Weekly report 30/9/07
If this is the first time you have been to my site don’t forget to have a look at the various sections. I have just updated my web site with 7 new questions that have been sent in from readers and my answers back to them. I have also put up a new book and DVD review. So when you get a chance check them out. Also to wet your appeitite for a bit more kingfish fishing I have also included a review on the following DVD, Hooked with David Butfield.
What can I say. They fishing in Southern Sydney has been great over the past week or two. Botany Bay has silver trevally at all the usual spots, australian salmon, tailor and the odd kingfish can be trolled up along the edge of the third and old runways, yarra Bay, either side of the entrance to Botany Bay, Towra wide and along the coast down to Bate Bay.
Bate Bay has snapper, sweep, sand flathead, bream and trevally off the back of Shark Isalnd, Osbourne Shoals and the northern side of Jibbon bombora. If you work your way down to Marley Point you can fish for bream, snapper, trevally, morwong, leatherjackets, kingfish and drummer. The washes have been holding tailot and australian salmon.
The Port Hacking has plenty of luderick, bream, silver trevally, leatherjackets, squid, tailor and schools of frigate mackerel, kingfish and salmon working the deeper bays.
All and all the holidays will be a great time for fishing in the Shire if the weather keeps up like it is as the moment. Send me areport of how you go over the next week or so and include a photo and you too will be in with a chance to win this months Photo of the Month competition.
Mark Coyne, forma centre for St George with his biggest ever dusky flathead. These girls will start to show up as the water and weather starts to warm up.
Work on the Audley Fishway is completed.
The work on the Audley Fishway has finished and the contract was awarded to Civil Constructions Pty Ltd. “The Iemma Government contributing half the funding for the $400,000 project, which involves the construction of a rock-ramp fish ladder upstream from Audley Weir in Sydney’s Royal National Park,” Minister Macdonald said. “The ladder is 45 metres long, four metres wide and constructed using sandstone boulders and stone cobbles to reflect natural conditions. A series of pools will be created every two metres to enable fish to move between the freshwater habitat upstream, and the salty estuary below.
The Audley Weir has acted as a physical barrier to the movement of fish along the Hacking River for years; this Fishway will restore the natural biodiversity of the river, by enabling fish such as the Australian Bass to use the upper reaches of the river for part of their lifecycle.
Minister Macdonald said “the project would see the best available science used to improve biodiversity and fish stocks in Australia’s oldest National Park. It will bring a real lift to the riverine biodiversity values of the park, and the local catchment will be in better health as a result.”
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), Department of Primary Industries, and the Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority have also contributed funding to the project. This includes $70,000 from the NPWS, which has also produced the environmental assessment review. In addition to the environmental benefits, the Audley fishway will be a focus point for innovative educational programs being prepared by the NPWS, who have recently relocated their Visitor’s Centre to a site near the fishway. Source: media release from Minister for Natural Resources.
The Hole in the Wall Boat Ramp at Sylvania Waters.
This boat ramp is currently under going some major changes and will be out of operation for a couple of months. It will be great when it has been fixed up, but you will have to launch else where.
Scotty Lyons from Southern Sydney Fishing Tours http://www.fishingsydney.com.au/ reports that he is just back from two weeks fishing northern Australia. What a trip great weather and top fishing. Scott fished the creeks and found barra, jacks and cod of all sizes around the mouth of each creek queenfish and trevally jumped all over a fast moving lure loades of fun. Trolling the many rocky headlands had them tangeling with mackerel, tuna and larger trevally and queenfish. Reef fishing with bait the species just to many to list.
On this trip Scott tried out the the Schneider High Performance Braid that he has used in and around Botany Bay with good results, but up north is the real test and it did the job better than he hoped for. Scott is very impressed a great product.
BOOK NOW FOR SCOTT’S TRIP NEXT YEAR JUNE 08. HE NEEDS SIX KEEN ANGLERS TO JOIN HIM FOR A TOP WEEKS FISHING IN THE FAR NOTH OF AUSTRALIA BE QUICK AS THESE TRIPS FILL FAST.
Next fishing school is on the 5th November + Full day out fishing.Next singles day is on the 7th and I need two anglers keen to join this group.
To make a booking call Scott on mobile 0418169439.
DVD REVIEW - Hooked with Dave Butfield
This great set of 3 DVD’s around 6 hours of fishing action brought to you by Dave Butfield from the Fishing show series called Hooked on Fishing. In these 3 dvd’s you will find groper fishing off the rocks at Long Reef in Sydney, massive GT’s at Exmouth, mulloway in Botany Bay, black jewfish in Darwin Harbour, Barramundi and threadfin salmon fishing at Darwin, how to target King George whiting in Adelaide, kingfish jigging off Terrigal, Flathead in the Logan River in Queensland and last, but by no means least blue eye cod fishing in the deep waters off Kiama on the mid south coast of NSW.
Dave starts off each segment with a visit to the local Tackle World shop to take you though the types of rod and reel combinations they are going to use. Also Dave will disgust with the owner or manager of the shop what types of terminal tackle, bait and lures they are going to use when chasing the particular fish species for that segment.
One thing that I also found with this set of DVD’s is that the target fish species are not the only fish caught while putting them together. There are many other fish species caught along the way.
These 3 dvd’s would be well worth having in your library even if you are a local or you are thinking of visiting the area, or even if you are a competent angler or just a novice. I am sure that everyone who views these DVD’s will pick up something of interest.
Carl from http://www.kayakfishingsydney.com/ reports that the morning dawned when he set off onto Botany Bay in search of a few more trevally. He moved along towards the end of the 3rd runway, staying just outside the markers, casting towards the runway wall. I only had two of the Gulp 3" minnows in lime tiger so he figured I'd use them up before moving onto the Pumpkinseed ones.Carl also caught a couple of Australian salmon, some silver trevally, dusky flathead and a small under sized kingfish.
For more on what happen during the rest of the morning why don’t you pay a visit to his web site at http://www.kayakfishingsydney.com/
Paul Martin from Rock Marine Bait and Tackle (rocksmarine@tsn.cc) reports that holiday makers to the Rocks area will be getting amongst a few fish both inside and out. That is if you are going to wet a line. Smoky Beach has been fishing well for good Whiting and Bream on live worms and pippies. Gap Beach has Whiting, Bream and the odd Tailor and Salmon. Rock hoppers are catching Drummer, Bream and the odd lonely Tailor or two, with a few Tuna off Hat Head.
The river is still producing good flathead and these fish are suckers for a large range of Plastic baits and lures. Blackfish surprisingly are still on the bite, finding the weed bait has been the problem. Bream are about in good numbers but the big ones are scarce. A few Jew have been landed over the last week. If you’re heading to Fish Rock expect to tangle with some King Fish or the odd Snapper amongst the loads of Bonito. Snapper have been off Grassy in close with a few Pearlies out wider while out of the same location the crew on “get it on” caught after a 2 hour fight a 50lb Cobia on 10 pound braid.
For daily reports and special call Paul on (02) 6566 6726.
Jason and Virginia Isaac from Ned Kelly’s Bait and Tackle jasned@ozemail.com.au reports that in the estuary, blackfish remain solid with good fish still available for those willing to put in the time. Both break walls and Limeburners have been the pick of locations. Bream numbers too have been reasonable despite the full moon phase, with Limeburners and the coal wall producing a few nice bags. Best results have been achieved on late afternoon sessions with either gut baits or yabbies. On the positive side, flathead numbers continue to improve almost daily with pretty well all areas downstream of Rawdon Island producing fish. The lower reaches of the Hastings have also begun to produce a few better quality whiting, although there are plenty of throwbacks amongst the better fish. No real reports of crabs as yet; however with the days slowly warming, from now on the action should improve considerably.
On the beaches, the terrific late season run of bream continues, with pretty well all stretches of sand from Crowdy to Crescent Head producing fish in varying quantities and quality. Usually by this time of year the bream run is well and truly finished, however for whatever reason this season just keep going. Along with the bream, some terrific whiting have begun to show up, with live worms as is usually the case, doing all the damage. If you are seeking a feed of these tasty critters, look to fish shallow sand spits particularly on a rising tide, with the smallest amount of lead given the conditions. On the tailor and mulloway front, little to report as has been the case for some time now; however it will be interesting to see if the current full moon phase produces an improved showing. For those seeking some salmon action, there are still plenty of fish about, with most deeper gutters yielding results.
On the rocks, drummer numbers remain steady with Point Plommer, Point Perpendicular and Diamond Head all continuing to yield quality fish. With many of the fish yet to spawn, you should be able to confidently chase a feed of pigs for a few more weeks yet. Also off the stones, a few tailor have shown up for those keen to rise well before 5.00 am, whilst the evening sessions in the lead up to the moon have yielded a few bream for those willing to put in the time. Still a few solid groper on offer for those willing to float a few crabs when the seas are flat.
On the offshore scene, the reefs of both Plommer and Lake Cathie have been producing a reasonable run of snapper to around 3 kilos, along with the increasingly common pearl perch and plenty of morwong. Flatties remain thick on the sand drifts in around 50 meters or so. On the leather jacket scene, the swarms are beginning to thin noticeably, however the odd patch is still hanging around the wider reefs, so don’t remove the wire supplies just yet. On the pelagic scene, yellow fin tuna are still around the shelf in good numbers. Those trolling skirts have also reported the odd bill fish encounter which bodes well for the season ahead.
When you are next up in Port Macquarie call into the shop and have a look at their great selection of tackle and bait they have on offer. You could also ask Jason and Virginia for their daily report on what’s happening on the fishing front. Call them on (02) 6583 8318.
Darren from Bermagui Ocean Hut Fishing Tackle, Dive and Charter Fishing Service
mailto:%20(%20enquiries@bermifishinghut.com.au reports that fishing last week has been tough with plenty of fish showing on the sounder although not that interested in feeding. Mowies and Tiger Flathead are the main catch where you need to move constantly to find them and avoid the Leather Jackets. I suspect there should be some good Snapper in close off Goalen Head on this moon.
Cold water is still the major factor for those wishing to chase Game Fish. Some anglers have tried berleying for Sharks with no success and I doubt we will see any change in the Game Fishing until next moon or even later than that. There is a patch of water south of Sydney which is holding schools of Tuna, hopefully they will move south in the near future.
Things are warming up in the estuaries and the better areas are the upper reaches around the weed beds and over the flats, especially the Bermagui River. Anglers can expect Bream, Whiting and Luderick on bait as well as Flathead are starting to make an appearance for those who like to cast lures.
The cool water is still having an effect on the beaches where very little action is to be had. There are some Salmon and I suspect those wishing to go out at night may find a Gummy Shark on this moon. Pretty much the same for the rocks with a few Trevally and Leatherjacket showing, although generally quiet.
Warmer than usual weather conditions are indicating there could be an early spring and with this the Bass in Brogo may become active a lot earlier this season. At present there have been no reports on any regular catches of Bass within our area and I suspect it will stay this way for quite a few more weeks.
If you are planing a trip down Darren’s way check out his web site at http://bermifishinghut.com.au/aboutus.htm You could also give Darren and the boys a ring on (02) 6493 4688 to find out what is coming up in the next week
If this is the first time you have been to my site don’t forget to have a look at the various sections. I have just updated my web site with 7 new questions that have been sent in from readers and my answers back to them. I have also put up a new book and DVD review. So when you get a chance check them out. Also to wet your appeitite for a bit more kingfish fishing I have also included a review on the following DVD, Hooked with David Butfield.
What can I say. They fishing in Southern Sydney has been great over the past week or two. Botany Bay has silver trevally at all the usual spots, australian salmon, tailor and the odd kingfish can be trolled up along the edge of the third and old runways, yarra Bay, either side of the entrance to Botany Bay, Towra wide and along the coast down to Bate Bay.
Bate Bay has snapper, sweep, sand flathead, bream and trevally off the back of Shark Isalnd, Osbourne Shoals and the northern side of Jibbon bombora. If you work your way down to Marley Point you can fish for bream, snapper, trevally, morwong, leatherjackets, kingfish and drummer. The washes have been holding tailot and australian salmon.
The Port Hacking has plenty of luderick, bream, silver trevally, leatherjackets, squid, tailor and schools of frigate mackerel, kingfish and salmon working the deeper bays.
All and all the holidays will be a great time for fishing in the Shire if the weather keeps up like it is as the moment. Send me areport of how you go over the next week or so and include a photo and you too will be in with a chance to win this months Photo of the Month competition.
Mark Coyne, forma centre for St George with his biggest ever dusky flathead. These girls will start to show up as the water and weather starts to warm up.
Work on the Audley Fishway is completed.
The work on the Audley Fishway has finished and the contract was awarded to Civil Constructions Pty Ltd. “The Iemma Government contributing half the funding for the $400,000 project, which involves the construction of a rock-ramp fish ladder upstream from Audley Weir in Sydney’s Royal National Park,” Minister Macdonald said. “The ladder is 45 metres long, four metres wide and constructed using sandstone boulders and stone cobbles to reflect natural conditions. A series of pools will be created every two metres to enable fish to move between the freshwater habitat upstream, and the salty estuary below.
The Audley Weir has acted as a physical barrier to the movement of fish along the Hacking River for years; this Fishway will restore the natural biodiversity of the river, by enabling fish such as the Australian Bass to use the upper reaches of the river for part of their lifecycle.
Minister Macdonald said “the project would see the best available science used to improve biodiversity and fish stocks in Australia’s oldest National Park. It will bring a real lift to the riverine biodiversity values of the park, and the local catchment will be in better health as a result.”
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), Department of Primary Industries, and the Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority have also contributed funding to the project. This includes $70,000 from the NPWS, which has also produced the environmental assessment review. In addition to the environmental benefits, the Audley fishway will be a focus point for innovative educational programs being prepared by the NPWS, who have recently relocated their Visitor’s Centre to a site near the fishway. Source: media release from Minister for Natural Resources.
The Hole in the Wall Boat Ramp at Sylvania Waters.
This boat ramp is currently under going some major changes and will be out of operation for a couple of months. It will be great when it has been fixed up, but you will have to launch else where.
Scotty Lyons from Southern Sydney Fishing Tours http://www.fishingsydney.com.au/ reports that he is just back from two weeks fishing northern Australia. What a trip great weather and top fishing. Scott fished the creeks and found barra, jacks and cod of all sizes around the mouth of each creek queenfish and trevally jumped all over a fast moving lure loades of fun. Trolling the many rocky headlands had them tangeling with mackerel, tuna and larger trevally and queenfish. Reef fishing with bait the species just to many to list.
On this trip Scott tried out the the Schneider High Performance Braid that he has used in and around Botany Bay with good results, but up north is the real test and it did the job better than he hoped for. Scott is very impressed a great product.
BOOK NOW FOR SCOTT’S TRIP NEXT YEAR JUNE 08. HE NEEDS SIX KEEN ANGLERS TO JOIN HIM FOR A TOP WEEKS FISHING IN THE FAR NOTH OF AUSTRALIA BE QUICK AS THESE TRIPS FILL FAST.
Next fishing school is on the 5th November + Full day out fishing.Next singles day is on the 7th and I need two anglers keen to join this group.
To make a booking call Scott on mobile 0418169439.
DVD REVIEW - Hooked with Dave Butfield
This great set of 3 DVD’s around 6 hours of fishing action brought to you by Dave Butfield from the Fishing show series called Hooked on Fishing. In these 3 dvd’s you will find groper fishing off the rocks at Long Reef in Sydney, massive GT’s at Exmouth, mulloway in Botany Bay, black jewfish in Darwin Harbour, Barramundi and threadfin salmon fishing at Darwin, how to target King George whiting in Adelaide, kingfish jigging off Terrigal, Flathead in the Logan River in Queensland and last, but by no means least blue eye cod fishing in the deep waters off Kiama on the mid south coast of NSW.
Dave starts off each segment with a visit to the local Tackle World shop to take you though the types of rod and reel combinations they are going to use. Also Dave will disgust with the owner or manager of the shop what types of terminal tackle, bait and lures they are going to use when chasing the particular fish species for that segment.
One thing that I also found with this set of DVD’s is that the target fish species are not the only fish caught while putting them together. There are many other fish species caught along the way.
These 3 dvd’s would be well worth having in your library even if you are a local or you are thinking of visiting the area, or even if you are a competent angler or just a novice. I am sure that everyone who views these DVD’s will pick up something of interest.
Carl from http://www.kayakfishingsydney.com/ reports that the morning dawned when he set off onto Botany Bay in search of a few more trevally. He moved along towards the end of the 3rd runway, staying just outside the markers, casting towards the runway wall. I only had two of the Gulp 3" minnows in lime tiger so he figured I'd use them up before moving onto the Pumpkinseed ones.Carl also caught a couple of Australian salmon, some silver trevally, dusky flathead and a small under sized kingfish.
For more on what happen during the rest of the morning why don’t you pay a visit to his web site at http://www.kayakfishingsydney.com/
Paul Martin from Rock Marine Bait and Tackle (rocksmarine@tsn.cc) reports that holiday makers to the Rocks area will be getting amongst a few fish both inside and out. That is if you are going to wet a line. Smoky Beach has been fishing well for good Whiting and Bream on live worms and pippies. Gap Beach has Whiting, Bream and the odd Tailor and Salmon. Rock hoppers are catching Drummer, Bream and the odd lonely Tailor or two, with a few Tuna off Hat Head.
The river is still producing good flathead and these fish are suckers for a large range of Plastic baits and lures. Blackfish surprisingly are still on the bite, finding the weed bait has been the problem. Bream are about in good numbers but the big ones are scarce. A few Jew have been landed over the last week. If you’re heading to Fish Rock expect to tangle with some King Fish or the odd Snapper amongst the loads of Bonito. Snapper have been off Grassy in close with a few Pearlies out wider while out of the same location the crew on “get it on” caught after a 2 hour fight a 50lb Cobia on 10 pound braid.
For daily reports and special call Paul on (02) 6566 6726.
Jason and Virginia Isaac from Ned Kelly’s Bait and Tackle jasned@ozemail.com.au reports that in the estuary, blackfish remain solid with good fish still available for those willing to put in the time. Both break walls and Limeburners have been the pick of locations. Bream numbers too have been reasonable despite the full moon phase, with Limeburners and the coal wall producing a few nice bags. Best results have been achieved on late afternoon sessions with either gut baits or yabbies. On the positive side, flathead numbers continue to improve almost daily with pretty well all areas downstream of Rawdon Island producing fish. The lower reaches of the Hastings have also begun to produce a few better quality whiting, although there are plenty of throwbacks amongst the better fish. No real reports of crabs as yet; however with the days slowly warming, from now on the action should improve considerably.
On the beaches, the terrific late season run of bream continues, with pretty well all stretches of sand from Crowdy to Crescent Head producing fish in varying quantities and quality. Usually by this time of year the bream run is well and truly finished, however for whatever reason this season just keep going. Along with the bream, some terrific whiting have begun to show up, with live worms as is usually the case, doing all the damage. If you are seeking a feed of these tasty critters, look to fish shallow sand spits particularly on a rising tide, with the smallest amount of lead given the conditions. On the tailor and mulloway front, little to report as has been the case for some time now; however it will be interesting to see if the current full moon phase produces an improved showing. For those seeking some salmon action, there are still plenty of fish about, with most deeper gutters yielding results.
On the rocks, drummer numbers remain steady with Point Plommer, Point Perpendicular and Diamond Head all continuing to yield quality fish. With many of the fish yet to spawn, you should be able to confidently chase a feed of pigs for a few more weeks yet. Also off the stones, a few tailor have shown up for those keen to rise well before 5.00 am, whilst the evening sessions in the lead up to the moon have yielded a few bream for those willing to put in the time. Still a few solid groper on offer for those willing to float a few crabs when the seas are flat.
On the offshore scene, the reefs of both Plommer and Lake Cathie have been producing a reasonable run of snapper to around 3 kilos, along with the increasingly common pearl perch and plenty of morwong. Flatties remain thick on the sand drifts in around 50 meters or so. On the leather jacket scene, the swarms are beginning to thin noticeably, however the odd patch is still hanging around the wider reefs, so don’t remove the wire supplies just yet. On the pelagic scene, yellow fin tuna are still around the shelf in good numbers. Those trolling skirts have also reported the odd bill fish encounter which bodes well for the season ahead.
When you are next up in Port Macquarie call into the shop and have a look at their great selection of tackle and bait they have on offer. You could also ask Jason and Virginia for their daily report on what’s happening on the fishing front. Call them on (02) 6583 8318.
Darren from Bermagui Ocean Hut Fishing Tackle, Dive and Charter Fishing Service
mailto:%20(%20enquiries@bermifishinghut.com.au reports that fishing last week has been tough with plenty of fish showing on the sounder although not that interested in feeding. Mowies and Tiger Flathead are the main catch where you need to move constantly to find them and avoid the Leather Jackets. I suspect there should be some good Snapper in close off Goalen Head on this moon.
Cold water is still the major factor for those wishing to chase Game Fish. Some anglers have tried berleying for Sharks with no success and I doubt we will see any change in the Game Fishing until next moon or even later than that. There is a patch of water south of Sydney which is holding schools of Tuna, hopefully they will move south in the near future.
Things are warming up in the estuaries and the better areas are the upper reaches around the weed beds and over the flats, especially the Bermagui River. Anglers can expect Bream, Whiting and Luderick on bait as well as Flathead are starting to make an appearance for those who like to cast lures.
The cool water is still having an effect on the beaches where very little action is to be had. There are some Salmon and I suspect those wishing to go out at night may find a Gummy Shark on this moon. Pretty much the same for the rocks with a few Trevally and Leatherjacket showing, although generally quiet.
Warmer than usual weather conditions are indicating there could be an early spring and with this the Bass in Brogo may become active a lot earlier this season. At present there have been no reports on any regular catches of Bass within our area and I suspect it will stay this way for quite a few more weeks.
If you are planing a trip down Darren’s way check out his web site at http://bermifishinghut.com.au/aboutus.htm You could also give Darren and the boys a ring on (02) 6493 4688 to find out what is coming up in the next week
