Sydney Shore-based fishing report January/Febuary 2007

Usually the months of January and February are two months of the year when the wind and the weather are fairly predictable, but with the weather being the way it is over the last 12 months, who knows. If you can get out for a fish and get the weather right however you will be able to get Mulloway at night on beaches like Palm, Maroubra, Wanda to Greenhill's, Garie, Stanwell, Park, Wollongong and Port Kembla. These same beaches will produce Bream and Whiting during the day, while in the low light periods of the day they will also produce Australian Salmon and Tailor.

Botany Bay will be worth a shot for Kingfish in the deeper parts of the bay, places like the Monoilex Point and Bare Island. Yellowfin Bream, Silver Trevally, Sand Whiting, Dusky Flathead and Flounder are worth targeting at Silver beach, Yarra Bay and at Foreshore Drive. Further up stream in the Georges and Woronora Rivers you could try Picnic Point, the bridge at Milperra, Bonnet Bay and Prince Edward Park.

The sand flats at Maianbar in the Royal National Park are worth a shot on the falling tide for Bream, Whiting and Dusky Flathead. You could also try fishing off Dee-Ban Spit on the run-out tide. Jibbon Beach is also very good in a southerly wind.

There have been a few very good reports come in from Fish and Dive at Taren Point of Mulloway to 16 kilos being caught off the beach just north of Wanda. These Mulloway were caught at night, while using live Mackerel for bait. The beaches off Cronulla are also holding some good schools of Sand Whiting and Yellowfin Bream. There have also been a few Salmon to 65cm being caught while fishing the Alley ay North Cronulla.

Further south the ledge at Coalcliff is worth a shot for Yellowfin Bream, Silver Trevally, Tailor, Australian Salmon, Drummer and the odd legal sized Snapper. Best baits have been WA Pilchards and Garfish. You could also try catching a few live yellowtail for bait.

Stanwell Park has been a bit crowed over the Christmas, but if you pick your times you will be in with a good chance of getting a few Bream and Whiting on tube, blood or beach worms. You could also try using pink nippers for bait.

A blue spot trevally that was caught by the author while fishing off the back of Iririki Island.

Just before Christmas I went over to Vanuatu with the wife for a break. We stayed in a bungalow that hung over the water on Iririki Island. I was able to cast to GT, Long Toms, Blue Spot Trevally, job fish and many more things that I didn't know their names. Once I hooked up I either lost them to the reef or couldn't lift them out of the water. I did manage to fish on the other side of the island from the shore and caught Long Toms, Blue Spot Trevally and Job fish, but I couldn't land the GT's. I suppose that's what I get for only using 10 kilo line and leader.

Question and Answer of the month

Ron Cummings from Rockdale has heard about Tube Worms and how good they are. What he would like to know is what they are all about and where can you get them?

Aquabait Pty Ltd has been developing tube worms over the past three years to provide a unique fishing bait direct to the fisherman. These tube worms are grown in their intensive aquaculture facility that is situated on the Central Coast of NSW, Australia. Aquabait is involved with the research and development of marine worm cultivation for the fishing bait market and was established in 1996 and until today has been developing its own technology within a controlled laboratory environment in conjunction with the best marine polychaete (segmented marine worms) scientists in Australia to provide a sustainable product, baitworms! Aquabait has achieved successful grow-out and has now entered its commercial stage.

After spending about 2 hours looking over the tanks (about 300,000 worms) and chatting to Les, I found out that not only are these tube worms bred for bait that anglers throughout Australia can use, they are also used as food to feed to pregnant prawns in a prawn hatchery and aquarium fish. These amazing worms can be found naturally in up 60 metres of water off the coast from Brisbane in the north and south along the coast through NSW, Victoria, SA and right up to Broome in WA. Where blood worms live in low oxygenated water and mud, the tube worm prefers to live in much cleaner water and sand. The same areas that you will find beach worms.

The worms at Aquabait are farmed worms that are direct descents from the tube worms that are found in the Lake Macquarie system that is situated on the central coast of NSW. The tube or case worm species belongs to the family Onuphidae, which is broadly known as the beach worm family. Even though the tube worm has the capacity to grow up to 1 metre in length in the wild, Les from Aquabait will grow them to somewhere between 20 to 30cm in length, about 5 to 8 mm in diameter and no older than 2 years. This size will give the end user, you the angler about 4 to 6 baits out of each worm to chase Whiting, Bream, Mullet, Trevally, Luderick, Flathead, Snapper and Dart. If you chase Mulloway you may find it much better to use the whole worm instead of pieces. These tube worms can live to be about 10 years old in their natural habitat.

Now I don't want to bag the blood worm, but the ones that I have been buying over the last few years from bait and tackle shops have not been of a very good quality. I have found them to die very quickly, break up into small pieces once they have been handled, be much smaller than they were a few years ago and cost a fortune to buy. Even though I have tried many different shops throughout NSW I am still to find one that any of the above problems does not occur.

Some of you may say that is because I haven't looked after them. Well if I looked after them any more I would nearly have to start to class them as part of the family. Even though the worms that I have purchase from the shops to be of poor quality, break up into pieces very quickly and not live for long, I cannot lay all the blame on the tackle shops.

As you would already know and understand the intertidal zone of Australian estuaries has been the site of the bait worm industry for years. At low tide these delicate muddy shores and seagrass beds have been and are still severely scarred from bait the collection of worms by anglers for their own use, semi-professional bait diggers for ad-hoc commercial sales and by professional diggers contracted to wholesaler distribution.

Some of the blame would have to be placed on the harvesters of these worms and the damage they cause to the environment, the bad times that create a problem getting them to the shops, the lag time they spend in the planes to get them from Queensland to the shops and the smaller sizes of the worms due to over harvesting of them.

I have used many different types of worms over the years. Worms like beach, blood, squirt, Botany Bay wrigglers, garden, tiger and scrub. All of which I have found to be very successful when I have use them. So what do I find is different when I use the tube worm? Well, firstly Les and his crew from Aquabait have developed a series of techniques that will allow me to keep the worms alive at home in an aerated shallow sandy substrate for about two weeks at a time without much fuss. Secondly you can buy their preserved tube worms from tackle shops that have been dipped in their specially developed non-toxic solution. This will allow you to store them in the freezer for up to six months, so that you can have them on tap for that time when you get that urge to go for a fish.

Not all bait shops supply tube worms, but the ones that I have been buying them from have been lasting longer, have not broken into small and un-useable pieces and if I have had any left over I have been able to bring them back home and store them the next day or two fishing.

At the time of putting together this review the shops listed are currently selling tube worms. If you would like to find out if a bait and tackle shop near you is stocking tube worms you could contact Les at Aquabait on (02) 4973 5505 or send him an email to sales@aquabait.com.au

The only worm farming that has existed previously was the earthworm farm, which is mainly known for its composting capabilities and use in fresh water. The tube worm plays a very important role in the food chain in the ocean and the estuarine waterways. Many commercial fish require tube worms as part of their diet. Now that Les and his crew have been able to cultivate these tube worms in a controlled environment and not have that process cause any environmental disturbance is a definite positive to both the environment and the recreational angler.

If you would like to learn more about the tube worm you could always look up the web site for Aquabait, www.aquabait.com.au

For any of your questions to be answered all you need to do is send an email to me titled (Shore fishing Australia Questions and Answers section) and I will put it up in the report.

Beach spot of the month – Maroubra Beach / Sydney

Blue swimmer crabs have started to show up in numbers in Botany Bay and the Port Hacking. These can be caught by using a weighted stocking with bait in it and a good length of blind cord from the shore.

Now this extremely popular beach for swimmers and surfers is also a very good producer of Sand Whiting, Yellowfin Bream, Tailor, Australian Salmon, Mulloway and Beach Worms, it is just a matter of timing your outing to either early in the morning, late in the afternoon, night and overcast and raining days. Otherwise you may catch yourself something you don't want to, and believe me surf board riders fight extremely hard.

If you park at the northern end of the beach you will see that there is a set of rocks about 200 metres along the beach. These sets of rocks will at times produce good deep gutters. If there is a rip here allow the rip to pull your rig out to sea. Once out about 70 metres or so you can then slowly work it back to the shore, stopping every few metres for a minute of two. Further up the beach towards the southern end you will come across a few gutters that will hold Mulloway, Rays and Yellowfin Bream during the night-time.

Land-based spot of the month – Captain Cook Bridge / Sydney

The Captain Cook Bridge is great example of what structure means to a Mulloway. Whether you are fishing the out or in-coming tides there will always be some sort of eddy forming near or at the base of each of the pylons. Both the southern and northern ends of the bridge produce Mulloway, with the northern end being the better. To fish these land-based spots you will need to have a rod of about 3.6 metres in length and plenty of power in the butt. This will enable you to steer the Mulloway away from the base of the pylons and lead it to shore. The best rig to use here seems to be the fixed paternoster and either squid, mullet or fillets of yellowtail for bait.

I would suggest you either use a running or fixed paternoster rig with a live bait on it, while at the same time try using a one to two metre leader off a ball sinker.

Fishing Tips

For this report I have put together a few things that will help improve your fishing. So for more information you should read on.

Bait Recipes:

Over the years I have been asked "What types of specially prepared baits do I use for Yellowfin Bream?" Now as a kid I use to cut up Kraft Cheddar Cheese into 2cm cubes and soak them over night in tuna oil. The next morning I would walk out onto the old baths at Ramsgate and catch a feed of bream. Since those early days I have tried many different specially prepared types of bait. Even though you may know a few of your own I am going to give you the recipes for my top 4 recipes.

No 1. Chicken in Parmesan cheese

1. Grap 1 kilo of chicken breast and 250 grams of finely grated parmesan cheese.
2. To prepare the chicken breast you will need to cut the chicken into a size of about 5cm in length x 1.5 cm square.
3. Drop about 15 to 20 pieces of the chicken breast into a Chinese plastic container.
4. Add some parmesan cheese.
5. Put on the lid of the container and shake.
6. Add 15 to 20 pieces of the chicken breast into a Chinese plastic container.
   Note: I find that 30 to forty pieces of chicken breast per container is all you need
7. Add more parmesan cheese.
8. Put lid back on a shake.
9. Then put into the fridge for two days. Shaking container a couple of times a day.
10. You will find that the chicken breast in parmesan cheese is now ready to use, or if you have done all of the 1 kilo of chicken breast you will usually have about 160 to 170 baits and you will have to freeze it. Ready for use at a later date.

No 2. Squid soaked in garlic and chicken pellets.

1. Catch your own squid.
2. Cut off the head and keep for jewfish baits.
3. Clean the body of the squid and then cut into 1cm wide by 5cm long strips.
4. Place into a shallow Chinese container with chicken pellets and pour liquid garlic over the squid and pellets.
5. Place lid back onto the container and then shake.
6. Leave in fridge for a couple of days to marinate before using or you could just freeze them for the next trip out.

No 3. Peeled prawns in garlic, parmesan cheese and chicken pellets.
This is a good recipe to use if you have a few prawns left over.

1. Peel left over prawns and put them into a Chinese container. Put into the freezer until you have more left over from another fishing trip and repeat the process until you 3/4 fill the container.
2. Once you have enough peeled prawns (3/4 of container) thaw them out and add chicken pellets and parmesan cheese.
3. Put lid back on and shake.
4. Store in fridge for a couple of days. Shaking the container each day.
5. You can then either use them or freeze then for the next fishing trip.

No 4. Sausage pudding.

1. Mix 1 kilo of sausage mince, 1 tin of sardines and 1 tin of cat food together.
2. Apply plenty of flour to the ball of ingredients and roll until the mixture doesn't stick to your hands.
3. Divide in for equal portions and either use straight away or freeze for a later date.

Maybe you have a special Bait Recipe that you use when fishing that you could let other anglers know about so that they could get out there and try it some time.

Getting the Best of Fishing after Dark on the Beach.

A Javelin fish that was could at the entrance to Townsville Harbour.

1. You may not class this as a technique, but more of a matter of timing. I have found that when fishing for Mulloway off the beach at night I prefer to fish about three to six days before and after the full moon when you have very high, high tides. But, if you have a lot of cloud cover at night which obscures the shine of the moon I will fish right through the full moon period, especially when you can coincide the very high tides with it.

On the other hand I also like to fish when it is so dark that you are having trouble seeing anything in front of you. During this period of time I find that the fish will move about and feed with more confidence.

2. As the sun starts to set most of us think that it is time to go indoors and start to lock up for the night. For me it is a time when I am out fishing off the beach. It is a time when many a large predatory fish will venture out from their daytime haunt in search of a feed. It is also a time when the smaller fish are all looking for cover as the Mulloway, Sharks, Kingfish and Snapper are out on patrol. This is due to the fact that the underwater world lives in two states, one during the daylight hours and the other is after dark.

During the day most things in the world of fishes is active to some degree or another. It is during the time of sunset that the smaller fish realise that they should be somewhere else. It is at this time that you the angler should be thinking about getting out on the water to chase Mulloway, Snapper and Sharks off the breach and rocks. It is also a time when the bream will be on the chew.

3. On the other side of the coin a couple of hours before the sun rises is a time when the fish species that have hidden for the night will start to come out to satisfy their urge to feed. This is also a very good time to target Bream, Drummer, Snapper, Salmon, Tailor, etc... You need to also coincide the rising of the tide, as the fish will feed up higher in the water column and in the closer beach and rock gutters.

4. One of the most important pieces of equipment you need to have when you are fishing off the beach or rocks is a torch. But if it is not used correctly you could come home fishless. When using the torch make sure that you don't shine the torch any were near the water or waters edge. This will usually put the fish off the bite. I prefer to use my SureCatch Brilliant Head Lamp, as it has 3 types of hands free lighting for short, medium and long distances.

WHAT'S NEW

Have you ever wanted to go for a fish off the beach for Yellowfin Bream and Sand Whiting and none of your favourite tackle shops have had any beach worms, the tide is way too high for catching your own beach worms or you can't catch beach worms anyway?

Well I have been playing around with those Berkley Saltwater Gulp Sandworms (not so new, they have been on the market for a while), and boy do they work. Next time you are in your local shop get a packet and have a look at them. They come in a variety of colours; camo, natural, new penny, bloody, glow and nuclear chicken. When using them you just thread them onto the hook, just like you would a beach or blood worm. If I am using the 6 inch ones I will cut them in half, but the 4 inch I will leave them as there are.

Here are 4 more Shakespeare / Pflueger articles written by one of their Pro Anglers.

Christmas for Kids by Andrew McGovern
"As my young family grows, Christmas in now dedicated to enhancing, not only the fishing, but the entire outdoor experience for the kids......" Download this ezine to read on. [ Aqua, Issue 17, BONUS ISSUE December 2006. Christmas is for Kids by Andrew McGoven. ]

The 2006 Gold Coast Flathead Classic by Gary Brown
My journey to the Gold Coast Flathead Classic started with a phone call early in May 2006 from Dave Fletcher, a mate of mine who lives in Runaway Bay, about 15 minutes north of the Gold Coast Sports Fishing Cub. "GB, how would you like to fish the Flathead Classic with me....... ". Download this ezine to read more. [ Aqua, Issue 16, December 2006. Flathead Classic by Gary Brown. ]

Spinning the streams by Kim Bain
Kim Bain has fished the trout streams of at least ten countries, including the New South Wales / Victorian border region – these are some of her favourite ways to catch browns and rainbows. Once the spin outfit was considered the versatile but not the specialist. But every now and again somebody or a sequence of events or successes, suggests to us that the spin outfit, as well as being very multi ... [ AQUA, Issue 14, October 2006. Spinning the Streams.. ]

Talking Tournaments…ABT and NSW by Domanic Lieb
The tournament circuit is ever growing and it is becoming bigger, better and harder with new up and coming anglers from all over Australia. The circuit has two major organisations that run and deliver the tournaments, first the A.B.T..." Download this e-zine to read on [ Aqua, Issue 13, September 2006. Talking Tournaments... ABT and NSW ]

To view these articles and much more you can visit Shakespeare / Pflueger Australia at www.shakespeare.com.au

Book Review

Soft Plastics and How to Use Them by Steve Starling and Kaj Busch

A Hairtail that was caught during the day off the breakwall at Townsville Harbour. The lure is a chrome floater from Tropic Angler.

The book has a detailed look at soft plastics and how they are manufactured, along with an in-depth analysis of what makes a good soft plastic and how they work. To accompany this both Steve and Bushy have taken a thorough look at the selection of jig heads, hooks, weights and other accessories needed when fishing with soft plastics.

I have found that over the years that I have been reading and reviewing books that some of the writers have held back on the information that they have to put into the publication. This tends to leave many readers up in the air as to what type of tackle and techniques they should try when fishing for both salt and freshwater fish species in Australia when using soft plastics. If after reading this book from cover to cover and then reading it again and again, I found that when I picked it up again I found more information that would help me to improve when it comes to using soft plastics.

I would be very surprised that it has increase your knowledge and improved you catch rates when it comes to using soft plastics. A well done is in order to the AFN crew, Steve and Bushy for putting together a great book.

This book can be ordered from your local tackle shop. For information on the closest stockist to you contact AFN ON (03) 9761 4044, Email: Sales@afn.com.au or visit their web site: www.afn.com.au

FISHING CLASSES

I will be running fishing classes on "How, Where and When to fish the waterways of Sydney" from both the shore and the boat. The areas that I cover in these classes are the Port Hacking, Georges, Woronora, Parramatta, Lane and Iron Cove and the Hawkesbury Rivers, Middle and Sydney Harbours, the northern and southern beaches, as well as the Pittwater. The cost for three nights is $80 per person and you will need to get in quick as the classes fill up quickly.

These classes are held at the following tackle shops

• The next class to be held at Windybank's Bait and Tackle at 523 Pacific Highway at Colah (9477 1655) will start on Thursday the 25th of January 2007 at 7.00pm. So to secure your spot and guarantee that the class will run you will need to either book in or pay at the shop, send me an email at gbrown1@iprimus.com.au or ring me on 0422 994207. The cost will be $95.00 per person. This includes a fish barbeque.
• I am also going to start up fishing classes at Otto's Fishy Business at Drummoyne. They will be run on the weekend.
• Amazon Tackle and Bait at 1273 Horsley Drive at Wetherill Park (9757 4466) will be holding a free talk for members of the Amazon Fishing Tackle Club on Rock and Beach Fishing on Thursday the 15th of February 2007. I will be there, along with Alex Belissimo. There will be plenty of hands on demonstrations.

For further information on when they are running and to secure your spot and guarantee that the class will run you will need to either book in and pay at the shop or send me an email at gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

Gary Brown
Author of:

• Fishing Guide to Sydney - Hawkesbury
• Beach and Rock fishing Australia
• DVD - A Day on the Bay