The Harbour
The rain has backed off for the last couple of days and it has given some fisho’s a chance to head out and chase some fish. The queenies and G.T’s have been on the ball around the pylons and rock bars in Elizabeth River and the wharfes in at town. They have been responding well to Maribou jigs and soft plastics like the Tsunami Paddle Tails and Gulps in the good old Nuclear Chicken Colour.
It seems some good Jacks have been flushed out of the small feeders creeks from all the rain and are showing up in the harbour all over the place. The rock bars in Pioneers, Mickets and West Arm gutters are producing Jacks to 2kg with some bigger ones being caught using barra lures. Live smaller poddy mullet are the way to go when the smaller jacks stop attacking lures. But the best live bait by far for the smaller jacks would have to be live black spot herring. These herring can be caught with small bait jigs around the pylons at Stokes hill and Fishermen’s wharf. Be sure to take a live bait pump because these Herring are not as hardy as poddy mullet and will die quickly.
Bait fishing in the harbour is slowly getting better with good catches of blue salmon and Goldies coming from the many rock bars and deep gutters around popular spots like Poineers and Elizebeth River. Fresh local squid baits and Sandmar are the go for fishing for goldies on the change of the tides. TownHall could produce some good fish with the neaper tides that are coming.
For anybody not using Sandmar for bait with or istead of Pilchards should give them a go because they are much firmer then Pilchards and the longer profile makes them easier to fillet for bait. They are also a great bait for Jew fish, fished as a fillet or used to spice up a squid bait.