On the March for good fishing, by Anthony Stokman

What a difference a week makes, the cold upwelling has dissipated and the water temperatures are back up; you can now kick your shoes off and run into the water like its summer again!

More importantly for us anglers the previously strong current offshore has decreased significantly. We now have good amounts of bait holding and there’s more game fish stopping to feed on some of these bait schools.

Since the last report quite a few marlin have been caught. A 180kg Blue Marlin was caught on the boat ‘Square Meters’, while a 133kg Blue Marlin was caught aboard ‘Tania B’ on the same day. Jem Abbot caught his first Striped Marlin and quite a few others have been tagged and released in the last week or so. The Dolphin fish are still around but not quite as thick as a few weeks ago. However there was a still nice 15kg plus specimen caught off Bermagui. Another species to be on the lookout for is Yellowfin Tuna; with all the different bodies of water out there creating current lines and temp breaks these prized fish are starting to become a little more common of late.

Much of the game is about getting out there and having a go to see what happens; one of my customers trolled in from The Continental Shelf the other day and as he reached a snapper mark in 60 meters of water he caught two 12kg yellowfin! The week before in the he trolled up a 75 kilo striped marlin in about the same area! This indicates the game fish are well spread out and this is largely thanks to quality warm blue water now covering much of the coast. The previous cooler water brought some salmon and tailor onto our beaches. These fish have remained for now, along with some whiting.

Good size snapper still seem to be in the shallow water, which has kept the odd one in reach for the  rock fisherman; Stuart Ward caught himself a nice one last weekend. For inshore boaties and kayakers fishing first light has been the key advantage to catching snapper in the shallows; anglers using soft plastics casting from the boats seem to be doing best during the dawn period.  Interestingly we are seeing more hard bodies used on snapper with great success. A sinking vibe weighing between 17g and 30g is ideal depending on the depth and current. The Rapala Clackin Rap and Ripping Rap vibes are good examples, and I know friend Rob Paxevanos is a big fan of these lures for South Coast Snapper. A lot of these fish are being caught in 4 to 8m of water. If you get up later and miss the dawn, then fret not,  anglers are finding the odd snapper in 15 to 20m of water later on the same lures later in the morning. Or target dusk, this is another prime snapper bite time, but just bear in mind dawn has been slightly better in recent weeks.

There have also been some large mowies being caught in 15 meters of water and deeper, and if you miss out on snapper and movwies you can always drift and jig your lures or baits on the bottom in 20 to 40 meters for a typically reliable feed of flatties.  One last thing on this scene; there’s some tackle thieving leatherjackets getting around as well, so if you start losing lots of gear to bites offs it’s best to move spots. There is no real sign of good kingfish action locally just yet; just lots of people coming into the shop and asking where are they are!  It goes to show how much people love catching these fish. There are a few kings further south at Montague Island and few up north at Jervis Bay. Only time will tell if these magnificent creatures get busy around our reefs, headlands and pinnacles around Batemans Bay.

Between the Christmas and Easter period is a popular time to target the elusive daytime Mulloway on lures, and you can now add vibes your plastic and bait fishing arsenal; they have worked just as well at times. Sharks in the Clyde have have slowed up but the occasional small ones has been caught on fresh squid aimed at Mulloway at night. For anglers seeking a tree change in the bush, the bass are still going great in the upper reaches of our coastal rivers. A small diving dark hard body has been getting these natives fired up, but there’s also surface lure and spinnerbaits action in the right conditions.

So there you have it; plenty of options and I can’t say it enough, pick one of the above species and target correctly to give yourself the best chance of going home happier.

Anthony Stokman
Anthony runs the Complete Angler in Batemans Bay