Fishing Monthly - Latest Fishing Reports - Updated Weekly

Fishing Monthly - Latest Fishing Reports - Updated Weekly

These reports are updated weekly.
Last Edited: Friday, 2 September 2005

Quick Jump Links:
Byron Bay, Ballina, Yamba, Coffs Harbour.
South West Rocks, Port Macquarie,
Forster, Port Stephens, Hunter Area,
Newcastle, Central Coast, Sydney Northern.
Wollongong,
Batemans Bay, Narooma, Bermagui.
Archived Reports, Weather & Tides.

COMPILED WEEKLY BY TONY ZANN IN EVANS HEAD:
e-mail: t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

Tweed Heads

Estuary: Flathead most places with good catches behind the hospital and along the Fingal Reach. Blackfish in Boyds Bay. Some good-sized bream around the mouth, behind the hospital and around the trawlers.
Offshore: Not much action with all the wind during the week but Friday conditions look good. Worth a look for snapper and rumours of the odd mackerel on the Nine Mile.
Beaches: A few tailor around the headlands at Fingal and Cabarita but not much else.

Julie/Graeme, Anglers Warehouse Tweed Heads (07) 5536 3822
anglerswarehouse@shopsafe.com.au
Wayne, Kingscliff Bait and Tackle
Matthew/Charlie, Deep Sea Fishing Charters

Brunswick Heads

Outside: Snapper around the local reefs with good conditions.
Rock and beach: Tailor and bream on New Brighton Beach and Seagull Rocks. Tailor on the south wall, tailor and a few bream on south beach.
Estuary: Blackfish around the Spur Wall. Good flathead and whiting in the river.

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

Byron Bay

Pretty quiet with the northerlies we’ve had and not many fishing. A few flathead around the Belongil, the odd tailor up towards Black Rock. Whiting and dart on Tallow Beach. No offshore reports.

David Keevers, Coastal Fishing Tackle (02) 6685 7133

Ballina

Mandy at Dave’s Bait Shop says the beaches have produced some nice tailor at Black head and a few salmon to boot. The odd good bream off most beaches.
The river has some nice school jew behind the RSL Club and up around Wardell. Nice bream still through the river with some good flathead as well. Whiting have turned up around Wardell.
Few outside reports but some snapper have turned up for those few who have been out.
At Evans Head, a pleasantly mild Friday morning with a light offshore breeze after a week of lousy northerlies. The ocean looks clear and the number of bluebottles, violet snails and other surface life indicates some clear oceanic water of 20°-plus has blown in close to the coast. What’s in it is yet to be determined. A 1.5m swell looks to be dropping so could be some interesting times offshore this weekend. The beaches have been generally blown out but there have been a few bream, whiting and salmon taken in the sheltered corners. A few flathead stirring in the river and some small whiting moving about.

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

t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au

Yamba

Some big bream coming from the walls at Yamba and not much further upstream. A few crabs also starting to show. Flathead a bit sporadic with the last of the winter run around Harwood. A few school jew from Oyster Channel. Blackfish are scarce apart from a few from Maclean to Lawrence.
Offshore has been lumpy during the week. Tailor hit and miss from the headlands and beaches.

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

Coffs Harbour

A few storms might colour up the estuaries, which are running gin-clear. Those persevering at dusk and dawn are turning up bream and flathead but the whiting are scarce.
Beach gutters have salmon and tailor and the ocean rocks are also fishing well for tailor.
Offshore conditions have been nasty but during the breaks those who have ventured out have turned up snapper, pearl perch, big samson and kingfish.

Peter Russell, Fish Tackle Australia 6652 4611
motackle@midcoast.com.au

South West Rocks

Another week of mongrel winds restricted wetting a line to the river or the beach.
Smoky Beach fished fair last week with some bream, salmon, the odd flathead on the northern end of the beach and a few tailor still hanging around. No report from Gap Beach but Back Beach has some big salmon lurking off the breaks. Front Beach around the Boulders has been giving up good bream early in the morning.
Conditions off the rocks were ordinary but there have been reports of bream, salmon and tailor.
Even the river was hard to fish last week with the winds blowing you all over the place. Blackfish have definitely slowed down but in some locations if you are patient you should get half a dozen. Bream and flathead are biting on mullet and pilchards in fair numbers if you can find a spot out of the wind. There were a couple of big jew caught off the wall last week; the problem is getting live bait. Squid or mullet should still get their interest. Reports of tailor up-river with a couple of guys being bitten off while fishing for bream, so take a trace with you if you are up that way.
The highlight last week outside was one boat ventured down to Fish Rock for some great snapper up to 6 kilos but apart from that no other reports from outside. Hopefully conditions will improve in the coming week.
Lastly we have a special on GME marine radios GX294 27MHz for only $150, around $50 off, so be quick – we have only 10 units.

Mark and Denise Bird and Paul and Michelle Martin
Rocks Marine Bait and Tackle 6566 6726
rocksmarine@dodo.com.au

Port Macquarie

On the beaches, salmon remain common, and if anything the quantity and quality has improved even further. Tailor numbers too have picked up after a barren winter, although in general they remain a little hit and miss. Bream numbers and quality remain quite reasonable while the odd school jew has been snared from around Lake Cathie and on North Beach. With the tides and moon at present close to optimum, this weekend is likely to produce fish for those keen enough to chase them. As always, locating a reasonable gutter with plenty of white water and presenting a bunch of live worms or fresh tailor are the key ingredients to success. Few reports of any whiting.
Off the rocks, drummer numbers remain reasonably consistent with the odd few fish on offer for those willing to put in the time. Most local ledges are producing and Point Perpendicular has been fishing particularly well. The key is to be mobile and berley heavily. Blackfish numbers are on the improve with some bumper specimens being snared locally and around Point Perpendicular on cabbage and cunjevoi. Tailor numbers remain solid with the odd bumper specimen about, particularly from Big Hill and surrounds. A few groper around too for those prepared to toss a crab in and hang on, but most ledges will be difficult to safely negotiate with the current swell conditions.
In the estuary, flathead remain excellent, as they have pretty well all winter. Whitebait has been the pick of the baits while those throwing soft plastics continue to achieve considerable success. Bream numbers are reasonable and there are some top quality fish among them with night anglers expecting to do particularly well with good tides and no moon over the next few days. Both walls continue to fish well for blackfish around a kilo

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

Forster

Offshore: You expect wind at this time of the year but not howling nor'-easters. This will change over the coming days to SE/SW. Last weekend saw little offshore action except aboard Seaquest. A regular customer finally landed the elusive 20lb snapper. Not much else to report.
Beaches: The onshore winds have stirred things up with fish moving along the beaches. Earlier this week local pros reported bream, blackfish, whiting and salmon all taken with one shot. They also confirmed that these fish are not feeding and are difficult to catch in anything but a net. As the conditions settle these fish will be back on the headlands, with the exception of the salmon and whiting, and the rocks will continue to be the pick of the fishing. Most salmon I know of that have been caught and kept have been full of whiting when cleaned. A few small mulloway have been reported, all caught on beach worms.
Rocks: See above.
Estuary: Mulloway are a bit quiet around the breakwalls. The water temp in the lake is on the rise and flathead are now very active. Bream are moving further into the river systems. Whilst the blackfish crowd are a little unhappy they aren't bagging out every day, the size of the fish being caught is well above average. A few big sand whiting are being reported.

Lloyd Campbell, Great Lakes Tackle 02 6554 9541

Port Stephens

Estuary: Flathead coming on well with Colesy getting 12 in 2 1/2 hours in Tilligerry Creek on Thursday. Others around Goat Island and Corrie Island. School jew to 3kg off the Anchorage wall. Still plenty of blackfish on the breakwall, a few bream around the co-op. Sand whiting on Shoal Bay beach and Fly Point.
Beaches: Loads of salmon to 4kg on Stockton with the odd tailor. A few bream on Stockton and around Middle Rock on One Mile. Whiting on Fingal Spit.
Rocks: Plenty of blackfish on Cemetery, Boat Harbour, Boulder Bay. Bream in the washes around Rocky. Plenty of pigs on the northern side of Boat Harbour and Honeysuckle. Big schools of salmon off Sunny Corner.
Offshore: Sand flathead in 50 metres between Fingal and Big Island with some big flounder in with them. Flounder in Providence Bay below Cabbage Tree. Snapper around The Sisters and Edith Breaker. Chinaman jackets in 40 fathoms off the back of The Vs. Chance of a yellowfin on the shelf.

Graham Duffy, Salamander Bait and Tackle 02 4982 0711

Newcastle

Lake jewfish are still around. Last Saturday Col from Wave Master surf skis was trolling deep-diver lures in the lake for tailor and was surprised to hook a 12 kg jewfish. There was another report from a local doing the same who failed to land his fish, something around 6-7kg. Still snapper being caught around the cockle beds of Coal Point/Green Point and the Trench from Green Point to Fennel Bay Bridge, mainly at night.
Last weekend my wife Lea and I were in the Crangen Bay area with guests from Rafferty's Resort participating in the fishing theme weekend. We were showing them how to use soft plastics, with some exciting results. Anthony Drake caught his biggest ever Flathead (2kg) on a new watermelon Berkley Power Minnow 3". The new Berkley Gulp 2" natural coloured baby shrimp also worked well with another three flathead caught and Lea caught a nice whiting on the same lure. At last, a softie that works on Whiting.
Lemon Tree Passage Coastal Patrol says that Port Stephens Council plans to close the Little Beach boat ramp at Halifax Park because of safety matters arising from the users of the ramp and complaints from surrounding residents about the noise. The safety issues arise when strong winds blow from the south-west or west, making launching and retrieval in the chop hazardous. Alternative ramps at Lemon Tree Passage or Karuah are recommended by the council until other arrangements can be made.
Local Hunter website www.stickybeak.com.au has put in a proposal to install a webcam on top of Broughton Island to view sea conditions.

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

Central Coast

Rocks, beaches: Plague proportions of salmon with Dave from Freddy’s this week catching 60 in a session on anything that he could cast. They’re feeding on a lot of small slimy mackerel and blackening the water.
Offshore: A few good snapper around and a lot of trevally, morwong and the like with best fishing around the 70-metre marks. Lots of leatherjackets. A lot of green, slimy water moving in and it’s best to avoid this because it shows there’s no current.
Estuary: Some good whiting around in Brisbane Water over the shallow sand flats. Some jackets around The Rip. I caught a 7kg jewie on a 6” Atomic Shad last weekend in the bridge lights.

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

Sydney Northern

It’s a happy day when you come around the front of North Head to find one of nature’s most majestic sights: Gulls wheel and dive over absolute masses of migratory surface-feeding salmon as sharks and other big predators, including kingies, plough through the schools from underneath. It is nature at its most raw and a sight for sore winter eyes. These schools have really turned it on over the last week and it is not uncommon to land 30 salmon in a session, as long as you get all the ingredients right. As the salmon are feeding on microscopic zooplankton, including spawn from a few different invertebrates such as jellyfish and cuttlefish, it can often be hard to ‘match the hatch’. Spinning with small baitfish imitations will do the trick a lot of the time, either metal slices or soft plastics. Plastics seemingly have a larger amount of success, possibly as they could be confused for the clear spawn. Clear soft plastics with silver flecks fit this bill and are accounting for plenty of fish in sunny conditions. Clear gold fleck is working well in overcast conditions. For those wanting to use the more easily castable metal slices, particularly if there is some wind, try small 10g or less slices in white or silver.
A few trevally are also holding on the edge of these salmon schools and as they are feeding on the same things, can be picked up in the same manner.
Inside the Harbour has been a little slower but that didn’t stop Simon Cosgrove from having a day out and a half. Clontarf was the venue for some nice spring fishing, which included a beautiful 42cm bream around 1.5kg as well as an even bigger john dory and to top it off, a monster blue swimmer crab. Not a bad mixed bag! Pillies were the bait of choice for the bream and the dory scoffed a nice yellowtail.
Pittwater is yet to experience salmon in the numbers that abound off North Head but it is still producing rather nice kingies. The water temperature is finally rising as well, from the 13.5° of the last couple of weeks to a much more palatable 15°- plus. Pittwater Pete Le Blang of Harbour and Estuary Charters has hooked a few kingfish this week and not one of them has been below 84cm. There are a couple of keys to this success: Live squid and a downrigger. The squid are quite sparse in Pittwater at the moment, but there must be no short cuts taken in this cold water if you want to catch a king. Two or three hours to catch a squid is commonplace. Thankfully in almost every case you can turn them directly into kings. The best fishing has been about one hour either side of the change of tide, on both tides. Some decent trevally are also hanging around inside Pitty, mostly around the deeper points and headlands. A good berley will bring the fish around your boat, and unweighted baits such as whitebait or squid strips fed back into this trail are deadly. A few bream are also falling in the same way.
Rock fishing has been firing for the last few weeks, and now is no different. Luderick have started to come on in really good numbers, taking the freshest of fresh green weed. The occasional drummer has also been hooked up on this lighter line, taking the fresh weed, but almost none are landed. The majority of these stomping pigs have been taken on 15lb- plus line and fresh abalone gut.
Unfortunately the same can’t be said for beach fishing, with really only the occasional salmon coming within striking range. This week however might change that, with speculation of some impending jewfish for the all-night brigade.

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

Sydney Southern

Mac's Bait Bar This has been another one of those weeks when the bay has been quiet but on a positive note, outside Botany Bay has been firing with large numbers of flathead and morwong being caught. Best spots have been around Bate Bay and off Kurnell lighthouse. Best baits have been pillies and squid.
Merries Reef has been on fire for pigs and trevally on peeled prawns and nippers.
Back inside Botany Bay, only bream have been caught have been before sunrise on strips of squid, bloodworms and nippers around Watts Reef. Drifting in the centre of the bay has landed the odd flathead. Still lots of under size snapper in the bay.
The Woronora River is fishing well for blackfish on green weed. Port Hacking near South West Arm has produced some whiting and blackfish on blood worms and green weed. Further up the arm in the deeper water a 3kg jewfish was landed on squid.

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

Wollongong

Lake: Some blackfish on the rock wall on weed and worms, with mullet on bread near the bridge. Some flathead on whitebait near the drop-off. Bream at Mt Warrigal on darker plastics. Berkley boat ramp for bream on peeled prawns. Mullet in Mullet creek near the road bridge and bream in Macquarie Rivulet.
Beaches: Port Kembla Beach near the radio tower going fairly well for bream; tailor on pillies on Coniston Beach. Jewfish to 15kg on Wombara Beach on squid baits.
Rocks: Salmon from the northern wall at Port Kembla, trevally on Hill 60 on royal red prawns. Plenty of blackfish on Barrack Point on weed, pigs at Bass point on royal reds and ab gut.
Offshore: Mowies off Bellambi Reef on prawns. Some squire on Wollongong Reef. Spin around Bass Point for salmon and tailor. Nice snapper on the South East Grounds – calm mornings best.

Garth, Deans Bait and Tackle, Windang 4295 1615

Batemans Bay

If you can get out between the strong westerlies the flatties are on the bite. Quite a few big ones getting around at places like Cullendulla, Corrigans Beach, even Caseys Beach is worth a throw, as should be Shelly Beach at Moruya. The bream have been spotted moving into the river in patches and there are lot of blackfish getting about in the river and from the sandy headland corners.
Still some snapper from the rocks and the salmon are running. Drummer still going well with Alan Perry getting 28 pigs in two sessions recently.

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

Narooma

Darryl, The Ocean Hut (02) 4476 2278

Bermagui

Finally getting some rain, the best for a month or more. Very quiet offshore during the week with a few bottom fish, but not many.
Beaches firing well for salmon and tailor with plenty of good blackfish at Wallaga Lake bridge on weed and cabbage. Trevally and bream in the harbour at Bermagui.

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

Archived Weekly Reports

Year 2005 Weekly Reports
7/01/2005	14/01/2005	21/01/2005	28/01/2005
4/02/2005	11/02/2005	18/02/2005	25/02/2005
	18/03/2005	25/03/2005
1/04/2005	8/04/2005	15/04/2005	22/04/2005	29/04/2005
6/05/2005	13/05/2005	20/05/2005	27/05/2005
3/06/2005	10/06/2005	17/06/2005	24/06/2005
1/07/2005	8/07/2005	18/07/2005	22/07/2005	29/07/2005
5/08/2005	12/08/2005	19/08/2005	26/08/2005

Year 2004 Weekly Reports
05/01/2004	09/01/2004	16/01/2004		30/1/2004
06/02/2004	13/02/2004	20/02/2004	27/02/2004
05/03/2004	12/03/2004	19/03/2004	26/3/2004
02/04/2004	08/04/2004	16/04/2004	23/04/2004	30/04/2004
07/05/2004	14/05/2004	21/05/2004	28/05/2004
05/06/2004	11/06/2004	18/06/2004	25/06/2004
02/07/2004	09/07/2004	19/7/2004	23/07/2004	30/07/2004
06/08/2004	13/08/2004	20/08/2004	27/08/2004
03/09/2004	10/09/2004	17/09/2004	24/09/2004
01/10/2004	08/10/04	15/10/2004	22/10/2004	29/10/2004
05/11/2004	12/11/2004	19/11/2004	26/11/2004
03/12/2004	10/12/2004	17/12/2004	24/12/2004	31/12/2004

Year 2003 Weekly Reports

07/01/2003

10/01/2003

17/01/2003

24/01/2003

31/01/2003

07/02/2003

14/02/2003

21/02/2003

01/03/2003

07/03/2003

14/03/2003

21/03/2003

28/03/2003

04/04/2003

10/04/2003

17/04/2003

24/04/2003

02/05/2003

09/05/2003

16/05/2003

23/05/2003

30/05/2003

06/06/2003

13/06/2003

20/06/2003

27/06/2003

04/07/2003

11/07/2003

18/07/2003

25/07/2003

01/08/2003

08/08/2003

15/08/2003

22/08/2003

29/08/2003

05/09/2003

12/09/2003

19/09/2003

26/09/2003

03/10/2003

10/10/2003

17/10/2003

24/10/2003

31/10/2003

7/11/2003

14/11/2003

21/11/2003

28/11/2003

5/12/2003 12/12/2003 19/12/2003 29/12/2003

Year 2002 Weekly Reports
04/01/2002	11/01/2002	18/01/2002	25/01/2002
01/02/2002	08/02/2002	15/02/2002	22/02/2002
01/03/2002	08/03/2002	15/03/2002	22/03/2002	29/03/2002
05/04/2002	12/04/2002	19/04/2002	26/04/2002
03/05/2002	10/05/2002	17/05/2002	24/05/2002
01/06/2002	07/06/2002	14/06/2002	21/06/2002	28/06/2002
05/07/2002	12/07/2002	19/07/2002	26/07/2002
02/08/2002	09/08/2002	16/08/2002	23/08/2002	30/8/2002
06/09/2002	13 /09/2002	20/09/2002	27/09/2002
04/10/2002	11/10/2002	18/10/2002	25/10/2002
01/11/2002	8/11/2002	15/11/2002	22/11/2002	29/11/2002
06/12/2002	13/12/2002	20/12/2002		30/12/2002

Year 2001 Weekly Reports
25/1/2001
01/02/2001	08/02/2001	15/02/2001	22/02/2001
02/03/2001	09/03/2001	16/03/2001	23/03/2001	31/03/2001
6/04/2001	12/04/2001	19/04/2001	26/04/2001
3/05/2001	10/05/2001	17/05/2001	24/05/2001	31/05/2001
7/06/2001	14/06/2001	21/06/2001	28/06/2001
5/07/2001	12/07/2001	19/07/2001	26/07/2001
3/08/2001	10/08/2001	17/08/2001	24/08/2001	31/08/2001
7/09/2001	14/09/2001	21/9/2001	28/9/2001
5/10/2001	12/10/2001	19/10/2001	26/10/2001
2/11/2001	9/11/2001	16/11/2001	23/11/2001	30/11/2001
7/12/2001	14/12/2001	21/12/2001	28/12/2001