Date:
4/3/09
South Coast estuaries
Tuross: This place isn’t fishing well at all and I think a few factors are worth considering before we blame all the increased boat traffic it has received lately to why the fishing is so poor. Firstly the estuary has been closed for 6 months now. This in my books is no good for such a shallow system, the water temperature rises very quickly especially after a few warm days with little cloud cover. Our southern species are not use to 28-30 degree water and they can become sluggish even the whiting in the shallows. Secondly we need rain and lots of it soon. Estuaries need a flush every so often and this place is in desperate need of one. Sandbanks that are usually covered by water on high tides are now fully exposed full time. This is obviously no good for weed growth and its dying more and more as the dry days pass. These banks are starting to smell with rotting weed growth and it’s sad to see this beautiful and unique system dying before your eyes. The only thing that can fix it is RAIN so let’s hope for it real soon. Thirdly the dolphins. They have certainly made an impact on mullet stocks with the odd bream and whiting succumbing to their food intake. I don’t really think they are doing too much to fish stocks, but what they do, is scare the pants out of other species like bream, whiting and flathead. These estuarine species are not use to 3 x 150kg mammals roaming there territory and if I had something 150 times my size in my dining room I’d have second thoughts about eating to!
This place will bounce back for sure in time, its one of my favorite haunts but it won’t be seeing me for a little while yet. Sure if you work hard you will still get some quality fish but it is certainly a hit and miss affair at the minute.
Narooma: It to has been a little hard but the hard yard fishos are doing ok. Over the last week there’s been good flathead to 80cm, mulloway, bream and whiting especially on surface lures but fishing the right times and tides is paramount. Last week we managed some cracking days on the whiting and bream and a beaut 6kg jewie on plastic on Wednesday. The lower section has seen bream, trevally and whiting in the channels with bait fishos doing well.
Merimbula/Pambula: Both these estuaries are fishing well for all estuarine species with flathead dominating. Fish to 90cm have been landed on both plastics and bait. There have been good whiting in the shallows with a few bream to. Run-out tides have been best to fish with the saying no run no fun a certain factor to catch rates.
See you on the water
Stuart Hindson
Aussie Fish Estuary Adventures
Mob: 04000 62504
www.ausfishing.com.au