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: Spotted and bar mackerel on the Local Reef to Black Rock.
Rock and beach: Some tailor on beaches and bream on the walls
River: Bream and blackfish around the boat harbor, around the spur wall. Whiting at Simpsons Creek. Bream, flathead around the highway bridge, flathead around the Ferry Reserve Caravan Park, whiting up the river. Good numbers of mangrove jacks in river and mud crabs as well.

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

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A few mackerel out in the bay along with black marlin, reddies and parrot before the swell came up. Plenty of bait in the bay. A few jew around the cape and the southern end of Broken Head. Some big whiting, over 500g, along most of the beaches. Big tailor and nice school jew off the wall at Brunswick Heads along with big GTs.

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle (02) 6685 7133

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Whiting the main go in the Richmond, says Bruce at Dave’s Bait Shop. Big tides this week have been excellent around Pimlico Island on bloodworms with still a fair few in North Creek and the Town Reach. Flathead have been OK with a few larger ones persisting around the Porpoise Wall and above the ferry, where there are also some good GTs. A few jacks making their presence felt along the Porpoise Wall and Town Reach. Crabs are still slow but try up-river or in emigrant Creek. Beaches were fishing OK for whiting and a few dart before the blow came through and a few good tailor to 5kg are turning up as well. Baby black marlin and the odd mackerel and wahoo have been offshore when the bar has been negotiable.
At Evans Head on Friday morning there’s about 17 knots of southerly over a 2m swell so it might be another few days before the fleet can get out to see if the mackerel that turned up last weekend are still there. Ocean is around 25° and has that clear turquoise mackerel look about it and there has been some bait in the bay sheltering from the wind.
Beaches continue to produce some nice whiting and a few bream but the rocks have been unfishable for a few days. Blackfish are around the walls but they’ve mostly been barely legal fish. River has a few whiting, bream and flathead.

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

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

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

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The big run of fresh water in the estuaries will certainly fire up the fishing. Baitfish and prawns have been pushed to sea from the creeks and rivers, which will turn on jewfish and snapper. Lure casting from the breakwalls on any estuary in the area will be sure to turn up quality jew. The inshore reefs, if conditions allow, will hold big snapper which will also come in to take part in the feast. Estuary fishing will be fairly ordinary until the water clears but the push back of the tide will help. Beach gutters should also fish well for bream, whiting and flathead which have taken refuge from the deluge of fresh water. The Bellinger and the Kalang should run dark for some time but the further north you go the better the estuaries should be.

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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On the beaches, whiting remain plentiful although there are plenty of throwbacks among the better fish. Bream remain reasonable with the odd quality specimen about but numbers are down a little on what we expect at this time of year. Tailor have been a little quiet although a few encouraging reports filtered in from afternoon sessions during the early part of the week. A few school jewfish have been extracted from around Lake Cathie but vermin have been particularly frustrating. Night time is the domain of stingrays and shovel-nose sharks, a seasonal curse along this part of the coast. These pests will disperse over coming weeks. Red weed also remains about in annoying pockets but beaches south of Port have been reasonably unaffected.
In the estuary, flathead numbers remain solid with plenty of 1-2kg fish for those who put in the time. Best bait is whitebait but the soft plastic tossers continue to achieve better results. There are plenty of garfish, with peeled prawns or bread working well, while a few nice bream have been on offer further upstream around Rawdon Island. Blackfish numbers remain quiet at most traditional locations but those floating yabbies around the weed beds have been enjoying great success.
Offshore action has been a little hit and miss, primarily as a result of swirling offshore currents seeing the water temperature vary considerably. Last Sunday for example saw a cold green northerly current in close, while a southerly 25°-plus current was a little wider. Bottom bouncers have been achieving reasonable results on snapper and pearl perch with a few reasonable kings. The offshore flatties have also been solid.
Plenty of mahi mahi to near 10kg have been around the FADs along with the odd wahoo. Small black marlin have also been cruising in the warmer currents with the odd bigger blue wider out.
The new FAD deployed by Fisheries began to produce results after only 11 days but the head gear has unfortunately already been severed, most likely as a result of an altercation with a propeller. While NSW Fisheries will replace the FAD soon but be mindful that you do not need to drive over the FAD&Mac226;s in order to get results.

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

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Offshore: The action on the shelf continues with striped and blue marlin hooked over the past week. Lee Turner on Dream Catcher continues his good run on the beakies with another successful trip out wide. His hook-up rate this season on striped marlin is seven from seven but the one blue he raised last weekend didn't stay hooked for long, probably because I touched the rod! In a bit closer the water is full of mahi mahi but make sure you take the time to catch a few live baits if you want to catch the best of this species. Those hitting the reefs are having plenty of problems with bite-offs from leatherjackets but those that can get past these critters will find enough snapper and pearlies to get a feed. The reports from reefs up north have been the most encouraging.
Beaches: Areas well to our north, like Old Bar and Harrington, have had the best of what tailor are on offer. The whiting and bream being caught are of a good size.
Rocks: Little if anything to report. LBG action is yet to start. Reports from Seal Rocks indicate big schools of blackfish are holding up in close.
Estuary: Mulloway action should hot up this weekend when the last of the run-out tides coincide with dawn and dusk. The lake generally is providing enough flathead, bream and whiting to keep everyone happy. Crabbing is slowly improving.

Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 02 6554 9541

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Estuary: School jew on the breakwall with fish to 10kg and a few around the Salamander wreck and Middle Island. Sand whiting on Jimmys Beach, Middle Grounds, Shoal Bay. Stack of trumpeters in The Paddock at the back of Soldiers Point,. Flathead Myall River around The Pines, the bridge, the mouth at Corrie Island. Blue swimmer crabs Tilligerry Creek and a few muddies up the Karuah. Odd flathead above the bridge at Karuah.
Beach: Stacks of whiting on Stockton, One Mile, Fingal. A few jew on Stockton from the Huts to the wreck. Tailor late afternoons and a stack of salmon as usual.
Rocks: Plenty of tailor One Mile, Sunny Corner and Fingal Point. Bream in the washes at Rocky. A few blackfish on Cemetery Point and Tailor Rock. Kingies around 6kg off Sunny corner.
Offshore: Mahi mahi around the FAD, back of the Minefield and Boulder Wide. Run of small striped marlin and blacks from 50 fathoms out. Trag on Gunsight, Uralla, The 21 and The Gibber. Jew to 12kg on Uralla, The Tank, Bulahdelah. Kingies around The Sisters, snapper in the shallows around Broughton and Fishermans Bay. Plenty of squid around the gantry at Fingal and a mile of sand flathead on the lighthouse drift, back of Mungo and Little Island.

Graham Duffy, Salamander Bait and Tackle 02 4982 0711

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

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Good numbers of marlin are showing up, says Joel. Scott Thorington from Haven Charters got two on Thursday. Mahi mahi also going well with some horses around, especially on live bait. Up to three miles out the water is purple, then it’s crappy for a few miles and then magic again out wider. Some great reports of snapper up to 7kg and they’re not far out, with even the reefs 1km off Terrigal going well.
Big lizards are on the cards just about anywhere in the estuaries but the big jew are slowing a little. As a consolation, soapie jew are going fairly well in Brisbane water.

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

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Well it definitely is not last year: Not a hint of warm water offshore, and not enough warm weather onshore. It’s enough to make a grown man cry. The Harbour is suffering the most but there have been some pretty encouraging signs, especially the arrival of tiny new season-baitfish. Schools of yakkas and slimies in a tasty finger-licking kingfish treat size. They must have arrived through the same warmer water that a few bonito turned up in during the week and decided to hang around inside the Harbour once the current direction changed. Water temperatures are still a little patchy and certainly vary around the Harbour but a slight rise has also helped nudge the fishing along. Des Toms from Hookem Cookem Charters has been braining kingies for the last week around The Spit, where waters have been up as high as 23°. He has also picked up quite a few on the edge of some tailor schools that are working around Rose Bay. Unfortunately the squid are few and far between after being hit hard by all and sundry over the last couple of weeks, so the small yakkas have come in pretty handy, and are working nicely for these kingies. The bonito out the front are more interested in a trolled Rapala, especially the Stainless Steel or silver Magnums in size 7 or 9.
The Northern Beaches are working well, with Long Reef seeing some nice reds from 2-4kg and a few hoodlum kingies to 10kg-plus. The beaches have plenty of whiting in the close gutters taking worms and nippers and a few stonkin’ jewies have come in from the mid to far gutters for the all-night live-baiters.
Pittwater and Broken Bay have both come off a bit from the massive rush of fish seen earlier in the season. Temperatures are still high, around 24° in Pitty and as high as 25° in, of all places, Cowan Creek. This has brought plenty of baitfish into the system and the predatory fish are now so well fed that only the freshest and best-presented baits are having any effect. Plenty of rat kings are about and are the most likely catch at the moment. Live or fresh squid is the go and finally there are more than two of them around, so getting bait is not the major headache it has been recently. A few school tailor are also on the stalk and will take livies, pillies or spun metal. Check out The Basin for these most unfussy fish.

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

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Lake: Some nice flathead and whiting at the entrance on the Warilla side on worms and whitebait. Back Channel has nice flounder on prawns. A few good flatties on the drop-off on darker-coloured soft plastics. Prawns at Warrawong are falling to the draggers and up to 8kg a night of these crustaceans, up to 10cm long, can be had,. Scoopers will find best prawning at Primbee.
Beach: Nice whiting on Windang Beach near the surf club and good bream at the Port Kembla end on pipis and worms. Coniston has been good for jew to 6kg on fresh squid. Also a few jew in the harbour on live yellowtail.
Rocks: Bonito at Bass point on white squid. Kiama Blowhole has good kings on lures and slimy mackerel strips.
Offshore: Nice reds around the islands and up off Bandit Reef. Salmon and tailor on the troll off Port Kembla. Kings around the gravel loader at bass Point.

Garth, Deans Bait and Tackle, Windang 4295 1615

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Offshore: Snapper still running well with the old mate Richard from Wollongong getting a 9kg fish and a few smaller ones with close Durras grounds fishing well. Plenty of mowies, pigfish and jackets and the kingies are finally on the chew with one bloke said to have caught and release around 40 fish. Most are around either side of legal size. No reports of billfish lately.
Beaches have been a bit quiet apart from plenty of bream and flatties in the rocky corners and a lot of whiting coming in on worms.
Estuary: Looks like a good bream comp next month with plenty of fish around the leases on surface lures. Lots of flatties to around 4kg in the Clyde along with the odd small school jew. Tuross has whiting down the front and bream up in the snags and Tabourie and Burrill about the same. Bass going well in the upper Clyde although the Deua has bigger fish.

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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