South coast Nsw rock fishing

[Will Wright]

Hey guys just wondering what fish I could catch throwing lures off the rocks down Narooma way. Are the salmon, bonito, Jewies, kings etc about? If so which lures should I use? Thanks

Edited July 3, 2020 by Will Wright

[JonD]

2 hours ago, Will Wright said:

Hey guys just wondering what fish I could catch throwing lures off the rocks down Narooma way. Are the salmon, bonito, Jewies, kings etc about? If so which lures should I use? Thanks

There have been plenty of salmon on most beaches and a few tailor too. The beaches are probably a better bet than the rocks, though the break wall to the entrances on the north side will often turn up a few fish. I find most fish are in deep gutters or simply moving along the beach, so being on the move rather than stationary on rocks tends to be a better way of finding them.

From Tilba beach to Tuross would be the best places, though some rather green water has just moved in and things seem to of quietened down a little. Each of my trips to Brou beach just north of Dalmeny have resulted in constant catches of fish once found by walking and flicking 40g lures. The kids have been catch and releasing up around 30 fish each on recent sessions there. Any lure you can get out into the gutters will work.

[Houdini]

salmon and tailor this time of year.

metals 20g, 40g, 60g

Hard bodies, poppers and stick baits 50mm - 100mm

soft plastics baitfish imitations 50mm and up 

as JonD said what ever you can throw far enough to reach the fish that they are willing to eat.

 

[bombora]

 oops sorry wrong topic, deleted reply

Edited July 3, 2020 by bombora

[masterfisho7]

14 hours ago, JonD said:

There have been plenty of salmon on most beaches and a few tailor too. The beaches are probably a better bet than the rocks, though the break wall to the entrances on the north side will often turn up a few fish. I find most fish are in deep gutters or simply moving along the beach, so being on the move rather than stationary on rocks tends to be a better way of finding them.

From Tilba beach to Tuross would be the best places, though some rather green water has just moved in and things seem to of quietened down a little. Each of my trips to Brou beach just north of Dalmeny have resulted in constant catches of fish once found by walking and flicking 40g lures. The kids have been catch and releasing up around 30 fish each on recent sessions there. Any lure you can get out into the gutters will work.

This is sound advice by Jon and worth tacking into advice Will

[Will Wright]

On 7/3/2020 at 3:15 PM, JonD said:

There have been plenty of salmon on most beaches and a few tailor too. The beaches are probably a better bet than the rocks, though the break wall to the entrances on the north side will often turn up a few fish. I find most fish are in deep gutters or simply moving along the beach, so being on the move rather than stationary on rocks tends to be a better way of finding them.

From Tilba beach to Tuross would be the best places, though some rather green water has just moved in and things seem to of quietened down a little. Each of my trips to Brou beach just north of Dalmeny have resulted in constant catches of fish once found by walking and flicking 40g lures. The kids have been catch and releasing up around 30 fish each on recent sessions there. Any lure you can get out into the gutters will work.

Thanks for the info! I’ll be fishing off rocks about 10 minutes south of Narooma and will have to stay on the rocks as the beach is rocky and weedy.

[Will Wright]

On 7/3/2020 at 3:15 PM, JonD said:

There have been plenty of salmon on most beaches and a few tailor too. The beaches are probably a better bet than the rocks, though the break wall to the entrances on the north side will often turn up a few fish. I find most fish are in deep gutters or simply moving along the beach, so being on the move rather than stationary on rocks tends to be a better way of finding them.

From Tilba beach to Tuross would be the best places, though some rather green water has just moved in and things seem to of quietened down a little. Each of my trips to Brou beach just north of Dalmeny have resulted in constant catches of fish once found by walking and flicking 40g lures. The kids have been catch and releasing up around 30 fish each on recent sessions there. Any lure you can get out into the gutters will work.

Thanks JonD. Went down to Brou Beach this afternoon and flicked metal lures until I hooked a fish, fished that same spot and hooked up to around ten salmon but only managed to land 3. Is there something I’m doing wrong or is it usual for the hook to come out of some fishes mouthes when almost landed? Thanks 

[JAKSShark]

Well done on the salmon mate👏👏they fight well aye

Not uncommon to lose salmon in the fight, i have done this alot😁 as they jumpand i think coz they are so aggressive and so many strike the lure at once maybe they dont connect well enough with the lure, maybe your drag was too tight or loose? 

[noelm]

Salmon are quite a strong heavy fish, trying to get them up the beach without "using" the waves will often see the hooks pull out, be patient and just surf them in.

[Green Hornet]

As said above, salmon are a strong fish. They also have quite soft mouths and often hooks will tear a slot around the jaw area of the fish, so when they go for that final jump in the shorebreak they often manage to shake themselves free.

First thing to do is to swap your treble over to a single hook. Most of the better brands offer a large eyed, in-line hook, purposely made for lures.

If you can be bothered going to the extra effort, add a trailing assist hook and your conversion rate will soar. With this setup you commonly hook the fish on the short hook and during the fight the trailing hook will pin them under the chin and when that happens, they're as good as on the sand.

[JonD]

10 hours ago, Will Wright said:

Thanks JonD. Went down to Brou Beach this afternoon and flicked metal lures until I hooked a fish, fished that same spot and hooked up to around ten salmon but only managed to land 3. Is there something I’m doing wrong or is it usual for the hook to come out of some fishes mouthes when almost landed? Thanks 

I personally find that around the full moon phase they are often aggressive in attacking lures with many hookups coming from hooks to the sides of their faces rather than in their mouths. These facial hookups will pull free when they jump and shake. Holding the tip of the rod down low will often reduce fish jumping when hooked.

Something else people tend to forget is everytime the lure drags up the beach through the sand the hooks get blunter and blunter. I carry a small sharpening stone and regularly touch up the hook tips but they only sharpen so much before needing replacing. If the hooks are a little dull and your drag set quite light then getting a solid hookup can be greatly reduced. We tend to hit them pretty hard as soon as one takes a lure but loosing a few just saves getting your hands wet and sandy releasing them.

There have been a few salmon over the 5kg size on tha beach over the last few days.

[Mullatt]

18 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

As said above, salmon are a strong fish. They also have quite soft mouths and often hooks will tear a slot around the jaw area of the fish, so when they go for that final jump in the shorebreak they often manage to shake themselves free.

First thing to do is to swap your treble over to a single hook. Most of the better brands offer a large eyed, in-line hook, purposely made for lures.

If you can be bothered going to the extra effort, add a trailing assist hook and your conversion rate will soar. With this setup you commonly hook the fish on the short hook and during the fight the trailing hook will pin them under the chin and when that happens, they're as good as on the sand.

Such great advice @Green Hornet. Getting rid of the trebles is the best tip anyone can give a lure fisherman. I have fished fresh and saltwater for longer than I can remember, and have always put a single hook on my lures. When trolling for trout i do use two trailing hooks. Trebles seem to allow the fish some leverage to throw the hooks, but worse still if they swallow them, which salmon often do, that will usually be curtains for them as its very difficult to remove them without them dying. I generally only keep one or two for the table, so its better to release the others alive. 

Actually spent a few days at a beach just south of Bermagui last week, there were some fantastic gutters and we caught good size salmon every day. Some were so fat, they looked like a torpedo. 

[Will Wright]

On 7/10/2020 at 9:29 AM, Green Hornet said:

As said above, salmon are a strong fish. They also have quite soft mouths and often hooks will tear a slot around the jaw area of the fish, so when they go for that final jump in the shorebreak they often manage to shake themselves free.

First thing to do is to swap your treble over to a single hook. Most of the better brands offer a large eyed, in-line hook, purposely made for lures.

If you can be bothered going to the extra effort, add a trailing assist hook and your conversion rate will soar. With this setup you commonly hook the fish on the short hook and during the fight the trailing hook will pin them under the chin and when that happens, they're as good as on the sand.

Thanks will get myself some singles 

[JonD]

They were there in good numbers again yesterday in most gutters. Today we went to Tilba beach and only found one patch of fish at the far north end of the beach.