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Whiting poetry on the flats
  |  First Published: December 2015



The last month has seen the summer species really start to fire up. There have been some great catches of whiting all round. The lower reaches of the river, pretty much from Pimlico Island down have been where the best catches have taken place.

Any sand flats with nipper holes will be a good place to start looking. They have been going off on surface lures like the Megabass Dog-X Jnr and the Bassday Sugar Pen. Try colours like Hachiro Reaction, Albina Ragyio or Laser Beam for the Dog-X Jnr’s or MB-16, C-95 and C-137 in the Sugar Pens. These are old favourites among whiting lure fishers so rest assured these will give you the results you are after. A few well known locals swear by removing the rear treble hook and replacing this with a small assist hook – just a different technique to think about if you are getting a lot of short strikes. One tip for anyone wanting to give this style of fishing a try, don’t pause your lure on the retrieve. Get the lure walking or skipping fast and don’t stop. The whiting will hit your lures like little torpedos while you’re moving them. As soon as you stop moving, the whiting will shy away and bream will come in for a look. Not a problem if you’re just out for some fun but if you’re trying to bag a feed, you might go hungry! Summer really is great fun for this style of fishing.

Our lovely red friends, the mangrove jack have been more consistently captured as the afternoons and mornings become muggy and hot. Try any rock walls while the tide is running. Best results come in the last of the run out, but as long as there is water moving you are in with a chance. I’ve talked about them a lot lately, but the Atomic Shiner 75DD in Ghost Gill Brown or Gold Wolf will do the trick depending on the water clarity. Lucky Craft Pointers are great for a more shallow approach.

Flathead are still around in the middle reaches of the river so check out any large holes. When trying for the bigger girls try poddy mullet or any other live bait, alternatively big bright soft plastics with tails that get some water moving are also very productive.

The beaches have been a little quiet, however the amount of bait around should mean that they will start to produce solid numbers very soon. If you’re after some fun with the kids, go on the hunt for some pipis. The kids can really get involved with these little fellas and they also make for some great fresh bait in the gutters. If you’re capable of getting some beach worms there are a few around South Ballina on the bottom half of the run out tide. The gutters will improve with solid numbers of beach whiting and bream starting to move in.

The bass are well and truly on the move now with reports of good numbers from the upper reaches of both the Richmond and Wilson arms. Now it’s a matter of putting in the time to find them in good numbers as they have started to spread. It goes without saying that early morning and late afternoons will be very fun for surface action. The end of November and start of December should see cicadas start to hatch and which is prime time to get out your Tiemco Soft Shells and Megabass Siglets. Look out for old overhanging trees and you’ll find that bass fishing in December is the most fun you can have with your pants on!

Tight Lines!

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