Some good flathead are being caught around Mallacoota with one recent capture that went 7kg. A great fish, which was subsequently released.

The new bag limit of five flathead is definitely needed if we are to see quality flathead fishing in years to come, as angling pressure on the species has increased tenfold in the past few years.

Fishing for bream in the rivers around Mallacoota hasn’t been too bad for this time of year with some quality fish caught. For those who cast lures and flies at structure for bream, it often comes as a surprise to fish a snag without getting a strike, and then witness a bait angler pull fish after fish. As fish congregate during the black bream spawning season, this is not uncommon

Catching bream for NSW Fisheries Black Bream Research Program recently, has seen me using bait. While I prefer lurefishing, large numbers of bream are required for this research and fresh bait has been the way to go. The main point of this is that the number of fish you may catch on artificials is not an accurate indication of how many fish are actually there. Subsequently, people catching nothing, or very little, on lures automatically assume there are no fish there, when there could be another 100 in that same area. Something to think about next time you’re having a quiet day.

Mulloway, as elusive as they are, have been making their present felt recently. With so much water, it can be a real challenge to find them, but putting in the long hours will eventually produce the goods.

Targeting these fish with soft plastics over the past few months, I have been rewarded with four strikes and landed three of these fish – 10, 15 and 17.5kg! Of these fish, one was kept (15kg fish) and aged by NSW Fisheries. This 1.2m fish was found to be 10 years old.

The productive lure has been a Firebait Pelagic Stickbait rigged on a 1/2-1oz (size 6 hook) Bassmaster jighead. When releasing big mulloway, it’s best to leave the fish in the water and remove the hook with a pair of pliers, as it’s much less stressful for these great fish.

CAP

Captain Kevin Gleed caught this sensational 15kg mulloway in Mallacoota on a 6” Bassmaster Stickbait rigged on a Bassmaster Bullet Head jighead, using 6lb Fireline and a 15kg leader.