Julie/Graeme, Anglers Warehouse Tweed Heads (07) 5536 3822
anglerswarehouse@shopsafe.com.au
Wayne, Kingscliff Bait and Tackle
Matthew/Charlie, Deep Sea Fishing Charters

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Spectacular for surfing with plenty in the water everywhere but not much else. Just before the sea got too big there were big tailor spun up off the cape and big whiting and dart off the beaches. Tonnes of bait in the bay with birds everywhere, bait showering so there’s fish around. A lot of beach erosion.

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle 02 66 857 133

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Break out the jewie gear! We’ve had plenty of rain over the past week and there’s a thumper of a fresh charging down the Richmond River – straight into two to three metres of barrelling swells. The walls at Ballina should turn it on this weekend, especially on the tide changes. Try live or dead mullet, slab baits, octopus or soft or hard lures and whatever you do, take a long gaff so you have a chance of landing your catch or start tuning up your hard-luck story. Offshore fishing should be a write-off this weekend as the swell is really pumping, but if you find some deeper holes or gutters close to the entrances of the Richmond or Evans rivers, they could also be worth a try for jewies, whiting and bream. The estuaries will be the colour of chocolate custard and unfishable, with the neap tides unlikely to push in much in the way of salt water. There should be good muddies in the lower reaches of the rivers.

Dave’s Bait Shop 02 6686 2481
&
Tony Zann

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

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No report from Glen but the big seas and the very solid fresh should bring on the jew around the walls and bream around the Middle Wall..

Glen Porter, 6646 2017
The Bait Place 6646 2017
ports@reeltime.com.au

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Swell subsiding somewhat. I saw the biggest whiting I ever saw in my life – a king george whiting caught off Nambucca Heads that went 1.2kg gilled and gutted. Not a lot happening with the way the sea has been with big swell hitting the beaches, interesting to se e what happens when it abates. The mackerel run had only just started so fingers crossed they’re still with us. The swell has also closed down the beach gutters and we expect to see a lot of new beach formations when it’s over. The estuary fresh has certainly stirred things up with good catches of whiting, bream and flathead in the seaward reaches. Bigger tides next week should really stir things up.

Peter Russell, Fish Tackle Australia 6652 4611
motackle@midcoast.com.au

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Mark and Denise Bird and Paul and Michelle Martin
Rocks Marine Bait and Tackle 6566 6726
birds@tsn.cc

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Off the beaches, catches have been patchy at best, with marginal results for some and reasonable hauls from others. For those who persisted, the odd good whiting and bream have been snared, along with good numbers of chopper tailor and the occasional very lost salmon. Grants and North beaches have fared the best over the past week, although finding good fish holding formations is critical to successful results. For night anglers, stingrays and shovels remain thick but should quieten down over the next few weeks.
In the estuary, some good flathead are on offer from areas around Rawdon Island and the Maria, while bream numbers are picking up marginally. Whiting remain excellent with Lake Cathie and around Blackmans Point producing the better results. Blackfish remain inconsistent but by all reports the number of fish in the estuary is good, just getting them to feed is the key.
Good news again from a crustacean perspective, with Lake Cathie again firing with plenty of good hauls of prawns. Whilst in the main catches comprised a mixture of the school and juvenile king prawns, this month saw a significant number of big tiger prawns taken from the lower reaches. With the lake entrance now closed, next dark should see excellent numbers but water clarity will have a considerable impact.
Off the rocks, the odd tailor, bream and blackfish are on offer for those willing to put in the time, with areas north around point Plommer and Hat Head fishing reasonably. The land-based game fishos have encountered bluefin from Hat Head and Point Perpendicular, with the best of the season still to come.
Outside reports have been excellent, with a number of good mulloway being snared during daylight hours from reefs off Plommer, Lake Cathie and Laurieton. Good numbers of snapper are also about along with plenty of kings, although many are in the rat class just under legal. Marlin numbers remain excellent, particularly in waters north, with slow trolled livies achieving the better results.

Jason and Virginia Isaac, Ned Kelly’s Bait and Tackle 6583 8318
cjisaac@ozemail.com.au

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Offshore: Surf’s Up! Last weekend saw a dramatic improvement in outside activity with the to-date elusive mahi mahi in big numbers at Five Mile Reef. Reports of a few cobia and small black marlin were also coming in and then came the wind and rain. Subsequently only those with a death wish will have been to sea since mid-week. The forecast is for things to improve.
Beach/rocks: Quality tailor and bream were being caught last weekend. You would expect some good fishing to be done once the seas abate.
Estuary: The recent rain will put a bit of colour into what was gin-clear water. Bream and mulloway are already active and should improve towards the weekend.

Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 02 6554 9541

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Graham Duffy, Salamander Bait and Tackle 02 4982 0711

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This week will see the State’s keenest game fishers descend on Port Stephens for the Annual Interclub game fishing championships. This popular teams event has produced some amazing results with the emphasis being on tag and release although a limited weigh-in of captures occurs at the weigh station at Nelson Bay from 4 pm each day. With the huge five-metre swell running two days before the start of the comp, seasick tablets will be popular.
Lake Macquarie continues to offer good fishing. Large tailor are working the southern areas of the lake with fish to 2kg caught by trolling metal lures or by drifting with fish strips as bait. Also reports of yellowtail kingfish lurking around the Swansea bridge and drop-over area. Squid, flathead and blue swimmer crabs also are available. Lure fishers are catching good numbers of bream with Mark Bradley of the Valentine Fishing Club landing a personal best fish of 1.65kg using a No 2 Squidgy Wriggler tail in avocado from floating structure in Belmont Bay last week. I fished the northern end of the lake with Chris Russell and local legend Ron Ashman through the week and we caught and released numerous bream with most falling to small surface poppers with the new River 2 Sea Buggi Pops working.
Outside anglers are reporting more mixed results with Dave Hayman from Tailormade Fishing Adventures finding his customers flathead, snapper and tailor from the northern reefs off Stockton. Good numbers of kingfish are still present from the North Reef area but the use of whole or strip squid to get results is necessary as live baits are going untouched.
Our beaches have been the most bearable places to fish to overcome the heat of the last week and are producing strong catches of tailor, bream and whiting. The NDAA held its annual beach competition last weekend and highlights included the capture of a 1.6kg cleaned bream by Lewis Richards, 4, of Highfields on the southern end of Stockton Beach and a 2.34kg Australian salmon by Gary Turner.

Jordan Armstrong,
Tackle Power Fishing Stores,
Jordan@tacklepower.com.au

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Peter Sanderson, Fisherman's Warehouse (02) 4945 8922
enquiries@fishermanswarehouse.com.au

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Gary Oxley Coastline Bait & Tackle, East Gosford ph/fax 4325 4255
kathgaz@bigpond.com
http://www.coastlinefishing.easysites.ws

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Local beach angler Jef Yorsten had the fight of his life on Monday night when a 56lb mulloway engulfed his slimy mackerel fillet from a Narrabeen beach gutter and screamed off up the up the beach with Jef in pursuit. Ninety minutes later Jef washed up the 1.48-metre fish which was caught on a 10kg outfit in some windy conditions. Sue Masters fished with Jef last week for her first jew, pulling the scales down to 10kg. Palm Beach served one up weighing 12kg for Graeme Marshall using squid strips and 10kg line just after 9pm on Tuesday. A fish on the beach early in the evening is quite a wise choice this week.
Not to be overlooked, Sydney Harbour has fish to be caught including mulloway and kings. Des from Hookem Cookem Charters reports salmon and bonito inside North Head trolling Rapalas and metal slugs. The Spit has Amberjacks in the 3-4kg range roaming through the moorings. Squid aren’t too keen on the jigs at the moment but the yakkas are biting quite freely. Des boated his clients some larger than usual tailor and a nice jew during the week near Manly using live yakkas.
Andrew Parkes landed good kings around the Heads and amberjacks in Middle Harbour. FOW staffer Mark Olsen finally landed his first king on fly, fishing with Mark Hudson during a seriously lengthy trip on Sunday with more kings and some big tailor taken on fly and plastics throughout the 14-hour session in the upper reaches of Middle Harbour. Berkley stickbaits, chartreuse Clousers and fly poppers proved the most successful weapons. There are also reports of masses of cowanyoung and slimies in between the Heads but it doesn’t look there is much chasing them. Still, it’s a good place to fill your livie tank before heading out wide. Speaking of which, we have just had a report of a 130kg striped marlin taken from around Browns Mountain in about 20 fathoms.
Pittwater has eased slightly on the surface pelagic reports this week. Pete from Harbour and Estuary Charters drifted for bream and flathead around Taylors Point while trevally have also been keen to take a bait.
So get out there and hit the beaches or the harbour because there’s plenty of fish still to be caught before this summer comes to an end and the cooler waters start to move back in and chase the pelagics up to their winter retreats.

Peter/Kurt
Darren Thomas, Fish Outta Water 9949 9488
captainkurt100@hotmail.com

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Mako Tackle
Gary Brown / Greg Mercedes 9600 6999

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Garth, Deans Bait and Tackle, Windang 4295 1615

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Rodney Stockman,
Harry’s Bait and Tackle
ph 02 4472 4393, fax 02 4472 3405

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Swell pumping, whitewater everywhere, so the offshore, beaches and rocks not looking good. Kings were going OK at the island and a mate got a marlin and two yellowfin north of Tuross Canyons and a Bermagui boat tagged six marlin a day or two earlier. But that was before the swell.
Beaches have been fishing well for salmon, tailor and nice bream with pillies and beachworms the go.
Estuary: Plenty of tailor, nice bream and estuary perch and plenty of flathead on soft plastics with some school jewfish to 6kg coming in. Bass in the Tuross River going quite well with fish to 38cm

Darryl, The Ocean Hut 4476 2278

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Darren Redman and Mark Rose,
Bermagui Ocean Hut and Charter Booking Service, 6493 4688

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