Salt water
The fishing in the harbour has been red hot with schools of kingfish, salmon, bonito and Taylor well up Harbour. We have had really cold water on the coast and this has concentrated the small bait fish and the pelagics up in and around most of the bays around the Bridge. These schools have been working the top busting up small bait balls.
There has also been plenty of Kings around the markers . Over the last week the water outside has warmed up and we have catching Salmon, Kings and Bonito on trolled lures close to the head lands, As the water warms the salt water pelagic can also start to hang deeper so it pays to fish deeper. I have been using some heavy sinkers to troll small live yellow tails, diving lures and Slugo down deep and have been surprised by the number fish including Kings Salmon. Bonito and Taylor I have been hooking when using these deep water tactics in conjunction with conventional spread of trolling lure I usually run two Rap CD 9 and Slugo or popper run a long way back .This allows me to run extra lure in the middle down deep .I drop it down next to the Transducer and watch it on the sounder to the depth that I want. You can change the angler that line goes down by add a heaver lead which held on by a snap.
The bream anglers have been catching plenty bream around the Harbour around the moored Boats casting bass minnows close to the keel and letting it sink watching there line for any movement. Most of the floating pontoons are also holding fish. Flathead have been caught up around Middle Harbour on larger soft plastics around the drop offs.
The Bass and Eps in the middle sections of the river has been pretty average with only a few fish caught on most outings. The main reason is the water is like mud and smells. I do not know how the poor old bass can live in this crap. Most the dirty water comes down the sewer outlet we call South Creek and I am afraid that Cattai Creek is going the same way with all the houses and industry being built in its catchments. As soon as we a Get a good down fall the water turns to mud.
Around Windsor bass are being caught around the weed beds and under the trees on small Taylor made and Feralcatt Diving and surface lures these lures set the standard. Best colours have been green and yellow and purple in the divers and darker colours for the surface. Both these diving lures float so when you cast them let them sit for a few second then give them a twitch before winding them back often the bass will strike at them when still on the surface.
The bass fishing around Penrith has been good with plenty fish being caught above the weir around the rail bridge and the edges of the weed beds and further up river. A lot of these fish have been falling to Jackals, Secret Creek spinner baits during the day and Taylor made surface walkers, small poopers and other surface flies and lures at night.
Give Fly a Try
When fishing for bass on surface flies I like to fish the rising tide early morning and late afternoons. I have found that the bass will be looking up on the rising tide for any small crabs or insects that inhabit the tidal zone between high and low. This does not mean that only fish the rising tide I have had plenty of great days on surface fly on a falling tide.
I use weight forward floating lines with a leader 8kg, 2m long and tie a small
Popper or small surface cast your fly a close to the shore line, weed beds or in and under any over hang or snags. When the fly lands on the water let it sit for a second or three before retrieving and bass will often strike just after the lands or the first few strips.
Fly-fishing can be the most deadly way to catch estuary perch and bass if you know how, where and when to target them.
Late March is the time of the year that bass and estuary perch start to gather in schools to move down stream to spawn it is also a good time year to catch these fish in good numbers.
But first you have to locate them. Every year can be different just because you have caught fish in an area in seasons gone by does not mean the fish will be there this season but it is a good place to start . When looking for schools bass and eps in autumn and early winter I usually start looking up around Windsor and work my way down stream until I find them. This can take a few outing to locate the area where they are gathering. I usually find quite few areas along the river that hold good numbers of fish.
