Hello everyone
Winter has certainly hit us in a big way strong Westerly winds and plenty of rain have kept most fisherman indoors although there are a few brave souls still getting out , last Saturday both Patrick and I headed out to the shelf on board Luke Stansfield’s boat FIFI, in search of that final Marlin to end the season , conditions weren’t too bad there was plenty of Sauries along the shelf line with kill patches providing us some hope however not to be ,just North of us a Broadbill had been hooked up by Port Stephens boat Wild Thing in fact over the past few weeks there had been a few boats marking fish in the deep and then finally it happened and after a few hours they had landed their fish a 126kg Broadbill , a pending female Australia record on 37kg what an effort , this should now inspire the rest of us to get out there and have a crack this winter .
Back on the close reefs there have been plenty of Trevally , Trag , Tailor and Snapper being caught both down south towards Catherine Hill Bay and back up to Newcastle so far there have been no reports of Barracoota which had plagued us last season . Out on the Farm there are a few big Trag and Reds around some of the Trag have been around the 4kg mark while down south around Texas / Perch grounds the Kingfish have made an early start to the season with good numbers of fish getting caught both on live baits and jigs .
Back in the lake there’s plenty of action with big schools of bait fish to be found throughout the lake areas such as Pulbah back to Murrays beach have produced good numbers of Tailor , Flathead and Mulloway up to the 95cm range , Samaki vibes working the edges of the bait schools seems to be the best method remember you need to find the bait that is getting work over by Tailor / Salmon for the best results , it’s no good sitting on a huge school of bait thinking that something that looks that good should hold fish it just doesn’t .
I had a quick trip out on Monday afternoon for a troll landing 5 Tailor up to 55cm , it’s the first trip for the season now that the game season is over and it appears going by all reports the size of fish in the lake this season is one of the best seen for years . The salmon in Salts Bay turned up about a month ago they have been working up as far as the bridge most days however it seems a Seal is causing a few problems for most of us grabbing fish as they get close to the boat . Lucy’s wall is starting to fish well for Blackfish however green weed is still hard to find remember we have good stocks of weed fly’s which should take the pressure off . Down the southern end of the lake there have been quite a few big Bream taken most on bait late evenings producing the bigger fish while on the sand flats you can still find a few Whiting just don’t expect big numbers , don’t forget the Beanie this weekend I think you’re going to need it .
Regards
Jason
