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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Offshore: Still heaps of spotties and Spanish in really warm water with visibility at Julian Rocks 30 metres.
Rocks, beaches: Plenty of big greenback tailor with some school jew to 3kg. The usual dart and whiting but they’re big ones, with the whiting big and dark. Really good gutters on Tallow and Belongil beaches. Massive numbers of pipis on Belongil but not many on Tallows.

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle 02 66 857 133

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Bruce at Dave’s Bait Shop says a lot of small bream through the river with some flathead along the walls and in the holes. Whiting Pimlico Island. School jew through the river with some better fish on the walls. Tailor improving in size and numbers, whiting and dart also along the beaches. Plenty of mackerel outside with spots and Spanish off Lennox Point, Black Head and Riordans.
Nobody’s been able to find if the mackerel are at Evans as well because the bar has been up and cracking in about a two-metre swell. It looks like dropping a little for the weekend but be very careful, especially on low tide. School jew, bream and some tailor around the headlands and along the beaches from about Salty to Broadwater. The shore break all along the beach is full of mullet so a go at a jew might be worth it. River for a few flathead, garfish and whiting.

Dave’s Bait Shop 02 6686 2481
&
Tony Zann

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

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No report from Glen, who is away for a month.
Paul Kneller of Big River Bait and Tackle at Maclean reports that a good run of bream has turned up in the river with silver visitors and some residents. Plenty of flatties in the lower reaches. Some good-size ones in the bottom end around Yamba/Iluka. School jew around Oyster Channel and Middle Channel.
Beaches a bit quiet but a few tailor around the headlands and in the gutters with the odd jew. Still spotties, cobia and a few Spanish showing offshore with abundant mackerel tuna. Those who have found them have reported good snapper and a few pearlies.

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

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Mackerel on the chew with Bundagen and Macauleys Wide still the pick of it. Big seas this weekend might make conditions a little trying, especially around the boat harbour.
Good bream along the beach gutters with the odd jewfish on the late night tides with best bait beach worms. Try a tailor head!
Estuaries: Full of just undersize bream but good legal fish can be found with perseverance. Flathead a bit quiet but the coastal estuaries seem to be picking 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
rocksmarine@dodo.com.au

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Anzac Day upon us and the spawning run of our bread and butter species just about to commence. All we need now is for a decent cold westerly to blow and the mullet congregating in the lower estuaries will put to sea for their annual migration up the coast. This usually signifies the commencement of some pretty hot fishing over the following couple of months.
This week on the beaches, bream numbers have been a little inconsistent but there have been some top fish about to around a kilo or better. Whiting remain reasonable with Lighthouse still producing excellent fish. Tailor have been seen gorging themselves on whitebait but in the main the action has been beyond casting distance and catches have been hit and miss. School jewfish remain on fire with North Beach and Lake Cathie producing the goods.
Off the rocks, tailor numbers are a little better with the Lighthouse proving reasonably consistent, whilst the odd bream and jew have also been snared. Drummer remain quiet but the odd fish has been taken from Plommer and Big Hill.
Offshore fishing has been reasonable although the currents have made conditions awkward for bottom bouncing. Those who did venture out got a few good snapper and pearlies although in general many of the wider reefs have close to unfishable. Mahi mahi remain in reasonable numbers although most FADs or buoys were down with the current. Not a great deal to report in the way of other pelagics, however areas north around South West Rocks have been getting a reasonable good run of spotted and small Spanish mackerel.
In the estuary, some good flathead have been on offer in Limeburners and the Maria. Whitebait has been the best bait by far. Bream have been inconsistent but this will soon change; a similar story for blackfish. Lake Cathie continues to produce prawns, with this dark’s run of schoolies as good a quality as you will encounter.

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

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Offshore: Five Mile Reef continues to be the place to be as detailed in previous weeks’ reports. Mahi mahi size has improved with both Elsies and the FAD holding quality fish. Baitfish, tailor and bonito are thick in and around Latitude Rock, which has been the site of several cobia captures and sightings. Kingfish have been taken at The Pinnacle.
Beaches: Big tailor at Seal Rocks. Some schools of mullet are coming through and with them some stud bream. Small mulloway are being caught of an evening on beaches throughout the area.
Rocks: LBG addicts, rejoice! Northern bluefin are in the area. Rock fishing generally has been good with quality bream and drummer being caught. All recognised rock fishing platforms are worth a visit.
Estuary: Small mulloway are common off the Tuncurry Breakwall. Live bait for this purpose is available on site. The lake proper is holding some excellent bream and all looks good for the MegaBREAM tournament in two weeks’ time. It's interesting to note that hard body lures seem to be out-fishing soft plastics.

Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 02 6554 9541

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Estuary: Jew Middle Island, Salamander wreck with some to 25kg. Flathead Karuah River red-hot above the bridge, Corrie Island. Trumpeter whiting in acres behind Soldiers Point. Crabs galore Snapper Island, Bull Island. Bluefin tuna in the bay up to Soldiers, Shoal Bay, Fly Point, Middle Grounds. Bream co-op wall and The Boulders.
Beaches: Stockton for travelling bream around The Huts; plenty of tailor late afternoon, a few jew around the wreck. Salmon (sea carp!) everywhere. Whiting Fingal Spit, One Mile and Kingsley. Tailor and bream under them at Box and Zenith.
Rocks: Pigs moving Boulder Bay, Honeysuckle, Rocky, Cemetery. Salmon and tailor Sunny Corner and One Mile headlands, a few good snapper Boat Harbour, Fishermans. Bluefin off Tomaree and One Mile with mack tuna galore.
Offshore: Stacks of mahi mahi at the FAD and wider traps in 40 fathoms and out. Few little black marlin Gibber and 60 fathoms wide of Broughton. Bluefin off Little and Big Gibber headlands and Shag Rock at Yacaaba. Snapper in the washes on Little Island, Looking Glass, East Head; good squire Sisters, The Guts and Mungo. Trag on Gibber, the Vs, the 21, Tank.

Graham Duffy, Salamander Bait and Tackle 02 4982 0711

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The excellent fishing weather continued over the last week with light winds and low swells making conditions perfect for offshore angling. Many ventured outside fishing from Newcastle and Swansea with good catches reported. Those who bottom fished reported great numbers of just legal flathead and some teraglin from Stockton Bight and also the Redhead Bluff area as well as bream and squire. Those who trolled or drifted also caught good tailor, salmon and bonito. Mick Burke and Randall Hattox fished off Newcastle and wrestled yellowtail kingfish to 5kg and an 8kg mulloway using large whole squid.
Newcastle Harbour and the Hunter River continue to fish well for bream with many fish falling to pilchard pieces or mullet gut fed into a continuous berley trail. One exceptional catch was by Lyn Ellis, who landed a reported 2kg bream from near the Stockton boat ramp on chicken breast. Bream continue to fall for soft plastic lures with Craig Robinson and Alan McGinty catching a swag from the harbour over the weekend. Hairtail are also available with ganged pilchards the most successful of the baits and a wire trace essential.
Our beaches are also fishing well with flathead and bream on offer along with good numbers of salmon, tailor and some large dart. Keen Kotara angler Stephen King caught a large dart from Stockton this week. The tailor fishing can be frustrating with many anglers returning to an area that fished well the day before and then not turning a scale. Good numbers of pipis are available from both Stockton and Blacksmiths beaches (remember, limit 50 and you’re not allowed to take them away from the beach).
Bass fishing continues to be productive with the Paterson, Hunter and Williams rivers still firing. Surface fishing the timbered areas in the early mornings or late afternoons or spinnerbaiting the deeper spots is getting good results. Scott Sloan visited Lake St Clair and Glenbawn and caught good numbers of bass on soft plastics and bibless minnows.
Last weekend saw 97 anglers compete in the first round of the NSW Pro Bream on the Hawkesbury River with over 280 legal bream presented to the weighmaster for later release. Congratulations goes Mark Mate from Narara who collected first prize with a five-fish bag of 4.35kg and the largest fish of 1.46kg. Also well done to the six anglers from Team Tacklepower who are in second place in the Club Championships after the first round.

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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Estuary: Brisbane Water pretty quiet with the good bream and the large flathead tapering off. Good blackfish in Davistown Channel but green weed of quality is hard to find so far. In broken Bay around Lion Island there are good greenback tailor but they’re on the bottom – sound out a school and drop pillies to them. Pittwater boat moorings for kingfish on squid baits. Boats going up the Hawkesbury this weekend should find the best fishing around Spencer for bream on nippers on a falling tide.
Offshore pretty quiet with the reefs south of Broken Bay the best for snapper, mowies and small kingfish. Wide Grounds off Terrigal for mahi mahi around the traps.
Beaches: Basically just salmon and tailor with quite a few around and the annual mullet run has started. There should be some decent jewfish following the schools.

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

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Johnny on The Spot is who you need to be at this time of year with fishing locations firing one day and donuts the next. Mahi mahi have moved in to local marker buoys, they are between 1-3kg on average with larger models being sighted down deeper but refusing any bait or lures. Most captured fish have been on live yakkas and slimies; the excessive boat traffic around these venues (particularly on weekends) makes Pitt Street look like a laneway and most of these FADs fish much better towards the end of each week. James Thackeray aboard Black Pete hooked a solid yellowfin of 70kg+ during the week. This fish was soon accompanied by an equivalent-sized mate.
Closer to home, Sydney Harbour had a chopper tailor invasion closely followed by john dory with one customer capturing five in a five-hour trip, live yakkas and slimies too irresistible for these delectably ugly fish. Bonito are around North Head on lures, fly and baits with Rob Jenkins hooking 10 fish, all on fly and in the rain. Plenty of bait with yakkas and slimies at most bait grounds and the ever-popular squid are still hitting jigs but seem to be hard to locate at times.
Visiting sharks have been scoffing big beach baits intended for mulloway in the surf; some XOS tailor have been caught from Narrabeen and Dee Why with pillies and gang hooks the norm. Dee Why surf club and Curly Beach have had good bream reports in the washes and gutters. Most fish are well above average size and beach worms have been a popular enticer.
Pete Le Blang of Harbour and Estuary Charters reports West Head as his recommended squid location but not always firing, like many spots at this time of the season. Big sea mullet and many small chopper tailor have moved in and around Portuguese Bay. This activity has attracted the attention of some small bronzies so look for the surface commotion. Plenty of leatherjackets taking prawns around most weed beds.

Darren Thomas
Fish Outta Water 9949 9488
fishon@uunet.com.au

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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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NSWFM local writer Dean Dawson caught 10kg and 20kg jewies off Durras on Thursday. A 14-year old caught 13 top bream to 1.4kg on fresh prawns on Thursday around the wharf. Flathead to 5.5kg caught in the river. I also caught some nice size bream up the river the other day, so they’re there.
Beaches: Usual salmon and tailor with some good snapper coming in from the beaches and headlands.

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

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Estuary: Inlet fishing well for big flathead in the main lake in deeper water, good bream around and enough of them to have fun. Plenty of tailor also in the main lake on trolled lures. Jewies also going quite well, mainly morning and afternoon.
Beaches: Plenty of salmon but the tailor have tapered off. Nice bream off the rocks and where rocks join the sand.
Offshore: Island fishing well for snapper and kings one day and the next the water turns a bit milky and they go off a bit – hard to pick. A few charter boats tagged marlin on Thursday. Water around 22° offshore and in the estuary, so should fish well for a while yet.

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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