Abuzz with the epic run of mulloway

Rob

Taylor

You only have to step outside to know that we are well and truly heading into winter. At the time of writing, a cold snap has bedevilled our part of the coast, and temperatures have plummeted. Despite this, ocean water mackerel and there’s been some good red fishing on both plastics and baits. The bigger fish are moving onto the shallow reefs and their numbers should improve as we move into winter proper.

There has also been some epic mulloway fishing of late, with both the beaches and offshore reefs offering up some solid jewfish. Braving cold, early starts has resulted in silver slabs for those anglers keen to get stuck into them. The creeks and rivers are starting to slow as the water cools, but we can expect to see bream and blackfish numbers start to improve.

Let’s take a look at what we can expect on the Coffs coast for June.

With the cooler water we can expect to find flathead and whiting harder to come by, although if you choose your tide and time of day you will still be able to find lizards up on the flats as they seek out shallower water to sunbake in.

Bream should be starting to build their numbers in the creeks and rivers, particularly around rock walls and river mouths, so baits and small soft plastics will be the go if you’re chasing bream.

Luderick numbers should also start to improve this month. Look to rock walls, bridge pylons and marinas if you’re keen to catch some blackfish. If the swell is up, protected waters are the place to find fish for sure, but just be careful collecting your weed.

In the freshwater, we’re now in bass closure season so bass are no-take to allow them to complete their annual spawn unmolested. There’s a bit of time left before the trout closure takes effect, and there has been some surprisingly good trout fishing up in the New England area, so get up into the hills and chase a few before the season ends.

With a solid mullet run underway, the talk of the town has been the epic run of mulloway fishing we’ve been experiencing off the rocks and beaches. I’d expect this to continue well into June and July, so now is the time to brave the cold and temperatures remain relatively warm, so we should still have another month or so left on the pelagic run. The end of June usually signals the end of mackerel fishing for the Coffs Coast.

Speaking of mackerel, they have been surprisingly patchy of late. There have been some solid Spanish and good numbers of spotties getting about, but you need to be on the right spot as they’re not widespread. Finding them has proven frustrating. Thankfully we’ve seen a solid start to the snapper season to compensate for the lack of hit the local headlands and beaches if you want to mix it up with these iconic fish.

Anglers are using both baits and lures to find mulloway, with hardbodies and big plastics taking their share of fish. There are few things more exciting than feeing the distinctive thud of a big jewfish hitting a slow retrieved lure.

Longtail tuna have been patchy like the mackerel. Some days off the rocks we have seen plenty of fish, and then they seem to simply shut down and we can’t turn a reel. There are still plenty of fish to the south, so they should remain a viable target throughout June.

The good news is that between longtail bites there will be some great wash fishing for drummer and tailor. Now is certainly a favourite time to be off the rocks.

OFFSHORE

As mentioned, the mackerel have been strangely patchy of late but they will still be worth chasing throughout June. I tend to find that the offshore