Page 44 - Demo

Toby tangled with this jack and won, which is nev-
er easy with these tough river sh. Mud crabs are beginning to move just in time for Christmas.
OHpen borders bring town back to life
EAT, humid- been all but impos- river to Billinudgel, ity, mosquitoes sible over the past you’ll find North Coast biting, cicadas few weeks, with the Yamaha for chandlery
Tweed to Byron Bay
by GAVIN DOBSON
singing – this spells the current rarely drop- and boat bits and pieces
beginning of the man- grove jack and mud crab season to me.
and especially on a full moon when whit- ing and flathead get spooked easily.
Offshore the talk is all about mackerel.
ping below two knots, however this is what brings in our pelagic species.
that you may have for- gotten to pack.
There are a few mud crabs on the move now and the numbers will only improve as sum- mer progresses.
The rumour mill has been in overdrive since early November, with catches being reported at Palm Beach to the north and Woody Head to the south.
They’ve also got a great array of lures.
They are in varying degrees of fullness at the moment, with big rusty ones being caught and green empty ones as well.
By and large though, the deeper sections of the river will still hold good numbers of whit- ing this month.
As soon as the current starts to lick in a lit- tle closer, the mackerel will begin to appear.
As far as bait goes, fresh is best, but re- member if you are com- ing down from Queens- land that cast nets are illegal in NSW.
Chuck the lightweight green ones back and catch them again in a few months when they have filled out.
I’ve never caught too many jack by accident, over the years, they have usually been tar- geted catches.
It’s been an amaz- ing year for school mackerel, with fish be- ing caught in the river mouths and as far up as Chinderah in the Tweed.
With domestic travel high on everyone’s list these holidays, local fishing towns will re- ceive a much-needed economic boost.
In the river, yabbies are going to be hard to find but you’ll still find enough for a good ses- sion on the reliable sand banks.
With travel bans lifted and the Queensland border fully opened, I reckon the place is go- ing to go gangbusters these holidays.
Though we did score one up at Condong out over the sand while looking for whiting.
By the time this ar- ticle reaches you, it would be nice if a few spotted mackerel show up from the Brunswick to Black Rock – later in January is a better bet though.
Here in Brunswick Heads, you can call in and visit our tackle store right in the mid- dle of town opposite the bakery.
Beachworms have been in good numbers on both the north and south side of town if you are handy at catch- ing these yourself.
One thing that always amazes me is how boat traffic doesn’t seem to negatively affect the fishing too much.
As you can see in the picture, Toby was into them again and caught several nice trevally and a good jack.
They’ve got you cov- ered for all your bait and tackle require- ments, as well as beach gear and more.
Up in the shallows
can be a different story,
particularly at night
Page 44 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
Bottom fishing has
A short drive over the
Mangrove jack have been hooked in excel- lent numbers through- out the rivers recently.
Here in the middle though, there have only been a few little school mackerel.
Out wider around the 24-50 fathom range wa- hoo, tuna, mahi mahi and marlin will be trav- elling with the flow, so it might be worth troll- ing out there.
The tackle shop in town has vacuum-pack- aged whole mullet and fillets, Ballina prawns, Tweed Bait and live beachworms.
During the day a live bait is often a good option for jack, but at night they will readily take a fresh cut bait or a good quality pilchard.
Little black marlin are in the blue water out a little wider where the current has been raging.
Merry Christmas, happy new year and I hope you catch the fish you’ve been dreaming of these holidays. www.bnbfishing.com.au