One of the things I love about fishing with lures is the hunt. Trying to work out where the fish are going to be and why. Coastal lakes and rivers are big places and to cover them effectively with lures could take hours or even days. Throw in the variables of tides, cloud cover, recent rain, time of day and…
Tag: flathead
Tournament time – a litmus test for us anglers
The annual Tuross flathead and bream tournament is just around the corner. Never heard of it? That’s understandable. This tournament on the south cost of NSW is a relatively low-key event run by the local fishing club to increase visitation to the small town of Tuross during non-peak periods. There are a stack of rods, reels, lures, an electric motor…
The best estuary fishing spots in south-east New South Wales
As keen anglers we are frequently asked for advice on where to go to find a decent coastal fishing spot within 2-3 hours drive from Canberra. As many of you will know, it’s both an easy and a difficult question to answer, because pretty much any beach, rock formation, estuary or coastal river will produce good (or terrible) fishing at…
Back to basics – bait fishing off the beach
I spent the long weekend at Arugunnu, a campground in the Mimosa Rocks National Park on the far south coast of NSW. It is a special place for me, as it’s where I caught my first fish and spent a lot of time camping with my family as a kid. The thing I notice most when I get close is…
Rediscovering the NSW south coast estuaries; Merimbula lake fishing report
Down in numbers, but all of good size – early spring fishing in Merimbula lake What a treat to be able to spend the labor day long weekend down on the NSW south coast at Merimbula. Our extended family had gathered to celebrate the old man’s 70th birthday and accordingly we had splurged on some nice cabins and were treated…
Tuross Flathead and Bream Comp 2016
After the enjoyment of the 2015 Tuross Flathead and Bream comp, in which a few mates enjoyed considerable success, to say the anticipation around the 2016 competition was high would be an understatement. However, all the reports were that the fishing had been tough at Tuross, and they weren’t wrong. Graz and I were lucky enough to arrive on the…
Seals, spiky fish, salmon, surf and sun; A weird and wonderful weekend at Wallaga
Winter is over folks! I’m happy to call it. I spent nearly all of last weekend on the south coast of NSW in board shorts and thongs – and at last count I still have ten fingers and ten toes. With another winter behind us it’s time to cast our minds (and our lures) forward to 9 glorious months of…
Estuary fishing in winter – find one fish, find em all
Pick the right day and a fishing session on the NSW south coast in the middle of winter can be a beautiful thing. Pick the wrong day and you will wonder why you ever left the comfort of the leather recliner – you know the footy is on right? Fortunately the human brain, or perhaps just an overly-keen angler’s brain,…
Sand flathead basics
I’m not big on meat fishing. My fly fishing addiction means that most of the time, I’m more than happy to go fishless, as long as I’ve got the long wand in my hand. In Eden though, getting dinner is always part of a day out on the boat. After a number of years, me and dad have come to…
Red rock cod, ocean perch and leatherjacket – the neglected reefies
It’s common when we’re fishing inshore to get fixated on so called ‘desirable’ species; the sand/tiger flathead and snapper, and to a lesser extent, redfish (nannygai) and blue morwong. However, a number of the other species we wind up from the depths seem to be neglected by anglers, either because they are perceived as rubbish fish or are seen to…
Worth their weight in salt – highlights from the estuaries in 2014
Nostalgia is a wonderful thing isn’t it? It was while looking back through the images and articles of 2014 for this weeks newspaper column that I realised just how much fun we’ve had this year fishing the estuaries. They never cease to amaze for the quality and diversity of fish on offer. As a young fella starting to learn about…
The Southern Australia mixed dozen challenge
Spoilt for choice How many amazing fishing options do you have within 2 or 3 hours drive from your front doorstep? Can you count them? Could you fish them all in a weekend? With the exception of Dan in the top end, the rest of us at Flick and Fly call south east Australia home. From here we can fish…