Getting It Straight – Rules, Regulations And The Facts

By Dan Trotter on February 25, 2014 in Other

Happy days my fishing friends; I hope the start to your New Year has been a solid one and that the fishing has been fun, fast and sending you home with a feed.

This summer season I have been refining techniques on a variety of species that I have fished for and caught regularly, but never really refined my approach to.

If there is one thing that we should all do a few times a year it is to get back to the basics. Remember that the successful angler does not simply ‘go fishing’. Rather, the 10% of anglers that catch 90% of the fish generally target a specific species on each outing, or perhaps a number of different species, but usually one at a time.

With this in mind, and with limited time to pursue my favourite hobby, I’ve started finessing techniques, locations, tides and times in order to improve my catches, all with the aim of becoming one of ‘ten-percenters’. You know what they say: practice makes perfect.

Interestingly, the guiding force that has made me reappraise my tactics is the fact that I spend so much time under the surface of the water these days thanks to my newfound love of freediving. The main thing it has taught me is which species are plentiful and where to find them, which got me thinking: why not fish for what is there and if I don’t catch them, refine my approach?

So I’ve been fishing weed under floats for luderick (both in the estuaries and from ocean rocks), peeled prawns for leatherjacket, soft plastics for flathead on the convergence of rocks, weed and sand, bread for drummer, and very shortly I am going to try my hand at fishing red crabs for groper (shhh…).

I mention groper quietly because I have learned that passionate locals statewide regard the species as sacrosanct, often forgetting the rules or oblivious to the facts. Yes, there are rules to protect this species.

The number one rule is no spearfishing for eastern blue groper – full stop. Fair enough too – these graceful and powerful fish are inquisitive and curious and could be easily overfished by spear fishermen. In fact, this is why the ban was put in place and requested by recreational anglers, no less, back in the 1970s.

An additional rule that affects local anglers is that it is prohibited to fish for any groper species by any means between the northern end of Clovelly Beach and the southern end of Gordons Bay. This area rests within the Bronte to Coogee Aquatic Reserve.

The truth is, though, that brown, blue or red groper (all the same species) are possibly among the most robust fish populations of interest to recreational fishermen in New South Wales today. Jump in for a freedive anywhere and you will find groper going about their business. In fact, on every dive I’ve had in the last five months I’ve seen at least one large blue groper and countless browns, and I have dived from the Central Coast to Jervis Bay and in over twenty separate locales in between. These fish are everywhere and they’re definitely worth fishing for (they’re delicious) – just be sure that you know the rules.

On other fishing fronts, marlin, shortbill spearfish, small mahi mahi and some yellowfin tuna have been making their presence felt out in the cobalt currents.

The inshore hard reefs, rocky headlands and Harbour continue to produce hoodlum yellowtail kingfish, plus a variety of smaller pelagics and some northern demersal species like spangled emperor and mangrove jack.

Baitfish at this time of the year are plentiful, so get back to basics, be specific in your targets, catch or collect fresh bait and make the most of this time of year while the weather is gleaming and the fishing is top notch.