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Fishing Reports 200912 December 2009 The focus of many local and visiting anglers has been centred on the solid run of Kingfish at Montague Island in recent weeks. Whilst often a fickle species on any given day captures have remained consistent and patches of fish to 8kg are on offer around the ‘Fowl House’, Anguish Rocks and the northern end of the Island. Fish to 15kg have been reported and those slow trolling or drifting with larger live baits (Slimy Mackerel) weighted and unweighted have had good success and often producing better fish and the other benefit of the slow troll is the area of water covered in the process. This technique is however, not an option on the north end of the Island where you may only troll artificial lures or jig. There are many fish undersize (less than 65cm) but legal size fish are often amongst them or holding nearby. Even a change of jig on the day can result in larger fish being pulled from amongst the smaller fish. Moving around and closely watching your sounder to mark further fish to drop a jig onto will soon help in finding where Kingies of a better size are holding. A Stronger current will require larger jigs to 300gm but 250gm is often enough and if the current has eased then 90-150gm jigs will work as required. There’s a plethora of jigs on the market across all prices points but consistent producers of fish include Sydney Slammers (250gm) which will work even when paints off them and River2Sea Spike jigs in all three colors in the 120, 150 & 230gm colors, Sea Rocks are also handy to have in the 90gm. There are some cheaper jigs out there so simply give them a bend to see how tough they will be as some will bend easily and also drop their paint immediately whilst others will handle plenty of fish. Assist hooks from 4/0 to 8/0 are fine just make sure they are keeping their point and swing freely sitting in line with the jig. It is preferred by some if the assist hook is attached to the same solid ring as the main line so you remain in direct contact with the fish eliminate the jig from freely jerking on a hooked fishes mouth. Your split ring is therefore attached to the top of the jig. Surecatch have a well priced product of two welded rings joined with a split ring attached which is very user friendly to those getting started and the more experienced of jiggers. Kingfish have been in the bay and a few have been landed of the rocks and from boats in recent weeks, there are some good fish amongst but we only seen one of legal size. Plenty of nice Calamari holding in and outside the harbour and in the bay has been helpful in keeping these fish close by.
Wallaga Lake has fished poorly in recent years relative to times past and the fact this system is closed to ocean has not helped but in recent weeks Snapper of legal size are quite common and Flathead too have been caught on bait and lure regularly. A few Tailor are available and last week we weighed in a 5.4kg specimen caught by Tony Kelly whilst trolling. Surface fishing for both whiting on the flats and Bream on structure has picked up considerably. Preferred lures across the flats remain the Sugar pen 70, the ‘new’ Zappa 55 and Lucky craft’s Gunfish 75. There’s plenty of options on the market from leading lure manufacturers but when long casts and an easy to walk or pop action is required these are hard to beat. Fishing structure with sinking or suspending minnows or stick baits is covered off with endless styles and types and most anglers will have a different favorite to the next. Ecogear’s SX range is right up there and a good place to start for those seeking a lure with a proven track record from then on it’s how big is your budget and feeding the habit.
It seems the spring run of yellow Fin this year was almost a non-event for many, we have weighed a few in to 35kg but the bite was very sporadic. Fresh current of 21 degrees in temperature out wide of good blue colour will have tuna’s in it. Perhaps more likely to be smaller yellow Fin but somewhere over the edge the first marlin of the season will be hooked shortly with a few captures off Batemans Bay reported in the past week. Reef fishing remains productive with good sized Sand and Tiger Flathead to the north and south of the township, depth of which fish are holding varies and good captures have occurred in water from 30-90m in depth. The Flathead are patchy so make good use of your GPS to hold over fish with repeated drifts where the bites are best. We’ve seen plenty more good sized Rubber lip and Jackass Morwong the Snapper but below Bunga there have been some nice Snapper and also at Montague Island’s south western corner on occasion. The Brogo Bass Bash was held on the weekend of the 5th & 6th of December in a dam at 20% of it’s capacity and plenty of smaller fish were landed. The total number of fish caught was 1005 by 80 competitors in fairly weedy water. The event finally experienced fine weather for the first time in recent years. Staff member James, Andy Caves and Chris Burns won the champion team category with 191 bass whilst Andy Caves was individual Champion with 88 fish. Bermagui Bait & Tackle proudly sponsored the event and looks forward to being a part of the event in 2010.
17 November 2009 The weather has plagued us this week, however we did manage to get to the Island on the back of some Kingfish showing up. Yesterday we landed 9 keepers and released some 30 odd undersize fish of 55-64cm. Only one fish was taken on live baits early then all other fish for the 2 days were taken on jigs. 120, 150 and 230gm spikes and Sydney Slammers. Strong NE currents lead to the use of jigs over 150 grams. After that we went out to the edge to find the best looking water we've seen in months of great blue colour at 20 plus degrees. Therefore, a spring tuna run is looking less likely now and we're more likely to see the odd early Marlin or perhaps a Dolphin Fish or two.
The 'Sea Angel' (local Long liners) caught more than 10 of these fish this week on one shot with the heaviest up their at 18kg. They had only a few tuna's, no marlin or sharks. More than a few vessels headed wide last weekend to find no tuna's just a few stripey's and the odd Albacore.
Inshore fishing remains healthy despite an ordinary day for many last Saturday. Good numbers of Tiger and Sand Flathead are holding at 75m, 25m and 55m both north and south of the township. Those fishing the mixed reef areas to south as far as Bunga and catching good sized Morwong and the odd Snapper.
The current is roaring offshore and preventing boats from Deep sea fishing, coupled with a bit of NE winds and you'll find yourself moving at more than 2.5knots.
Wallaga Lake continues to produce some nice Flathead either on the troll or using plastics or vibes on the edge of some drop offs. Despite the lake being closed to the seas the bite is better on tide changes. There's plenty of small Snapper their to keep the kids happy and the occasional legal size fish is available.
11 November 2009 Warmer currents pushing down outside the edge have produced only a few Albacore, we did weigh in a few Yellow Fin Tuna on Saturday around the 30kg mark. Outside the 12 Mile water temperatures sit at around 18 degrees and there are plenty of bigger Mako's out there now and those sharking would have little trouble raising one or two during the session. We were fishing with electric reels yesterday for Tassie Trumpeter and John Dory but rarely got a bait to the bottom before the Barracuda would cut us off. They were everywhere from 100m to 160m north and south of the 12 Mile. We had 2 Mako's up with out any Burley in the water, one just holding at the boat but not interested in a live bait but happily followed a bottom rig down and ate it on the electric reel but obviously with only 80lb mono leader attached that was that.
Inside 80m water of water in to 35m Tiger Flathead are only getting bigger and are now in better numbers to last week. The weather looks great for the coming few day so if you have the chance to be here don't hesitate because you will be rewarded with plenty of flathead in return. We are going for Gummy sharks this afternoon so we'll let you know how we go.
Talbingo & Blowering report - Andy Caves, Ben Manning and Josh Caves On the Thursday 22nd of October Ben manning, Josh Caves and Andy Caves travelled up the mountains to Talbingo to compete in the Wagga Boat Anglers annual fishing competition. We arrived at Talbingo just after midday on the Thursday and decided to have a bit of a spin for some trout on the shores of Jounama things were a little quiet but we did loose a nice rainbow on an ecogear vibe.
Friday morning saw us again spinning for a trout at Jounama, Josh managed a nice brown of 1.5kg on a yellow winged tassie devil. There were some more big browns cruising about but we could not get a bite from one.
Saturday saw the competition commence. We packed the boat and headed for Blowering dam. The first fish to hit the boat was a very nice yellowbelly caught by Josh spinning a steep rocky shore line using a jackall TN60. We soon realized that this tactic of applying our saltwater bream fishing knowledge and techniques towards the yellowbelly fishing lead to great results.
On Day 1 of the competition we had managed 7 big yellowbelly all over the 3kg mark and lost in excess of a dozen more. Many of the other boats fishing the dam were trolling and results for them seemed to be a lot less productive with most boats going fish less. Another early morning saw us back out on Blowering on the Sunday and again we were throwing jackalls at the steep rock banks, things were a little slower today. Andy managed to pick up a little Murray cod, whilst Ben landed one big yella and losing another big fish being our only action in the first few hours.
Fishing a different stretch of bank Josh managed to pull his first ever Murray cod a 570mm fish or around 4kg. minutes later my little jackall TN50 was slammed and I was solidly hooked up to yet another yellowbelly. The end result for us in the competition was 9 great Yellowbelly and 2 Murray Cod. Ben Manning managed to pick up champion angler, and champion catch and release angler for the comp, A great effort!!. Many thanks to The Wagga Wagga boat anglers club for a great weekend.
3rd November
2009 The water has certainly improved in recent days as SST charts have indicated it's movement our way and we now have water to 19 degrees of good colour pushing inside the 1000 fathom line. In close temperatures are now over 16.5 degrees and our inner reefs are now producing better sized Tiger Flathead in particular off Lobster Patch and 50m of water due east of the Cuttagee Beach.
It will be now worthwhile venturing offshore for the Spring run of Albacore and Yellow Fin Tuna as the desired water is here and local long liners have landed a few marlin and some nice Yellow Fin to 70kg. No small rat tuna's apparent at this stage similar to late last year in fact they may even be a little larger in general this Spring.
Local beaches continue to produce plenty of Salmon, a few Tailor and the odd bream or Flathead. All surrounding estuaries are holding good numbers of Dusky Flathead and lure fishing for this species is hotting up. As we are now seeing as many fish caught on alternative hard bodies and soft plastics lure as the water warms up. Luderick, Bream and Trevally are certainly holding in many areas and common captures.
6th October 2009 There has not been a great many fishable days off shore as strong winds plague the eastern coast line in recent weeks. Over the weekend amongst a few showers a number of boats were able to get out. Those who fishing wide of the shelf managed only a few small Albacore better numbers of these fish were available on the 12 Mile Reef for some. There remains an abundance of bait on the inner reefs to the shelf in particular Cowan Young and some mackerel. A couple of game boats chased Mako sharks successfully on the weekend including Dennis Lucardie of Harder Addit taking one fish each day whilst Crusty and crew on the Tru Dee V managed a 91kg specimen and bottom fished whilst in 150m of water to land 10 or more monster Tiger Flathead. Whilst toward the end of last week some good sized flathead in numbers were taken in 50m of water just east of the port those fishing the reefs overt he weekend did well off the Three Brothers in 53-55m and so too fisho's that headed wide of the 6 Mile Reef. A few headed to the Island for little return in the way of Kingfish.
Deep dropping with electric reels proved productive for those enjoying this means of fishing with Graham Darlington of the 'Helen G' taking 4 Rough Skin sharks to 30kg of Bunga Canyons 4-600m of water. Paul Lazzaro and Adam Lindrea were also there and landed one of these sharks and a Hapuka. A bit of NW winds upset their drift somewhat making pretty hard going yesterday.
All beaches seem to producing Salmon but not too many other species seem apparent aside from one customer landing a Mulloway off Long Swamp. Tailor continue to school in local estuaries providing you with a good opportunity to target larger Flathead and perhaps the infamous Mulloway. A bit of fresh water pushing down from upstream on the back of recent rains is also helping as with it is a reasonable amount of prawn and bait fish such as gars and mullet making the last of the run out tide on the Bermagui River a prime place to target Dusky Flathead.
15th September 2009 Consistent north easterly winds have helped the flow of warmer water from the north in our direction. The past 10 days has seen a fairly quick jump in temperatures to now sit at over 19 degrees inside the continental shelf, with is some water of good colour (clear blue) and the first of the season Albacore and Yellow Fin Tuna were landed. Long liners have followed this water down the coast and have started fishing wide off Bermagui for good numbers of Blue Fin tuna and one vessel unloaded 17 fish over 90kg clean. Offshore this time of year is excellent for those pursuing the large toothed creatures in particular Mako's and Blue sharks. Crusty aboard the Tru Dee V landed 6 Blue sharks in one sessions whilst others have been successful in landing a few Mako's including staff member Michael who has caught a couple to 50kg, we will certainly see a few larger specimens in coming weeks. Fresh northerly current should also see the return of King fish at the Island and many of the long time records were landed in spring of each year. Northern area's toward and including the Step continue to produce some flathead but more importantly some excellent Gummy sharks. The green slime and rubbish that has plagued the inshore areas has moved on and bottom fishing for snapper, morwong and flathead has picked up considerably in the south in particular Bunga, Goalen Head, Three Brothers and off Cuttagee.
Local estuaries have fished well from time to time but are certainly not consistent. Wapengo Lake has been full of Salmon to 2kg and provided some excellent surface fishing on light tackle. To catch and release in excess of 40 fish in a session is not uncommon using just about all methods and lure types from 6 weight fly outfits to poppers and large soft plastics rigged weedless. Some nice perch have been taken in the lower reaches of the Bega and Tuross rivers. Stuart Hindson of Aussie Fish Estuary Adventures reported clients of his lost a couple of nice Mulloway in Wagonga last week, he called the fish for 8kg or better, the hooks were pulled after some 40 minutes on one fish. Flathead have come out to play a few times during the past fortnight and we've seen good numbers of larger lizards a couple of times on the hotter days we've had that have come out from the deeper holes to sun themselves. The barometer dipped below 990 a few times during the past fortnight which shutdown a few areas. Brogo Dam is low and despite producing some nice fish it is not the place for too many boats at once at this stage. Waters in the upper reaches of local estuaries remain murky and need rain to create a clean out. If you would like to discuss the SST's, weather forecasts or what's biting and where give us a buzz on 02 64935444. Check out the latest images in the image gallery of www.fishbermi.com
5th September 2009 Inshore waters remain below 15 degrees and contain a fair a bit of green slime in close. Those reef fishing have centred their attention on good numbers of Sand flathead between 30-50m of water. The mouth of Wallaga Lake, The Step, Cemetery and Camel have produced fish of good size even in close but it does take some patience to find them and don't expect multiple hook ups until some warmer water pushing in. On occasion you will find good sized fish but really have to narrow your drift down to stay with them. Gummy Sharks inside 50m of water around the Step remain on the menu with Peter Ford and crew on the 'Jane' landing four nice ones again today. Salted pilchard the preferred bait. Rob Will on 'Crack it' brought home a good bag of mixed reef fish including Snapper, Morwong and Flathead today largely taken in 60m of water due east of the township. Cuttagee and the Three Brothers areas have started to produce a few Flathead also.
Whilst commercial long liners are continuing to pick up good numbers of Southern Blue Fin Tuna they are some 150km offshore on the 152 line. There have been solid reports of Blue Fin at Tathra Canyons but recent weather has limited any opportunity to the fish that area. We have a couple of game boats 60km offshore today in search of Blue Fin tuna but no reels have been turned as yet. Steve Gardiner of 'Southern Aurora' reported better water of 17-18 degrees once he was past the 1000 fathoms line. Staff member Michael let go a Blue Shark today and weighed in a small Mako shark also. Those fishing deep over the continental shelf noticed the current had picked up considerably today making a little harder to work their marks but did managed some ling but no Blue Eye Trevalla. We will see warmer cleaner water push in over the coming fortnight and hopefully our Spring run of tuna's will come with it. Local beaches are still producing Salmon in number and of better size than recent weeks. Bream fishing in the snags has been OK and you can now find the odd flathead starting to move in to shallow water on sun filled days. Fishing with small metal vibes for our estuary species has been a good means of picking up a bag of mixed fish.
21st August 2009
Good morning all, Whilst SST's continue
to show better water pushing down, vessels heading off shore would
certainly be treated to some
Albacore and Yellow Fin Tuna but motivating people to head out
this time of year is difficult. Therefore we have little to report
regarding the off shore scene. In shore reef fishing has slowed with
respect to
Snapper but a bag of quality flathead is easily aquired at
present. There's around 5-10 boats out each day catching flatties
and big Sandy's and Tiger's are to be found in most areas this week
including water as shallow as 30m. We fished Wednesday to land some
20 lizards all of which were of good size. It's best to use the
smaller circle style hooks and dice size pieces of bait such as
Stripey or fresh Slimy to entice the larger flathead to swallow
baits whole rather than pulling on the tag of longer strip baits. A
double hook up of bigger fish is usually boated on these hooks given
their shape which pins the fish in the corner of the mouth on most
occasions unlike a 'J' hook which often allows one of the fish to
roll off on the way up as even pressure can not be applied in the
same way. Black Magic KL's, Wasabi Re-curves or a Gamakatsu Octopus
circle are best. Local estuaries continue to produce large whiting
and smaller vibes remain dominant as the lure of choice,
alternatively smaller Squidgy wrigglers fished still on the bottom.
A 4-6 inch twitch of the lure is suffice but patience is a virtue
and higher end vibes work best to give the slight vibration needed
to entice the bite such as the Ecogear VX35's. Some alternative
brands whilst good for any applications don't quite have enough
action for the small 'lift & drop' technique being used at present.
Dusky Flathead that have been active enough to keep chasing in
deep water have started to move out of the holes and on to edges and
in some areas will now be caught on the flats. Their not aggressive
by any means but the onset of some warmer water pushing in or as a
result of sun filled days is generating a bit of movement. We are
however, a few weeks away from any surface fishing. Our beaches are
producing plenty of salmon of all sizes and bram are schooling
nicely around the mouth of Wallaga Lake with some
Mulloway amongst them. So for many fishing deep with electric
reels remains the most productive fishing and some good weather has
allowed a few to pursue Blue Eye Trevalla and Gem fish. The fishing
from here on in only gets better so in coming weeks we'll have a
little more to add. If you want the latest information regarding the
fishing scene or the weather etc. don't hesitate in giving us a call
on 11th August 2009 We've been concentrating our efforts on Deep dropping over the past 2 week in waters up to 500m deep to land some excellent Blue Eye Trevalla, Black Snapper and Gemfish. The weather has been kind enough to allow for a few nice morning's to do so. SST charts are starting to return to favour offshore fishing, the Spring run of Albacore and YFT and perhaps a few Blue fin is close at hand. Snapper fishing is good and the average fish remains better than recent seasons. Along the beaches Salmon remain in good numbers with some areas producing a better fish. Mulloway to the north have been caught a little more regularly this past week they are not huge coming in at 3-9kg. Those reef fishing have picked up a few Gummy Sharks to 20kg in waters no more than 40m in depth, the Step, Cemetery and Camel Rock being choice areas. The water is warmer this week and temperatures are back up to 16 degrees after touching down on 13 degrees. Hence, Tiger and Sand Flathead numbers have picked up considerably. Next week weather permitting we'll head wide and try and find some Tuna's and Albacore.
30th July 2009 Aside from the lads on 'Tornado' heading offshore to land 3 Blue fin to 70kg no one has ventured out wide. Quite often we head in to August where the reef fishing picks right up and good captures of Snapper early morning is easily followed up with a feed of good sized Tiger and Sand flathead off the hard ground in areas such as the Step, 4 Mile and Cuttagee with a depth range of 30-60m. We fished this week amongst a number of others and most took between 6-12 Snappers, some Morwong (Rubber lip and Jackass) and a feed of flathead. The large eddy of water that presented itself off shore here for many weeks producing plenty of tuna's will make its way further south in coming weeks and tuna's will return with it. September/October is a great time to enjoy the Spring tuna run and the warmer days make it a pleasant place to fish. If you want the latest info give us a call at the shop on 02 64935444.
24th July 2009 Cool waters offshore have slowed the Yellow Fin and Albacore bite considerably, we await a push of warmer water down the coast to provide a point of difference for these fish to hold in. See Bee and Mr Hooker ventured some 60km off shore on Sunday to find the Blue Fin. They found them and saw some sizable fish come out of the water from time to time but failed to hook up. Reef fishing continues to be excellent with good numbers of Snapper to 2kg being taken readily. The 4 and 6 Mile reefs being the prime spots. Paul Lazzaro and sons anchored up on the bottom of the 6 Mile to bag out and release some 20 fish also. Scotty is away on leave at present and the reports will return to normal early next week and the photo's of any captures put up also. In the interim don't hesitate in calling Cam, Michael or James at the shop if you want the latest or to discuss SST's or the weather. The phone number is 02 64935444.
12th July 2009
Out of probably
20 boats wide for Blue fin round half of those landed fish. Nick on
'The Rat' lost their 120kg plus fish at the boat after an hour they
had 2 on of similar size and popped them both, they managed to land
another 4 fish to 70kg. Mishko landed a Yellow Fin of 69kg, a number
of boats landed fish to 60kg. Chris and crew aboard Gladiator lost a
big fish also. Lure choice remains of little relevance as skirts
across the primary colours from 4-12 inch are fine. In sloppy
conditions heavy bullet style lures or larger jet heads will hold in
nicely. These fish continue to hold in the cooler water of 16.5
degrees. The main eddy of water that suits sit directly east of
Bermagui and runs to the south, this eddy of water is 16.2-16.5
degrees and surrounding waters are 17.3-17.7 degrees. Long liners
are pulling average fish sizes of 60-80 clean for their 6-10 tonnes
haul. Albacore remain apparent over edge and further. 8th July 2009 A great day for some 30 boats here chasing Blue Fin tuna. The heaviest fish was 167kg landed by the vessel 'Jedi', 'Cool Time' landed a 142kg fish also. Dick Brown's was 126.2kg on board 'Reel Weapon'. The heaviest out of Bermagui today was taken only just over the 1000 fathom line east of the port. The were a number of reports of really big fish busting the surface in a few locations. A good concentration of fish were holding on the 150 36 line wide of Bunga but the reality you have to stumble upon them or communicate heavily with other boats on the water. Good numbers of school fin to 40kg were thick in some areas. SST's are also important but ongoing cloud cover is limiting their use, the number of vessel fishing at present is the best test on any given day. We have the mark for where these fish are being captured and communicate with charter vessels and long liners daily so if you need assistance give us a call at the shop and check the 142kg fin in the image gallery while your on line.
7th July 2009 The weather has played havoc here since last Monday....obviously everyone wants to head out and plenty of vessels are heading in to town today (Tuesday). Some nice crays have been taken close by and a couple of Jewies off the beach. Bream fishing comes in to its prime in surrounding estuaries from now on also. Snapper fishing in close and out to 80m of water has been excellent with the fish larger on average than previous years.
27th June 2009 Well if you like Albacore the past few days they have been in good numbers.....in fact they were everywhere, to the point many anglers have downsized their gear to small thread line outfits such as a 3000 size reel with as low as 14lb gel spun lines. Dropping 5 and 7 inch jerk shads down or 130mm Squidgy flick baits to have them touched up by 4 or 5 Albacore attempting to take the bait is excellent sports fishing. Many have successfully proven how this is possible, even basic Raider style metals retrieved at speed will take these fish. Some Albacore have tipped the scales at 25kg again this week. Colours were not that important, however the Sardine and Anchovy patterns in the 7 inch shad probably provided for a few more hook ups.
As we write 3 Australian records are pending for Southern Blue fin today. The heaviest being 127.4kg. We will update the report tomorrow with more detail go to the image gallery for the latest photo's. Around 6 boats have headed wide today (Monday) and a few in closer for fin and Alby's.
22nd June 2009
Another excellent
day out, a bit of a roll on but winds never peeked above 8 knots for
the day. Some awesome fishing with plenty of Albacore returned to
water after being landed on the Jig, Jerk shad or cube. The Albacore
reached 25kg today with plenty over 20kg, lot's of Tuna's to 40kg
again today. Special mention to young Sam O'Hara who landed his
first fin of 31.5kg, a few first timers again today landed fish and
so too a couple of boats hit the water brand new to be christened.
Haven't got time to get the picks up on our web site yet I'll do
that tomorrow. Dick Brown of Reel Weapon also weighed in a 100kg
Mako Shark. 20th June 2009 Around 10-15 boats out on Friday with ongoing success on the cube. Most vessels taking between 2-4 Yellow Fin to 35kg and Albacore to 19kg remain apparent. Most activity remain where the water is pushing mid 19's in temperature between 3-800 fathoms. The long liners shot in fairly close yesterday (just over the shelf) to landed heaps of Albacore, 40-60 Yellow Fin and one released a nice Black Marlin of 350kg plus. Today (Saturday) we are expecting some strength to the NE winds in the afternoon and have therefore sent most vessels wide of the Kink or Bermagui Canyons. The fishing remains excellent and the weather throughout next week looks fishable. Some customers headed down for the day only yesterday including the lads from 'Thank the Bank' who landed their first 3 fin on the cube. Adam Lindrea and Wayne Smith fished on the "Sea Dog'' for the same result as did many others. Luke Moresi of the Patisserie helped his father Dave cleaned few nice fin also whilst Dave Campbell and crew on 'Dragnet' landed 3 fin and a dozen Albacore also. If you want the latest don't hesitate in calling the shop on 02 64935444 or myself on 0434 357443 at any time.
17th June 2009 Today was the first day back on the water with temperature largely unchanged at around 19 degrees. Most of the activity remained inside the 1000 fathom line with most fish taken in 3-500 fathoms. Staff member Michael Muscat and his mate Dean Ford landed 7 Yellow Fin to 40kg and a half a dozen Albacore on the cube. They left the fish biting today. Wobbles on Hotshot landed 4 fish of 30-40kg and dropped 1 fish on 50lb after 90 minutes. Steve Tedesco of 'See Bee' took 3 also and some Albacore which remain plentiful to those staying on the troll for the day. Cubing is certainly going to put on the fish from now on. If you want the latest give us a buzz on 02 64935444 or 0434 357443. Pics are here.
16th June 2009
15th June 2009 On a day where the wind blew no more than 5 knots across the board around 20 vessels headed offshore as we discussed yesterday we expected the water to push in a little further and perhaps it did but a little further than expected. 19 degree water of better colour was experienced by most. Not a lot of bird activity but those dedicated to cubing landed plenty of fish. We had six boats in a row all with up to 3 fish to 45kg not to mention the 97kg model weighed in by Tony and his mate that ate a lure in 500 fathoms east of Bermagui. Another great day out with plenty of Albacore and some nice YFT smallest today 28kg. Secondly, an 86kg model was also weighed in........great stuff!!! Pics are here.
7th June 2009 Excellent weather today and some exceptional fishing with a good mix of marlin, YFT, Albacore, Kingies and Mako's. Some of today's results included Crusty skippering the Tru-Dee V landing 7 YFT to 40kg and a number of Albacore the heaviest at 28kg. Rubber and crew on Seahorse cubed to take a Mako of 66kg and had a striped marlin of 118kg eat their livie under a balloon, Simon and crew of C mist bagged out on Albacore to 20kg, landed a 80kg Mako and 2 YFT of 35-40kg. We weighed in plenty of YFT today and many a boat catching a couple from between 25-40kg. No big YFT today. Water temps are above 21 degrees on the edge. The multitude of Albacore are being taken any north or south in 80-500 fathoms. Wobbles on HotShot weighed in a 100kg Striped marlin also, a special mention due to the fact it was taken on a Laser Pro 190DD in the King Brown colour of course. Similar conditions tomorrow no real stand out tactics those cubing had positive results on whole pillies, pieces thereof and livies. There are a few big patches of pilchards offshore and one boat landed three of their YFT on a saltiga and jigging live pillies and the smallest of bait jigs and pitching those out in to their trail with good results. Kingies were smaller at the Island today and the seals were out in force, those using larger plastics had good success particularly on 7 inch Jerkshads and larger Squidgy Flick baits. Anyway we still fuelling boats and weighing fish in as we speak so we'll get a report up again tomorrow. Again if you want the latest please don't hesitate in calling on 0434 357443 or 02 64935444. Pics are here.
5th June 2009 Good morning all, We fished yesterday for 6 Albacore and spent a good 3 hours chasing good sized yellow fin down the 500 fathom line from the kink to east of the port. We weren't set up to cube so we pursued multiple schools for most of the afternoon as soon as we moved 1km south to having busting up (30-50kg fin) around us there was as many busting up where we had just come from. When they're on Sauries it's simply hope for a dumb one or two to take your lure which quite often happens but not for us on this occasion. A couple of vessels cubed to capture a few fin one boat with 2 over 35kg, some Dolphin Fish came in from further out also. There are plenty of Albacore in 80-200 fathoms in particular off the kink. A lot of sauries in the water and some good schools of Pilchard on the edge. SST's have been of little assistance this week with the high level of cloud cover but we've had enough vessels out there to gauge water temps. Water temps are cool in close at 16.5 degrees and build to 19.9 at the edge. Heading north above Bermagui Canyons the temp fell .5-.9 of a degree and touched below 19 where the Albacore were holding deep at 40m, some there is a good opportunity for cubing & Jigging there also. A couple of boats were very successful in doing this yesterday on the 12 Mile Reef. Blue fin Tuna are pushing up now around 40-60km offshore with a number of fish taken in the low 100's and a one over 150kg. The forecast is excellent through until Wednesday of next week and unless some drastic change occurs each day until then will be fishable.
14th May 2009 We saw the largest tuna weighed in Bermagui in 5 years this morning. At 94kgs, this monster was caught in Bermi waters on a lure, by Frank in ‘Rascal’. A welcome sight out the front of Bermagui Bait and Tackle this morning. Bring on the tuna for the comp this weekend!!! Pic is here.
4th May 2009 As we head in to May chasing Albacore and Yellow fin Tuna’s will be high on the agenda for local and visiting angler’s whether trolling lures or cubing. The season thus far has failed to produce a run of smaller Tuna’s aside from Stripies (Skipjack), We’ve weighed in some tuna to 42kg and had them leaping from the water in good sized schools chasing sauries (a very difficult time to catch them on the troll) from time to time on the shelf. It appears the month of May will see the season commence with some nice Albacore to 12kg and a few school sized Yellow Fin captures last weekend. Sea surface temperature charts become an integral part of your day on the water when chasing tuna’s as temperature changes/breaks can have a big impact on where bait fish or the tuna’s themselves may hold offshore.
Offshore currents had improved considerably late April to in fact better suit Marlin fishing as blue water and 22 degree water moved past and this was supported by hook ups and captures of striped Marlin off Bermagui early last week. So it’s important to consider trolling mainly small to medium (6-9inch) skirted lures in your spread early May as an alternative to hard bodied lures as Marlin captures will still occur and effectively setting the hook on a hard bodied lure is rare on marlin despite the fact we weighed in a 125kg Striped Marlin last year taken on a Laser Pro 190DD. If you are specifically targeting tuna’s then definitely have hard bodies like the River 2 Sea Killer Vibe 160 (Dorado), Halco Laser Pro 190’s (in particular the King Brown, Pilchard & Bonito patterns), Yo-Zuri Bonita’s & Hydro Magnum’s to Rapala CD18’s to name some favourites in recent years. The Pakula Fluzi’s and Uzi’s (small soft headed skirted lures) also provide a cost effective option (less than $20) off the corners, they will swim nicely amongst a spread of hard bodies and be readily taken by all tuna’s and a marlin is going to have a pretty good look at these also a proven throughout this season. These Pakula lures along with the Halco Max, Black Magic Jet setters, Hollowpoint Bullets and Lively Lure Mack baits are proven Albacore lures to name only a few.
Cubing for Yellow Fin has historically produced a greater percentage of bigger fish, larger fish raised can be difficult to feed a bait to and it’s important to persist and present a few different options to a nice tuna should you be lucky enough to raise one in your burley trail. Quite often it will require tying the hook directly to your 50 or 80lb line swiftly to get the fish to eat. Floating and deep set live baits, a steady pilchard cube trail and a whole Pilchard or piece thereof being stripped and retrieved consistently will all help produce fish on any given day. High quality pilchards are important as baits, a lesser quality pilchard may be used to cut up and cube with. Persistence is the key, a 2 or 3 hour session is quite often not sufficient and the best results are achieved by those who do the time (ie all day wherever possible).
A push of cooler water in close has helped produce some good Snapper, the average size of these fish is better this year with fish just either side of 40cm being common. We have seen some nice specimens of up to 65cm which are large fish for here and hopefully a sign of a good season to come (May, June and July in particular). Last weekend these fish were quieter in close aside from some good fish (Snapper & Kingfish) taken on the Eden Explorer and a few visiting boats fishing off Goalen Head including a kingfish of 16kg. Those fishing the 6 Mile Reef last weekend proved that the wider reefs are now holding good numbers of Snapper and both Jackass and Rubber lipped Morwong.
Fishing deep on the Continental shelf has been hampered by a north flowing under current this week but the temptation of the superior eating qualities of Blue Eye Trevalla, Ling and Tasmanian Trumpeter will see some persist in targeting these fish. Obviously, electric reels like Daiwa’s Tanacom Bull and Shimano’s Dendou Maru have made this style of fishing more efficient, the Tanacom Bull having a clear advantage of a greater line capacity and dead lift capability. Basically, we use standard leader materials of up to 600lb, 3 way crane swivels and heavy 10/0-13/0 circle hooks to crimp together an effective 3 hook rig with a 32 ounce sinker on the bottom. Fresh squid and pilchards the preferred baits so too barracuda and slimey mackerel pieces.
Montague Island has consistently produced Kingfish either side of the 65cm legal length for a few months now and the use of live baits has proven most effective. We have seen some nice Bonito taken on trolled lures early morning coupled with a few under sized Kingfish for release. A couple of times during April fish well over the 90cm mark were taken following on from a relatively quiet 2008 season. Those chasing Flathead will find areas such as the Step, Cemetery and Tilba consistent whilst to the south of the port captures of good sized fish have been sporadic although on occasion the 3 Brothers in 30-40m of water and Cuttagee in 55m have produced both Snapper and Flathead in acceptable numbers. The 4 Mile Reef should now start to produce a few Snapper also along with the wider reefs.
Our local estuaries were producing some nice whiting amongst the bream and flathead earlier in the month but they have moved on aside from those in the harbour at present but they are hard to catch. Berkeley has produced a 5 inch Jerk Shad with ‘Crazy Legs’ which is an excellent soft bait accounting for plenty of flathead. It is available as Gulp Alive in the wider tub which is a better option as it’s harder to tip over and a good place to stash the rest of your Gulp’s versus the smaller traditional tub first launched 2 years ago. Some stand out lures we’ve been using include the Zip baits Rigge 35F and the Khamasin Jr, the later being a very impressive suspending lure it just seems to hang there forever. Wallaga Lake fishes much slower these days given it’s been closed now for a couple of years but it has produced some legal size snapper and more recently frequent captures of nice sized Flathead, especially by lure using Gulp 3 inch Pumpkinseed minnow grubs. It’s from now on we see some of the best bream fishing of the year as the cooler months hence cooler waters of crystal clear nature become more prevalent in the regions estuaries. Whilst bait fishing provides a somewhat mellow day out in the tinny and some great captures, lure fishing with soft and hard baits is the most challenging means of tempting this species. Light braided lines, strong graphite rods and small thread line reels along with a piece of neatly crafted expensive Japanese made craftsmanship on the end of the line is the ultimate means of catching these fish. It is well worth making an attempt to pursue these fish by this means and your local tackle shop will steer you in the right direction.
Local beaches are producing some Tailor amongst the Salmon and the odd bream. Mulloway (Jewfish) were fewer during the month and those captured were small relative to those taken in Wagonga in recent weeks. There has been a few small kingfish spun up off the rocks amongst the Salmons. The local clan of Luderick fisherman has been quiet this month but they have caught some nice fish with the average specimen down on size from last month.
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