Fishing Australia

THE HONEYMOON CONTINUES...

Newlyweds Vicki and Scott Lear fresh back from their Honeymoon at Lord Howe Island wasted no time in getting out on the south coast waterways and stuck into some of the great fishing on offer. The couple have fished in bream tournaments in Lake Macquarie and Mallacoota over recent weeks, and as if that isn’t enough, they also they headed out to take advantage of the inshore snapper run.

Fishing near Wollongong they caught 4 legal sized snapper plus a solid 2 kilo plus fish (pictured hereabouts) on soft plastics. Great effort that, and male readers would be interested to know that it is Vicki that instigates most of the fishing trips…which makes Scott the envy of many husbands along the coast.
But here is another spin on things. It may well be that most of us blokes are have grown too scared to head out with the better half because they fish so well!

Take for example, Bruce and Deb Kelly. Bruce was winning the fishing stakes for a short while but Deb is now back in front with a soild jewfish caught few weeks back in the Clyde River  Bruce’s response to other blokes at the bowlo when they rib him about Deb's success? “You’re probably too scared to take your wife out because she’ll out fish you”.

Now, I might be in the same boat as the blokes that rib Bruce. All I do is end up baiting the hooks for my wife (and daughters) while they reel in the fish. I finally got a bit of space of my own the other day and caught some soild jewfish and a heap of big tailor while filming the last part of a show on the south coast. Fingers crossed this fishing mojo stays in tack when next I fish with anyone from the fairer sex!

In the meantime, I have been delighted to see lots of families out camping along the South Coast over recent weekends. One spot on the Clyde had a group of three related families who have camped in the area for many years and have a ball every time. Pops was out looking for mud crabs with his pots while the kids foraged about and learnt about the estuaries.

Unfortunately, Pop had no luck with his pots, and I have heard from a few sources that the bream have also slowed right up, and more than one person is blaming professional trapping on the river.

The Clyde is definitely benefiting from the banning of netting when the Marine Park came into effect, but the traps remain. In some instances, fish traps are believed to be taking a heavy toll and if this is true, it’s a real shame. Especially if the trappers are travelling from further away to take local fish.

YELLOWFIN

A reasonable number of good sized yellowfin turned up at the Banks off Sydney about a week ago, and a handful have been recorded along the shelf right down to Eden. To add to the anticipation, things are looking promising as the main mass of tuna seems to be moving within range of smaller boats. Some professional anglers moved in a lot closer over recent weeks and those fishing along 1200 fathom line between Tuross and Ulludulla caught a reasonable number of fish, which averaged 60 kilos.

Experts amongst the game and professional fishing fraternity are predicting a bumper yellowfin season will eventuate due to favorable currents forming along the south coast.

If you would like to catch a yellowfin it would be worth booking a charter boat in advance, because once the tuna start it can be hard to find a spot. Another option is to join a game fishing club.  A good example is the Canberra Game Fishing Club who hold their big Yellowfin Tuna Tournament from the 15th to 17th of May.

SILVER DRUMMER ROCKS

For some time now Alan Griffiths has been tangling a fish that was dubbed “the Beast of Bass Point”. Well the beast was finally revealed when Alan landed what turned out to be a massive 7.9 kilo silver Drummer. These things fight like no other fish and that is a great effort! Well done, Allan.

See you on the water.
Rob Paxevanos