Rock and Beach fishing in Sydney by Alex Bellissimo

Snapper, Snapper, Snapper. Casting out wide with the traditional distance casting gear or wash fishing with light sinkers and a regular burley trail has reaped rewards consistently.  I have managed to get out occasionally myself and during guiding trips for plate size plus Snapper every outing and that will certainly be the case for the next few months.             

I fished out wide casting between 90 and 120 metres off Bangally head (North Avalon) for a bag limit (10) of snapper to 45cm which were caught within a couple of hours. The bait was a combination on the day, some fish falling for the Frigate Mackerel fillet and some on peeled Blue tail prawns also known as the endeavour Prawn.    

I had a special outing recently at Bluefish Headland. On the way to the location I spotted an Echidna which Is the very first one that I have seen in the 30 plus years of fishing  this area, I   Quickly managed a few snap shots before it disappeared in to the bush, hey how fantastic is that. The customers I had with me were Charlie, Romeo and Josh Elkhoury, three Keen fishing brothers.   Young Josh caught the largest fish of the day a chunky Salmon of 3.5kg.   The Bag of fish consisted of 4 Snapper to 850gms, 1 Salmon, and 2 Trevally to near on a kilo. There were Salmon and Bonito schools working for the entire outing. Unfortunately just out of reach of the lures. The method was a lightly weighted Half to full Pilchard bait’s with a consistent Pilli/bread burley. They were ecstatic about the Snapper’s availability, funnily enough most Rock fisho’s do not realise they are there for the taking.

One of my regulars Remyal/Galet/lalande went for a distance cast Snapper fish at Dee Why Headland using Squid Strips, Heads and candles for 7 nice fish to 42cm.  There was a swell working at the time from the Sou –East so casting out into the big washes on the Nor-East face was the place to fish providing that the distance was achieved, approximately 70 to 90 metres, out to the sand/gravel patches.

The “pigs are big and willing to destroy.  A large cabbage bait complemented with a chopped up cabbage burley will account for some big Rock Blackfish(pigs) up to 4kg which I have had the enjoyment of landing on 7kg tackle.  Spots like Warriewood Head, Dee Why, Bluefish headland are worth a go especially that the Cabbage Weed beds are flourishing at this time of the year. 

On the beach front the traditional run of Whiting are increasing in volume providing the water temp maintains around that 20 degree mark plus. Pretty normal circumstances on for a couple then off the next, normal for a water dependent species like Whiting. One of my regulars John Halford caught a good ‘swag’ of “gold bars’ up to 40cm with an average fish of around 34cm plus and on 2.5kg line great sport.  The Beach worms were obtained at Curl Curl Beach by John and myself but if you do not have the time, go to your ever reliable tackle shop and obtain some live worms at the end of the day 10 dollars worth of bait will suffice for a substantial amount of fish.

Another Regular Rob Marich and like John have entered the  advanced level techniques stage and can comprehend the refined methods as shown allowing them the ability to target there chosen specie at will. Rob fished Narrabeen Beach for a great bag of Bream and Whiting to 35cm.  Unusually the fish went off the bite by 7pm approx an hour before dark.  Once again live Worms were the gun bait.  The Salmon are available in good numbers Chris Nessi and Andrew Morgan were into them off Manly beach. We started early at around 4am but they were not available until about 45 minutes before sunrise. The Salmon ranging from 3kg to at least 3.5kg were great sport on 6 to 8kg tackle and with at least half a dozen fish landed with a few released a couple were for the pan.  I personally find them great table fare, grilled with honey terakihi then tossed cold through a salad.   

Tip for the month: Bream, Jewfish, Kings, Snapper and Whiting.  Fish for those species now so you can get an entire season in helping you as an angler become more proficient ultimately boosting your confidence levels to new heights. Remember fish smart and prepare your outing, have plan A , B, or even C locations ready so not to endanger yourself if the seas are up on the rocks, just go to a safer location, besides if it is too rough for the angler often the circumstances are the same for the target species sought out after.

Cheers. Al