After a bit of hiatus “Gone fishing with Jonno” is back for summer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
At the crack of dawn last Sunday morning I headed out with local news stinger Michael Pignataro in an effort to get him tight on to a big snapper. Greeted with calm conditions and warm water we started off fishing out wide, there was plenty of slimy mackerel around, but no snapper on the chew. We then slipped into one of my favourite inshore reefs that has produced some nice snapper this year.
With a berley trail going and some lightly weighted pilchards floating down it wasn’t long we hooked a solid snapper, which headed straight into the reef busting us off. Soon after we were on again with a solid snapper woofing down a bait and peeling off line. Luckily we were able to turn the head of this fish, landing a 5kg specimen. We lost a few other big snapper, those are the breaks when fishing shallow reefs for these awesome fish.
So if want to get some solid snapper target the inshore reefs, get a good berley trail going and use lightly weighed baits such as pilchards or strips of slimy mackerel.
Summer is a good time to be fishing for dusky flathead in the estuaries. There has been big flathead caught lately in St Georges Basin, mainly on lures. I encourage you to release bigger flathead as these are the breeding fish which ensure future fishing stocks.
NSW Fisheries has recently started a program using selected local anglers to tag “trophy” flathead in St Georges Basin to find out about their growth patterns and movements. Next week’s article will be a flathead special, with tips and tricks on catching them, plus how to handle them properly to maximise survival on release back into the water.
Bugs, beetles and cicadas are all part of summer and also part of the iconic sportfish, the Australian bass diet. The chirping of cicadas is music to a bass fisher’s ears as it means time to get out to do some serious early morning and late afternoon flicking for them on the rivers, streams and dams in the local area.
Bass fishing is great fun as they really smack surface lures cast underneath snags, around rock walls and weed beds up the river. The bass fishing is starting to fire up at the moment, particularly on the surface; there is nothing better than seeing a bass come up and smash a lure on top of the water. I like using imitation cicada lures, these range in price but the better quality ones do catch more fish.
Whiting have also come on the bite with plenty being caught using surface lures such as pencil poppers. An important trick when fishing for whiting on surface lures is not to pause your retrieve like you do when fishing for bream on the surface, maintaining a steady wind back is the key.
The “walking the dog” retrieve is very effective when surface fishing for whiting, getting the lure to move side to side on the surface. Target the sands flats, particularly where there’s some weeds around for some fun surface action and feed of whiting.
Tight lines.