Around the Bay - Tuesday, January 24, 2023
WITH the holidays drawing to a close, it will be a month or so for many as they get back into the normality of work and school. The best part is, we are entering the best time of the year around this area, February to June. Offshore opens up for the...
With Jim’s Bait and Tackle
WITH the holidays drawing to a close, it will be a month or so for many as they get back into the normality of work and school. The best part is, we are entering the best time of the year around this area, February to June.
Offshore opens up for the smaller boats to get amongst the flathead and, of late, even tuna and kingfish.
Tuna reports are coming from Western Entrance to Inverloch, 12m to 40m of water. There is still a bit of work involved but patience and perseverance will pay off. Small skirts still the most popular means with white and king brown-coloured hard bodies also working. It will be rare that you catch them on the first choice of lure and important that you keep changing it up if you are on the fish and they won’t bite.
Don’t drive past the fish on your way to a destination either, once you leave the entrance, lures in the water, you might just pick them up close and save some fuel for the next trip.
Catching them early means you could also grab a bag of flathead before you head home.
Kingfish have been with the tuna – the normal kingfish spots now starting to be productive, look for the big barometer changes. Flathead reports have been good but are back to the smaller groups. Find short drifts and keep going back over – if the weather has been rough, they will be deeper 50-60m and once it calms down you find them in closer, 20-30m.
The bay isn’t a waste either with plenty of schools of bait fish providing food for bigger fish as well as whiting and hopefully a second run of snapper. The flathead in the bay have grown up and almost worth targeting across the corals area.
With all the boats around Rhyll, it has been better on the bank back towards Churchill Island and the deeper water at the end of the Rhyll channel, but we are seeing a few good reports again from Dickies Bay and Cleeland Bight with the lighter traffic.
Gummies will come and go all year round so you always have a chance of a bigger one and we should start to see the elephant fish show up soon.
We get questions in the shop all the time, and please keep them coming, some we just can’t answer so we chase up the answers.
One question we had recently was about people fishing from jetties at boat ramps. The answer below applies to the right now but make sure you check each time you head down.
Ultimately the answer is ‘no sign’ then fish away, from the boat ramp, jetty, pontoon or even ramp.
The only obligation is under the Local Ports law that has a section which states:Port Management (Local Ports) Regulations 2015
53 Retrieval of fishing rods and fishing lines when vessel approaching wharf
A person who is in possession of, or in charge of a fishing rod or fishing line on a wharf in a local port must ensure that the rod or line is retrieved from the water and any space between the wharf and a vessel approaching or departing from that wharf.
So, the offence is not winding your line in. Going fishing is ok.
Its unsure if the council have any intention to change the situation at Rhyll and ban fishing, like Newhaven; it will depend on if everyone does the right thing.
This week and the Australia Day weekend we will still be open early; next week going back to more normal shop hours – check our socials for times. On Tuesday the 31st they are replacing the power pole out the front. Not only will we have no power but no parking, so we will be closed.
