Luke from Leisure Coast Bait & Tackle at Corrimal was happy to be back in the shop and report on the recent good weather and numerous fish that were caught.
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Our offshore run of marlin continued to go from strength to strength - from directly offshore right the way down the South Coast with some insane fishing around the Narooma and Bermagui areas.
Multiple boats fishing out of these ports have thrown amazing numbers around for a single day's fishing with some going 12-9-9.
Closer to home there have been some good stripes and blacks around the local FADs.
Also decent-sized dolphin fish have been reported and some school-sized yellowfin have been lurking among the massive schools of big, striped tuna.
There were plenty of big reds around the latter part of last week, with heaps of fish coming out of glassed-out conditions especially on Friday.
The majority of the bigger fish came from those throwing plastics and jigs around the vast bait balls with fish up to the 5-kilgram mark caught by using whites, pinks and pilchard colours that proved the most effective tempters.
Those who chose bait found fresh slimy and yakka fillets and/or fresh squid to secure the bite and most were out near or over the 50-metre depth line.
There are still plenty of flathead on the sand drifts with some excellent sizes on offer well and truly over 60 centimetres from up north around Burning Palms and Era in the National Park - all in the deeper drifts around the 45m depth.
Bulli sands had plenty of fish as did the drifts down around Port Kembla.
There were still plenty of kings about as well, although more rats than keepers but, hey, they are all good fun on the silly string.
South Coast beaches have provided excellent fishing for whiting up until this week. However, this big wet will surely dirty up the shore breaks for a week at least.
The rain and seas will wash the rocks and the stir up will be most welcome for the rock hoppers chasing luderick and drummer.
Website: www.reeldealfishing.com.au
Email: gazwade@bigpond.com
Huge prizes for Blue Water Classic comp
Shellharbour Game Fishing Club is full speed ahead for its upcoming Shellharbour Blue Water Classic on March 18-21 inclusive.
Arguably, this will be one of the biggest tournaments the south coast has ever seen and will be the inaugural competition held out of Shellcove Marina.
The prize list is massive and includes over $80,000 in cash and prizes, with $50,000 for the heaviest blue marlin over 220 kilograms and $5000 for tagged marlin. Not forgetting, the Calcutta, Shootout and enormous raffle.
Full details and entry at https://www.shellharbourgamefishing.com.au/services-4
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News from around the wharves and ramp platforms and piers in the Illawarra and around Sydney Harbour ferry wharves, indicated most anglers are doing their bit to respect the fantastic fishing access; fishing responsibly, cleaning up, keeping noise down (especially at night) and treating other users with respect and courtesy.
These areas during summer can be busier than usual, and you are reminded to take extra care to check behind you before you make a cast and to avoid fishing close to waterfront cafes and restaurants.
A helpful hint when fishing these locations is to focus on prime fishing times, tide changes, moonset and moonrise, by fishing smarter not harder - you can spend much less time at one location with similar, if not better, results than spending the whole night or day.
NSW DPI's Free FishSmart App from the iTunes - https://apple.co/3nG85vy. or Google Play - https://bit.ly/3KrA1Np. app store for tide times and weather.
'Newbie' gets a taste of the coast
Chris Murray, who recently moved to the Illawarra, put out a help request on social media to source some local green weed to feed his luderick fetish and at the same time, the family.
Positive responses from the fishing community saw him sorted and, yes, successful with a couple of nice bronzies that found their way into his ice slurry.
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Members of Warilla Hotel FC fished their annual away comp at Bendalong where Darren Starling nailed a 3.5-kilogram snapper to take the bigger fish trophy.
Darren Jarvis took biggest bag with a mix of more snapper and Joe Sciberras won fish of the month with an 8.05kg blue groper.
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Entries are now open for this year's Pirtek Fishing Challenge that is once again supporting Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and the Peter Duncan Neurosciences Research Unit.
The challenge will be over two days on April 23-24 with nominated fish species and entry details at www.pirtekfishingchallenge.com.au
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