The windy weather made the fishing outside over the weekend difficult for those that did venture out.

MBGLAC member, Fiona Beasley, showing off her first ever caught legal drummer going 43.5cm.

The windy weather made the fishing outside over the weekend difficult for those that did venture out.  The outside flathead fishing was limited over the weekend.  The few keen boaters that were out early on Saturday and Sunday caught sand flathead out off Tura Heads and back to Short Point, drifting in that 20-to-40-meter range.  Fish to 40 cm were caught with the odd flying gurnard and an occasional gummy shark.  The water temperature has dropped a little bit this weekend, sitting between 14 and 15 degrees.  These cooler waters might bring a flurry of gummy sharks up with it.  Let’s hope this wind backs off soon to allow the boats to stay out a little longer in the mornings.

The reefs are still giving up some nice snapper to 50 plus centimeters, as well as morwong, the odd leatherjacket and sargent bakers.  Bait fishing with pilchards and squid is catching the bulk of the fish, but those that understand the lure fishing are catching their share. Also, something to try now the Spring time is upon us, suspend a metal jig about 3 meters off the bottom and let the boats motion jig it around.  Snapper will take them and red dory.  They’re not overly large, but very tasty.

It looks like the salmon in the Pambula River may have finally moved on, with reports during the week that there were no salmon to be seen or caught in the river part of the Pambula Lake system.  They may have just been outside the bar on those days or up in the lake itself.  Otherwise, head out onto the surf beaches for a spin on the rising tide.  I’m told that Dolphin Cove has had plenty there, fish in the 40cm range and Bournda Beach, also has fish in the 40cm range.  Other beaches with fish on them are Tathra Beach and Quondola Beach to the Pinnacles.  These fish will very likely be around the headlands on the low tide for the boaters.

The estuary fishing is still on the slow side.  The Bega River at Tathra has the odd perch, and jewfish being caught along the rock walls and small dusky flathead being caught along the shallow edges using vibe lures.  The other estuaries at Pambula and Merimbula are suffering from the clear water, but the odd dusky are being caught using vibes as well.

The MBGLAC club rooms are open every Friday night from 6pm.  This Friday we have the draw for last month’s monthly species, being morwong.  Bring your pics down and log them by 7pm to be in the draw for the prize money donated by Michelins of Eden.  There will be dinner provided for a god coin donation, raffles and reports from the week’s fishing activities of members.  All are welcome.  Come on down.

Fishy Fellow

The start of the springtime northeast weather is here,

Small Fry member Riley Holley fishing with his dad, Lucas, Sunday morning on our local reefs caught these two thumping snapper among other fish.

The start of the springtime northeast weather is here, and with that the warmer sea currents and whales pushing down. Over the weekend there were plenty of whales in close jumping around. We had an experience on Sunday with a baby humpback whale about 3 meters long swimming around our boat for half an hour. Mum appeared after that about 300 meters away by leaping out of the water and baby went back to her. Magical.

Fishing outside on Sunday morning was superb. Very little current, not much wind and the sand flathead were biting their heads off up at Tura Heads. It took us only one hour to catch our bag of sandies. The fish averaged 40cm and odd fish to 50cm. We also caught flying gurnard and a gummy shark. The depth that was good to us was around that 40 meters and just on the northern side of the headlands. There were a few small flathead in the mix, baits we used were salmon and mackerel fillets.

The local reefs also fished very well early on Sunday. As you can see by the photo, young Riley Holley caught two magnificent snapper 61.5cm and 60cm. He caught a third at 59cm and then found a Gummy shark at over 1.2 meters long. Fresh burley was the key to their success. We also found snapper luring, best went 51cm and also caught morwong, leatherjackets and a gummy shark. Best baits were fresh salmon strips and squid.

The local beaches at Bournda down to Tura Beach have good numbers of salmon to 50cm on them. My reports are from fishos using lures and walking the beaches, from gutter to gutter. Their casting metal slugs in sizes up to 40grams, and the fish are averaging from 40 to 50cm long. 

The estuary fishing is still a bit patchy in some of our systems. The Pambula river still has plenty of salmon although they can be hard to catch at times due to the amount of boats targeting them. I am told that trolling with lures up to 100mm long, like double clutches is catching them when they are in that mood.

 Merimbula Lake is still quiet with only odd small dusky flathead being caught in the top lake. I did not see too many fish in the front lake channel when we came in on Sunday, but once at the boat ramp noticed quite a few blackfish milling around and rolling in the sun on the ramp. The ribbon weed bloom is starting to happen in the lake and with the water temperature around 15 degrees, this will spur the blackfish on to start feeding and hopefully other species will follow. 

The Bega River at Tathra is fishing the best lately, anglers are catching a few small dusky flathead and still the odd jew fish along the rock walls. There are also a few estuary perch being caught off the walls, but perch fishing is still closed till September 1st.

The Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Club rooms are open every Friday night, opening at 6pm. Come on down and chat with the locals, catch up on some current fishing reports and buy some tickets in the club’s Friday night meat tray raffle sponsored by Goodall’s Butchers. All welcome, hope to see you there.

Fishy Fellow

The weekend fishing was affected by the weather, but anglers got their chance on Saturday morning with great conditions.

One of a handful of new club record holders presented at the MBGLAC presentation night.  Club Junior, Bronson Pryor, knocked off the President, Shane Mayberry by 4mm for the brown trout record.

The weekend fishing was affected by the weather, but anglers got their chance on Saturday morning with great conditions.

The flathead fishing outside has fished well all week, with good catches of sand flathead in depths of 30 to 40 metres.  Sand flathead to 40cm are being caught.  These reports come from the Tura Heads region, and I’ve heard that Tathra, off Kianinny boat ramp, is fishing well also.  The odd flying gurnard and gummy sharks are in the mix with the flathead.

Our local reefs at Merimbula and Haycock were a little slow on the weekend.  The odd small snapper and morwong were caught on a floating bait rig using pilchards and squid for bait.  The reefs south of Eden have been fishing very well with snapper to 60cm being caught by anchoring up and burleying early mornings and into the evening.

The beaches have been giving up a few salmon and occasional tailor.  The salmon are averaging 40 cm and being caught on lures when there is some wave activity.  Best Beaches are Dolphin Cove and Tura.

All our estuaries are pretty quiet.  Fishing is hard due to the cold, clear waters at the moment.  Pambula is fishing the best, with plenty of salmon still in the channel from the ocean to the shark hole marker buoy.  The salmon are very spooky at the moment.  There was a school of yellowfin bream and trevally seen moving up the channel last Sunday, but they couldn’t be caught.  Merimbula Lake is very hard at present.  Not many fish can be seen when you’re moving around in a boat.  I understand there are a few dusky flathead and pinkies being caught up the top lake on Squidtrex vibes.  The Bega River is also giving up a few dusky flathead and odd small trevally, fishing around the rock walls.  My reports are from lure fishermen and women.  I have not heard how the bait fishing in the estuaries has been going.

The MBGLAC is open this Friday night.  We have some current fishing reports and raffles of two meat trays, sponsored by Goodall’s Butchers.  Come on down and get involved.  We would love to see you.

Fishy Fellow

The Merimbula Big Game and Lakes held their club’s presentation night

 The Small Fry Champion – Riley Holley, Ladies Champion – Leanne Hoath and Junior Champion and Club Champion, Jackson Lee with club President, Shane Mayberry.  Absent, Men’s Champion, Corey Walker.

The Merimbula Big Game and Lakes held their club’s presentation night on Saturday the 10th August at the Lakeview Hotel, who also are a sponsor of their trophy board.  Around 70 members and guests attended and enjoyed a great night and lovely meals at the Lakeview Hotel.  Jackson Lee, the stand out Junior winner, also taking out the Club Champion of 2023-2024 year.

On the fishing scene, the outside flathead fishing has picked up over the weekend.  I fished Sunday off Tura Heads in prefect conditions.  The water temperature was 15.5 degrees Celsius and the sand flathead bit great.  We fished for 2 hours and bagged out with flathead from 36 to 42cm long.  Bait was the difference catching numbers quick or slowly.  We had fresh salmon fillets and salted mackerel fillets.  The salted mackerel fillets caught 4 fish to 1, compared to the salmon, which was very convincing.  We caught our fish from 40 meters into 30 meters and the better fish were in the deeper water.  We also caught flying gurnard and heard of others catching gummy sharks back towards Merimbula.

The reefs were also fishing well with catches of snapper up to 50 cm and morwong in the 40cm range.  Plastics and bait both caught fish.  Best reefs at the moment are North Head to Leonards Island and the Haycock reef system.

The salmon fishing in Pambula River non stop on the rising tide.  There are so many fish in there, not necessarily big fish, but fish from 40-60cm in length.  You do need a boat to catch them as they’re in the river sections away from land based spots.  There are also odd tailor being caught with the salmon.  There was a very large school of salmon seen heading north around Tura Heads on Saturday.  People that saw the fish, said they were very large in size and estimate 70cm size fish.

Other lakes aren’t fishing very well.  Merimbula Lake, the water is so clear and there is next to nothing to see when hearing up or down the channel.  I heard the top lake at Merimbula gave up a few smallish dusky flathead over the weekend.  The Squidtrex lures getting the job done in 65mm.  The Bega River at Tathra has had the odd jewfish still taking lures, but not much else.

The MBGLAC is open again this Friday night from 6pm.  Come on down and enjoy a beverage, catch up on the week’s fishing reports and support the raffle sponsored by Goodalls Butchers.  All Welcome

Fishy Fellow

With the weather easing on Friday and the seas settling on Saturday, it allowed boats to head to sea on Sunday to catch a feed.

A pan sized trout caught at Rushy Bay on a recent trip to Lake Eucumbene.  Plenty of bigger trout following lures, but not necessarily wanting to have a go.

With the weather easing on Friday and the seas settling on Saturday, it allowed boats to head to sea on Sunday to catch a feed. The flathead fishing outside was a bit slow on the weekend.  Anglers were only picking up the odd legal fish and having to move around to find a feed.  Comments I received were that the water was very dirty and this would be from all the large seas we have had over the previous weeks.  Maybe heading a bit deeper might catch you a feed.  I had no reports of flying gurnard or gummy sharks.

The reefs around Merimbula fished a little better with anglers catching morwong and snapper.  The fish were spread out.  There was no good bite, just covering ground caught these fish.  Fresh baits of salmon, pilchards and squid are doing the job.

Our estuaries at Merimbula and Tathra are proving very hard to fish at the moment.  The water has cooled to around 11 degrees and the fishing has all but shut down.  There are the odd trevally and tailor and occasional salmon being caught in these estuaries.  The Pambula system on the other hand still has plenty of tailor and salmon down in the channel heading to the mouth.  Fish the rising tide, and drift with the tide, casting metal lures and plastics and you should catch a few.

The surf beaches have settled down, leaving new gutters and sand banks in different places.  There was a small school of salmon on Gillards Beach just before the rough weather came in.  Hopefully, they are still in that vicinity of beaches for anglers to catch.

If there are any keen trout anglers reading, the lakes, Eucumbene and Jindabyne, are fishing pretty well.  It is very cold, but fishing off the banks with worms on casting lures is catching fish.  Trolling hard bodied lures in spotted dog colours or goldy coloured plastics in motor oil are catching fish.

The Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club rooms are CLOSED this Friday night due to a 3 day private booking.  Sorry for any inconvenience.  Hopefully we will be seeing you at our club’s presentation night on Saturday 10th August at the Lakeview Hotel.  If you would like to come along, please call Shane Mayberry on 0428 424 496 with your details or any queries.  We are hoping to finalise numbers by Wednesday 7th August.  Coming up on Monday 12th August will be the AGM, starting at 7pm in the clubrooms.  We would love to see our members there.

Fishy Fellow

A windy cold morning of fishing was had at Haycock Beach on Sunday for only a few small salmon.

Not deterred by the cooler weather, a smaller group of members of the Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club attended Salmon Sunday at Haycock Beach.

A windy cold morning of fishing was had at Haycock Beach on Sunday for only a few small salmon.  However, a great little BBQ was had by those who attended.

The outside fishing for ocean flathead was very good on Saturday, with perfect weather.  The, mainly sand flathead, are being caught in 40 meters, just north of Tura Heads with fish up to 45cm in size.  The fish are quite patchy and when you find a patch, there are plenty of fish.  Still the odd gummy shark and flying gurnard being caught in amongst the flatties.

Our reefs are still providing good numbers of morwong, snapper, nannygai and odd leatherjackets.  There was a bit of tide on Saturday, which made fishing a little harder.  Paternoster rigs with fresh baits of pilchards and squid caught the fish.

Our beaches do have salmon on them, but the lack of waves is making it hard to catch any fish.  If you’re after salmon and you have a boat, head down to the Pambula river, as there are so many salmon filling the channel from Severs Beach to the shark hole.  Go on the rising tide with some soft plastics, hard body or even metal lures (not too big though, say 20-40 grams).  Trolling and spinning has the salmon all over them.  I fished there Saturday for 2 hours and caught in excess of 30 fish ranging in size from 40 to over 60cm.

Other lake fishing is pretty hard because of the crystal clear water in our systems at the moment.  There are a few trevally and occasional tailor being caught.  However, a bit of bait fishing in the Merimbula front lake using some fresh nippers as bait could catch you a feed of trevally, bream and maybe some blackfish.

The MBGLAC’s monthly species of July, being salmon, is being drawn this coming Friday 2nd August, so come on down to the club Friday night.  Register your fish by 7pm to be in the draw for the prizes.  While you’re there, you can enjoy a beverage, support our raffle and catch up on the week’s fishing reports.

Out next event is the MBGLAC Presentation night, sponsored by the Lakeview Hotel on the 10th August.  It’s being held at the Lakeview Hotel, starting at 6pm.  Get your names down for a great night by emailing the club at admin@mbglac.com.au with your name and number of attendees.  Till next week.

Fishy Fellow