IT seems the fishing around Sydney is as hot as it is diverse at the moment.
The month of May always spells good catches as the cross-over of warm water species leaving the system mingles with the incoming winter species.
My dad, Sam Savvas, had a great three-day session in the Hawkesbury River over the weekend and landed some quality table fish for his trouble.
On Saturday, dad and pop headed out through Pittwater searching for a few lingering kings that have been harassing the local baitfish. They have been sighted up as far as Bayview but some eager searching proved fruitless.
Plan B was to target some dusky flathead on the run-out tide in Broken Bay. This area has been a great producer for us during past winters and the fellas didn’t let me down. Using Squidgy Pro Fish soft plastics in Grasshopper or Flash Prawn they landed well in excess of 20 flathead and unusually there were no monsters mixed in. Once the tide turned the fish shut down. One thing dad reported was the reluctance of the flathead to hit any other presentation. Getting to the bottom of his Pro Fish collection he tried to conserve his stash and use other lures, for no result. The moment he tied on a Pro Fish back on, the flathead started to come flying over the gunwales.
On Sunday, dad took my mother out for the obligatory monthly fishing jaunt. As mum can tire of fishing lures quicker than we can, he pumped some live nippers to keep things entertaining for her. They visited the same honey hole the boys pulled the flatties out from the day before. They drift fished with two rods each, one with lures and one with live bait. This technique accounted for a good bag of flatties on plastics with a dozen whiting and bream falling for nippers.
Quality bream are also suckers for soft plastics and live nippers.
While it’s great to see sand whiting still lurking around this close to winter, most whiting caught were of the trumpeter variety. For those who are unaware, trumpeter whiting have no legal length and grow to smaller sizes than sand whiting. The good news is, they taste every bit as good as sandies. Mum had an absolute ball and was kept interested all day; a good technique too for dads trying to keep their kids from getting bored.
Yesterday, for a bit of a change, dad headed down to his local wharf in Bayview for a bit of old school handline action. With a bit of bread berley he managed a bag full of sand mullet to 30cms. They are a great target on light handlines and a good way to spend the afternoon.
Whether you have access to a boat or fish from the shore, there are good catches to be had at the moment for Sydneysiders. Make sure you get out there and give it a go.
