Weekly report 27/10/07

Over the last week or two there has been plenty of fish about. Joel Peterson got amoungst a few australian salmon and tailor at the entrance to Sydney Harbour. Joel caught most of them on whole garfish and 6 inch Bass Assassin Twitches (Alewife). Joel also pick up a few bream and leatherjackets on his way back up Middle Harbour.

Col Roberts caught 6 sand whiting off Clontarff Beach during the week on live tube worms. Best time was the rising tide and early in the morning. With the high, high tides that we are currently experiencing you should work the back of the sand flats in Iron and Lane Cove Rivers. Berley Sand Worms are the go at the moment.

There have been plenty of bream caught in the upper reaches of the Parramatta River. Try working the rocky shorelines and at the base of the mangroves at high tide.

Offshore Long Reef has been producing a few snapper to 4 .6 kilos in 20 to 30 metres of water. You will need to cube with chopped up pilchards and use whole pilchards and garfish for bait. The small reef that is just off Manly beach is worth a shot for silver trevallya and amberjack.

Manly Point produce 6 yellowfin bream and 4 leatherjackets for Russell from Newport.

Further south in Botany Bay there are plenty of silver trevally, yellowfin bream, dusky flathead, flounder and tarwhine on offer. To get the best results you will need to anchor and have a berley trail going. Fish as light as the conditions will allow. When the tide is running very fast you can try using a number 2 bean sinker that is above the swivel. Have a 2 metre leader with either a prawn or nipper for bait. Cast out about 10 metres and then put the rod in the rod holder. The current and the sinking sinker will do the rest.

Dusky flathead casn be lured up while fishing over at Brighton, Dolls Point, Towra Point and Silver Beach. There are also schools of tailor, salmon and the odd kingfish working the bait schools in Yarra Bay. Blue swimmers are also coming in from these areas.

Dave Fletcher with a 91.5cm dusky flathead that was caught on a soft plastic.

The Port Hacking has started to fire on the bream, leatherjacket, luderick and silver trevally front. Make sure that you have a steady berley trail out the back of your boat.

October 21, 2007 - 10:06AM

One person is dead and another is in hospital after a boating accident on the Georges River at Sans Souci in Sydney's south. It's believed a five-metre runabout hit the pylon of the Captain Cook Bridge just after midnight, ignited and sank a short time later. A body was found at the scene and a 37-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Rescue crews have salvage the boat later that morning. Any witnesses are asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Scotty Lyons from Southern Sydney Fishing Tours http://www.fishingsydney.com.au/ reports that the fishing school that he runs once a month can put you in the right spot, show you all the right rigs, the right bait and lures to use. Scott will also show you how to use burley and what species to target, how to find live bait like squid and yellowtail. Both of which you need when targeting kingfish and dusky flathead.

Scott will also teach you how to trolling up tailor, salmon, bonito and kingfish. He can also teach you how to use soft plastics for dusky flathead. Scotty runs the Fishing School at Hunts Marine at Blakehurst once a month and he follows this up with a full day on on the water. This is when you put the lessons learnt into practice and you will have a chance to target all that we have gone over in the Night class.

Wind wind and more wind. This can make the fishing hard in Botany Bay. Scotty recommends that you try for species like trevally, yellowfin bream and kingfish at places like Trevally Alley or you can try trolling up tailor in Yarra You could also try the end of the Third runway. Brighton is a good place to try out those soft plastics dusky flathead.

So if you would like to catch a few fish every time you are out on the water the fishing School can show you how just give me a call 0418 169 439.

Carl Dubois fished with Chris, Mick, Terry a while back for yellowfin bream in the Georges River and in Oyster Bay. The conditions were perfect and they had hoped for a great session, but for some reason, the bream weren't willing to play. They still managed a few between us though, with Chris getting the best of the day - a 32cm fork battler that had him in knots amongst some jetty pylons. Great rod work extracted the fish though and the performance was duly appreciated by us onlookers.Flatties were out in force though, with Mick and Terry landing half a dozen each on a variety of HB's and SP's. They also bumped into Buj and Andrew (9Ball) from KFDU (http://www.kfdu.com.au/) that had also cleaned up on the flatties by working HB's over the flats in the upper reaches of Oyster Bay.

Kingfish are taking Soft Plastics that are skipped across the surface.

There's been some great kingfish sessions off Clovelly lately and Carl joined a group of about seven like-minded yakker’s midweek to tangle with these mighty adversaries. Gatesy had been braining them over the last week and his best session was 9 legals in just over two hours, all caught on lures. Sensational fishing when you can get it.

Finally, Terry and Carl launched from La Perouse today hoping to find some schools of salmon near the mouth of the bay. There was no surface activity first thing in the morning, so we headed over towards Molineaux Point. This turned out to be an excellent choice as birds started working within Yarra Bay as we approached. Out go the lures and yeehah! Double hook ups are on the cards. Two tailor hit the decks and its grins all round.And so it was for the next two hours but Carl and Terry had to keep our eyes peeled to find the feeding schools. They'd come up for only 20 or 30 seconds and you had to be ready to cast as soon as you were close enough. At one stage we had a school nice and close and Terry had just hooked up on his metal lure when his SX40 he had out the back took off too! In the photo you'll see one rod between his legs with its tip bent down into the water while he's playing the other fish. Bloody show-off! One of the fish I landed coughed up what they'd been feeding on and it proved that my lure had matched the hatch perfectly.

They were hoping that there'd be a few salmon underneath the schools of tailor but today it wasn't to be. If you could manage to get your lures under the surface fish, the average size was a bit better though. Most fish were in the 35-37cm range; with my two best both going 40cm's. Not monsters, sure, but on light gear they're great fun. Terry and I probably landed over a dozen each and we easily dropped that many as well. As the sun rose, the schools busted-up less, so if you're planning on chasing a few tailor, nice and early is the way to go.

Darren from Bermagui Ocean Hut Fishing Tackle, Dive and Charter Fishing Service
mailto:%20(%20enquiries@bermifishinghut.com.au reports that there have been a number of great catches over the past week or two.

Reef
Over the recent week Tiger and Sand Flathead have dominated most anglers catches whilst offshore bottom fishing. Throw in plenty of big Morwong, a few Snapper and some Red Gurnard and the fishing couldn’t be better. Out, in around 50 metres due east of Bermagui is about as far as you need to travel at present.

Game
Water temps have reached 18 deg. on the edge of the Shelf and with it some Tuna have arrived. Recently 1 vessel caught 3 Yellowfin in excess of 30 kg while on the troll and following these fish seems to be a few Makos. Another boat caught 2 of these Sharks while berleying out over the Twelve Mile Reef.

Estuary
The upper reaches of the Bermagui River is producing a host of different species on either bait or lure. Flathead have been taking lures regularly in Rose Bay and some of the deeper holes while Blackfish, Bream, Trevally and Whiting are being caught along the Weed beds and over the flats on high tide using nippers.

Freshwater
Indifferent weather over the past week has made fishing for Bass in Brogo Dam difficult. Trolling is probably the most prolific way of catching fish there at present, although the bait fishos are doing ok producing their share. On a nice warm day both in the dam and below the wall will also produce fish on lures.

Rock and Beach
Schools of very small 5 cm Slimy Mackerel are hugging the coast line and following them are large schools of Salmon and Tailor. They have pushed these small bait fish in close to the entrance of Bermagui Harbour where anglers have been luring them with small metal imitation lures, with both species being of reasonable size.

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 or so.

DVD REVIEW – Hooked on Snapper and Tuna with David Butfield.

If this is the first time you have been to my site don’t forget to have a look at the various sections. Don’t forget to send in those questions so that I can get back to you and my other readers.

This is another great DVD that both the novice and seasoned angler can get something from. Dave Butfield covers different techniques for rigging lures and baits for tuna, tecniques for targeting snapper, squid at night, how to use overheads and threadline reels. There are also techiques on how to troll dead baits, feathers, hard bodeied lures and jigging and acasting soft plastics.

All of the filming was carried out in SA and you visit places like Rocky and Green Island and Port Lincon. There is some great footage on light tackle fishing for snapper and southern blue fin tuna. One session when there is a 4 way hook-up.

Even though this DVD was filmed in SA you can take away many of the different techniques of rigging, trolling and jigging back to your home area. David has included 71 GPS spots for you to try out. There are 19 from SA, 8 from QLD, 29 from NSW and 15 from Victoria.

Even though there are a couple of sections in this DVD that seem to go on forever , over all this is a great DVD and it will get the heart rate right up there with those big tuna and snapper. Well worth having in the library. Try your local tackle shop or call up Joy at AFN on (03) 9761 4044.

Paul Martin from Rock Marine Bait and Tackle (rocksmarine@tsn.cc) reports that
the NCC this week failed in a bid to impose 18 no-fishing zones including Fish Rock and Green Island. This is great news for the many fishermen who, without exception are happy to adhere to the existing restrictions around Fish Rock to protect the Grey nurse shark. I am sure it’s not over yet but let’s hope sanity prevails.

Mixed results outside over the last week where the fishing was a little tough. Snapper have been off Grassy again with floating slow sinking baits the popular method in about 30 meters. A few small yellowfin tuna have started to show up around Fish Rock taking small skirts or bibles lures. Jim Harrower landed a 2.66 kilo monster leather Jacket while Good Pearl Perch are out a little wider.

Fishing in the river has been slow with a few flathead and bream around but you need to work for them. There’s a few whiting up river taking live worms and nippers. There were some tailor around in the white water off the rocks while the seas were up last week. Good whiting are on Smoky Beach as well as the odd flathead off the North end while bream and dart are further along the Beach.

With only 8 weeks till Christmas the shop will lay-buys for that perfect Xmas Gift.
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 over the last week, we have had numerous reports of good flathead catches taken from many locations in the Hastings ranging from the break walls to Wauchope. Whilst there have been plenty of good quality fish of around 1 to 2 kilos being taken, there has also been stacks of juvenile fish on the chew. Although at times annoying, this is a great sign for the future with these juvenile fish seeming to be getting thicker each year. Bream numbers remain reasonable especially upstream, with lures achieving the better results which is good news with the Sundowner Bream Classic just around the corner.

Elsewhere in the estuary, blackfish have been a little quiet however the word is that there are still a considerable number of fish throughout the estuarine system. On the whiting scene, we are seeing a gradual improvement in quantity and quality, and this trend should continue as summer draws nearer. Best bet at present would be around Blackman’s Point or up the Maria with either yabbies or worms.

Off the beaches, catches have been well above average for this time of year, with good numbers of bream still cruising the waves and whiting numbers and quality steadily improving. Best results locally have come from north beach, with live worms and pipis the both working well. For those inclined to travel, Crescent Head has been excellent for both species although the distinct presence of red is not a good sign. Let’s hope a repeat of recent summer seasons is not in store. Also on the down side, tailor remain scarce and mulloway even rarer, although there are still plenty of salmon for those who enjoy a bit of sport fishing from the sand.

On the rocks, drummer reports are now a little slow although areas around Diamond Head and Forster have been fishing quite well considering the time of year. Groper and blackfish however remain viable targets depending upon sea conditions and tide phases. On the tailor front, a few reasonable fish have been snared at first light however the numbers are simply not there at this time of year. Locally, Lighthouse again has proven the pick of locations, whilst Plommer and surrounds has also produced a few nice fish.

Outside reports have been reasonable with bottom bouncers scoring good mixed bags from most locations. The ratio of snapper and pearl perch in many ice boxes has been most pleasing to those involved, especially with reds to over 5 kilos and pearlies to around 3 kilos amongst them. Little to report on the pelagic front, although we can confirm the NSW Fisheries FAD has been redeployed for the season ahead. We will advise exact GPS co-ordinates in the near future although I believe it is in the same location as per recent seasons.

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.

Weekly report 15/10/07

Over the past few weeks I have been asked what type of gear that I use when fishing for different fish species. So what I have done is put a short list together that may help you out.

These are the types of rods and reels that I am currently using
1. Drummer, Snapper, Groper and kingfish from the rocks.

Shakespeare Ugly Stik Gold GPS120A2 with an Alvey 650B spooled with 12 to 15 kilo line. NOTE: I HAVE CUT THE BUTT DOWN TO A LENGTH OF 150 MM.
2. Luderick,

Snyder Glass Mag Bream 13' -6" with an Alvey 6003 spooled with 6 kilo line

Or

Shakespeare Agility AG-SP1202LM with a Pflueger Echelon ECH060 spinning reel spooled with 6 kilo line.3. Whiting, Bream, Flathead from the beach.

Snyder Glass Mag Bream 13' -6" with an Alvey 6003 spooled with 6 kilo line

Or

Shakespeare Agility AG-SP1202LM with a Pflueger Echelon ECH060 spinning reel spooled with 6 kilo line4. Mulloway from the beach

Shakespeare Ugly Stik Gold GPS120A2 with an Alvey 650B spooled with 12 to 15 kilo line. NOTE: I HAVE CUT THE BUTT DOWN TO A LENGTH OF 150 MM.5. Spin combo for Tailor and Salmon

Shakespeare Ugly Stik Gold GPS120A2, 8 - 12 kilo with a Pflueger Contender 7570 spin reel with 12 kilo line. NOTE: I HAVE CUT THE SAND SPIKE OFF A PUT ON A RUBBER BUTT CAP.

Hope that this will help you out a bit in what type of tackle you should be looking at when you are next in at your favourite tackle shop.

Over the past 2 weeks I have been fishing in the Flathead classic at the Gold Coast, our team didn’t fair to well even though we did manage to get a 1.43cm jewfish and a 84cm flathead, (report to come in a couple of weeks) and having a break at Port Stephens.

Stephen Chang with a Mondran Barra that was caught on a Tropic Angler Green Tiger Floater hard bodied lure.

Botany Bay has been fishing well over the past week or two, with trevally and yellowfin bream been caught at the Hot Water Outlet, the Oil wharf, Bare Island, the end of the third runway, the drums, Sutherland Point, Towra and Dolls Point. You could also try trolling for tailor in Yarra Bay. The rocks off Kurnell has been producing luderick, tailor, bream, silver trevally and drummer on the rising tide.

Port Hacking is a little bit slower at the moment, but you can try trolling the drop –off at Lilly Pilly, Gymea Bay and the entrance to the Port Hacking and South West Arm for tailor, Australian salmon and the odd kingfish.

There are also plenty of leatherjackets and squid about in the Port Hacking. Try fishing close to the shore at the entrance to Yowie Bay and North West Arm.

Con from Drummoyne Bait and Tackle reports that Steven Bocchi bagged 2 jewfish from the Ryde bridge last Wednesday night while using Sydney Harbour prawns. They weighted in at 6.2 and 4.9 kilos. Searls Momument has been producing whiting to 43 cm for Ray Pellagrano. He has been using blood and tube worms and Ray reckons that you should fish the run-out for the best results.

Clarkes Point is still holding a few luderick, with anglers bagging fish to 750 grams. They have been mainly fishing the run-out tide and using fresh green weed. Tom and Jim frazer fished the wharf under the Iron Cove bridge for 3 silver trevally, 2 yellowfin bream, 3 dusky flathead, 1 sand whiting and 3 tailor. What a great catch and they were using blood worms, prawns and pilchards for bait.

Mort Bay has 6 spine and fan bellied leatherjackets. They are being taken on peeled prawns and nippers. The nippers have been out fishing the prawns 2 : 1. Elizabeth and Rushcutters Bays have been producing dusky flathead, flounder and the odd bream during the week. You will need to concentrate your efforts to the areas that have sand banks. Prawns, nippers and whiting bait have been doing the job.

Clifton Gardens has been fishing well for yellowfin bream, silver trevally, tailor and the odd australian salmon and kingfish. Try using prawns, squid, garfish and pilchards.

The Spit bridge has been a popular spot for squid. Some of the anglers have been landing up to 10 squid in a session. They have been using squid jigs from 1.5 to 2.0 in pink and orange.

Australian salmon schools are still moving around the harbour. Some of the fish have been around the 3 kilo mark. Try using small metal slicers, Bass Assain 6 inch soft plastiucs, surface poppers and garfish. Some of the anglers have also been getting a few kingfish from under the schools of feeding fish. So you may want to let your lure sink for a few seconds.

Kingfish have been taken in good numbers from the Wedding Cake Island that is just off the beach at Coggee. Try trolling lures or jigging a few slicers or soft plastics just off the bottom. Live bait will also produce good fish.

12 mile reef is producing morwong, tiger flathead, silver trevally, leatherjackets and the odd big kingfish. Try using large prawns, squid and whole or half pilchards and garfish. Long Reef has snapper to three and a half kilos. Try drifting off the jail for sand flathead, morwong and leatherjackets. Sound out the area and fish at the 38 metre depth.

For more information on what is happening in Sydney, why don’t you call into Con and Peter’s shop at 104 Lyons Road at Drummoyne. They also have a great range of Bass Assassin soft plastics and TT Jig Heads that are great when chasing Australian salmon, tailor and kingfish.

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 has just locked a week in for next year for a week fishing in Weipa up on Cape York April 7th to the 13th this is prime time in this area. Your trip is based on the water so you can fish 24-7 if you wish we have two smaller tenders with 50hp for all your fishing and exploring. Fish the vast creeks for Barra, Jacks, Fingermark, Queenfish and Trevally, Fish the coral bommies for Trevally, Coral Trout and many more.

Each day is fished in a new area and there normally plenty on offer. This trip just needs six keen anglers to join us for a great weeks fishing. But be quick as this trip always fills fast. All details of the Weipa trip please give me a call 0418 169 439.Scotty also reports that Botany Bay this week is fishing rather well yellowfin bream and silver trevally around Trevally Alley. Scott reports the fishing will be a bit slow so you will need to move around a bit to find the fish and you will need to work for them this week. Try trolling just of Kurnell Point, as over the past week Scott has had two double hookups on Tailor. Trevally worth a shot on the anchor just of the point burley is needed. To make a booking call Scott on mobile 0418169439.

DVD REVIEW – The Best of Fishin’ Trip – The Whyalla Special – Snapper.

If this is the first time you have been to my site don’t forget to have a look at the various sections. Don’t forget to send in those questions so that I can get back to you and my other readers.

In this DVD Jason, Pete, Rod and Andrew head down to fish the PENS at Whyalla for those massive snapper with baitrunner and overhead reels. If it is big snapper that you are after this DVD won’t let you down. The guys manage to get 6 very large snapper over 2 days of fishing the PENS at Whyalla. Some of them are over 13 kilo plus.

The boys take you through a few techniques on how to use bait runner reels. After watching the DVD you will notice that they lay their rods almost parrellel to the water. This is gives the fish a better chance to pick up the bait and power off with it.

There are a few extra sections in this DVD, one on how to catch blue swimmer crabs, feeding the dolphins at a marina with whole pilchards and also getting into a few calmari and squid while out crabbing.

Over all this is a great DVD and it will get the heart rate right up there with those big snapper. Well worth having in the library. Try your local tackle shop or call up Joy at AFN on (03) 9761 4044.

Paul Martin from Rock Marine Bait and Tackle (rocksmarine@tsn.cc) reports that
apart from a few ugly days the conditions have been terrific for heading out and wetting a line. A couple of fisho’s ventured out wide for a few bar cod in water temperature around the low 20’s. Kingfish are around Fish Rock in good numbers but there not always on the bite. Long fin perch are about in 60 Fathoms. There has been reasonable snapper off Grassy in about 30 to 40 meters along with a few pearlies and a heap of red rock cod. The FAD is out there again about 50 meters off the original location.

Flathead are on the bite in the river and there’s been some monsters being landed. Theo Zirogiannis caught a classic 4 kilo lizard on soft plastic bait. Bream are about as well amongst the many little ones. There’s still the odd Blackfish about but this week should see the end. Whiting are biting on worms on the sand flats.

Smoky beach has been fishing well for whiting and bream with a few Australian salmon coming in. Good whiting have been caught off the Front Beach and inside the Jail Breakwall. Gap Beach has whiting, bream and the odd flathead off the north end.

With only 10 weeks till Christmas the shop will lay-buys for that perfect Xmas Gift.
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, flathead remain the star attraction with quality fish on offer from most parts. Good catches are now coming from areas further upstream, with the Maria and around Rawdon Island fishing quite well, although the lower reaches are still producing plenty of big lizards.

A few bream are still on offer around Limeburners and the coal wall, and with the waters clearing and warming considerably, look for the action to begin to pick up further upstream. Increasing numbers of whiting are also beginning to show in the Hastings with Limeburners and up the Maria now producing quality fish, with live worms or yabbies the pick of baits. Lake Cathie too has been fishing well for whiting as is usually the case when the lake is open. Blackfish however are now starting to slow considerably, however a few solid fish to over a kilo are hanging around Limeburners and the break walls for those putting in the time. For crabbing enthusiasts, mud crab numbers are picking up almost daily so now is definitely time to dust off the traps and dillies if you haven’t already done so.

Off the beaches, some solid bream remain on offer with the excellent run enjoyed over winter continuing well beyond expectations. Good numbers of whiting too are about, with their earlier presence this year no doubt due to the salmon numbers not being as prolific as in recent seasons. Whilst there are still plenty of these great sport fish still about, at least this season has seen somewhat of a balance return, where a variety of species can be confidently targeted during this time of year. On the negative side however, mulloway and tailor remain elusive and a few specks of red weed have begun to show up. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the gods are kind and the inundation of recent summer seasons does not eventuate.

Off the rocks, still a few drummer on offer however the action has now begun to slow a considerably. However it is not unusual to see a cold strip of water hug the coastline at this time of year, and if this happens, look for another brief burst of activity from these tough brawlers. Tailor on the other hand have improved a little with some quality fish to over a kilo on offer from most headlands, with Lighthouse locally being the pick of locations. A few bream are also on offer although by and large the average size and condition has begun to diminish as you expect at this time of year. Blackfish numbers remain reasonable, whilst the odd groper is still on offer, with Diamond Head and Point Perpendicular the pick of locations.

Outside reports have been encouraging with snapper numbers solid from the closer reefs, a few kingfish and Sampson fish wider off Plommer, and still a few yellowfin on the shelf. Those making the trek out also report a few mahi mahi hanging around buoys and the like, which encouraging given the FAD should be back in place very soon. Paul and Carol from Aquatic Blue Charters have also been treating their customers to some great whale watching, with whale numbers at present excellent as these majestic mammals begin their journey back down the coast for the summer.

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.