Enjoying cool, crisp days fishing in Batemans Bay

Anthony Stokman

Being a Game of Thrones fan, I always say “winter is coming” as if I’m Jon Snow, and when winter comes, so do the tuna. It feels like only yesterday I was writing about tuna, and the funny thing is, I probably was – I’ve been mentioning them all year because there have been a lot of tuna species around. But the one species we are all here for and the reason why we bought a boat, is because of the granddaddy of tuna, the one and only yellowfin!

Now before we get too excited, let’s look at past seasons. Over the last few years we have had amazing winters with yellowfin, but prior to that there have been a few decades of drought, with only the odd 60kg fish getting caught here and there. What makes me hopeful this sauries they are feeding on, would make sense. So far, casting stickbaits seems to be getting the most strikes.

There are a lot of stickbaits on the market these days, and pretty much every fisho has bought one of all of them, and probably too many! Here are some of the once that have worked for me.

I’ll start with Maria lures, which smashed the bluefin when they came back on strong about 10 years ago. Maria makes the Loaded, Legato and Rapido, all made in Japan and have a shine that would blind you and divert any yellowfin away from a saury school. They swim beautifully and ooze quality, and have a price tag of $40-$50.

Next, we have the Tackle House Calypso, made in Japan again. It swims like a dream. Put your rod tip down and wind and sweep, or stab as you wind her in, and you can’t take your eyes off her as she swims back towards you. It’s priced at $60 to $70, but that’s still half the price of some lures that do the same or less.

Live mullet is a common bait choice, but it’s fresh squid strips that do the damage. The preferred time to fish is either side of the new or full moon into tide changes, and the actual change.

Focussing on ‘jewie holes’ was once a thing, and deep holes where the fish lay low were often targeted. However, anywhere out of the current has potential, like at the back of an eddy or behind a bridge pylon.

These situations can be in at a repeat of last year, which would mean good numbers of salmon and massive tailor.

The biggest tailor caught last year (that I know of) was Jacob Poyner’s ripper that went 96cm. With the amount of 60cm+ ones being caught lately, it seems like things are warming up and we could experience a run as good as last year’s.

After a great run in the estuary over the last six months, it’s time to look back on what good times we winter is we have seen goodsize yellowfin, and schools of them lingering around over the warmer months. So, as winter begins and we move into the tuna months, let’s hope they will return in good numbers again.

I expect everyone with the same tricks up their sleeve this winter. I prefer to troll Trophy Hunter Profidgies (once known as Bluewater Livies) with a stickbait rod in hand. Some boats will persist with trolling skirts and hardbodies and sometimes they will catch good fish, but for some reason the Profidgies seem to be more successful.

Some boats have given away trolling altogether or in intervals when fish can’t be spotted. If fish are around and there are visual signs of them, you can pull up the lures and cast at them when you get the chance to. This can be a cat-andmouse game as you chase them all over the ocean as they chase the sauries. Using a shiny lure, the size of the

Then there is the Sea Falcon Saury. It too is made in Japan, handmade and is the top of the line of stickbait. This guy comes in a few sizes, and uses the shiniest of materials. It is designed to cast far, and swims like a dream. There is very little effort to make this lure perform, and with any added sweep or stab it reacts with a beautiful natural zigzag glide. These guys are top shelf, and their price tag reflects this, with prices ranging from $100 to $150.

Offshore the warmer water is now retreating more north and taking the other gamefish with it. If you’re not chasing swords, the only other option offshore is deep dropping.

Deep dropping or bottom fishing offshore with electric reels has become as popular as fishing for flathead with a paternoster rig. It seems everyone is fishing every which way possible these days, and if you have a boat, why not? Offshore bottom fish are great on the plate, and can come in all sizes, from small ocean perch through to big blue-eye trevalla, hapuka, ling, gemfish, bar cod and other large species. The slower winter currents will favour this fishing. We have already seen some good catches, and this should continue.

INSHORE

Inshore reef fishing has been seeing some large snapper caught, and the odd boat has also been catching good numbers of spawning mulloway. At the end of summer and into autumn we see mulloway spawning in numbers and in separate schools out in the snapper grounds, and every now and then a boat parks on top of them by accident and gets the surprise of catching mulloway one after the other. This rare phenomenon only happens during this window, so by the time you read this it may be over.

During autumn the mulloway come out along the beaches chasing the mullet, and they’ll still be around this month. They are also found out the front of the estuaries and lurking further upstream.

shallow water and not just holes, so think outside of the box as these fishy weapons move around in all waters and move in a way to conserve energy.

The most popular bread-and-butter species coming into winter would be the drummer. There is an abundance of drummer along our coastline, and targeting them is a sensible choice over the winter months. Nothing has changed in regard to catching this species – a cooked prawn or freshlyharvested cunje is still the go for these guys, along with a handful of moist, sandy bread for berley every 10 minutes. You can expect the odd grouper or bream to turn up as bycatch.

Along the beaches, the mullet were thick during autumn coming into winter, and the salmon and tailor have been picking up in numbers and sizes. The way it’s going, we may be looking had, with big crocs, loads of bream and all of the other species that make summer, summer. Water temperatures are now dropping, but the flathead are available if you look hard enough. The bream are difficult though, and the conditions are hard and cold. Still, the estuary isn’t as busy as it is in summer, and although it’s cold, it still has its beauty and is a great place to cast a lure.

Other than that, it’s a great time of the year to travel and get away from the cold to travel to locations like Weipa, Exmouth or Kimberley to experience what our amazing country has to offer.

• For more up-to-the-minute 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).