Latest Fishing Reports

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Both visitors and locals alike are happy with the fishing here in Merimbula over the festive season. Flathead fishing is as good as it gets on most of the sand areas north and south of town and the added bonus of gummy shark, gurnard and whiting on the chew is a bonus.

Kingfish are still about in numbers and can be found on any of our local reefs,wharfs and headlands on any given day but as usual the best grounds are to the south at Greencape and Mowary. Gamefishing is firing with striped tuna taking small skirted lures but anglers should be dragging bigger lures on heavier tackle as marlin have been hooked on light gear over the weekend.

Reef fishing is probably the toughest way to catch a feed but with an early morning start, plenty of patience and burley a feed of snapper, morwong, nannygai and leatherjacket isn't out of the question. Beach fishing is still great with salmon and tailor keen to take lures and pilchards whilst main beach Merimbula is normally the best if targeting bream and whiting on beach worms. Estuary fishing is brilliant with dusky flathead, bream, trevaly,whiting,snapper,founder and tailor all on the bite.

Monday 21st December 2009

Fishing hasn't changed over the last week and anglers fishing for flathead are coming home with plenty of sand and tiger flathead. All the grounds both north and south are firing and a few gummy sharks, flying gurnard and whiting have also been taken.

Out wide the fishing is just as good with harpooka and blue eye trevalla caught and game fishing is on the up with striped tuna taken within a stones throw off the rocks. Kingfish are still proving fickle with fish on the bite one day but not the next. The grounds south of Eden are the best but in saying that many kings were found on most of the grounds around Merimbula.

A tape measure is needed though as the majority of fish are under the legal lenth. Reef fishing hasn't been brilliant but with time and effort a few morwong,snapper and leatherjacket have hit the decks. The local wharfs and rock platforms are worth a try early morning and late in the afternoon with a few squid being caught when not trying for kingfish.

Estuary fishing is brilliant with all species on the chew and yes the beaches are still fun with plenty of salmon and tailor to be found.

Monday 7th December 2009
Fishing over the last week has been generally good with anglers reporting catching fish everywhere even though the wind made it tough on some days. The crew on Billfisher had a great day Sunday coming home with blue-eye trevalla and harpooka fishing beyond the 100 fathom line. Plenty of striped tuna about but unfortunately no yellowfin sighted.

The flathead are still on the chew on all the usual grounds north and south of town and still a few gummy sharks, gurnard and whiting hit the decks. The inshore reefs can be a little unpredictable but most crews found leatherjacket,morwong and snapper most days. Beach fishing is still good with salmon found most days and estuary fishing is getting better each week with all species on the bite.

Monday 30th November 2009
Fishing slowed down outside with reef fishing coming to a stand still over the weekend. Luckily the flathead still had a go athough they wern't as easy to find as in earlier in the week. The other factor was the wind and the change of weather and hopefully when this settles the fish will be back on the chew.

One intereasting point was that the chinaman leatherjackets wern't thick north of Long Point on Saturday but were thick as theives south of Long Point and found both over the sand and reef areas. Game fishing can be a bit hot and cold but the crew on the boat Sea Mode had a great day Sunday catching yellowfin and striped tuna north of Merimbula in 1000 fathoms of water.

Eustuary fishing is still a great option with all species on the chew in most of our local waters. Plenty of whiting, dusky flathead, trevaly, salmon,tailor,bream and snapper all keen in taking bait and lures. Beach fishing is great with plenty of salmon and tailor and I'm sure that beach worms will produce whiting, flathead and bream this time of year.

Trick is to get out at daybreak to beat the gear stealing leatherjackets as they don't seem to get into attack mode until after 8 am. Even the local reefs have started to fire with a few snapper and morwong on the chew. Salmon are being taken from the headlands and beaches and yes the kingfish are still putting in an appearance off Long Point, Haycock and all local reefs on any given day.

The only problem with the kingies is trying to work out when and where each day as they could turn up anywhere anytime. Estuary fishing is also producing thumping dusky flathead and a few bream, trevaly, tailor, whiting and flounder which isn't surprising as the water temperature has risen to 24 degrees Celsius in most of our estuaries.

Monday 9th November 2009
Gamefishing is well worth a shot as anglers fishing the second drop off found yellowfin to 25 kilos during the week. Albacore were also caught and some of these were in as close as 60 fathoms. This time of year a burly trail could produce either tuna or sharks and hopefully marlin are only a couple of months away.  Greencape and Mowary is still the place to go for kingfish but are still patchy as one day there on and not the next. Anglers fishing the 40 fathom mark were smashed by gear pinching leatherjackets but the best news is plenty of tiger flathead up to 800 grams are on the inshore grounds. Beach fishing is still producing salmon and this weekends Merimbula Tackle World Tri-Estuary Challenge should be a ripper.

Monday 2nd November 2009
Fishing was tough over the last week with anglers having trouble with strong winds happening most days. Those that did get a good day found flathead on most of the grounds but again had to fight to get a feed due to the mongrel gear pinching leatherjackets. Even fishing with heavy trace doesn't mean that you wont get bitten off as they will also have a go at knots and swivels.
Down south both Greencape and Mowarry are still a great option with kingfish up to a meter  in lenth hitting the decks. There is also the added bonus of snapper and gummy sharks caught so the short trip by road to Eden or 20 minute run by sea is well worth the effort. If travelling by sea  its always a good plan to fill your live bait tank at Merimbula Wharf on the way past.
Beach fishing is still a fun way of spending an hour or two on the top of the tide with plenty of salmon happy to take baits and lures.  Estuary fishing is also on the up with the water temperature now up near the 20 degree mark. This will improve the fishing by a country mile with bream, dusky flathead,trevaly,salmon and tailor all lining up to take a bait or lure. Its the right time of year for the keen anglers to put in some night trips for jewfish and already I have heard of a jewie being caught last week. 

Monday 19th October 2009

Not many people going wide at this stage but this will soon change as tuna should be found on the shelf and beyond.  Beach fishing hasn't slowed down with high tide producing plenty of salmon on lures and baits. About 30 fishing club members travelled to Mallacoota last weekend and although the wind persisted dusky flathead, bream and blackfish were all caught. Our local estuaries are the same with most species on the chew and with the water warming up things will only improve for our Tri-Estuary Challenge held on November 14-15. 

Monday 12th October 2009
Kirstie Green with a trophy sized 2.72 kilo Brown TroutUnfortunately we have had another week of wind and big seas and due to this anglers have made the right decision and stayed at home or turned there hand to estuary and beach fishing. The beaches have still been worth a shot with salmon and tailor on the chew and I believe that live beach worms are also a winner with bream, whiting and flathead all keen to take a bait.

Estuary fishing has also been  great value when the wind did slow with dusky flathead, bream, whiting, tailor and trevaly out there to be caught. Once the weather settles I'm sure plenty of boats will head to sea to find  both yellowfin and albacore tuna on and over the 100 fathom line and hopefully have a crack at the blue-eye and harpooka off the bottom on the wide grounds.

Promising news is kingfish have been taken off Mowarry Point and again anglers will be lining up to have a crack at these arm stretching, tackle busting,dirty fighting bruisers. Travelling fishos have been catching fish in the mountains and catch of the week belongs to club junior angler Kirstie Green. Kirstie and father Bryson were fishing Lake Jindabyne and managed to catch this monster 2.72 kg brown trout.

Monday 21st September 2009

Great news for the estuary fishermen as the water temperature has risen from 14 degrees to as high as 18 degrees up in the shallows on some of our warmer afternoons over the last week. This improved fishing with dusky flathead and trevally coming on the bite in a big way. Beach fishing is still on fire with plenty of salmon and tailor ready to take bait or lures although a bit of leg work may be needed to locate the schools.

Local wharfs and rock platforms are a great option this time of year with squid on the prowl along with niggers, drummer, leatherjacket and garfish all on the chew. The inshore reefs and flathead grounds are still proving tough with very small catches reported. Anglers fishing over the 100 fathom line looking for harpooka and blue-eye are also struggling and are now hoping that the water temperature and currents improve as we get closer to summer.

Skippers need to keep a sharp look out with cameras ready as heaps of whales are now off our coast heading north for there calving season.

Monday 14th September 2009

Fishing again proved to be unsuccessful for most due to strong winds particularly over the weekend period. All was not lost though with some crews catching the odd flathead but the good news was the capture of gummy sharks up to 6 kilo on the grounds close to shore. A few nice snapper have been found north of Merimbula with local reefs giving up morwong and leatherjackets.

Not many boats fished over the shelf but albacore have been caught and water up to 19 degrees was found out over the second drop-off. Estuaries are still quiet but again the beaches are a saviour with salmon on the high tide common. 10 club members fished Eucumbene last week and came home with plenty of fish caught from 500 gram to just over 2 kilo.

The lake is rising very quickly and the locals say that it will be a cracker of a season as the weather warms. If you like to chase spotted pommy carp (trout) ideally the next couple of months will be well worth a shot as they are taking worms and lures readily.

Monday 7th September 2009

Fishing was very tough over the last week with anglers not finding fish when at sea or in the estuaries. The exception was the lucky few to find flathead up to 1.7 kilo on the wide grounds but those that fished on the inshore grounds had to work very hard to scratch up a feed. Probably the best was had off the rocks and beaches with plenty of salmon around 2 kilo and some anglers fishing for drummer had limited success with the biggest landed at 700 grams.
Good news is that the water will start to warm sooner than later and gamefishers are already looking to the horizon as reports of blue fin on the shelf have been reported along with fish sighted on the inshore reefs. The local wharfs and headlands are also a good bet with squid on the menu and fishos will have a crack at the prawns in Wallagoot Lake next dark. 

Monday 24th August 2009

Fishing was alot tougher for anglers over the past week due to high winds and a late winter shut down by most species. The exception was a few fish taken from the rocks and some limited success by the deep water fishos catching blue-eye and harpooka. Still this can be expected for late winter and anglers can look forward to spring and hope that it will bring an early run of flathead in our local bays and flathead grounds north and south of town.

Estuary fishing should also fire up with bream starting to put in an appearance and hopefully the salmon,tailor, trevaly and dusky flathead also come on the bite. Some of our members have been travelling to Brogo Dam catching big numbers of bass whilst others are now planning trips to Eucumbene and Dartmouth for an assault on spotted pommy carp (otherwise know as trout) now that the weather is warming up.

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Monday August 17th 2009

Monday July 27th 2009

In close to shore the flathead fishermen had to do a lot of shifting to find fish but anglers on the reefs had a ball with plenty of snapper and morwong keen to take a bait most days. Beach and estuary fishing is on fire with salmon and tailor taking baits and lures and most headlands and local wharfs are producing fish as well.

Beach and rock fishos have been having red hot sessions with tailor and salmon on the chew and estuary fishos also have smiles on there faces as most species are keen to take a bait or lure. Saturday night was a ripper for boats fishing the 17th Merimbula Southern Zone Broadbill Tournament sponsored by Tackle World Merimbula. Albacore tuna and sharks were caught by anglers but Johny Rankin fishing on Mighty Dragon had the best night possible by Tag and Releasing a Broadbill Swordfish when fishing the canyons north of Merimbula. Well done John and all crews had a great time with more night fishing trips already being planed.

Reef fishing is good, with snapper at Haycock and Long Point. At times, kingfish are amongst them. Gummy sharks and flathead are about in reasonable numbers, both north and south of town.

Plenty of trevally and tailor in the lakes, along with blue swimmer crabs for those with the right equipment. Bream and dusky flathead are less prevalent but can be found with a bit of work. Similarly, there are good salmon on the beaches, at times, amongst the white water.

The sand flats north and south of Merimbula were firing with plenty of sand and tiger flathead and gummy sharks were also on the prowl with sharks up to 12 kilo hitting the decks. Luckily most anglers were able to miss the dreaded chinaman leatherjackets by fishing early or late in the day but sometimes they are impossible to evade.particularly if fishing wide of the headlands. All the inshore reefs are worth a crack with quality catches of snapper,morwong and leatherjackets on the chew.

Still plenty of kingfish on all the local headlands and reef areas with fish caught manly on lures when chasing salmon. The beaches particularly north of town have been firing with catches of salmon and tailor not uncommon. All the local estuaries fired with bream, trevaly,dusky flathead and tailor on the chew but the big news was we had one of the best prawning runs in both Merimbula and Wallagoot Lakes. Catches of up to 5 kilo of prawns caught in a night was common.

Saturday March 14th, 2009

Kingfish are still causing grief to anglers fishing local reefs with either there absence on some days and on other days destroying anglers gear with big fish capable of not being stopped on 24 kilo gear. Flathead fishing has been nothing short of brilliant with plenty of massive tigers and plate sized sandys on the chew and inshore reefs are firing if anglers are prepared to anchor and burly or move from spot to spot. Estuary fishing is good with bream, trevaly, dusky flathead and tailor keen to take a bait or lure and yes the beaches are yielding a few salmon.