Facts

ILLUSTRATIONS:

The warm water that pushed its way south as far as Tasmania is now starting to head back to the north.

In the past month the offshore fishing has been excellent as big schools of baitfish have been abundant. In close, there have been kingfish and striped tuna feeding on the schools of bait.

The striped tuna have been scattered, with trolled skirted lures the best way to come across the fish.

The kingies have been in big schools with most fish around 4kg, with some bigger ones to 8kg. There have been a few hook-ups on striped marlin but as yet none of these have been landed.

The boats haven’t had to travel far with most of the action only 1km from shore.

The same areas have been good for bottom fishing with plenty of good-sized sand flathead on the bite.

With the right weather conditions, the Star Banks would be the place to head for albacore, yellowfin tuna and striped marlin.

Plenty of salmon are on the beaches with fish sighted from Gabo Island down to Quarry Beach and salmon action should only improve over the coming months.

Fishing in the lake has proved challenging with many anglers’ catches not up to their expectations.

Finding flathead is not as easy as it has been, with many only catching the odd fish here and there. The flathead have been spread out with fish to be found in the deep water and the shallows.

Soft plastic lures or drifting with baits, such as fresh local prawns, has been the way to get a feed.

Fishing for bream is getting trickier with many fish around the margins getting used to the excess pressure that comes from being constantly targeted with lures. There are still times when these fish throw caution to the wind but they are becoming uncommon.

The time is fast approaching when you need to become a better fisher or lower your expectations. Lighter leaders, a different approach or a new lure can all be the keys, but you know things are tough when fish scatter when a small splash happens anywhere near them! They are probably thinking, ‘Oh, not again…’

Action in the deeper water has been good with catches of black bream, yellowfin bream, trevally, pinkie snapper and flathead coming on soft plastic lures and fresh prawns.

The Betka River has been fishing well with bream and flathead caught around the bridge. The entrance is now closed to the sea and rain is needed before it will open to the ocean again.