Fishing Down South

Being from down south I have fished all over the place. I love to find those out of the way places where you can relax as well as fish. This page is of some fish I have caught in coastal New South Wales.

One of the best land based game fishing spots on the south east coast is at Green Cape, some 20 kilometres south of the town of Eden. The road in is dirt and it can be a bit rough at time. There are numerous platforms to fish from. The best two are Pulpit Rock and City Rocks. Both are reasonably safe in the right conditions. Marlin, several species of tuna, yellowtail kingfish, sharks, snapper and salmon can all be caught from Green Cape. I caught this bonito tuna from one of the platforms. It was one of several caught that day by a few blokes. One of the great things about fishing here is that everyone lends a hand. Also if you wish you can also camp in the area as it is part of Ben Boyd National Park.
My favourite place to fish at Green Cape is City Rocks. City Rocks is a south facing platform that fishes best during a north to north- east wind. It overlooks Discovery Bay and in the distance can be seen Nudgee Nature Reserve. I rate it as the safest platform to fish from and it tends to always produce some fish. On this day I took some friends on their first rock fishing experience. We tried our hand at catching some salmon using floats. We didnt catch much but none the less had a great day.
These salmon were caught from Cemetery Rocks at Green Cape. I was out to catch some tuna but had no luck. After drifting out some bait for the tuna myself and the lads tried our hand at salmon fishing while we waited for the elusive tuna to show themselves. Its a good thing we went after some slamon or else we would have left empty handed. These rocks can be a bit tricky to get to.The dirt track is severely eroded getting into the spot and a four wheel drive is an absolute must. Then a climb down the rocks to the fishing area awaits you. It can be difficult to drift a bait out as currents tend to bring your bait back into the rocks. If you do manage to get your bait out you do have a good chance of catching some very good size fish. I have seen a monster bronze whaler almost landed and some decent yellowtail kingfish and tuna have been taken from here.
One of the most scenic places to fish in southern New South Wales is the Pambula river. It can be fished by boat or from the shore. A boat is definately an advantage as it takes you over fishing areas that yield a great variety of fish. The upper part of the river that forms a wide estuary is used for oyster farming and is hot for bream and flathead. The river proper is great for snapper and bream as well as the odd salmon patrolling the lower reaches. I caught this good size salmon while trolling for bream and pinkie snapper. I was only using light line and felt the wrath of a fish that didn't like being hooked. He give me one hell of a fight. On a few occasions I thought I would lose the battle to bring him in. Thankfully I prevailed.
Wonboyn Lake is my favourite spot on the south coast. It has a caravan park set in bushland that attracts kangaroos, possums and various parrots just to name a few. The lake and river is a known mulloway haunt and good catches of bream, tailor and pinkie snapper can be had. The flathead grow to monster proportions and fish to 10 pounds are caught. A boat is a must to get to the best spots but you can still find some good shore based spots to catch a decent feed. The surf fishing can be excellent for salmon. This bream was caught at a spot up river. Hence it very dark colour. The spot is where a creek runs into the Wonboyn River. I motored out to the spot and did some fishing from the bank. The area opposite me is a sensational spot to fish from the bank. It is good for bream, tailor, luderick and big flathead. Also there is a 8 metre deep hole about 30 metres from the bank that is a consistent mulloway haunt. Pity I have only ever seen others catch the mulloway and I have been left frustrated and annoyed after having had mulloway not properly take the bait.
A few odd hours drive north of Sydney is the beautiful Lake Wallis region with its sensational fishing and scenery. A boat is a definate advantage as the lake is an expansive estuary with many spots to fish. Bream like some structure or change in depth so a sounder is a handy item to have on board. This lovely bream was taken on the edge of one of the channels. Notice it is much lighter than the bream I caught at Wonboyn. This is because it was caught in salty water whereas the other bream was caught upstream in more breakish water. Most fish tend to get darker the longer they spend in fresh water.