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The big lizards stir
  |  First Published: October 2009



e
stuaries around Merimbula have been fishing exceptionally well for weeks and with the warmer water coming on, we can expect the fishing to improve further.

November is prime time for mega-flathead with fish to 5kg caught every season, mostly on large soft plastics but bait fishers also encounter larger fish.

Prime spots to try are shallow banks on flooding tides, like the shallows around Mangrove Island in Pambula Lake. Fish areas like this with light to medium jig heads and reasonably large soft plastics.
a
fternoon high tides quite often provide better fishing.

One of my favourite places to target them are creek mouths on the bottom half of the ebb tide. Small mullet and whiting have to leave the shallow flats of creeks and usually there is only one place to go.

A good place to start around here is Boggy
c
reek, in the top section of Merimbula Lake.

Almost every system has creeks flowing into it so it pays to have a look around your local waterway.

s
lowly-twitched soft plastics and hard-bodied mullet imitations will produce.

This month we will also see an increase in whiting numbers, with fishos using live bait like bass yabbies, worms and even fresh prawns catching plenty.

Try areas that have a combination of sand and weed for best results. A few bream will also haunt you, especially during low-light periods.

Offshore has been fishing
ok
– good one day then not much the next.

Snapper, morwong and flatties are making up the majority of the catch, but November usually sees a few pelagics turn up. Kingfish, bonito and striped tuna are real possibilities for those trolling lures.

Out wide we should see yellowfin tuna, albacore and the outside chance of an early season striped marlin turn up, if last year is anything to go by.

We had a ripper start to the game season last year and let’s hope this year is the same.

Trolled lures are the go early in the seasonaround the shelf and beyond, you get to cover a lot of ground.

BEACH FUN
For the bottom species, try Long and Short points, with
t
he
s
ticks off Pambula good for flathead.

Bream, whiting and mullet will keep the beach fishos happy, with beachworms and pipis the best baits.

Most beaches will hold fish, but Tura and North Tura would be the pick. Look for a small deep gutter running close to shore for best results. A little bread berley in the shore dump will greatly improve your chances.

The salmon will still be around, but numbers will be down as the water warms.
a
few more tailor should turn up and at night you’re always a chance for a mulloway or gummy/school shark. Use fresh pilchards, mullet fillets or salmon or tailor strips.
r
ockhoppers who love throwing lures will start to lick their chops this month. Small kingies, bonito, salmon and tailor are all a chance if the water is right and the currents come close to shore. Tura
h
ead is this region’s land-based hot spot and every year some good fish are hooked there.

A few drummer, bream and blackfish are around the washes so if the surface action is a little slow, there’s always another option. Bread, cabbage and cunjevoi should work well, with berley enhancing chances.

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