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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Heaps and heaps of mackerel in the bay and the yellowfin tuna are getting bigger. Black marlin also moving around. On the beaches there are greenback tailor around 2kg dashing in and out of the holes but they don’t stay for long. Large bream and tarwhine and the dart are getting quite big as well. And the usual whiting and flathead … best fishing for quite a while. Blowing offshore so the bay should fish well this weekend.

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle (02) 6685 7133

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Mandy from Dave’s Bait Shop says there have been jewfish along the Porpoise wall and along the river near the RSL Club. A few whiting up at Pimlico and flathead throughout the river.
Outside the mackerel are still fairly slow with not a great number caught although the snapper have been pretty good.
The beaches have some dart and tailor.
I’ve been locked in the QFM office in Brisbane all week so I can’t really say what’s been happening at Evans Head since Tuesday, when the tides were really big and the water a dirty green.

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

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

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Offshore: Mackerel everywhere with heaps of spotties, the occasional Spanish and the odd marlin. Mostly they’re around Angourie and Shelly and also down at Wooli.
Some really good tailor along with masses of choppers as well off most headlands.
Some better sized whiting in the lower river and bream around Palmers Island. A couple of jew around Maclean and the catfish have finally backed off. Flatties a bit scarce apart from a few big females around the lower river.

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

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Offshore: Spotties are finally here and in good numbers. Still a few snapper in close and a good run of tailor to 3kg in the island washes. Black marlin on trolled live baits on the wider grounds, along with a few on lures.
Blackfish to 800g around the rocks and good whiting along the beaches and along the lower creek reaches. The odd school jew on the beaches.

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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Off the beaches, red weed remains an issue in places but there have been reasonable numbers of bream with the odd fish well over a kilo thrown in. Good-sized whiting continue to be on offer, with Lighthouse producing the better bags. Traditionally February-March is the end of the whiting run with the better quality fish often taken during this period. Live beach worms fished around shallow sand flats on the run-up tide is the best plan of attack. A few school mulloway are also on offer with North Beach and around Lake Cathie best. Little to report on the tailor front apart from the odd early morning or afternoon fish. Reports from beaches further south are encouraging. Shovel nose rays and stingrays remain thick although numbers should thin over the next few weeks as their annual spawning cycle draws to a close.
Off the rocks, reasonable numbers of bream have been taken with Point Plommer and Lighthouse fishing quite well, particularly at night. Pick of the baits have been mullet or tailor strips. Tailor numbers remain reasonable at best, with Point Plommer and surrounds continuing to produce the better results locally. A few solid blackfish, with Point Perpendicular and Miners giving up a few bronzies. No reports as yet of bluefin but Hat Head has produced numerous 60-70cm kingfish with the odd rumour of cobia
In the estuary the recent rains have added a heap of colour which has certainly improved results in the lower reaches. Flathead have been excellent and blackfish and bream have been better than expected. The breakwalls have been fishing well for mulloway with both walls producing fish to around 10kg on lures and bait. Whiting numbers remain excellent with Limeburners continuing to produce the better catches. Live yabbies have been the bait of choice, with these tasty morsels also accounting for their fair share of blackfish, bream and flatties. Little to report in the way of blue swimmers, but the muddies have been thick since the rain a couple of weeks ago. Now is certainly the time to get the traps or dillies.
At last some good weather has finally allowed boats to safely put to sea. While the current has been raging and making bottom fishing challenging, surface activity is good in 26° water and the pelagic action has been excellent. Around the FAD mahi mahi to 10kg are common. Wahoo numbers are better than we have seen for several years, whilst the odd cobia, mack tuna and Spanish mackerel have also been encountered. There have been plenty of small black marlin to around 50kg in close, with some bigger models along with the odd striped and blue on the shelf. All we need now is for the spotties to show up and our pelagic scene will be as good as it gets.

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

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Offshore: Last weekend was the one we had been waiting for. Those who worked wide were rewarded with mahi mahi in excess of 10kg, an ever-increasing number of black marlin, striped marlin and a couple of blues. Yellowfin tuna averaging 50kg started hitting lures being trolled for marlin, not that anyone was complaining. It was terrific to see a lot of guys who have spent the time developing game fishing from our port rewarded with some great captures. Closer inshore the small blacks are providing plenty of action, usually showing up when you least expect them. Justin from Oceanquest Charters had a group of over-50s on his boat when a small black took a live bait. The crew were too shy to take the rod and chief decky JJ brought the fish to the boat. A little later while a group photo was being taken with the fish, another black took a bait but was lost before the photo shoot could be wound up. The reefs are fishing OK. There are plenty of bonito around.
Beaches: Enough Tailor are being caught to keep your interest, as are whiting. Reports from Hallidays Point and the Seal Rocks area are the most consistent.
Rocks: Nil LBG at this time.
Estuary: The prawns have been running and the mulloway have responded. Good captures have come on bait and plastics. There are some monster bream in the estuary but you have to be up at dawn to even hope to catch them. Lizards and whiting remain a guaranteed feed.

Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 02 6554 9541

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Estuary: Blue Swimmers Tilligerry, bream on the racks at Soldiers Point. Flathead Corrie Island, Corlette. Chopper tailor throughout the bay. Squid at Shoal Bay and Soldiers Point.
Beaches: Salmon and tailor at dawn and dusk on most beaches. Whiting on Stockton, Fingal and One Mile. School jew on Stockton.
Rocks: Salmon and tailor on most headlands, squid in the bays. Snapper at Fishermans and Boat Harbour. Blackfish at Birubi.
Outside: Heaps of billfish on the continental shelf with boats tagging up to a dozen a day. Snapper in the shallows around Broughton, trag on the Gibber. Rat kings around the islands.

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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Not a great deal happening due to the cold snap after the storms mid-week. Mahi mahi seem to have headed out wider towards the shelf but bonito around the rocks have been very encouraging with fish to 4kg – not a bad size for a bonny. Spearfishers have been seeing some big jew to 30kg around the headlands like the cave at Avoca.
With the cooling water and the uncooperative snapper, all the charter boats are concentrating on flathead, which have been up to a quite respectable 2kg. Schooner Paul Minto with Central Coast Charters has been picking up around 50 of them at a session.

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

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Green water, blue water, hot water, cold water, clean water and dirty water – all in the one week. Even Dr Seuss is confused. No wonder the fishing is all over the place. There were reports of cobia inshore and even wahoo offshore. By last weekend it was back to kings and tailor and only a lucky few caught anything to write home about. Wind and current fluctuations have conspired to force most of the fish-rich blue water away from the edge of the continental shelf, where it had so freely flowed for a day or two, out to 250km off Sydney.
At least the beaches are still fishing consistently, especially the northern beaches, which are the realm of some decent whiting, some as thick as your forearm. Beach worms are the premium bait. There are a few whiting also around inshore lakes, harbours and bays as well, preferring live nippers. Salmon of enormous sizes not seen in Sydney for many a year are schooling off the southern beaches, from Maroubra up as far as The Colours. Rob Jenkins was a happy camper after bringing in a fish of over 10lb, measuring 73cm in and 45cm around the girth. This and others of similar size have been smashing small flies, such as Surf Candies and Eyes.
The Harbour is still feeling the influence of cool green waters quite late into summer and can be very patchy. Some good kings have been taken off North Head if you were one of the lucky ones who happened to be around for the particular hour of the particular day they decide to bite. If you get there five minutes late or turn up a day later, things can be very quiet. Bonito are also about in the same areas behaving the same way.
Inside the harbour there is no shortage of mixed-bag fishing, with bream and flatties around the bays to the east of town and plenty of tailor around The Spit and Middle Head. The odd kingy has also come from under the tailor, mostly on metals.
Pittwater is still holding around 26°, even though Broken Bay is running as low as 20°. Pittwater Pete Le Blang reports early in the week some big cobia almost a metre long had entered the bay, and were holding around Longnose Point. Kingies are still about though the average size seems to be a little smaller than early in the season. Live southern calamari is the killer bait, and at least there are plenty of them on most of the kelp beds. Good size bream are also doing their run through the bay.
Offshore and beakies are on, as well as a few dollies around the wide FADs, but given the difference in water from mile to mile and day to day, it’s patchy at best. Find the blue water, if you can, and you’ll find the fish.

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

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Lake: Whiting in the channel down near the entrance on worms. In the southern back channel quality flounder on whitebait and prawns, some flathead in the same spot. Lot of chopper tailor in the lake towards the main basin on 15g metal lures, great fun for the kids but remember the legal length is 30cm. Bream at Mt Warrigal on red soft plastics and light jig heads early in the mornings The odd blue swimmer and mud crab in the middle of the day or late arvo with lift nets is best.
Beaches: Plenty of whiting on Port Kembla Beach on light rigs and worms. MM Beach has also some whiting worth chasing. South Shellharbour for nice bream and flathead on strip baits.
Rocks: Some salmon and tailor at Port Kembla and Bass Point on metal lures. Bonito biting off the Kiama Blowhole on 2” white plastic squid. Also some legal kings around Kiama on small yakkas, the slimies are too big.
Offshore: Plenty of reds around the islands and in close to Windang Island. Bonito going well for the trollers on the Church Grounds on 4” Christmas trees. Mahi mahi off Port Kembla and Kiama traps and the FAD with live bait working the best. Marlin also in the 22° water off Kiama Banks on large live slimies. Mowies off Wollongong and Coniston reefs.

Garth, Deans Bait and Tackle, Windang 4295 1615

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I heard of one boat raising five marlin during the week, while Nick from Reel Class Fishing Charters tagged and released five last Sunday. It has been a slow start to the marlin season but if last weekend is anything to go by, it looks like things have really taken off.
For the smaller trailer boats, don’t forget the kingfish are now on the bite. Some days can be hit and miss while others are non-stop action. No reports of big fish as yet. Try a really big live bait under the smaller fish as they’re eating the normal run of slimies. If you can troll a big slimy down deep past the school rather than trying to feed the bait down through the school, you could find bigger fish.
Don’t forget the ABT BREAM tournament on the Clyde River on February 26 and 27. The Clyde has been fishing well for bream over the past couple of months so let’s hope it stays that way for the comp. Now the holidays are over I managed a day out chasing bream. I did the prop on my electric motor straight away but I motored around the reefs and weed beds and drifted back casting lures. I managed quite a few bream this way and on one rocky outcrop I scored five bream in six casts before drifting off them.

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

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Offshore: Kings starting up around the island with some nice silver trevally as well. Mowies and reds are going OK on the reefs. No sign of marlin at the moment. Flathead are quiet.
Estuary: Inlet is really good for whiting, flathead and some nice reddies. Try around the oyster leases for some good bream. Good Jew around Tuross at the moment and bass biting up the top of Tuross, try around Bodalla.
Rocks and beaches: A few patchy tailor and salmon but they’re all good size. Beaches fishing OK for smaller salmon and bream and whiting, try sandworms for best results. A few blackfish and pigs on the rocks on cabbage.

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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