Well it’s been an interesting week on the fishing front with some anglers doing OK and others blanking out. It seems the fish are there but you need to be fishing at the right time for more consistent results especially in the estuaries.

Both Merimbula and Pambula lakes are still producing but the hard yards need to be put in to get a quality bag. Flathead are abundant but the bigger fish over 60cm seem to be in hiding with the best l’ve heard of this week going 90cm. Yes that’s a big fish but when you here of only a few over 60cm it’s quite tough. Anglers that are using lighter leaders and smaller presentations seem to be doing better with soft vibes being a stand-out particularly when fishing the main basins in both systems. Try concentrating in 3-5 meters of water along the ribbon weed edges that are abundant in the basins. There seems to be a lot of whitebait in these same areas and that’s where a lot of the flatties are coming from. If using soft plastics 70-80mm fish/shad tails are the go but fish them pretty slow with a methodical lift/drop presentation, it’s fairly basic but seems to be doing the trick nicely. Up past Tathra at Mogareeka (Bega River) it’s been steady with some solid yellowfin bream coming from the deeper sections off Thompson s wall. Casting smaller grub style plastics down the walls has seen quality fish caught with a few nice ones over the kilo mark so solid fish. There’s been the odd EP mixed in with them and l wouldn’t be surprised to see a few mulloway come from this same section. If targeting the silvers then larger softies or soft vibes should work but be prepared to put the hard yards in.

Offshore the weather looks promising over the weekend so there should be no excuses getting out there. A mate of mine is fishing this morning and getting some quality snapper on soft plastics and micro jigs down south around Haycock Point, he said it’s a bit sloppy but fish-able with the reds around that 2 kilo mark. There’s a few mowies and pigfish to so all looks promising for the next few days. Those after a feed of flatties are moving around a bit, the fish seem to be spread out and not in patches with quite a few of the flatties around that legal mark. This can be a little frustrating getting the ruler out all the time but if you want a feed and not a fine you will do almost anything. I’d be trying deeper water off Tura Head 38-42 meters, you should be able to get a feed there but with the current use plenty of lead to get down. Further offshore the marlin bite has slowed but there’s still enough around to keep you interested. There seems to be more blacks caught at present, this may be due to the water temps and strong southerly currents with a few this past week over the 100 kilo mark. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a monster black or blue hooked further East of the shelf this weekend if the game crews get that wide, the SST charts look very warm wide of us. At the FAD the dollies are still abundant, if you get there first your in business with a few god ones around the 7-8 kilo mark. When more boats get there they are becoming shy so try and get there early.

Off the beaches the tides are better this weekend than the previous 4-5 days so expect some solid action. Whiting numbers have been good and should only get better with pipi and beach-worms the go to baits. Look at Merimbula main if targeting whiting or the mouth of Bega River at the northern end of Tathra beach, both have been good. If you’re after a few salmon the middle beach just north of Long Point has been the go. We’ve had several people comment about the salmon there and they are pretty solid fish to with a few thumpers pushing 3 kilo. A lot of these fish are responding well to big metal shiners in the 50-60 gram size so a decent surf rod is needed to cast these bigger weighted lures out.

Off the stones the usual haunts like Tathra wharf and Tathra headland have been the stand-outs. Both places have been excellent for frigate mackerel, with salmon, smaller kingfish and the odd bonito also playing the game. There’s been some big biteys coming from the wharf to mainly by anglers fishing live frigates, all these sharks have been released. Over at Tura head it’s the same story. Lots of pelagic action though being there early has been the key to better results. With the currents and water temps the way they are, l’d expect that further south of Eden around Greencape might just see some kingfish action. When we are getting frigates up here that usually means both The pulpit and City rocks hold some big kings, let’s hope it’s the same now.

Tight lines till next week