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: Not much happening this week, seas have been a bit too rough to fish it.
Rock and Beach: A few chopper tailor have been taken off the beach in front of the surf club, bream and whiting along North Beach, but again the seas and wind are making this difficult.
River: Good numbers of blackfish have been getting caught on most of the rock spurs in the river. Bream starting to bite towards the mouth of the river, should improve.

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

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle 02 66 857 133

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Bruce at Dave’s Bait Shop says things remain a little quiet due to the clear conditions but still some bream and flatties to be had along with a lot of school jew to Wardell and above. Blackfish are going great guns with plenty of bag limits. A few bream along the walls and around the beaches along with a few good tailor. Outside there are some good reds on the close reefs and good mixed bags on the wider reefs.
The Evans Head Classic is over for another year come Friday night with some quite good catches from the beaches and estuaries and great snapper offshore when conditions allowed. The Reef Science display tank had some big bream, bass, estuary perch, trevally, dart, blackfish, flathead over 4.5kg, a few small jewies and even the odd 4kg snapper. Now that it’s all over it’ll probably take a few days to settle down and with the promise of a low forming off the coast late in the weekend, it looks like being pretty quiet for a change.

Dave’s Bait Shop 02 6686 2481
&
Tony Zann

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

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

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Beaches: The cold currents have settled down the fish but a few nice jewies are turning up along the beach gutters. The dark of the moon and the late high tide should work well. Gutters also have plenty of salmon and the odd tailor and big bream.
Estuaries: Good luderick turning up with nice bream and the odd flathead thrown in. Things will improve further if we get some rain to add some fresh to the system. Leave home
Offshore: The odd snapper on the inshore reefs with the usual mixed bags but with the way the cold current is working, expect plenty of nannygai and green toads.

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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While the large seas reduced fishable options on the beaches for a few days, those who managed to locate a suitable gutter or hole were generally well rewarded. School jewfish catches increased noticeably with several fish snared during daylight hours. With better tides now upon us, throwing a worm around Lake Cathie, Rainbow or North Haven beaches would we well worth a go. Bream have also picked up, although beaches to the south around Diamond Head have seen the pick. Tailor remain solid and should improve now the seas have settled a bit, while plenty of salmon remain on offer.
On the rocks, tailor numbers remain reasonable although many popular ledges were out of order during the rough seas. Bream numbers are improving with Point Plommer and surrounds fishing well. again gave up some nice blackfish during the rough stuff, but the more exposed ledges will be the places to try when the swells subside. The next week or two could make or break the drummer season, with the period immediately following the first big seas of winter generally providing a good guide to how the season will be. Time to break out the serious gear, load up with abalone gut, cunjevoi and bread and hit the stones in search of these fantastic hard-fighting fish.
In the estuary, blackfish numbers have finally shown a big improvement, with good results achieved on both the walls, as well as in Limeburners and the Maria. Bream numbers are sound and should improve further, with this dark what many consider to be the premier period of the year for estuary breaming at night. Time to don the coat and beanie, arm yourself with plenty of mullet gut and brave the evening tides for best results. If cold nights on the water are not your scene, there are still some nice flathead over three kilos.
Outside reports have been a little quiet given the conditions but the leatherjackets are still thick, particularly beyond the 80-metre mark. Good results on snapper and pearl perch continue on the shallower reefs, with areas off Lake Cathie and Point Plommer well worth a go.

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

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Offshore: Last weekend’s blow kept everybody in port until the past few days. Yet to receive any reports from out wide but the reefs in close have fished well, particularly Blackhead. Pearl Perch have featured as a by-catch of those chasing reds and if they continue to move in closer, it won’t be long before someone catches one from the rocks. Commercial boats have again reported southern bluefin tuna on the shelf.
Beaches: A lot of sand was moved off the beaches last weekend as a result of the first big swell in months. Evening high tides early in the week provided some reasonable results for those after tailor. Beach fishing generally could be best described as average.
Rocks: Conditions last weekend were difficult and the results less than spectacular. The drummer were, for a change, a little quiet but the blackfish made up for this. Bream numbers are not what they were.
Estuary: Those big seas chased into the lake some of the bream and blackfish that have been sitting outside for the last month or two. As a result those chasing bream on lures have done well in areas within a kilometre or two of the bridge. While the water temperature in the lake is down to 16°, the flathead remain very active, particularly on soft plastics. Mulloway up to 20kg have been taken from the Tuncurry wall. One young guy using soft plastics has hooked, at last count, 19 mulloway in the last three weeks. His secret is using 6kg line. Suffice to say he hasn't landed every fish that’s been hooked.

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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The recent ban on fishing at night around our local power station outlets of Eraring, Vales Point and Lake Munmorah is being heavily enforced by crews of NSW Fisheries officers throughout last week. Officers were informing the large number of anglers of the new restrictions now in place. They prohibit any fishing from these locations between 6pm and 6am from May 1 to August 31 each year. With the fish numbers greatly increased in these areas during winter due to the appealing water temperatures the outlet at Eraring is producing a large number of bream, luderick and some very large tailor, with many mates this week catching personal-best fish well over 2kg on whole pilchards rigged on ganged hook rigs.
Newcastle Harbour continues to offer good fishing with many large bream falling to fresh prawn baits. Injured Newcastle Knights forward Daniel Abraham can’t stay out of his new flash boat and fished the structures of harbour through the week with mate Nigel for 20 good bream using fresh prawns rigged on jigheads used mainly for soft plastic fishing. Eric Wilson is also cleaning up on bream in the harbour using soft plastics and is catching a good number of school mulloway as well, with the Squidgy jelly prawn the most successful of the lures.
Reports from offshore are of good numbers of trevally and some nice squire, tailor and bream with Sandy Bottom Charters skipper Trevor Notley find good numbers of fish for his clients off Merewether last week. Others fishing deeper off Swansea are reporting kingfish, snapper and long-finned perch when their rigs can get past the pesky leatherjackets.
With the annual tackle trade show set for next month many new products are being released early with Lowrance offering a new map-capable hand-held GPS called the iFinder Pro, which retails from $390, and Daiwa releasing a new range of Procaster V IM7 graphite rods for bream, bass and snapper fishing in 1 piece 7 foot models retailing from $180.

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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Finally that bit of rain we’ve been waiting for has descended and hopefully will give the water a good stirring and ignite some of those aggressive fish.
Uncomfortable conditions greeted offshore fishos last weekend and reports were few. Some good tuna were still landed, the crew aboard Malolo landing two albacore and a 50kg yellowfin just inside Browns Mountain. Closer to shore, Long Reef has reds to 3kg for the bottom-bouncing brigade. Further north, just of the Valiant, Azza Mclean trolled up salmon and tailor to 2kg using Rapala Magnums. The salmon are spread right along the peninsula with most beaches holding them and tailor just behind the breakers.
With the big swell rolling in rock fishing was quiet. Paul Tierney found a dry ledge off Barrenjoey to soak some baits and pulled good bream and tailor from the wash and some nice whiting from down deeper. If you’re prepared to travel the results are imminent.
Due to overwhelming demand the Annual Fish Outta Water Shimano stock-take Sale is continuing till this Sunday 5pm. This sale has been incredibly busy and our biggest yet by far, with twice as many bargains as previous sales – hence the demand.

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

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Even though I haven’t fished Botany Bay in a week or so, reports indicate there is not a lot going on. The exceptions are luderick along the Port Botany wall and leatherjackets feeding at the bases of most of the markers and poles in the bay. There have also been a few tailor to just under a kilo being caught by anglers trolling the wall and the horseshoe in Yarra Bay. Even though there has not been a lot going on in the bay, you should take the time and get out there – maybe you will get onto a patch of squid.
Outside the salmon have been going off. Most metal lures to about 50 or 60 grams will do the job. There are also a number of yellowtail kingfish and bonito mixed in with them.
Last weekend I fished the Hawkesbury River and the Pittwater with Graham Paton and his son-in-law. We managed mulloway, bream, tarwhine, silver trevally and tailor – not bad considering the water was down to 11° in some places. We had success at The Vines, Bar Point, Flint and Steel and near the entrance to Careel Bay. Best baits were peeled Hawkesbury prawns, chicken in parmesan cheese, fresh Botany Bay squid and mullet strips.
There are still a number of large whiting cruising the sandbanks in Port Hacking and if you are after a feed of luderick you couldn’t go far wrong by fishing near the Ballast Heap, Deep Park and the eastern side of Gunnamatta Bay, not far from the NSW Fisheries.
The offshore guys are getting blue morwong, Chinaman leatherjackets, snapper, silver trevally, salmon, tailor and the odd bonito. Out wide they are getting a few good-sized yellowfin. If you troll out with Christmas trees you could come across striped tuna. Try stopping and start cubing with small pieces of pilchards or the striped tuna for yellowfin.
Fishing classes
Thee-night 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 Thursday nights for $80. Next one starts August 5. 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: Bream around Berkley harbour, Griffins Bay at Warrawong, Windang bridge and the lake entrance. Prawns, bloodworms and nippers best; fish the high tide and early run out. Blackfish in the southern back channel, Mt Warrigal and Mullet Creek headwaters for fish to 35cm. Green weed and squirtworms working. Whiting in the channel towards the entrance on live worms.
Beaches: East Corrimal, Wombara, South Shellharbour and Windang entrance the best spots. Fish the high tide for tailor on pilchards, bream on worms and salmon in the deeper gutters.
Rocks: Blackfish abundant at Barrack Point, Wollongong Harbour, Bellambi Point and Stanwell Park. Weed available at the shop. Salmon along most headlands and drummer on the southern sides of most headlands.
Offshore: Morwong improving with fish to 2.5kg, snapper in 40 fathoms and deeper biting on squid and fresh pillies. Flathead drifts worth a try include Towradgi sands and Rangoon Island.

Garth, Deans Bait and Tackle, Windang 4295 1615

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A lot of cold, clear water moved in last week, with visibility up to 15 metres making fishing quite difficult. Some recent big seas have made fishing quite difficult from the rocks or beaches bit if you can find a quiet corner there are plenty of co-operative salmon and some big drummer swimming around in the washes.
Snapper are still fishing well, especially if you can make it out after a big swell is beginning to settle. Local James Bunn headed out after the seas died down last week and scored a bag limit of snapper around 2kg - a good morning out.
Another fisho told me about a 7kg kingfish he caught wide of Broulee Island and his mate trolled up a couple of kings around 15kg a couple of days previously, so don't pack your live-baiting gear away just yet. I believe this could be the best time to get a hoodlum kingfish. The small rat kingies have packed their bags and are long gone, leaving us with just a few big stragglers.
We are still catching a few flathead off the beaches on lures although they have quietened off a little. But it will be only another five or six weeks before they will come back on the chew. Mind you, Noel Shepherd told me he saw the three biggest flathead he had ever seen while he was working on his oyster lease. I have heard similar things about Durras Lake and apparently the bream are on the move in Durras Lake as well.

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

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Not a lot happening.
Estuary is pretty quiet apart from some tailor and the odd jewfish.
Beaches for salmon, tailor and a few bream. Estuary temp 11°.
Offshore: Some good snapper at the island, water is quite chilly t 13°.

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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