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Berley up some trevally
  |  First Published: August 2008



Winter around Botany Bay and offshore can produce great results but you need to apply a little effort if you are to boat a feed.

One fish that loves the cooler water is the silver trevally, which is quite easy to find and fish for. Just think structure, deep water, berley, tidal movement and light tackle.

Once you add berley the trevally move off the bottom so it’s no good fishing with a lot of lead. Most days I fish with just a 0 ball sinker sitting on top of the hook to allow the bait to drift along with the berley and this is what’s needed.

Tailor show up over Winter but rarely on the surface because their food is deeper. Tailor seem to feed on larger baits yellowtail over Winter like so I find trolling is the best method to find them. Troll along drop-offs for best results.

Salmon are also mixed in with the tailor and at times you can troll up a great bag of both species.

Once located, try spinning with small metal slices. Allow the slice to sink to the bottom before spinning back to the boat. This is a very active way to fish and a lot of fun.

Offshore there is lots on offer and one fish that leaves the rivers and bays in Winter and can be found in good numbers around the deeper reefs is the kingfish.

The Peak and the Twelve Mile Reef are two spots that produce good numbers at times. Jigging or live bait are the best methods there and I have found that just drifting across the reef is the way to go.

On the bottom you will find a mixed bag: Pinkies (sea perch) snapper, morwong and the humble bloody leatherjacket that we all love, don’t we?

Closer reefs will hold good numbers of snapper, trevally, morwong and jackets and finding a feed is rather easy most days.

If you move off the hard bottom and onto the sand, this is the right time for sand flathead.

For all theses species I have found drifting the most productive method and a simple dropper rig baited with pilchard, squid or prawns makes it easy.

For our offshore Winter trips I have new Shimano Tcurve Spin 400 rods and Spheros 1200FA reels that handle live-baiting, jigging, trolling and bottom-bashing.

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