NSW South Coast rockfishing

[Burger]

Hi All,

Heading down south to Batemans Bay, Bermagui and Eden in a few weeks and will be packing a couple of rods for my beloved Blackfishing.

My homebase is Sydney and cleats are the go on our sandstone ledges.

I'm hoping for advise on the best footware for down south . . .

Will my volleys & cleats suit?

Would neoprene booties with steel pins in the treads be better?  I have those as well . . 

Or are plain volleys the go?

cheers

stu.

 

[wazatherfisherman]

Hi Burger I've only fished for them as far south as Mystery Bay just past Narooma and we wore the same volleys and cleats there. Don't like the idea of trying to get those booties off if you happen to go in, but they are good on some surfaces.

Mystery Bay was always great for Blackies on the south western point of the island (you could walk out there unless it was really high tide). You fish facing back in towards shore about 11ft deep and there's a few Pigs out there as well. Comfortable and scenic spot and not far from the car

[Burger]

Cheers waza 👍

[noelm]

Caught plenty at Narooma, but off the jetty on a run out tide.

[Burger]

Cheers noel

[Jiggy]

The wharf at Merimbula is one of the local hotspots. I've usually fished it from around 4.00pm to dark; tide doesn't seem to really matter there. The fish are running into the lake to feed and from the wharf you can see schools of them swim past; these are the fish you're targeting.

Fish between 8 to 10 foot down and I've found fishing just on the line where you can't see bottom is the better place. Also the left side of the wharf seems to fish better. You're lifting fish up to the wharf so you'll need to use a rod with a bit of spine in it; I use an MT4144. If you want to fish light then fish the point to the left of the wharf, it's usually safe and you're low enough to wash out fish or use a long handled net.

You can get cabbage at the end of Short Point. The only downside is that the wharf can get very busy, especially on holidays. But a lot of blackfish get landed here too.

The wharf at Tathra can fish well too, but I've only watched people fish there and haven't fished it myself. Lovely part of the world you'll have a great time.

[Burger]

Cheers Jiggy!

[Green Hornet]

Take both your cleats and standard soled Volleys.

The cleats are great on the soft sandstone but the further south you go the more you're likely to come across to odd patch of granite which is a lot harder and your cleats become more like ice skates. IMO there's no better footwear that grips a smooth, slime free surface than Volleys. 

I agree with Wazza regarding the spiked wetsuit boots, I've tried them in a pool and they are an absolute bugger to try and swim with.

Good luck while your down that way, there's some good fish around at present.

[Burger]

Thanks Hornet!