Anglers along the Coffs Coast have a wide range of warm- and cooler-water species they can target this month, with the pelagic action still occurring offshore and schools of bream, blackfish and tailor feeding along the rocks and in the mouths of estuaries.

Anglers fishing Macauleys Headland have been getting spotted mackerel and mack tuna while some good-sized Spanish mackerel and bluefin tuna have been landed down at Bundagen and Third Headland, near Urunga.

Live pike, bonito and tailor have been the best baits for Spaniards while slimy mackerel have been the top bait for spotties. Anglers trolling live baits have reported greater success than those fishing at anchor.

On the beaches, school jewfish have been taking worm and squid baits at Sapphire, Campbells and Hills beaches, while the same baits have been working on school jew at Gallows and the Gravel Patch between Diggers and Macualeys. The fish seem to bite best when there's a bit of whitewater around and the first two hours after nightfall is the peak feeding period.

Land-based anglers have been getting bluefin and mack tuna at the South Wall and Mutton Bird Island, with a couple of Spaniards coming the way of those fishing live tailor. There have also been tailor to 2kg and bream to a kilo coming from the washes near the Quarry, while long-range snapper casters have reported success after heavy swell, again from the Quarry.

In the creeks, there has been a late run of mangrove jacks and trevally to 3kg with the Kalang River and Bonville Creek the most popular spots.

Anglers fishing fresh bait after dark have made good catches of bream around the V-Wall at Urunga, with the stretch down to Repton the most productive.

The Bellinger River continues to fish well for bream and bass with bream coming from the highway to Fernmount and bass feeding best above Bellingen township.

Warrell Creek, down near Macksville, has been a consistent bream and bass producer in recent times with hard-bodied lures worked along the deep lily edges and around snags producing mixed silver and bronze bags.

If you are fishing the brackish reaches of the Coffs Creeks, it will pay to take a wide range of lure and rod choices. In a single day on the water you can fish big hard-bodied shads for jacks, surface poppers, chuggers, lightweight soft plastics and small hard-bodied lures, all for bream and bass.

Anglers fishing the rock washes with lightly weighted yabbies or tuna or mullet strips should do well on big bream over the next month, with a good berley mixture of chook pellets and tuna oil the secret recipe for some exciting rock fishing.

Woolgoolga, Emerald and Sandy Beach headlands have a variety of excellent gutters that hold massive quantities of bream and jewfish.

Speaking of jewfish, if you're keen to get one on a lure then try the rock washes around Sawtell, Diggers, Korora, Sandy, Emerald and Woolgoolga headlands.

Big hard-bodied shallow divers are the lures of choice in these snag-filled washes. Fish the high tide early or late in the day for best chances.

When spinning for jew, retrieve your lure as slowly as possible and work over all the holding areas in a gutter – much like bass luring but on a larger scale.

Transparencies

1

A nice spotted mackerel at the gaff. Live slimy mackerel will tempt them.

2

There are plenty of mackerel tuna around the headlands and inshore reefs.

3

Mack tuna and spotted mackerel are feeding in tandem.