Weekly report 27/01/08

It is great to hear from former students who attended my fishing classes that I run at Windybanks Bait and Tackle at Mount Colah and how they have improved their fishing. Peter & Tyler Morley (8 years old) had the chance to fish in the lakes area of Forster/Tuncurry whilst on holidays. Tyler managed to land a 77cm dusky flathead from the shore of a sand island. He did it using a full pilchard and with no sinker on 3 gang hooks size 4/O using 6 kilo mono-filament line. The outfit Tyler used was a Daiwa Procaster-V graphite rod and Shimano Symetre 2500FI reel.

Dave Steele had a great time fishing up in Yamba with his family and he managed to get around 30 yellowfin bream in about 40 minutes fishing. He kept 10 (see picture) and threw back about 20 more. Dave used G loomis rod, Shimano twin power 4000, 20lb braid down to 20lb leader small 0 ball sinker, thin wire gamy hook and peeled prawns. (the reason for high lb leader was that he was fishing along wall in boat.) Dave also managed to get a feed of mud crabs.

Carl Dubois and I competed in the Squidgy Bream Challenges up on Brisbane Waters last weekend. We have only fished there once before so we took some advice from a good mate of Carl’s who pointed us in the direction of some weedy sand flats and assured us we'd get stuck into the bream as the tide fell.Upon arrival, we could see another 3 boats working the area. We gave them plenty of room and starting working various SP's and surface lures, including a new one for Carl, a Towadi (and yeah, yeah, for you experienced guys, I know they've been around for ages...).

Only about 10 minutes into the fishing Carl landed his first. "Aaarrrgghhh!" 24cm's to the fork...bummer, as it has to be 25cm's, so back it goes. Soon after he get another: 23cm's this time. Both were legal fish as far as the fisheries are concerned but they're no good for these comps.I finally lands one that is 25cm's on the button. Carl picks up another one that's just under, then Carl gets a much better and he's a shoe-in at 29cm's. That's two in the well and its only 10am. The bite went a bit quiet after that so we decided to leave the flats for the other boats and try somewhere else.

While motoring around we passed a nice little lagoon running off into deeper water and Carl flicked a camo sandworm into the current. A 42cm whiting came on board, was photograph and let go. We landed the usual assortment of by-catch (flathead, tailor, flounder) and lost a few good bream, but we were never really in the running to take out the comp. To rub salt into the wounds, the guys that won the day were one of the boats working the same flats as us. They just hung around a bit longer and finally the bream went on the chew and they bagged out with their best 5 fish weighing in at 2.9kg's. Good on 'em, I say.

Carl with his 42cm sand whiting that was caught on a 6 inch Berkley Camo Sand Worm

Ron Osman from Estuary Fishing and Tours http://www.estuaryfishingtours.com.au/
reports that over the past two weeks the flatties are still there in numbers there are some to 40cm on the sand banks at lobster, but the bigger ones to 65cm are in the channel just past lobster. Ron has been drifting down the middle of the channel bouncing plastics off the bottom and moving out of the way when a boat comes through, most days they have caught 10 keepers in 2 and half hours and they have been over 50cm and some over 60 and mostly big females. Blue swimmers, bream and whiting have been a bit slow this week but Ron has still managed a few at Hardies Bay racks.

They also caught a few salmon while fishing for bream at Lion Island and there was a school of small tailor on the surface there on Saturday, good fun but no keepers, it is the first school of fish Ron has seen in Broken Bay except for slimies for about 2 months. Still heaps of slimies at Iron Ladders. The jews at the Rip Bridge have gone, but they caught a couple of small ones (50cm) at the Mooney Road Bridge.

If you are after more information about Ron’s estuary fishing and tours you can either have a look at his web site http://www.estuaryfishingtours.com.au/ or email him at ron@estuaryfishingtours.com.au

Scotty Lyons from Southern Sydney Fishing Tours (http://www.fishingsydney.com.au/.) reports that a charter out on the bay and offshore brought a little more than expected. One of his clients not only caught some bream and kingfish, he also netted a $100.00 note that was floating in the water. While catching bait one of the boys yelled out, “get the net quick”, as Scott raced to his side of the boat thinking he had a good bream on one of the bait lines, he pointed to $100.00 note just floating past the boat. That's one to remember. Scott told me he had to catch the rest of the bait as all the boys were looking for more floating money. (Botany Bay has it all).

The Wednesday afternoon trip, 4pm to 10pm the plan was catch bait, target kingies then onto the shallow grounds to target bream before heading back to one of the bridges to set a few live baits in the hope of landing another Jew fish or two. Bait no problems at the end of Yarra Bay, The plan was to stay in side the Bay as the sea was up and all of my spots around the mouth of the Bay were out of control, The rest of the trip was down hill from there, No Kingies, One nice Bream and no Jews one of the toughest trips I have in a long time had sorry boys.

The next day was a total turn around the sea had drop off and the day was plan to fish off shore so we filled up with live baits and headed out and scored quite a few good Kingies most fish around 6ocms with 5 nice fish 65th 70cms a top day on the water.

Peter Le Blang from Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters has updated his website http://www.estuarfishing.com.au/ all you need to do is click on the prices button to view the many available charters and different styles of fishing available. The fishing offshore that Peter has experienced with a few mates last week was amazing. They started the day collecting live yellowtail and slimy mackerel at Broken Bay. The schools of baitfish were thick and within 10 minutes Peter was off to Longy to chase some dollies. The conditions were sloppy, but the big new boat handled it with ease and at a speed of 18 knots we were at the FAD in quick time.

Upon arriving they decided to have a run around with pushers to see if any fish could be found. The close by current line was our first target and on the first run they caught a 6kg dollies. The second run produced the same results so the livies were placed out. They moved no more than 50m before the first of many decent fish were caught. Alex was the first to catch a bigger model and by the 11am the guys had caught one fish that was a neat 10kg and another couple of fish that were just under the double figure mark.

The action lasted as long as the livies did and the guys landed 20 decent fish with only enough taken for an immediate feed. These bigger fish had even larger fish shadowing them all the way to the boat but refused to eat anything that was dangled in front of them. All the kept fish were females, which was a bit unusual and the bigger bulls that were following these fish were easily 15kg.

Back in Pittwater the fishing has been great one day but a shocker the next. The fishing has gotten to a point where it is better to fish Broken Bay at the moment. The fishing in Pittwater is patchy, but the fishing around the various headlands of Broken Bay has seen more consistent captures. Barrenjoey Head has seen some great fish lost and quite a few smaller fish caught. We have been targeting the Lion Island area with better results. The better baits have been slimy mackerel or yellowtail and by using the downriggers the fish can normally be found. There have been a few kingfish also caught at Flint & Steel so this normally means that West Head will have a few fish to be caught until the mesh netters get them.

In past years when kingfish have been caught at Flint & Steel it normally means that these fish are on the way into Cowan Creek to harass the many bait schools that are in the river. This is normally when fish can be caught at Cottage Point as well as Smiths Creek and the various points that have a fair amount of current. Live squid or yellowtail will catch decent kingfish in this system once they are located. The only problem with fishing Cowan Creek is that the waterway is so good for the fish. There are almost too many areas for these fish to hide.

Back in Pittwater there are a few kingfish to be caught but these are spoilt fish and on most occasions refusing to eat anything. Last Wednesday saw kingfish found on both the cameras and the sounders and they refused live squid, dead fresh squid, squid guts, squid heads, yellowtail, slimy mackerel, garfish, soft plastics of all varieties as well as hard bodied and metal lures. They really threw everything at them but were unable to trigger a bite. When you hold over feeding fish and can’t produce a bite you know that they are fixated on a specific prey and unless you match it you have no hope.

Bream are in Pittwater and can be caught around the moorings at Bayview and Newport as well as Barrenjoey Head. Barrenjoey Head on the ocean side has seen local’s fish near the traps and on more occasions than not come home with their bag limit. The fish are from 28cm through to 35cm and are thick at the moment. The better baits to use have been oily fish like tuna or pilchards. Fresh yellowtail strips are also catching a fair amount of fish. Burly is required and a Burly Bomb is the best way to get these fish onto the chew. If fishing in Pittwater for bream try using live nippers as this may see you catching some big whiting that are also about.

If you are thinking about getting into popper fishing for whiting in Pittwater, now may be your time. Towlers bay is the place to try as is Mackerel Beach and The Basin. Try using small poppers with cup faces in gold colours. Although this lure won’t guarantee you a whiting, if used properly it will certainly see you in with a great chance. The flathead are starting to show themselves along and over the sand banks in Pittwater. These fish are responding well to drift fishing with live yellowtail and even pilchards. Soft plastics are also accounting for a few fish and can be a very effective way to catch a feed. The areas to try are Mackerel Beach as well as Palm Beach and right up at Bayview and Newport.

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
Down south off Goalen Head there has been some excellent Snapper up to 4 Kg been taken as close in as 16 metres water depth. Most have been taken on bait however fishing with soft plastics has also produced and in doing so has seen some reasonably sized Kingfish also encountered. There is also plenty of Flathead to be targeted out to sea.

Game
Recent tournament at Batemans Bay didn’t produce the goods anglers were expecting with only a handful of Marlin being captured. However south out from Bermagui the Twelve Mile Reef is holding vast bait schools of Slimy Mackerel which in turn seems to have plenty of Marlin and Sharks following them.

Estuary
Still the estuaries are fishing extremely well with some of the systems south of Bermagui producing better. Southern Yellowfin Bream and Dusky Flathead are the most common catch although Whiting, Trevally, Blackfish and a host more species are all abundant. Whether it be bait or lure it is not hard to achieve a good catch.

Freshwater
A little cooler temps seem to have the Bass back on the chew in Brogo Dam. Fish are being taken more of an evening and early morning, although recently more fish are being encountered thru the daylight hours. Evenings are the prime time where the insect life is at its’ prime thus firing the fish to feed closer to the surface.

Rock and Beach
Due to the poor conditions Rock Fishing has been difficult although there are a few nice Tailor, Salmon and the odd Kingfish at the entrance to Bermagui Harbour. On the Beaches, shallow gutters are producing good catches of Whiting and bream with an odd Jewfish an occasional catch. Nearly all beaches are holding reasonable stocks.

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.

BOOK REVIEW 1 – GPS Handbook Revised – Fishing Marks Australia Wide by Jim Harmon & Fred Studden

RRP $29.99

The GPS Handbook Fishing Marks Australia Wide is an invaluable companion to all boating anglers. It is a complete guide on how to use and get the best from your GPS and it also tells you where you can fish around Australia.

Almost every angler who fishes on the water around Australia either uses a GPS or wishes they did. However, many users find mastering their GPS difficult. Fred Studden is one of Australia’s foremost angling electronics experts and in this GPS handbook he clearly explains just how to use and get the best from your own GPS.

Using these instructions the GPS enables the angler to determine their latitude and longitude out on the water to help them locate reefs, drop-offs, sand and gravel patches. It also will help you to be able to navigate to a special location you may have. This book has 2000 marks listed (offshore – Inshore – Bay – Estuary – river) and it would take you a life time to fish them all. Some you may already know.

BOOK REVIEW 2 – Fishing Guide to Western Australia by Kurt Blanksby & Frank Prokop

RRP $29.99

This edition contains updated fishing maps to give you the best and most comprehensive details on fishing in WA. The Fishing Guide to Western Australia is a complete guide to fishing Western Australia’s offshore, coastal and estuarine waters, including some of the most spectacular and isolated spots in Australia. This book is a when, where and how to catch various fish species and is outlined with detailed maps identifying specific fishing areas from the Kimberley’s down the coast and around to the South Australian border. There are also details of boat ramps and tackle shops included in this book.

So if you are ever going to do a bit of travelling, both of these books would be well worth having as reference books. I would suggest that you get yourself a copy of this book. So once again AFN have brought out a great couple of books that would definitely be worth having in your 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 better late than never, we finally have some fish in close. Over the last few days, Cobia have been on the bite just off the Jail in some good blue water, feeding on live yakkers and slimies. There not huge at this stage but they are there in good numbers. Small Blacks are starting to show up around the 11 fathom reef with a few bigger Blues out wider.

The Fad is working well for Dolphin Fish with The Rocks Fishing Charter boat landing a 28 kilo Bull amongst some nice fish. Ken Lyons and Bob Laws fished out the front for a 22 kg Spanish mackerel and a nice Cobia head after a Shark had a feed. Fish Rock has had some cracker Kings around it while Yellow Fin are in good numbers between the Jail and the Rock. Grassy and Scotts still hasn’t started to fire yet with no signs of the Spotties.

Whiting are still being pulled out of Smoky and Gap Beach with the odd Bream as well. Front Beach towards Trial Bay has had some smaller Whiting. With the river slowly clearing up Bream have come on the bite. The popper phenomenon continues to lure some big Whiting amongst the shallows and sandy flats. Peter O’dell from Kempsey has landed some great Flathead up to 4 kilo while one of his Bream went 1.10 kilo. The oyster racks at Rainbow and Clybucca has been a hot spot using soft and hard bodied lures for Bream and Whiting.

Weekly report 14/01/08

Alex Bellissimo from http://www.bellissimocharters.com/ reports that he took Matt Haden (Australian cricket opener) out to Curl Curl Beach to learn how to get beach worms. It wasn’t long before they managed to get enough for a fish on Dee Why Beach to chase sand whiting. They managed to get enough for a feed. Also Craig and Jesse (son) Strachan fished with Alex off Warriewood rocks for 8 drummer to 2 kilos and 2 silver drummer to 1.5 kilos. They were caught on peeled endeavour prawns and bread was used for berley.

Jacob, a long time client of Alex caught yellowfin bream to 1.9 kilos, snapper to 1.5 kilos. Samson fish to 1.0 kilos and Australian salmon to 2.0 kilos while fishing with pilchards off Dee Why rocks. Now if you are going to try and fish this spot you will need to take plenty of care.
Alex Middleton fished with Alex and caught kingfish to 4 kilos of whole salted garfish off Long Reef.

If you would like to find out more about Alex Bellissimo’ s rock and beach fishing tours you can give him a ring on 0408 283616.

Mick from Yabbie Bait and Tackle at Taren Point reports that there are sand whiting being caught in the shallow areas of Woolooware Bay and the sand flats of the Port Hacking on tube worms. Also morwong, snapper, flathead and leatherjackets have been caught by anglers fishing off the Golf Ball at Kurnell in about 50 metres of water.

Nicole Crews from Engadine caught this 13lb snapper on 15 kilo braid while fishing with her husband (Jason) in Emu Bay near Kangaro Island in SA.

A couple of club members from the St George and Sutherland Shire Fishing club caught a Short billed Spearfish while trolling back in past the shelf near Browns Mountain. They also managed to get dolphin fish to 7 kilos off the FAD at Botany.

Jason Crews 9 kilo snapper that was also caught in South

Australia.

For more information you can contact Mick at his shop on 9542 7712 or just call into No 2 Toorak Avenue at Taren Point.

Carl and Terry managed to get amongst a few bass earlier in the week. They launched into the darkness at 4:30am. Just as it was getting light, they started flicking surface lures around. Terry had a couple of hits but no hook ups and Carl decided to change to one of his EastCoast spinners to see if some were down deep. The pair of them managed a couple of double hook ups. Terry was the champion today and landed another 4 beauties, the best going 37cm's.

Carl also had a fish in Sylvania and manage a nice mixed bag of 3 bream, 1 whiting and a PB flounder (from the yak) of 29cm's. All the fish were caught from under pontoons and jetties on various SP's: Gulp 2" Sandworm (Camo), 3" Minnow (Limetiger) and 3" Minnow (Mouldy Cheese). I also worked the moored boat hulls over and never even had a touch.

Peter Johnston fished for kingfish and managed to get a bag limit of kings. A couple of reports of snapper to 6.5 kilos came in from Windybanks Bait and Tackle. One angler caught 6 snapper to 6 kilos while fishing off Long Reef. All the fish were caught off the bottom.

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
Sadly the biggest drama for the Reef Fisherman has been the poor weather not allowing access to most of the reefs. When you can get there, there is good Snapper and Morwong out from Goalen Head plus out from most beaches there are good Sand Flathead and the odd Gummy Shark. There is also plenty of Tiger Flathead in 50 - 70 metres of water.

Game
Poor conditions have hampered the Game Fishing however on the better days there has been some lovely Marlin captured. The best to date is 230 Kg Blue Marlin plus a couple of smaller ones. There has been Striped Marlin to 100 Kg, Spearfish, Yellowfin Tuna, Striped Tuna with most of the action taking place east of the Twelve Mile on the edge of the Shelf.

Estuary
Fishing is booming in just about all of the estuaries with Wapengo being the pick. Just about every species is on the chew at present with Flathead, Bream, Trevally and Garfish dominating bags. We are also in the thick of a good Prawn run in Wallaga Lake where most people are able to access a couple of kilo of Prawns easily.

Freshwater
Brogo Dam is very warm at present, around 28 degrees surface temperature. This is putting the fish off through the day time however there has been some nice fish taken early morning and late afternoon. Below the dam wall, fish are holding in the deeper pools although again early mornings and evenings are proving best.

Rock and Beach
Due to large seas both the Rocks and Beach have been very difficult to fish. There has been some nice Whiting around the entrance on Cuttagee Beach, with a few Salmon there and on Barragoot Beach. Some nice Tailor have been caught in the suds around the entrance to Bermagui Harbour on both Pilchards and Lures.

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.

BOOK REVIEW 1 – Fishing Guide to Victoria’s Coastline (2007).

RRP $24.99

This is “A where to fish book” that has been published before back in 2002 by AFN. The latest edition has been put together by Bill Classon, Geoff Wilson and Lee Rayner. All of who are well known and respected authors who collectively have amasses close to one hundred years of fishing experience along the Victoria’s coastline.

Fishing Guide to Victoria’s Coastline (2007) is a highly detailed guide to the entire coastline of Victoria. Beginning in the state’s far east at Mallacoota, and running sequentially along the coastline through to Portland in the south-west. Included in this stretch of coastline are all bays and estuaries. There are very detailed maps of the areas and is complemented by information that has been gained from years of experience in fishing these places.

Other information included in this book are How, When and What types of fish species to fish for, best baits, times of the year, boat ramps, bait gathering areas and the vast amount of bait and tackle shops that are situated along the coastline and estuaries of Victoria.

When review any book I will completely go over it. Things that I am on the lookout for are the information has to be creditable (which this book has), the types of pictures and maps it may have, plus how it is set out.

Now don’t get me wrong, this is a great book, but once again I have found that of the 81 photos that have been used in the 2007 version, 33 of them where straight out of the 2002 version. To some anglers this may not matter to them, but I believe that a lot can be learn from photos and as I have stated before if a book is going to be revised there should be new photos and much more information included in the book.

The information in the 2007 version has bee increased and will be of a benefit to any angler who is going to fish in these area. They have included the new Marine Sanctuary’s and Reserves.

So if you already got this book it would be a great one to have in your library as you could learn so much from it, so much so that I am sure that it would improve your fishing if you ever ventured down to Victoria to have a fish or even if you already fish some of these spots already.

BOOK REVIEW 2 – Fishing Guide to Westernport by Paul Worsteling.

RRP $19.99

I have never met Paul, but after talking to a few anglers who have fished with Paul they have stated that he has a lot of knowledge of How, When and Where to fish in Westernport, but as Paul has stated in his acknowledgements he would like to thanks every angler and friend who has helped him with the information in this book. As Paul states “No one man has all the answers” so to the un named people who unselfishly gave this information Paul would like to thanks them again.

In this book all of Westernport’s famous species go under the microscope looking at places to find them, how to catch them and any specific tips that might put the numbers in your favour.

Western Port is then broken up into many specific maps, with each area been analysed for its full potential. No stone has been left unturned in an effort to find you more fish. There are 121 amazing GPS marks from around the Port and offshore that are being offered by Tackle world Cranbourne to download the full set of marks onto a new and existing Navionics map card (there is s small fee for this service)

The author has been fishing the Westernport for over two decades and literally knows it like the back of his hand.

So if you are ever down that way and are going to fish the Westernport area I would suggest that you get yourself a copy of this book. So once again AFN have brought out a great couple of books that would definitely be worth having in your 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
if it floats and it was big enough to go over the bar it was out there, after more than a week or two of huge seas holiday makers can get on the ocean for their fish fix. The FAD has been producing some nice dolphin fish with a few kings. There has been the odd marlin sighted around this area with only one or two hook ups. Frank Venezia was hand lining from his Jet Ski with the ever reliable Lively Bib less lure for a 7 kilo yellowfin tuna. Black Rock was working well for James Wilson and the boys for cobia, snapper and kingfish, while Fish Rock has mostly small kings with the odd snapper. All reports from up North were slow apart from some nice Pearlies out wide.

There are good gutters are along Smoky Beach after the big seas holding bream with sand whiting in the shallows. Back Beach has been fishing well for bream after dark while whiting have been on Front Beach in good numbers. Rock Hoppers are seeing good results with some thumper bream and the odd tuna in close.

With dirty fresh water and weed still coming down towards the mouth, the river has been tough to fish. The Break wall has been fishing well for bream on an incoming tide while nice dusky flathead are coming in around the shallows. Whiting are about but it’s tough in the dirty water. We have the clear whiting poppers back in stock that are magic on these fish.

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 on the offshore scene, the Golden Lure has been the focus of a couple of weeks ago week, with fishing finally kicking off on Monday following a long overdue break in the weather. Whilst this delay was certainly disappointing for both competitors and spectators alike, the good news is there has been plenty of action on the game fish scene. Results from early in the week have been excellent, with a variety of billfish to over 200 kilos encountered, along with some solid mahi mahi and yellow fin tuna. With the forecast for the rest of the competition looking reasonable, no doubt some excellent catches will also be enjoyed during the remainder of the week.

Elsewhere offshore, bottom bouncers too have been rejoicing with the receding seas, with safe passage at last viable following a couple of weeks of constant swell. Best results have come from those chasing snapper off the closer reefs, with both baits and soft plastics accounting for some solid reds to over 5 kilos. The reefs off Plommer have also produced a few solid kingfish as well as other mixed reef species, whilst those content to drift the flattie grounds have been easily achieving their objective of scoring a top feed.

A similar story off the beaches with conditions now at long last conducive to fishing the entire stretches of sand, not just the protected corners. As expected, there has been a significant amount of sand movement as a result of constant pounding, and it will take some time for the beaches to fully reform. In the interim, Lighthouse and North Beach both contain some large low tide gutters which have held a few early season tailor, whilst bream and whiting numbers from the close in wash have been reasonable. Live worms as usual have been the pick of baits. The upcoming week may well prove worthwhile for chasing a mulloway, as good results are often reported after a period of heavy seas, particularly if a good source of food like tailor, whiting or whitebait are present.

For rock hoppers, the swells have certainly created some top opportunities with bream, blackfish and tailor numbers all above average. Best results have come from Point Plommer and Hat Head, although locally Shelley’s and Point Perpendicular to the south have fished well. Still a few pigs about for those putting in the effort, although no real news as yet from a land based game perspective.

In the estuaries, the past week has seen solid rainfall upstream resulting a fair degree of colour once again coming down the Hastings. Whilst most likely this colour will be insufficient to fire up the local mulloway population, angling throughout the lower reaches will benefit. Bream numbers have been solid from the break walls, particularly after dark, whilst the daylight hours have seen stacks of flatties on offer every day. The dirty water has however tempered the whiting action from up around Blackman’s Point, however this should pick right back up again once some clarity returns. On the Lake Cathie front, at least the good rainfall has prolonged to opening for the time being. Late last week the constant swells saw the entrance shut for the first time in many months, although this week has seen it open itself up once again. Time will tell how much longer the opening has, although with the amount of sand build up just offshore, any opening time from here on should be seen as a bonus.

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.