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

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Nice snapper off Brunswick in close with some big fish.
Beaches have some dart, whiting and bream with big tailor showing up off Broken Head and big schools of pilchards – looking good!

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle (02) 6685 7133

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Matt at Dave’s Bait Shop says a few jew to 12 kg through the Town Reach and on live bait and lures. South Wall has had tailor for the past few days with some fish to 2kg. Plenty of whiting widespread throughout the river on worms. Flathead still going well. Wind has stoped many people fishing the beaches and offshore but things look like settling down well for the Ballina Classic catch-and-release competition this weekend. Entry is $20 and there are plenty of prizes on offer. Sign up at the Ballina Seagulls Rugby League Club at Kingsford Smith Park, where the big Reef Science tank is in attendance.
At Evans Head the southerly came through last Saturday morning and hasn’t let up for a minute. Just starting to ease up a little Friday afternoon so the weekend should be good. There have been a few whiting caught on Main Beach and Chinamans Beach and sometimes a few blackfish around the wall and that’s it. The bar is fine but you haven’t had to go very far seawards before you’re hammered and no one has been out for a week. If the weather settles down later in the weekend it might be worth a try.

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

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

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Pretty windy and horrible all week with things only now settling down. Plenty of whiting in the lower reaches of the Clarence and Sandon River, although the size seems to have diminished. I got a 44cm fork-length bream in the river at Maclean and there are a few school jew as well as some giant herring. Crabs showing in Oyster Channel.
Not much to report from the beaches or offshore. Last Saturday morning before the southerly started Ross Mulholland got a good feed of snapper and a few trag off Sandon.

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

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Whiting along the beach gutters are biting freely. The recent fresh water in the estuaries has pushed some nice bream and school jew into the gutters as well.
Estuaries turning up good flathead with the biggest last week going 7kg but these are few and far between, but 1kg-2kg fish are prolific.
Offshore, now the winds have died, should turn up big snapper in close. One fish caught from a headland this week went 7kg. Pearl perch and a few samson in deep water.

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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In the estuaries, flathead continue to be the best bet with the Hastings and tributaries producing some good bags of quality fish. Best catches have come from around the Dennis, while Settlement Point and Blackmans Point are worth a throw. A few blackfish have been encountered but results have been patchy at best. Whiting continue to improve in quantity and quality. Lake Cathie is the place to go. Live prawns, yabbies or worms should all produce good results.
On the beaches, conditions have been challenging but there are a few fish around if you get past the salmon. Lighthouse Beach has been producing some nice whiting from the northern end and a few nice bream have also been taken. Good reports from North Beach with a few nice bream from around the Broken Bit. School jew have been a little scarce but on the full moon results should improve.
Off the rocks, early morning and late afternoon high tides are well worth a throw for bream. A few nice blackfish have been on offer around Shelley and Lighthouse but a bit of rough water is a must. The next few weeks may also be well worth a throw for a late drummer, as the consistent southerlies have left a few of the traditional ledges washed and divers report plenty of fish.
Next week will see our first dark since Lake Cathie has been opened to the sea, with plenty of punters keen to score a good feed of prawns. It will be interesting to see how results go as this year’s opening coincided with the last dark and there were some excessive hauls during the first few days and plenty of solid catches thereafter. Some prawners have suggested this year may not be as good as last year due to this fact but I will be surprised if results are down too much. The water clarity has returned and if we do not receive much rain over the next week, scooping rather than dragging will be a viable option.

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

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Offshore: The southerly winds have finally eased and the forecast for the weekend is looking good. Reefs north and wide of the Five Mile area are holding some samson fish, big trag and the usual snapper and pearl perch. Leatherjackets remain thick, as do the sweep. Small kingfish are common and a drift over The Pinnacle will produce some action. No sign of bonito yet. Bronze whalers and hammerheads are becoming common.
Beaches: Old Bar area seems to be the place to catch mulloway from the beach. Generally the beach fishing has been less than average.
Rocks: While few people are chasing drummer the spearfishers tell me that they remain in big numbers, as do the mulloway. The improved weather should see a few more people on the rocks this weekend, which might give me a bit more to write about.
Estuary: The general opinion this week is that if you can't catch a flathead on a soft plastic at the moment, you never will. Experienced anglers are reporting captures of 20 to 30 fish in a session. Bream are best sought after dark. The whiting massacre continues.

Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 02 6554 9541

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Estuary: Flathead Corrie Island, Myall River to The Pines, Karuah, Tilligerry Creek. School jew to 6kg around Middle Island. Sand whiting on Jimmys Beach, Barnses Rock. Blue swimmers Bull Island and Lemontree Passage. A few flounder on the bar at the Heads.
Beach: Sand whiting on Fingal Spit, One Mile, Stockton, where there are plenty of salmon as usual. Jew at The Huts and the two Gibbers.
Rocks: Blackfish on Boulder Bay, Honeysuckle, Sunny Corner. Squire off the rocks at Boat Harbour and Fishermans. A 15kg jew caught off Fingal Head on Tuesday night.
Offshore: Water now 19.5°, risen 2° this week . Snapper at The Guts at Broughton with some great fish coming in this morning (Fri) from Don Moore. School jew on The 21, Bulahdelah. Big chance of snapper off Boat Harbour and Fishermans in the shallows, trag on The 21 and the Gibber. Good run of sand flathead on the Three Mile Drift at Broughton, off the north-east side of Little Island and the Lighthouse drift off Fingal. Chinaman jackets in 40 fathoms wide of Broughton.

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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Looks like a good weekend ahead. A few nice estuary perch to 48cm in Brisbane Waters, some nice flathead around The Entrance and at Half tide Rocks, where there have been lizards to 7kg.
Jewfish, especially school jew in Brisbane Waters, and bigger fish off the beaches.
Not many offshore reports due to the wind but the odd striped tuna has turned up.

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

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Wild, windy conditions greeted most anglers head on over the past week with Saturday and Sunday the peak days before conditions turned for the better. With conditions like that you would expect a quiet weekend, but yellowfin tuna love activity and plenty of them were on the chew, taking small trolled skirts, deep divers and tremblers. Chris Goodbar and John Holmes fished the milder Sunday conditions in John’s Maxicat for two great fish on 15kg. Chris’s weighed 38kg and John’s 28kg. We hung them off the scales out the front of the shop to an ever-increasing audience. The guys caught their fish past Browns Mountain, approximately 45km out, and were justly rewarded for a solid effort.
Closer in at Long Reef, Pete Roberts was doing the trevally thing, using unweighted pilchards in a light trail. Pete caught two 2kg plus trevs and a few legal reds. Be aware of plagues of sweep in this vicinity. They eat everything dangled in front of them. A few rat kings ended boatside, including a feisty little sucker for Doll Face (Pete’s partner), making this her first captured king.
Sydney Harbour has hit the wall in the past couple of reports. Things are improving but slowly, with heaps of berley and light lines assisting fishos. Some days are much better than others.
Pittwater Pete has water temps up there reading 21.5°. His clients are encountering kingfish around 70cm. Peter down-rigs live squid with unmatched success. His largest king to date is 95cm. The kingies are pretty mobile at the moment and in most places around Pittwater, including Soldiers Point and Longnose Point and even around the Royal Motor Yacht Club and Scotland Island. Any bait school sounded out is worth a very slow lap or two with a deep fresh bait worked close. And the key word here is slow, even less than walking pace. Often wind and current are enough propulsion. Hit the right spot and baits are aplenty. The Joey and West Head are the most popular with squid and yakkas. Garfish are also about on the surface and are a third live bait the kings are finding it hard to resist.
Careel Bay has bait-stealing salmon and tailor, so before that hard-earned livie hits the drink, try throwing out a few metal slugs. If you can clear whatever loners are about, the capture chances on a kingfish become much higher.
A few blue swimmer crabs are moving about and Pete recommends the Bayview sand flats as productive but fresh bait is a must. With 29 kings this season, there must be no shortage of frames on the ready in Petes freezer.
Next time conditions aren’t fishable come and try some retail therapy. Fish Outta Water has a Stock Up For Summer Sale so a little bit of Christmas shopping done now could mean a whole lot more fishing done later.

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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Estuary: Lake anglers have reported good blue swimmers with witches-hat nets and mullet working on the drop-off at Lake South sand flats, Mt Warrigal and Griffins Bay at Berkley. Griffins Bay and Primbee Point have good-sized school prawns with scoopers finding 2kg regularly. Whiting in the channel around the boat ramp and the entrance on the early run-out tide. Flathead around Bevans Island and the drop-off on whitebait and prawns.
Beaches: Whiting at MM Beach at Port Kembla, Warilla Beach and East Corrimal. Live bloodworms and beach worms a must. Bream around Bombo and Windang North. Salmon and tailor in the deeper gutters on most beaches and around most headlands.
Rocks: Kingfish moving in as the water warms. Live bait easy to obtain in the harbours, with squid worth a shot at Kiama and Kembla harbours.
Offshore: Morwong, squire and flathead in good numbers with less than 70 depths best on strip baits and squid.

Garth, Deans Bait and Tackle, Windang 4295 1615

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Kingfish up north and some trevally close in. Charter boats are getting snapper OK. Flathead OK.
Flathead going well in the river, with bream in the oyster racks. Some jew under the bridge. Cullendulla Creek producing some flathead and bream.

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

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Estuary: Some nice jewies and good flatties, plenty of tailor and some squire as well. Nice whiting on the sand flats and some good bream down near the bridge.
Beaches: some good bream on most beaches. Salmon and tailor patchy but if you find them you’ll have a good time.
Offshore: Bottom fish around the island good for snapper, mowies and plenty of trevally. Undersize kingies but with the water turning warmer we can expect bigger ones shortly. Yellowfin still out there but apparently they’re down deep so cubing at fist light the best option. Try around a 1000 fathoms – it’s a bit of a hike but may be worth it.

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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