Centrepin

Royce, Yes I am still around. We will be heading north a bit later then Tassie for summer. I'll keep you posted. Geoff

After years of hearing of Yamba in winter we decided to check it out. The huge downpour and the warm weather slowed the run of fish this year. We were land based and found fish aplenty at the peninsula. On the southern wall we found a few people fishing and generally do quite well. At the famous Tee piece the odd person I saw fishing had not troubled the scorer. From the accounts and evidence at boat ramps the fishing at the middle wall was great. Most guys bagging out in a couple of hours. One boat used to bag out on blackfish on inside of wall and the bag out on bream on outside of wall. At the peninsula the bite was quite consistent, for blackfish standards. Various parts fished better on run out versus run in but fish caught at nearly all parts of the tide. The run of fish size varied each day. Some days it was 30 – 35 others 32 – 37. Double hook ups happened from time to time and caused some interesting times with the landing net. A couple of fish were larger with the largest 42 cm’s. All types of weed seemed to work. Cabbage available from ocean rocks at Yamba. Green weed was available from shops in town or the cane drains had a supply once the fresh abated. Look for some rocks close to the saltwater end of the drains and some reasonable weed could be had. Seeing the numbers of fish people take every day left me feeling uncomfortable. Blackfish frozen are OK but they don’t keep for months on end. I struggle to believe all the fish taken were being put to good use. I am sure some of the regulars get their bag and come back later for another bag. Fisheries were inspecting for compliance but very difficult for them to check numbers in possession. Evi and I would get our 6-8 and call it a day. That is a feed to us and 2 feeds for the freezer of whoever wanted them in camp. We stopped in at Urunga on the way home and the story was similar. Chatted with some guys who fished the east wall from a boat and they were getting reasonable numbers of fish. Not as prolific as Yamba but the fish were big. 42’s were about the size they often landed and a number of breakoffs. Just finished a dinner of frozen blackies and they were nice. Not a good as fresh but well worth keeping. So we will be back in another 6 weeks or so. No doubt the run will have finished but there should still a few around and the flatties should be around. Geoff and Evi

John, Great to hear you are back at them. I still will come down your way when I can. I have been laid low but getting better so I will make contact when possible. Thanks for the update. Geoff

Elfroz, Well done on your good results. I have just got back from 4 weeks in New Zealand. Sounds like a PM would be in order. Regards, Geoff

Neil, This sounds like great Fun. I'll would love to make your accquaintance one day when I am out that way. Thanks for the post. Regards, Geoff

John, I am jealous. I will contact you when I can be down. Keep them coming. This info is interesting Well done, Geoff

I will do a day trip if required. I'll be in touch. Geoff

That is agreat result. What did I miss out on Saturday?. It was bound to be a great day. I look forward to upgrading a PB. Geoff

Raiders, Headed out last Sunday. Sunny day with low wind, 1.5M tide at noon and swell < 1M. The weed growing on the rocks was the best I have seen for years. Burlied a little before rigging up and started fishing about 10.30 i.e 1.5 hours before high tide. First run produced a moderate fish. Fished till 1.00pm and only twice retrieve float back with any weed. I love fishing the low platforms when the fish are about as you continually are getting bites. Often the float does not go down, often pulls to the side or a small bob. Wait till it is stable lift up and they are on. As you walk on the rocks you naturally add burley as the day progresses. You vary weed type as they get more picky. When they get tougher put more effort into bait presentation and you are rewarded. The fish were a bigger size than last few outings. About 1/2 +38cm and one at 43. Kept 9 for family and friends, released the rest. All in all a great day, Geoff

Thanks very much for the info. I'll let you know if I'm up that way.

If you don't mind helping with where they were catching Blackies? PM is fine. Thanks, Geoff

Thanks very much for the information both about the barrier and the lack of fish. Where did you come in from? I would be interested in the National Park response.

JD, I'll send you PM. Geoff

G’Day Raiders, My father is a keen Black fisherman and has become disabled. It has got to the stage where we can’t get him in / out of the boat. We would dearly like to know of spots in the central coast we could access that have level ground from a car with a reasonable chance of a blackfish. Your help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Geoff - Centrepin

Royce, Makuri, Mangatainoka, Mangahoa. Mangawatu too dirty. It does not see the volume of overseas fisherman many parts of NZ do. Geoff

New Zealand North Island December 2013 We were looking for an easier trip and selected an area around Taraura. This was predominately farming country and did not have the issues with larger rivers and crossings encountered in the back country rivers. We knew they had rain the week before and I was gladdened when the streams we crossed closer to Wellington were fairly clear. This continued to within 50K.m’s of our destination and then it changed. The rivers became progressively dirtier till the major rivers were unfishable. Luckily we found some smaller water that was fishable the first day. It had a reputation for larger fish that were very difficult customers. 1 or 2 fish for the day would be a good result. Walking downstream we were greeted with the sight of a large fish feeding in the head of a pool. Evi was first up and I was deployed to spot. Double nymphs were the order of the day and try was she might could not get the fish to take. It showed interest and after several interested looks finally a smaller fish took the nymph and the duck was broken. The next runs were quiet and it was again Evi that came up tight fishing blind in a very fishy run. Lot’s of fish were seen but they were mostly looking down. I think the flies were going over them and not even noticed. This river was very difficult to get a good drift to the sighted fish. It was close to lunch when I came up on a smaller rainbow again fishing blind. Finally another brown came to hand and again it was caught when targeting another fish. We were satisfied with the day but could not help but lament about the number of possible opportunities we could not connect with for the day. The next day dawned slightly overcast and the water we aimed for was bigger and running close to clear. I went to the tail of the pool and left Evi the head. On the first cast I thought the nymph to heavy, or the water too shallow,as the indicator was pulling under. Second cast the same and lifted up to find a small rainbow attached. Thus started a run of fish from the tail. Evi joined the fun with 2 or 3 nice fish from the head. All were rainbows most just under 3 lbs. A cracker rainbow about 4.5lbs released itself after 10 mins. There were browns on the edges in the shallow water between the runs. These were extremely difficult to spot as they kept moving and the light was not good enough. This was the pattern of the day. All runs produced fish. Rainbows out-numbered browns about 10 : 1. We finished the day very satisfied. We returned the next morning to see the river lower and the fish not present in the tails. We managed 1 or 2 in the runs till they got difficult. Some fancy flies were engaged to get a few more good fish to the party. On our last day we fished higher up for no result. A change of rivers had us into fish on the first run. This was a lovely rainbow that came to hand in a popular picnic spot next to the road. The weather closed in with rain. We had had a great couple of days fishing and just didn’t want to slog it out in the rain so returned to our lovely Cabin and fire to relax a savour the rest of our time away. Geoff and Evi

I have sent you PM on Blackies. This all relates to weed as bait. There are Bass in Upper reaches. That is another story and accessible by foot. Geoff

Well done brother. Hope you cleaned them up on this round. Geoff

Kilp, I'll send you a PM. Geoff

That is a great report. Thanks for the info on the heavier gear. I would likewise be a babe in the woods. I will do it in the near future. I enjoyed the read. Geoff

Hey Stormy, Don't you just love it when they are finicky? Looks like you have some good weed at your spots. Thanks for the update, I'll have to go soon. Geoff

Thanks for the report. Looks like you had good time. Geoff

Dean, Great report. I love seeing the green fish. Would love to get among them some day. Sorry the upper Murray was not on, you would love it. Thanks for sharing. Geoff

Neil, Thanks so much for the report. I would love to have a fish for Cod in the future and your reports keep my juices flowing and anticipation heightened. Much appreciated, Geoff

Great story. I loved you let the big brown go. They are just too special. Thanks so much for sharing. Others can start to know how special Tassie is. Geoff