Member Matt Walmsley pretty happy with this sand flathead he caught mid-week fishing out the front of Merimbula. This one measuring 555mm long

The outside sand and tiger flathead fishing has picked up over the last week, from reports. Those fishing mid-week found good numbers of quality fish with both sand and tiger flathead fishing at depths from 40-50 metres. Matt’s boat caught their fish fishing from Long Point down and along the Haycock Reef in 45 metres of water. They also caught flying gurnard and small gummy sharks. The outside inshore water temperature is around 16 degrees.

The reef fishing was a bit slow early in the week but as the week moved on, the fishing improved. They’re still catching good numbers of pan-sized snapper to 40cm and plenty of morwong. Unfortunately there are lots of throw-backs in between the keepers. There is also a mixed bag of nannygai, sergeant bakers and other species around.

I got a report of one boat that anchored up on Friday, and burleyed: they finished up with 10 Snapper around 40cm for their troubles. One of members, Nigel, also went jigging off Long Point. He said things were slow but managed one 55cm Snapper. So there are some larger models around – you just need to find them.

The beach fishing has been slow for salmon fishing this week, mainly due to calm conditions and the lack of surf. But it has allowed the blackfish to come in close to shore and feed on the green weed on the rocks. I saw this last weekend and am keen to have a go. You just need a float, some green weed or stringy week, and then fish shallow at high tide over and around the rocks where the weed is visible at low tide. If you see flashes, it’s blackfish feeding.

The lake fishing at the Bega River picked up over this last week. I got reports of some nice bream being caught along the rock walls with fish in the mid to high 30cm size. Also a few perch and an odd small dusky flathead up in the shallows, and an odd mulloway for lucky anglers. The temperature in the Bega River is now up to 17 degrees after all this fine weather.

Merimbula Lake is still quiet but tailor, trevally and the occasional salmon are still around in the top lake.
A few salmon, tailor and trevally are being caught in Pambula River heading to the entrance. The salmon come and go, so they’re not always there. There is a lot of sand at the entrance and I’m told it’s quite shallow at low tide. Be careful if you’re heading to sea in a larger boat!

The Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club next event is the Wonboyn weekend trip 16-18 October. Checkout the website or our recent newsletter for details if you’d like to join us.

The Club rooms at Spencer Park are open this Friday night, opening at 6pm. Come on down and meet the locals. We have nibblies to go with your drinks at our fully licenced bar. Our Friday night raffles are sponsored by Goodalls Butchers and the Lake View Hotel. Everyone is welcome.\

Till next week.
Fishy Fellow.

Here is a picture of the other yellowfin tuna caught in last week’s report. This is small fry angler, Isla Chippindale, very excited with her capture of a 25.5kg yellowfin on 15kg tackle. Great capture, Isla.

We’ve had great weather over the weekend for inshore fishing. The flathead, I’m hearing, were a bit widespread and boats had to move around a lot to catch a feed. The fish were smaller also, measuring 33 to 38 centimetres. There are odd larger fish, but they’re very spread out. There is also odd flying gurnard being caught in the mix. The best areas have been from Tura Heads back to Long Point, Merimbula. The water temperature in shore is sitting around 15 to 16 degrees with not much current.

The reef fishing is still giving up a feed of snapper, morwong, a few nannygai and a mixed bag of other reef species. The snapper have been consistently around that 40 centimetre size with only the odd fish up to and just over 50 centimetres of late, fishing off Long Point. However, fishing off Haycock and Leonards Island, there have been some nice morwong up to 50 centimetres. The best bait for the morwong is fresh squid and a piece of prawn over the hook barb. There are pilchards out there at the moment, so pillies for the snapper will work too. Plastics will also catch all your reef species, so have a chat with the local tackle shops for their advice and go catch a few.

The beach fishing is pretty slow at the moment our way, with the local beaches having filled with sand over recent weeks. All the gutters and holes have gotten very shallow on a high tide and all the beaches have sand banks, which have formed, keeping them very shallow. Bournda Beach is the only beach I’ve seen that has a few gutters worth fishing of late.

Our lakes are in need of a decent dump of rain to dirty the water up a bit. They are all so clear at the moment which is making the fishing hard. The water is still very cool, even though the days have been sunny and warmish. There are a few small flathead starting to move around up in the shallows in the Bega River and odd bream and trevs around the bridge. Merimbula has a few tailor, odd salmon and trevally in the top lake and Pambula Lake also has odd tailor and salmon the lake itself. I did hear of schools of blackfish coming out from under the oyster bags down the river, heading towards the mouth in the Pambula River and other than that, it is very quiet. The water in the estuaries is sitting around 13 to 14 degrees.

The game fishing hasn’t happened at all over this week. We have had strong wind warnings in place for many days, even though the wind hasn’t got over 10 knots in shore. So, hopefully, next week, it might mean all boats can go have a look. Many of the long liners have been working the 23 line east over the full moon nights, so it will be interesting to see if they have been catching anything. The water on the shelf is between 18 and 19 degrees.

Coming up for the Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club is the annual Mex Williams Memorial Club Trip with a memorial dusky flathead trophy up for grabs. This will be held at the Wonboyn Lake Resort from the 16th – 19th October. Peter has reserved a few cabins for our members, so if you are looking to go fish Wonboyn for the weekend, contact Peter at the resort directly on 0499 334 555 and he will look after you.

The Merimbula Big Game and Lakes clubrooms will be open on Friday night from 6pm, so head on down and enjoy a cold bevvy or two at great prices. Catch up on the week’s fishing reports and support the club’s Friday night raffles, sponsored by the Lakeview Hotel and Goodall’s Butchers. Hope to see you there.

Till next week.

Fishy Fellow.

MBGLAC Small Fry Angler York Chippendale, with his dad Brendon, very happy with his capture of a 59kg yellowfin tuna. He caught it last weekend fishing out of Eden. Excellent capture, York!

The ocean flathead are still biting well for those keen for a feed of sand and tiger flathead. Boats are catching the majority of fish in depths around 40 metres and out to 60 metres. Lots of boats are fishing out from Tura Beach, Tura Heads and Long Point, but I am hearing just about anywhere in that depth they are catching flathead and a few flying gurnard. Fish size is not big, but the flathead are consistent in that 35 to 40 centimetre size range. The water inshore is sitting around 16 to 17 degrees.

The reef fishing is still fishing very well, with snapper, morwong, a few nannygai and a mixed bag of Maori wrasse, sergeant bakers and red rock cods. The snapper size is consistent, with fish around 40 centimetres and up to 50 centimetres, and those larger models are still being caught randomly on lures. Long Point down to Mowarry Point off Eden are all fishing well, with bait and lures both producing good numbers of fish.

The beach fishing is a bit harder at the moment. It is due to the lack of swell and the amount of sand back on most beaches, which has filled in the gutters and holes where the fish were holding up. So many beaches are not really fishable. I fished at Mogareeka on Saturday for only one salmon, but there were a few gutters worth fishing around. North Tura Beach is full of sand and, in my view, not worth the effort. I did hear of a school of salmon at Dolphin Cove, but they were out pretty wide for beach fishos. Haycock is very shallow and looks fishless, so the headland may hold a few fish with the calm seas we are having lately.

The lakes are hard work lately, with the crystal clear water sitting around 13 degrees on a sunny day. The Bega River at Tathra has an odd bream and trevally, and an occasional salmon around the bridge. Merimbula Lake has nothing to see in the channel from the boat ramp to the lake entrance, but the Top Lake has odd tailor, salmon and trevally, usually found around the bait schools when they are feeding. Pambula is much the same as Merimbula, with odd tailor, salmon and trevally in the main lake system. Trolling 80mm lures like Daiwa Double Clutches around the lake area is the easiest way to find the fish.

The game fishing, when the weather allows, is still worth the effort, as you can see by this week’s photo. Young York Chippendale captured that 59kg yellowfin on 24kg tackle last Sunday, and York’s sister Isia also caught a 25.5kg yellowfin on 15kg tackle. So a great effort to both youngsters, job well done. Saturday there were a few fish caught up the coast off Batemans Bay for those interested in travelling. Locally there looks to be a fair bit of current over the shelf, running to the south, and the water temperature is sitting around 19 degrees. So let’s hope the weather gods give us a few fishable days leading up to the full moon.

Coming events: The club trip is off to the Wonboyn Lake Resort again this year, the weekend of October 16 to 18. Book directly with the resort and mention the club to get our deal.

The MBGLAC is open this Friday night, opening at 6pm. Come down and enjoy a quiet social night with a cold, very reasonably priced drink, finger food, fishing reports and our Friday night raffles, sponsored by Goodalls Butchers and the Lake View Hotel. Love to see you there this week.

Till next week.

Fishy Fellow.

Here is a picture on the Merimbula BGLAC’s measure, the DPI mat, of the newest 2026 club record bream, caught by Tristin Chippendale from Eden. It measured 471mm. Great catch Tristin.

Flathead outside are still very spread out, with lots of small fish being caught in between the keepers. The keepers have dropped down in size, with fish from 35 to 40 centimetres in close at depths from 30 to 40 metres. Those fishing deeper, in that 50 to 60 metre depth, are catching a mixed bag of sand and tiger flathead, with some fish over 40 centimetres. There are also a few flying gurnard being caught out wider, up to 50 centimetres. The inshore water temperature is sitting around 16 to 17 degrees. The reef fishing still has those larger snapper and plenty of pan-sized snapper on them as well, along with morwong, nannygai and an array of other reef species. Long Point has been good in the early mornings, and reefs like Haycock and Leonards Island have been performing better as the day moves into the afternoons. Lure fishing with plastics is working well, and bait fishing with fresh squid and fresh mackerel fillets is working all day. The morwong are biting best at Haycock and Leonards Island on the deep side of the reef, in around 35 to 40 metres of water. The beaches have still been giving up a few salmon and tailor. Middle Beach at Merimbula has been giving up a few tailor using pilchards for bait. The salmon are still on Tathra Beach, around Bournda Island, and down on Quondolo Beach at Haycock Point. Bait fishing seems to be the best way of catching them. Lure fishing is very hit and miss of late. The lake fishing is also on the slow side. I have no reports from Merimbula Lake. The Bega River at Mogareeka has had a few bream caught around the bridge in the low 30 centimetre size, and also the odd salmon up to 50 centimetres. I have heard of a few fish being caught right up the river, but with the water around 13 degrees, it is pretty cool. The Pambula River in the main lake has been giving up a few tailor and salmon trolling and fishing blades around the bait schools. There is also a chance of trevally and small dusky flathead. The game fishing for us off Merimbula has not been favoured by the weather at all. Over the weekend, a few larger boats ventured wide off Bermagui and Narooma and came home with bluefin on each boat. The long liners are back down off Mallacoota again, starting at the 150.40E line and out to sea. The water out the front of Merimbula is around 18 degrees on the shelf, and the further out you go the warmer it gets, but we need a weather window to get out and try. There has to be tuna out there for our fishermen. The MBGLAC club rooms are open this Friday night, opening at 6pm. Come on down and meet the locals, buy a raffle ticket in our Friday night raffle, sponsored by Goodalls Butchers and the Lakeview Hotel. We have a fully licensed bar and weekly fishing reports. Hope to see you there. Till next week. Fishy Fellow.

Merimbula small fry angler, Baxter Pryor, very happy with the capture of his first ever yellowfin tuna. Caught just over the shelf off Merimbula on Saturday morning, weighing in at 36.1kilograms. Great capture Baxter.

The outside flathead fishing has dropped off over the last week. I’ve had reports of the flathead bite being very slow in shallower waters. The small flathead and whiting have dominated the bite with only the odd keeper fish being caught in amongst all the activity. Reports have also said there is an odd flying gurnard being caught fishing from 45 metres and deeper. Anglers have been persisting out deeper and catching tiger flathead to get their bag of fish. The inshore water temperature has dropped back to 16 degrees.

The reef fishing is still giving up a feed of pan-sized snapper around that 40 centimetre size, a few morwong, nannygai and a mixed bag of other reef fish, like red rock cods, nannygai, sergeant baker and leatherjackets. There are still odd better snapper being caught mainly around Long Point Merimbula. Leonards Island has had reasonable numbers of morwong being caught around the outer edge of the reef in about 40 metres.

The surf beaches over the last week have probably been the best, with schools of salmon being seen on Tathra Beach, North Tura Beach and Quondola Beach, near Haycock. They are catching a few salmon on pilchard baits and odd tailor at low light periods early and late. Metals haven’t been working that good lately, but I’m told soft plastics and hard body lures have been getting the bites.

The estuary fishing has gone quiet again after the better bite for a couple of days last weekend. The Bega River was slow on Saturday, but the sounder told the story, as the bream had all schooled up ready for their spawn cycle each year. There were still a couple of small bream caught with odd trevally around the bridge. Merimbula Lake really only has an odd fish being caught up the top lake, with odd trevally and tailor hunting around the bait schools. Pambula Lake is probably fishing the best with a school of salmon in the lake and above the boat ramp. There are also odd trevally and tailor being caught. The estuaries water temperatures are pretty cool with the temps around 10 degrees.

Finally, some yellowfin tuna off Merimbula. Saturday I weighed two yellowfin, not huge fish, but our picture of Baxter Pryor of a 36.1 kilogram fish caught just over the shelf, east of Merimbula, which took a Halko Lazer Pro lure. The other was a 27.8 kilogram fish caught around the 30 line off Tathra, taking a 6-inch skirted lure. Both random takes with no visible fishy signs. That warmer water has made it down our way with the temperature sitting around 18 to 19 degrees out over the shelf, so fingers crossed, the weather allows boats out there and there are more fish caught over the coming weeks.

The Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club holds its AGM on Monday 10th August, having just held the annual presentation night for the Lakeview Trophy Board. A great night was had by all and there were plenty of winners. Thank you to the Lakeview Hotel for sponsoring our annual trophy presentation and for hosting us again this year.

The MBGLAC club rooms are open this Friday night from 6pm, so drop in and catch up with a few familiar faces. Grab yourself a cold drink from the licensed bar, have a yarn about what’s been biting, and pick up a ticket in our Friday night raffle, proudly supported by the Lakeview Hotel and Goodalls Butchers. We’ll also have the latest fishing reports and, no doubt, a few good fishing tales doing the rounds.

Hope to see a few of you there.

Till next week.

Fishy Fellow.