April fishing can be awesome, with anything from gale-force southerly winds to clear, blue calm days. It can be a frustrating or beautiful time of the year.

Not a lot has changed in the estuaries since last month with great numbers of whiting, bream and flathead still making their presence felt in the Merimbula and Pambula areas.

One thing that has changed, though, is the water levels in our lakes and dams – finally we’ve had some rain and the little estuaries that are closed look a lot healthier for it.

Brogo Dam has topped up nicely with the downpour and at the time of writing was at 68% capacity. The bass were having a real go around the lake edges. As long as we don’t get too much more rain there will be some real thumpers in the next year. If the dam fills up, they’ll go over the spillway as in previous years.

Rock fishing can be a game of patience from now on – one day kingies, next day salmon, next day nothing. You just have to go out and give it a go. Hopefully you will be in on part of the action.

One fish that has been a little elusive in the past few years has been the bonito, considered a pest by some but great for others who troll around the headlands in small tinnies with light tackle and bass lures. Catching these fish has given many anglers, including myself, hours of enjoyment.

I was first introduced to this style of fishing by gun angler ‘Captain Kevin’ Gleed from Congo. This guy never ceases to amaze me, from catching big mulloway in Merimbula Lake to a recent trip to Glenbawn Dam and Lake St Clair. He managed to clean up on big bass with his fly rod while other competent anglers were going fishless.

The game fishing scene has been very patchy (to say the least), with only a few fish being caught. Heres hoping things get better with the Merimbula Open Tournament being conducted in late April. It would be great to hear of some fabulous fish being caught.

On another note congratulations must go to NSW Fisheries officers who recently apprehended two South Coast men with more than 1300 abalone in the boot of their car south of Eden. Their car and dive gear was seized, as it should be, and a court case is pending.

Abalone in New South Wales are a valuable resource for commercial divers and are also great for amateurs to catch. They are fabulous to eat but in cases like this where more than the limit (10 legal-sized abalone per day per person), these people don’t seem to understand that in the not too distant future, there will be no abalone left for anyone. It is simply another case of the minority ruining a good thing for the majority.

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1

Bonito are a pest for some anglers but other, such as Rebecca Linehan, value their sporting performance.

2

Kevin Gleed with an estuary perch from a local river.