Well it’s the changing of seasons with both summer and winter species now being caught, with the last of the schools of kingfish, amber jacks, Samson fish and bonito before they move off to warmer waters, mixing in with winter fish such as Australian salmon, Taylor and Trevally.

At this time of the year the kingfish are holding deep around markers and structures. The best way to catch these is by dropping down a small yellow tail, slimy or live squid down to the depth the kings are holding at. Instead of sitting around waiting for your live bait to go off drop a weight soft plastic or metal jig down you will be surprised how often you will hook up with a king.

Last week I spent a few days fishing with a good mate Adrian Clark up at the central coast we planed to fish
off-shore but the weather was ordinary and the seas were up so we decide we fish areas around Broken Bay and Pittwater. So we checked out the kingfish areas with my Matrix 97 sounder and found a good showing of fish in a couple of spots and I noted how deep the fish were holding at. I dropped live baits down to the depth the fish are at. I find using Pioneer multi colour braid an advantage as every colour is 10 m so if the fish are at 20 m I will feed out two colours of the line. After setting my live baits out I drop my weighted plastics or metal jig to the bottom, keeping in contact with the jig on the decent as often fish will strike on the drop.
When the lure hits bottom, we gave it few winds up and jigged it up and down with the rod a few times. Often fish would slam the plastic on the first few lift and fall of the rod. If it did not we would wind at high speed for about 6 turns and pause give another couple lifts with the rod often it done the trick... Up in the shallower water I dropped an unweighted Bass Assassin Twitch down out, let it slowly sink, and then work it up slowly, putting action into it with the rod and retrieve then repeat the process. It also pays to get a burly going as often Bait fish and fish will swim up the trail.

This type of fishing is very demanding on tackle so I check all your knots, leaders, line and drag settings if there’s a weakness it will cost you fish. I used a 6 to 8 kg Strudwick rod 7.6” Blue Water I like the extra length to control the fish around the motor Shimano 6000 sustain reels, loaded with Pioneer braid and a 50 pound leader. I use multi colour braid so I know how deep my jig is.

When on fly I use 9 wt and 10 wt Strudwick DBT rods, Fenwick Reels loaded with 30 lb Bionic Braid, Airflo 400gm fast sinking shooting head line and 40lb leader.

On the last day of our trip away we decided to bite the bullet and punch our way into a two metre sea 22km out to the fad of broken bay. As we arrived I could see small dolphin fish free jumping so we ran a couple of Trollcraft lures out and trolled past the fad
With in an instant we had a double hook up and after landing a ten small dolphin fish we decide to give the bait and soft plastics run. While Adrian used pillies on an unweighted hook floated down the burley I cast a Bass Assassin ell in glow and chartreuse rigged on a ½ oz jig let it sink down deep and work it back using a double whip retrieve the same as when fishing with flathead with immediate success. Adrian was hooking his share but I was having more fun on plastics

The Bass and Estuary Perch should also be caught in good numbers in May, as they should be schooled up in good number in the Sackville to Wiseman ferry area.
This is the time of year that a lot of bigger bass are caught. Soft plastic and flies worked around drop offs and eddies should work well.

Bream are also caught in good numbers and sizes around the oyster racks, pontoons and shore line. Small crank baits and soft plastics casted close to structures will catch fish.
Tackle for bream and bass are similar only line and leader may have to be changed.
I use 2 to 4 and 1 to 3 kg 6’6” and 7’ Strudwick Softboz spin rods and Shimano Stradic 2500 reels loaded with 4lb and 8lb Yellow braid. I up and down size my line and leader to suit the conditions.

Any one that is Interested I will be holding on the water Sports fishing schools.