David LockwoodFishing with David Lockwood 

Elite catch all the Fish

  If the preliminary results of the Surveys of Recreational Anglers and Spearfishers are to be believed, you would be better off shopping at your fishmonger than casting a line. But wait, there’s a catch.
  Headed by Dr Aldo Steffe from Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre, the $2.2 million study – with $1.2 million courtesy of the fishing licence trust fund – analysed anglers’ catches from Newcastle through Long Reef to the Illawarra.
  The initial premise was to collect “before” information in case of the creation of regional marine parks. This could then be compared with “after” fish-population surveys.
  Steffe says there was a lot of aggressive behaviour during their fieldwork and even death threats due to the heated marine park debate. Apparently, some anglers mistakenly took his team for a green group.
  The two-year survey starting in March 2007 was conducted at boat ramps, but hard-fished Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay weren’t included due to the cost of covering them. Boats heading back to marinas and moorings also escaped the survey.
  Still, there’s a lot of interesting data in hand and the preliminary results from the first year are fascinating.
  In the Hawkesbury River estuary, for example, 4,807 anglers were interviewed, revealing 6,855 legal fish and crabs in hand for an average of just 1.42 fish and/or crabs per head. Hardly worth celebrating. Unsurprisingly, the top three species were bream (27.6 per cent of the catch), dusky flathead (23.3 per cent) and blue swimmer crabs (5.8 per cent).
  Similar low catch rates were recorded at other survey sites. And previous surveys from Lake Macquarie found 40 per cent of boat-based fishing trips return with zip.
  What’s the story? It all gets back to the old adage that 10 per cent of anglers catch 90 per cent of the fish.
  “But anglers shouldn’t be discouraged. There are fish to be caught. You just have to think like a fish, target the edges and around structures where they hide,” advises Steffe.
  And in good news to hand, the survey reveals that snapper numbers and their size are actually on the increase in the Illawarra region.

No Pearls in the Oysters

  Australia’s unenviable reputation for invasive fish species has worsened after the discovery of a population of South American pearl cichlids in a tributary of the Tweed River.
  “They may look nice in an aquarium, but in the wild, these fish can become an established pest, impacting native fish populations,” says Jane Frances, the Aquatic Biosecurity and Risk Management manager with NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI).
  An angler stumbled on a school of the pretty pearl cichlids thriving in the deep pools below Clarrie Hall Dam, a water-storage facility built on Doon Creek, which flows into the Tweed River. NSW DPI was preparing an eradication attempt when it came to light that the same invasive species had also been seen in the Oxley River many kilometres upstream.
  According to the Invasive Animal Cooperative Research Centre, there are now 34 established pest fish species on mainland Australia. This is up from 22 species in 1990.
  The noxious fish include carp, tilapia, redfin, zebra fish and now the extremely hardy pearl cichlid.
  Anglers and swimmers around Murwillumbah and Uki are being asked to keep a lookout for the new species. And anyone with information on pearl cichlid populations should call the DPI on 1300 550 474.

Fish Safe in Winter

  Despite this writer’s long-standing decision not to publish rock-fishing reports in the mainstream media, two more anglers were swept to a watery grave in Sydney last month. Another angler managed to cling to a rock until he was rescued.
  All three incidents occurred at Ben Buckler on the northern side of Bondi. Unfortunately, the excellent angel-ring program, which has saved lives by installing life rings at popular fishing spots, hasn’t yet to come to Bondi.
  Considered the most dangerous sport in Australia, rock fishing resulted in 40 deaths in Australia from 2004-2008. Between 1969 and 2000, 218 people have lost their lives while rock fishing in NSW.
  But the message that no fish is worth the risk isn’t getting through. Our self-imposed ban on reporting rock fishers’ catches, the cautionary advice from Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA), and subsequent police warnings fall on deaf ears every year.
  As last month’s tragedies attests, those at most risk are often from Asian or ethnic backgrounds.
  It’s imperative to heed weather forecasts, demonstrate an appreciation for the power of the ocean, and stay away when it’s rough. See www.safewaters.nsw.gov.au for more stay-safe tips.
  The SLSA says rock fishing fatalities have increased regardless of various intervention measures tried over the past four decades.
  According to its 2008 National Coastal Safety Report, foreign nationals from Asian countries including China, Korea and Vietnam are over represented in the data.
  Surely, there’s something amiss when rock fishers insist on standing at the edge of a ledge and casting a line into a boiling sea. The waves were towering three to four metres high on the day of the above tragedy. You couldn’t have picked a worse time for it.
  Meantime, in a boatie incident on Port Stephens two people drowned when they fell out of a dinghy while not wearing lifejackets. Play it doubly safe in winter.

fishDavid Lockwood’s Guide to Fishing – June

  Now for the good news. In a world first, a South Australian company has been successful at breeding and rearing the critically endangered Southern bluefin tuna in captivity.
  Clean Seas Tuna bred the prized tuna and the progress has been outstanding, with maturation of broodstock, controlled spawning and early larval rearing successfully achieved.
  Meantime, NSW DPI has helped develop technology to successfully transport the tuna eggs interstate. Who knows, maybe one day the vast schools of southern bluefin tuna that visited Sydney and the NSW South Coast will return.
  But in local waters, yellowfin tuna have been very much on the menu. Some Sydney anglers were fighting fish well into the night and my mobile phone was ringing hot with text messages telling of fish to 70kg.
  Port Hacking boat Spicey Sardine (got to love that name) fought a tuna for three hours on 24kg that reportedly weighed more than 60kg. The fish took a jethead lure being trolled on the way home.
  Other boats got among the tuna at Browns Mountain, but the hot bite only started at 5.00pm, when the fish rose from the depths to clobber pilchards baits drifted astern. June may see some more tuna action. It all depends on the ocean current, of course, but at the time of writing the water was still delightfully warm.
  Yet those tuna are bait compared with the giant blue marlin that was landed off Sydney last month. The crew from Angie 2 including a 66-year-old Sydney angler boated a massive 361kg (796lb) blue marlin after an epic battle.
  The fish came up dead and they couldn’t pull it into their seven-metre trailerboat. So another game boat headed out in the stormy seas at night and eventually took the fish aboard.
  The marlin was weighed at Sydney Game Fishing Club and is one of the biggest ever taken off Sydney.
  The tongue of hot water responsible for the marlin and tuna is starting to break-up, but there are some incredible temperature break lines out wide that are bound to hold big fish.
  June could well produce more blue marlin and, more likely, striped marlin off Sydney. So long as the weather is agreeable, it’s well worth a trip to Browns Mountain.
  And if the tuna are noticeable by their absence, fear not. If the water’s not blue then the current will be easing, meaning you can get a bait to the bottom in 220 metres to the blue eye and gemfish. Mmm, tasty.
  Reef fishing is improving. Due to strong winds, many have been fishing in close for snapper to 4kg, tons of trevally, morwong and leatherjackets. The headlands around Broken Bay have been awash with warm water and oodles of bonito jumping on minnow lures. But expect more tailor and Aussie salmon this month.
  In the Hawkesbury River, local guide Greg Joyes lost a big jewfish at Juno point. But most of the jewfish kicking about the Hawkesbury are schoolies. And they will continue to bite through June.
  There have been now more big flathead about the estuaries than we have seen all year. Their numbers will taper off in June. But bream fishers can strike it rich if they catch a school of fish putting on condition before they migrate north for winter.
  June is usually a wet month. But at present, you can peer into the crystal-clear water and see the harbour is as fishy as it’s been in decades. The only problem is there’s more heavy metals – and carcinogenic chemicals – than at a rock concert.
  While I saw scores of bream frolicking around the marinas at The Spit, there were some true thumpers snapping at our lunch scraps at Store Beach.
  I also saw massive whiting mooching about the harbour beaches, mullet milling about in readiness to run to sea, and luderick schooling over the seagrass beds.
  Problem is, the harbour fish are hook-shy, educated and near impossible to catch in the clear water. My tip: don the woollies and soak a live worm bait at night.
  The best winter day-fishing methods are to berley and fish pilchard baits for bream and trevally; troll minnow lures for Aussie salmon and tailor; and catch squid to tempt the kingfish in Middle Harbour.
  Trevally alley in Botany Bay is the place for the eponymous fish, but the hot-water outlet is better for kingfish and tailor. It’s also a great time to tempt the big autumn whiting from along Ramsgate, Brighton and Dolls Point in Botany Bay, and Maianbar in Port Hacking.
  Above all, play it safe in June. Winter winds and waves deserve respect. And when the water cools, hypothermia becomes a real risk. But on the good days sally forth. In the water, at least, this is an Indian summer with a lingering hot current.
Contact this column at lockwood@intercoast.com.au

Fishing Key June 2009Fishing Key —

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.
F Flathead
Boat-based drifting over sand and gravel shoals with whole pilchard baits set on the bottom. Estuary fishing with cut baits or lures spun over drop-offs fronting sandbanks on a falling tide. Hook size around 3/0.
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.
YFT Yellowfin Tuna
One of the most sought-after of gamefish along the Eastern Seaboard, the yellowfin tuna has it all: a great fight, size, and top tucker. Typical school fish range from 10-25kg, with bigger specimens to 60kg not uncommon off Sydney and south coast towns. Troll lures to find the fish then cube with a trail of pilchards to bring them to your boat. Float a pilchard bait with a hook in it back down to the fish and hold on!