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

Top

Outside: Been catching snapper & parrot fish local reefs.

Rock & beach: Good size tailor on local beaches. Chopper tailor around seagauls rock. Bream south beach. Tailor & Bream south wall. Blackfish south wall.

River: Black Fish on all the river walls bream around boat harbour & whiting up river near Williams hut, jewfish up the river towards Mullumbimby. Flathead around island past ferry reserve caravan park.

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

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle (02) 6685 7133

Top

This week there have been quite a few bream taken in the lower reaches of the river, however their size has been down a little. It might be time to turn your attention to whiting and flathead as these appear to be on the increase.
The blackfish appear to be having a new run around the ferry stop.

Before this little bit of a blow which has picked up we were getting tailor from south beach, however since the swells are on the rise it might be worth while swimming a few lures around the headlands to get a few jew.

Outside: Nothing doing

Dave’s Bait Shop (02) 6686 2481
&
Tony Zann

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

Top

Glen Porter,
The Bait Place (02) 6646 2017
ports@reeltime.com.au

Top

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

Top

Mark and Denise Bird and Paul and Michelle Martin
Rocks Marine Bait and Tackle 6566 6726
rocksmarine@dodo.com.au

Top

On the beaches, salmon remain common, and if anything the quantity and quality has improved even further. Tailor numbers too have picked up after a quiet period of a few weeks, although in general they remain a little hit and miss. Bream remain quite reasonable whilst the odd school jew has been snared from around Lake Cathie and on North Beach. Local gun Bert Hayes however managed another good jew from down south just above schoolie size, with his fish pulling the scales down to nearly 30 kilos. That’s a top fish in anyone’s language.

Off the rocks, drummer numbers remain reasonably consistent with the odd few fish on offer for those willing to put in the time. Most local ledges are producing however the key as always is to be prepared to be mobile, and of course burlying heavily. Blackfish numbers however are on the improve, with some bumper specimens being snared both locally, and around Point Perpendicular. Tailor numbers remain reasonable with the odd bumper specimen about. A few groper around too for those prepared to toss a few crabs in and hang on.

In the estuary, flathead are the big improvers, with excellent catch rates across the board being reported each week. Whitebait and frogmouth pilchards have been the pick of the baits, whilst those throwing soft plastics, have also enjoyed considerable success. Gone are the days when flatties were considered a summer time species, with recent years, and perhaps enhanced lure techniques, confirming this species as a genuine year round proposition. Bream numbers are somewhat shy and not expected to improve in the short term, unless of course we get some decent rain and a bit of colour back into the river. On the blackfish front however, both walls continue to fish well, whilst Limeburners and the Maria have also produced some quality bags. On the crab front, the blue swimmers just keep on keeping on, so forget about seasonal traditions and get the dillies out if a feed of crabs is desired.

Outside reports have been quite interesting, with the jackets as quick as ever once again, particularly around the 80 meter mark. Boats fishing closer however report good numbers of snapper as well as pearl perch, with the number of pearlies taken from less than 30 meters of water now better than anyone can recall. One local boat also managed a couple of nice long fin perch of around 3 kilos, unusual but most welcome captures around these parts. The NSW Fisheries FAD, or should I say interim FAD, is also continuing to produce dolphin fish however with water temperature fluctuating between 19 and 21 degrees, results have been a little hit and miss.

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

Top

Offshore - A few boats have fished close in reefs with mixed results. Latitude Rock, Blackhead Reefs and wider to Five Mile have all been visited and produced Snapper, Morwong and assorted rubbish. Few boats have fished out wide and reports of Yellowfin are few and far between.

Beaches - Have I said this before! The beach fishing situation remains average at best unless Salmon are your target species.

Rocks - Blackfish, Drummer and a few Bream and Tailor are on offer. Rocks at the southern end of One Mile Beach are as good as any when it comes to Tailor. Blackfish have been reported from Cape Hawke, Janny's Corner, Booti, Boomerang and Blueys, as have Drummer. Spearfishos continue to report schools of Bream moving up the coast.

Estuary - The Mulloway have been a little quiet. Large schools of Whitebait in the main channel continue to see quality Tailor being caught from the Tuncurry Wall opposite the caravan park. Blackfish remain common although those fishing from boats are doing far better than those who have sat on the same rock for years and developed tunnel vision. Water temp. remains in the 18 degree range and Flathead aren't difficult to find. Lots of ABT Grand Final qualifiers are fishing the lake hoping no one sees them, but a real trend is developing with where the Bream are being caught! Can't say too much........yet!

Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 02 6554 9541

Top

Graham Duffy, Salamander Bait and Tackle 02 4982 0711

Top

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

Top

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

Top

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

Top

The mild stirring received during our most recent rains have various bait species on the move and chasing a feed. Visual signs of increasing appetites are obvious to regular fishos, after nearly 2 months of dormant activity in moves whitebait, yakkas, arrow squid, big eastern calamari and over sized cuttlefish back to there local haunts inside the harbour and along the stones.
Offshore fishing continues to surprise with more yellowfin encountered east of Browns Mountain. Mick Lyons of Allie Hunter Charters jigged the 12 Mile for good size and numbers of fish including mowies, flatties and some very healthy leatherjackets to 65cm and no shortage of them, with all the carnivorous sets of razors sharps getting about – wire becomes an absolute necessity. After hearing a yellowfin report out wide of Browns Mick ran the extra 15 mile out for a shot at em, Sydney game skipper Steve aboard “Angry” reported 3 fins onboard to 30kgs, upon arrival a good fish hooked up and ran hard spitting the hooks soon after. The ensuing tide change soon had these hi-speed eaters vacating the area and the guys turned for home, not bad days fishing…..almost a perfect reef trip.
Sydney Harbour bait species came alive with much more bait moving into the shallows. Chris Tudehope fished Manly for trevally and nearly managed a flounder on a squid jig, its purpose for attacking the prawn style lure was its mistaken identity for a whitebait which had a breakaway school had escaped from. The current salmon reserves and temps moved into manly earlier this week bringing all sorts of squid and fish within range. Des from Hookem Cookem reports the schooling salmon have been as far west as Clifton Gardens and at times small choppers are leading the pack; North Head (inside) and Bluefish Point has em in the wash and small rat kings are knocking off any trev intended strip baits on 3kg but are refusing any heavier line classes. Plenty of yakkas wide of Balmoral Island and so too is Manly Point a popular spot. Middle harbour and the Spit are holding more fishos than fish with plenty of boats working the area for minimal results, one could assume an over abundance of squid in the area.
Last Thursday nights Fish ‘n’ Tips talk by Alex Bellissimo was a great success, thanks Al. This week Matthew Clarke-Bruce from Topspin Sportfishing Charters is going to hand over some if his hard earned knowledge about Sydney Harbour soft-plastics from bream to mulloway, where and when. Bookings can be made on 99499488 or email fishon@fishing.net.au, talk starts at 6pm in-store and once again there is NO CHARGE for the evening – just book ASAP to get a spot. To find out more about upcoming talks and events check out the forum at www.fishouttawater.com.au/forum.

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

Top

The bit of rain we have been experiencing over night has definitely put the fish in both the Georges and Woronora Rivers on the chew. Bream, dusky flathead and luderick are being caught off the shore from Picnic Point to the Alford’s Point Bridge.

Luderick, mullet and garfish are worth targeting at Chipping Norton, all of which are great bait for jewfish, bream and dusky flathead.

Botany Bay is still producing very good catches of silver trevally with a few bream mixed in with them. Make sure that you anchor and get a good berley trail going. Fish as light as the conditions will allow. The dusky flathead scene in the bay has been very slow over the past month, but as the temperature increases so will the activity of the flathead. So don’t forget to take out those soft plastics and give it a go for an hour or so.

Robert Timbs fished off the end of the Audley Weir earlier in the week a caught two Australian Bass. Both were caught on garden worms.

Jibbon Point is worth a try for salmon, tailor, bream and silver trevally. Even though there is a bit of a walk out to the point it is usually worth effort.

A few of the local anglers who have been fishing off Garie Beach have been getting good numbers of Australian salmon with the odd tailor or two mixed in with them. WA pilchards and garfish on a set of ganged hooks with a number two ball sinker that is right down on the hook should do the trick.

The Coalcliff rock platform is worth a try for bream and drummer. The northern side has been producing the larger fish. You could also try the small reef that is situated in the middle of the beach for snapper, bream and the odd jewfish. There has also been a number of sand whiting caught at this spot as well. Beach or blood worms are the best bait. You could also try using pink nippers.

What’s on?
For the dates of the next fishing class on … “How, Where and When to fish the waterways of Sydney from both the shore and the boat,” you will need to either call into the shop and ask Greg or you could contact on 0422 994 207 and book in, or maybe the next time you are passing the shop you could go in and book in for the class. The class will cover every thing you need to know to get you amongst a few more fish. The cost for three nights is $80 per person. The areas that I cover in these classes are the Port Hacking, Georges, Woronora, Parramatta, Lane and Iron Cove and the Hawkesbury Rivers, Middle and Sydney Harbours, the northern and southern beaches, as well as the Pittwater.

Mako Tackle
Gary Brown / Greg Mercedes 9600 6999

Top

Garth, Deans Bait and Tackle, Windang 4295 1615

Top

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

Top

Estuary: Things are starting to fire up. The bait has moved back into the river and the fish seem to have woken up. Just today there have been two jew captures (one 30lb the other 15 kg). There have been several flatties caught but these are still a little scarce. Tailor and bream are throughout the river, however the bream are real spooky in the gin clear water. What we need is a little rain to open things up a bit and get the water a little dirty.

On the beach front there has been good catches of both salmon and tailor

Outside: At the island there has been good captures of snapper and kingfish. While wider out yellowfin and albacore have been coming to the boat.

Darryl, The Ocean Hut (02) 4476 2278

Top

Darren Redman and Mark Rose,
Bermagui Ocean Hut and Charter Booking Service, (02) 6493 4688

Top