Vile from the Nile 

  It has been dubbed the cane toad of the waterways and, having kept one in an aquarium, I can tell you it’s as noxious as fish come. But it’s nothing short of environmental sabotage that the Mozambique tilapia has escaped into Queensland rivers otherwise home to native barramundi. 
  Unbeknown to this writer when he purchased a tilapia from a retail aquarium supplier, the fish was introduced here illegally some 25 years ago. Then Queensland in its wisdom – or rather lack thereof – stocked the fish in its dams to control weeds and mosquitoes. 
  You see, the tilapia eats virtually anything and everything in its path and, being a mouth brooder, can multiply incredibly quickly, overrun native fish populations and eventually alter entire ecosystems. 
  To give you some idea of the reproductive powers of tilapia, Mirage Resort at Port Douglas stocked some half dozen fish in a pond on its golf course. Within just 18 months, after they poisoned the swarms of gurgling fish, a front loader removed 16 tonnes of tilapia. 
  It’s this scenario that has experts quaking in their boots now that the fish has spread from Queensland impoundments into the Burdekin and Ross rivers. Both waterways are famous for producing barra’ – or at least they were. 
  But Queensland apparently prides itself on environmental degradation as a result of stupid decision-making and subsequent mismanagement. Think cane toad. Of course, it’s also incumbent on hobby aquarists to keep their fish contained. Mine was eventually dispatched. 

Tough Times So Catch Your Own 

  It’s not quite The Great Depression, yet, but times are tough and, tellingly, the backyard veggie patch is back in a big way. Now experts are forecasting boom times ahead for recreational fishing, as battlers in the ’burbs strive to become more self-sufficient. 
  With local seafood hitting all-time high prices, fish eaters are catching their own. And while soaring fuel prices threaten the viability of some commercial fishing operations, there are many ways you can fish cost effectively and ensure there’s fish on the table. 
  Keep your hull bottom clean, keep your propellers in perfect condition, know the most economical revs of your engine, and drive smoothly. Better still, troll places instead of steam to the grounds, drift fish or swing on the anchor over a reef. 
  Of course, landlubbers need only cast a line from the beaches, estuary or harbour shores to catch a fish. Thankfully, the high Aussie dollar is keeping tackle prices down, but you can save some more by using the latest soft-plastic lures or catching and collecting your bait instead of buying it. 
  And don’t think for a minute that winter is the off-season. 
  Don the homespun woolly jumper and catch a feed of fish. Luderick – a sucker for a green-weed bait – are lining up along our estuary foreshores, bream are off the beaches, big tailor are taking lures trolled around the headlands, and leatherjackets are swarming on the reefs. 
  Fish by bag and size limits, take only as many as you can eat, and release the littlies to fight another day. But now’s the time to catch fresh fish and freeze some fillets for affordable mid-week family meals. And in so doing, you will save a packet on the weekly shopping bill. 

Try for a Trout 

  Many’s the time I have packed the freshwater fishing gear in the back of the 4WD, set the alarm for dawn and driven over the Great Divide to find the sun beaming, the rivers and creeks flowing freely, gin-clear water lapping at the lake shore, and freshwater fish for the frying. 
  While the NSW trout season closed at midnight on June 9 and won’t re-open until the October long weekend – to allow our stocks of browns, rainbows and brooks a chance to breed uninterrupted – the trout-filled dams remain open all year round. 
  What’s more, many of the biggest browns and rainbows are taken on baits soaked in places like Lake Jindabyne in winter. So pack your trout gear when you head to the slopes this winter. 
  The good news is that the future for trout fishing looks especially bountiful after the Department of Primary Industries stocked 2.5 million more trout into our freshwater fisheries this past year. 
  Trout fishing in the Snowy Mountains region alone is estimated to inject $70 million a year into the economy and support some 700 jobs. Not that Sydneysiders have to travel that far to catch a trout. 
  You will find trout in Tantangara and Talbingo Dams near Tumut, but also Oberon Dam near Bathurst, and Lake Wallace and Thompson’s Creek Dam near Lithgow. The latter is lure and fly only water. 
  Of course, you will need a freshwater fishing licence before you can wet a line. And you need to be aware of local rules. Fisheries officers will be out in force over winter. 
  But if you’re frustrated by the coastal weather, head west for a change of scenery. Stretch the legs, hike along the banks of a river or dam, spot cast as you go and look for feeding fish. 
  Pack a picnic lunch and enjoy the fresh mountain air and, hopefully, some oven-baked or campfire-cooked trout. And hot-smoked, it’s hard to beat. More clout to the trout. 

David Lockwood’s Guide to Fishing – July 

By any measure it’s been an extraordinary yellowfin tuna season. Whereas the fish were seemingly getting smaller and less common, this season the size has been up around the 45kg mark and there’s been plenty of even bigger fish. Why the turn around? Well, I would like to think the reduction in longlining has something to do with it. But only time will tell, as in nature there are cycles, dips and troughs, and explosions in stocks due to other influences. 
  Take the humble chinaman leatherjackets, for example. The fish used to be a mainstay for commercial fishers, especially those who trap, then they all but disappeared for a decade. That was, until the last few years when the fish has returned in plague proportions, snipping anything that passes their way including, get this, anchor ropes. 
  But for we fish eaters, the return of the yellowfin tuna and the sweet-eating leatherjackets has been welcome. Only La Nina is making the offshore fishing tricky and, need I remind you, we’ve some pretty treacherous seas this past month. 
  Before the big blow, anglers were locking horns with plenty of barrel-sized yellowfin tuna along the 100 fathoms line and out to Browns Mountain. I’m not sure what effect the latest low-pressure system will have on the fish, other than to say the tuna traditionally bite into late June and early July. 
  Meantime, those who like to plumb the 200-metre-plus depths will find superb fishing for blue-eye cod, gemfish, hapuka and bass grouper in July. Going one better, Sydney fishing and fish-forum regular Brett ‘Changa’ Chain boated a delicious opah or moonfish from Browns Mountain. The Grange Hermitage or Krug of fish. 
  But in July, you don’t need to travel 40km to find fish. Providing the seas are obliging, you should find plenty of opportunity to rustle up a feed in the 120-metre reefs, where the slowing current will make anchoring or drifting a great prospect. 
  Some nice snapper, morwong, long-finned perch and leatherjackets are hitting the deck already, while big kingfish have been keeping charter skippers busy off the Central Coast. City dwellers should try the 12 Mile behind The Peak. 
  The flathead drifts in 60 metres of water fire in winter, when the fish are fat and in peak pre-spawning condition. I’m not sure why, but often mako sharks accompany the flathead, taking their cut as you attempt to crank them to the surface. 
  Snapper, trevally, bream, tailor and big squid are more likely on the shallow reefs in around 40 metres of water. And while fishing reports are few and far between, trolling around the headlands has been yielding plenty of tailor. 
  Aussie salmon are becoming more common on the beaches and vast schools of the sports fish are bound to be sighted this month. 
  I have been witnessing some big explosions in North Harbour, presumably kingfish chasing bait, but these fish will become sluggish as the water cools some more. But fear not: there are some thumper bream about, and luderick are the salvation in our winter estuaries. 
  Trevally are starting to appear in good numbers, while John dory are bound to be lurking around our wharves, boat moorings and public wharves in July. And don’t forget, squid are a good backup feed. 
  Don the winter woollies and take a trip to the Hawkesbury River, especially the deep bays in adjoining Cowan Creek, such as Jerusalem, Akuna, Cottage Rock and Waratah, for a night session on the hairtail. Again, the fishing fluctuates depending on the season, but at least the school jewfish are a welcome by-catch. 
  But do consider heading west if the coastal weather is getting you down. A few hours drive from Sydney and you can be catching trout. And need I remind you that hot-smoked trout you have caught yourself is a real treat. 
  Going one better, we often stay at a local country pub, get the chef to cook our catch, and more than make up for it with the wine bill. Ah, winter, there’s much to enjoy, not least being some tasty fish for the frying. 

Contact this column at lockwood@intercoast.com.au 

Fishing Key — 

AS Australian Salmon 
Schooling fish that enjoys the cool winter waters. Troll minnow lures, cast small metal lures or saltwater flies, try soft-plastic lures and pitch live baits to the fish. Enjoy the sport of catching and Aussie salmon and keep one or two fish for a robust fish meal or the hot smoker. The fish doesn’t keep or freeze at all well. 

B Bream 
Berleying with chopped pilchard and floating lightly weighted pilchard fillets back into the berley using light tackle and fine line. Suitable method from both boat and shore. Hook size No 1 to 2/0. Or try using the latest soft-plastic lures jigged around the harbour wharves, jetties and rock walls on ultra-light flick sticks and 4kg braided line with a 4kg monofilament trace. 

JD John Dory 
A stealthy predator usually caught in ones and twos from the harbour’s deep holes and wharves where schools of yellowtail gather. Use a live bait suspended in mid-water under a bobby cork. Fights like a wet sock but taste incredibly good, though you get a small return in fillets. A real winter treat. 

LU Luderick 
Herbivorous, with a taste for green weed, luderick are one of the most common fish in temperate estuaries. They inhabit deep rocky shores, sidle-up to pylons and piers and school over seagrass beds. Suspend some green weed bait (collected from the rocks or around ocean pools) about three metres below a perfectly weighted float. Berley with chopped weed and sand. First hour of the run-out tide is best. Bleed the fish, fillet and skin them, and cook and serve as you do veal schnitzel. 

S Snapper 
Fish the inshore reefs in 30-50 metre of water with 6kg-10kg tackle. Anchor up and berley with chopped pilchards and chicken pellets. Drift a half pilchard bait on a 4/0 chemically-sharpened hook back down the berley, with a pea-sized running sinker or just enough lead for the bait to waft down to the bottom. Dawn and dusk is best. 

T Tailor 
An aggressive schooling fish, named for its ability to slash baitfish to ribbons, the tailor is a snap to catch. Troll or cast and retrieve lures around the schools of fish hunting around headlands and estuaries in winter. Or cast a pilchard from the shore or boat during the flood tide and at night around Sow and Pigs or The Spit. 

TR Trevally 
A soft-mouthed schooling fish that generally lays low in the water column. Use plenty of berley, light line and soft baits such as peeled prawn, tuna cubes or pilchard fillets. Drift the bait to the bottom on a 1/0 light-gauge hook. Go slow when fighting the fish or you will tear the hook from its mouth. Bleed and eat fresh.