By Jack Mangrove
With reports of water temperatures rising over the last week, good size flathead have been taken on lures and small pilchards with hot spots being around sand banks near the mouth, back of the sound and the entrance to the first lake.
Paddle tail soft plastics in the three- and four-inch size have been dynamite on these quality fish, but if you prefer bait, small pilchards on a snooded rigged with two suicide hooks combined when drifting over these areas have taken large fish.
Don’t forget dusky flathead have a minimum size of 40cm and a maximum of 75cm with a bag limit being a total of five fish per person.
Good numbers of quality whiting have been throughout the river particularly in lower reaches. Surface lures have been the lure of choice for the lure anglers. If using bait live worms and yabbies have been the best producing bait.
There has been some Mangrove Jack poking their heads up in a few areas mainly after dark and have been taken on live baits and bonito fillets around the heavy structure. Paddle tail soft plastic in the four-inch size have been perfect for enticing these brutes.
Bream are still on the chew in good numbers throughout the river system providing hours of entertainment for the kids, peeled prawns are a great bait choice.
Dust off those crab pots as the crabs have started to show up in Weyba Creek and the ski run stretches, pots baited with fresh mullet have produced the better sized crustaceans.
Most of the good of weather windows have been in the mornings so anglers have been at the boat ramps before dawn and heading back before the breezes pick up.
Offshore anglers with larger craft have been catching quality snapper and pearlies from the Hards and Barwon Banks.
If you are not wanting to travel big distances try North Reef for snapper, pearlies and cobia or the popular Halls and Sunshine Reefs with the catches of snapper, sweetlip cod and trout at first and last light.
For the bait anglers these fish have been taken on pillies, squid and slimy mackeral. Soft plastics and slow fall jigs have also been getting plenty of action.
With plenty of mackeral showing up, I would suggest floating a pilchard or small slimy out the back while fishing in these areas. There are also plenty of other mid water species around with tuna cobia – and even the odd dolphin! – all on the chew.
If heading up the beach there is a good number of whiting and dart in the shallow water gutters, fishing with live worms or pipis have been producing the best results.
The tailor fishing has produced quality fish, for the best action fish on the dusk and dawn periods. With the larger fish sitting at the rear of the gutter, the use of metal slugs up to 80 grams have landed the bigger fish, and of course if using bait the trusty pilchard is still the best.
So on behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures!
