The outside flathead fishing is still a bit patchy at times, but I am told that during last week, boats that were fishing from Tura Heads back to Long Point, caught good numbers of sand flathead in the last hour of the rising tide. I was told they were catching odd keepers in between the babies early in the tide and it was like a switch had turned on and it was a fish every drop for around an hour, then it turned off, just like that. The best areas were Tura Heads back to Long Point with fish all in the high forties and odd fish pushing sixty centimetres. The depths were from 45 to 55 metres. The water temperature has cooled a bit from last week, and is now sitting around 18 degrees inshore, but there is even cooler water pushing up from Green Cape looking to be around 17 degrees, which could bring a few gummy sharks up with it.
The reefs are all fishing well at the moment, with pan-sized snapper around 40 centimetres and morwong in reasonable numbers as well. There is also an array of other species like sergeant bakers, Māori wrasse and heaps of pike, taking plastics and baits. The bonito have quietened down with the cooler water that is here. There are still bonito around, but not in the numbers like before the last week.
The beach fishing is still giving up a few salmon and tailor. There are schools of salmon around Bournda Island and also Main Beach Merimbula. Bournda Beach and North Tura Beach are both worth a try for the bait and lure fishermen with Bournda Island in between. The tailor will normally only bite in low light periods, but the salmon are always hungry on a rising tide. The fish at Main Beach Merimbula are sitting out off the furthest banks and are only coming into the beach on the top of the high tide. They were in close on Saturday, where they were caught on lures and I got some pictures, but Sunday they stayed out of casting range. I haven’t heard of any whiting off the beaches this week, but those days are numbered if the water cools anymore.
The estuary fishing is changing every week. The Bega River at Tathra is closed to the sea now. The water temperature over the weekend was 15 degrees and I heard of a few bream and odd trevally being caught only. Merimbula Lake still has blackfish, bream and trevally in the front lake and odd bream, trevally and a few tailor up the top lake. The cooling water will put the dusky flathead to sleep for the winter, but if you are lucky enough to drop your bait or lure on their nose, you might stir them up enough to take a bite.
The game fishing has definitely turned a page this weekend with the cooler water pushing up along the shelf, off Eden and Merimbula, up to Tathra. It looks to have dropped to 17 or 18 degrees on the shelf, but from Tathra to Bermagui, it is still showing around 22 degrees. Hopefully, some bluefin and yellowfin are moving up with the cooler waters, so watch this space.
Coming events for the Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club are the Grudge Match this coming weekend, 15, 16, 17 of May, being hosted by Pambula Fishing Club. The Snapper Classic will be held on May 30th and 31st. The Seafood Dinner is on the table for the 20th June and names should go on the board at the club rooms.
The Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club is open this Friday night, opening at 6pm. Come on down and enjoy an early bevvy, some raffles sponsored by The Lakeview Hotel, the Bar Beach Kiosk and Goodalls Butchers. Catch up on some fishing report from the previous week’s fishing. Hope to see you there.
Till next week.
Fishy Fellow