"

The big wet helps action
  |  First Published: August 2006



Rain, rain and more rain has dumped on the Mallacoota region, with more than half a metre raising water levels in the closed inlet by over 1.5m, swamping jetties, roads, boat ramps and car parks.

The weight of water eventually carved a deep channel to sea, making for a good tidal entrance, but how long it lasts is anyone’s guess.

For the past few months I have been guiding in the Mallacoota system and clients have found the lure fishing nothing short of excellent.

After the heavy rain baitfish and prawns were on the move and black bream to 1.7kg and estuary perch to 2kg were hunting the bait and flathead to 55cm were also getting in on the action.

During the period of dirty water the lures that produced best results were the Firebait Longtail Minnow in red rum and the Capt Kev gold fleck minnow. After much trial and error using a variety of colours and styles, these lures emerged as the leaders with a definite pattern of improved results.

With many people regularly using very light leaders it must be remembered that in dirty water this is not necessary. In fact it can be a sure-fire way of losing some big fish. A client using 8lb leader in open water lost a fish near the boat after a strong fight. On inspection, the last 20mm of leader showed signs of abrasion and an EP was the suspect.

Just to prove it, a quick lure change to a DOA Prawn on an upgraded leader of 7kg resulted in EPs of 1.6kg and 2kg on consecutive casts.

Yellowfin bream were common captures before the lake opened to the sea, with good fish being caught in the lake and along the beach near Bastion Point. The beach at Bastion has been fishing well for salmon and gummy sharks and good salmon have also been caught at Quarry Beach.

Over the coming months there should be good fishing in the rivers towards Gipsy Point for big flathead and black bream. The rain will mean that the fish will remain spread throughout the entire system.

The Betka River has been fishing pretty slowly with only a few black bream and perch worth mentioning.

Reads: 923

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