"

Best of both worlds on the peninsular
  |  First Published: May 2017



Overlapping seasons often mean both warm and cooler water species are eligible for capture, so don’t put away your topwater kingfish gear just yet. May is a great month to head out to the local inshore reefs targeting kings and snapper, as fluctuating water temperatures offshore encourage most species to feed. Snapper and kingfish are still readily available.

Brett Malcolm went out and had a great session on the snapper at Long Reef. Drifting lightly weighted baits of fish fillet and squid in 18-30m of water soon proved fruitful, with some good fish caught in an awesome session. Solid kingfish have been captured on the local inshore reefs, with some fish well over 1m.

Sydney Harbour is producing bonito, flathead, tailor, kingfish and mulloway, with plenty of squid and baitfish available. This is my favourite time of year to fish the estuaries, as they are still holding fairly respectable temperatures both above and below the waterline.

A good variety of target species is still around. Local customer George Makhlouf whipped in store and bought a new 6-8kg combo, and within two hours had christened it on a nice big flathead during a morning session in the rain. George was fishing soft plastics when the big girl hit, and after a couple of quick photos the fish was released.

The water clarity is quite reasonable for all the rain we have had, and fishing the deeper areas and drop-offs is recommended for flathead and trevally. Scented soft plastics fished at Clontarf and the Spit worked a treat for Ryan Phillips, landing three salmon to 61cm and a 63cm kingfish.

Further west, bream and flathead have been on the chew at Roseville. Walking the wall in the picnic area west of the bridge has seen anglers catching whiting, bream and flathead using peeled prawns and soft vibe lures. The best fishing times have been dawn and dusk. Some of these captures have even been in the middle of the day.

Shane Matthews fished in his kayak working 5” soft plastics around Echo Point and soon found himself hooked up to a samsonfish in rainy conditions. After a quick pic the fish was released. With the water quite muddy up there this fish is an unusual catch.

While we’re on about unusual catches, another for the Roseville area was a juvenile longnose trevally. These fish are generally distributed between Far North Queensland and Japan. This fish was caught on a vibe soft plastic and also off a kayak in the dirty water.

It’s not just the harbour that has been consistent lately. Pittwater has had some great reports, even with the mild discolouration of late. Archie Levy headed out with his dad Jake for a quick fish in the tinny and landed his first kingfish. Archie managed a ripper fish on his 3ft rod with 8lb line using a squid strip for bait. Often while targeting different species the kingfish come along. The guys caught four kings in total.

The beaches have been a little messed up due to the rains and big seas from the last month. Fish still have to eat and if you’re willing to brave the conditions, good results can still be had. Cam Swords and his friends fished with rock and beach guru Alex Bellissimo at Dee Why Beach when the swell was still up. The guys had a great session, landing plenty of bream and whiting on beach worms.

Solid tailor have been landed casting metal lures over the back of the breakers at Collaroy and Manly. Dane Peterson caught four fish to 55cm using this technique. Minimal equipment is required for this successful style of fishing. Casting metal lures over the back of the breakers is a good technique when the sea is a bit messy. Tailor and salmon both love the white water with some good fish being spun up at Curl Curl, Dee Why and Manly.

I am hearing about some solid whaler sharks invading the suds after dark. If this is a bit more your style, grab some wire and your favourite heavy beach kit and head down to Narrabeen or Collaroy with some mullet fillets.

Reads: 2277

Matched Content ... powered by Google




Latest Articles




Fishing Monthly Magazines On Instagram

Digital Editions

Read Digital Editions

Current Magazine - Editorial Content

Western Australia Fishing Monthly
Victoria Fishing Monthly
Queensland Fishing Monthly