Page 46 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing magazine

SWarmer weather fires up river species
PRING has cer- a bit of ground because With the water qual- tainly kicked into bream will be moving ity being fairly good gear on the north upriver and will be fair- at present, I would be
Ballina Bait & Tackle
by BRETT HYDE
coast. ly spread out too. sticking to more natural
You can always tell when summer is just around the corner be- cause without fail, we see lovely calm morn- ings followed by con- sistent northerly wind in the afternoons.
the past month.
This has helped a
have been landed be- tween Pimlico Island and Broadwater of late, but we should start to see a few in North Creek as well very soon.
A couple of species that don’t seem to have responded as quickly to the improvement in water temperature are whiting and mud crabs.
colours, unless we get a significant amount of rain in the very near future and water qual- ity drops.
It happens with amaz- ing regularity, and I guess the only thing to be happy about is that there are no boxes of chocolates or surprises here ladies and gentle- men – you know ex- actly what you’re going to get.
The main beneficiaries of the warmer weather have been the flathead.
We have had many lovely warm days, but these have been fol- lowed by a few cool evenings, so I don’t think it is time to pack the hoodies and jump- ers away just yet.
The warmer condi- tions pushed a few of them into slightly deeper water, which has meant several of the lure brigade have had better success us- ing heavier jigheads, as well as vibes and metal blades.
The water quality from Wardell to Rileys Hill has been slightly murky, though this hasn’t seemed to put bream off their food at all – it has meant that any bait with plenty of smell has worked a lit- tle better than others.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are whit- ing and crabs to be caught, but they are certainly not setting the world on fire.
Not to mention the
Mullet fillet and pil- chard have been the best bait to use, particu- larly during the run-out tides.
I am pretty confident that next month I can give you a very dif- ferent report on these species, and I would certainly get your crab gear ready and sharpen your whiting hooks, so you are prepared when they do show up.
Brighter colours have been working a lit- tle better lately, but I would make sure you have a mix of colours with you, in case you have a cloudy or over- cast day the next time you are out.
fact that we have not
Pilchard, mullet and chicken or mullet gut
even seen the start of
the rainy season that
number of species in the river and has fired up prawns and other food sources as well.
As you would expect at this time of the year, luderick have dropped off in numbers, but bream have still been quite solid, with quality fish showing up from time to time around the break walls, with the bulk of fish between the ferry and Broadwater.
I do suspect that the less than stellar numbers of each of these around at present is more an in- dication of the smaller tides we have at this time of the year, rather than the warmer water tem- perature.
Offshore has re- sponded rather well to the increase in water temperature too, with good numbers of mahi mahi currently hanging around the fish aggre- gating device.
We have continued to see better numbers of this species in the lower reaches of the river re- cently.
As you would expect, plenty of fish have been landed on live bait, though a few have taken a liking to skirt- ed lures being trolled around fairly slowly, as well as several smaller soft plastics and vibes.
BALLINA
awaits us. The warmer condi- have all been producing
The warmer days have tions have also encour- fish in these areas. meant the water tem- aged trevally to come Concentrate your ef-
With the lack of rain, bass seem to have moved further up the river over the past month.
We have still seen reasonable numbers of snapper on the close reefs, but as each day goes on the numbers appear to be dwindling.
BAIT & TACKLE
rock
Page 46 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, November 2020
perature has jumped up out of hiding. forts along the
a couple of degrees over The better numbers walls and try to cover
Ballina West Shopping Centre Paci c Hwy, Ballina NSW
02 6686 2527
The better numbers of fish seem to be from Swan Bay to Coraki and beyond in both di- rections.
I’m not sure if this is from fish moving out to deeper water or because there are less boats fishing in close at this time of the year.
Warmer weather has meant that a number of fish have come on sur- face lures from poppers or frogs, to fizzers and stickbaits.
The 32-fathom line has been producing quality tuskfish, flat- head and snapper.
As is usually the case, this has either been early morning or late afternoon.
And with the cur- rent remaining steady, better fish have come on live bait, as well as Daiwa Kohga Bayrub- ber Free jigs or octo jigs in brighter colours.
And as the morning goes on, it’s worth try- ing Z-Man ChatterBaits or spinnerbaits.
* continued P47 www.bnb shing.com.au