By TED NEWSTEAD*
WITH calm still nights at this time of year quite common, flounder is a sought-after species for the table. Areas to try would be Half Moon Bay at South Arm, Cremorne, Lauderdale and even Howrah and Bellerive Beaches are worth a look.
Rug up for the cold air and as a safety precaution if you don’t have neoprene waders, I would suggest using a belt around your waste with your normal nylon waders. This will greatly reduce the amount of water coming in and enable you to stand back up if you do fall or trip over in the water if you are wading and not in a boat.Gummy and school sharks are also quite prevalent after dark on the southern beaches. Goats Bluff or Hope Beach at South Arm are worth a look. small salmon, mackerel or squid heads are fine for bait. I use 6/0 suicide hooks on a heavy duty paternoster rig. Skates and rays will be an annoying by-catch but please release them back into the water. Make sure to check your recreational sea fishing guide for shark refuge areas. Frederick Henry Bay and the Derwent River are, so any sharks caught in these areas must go back.
Sea run trout activity is starting to heat up. A slowly retrieved pretty fish or silver fish after dark or early morning will bring a few undone. One of my favourite spots is Geilston Bay Point on the northern side of the bay. The trout will patrol from the mouth of the bay right in close to the jetty itself at the boat club looking for bait fish in close to shore. Small silver lures from 5g to 15g are also good to try. It’s a short 10-minute walk from the car park at the end of Geilston Creek Road to the mouth of the bay.
News flash: Craigbourne dam has just been stocked with 530 2.5kg Atlantic Salmon. An Inland Fisheries licence is required to fish there and bag and size limits apply.
If it’s too cold for you to go fishing don’t forget your rod and reel maintenance. If your fishing line is a couple of years old it probably needs replacing. Reels can be pulled apart and cleaned and greased up. If you can’t do it yourself take it to a tackle store to get it done. Most offer reel servicing and it’s not expensive, and you can rest easy it’s not going to fall apart when you hook that fish of a lifetime.
Photos of unusual or large fish (trout, flathead, bream, tuna etc) wanted for my brag wall, so drop me some in to the shop.
The Fish of the month is a 1.5kg Snotty trevally caught off Pirates Bay Jetty on a mussel while fishing for mackerel.
*Ted Newstead is from Eastern Shore Fishing and Tackle at Eastlands and writes a regular column for Eastern Shore Sun.
