Tuesday 7, Sep 2010
Absolutely perfect conditions greeted anglers on the last weekend of the school holidays. Thankfully, the fish were out in force and willing to bite.
Offshore, the big news is that a few yellowfin tuna are starting to turn up on the shelf with a few fish in the around 25kg being landed. Reports also filtered through of a couple of 60kg kegs being spotted amongst the burley trail.
Hearing this news, Mark Griffiths and Steve Perry headed out to snare a couple for the plate. The boys didn’t find any fin, but stumbled upon some drifting float lines wide of the shelf. A quick troll around the flotsam and the boys managed half a dozen dollies with two that weighed in at 10.9kg and 12.2kg! Mark won the bragging rights landing the 12.2kg fish on a 6’ skirted lure
The inshore reefs were mixed bag with some anglers reporting the return of the dreaded leatherjacket… while the others noted that the flathead were still on and in good numbers but that the size was smaller.
The bonito continued to hold fort at Bass Pt and a small army of keen anglers were on hand to throw a line out. One count had 65 anglers shoulder-to-shoulder on the rocks. The fish are thinning out but the size of the fish is increasing.
A few anglers are starting to switch tactics and targeting bream, moving down in line class, dropping the lead and fishing small cubes of striped tuna or royal reds in the shallow washes.
The beaches have been a great place to head to spend a lazy arvo wetting a line and cooling the feet.
South Beach Shellharbour and Warilla Beach have had schools of marauding salmon amongst the wave action as well as bream and whiting just behind the shore break. Worms or pipis thrown out just behind the first line of waves have resulted in a feed or two for the visiting holiday makers.
Tight Lines;
Hayden Capobianco
The Tackle Shop, Shellharbour
