Shades Fishing News

The spring and summer game fish yellowfin tuna and albacore have started to show on the South Cast.

Simon Newcombe, Tony Zakowski and friends tried The Banks, north-east of Jervis Bay, testing out a new boat and had a superb trip trolling feather and other lures. They landed a heap of albacore and a small yellowfin tuna.

They said the fishing was the most exciting they had ever seen with double, treble and even four-way hookups. Colleagues fishing slightly south of them found albacore as well as 30 yellowfin.

Bagging out Bermagui

Bait fishers drifting offshore also found good fish. Almost every boat at Bermagui bagged out on good-sized sand flathead as well as morwong and snapper.

George Cygan had a good day off Durras in 19 degree water, landing a bag of big snapper. The next day he tried the same spot but the temperature had fallen to 15 degrees and all he could manage were two barracouta and a pike.

Hurly Burley

Warmer temperatures have brought the golden perch on the bite in the local lakes, especially Burley Griffin. There were numerous reports of fish on yabbies, scrub worms and three different types of lures bibless minnows, spinnerbaits and Burrinjuck Specials. Most of the fish weighed around 1.6 to 1.9kg but occasional larger specimens were reported.

Lake Ginninderra fished well with big redfin taking lures near the boat ramp on the western side.

Carp have also become active.

Jamie fished Burley Griffin, near Blundells Cottage, with bread for 26 big carp, all of which were filleted and salted for bait.

A bout of good trout

Fly anglers have found the crowds have gone and there are plenty of rainbows and a few browns in the Thredbo and Eucumbene rivers. Small wet patterns fished on intermediate-sink or sink-tip lines were effective.

A big family group of 18 fished Kalkite at Lake Jindabyne for a bag of fish including browns, rainbows, two brook trout and an Atlantic salmon. The fish were taken on bait and trolling with lead-core line.

Tip of the week

If you want to try for albacore and yellowfin this weekend, look for 18 to 19 degree water in depths anywhere from 70 fathoms out.

Try saltwater trolling flies, Gladiator feather lures and Bluewater Classic F18 lures in 160 and 200mm length.

Source : Canberra Times

Local fish are starting to respond to warmer spring days and are hunting for food around the lake margins.

Redfin, as usual, have been the first to respond. They are now ready for spawning, being full of eggs and semen, but will hold off until water temperatures rise. At the moment the local lakes are around the eight degree mark but will rise to 13 degrees. When that magic figure arrives they will spawn en masse, laying the eggs amongst the grass and rocks.

To prepare for the stress of spawning they will feed vigorously during the next month or two.

Dooley has been one of the first to notice the renewed redfin activity. He walked the shoreline of Lake Burley Griffin in pleasant sunshine tossing out small soft plastics and was rewarded with six nice fish each weighing around half a kilogram.

Famished but off limits

Murray cod also are on the move, getting ready for spawning. In fact they are so hungry and aggressive they need extra protection and that’s why they are off limits to anglers over the next three months.

During the closed season it is an offence to take or deliberately target Murray cod and all catches must be returned to the water immediately.

Most anglers would do this anyway, even if there was no closed season, but the legal protection is to avoid over-exploitation of the fish. The big egg-laden females are so silly during the breeding season that they will take almost any lure or bait offered.

One big cod was caught by Matt in the upper reaches of Burrinjuck last Sunday, before the closed season came into force. It weighed around 23kg and was caught on a yabby fished on 2.7kg line and was released.

Eucumbene ramps up

Boat anglers have reported favourably on the new launching ramp at Lake Eucumbene which allows boats to be launched easily at Anglers Reach and Old Adaminaby, as well as from hard ground at various locations around the lake.

Boating offers a lot more trolling and lure casting opportunities than bank fishing and some nice fish were reported this week on trolled Tasmanian Devils and especially cowbells with flatfish.

Also, if you see a familiar face up there in his beaut new boat, say hello to Major General Michael Jeffery, who retired this week as Governor-General, to, in part, ”go fishing”.

Going the raw prawn

Raw and cooked prawns were the secret to some interesting catches at the coast.

One group caught some nice salmon and a big sand flathead at Surf Beach on cooked prawns then took the rest of the bait to Nelligen Bridge on the Clyde River for a bag of bream and trevally.

Barry also tried prawns for bait ‘’some old prawns past their use by date I found in the back of the freezer” on the wharf at Batemans Bay.

He caught nothing for three hours but then the tide changed and he landed five tailor and a nice bream in a short but satisfying session.

Number crunching

Last week we printed the wrong telephone number for John Brummel who is looking for supplies of goldfish and European carp for his aquaponics experiments at Kambah. If you can help out his number is 62881131.

Tip Of The Week

Don’t forget the free fly fishing classes being staged on the lawns of Old Parliament House by the Canberra Anglers Association on September 14 and 21. The Sunday classes start at 10am and are free to all comers. Gear will be provided but bring your own if you wish.

Dr Bryan Pratt is a Canberra-based ecologist

Source: The Canberra Times

A big crowd is expected to head to Wyangala Reservoir this weekend for the annual Grabine Fishing Tournament being staged over three days, starting today.

There is a stack of prizes on hand for Murray cod, silver perch, golden perch, catfish and carp and there will be a lucky draw for the main prize, a Brooker boat, motor and trailer worth $10,500. Total prizes exceed $20,000.

Plenty of camping is available and anglers can fish anywhere within the reservoir, currently at about 10 per cent capacity.

There will be strong emphasis on conservation fishing during the tournament. Anglers will be encouraged to weigh their fish alive and then release them as soon as possible.

There also will be a nice touch, with local NSW Police at the camping ground offering free breathalyser tests for drivers before they drive home. A great safety feature that will be much appreciated by responsible drivers.

Felt soles banned

Anglers heading to New Zealand on annual trout fishing trips should note there will be a ban on the use of felt sole boots in trout fishing waters that comes into force on October 1.

The ban is to assist in slowing the spread of a nasty form of algae known as Didymo, and other micro-organisms, and applies to all forms of shoes or boots with felt, matted or woven fibre material.

It will initially apply to all trout fishing areas except the Taupo fishing region but that is also expected to be banned.

In the South Island, Didymo grows in streams and lakes and covers the bottom of waterways with a stifling algal mat, but it is likely to spread unless preventative actions are taken.

Anglers returning to Australia can expect strict quarantine measures to be followed at airports, including washing and cleaning of all fishing gear by Australian Quarantine staff.

Jindabyne’s browns

The good news in the mountain lakes is that Jindabyne is producing some great fish in some easily accessible areas.

Angler Rory, who has just returned from a residential stint in Jindabyne, reported catching huge browns night after night on small soft plastics, from the shore, right in the middle of town.

He said the best times were half an hour before dark and half an hour afterwards and the fish ranged from 1.5kg to 5kg, Well worth a look.

The bad news is that a prominent illegal setliner is active at Eucumbene again.

In recent months, anglers have retrieved dozens of his illegal lines from the lake at Seven Gates and tossed them in the fire. Last weekend he was back, setting at least a dozen lines which other anglers found and burnt.

They said they would like authorities to check out a fellow driving a white Toyoya Hilux with a canvas canopy and who prominently displays a Queanbeyan City Council witch’s hat at his campsite.

Redfin at Googong

There have been reports of big redfin in local waters and it is obvious the fish are on the move as water temperatures increase.

Some big fat fish were caught on spinnerbaits and celta at Googong. Nathan Walker landed an absolute monster on a Jackal lure in the Molonglo River.

The fish are bulging with roe and are well worth pursuing from now on.

Mallacoota worthwhile

If you are looking for a bit of new water to fish, consider a trip to Mallacoota. It takes about four hours to drive from Canberra and in recent times has provided some superb fishing.

Canberra identity Jim Seears went there recently and despite some inclement weather he had a ball catching bream on soft plastics and hard-bodied lures.

The best of the bream were great fish, some of them up to 50cm and they were testing opponents on light tackle.

Jim tells me the man with all the local info on where to fish and what to use is ”Bob” at the local Ampol Service Station.

Bryan Pratt is a Canberra-based ecologist

Source: Canberra Times

Kayak Fishing Adventures by ‘Paffoh‘, is a great blog read, it contains a lot of good reports on kayak fishing (I personally have a bass kayak, that works a treat in the creeks and low rivers in the North East of Victoria).

Here’s the latest post on a fishing trip on Lake Burley Griffin, in Canberra. Nicely written, I’m definitely coming back to read more! Great stuff Paffoh, keep it coming! Adding you to the blogroll so that others may find this ..

Here the author is with a good size Redfin :

On the subject of Kayaks, you may also want to check out a great discussion site, the Australian Kayak Fishing Forum