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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Offshore: Good size snapper, flathead and jewfish around the local reefs. Snapper, trag, jewfish and a some parrot fish around the Plonk Hole. Snapper and jewfish around Wooyung. Snapper and some big tuna around Windarra Bank.
Rock and beach: Tailor can be found around both walls. Bream around the river mouth and inside the river walls.
Estuary: Big bream and blackfish around the co-op walls and the Spur Wall. Bream and flathead around the highway bridge. Big jewfish at night up-river towards Mullumbimby. Good size Trevally in the upper parts of the river.

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

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Generally pretty good for the usual culprits. Heaps of tailor everywhere, mostly choppers but there are some decent ones to 2kg. Belongil main tallow broken head, cape. Spotties going well on the inshore reefs and some nice snapper as well.

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle (02) 6685 7133

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Ben at Dave’s Bait Shop says the blackfish are going well at Burns Point ferry but they’ve gone a bit quiet in North Creek. Also along the porpoise wall and the gaps. A few jew off the walls and headlands and the bream are starting to show up in the river now. Mullet are moving pretty well now. Tailor from the headlands, walls and beaches with a few salmon mixed in with them. Dart and stray whiting in the surf and the odd good flattie still in the river. Offshore has good snapper, pearlies and a few cobia and northern bluefin tuna. Just the odd mackerel lingering.
Beautiful conditions at Evans Head and the beaches have some fantastic formations on them now. Mullet running well and some holes are packed with them – put one out live after dark and there’s a chance of a good jewie. Bream, dart and some good tailor on occasion. Bream and some nice flathead in the river but the blackfish have been pretty quiet. Offshore the trag have come on with a few good jew and some good hauls of snapper. The mackerel have gone quiet.
• If you value your fishing tackle and boating gear, keep it secure at all times at the moment. Thieves have been very active over the past week or so from the Clarence to Ballina, knocking off reels, rods, electric motors and even unlocked boat trailers and also breaking into cars. Steer clear of remote car parks, keep all tackle indoors and secure and lock all trailers and boating gear whenever possible. If you see people acting suspiciously around fishing gear, camps, boats or vehicles, contact police immediately.

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

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

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Some small squire, pearl perch and a good lot of trag kicking around with the odd big Spaniard.
A lot of flathead and bream off the beaches. Tailor thick as from most rock platforms and the salmon have turned up as well.
The river has been good with best bream around Middle Wall, where there are also jew at night. Some jew also around Brooms Head. Blackfish in good numbers upstream to Lawrence with big flathead up around Maclean. A smattering of school jew still around.

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

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Pretty much the same as last week – check the archived reports.

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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The big improver over the past week has no doubt been the Hastings estuary with good numbers of bream now inhabiting the lower reaches. Pick of the baits for bream remain mullet gut or mullet strips with the top of the tide at night fishing particularly well. Blackfish remain in reasonable numbers with the breakwalls and Limeburners continuing to produce the better results. Elsewhere in the estuary, flathead numbers continue to surprise although we would expect results to slow shortly in line with cooling water temperatures. Still a few muddies about report the diehard crabbing enthusiasts.
On the beaches bream numbers remain solid, with Lighthouse Beach and around Laurieton giving up a couple of excellent bags in between periods of big seas and strong currents. The better results have been achieved on the bottom of the tide, which is a little unusual. Tailor continue to be a hit and miss proposition although they should improve markedly once the seas settle for a reasonable period. A few solid whiting have also been snared from Lighthouse and around Lake Cathie, despite the water now beginning to cool. This slight cooling of the water has also seen the arrival of increased numbers of salmon. Whilst many rank salmon in the same culinary class as a sun-dried pilchard, there is no doubting their sporting qualities and it is pleasing to see this species improving in numbers each year after being absent for so long prior to the late 90s.
Off the rocks, drummer numbers are on the improve and ledges to the south are producing the better results. The cooling water can have a considerable effect on the local pig population, turning them on like a switch, so now is the time to begin some serious prospecting. Shelleys and Miners have been worth a look, although Lighthouse generally produces well early in the season. Tailor numbers remain patchy but once the seas settle, results will become a lot more consistent. Heaps of bream are also around the washes, with evening and early morning sessions producing the better results, particularly around Big Hill and Plommer.
Offshore, when conditions allow, snapper and pearl perch are on offer along with a few kingfish. The flathead grounds are also reported to be fishing well, while jacket numbers remain quite thick in places although the larger specimens are yet to arrive in numbers.

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

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Offshore: Very strong north/south current has made it difficult to fish the reefs. Despite this the fish are there, with those who put in the time rewarded with mainly trag and snapper. The occasional rogue kingfish will show up and for the ill-prepared the meeting doesn't last long. Bonito numbers which had been significant now seem to be on the decrease. Those spinning the wash around major headlands will find plenty of big tailor.
Beaches: Catch of the week was last Tuesday on Seven Mile Beach. A couple of regular visitors from the coal fields area were fishing for whiting using size 6 Mustad 92608 long shank hooks and beach worms as bait. After a titanic battle, and one of the group getting rather wet, the best ‘whiting’ of the day was a 27kg mulloway. Apart from that there are plenty of bream still moving up the coast, so head south and meet them head-on.
Rocks: Plenty of bream, drummer and an ever increasing number of blackfish. Start at the south end of Blueys Beach and work areas down to Celito.
Estuary: I know of at least half a dozen big mulloway coming from both breakwalls over the last few days. Most were taken on plastics. The bream activity dropped off a little right on the new moon but the fish are there and will bite again. Some travelling blackfish have taken up residence on the Forster wall and fish best on the run-in tide.

Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 02 6554 9541

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Estuary: Shedloads of bream on the co-op wall, blackfish both walls, good run of tailor in the bay trolling small metals around Middle Island. Crabs still running around Taylors Beach. Stack of trumpeter whiting on the back flats, Soldiers Point. A few bluefin still blowing up in the estuary. Jew on the wreck and Middle Island.
Beaches: Stack of bream on Stockton if you can get through the schools and schools of salmon. Also a few tailor. Whiting on Fingal under the green hill. Stack of tailor on Box.
Rocks: Snapper Fishermans, Cemetery Boat Harbour headland. Tailor and salmon Sunny Corner, One Mile. Stack of bream in the washes around Fingal. Blackfish at Boulder Bay.
Offshore: Jew on the chew at The Tank. Plenty of snapper in the shallows – Cabbage Tree, Sisters, North Island and the shallows at East Head. Tailor across the front of Tomaree, Zenith and Box. Longtail on both Gibbers. A little black marlin swimming around on the Gibber. Good kings on the FAD and Esmerelda bommie. Flathead on all the main drifts.

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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Kings outside along with good snapper, mowies and trevally.

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

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

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Mitch, Mac's Bait Bar
428 Princes Hwy Blakehurst
ph 02 9546 1341, mobile 0411 661 911.

Estuary: Nice blackfish near the Windang bridge, bream at Mt Warrigal on worms and peeled prawns. Macquarie Rivulet and Mullet Creek working well for bream mornings and evenings.
Beaches: Nice salmon and tailor at Port Kembla and MM beaches, also South Shellharbour. Nice jewfish off Seven Mile Beach at Gerroa.
Rocks: Nice bream and drummer at Port Kembla Hill 60, also down at Bombo. Trevally and jackets at Bass Point on royal reds and pillies.
Offshore: Pig Island and Toothbrush for snapper, nice bream at Shellharbour close off Bass Point. Lots of jackets to 2.5kg everywhere. Out wide the yellowfin are working off Kiama Canyons on 8”-10” skirted lures.

Garth, Deans Bait and Tackle, Windang 4295 1615

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The Clyde has quietened off a bit but other estuary systems in the area are firing. Some big bream and the odd school jew out of Tuross. Narooma for school jew, flatties and tailor to 4kg. Blackfish and heaps of garfish around, from the estuaries out to the ocean rocks where the odd bluefin has been chopping at them. Plenty of bream, flathead, blackfish and wrasse around the rocky ends of the beaches. Cullendulla, Surf and Denhams have been fishing well. Any area that’s fairly flat and shallow at high tide has been good.
Still snapper off the rocks with some pigs. Few offshore reports.

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

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Estuary not fishing too bad with some big flatties up the back, bream around the leases and creeks and some good jewies down the front. Nice tailor down deep and good whiting from the sandflats and in the channel.
Beaches: Some good salmon around.
Offshore: The odd king has turned up at the island again along with a few bonito. Bottom fishing isn’t too bad for good snapper and some big mowies. Out wide, a few yellowfin are still hanging around with the odd albacore and some marlin. Try 80-100 fathoms for best action on all game fish.

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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