Well I’ll start with the slacker… Thats me. Because yes I’ve been fishing heaps, catching plenty, travelling a little bit, and telling no-one about any of it. I wont bother saying what I say every time about how I am going to try and get a bit of info up on a more regular basis but you’ll all just be like ‘yeah mate, heard it before…’
Anyhow, seeing it’s been a VERY long time since any update from me, plenty has happened and changed. I think mainly that little red line in the tube… its disappeared.
Fishing wise one of the awesome things that happened was how long the bigger GT’s hung around in the rivers this year. There was simply stacks of them over summer and they just kept on appearing trip after trip even up to only about a month ago. The last bigger one I saw was with Jack who came out with me and if it wasn’t on his first cast it was within the first couple that he was connected to a good one. And there’s been plenty of reasonable ones hanging around still. I’d actually go as far as to say that if you keep an eye out for them and look around bait schools, there will be some good ones staying in the river all year.
Theres been plenty of little jewfish around lately too, I’d post a pic but to be totally honest, all the ones hitting the deck recently haven’t been photo worthy fish. With the right effort at the right time however the big ones are there – I lost 2 fish in a single night recently, in 2 different spots, that were both good fish and both did me in the exact same way – running along close to the bottom until the leader found rock. So there are some better ones there but you have to be persistent. Really persistent.
Now the flathead – its as if someones flicked a switch! Im not talking any monsters (well not for me anyway, I’ve seen some pics of the local gurus recently though!), but numbers are climbing. Throughout June I was finding quite a few fish each trip, then I went away for a couple of weeks up north (don’t ask – weather was terrible), and came back to some really promising flathead sessions so far. The fish aren’t just everywhere, so you still need to hunt around for them a bit, but once you find a patch theres a few around. Im pretty excited because the Berkley Urunga Estuary Sport Fishing Flathead Tournament is happening again soon (well, November… thats soon) and its pretty much become my favourite event of the year.
Entries are open now ad you’ll want to get in quick as there wont be tickets available at the event this year, so you have to get them prior by CLICKING HERE.
This event grew in popularity insanely quickly and I’ve seen the effort and work that goes in by the crew that run it and they do an amazing job. Not only that, every cent the event makes goes back into making it bigger and better with bigger and better prizes.
For example, this year… a BMT package worth over $22,000! But thats the major prize on top of a Hobie kayak major prize for juniors, plus electronics and bucket loads of other stuff.
Trust me there are some other comps with way higher entry fees, just as many if not more entrants, and way way less value in prizes that go back out to the competitors.
I’ve already got my entry, and one for the missus – more chances to win that boat!
I’ve had a few recent trips down around Nambucca before being away in Queensland and found the flatties much the same down there too. A little bit of searching but once found we managed to get bites or pick one up almost every few minutes. Just need to hunt around for some better fish. Down the front of Nambucca when the clean clear water pushes in the schools of bait have been unbelievable also. Last time I was there we had dozens of Terns bombing a bait ball that would have stretched for 100m+ along a bank, been 20m wide and looked like you could walk across it. I love seeing that – plenty of good food to support good fish numbers (and sizes!).
Just so you know, here is a list of the acceptable excuses you can use however when you see that:
– ‘They’ve just got too much to choose from’
– ‘They’re just too well fed’
– ‘They cant find the lures because theres so much bait around’
Anyway all jokes aside, fish light and small if you want to match that bait and catch some numbers, some big flathead are still popping up on big baits too, but you better be patient and prepared to donut a few trips between wins if you want to go that way. If you just need a feed – stick to the smaller stuff, thats been doing the trick for me!
I’ve got a few trips booked already over the next few weeks, but theres still available days, so touch base if you want a trip, and I’ll be on the water in between anyway keeping an eye on all my secret *cough* spots for the flathead comp in a couple of months, so stop me and say hey if you on the water.
– Dale
