THE recipe to make a good bag of kingfish used to be this: first select the right spot in the waters around Montague Island. Second, combine the following ingredients: a) heat nice clear blue sea water to over 17deg; b) mix in a bit of current flow, doesn’t matter if it’s from the north or south; c) get some premium bait with a choice of live baits, squid, lures or jigs; d) make sure that you have the right rod, reel and tackle. When you had all these sorted you simply waited in your favourite spot and the kingfish would do the rest.
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This year, the recipe book has been thrown well and truly out the window. After the frantic kingfish action of 7-10 days ago, we were all convinced that the season was about to burst into fire.
Unfortunately since then it’s been more like a flicker than a fire. There has only been the odd king caught this week, and a lot of effort taken to catch them. On Sunday conditions were absolutely perfect for a big session, however there was only one kingfish caught and it was painfully 5mm under the legal size.
At this stage, we can expect a few good sessions on the kings between now and Easter. Unfortunately even the experts can’t forecast the best time at this stage, however my money is for five days after the full moon, but I am hoping it won’t be that long.
Bonito have finally made an appearance around Montague with nice specimens up to 4kg taken on both live baits and trolling over the weekend.
Don’t underestimate the eating quality of these pelagics: the secret is to bleed them on capture and place them into an ice slurry. Bonito is best eaten fresh, but when it’s bled it can be frozen for a couple of months. Bonito is also an excellent fish for smoking and in sushi.
Schools of an unknown species of good-sized tuna were sighted off Brou Lake beach by a local ex-pro fisher on Sunday. They were described as of good size and travelling fast south. When the tuna do this it’s a matter of needing to be in the right spot at the right time.
Marlin continue to linger off the south coast - one day they’re catching them off Eden and then they are at the Tuross Canyons. The best tactic continues to be to find the bait balls and work that area with a combination of methods.
Your local tackle shop will give you the best “up to date” tips and will be able to sell you that one lure you don’t have in your collection.
Flathead have been very patchy with best results off Potato Point, but it’s a long way to go unless you can launch over the beach at Spud Point.
This week the estuaries continue to produce some excellent results, with nice bags of whiting, tailor, bream, flathead and mulloway. Our local Hippie landed two nice mulloway on one day over the weekend, showing that persistence and skill will produce the results.
Fish Joke of the Week: Instead of a cat, buy your kid a fish. It's easier to flush.
Fish Soap box: Ratepayers of Eurobodalla shire will be glad to hear that council is ripping up and replacing the perfectly good Apex Park boat ramp at a cost of $100,000.00 because they can’t design a decent jetty for the site.
