OVER the last week the offshore water temperature has been fluctuating between 15 to 18c around Montague Island and between 18 to 21c over the Shelf.
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These variations in temperature has seen most species either stop biting or move with the currents.
After weeks of fishers getting frustrated with the shortage of live baits, large schools of slimy mackerel appeared on Saturday at all the usual bait fishing grounds. These slimies have been the perfect size for live and strip baits.
Mowies are starting to make a strong return to fishers catches both at Montague and on the reefs north of Dalmeny.
Some mowies have been up to 3kg, and remember if you want to improve the eating quality of mowies it is best to ensure you scrape and remove the black stomach lining.
After a few days of little or no current, a strong current from the north started on Thursday, while a few local fishers thought that this would result in a few large kingfish making an appearance at Montague the only sign has been a few good kings (not big) caught on Friday afternoon and the odd one since.
Strangely for this time of year, quite a few undersize kings have been caught and released by fishers targeting snapper.
The top question of the moment is whether the end of the kingfish season is in sight, or are the big kings still coming?
The good news this week has been that the Chinaman leather jackets continue to be thinning out, this has resulted in fishers starting to catch a few more flathead, including a 58cm sand flathead caught by local Mick Kabic.
Quite a few humpback whales are still travelling north at the moment, with customers on an Eco Tour with “The Sheriff” on Monday getting a fantastic display of whales breaching close to Montague Island.
Questions have been asked of RMS as to the progress of the promised improvements to the main Narooma boat ramp.
From the information received, it would appear that both Marine Parks and Eurobodalla Shire Council have been less than timely in the way they have handled this matter.
Another question needs to answered as to how much the planning phase of this project has cost to the ratepayer/taxpayer.
Both State and Local Government need to realise that we fund this type of infrastucture through boat licences, fuel taxes, fishing licences, boat regos, trailer regos, car regoes, rates, etc etc.
Let’s see if either marine parks or the local council can reply to these questions in next week's paper.
Joke of the week: I was given the ultimatum three weeks ago. She said "it's me or your fishing." - Gee I miss her.
Tip of the week: With large schools of slimies close to shore, it’s worth trolling around them to target bonito, salmon and even kingfish.
