The autumn fishing is on fire

Anthony Stokman

Last year it looked as though we were in for an uncertain summer due to all the rain, but then the heavens cleared and summer ramped up and turned on the goods. This set the stage for a potentially great autumn, and that’s exactly what happened. Now we are starring down the barrel of a fantastic April.

March couldn’t have been any better, with bass upstream being readily available, estuaries alive with flathead, bream, mulloway and prawns to feed on, not to mention all the other species such as trevally, flounder, tailor that come with such abundance.

If there was anything are seeing dolphinfish (mahimahi) and also marlin, usually small blacks, coming in and chasing the bait in the snapper grounds.

Moving out from the snapper grounds and to the FAD, we have plenty of dollies, and beyond that are all the beakies! This season we have a good amount of black marlin, stripes and blues. And if you are out chasing blues then we have a special surprise for you: yellowfin tuna. After a great introduction of yellowfin tuna 3-4 years ago during our winter and spring seasons, we are now seeing big models as early as March this year! Big yellowfin during marlin season – what on earth is going on!

I don’t know about you, but it makes me a little nervous… I have that ‘too good to be true’ feeling. The hundreds to thousands of sharks cleaning up all the bait in massive feeding frenzies.

Until these things have happened, you can go out and enjoy your marlin fishing. There usually is a break in between marlin and tuna fishing, but over the last few years tuna have been making a big comeback, so instead of going into depression in between bites, we now could have yellowfin available. Some of the commercial boats and even rec boats scored in March this year. If we were to have an early start to the tuna season, and with bluefin coming June, July, September with albacore sprinkled in throughout, then that would be amazing.

Fishing in a bit closer from the FADs to the inshore reefs has also been on fire. It has been a very consistent mahimahi run; they have been commonly found at the FADs in great numbers and have also ventured in along the snapper grounds when the water favours it and there is plenty of bait. Dream inshore reef fishing days is when you can troll past some headlands and pick up some bonnies, maybe a king, then go out and micro jig up some big snapper in 60-100m, then troll some lures out there and pick up some dollies, while watching small black marlin harass the bait or maybe even catch the marlin. These are the kind of things happening at the moment. The fishing is excellent.

With things this red hot, it’s no wonder our ledges are lit up, and the action looks set to continue into April. You really don’t need much to get in on the action when there are plenty of bonito around. You just need a few metals and a rod and reel, and it’s as simple as that. Then, go to a ledge or headland that has a greater chance of success – obviously ledges more inside mouths or estuaries have less chance of schools swimming by, so look for ledges with more ocean. Then cast and spin.

The fish you’ll encounter the most is the bonito, and you can also expect mac tuna, kings, salmon, tailor, frigate mackerel and Watsons leaping bonito. If you are lucky, you might catch a longtail tuna. If you’re even luckier, you might catch a yellowfin tuna.

Bretto and the boys on Opportunatee scored some nice fin whilst missing or not as prominent, it would be mud crabs and blue swimmers, but I expect that to change next season as more El Niño influence takes place.

The rock fishing or fishing from the ledges is on fire, with pelagics such as bonito, mac tuna, longtails, frigate mackerel and kingfish – or, if you are very lucky, yellowfin tuna. Yes, tuna from the ledges! That’s how good things are now.

Out from the ledges, the boaters are enjoying catching plenty of flathead and snapper. The snapper grounds are experiencing a lot of pelagic activity also, with bonito and kings chasing the bait. On better than usual days with good water and lots of bait, we way things are looking at this stage, the tuna season is starting before the marlin season has ended, a bit like the old days. Let’s break this down.

We can safely say there have been no strong signs of marlin season slowing down just yet, although if we start to see red algae and green toads showing up in April, things will slow down from there. However, while ever this current is raging down with hot water, there is more of a chance of seeing wahoo or a Spanish mackerel. We had a couple of wahoo caught during March, and if the hot water continues that can happen again this April.

And as the marlin season does slow down and come to an end, we usually see

Because bonito will be jumping on your hook most of the time, I’ll give you some tips on looking after it for the table. Make sure you take ice or, even better, a frozen water bottle (or just put water in an empty plastic bottle and freeze it). Wrap it up in a towel and bring plastic bags for the fillets. This is a must to keep the bonito flesh firm; once the bonito flesh gets warm and goes mushy, it is ruined.

After you have caught your bonito, bleed them in a fresh saltwater pool, and take off the fillets. Place the fillets in the plastic bag you brought with you, and then roll them up inside a towel with your frozen water bottle. When you get home in the kitchen, you’ll find the flesh is cold and firm, making it easy to cut and skin. Cut the centre bones and bloodline out, then slice off the skin and cut the flesh into chunks.

You can sashimi bonito, provided you add soy and/ or wasabi. Bonito on its own has an aftertaste, and soy and wasabi will cut that aftertaste out.

To cook, I like to flour, egg and then crumb bonito with chopped parsley, grated lemon zest and chilli flakes in the mix. Cook until brown on each side, and you have a winner recipe.

If you want flathead or bream on your table, you can’t go wrong in the estuary this month. The rivers and lakes all up and down the south coast have been on fire, and this will continue.

I expect prawns to continue, which will keep families out at night chasing them, and also provide plenty of food for the fish.

Whiting have been hit-andmiss, but like everything else I expect them to be around for some time yet.

With the change of water and clearer patches of water, there have been more squid getting around. This should continue and even improve coming more into autumn.

Mulloway and sharks at night will be on the cards for some anglers, and these species won’t disappoint at this time of the year, especially the sharks. There are plenty of them.

Finally, if you are going bush and chasing bass, the cicadas are out so you’ll want to tie on an imitation surface lure. It will get smashed.

All in all, autumn is usually a pretty reliable time of the year, but this year particularly good.

• For more up-to-theminute information on what’s biting where, drop into Compleat Angler Batemans Bay and have a chat to Anthony or one of the other friendly staff. They’re located at 65A Orient St, Batemans Bay (02 4472 2559).