Illawarra

ILLAWARRA Greg Clarke

It’s been trying over the past few months with all these lockdowns and restrictions in place. You can only fish alone or with immediate family you live with, and you can only fish your very immediate local government area. I am lucky in that I live only a few minutes from the boat ramp and have great beaches and rock ledges right at my doorstep. Any estuary fishing is out though because they are beyond my allowed travel distance, so any trips to the lake or Minnamurra are on hold at the moment.

A lot of western Sydney people fish in the Illawarra these days, so you would think it would be quiet on the water with fewer people about but not so; there were droves of anglers from the west descending on the area in defiance of the lockdown rules and packing the boat ramps most with 3-4 anglers in each boat. You get to know the regulars who fish certain areas and where they come from, and this obvious flouting of the rules is pretty poor and not going to get us moving again.

For those who can get out and about there are schools of salmon working the surface all along the coast from north of Stanwell park into the Nation Park

It is a good time for fly rod beginners to get a few fish too, as they are packed in large schools and feeding so enthusiastically that they will allow you to get in very close and often surround the boat when you stop to cast.

These schools are not just salmon, with plenty of trevally travelling underneath grabbing any baitfish that make a dive for freedom. To catch these, it is simply a matter of allowing your lure to sink under the salmon and jig it back to the surface in short erratic jerks.

Try not to let the lure get too close to the bottom to avoid the obvious snags, but also the Sargent Baker that seem to be under the schools in great numbers. They are bommies around the area.

There are often a few straggler sambos lurking in the white water along with the odd tailor. Pilchards on ganged hooks work well in this situation, as do small pieces of pilchard on single hooks.

These will not only pick up salmon and tailor, but will also score bream and trevally. If you have a few prawns handy they work well in the same situation, attracting the attention of some extra-large drummer at this time of the year.

Still around the islands, and at Bass Point it is always worth the time to pick up a few live yellowtail or slimies before heading out because there are often a few yellowtail kings about under the salmon. These predators can’t resist a live bait cast into the surface activity and you will score the biggest salmon in the school on the livies. They are feeding on tiny baitfish, but a slightly larger live bait struggling in the mix always attracts attention.

While all the surface action is going on, the fish that dwell closer to the bottom are getting a move on too. There are still a few snapper about if you put in the time and a bit of berley. They are out in the 30-60m water depth now with fewer fish over the shallow reefs. If you do berley the closer reefs you are more likely to get a feed of trevally, as they still seem to be almost everywhere at the moment.

Flathead catches are starting to improve slowly, and next month should see them start to increase in size and numbers as we head into the warmer weather. At the moment there are enough out there for a feed if you work at it.

No doubt those chasing the flatties will run into a few hook-stealing barracouta, as will the lure casters chasing the salmon. They fight alright on light line and aren’t that bad on the plate if you don’t mind picking through bones.

Mowies are in the spotlight at the moment as some good catches of these popular fish have been made in recent weeks. Prawns and squid strips seem to be the preferred baits. Using these baits you also stand a good chance of scoring a few succulent black-spot pigfish, which have been about in good numbers of late.

There are still quite a few leatherjackets over the reefs, along with the good old ever-reliable sweep and some good-sized calamari squid over the close-in shallow reefs during the early mornings and late in the evening.

If you are putting a little

There are still a few snapper around on the local reefs if you put in the time.

That said, it is sad to see over the past months the hub of virus lockdown has been western Sydney, with lockdowns and travel restrictions as the cases exploded in the area. area, with the islands at Port Kembla and Bass Point around the crank shaft area putting on good shows of fish regularly. Remember small lures are a must for consistent results. more than willing to grab a passing lure.

If the surface action slows or the fish become too finicky as the sun gets higher, it is time to throw a few baits into the washes and bit of berley out over the next few months in the hope of a snapper or a few trevally, particularly over the deeper reefs, don’t be too surprised when the little makos start showing up at the back of the boat as it is that time of the year again. Remember they are very powerful and if handled carelessly and not treated with respect by inexperienced anglers it could lead to some grief, but I suppose it’s one way to get experience. Every year someone has the inside of their boats trashed when they gaff a little mako swimming in the berley and drag it straight into the boat. A mako may look small in the water but a 25-40kg specimen pulled straight into the boat can do some serious damage to any gear within reach of its thrashing tail, and the pointy end is a weapon too. Anything over 40kg needs respect. If you don’t want them around, a bonk on the nose with the blunt end of the gaff usually sends them packing.

It could be worth a trip to the shelf to have a look for yellowfin tuna and albacore. There have been a few small fish about and a few better fish usually show up this month. While there were some great fish about at the start of winter, we pretty much missed the southern blues due to lockdown restrictions, so the best bet is to keep your ears open for any reports and then make a trip at the earliest possible convenience.

Gemfish should be about on the canyons off Kiama and Stanwell park, so if the tuna don’t show a bit of deep dropping might save the day.

Back on the beaches, things are slowly coming out of hibernation as a few bream, tailor and salmon start to show an interest in pilchards and cut fish baits on the southern beaches. The northern beaches have been a bit on the quiet side.

The odd mulloway is about but they too are a bit patchy at the moment. They should start to increase in numbers towards the end of the month, particularly down around the southern end of Coniston Beach.

The rocks are quiet with a few trevally, bream and drummer in the washes and a few salmon and more trevally on the deeper ledges, enough for a feed anyway.

In the lake there are still some good bream to be had in the feeder streams, and judging by the numbers of people in yaks working these small waters with lures during the day on weekends, there must be a few fish about. For better results it could be worth spending time catching a few live prawns in the evening if there are any about, and cast them into the snags.

Towards the end of this month we should see a few flathead start to show up in both the lake and Minnamurra, along with a few whiting. There could even be a few early prawns to feed the bream. That’s something to think about, while there are still a lot of nice blackfish along the weed beds in both estuaries taking both worms and weed.

That’s it for another month. There is enough action around to keep the keen anglers busy and the not-sokeen interested and ready for next month’s kick-start into the warmer weather.

By far the most prolific species this month is the silver trevally.