Fish are feeding aggressively

CENTRAL COAST

Jamie Robley

Another first-class fishing month is upon us, and it’s possibly the peak of the entire local angling calendar.

aggressively over the coming weeks. This is especially the case with bream, as many of them feed heavily now, prior to heading towards the ocean for spawning in late autumn and winter.

So those of you who may like bridges, wharves and rock walls will definitely yield bream, whiting and flathead, with a chance of a jewie around Brisbane Waters.

Prawns, mud crabs and blue swimmer crabs will continue to be active this month. Tuggerah Lakes have been producing some good muddies in recent years. I don’t doubt that’s a result of a number of floods and all that rain we’ve had, in combination with the more open channel mouth at The Entrance.

As the nights become noticeably cooler, the ocean currents remain very warm at this time of year. One of the best aspects of rock and beach fishing right now is that you’ve still got the warm water currents and species hanging around, but the annoying north easterly winds tend to back off more. This allows us to fish more comfortably and effectively.

see sharks and rays as bait and time wasters.

The lakes have been full of bream in recent weeks. Although most are tiddlers, there have been plenty of average size fish like this. We can probably expect the same this month.

Of course, that may depend on personal preferences, but in reality, nearly all of the species you’re likely to encounter in this part of NSW are really on fire right now.

Unlike the previous few years, we’ve had something much closer to a ‘normal’ summer, which means estuary water temperatures and conditions have remained warm and favourable for most species. Our main warm water angling targets are bream, whiting and flathead, and all three have been around in good numbers, taking baits and lures. Unless it floods or some other disaster occurs, these species will be feeding be thinking about trying lures for bream, this is the month to do it. Surface lures, soft plastics, hardbody crankbaits or vibes will all get smashed. What will I be casting?

My bream arsenal over the coming weeks will mainly be Ecogear ZX30 vibes, Ecogear PX55 surface lures, 45 to 50mm surface poppers (a few different models) over the shallow flats and I’ll also be fly casting in the lower reaches of the creeks.

I would also highly recommend using top quality baits like local prawns, pink nippers, blood worms and fresh strips of garfish, tailor or mullet. Fishing at night with good bait around structure

With the warm water around, sharks and rays have been reasonably common along the beaches in recent weeks. Sure, sometimes it may be fun to hook into these critters, because it gives us a decent battle and may be particularly appealing to young anglers who enjoy the buzz of line being ripped off the spool. However, the more serious anglers after mulloway or tailor generally

Aside from that, we should be seeing an increase in numbers of tailor and bream in the coming weeks. A few mulloway have been caught on our beaches right through the warmer months, but normally they show up more as water temps just start to cool off a touch. In fact, all three species tend to kick in a bit more as we move into April and May, but I’d definitely be chasing them this month.

Bonito, kings, frigate mackerel and mac tuna should continue to move close in around our headlands and major rock fishing spots. Although each year can be different, I’d rate March pretty much the same as February when it comes to these pelagics along our part of the coastline.

Offshore anglers will also be relieved that the north easterlies are backing off a bit now and they don’t have to be at the ramp quite so early, due to the later sunrise times. This just makes things a whole lot easier, so you can concentrate more on fishing instead of beating the wind or beating into the wind!

We have an abundance of species worth chasing this month. Many offshore boats will still be sticking in close, chasing the same pelagics as the rock hoppers. However, there’s always a chance of marlin, close in or out wider. If weather and sea conditions are calm, staying out after sunset can also produce some good mulloway at this time of year, so keep that in mind.

As the days get shorter and the nights a bit cooler, we should see a few more mulloway turn up in the surf zone. This is only a small schoolie from Budgewoi, but there’s always a chance of a much bigger specimen in autumn.

All in all, regardless of exactly where you are fishing or what you’re chasing, the next few weeks should produce the goods, so get out there and enjoy the good times.