Page 47 - Demo

Headland action heats up, offshore set to fire
* from P46
a huge fish that even- tually broke off along the rocks, which goes to show you can still have a great night angling without actually land- ing a fish.
in length, many are in very poor condition.
will be taken here at Iluka – as long as La Niña holds off and we aren’t in flood by then.
first thing I have to do is get my ‘tuck n roll’ down pat, so I can find my way off the lounge and finally go fishing – oh decisions, decisions.
and if you enjoy a feed of crab there should be a few blue swimmer crabs around as well.
Fishers have taken similar sized fish on the Iluka breakwall using fresh squid, as well as at the southern end of the bluff on minnow lures.
I have found this to be common during sum- mer, as the fish are in a recovery mode after spawning during win- ter, and more often than not on gutting the fish, they are full of shell grit and crushed barna- cles, and smell like no tomorrow if you acci- dently puncture the gut.
The upside to flood- ing is that the pelagic species will go off the bite only for a short pe- riod, but jewfish fishing will be great.
In a nutshell, January should see great off- shore fishing for snap- per, jewfish and spotted mackerel, while jew, tailor and turrum will be taken from the head- lands on lures.
Along the breakwalls, use octopus during the day on a high tide and live yakka or mullet at night – or even a nice whole or stripped squid for the jew of your dreams.
I haven’t picked up a rod for the past two months, however I have tagged along with my son Mischa and his girlfriend Rebekah when they chased a feed of flathead at night on lures.
Luderick are another species that move back out of the estuaries to around the breakwalls and headlands during summer, and hordes of these bronzed critters can often be seen in the waves around the rocks.
If I had a choice, I would take a good dry pelagic season because it only lasts for four months of the year on the far north coast of NSW, while jew can be taken year-round.
Inside the rivers, whit- ing and flathead will continue to dominate catches, along with the occasional school jew,
Surely 2021 has to be an improvement on 2020, so do your darnedest, get out there and make it happen.
Having said that, the
Until next month, safe fishing.
Tailor have been messing around recent- ly – one day at the Iluka Bluff you almost get tired of catching them on metal slugs, then for the next week or so you can barely scratch up a feed regardless of what lure you throw.
During the last week of November, the first handful of spotted mackerel were boated in the warm shallow water off Woody Head by those who went looking for them, but I must point out that there were only a hand- ful.
Inside the mighty Clarence River, whiting and flathead continue to dominate catches, which is to be expected during summer, with both species being tak- en from most vantage points.
Having said that, the run will be in full swing at the end of Decem- ber and early January, which is news I love to hear because it means we’re only a month or so from the start of the land-based season, when nice longtail tuna and spanish mackerel are taken off our head- lands and breakwall.
Yamba boatie Guy Hemers travelled 40km offshore and landed his nice mar- lin. Guy was over the moon to nally land the sh of his dreams.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021 – Page 47
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I know I may sound like a cracked record, but I much prefer to fish for whiting at night.
I’ve found a much bet- ter class of fish plus both boat traffic and angler numbers dimin- ish dramatically, which makes for better fish- ing.
Those wanting a head start, can get in early and fish for spaniard off the south wall at Ballina during the Aus- tralia Day long week- end – when the first fish of the season was almost always taken in the 1980s.
Quite a few large bream can be had by floating a white pil- chard or prawn around the wash off the head- lands when sea condi- tions allow, however while they’ve been long www.bnbfishing.com.au
In early February, the rocks around 12m at Evans Head will come alive, and by the end of February the first fish