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Chopper tailor and bream with a few spotted hind off the rocks at Broken Head. Choppers at Broken Head on the beach near Taylors Lake; bream and dart at Suffolk park. Bream, dart and whiting on Tallow Beach at Honeysuckle Hill and Tallow Creek. Bream, dart and choppers off the rocks at Cosy Corner.
Tailor, trevally to 5kg and jewies to 15kg under the lighthouse. Choppers and dart at The Chair and the Stepping Stones. Bream and dart at Belongil and sunrise Beach. Choppers and dart at Black Rock and Tyagarah. A few snapper outside.
Simmo and Dave, Byron Bay Bait and Tackle 6685 7711
byronbaitntackle@yahoo.com.au
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Richmond River closed to all commercial and recreational fishing until June because of the big fish kill in February. Fishing available from rocks, beaches and offshore. Only the seaward sides of the walls can be fished. There are tailor and bream off the beaches and headlands with the odd school jew. Offshore there are the odd snapper and plenty of bait schools, with the odd mackerel moving about.
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We were fortunate that today (21st March) the NSW Fisheries decided (with the help of the commercial sector, I am told) that the Clarence should stay open to all fisheries, both amateur and professional. The commercial sector did decide, however, to limit trawling in the river and they will preview the situation next Monday. The reason for this is that most prawns got washed to sea and what is left in the system is so small that the pros cannot get a pay out of the product. So, sensible management practices are finally coming to the fore. This could be the lead that this river and all the others on the Far North Coast have been needing for many years. It's a shame that so many factors have had to come into play before managerial action was provoked.
Last year we had some renegade trawlermen on the river who persisted in grinding away at their product day after day but the prawns were so small that their own fish co-op refused to take them. This, in my view and in the eyes of many others I might add, is disgraceful practice. The prawns were that small at the time that I would not have even classed the product as suitable bait prawns.
As I mentioned in the intro, the river was almost closed to all fishing. The reason for this was a series of fish kills on the Clarence but not of such a significant level as, say, the Richmond to the north and the Macleay to the south. But the warning bells did go off and while its a very sad sight to see a vast quantity of fish and crustacea life just die, let’s hope that new management practices along the river and I mean covering everyone, lead to a
healthy river in the years to come.
One of the biggest problems that any big river suffers in a major flood such as the one that we've just had is siltation. Millions of tonnes of mud are deposited in the river and along its banks in a situation such as this and I really wonder if our children’s children will live on little more than a trickle. Witness the sailing club on the banks at Grafton –not a small shed, either – which totally collapsed under the weight of mud both on its roof and against its walls.
At Palmers Island the mud left on the road and in the general area was 6 to 9 inches deep. It’s hard to imagine what has been deposited in the deeper holes along the riverbed – time will tell.
Don't despair if you had intended holidaying here this coming week. Fishing outside is showing great improvement and so are the beaches and rocks and I would think by the middle of next week the water could be clearing back into the estuary and then the bream and flathead should follow.
Glen Porter, The Bait Place 6646 2017
ports@turboweb.net.au
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The fishing has certainly improved in the Coffs area with the mackerel turning up in large numbers. The FTA team hit the water last Sunday and were absolute amazed at the huge numbers of bait fish in the rather murky, if very warm, water. Slimies. yakkas, pike, garfish, just to mention a few. The team noted that all these schools were looking very nervous and it was no time at all before the first Spanish mackerel hit the deck. The boys bagged out with fish between 20 and 30kg. Longtail have also been turning on a bit of fun for all with fish free jumping all over the popular spots.
The estuaries are returning to normal with some good catches of flathead and whiting being reported. The spring tides over the next couple of weeks will really fix things up. Fingers crossed we have seen the last of the rain.
All in all, not a bad time to dangle a line.
Don't forget, if you want a copy of our mail order catalogue, just give us a ring on (02) 6651 9530
Peter Russell, Fishing Tackle Australia 6652 4611
motackle@midcoast.com.au
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Although NSW Fisheries has closed the Macleay river to all forms of professional and recreational fishing for three months, the floods have produced some of the best beach and rock fishing I have seen in the five years I have been here.
Smoky Cape Beach is producing bag-limit catches of quality bream and whiting on the making tide and increasing numbers of tailor and bream at sunrise and sunset. Little Bay is also producing quality fish.
offshore, fish Rock has really been firing, with great catches of kingies with cobia and snapper thrown in. Grassy Head and Scotts Head have been producing snapper and the occasional bar cod.
Hope the great fishing lasts...
Peter and Amanda Jordan, Rocks Marine Bait and Tackle 6566 6726
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A week is a long time for an offshore fisherman when the local river is in flood and the seas are 2-4 metres high. That is all behind them now and conditions are back to normal.
The first signs of winter appeared early this week. Sunday night (Mar18) was much cooler and Monday morning we woke to welcome westerly winds. When the westerly becomes the dominant wind it will be 'bye-bye' to the north-easters.
Offshore surface fishing from Port this year has been a total fizzer, at no stage did it ever look like firing up. I think I am pretty safe by saying that towards the end of March it is not going to happen this year.
The public wharf at the back of the fish co-op has been the hot spot for catching bream and blackfish during the past week. There was standing room only as blackfish were caught in the dirty water on just about any bait on offer, including yabbies, prawns, black weed and even strip baits.
All beaches north and south of the Port are producing mature blue-nosed sand whiting along with a sprinkling of bream. The whiting are responding best to worm baits, with the bream preferring mackerel fillets.
During and towards the end of the flooding, professional fishermen had big hauls of prawns which were sold locally at prices we would have paid 10 years ago – the local consumers have never had it so good.
Port Macquarie really did not know the true meaning of the word flood, they need to talk to folk from the Bellingen and Macleay valleys. Our small catchment and tiny river system, along with the fact that the town was not built on the flood plain, make our residents virtually flood-free.
After last week’s big seas, expect the beach formations to have dramatically altered – sand movement has been unbelievable. As the nor’-easters begin to back off, expect ocean currents to flow from the south. This will mean many things. Firstly, the water will be much cooler, encouraging southern fish species to migrate northwards. Beaches and rocky headlands will also wash out and become much deeper. Now is a time of change for many fish species and fishermen.
Lloyd and Helen Hewens, Ned Kelly’s Bait and Tackle 6583 8318
nedsbandt@bigpond.com.au
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Offshore: Reefs to the north (Blackhead and Snapper Rock) have produced kingfish, samson, trag and snapper. The biggest of the bonito are being caught at the Pinnacle along with the occasional monster kingie. Cobia have been sighted but captures are rare. Small dolphin fish remain in patches. Seal Rocks is the place for really big kingies and jewfish.
Beach: All the beaches are fishing well for tailor and some travelling bream. Beaches south of Pacific Palms down to Seal Rocks have the added attraction of big whiting. Blackfish are moving through in schools and have been caught off Seven Mile and Boomerang Beach using cunje.
Rocks: Tailor, bream and blackfish from most rock platforms, with Janeys Corner as good as any. Bream have been reported schooled up off rocks at the base of Cape Hawke. Jewfish worth targeting. LBG action is limping along.
Estuary: The dirty water has almost cleared. flathead and bream are plentiful. Bream on lures has been the rage here for years and isn’t the latest invention some magazines would have you believe. Great success has been had here using small poppers, with the new Strike Zone shallow-running Small Critter (Colour #2, Goldfish) being the current pick of the conventional diving lures.
Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 6554 9541
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Estuary: Water clarity is returning after the fresh from the Karuah and Myall systems. Good run of bream on the lead up to the new moon in the mid reaches around Rocks Awash and North Arm Cove. Mullet gut and fillets are the best baits. Plenty of bream around Windy Whoppa and the boulders at Jimmys Beach, the jetty at Little Beach after dark and the Tubes at Tomaree.
Flathead worth chasing on lures, pillies or frogmouths on the beaches outside the heads, the wreck, Zenith, Box, the Corlette groynes and Shoal bay in front of the hospital. A few good flounder on the bar at the heads. Garfish still abound in the lower reaches.
Tailor on dusk off the co-op wall and anchorage. An early run of luderick on Tomaree will move into the estuary over the next couple of weeks.
Beaches: Stockton fishing exceptionally well, with a lot of flathead flushed out of the Hunter River. Bream starting to school and top catches with some fish over 1.5kg. Whiting to 500g still hanging around. Plenty of tailor and salmon on One Mile with bream also showing.
Rocks: Lots of surface fish on most headlands, with the spin boys nailing bonito and tailor along with a few mackerel tuna and the odd longtail. good run of squire off Morna and Cemetery points and One Mile Head. Lots of bream and rock blackfish around Fingal Island and Honeysuckle.
Offshore: Trag on the go again on Gibber, 21 and Gunsight. nannygai on the wider reefs. Snapper in the shallows at Broughton Island and Fishermans Bay. Solid kingies on Looking Glass and East Head. Quality flathead at Providence Bay.
Dolphin fish plentiful on the minefield traps off Boat Harbour. Plenty of tailor and bonito on the western side of Cabbage Tree and in front of Fingal Light.
Marlin a bit patchy but blacks and stripes wide of Big Gibber.
Jew in close, schoolies to 14kg on the 21 and better quality inshore near Boulder Bay.
Graham Duffy, Salamander Bait and Tackle 4982 0711
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No report this week.
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Plenty of bonito Broken Bay on spinner baits. Jewies at Juno as well as bag limits of large bream. Swimmer Crabs also at Juno. For prawns try Calabash Bay and Berowra Waters. Amateurs are getting bag limits on prawns.
Don't forget the INAUGRAL HAWKESBURY BREAM CLASSIC 27TH-29TH APRIL -all proceeds
going to Camp Quality (Kid's with Cancer). Great prizes . Ring Widnybank's for more details.
Windybanks Bait and Tackle, John & Anne Windybanks 9477 1501
windy@tig.com.au
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It’s the week of the tailor, with every report coming into the shop mentioning them. Whether it’s from the beaches, the rocks or in the harbour, everyone is having their baits attacked by these 1.4kg fish. FOW staffer Darren Thomas caught ‘too many’ drifting the other day between Manly Cove and Dobroyd Point. Darren said it didn’t matter what bait you used, ‘they took ’em all’.
Off the rocks at North Head, Alex Bellissimo encountered salmon to 3kg and bonito in the same class on gar and pilchards. Alex’s mates fished for luderick and drummer in the same spot, finding cabbage weed did the trick for bag-limit catches.
South Head’s lollipop lighthouse has salmon busting up the baitfish on the harbour side of the point early in the mornings. Des also reports some bonito taking deep-diving lures on the troll at Middle Head. The channel markers in the harbour have bream on the bottom, taking lightly-weighted baits.
Jewfish reports have slowed from the harbour as the water clears up and the baitfish are able to hide again. Jason Ogilvy saw some nice jew to 15kg while spearfishing in less than two metres of water at North Narrabeen Beach. He was amazed to see the fish right in the surf zone where fishos normally would not cast. Also in the same area Jason felt a tugging on his spearfishing float and teaser lure and when he pulled it in expecting to see a shark, he was blown away by the 15kg kingfish trying to make off with his teaser lure!
The gamefishing scene saw some huge fish landed in the Broken Bay Invitational tournament. Although the numbers of marlin were down, a big blue marlin was landed off Long Reef in 300 fathoms. After a 20-minute fight, James Thackeray and crew aboard Black Pete gaffed a 175kg blue, which won the heaviest marlin trophy. The heaviest shark went to Wollongong boat Skuna’s 408kg tiger shark on 15kg line. The heaviest other gamefish was a 71kg yellowfin tuna. So there are big fish in Sydney waters if you get out there!
Peter/Kurt, Fish Outta Water 9949 9488
fishon@ozemail.com.au
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The Georges and Woronora rivers have been producing some very good catches of bream for those anglers who have been prepared to put in the time and effort. Rene and Ted from Kirrawee caught bream, whiting, tailor, flathead, a flounder and a numb ray while trolling Esoteric lures near the entrance to Sylvania Waters and the sand flats near the Captain Cook bridge.
The bream have started to move up into the disused oyster leases in Woolooware Bay. The best baits have been unweighted live prawns and pink nippers on 1/0 chemically-sharpened hooks. Rising tide is the best time.
George Stubbs and his mate from Peakhurst fished the point off Bald Face and managed to get some very nice bream and a couple of flathead. They were also pestered by small chopper tailor, which kept biting them off.
The next time that you are going to use the boat ramp that is on Carina Bay near the Como bridge, you will need to watch out for the boulders and rocks that have been put there. By the way, the wharf that is adjacent to the ramp is a good place to lure-fish for bream and flathead on a high tide.
The backwaters of the Woronora River are worth trying for bream about an hour before the top of the tide. Try using the small spider crabs that are found under the rocks at low tide.
I haven’t had any reports from the beaches, but the beaches at Cronulla should start to produce some good fish, especially after the blow we have just been experiencing.
In conjunction with AFN Magazine I have just produced a map (No 23) on fishing Port Hacking, Botany Bay, the Georges and Woronora rivers. There is also a map (No 22) on fishing in Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour and the Parramatta, Lane Cove and Iron Cove rivers. Come in and have a look at them.
Fishing licences.
As of Friday, March 23, you will have to have a fishing licence to fish anywhere in NSW, so if you come into the shop the boys will help you fill out the form and purchase one.
What’s On.
Due to the response of the people wanting to do my fishing classes on how, where and when to fish the Port Hacking, Botany Bay, George’s and Woronora rivers, the shop is running another class starting on April 30 at 7pm so while you are in the shop next time you might also like to book into one of the series. I will be covering types of techniques, baits, rigs and fish species over three consecutive Monday nights. For further information phone Greg or John at the shop on 9600 6999, email me at gebrown@sia.net.au or phone me on 0417 690 508.
Gary Brown/Greg Mercedes Mako Tackle 9600 6999
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After experiencing rough weather over the past couple of weeks, snapper were caught off Coledale, flathead off Port Kembla, salmon and tailor from Wollongong Beach. Bream and whiting were caught from Windang Beach and small mulloway out of Port Kembla Harbour.
A few rat kings were showing up around the Islands and Bass Point and ther were frigates in the harbour. A staff member caught Bream in the Shoalhaven River and a huge bonito (6.8 kg) was caught off Wollongong Lighthouse.
Our new mega-store will be opening on April 7 at 94 Flinders Street,Wollongong, with weekend trading and opening at 4am on Saturdays and Sundays.
Rowley Hoyer, Ern Webb’s Sports Store4229 1915.
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No report this week
Darryl, The Ocean Hut 4476 2278
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No report this week.
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The Eden Amateur Fishing Club Inc. has just run its March competition; with $21,000 orth of cash and prizes up for grabs. It attracted 616 entries.(411 in the open section, 89 in the ladies’ section, 75 in the boys’ section & 41 in the girls’ section.) Competitors came from NSW, VIC & SA. In the open section 5 winning fish came from Wonboyn Lake, estuary and beach: Bream (1.980kg), dusky flathead (3.175kg), sand flathead (1.255kg), tailor (2.255kg) and whiting (0.765kg); plus two winning fish in the ladies’ section, luderick ( 0.920kg) and tailor.
Since the competition fishing has continued to very good ..
Beaches: (Greenglade, Middle Beach, Baycliffe & North Beach): Salmon to 3kg and tailor to 1.5kg have been caught on pilchards and lures. Surf poppers are still popular and an answer to the sand crabs.
Disaster Bay: No reports this time – the bar has been a bit of a handful!
Lake and estuary: Some good-sized squire continue to be caught (up to 1kg), dusky flathead are still on the bite & after a bit of rain last weekend some very nice bream have been caught (to 1.5kg). One of our lady guests managed a bream of 1.2kg and two luderick to 800g, all caught off a jetty in Myrtle Cove!
Best baits in the lake and estuary continue to be live mullet, nippers, prawns and striped tuna.
Bruce and Dawne Grant, Wonboyn Cabins and Caravan Park, 6496 9131
wonboyn@asitis.net.au
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