Clued Up On Slick Lake Ways

Newcastle Herald

Friday June 2, 2006

Fishing, Bruce Quirey

LAKE Macquarie's 110 square kilometres can seem like a Bermuda Triangle of mysteriously missing fish.

Last week I wrote about large schools of tailor and by all accounts a lot of anglers have been hooking into them.

But Warners Bay's Graham Donovan and I learned it's not a fait accompli.

We jagged only one tailor over two outings trolling from Bolton Point to south of Pulbah Island and west to Eraring in the past week.

Then there are blokes such as Jason Nunn, from Fisherman's Warehouse, who it seems can't go wrong.

"I zipped out for like 40 minutes yesterday arvo and got another three really good fish," said Nunn, who performed the same feat before Origin footy last week.

Nunn was trolling deep and locating baitfish on the sounder as well as using detective work for clues on the surface fish oil slicks.

"Yesterday I was noticing a few kill slick patches on the water little oily patches," Nunn said.

"I just put the sounder over the top of these glassy patches and the bait (fish) would be from top to bottom.

"Sure enough, as soon as I pulled through there crack, I nailed a really good one."

Nunn said the tailor schools had dispersed widely across the lake.

Trevally in tow

TREVALLY had arrived in large numbers on the offshore reefs, including North Reef, Big Ben and the Dumping Ground, the blokes at Tackle Power West End said.

One angler reported success among trevally using soft plastics.

Weedy veil lifts

WEED has started to clear in Swansea Channel, which is offering tailor, flathead, reds, blackfish and still a few squid.

"Bobby Cousins, from Speers Point, reckons he got about eight or nine really nice squid the other day from Swansea Channel," Nunn said.

Belmont and Blacksmith beaches have a spreading of tailor, salmon and bream.

Odd lake encounters

THE latest report of strange fish in the lake comes from an angler who hooked what could have been a wolf herring, Chirocentrus dorab.

A tackle shop customer said he was catching tailor on surface poppers at Eraring when he got smoked by something big.

"He was trying to describe it and the only thing I could put it down to was something like those giant wolf herrings," Nunn said.

"Really slender, silvery fish, about 70 centimetres long, with some black bands on it with a bit of a forked tail, which to me sounds like one of those herrings."

Wolf herrings commonly inhabit warm coastal waters.

Bait back-up needed

THREE fishers from Dungog and Metford had to make a return trip to the shop for more bait during a rock fishing session at Catherine Hill Bay on Sunday.

They reported catching reds, bream, salmon, kings and trevally. Another angler was busted off also at Catherine Hill Bay on a lure by a large kingfish that he estimated to be more than 10 kilograms.

Offshore the current was playing havoc at The Farm but there were still perch, leatherjackets and reds. Inshore yielded bream, tarwhine, squire and trevally.

Craig's champion effort

BURWOOD Bowling Club's Craig Oaten has won the angler of the year title in the Newcastle District Anglers competition.

Oaten completed the season title by also winning the Graham Dorse Open last weekend, which was the final event of the season.

Season individual runner-up was Adam Hodges, from Mattara Fishing Club, and the season club title went to Burwood Bowling Club.

Bream bout to Scott

NEWCASTLE'S Scott Greentree won the Sydney Harbour round of the NSW Pro Bream Tournament last weekend.

Tournament organiser Chris Craig said the Newcastle Harbour round set for Sunday, June 11, had been moved to Brooklyn due to powerboat racing and Carrington boat ramp works.

© 2006 Newcastle Herald

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