Fishing Reports 2008

current 2009 2008

28th November 2008

An abundance of Albacore offshore and some excellent inshore reef fishing has made the journey for visitors worthwhile coupled with our local estuaries coming alive all we need now is a marlin or two to pop it’s head up and some Kingies at the Island on a regular basis to top it off. The last front of warm water pushing down offshore lead to some interesting patches of cool to warm water to be generated. The nature of these temperature breaks and a strong southerly blow lead to some nice captures of Yellow Fin Tuna in the shallow water of Horseshoe Bay. Paul Blacka and crew aboard ‘Mr Hooker’ landed 6 Yellow Fin Tuna to 41kg all in 50m of water the biggest fish taken at the entrance in 20m of water. Brad Carlin of ‘Aurora’ also took fish so too ‘All Bar One’. The following day some vessel tagged up to 53 Albacore with many boats caught upwards of ten fish amongst a boat and bait ball in and around the ‘Kink’. The bite leading up to the first quarter of the moon phase was certainly the peak period for these fish. On any other day there have been good catches of Albacore and 6 fish is not uncommon. When a temperature break is difficult to find or not showing on Sea Surface Temp charts and the water temp is more uniform hook ups will occur but these fish are certainly scattered everywhere, only on a few occasions have we had more then 2 or 3 fish pulled from the one spot.

Bait levels in close on the bait grounds and offshore are good numbers and it is not uncommon to be surrounded by rippling slimy mackerel feeding early of a morning whilst reef fishing inshore. The size of the run of Yellow Fin amongst the Albacore this spring has been a bonus we have seen very few small ‘Cheezels’ (3kg or so) or ‘Rats’ (10kg or so) as we have weighed in a number of fish over 15kg and 40kg in November to date. Therefore, a laser pro 190DD or X-RAP 20/30 is worthwhile placed in your spread amongst more traditional Albacore XMAS Trees, Jetheads and Zuker’s. A few Mako sharks have been landed with the heaviest being 239kg by Rheiner and crew aboard ‘Footloose’ a fortnight ago.

Local estuaries including the Bermagui River are producing plenty of nice Flathead and a number of fish over 70cm gave been taken. GULP 5” Jerkshads primarily pink in colour such as Cajun Chicken, Nuclear Chicken and Pink Shine are most popular this past fortnight. The bottom of tide is prime time for trolling here in the river with some hard bodied shallow running minnows like Ecogear SX40’s, Cultiva Rip’N’Minnow’s and Mira Baits, Daiwa Dr.Minnows and any old favourites you might have such as Mann Stretch 5+ or McGrath’s for example. Reef fishing in 45-50m of water of the mouth of most beach heads has been excellent the only change being some larger Sandy Flathead taken amongst what were already good sized fish, including Nick Stolk’s 2.8kg fish taken of Cuttagee last week in 45m of water. These fish are aggressive and if running 2 dropper loops on your rig using small circle style hooks down to a 3/0 in Black Magic KL’s, Pioneer Mutsu’s or Wasabi Re-curve will certainly ensure that double hookup of larger flathead are landed safely as it greatly reduces their ability to knock each other off your longer baitholder or ‘j’j style hook.

For those finesse fishing the regions estuaries the new Sun line FC Rock Fish braid has been released, it’s expensive but the 6lb line if finer than almost all other 4lb’s and in line with say a 2lb Crystal Fireline in diameter. Whilst metal Vibes are the trend and vary greatly in price the new Strike Pro Cyber Vibe’s are proving are great value for money at the lower price point but loaded with Owner hooks, 3 upper tow points and a great finish. Whilst many are fishing these as they would soft plastics and we know they take an array of species but the number of larger whiting they are accounting for 3-7ft of water is surprising. The beaches have slowed down a little there are good numbers of smaller Salmon, the odd bream and a few nice sized flathead being taken.

10th November 2008

Water temperatures are obviously a big player in determining the when & where pelagic species turn up in our offshore waters, having been plagued by 13-14 degree water these past few months the East Australian Current (EAC) has pushed down with warmer waters that have sat off regions such as Coffs Harbour, Port Stephens and more recently Sydney/Kiama. The October long weekend is usually when the bigger boats start heading wide in search of Albacore and smaller Yellow Fin Tuna. A number of boats have caught Albacore in recent weeks. Last week was no different and this fish were taken from in as close as 70 fathoms in 15 degree water to beyond the 1000 fathoms line in 17-18 degree water. One boat dropped a 50kg plus Yellow Fin at the boat last week and managed to one over 20kg at the ‘kink’. A patch of warmer water of around 16-16.5 degree water was sitting outside a current line of 14.7 degree water and was thick with Yellow Fin to 40kg chasing sauries and regular leaping from the water on the hunt. These better size fin are a good sign and it would be nice to think they would remain out here with the passing Albacore’s. So it is recommended a couple of trusty Halco Laser Pro 190DD’s (The King Brown colour in particular) remain in your spread amongst the Zuker’s and smaller jet heads etc. we traditionally troll for Albacore.

Flathead on the inshore reefs are certainly in good numbers now in up to 55m of water out from the water tower continuing to the south. The Sand Flathead upon the more traditional northern spot are much smaller fish. Late last week we were still seeing good captures of Snapper and Jackass Morwong on the 6 Mile Reef and for those anchoring up in closer.

Salmon off the beaches are small and only a few tailor to report. The river is starting to produce some good sized Dusky Flathead and Flounder are a frequent captures whether on bait or trolling small hard bodies lures through the channel. Blackfish are in many spots from the entrance here to the weed beds in the river’s upper reaches. They are aggressive in nature at present with plenty being caught on drifted baits and lures.