The windy weather is testing many fishers’ patience right now and most are now well and truly over this weather pattern, the good news is that there are plenty of fish out there. Reports this week have been excellent by the land-based fishers, Garfish in particular have been dominating most reports and there are many more fishers now switching away from Whiting and targeting Garfish where you can at least catch a decent amount of fish with the new bag limit changes.
Snook are also around in decent numbers off of some of the jetties, Sharks and now we are starting to hear of Tuna showing up, they are only small ones, which is usually the case this early in the season, but they are around and we would just need some decent weather to get out there and give it a go.
Here’s what has been biting.
𝑬𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏
The wind has been a real problem here over the last week, so reports have been very few and far between from this area and further west also. It does look like there are a few days in the next week when you can get out and there will be plenty of fishers out there looking to head out offshore. The water temperature is looking good and warming up nicely so Tuna might be around on some of the Tuna grounds, they won’t be too far away if they aren’t there. Kingfish, Samson fish, Nannygai, Blue Morwong and Sharks will certainly be around on most grounds so it will be well worth a look.
Salmon will be biting when the wind drops and Locks Well has been consistent. Further West the Mulloway fishers should be in luck when the wind turns the right way or drops out altogether, there has been some ripper fish already reported this season so far from the beaches west of Ceduna.
𝑪𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒂𝒚
It’s not too bad in the bays when the wind is up and there have been some nice fish caught here. Whiting, Garfish, Snook, Salmon Trout, Tommies and Gummy Sharks are all there to be caught and all can be caught by both boat fishers and land based fishers. The new Z-Man plastic worms have been a big hit for the Whiting fishers here with many Whiting caught on these worms and the Vexed Micro Meat jigs also have been excellent for the Whiting.
Garfish have been good and taking the soft plastic maggots, so if you’re looking for some different ways to catch fish that don’t need live, fresh or frozen bait, check these out they work extremely well. In the good weather windows Farm Beach has been producing plenty of Whiting, Garfish, Tommies, Snook, Salmon Trout, Squid and a few Sharks. There’s no shortage of fish out there and you will be able to catch more than a decent catch of fish to take home. Whiting bag limits have been caught very quickly giving you plenty of time for other fish.
Offshore reports have been nil again this week other than Tuna reports out from Point Sir Isaacs. These reports have come from commercial fishers and the fish are scattered and only small fish but well worth getting out there and having a crack. We have plenty of Tuna gear instore including the new Halco Laser Pro color the Naplam which is sure to blow the Tuna away when they see this lure.
For Salmon this week we haven’t had any reports due to the weather but they would be out there. Greenly and Convention beaches were the better beaches or if you want some monster Salmon take a trip out to Greenly Island, there is a massive school there with fish caught by commercial boats to 7.8kg the biggest so far. They don’t get much bigger than that.
𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑳𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒏
The wind has kept most off the water this week and most reports here are land-based reports with Garfish the number one catch. Most jetties and numerous rock areas all have Garfish and there are some big ones out there. They are easy to catch when you have a bit of bran and pollard mix and a Tuna oil slick. Tommies will also join in and have a lure ready for Snook, the Daiwa double clutch lures are best for them. Whiting again have been caught from the jetties and also Snook.
Boat reports have been slow but there has been some from around Taylors Island which consist of good numbers of Squid, Whiting, Snook and Garfish. That’s really it for boat news this week and we just want the wind to go away. If you do get chance to head out offshore there are massive numbers of Snapper around Williams Island of all sizes, I would just avoid this area and also the area between Thistle and Wedge Island the Snapper here are just as bad and it’s very difficult to get bait or jigs past them.
Heading further out might get you away from the Snapper. It is worth having a Tuna line ready just in case, as there have been some rumors of small Tuna showing up. For Salmon there are multiple small schools of Salmon spread out along the Sleaford Wanna area. These are decent sized fish 3-3.5kg and usually moving quick so a light surf rod setup is the go as you will have move with the Salmon. Lures like the Jackson metal effects and the Arma nugget and flash harry have been excellent Salmon lures in recent weeks.
𝑻𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒚 𝑩𝒂𝒚/𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑵𝒆𝒊𝒍/𝑨𝒓𝒏𝒐 𝑩𝒂𝒚
The wind has been bad to say the least so reports from the whole area have been below average. Garfish have been the bright spot with plenty of these on the inshore grounds and jetties in this area. Yellowfin Whiting have been the other fish reported, and most are from the beaches north of Arno Bay and Cowell where there are plenty. There have been some from Port Neill only in small numbers and unfortunately it looks like the fish numbers of Yellowfin Whiting are continuing to get worse further south of Cowell again for another year. Hopefully this issue gets taken seriously at some stage, it has been raised many times but falls on deaf ears by PIRSA continuously.
When the weather gets better the boat fishers should be in for bonanza of fish. With whiting, garfish, snook and squid from all areas. Bronze Whaler sharks also and the odd hammerhead can also be found.
This weeks photos are courtesy of:
Nate Stott: Caught some decent Nannygai onboard vessel Ollie-Lu-Mack out from Williams Island.
Rohann Hewetson: Chasing Gummy Sharks over at Coffin Bay, whilst Snapper is banned you can’t help but catch them everywhere at the moment. Releasing these in good condition by getting them back into the water quickly.
TW Port Lincoln Team
