Merimbula Fishing Report for September by Ando Badullovich

G’day Folks, and welcome to Spring. We have already endured some cracking weather, with some days pushing the temp’ over 30 degrees Celsius….bring it on I say! This will certainly fire the fishing up which is what we all want to hear.

Estuaries and Lakes

Merimbula lake has been quiet on the fishing front lately; however, there are good stocks of tailor on offer if you don’t mind trolling a few hard bodied minnows around the fringes of the ribbon weed edges and through the bait-schools. Lures such as the Daiwa Double Clutch IZM 60SP and Imakatsu RIPRIZER are great options. Perhaps concentrate your efforts within the main basin of the top lake and keep an eye out for birds dipping into the bait-schools as this is an indication of tailor smashing into the bait, and driving them to the surface.

 

The Bega river has been producing some good sized Estuary Perch and Australian Bass. The Bass & EP season is now officially open, and you can still find some solid Bass schools within the lower reaches of the system. Try slow rolling/twitching a deep diving hard body down the rock walls, like the Lucky craft Bevy Shad 60 SP …and don’t forget to incorporate plenty of pause-time. They won’t hold in these areas for long, as we do have rain predicted this month, and the Bass will push up back into the upper reaches from the brackish into the fresh water. Mogereeka is still producing some school Mulloway, and I’m tipping we’ll start seeing some “croc” sized Flathead in the shallows as the weather and water warms up. Big glide & swim baits should temp these big “Lizards” into eating but remember you must release all Flathead over 70cm guys. Lures such as the Berkley Powerbait Nessie & Shimma Pro-rigs, along with the Molix Glide 178 should do the trick.

The Pambula river and Broadwater is still the pick of our sapphire coast estuaries, as it’s hosting an abundance of Australian Salmon from Shark hole down to the river mouth. There has been a lot of anglers targeting them on fly, but hard-bodies, soft-plastics and metal slugs are all producing good catches. Lures in the three-inch sizes are getting the best results. Berkley Powerbait Minnows and Daiwa Bait-Junkie Flick have been the standout soft plastics. There have also been some good catches of Dusky Flathead from the Broadwater, along with Bream and Tailor. I’m tipping with this warmer weather, that the trevally and whiting will start making an appearance in all systems this month.

Beach Fishing

Beach fishing has been all about salmon. Every beach from Tathra to Eden has played host to schools of these hard fighting fish, with the gutters at the Pambula end of Merimbula Main Beach being the pick. I’ve also heard of a few Bronze Whaler Sharks patrolling the river mouths too, so soaking a salmon fillet on dusk could see you tangle with a feisty bronzy!

There are still a few yellowfin bream being caught on the beaches, and we should start seeing some whiting showing up in our catches toward the back end of this month. Pilchard, pipis and worms are the best bait for beach fishing. If bait fishing is not your thing, try casting a Halco Twist into the salmon schools…it’s so much fun!

Rocks & Wharf

The Merimbula fishing platform, (main wharf) has been producing good catches of squid. There are heaps of Yakkas schooling around the pylons too if you’re after some fresh, or live bait. The rock fishing has been ok, with Short Point Merimbula hosting some solid Rock Blackfish (Drummer). Most anglers are catching these pugnacious scrappers on cunjevoi and cooked prawn bait. We’re not seeing huge numbers of drummer being caught; that said, you only need two good fish for a tasty feed. All you’ll require to catch drummer is a small running ball sinker down to a size 1 hook.

I know of a few anglers targeting Snapper from the stones, with some nice specimens coming from Long Point and Haycock. Try using fresh Yakka fillets or squid for bait and cast your offering well clear of the kelp and wash-zone to avoid getting snagged up. Alternatively, unweighted baits presented within the wash-zone could also produce a few snapper, but this technique works best at dawn or dusk.

In the Bay

There has been some amazing catches of Blueye and Ling of late. Most of these fish can be found in roughly 350m of water. A couple of our gun local anglers recently targeted blueye on jigs, which would have taken some effort! Byron Kellalea must have a serios set of guns on him to winch these beasts from the deep…well done Byron!

There has been some great looking water pushing south outside of the continental shelf, which should bring some Yellowfin Tuna into our off-shore waters. Trolling a spread of skirted lures, big baits, divers and/or tremblers around the temperature breaks is great way to search for feeding tuna. The Halco Laser pro 190 is a proven tuna catcher, so be sure you have one of these within your arsenal. Keep an eye out for bird activity and for tuna busting the surface. Casting stick-baits into a feeding frenzy can often score great results…and also produce some spectacular strikes.

Well, that wraps up our Boss Outdoor fishing report folks. If you would like to know where to fish in Merimbula; or more importantly, where they are currently biting…feel free to call the store for more information on 02 6495 3985 - or pop in and see the team so we can “Hook you up”!

Catch / cook / conserve.
Ando