Fishing Patonga - Low Tide & After Dark

[Jaybe]

G'day Raiders,

To start with, I'd like to say a very sincere thank you to the Fishraider community... I'm a long-term reader & the knowledge I've found on this site, on just about every conceivable topic, has helped my game immensely!

As the title suggests, I'm after a couple of land-based spots that I can fish at Patonga both on the pm low tide & after dark (i.e. the evening high tide then the run out).

I've had consistent success on the a.m high tide fishing at the creek mouth for Flatties & Tailor, for this I've used fresh nippers & salted pilli respectively.

The first issue I'm having is finding a good spot to fish at the lunchtime low tide - on occasion I have been able to wade out to the drop off that runs parallel to the mouth of the creek about 25-30m off the beach, however I've found you can only reach it when the swell's really low. If any Raiders have other spots that work when the water's low in the afternoon, I'd love to hear about it (e.g. I've heard good things about Dark Corner but have never tried it out).

Secondly, I'm trying to find a good spot to fish after dark (pm high tide & run out)... Again, I've had some patchy success fishing in the creek channel off the back of the camping ground but wondered if there was anywhere else I should be trying (e.g. does the creek mouth work well on the pm high tide, the same way it does in the morning)?

Again, my primary targets are Flattie & Tailor, using nippers & salted pilli but more than happy to take breaming spots & am open to different baits etc.

Cheers,
Jb

Edited May 6, 2015 by Jaybe

[mike2153]

Mate that drop off your talking about is not a bad spot at low tide, in assuming your talking about the one where you can stand on the exposed sand bar and you cast towards the houses on the other side of the creek.

Patonga is a very tough fishing spot I have I shed it a lot for very little success really, It's justa to shallow I believe to hold any really decent fish. The wharf isn't to bad either, try walking up and down the beach casting plastics for flatties?

[Jaybe]

Thanks mate,

I was actually talking about the drop off on the Hawkesbury side... about 25-30m into Brisk Bay.

It's a top spot for Flatties when the swell's low but very tricky to fish without a boat if the swell's over ~1-1.5ft.

I had looked at the spot you mentioned above & will give it a go for sure - might be room for a flattie or two in the drop off & maybe some bream around the resident's jetties.

In terms of the fishing more generally, I have found it very productive at times (with flatties up to 56cm) but it can be tide/weather dependent & that makes it a bit inconsistent.

It may just be that I'm fishing the wrong spots though... so thanks again for the tip.

Jaybe