THE snowy lakes are still firing with shore-based bait fishing the go at Eucumbene and Jindabyne.
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Artificial trout baits in prawn, trout pellet, and bardi grub (honey worm) flavour, floated up off the bottom on a running sinker rig and a size-12 hook, tipped with a tiger or scrub worm is the go!
A 3kg rated Fishing Australia six-foot combo (model FA 662spl) or similar is an ideal outfit.
Anglers are bagging fish for two hours either side of dawn and dusk.
Good spots include right in front of Jindabyne Holiday Park, the mouth of Widows Creek, and at Hatchery Bay.
But note that many more spots using the above rig and baits in three to six metres of water is pretty much all you need to do at the moment, but drop me an e-mail at www.robpax.com if you need a little more help.
On the coast, kingfish have been caught on live yakkas, slimeys, knife jigs, fresh squid, poppers and yabi jigs at Montague, the Banks, Five Islands, the open part of Brush and Potato Point, just to name a few.
A few albacore have been landed on the shelf, the Clacking Magnum is the standout lure – and not surprisingly, early season fish will often go straight to the loudest lure on offer.
The “clackin mag” has been specifically designed to be mega loud, and thank goodness lure makers are listening to us anglers and catering for our needs.
The same can be said in the estuaries, where experienced anglers are at times trolling louder than plastic hard-body lures for jewfish with great effect.
Andrew Badullovich scored the massive jewfish pictured on the Clyde by grubbing his lure on the bottom in six metres of water.
If the jewfish are too much of a patience tester, some good flatties beneath the feeding tailor schools is the report from Tuross Head.
If you’re hitting the shallows less than a metre deep, you should try hard-body lures instead of plastics, especially at dawn and dusk – you can cover ground faster even in windy conditions with this approach (drift and cast downwind over the flats).
Hard-bodies allow you to stay tight on a lure and control the depth when the wind is up, and the flatties are loving a fast vibrating hard-body fished aggressively at the moment.
BROGO DAM BASS MECCA
The Brogo Bass Bash is getting closer, but still has a handful of spaces left for those willing to catch these super hard-fighting iconic sports fish.
The event is great in that it caters for families and experts alike, and even things like camping at the lake is encouraged and facilitated.
If you need a hand getting onto some quality bass, this is the easiest and cheapest way I know how, and you will be delighted with the friendly and well organised atmosphere.
For more information, contact Darren Redman on 0427 934 688 or email him at bermihut@bigpond.net.au.
See you on the water,
Rob Paxevanos