2/2 2.470kg 2/2 2.465kg 2/2 2.425kg MAY 2019

TOURNAMENT CALENDAR 2019

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

4-5 May

ABT BREAM Round 5 Blackwood

abt.org.au

18-19 May

Hobie Kayak Bream Series Round 6 Woy Woy

hobiefishing.com.au

18-19 May

Family Bassin Round 3 Lake St. Claire

Wayne Tiggermann 0412 634 288 or sanja@hwy.com.au

25-26 May

ABT BASS Round 2 Glenbawn Dam

abt.org.au

2 June

East Coast Bream Series Round 3 Botany Bay

www.wsbb.com.au or 0403 085 696

8-9 June

Lions Pottsville Beach Greenback comp Pottsville

lionsgreenback.com

15-16 June

Family Bassin Round 4 Lostock Dam

Wayne Tiggermann 0412 634 288 or sanja@hwy.com.au

22-23 June

ABT BASS Round 3 Lake St Clair

abt.org.au

22-23 June

Hobie Kayak Bream Series Round 7 Gold Coast

hobiefishing.com.au

30 Jun

ABT BASS Electric Round 3 Maroon Dam

abt.org.au

6-7 July

ABT BREAM Round 6 Bribie Island

abt.org.au

13-14 July

ABT BASS Round 4 Cania Dam

abt.org.au

13-19 July

Evans Head Fishing Classic Evans Head

https://fishingcomps.com.au

21 July

East Coast Bream Series Round 4 Hawkesbury

www.wsbb.com.au or 0403 085 696

28 July

ABT BASS Electric Round 4 Lake Gregory

abt.org.au

27-28 July

Family Bassin Round 5 Glenbawn Dam

Wayne Tiggermann 0412 634 288 or sanja@hwy.com.au

10-11 Aug

ABT BASS Round 5 Somerset Dam

abt.org.au

7-8 Sep

ABT BREAM Round 7 Gladstone

abt.org.au

8 Sep

ABT BASS Electric Round 5 Wivenhoe Dam

abt.org.au

14-15 Sep

ABT BASS Round 6 Richmond River

abt.org.au

14-15 Sep

Hobie Kayak Bream Series Round 8 Port Macquarie

hobiefishing.com.au

21-22 Sep

Hobie Kayak Bream Series Round 9 Albany

hobiefishing.com.au

20-22 Sep

ABT BREAM Queensland Open Moreton Bay

abt.org.au

21-22 Sep

Family Bassin Round 6 Glenbawn Dam

Wayne Tiggermann 0412 634 288 or sanja@hwy.com.au

22 Sep

East Coast Bream Series Round 5 Sydney Harbour

www.wsbb.com.au or 0403 085 696

28-29 Sep

ABT BASS Electric Round 6 Borumba Dam

abt.org.au

5-6 Oct

Hobie Kayak Bream Series Round 10 St Georges Basin

hobiefishing.com.au

Add your tournament or competition to this list by emailing jthomas@fishingmonthly.com.au or calling 07 3387 0800 in office hours. Just supply a date, venue, tournament name and a telephone number and contact name. 86

MAY 2019

FUN PAGE AND COMPETITIONS LAGOON LAKE RIVER STREAM OCEAN SOUND STRAIT CHANNEL GULF SEA ESTUARY

BODIES OF WATER

DTD - REAL FISH OITA

RESERVOIR BAY INLET SHOAL COVE CANAL ARM BAYOU CREEK DELTA GULF

Name: Address:

P/Code:

The first correct entry at the end of each month will win the prize pack. SEND ENTRIES TO: NSW Find-a-word Competition, PO box 3172, Loganholme Qld 4129

NSW MAY 2019

Phone (day):

FINS SCALES & TALES by A. Both

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SPOT THE

10 DIFFERENCES

BARRA COUNTRY by Brett Currie

ORIGINAL

FIND-A-WORD

Congratulations to, Paul Bak who was last month’s winner of the Find-a-Word Competition! Monthly winners receive a Fishing Monthly prize pack. Prize delivery can take 8 weeks. – NSWFM

SUBSCRIBER PRIZE

The subscriber prize winner for March is T Betts of Springwood, who won an E.J. Todd Prize Pack to the value of $300. All subscribers are entered in the monthly subscriber prize draws. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – NSWFM

of Mondrook, J Nicolson of Burraga, L Jeffs of Gateshead, T Kennedy of Karuah, J Refalo of Greystanes, J Wardman of Nyngan, P Kennedy of Raymond Terrace, C Engelbrecht of Wagga Wagga, W Cumming of Bass Hill, D Collister of Hillvue, D Burgess of Elermore Vale, R Kresevic of Canley Vale, N Webster of Richmond, C Keszei of Scullin, J Smith of Kelso, I Christie of Lithgow, J Byrom of Bathurst,

B Keogh of Bathurst, C Cooper of Boorowa, J Vagg of Turosshead, I Necic of Glenfield, T Griffin of Bathurst, K Jones of Silverdale, J Simpson of Narrabri , B Horn of Hawks Nest, Z Mosessen of Wanniassa, L Cupitt of Goulburn, D Wolhoff of Westleigh, R Chown of Glendenning, I Dando of Tuggerawong, G Hall of Hanwood. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – NSWFM

LAST MONTH’S ANSWERS

FIND THE GAMAKATSU LOGO

GUESS THE FISH?

This month’s Guess the Fish Answer: Whiting

The answers to Find the Gamakatsu Logo for March were: 8, 12, 16, 19, 24, 38, 48, 53, 58, 68, 77, 83, 86, 89, 94. – NSWFM The Find the Gamakatsu Logo prize winners for March were: J Gowan of Werombi, J Wilson of Boronia, J Wicks of Cootamundra, D Peterson of Goulburn, A Economos of Erina, B Laurenson of The Bight, P Dobson of Glenmore Park, R Durie of Holt, J Lang of Wee Waa, J Cross

Answer: MAY 2019

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This section in NSW Fishing Monthly consolidates the trades and services in your area that are relevant to your fishing and boating. Whether you’re a local looking for more options or a travelling angler fishing around the state, this guide will direct you to reputable businesses in the area you’re searching. 88

MAY 2019

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NSW Tides

2019 2019 Local Time

SYDNEY (FORT DENISON) – NEW SOUTH WALES SYDNEY (FORT DENISON) – LONG NEW SOUTH WALES LAT 33° 51’ S 151° 14’ E

Time

LAT 33° 51’ S LONG 151° 14’ E Times and Heights of High and Low Waters Times and Heights of High and Low Waters MARCH FEBRUARY JANUARY JUNE JULY MAY Time m Time m Time Time m Time m Time m

m 0541 0546 1208 1.54 1209 0.53 TU 1759 1.52 WE 1825 2358

1 1

Time m 0441 1.47 1.57 1.70 0.67 0.58 0559 1100 0.38 1.28 1.33 1215 WE 1652 1.77 0.53 TH 1836 2300 SA 0.50

16 16

1 1 0039 0631 FR

0536 0633 1.63 0.44 0.64 0.52 0051 17 2 1208 1310 2 1857 1.67 1.56 17 1.30 0651 TH 1800

0026 0628 WE TH 1244 1900

3 3 0106 0707 TH

FR 1315 1933

4 4 0145 0745 FR

SA 1347 2008

5 5 0225 0825 SA

SU 1421 2044

6 6 0306 0907 SU

MO 1458 2122

7 7

0351 0953 MO TU 1537 2204

8 8

0439 1042 TU WE 1620 2249

9 9

0531 1135 WE TH 1709 2340

10 10 0630 1235 TH FR 1806

0.50 1.61 0044 0.57 0720 1.58 1400 0.48 1947 1.69 0127 0.51 0803 1.57 1445 0.47 2032 1.76 0207 0.46 0844 1.55 1523 0.48 2114 1.82 0245 0.43 0920 1.52 1600 0.50 2152 1.86 0323 0.42 0957 1.48 1635 0.54 2230 1.86 0400 0.43 1031 1.43 1710 0.59 2306 1.85 0437 0.45 1107 1.37 1745 0.65 2344 1.81 0516 0.48 1143 1.34 1821 0.71 0024

FR 1258 1922 0.51 1.69 0144 0.47 0742 FR SA 1340 1.30 2006 0.52 1.73 0233 0.42 0831 SA SU 1420 1.31 2048 0.52 1.76 0321 0.39 0919 SU MO 1500 1.32 2130 0.52 1.77 0408 0.37 1006 MO TU 1539 1.32 2211 0.53 1.77 0454 0.37 1053 TU WE 1618 1.32 2251 0.54 1.75 0541 0.38 1139 WE TH 1700 1.32 2331 0.56 1.72 0629 0.41 1228 TH FR 1745 1.31

18 18

19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22

23 23 24 24 0.59

25 1.67 0016 25 0.44 0718 FR

SA 1321 1840 1.31 0.62 0107 1.60 0810 SA SU 1420 0.47 1945 1.31 0.66 0206 1.53 0902 SU MO 1519 0.50 2055 1.32 0.70 0310 1.44 0951 MO TU 1614 0.53 2202 1.34 0.73 0408 1.37 1036 TU WE 1700 0.54 2302 1.39 0.72 0500 1.31 1116 WE TH 1742 0.55 2354

1.75 11 0559 26 11 0037 0735 0.49 26 FR 1220 1.33 SA 1342 1900 1913 0.74 0107 0143 0645 1.71 0841 0.48 SA 1300 1.36 SU 1454 1940 2029 0.74 0156 0254 0736 1.69 0943 0.46 SU 1345 1.44 MO 1600 2024 2145 0.69 0247 0401 0836 1.70 1038 0.42 MO 1439 1.55 TU 1657 2113 2253 0.61 0344 0502 0945 1.70 1128 1542 TU 0.39 1.67 WE 1748 2205 2355 0.52

12 12

13 13 14 14 15 15

27 27 28 28 29 29

30 30 31 31 0547 1154 TH FR 1820

Time

1230 1859

1.57 0.58 0123 1.30 0715 SA 0.39 0.50 SU 1308 2355 1.86 1937 0630 1.69 0.39 0.45 0206 1309 1.62 1.34 0800 1902 SU 0.42 MO 1347 1.91 2017 0048 0.46 0.36 1.82 0251 0722 1.55 0.33 0848 1403 MO 0.48 1.39 TU 1430 1959 2101 1.92 0141 0.40 0.37 1.93 0339 0814 1.48 0.22 0939 1455 TU 0.54 1.45 WE 1516 2052 1.90 2147 0233 0.36 0.41 2.02 0430 0905 1.41 0.14 1032 1545 WE 0.61 1.49 TH 1606 2145 2236 1.85 0326 0.32 0.46 2.07 0523 0956 1.35 0.10 1128 1635 TH 0.68 1.52 FR 1700 2236 1.78 2329 0419 0.32 0.52 2.05 0620 1047 1.30 0.12 1227 1724 FR 0.75 1.53 SA 1800 2328 1.70 0514 0.34 0.58 1.98 0026 1138 1.27 0.17 0719 1813 SA 0.80 SU 1330 1905 0020 1.53 1.62 0.39 0128 0610 0.62 1.85 0818 1229 SU 1.26 0.26 MO 1434 1901 0.85 2017 0114 1.52 1.55 0.47 0233 0708 0.64 1.68 0914 1321 MO 1.27 0.36 TU 1536 1950 0.87 2131 0210 1.51 1.50 0.54 0340 0812 0.63 1.51 1007 1416 TU 1.32 0.45 WE 1632 2041 2242 0.86 0308 1.50 1.47 0.61 0442 0921 0.61 1.36 1056 1518 WE 1.39 0.53 TH 1725 2134 2346 0.82 0410 1.51 1.46 0.63 0540 1037 0.59 1.25 1143 1628 TH 1.47 0.59 FR 1815 2230 0.75 0511 1.54 1.47 0.61 0044 1152 0.56 1.21 0634 1740 FR 1.57 0.61 SA 1227 2327 1900 0.68 0608 1.58 1.48 0.57 1256 0.53 1.21 1843 1.66

2 2

3 3 4 4 5 5

6 6 7 7 8 8

m 0020 0.59 0700 1.49 1346 0.51 1935 1.76 0108 0.51 0745 1.49 1428 0.50 2018 1.85 0151 0.44 0824 1.49 1503 0.50 2056 1.92 0230 0.38 0901 1.47 1537 0.51 2131 1.96 0306 0.35 0936 1.45 1610 0.53 2205 1.97 0343 0.35 1010 1.43 1642 0.57 2239 1.95 0419 0.36 1044 1.40 1713 0.61 2314 1.90 0457 0.39 1118 1.39 1745 0.66 2349

Time m 0603 1.69 0.61 0.43 0.43 1.62 0135 1250 1.45 1.32 0.51 0725 SA 1848 SU 1309 0.51 MO 1.24 1944 1.89 0030 0.50 0.59 0.41 1.81 1.66 0222 0702 1.41 0.31 0.46 0814 SU 1346 0.55 1.41 MO 1350 1945 TU 1.28 2026 1.89 0128 0.41 0.56 0.40 1.93 1.70 0305 0757 1.38 0.20 0.41 0859 MO 1438 0.58 1.50 TU 1430 2038 WE 1.32 2105 1.88 0222 0.33 0.53 0.42 2.01 1.73 0347 0849 1.36 0.13 0.39 0943 TU 1527 0.62 1.57 WE 1510 2128 TH 1.35 2144 1.84 0.51 0315 0.28 0.45 2.04 1.74 0428 0941 1.33 0.10 0.37 1025 WE 1614 0.66 1.62 TH 1549 2216 FR 1.38 2221 1.78 0.50 0408 0.26 0.49 2.01 1.74 0508 1030 1.31 0.13 0.37 1107 TH 1659 0.70 1.65 FR 1630 2305 SA 1.39 2300 1.71 0.50 0501 0.28 0.53 1.91 1.71 0549 1120 1.30 0.20 0.38 1151 FR 1744 0.74 1.65 SA 1714 2354 SU 1.40 2340 1.64 0.51 0556 0.33 0.56 1.76 1.67 0631 1210 1.29 0.31 0.41 1238 SA 1828 SU 1802 0.78 MO 1.41

1 1 0101 0651 FR

16 16 17 17

10 10

18 18

11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14

0600 1209 TH 1750

m 0537 0.47 1230 1.41 1827 0.49 2358 1.88 0633 0.37 1320 1.43 1916 0.47 1.97 0051 0.30 0720 1.44 1400 0.46 1958 2.02 0135 0.25 0800 1.45 1435 0.46 2033 2.04 0215 0.23 0837 1.46 1507 0.47 2106 2.01 0250 0.25 0912 1.46 1538 0.50 2138 1.93 0326 0.29 0945 1.46 1608 0.55 2210

m Time m 0432 1.60 1.51 0.41 0.52 0.60 0207 1124 1.33 1.27 1.19 0757 SA 1730 0.55 0.63 TU 1329 2310 TH 0.69 2005 1.82 0542 1.70 1.55 0.39 0.41 0.54 0245 1230 1.33 1.37 1.26 0838 SU 1836 FR WE 1408 0.56 2043 1.81 0017 0.54 0.65 0.40 1.81 1.60 0322 0644 1.34 0.30 0.49 0917 MO 1325 0.57 1.48 SA TH 1446 1930 1.32 2119 1.79 0116 0.43 0.59 0.41 1.90 1.64 0358 0739 1.34 0.22 0.44 0955 TU 1415 0.58 1.59 FR 1525 2020 SU 1.38 2154 1.75 0212 0.34 0.54 0.43 1.95 1.68 0433 0831 1.33 0.17 0.41 1033 WE 1501 0.61 1.68 MO SA 1603 2108 1.43 2230 1.69 0.50 0304 0.27 0.46 1.95 1.70 0509 0922 1.33 0.17 0.39 1113 TH 1545 0.64 1.75 TU SU 1645 2154 1.47 2306 1.62 0.47 0357 0.25 0.49 1.88 1.70 0545 1012 1.33 0.22 0.38 1154 FR 1629 0.68 1.78 WE MO 1730 2240 1.50 2345 1.54 0448 0.27 0.46 0.52 1.77 1.67 0625 1100 1.34 0.30 0.39 1240 SA 1710 0.72 1.78 TU 1821 2326 TH 1.53

16 16

0011 0654 FR 1308 1854

1.63 0.42 0109 1.58 0747 SA 1.31 0.43 TU 1408 1912 2004 0.81 0134 1.59 1.49 0.51 0212 0753 0.60 1.41 0841 1353 SU 1.34 0.54 WE 1508 1958 2119 0.83 0229 1.55 1.43 0.59 0318 0900 0.59 1.27 0934 1452 MO 1.40 0.64 TH 1607 2048 0.81 2233 0329 1.51 1.39 0.64 0425 1013 0.59 1.18 1026 1603 TU 1.48 0.70 FR 1703 2149 2340 0.76 0434 1.50 1.37 0.64 0527 1127 0.57 1.16 1115 1720 WE 1.57 0.72 SA 1755 2256 0.67

0.58 1.38 0.48 0.57 SU 1151 0.52 2328 1.85 1826 1.78

9 9

10 10 11 11

12 12

13 13

1.48 2243 0.59 0439 1.69 1054 0.40 1708 1.51 2317 0.63 0518 1.56 1130 0.45 1740 1.55 2354 0.64 0601 1.45 1208 0.49 1814 1.61 0.61 0034 1.37 0648 0.52 1251 1.68 1852 0.55 0120 1.34 0744 0.53 1343 1.74 1939

0215

15 15

1357 2028

2 2 0307 0908 TU

17 17

1450 2118

3 3 0356 1000 WE

18 18

19 19

1544 2209

4 4 0444 1051 TH

20 20

1640 2300

5 5 0532 1145 FR

21 21

1738 2352

6 6 0621 1239 SA 1841

m 0026 0.19 0645 1.45 1321 0.36 1928 2.04 0113 0.14 0728 1.50 1357 0.33 2003 2.05 0153 0.13 0806 1.53 1430 0.34 2036 2.00 0230 0.16 0842 1.54 1500 0.37 2107 1.89 0307 0.22 0916 1.55 1530 0.43 2140 1.73 0344 0.31 0952 1.55 1600 0.50 2213

m Time m 0524 1.78 0.72 0.36 0.33 1.55 0253 1159 1.36 1.58 0.53 0850 TU 1812 FR 1428 0.49 1.38 2054 1.72 0.65 0005 0.47 0.36 1.83 1.59 0325 0619 1.38 0.28 0.48 0924 WE 1246 0.49 1.70 SA 1504 1900 1.45 2128 1.69 0.58 0100 0.38 0.37 1.84 1.63 0357 0712 1.39 0.27 0.45 0959 TH 1331 0.50 1.79 SU 1542 1945 1.52 2201 1.64 0.53 0154 0.32 0.40 1.80 1.64 0429 0802 1.40 0.29 0.43 1035 FR 1414 0.53 1.86 MO 1621 2030 1.58 2236 1.57 0245 0.30 0.48 0.43 1.72 1.64 0501 0851 1.41 0.35 0.42 1113 SA 1455 0.57 1.88 TU 1704 2114 1.64 2314 1.48 0.46 0335 0.32 0.47 1.62 1.62 0535 0940 1.41 0.44 0.43 1154 SU 1534 0.62 1.87 WE 1751 2157 1.68 2355 1.39 0426 0.37 0.45 0.52 1.50 1.58 0614 1029 1.41 0.53 0.46 1240 MO 1614 0.65 1.82 TH 1846 2240 1.71

16 16

17 17

18 18 19 19 20 20

21 21

0323 1.56 7 22 7 0930 0.40 22 1531

22 22

0048 0712 SU 1337 1950

8 8

0.47 0542 0.33 1.45 1.63 1.63 0030 1149 0.55 0.41 0.41 0707 SU 1751 WE 1330 1.37 FR 1.55 1920 0.75 0.49 0011 1.74 1.37 0.42 1.57 0121 0635 0.57 1.47 0.45 0753 MO 1239 1.40 0.53 SA TH 1423 1831 1.56 2028 0.75 0058 1.68 0.52 1.30 0.51 1.49 0221 0732 0.58 1.33 0.50 0843 TU 1330 1.46 0.64 SU FR 1518 1914 2141 0.72 0147 1.60 1.56 1.26 0.59 0.56 0329 0834 0.58 1.23 1.40 0935 WE 1428 1.54 0.74 MO SA 1614 2003 0.56 2249 0.63 1.55 0244 1.53 1.26 0.64 0.60 0436 0941 0.56 1.17 1.31 1029 TH 1536 1.65 0.80 TU SU 1707 2105 0.62 2348 0.52 1.54 0348 1.49 1.29 0.65 0.62 0537 1048 0.52 1.18 1.24 1121 FR 1652 1.77 0.81 WE MO 1758 2219 0.67

24 24

0150 0804 MO 1438 2107

9 9 0259 0900 TU

25 25

1541 2224

10 10 0412 0958 WE

26 26

1642 2331

11 11 0518 1054 TH

27 27

1736

1.55 2148 0.56 0404 1.40 1009 0.49 1605 1.56 2226 0.59 0448 1.28 1052 0.55 1642 1.57 2307 0.58 0538 1.22 1141 0.59 1724 1.61 2355 0.53 0635 1.21 1237 0.59 1815 1.65 0050

0.45 0516 0.44 1.29 1.39 1.52 0044 1116 0.57 0.63 0.50 0657 TU 1653 1.43 1.75 FR 1331 2323 1.72 1951 0.67 0609 0.52 0.48 1.22 1.30 1.45 0144 1206 0.60 0.72 0.56 0749 WE 1734 SA 1430 1.46 1.71 2108 0.65 0.51 0008 1.66 1.18 0.59 1.37 0258 0704 0.61 1.24 0.62 0852 TH 1300 1.52 0.80 SU 1534 1822 1.68 2222 0.57 0058 1.58 0.54 1.19 0.64 1.30 0415 0802 0.58 1.21 0.69 0959 FR 1401 1.62 0.85 MO 1637 1921 2326 0.45 1.65 0157 1.51 1.25 0.66 0.56 0521 0901 0.52 1.23 1.26 1101 SA 1510 1.74 0.87 TU 1735 2033 0.73

23 23 24 24

25 25

26 26

0.48 12 0742 27 12 0025 0614 1.24 27 FR 1345

28 28

1145 1920 0.57 1824 1.68 0158 0109 0856 0.43 0700 1.27 SA 1503 1232 2039 0.55 1906 1.71 0312 0146 1005 0.39 0739 1.31 SU 1618 1314 2158 0.52 1945 1.73 1.48 0422 0.37 0.63 0221 1105 1.23 0815 1719 MO 1.34 0.50 TH 1351 2305 0.78 2020 1.74 1.51 0.58 1.30

13 13

1.63

WE 1158 0.73 1829 1.66 0.48 0110 1.35 0710 MO TH 1252 0.68 1920 1.72 0.41 0158 1.46 0759 TU FR 1345 0.58 2011

29 29

0.40 30 1149 15 0.60 0041 30 1.22 0633 1758 SA 1.35 15

30 30

31 31

31 0244 0847

1.55

0456

0.46 TU 1214 2329 0.68 1848 1.89 0556 0130 1240 0.28 0726 1847 SU 1.40 WE 1305 0.41 1938 1.98

0303 1.48 0.64 1.28 0.43 0.84 2146 1.87 0406 1.49 0.20 0.61 1048 1.43 1.35 1705 0.34 0.78 2249 1.96 0500 1.51 0.12 0.57 1131 1.52 1.44 1747 0.26 0.71 2342 2.01

0.32 28 0958 0.54 0020 28 1.34 1.27 0618 SU 1613

14 14

0.49 14 0850 29 14 0037 0623 1.32 29 TH 1447 0.54 SU 1202 2038 1842 1.78 0319 0125 1008 0.44 0713 1609 FR 1.32 0.55 MO 1247 2154 1925 1.81

Time

1 1 0219 0817 MO

0401 1.82 8 23 8 1019 0.34 23 1638

MO 1329 1900 1.41 0.58 0114 1.52 0804 MO TU 1424 0.48 2004 1.42 0.63 0211 1.43 0852 TU WE 1518 0.53 2114 1.43 0.66 0313 1.34 0940 WE TH 1610 0.57 2220 1.45 0.67 0413 1.27 1024 TH FR 1658 0.60 2320 1.49 0.64 0508 1.37 1.23 1108 0.55 SA 1742 1.67 0.60

0500 1.57

1651 2316

7 7

23 23

0.48 0.56 0013 15 15 1144 1.48 30 1741 1.25 0600

1555 2224

6 6 0508 1113 WE

22 22

28 28

1501 2133

5 5 0415 1018 TU

21 21

27 27

1411 2044

4 4 0326 0925 MO

20 20

26 26

1322 1956

3 3 0236 0832 SU

19 19

25 25

1236 1910

2 2 0148 0742 SA

0536 0.54 0043 1.57 1.82 1.60 0024 9 24 1153 0652 9 1818 0.41 24 0.58 0.44 0717 SU 1300 1.40 0.69 0029 1.74 0619 0.43 1230 1.45 1854 0.70 0111 1.67 0707 0.44 1313 1.52 1932 0.67 0159 1.61 0802 0.45 1402 1.61 2018 0.62 0253 1.56 0909 0.45 1505 1.70 2115 0.55 0355 1.52 1028 0.46 1621 1.79 2220

Time

Local Time APRIL AUGUST Time Time m

0.07 1.59 SA 1438 0.22 2100 1.99

 Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2018, Bureau of Meteorology  Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2018, Bureau of Meteorology Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide Times are in local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect Times are in local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect Moon Phase Symbols New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter New Moon First Quarter Last Quarter Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon Tide predictions for Sydney (Fort Denison) have been formatted by the National Tidal Centre, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Copyright reserved. All material is supplied in good faith and is believed to be correct. It is supplied on the condition that no warranty is given in relation thereto, that no responsibility or liability for errors or omissions is, or will be, accepted and that the recipient will hold MHL and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Australia free from all such responsibility or liability and from all loss or damage incurred as a consequence of any error or omission. Predictions should not be used for navigational purposes. Use of these tide predictions will be deemed to include acceptance of the above conditions. 90

MAY 2019

boats & kayaks

In the skipper’s seat

Inside story...

After years of research, Quintrex has released the Apex Hull design set to revolutionise the boating industry. From humble beginnings in 1945 Quintrex has remained the leader in aluminium boat research and development for over 70 years.

Made for...

Quintrex’s aluminium boats feature technology-driven hulls that leave competitors in the wake. Their unique ability to stretch form aluminium allows them to create shapes only previously made in fibreglass, delivering the softest, driest riding aluminium boats on the market.

92 Kayaks at Copmanhurst

Dayne Taylor drops his kayak into some of the best bass water in NSW, and offers a few tips for fishing it!

94 More on bars

Following on from last month, Wayne Kampe provides more bar crossing tips.

96 Flats breamin’

Justin Willmer shares one of his favourite techniques for big bream as the weather cools!

This month...

Editor Steve Morgan has a run in the 530 Frontier, powered by a Yamaha F90hp. Check it out on page 98!

MAY 2019

Come and cop a few bass at Copmanhurst KAYAK HOTSPOT

Dayne Taylor

This monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kayak hotspot takes us to the rural northern New South Wales town of Copmanhurst, home to a picturesque stretch of the iconic Clarence River, and the perfect location for your next kayak fishing get away.

down to the ramp offer powered and non-powered short term camp sites and have a toilet and shower block available for a small fee of around $5 per night. This can be arranged via the pub, who I might also add have a limited amount of motel rooms available, and put on a great lunch and dinner. There is a small general store opposite the pub, which

all along its course. The water that flows past Copmanhurst is completely freshwater, and known as the last part of the Clarence River that has any tidal influence, however minimal, you will notice a small tide rise and drop throughout the day. The main species you are likely to encounter are Australian bass, eels, catfish, and on the rare occasion some bream, flathead and

Daniel Holder working the overhangs with a surface lure in the middle of the day. piercingly loud, meaning topwater offerings can sometimes make for almost cricket scores of fish right throughout the day. A cicada imitation cast up under a snag into the shade rarely stands a chance when they are singing. Another couple

beetle spin or jighead rigged soft plastics, spinnerbaits, crankbaits or chatterbaits worked along the edges and around snags like fallen timber and boulders. I have also had some success on skirted jigs, which imitate small yabbies.

accessible fishable water around Copmanhurst, you have virtually no boundaries. To head upstream, however, a fair amount of dragging or wheeling your yak over long stretches of shallow rapids may be required. Downstream, you can easily

Dave Barwise took this 50cm bass right opposite the launch area! ACCOMMODATION Although a very small town, Copmanhurst boasts a couple of options right in town and close to the water. The most popular seems to be camping along the edge of the river at the boat ramp and

is good for milk, bread and the emergency necessities. For any groceries, fishing tackle, and camping supplies, you are best to grab them from Grafton on your way through, which is only a 20 minute drive.

the odd bull shark make their way up above the rapids. From time to time there has been captures of eastern freshwater cod in this area. The Copmanhurst stretch of river offers many different types of fish

This stretch of river has some impressive overhanging rock ledges, which are great fish holding areas. of topwater lures worth trying out are rubber frogs and walking stickbaits, but most appropriately sized topwater lures work very well in this area. If they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that keen on the surface lures, you can try your luck with some sub-surface offerings like a

Either a spin or baitcast rod and reel in the 6-10lb and 7ft range will be sufficient to handle all scenarios, matched up with some 10-15lb line and leader material. You could even go lighter when fishing the more open grass and weed banks if necessary. As for distances and

pedal or paddle for literally days. Approximately an hour downstream you will find the junction to the Orara River, where you can explore for hours on end. I sure hope this has made you eager to head to Copmanhurst for some epic bass fishing soon!

The author making his way downstream on a foggy early morning. launching location, free of charge. There is very limited facilities, with barbeques and open fires permitted, but only in certain weather conditions and times of the year, so check with the local RFS for fire bans prior. The showgrounds at the beginning of the dirt road 92

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FISHING The Clarence River stretches for almost 400km, starting in the tops of the Great Dividing Range near the NSW/QLD border and eventually meeting the ocean at Yamba on the North Coast of NSW. There are plenty of fishing options

holding structures, from rocky boulders, steep deep holes, overhanging and fallen timber and trees, weed beds and cane grass banks. These structures all offer a great variety of bait for bass to feed on. In the summer months the cicadas are almost ear

There is an abundance of bass through most of the Clarence system.

WHAT’S NEW BOATING BOAT RAMP FINDER AUS

The Australian Boat Ramp Finder has been redeveloped and relaunched on the Apple App store. Australian Boat Ramp Finder has more than 1500 boat ramp locations around Australia, and users can search ‘Nearby’ and get the nearest locations of ramps by distance. You can also search ‘By Location’, and get the result from a specific area, which is particularly useful when you’re planning a trip or are browsing from the couch. There’s the option to view a list of locations or you can map your results. If you select a location you will get the nearest address and a suggested route to that ramp location. The developers are planning to add more info including photos, number of lanes, ramp surface (concrete, dirt etc) and the current state of repair. The app is available for free on iPhone and iPad only, with an Android version in development. Be sure to seek local advice before using any ramp. www.facebook.com/AustralianBoat RampFinder

GARMIN ECHOMAP ULTRA

The Garmin echoMAP Ultra series is a new line of keyed-assist 10” and 12” touchscreen chartplotters that bring professional performance to inland and nearshore anglers. The Ultra series has built-in support for Garmin’s Ultra HD scanning sonar as well as the Panoptix LiveScope series, which delivers live scanning sonar images of structure, bait and fish below and around the boat in real time. The Ultra 106sv and Ultra 126sv are available bundled with the new Ultra HD GT54UHD-TM all-in-one transducer that provides the highest ClearVü and SideVü scanning sonar images and CHIRP traditional sonar. The GT54UHDTM’s SideVü operates at 455kHz. Ultra chartplotters are also compatible with the full line of Panoptix all-seeing sonar transducers, so anglers can see real-time sonar imagery at video-like speed. The 105sv and 125sv are also available without a bundled transducer. These new chartplotters are preloaded with Australia BlueChart g2 vision HD cartography, and are expected to be available in Q2 2019. For the full list of features visit the Garmin website. Price: SRP $2999-$3999 www.garmin.com

LIGHTARMOR NAV LIGHTS

LightArmor fast action navigation lights are a new line of bi-colour and all-round lights. LightArmor’s unique composite pole has superior flexibility, impact resistance and durability. It will bend, but won’t break – so anglers can manoeuvre through low-hanging obstacles with confidence. Boaters will also appreciate the pole’s subtle, glare-free black matte finish. These lights feature premium LED light engine technology that meets today’s global regulatory requirements, and which lasts for 50,000 hours. They are built with top-quality materials for lasting durability, appearance, and performance, and have a range of complementary plug-in bases. The All-Round Lights feature an articulating head that adjusts 15° fore to 15° aft, and the Bi-Colour Lights feature tell-tale indicator lights to show when lights are on. One model is available with a task light option. Other features include an impact-resistant polycarbonate lens,

PRODUCT GUIDE

water-resistant (IP67 certified); corrosion/ UV resistant; and a 10-year warranty. Price: from RRP $88 www.bla.com.au

NEW MERCURY MAX5 PROPS

Mercury Racing has expanded the MAX5 propeller family with a larger 15.25” diameter version as well as the all-new MAX5 ST. The MAX5 lab-finished prop delivers impressive results in both single and multipleengine applications, including Mercury Racing’s 400R outboard and 600 SCi sterndrive, with a reduction in propeller slip of up to 12%. The 15.25” diameter models offer an additional 3-4% reduction in slip (compared to the 15” models) on selected outboard and sterndrive applications that benefit from elevated transom heights. Half-inch pitch offerings enable engines to be dialled-in to their max rpm operating range for enhanced throttle response, optimised cruise fuel efficiency and optimal top speed. The new MAX5 ST prop is designed for the 4.6L V8 300R FourStroke outboard with Sport Master gearcase. The shortened exhaust barrel enhances the performance of single-engine and twin-engine boats. In testing, a 300R spinning a 31” pitch MAX5 ST prop powered a loaded Bullet 21 XRS bass boat to 157km/h with a mere 7% slip. www.mercuryracing.com

RAILBLAZA CAPTAIN’S HOOK

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The Railblaza Captain’s Hook is an expandable low-profile solution for hanging your rods, spear guns, ropes, hoses, power cords, paddles and more. If you’ve ever walked into a hook sticking out from the side of a boat or wall, or tried to fit something onto a hook that’s not big enough, you’ll love this product. Simply screw it to the surface and tie a knot at each end of the cord. Simple! Supplied with stainless steel screws, the 1m length of cord can be cut shorter if needed. When not in use it is low profile to avoid catching people or clothes. The Captain’s Hook does not require a Railblaza for mounting, and it comes with the required screws. The maximum weight is 10kg per hook, and you need to choose a robust surface for installation as some surfaces may not support maximum load. www.railblaza.com

MERCURY FOURSTROKE SALE

Mercury is offering savings of up to $1500 on a selected range of 75-150hp FourStroke outboards. Following the positive reaction to the summer 40-60hp FourStroke sale, Mercury has now decided to go further, offering higher horsepower and higher savings. That means customers who already own a boat, or are shopping for a new one, now have the opportunity to secure a special deal on a new Mercury 75-150hp FourStroke outboard. This offer is open to both recreational and SeaPro commercial customers. To further assist boaties in securing this opportunity, Mercury Finance is offering deals at just 4.99%, with easy weekly repayments for customers upgrading an existing 40-15hp FourStroke engine. To take advantage of either offer you have to act before 31 May, 2019. Terms and conditions apply. Visit the Mercury Marine website to learn more or to find your nearest Mercury dealer. www.mercurymarine.com.au

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au

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MAY 2019

Bar crossing – the gateway to gamefish PART 2 BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

In the previous issue I outlined some of the main factors associated with crossing our coastal bars. I discussed how conditions

You should approach a bar with full visibility if you’re new to the game, and spend a bit of time working things out, unless it’s obvious that things are entirely calm and there can be no problems. In less than perfect conditions it’s a good plan to take note of where other boats are exiting the

up to date, the EPIRB should be accessible, and all gear should be stored where it can’t move if jarring occurs. The engine has to be able to perform to optimum levels, and steering, bilge pumps, safety gear access should also be beyond any doubt or concern. If the cockpit is selfdraining, all scuppers must

Keeping the bow lifted allows the rig to ride over an incoming wave, rather than having it break over the bow.

A decent half cabin will keep occupants dry when working a bar. In this image there might be a little too much speed for the conditions. on a bar can change on an hourly basis, and looked at the importance of boaters remaining entirely flexible in planning a trip. That last parameter is a vital one. Your planning should involve a really good estimate of conditions on the bar before you commit to crossing, and that means a real time assessment, not a forecast from a previous day or what a mate said about his offshore trip a few days ago. You have to remember that while conditions on the ocean side of the bar might be quite acceptable, getting across that bar may well be dangerous. The fact is that crossing any bar can be dangerous, especially for inexperienced skippers in adverse conditions, and you have to respect it and take a lot of care at the helm. First of all, it’s crucial to understand the topography of the bar as far as beacons or channels are concerned, and expected areas of shallow water and the like. There is immense value in undertaking a crossing with someone who does it regularly, or you can even take a bar crossing course. If VMR or other marine authority know the characteristics of the bar, it’s a good idea to contact them and gain some background knowledge. Of course, you should always log on with marine rescue before you head out, let them know where you’re going and when you expect to return, and then log off when you get back to port. 94

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the craft properly on course, but not so fast as to be hitting waves at undue speed. Keeping the bow lifted allows the rig to ride over an incoming wave rather than having it break over the bow. If it does break, however, the craft must be able to wear it.

A look at the bar at Caloundra. This is no place for the inexperienced skipper on an ebb tide. Note that waves are extending a fair way out to sea behind the boat. area, with emphasis paid to areas of darker (deeper) water, and places where fewer waves are breaking, as these will always offer calmest passage. It’s not unusual for larger waves to come in sets of three. Stopping to take stock of things, close to but not in the bar proper, will usually reveal this to be the case. A word of warning: if another boat heads out during a lull in sets you should carefully watch that craft’s track instead of setting out to follow it blindly, as the next set of larger waves may not be far off and things could change rapidly. HEADING OUT IN THE BOAT Understandably, both the boat and skipper need to be up to the task. All safety equipment should be

be clear. Anchors and warp should be placed securely within the anchor hatch and prevented from moving. Passengers should trim the craft as level as possible, and secure themselves with at least a handhold prior to the crossing. Lifejackets are mandatory in boats less than 4.8m long, but even in a larger boat you should wear a lifejacket as a precaution if waves are going to be encountered. The engine needs to be warmed up and fully trimmed down to provide as much thrust as possible. Wave impact is par for the course, so the craft must be able to handle impact, and be able to shed water coming aboard as rapidly as possible. When the decision is made to head out, the skipper should maintain a speed that keeps

If looks like a wave has developed above the anticipated height, you need to take it head on, or on a very slight angle to lessen impact. The goal is to slide down and across the far side rather than getting airborne and coming down with a wallop. Coastal bars often have a series of waves to traverse, and the idea is to just keep heading into the lowest part of each wave until the white water is safely behind. If you move smartly towards each wave, you should reach them before they become too high, with the run-out becoming easier with each wave covered. Under no circumstances should you try to turn around to outrun an approaching wave that looks nasty. Only if it’s obvious that you’ve taken the wrong course and there’s definitely room to about turn should you attempt it. A wave catching the boat side-on will turn it over. To lessen the chances of mistakes on a first outing, it’s

a lot easier to cross a bar on a flooding tide with waves and current in harmony, than an ebb where pressure waves can form rapidly. RETURNING HOME Coming back in through a bar is very different. For a start, the course might not be so easily identified as there can be waves seemingly breaking in every direction. Again, there will be an area of lesser activity – the deeper water – and keeping just out of the froth should allow you to identify this area. A marked channel is good for a guideline, but it’s worth remembering that channels can sometimes move over time, so it’s worth approaching them with caution. One you’ve found the right area and started the run back in, keep an eye on what’s going on behind the boat. You should always pick a smaller set of waves and maintain enough power to keep the boat right on the back of a selected swell,

When tackling a bar crossing, the boat might have to wear a wave. If it happens, the craft, skipper, and crew must be up to scratch.

while at the same time able to keep ahead of waves breaking behind you. Avoid overrunning a wave, as this can lead to the boat broaching badly, or worse. You want to keep just enough power on to lift the bow for a re-entry to calmer water. At times it will be unavoidable to escape from a wave breaking ahead

are pressure waves forming up, you should look for the least white water and head up to and over each of these waves until you’re through the melee. BEST BOAT FOR THE JOB? Sorry, I can’t make a choice here! I’ve seen everything from 4m tinnies

to the north and the mighty Clarence River south at Yamba, there are some very nasty bits of work. Cabin craft are very popular for offshore work, because they provide a lot of shelter in sloppy conditions. Smaller craft can still provide protection though, in the form of a

AMBERJACK 520

In the hands of a competent skipper, a smaller runabout might go offshore on the right day, especially if it’s high sided and has a full-height transom. of the bow, but keeping the engine trimmed down and applying enough power to maintain easy steerage way should see the boat free of the froth fairly quickly. Much the same as when heading offshore, it’s always going to be easier to return while the tide is still flooding. However, if the fishing was so good that the ebb has started, and there

to 7m dedicated offshore craft out on the marlin grounds, and that’s when I’ve been out there in my 5.5m centre console! Every bar is different, and every day is different. I’m based in Brisbane, and I’ve found the Gold Coast Seaway to be a brilliant place on the right day, and so too is the outlet at Mooloolaba. However, between the Wide Bay bar

canopy, windscreen, and a full-height transom coupled to decent depth of sides to keep water at bay. Either way, the decision to cross comes down to the conditions. On the right day a bar can be a non-event, while on a bad one it can be a nightmare of mega proportions. It’s the skipper’s call to make the right choice of action.

BREEZAWAY 460

SKIPPER 449

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO FIND A STESSCO DEALER NEAR YOU

VISIT WWW.STESSCO.COM.AU If you want to see one of these beside your boat, a run out through one of the coastal bars may be required. MAY 2019

Catching flats bream – shake, rattle and roll BRISBANE

Justin Willmer Find me on Facebook at Yaks On

The cooler mornings are a signal to me that it’s time to get up on the flats and chase a few bream on plastics. In many systems the winter months see an influx of bait and big

It’s hard to beat the kayak for this type of fishing, with its ability to navigate the shallows, its lower profile creating less shadow and ‘presence’ on the water, and the overall stealth factor. I often have bream hitting at the lure all the way to the kayak, even eating the plastic right at the rod tip in plain sight. These bream are

tide, however, my favourite flats to fish are those that are exposed at low tide, as I believe if there is no water at low it gives the fish motivation to go there when they are covered in water to feed. When fishing the flats, I prefer to fish the last of the run-in and first of the run-out tide. Although, they can be

Another one of the author’s go-to lures is the ZMan 2.5” Slim SwimZ paddle-tail.

A net is handy, especially when the bigger bream are around. bream into the system, with many anglers chasing these schooling fish in the deeper water, where they congregate at the mouths of rivers and seaways to spawn. This deep water bite can be productive, producing cricket score catches of

actively feeding on the flats, they’re aggressive, often in large numbers, competitive and when you hook them in a few feet of water, it’s game on! What are the ‘flats’? They are the large, predominantly flat expanses that are found in many systems. The water

productive at any stage of the tide as long as there is at least a couple of feet of water for the fish to hunt in. The magic depth for me has been anywhere from around 0.9-1.5m of water, and schools will often hold in depressions in the flats where the water is slightly deeper.

repeating. This will allow you to work the entire flat to find the most productive areas and if you do find fish, it’s worth repetitive drifts of this area or even anchoring to work the area more effectively. Where possible I cast ahead of the drift or ahead and across the drift, fanning casts to cover as much area as possible. You can bring your lure back with the drift, if the drift is not too fast, ensuring that the lure is running at the desired depth. If you are fishing in windy conditions then you are better off throwing a long cast with the wind and covering plenty of water, rather than getting frustrated with short casts, line management issues and so forth. There are three go-to plastics that I fish when on the flats and I generally retrieve each of these plastics in a different way, to suit the area being fished and the mood of the fish. My larger kayak is set-up with a Railblaza TracPort Dash 500, fitted with four Railblaza

rod holders, allowing me to quickly and easily access four rods that are rigged and ready

in case I drift into deeper water and wish to specifically target a snapper or mulloway.

Having two different lures ready allows you to switch things up if they turn off one presentation. to go. This allows me to have these three go-to plastics at my disposal, along with a larger soft plastic presentation

When thinking about the way I fish these three plastics, I ended up with a different description for each and

An average flats bream on the 2.5” paddle-tail. bream. However, I love nothing more than chasing these bruisers on light gear, in a few feet of water, especially when they move up onto the flats in close proximity to deep water to harass bait and smash my small soft plastics. 96

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depth is similar throughout and they are often made up of a combination of sand, weed and rubble, with some systems also offering mussel beds, rocks, oysters and other structure. Some of these flats will have water over them at all stages of the

To ensure I am working the area effectively I will generally set-up a wind or tidal drift that carries me the length of the flat: starting on one edge, drifting the flat, heading back to the start of the drift and then across the flat a little further and

Shake – curl-tail; Rattle – TRD CrawZ; and Roll – paddle-tail. The author’s go-to selection when targeting bream on the flats.

that’s how I ended up with ‘shake, rattle and roll’, so here’s a breakdown of each. SHAKE – 2.5” CURL-TAIL The 2.5” curl-tail is a proven performer on the bream and a bream tournament winning favourite presentation. You

fish will hit on the wind, other times on the pause, and this varied retrieve also produces a wide variety of other species. RATTLE – 2.5” CRAW PATTERN The craw imitation is a great representation of creatures such as prawns

a shaking retrieve, however, it really excels when fished slow and rattled through structure. ROLL – 2.5” PADDLE-TAIL My go-to paddle-tail has been a game changer, with its under hooked tail design and super soft material creating

GEARING UP In terms of jigheads I will fish these 2.5” plastics on a no.1 or 1/0 jighead and opt for a fine gauge, and chemically sharpened hook for maximum hook penetration. In terms of jighead weights, I most frequently fish a 1/4oz jighead, which many will believe is too heavy. The reason that I fish heavier and faster is based on a point that I made earlier, I’m fishing flats that are completely dry at low tide, so the fish are there for a reason when there is water and I believe that reason is to feed. Rather than fish slow and finesse, I aim

head, such as 1/6oz, 1/8oz, or even lighter. These are the basics that work for me on the flats, so it’s just a matter of giving them a crack in your area if you wish and customising them to suit your area and fish. In terms of rods and reels, I fish a selection of 7’ 1-3kg and 2-4kg rods, with 20-30 size spinning reels, loaded with braid of around 6-8lb. Leader wise, I most commonly fish 8lb fluorocarbon, which is handy when you come across other species, such as tailor and flathead. Again, you may need to lighten your leader if the bite is tough.

that I love seeing on a flat and it’s amazing how many times to a cast this activity will be met with an instant angry strike and a bent rod. Finally, if the flat feels lifeless and you’re not getting any bumps or follows, it may be worth moving on to another flat or at least a different section of the flat. Even though we’re not into the prime time of the cooler months that bring the big bream onto the flats in my area, I still snuck out and found a few on my most recent session. A morning session, based around an hour of run-in tide and two hours of the run-out that produced

A good early season bream. These fish can only get better as the weather gets colder. can fish the curl-tail fast, slow, hopped, paused or even just let it drag on the bottom… fish just eat it. I fish the curl-tail with a shaking retrieve, using two main retrieve techniques, both of which start with a long cast, a couple of seconds to let the plastic sink and then a few sharp hops to alert the fish to the presence of the lure.

and crabs that are frequently found among the weed and rubble on the flats. It has proven to be a winner when there are big bream foraging on the flats and when there is a mix of patchy weed and rocky, shelly rubble that attracts prawns and crabs. I would describe the retrieve technique as ‘rattle’ as the plastic is generally fished slower, on or near

a tail action that is difficult to achieve in such a small plastic. It has become a bream tournament winner and for me it is one of the easiest plastics to use effectively on the flats. Simply make a long cast, allow it to sink for a couple of seconds, give it a few shakes to wake the fish up and then slow roll (slow wind) it back. The tail action does all the work, just vary

This session started off with an awesome by-catch, a fringefin trevally. to cover as much water as possible and find those fish that are actively feeding. I fish with the rod tip up at about a 45° angle and I fish fast enough that the plastic is above the bottom when fishing a slow roll. If I hit the weed, then I speed up, so you may be surprised how fast I am fishing when you give it a run. If you are fishing systems where the fish are less aggressive, such as southern black bream, then you may want to slow it down and in turn select a lighter

ADDITIONAL TIPS If I had to come up with a few more tips to maximise your chances of success I would firstly say, add some scent to your plastic. I add a small amount of gel scent every 30-50 casts, and also after catching a fish, with sardine/pilchard, mullet and inshore saltwater flavours a few favourites. Secondly, I would say look and listen. Be aware of what is going on around you on the flat. Fish feeding actively and bait flicking are two things

over twenty bream, a grunter and a trevally. I would swap all the fish landed during this session for one of those big winter blue nose bruisers, however, it was a great warm up session and awesome fun on light gear. The shake, rattle and roll all produced fish during this session, and it was the roll that was the standout for the morning, producing both the numbers and larger fish. Check out your local flats and get ready to shake, rattle and roll.

The 2.5” paddle-tails were bringing all the fish undone on a recent morning session in the yak. For the first retrieve I will then just commence a slow wind (slow roll) while shaking the rod tip to add more life and erratic action to the curl-tail. Instead of just a slow wind, the second retrieve consists of about three slow winds of the reel, while shaking the plastic, followed by a pause, then repeating this wind and shake, pause, wind and shake, pause. At times

the bottom and rattled through the structure, bumping through and off rock and rattling through the patchy weed. This plastic can also weed out the smaller fish as they pick at the claws, while the legal-size bream will generally eat the body and hook, or even inhale the whole plastic. This plastic can also be fished mid-water on these shallow flats with

the speed of the retrieve until you find what the fish want on the day. When rolling the plastic, if a fish bites just keep it moving. You will often feel a tap, tap, tap and then the fish will find the hook and it’s game on! If you attempt to set the hook you will just pull the lure away from the fish in an unnatural manner and they will generally not return to bite again.

The flats produce plenty of by-catch, and a grunter nailed the plastic on this occasion. MAY 2019

Quintrex 530 Frontier with Yamaha F90hp 4-stroke

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RE ONLINE MO

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on board and no gear apart from safety kits. Filling the livewells, there was no noticeable decrease in performance. The test boat was also fitted with an enclosed rod locker in the port gunwale. I’m not a fan of using these for anything but locking rods away at the end of the session. Anything designed where gravity can help the lid fall on your tackle will eventually do so. I’m also a long-time critic of the underfloor storage being not more resistant to inundation. If it rains, your tackle

DE FOR EX

T FMG

Steve Morgan s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

It’s no secret that when I first tested one of the new Quintrex Apex hulls last year (we went for a run in the 590 Frontier on the Gold Coast), I said that it was the greatest improvement in hull design by the company since they first stretchformed a flared bow all those years ago. I still stand by those comments and it seems as though the major shift in design and looks of these boats have had nearly universal acceptance by dealers and customers alike. They’re soft riding,

Main: Admittedly the test day was glamorous, but the hole shot, stability and ease of use of this Quintrex/Yamaha package were impressive. Above: The Apex hull doesn’t bank into turns like other aluminium hulls, retaining a flat attitude throughout the manoeuvre.

SPECIFICATIONS Hull Length ..............................................5.26m Beam........................................................2.07m Depth ....................................................... 1.10m Bottom and sides .....................................3mm Weight (boat only) ................................... 506kg Min hp ........................................................75hp Max hp ..................................................... 130hp Hole Shot ..................................... 4.27 seconds Number of people ...........................................6 beamy, deep and perform well, even with outboards well under the maximum allowable. Recently, we got to test a Frontier 530 powered by the new Yamaha F90 – a 90hp 4-stroke 1.8L outboard released a little over a year ago, thanks to 98

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will get wet. For anglers with a pile of expensive tackle, this is sometimes an expensive problem. These minor points aside, I’m in love with the package as a whole. It’s easy to launch and retrieve, ridiculously economical and easy to drive. Its high gunwales make it safer for kids and it’s customisable to a level where a serious fisher can add the electronics necessary to maximise their time on the water. For more information on this rig, visit the Quintrex website at www. quintrex.com.au.

Sean Savage of Streaker Marine. Importantly, the outboard was 40 horses less than the maximum allowable on this hull. Replacing the older Top Enders, the Frontiers have several advantages over their predecessors. They’re beamier (and carry their

beam more forward than the older rigs), have more freeboard, are softer riding and are more stable than the older designs. The ‘pickle fork’ bow shape is a few years old now, but is a distinguishing feature of the new generation Quintrex rigs. I really liked the ease of access to this boat when it’s on the trailer, with a fold down ladder and an inviting transom door. Supplied by Streaker Marine on a Quintrex aluminium I-beam trailer with their Catch-n-Release launch system, the package is both easy to manoeuvre and will tow behind virtually any vehicle, weighing in at

just over 1000kg. Being a single axle, it’ll make it easier to fit into smaller, modern garages. The Catch-n-Release system allows you to launch and retrieve this boat very easily by yourself, making solo trips not just possible, but easy. Although fuel metering wasn’t available on the test boat, the same motor on a smaller Frontier hull delivered 3.28km/L, meaning that this rig would easily get you over 3km/L at the most economical cruising speed. Flat out, the test boat travelled 57km/h at 5600rpm and jumped onto the plane easily with two

Although the F90 was 40hp under the maximum, the 530 jumped onto the plane with ease, two-up.

Single-handed launch and retrieval is easy with the Quintrex Catch-n-Release system.

Access to this high-sided boat is through the folding ladder and transom door at the stern.

Synthetic decking material on the bow sheets make it a practical place to fish from (and to store anchors underneath).

Left and right: The new Frontier design boasts acres of room inside and the ability to add features like the enclosed rod locker.

Quintrex rotomolds all of their console shrouds in house. Yay for the ability to flush mount large electronics choices into the helm.

With the seats in this position, three anglers can make long runs in comfort.

Above top: The front livewell has clever baffles that help to stop slop. Above lower: While not 100% dry storage, there’s still lots of room under the high casting decks to store your gear.

Clear fronted bait tanks are very much in fashion at the moment and with good reason – it takes just a glance to know your livies are in A1 condition.

Now that’s a casting deck. We challenge you to find a beamier casting area in any rig on the water of this length.

The high sides make the Frontier a rig that’s nearly as comfortable in the open water as it is in rivers and estuaries.

There’s not much to say about Yamaha’s 1.8L 90hp. It’s very unlikely to let you down and has been a hit with customers since it was released last year. MAY 2019

SAVE UP TO $1,500 ON 75-150HP FOURSTROKE

The Mercury Sale is now on, with savings across selected models in the 75-150hp FourStroke range. Be quick to enjoy the performance, reliability and efficiency of Mercuryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advanced FourStroke technology.

For Participating Dealers go to mercurymarine.com.au

OFFER ENDS MAY 31ST, 2019 Terms and Conditions apply.