fishable waters in NSW

[odysea_yt]

hi everyone,

in the school holidays i want to go take a 3 day fishing trip to somewhere in NSW, probably around 3 hrs drive away from sydney. The only places I've been to is jervis bay and Wollongong, is there any other places that hold lots of fish?

Tight lines,

Odysea

[ireallylovefishies22]

Depends what kind of fishing you want to do, and what you want to target.

Edited November 19 by ireallylovefishies22

[juicy233]

1 hour ago, odysea_yt said:

hi everyone,

in the school holidays i want to go take a 3 day fishing trip to somewhere in NSW, probably around 3 hrs drive away from sydney. The only places I've been to is jervis bay and Wollongong, is there any other places that hold lots of fish?

Tight lines,

Odysea

If you are up for a bit more of a drive, tathra is amazing, the fishing off the wharf there is easy and fun as you can have live baits out under a float for salmon and kingies and then flick around a metal for tailor, bonito, salmon, kingfish or maybe tuna. The area has heaps of fish as you will see schools of salmon and kingfish swimming around the wharf and pretty much every morning I fished there, there was some surface action and the occasional bust up of salmon.

[odysea_yt]

11 minutes ago, juicy233 said:

If you are up for a bit more of a drive, tathra is amazing, the fishing off the wharf there is easy and fun as you can have live baits out under a float for salmon and kingies and then flick around a metal for tailor, bonito, salmon, kingfish or maybe tuna. The area has heaps of fish as you will see schools of salmon and kingfish swimming around the wharf and pretty much every morning I fished there, there was some surface action and the occasional bust up of salmon.

i wish but i think its too far, thanks though!

[odysea_yt]

59 minutes ago, ireallylovefishies22 said:

Depends what kind of fishing you want to do, and what you want to target.

i wanna get kingfish and other pelagics that's the target but I also wanna get some good bream and whiting

[ireallylovefishies22]

1 hour ago, odysea_yt said:

i wanna get kingfish and other pelagics that's the target but I also wanna get some good bream and whiting

I don't really have much experience with kings or pelagics, but forster/Harrington is pretty good for your regular bread and butter fish.

[odysea_yt]

10 hours ago, ireallylovefishies22 said:

I don't really have much experience with kings or pelagics, but forster/Harrington is pretty good for your regular bread and butter fish.

yes that lake thingie looks like it has a lot of flats. Still chasing big pelagics tho

[noelm]

Pretty hard to go past Jervis Bay for some of those fish, but….be warned, some places are a long walk, and some require effort to fish and safety is paramount, also check access and green zones.

[odysea_yt]

1 hour ago, noelm said:

Pretty hard to go past Jervis Bay for some of those fish, but….be warned, some places are a long walk, and some require effort to fish and safety is paramount, also check access and green zones.

I love jervis bay because it is very beautiful, but I don't know where to fish. I went to murrays beach boat ramp where I caught a lot of small trevally and also at hyam beach rocks there's eels and drummer. Is there any other spots? thanks1

[Steve0]

Broadly, almost everywhere along the coast holds fish. The problem is not which town, but finding where near the town fish are more likely to be. 

Seeing a lot of people fishing somewhere does not mean it is a good place to fish. To increase your chances, you need to hunt fish. Start with the thought that moving water disturbs microorganisms and they are the bottom of the food chain. Wherever you go, try Headlands, beaches with rips and gutters (around the gutters, not the 'desert' between). If you have trouble reading a beach, look at low tide or from high ground.

We all want to catch Kingfish.  You'll have a far better chance of finding tailor or salmon. In daylight hours, schools of fish cast shadows on each other and on the bottom. Large schools of tailor appear as a grey mass in the water; salmon show as a reddish brown mass. Watch for individual fish in waves as they peak before breaking. 

 

 

[noelm]

1 hour ago, odysea_yt said:

I love jervis bay because it is very beautiful, but I don't know where to fish. I went to murrays beach boat ramp where I caught a lot of small trevally and also at hyam beach rocks there's eels and drummer. Is there any other spots? thanks1

The chances of Kingfish at places like that are just about zero…….you will need to look at the deeper headlands on the north side, nothing easy to get to is going to be a red hot spot for Kingfish (but it does happen). Beware, most of these deep water headlands can be dangerous if inexperienced, even Kiama Blowhole is relatively easy to access, but, lots have lost their life there, just like Hill60 at Port Kembla.

Edited November 19 by noelm

[odysea_yt]

57 minutes ago, noelm said:

The chances of Kingfish at places like that are just about zero…….you will need to look at the deeper headlands on the north side, nothing easy to get to is going to be a red hot spot for Kingfish (but it does happen). Beware, most of these deep water headlands can be dangerous if inexperienced, even Kiama Blowhole is relatively easy to access, but, lots have lost their life there, just like Hill60 at Port Kembla.

i am very against rock fishing its so dangerous. When I was in jervis bay I saw zooming fish zooming in the shallow water but nobody could catch them but someone later caught a big aussie salmon. Is there a deep spot in jervis bay or smt that holds kingfihs?

[noelm]

11 minutes ago, odysea_yt said:

i am very against rock fishing its so dangerous. When I was in jervis bay I saw zooming fish zooming in the shallow water but nobody could catch them but someone later caught a big aussie salmon. Is there a deep spot in jervis bay or smt that holds kingfihs?

In that case Salmon are going to be your target, they can be caught almost anywhere, from beaches and bays, and then you have Whiting and Bream as well, but they require a completely different approach.

[Jo5hC]

I went to Forster a while ago (in winter) and the breakwall fished very well for Jewies and tailor even. In a one hour session we landed two Jewies and a tailor but also lost two more bigger fish (what I think was a big Jewie). Idk whether the Jewie fishing there is good in spring/summer but there would probably be pelagics coming in. It is also a very good trophy flathead fishery as I have seen some good sized ones around the breakwall. 

 

[odysea_yt]

 

looks good but a little far tho

4 hours ago, Jo5hC said:

I went to Forster a while ago (in winter) and the breakwall fished very well for Jewies and tailor even. In a one hour session we landed two Jewies and a tailor but also lost two more bigger fish (what I think was a big Jewie). Idk whether the Jewie fishing there is good in spring/summer but there would probably be pelagics coming in. It is also a very good trophy flathead fishery as I have seen some good sized ones around the breakwall. 

 

[Aussie_fisher]

Landbased there’s probably better chance of salmon and tailor if ur looking for pelagics. Kingies are difficult without a boat. Bream and whiting are a different story. Can be caught basically anywhere in estuaries in areas like sand flats, drop offs, edge of weed beds etc: 

[Steve0]

1 minute ago, Aussie_fisher said:

 Kingies are difficult without a boat. 

That's an understatement! I've managed a few just short of legal but the big speedsters were on the bottom and gone with the lure before having time to think 'thumb the spool'. 

 

[Aussie_fisher]

4 minutes ago, Steve0 said:

That's an understatement! I've managed a few just short of legal but the big speedsters were on the bottom and gone with the lure before having time to think 'thumb the spool'. 

 

I’ve tried landbased kingies quite a few times. Once I think I managed something but it snapped me off and every other time absolutely nothing. Bit difficult if u can’t chase the kingies and are stuck to one spot 

[odysea_yt]

30 minutes ago, Aussie_fisher said:

I’ve tried landbased kingies quite a few times. Once I think I managed something but it snapped me off and every other time absolutely nothing. Bit difficult if u can’t chase the kingies and are stuck to one spot 

ye i guess kingfish for another day then

[Steve0]

3 minutes ago, Aussie_fisher said:

I’ve tried landbased kingies quite a few times. Once I think I managed something but it snapped me off and every other time absolutely nothing. Bit difficult if u can’t chase the kingies and are stuck to one spot 

My kings were by-catch when chasing salmon and tailor. I do rig for large Salmon, but that drag setting is wrong for hauling kings out of bricks (too light to give it, free run and too hard to hold it away from structure). I did see l one mid-70s where I was catching Salmon, but missed seeing the fight. Before the king, he was skull dragging 50cm+ Salmon straight onto the rocks with no time allowed for any fight (like the old-style two rod tuna catching from boats).  Tough location - relatively deep channel with mix of sand and rocky outcrop bottom where a beach drains next to rock. The rocks are undercut in places and landing is further complicated by wide strips at water level covered in cunje. Salmon and Tailor came in OK, but anything big that dives for cover seems close to impossible to me. 

[odysea_yt]

12 minutes ago, Steve0 said:

My kings were by-catch when chasing salmon and tailor. I do rig for large Salmon, but that drag setting is wrong for hauling kings out of bricks (too light to give it, free run and too hard to hold it away from structure). I did see l one mid-70s where I was catching Salmon, but missed seeing the fight. Before the king, he was skull dragging 50cm+ Salmon straight onto the rocks with no time allowed for any fight (like the old-style two rod tuna catching from boats).  Tough location - relatively deep channel with mix of sand and rocky outcrop bottom where a beach drains next to rock. The rocks are undercut in places and landing is further complicated by wide strips at water level covered in cunje. Salmon and Tailor came in OK, but anything big that dives for cover seems close to impossible to me. 

how bout bonito? are those common now and do they put up a good fight? my main fish priority is big drag and tasty eaty haha

[Steve0]

2 hours ago, odysea_yt said:

how bout bonito? are those common now and do they put up a good fight? my main fish priority is big drag and tasty eaty haha

I never found any Bonnies, but I mostly fish office hours, chasing visible schools.

My understanding is all Scombridae pull hard and fast (https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/search?q=Scombridae&page=1&fi=10). Knowing that and being able to find a place to hook them from shore are two different things.

Salmon and Tailor spend more time closer to shore, so are a better starting point. They are both strong-flavoured species, so if you want fish to eat, keep small Tailor (from just legal up to about 40cm). Over that, they are a bit mushy for my taste. Salmon are OK, but only very small ones fry up OK and then, not too often. The rest need to be used in a recipe (e.g. fish curry). Boiling salmon in salty water then flaking it works OK. Some people like salmon fish cakes. I don't.

Both species need attenion to detail when cleaning. Kill straight away, bleed, gut fillet, skin and trim out the bloodline. Keep the fillets cold.   

Australian Salmon have a visible clear patch in an approximate triangle behind the eyes. Stab there=instant death.

Tailor don't have a convenient brain marker, but the brain is approxiamtely the same triangle point behind the eyes. 

Fresh tailor gut used fresh makes good bait. The odour seems to attract. 

[odysea_yt]

50 minutes ago, Steve0 said:

I never found any Bonnies, but I mostly fish office hours, chasing visible schools.

My understanding is all Scombridae pull hard and fast (https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/search?q=Scombridae&page=1&fi=10). Knowing that and being able to find a place to hook them from shore are two different things.

Salmon and Tailor spend more time closer to shore, so are a better starting point. They are both strong-flavoured species, so if you want fish to eat, keep small Tailor (from just legal up to about 40cm). Over that, they are a bit mushy for my taste. Salmon are OK, but only very small ones fry up OK and then, not too often. The rest need to be used in a recipe (e.g. fish curry). Boiling salmon in salty water then flaking it works OK. Some people like salmon fish cakes. I don't.

Both species need attenion to detail when cleaning. Kill straight away, bleed, gut fillet, skin and trim out the bloodline. Keep the fillets cold.   

Australian Salmon have a visible clear patch in an approximate triangle behind the eyes. Stab there=instant death.

Tailor don't have a convenient brain marker, but the brain is approxiamtely the same triangle point behind the eyes. 

Fresh tailor gut used fresh makes good bait. The odour seems to attract. 

i usually put my fish frozen alive in a bucket caus I hate getting blood on my hands. Ill try stabbing it tho but don't you need to bleed it out as well?

[Steve0]

1 hour ago, odysea_yt said:

i usually put my fish frozen alive in a bucket caus I hate getting blood on my hands. Ill try stabbing it tho but don't you need to bleed it out as well?

You need to bleed fish as soon as you kill them. Hands are easily washed. You can even get biodegradeable soap that works in salt water if you think you need it.  If it's an aversion, use disposable gloves.

[odysea_yt]

2 minutes ago, Steve0 said:

You need to bleed fish as soon as you kill them. Hands are easily washed. You can even get biodegradeable soap that works in salt water if you think you need it.  If it's an aversion, use disposable gloves.

for sure ill try it later. back then I was and still is finicky to blood but just a random ick ig