The Best Season In Decades Continues

By Dan Trotter on March 23, 2015 in Other

As autumn days bring summer to a close, it’s time to get serious about enjoying the final months of one of the best Sydney fishing seasons in decades. There have been more large kingfish caught than I can remember in my lifetime, plus an epic show of the fastest growing fish in the sea, the majestic mahi-mahi. Lucky local anglers have been blessed with great catches and delicious feeds of fresh seafood right on our front doorstep. Add to this exceptional numbers of marlin, mulloway and the oft-elusive teraglin, and it’s fair to say that angling addicts have had a lot to smile about.

Before the fishing slows and the winter doldrums kick in, make the most of daylight saving and the EAC’s warm currents, and get up early or stay out late for best results.

One of the things my friends regularly call to ask is which species are on the chew and where. It’s a pleasure to share this information, knowing I get information back in kind, and the feedback loop is kept in good working order.

March for me is all about afternoons. I’ll still happily roll out of bed at 4am to if the weather window is at dawn, but when the option is open, the hours after midday and the magic moments of dusk are when I like to be far offshore putting my knowledge into use and my skills and optimism into practice.

One of the largest challenges of fishing afternoons is catching bait with the sun high in the sky. Think outside the box and look for your fresh baits in deeper water or in unusual oft-overlooked locations.

At this time of the day, squid are still plentiful in water deeper than 10 metres with a good coverage of kelp and clean oceanic water. Yellowtail scad and slimey mackerel can also be found if you target deeper grounds and persist. I will spend hours catching bait, as long as I am at spot x an hour and a half before the tide or setting sun. If you can find a suitable weather window leading up to the full moon with a tide a few hours before dusk, consider this a jackpot.

For me March is all about kingfish on the headlands, hard reefs and harbour markers, and mulloway along the deeper reef drop-offs, wrecks and man-made structures. Search for snapper in decent current over hard reef drop-offs with broken ground and sand to the leeward edge. Bonito, tailor and salmon will be most bountiful wherever there is ample bait, wash and vertical edges for them to hunt. Offshore, marlin will continue to chase the current lines and temperature breaks, and early reports of yellowfin tuna will soon start trickling through my circle of friends.

March is a month to keep the fishing momentum up and bask in the warmth of sunny days, smiles and the laughter of your mates with the eternal hope that a fish may bite.

Remember to catch only what you need, take your rubbish with you and respect the ocean and all its inhabitants.