Mass

Hi Larkin. Fished with Nippers. No burley. Just lights lines on a good drift.

Headed out yesterday with two mates and my son in pursuit of Whiting. Pumped nippers at Malanbar and decided to fish the channel for the first hour. Not much happening although we did get a triple hook up on Whiting as we hit a shallower sandy patch. Moved onto the flats like in previous weeks with immediate results. Managed our best bag yet with a total of 43 fish including 37 Whiting. I didn’t land many preferring to assist the crew in gathering a catch. My son also christened his new rod which he made at school in his year 9 elective “Marine Masters”. Finished up just after 12pm. May be time to target other species and mix things up a bit.

Headed out Saturday and I was greeted by an unusually high frequency of waves rolling through the Hacking. Fished the main channel for 3 Leather jacket and 1 bream. There was an abundance of leather jacket present in the channel causing baits to disappear often without feeling a bite. This resulted in a move to the flats around 11am and that's when things changed. Ended up with 36 fish, 26 of which were Whiting. At least 4 fish over 40cm with the best going 43cm and very fat. It was a long day with a 3pm finish mainly due to the late high tide. Goes to show you don't always need to get up early to have a great days fishing.

Hi Rob. Gave most of them away. Family aren't big fish eaters. Great time of year to be out fishing.

Hey Yowie. That is very interesting. I only ever fished the bay till a few years ago because I didn't think the Hacking was productive. Now, I don't even consider fishing the bay. The Hacking is a lot cleaner as well.

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Started early Thursday morning with my son and two of his mates. Had a bucket full of nippers by about 6.30am and headed straight to the channel. Picked up 5 decent bream before things slowed down somewhat. Moved to the various sandbars in search of Whiting but things were very quiet with little movement or drift due to a non existent breeze. Persisted on the flats until about 10.30-11am when the run out tide and a slight breeze seemed to flick the "ON" switch. It was mayhem after that with fish after fish coming on board. The Whiting were huge with at least 4 above 40cm, the biggest going 43cm. Even the average was in the mid 30's. At about 1.30pm, we called it a day with the fish still biting. With 38 quality fish in the esky and many fish spitting the hook, it could have easily been 50. How quickly your fortunes can change. What seemed like being a very ordinary day changed into one of the best days fishing on the Hacking. My son and his mates won't forget this one.

Well done Rob. Good to see you back on the water and catching quality fish.

Hi Rob. Mainly on the flats. The deeper waters were a little quiet

Hi Neil. 6lb line with sliding sinker (small as possible) and a small long shank hook.

Headed out early and loaded up on the Nippers. Had a bucket full in short time and headed to the channel. Picked up the snapper which was right on 30cm, some bream, the jacket and flatties. Also had another flatty well over 70cm boat side before it spat the reddie it was holding on to. Moved on to the sand flats and picked up the rest of the catch. Nothing notable in terms of size but there were some solid fish. Biggest Whiting about 35cm. Biggest Flatty around 50cm and the Trevally around 44cm. 29 fish in total. All in all, a great days fishing in superb fishing conditions. Great time of year to be fishing the estuaries.

Thanks Rob. We will definitely catch up for a fish this summer

Definitely patchy. Was out a few weeks ago and didn't get much. Hopefully things keep improving.

Yes. Definitely great variety. Let's hope it continues.

Hi Faker. We were fishing from the boat.

Headed out yesterday with a mate and his son on the Hacking and it didn't disappoint. Plan was to collect some nippers early then try for some bream before hitting the sand flats. As we were heading to Maianbar, saw some surface action and cast a lure into the frenzy. Managed a tailor before heading on to get the nippers. The nippers were collected and we moved to the channel to try for bream. Picked up a couple as well as some leatherjacket and a big 50cm trevally. Also dropped a flatty which was well into the 50cm range which held onto a reddie all the way to the boat before letting go. The rest of the fish were caught over the flats with a nice 43cm Whiting included. Thought it was a bit early in the season to start catching but was happy with the results. Looking forward to plenty of outings this summer.

Headed out yesterday in search of some Bream and Whiting. Was on the water just after 6am with my 80yr old uncle and a mate. Fishing was slow early on but as the current picked up on the rising tide, the bite picked up. Landed some quality bream and trevally before my uncle had the fight of his life on 6lb line with a small long shank hook. After about 15 mins, a 67cm Trevally was netted boat side and brought on board. It was the biggest Trevally I have seen come out of any estuary that I have fished. It measured 65-67cm and 3.3kg after being bled. We then went in search of Whiting and managed 5 decent fish, the biggest measuring 43cm (again, it was the 80yr old giving us a fishing lesson). Great day on the water although I believe the dredging taking place in the Hacking has affected the fishing somewhat. Can't complain. Still a decent catch.

Headed out this morning about 6am. Stopped and pump nippers for about 30 mins and after that, off to chase some bream. Picked up about 7 of the bream in the channel as well as a nice trevally estimated to be in the high 30's. About 9am, headed for the sand flats in search of Whiting. Continued to catch bream as well as 4 nice Whiting. Also caught another thumper trevally which would have been over 40cm. Headed back to the channel late in the day as the bite slowed down and picked up a nice flatty. Conditions on the water were nice but the breeze did pick up later in the day. Happy to be getting out very regularly while the weather is good.

Hi Jenno. Yes that was me. It was great fun on the light gear. At one stage, I thought the passing boats may run over the line. It went for some big runs. Pretty lucky to land it to be honest.

Headed out Saturday morning and was pumping nippers in waist deep water at 6.15am. Water was warm and couldn't have picked a better day for it. Picked up a nice bream whilst pumping nippers and my sons friend dropped a nice size Whiting as we prepared to leave the flats at Maianbar. First drop in the channel on a size 8 long shank hook, 6lb line and a nipper resulted in a 67cm King. Great fight again on light gear. Moved to some of the flats and caught 7 Whiting, 2 of which were 40cm. Towards the end of the day, there was a school of Salmon busting the surface in Gunnamatta but they weren't interested in any lures. All in all, some quality fish caught but not as productive as the week before. The photo is missing a couple of Whiting. My mate took the photo but I had already taken 2 home. Left the rest for him to enjoy.

Thanks Mate. We have had a few better catches than this lately. Just been lazy posting. Will try to post all catches in the future.

Thanks.

@Yowie Thanks Yowie. Yes, one trumpeter mixed in with the sand Whiting.

Not sure how to reply but thanks for all the replies.

Headed out today on my mates boat. Him and his mate were keen to go outside but I wanted to fish inside. We pumped nippers before heading out just in case we headed back in. Trolled through the heads for the one Bonito and that's were it ended. Nothing happening on the close in reefs. Came back inside and the bite was instant. Plenty of bream and Whiting with 2 Whiting at 41cm. Also picked up a 32cm snapper and landed a rat kingfish at 55cm on 6lb line which was released. Water was very murky but it didn't effect the fishing. Great day with a nice haul and good company.