Patonga

[Wardy89]

Hi all, 

I am new here, so hello!

I am going camping at Patonga next weekend, can anybody please advise on fishing locations, techniques or target species in that area? 


Thank you!

[XD351]

You in a boat or land based ? Do you have a specific species you are targeting?

And how the hell did you get a camping spot at Patonga? That place is always booked out 🤣🤣🤣

Edited December 7, 2023 by XD351

[Wardy89]

Haha I’ll be land based sadly, haven’t got a boat - yet!!

 

To give context I’m a Brit who’s been here 18 months and still adapting to Aussie fishing having being competitive match angler in the UK fishing for fresh water fish. 
 

happy to bait fish for anything that swims, preferably larger species if possible (wouldn’t mind being hooked up to a shark) but open to small fish to keep the kids entertained if they want to come with me, Or lure fish with soft plastics for flathead etc. 

 

Thanks for taking the time to help 👍🏻

[XD351]

Ok , not having a boat does narrow down your options but still worth a go ! 
you can access the creek from the end of jacaranda and meroo avenues , there is a track going from the end of jacaranda ave upstream but the creek is mostly shallow with heaps of weed and nipper beds so flicking a plastic or casting out a bait like a nipper or prawn and slowly retrieved it  around these areas might produce a flathead , whiting or bream  , early morning or even better night time will be best as there are usually a few hundred kids tearing around in the creek during daylight hours so the fish will usually find somewhere to hide once that starts. 
The mouth of the creek where it drains into brisk bay is another spot worth a fish using the same tactics outlined above - the prawns get flushed out with the run out tide which attracts fish to the spot. Then fish your way along the beach to the wharf which will get you out into deeper water ( the whole bay is only a few metres deep until you get out past the moorings) and once again either a lure bumped along the bottom or a slowly retrieved  bait should get you something. One tip with patonga wharf is to remember the fish can be right under the wharf - especially flathead as they hunt the bait schools that congregate around the wharf pylons so don’t be afraid to drop a bait or lure straight down and bob it up and down off the bottom ! You could lob out a live bait off the wharf , might hook a mulloway ,  a shark or a big flathead - they are in the bay right now so you never know your luck - live yakka or mullet  . There are also blue swimmer crabs there - if you leave a dead bait of mullet or squid out there for a little while you might get a few - this is part of the reason why I kept mentioning to slowly retrieve the bait so the crabs don’t get it and bury it !

[Little_Flatty]

Welcome @Wardy89!

It’s a great campground at Patonga. When I was last there in winter a few years ago, they allowed fire pits. I doubt they’d allow them in summer though.

I’ve always been enchanted by match fishing in the UK, ever since I got the comic book style anglers mail publication. Have you caught any carp yet to get your friends at home drooling?🤣l

What’s the story behind your profile pic? Would love to hear it!

[Burger]

Got my pb flatty at the very mouth of Patong Creek…. Tossed a mullet strip upstream and let it drift down with the current.

Bam, 75cm flatty.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Burger

[Wardy89]

17 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Welcome @Wardy89!

It’s a great campground at Patonga. When I was last there in winter a few years ago, they allowed fire pits. I doubt they’d allow them in summer though.

I’ve always been enchanted by match fishing in the UK, ever since I got the comic book style anglers mail publication. Have you caught any carp yet to get your friends at home drooling?🤣l

What’s the story behind your profile pic? Would love to hear it!

Hey mate,

 

No carp fishing for me here as I think I would struggle to knock them on the head as you guys do! 
it’s such a big scene in the UK with big prize money at stake. I was lucky enough to be a sponsored team and fished allover the country weekly.  If you’re interested in that style head over to the tackle guru YouTube page where they make some superb videos on that style of fishing. 
 

The profile pic is a fish a I caught recently when I went camping near Forster and lucky enough hooked into this Kingy off the beach on a pilchard, I didn’t have a big enough esky with me though and it swam off to fight another day to the disbelief of others on the beach! 

[Little_Flatty]

52 minutes ago, Wardy89 said:

I didn’t have a big enough esky with me though and it swam off to fight another day to the disbelief of others on the beach!

Now that’s something! Letting a great fish go when the esky is not big enough! Don’t hear of a lot of kingies off the beach, you do hear of them occasionally but not a lot. Very lucky catch!

Re carp you’d also be horrified to hear how basic the techniques that are used to catch fish that you’d consider trophies at home! 4/0 hooks on 30lb hand lines baited with prawns, bread etc🤣 Not many ledger rods or namogram accurate wagglers here!

I guess the equivalent would be if Australian bass infested UK waterways and grew to massive sizes, and fisheries asked UK anglers to knock them on the head! The Aussie anglers would be scratching their heads too!

Sounds like you’re a gun angler. Looking forward to hearing more posts!

 

[GoldenHourFishing]

Hey mate, walk down to your right along patonga creek, if you can get your hands on a yabbie pump there are nippers everywhere. Once you have 10-20 of them in a bucket just chuck them on a small long shank hook and a small sinker and it wont be long before you are pulling in bream and whiting, gorgeous location I havent fixhed it in years, but back when I used to use bait I did a couple of times. And you can always go for a dip if you feel like it, the water quality is really nice. 

[Wardy89]

Thanks all for the help, is it worth buying a yabby pump and using as bait? I have seen some YouTube videos but never done it or used them as bait? Sounds like the perfect thing to do with my kids tbh! 
 

also, I do have a 4m kayak, is it worth paddling that down the river to what on Google maps looks like oyster beds and flicking some soft plastics or live bait around them?

 

thanks again! 

[Green Hornet]

1 hour ago, Wardy89 said:

Thanks all for the help, is it worth buying a yabby pump and using as bait? I have seen some YouTube videos but never done it or used them as bait? Sounds like the perfect thing to do with my kids tbh! 
 

also, I do have a 4m kayak, is it worth paddling that down the river to what on Google maps looks like oyster beds and flicking some soft plastics or live bait around them?

 

thanks again! 

A yabby pump is probably the best investment an estuary bait fisherman can make. Going by the cost of a packet of prawns, it will pay for itself in no time and fresh/live yabbies are a far better bait, improving the quality of your catch.

I’m still using the same yabby pump I bought over 40 years ago and other than replacing the washer occasionally, it will last you forever.