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: Snapper on the local reefs, lots of bait fish up around Wooyung and Black Rock so fishing should be good for the weekend
Rock and beach: Tailor, whiting and flathead on South Beach. Tailor and whiting on New Brighton Beach. The walls for jewfish.
River: Bream and blackfish around the boat harbour, bream around the highway bridge. Flathead around the Ferry Reserve caravan park. Whiting up-river.

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

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Lots of big whiting, bream and flathead on most of the beaches. The salmon look like they’ve finally gone. No outside reports.

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle (02) 6685 7133

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Whiting of 500g-plus are well on the chew, says Bruce at Dave’s Bait shop, with Pimlico Island the best. Bloodworms the best, followed by beach worms and yabbies. Flathead getting bigger in the lower reaches from Wardell down. School jew around the ferry and up to Wardell. Mud crabs improving with the creeks quite dirty after rain.
Beaches have whiting, a few flathead and a lot of dart. A few jew spun up when the rough weather was on. A few mixed reef fish on the wider marks.
I haven’t been at Evans for a couple of days but the blackfish were going quite well around the walls on the big tides and a few nice whiting were beginning to come in on the flats around the bridge and upstream to the Iron Gates. Offshore was too rough earlier in the week but there could be a window this weekend.

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

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

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Still plenty of whiting in the lower reaches around the canals, Sleeper Island and the back of Turkey Island. Upstream flathead still in big numbers from Palmers Island to Harwood, school jew going well in the river on soft plastics and live herring baits.
Rock and beach fishing has been slow.
Offshore some good snapper earlier in the week.

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

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The rains of last week have kick-started the summer whiting run with good fish turning up along most beach gutters. Also a number of school jew have showed up and beach worms should be the go this weekend. Estuaries are fishing well and the push of this weekend’s big tides will see clean oceanic water moving up. Flathead should be good with the males waiting for the females to move in for a little lurv. Estuaries also have good bream and whiting.
Offshore conditions are excellent with the inshore reefs firing after the flush in the estuaries. Good flathead on the drifts just offshore.

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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Great to see solid rain. Let’s hope it continues so we can enjoy a summer without water restrictions and some top angling action.
One particularly good piece of news to come from this latest downpour is that Lake Cathie has been opened to the sea. While opinions on the opening strategies are many and varied, there is certainly no denying the beauty of the lake when open over the warmer months, nor the piscatorial opportunities the open lake creates. Whiting and flathead are simply sensational, while many other species are also on offer such as blackfish, bream, garfish and mullet. Prawning becomes a lot more user friendly, with simply a scoop net and a good torch required to score a great feed. If this current dark is anything to go by, it looks like a great season ahead.
On the beaches, some good catches of bream have been reported from most locations, with North Beach and the southern and of Lighthouse producing the better results. Whiting numbers are also on the improve with beach worms the only bait to have. Plenty of salmon are still hanging around although generally not in the larger schools of the past couple of months. Tailor remain quiet but expect numbers to improve over the next couple of weeks, while the current tides are optimum for those keen of chasing a few school jew.
In the estuaries, flathead are the stars with numbers and quality excellent. A few of the entrants for this weekend’s Bream Classic have remarked how difficult it has been to keep the flatties away so the bream can have a crack at their lures. Along with the flatties, a few nice whiting have been taken from around Settlement Point, while blackfish remain quite reasonable for this time of year. As for bream, the Classic this weekend should prove quite interesting, with this latest downpour likely to throw weeks of careful research by the locals into chaos, especially if the water dirties right up. Good luck to all competitors and we look forward to a successful weekend.
Also in the estuary, a couple of keen crabbers had an interesting experience this week when checking one of their witches’ hats. This particular trap was noted to be quite heavy however to messrs Garrett and Morgan’s disappointment the weight was not a pile of crabs, rather a shark of around 25kg which had entangled itself in the mesh. After a few anxious moments for both gentlemen as well as their boys, the shark was released unharmed. While all on board were glad to see the shark swim away, the same could not be said for the bloke on a kayak who witnessed the spectacle, who was somewhat concerned when the shark was last seen heading in his direction. Not surprisingly, his trip back was quite a deal quicker than this trip out.
Offshore angling remains hit and miss but a few snapper to around 3kg have been about, together with some nice pearl perch and other mixed reef fish. Little to report on the pelagic scene as yet, with the FAD holding little and the water temperature not quite warm enough as yet to bring the fish down.

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

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Offshore: Sweep and Leatherjackets remain a problem up and down the coast. Small kingfish are holding up around The Pinnacle. A few boaters have told me that small mahi mahi have been seen around the FAD. Snapper, pearl perch and some morwong remain the most common captures on the reefs.
Beaches: A week ago salmon, whiting and some large bream were all being caught. Over the last few days things have been somewhat quiet for reasons known only to the fish. Big tides this weekend and hopefully some more consistent weather will see it worth your effort to get out there.
Rocks: Rock fishing generally has been slow. The exception has been the bream that have been caught in numbers at Jannies Corner and the occasional mulloway off the rocks south of Pacific Palms.
Estuary: More rain at the beginning of the week has coloured the lake during the run-out tide. Despite this the flathead fishing over the past week has been outstanding with one local landing and releasing two quality fish, the first around 10lb and the second too big to estimate its weight – it was 1.2 metres long. Those chasing sand whiting tell me they are the biggest seen for years. Seamo was out chasing bream the other evening and scored a whiting that got the whole 3” Minnow down its throat. Late afternoon run-out tides over the weekend coming will see plenty trying their luck for mulloway off the breakwalls.

Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 02 6554 9541

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Estuary: Jew to about 10kg Middle Island at the top of the tide; bream on the rock wall at Corrie Island, Windy Woppa. Flathead in the Karuah River, Taylors Beach and Bagnalls Beach. Trumpeter whiting from the paddock at the back of Soldiers Point with some good flounder among them.
Beaches: Big whiting to 600g on Stockton with a few bream, plenty of salmon. Jew at the wreck on Stockton and on the Gibber beaches. A few flathead on Fingal Spit, blackfish on Middle Rock.
Rocks: Bream at the front of Rocky, Fingal Island in the washes. A few pigs around Cemetery Point, Boat Harbour. Salmon on Sunny Corner.
Offshore: Bugger all and water is 17° and the colour of coke. Flathead on the drift around Middle Island and North Island. A few trag on The 21, with the odd pearly. Kings on Looking Glass Bommie and Esmerelda. A few squire around he Sisters, North Island.

Graham Duffy, Salamander Bait and Tackle 02 4982 0711

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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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Best report this week was from the boys at Black Pete Marine, who have been catching heaps of yellowfin out wide along with the other boats in the Broken Bay outing. Most have been pretty small but there are some over 30kg. The charter boats are catching the same as last week – trevally, mowies and the occasional snapper.
Estuaries: Greg Joyes of Calmwater Charters reports jew to 28kg and plenty of school jew in Brisbane Water. Bream have been fairly quiet with small school fish under the moorings.

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

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Sydney's offshore scene picked up considerably over teh past week and as the currents arrive from up north plenty of species eager for a feed came on the bite. And there was no shortage of sharks, either.
Jamie Ward of Broken Bay Game Fishing Club reported some results including the game boat Diversion, which tagged yellowfin of 12-14kg, while The Pump tagged four to 26.5kg on 24kg; Sabotage tagged five and a mahi mahi; short Black landed one yellowfin and five albacore. Among the shark chasers, Avanti lost a mako about 300kg on 15kg and landed an 87kg mako on 6kg. Shark boat Rampage tagged a mako, lost an unknown and lost a mako about 500kg on 15kg. A few marlin were sighted to no avail and a few killer whales were seen as far out as the canyons.
Sydney harbour water temperature is rising encouragingly. Middle harbour has qu8ietened down while Bluefish Point, dobroyd Head and the Wreck laid on trevally, squire, yakkas and john dory for Peter Roberts fishing unweighted whitebait down a berley trail.
Pittwater kings are quite active and prefer live squid, gars or yakkas. Early morning is best. Just start over at Towlers bay and be prepared to to try lures or even flies. keep your opeions open because the fish certainly are.
Blue swimmer crabs are getting mobile so try the witch's hats. Pete from harbour and Estuary Charters caught four in five hours on Tuesday behind Scotland Island over the flats.
The northern beaches are worth a shot since the mid-week shake-up. Darren lewis fished Long Reef beach for three salmon and a nice bream on beach worms before a respectable jewfish took a liking to a hooked salmon, putting a big bite across the back of the fish.
this early in the season a troll can prove fruitful, as Steven and Gary Lodge proved when they towed Mcgoo lures at Winky Pop. An abundance of tailor and salmon kept both anglers busy, with some XL kingies busting 10kg string like twine. McGoo Lures is running a comp with a draw to win $500 of Mcgoo product - just buy something Mcgoo and put your name down.

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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Lake: Some nice flathead in the back channel on bloodworm or red soft plastics. Some good bream at Mt Warrigal in the late afternoon on same coloured (smaller) plastics and nippers. Garfish behind the Oaklands caravan parks on prawn or worm baits and bran berley. Prawns running in the lake this dark with good numbers around Primbee and in the channel around the islands.
Beaches: Still plenty of salmon on Windang and Warilla on lures and pillies. Nice bream around Beakie Bay on royal reds and ab gut, though the pigs have dropped off. Slimy mackerel off Kiama. MM Beach and Fishos Beach to the south have good whiting on worms.
Offshore: Flathead on the drift off Port Kembla and Shellharbour on prawns. Good mowies on Wollongong Reef, squire around the islands and some kingfish showing off Shellharbour on the Church Grounds. They’re coming and going with the baitfish.

Garth, Deans Bait and Tackle, Windang 4295 1615

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Yellowfin tuna to 45kg among plenty of baitfish in 40 fathoms, a marlin lost in 40 fathoms off the Tollgates. Plenty of good-sized flathead and the odd jew in the river.

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

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Darryl, The Ocean Hut (02) 4476 2278

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

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