Strong winds have restricted offshore game fishing. Out from Merimbula and Eden blue and striped marlin and mahi mahi (dolphin fish) and mako sharks are reported at the first drop-off at the edge of the continental shelf. Bait schools have remained patchy.
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Morwong are reported from the Horseshoe Reef area past Haycock and at White Rock from Kianinny although snapper remain few and far between, try 18-20 fathoms. There are excellent gummy sharks off the reefs but need lots of berley to get them excited. There are good patches of baitfish; slimy mackerel and yellowtail fairly close inshore.
Chinamen leatherjackets remain a problem from Merimbula to Tathra chewing off our rigs and devouring plastic lures. Salmon were schooling about Bournda Island but appear to have moved on, try spinning off Tura Headland and Short Point.
Ocean flathead are plentiful in the area off the Tura Beach Golf Club, Tura Headland, Bournda, White Rock and Cowdroys, but remain in small patches. You may need to do some long drifts to find and mark a patch of feeding flathead but when found they are quite voracious and multiple hook-ups are possible.
Good calamari squid are being landed at both Tathra and Merimbula Wharfs with luderick remaining on the chew at Merimbula, try using artificial plastic weed lures. The best times are morning and evening. Good luderick are also ravenous off our headlands, try Tura Headland.
Of great concern are reports of an infestation of European carp in the upper reaches of the Bega River. These fish are a declared noxious pest and have potential to destroy the waterway. Let’s hope the herpes virus treatment being trialled elsewhere by DPI is a solution. Otherwise catch as many as you can - great fertiliser! Best bait is Bega cheese! Lower down, the river is fishing well at Mogareeka and also well up river for bream, dusky flathead and whiting. Soft plastics, hard body lures and pilchards are all effective.
There are trevally, bream and luderick about the oyster racks in Merimbula Lake. Dusky flathead, flounder and mullet are available in the lake and of note are schools of rat kingfish, so named as they are juvenile and illegal to take under 65cm in length. These kingfish are great sport for catch and release anglers. Soft plastics and small hard body lures will bring great returns.
The Club’s “Dusky Dash for Cash” is scheduled for March 17-18. This is a strict catch and release tournament. Estuary fish are relatively slow breeders so take what you need to eat and release the rest. Good whiting are schooling over the sand flats just up river from the Merimbula Bridge. Try Sugapen lures. Tailor, trevally and mullet are also prolific at Pambula Lake.
The club house in Spencer Park will be open from 6.30pm on Friday 2 March. Visitors are very welcome. Come and enjoy the fishing report, raffle, the ambience, friendship and lovely views with very competitive bar prices. Darragh Reynolds is the scheduled host. All enquires to John McKay on 0427 639 585. Membership Application, Membership Renewal and everything you need to know about local fishing is on the Club’s Website www.mbglac.com.au.
Keep your rods bent!
