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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Outside: Plenty of 1kg snapper being caught off The Local Reef. The odd pearl perch showing its head around. Apart from that, things are quiet.
Rock & Beach: More big jewies being caught; 23kg is the biggest so far this week, caught on North Beach. Some big tailor being caught but in no numbers yet, only one to three taken at a time. Good whiting at the surf club with the odd bream swimming through.
River: The flatties have slowly been tapering off but if you have blackfish gear or want to give it a go, now is the time with plenty of blackfish taken off all the walls on all tides. They seem to be mighty hungry and who knows how long it will last but it’s been going all week. There are even a few muddies being caught in the river when they should be in their holes sleeping.

Craig Wraight
BP Discount Fishing Tackle, Brunswick Heads
ausie_28_red@yahoo.com.au
Phone (02) 66851268

A bit quiet but a few tailor and an odd jew, but well down on last week. Still bait around the Belongil and Suffolk Park but not much going at it.

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle 02 66 857 133

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Bruce at Dave’s Bait Shop says there are a few flathead in the river biting on live herring and lures. Lighthouse Beach also has a few lizards. Tailor have gone a bit quiet apart from a few towards Boundary Creek to Broadwater and there’s the odd jewie from the walls and beaches. Just the odd good bream along with plenty of small ones in the river. Plenty of blackfish around the gap in the Porpoise Wall and on the Prospect Bridge approach over North Creek. Not a lot of boats going offshore with just the occasional catch of snapper and jew.
Not much in the way of offshore reports at Evans Head because of the wind but apparently a few boats have picked up snapper and trag. Garfish and bream in the river with the occasional blackfish along the walls in very clear water. Good whiting persist on Main Beach with a few bream and whiting on Airforce Beach. Tailor have gone a bit quiet around the Broadwater rocks.

Dave’s Bait Shop 02 6686 2481
&
Tony Zann

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

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There's a good lot of quality flathead right through the lower system. In the past week we have lifted two fish in the 3.5kg bracket on plastics while other anglers are getting good bags up near the Broadwater. These are consistent catches. The professionals netted a huge amount of mullet in the same area over the past week and I am told that there were many tubs of bream netted at the same time. Blackfish are very scarce, some smaller local fish in the system and that's all. Tailor around the rocks and beaches and some very good-sized keepers in the river as well. Not good for the plastics fishos.
There have been several quality jew taken by the keener night owls also in the past week. Plenty of bait offshore but the guys I spoke to didn't do all that well with the reef fish but there has to be something out there feeding on the bait. Bit surprised by the size of the white pillies that are in the lower estuary at the moment, keep an eye out for them being worked over by big bream and those tailor, it's worth it. We've been using a 75mm white Squidgy with success.

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

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Beach gutters alive with salmon, so thick you could walk on them. Some fish up to 4kg are providing sport if nothing else, although a few salmon recipes are starting to come in. Beaches also turning up reasonable tailor with the odd bream.
An excellent run of luderick now moving back into the estuaries with a few good sea-run bream mixed in. Flathead a little quiet, as expected when it’s chilly.
Offshore, windy conditions have curtailed a deal of activity but those who did make it out found very stray mackerel and good snapper, with one fish of 11.8kg weighed in.

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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On the beaches, at long last a few bream have begun to show up, albeit not as yet in the numbers many have come to expect at this time of year. Best results have been scored from beaches south of Port, however North Beach will be worth a throw in the coming weeks. Pipis and live worms have enjoyed better success than strip baits thus far. Tailor remain sporadic although those fishing the dawn session have been scoring some reasonable bags of fish to around a kilo. Evening sessions have yielded the odd larger specimen although the bite has generally not kicked in until almost dark. A few salmon are still being reported although the large school sighted a few weeks ago appears to have dispersed somewhat. A few school jew have also found their way up the sand, with beaches around Lake Cathie well worth a go.
Off the rocks, tailor remain reasonable but most bags have struggled to reach the weight of a whopping greenback scored by local Rob Atkins, who caught a massive 8.95kg (cleaned) greenback from Hat Head last weekend. Elsewhere off the stones, drummer have begun to pick up although most traditional haunts would benefit considerably from a big southerly blow. Bream remain a little quiet but should pick up with the cold stuff now kicking in. Good numbers blackfish are on offer for those willing to float a bit of cabbage.
In the estuary, bream numbers in the lower reaches have begun to pick up, with the Coal Wall and surrounds fishing quite well. The fish remain a little finicky but light lines and patience during to darker hours will produce results. Blackfish remain patchy, much to the disgust of local enthusiasts, but the fish are there in good numbers. Flathead numbers remain excellent for this time year, as too the quality, with whitebait proving the bait of choice. Rumour also has it some diehard crabbers can’t wipe the smiles from their faces, which is certainly an unexpected bonus for this time of year.
Offshore action during the past week has been a little hampered by the strong westerlies, but bottom-bashers have been rewarded with some excellent catches of pearl perch to over 5kg as well as plenty of snapper, morwong and a few solid kings. The big leatherjackets have also arrived on cue, with one Laurieton angler boating five fish around 3kg. The mahi mahi appear to have shut down after a great extended run this year.

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

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Offshore: If you're planning a trip outside be prepared to encounter leatherjackets galore. You might not catch much but you'll lose plenty of gear to bite-offs from these pesky little buggers. I'm told there are lots of small kingfish (and leatherjackets ) at The Pinnacle and a few small reds on the bottom. Those who have ventured north to reefs that have fished well over the last few weeks tell me that the action has slowed. If the forecast for this weekend is correct and the westerly wind blows, a trip to Latitude Rock seems the only option for those who must go to sea.
Beaches: A late afternoon fish on a rising tide seems the go this weekend. Seven Mile beach has produced some nice bream for those using pipis as bait. Tailor are on offer but the big ones are hard to come by. Mulloway after dark have been a feature of the local fishing scene.
Rocks: Once again the rocks have provided the stand-out fishing over the last week. Drummer, bream and the best of the tailor have been reported up and down our section of coast.
Estuary: Mulloway have again been active from both sides of the main channel. Soft plastics accounted for more than their fair share. Blackfish numbers in the lake are low and local green weed almost impossible to find. Bream have been caught in good numbers by those bait fishing.

Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 02 6554 9541

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Estuary: Bream schooling up at the Boulders and Barnes Rock. A few sand whiting on Shoal Bay Beach. Stack of blackfish on the wall and Tomaree Tubes. Bream on the Co-Op Wall with a few school jew. Flathead in the upper reaches of Karuah and Tilligerry and in the Myall up around Tamboy.
Beaches: Stockton for plenty of bream around the Huts to the Wreck. Acres of salmon. Good tailor late arvo. Good bream on One Mile and Samurai. Tailor on the front beaches, Zenith, Box, Wreck.
Rocks: Good run of snapper off the rocks around Fisherman, Cemetery, Boat Harbour. Pigs off Big Rocky, Boulder Bay, Fingal Point. Plenty of tailor on One Mile, Sunny Corner.
Offshore: Good snapper in the washes at the islands, Fingal, Broughton. Snapper to 10kg off the Sisters. Good run of jew on The 21, The V , The Tank. Plenty of tailor on the troll around Tomaree, Cabbage Tree. Salmon everywhere.

Graham Duffy, Salamander Bait and Tackle 02 4982 0711

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Westerly winds reached gale force last weekend, hampering most boat fishing. Dangerous small boating conditions on the Saturday were encountered on Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens as well as Lake St Clair and Glenbawn Dam. The upside of the windy weather was the low sea conditions inshore allowed rock anglers safe areas to fish for the abundant winter species available.
Good numbers of tailor ,silver trevally and salmon are being caught from the southern rock platforms with Catherine Hill Bay, Wybung Head and Snapper Rocks producing great fish on whole ganged pilchards or small metal Raider-type lures. Redhead rocks produced tailor, drummer and a few groper but the bigger drummer are coming from the Boat Harbour area of Port Stephens. Make sure to take a good supply of hooks and small sinkers when targeting drummer and groper as the bigger fish brick you in the rocks all too often. Stockton Beach has seen tailor and salmon action with keen fishos Stephen and Mitchell King landing a few salmon while father Michael caught some good tailor.
Brothers Greg and David McMorrow of the Royal Crown Hotel Fishing Club braved the bitter cold to spend the weekend at Lake St Clair with Greg catching the only fish but a potential club record Australian Bass of 50cm on a live yabby.
Congratulations goes to local tournament anglers Matthew Kelly and Dominic Leib, who both performed well in last weekend’s round of the ABT BREAM series on the Clarence River at Yamba. Both were overnight leaders in their divisions after the first day’s fishing and both secured third placings overall with Matt receiving a $1000 cheque and Dominic a prize pack. Both qualified for the grand final at Foster.
Anglers pre-fishing for this weekend`s round of the NSW Pro Bream report good numbers available from the oyster leases with the tip being to use your hard-bodied lures over the tops of the leases at high tide. Fishing commences on the Saturday morning from the Soldiers Point Marina with a briefing from 7pm on the Friday evening. For more information contact Chris Craig on 02 4973 3373.
Due to public concern over conditions encountered at the Carrington boat ramp, a public meeting has been arranged for Monday, June 28 at 4.30pm with representatives of Newcastle Council and the Waterways. This meeting will be held at the Carrington Community Hall (RTA end of Young Street) and all users are encouraged to attend to express their opinions or ask questions.
This week`s decision by NSW Fisheries to limit the fishing times at the hot-water outlets of our local power stations will not please all who fish these areas but comes due to a minority of anglers continually breaking the generous size and bag limits set down for all recreational fishers.

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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Winter has finally arrived with cold clear nights and crisp mornings greeting fishos.
Reports are patchy with not a lot of action on the water, the estuaries are still gin-clear and we are all still waiting for some rain. The bream have continued to bite down in the Hawkesbury River but only on the dark of the moon. Lure fishos are doing well around the oyster leases on the rising tides, and the bait anglers are also scoring well up around The Vines and Milson Island on the run out tide. There are plenty of tailor in the main river but most are just size.
Kingfish have started to move down into Pittwater chasing the bait schools. These brutes show up every year but to catch them you will have to beef up your tackle. Fishing live baits around the boat moorings is a good place to start. Live yellowtail or a live squid should do the trick.
Offshore the fishing has been slow with the reefs south of Broken Bay producing the better catches. Snapper, morwong, tailor, and salmon have been the main species caught but not in big numbers. If you’re heading out to sea this weekend watch out for the pods of whales heading north. There have been a few near misses this week.
Rock fishos have scoring some quality tailor and salmon from the well-fished rock platforms. The best catches have come just on dusk with pilchard baits taking most fish. One lucky visiting angler also scored himself a 23kg jewfish while he was fishing for tailor off Avoca Point last week.

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

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Bob Sankey with a 43cm (750g cleaned) whiting and a 950g tarwhine hooked in the wash at Dee Why.

Southerly to south-westerly breezes kept plenty of floating fishos land-based last weekend with some near-cyclonic gusts on Saturday morning reported up to 65kmh. Conditions weren’t exactly what you would term comfortable.
Very flat water around the edges gave rock fishos accessibility to some washes for good species and sizes. Drummer have quietened down somewhat off many coastal ledges but are still quite keen in the Harbour and are being berleyed and caught regularly around Manly’s inner rocks. Plenty of tailor are being spun and trolled up inside with Mitchell Creary bagging out off Dobroyd Point using lures. Middle Harbour through to North Head has salmon and trevally in deeper water while Sow and Pigs reef is holding plenty of luderick. Cabbage weed and plenty of finely ground berley are essential to catching these guys. Big blue-nose bream are on the bite west of The Spit Bridge. Fish Outta Water staff member Ryan West used soft plastics for these guys and a couple of good sized choppers.
Pittwater still has schools of salmon, kings and tailor busting up but the kings are looking and quite boat-shy. Pete from Harbour and Estuary Charters hooked quality tailor fishing the front wash at Barrenjoey and school mulloway between Scotland Island and Long Nose Point. Good numbers of john dory are visible at the mouth of McCarrs Creek and bream are worth a shot but only if you berley – Pete’s motto is if you don’t berley then don’t bother and this is so true.

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

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Joel Western fished Middle Harbour with his father earlier in the week for 12 leatherjackets, four flathead, five tailor and a kingfish that took a peeled prawn meant for the leatherjackets. Tunks Park Ramp is worth a try just on dark for bream and luderick.
The Spit Bridge is still producing some very good bags of luderick on the run-out tide. Try the rocky shoreline on the north-eastern side of the bridge. There are also a number of squid being caught on orange and blue squid jigs. Try drifting between the moored boats or work the shore off the southern end of the marina at the bridge.
If you are on foot you could try working the shoreline upstream of the Roseville Bridge. There have been a few mulloway, flathead and bream being caught on both lures and bait.
Clark Island in Sydney Harbour is a good place to pick up some live bait. Squid and yellowtail are there in abundance. Make sure that you berley. The wharf at Rose Bay is worth a try at night for squid. Peter Watson caught five squid in 20 minutes, one of which was 45cm long.
Bream and silver trevally are just about everywhere in Botany Bay. All you need to do is anchor near structure, lay out a berley trail and fish as light as the current will allow. It shouldn’t take long before the fish are in your berley trail. There are also plenty of leatherjackets feeding off the marker poles in the bay.
Further south at Garie beach there are salmon, tailor and the odd bream being caught off the beach and the rocks. Whole or half pilchards are doing the job.
Fishing classes
Classes at Mako Tackle on how, where and when to fish the waterways of Sydney from the shore and boats will run for three consecutive Tuesday nights for $80. Email me at gbrown1@iprimus.com.au or phone 0422 994 207 or next time you are passing the shop come in and book.

Mako Tackle
Gary Brown / Greg Mercedes 9600 6999

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Lake: Good blackfish in the channel on the southern side of the bridge with squirt worms from Oaklands van park working on them as well as the weed. Good bream between the islands on chook gut and soft plastics. Mullet Creek and Macquarie Rivulet for bream on bloodworm-coloured soft plastics.
Beaches, rocks: Tailor and salmon on pillies and slices on Windang Beach close to the island. Groper on the island on red crabs. A couple of bonito down around Black Head at Gerringong. The odd bream and drummer around Bass Point but it’s very clear.
Offshore: Stay in close because it’s blowy. Some good bream in the washes. Jew to 22kg in Port Kembla Harbour on live bait.

Garth, Deans Bait and Tackle, Windang 4295 1615

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Snapper are abundant with the boaties scoring reds consistently above 5kg with the odd bigger fish. One of the charter boat operators was in the shop on Thursday and told me he had also been catching a few gummy sharks with the reds.
There have been regular catches of reds from the rocks. The last few trips I’ve made there has been at least one snapper landed and I think with only one hour of fishing time up my sleeve, I reckon this has been pretty good going. Also there have been some salmon to 2kg, tailor to 1.5kg, plenty of trevally and some horse bream.
Pigs and blackfish are also going well at the moment with the boys scoring pigs over 3kg. Shane Woolridge called in to show a phone photo of the pig he caught on his new rod, bought the day before. The fish looked every bit of 3kg.Shane’s brother, Brett’s, bream must have been over a kilo. Shane and Brett also managed what looked like an estuary cod, which they released. These fish are protected in NSW.
We are having a 30% off sale until June 30 so come in and check it out.

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

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Outside: Water has cooled down with no reports from out wide. Water is down to 14.5° ands the kings have gone quiet. Little leatherjackets have died out in big numbers. Bottom fishing for snapper and mowies with some small makos still around.
Rocks for salmon, tailor and good drummer.
Beaches: Salmon and tailor OK.
Estuaries: Still plenty of tailor around but the cold, clear water has hammered pretty much everything else. They’re just laying low. Bega River has some nice bream to 41cm on plastics, according to Stu Hindson.

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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