The practising picture last week paid off!! Here we have Fiona with another Snapper, her PB Snapper, 64.1 centimetres.

The outside flathead fishing is still going off. Reports are telling me that there are good numbers of sand flathead up to and over 50 centimetres. These fish are being caught in depths from 40 to 55 metres right down the coast. Over the weekend I heard of areas outside the Haycock reef, off Tura Beach, Tura Heads and off Bournda Beach, so there are no excuses to go fishing and catch a feed. There was also a few gummy sharks being caught over the weekend and a pretty large one measuring up to 1.5 metres. The inshore water temperature over the weekend was sitting around 19 degrees.

The reef fishing for the Snapper Classic was out of this world on the weekend. There were 25 Anglers fishing the Snapper Classic, and between them there were, 19 fish at 50 plus cm snapper caught, 12 over 60cm, 1 over 70cm and all the pan-size eaters people took home. Most of those big fish were photographed on the measure mat, then released back to swim another day. There were also a selection of morwong, nannygai and other reef species. The caption picture was the winning longest snapper on a lure. The longest on a bait went 755mm and we had the juniors and small fry with a 680mm and a 615mm snapper to take out their section of the competition. It was great fishing for all involved.

The beaches at North Tura Beach, Haycock Beach and Tathra Beach, are still holding schools of Australian salmon which have tailor mixed in with them. Pilchards have been the best baits of late, and whole pilchards, not half pilchards. I’m told casting metals is also catching fish when they come in close enough to reach with a lure.

The estuary fishing is still fishing well, the water is crystal clear and sitting around 16 degrees at Merimbula, the best area to fish is the top lake where they’re catching tailor, salmon and trevally, fishing around the bait schools. The Bega River at Tathra, they’re still catching a few bream along the rock walls, trevally around the bridge, odd mulloway, tailor and occasional salmon. The water in the Bega River is still sitting at 13 degrees.

We have reached the end of our fishing year with the conclusion of the Snapper Classic. So coming events for the MBGLAC:-

• • The Seafood dinner night is set down for Saturday 20 June.
  • Then next is our presentation night which is normally the 2nd weekend in August. So, watch this space as dates come to light.

The MBGLAC is open this Friday night, opening at 6pm come on down for a quiet beverage, enjoy some lite snacks, catch up on the week’s fishing reports, and buy a ticket in our Friday night raffle, sponsored by Goodalls Butchers, the Lakeview Hotel and the Bar Beach Kiosk. Love to see some new faces come along.

Till next week, good fishing.

Fishy Fellow

Member, Fiona Beasley has been out practicing for this coming weekend’s Snapper Classic. Here she is happy with a 480 mm snapper she caught on a lure in our local waters.

Saturday morning was definitely the pick of the days to fish over the weekend as by the afternoon, the predicted swells were increasing. Sunday was pretty messy to start the day for outside fishing. The sand flathead were biting fiercely Saturday morning, fishing between Bournda Island back to Tura Heads. Reports have confirmed my last week’s fishing report with flathead being caught between 45 and 52 centimetre long fish and bagging out in just over an hour, fishing in 40 metres of water. Once you find the little ones, it’s time to head back up. We have confused currents at the moment, with the surface water temperature sitting around 21.5 degrees and an undercurrent sitting around 19 degrees.

The reef fishing has still been good through the last week, with reasonable numbers of pan-sized snapper around 45 centimetres and good numbers of morwong, with odd nannygai and a mixed bag of other reef fish. This swell that is on our shores should only help the reef fishing during the week and to next weekend when the Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club is holding its annual Snapper Classic competition. There is $1800 in total cash prizes. $400 for the longest snapper caught on bait and/or lure in the seniors category and $100 prize for the longest snapper in the junior category. Registrations open Friday 29th May at 5.30pm at the MBGLAC clubrooms. Cost is $40 for non-members and $35 for members and $10 for juniors under 16 years of age. Check out the Tournaments page at www.mbglac.com.au for more details.

The surf fishing has been good during the week. Club member, Phil Jacobs, couldn’t stop talking about his 68centimetre salmon he caught midweek. He also said he caught heaps of 50 centimetre models on North Tura Beach. There were salmon schools during the week on Haycock Beach at the Merimbula bar and at the Surf Club end of Tathra Beach, before all the weather came in. There is a lot of sand moving, so we will need to check the beaches out again once things settle down a bit.

The estuary fishing is still consistent, but the water temperature is still dropping, which will slow the fishing right down very soon. Reports from the weekend, tell me that the Bega River’s water temperature is now around 13 degrees and on Saturday, the fishing was pretty hard. A couple of dusky flathead up in the shallows, small bream along the rock walls, with an odd trevally and tailor. The Merimbula Lake water temperature is a bit better at 15 degrees and they are catching trevally, tailor and a few blackfish on weed around the edges. With the rain that is predicted this coming week, this hopefully will warm the water a bit and stir all the estuary fishing up.

For those that are keen, there are lots of reports from Lake Eucumbene lately of plenty of brown trout being caught. These fish are all moving into the rivers now for their spawning run. There are still a lot of stragglers which are being caught trolling and some on the banks on lures or worms. You need to be heading up to Adaminaby and fishing that end of the lake. If you are casting the banks, use spotted dogs, which should entice a reaction.

Upcoming events for the Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club are the Snapper Classic next weekend. Registration opens at 5.30pm at the clubrooms at Spencer Park, Merimbula. Also the Seafood Dinner for members and guests on June 20th.

The clubrooms will be open at 5.30pm this Friday night for competition registrations, but still come down for a quiet beverage from our fully licensed bar, buy a ticket or two in the Friday night raffle supported by the Lakeview Hotel, the Bar Beach Kiosk and Goodalls Butchers. Catch up on the week’s fishing and chat with the locals.

Till next week,

Fishy Fellow

Fishy Fellow had a nice catch of reef fish and flathead, caught on Saturday off Merimbula.

The weather was fantastic on Saturday to venture out to sea to catch a nice feed of flathead. The fish are all over the place but are still finicky. I caught my flathead fishing between Bournda Island and Tura Heads in 40 metres of water, and they ranged from 38 to 52 centimetres. It only took me an hour to catch my bag limit with 5 of the fish all around 50 centimetres. What did make a difference was the bait. I was using salmon and salted striped tuna and 8 of the 10 fish were caught on striped tuna. Other reports had fish caught just south of Tura Heads in 45 metres and other boats fished as wide as 60 metres and caught fish. So, there are flatties being caught all over, you just need to move around till you find a patch. There is a fair current of water pushing south at 19 degrees.

The reefs are also a bit patchy, but when you find some bait, there are fish nearby. The snapper in the photo was 510mm long. There are plenty of pan-sized snapper on the Haycock Reef and Long Point reef systems with 40 plus snapper being caught. Morwong are also in really good numbers at the moment, with fish ranging from 34 to 44 centimetres long and a mixed bag of nannygai, leatherjackets, sergeant bakers, odd bonito and rat kingfish to keep you interested and the water temperatures are all over the shop. Haycock Reef had 18.4 on Saturday and Merimbula’s Long Point reef only had 17.3 on Sunday, but the currents were swirling everywhere. No two drifts are the same, but it is going to the south.

The beaches all have salmon moving along them at the moment. Tathra has some large schools on it. The Merimbula Bar and along Main Beach still has fish staying there. Haycock Beach has a large school of salmon on it in the mornings. North Tura has some great gutters and there is a school on Bournda Island, and Tura Beach also has a school of 40 centimetre fish moving along it. If you are not catching salmon on any beach, you’re doing something wrong.

Our estuaries at Bega River, Merimbula, and Pambula were all fishing okay over the weekend. Bega River at Tathra fished well on Saturday with anglers catching dusky flathead, salmon, trevally, bream and estuary perch. Merimbula had trevally, tailor, bream, whiting and blackfish caught. Pambula River had blackfish, trevally small duskies and tailor caught. Lures and fresh nippers for bait all caught the above fish. The estuary water temperature is hovering around 15 to 16 degrees at the moment.

The game fishing is in limbo mode currently. I have heard of the odd marlin being seen but not caught and the tuna fishing has very little to report. The local long liners are fishing from the 30 line out in the Tathra to Greencape zone, with fuel costs limiting the amateurs even trying. The water temperature on the shelf is sitting around 21 degrees and it’s warming up the further out you go. There is a very strong current pushing south at nearly 2 knots I am told.

Coming events for the Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club Incorporated are the Snapper Classic on May 30th – 31st and the Seafood Dinner on June 20th. You can put your name down for a reservation for the Seafood Dinner on the list at the fishing club which is open at 6pm on Friday night and while you’re there, enjoy a cold bevvy and snacks. Buy a ticket for the Friday night raffles, supported by the Lakeview Hotel Merimbula, Goodalls Butchers Merimbula and the Bar Beach Kiosk. Also, catch up on the week’s fishing reports and chat with the locals.

Till next week, good fishing.

Fishy Fellow

There was a large school of Australian salmon sitting off Main Beach Merimbula over the weekend. There were people catching them on Saturday around lunch time, but unfortunately the bulk of the fish stayed out of casting distance most of the time

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

Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club member, Lee Hoath, very happy with her capture of this 60 centimetre brown trout, caught over the Easter Weekend at Lake Eucumbene using worms for bait.

The outside flathead fishing has still been very patchy over the last week. However, a few members who have been targeting a feed of sand flathead have caught some quality fish. Reports early in the week were from the 40 metre depth, just north of Tura Heads and drifting northwest out to about 44 metres, where they caught some quality fish in that 45 centimetre size. There were heaps of small fish in amongst their keepers.

I also got a report from Wednesday, where some fishos had bagged out in the early morning fishing from Bournda Island back to Tura Heads in 35 metres. They had less undersized fish and double headers of flathead to 48 centimetres. The current had picked up and they had trouble keeping a bait on the bottom by the end of the morning. There have been an odd gummy shark and occasional small mako shark in the mix. The in-shore water temperature is sitting around 21 degrees.

The reef fishing has also been doing well with good numbers of snapper up to 45 centimetres and odd larger models. There are also morwong, sergeant bakers and a mixed bag of other species. There are still bonito and a few salmon being caught around the reefs and bait schools. There are also kingfish moving around the headland, bomboras and reef areas.

The surf fishing is still giving up a few fish. I’ve had reports off North Tura Beach of only small salmon, but a few tailor on lures on the edges of the gutters and banks. Bournda Beach also has some salmon and tailor moving around in the morning’s rising tide. The seas are building, so there should be some good beach fishing this coming week.

The estuary fishing has still been good with the Bega River at Tathra only just opening to the sea as of Sunday, but there is next to no tidal effect. Reports from Saturday told me they’re still catching bream, odd flatties and a few trevally. The Merimbula Lake has trevally, bream and blackfish in the front lake and trevally, dusky flathead, odd bream and tailor up the top lake. The estuary water temperature has risen this week, coming up to around 20 degrees.

Last of all the game fishing. I haven’t heard of much lately, but with the water temperature on the shelf sitting between 22 and 23 degrees, there should still be a few marlin out there for those that are keen. There is a bit of current to deal with also. There have been tuna boats working a bit wider from the 30 line out to the 40 line, but they’re gone now with the bad weather forecast for the next week so.

Coming events for the Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club are the Grudge Match between the Merimbula, Pambula and Eden clubs. Pambula is the host club this year and the weekend we are battling it out is the 15th, 16th, and 17th May. We also have the Snapper Classic scheduled for the weekend of the 30th and 31st May. Rules and posters will be out this week.

The Merimbula clubrooms are open at 6pm this Friday night, so pop in and enjoy a cold bevvy from our licensed bar, catch up on any fishing reports. Buy a ticket or two in our Friday night raffles, sponsored by Goodalls Butchers, the Lakeview Hotel and the Bar Beach Kiosk. Hope to see you there.

Till next week.

Fishy Fellow