Another spring is upon us, leaving behind one of the driest Winters the NSW South Coast has seen in a long time.

The lack of rain has made for some tough fishing, with some experienced locals saying some of the estuaries have fished the worst they can remember. In some cases, this goes back 20 years. Wonboyn has just closed to the ocean and the last time this happened was over 40 years ago. This is definitely no good for oyster farmers and will no doubt impact on the fishing.

The fishing in the lake is pretty tough, with the water crystal clear, but as the water warms up things should improve. Good flathead can be expected during November. The beaches in the Wonboyn area have been producing plenty of salmon on pilchards and lures.

Reports from Eden show there’s no shortage of salmon on the beaches and headlands. The new wharf in Twofold Bay is proving to be a great spot for land-based anglers and will be a boon for locals and tourists alike.

Some good catches of tailor and salmon are being reported on bait and lures. Metal lures have been particularly productive. Bait anglers have also reported some good catches of flathead and snapper, for anglers who are prepared to put in the time. As the wharf becomes more established, the fishing will continue to improve.

I’ve been working with Dr James Haddy of NSW Fisheries, who is studying black bream populations on the South Coast. Tagging efforts will eventually pay dividends with a percentage of tag returns expected to paint a picture of the species in this region.

What has been particularly interesting in this recent work has been the trawling of fine mesh nets to catch bream eggs. Bream begin spawning in September and in certain areas the eggs were very dense. In these same areas, there was a massive food supply for baby bream, so a successful breeding season should bring even more exceptional bream fishing to this area in a few years.