Fishing Australia

FOUL WEATHER FIRES UP FISH

There have been several serious bouts of windy wet conditions over the last two weeks in southern New South Wales and this type of weather can fire up many different species. I hit the ocean mid last week when the swell first backed off and found the water was still murky as much as 500 meters offshore thanks to big seas and substantial outflow from the estuaries and rivers.

More on the ocean fishing in a moment, but first lets look at the estuaries, some of which have opened for the first time in years. It’s not just the better known estuaries such as Tuross, Cuttagee, Baragoot and Wallaga that gushed out to sea, a good number of the smaller systems also burst open much to the delight of the people and fish that live there.

For a start the rain gave the bass in some of the upper reaches a welcome relief from dangerously low water levels, and likewise in the lower reaches some stagnant waters were given a new lease of life.  Species like estuary perch, which like the brackish, have understandably moved closer to the sea in many systems. Bream and flathead also travelled further down towards the estuary mouths to stay in saltier water and/or feast on the bait concentrations being pushed into the area.

In fact some fish know the deluge is coming well before we do: experienced bait fisho Peter Gicesku found some hot fishing just 50 meters down stream from the main ramp at the mouth of Tuross before the main downpours even started. Peter used pilchards for bait and it was a flatty or bream per cast!

While surf species are typically governed by tides, currents and gutter formations, the murky water from estuaries pushes out all sorts of goodies such as bait fish and prawns and as a result can be a great place to fish.

Don’t fish the main torrent, look for where eddies form because this is where the predators can rest and feed at the same time. Expect some better fishing when you nut the new conditions out; I popped into one beach to find anglers land school sized jewfish in a newly formed gutter. One angler also caught a thumping 90 cm long tailor!

Out at sea the edge of the discolured water line is a great place to fish for species like snapper, flathead and more. This murky water will move in and out with the tide, and it is worthwhile following it, especially where it travels over a known fishy area.

Fishing in 40 meters of water off the main bridge on Grand Pacific Drive amongst other species I caught a fantastic 4 kilo plus snapper which gave a fight better than the much bigger 9 kilo Whyalla reds I have caught on the same gear!

Often the most discolored water is fresher and sitting on top of the saltwater, but it can be clearer underneath. The pan sized snapper were as usual straight forward to catch but I suspected the bigger smarter reds could see our lines so I went down to 6 meters of 8 pound fluro carbon trace and immediately got into the bigger snapper.

Later that night something caught my eye that helps explain why the white colored slam baits I like are so effective; they are impregnated with bioluminescence, so they glo in the dark! A very handy attribute when fishing plastics in deep or murky water.

Now of course there are hundreds of other lures in my kit that work, but the biggest fish are never easy to catch, so I stick with the ones I know they will confidently eat so I focus more on the conditions and where to fish.

There was also a good number of hammerhead sharks, bonito, and kingfish off the rocky headlands. Further out on the shelf Albert Price caught a whopping 240 kilo blue marlin using a whole striped tuna bait. Albert trolled in the area where the striped tuna where thickest.

Meanwhile many inland freshwater systems have also benefited from the rain. Native species like golden perch love flowing water in summer and will gravitate towards inflow and out flow points.

Look for small creeks and gullies draining into the main lakes, or try near dam wall overflows if possible.

See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos