AFTER a late start to the kingfish season, everybody was asking “how long will it last”, well the good news is it's still going strong around Montague Island.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Increasing numbers of fishers from all over NSW, the ACT and Victoria have been coming to Narooma to test their skills against the kingfish (the bandits of the sea), and the common opinion is that they are the best fighters in the ocean.
Live bait has been the main item on the kingfish menu again this week, unfortunately the gathering of live bait has again proven elusive, it is important that fishers collecting live bait use good quality berley to get the yakkas and slimies to come to your boat, and ensure that the barb of the bait hook is not imbedded in the bait.
The water temperature around Montague is still hovering around 20c, the water clarity is also good at the moment.
It has been quite a few years since we had 20c water in June, so make the most of it while it lasts.
There have been a few small yellowfin tuna and marlin boated this week, with the 'Kink' being a popular place to start trolling - then heading north just over the Shelf. Reports are that brown and purple skirted lures were the most productive.
There were reports of a couple of bluefin tuna caught on Saturday, after further investigation it was revealed that they were caught off the south east coast of Tasmania.
It would appear that someone picked up a “skipped” radio conversation from the Apple Isle and thought it was local. It should be a few more weeks before the bluefin get this far north.
Great catches of snapper were taken late last week and over the weekend, with the bigger fish coming from Potato Point/Tuross area, and plenty of pan-sized reddies taken all around Montague. Best baits have been strips of fish baits, with strips of striped tuna being irresistible.
Just when we thought that the leatherjackets had decided to take up residence in our area, the numbers appear to be decreasing (fingers crossed).
Although there are still some areas where fishing is not possible, some fishers have been catching good bags of tiger and sand flathead, these fishers have been following the rule of “when you find leatherjackets - move- quickly”.
Charter boat operators reported that their customer numbers had increased thanks to HuntFest, with visitors taking advantage of the excellent fishing opportunities.
We can only hope that HuntFest will continue to be a great benefit to the local economy into the future.
Tip of the week: Along with your normal technique for targeting kingfish and bonito, consider casting out an unweighted live bait. You might be surprised with the results.
Local and visitors have been doing reasonably well on the lakes.
Melbourne fishing identity and regular visitor to Narooma, David Kramer has the iFish bass boat on an "incredible patch of bait" on Wagonga Inlet right now and looks to be getting some good flathead underneath!
He managed a few in the channel and then hit the jackpot yesterday getting a beauty around the 70cm mark.
Speaking of big flathead: Ryan Jackson caught a 10.5 kilo, 97 cm flathead on the weekend at Wonboyn Lake south of Eden.
Ryan caught the whopper of a deep diver around high tide at 4pm, trawling with the lure and using his bream rod. Unfortunately he did not release the big girl - something that all anglers should do with large flathead!
Local Andrew “Milko” Cowley meanwhile has also been doing great getting pinky snapper and flathead on his local suburban lake.
Joke of the week: What is the fastest fish in the sea? - The one that got away
