Bluefin fever has hit the south coast. Now I know I made the call of the 10th of July, and I was like a week late and I’m never late! (Well, except when it comes to this fishing report...) We worked hard and got fish on the 29th of June, but it’s still the 10th when things should really kick into gear.

Fish are being found between 18 and 19.5 degree temperatures in the slack water coming out of the currents pushing north. The current that has been running up-hill has been pushing in and spreading the fish out and also pushing them in. A special mention must be made of the 91.5kg bluefin caught inside Montague Island by the vessel Reel Weapon. Bluefin have been caught in 1200 fathoms just over the shelf, but if this keeps up you’ll be catching snapper and tuna together!

The DPI states that bluefin feed a lot on baby squid. You’ll find when you catch 1 that quite often the fish regurgitates these little critters. I’m going to cube with pilchards and put a hook in a squid and watch them run to my bait.

It seems bluefin migrate up in the currents and school up in the slack water where they conserve their energy. You’ll notice also in the slack bluefin-looking water that when it gets over 19° degrees that the fish tire much quicker once hooked up. It’s like us trying to sprint in the desert. When you catch one in 18° and below, they will drag you all the way back to Tasmania.

You will also find there is not much bird activity over the bluefin. When it comes to finding them, the best structure is temperature breaks and slack water with food sources. Don’t go looking for a flock of diving gannets because you may not see that all season. Instead, look at the sounder, look for temperature breaks, look for the slack water and keep an eye out for surfacing fish.

Don’t rule birds out all together though. We saw off in the distance 2 birds behaving anxiously, fluttering up a few metres, dropping vertically, fluttering up and dropping again. It was just 2 birds, but this behaviour obviously indicated fish, food or action of some kind. We headed over to find a small number of big bluefin hitting the surface and instead of trolling past with lures and possibly pushing them down, we started throwing cubes and a pilchard on a hook with a spin outfit and hooked up straight away.

The fish stayed at the back of the boat for a little while, but were a bit flighty and we couldn’t keep them up. You may also see a group of small storm petrels (tuna birds) fluttering around in a group; this doesn’t necessarily mean tuna under them, but it does mean you are in a good area.

Temperature breaks in slack water with food is paramount when it comes to bluefin. We are also seeing a good number of yellowfin getting caught amongst the bluefin, so it sometimes pays to cube with a more expensive box of IQF pilchards to tempt the fussier sickle fins. If it’s just bluefin you are after, then a cheaper box of trap bait will do fine. We are also seeing a number of albacore out there, with some real horses amongst them.

While there is 19 degree plus water out there, don’t rule out marlin either, as we are still seeing catches of them. Up to 8 fish were seen hitting bait balls in June. Jeff Brooks off Little Aspro tagged a 150kg blue marlin off Batemans Bay in July, and we still haven’t forgotten that 250kg plus blue marlin caught at Bermagui last August

If you’re not chasing the elusive tuna, then inshore you could be chasing the elusive kingfish. Montague Island has been quite good for them over the past weeks. Large numbers of smaller fish with some big ones mixed in have been schooling off Moruya, but not holding there for long. Some brutes have been getting around our shallow water locations, but they have been hard to get a bite out of and when they do you have 2 seconds of glory and then line breaking devastation. People that have managed to keep their heads up have boated a beauty or 2. There has been a little run off Ulladulla also. So, just like the bluefin, you could be driving up and down the coast to launch at different ramps in order to find good schools.

Snapper fishermen have been happy lately. Whether plastics or bait, everything is great. Plenty of customers have been coming in with good reports of catches. A typical scenario in the shop is letting me know they have bagged out on snapper and good ones too, as they hold their hands a metre apart. I’m always tempted to push their hands in a little closer. A customer caught a metre bream the other day, according to his hand gestures. It’s funny, you wonder why people even do it when explaining the size — I guess it goes hand in hand with a fish story.

The rocks are rocking with snapper and drummer at the moment, as it should this time of year. We are seeing the gang down here really tuning the snapper from the stones with plastics these days. The snapper run in close this winter is looking pretty good.

My customers are starting to discover the Gamakatsu 1/0 octopus for their drummer fishing. I have a lot of faith in these hooks, having caught some big fish on them. I believe hooks should be just like your leader. You should go down to as thin as possible until breaking it. Thin hooks are prickly and you will find more hookups, particularly with fish with difficult or small mouths like marlin, mulloway, bream or drummer.

The Decoy range of hooks and products is also flawless and you will find some deadly hooks in their range. Decoy Micro Game assist DJ-91 is the best single assist hook on the market for catching bream. Thin, strong, prickly and deadly. Whack them on blades, hardbodies it doesn’t really matter where or on what, they just catch fish. Experiment!

The beaches are seeing a small number of salmon, with some big tailor mixed in. Don’t rule out whiting and there are still plenty of beachworms from Broulee to Moruya. Mulloway are also still a good fish to target. They were a bit slow over the last full moon, but it looks as though they are on the chew again. These guys are still partying in the estuary as well as out on the beaches and coastal bays.

There have been some good schools of estuary perch in the Clyde from Big Island to the bridge, but remember, if you do catch 1 they are to be released until the end of August.

Don’t give up on the flathead either. They’re always around, just very lethargic. And if you are feeling cold and lethargic, then come in and get some of our thermals, winter hoodies and beanies!