Photo: Out-of-town member Gary Huggett and crew fished the local reefs on Wednesday. They caught this lovely haul of snapper, with the best fish measuring 69 cm.
The inshore flathead fishing has been fishable in the early mornings over the last week, and the flathead have been there to play the game. Reports have fish being caught from Bournda Island back to Tura Heads, off the Tura Golf Course, off Long Point and outside the Haycock Reefs.
Depths are varying from 35 to 55 metres off Tura, and around 45 metres off Long Point and
Haycock. Fish are averaging around 40 centimetres, give or take. There are also a few flying gurnard and the odd gummy shark in the mix. The inshore water temperature is sitting around 18 degrees.
The reef fishing seems to be on fire. There have been some great fish caught over the last few weeks, so let’s hope it continues. There is a mixed bag of snapper sizes, with bait catching the majority of them. As you can see from this week’s photo, Gary and his crew also caught some morwong and other reef dwellers. Fresh bait is the key at the moment. Pilchards, squid, salmon and pike will entice the bigger fish. It is also worth having a metal jig or a plastic sitting in a holder about three metres off the bottom.
There are still a few salmon and mulloway being caught from the beaches around the entrances to the ocean and the rocks adjacent to the entrances. Tathra Beach has a couple of small schools moving along it. I heard Main Beach at Merimbula had a patch out the back during the last week, but it is that shallow it would be very hard to fish. Other beaches worth trying are Bournda Beach, North Tura Beach and Tura Beach. They all have some decent gutters that should have fish moving along them on a rising tide.
The estuary fishing is very consistent at the moment. The Bega River at Tathra has good numbers of bream being caught by bait fishos and a few flathead. There are also tailor and mulloway being caught after dark, with the odd fish during the day for a few lucky anglers. With the system closed to the ocean, the water at Tathra is pushing 24 degrees at the moment.
Merimbula Lake has a few whiting, bream and blackfish being seen, but not necessarily caught, in the front lake. There are odd duskies, tailor and a few mulloway up in the top lake. The Pambula River and lake still have blanket weed in the river section, which makes it hard to fish. Boats are fishing in the lake away from the current and around the edges at the top end. I did see some small whiting moving around the edges at the river mouth, but the weed will probably stop anyone fishing there. The water temperature in the Merimbula and Pambula estuary systems is around 18 to 19 degrees.
Watch out for Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club’s Tri-Estuary Fishing Competition set down for 28th and 29th November. Check Facebook or the website for details.
The MBGLAC clubrooms are open this Friday night from 6 pm. We have a fully licensed bar and light food available. Friday night raffles are sponsored by Goodalls Butchers and the Lakeview Hotel. Come down and catch up on the week’s fishing reports. Don’t keep putting it off; we would love to see you there.
Till next week, tight lines.
Fishy Fellow
