Moruya River.
For this time of year, the fishing in Moruya hasn’t been too bad. While there hasn’t been the frenzy of activity that the summer season brings has, there are still fish to be had. The town bridge is holding a few fish after dark on the flats in the middle of the river. With an evening high tide this weekend, the fishing after dark off of the bridge will be a good way to find a flathead or bream that are still holding up on the flats. Soft plastics sight cast to mooching flathead, or live nippers suspended off the bottom are both good techniques to try this weekend.
Downstream, the stretches on the northern bank heading down towards Malabar creek, have the potential to still hold a few flathead, while the deeper holes will be holding a few bream and maybe even a sneaky mulloway.
As we continue heading down towards the lower sections of the river, don’t forget to give quarry wharf a look, it will hold a few nice fish in its deep, rocky, snaggy holes.
The Garlandtown flats all the way down to the airport flats with its warmer water temperatures will be the last hold out for both bream and flathead as the water temps continue to drop. Live nippers are my pick for the best baits to be using, along with a good burley trail, to try and get any fish in the area interested.
Tuross River.
With Tuross experiencing the same cooling off that all other systems are going through at the moment, it’s time to fish low, both in the system itself and in the depth of water you target. Slowly worked, deep fished soft plastics will find both bream and flathead, while metal blade style lures make getting down to where the fish are hiding a much easier proposition. If chasing flathead with blades, up spec your leader a bit, as the the size of a blade will fit along way down a flatheads cavernous gob, making leader chaff something to try and combat. I find 10lb fluorocarbon to be a good starting point.
As for where to start, the holes around fourways and above have always been a good 1st place to look. As the water temperature drops the water clarity will become crystal clear, so finding the slightly greener water that offers a bit more cover can be the key the fishing hiding fish.
Rock and Beach.
The drummer have been on the chew this last week, and are of a size that will make landing them difficult for the unprepared! These fish can and do have a habit of destroying the underguned angler. A good mix of soaked bread, prawn heads and shells, with a heavy gauge hook and cunji or prawn is all that is required to hook, and hopefully land these hard fighting and tasty fish. Bleed the fish out straight away, and take the fillets off the frame, being sure to leave the gut cavity untouched. The flesh is firm, white and oh so sweet, and yes I do have a soft spot for the humble black drummer!
As we move into the cooler months of the year, the ledges north of Batemans Bay, start to become more heavily fished with a rare breed of angler that likes early cold starts, and the chance of a screaming drag! The land based snapper guys become a common feature along alot of the more well known spots north of the bay, all the way up past Durras and even further north.
These guys are looking for the tell tail signs of the post spawn cuttlefish, that the big reds come in close to feed on. Hopefully we see a run of cuttlefish this year, as it is something that hasn’t really happened for the last 2-3 seasons.
Along the beaches, the salmon continue to be the main stay for most beach anglers, with all beaches a potential spot to find this enigmatic and some times polarising sports fish. Most will say that they are only good as cat food, but prepared properly and looked after, that can provide a good and tasty feed for the family. Bleed them out straight away, and if possible, keep them in a bucket of waters, so they don’t dry out during your session. While there are definitely better eating fish to take home, they are readily available, and can be an easy source of protein to feed the family.
Offshore.
The snapper are already moving into shallower waters, while there are still fish in the magic 30-40m mark, expect for them to start showing upon as little as 5m of water. Just be careful of swell size and direction, as 5m isn’t where you want to be if conditions are not great.
The flathead also continue to grace most boat crews fish bins this last week. You can expect that they will start to ease up activity as the water temp drops.
Out wide off of Tuross canyons, there have been reports of a few Yellowfin around, so for those that don’t mind burning a bit of fuel to find some tuna, it could be worth a look.
The shop is still reasonably well stocked for this long weekend, although we are complete out out of star sinkers for the beach guys at the time of writing this. I may have a delivery coming today, but more likely it will early next week. I am out of mullet of any kind in the bait freezer, while everything else is in stock.
Have a great Kings Birthday weekend this long weekend, remember that double demerits points will be in full swing for those driving anywhere this long weekend.
Stay safe everyone and remember, “every days a good day for fishing…”
Team Tackle World Moruya.
