Fishing Monthly - Latest Fishing Reports - Updated Weekly

Fishing Monthly - Latest Fishing Reports - Updated Weekly

These reports are updated weekly.
Last Edited: Friday, 22 October 2004

Quick Jump Links:
Byron Bay, Ballina, Yamba, Coffs Harbour.
South West Rocks, Port Macquarie,
Forster, Port Stephens, Hunter Area,
Newcastle, Central Coast, Sydney Northern.
Sydney Southern, Wollongong,
Batemans Bay, Narooma, Bermagui.
Archived Reports, Weather & Tides.

COMPILED WEEKLY BY TONY ZANN IN EVANS HEAD:
e-mail: t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

Tweed Heads

River: River discoloured but not muddy. The fresh has stirred up some nice flathead around the mouth with some good bream there as well. Whiting probably as far up as Seagulls and Chinderah, and maybe the Piggery on the high tide. Get the crab pots out! Muddies will be moving and there were some sand crabs before the rain.

Offshore: A couple of the boys have gone out today, the first offshore trips this week. There were some nice snapper starting in close before the storms. A few cobia and the odd spotty at Palm Beach.

Beaches: There were salmon and tailor and the odd school jew around Cabarita/Hastings Point in the good hole there.

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

Brunswick Heads

Outside: Not much to report. The Brunswick bar is too rough to go out.

Rock and beach: With the seas big, try for tailor on South Beach. Bream inside South Wall, jewfish North Wall.

River: Bream and blackfish around the boat harbor, the rest of the river very quiet due to too much fresh water.

Joe
BP Discount Fishing Tackle Brunswick Heads (02) 66851268
brunswick-fishing@netspace.net.au

Byron Bay

Nothing much happening but the seas have been pretty wild. Should settle down this weekend. Water is dark green and cold.

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle (02) 6685 7133

Ballina

Just local runoff at this stage but the fishing has improved a little. Flatties and whiting have been alright down the bottom end with the odd bream around the walls and washes in the town reach. Hering are plentiful so plenty of live bait for school jew from the ferry to Wardell bridge, with soft plastics also working. The crabs should also be on the march after the rain.
Beaches: Whiting along most beaches with a few flathead around the river mouth. Jewfish have been on around the walls on lures and live bait.
No outside report.

Pretty boisterous conditions at Evans Head but the swell is dropping a little. Bar may be OK by Sunday but don’t bet on it. Funnily enough, no one has been out this week. A few blackfish and bream around the walls along with the odd decent flathead, while some of the beach holes have been fishable on the high tide for whiting and bream.

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

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

Yamba

NO REPORT

Paul Kneller
Big River Bait and Tackle, Maclean (02) 6645 1834

Coffs Harbour

Wow! What a storm! And there’s a huge fresh in all the systems with prawns and baitfish pushed to sea. Mouths of the estuaries will turn up excellent jewfish and even snapper after this. Live baits and soft plastics are the way to go.

Beach gutters adjacent to estuary mouths also will fish well for bream and jewfish.

Offshore, conditions have hardly been conducive to dangling a line but as the sea abates and anglers get offshore this weekend they should find a lot of activity on the inshore reefs, especially those close to estuary mouths.

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

South West Rocks

Well, we all prayed for rain and rain it did, in bucketfuls. It will only improve the fishing around the place once the run-out tide slows down with all the fresh.

There is not a great deal to report this week because of the wild and woolly conditions that have made it very unpleasant to be on the water. But, as always, there are the very keen fishermen that will wet a line in any conditions in search of the big ones. Jewfish are on the bite along the river wall and it’s those keen fishos who hooked up.

Col Rowsell hooked a 18kg (cleaned) jewie off the wall and Bob Laws landed a 13kg jew drifting the wall. I have had reports of soapy jew off the sand spit at the end of the wall using worms. A Kempsey fellow hooked a jewfish that went about 22kg. The prime bait has been live pike or squid. There have also been monster flathead in the river. While drifting the wall Ben Jarvis picked up a number of lizards around 5kg, releasing all but one. There were still salmon around before the dirty water arrived, mainly at the opening of the river. This fresh will only have positive effects on our river.

The beaches have been impossible to fish but before the wet they were catching bream and salmon with the occasional whiting. Hopefully the big seas have created some nice holes along the beach. Bream have been caught at the creek entrance. If you are heading down to Gap Beach, check the 4WD tracks down to the beach after the rain.

Fishing outside early in the week before the big seas was a little slow. Kingfish were at Fish Rock in small numbers. There were a few reds and pearl perch north of Grassy Head but reports were that you had to work hard for them.

These wet days it might be a good time to service your rods and reels, take advantage of our reel service and rod repair facilities and if it is time to change your line, we can bulk spool your reels with quality line. Don’t forget to check your safety gear.

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

Port Macquarie

No report – probably still mopping out the shop!

Jason and Virginia Isaac, Ned Kelly’s Bait and Tackle 6583 8318

cjisaac@ozemail.com.au

Forster

Offshore/rocks/beach: Seas have been huge! No one fishing.
Estuary: Lakes in flood! Maybe try the walls for mulloway.

Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 02 6554 9541

Port Stephens

Seas are down a bit and the showers are easing. Hopefully the weekend will be OK.

Estuary: Trumpeter whiting still going great guns everywhere. Mid crabs and blue swimmers coming on. Flathead in the upper reaches, Tilligerry and Karuah. Bream around the Nelson Bay Marina and Anchorage walls.

Rocks: After the stir-up things should b3e good for drummer, squire and groper.

Beaches: School jew, bream and whiting on Stockton.

Outside: Not much going this week but there should be yellowfin on the shelf. In close try for snapper and kingies around.
Broughton, trag on Big Gibber. Bream and squire in the washes around the islands.

Graham Duffy, Salamander Bait and Tackle 02 4982 0711

Hunter Area

NO REPORT

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

Newcastle

What a great week we've had! We all needed the rain and I'm sure you'll agree coming into summer it's comforting to know that our dams are full and the ground around us is moist. Secondly, these conditions are absolutely terrific for our fish stocks because the adverse weather creates a feeding pattern and also provides them an opportunity to be in our waterways uninhibited by us fishos. These conditions apply to all species of fish. The worst part about this is that we can lose track of where the fish are biting. If you can judge where the fish will be after the blow then your chances are increased.

Where to fish:
Lake Macquarie: Salts Bay for bream and whiting (plenty caught there this week). Valentine on the shore for bream and snapper. Marks Point drop-over for tailor and flathead (fishos bagged out there last weekend on tailor). Swan Bay for bream and flathead.
Offshore: The shelf and canyons for yellowfin and albacore. Redhead close for morwong, snapper, kingfish and tailor. Fish early and close with floating pilchards/prawns. Big Ben off Newcastle for snapper (early mornings and close with floating pilchards). The 48-fathom mark off Newcastle for snapper and tarwhine.
Newcastle Harbour: Give it miss – too murky.

The NSW Fisheries FAD program this year includes a FAD placement at the Inner Farm area off Swansea. The department this week informed me that the FAD was placed two weeks ago but the float section had been cut off a short time later. The float section was found on Forresters Beach last week. It will be replaced in the upcoming weeks. The department also requests all persons report fish captures to them as this adds to their scientific studies, catch rates and viability of the FAD program. This reporting mechanism is available on line at www.fisheries.nsw.gov.au.

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

Central Coast

Hardly anyone caught a fish this week but you’d have to be mad to have gone out most of the time. I spoke to Greg Joyes of Calmwater charters this week and he says it’s been a horrible run for jewfish for a few weeks. Maybe this fresh might do some good. However, someone spun up a 10kg jew on a big gold Bomber under the Gosford rail bridge and was busted up on another.

There were a few estuary perch caught under the Punt Bridge and also the road bridge up towards Gosford on soft plastics. A few flathead under the wharves in Brisbane Water. Offshore charter boats haven’t been out because of the weather.

Aaron

Freddys Fishing World (02) 4367 5555
Shop 1/ 229 The Entrance Rd Erina

Sydney Northern

NO REPORT

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

Sydney Southern

Over the past week we have had a big dump of rain on the Sydney area, and hasn't it been great to see. Well, maybe not for those who have to work outside or hang the washing out, but the fish are just loving it. My suggestion would be to concentrate your effort to the lower parts of the Georges River, near the middle of Botany Bay and towards the entrance and down at the lower parts of Port Hacking. There have been a few very good reports of tailor, salmon and the odd bonito working along the edge of the clear water in the bay. This clear water edge will change as the tide goes up and down.

Bream have been biting on chicken and mullet gut at the entrance to the Cooks River and Woolooware Bay. Port Hacking is producing bream off the sand spit at Dee an on the run-out tide and the runout tide will see tailor start to school up at the edge of the clearer water.

If you are going to fish in the middle parts of the river I would suggest that you get yourself some chicken or mullet gut, strips of mullet or tuna and you will be in with a big chance.

If you are going to fish off the rocks you will need to pick a quiet back corner as the seas are well and truly up and it would be very dangerous on the rocks. Maybe you could try fishing off the beach where the sand meets the rocks. Places to try are the north end of Garie and Stanwell Park beaches, just out from the surf life saving club at Coalcliff and the Alley at Cronulla. It would also be a very good time to chase jewfish off the
beach.

Bald Face Point in the Georges River would be a good place to start if you are going to chase either mulloway or bream. I would try the run-up tide. Classes at Mako Tackle on how, where and when to fish the waterways of Sydney from the shore and boats will run for three 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

Wollongong

Still raining but that’s good.

Lake: Good flathead on plastics and prawns near the entrance. A few bream over Mt Warrigal way at Boonera point. Kanahooka also has some nice flathead on bloodworm-coloured Squidgies just one bay in from the Tallawarra power station.

Beaches: Plenty of salmon on metal lures but the swell is huge. Forget the rock fishing!

Outside fishing has been a write-off but small snapper will be around Wollongong Reef and the Church Grounds once the boats get back out.

Garth, Deans Bait and Tackle, Windang 4295 1615

Batemans Bay

Rivers: We've had quite a lot of rain this week and it’s still falling. This should get the bass on the move upstream after spawning. Quite a lot of pools upstream of Shallow Crossing have been holding them and they should be able to work all the way up to the back of Milton. Well worth fishing. In the more salty sections of the river there are a lot of estuary perch, with up to 40 fish an outing possible. However, 99% of these are undersize but still provide some fun apart from the one or two legal perch. There are also a few big flathead, the odd bream, some massive whiting and even gurnard.

Lower down the yellowfin bream are back, with some fish moving well upstream. These fish will haunt the oyster racks for the next few months, so that should be exciting and sometimes expensive as the fish take your lures. Plastics work better in deeper water and surface poppers work in the rocky shallows. Every afternoon seems to blow up a gale so get up early and fish the rocks for bream before the wind gets up or do what I do and head up the back of the river after work. Find a quiet corner and fish the deep holes for perch.

Jewfish are worth a try in the river, with one fish of 19kg creating plenty of discussion. Maybe next time the angler won’t leave all those big scales around the boat ramp if he wants to keep things quiet.

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

Narooma

Bucketing down! Huge seas at the moment, too. A bit more rain would open up a lot of the lakes and give them a big flush-out, which they desperately need.

Estuary is red-hot, the best it’s fished in years, with lots of big flatties with three around a metre we know of. Bream going fairly solid, jewfish, salmon and tailor all in the main part of the estuary. Whiting have moved in but they’re still a bit finicky.
Good catches of salmon and bream.

Offshore: Before the blow there were flathead have been a bit quiet but longfinned perch, snapper and mowies going well around the island. Yellowfin and albacore on the shelf.

Darryl, The Ocean Hut (02) 4476 2278

Bermagui

Good, steady rain is great. Not much runoff so it’s good soaking stuff.

Offshore is too rough. Last weekend there were albacore and yellowfin on the canyons. A couple have ventured out the 12 Mile for snapper and mowies but the couta are out in force. Six Mile, Four Mile and golden head for snapper, mowies and big jackets, along with pigfish. When the tide is running south the fishing is good. Tiger flathead are excellent, from 35-60cm. Try from 70 metres back to about 50. In 48 metres of The Brothers there are snapper to around 6kg when you anchor and berley.

Estuaries fishing well, with Wallaga flathead taking hard and soft lures. Bermagui river for trevally, flathead, whiting and blackfish. Blackfish best on the last few hours of the tide.

Rocks are out this weekend but they have been tough apart from a few drummer.
Salmon off the beaches and tailor from the breakwall.

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

Archived Weekly Reports

Year 2004 Weekly Reports
05/01/2004	09/01/2004	16/01/2004		30/1/2004
06/02/2004	13/02/2004	20/02/2004	27/02/2004
05/03/2004	12/03/2004	19/03/2004	26/3/2004
02/04/2004	08/04/2004	16/04/2004	23/04/2004	30/04/2004
07/05/2004	14/05/2004	21/05/2004	28/05/2004
05/06/2004	11/06/2004	18/06/2004	25/06/2004
02/07/2004	09/07/2004	19/7/2004	23/07/2004	30/07/2004
06/08/2004	13/08/2004	20/08/2004	27/08/2004
03/09/2004	10/09/2004	17/09/2004	24/09/2004	01/10/04
08/10/04	15/10/2004

Year 2003 Weekly Reports

07/01/2003

10/01/2003

17/01/2003

24/01/2003

31/01/2003

07/02/2003

14/02/2003

21/02/2003

01/03/2003

07/03/2003

14/03/2003

21/03/2003

28/03/2003

04/04/2003

10/04/2003

17/04/2003

24/04/2003

02/05/2003

09/05/2003

16/05/2003

23/05/2003

30/05/2003

06/06/2003

13/06/2003

20/06/2003

27/06/2003

04/07/2003

11/07/2003

18/07/2003

25/07/2003

01/08/2003

08/08/2003

15/08/2003

22/08/2003

29/08/2003

05/09/2003

12/09/2003

19/09/2003

26/09/2003

03/10/2003

10/10/2003

17/10/2003

24/10/2003

31/10/2003

7/11/2003

14/11/2003

21/11/2003

28/11/2003

5/12/2003 12/12/2003 19/12/2003 29/12/2003

Year 2002 Weekly Reports
04/01/2002	11/01/2002	18/01/2002	25/01/2002
01/02/2002	08/02/2002	15/02/2002	22/02/2002
01/03/2002	08/03/2002	15/03/2002	22/03/2002	29/03/2002
05/04/2002	12/04/2002	19/04/2002	26/04/2002
03/05/2002	10/05/2002	17/05/2002	24/05/2002
01/06/2002	07/06/2002	14/06/2002	21/06/2002	28/06/2002
05/07/2002	12/07/2002	19/07/2002	26/07/2002
02/08/2002	09/08/2002	16/08/2002	23/08/2002	30/8/2002
06/09/2002	13 /09/2002	20/09/2002	27/09/2002
04/10/2002	11/10/2002	18/10/2002	25/10/2002
01/11/2002	8/11/2002	15/11/2002	22/11/2002	29/11/2002
06/12/2002	13/12/2002	20/12/2002		30/12/2002

Year 2001 Weekly Reports
25/1/2001
01/02/2001	08/02/2001	15/02/2001	22/02/2001
02/03/2001	09/03/2001	16/03/2001	23/03/2001	31/03/2001
6/04/2001	12/04/2001	19/04/2001	26/04/2001
3/05/2001	10/05/2001	17/05/2001	24/05/2001	31/05/2001
7/06/2001	14/06/2001	21/06/2001	28/06/2001
5/07/2001	12/07/2001	19/07/2001	26/07/2001
3/08/2001	10/08/2001	17/08/2001	24/08/2001	31/08/2001
7/09/2001	14/09/2001	21/9/2001	28/9/2001
5/10/2001	12/10/2001	19/10/2001	26/10/2001
2/11/2001	9/11/2001	16/11/2001	23/11/2001	30/11/2001
7/12/2001	14/12/2001	21/12/2001	28/12/2001