Moruya River
Well hasn’t the last month and a half been crazy!! With the majority of the fires now under control, and rain forecast this weekend, hopefully life will start to return to normal, well as normal as it can be, for those who have had their lives turned upside down. The one thing that has remained constant over the last few months, is the fishing and it continues along as it has all year to date.
Flathead continue to prowl the flats around the airport, or anywhere there are shallows with weed bed fringes, or channel drop offs. Bream continue to hold around structure, ready to pounce on a well placed artificial, or drifted bait. The Moruya bridge after dark continues to produce good bream. Look for a rising tide that peaks after the street lights have come on. Berkeley Gulp in pumpkin seed has a well worn reputation for catching fish. Lures such as Jackson Bottom Magic will also tempt the flathead to have a chew. The back waters around Preddy’s wharf on a rising tide, continue to allow stealthy anglers to catch a few whiting, bream and flathead on surface presentations. Bassday Sugapens in the 70-95mm size in C-137 and C-394 colours have proven themselves.
If fishing from a boat below Moruya bridge, just be aware that the water bombers from Jays aviation, have been mopping up the last active patches of fire. They have been regularly picking water up from below the bridge - please don’t put yourself or these amazing pilots at risk by being in the middle of the river while they are active. This activity should ease up with the coming weather.
Tuross River
This system continues to be flathead central at the moment. This summer has offered the best chance for anglers to come face to face with a trophy flathead - 80cm plus. There have also been a few magic 1m fish hooked, landed and released. Please let the big breeding females go, they don’t eat that well, and we need them to continue to populate the system. The lower section of the system has been the most productive spots for big flatties this summer and I would imagine will continue to be the go to spots. Further up stream, around snake flat, the Jews have made their presence felt. While fishing these areas, please keep an eye out for fallen, or falling timber.
With the forecast of rain and the amounts that we are expected to get, ash runoff into all the local systems will be an issue. Hopefully we get a steady amount of rain that will allow the ash to bed down, before we get amounts of rain that will wash it straight into our systems. If you do come across fish kills, or fish that are struggling as a result of ash and debris being washed into the systems, please contact NSW DPI Fishers Watch Phone line on 1800 043 536.
Rock and beach
Bream and whiting continue to hold centre court, as fish being taken from the in close gutters. Live worms, for those who can catch them, and pipi’s are the gun baits at the moment. Salmon are sporadic at best, with a few fish being caught on pilchards and surf rigs. Squid continue to be caught around all the local rock platforms. These make both great baits and a great feed. The hard part is deciding what they will become, salt & pepper squid, or a feed for snapper, flathead, kingfish etc. First world problems right?
Offshore
Mixed bags of flathead, snapper and mowies continue to come from the local reefs for the offshore crews. Try working the 30-40m depth of water for the flathead, while the snapper are holding in the cooler deeper waters of the 80-100m mark. The game crews have encountered warm but dirty waters out wide - as a result the billfish have been a little hard to come by. With a building swell, up to 5m by Monday, I don’t expect that many will get out this weekend. Please keep an eye on the forecast, and make your decisions a safe one.
As a side note, the rains will make the roads around fire zones slick with oil build up, ash and fire retardant. Please take it easy this weekend. We have already had two major crashes south of Moruya in the last week, with one being a double fatality. Please drive to the conditions, put your headlights on, and stay safe.
Tight lines my friends and remember “every day’s a good day for fishing … “
Team Tackle World Moruya
