July 9, 2021 Forster NSW

July 9, 2021

We have had a typically wintery week here in the beautiful Great Lakes; chilly nights and mornings followed by mostly sunny, mild days. While the seas have been far from kind, the sheltered waters of the estuary have been fishing very well for a few key species.

Bream remain very good throughout the lower sections of Wallis Lake. Any Oyster Lease between Wallis Island and the mouth of the system is worth checking out but generally the older the growth the better the fishing! I have had daily reports of very solid bags of fish including Bream up over the 40cm mark. The bridge pylons and rock walls are also holding some nice fish still with some particularly solid models coming from the bridge, the biggest reported going 48cm!

Luderick have also been fishing very well in the estuary with great catches of fish coming from all over the place including Breckenridge Channel, Wallis Island, ‘The Paddock’, the bridge and both Forster and Tuncurry rock walls. The last of the run out tide and start of the run in tide is the best time to go and the fish are far from fussy when it comes to offerings; String weed, Cabbage weed or flies will all do the job.

The unsung hero of the Winter fishing season has to be the good old Flathead. There has been loads of nice fish caught over the week, particularly over last weekend, and the fish seem to be very spread out with some great bags still coming from the shallows down around the mouth of the lake. While the odd fish is falling for well-presented fish and Prawn baits, most are being taken on artificial lures with hard bodies proving to be particularly good.

There have been a couple of reports of some nice Tailor up the lake as well as the odd Australian Salmon. These schools can be a little tricky to locate but they are super fun on a light Bream outfit and most of the fish at this time of the year are a decent size and in great condition for the table.

The local beaches are still producing a steady trickle of Tailor, definitely not huge amounts of action but the regular anglers are managing to get a few fish each trip with late afternoon producing the majority of catches. Aussie Salmon are still around in good numbers and are making things a little difficult for the Bream anglers who have been struggling to land decent bags of fish over the last week or so.

I haven’t heard too much from the stones this week, however the conditions have been almost perfect for chasing Drummer, Bream and Luderick. This weekend is shaping up the same so it may well be worth collecting some Cunji and Crabs and hitting the wash.

Getting offshore has been somewhat difficult on most days this week so reports have been very few and far between, those that have been lucky enough to get out have found the odd fish but it’s been hard to find many Snapper over 35cm. Luckily the Flathead have been on fire which has meant that anglers have not returned empty handed! The inshore Kingfish and Mulloway have been on fire this week with fish up to 18kg landed and some much bigger models lost!