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Rain revitalises the coast
  |  First Published: August 2008



I have to confess to being a long-range weather forecast-watching freak. I haven’t always been that way; it has only been over the past eight months or so, with the persistent rain.

The Mid North Coast has had a refreshing influx of rain that has flushed the estuary systems clean and revitalised the coastal strip and the dividends are there for the taking.

Bait fishing for bream around the oyster leases in the cool of the evening has been paying off for some of the travelling snowy bream that are entering the lake system, and will do for the next month or so.

These large, very silver fish are in good condition and are receptive to strips of mullet flesh and live yabbies.

There will be the odd big Winter whiting among the night bream and they are very welcome inclusions to the bag.

Fishing the deeper channels of the lake during the night will produce tailor but they are a more reliable target from the rocks and beach at the moment.

The legal sized flathead are a little slow at this time of the year but are certainly still around.

From all reports the rivers are very slow and your efforts will be best concentrated in the lower section of the lake, in areas like The Step and the eastern side of Wallis Island, past Hells Gate.

Tuncurry Channel, in front of the co-op, is always worth a drift or flick and is the first staging area for the travelling bream to enter the lake system.

From the channel to the breakwall, some anglers have had great success on the blackfish and the very ends of the walls have been producing some solid pigs.

Before you go scrambling out on the ends of the sea walls you need to have a sense of adventure and ensure the sea isn’t too big – it isn’t the place to get poleaxed by a wave.

AFTER THE STORM

While we have experienced some big, pounding seas recently, after they settle down the fishing is spectacular. The blackfish move in under cover of darkness while the pigs and bream take advantage of the stirred up and loose kelp, cunje or cabbage.

Tuncurry Beach has been fishing well with one angler landing two 6kg school jew on pipi baits. Prior to that he landed a few bream, dart and a shovel-nosed shark.

The south end of Burgess Beach and the rocky fringe between Shelley and Elizabeth beach have produced some good catches of bream and pigs with a few big leatherjackets.

Janies Corner is always worth a look, with so many options to choose from. The beach hole at the north end of Janies or the deep rocks at the rear of the beach break seem to always produce and spinning from the rocks is easy, you just need to be able to lift your fish or have a long gaff.

Offshore reports have been mixed some anglers setting the pick over productive ground while others have been having shockers.

One group at the cleaning tables showed me the fillets of a 30kg-odd cobia caught inside the Five Mile Reef off Blackhead. They also had a few squire and a pearl perch. The rest of the table had a smattering of leather jackets and sand flathead over it.

I guess with the high cost of fuel, though, it may pay to check out the closer reef areas first.

For everyone who has been hanging out, Wild River Bass 2 is finally out. I do hope you all like it.

The DVD is distributed by Daiwa Australia so every tackle shop should be able to get it; if not, MO Tackle will have heaps of them. Feel free to let me know what you think, good or bad.

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