Fishing with David LockwoodDavid Lockwood


The Torn Green Binge

The headline above is a play on a document from the National Park Association (not a government department but a lobby group) titled the Torn Blue Fringe, which argues for more marine parks. But when based on ideology rather than science, marine parks are nothing more than lockouts. The way the Greens want it, there will be more and more anglers prevented from casting a line at their favourite fishing spots in future.
Of course, casting a line for fun, the thrill of the catch, or to feed the family is part of our national identity.  Most coastal towns and communities are built upon the strength of their fisheries, which can be managed effectively by input measures.
Over the years, gear and tackle restrictions, bag and size limits, and in future perhaps seasonal closures are all proven effective fish management tools. There is not one endangered recreational fish species in NSW, for example, and by regulating catch effort through the aforesaid methods, fishing can continue without more marine parks.
The problem is ideology. Environmentalists think creating marine parks here will solve the world’s problems, that is, dwindling fish stocks brought about by overfishing elsewhere. It’s the same thinking with emissions.
The fish that the Greens sight as need protection – the big predators such as tuna and marlin – are purse-seined or long lined in huge numbers in foreign waters. There is the real issue. So why make Australian anglers pay for their sustainable fishing practices. After all, game fishers tag and release more than 90 per cent of their marlin and tuna.
Ernie Goulding, a marine electrician and chandlery owner/operator at Port Stephens, is one of many small business operators who fears the Green proposal will close many local mechanics, shipwrights, marine electricians, tackle shops, slipways, marinas, and so on.
“Hundreds of people will be put out of work, including all the attached businesses such as suppliers, couriers, real estate agents and so on,” Goulding writes, adding that the flow-on effect will eventually see tax payers foot the unemployment bills.
With the Greens pushing for 30 per cent of the waters from Foster to Swansea and 100 miles to sea be declared off limits to fishing, Port Stephen’s future hinges on something other than the health of its fish stocks.
Access rights to the great outdoors are under threat from Fraser Island to Batemans Bay and beyond. There are plans to lock up more great fishing grounds. See www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/publications/east/pubs/fs-afa.pdf. Meanwhile, the marlin and tuna continue to be plundered in the wider Pacific.
And do your bit to save Jervis Bay. The Jervis Bay Marine Park is under review. See www.savejb.com to make your voice heard on the proposed changes to the Jervis Bay Marine Park. Submissions close 5:00pm, September 17, 2010.

Fish smart, don lifejacket

A life-saving decision has been made. From 1st November, lifejacket laws will change in NSW. The new regulations are not before time and we’re betting they’ll achieve their end and result in a reduction in small-boat drownings in future.
From 1st November, lifejackets must be worn at all times by children less than 12 years of age in a boat under 4.8 metres in length and when in an open area of a boat less than 8 metres that is underway. By my reckoning, that means about 90 per cent of budding anglers will need to don a jacket when they go boat-based fishing with dad.
While there aren’t a lot of lifejackets for toddlers under-10kg in weight or about a year old, and yokes that don’t restrict casting are still hard to find for little kids, the supportive foam-filled models abound. Take a tip and get your kid fisher to try them on first. Different brands fit differently, as our fishing-mad little girl Summer (almost four) recently discovered.
From November 1, life jackets must also be warn by all boaters in a vessel less than 4.8 metres at night, on open (ocean) waters, on alpine lakes, and when boating alone. This means just about every angler heading out at dawn or returning after dusk in their tinnie will need to don a jacket.
Much of the onus with these new regulations also falls on the skipper. From November 1, lifejackets must be worn at any time, in any type or length of boat, when the skipper judges the situation to be one of heightened risk and directs the crew to do so.
The new life jacket laws demand kayakers wear them when more than 100 metres from shore or on offshore waters. There will be a 12-month advisory period while boaters get used to the new regs. But you may as well get a head start now and fish smart.
Meantime, as I write this, a lucky rockhopper wearing a lifejacket was rescued after being washed off the ledge at Bluefish Point near North Head. We don’t encourage rock fishing in this column, especially in winter, but we do advise wearing a lifejacket when on the stones, even though it isn’t law.

fishDavid Lockwood’s Guide to Fishing – September

The towering swell and stiff winds have kept most sensible people away from the ocean this winter. In fact, it’s been one of the longest and coldest winters that I can remember. Thankfully, spring has sprung and there are now plenty of fish ripe for the plucking.
Luderick are leading the charge, milling about the wharves, pylons, rock walls, and seagrass beds. Their preferred bait, green weed, is also in abundant supply. And the luderick you catch right now are in prime condition and just perfect for filleting and frying.
Bream are another species in the hunt, hitting soft-plastic and blade-style lures, and baits away from clear winter water, when presented on ultra-light tackle. If you can brave the cold, the estuary should be producing big winter whiting on live worms.
Flathead and flounder have been on the drifts from Lion Island back up the Hawkesbury River. But the prize goes to the angler seen landing a massive lobster on his line at Flint and Steel. Perhaps you, too, will get lucky this month and, if not a lobby, then lob onto a John dory. This is the time for them.
Although the kingfish are likely to be sluggish in the estuaries, they will be snapping on the deep (120 metre) reefs. Guide Scott Thorrington has been scoring plenty of big kingfish on jigs and live baits in 80 metres north of Broken Bay. But leatherjackets and sharks remain a problem, snipping lines and pilfering fish.
Closer in, Aussie salmon are a spring special, along with striped tuna, perhaps mackerel tuna, maybe some bonito and small kingfish. It’s been a great winter for big tailor, which should be hanging around. And try sinking your lure and jigging it for the trevally feeding down deep.
But while Hawkesbury guide Ron Osman was casting everything at salmon and they wouldn’t eat, September usually sees the fish feeding vigorously and on bigger bait. As such, it’s a great month for roaming the ocean, looking for birds – the telltale – and firing lures into the schools of feeding fish.
Aussie salmon are also patrolling the beaches, with Curl Curl among the spots firing up mid-week. We hear of thumper whiting and bream being taken on peeled prawns from Narrabeen Beach. You could even snag a jewfish this month if the water warms up early.
Given some calm weather, boaters would do well to anchor in close to the cliffs, berley with stale bread, and fish floating bread baits for bream, trevally and drummer. Big squid are over the kelp beds.
The close reef in 40-60 metres have been firing for big snapper, fat flathead and morwong. The biggest flathead, we heard of was taken in 46 metres off The Gap near Sydney Heads. The crocodile weighed 4.7kg.
Charter skipper Paul Minto has been scoring mixed bags of snapper, morwong, Samson fish, flathead, nannygai, and pearl perch of Terrigal. Drifting is the best way to avoid the leatherjackets.
There was still no word on the yellowfin tuna out wide, where gemfish are the order of the day, and a few big blue eye were caught just to the south of Browns Mountain. But late September to November is tuna time. Keep your ears to the ground.
Mako sharks have been stealing fish from lines and their appearance was welcome by the competitors in last month’s Geoff Woolley Memorial Winter Classic Tournament (formerly the Monster Mako tournament). Boats arrived from as far afield as Shellharbour and Port Stephens to fish for the $1000 cash prize for the heaviest mako.
Hovig Aslanian took the cash prize for a 151.4kg mako shark. His mate Steven Baker took a 101.7kg mako on saltwater fly, setting a pending new world record, but not before diving over the side twice.
Septembers sometimes deliver outrageous dust storms to Sydney and the eastern seaboard. It’s often windy and dry. As such the fish can be wily. The good news is that the days are getting longer and warmer, making crawling out of bed an easier proposition at dawn, and dusk sorties are definitely on the cards. Time to dust off the tackle and get cracking.

Contact this column at david.lockwood@bigpond.com

Fishing KeyFishing 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 metres 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.
W Whiting
Early spring is a good time to fish the estuaries for whiting. The  sweet-tasting fish are a cinch to catch, the only prerequisite being  live worms for bait. Night sessions are most rewarding from the harbour and bay beaches. A neat thing about fishing for whiting is that the fish generally hook themselves.