The warm, clear water that has been trickling down the coast has filled the lake at every high tide and the sun has been warming the upper estuary – things are hotting up!
The warmer water encourages the microscopic food chain to blossom and then flow on through to the butter prawns, small fish and so on up to the target species like bream, flathead and whiting.
The fish certainly have a higher metabolic rate in the warm water and become very active right throughout the estuary and the lake.
From the end of October and on into theLarge bream, too, are prone to getting involved on the surface over the sand flats and weed beds.
With the main target whiting, you will need some of the great number of surface lures that are on the market at the moment.
There are the popular Lucky Craft Sammy 65s and Bassday Sugapens and if your budget is a little tighter, the Hawk Splasher is a great ‘suicide’ popper you can throw three oyster racks back if you get frustrated or really keen. For the money, these Hawks are great value and durable enough to perform well without costing an arm and a leg.The lure angler these days is spoiled for choice when it comes to selecting lures for a specific technique.
But there is, understandably, a lot of confusion or perhaps indecision when it comes to the purchase.
If you’re heading to an unfamiliar area, the advice of the local tackle shop owner can be essential. Lloyd Campbell at Great Lakes Tackle in Tuncurry or Max Frost at Barclay Marine are the two guys you need to talk to for all the lures used locally, and all the up-to-date information on the local area.
I never thought I’d say it out loud, but I think we need rain to put a bit of colour back in the lake.
Crystal-clear water is not generally good for daylight fishing but during the evening the fish can go off.The channels and leases close to the bridge suffer the most from clear water so further up in the system we should see better colour in the water and hopefully fewer spooky fish.
The masses of small flathead will increase over the shallow flats and weeds in the lower lake as the large females gather to spawn. Remember, there are usually a few males hanging around in groups so if you catch one, keep fishing the same area for a while, especially if lure fishing.
The clear water is good for spotting large flathead and there are plenty turning up.
Reports of good blue swimmer crabs in the lake are no real surprise.I’ve had little news from the ocean rocks and apart from a few bait sessions, I have not explored the coastal fringe for a while.
What have been trickling are reports of the number of silver trevally still hanging around. They are normally a bit scarcer by this time of the year around the rocks.
School tailor are still around the washes early morning and late afternoon. Janies Corner is well frequented by lure and bait anglers fishing the rocks and sand.
Those who have been fishing the beach have been rewarded with some big bream and dart.
The whiting are improving in size from the beaches too, but beach worms or pipis are a must.
Nelson Bay anglers Shannon and Dave made a visit to the area recently and were sent out to Chinamans
There are plenty of take-home flatties about and 40cm to 50cm fish should be the target range, even though 36cm is the legal standard.
Chopper tailor can be a nuisance in the lake but there’s the odd bigger fish in the low-light periods.
Watch the kids if they want to get intimate with toothy fish. Tailor and leatherjackets need some care to handle and a watchful eye before release.
