Weekly report 15/09/07

Over the past couple of months the Hawkesbury River has been fishing realyy slow, but there has still been the odd good catch come in. From Spencer to Pumkin Point the bream have been feeding up against the edge of the mangroves when the tides have been high. They have then moved out to the deeper to work the edges of the drop off’s. I have found that over the years when fishing the Hawkesbury River when there is a fair bit of run in the water you will need to fish with a leader of between 1 to 2 metres in length. This will get you away from those pesky catfish and onto a few bream and mulloway the Hawkesbury River is renown for.

Even though many of the Oyster lease have been pulled out you can still anchor up beside them and berley up a few bream. The rock walls and mud flats in the Berowra Waters area are producing bream and dusky flathead on the rising tide. Try using mullet and chicken gut, blood worms, pink nippers and half pilly tails.

The kingfish have start to increase in numbers in the Pittwater. Try the entrance to Carreel Bay and around Scottland Island. Live Baits and trolled Rapallas are the go. Scottland Island also has a few bream and luderick schooling up in the deeper water off the south –eastern side of the island. Plenty of berley needs to be used.

Sydney Kings have also started to show up with the schools of australian salmon around all the usual spots in the lower parts of the Harbour. Sow and pIgs would be a good place to start your fishing trip for dusky flathead, silver trevally and yellowfin bream. There are also a few luderick and leatherjackets being caught there as well.

If you are going to eat tailor after you have caught them. This photo here shows you how not to keep them. They need to be bled staright away and then put on ice, otherwise the fish will be like mush and won't taste the best.

If you are after a few leatherjackets in Middle Harbour you could try fishing the rocky shoreline in Bantry Bay.

Botany Bay still has plenty of silver trevally on offer. The yellowfin bream have been a bit slow, but they are starting to pick up. Australian salmon can be trolled up on lures on the southern side of the entrance to Botany Bay. Kingfish and snapper are being caught off the lighthouse at Kurnell.

The 50 to 60 metre mark off Maroubra is still producing good catches of sand flathead.

The Georges and Woronora Rivers have been a little bit slow over the last week, but there has been a couple of good reports come in from the old Woronora Bridge and Soily Point for luderick and bream. The odd mulloway has been lured up on soft plastics in the deeper water at the area called the Moons.

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.

2 Dans Fishing – The Kingfish Sessions

Best friends Dan Trotter and Dan Burgess have put together a very entertaining, educational and fun DVD on how to target kingfish with live and dead baits. There is also a small session on using knife jigs over an off shore just north of Sydney Harbour.

The DVD is aimed at anyone who fishes, be they beginners or die hard addicts. The DVD has over 2 and a half hours of content, 1 hour and 15 minute feature plus 1 and a half hour of extras.

There are five menu chapters detailing boat layout, bait-catching, knots, tackle talk and product ranges, plus and an awesome cooking segment brought to you by Manu Feildel and Damian Heads, 2 of Sydney's top chefs, even though I personally think that it (cooking segment) does go on a bit to long.

The 2 Dans take you through some great kingfish action while fighting them with handlines on springers, overhead rod and reels and the old trusty spinning outfit. There are some huge bust off’s, great action, terrific scenery and plenty of other fish species that were caught during the filming. Species like samson fish, snapper, silver trevally and cuttlefish.

RRP is $24.95, for more information go to http://www.fishermandan.com.au/or for trade enquiries contact Black Pete Marine on (02) 9907 7177

Carl from http://www.kayakfishingsydney.com/ reports that with the weather warming up that it means that those great Australian Bass are a realistic target again. Sure, you can still get them through winter, but those balmy summer days when they are smashing lures off the surface are pure magic! Carl called Mick Munns from East Coast Lures and he met him at Tench Reserve in the early morning twilight. Mick had a few new lures to show Carl and the twin blade spinners look absolutely sensational.

The reports from the Nepean have been good but they've been from way up in the gorge and we weren't planning on venturing that far in their kayak’s so they stuck close to the ramp and tried working the surface we various fizzers and poppers but there was no action on top. Give the water another few degrees and I'm sure they'll come on the chew.

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/

Scotty Lyons from Southern Sydney Fishing Tours http://www.fishingsydney.com.au/ reports the weather was as good as it get out on Botany Bay last Thursday. The class started at the Hot water oulet, but again no results spinning with metals on first light this has been the same no for a few weeks but still worth a try. Trevally Alley was next and we scored a nice fish on the first bait but then they went of only catching three. They then trolled Yarra Bay and scored two tailor smaller fish around 40cms.Next headed to the bottom end of Yarra for one nice Flathead on a plastic.Scott’s next singles day is on the 7th of October and the next fishing school is on Monday the 8th 6pm to 9pm and the day on the water is Saturday 20th 6am to 1pm.

To make a booking call Scott on mobile 0418169439.

Paul Martin from Rock Marine Bait and Tackle (rocksmarine@tsn.cc) reports that the perfect spring weather last week has brought the fisho’s out on the water. Fishing in the river is on the improve with flathead up to 4 kilo being caught. The bigger ones have been off the Breakwall while the panners are in the shallower water towards Stuarts Point, Jerseyville and up to Smithtown.

Blackfish are still on the bite out of the clearer water but not in big numbers. Bream have been consistently good on a run out tide in the coloured water. Jew fish are about in fair numbers working well on plastics. If you like a feed of big dart and nice whiting head down to Gap Beach. While Smoky Beach has been fishing well for Bream and Whiting towards Hat Head. There’s plenty of Salmon all along the beach with the odd Tailor.

Most offshore fisho’s headed south to Fish Rock for good kingfish and some big snapper. Black Rock has had a few Reds as well. Grassy’s wider reefs in the cleaner water have been producing snapper to 4 kilo with some smaller Pearlies. Fisheries have advised the FAD will be back out in its old location at the end off the month in time for the dolphin fish run.

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 estuaries, the excellent run of bream continues, with fish to well over a kilo being taken from most locations within the lower reaches. The fish seem to be hanging around in numbers quite late this year, with the good rainfall of late no doubt assisting in this regard. Flathead continue to improve with good numbers of fish beginning to show up from most location. Best reports have come from Limeburners and Blackman’s Point; however Rawdon Island has also been worth a look. Both lures and bait have proven equally successful. On the luderick scene, the break walls are still producing quality fish albeit not in quite the same numbers as in recent weeks. Also in the estuary, some nice whiting are beginning to show up at several locations downstream of the Dennis Bridge. Live worms and yabbies have been accounting for the better fish, although don’t be afraid to use small soldier crabs if you can get them.

On the beaches, put simply the seas and winds have not been kind, with limited access to all but the more protected locations for some time now. Those who have persisted report the salmon are here in numbers, and as is usually the case, will take just about any offering, at any time of day and during any tide phase. Whilst perhaps not the most sought after species for many beach fisho’s, salmon at least provide plenty of entertainment and represent a terrific species to target for either kids or those simply new to beach fishing. All you need are either a couple of metal lures, or alternately pilchards or beach worms, and you are almost guaranteed to encounter a salmon or two if conditions at all reasonable.

Off the rocks, drummer reports continue to be quite good with most anglers continuing to manage a fish or two each outing. Point Plommer and surrounds continue to prove the pick of locations, however Miners locally has given a few solid pigs over the past week. Also off the rocks, the occasional good sized tailor continues to be encountered, with both Point Perpendicular and Diamond Head providing some nice fish. Bream numbers remain above average, with evening sessions producing the better results. The rough seas also saw some of the traditional luderick locations produce some nice bronzies for those willing to float a bit of cabbage in the suds.

On the outside scene, seas remain inconsistent courtesy of the winds as is often the case at this time of year. For those who have ventured out, there are reasonable numbers of snapper closer in off Plommer; however there are plenty of undersize specimens amongst the better fish. Leatherjackets remain quite thick in places, although by and large, the hoards have moved on. Flathead as usual remain an excellent proposition for those keen to chase a feed without venturing too wide

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.

Peter Mak is in the running for fishing photo of the month with a photo of a silver trevally and a leatherjacket his son caught while fishing down at Mallacoota on Father's Day.

They were fishing off the jetty next to the Tourist Information shed for about an hour. Peter caught a silver trevally on a 2 inch Gulp shrimp in New Penny colour while my son Joshuah caught the jacket on a small pinch of prawn on a long shank hook on a paternoster rig (something I learnt from my class) just off the jetty. Peter said the trevally put up a hell of a fight.

They were driving to Lakes Entrance from Eden when we decided to stop over at Mallacoota to have a look and see. The place looked great and we couldn’t resist a fish. They had the trevally and the leatherjacket on the public barbeque for lunch. They liked the place so much they hope to go back in future and do some fishing from a boat.

Darren from Bermagui Ocean Hut Fishing Tackle, Dive and Charter Fishing Service
mailto:%20(%20enquiries@bermifishinghut.com.au reports that fishing out from Beares Beach has produced some very good sand flathead for anglers not wishing to venture too far from home. The close in reefs in and around 20 - 30 metres of water are producing some small snapper and good morwong. Out wide of the Six Mile Reef large Tiger Flathead are dominating most catches.

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.

The going out tides have produced plenty of blackfish for anglers fishing with green or cabbage weed. Best areas are the rock walls adjacent to Bermagui Harbour, the Bridge Pylons and out around the Bridge at Wallaga Lake. There are some dusky flathead moving in the Bermagui River and are being taken on lures in the deeper, wider bays.

Salmon and tailor are still pretty quiet along most of the beaches although there is a few nice Bream starting to hang around in the deeper gutters. Rock Fishing has been difficult due to the sea conditions and cool water; there has been the odd drummer and occasional groper although things are pretty quiet

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.

Weekly report 7/09/07

Ludurick and yellowfin bream have been on the chew in the Georges and Woronora Rivers. For the luderick you will need to get hold of some fresh green weed. The bream have been biting on mullet gut, strips of mullet, blood and tube worms and that ever reliable Chicken done in parmerson cheese.

For the luderick you could try the western side of Jewfish Point, Wearne Bay, the western side of the Monns, Soil Point, the southern side of Alford’s Point bridge, Picnic Point boat ramp, Cattle duffers and the wall at Chipping Norton. Now on the other hand for bream you could try the Milperra Bridge, the Moons, Lugarno, the Woronora Bridge, Bonnet Bay and Bottle and Glass Head.

If you are chasing silver trevally in Botany Bay and you are not getting any, you must not have a line in the water. When I was out last Saturday I could not get away from them. I fished the Oil Wharf, Monilex Point, Watts Reef, Sutherland Point, The Hot Water Outlet and the drums. It only took and hour and fifteen minutes to get 20 trevally between 35 to 40cm in length.

The author with a bream and a snapper that were caught on a pumkin seed 3 inch minnow in the Port Hacking.

Hopefully after the bit of rain we are experiencing at the moment the trevalyy will thin out a bit so the I can get to the bream and dusky flathead. While out fishing on Saturday I was anchored near a few other boats and we had this num nut come an anchor right at the back of us, directly in our berley trail with a sand anchor and a long length of chain. I suggested that he come up near us on the sand, but he told me he had fished hear for 20 years and nobody was going to tell him what to do as he already knew.

Any way to cut a long story short, he did manage to get a couple of trevally, but his anchor pulled. As he was drifting along the anchor got caught up well and truly. I reckoned he mucked around for 20 to 30 mintues trying to get it un stuck. I took a couple of photos and left. When I came back 30 minutes later he was gone and most of the boats that were still there were still catching trevally.

So much for fishing there for the last twenty years. I wonder how many sand anchors he has left there?

The sand flats in the Port Hacking are worth a shot for trevally, crabs, bream, flathead and mullet. There are also a few whiting and luderick feeding in the shallows at high tide.

Don’t forget to keep those phot’s coming in for the fish of them month.

Scotty Lyons from Southern Sydney Fishing Tours http://www.fishingsydney.com.au/ reports that the weather prove not to bad during the early part of the weather, but has turned a bit nastly latley. Scott had a kids day on the bay last Thursday and they managed to cacth a number of different fish species. They scored plenty of silver trevally in deep water Port Botany side of the Container wall and most fish were around 35cms, This is a good spot to try if the wind is blowing from the East.

The trolling is still very slow and the last few days I have tried many spots looking for tailor and only landing one. Spinning with soft plastics had us again into trevally around the Hot Water Outlet, these fish are smaller than on the other side of the Bay, but still loads of fun on light tackle and they just love small Squidgie wrigglers.Flathead spinning still patchy with only the odd fish coming in.Scotty also fished Yarra Bay and out along Cape banks again with no results this has been the same for the last three weeks.

These budding young anglers know how to get amoungst a few of those BotanyBay trevally.

An early week trip had them anchored in around 40metres for a shot at a few snapper, trevally, morwong and leatherjackets. They scored one nice snapper to about 37cms and a few sweep and a few nice leatherjackets before heading back to the flathead grounds just of Brighton, Spinning with soft plastics the boys hooked three one kept and two releaset all in all and good mixed day. If you would like to fish for snapper south of Port Hacking give Scott a call. They are now worth thinking about, September to December.

To make a booking call Scott on mobile 0418169439.

Paul Martin from Rock Marine Bait and Tackle (rocksmarine@tsn.cc) reports that it has been a bit of a wipe out this week for the outside fisherman with only a few braving the conditions. Fish Rock was fishing well for some nice Kings and respectable snapper in around the rock. Charter boat Gunrunner while dragging big baits for kings hooked a 160 kilo plus black marlin before it spat the hooks. Northern reefs were producing snapper and Pearlies. (Pearl Perch now have a bag of 5 and legal length of 30cm).

The blackfish have gone off the bite for a while. This would be due to the water having a fair bit of colour through it. There still biting their heads off a Hat Head so hopefully we have a few weeks before they disappear. Bream are feeding well along the Breakwall some around a kilo. Flathead numbers are starting to improve just in time for the Trial Bay Marine Flathead competition on the 16th September kicking off at 6am at the Boat Shed.

Australian salmon are still on the beaches taking pillies with the odd yellowfin bream and sand whiting on live worms. There are the odd tailor there for the Rock Hoppers along with bream, blackfish and some drummer.

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 beaches, tailor and mulloway numbers remain most disappointing however some excellent bream have been on offer which is a little unusual however certainly most welcome for this time of year. Live worms and pipis have been the preferred baits, with beaches to the north of Port producing the better results. Salmon numbers are thick in places and by all reports, the bulk of the schools are not too far off now. When they arrive, there will some terrific sport fishing action to be had; however those looking to score a feed of the more palatable species may have their work cut out. The real bad news for beach fisho’s however is that red weed has made an early appearance this year. At present there are only a few isolated patches here and there courtesy of the easterly based winds, however this does not auger well for the months ahead. Let’s just hope favourable conditions prevail to keep this scourge away.

Off the rocks, drummer numbers remain consistent with reasonable numbers of fish on offer for those willing to put in the time. Most local ledges are producing with Lighthouse and Rocky’s both yielding fish. The key as always is to be prepared to be mobile, and of course berleying heavily. When berleying, remember a little often rather than a lot infrequently will greatly assist in bringing the fish to you. The latter generally only results in brief periods of activity before the burley either fills the fish or washes away taking the school with it. Blackfish numbers too remain solid, with some bumper specimens being snared both locally, and around Point Perpendicular on both cabbage and cunjevoi. Bream numbers remain reasonable with still the odd bumper specimen about, particularly from Plommer, Crescent Head and surrounds. Tailor however remain patchy, although what fish are there are of excellent quality.

In the estuary, flathead remain excellent, as they have pretty well all winter. Whitebait has been the pick of the baits, whilst those throwing soft plastics continue to achieve considerable success. Bream numbers have been excellent, with evening sessions from the walls producing well despite the full moon. Gut baits as is often the case at this time of year have enjoyed particular success. On the blackfish front, both walls continue to fish well, with fish to around and over a kilo reasonably common. Lake Cathie has also begun the produce again in line with the water beginning to clear from the rain of recent weeks. A few solid whiting have also begin the reappear in the lower reaches of the lake after a being AWOL for a couple of weeks. In the absence of live prawns, worms and yabbies have been the morsels of choice.

On the offshore scene, snapper numbers and quality have been excellent, particularly from the closer reefs off Lake Cathie. Wider out leatherjackets remain difficult to avoid, however the good news is the quality is up and the numbers down a little. Makes the ratio of lost tackle to fish in the esky a little more acceptable.

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.

Peter Le Blang from Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters has been sourcing another vessel for his customers to enjoy fishing from. The vessel that Peter has settled on is going through NSW Survey after being in QLD for the last few years. The make is a Fisher 7.9m alloy single hull vessel that will be in 2C survey shortly. The new vessel will allow up 6 people to fish Pittwater in comfort and will also allow us to target dolphin fish and reef fish if the fishing is slow in the river. It will also allow customers to choose the species that they want to catch or style of fishing they wish to do to catch them.

Anyway the last week has finally seen the water temperature rise to a health 17 degrees and the fishing has improved with it. Peter has not had the opportunity to catch any kingfish over the last week. The kingies have been a bit quiet in Pittwater but if you find the school of tailor that is in Pittwater the kingfish are in the same area.
The kingfish were around West Head and Barrenjoey Head on the run out tide but dolphins have ended that run of fish. At Barrenjoey Head a seal has shown up and if you do catch any fish he has zeroed in on them pretty quickly.

The best way to get a feed of fish in Pittwater at the moment is to either drift fish between the heads of Pittwater and in close to West Head there are a few flounder. The same drift will also see you catch flathead but you need to use big baits to deter the smaller fish. The better drift at the moment seems to be between Flint & Steel through to Lion Island and the drift from Umina Beach to Box Head. Both these drifts have produced larger flathead.

If you can find some structure in Pittwater such as Botham’s Reef there are trevally still biting. The fish size varies from 25cm to 45cm. Remember from September 3rd that trevally need to be 30cm in length and a bag limit of 20 applies. These great fighters have been responding well to burly and are devouring peeled prawns, squid pieces and whitebait. The best method has been to drift un weighted baits down the burly trail on light tackle.

Other fish that can be caught at the moment are luderick. Points such as Woody Point and Rocky Point are just 2 of the areas that are producing fish to 42cm. Local weed is the better bait to use but if you cant find any Mark from Narrabeen Bait & Tackle still had stock last time Peter checked.

Burly is needed to get these fish on the bite but it has been important to stop berleying after the first couple of fish are caught. Too much burly has attracted the dreaded Black Trevally or Happy Moments.

The better land-based areas to catch a blackfish are Bayview Wharf or Church Point Wharf (old wooden wharf).

Peter’s Winter Specials Have Started.
$330 For the CHARTER. 1, 2 OR 3 PEOPLE.
That equates to $110 each for a 3-person charter.
Book now and don’t miss out.
Special Has Been Extended to 30 Sept 2007.

For any further information call Peter Le Blang from Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters on 0410 633 351 or just visit his web site http://www.estuaryfishing.com.au/

Steve Williamson’s from ‘LAKE JINDABYNE TROUT FISHING ADVENTURES’
Reports that the weather has been up into the mid 20’s and locals can’t believe just how warm it has been over the last couple of weeks. For August it was more like normal summer temperatures. Whatever happens it is now spring and the snow is not going to last long on the ground and with lots of luck the melt will end up in our lakes and hopefully stay there. Steve has been told that irrigators along the Murray River have had their water allocations cancelled for the season, which if true is bad for them but may be lucky for us. The big problem is that the Snowy scheme just doesn’t have an endless supply of water, we are at the bottom of the barrel now and we need the rain as much as anyone. I have been saying for months that the Murray Darling system is in big trouble and we must all pray they get some serious rain.

FISHERIES INSPECTORS ARE ACTIVE

Over recent weeks our Fisheries officers have been very active, checking licences and gear. This is a warning that it is not worth the fine, so make sure you purchase a licence. The money from your licence goes to a good cause – restocking, so even if you have left your current licence at home – buy a 3 day or a month and just say it is an extra donation to your sport!
For years Steve has been listening to anglers complain that they never see an inspector and the minute they do their job people complain. Don’t complain, just make certain you have your licence on you and you obey the rules! It’s easy! It is also not our job as a retail outlet to ask every customer if they have a current licence so don’t blame the tackle shops if you get caught.
For those anglers that fish with Steve on a guided tour – he pays an annual fee to NSW DPI fisheries to cover you, so you don’t need one.

NOTE – NSW FISHING RULE CHANGES

There have been a few small changes to the fishing rules for trout so please get a copy of the new guidelines and have a good look. The way I see it the main changes for our trout waters will be (remember this is my interpretation and you can let me know if I am wrong) -
Unattended lines will no longer be permitted in any non-tidal waters in NSW. The distance a fisher may be from an attended line will be increased from 10 metres to 50 metres and within line of sight. This means that on the dams you could put a bait rod out and then go 50 metres away and have a spin or fly fish! A maximum set time of 24 hours will apply for all fishing gear (e.g. hoop nets, yabby traps).

Bag and possession limits.
Previously, freshwater bag and possession limits only applied to fishers that were in, on or adjacent to waters. This will now be extended to include the transport and storage of freshwater fish to provide clarification and ease with compliance. This means that you could have you car checked at any place down the road and technically you could have your freezer checked to see if you have more that 10 fish in possession even if you are a local!
Bag and size limits

A bag limit of 5 will continue to apply in general trout waters. Now that means that Tantangara Dam is now only 5 trout which brings it in line with the other trout dams.

One rod and line will be permitted in artificial lure and fly and lure waters and general trout streams. This means that you can only carry one rod (assembled with reel) when walking down the rivers like the Eucumbene and Thredbo. You can not carry a spin and a fly rod with both ready for fishing. Two rods and lines are permitted in general trout dams. The current limit of 2 hooks per line will continue to apply in all notified trout waters except trout dams, where the number of hooks per line has been increased from 2 to 3 (where hooks are artificial lures or flies) to allow for loch style fishing.

So on the trout dams you can now use 3 hooks when using flies or artificial lures but you can’t use three hooks when bait fishing!

The prohibition on the use of gaffs to take trout will be extended to all freshwater species and waters. This means that a gaff cannot be used to take any fish in inland waters.
Remember these are only a few important changes as I see the rules. There are more changes and it will be up to you to check them out at DPI Fisheries web site - http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/summary-bag

For the very best and latest information call into my shop.
Steve Williamson’s
‘LAKE JINDABYNE TROUT FISHING ADVENTURES’
PMB 5 Jindabyne NSW 2627 mobile 0408 024436 e-mail swtrout@airlan.com.au
SHOP – (02) 64561551 FAX – (02) 64561342

Weekly report 28/08/07

Last weekend I was up at the Tackle Show at the Gold Coast helping out at the TT Lures, FINatical Tackle and Shakespeare and Pflueger Tackle stands. While I was up there I aslo got invited to fish the ABT's, AFTA Trade Show BREAM Pro-AM with Kelvin Williams. I have fished with Kelvin before and it was great to team up with him again.

18 Pros and 11 Amateurs competed for 3 ½ hours on the set up day of the tackle show and we graced the waters of the Gold Coast. After talking to a number of other anglers after the comp they stated that they experienced a different bite than the week before at the Gold Coast Super Series event, with the anglers fishing the top of the Nerang system doing better than those that hit the lower reaches near the Seaway.In all 64 four fish made their way onto the scales for the 3 1/2 hours of fishing with the myself and Kelvin Williams secured victory with a bag of 5 bream for 2.87 kilos.Our winning pattern for the morning involved fishing TT lures jig heads rigged with Berkley soft plastics down deep, bombing the rocky points of the middle reaches of the Nerang to score fish.

For further information and a complete list of who competed in the comp go to http://www.bream.com.au/

Now in Sydney the fishing has been a bit up and down and there have not been many reports coming in. Botany Bay does have a number of dusky flathead in the shallower areas of the bay, yellowfin bream and flounder in the middle of the bay and silver trevally in the deeper parts of the bay.

Australian salmon and tailor have been caught in the washes off the north and south sides of the bay, Bare Island and the deep water at the end of the oil wharf. Whole pilchards and garfish have been the go. Make sure that you have a small, but steady berley stream going.

Not a lot else to report, but will have more next week.

Scotty Lyons from Southern Sydney Fishing Tours http://www.fishingsydney.com.au/ reports that he has fished this week and last Sunday (19th) was very wet and they fished in all the rain. There were a few other boats on the water. Not great weather but good fishing. Silver trevally are the main species at this time of the year and there are plenty around most spots that Scott has fished this week and all are of a good size. Try fishing along the Container wal,l there is a few but Scott has found fishing wider just on the edge of the shipping channel the better spot as the tides are smaller the fish are feeding in the deeper water, Spoke with other anglers on Sunday and they had good results from the Oil Wharf as well on the runout tide.

Spinning with soft plastics for flathead is also worth a try with the odd 60cm fish around, The area that is producing well is along the beach at Brighton and all the way back to Ramsgate just work the drop off. Most fish are around 60cms and only the odd smaller fish all falling to Squidgies but you will need to move around to find them.
Trolling slow only the odd tailor and there is plenty of water between them. The weather this weekend is looking good and after all the rain the fishing should be rather good.
To make a booking call Scott on mobile 0418169439.

Gabes Bait and Tackle are now located on the corner of the Prince Highway and Holt Road at Sylvania Heights. 5100. It would be definitely worth a trip over to their new shop to have a look at the great range of tackle they now have. For those of you that brought tackle and tackle at the old shop you will be pleasantly surprised to see that the new shop is now 3 times larger. So get over there and have a look for yourself.

They are going to have a Grand Opening Sale from Saturday the 25th of August to Father’s Day the 2nd of September.

Paul Martin from Rock Marine Bait and Tackle (rocksmarine@tsn.cc) reports that it has been difficult to get any reports this week due to horrible weather and sea conditions that they have been experiencing. The rain has created some nice dirty water that should put the fish on the bite. With the coloured water the blackfish have slowed down a little, but the angler that have been chasing mulloway should be in their element and eager to bring out their favourite lures. There have been some good yellowfin bream coming out of the river off the break wall and should improve as the water settles down. There has also been some very nice dusky flathead around Clybucca and working the flats up towards Stuarts Point.

Rock hoppers have found the going tough with the bigger seas. Tailor have slowed down but there’s been some reasonable yellowfin bream coming in along the ledges.
Beach fisho’s have been getting monster Australian salmon along Smoky beach some up to 4 to 5 kilo. Where still waiting for someone to give us a recipe to make these things eatable. Still the odd tailor coming in along with the odd bream and whiting.

Only a hand full of guys ventured outside last week with Fish Rock giving up a few snapper and kingfish. Fisho’s are having some success on the reefs off Nambucca for snapper and pearlies while no one has gone wide for the leatherjackets. Fishing the dirty current line where it meets the blue water usually fires up, it worth a try when the conditions improve. 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, the news from earlier on this week has centred squarely on the break walls, with plenty of big mulloway amassing at the river mouth awaiting the spoils of the recent fresh. Such conditions are just what jewie enthusiasts live for, and as at the time of putting this report together, several exceptional fish have been landed, and many more lost. Tuesday alone saw 3 terrific fish weighed, a 29 kilo fish by Jaron Jensen, a big 32.1 kilo model by Michael Knowles, followed by a 32.6 kilo brute by Mick Attwells, just pipping Michael for the lead in the Mulloway of the year. All fish encountered were taken on lures with many varieties and colours working although big shallow diving minnows and tremblers all in either gold or red and white seemed to enjoy the better success. Whilst some had sessions to remember, spare a thought for the anglers who lost many large fish for a variety of reasons, i.e. hooks pulling, line breaking and no gaff to name a just a couple. One young lad who shall remain nameless lost 3 big fish in a row and as a result, the waters of the Hastings now possess a quality overhead reel and mulloway rod to match, thrown in along with a string of blasphemy never to be repeated in print. Ah yes, angling can be frustrating at times, particularly when fish of a lifetime are on the chew, and Murphy intervenes with the old adage of what can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time.

Off the beaches, before the blow there were some terrific formations beginning to reform on both Lighthouse and North Beach, however Jason suspects the consistent big seas of late will have flattened most sand spits and gutters. Whilst this may make beach fishing challenging in the short term, don’t forget you only need a small variation on an otherwise featureless beach to both attract and hold fish. Quite often such conditions are far more productive than a beach with a myriad of fishable options. For those wetting a line before the blow, some terrific kilo plus bream were coming from the beaches around Crescent Head, together with some top tailor to well over 2 kilos. Beaches to the south have not been faring quite well, with salmon the dominant species by far.

Off the rocks, the big seas have ruled out most ledges of late however the more protected corners have offered some good results. Drummer remain solid and should be well and truly on the chew once again after the seas begin to settle and safe access to the preferred ledges is viable. Before the blow, tailor numbers were steady locally, however the ledges north around Crescent Head and Hat were holding some quality greenbacks, along with plenty of solid bream. Blackfish numbers have been excellent and as with most species, will be well worth targeting following the recent stir.

Offshore reports have been just about non existent of late, as you would expect with the sea well and truly up. For those keen to get out when conditions allow, the close in reefs should be well worth a look for some quality snapper, whilst those keen to venture further out can expect to be battling the jackets once again.

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 there has been some Gummy Sharks appearing in anglers bags. These fish have been taken wide of Goalen Head and mixed in with them have been some exceptionally good Tiger Flathead, quite a few morwong and snapper. The snapper are not overly huge but seem to be in good numbers on the closer to shore reefs.

Cool water temps of around 14 deg. seem to be having an effect on any Game Fish. This is to be expected at this time of year as August is notoriously the worst month of the year for Game Fishing in these waters. For those wishing to brave the elements burley trails may attract some sharks.

Cool off shore waters that are now pushing in to the estuaries are also having their affect on the feeding behaviour of the estuary fish. There are still plenty of blackfish, bream, trevally and whiting hanging around the Bermagui Bridge, which are responding to pink nippers and small soft plastics for a limited period of the incoming tide.

Again those cold waters have had the affect on the beach as well. Most of the salmon seem to have moved on at this stage and catches are very limited. The same affect is happening off the stones with just a handful of drummer and silver trevally being encountered

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.

Weekly report 11/08/07

Carl Dubois snuck out for a fish in his kayak at 11 am in the Georges River. This was after we had discussed how I had fished in Sydney Harbour and the Port Hacking last week and caught most of my bream and flathead in the shallow waters over the flats as the tide was rising. Carl started flicking around a Halco Scorpion about and after 20 minutes he landed my first bream, a 28cm model that was introduced to his live well. Five later he had another hit but the hooks didn't stick. He paused the lure for a few seconds, gave it a twitch and 'WALLOP', a 29cm's bream. The water temp was up near 14 degrees so it was much warmer than the cool 11 degrees of the Cooks River two weeks ago.

The author with a couple of bream that were caught of soft plastics.

He switched to SP's (Sandworm in Camo) and on the first cast after feeling a bump, Carl set the hook into a 47cm flathead. So after a short session on the flats he Carl caught 4 bream to 29cm and 1 dusky flatheadRobert Hutchison has sent me a couple of photos from his holidays at Hat Head. He caught heaps of 2 kilo plus tailor on spinners, a luderick that was about 900 grams in the local creek near the bridge and also a couple of good yellowfin bream to 900 grams. The bream were caught on half pillies. Robert also heard and saw of a few mulloway being caught. No wonder with all those tailor about.

I was out on the Port Hacking last Tuesday with Scott Lyons chasing a few flathead with live bait. We did manage to get a few, but seeing it is the middle of winter they were hard to get. There were not a lot of other anglers out on the water, but the couple we did come across had really great bags of luderick. Some were around the 800 gram mark. There are also plenty of leatherjackets in the Port Hacking, but the squid have gone a little bit quite. The channels are holding plenty of silver trevally. Osborne Shoals and the Merries Reef have also being producing silver trevally as well.

Sydney Harbour has been producing a few very good catches of yellowfin bream and silver trevally over the past week and will continue to do so over the next week or so. Try fishing the Sow and Pigs on the run-out tide, Bradley’s Head and the yellow marker on the north side of the entrance to Sydney Harbour on the run-in tide. Peeled prawns, pillies that have been cut in half and pink nippers. You could also try using small strips of skinned yellowtail and fresh squid.
The baths at Balmoral are worth a shot for the odd John Dory and squid that has been hanging about. If you are in a boat you should try drifting between the moored boats at Balmoral and in Watson Bay.

Middle Head is producing luderick off the shore and tailor and John Dory in the deeper water. There is also plenty of yellowtail to be berleyed up over there as well.
The rocks off Coogee, Bondi, Little Beach and the Kurnell Peninsular are all worth a shot for drummer, luderick, bream and silver trevally on the rising tide. Remember to fish as light as possible.

New fishing bag and size limits announced

The Iemma Government has announced changes to saltwater and freshwater fishing rules after extensive consultation with NSW recreational and commercial fishers.
Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macdonald, said the bag and size limits for recreational fishing are reviewed periodically to ensure a sustainable future for high quality recreational fishing in NSW. The size limits also apply to commercial fishing.
New Recreational fishing rules - additional background information

The major change to freshwater fishing includes:

• Leaving a line unattended will now be prohibited; this aims to reduce the injury, stress and death of fish and invertebrates that result from being caught on unattended lines. However the distance a person can be from each line will increase from 10 metres to 50 metres.

• Increasing the minimum legal length for Murray cod, to provide better protection for immature fish. The current legal length will increase to 55cm after 1 December 2007 and to 60cm after 1 December 2008.

• A new closed season for Australian bass and estuary perch from June 1 to August 31 each year to allow the fish to spawn.

• Simplifying the trout water classifications to two categories; artificial fly and lure only waters and general trout waters.

• The bag limit for unlisted native fish, which previously had no limit, will now be set at 10.

The major changes to saltwater fishing includes:

• Introducing a new minimum legal length of 30cm for pearl perch.

• Increasing the minimum legal length for yellowtail kingfish from 60cm to 65cm.

• Increasing the minimum legal length for luderick (blackfish) from 25cm to 27cm.

• Introducing a minimum legal length of 60cm for dolphin fish (mahi-mahi). Additionally, only one fish may measure over 110cm.

• Introducing new combined bag limit of 20 for bream and tarwhine.

• A bag limit reduction from 20 to 10 will now apply to bonito, dolphin fish, octopus, rubber lip and jackass morwong.

A nice bag of yellowfin bream that was caught by Robert Hutchison while on holidays at Hat Head.

• A bag limit reduction from 2 to 1 will now apply to highly prized billfish species, including sailfish and swordfish. A bag limit of 1 will also apply to each species of marlin. Reducing the bag limit will still allow for a trophy fish to be taken.

• A minimum legal length of 30cm will be introduced for blue groper. These fish mature as females between 24 and 34cm and change sex to males at about 60cm. The new size limit will protect females prior to maturity.

• The legal length for rubber lip morwong has been increased by 2cm to 30cm and the bag limit reduced to 10.

• The minimum legal length for red morwong will be increased from 25cm to 30cm. This aims to improve protection of small fish in shallow water.

• A combined bag limit of 5 will now apply to all shark and ray species, including only 1 tiger, mako, blue shark, hammerhead and whaler species. A zero bag limit will now apply to wobbegong sharks.

A full list of changes can also be found at www.dpi.nsw.gov.auMedia contact: Jason Bartlett, 0438 209 28

Scotty Lyons from Southern Sydney Fishing Tours http://www.fishingsydney.com.au/ reports that last Sunday he had a singles day, which normally he runs on the last Sunday of each month. They headed to the Hot water to look for Tailor after 20min of casting metals no luck so we headed across to the wall as the sun had just hit the water. Scott anchored at Trevally Alley. A little slow to start, but a good burley trail and the trevally turned up in good numbers and all were a good size.

After two hours of double and triple hookups they headed off, first trolling in Yarra Bay and then along Cape Banks looking for Australian salmon and back to the third runway, but no luck only one small slimmy mackerel which was keep for bait. By now the wind was up from the South west so they headed to the beach at Brighton and worked soft plastics and a few fresh strip baits for dusky flathead. One of the guys on board Toby was a slow starter on the silver trevally, but came good towards then end. He boating a Croc sized dusky flathead on a Black Opal Squidgies shad. After a quick photo and back to the water Peter then boated a 64cm dusky on a strip bait, while Rodger pinned a smaller fish around 45cm on a Squidgie. Toby had it all after returning his biggest dusky flathead ever that measured around 90cms he then hooked another nice fish of 60cms to finish the day.

IF YOU ARE KEEN FOR A DAYS FISHING LIKE THIS JUST GIVE ME A CALL I HAVE NEXT SATURDAY FREE AND I PUT ANOTHER SINGLES DAY TOGETHER IF I HAVE THE NUMBERS BUT YOU WILL NEED TO CALL BY FRIDAY. 0418 169 439THE NEXT SINGLES DAY SUNDAY THE 26THTHE FISHING SCHOOL 3RD SEPTEMBER 6PM TO 9PM, DAY ON THE WATER 8TH 6AM TO 1PM

Scotty has a MID WEEK SPECIAL of SIX HOURS FISHING THE PORT HACKING FOR BLACK FISH. NORMALLY $750.00 HE WOULD TAKE FOUR ANGLERS OUT AND SHOW THEM ALL THEY NEED TO KNOW AND HOW TO TARGET BLACK FISH. BUT IT IS NOW FOR $550.00.THESE SUPER DEALS ARE ONLY ON FOR FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST SO BE QUICK AND BOOK IN. For bookings you should call Scotty on 0418 169 439.

Gabes Bait and Tackle are now located on the corner of the Prince Highway and Holt Road at Sylvania Heights. 5100. It would be definitely worth a trip over to their new shop to have a look at the great range of tackle they now have. For those of you that brought tackle and tackle at the old shop you will be pleasantly surprised to see that the new shop is now 3 times larger. So get over there and have a look for yourself.

They are going to have a Grand Opening Sale from Saturday the 25th of August to Father’s Day the 2nd of September.

Paul Martin from Rock Marine Bait and Tackle (rocksmarine@tsn.cc) reports that if you can’t catch a fish at the moment you’re mustn’t be trying. Both blue water and estuary fishing has been good. It’s a Blackfish bonanza along the breakwall all the way down to the Coal Wharf and that’s if your land based, if you have a boat the North wall is firing as well the normal haunts around Kemps Corner. There are good yellowfin bream and dusky flathead around the oysters at Clybucca and Rainbow Reach. Yellowfin bream are also biting along the walls with some monsters towards the end of the breakwall, along with plenty of trevally and the odd tailor.

The river is crystal clear at the moment which is making it difficult catching the yellowfin bream without light leaders or fluorocarbon line. Blackfish are still on the bite off the Wall around to the wire fence, more productive on the run out tide the fisho’s are saying. There were a couple of monster 25 kilo plus jewfish caught last week in the river fishing the night tides on live baits. There’s a few dusky flathead around on the flats up river in the dirtier water.

Beach fishing over the last week has slowed a little, but if you drive along the Smoky you will find bream in the gutters with the odd whiting biting on live worms and pippies. On the days tailor are about they are there in good numbers. There has been some monster Australian salmon coming out of the surf. Fishing off the rocks is still very productive with some great bream coming in. Tailor are there most mornings and afternoons.

Robert Hutchsion with a luderik he caught while chasing bream at Hat Head.

Leatherjackets are still outside in huge numbers all over the place from about 30 meters. Good numbers of sand flathead on the Light house grounds while Fish Rock is producing some kingfish and snapper in close. Pearl Perch, morwong, fair reds and of course there are plenty of leatherjackets are coming in off the Dot. Snapper are in fairly close off Grassy but there hasn’t been much size about them. With the conditions being almost perfect fisho’s have headed out very wide to get amongst the Yellow Fin that have been reportedly out there but no reports at this stage.

The guys and girls up at South West Rocks lost a friend last week our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of Sen Constable Paul Morris, a true gentleman and a great bloke.

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 estuary angling has been dominated by Lake Cathie of late, with blackfish numbers invading the lower reaches on mass since the lakes opening a couple of weeks ago. Whilst great news for keen blackfish enthusiasts, once again it is disappointing to see greed override necessity, courtesy and common sense. The amount of reports regarding excess bag limits, undersize fish, dubious capture methods and poor etiquette are staggering. However this behaviour this has not gone unnoticed by NSW Fisheries, and by all reports a fair few infringement notices will bite into the pockets of those involved. Whiting numbers too remain solid in the lower reaches, however getting a bait past the swarms of undersize bream are proving somewhat of a challenge.

In the Hastings, blackfish remain above average, with the breakwalls as usual producing the better results. A few good bream have also come from the lower reaches, and with great tides and lunar conditions this weekend, a spike in activity would not surprise. Plenty of flatties further upstream on both lures and bait, with the stretch between the Dennis Bridge and Settlement Point producing the better results.

Off the beaches, the have been some bumper bream about North Beach however multiple catches are rare. The bream of the year mark has certainly been given a fright, with the sea eagle tragic Rick Rolfe just missing out with a top 1.73 kilo fish, whilst David Tooby’s 1.67 kilo cleaned specimen may have got over the line if whole. Few reports however on tailor apart from the odd greenback, whilst the disappointing mulloway season to date shows no signs of improving. Plenty of big salmon about for a bit of good fun, with their numbers sure to increase further in the coming weeks.

Off the rocks, drummer remain the star attraction however you are now having to work a bit harder that during recent weeks. This is not unexpected, with a slow period followed by a big finish to the season not uncommon, especially when a great start to season has been enjoyed. Abalone gut remains the bait of choice. Tailor numbers are down locally, however some good reports have filtered in from those fishing both Hat Head and Crescent Head. For those keen on bream, this weekend’s tides should prove optimum, whilst those chasing a groper or two will be hoping for the seas to remain calm and the crabs plentiful.

Offshore reports as expected have been dominated by leather jackets, with masses of fish everywhere from around the 30 to 80 meter mark, especially over sand. At least there has been some quality fish in the latest batch, with hook ups outnumbering bite offs. Wire of course, remains an essential requirement. If you wish to avoid the jackets, your best bet would be to target the shallow reefs off either Plommer or Lake Cathie, which present the perfect opportunity to try throwing soft plastics at snapper if you are not already doing so. The feedback on this growing trend is most positive, with results proving a real eye opener for some diehard old bait soakers.

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.

Steve Williamson from Lake Jindabyne Trout Fishing Adventures reports this week that Barry has had a quite winter on the coast with some good fishing. Like most coastal towns this winter has been wetter and colder than normal and Steve will have more news on how the fishing is going in next newsletter as he have a few trips planned over the next few weeks now that the weather has improved and the fishing is also on the improve.

ONE DAY DOWRIGGING COURSE in Jindabyne.

The one day down rigging course was a huge success and all had a lot of fun and learnt heaps. With the popularity of this course I will hold a few more of these in spring with the first set down for Saturday 13th October.
Let Steve know now if you are interested as there is a limit of only 6 people at each course. The course is $150 for the day. Remember he also run private courses so you can always get a few friends together and book your own course at a time that suits you.

TROLLING CLINIC

The next weekend trolling clinic will be in November and the date at this time should be 4th and 5th the start to the SM Trout Festival week.
In this weekend course he will cover everything from boat set up for trolling right through to techniques like down rigging and side planing. There is 16 hours of tuition and again numbers are very limited. Call the shop or e-mail for a full itinerary. The whole weekend course will cost you $380 and covers lunches etc and there are discounts for accommodation.

UPDATED FISHING REPORTS

You can always access the latest Jindabyne Fishing Reports from his web site at http://www.swtroutfishing.com.au/ however should you wish to have a report directly e-mailed to you as soon as they are updated you can always request to be put into my address book and have theme e-mailed direct. You will also find on my web site now fishing reports for Pambula / Merimbula and Eden area. These saltwater reports are compiled by Steve, Barry and friends down on the coast that fish the area regularly. At the moment I am tending to fish the coast a day or two a week so Steve has a reasonable handle on what is happening and intend to update monthly. These reports will be a little more up to date than what you read in the magazines which are more than often written a month before they are distributed.

RAINBOW LODGE

Rainbow Lodge is now booked out for winter and will be available once again in October. Bookings please phone Steve’s shop on 02 64561551 during business hours.

If you would like an up to date fishing report e-mailed direct to you each week, please e-mail a request to Steve and you will be added to his list.

STEVE WILLIAMSON’S TACKLE SHOP
Shop 1 Snowline Centre, Kosciusko Road Jindabyne 2627
Fishing Charters – Bait and Tackle Supplies- Marine Supplies
E-mail mailto:sw-trout@snowy.net.au
Shop – (02) 64 561551 Fax – (02) 64 561342
TO SUBSCRIBE TO ‘TROUT TALES’ e-mail swtrout@airlan.com.au or check out Steve’s web site.

Darren from Bermagui Ocean Hut Fishing Tackle, Dive and Charter Fishing Service
mailto:%20(%20enquiries@bermifishinghut.com.au reports that there has good Reef Fishing at present and just about all reef systems are holding their share of fish. Both blue and jackass morwong are the most common catch at present although mixed in are some very nice snapper, ocean perch, a few leatherjacket and some very nice tiger flathead on the fringes of the reefs.

Cool water temps of around 16 deg. seem to be having an effect on any Game Fish. This is to be expected at this time of year as August is notoriously the worst month of the year for Game Fishing in these waters. For those wishing to brave the elements burley trails may attract some Sharks.

It is pleasing to see the amount of fish holding in the Bermi River, around the bridge area, before moving into the system with the incoming tides. Looking from the bridge, anglers can Polaroid the many bream, blackfish, trevally and whiting. Once located it’s as simple as casting nippers in amongst the schools, which results with an instant hook up.

To the south Barragoot and Cuttagee beaches have some excellent gutters which are holding plentiful numbers of good Salmon. Paternoster rigs, using Pilchards or strips of Tuna, as well as the casting of lures, will account for any number of the Salmon. To the north, Camel Rock beach also is holding its share

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.

There are plenty of people up in the Snowy Mountains making use of the good snow conditions this season and sadly very few are up there fishing. The actual sad part about this is the fishing in Jindabyne is especially good at present with large numbers of fish being taken on the troll and Eucumbene is also supplying similar action.

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

Weekly report 30/07/07

New fishing bag and size limits announced

The Iemma Government has announced changes to saltwater and freshwater fishing rules after extensive consultation with NSW recreational and commercial fishers.
Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macdonald, said the bag and size limits for recreational fishing are reviewed periodically to ensure a sustainable future for high quality recreational fishing in NSW. The size limits also apply to commercial fishing.

The major change to freshwater fishing includes:

• Leaving a line unattended will now be prohibited; this aims to reduce the injury, stress and death of fish and invertebrates that result from being caught on unattended lines. However the distance a person can be from each line will increase from 10 metres to 50 metres.• Increasing the minimum legal length for Murray cod, to provide better protection for immature fish. The current legal length will increase to 55cm after 1 December 2007 and to 60cm after 1 December 2008.

• A new closed season for Australian bass and estuary perch from June 1 to August 31 each year to allow the fish to spawn.

• Simplifying the trout water classifications to two categories; artificial fly and lure only waters and general trout waters.

• The bag limit for unlisted native fish, which previously had no limit, will now be set at 10.

Rowan from the Windybanks Fishing Club is in the running for the fish of the month prize. So keep those entries coming in.

The major changes to saltwater fishing includes:

• Introducing a new minimum legal length of 30cm for pearl perch.

• Increasing the minimum legal length for yellowtail kingfish from 60cm to 65cm.

• Increasing the minimum legal length for luderick (blackfish) from 25cm to 27cm.

• Introducing a minimum legal length of 60cm for dolphin fish (mahi-mahi). Additionally, only one fish may measure over 110cm.

• Introducing new combined bag limit of 20 for bream and tarwhine.• A bag limit reduction from 20 to 10 will now apply to bonito, dolphin fish, octopus, rubber lip and jackass morwong.

• A bag limit reduction from 2 to 1 will now apply to highly prized billfish species, including sailfish and swordfish. A bag limit of 1 will also apply to each species of marlin. Reducing the bag limit will still allow for a trophy fish to be taken.

• A minimum legal length of 30cm will be introduced for blue groper. These fish mature as females between 24 and 34cm and change sex to males at about 60cm. The new size limit will protect females prior to maturity.

• The legal length for rubber lip morwong has been increased by 2cm to 30cm and the bag limit reduced to 10.

• The minimum legal length for red morwong will be increased from 25cm to 30cm. This aims to improve protection of small fish in shallow water.

• A combined bag limit of 5 will now apply to all shark and ray species, including only 1 tiger, mako, blue shark, hammerhead and whaler species. A zero bag limit will now apply to wobbegong sharks.

A full list of changes can also be found at www.dpi.nsw.gov.auMedia contact: Jason Bartlett, 0438 209 28

Carl Dubois reports that he had an outing on the Cooks River only to find that the water temperature started at 10 degrees. Even though the water was freezing he decided to give the Cooks River a go at places where he thought he could get a few fish. Carl tried a lot of his regular spots, but couldn't even tempt a nibble from a bream. He used HB's and SP's, fished the shoreline, deep holes, bridges and boats for a big fat zero. The water temp was very cool: 11 degrees in most places but he did find one tropical spot that zoomed up in temperature to 11.9. And guess where he caught the flattie? That's right, in that small pocket of warmer water.The fight, if you could call it that, was something akin to a wet towel that half swam up with him. It was only when Carl got him near the surface that the fish put in a few half-hearted tail flicks. The flattie went 42cm's on the lie detector and he probably hated him for putting him back into the cold water.

Scotty Lyons from Southern Sydney Fishing Tours http://www.fishingsydney.com.au/ reports that the fishing at this time of the year shore test most as the mornings are rather cool and the slight wind from the west cuts deep so rug up. Last week on the water Scott found trevally at Trevally Alley, just off the Oil Wharf. There is plenty to keep most anglers happy the only problem is the size they all seem to be a small run of fish, (So one Trevally and lots of chips). Tailor have seemed to have moved from the hot water this week, but still worth a look as they might just be there tomorrow morning one cast with a metal slice will tell you if any one is home.
Scotty has a MID WEEK SPECIAL of SIX HOURS FISHING THE PORT HACKING FOR BLACK FISH. NORMALLY $750.00 HE WOULD TAKE FOUR ANGLERS OUT AND SHOW THEM ALL THEY NEED TO KNOW AND HOW TO TARGET BLACK FISH. BUT IT IS NOW FOR $550.00.THESE SUPER DEALS ARE ONLY ON FOR FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST SO BE QUICK AND BOOK IN. For bookings you should call Scotty on 0418 169 439.

Gabes Bait and Tackle are now located on the corner of the Prince Highway and Holt Road at Sylvania Heights. 5100. It would be definitely worth a trip over to their new shop to have a look at the great range of tackle they now have. For those of you that brought tackle and tackle at the old shop you will be pleasantly surprised to see that the new shop is now 3 times larger. So get over there and have a look for yourself.

They are going to have a Grand Opening Sale from Saturday the 25th of August to Father’s Day the 2nd of September.

Rowan from Windybanks Bait and Tackle reports that the Windybank's club ventured off to Lake Lyell on the weekend. They braved the wind and the cold to not catch a great deal of fish. However, most people caught something. The dam is looking great compared to just a couple of months ago when you weren't even aloud boats on there. About 8 turned up, some for the whole weekend, some for just Saturday. Rowan fished the Saturday with his father and found it very slow. They spent most of the day trolling. Lures that they used were Tassie devils, deceptions, RMG’s, Halco’s and Rapala’s. The best lures were the Rapala's by far. They out fished all the others. For the Saturday night weigh-in Rowan managed the largest Brown trout which went 1.7kgs (Un-cleaned) and 1 small rainbow trout. Others caught rainbows.

The biggest around the 1kg mark. It was a pretty slow days fishing, but all in all it was just great to see the dam with a good quantity of water in it again. And excited expectations about the next couple of seasons.Rowan did here a good report of some blackfish off the rocks down at Curl Curl that was enough to excite the senses a bit. That customer bagged out in 45mins. Reports of Yellowfin quieten down a bit last week. There were still fish being caught, but not nearly as many as the week before. Again Browns Mountain is the place to be to tangle with a big yellowfin.The Hairtail are still a good prospect at the moment. Continued reports of big numbers being caught in Jerusalem Bay have led to the place resembling a car park on weekend nights. Bigger fish are starting to be caught now, although not the 6-7footers of years gone by, there are some big ones around, but not in the numbers of the small ones. Generally the guys with the big ones will only get the odd few fish compared to the guys getting the smaller ones.

So if you are after a bit more information on what is happening in Sydney or you would like to book into my next fishing class you can phone either Rowan or Annette on Ph (02) 9477 1501 at Windybanks Bait and Tackle (Next class starts the 9th of August) or call into 523 Pacific Hwy Mt Colah NSW 2079.

Dave Fletchers from Queensland with his best ever Barrimundi caught on a lure.

Paul Martin from Rock Marine Bait and Tackle (rocksmarine@tsn.cc) reports that plenty of fisho’s were out wetting a line last week with a break from the south westerlies blowing you out of the water. With the conditions on the water so good, anglers ventured out wide to chase bar cod. Wal Savin and Shane van Dyke got amongst the Cod with the best going 18.2 kg while young local Joseph Dall’acqua out with Rod Payne hooked a nice 12kg unit. Snapper are on the northern reefs but have been hard to find in numbers Pearlies are about if you can get past the millions of leatherjackets. Good green backed tailor around Green Island while Fish Rock has some fair sized kingfish.

Cracker bream are still being caught in the river with plenty over the kilo mark. Flathead are about with the Gulp Plastics working extremely well on these fish. Blackfish are there in masses at the moment but were tough to catch in any numbers
over the last week, it did seem cabbage was the preferred bait but it can change on a daily basis. Good bream and dusky flathead were reported at Smithtown along with some smaller Bass.

Rock Hoppers are doing well on good bream and a few silver trevally, while the tailor fisherman have been cleaning up with good size fish. Smoky is still hot spot if you fish the surf. There has been bream in most gutters and reports of big whiting all the way down to Hat Head. Tailor are still around but not in big numbers. Beach fisho’s should dust off their bigger gear because the salmon are coming to give you a work out.

Jason and Virginia Isaac from Ned Kelly’s Bait and Tackle jasned@ozemail.com.au reports that in the estuaries, the big news over the past week has been the opening of Lake Cathie. Since council sent in the excavator last Saturday, some bumper whiting have been on offer, and this can only improve once the clean water begins to flush back in. Live worms have proven the bait of choice; however yabbies and particularly live prawns if you can find them will also produce results. In the Hastings, blackfish remain on the chew, with the break walls still fishing well and areas further upstream now producing more consistently. Flathead numbers remain excellent, with Blackman’s Point and the flats around Pelican Island well worth a go. On the bream front, the lower estuaries after dark have been excellent with fish to well over a kilo common. As for bait, look no further than those delightful substances being either mullet or blackfish gut, although yabbies will also produce excellent results. Those throwing lightly weighted yabbies are also encountering some solid tarwhine and blackfish during evening sessions.

On the beaches at present, this week has at last seen conditions which are conducive to fishing areas other than the protected corners. Bream numbers remain consistent although with the upcoming full moon, the morning tides may prove the more productive time slot. Tailor numbers and quality are reasonable albeit inconsistent, whilst there are still some plump winter whiting to be scored from the shallow spits on the northern ends of both Lighthouse and Shelley’s. Still no startling results on the mulloway front, although conditions at present should at last see the optimum tides this weekend fishable from the location of your choice. Fresh tailor or a bunch of live beach worms as usual will be the morsels to use when seeking these big silvery critters. Salmon numbers continue to escalate and should be everywhere by now.

Of the rocks, consistent reports on drummer are still coming in, with Point Perpendicular giving up some nice bags over the past week. Locally, Rocky’s, Shelley’s, Nobby’s and Lighthouse too have all produced fish. On the tailor front, good reports continue to filter in from Point Plommer and areas further north, with solid greenbacks to around 2 kilos remaining on offer. On the bream scene, Plommer and Hat Head have been giving up plenty of top fish to well over a kilo, with yabbies and tailor strips achieving the better results. Plenty of blackfish around too for those keen to toss a bit of cabbage, with Miners and Nobby’s giving up some top bronzies early in the week.

Offshore access has at last improved with this week finally seeing the seas back down for a few successive days. Results have been basically the same as per the last few weeks, i.e. reasonable snapper in close, good flatties around the 50 meter mark, and stacks of jackets just wider. Wire is an absolute essential unless you have an unlimited supply of terminal tackle. Wider out, those bottom fishing the shelf report little current of late, and as result, some nice bar cod to around 15 kilos, together with some back breaking kings thrown in for good measure.

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.

Peter Le Blang from Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters http://www.estuaryfishing.com.au/
Reports that last week has seen some wonderful calm days on Pittwater and some good fishing as well. The main catch of Pittwater recently has been trevally. These feisty little fighters have been devouring squid pieces and peeled prawns whilst using light tackle to drift down the burly trail. Most of the trevally have been taken at many of the wrecks around Pittwater with Botham’s Reef and Jacks being the better areas. A fair amount of fine burly is required to attract and hold the schools of these fish. The average size is 30-35cm and are great fun on lighter tackle.

Kingfish have been caught on most of our recent charters. There have been a couple of days that these bruisers were seen on our cameras, but refused to eat anything that was presented to them. By using their downrigger camera they are normally able to track down kingfish and usually able to hook at least one up. The kingfish that we have been able to tempt have been between 65cm and 75cm. This has been a little disappointing because being the adrenaline junkie that Peter is he loves to hear screaming reels from big fish. We have had our chances with some freight trains mind you, but they have busted us off amongst the ever-present moorings of Pittwater. Places to try for these kingfish are amongst the wrecks of Pittwater and at West Head and Barrenjoey Head.

With colder water temperatures the fish don’t need to eat as often and will often be seen “playing with their food” instead of their usual smash tactics. If you don’t want to catch kingfish in Pittwater then there are still a few other species that can be caught. Besides trevally the mouth of Pittwater still has some nice flathead and flounder to be caught whilst drifting. The better flathead have eaten live yellowtail but smaller just keeper models have eaten whitebait or pilchards.

Bream are starting to be caught amongst the moorings at Palm Beach and Mackerel Beach at night or in the first few hours after sunrise. The better bream have taken a liking to live nippers or fresh well-presented prawns. John Dory have been caught by a few locals over the last week at Careel Bay Wharf and Palm Beach Wharf. Although they are not in great numbers the deeper holes in the bays along Pittwater may be worth trying. The best area for boaties to try for a john dory is The Basin. This area has a fair amount of structure thanks to the mooring blocks and holds a lot of smaller fish that these slow moving fish prey on. The best baits to use are small yellowtail or sweep or mado’s. Suspend the bait a metre from the bottom using a long trace and large sinker above the swivel.

Peter is going to target HAIRTAIL in the coming weeks. If anyone wishes to join in, please book now as we are only running them for a short time. The things that you will have to supply for these charters are a tolerance of the cold, lots of warm clothing including a wind and waterproof jacket in case of fog or unpredicted winds. A headlamp is also needed. Peter will supply everything else that is needed for the afternoon/evening charter including, food, hot drinks and cup-a-soups. The charters will start at 2.30pm and you will be dropped off back at the pick up point at around 9pm. The charter will start by catching our live baits of yellowtail and squid before heading off to one of the many hairtail grounds of Cowan Creek to watch the sun go down and plunge the river into total darkness. The targeted species will be hairtail but we will also have a line out for a mulloway and bream incase one of these by catches are hungry.

Peter's Winter Specials Have Started.
$330 For the CHARTER. 1, 2 OR 3 PEOPLE.
That equates to $110 each for a 3-person charter.
Book now and don’t miss out.
Special lasts until 31st August 2007.
0410 633 351

Weekly report 23/07/07

Bill and Eric from Gabes Bait and Tackle would like to let everyone know that their shop is now located on the corner of the Prince Highway and Holt Road at Sylvania Heights. Their new phone number is (02) 9522 5100 and it would be definitely worth a trip over to their new shop to have a look at the great range of tackle they now have. For those of you that brought tackle and tackle at the old shop you will be pleasantly surprised to see that the new shop is now 3 times larger. So get over there and have a look for yourself. They will also be having a grand opening on the weekend before Father’s Day.

I fished in a Pro Bream tournament in the Parramatta River / Sydney Harbour area over the weekend with Daniel Bray. We fished areas like Rose and Rushcutters Bays, Birkenhead Head Point, Five Dock Bay, bridges in the Parramatta River and only managed to get 1 out of 6 legal fish for the day. We had a shocker. The biggest bag of 6 bream was approximately 6.3 kilos. Day two saw us fish some of the same spots, plus many more, and yes we did get our bag of 6 bream and our total was approximately 2.760 kilos for 7 fish. Due to the fact that I had to go to a soccer game I don’t know who won the weekend, but as soon as I do I will put up the results. I do know that we were in the bottom half of the field.

We found that the areas that we fished were very cold. The water temperature ranged from 11 to 14 degrees and the fish were just hanging onto the soft plastics. Making it very hard to hook them. Daniel and I fished rocky shorelines, shallow flats, boats in deep and shallow water, marker poles, mangrove and deep holes.

The Harbour has been producing silver trevally at the entrance to Iron Cove and Sow and Pigs on the run-out tide on peeled prawns, half pilchards and pink nippers. You could also try using tube or blood worms for bait. Bream and luderick have been feeding along the shoreline at Fairlight and Manly Cove. You could also try fishing for leatherjackets in the same stretch of water.

Middle Harbour is still producing the odd kingfish off Seaforth and Sugarloaf Points in the deeper water. Live squid and yellowtail are the go. Middle Head has a few squid on the chew, but you will need to watch the swell. Clontarf beach is producing the odd whiting or two on the rising tide.

Dusky flathead, mullet and bream have been caught near the bridge at Wellington Street in Narrabeen Lakes. Try using peeled prawns, nippers and blood worms. You could also try using those soft plastics for the dusky flathead.

The rocks off Ben Buckler and south Maroubra have been producing luderick and drummer on the rising tide. Especially now that the seas have settled down a bit. The beaches off Cronulla are worth a shot for salmon and tailor in the early part of the morning. Whiting have been caught in the deeper gutters off Greenhill’s and beach and blood worms.

Botany Bay still has plenty of silver trevally and leatherjackets at the usual places. Tailor and Australian salmon have been feeding in the washes off the northern and southern side of the bay. You could also start scouting around Bate Bay for them at first light. The Hot Water outlet has squid, slimy mackerel and tailor. Make sure that you have a berley trail going.

The Port Hacking has the ever reliable luderick and leatherjackets on the chew. Snapper have shown up at the entrance to Yowie Bay and South-west Arm. Try using strips of tuna and whole pilchards or garfish for bait.

Rowan from Windybanks Bait and Tackle reports that there has been a few hairtail catches from Cowan Creek. Reports are not of big fish, mainly around the 4-5ft in size. Reports have come from Jerusalem and Waratah bays. On the beaches some good tailor and salmon have been frequenting the newly formed gutters on the northern beaches. There is the odd yellowfin bream and also some good whiting that is if you’re prepared to persist in finding them.The river has been fishing well around Dangar Island with bream to 1.2kgs cleaned being caught and dusky flathead to 2kgs. A great time of year to fish the Dangar Island Shoals with lures and Soft Plastics for a feed of dusky flathead.Browns Mountain, when the weather has been friendly, has produced good catches of Blue Eye Cod for the bottom fisherman and some very good reports of yellowfin for the cubing guys. One customer boated 7 yellowfin last Tuesday in near perfect conditions. The size was mixed, from 15kgs to 30kgs. Nor huge fish, but all the same, a lot of fun.

So if you are after a bit more information on what is happening in Sydney or you would like to book into my next fishing class you can phone either Rowan or Annette on Ph (02) 9477 1501 Windybanks Bait and Tackle (Next class starts the 9th of August) or call into 523 Pacific Hwy Mt Colah NSW 2079.

Darren from Bermagui Ocean Hut Fishing Tackle, Dive and Charter Fishing Service
mailto:%20(%20enquiries@bermifishinghut.com.au reports that there has been plenty of morwong on the Four and Six Mile Reefs as well as out wide from Goalen Head. The run of Snapper still continues with some very nice fish of up to 4 Kg. These fish have been taken in the same areas as the morwong plus there is a variety of other species with the Jackets still seemingly quiet.

Due to the offshore winds out wide the sea conditions have been very rough not allowing anglers a chance, however a couple of boats did venture out and hooked a couple of Southern Blue Fin Tuna which where not landed. Water temps are still around 17 - 18 deg. and we suspect there should be still Yellowfin and Albacore mixed in with the Bluefin, plus a very strong chance of sharks in burley trails.

The water colour is improving in the rivers and lakes resulting in a few more fish being taken. For the kids there is silver trevally, yellowtail and mullet in the Harbour. Blackfish seem to be moving back into the Bermi system, which are being taken on Cabbage Weed and there has been some nice Bream at the entrance of both Wallaga and Cuttagee Lakes.

Due to recent rain and floods virtually no bass Fishing is being done in either the River or the Dam. The floods will mean the Bass will have the opportunity to move around throughout the systems and therefore the fishing in the spring months should be very good, especially in the rivers.

Offshore winds have allowed angler’s access to both the Rocks and the Beaches. From the stones there are plenty of Drummer, a few groper, bream and trevally which have been stirred by the rough weather. Salmon and tailor are also around both from the rocks and the beaches. There are some good bream and mullet moving along the beaches with most of them holding their share of fish.

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.

Paul Martin from Rock Marine Bait and Tackle (rocksmarine@tsn.cc) reports that
if the fishing wasn’t so good at the moment you would be wishing for summer to warm up the cold mornings so rug up and get them while their here. The catch of the week has got to be Bill Wheeler from Armidale, while pulling metal lures for tailor around Green Island the explosion on the business end of his line was a 30 kilo kingfish that fortunately headed out to sea instead of back to the rock. There has been some good snapper up north with the best Geoff Gardiner’s 7.5 kilo cracker. Pearl Perch are out a little wider with plenty of leatherjackets as well. There are still some nice yellowfin bream around Green Island while Fish Rock has been quiet.

If you can brave the freezing conditions the beaches are fishing well for tailor, whiting and the odd yellowfin bream. The rock hoppers are hooking up tailor most mornings along with bream and the odd drummer.

Put some hours in the river and you well get yourself a feed. Mulloway have made a welcome return falling to plastics working the Break wall. Greg “the box” Henry used mullet bait to get a good bag of bream. Dusky flathead are a little hard to find but we have had reports there are a few around Clybucca. Luderick are in very good numbers in their usual haunts along the walls. These fish are quality fish like Taree’s Ian Brentnall respectable 1.5 kilo luderick amongst his bag. There are a few silver trevally, yellowfin bream and the odd tailor at the end of the breakwall. For daily reports and special call Paul on (02) 6566 6726.

There is no report from Steve Williamson from Lake Jindabyne Trout Fishing Adventures this week, but for more information on the latest fishing conditions you could call the Shop at Snowline Centre, Kosciusko Road Jindabyne on (02) 64 561551 for the latest update or you could cotact Steve at mailto:swtrout@airlan.com.au

Pambula / Merimbula Fishing Report.
Steve has also started up fishing classes offering fishing lessons and tuition at Pambula on the south coast based at 'Holiday Hub Beach Resort'. Shortly we will also be offering the same tuition at Wallaga Lake and Eden. Barry Hein who works for 'Steve Williamson's Fishing Adventures' is a local to Merimbula and fishes the area regularly. I have also been fishing down on the South Coast for the last 10 years and have experience in areas from Narooma to Eden. Together Barry and Steve, with help from other locals, are now offering up to date fishing reports for the south coast as well. These reports are formulated from our own personal experiences and with input from local tackle shops.

Jason and Virginia Isaac from Ned Kelly’s Bait and Tackle jasned@ozemail.com.au reports that off the rocks, excellent reports on drummer continue to come in, with Point Perpendicular, Diamond Head and most ledges around Plommer still giving nice bags over the past week. Locally, Rocky’s, Shelley’s and Lighthouse have all produced fish albeit not quite as consistently as enjoyed over recent weeks. Bream numbers remain excellent, with the combination of good tides and no moon last weekend resulting in plenty of fish well over a kilo. On the tailor front, the action has been a little patchy, however there remains enough fish in the kilo plus bracket to keep the pillie or lure tossers amused. For those willing to brave the pigs and float a bit of cabbage, blackfish numbers and quality are first class, with reports in particular from Hat Head indicating numbers are thick as they have been for some time.

On the beaches at present, until a bit of respite arrived early in the week, conditions have been challenging with bigger than ideal seas and a strong current heading north on most days. As such, the more protected southern corners as well as the small beaches around Port have provided the better results. As expected, bream dominate most catches, with pipis and chicken gut achieving the better results. Oddly enough, there are still some top whiting about however I suggest their days this season are rapidly drawing to a close, courtesy of unstoppable tide of salmon gorging its way up the coast. Tailor remain fickle and largely below expectations, although the odd greenback has been snared during evening sessions. Mulloway numbers remain disappointing, and with plenty of sharks now accompanying the salmon run, after dark sessions may prove expensive from a terminal tackle perspective.

In the estuary, blackfish remain excellent, with the quality and consistency of fish arguably the best for a couple of years. The break walls, coal wall and Limeburners have been fishing well on most days, although areas further upstream should be well worth a look by now. Flathead numbers remain excellent, with Blackman’s Point and the flats around Pelican Island well worth a go. Gone are the days when flatties were considered a summer only species, with the past 5 season’s in particular seeing results just as good in the middle of winter as in any other part of the year. On the bream front, numbers remain solid albeit not quite as good as recent weeks. Investigating further upstream could well prove worthwhile in the coming weeks.

Offshore results over the past week have been down as you would expect with the seas not being at all friendly on most days. Those who have managed to get out when conditions allowed report the leather jackets have multiplied and grown, with wire an absolute essential. If you wish to avoid them, fish the shallow reefs or target flathead no deeper than the 50 meter mark. The closer reefs are also worth prospecting for snapper, with some top fish coming from around the 30 meter mark off Plommer. For game fishos, a trip to the shelf in search of yellowfin could be worthwhile, as good numbers have been around in past years at this time of the season.

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.