TUNA SPEARED: Young Stuart Pauline and his mate Caine from Tathra both speared a very nice bluefin each on Saturday about 58km out of Tathra. Both fish were around the 30kg mark.
Bermagui/Narooma reports:
THERE were bluefin tuna at 36'23 150'42 on Monday, remembering this is one of many spots along the 150'38-150'44 line you may encounter them.
The weather was very ordinary, and a few boats turned for home.
Benny Bolton’s charter boat Playstation on Monday had them at the boat at the above area, the same as Sunday, in masses.
❏ Click here or on the photo below to check out this week’s fishing catches
You could basically pick your fish to throw a pilchard at etc etc, but there was no one really out there to join him however.
A couple of fish over 70kg were caught again with many at 35-45kg, a few 60's and obviously there are bigger ones to be caught as we push through this dark and head to the next full moon.
The fish are condensing somewhat given the tide outside them running up hill and the warm edge inside them.
Water temperatures were down to 16.5 degrees on Monday as it was likely to have been rolled over by the SW winds.
They can now be cubed up and kept at the boat in numbers.
I fished with staff member James this arvo for 50 odd Flathead to 69cm out the front of the shop, no other by-catch but a good couple of hours fun.
Simply ring the shop if you want the detail or myself on 0434 357 443. Cheers Scotty
Moruya River/Tuross reports:
THE recent rains have done us all a favour with Moruya River actually on fire.
Good catches of big tailor, nice flathead in big numbers, trevally and bream around the Bridge area.
Head down towards the break wall for good catches of luderick with Team Tackle World member “Spider” enjoying a great session last weekend.
Tuross is still seeing good catches of flathead around the 60 cm mark being caught on Squidgy Lobbies.
VIP member Tom also caught and released some nice bream caught on Strada Tragic 40’s.
Beaches and Rocks
The only bad news at the moment, I’m afraid the beaches haven’t had a chance to re-group just yet, so unfortunately we won’t be able to have any fresh beach worms in store.
However, as soon as everything calms down we’ll once again be stocking them and will let you know when.
One consolation, our ever-present drummer of late are still being brought in off the headlands, in particular around the Moruya area.
Offshore
Captain Ron on board Winda Woppa I and II unfortunately hasn’t been able to venture out this week, however Team Tackle World member “Spider” headed out and sat off Pedro for some excellent catches of snapper off both fish bait and Shimano Lucanus Jigs.
Have a great week everyone and remember “every day’s a good day for fishing ..... “
Team Tackle World Moruya
Graham, Gaye, Bec, Mark, Nathan and Jade
Some new records for Dalmeny Fishing Club members
DALMENY Fishing Club hosted their monthly fishing competition on the weekend of June 16-17. It was a beautiful weekend, and the weigh-in was combined with the AGM meeting.
Results for the weekend were:
Juniors: Geena Thomas, with 60pts
Ladies: none weighed in
Men’s: Ron Butler tied with Andrew Thomas, 80pts each!!
Both Geena and Aisha Thomas had a great weekend of fishing with Dad. They braved the cooler weather with waders, for some whiting that was going to make their grandad very happy!!
The men's results had some new records for the year, with Ron weighing in a 1.16kg tailor, and Andrew a 0.532kg whiting.
A big thanks to Lisa and her helpers for a delicious lunch. Lisa has done a great job over the last year in providing great lunches every month, and it's really been appreciated.
The new (and not-so-new!) committee members are as follows:
President - Norm Budin
Vice President - Joe Cootes
Treasurer - John Lennard
Secretary - Lisa Rix
Weighmaster - Matt Tubb
Publicity Officer - Jon Poyner
A big thanks to the outgoing committee, who have worked hard over the last year to make sure that the club is kept in tip top condition - a job well done.
Andrew Thomas, our outgoing secretary, has done an amazing job over the last few years. We'd like to say a big thank you for a job very well done!
A reminder to members that Marine Rescue, Narooma does an invaluable job for the boating community. We'd like to say a big thanks to them, and urge our members to either join up for a small fee, or at the very least, remember to log on when on a boating trip. It's a small job, for a big peace of mind.
Lastly, next month’s competition will be held on the weekend of July 14-15. This will be the all-important Juniors Presentation.
All juniors who have weighed in through the year get a trophy, and all juniors present receive an ice creamery voucher.
The party food will be in full swing, so a good time should be had by all.
Wayne Matters is helping to co-ordinate party food and numbers for the day, so please let him know.
We hope to see you all there!
Paxevanos: Winter soltice time
By the time you read this the Winter Solstice will have past. The shortest day of the year is of huge cultural and religious significance and it is not lost on fish or anglers either.
Many fish species have sensors in their head that tell them when the days are starting to get longer, and some will start to do things like migrate, pair up to spawn, come out of hibernation etc.
Problem is that it still feels cold to us anglers but a surprising number, myself included, have found it is possible to catch fish without freezing your booty off-even in the trusty old kayak.
For a start, inland anglers are advised to pick days where the wind is down-if not you will need a mother load of high tech clothing or have blood lines from ice land!
The calm sunny days are the go, problem is that sometimes means morning frosts, and in a kayak trust me that aint good for anyone’s bum.
The solution is easy-have a big breakfast, check over your tackle, and do all the little things you don’t always get time to do while waiting for the day to warm up. There is no rush to hit the water many fish certainly don’t mind the sunshine either at this time of year.
Having spent the last few weeks up in the snowies targeting trout, the inland lowland weather in comparison feels quite pleasant, especially if you keep dry, and the fishing is good too.
Redfin are the main target, you’ll find them quickly trolling one shallow and one deep diver. Once a school is located you can stop to cast these same lures, or switch to plastics, bibbless minnows , vibes or ice jigs. Two anglers working a school can result in cricket score catches. Redfin are an introduced pest species but make great table fish so you are doing the environment a double favour.
Murray Cod and Golden Perch are also on the cards, but the latest best science suggests not to specifically target cod over winter, it can disrupt breeding. So perhaps fish the weed beds for goldens instead of targeting the deeper prime cliffs and points.
The best Redfin and Golden Perch bite can be found at Blowering, Burrinjuck, Wyangala and Hume.
Trout are another great option, and it is a good idea to check how your local lakes are fishing-trout stocked just 2 years ago when the drought broke are now nudging the 1.5 kilo mark. Look up the NSW DPI stocking program on the internet to see the many and varied lakes that have been stocked throughout NSW.
SOUTH COAST SUBLIME:
However if you really want to spoil yourself, the south coast is the go. There’s some great close range kayak snapper fishing and the relatively late sunrise means a late start and I’m usually back before lunch with a prime table fish to keep the rest of the clan happy.
Of course you will need to get the right wind, sea and swell conditions and make sure you plan your trip with safety in mind, but if you make haste slowly a snapper just a couple of hundred meters from where you launch is all but guaranteed.
Target depths of between approximately 7 and 21 meters. 10 to 20 cm long soft plastics fished on a 7 gram jig head is the ticket. You can get away with 6 kilo leader when the sun is low, but drop down 3 kilo leader later in the day or pop on a 21 gram jig head and drift up some tasty flatties on the sand instead.
But if you are not ready for the ocean yet, or it is too rough on the day, trolling up tailor in the estuaries is straight forward and good fun for the whole family.
All the open estuaries along the south coast hold tailor, and hot spots include Mallacoota , Top Lake at Merimbula, Wagonga at Narooma, the Clyde, St Georges Basin and Lake Illawarra just to name a few. There’s also been an influx of Australian Salmon in many estuaries, and most are between 1 and 3 kilos, which will make your day.
Fresh tailor tastes great pan fried or grilled, and salmon are good smoked or as Thai Fish cakes.
To keep it simple my kids and I simply troll one deep and one shallow running lure. Troll around bird or baitfish activity, especially in the broader expanses of water, and target the changes of the tide if possible.
Once you find salmon or tailor work the same area via trolling or casting and most days you are in for some good honest fun.
A nice day, some exercise, and fresh omega-3’s at the end…it’s how life was meant to be I’m sure.
See you on the water
Rob Paxevanos
(This Column Brought to you by the Wollongong Council Tourist Parks at Bulli, Corrimal and Windang. Superb locations, family friendly and great fishing. More information at www.wollongongtouristparks.com.au)
Paxevanos: the foreign super trawlers!!!
IF I sound disheartened and upset in this column please forgive me because regardless of how it is fed to me that’s the only way I can take this news, and those who I have spoke to about it feel the same or worse.
You see on the one hand our Government has bowed to Foreign Multinational anti fishing groups to seriously consider putting in place the largest expanse of ‘no recreational fishing zones’ in the world right here in Australia, and at the same time a massive super trawler has been fast tracked to start fishing in Australian Waters!
A massive, 143-meter-long commercial trawler as big as an apartment block plans to target baitfish here in Australia.
The vessel the FV Margiris, is 143 meters long, as tall as an apartment block, and has a massive holding capacity of 9500 tonnes.
It is a size the likes of which have never been seen in Australia. It has been chased away by other countries and green peace despise the vessel for overfishing and leaving commercial anglers out of jobs, yet its owners have somehow convinced our government to allow it to target our fish all way down here Australia.
The vessel is causing up roar amongst commercial and recreational anglers and many others concerned about our vital bait fish stocks, which form a critical part of our oceans food chain.
Greenpeace spokesperson Nathaniel Pelle said the organisation had confronted the Margiris off the coast of Mauritania in March, for its role in what it says is overfishing in the North Sea and South Pacific “to the point of plunder” and is responsible for “some of the worst fishing excesses on the planet.”
The vessel has also been responsible for slimy mackerel stocks off Chile plummeting by 90 per cent
The boat will be based at Devonport but will target slimy mackerel and two other bait fish species across the entire southern half of Australia, the baitfish will be blast frozen and exported.
Somehow we are asked to believe it’s only baitfish and a 1 per cent by catch that will be scooped up in the giant nets.
However, Australian unions are supporting the trawler because the majority of crew will be from Tasmania and the Federal Government says vigorous checks will be applied to its catch rate of 18,000 tonnes a year.
I’m sorry but this is hard to swallow. Low and behold for our government to play it smart and use our own commercial fleet and finance local processing facilities to harvest smaller sustainable amounts to see the money and fish stay down under. They say they have tried this, I say to our leaders try harder, grants, tax breaks or whatever it takes to keep fish and jobs down under.
People are asking all sorts of questions about this bizarre consideration by the government, including how these super trawlers will be fishing within quota, and how a vessel that can take it’s whole quota in just two full loads afford to base itself here unless it is up to something else?
And are the rumours of illegal fishing and of the boat mincing unwanted species and dropping them out to sea so they can’t be identified true? The questions are coming thick and fast and people want answers
Meanwhile, Australia’s 5 million recreational anglers will be locked out of vast areas of Australian oceans and many iconic fishing spots.
Minister Burke’s announcement of the proposed Commonwealth Marine Park Reserve System locks recreational anglers out, without justification.
I spoke with Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF) Allan Hansard who said:
“The Government should rethink the plan to ensure ongoing access to Marine Reserves for Australia’s recreational anglers.
“ARFF acknowledges that the Government has tried to minimize the impact of the Marine Park Reserve System on Australia’s recreational anglers by putting reserves out to sea and changing boundaries.
“However, these examples gloss over the underlying problem that the Government is basing the Marine Park Reserve System on an archaic zoning rule that treats Aussie anglers in the same way it treats industrial scale commercial fishing and oil and gas developments.
“In almost all cases, there is no scientific justification and there have been no socioeconomic assessment of the impacts of the proposal.
“Aussie anglers are called the bushwalkers of the sea. We see wrong doings and report them”
“There is a clear message resonating from Australia’s 5 million recreational anglers, to Government – Don’t Lock Us Out! The Minister can turn this around by reviewing how recreational fishing is classified under the Marine Park zoning rules. We are asking him to do this as a matter of urgency, before he proclaims the Marine Park Reserve System and locks Aussie recreational fishing families out of these areas forever,” said Allan.
As it turns out the brilliant and popular idea of turning green zones into gold zones where specifically regulated recreational fishing activities are allowed has been more or less watered down to zip.
So in a disheartening few weeks, responsible and sustainable recreational anglers and our families are being locked out of vast areas, while huge super trawlers are being let in.
Make no mistake this is fast becoming a big election issue, but at the end of the day, Aussies and our fish will be the ones affected unless the Politicians go with what’s right rather than what pressure and propaganda is being fed to them.
See you on the water.
Rob Paxevanos