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The kings are back!
  |  First Published: December 2014



Finally the warm water has brought with it a decent amount of baitfish and attendant predators. The last month has seen some great fishing along Pittwater, and while the kingfish are still pretty fixated on live squid, the odd day has seen them also chewing on smaller yellowtail.

Squid catching areas are a bit of a hit-and-miss affair, as the kingfish are hunting them as well. The better areas over the last month have been Mackerel Beach, the weed beds at Palm Beach, Barrenjoey Head and along Portuguese Beach. Size 2.5g squid jigs in orange or pink have been producing best.

The better areas to try for kingfish vary from day to day, but as a rough guide they are moving up the river and into the bays on the rising tide, and moving towards the points and mouth of Pittwater on the falling tide.

There are some big fish along the river and Broken Bay, so make sure that you leave the silly string for the surface running smaller kings and break out the heavy tackle for downrigging.

Another area worth trying at the moment is Barrenjoey Head and West Head. There are fish working the surface first thing in the morning, eating yellowtail as well as squid. These are mostly undersized, but there are a few patches of 70cm models being caught as well.

For those wanting to chase a few mulloway, now is the time to try. With the warmer water in Broken Bay and the Hawkesbury, mulloway should be moving along the bay and into the river. The areas to try over the next month are Flint and Steel, Juno Point, Wobby Beach, and The Bridges. The better baits will be live or butterflied yellowtail, herring, or big fresh squid heads depending on how far up the Hawkesbury you are going to fish.

Flint and Steel is seeing nice captures of flathead on the edge of the reef, while on the change of tide the odd smaller mulloway is showing up. The bream are a little scarce in the area, but with patience the odd larger one is being caught. A tip: on the change of the tide, re-set your anchor in this area, or the chain may become wrapped in the rough ground as the tide turns and runs the other way.

Along the coast we are seeing big kingfish showing up at Newport Reef, Avalon Headland, Mona Vale and all the way down to Dee Why. The bigger kings seem to be hanging in the shallower water and live yellowtail are being devoured before squid are.

Reef fishing along the coast is producing captures of plate-sized snapper, morwong, flathead, and on the odd occasion kings are showing up as well. The best water depth seems to be 20-40m. Top bait has been fresh yellowtail fillets or fish baits.

For those wanting to catch flathead, they seem to be a bit scattered at the moment, but a few decent fish should be found if you concentrate on the 60m mark. Soft plastics are accounting for the bigger fish, and pilchards are working fine, but there seems to be a lot of ravenous smaller flathead about.

I hope this report finds you all itching to get out on the water to enjoy our wonderful part of the world over the summer break.

LeBl_1

Kingfish like this 82cm model are showing up towards the mouth of Pittwater.

LeBl_2

Kingfish are another great Pittwater target species, and they always bring a smile to an angler’s face.

LeBl_3

Dean with his personal best kingfish at 92cm.

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