Hello everyone
Finally as we head towards the end of 2013 all the signs are very positive for the summer ahead , firstly with the water temperature on the beach around 20-21 dec we are seeing some big catches of Whiting coming in . The Blacksmiths / Belmont area has been on fire with bag limit bags becoming a common thing , most fish are around the 33-38 cm mark with some real thumper 42cm plus size ones been taken off the Blacksmiths breakwater , this mixed in with good numbers of school Mulloway and Bream it should fit in perfectly with the Xmas holidays , both Beach worms and Tube worms providing the best results . Don’t forget the new size limit which came into affect as of the 1st November the limit now is 2 Mulloway over 70 cm per person a day .
Back in the Lake it’s the catches of Bream which have overshadowed the Whiting with plenty of school Bream throughout the channel as a result of the last prawn run , some of the bigger fish have been it the 40cm plus range just the make it interesting . Squid have become a little hit and miss at the moment which is putting the Mulloway fishermen under a bit of pressure tracking down good fresh baits , I managed about a dozen last week but only caught one yesterday , each day is different . Flathead fishing still remains a little tough with reports spread throughout the lake , the normal spots such as Pulbar lsland , Coal Point , Valentine and the trench are producing fish just not in numbers , over the next few weeks the bigger breeding fish will move into the shallows to spawn with this in mind it is important to release all big female Flathead over the next 8 week period thus ensuring good numbers of Flathead in the years ahead.
There are a few nice Kingfish coming in around Swansea bridge and the markers down towards Pulbar Island both soft plastics and live squid trolled on down riggers getting the best results , most fish have been between 50-90 cm with the odd larger fish around , only last week there was a school of Kings seen heading up the channel ranging in size from 10-20kg , I believe this school of Kings could be the same group of fish which one of our local spearfishermen saw when diving around the middle of the year , at this point one was taken going 27kg , it doesn’t look like they have gone too far at all .The next Prawn run in Swansea channel will start on Boxing day just on dark and last around a week it will be a great time to relax and take the family out and scoop a great feed of lake prawns just in time for New Years Eve .
Offshore is now starting to pick up with reports of Trag coming in from Port Stephens down to Nora Head with some fish around the 2-3kg mark and with the water temp staying up for those prepared to put the extra time in you should be able to find a few Jew mixed in with them particularly if you live bait . Snapper are still a bit patchy with only a few smaller fish around , no signs of Bonito just yet but it shouldn’t be long now . There are still plenty of Flathead been taken on the drift and it seems the Leatherjackets aren’t causing to many problems . On the Blue water scene there have been a few big Tiger sharks coming in , on the weekend there was a 328 kg fish caught off Swansea while off Nora Canyons a Striped Marlin was tagged and 2 others were sighted off the Car Park , at this stage we need to current to slow down so the bait fish can start to stack up , lets hope it happens sooner rather than later .
Once again the staff and I would like to wish everyone a Very Merry Xmas and Happy New Year , AND A BIG THANKYOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT .
Regards
Jason Nunn
