Page 28 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing mag

WJewfish taking the bait in Jewn and Jewly
HILE Jewn Mischa stood beside being the 10.875kg fish (June) may her and coached her taken offshore at Wooli well be over, through the fight, and by local boatie Dayne
Just Jew
by TYE PORTER
the good news is that to her credit she had a Bishop.
Jewly (July) is now upon us and anglers can enjoy excellent jewfish chas- ing through the lower reaches of the rivers here on the far north coast of NSW.
whole or stripped squid that have been produc- ing the majority of fish to around 10kg.
– and quite a few rea- sonable tailor and the odd small turrum have been landed as by-catch.
13.5kg fish floundering at her feet in about seven minutes flat, at which point Mischa gilled her fish and the whooping andholleringstartedbig time.
The majority of jew- fish taken offshore have been boated at the trawl- er wreck just east of the Iluka breakwall and further north at Black Rocks off Woody Head, with Iluka angler An- drew Gill being just one of the many anglers tak- ing fish to around the 14kg mark.
On the mighty Clar- ence River jewfish have been in abundance dur- ing the past month, and as long as we don’t have heavy rain this month, anglers can expect the same quality fishing during July.
Inside the river, jew- fish have been taken as far upstream as the Har- wood Bridge on a com- bination of live herring, live mullet and both soft plastic and hard-bodied lures, and my son Mis- cha and his girlfriend Rebekah being just two of the many anglers get- ting among the fish.
After specialising in jewfish for a tad over forty years, the novelty of catching one has well and truly worn off for me and while yes, I do still have the odd throw for the smelly buggers, these days I really get a kick out of watching other anglers catch their first jew.
Since then Rebekah has landed a further two fish of similar size and while she is yet to catch a 3m flathead, she has landed nearly 3.5m of jewfish, which is one hell of a start to a long fishing career.
Ten Mile Beach at Shark Bay has again been a hit and miss af- fair in recent weeks due to large swells, however when conditions allow you can expect to catch a nice feed of bream, tarwhine and the odd school jew on either live beach worms or pippies.
Fish to 25kg have been taken from the back of the surf break on the ocean side of the Yam- ba wall at night on live mullet.
Casino angler Mitchell Cook has taken fish to around the 15kg mark, while Yamba angler Martin Wicks snared a nice 19.4kg specimen, and Ashby fisho Ted McLean landed a 14kg model to boot.
Last month I had the privilege of watching Mischa’s girlfriend Re- bekah catch her first jew, which I supposed had to happen one day particularly when you live in a household that is so jewfish oriented.
Luderick numbers have really improved in- side the rivers since the cold weather started in earnest, with most days at Iluka being a matter of take a number and wait for a spot at the Old Ferry approach when the bite is running hot.
While on the river side at the T-Piece, nice catches of fish around the 15kg mark are to be had on both live mullet and hard-bodied lures during the slack high water after dark.
The Iluka Bluff, the Second Bluff and the southern end of Woody Head rocks have seen reasonable numbers of jew taken on lures at low tide – when the wind and swell have al- lowed access to them
After years of sitting in the wind, rain and cold watching either Mischa or myself catch jew, Re- bekah finally bit the bul- let and sent a live mullet out herself and bugger me if she didn’t hook-up almost instantly.
Terry Daley of Yamba fished the Middle Wall using cabbage as bait for luderick to just over 1kg, however it was Grafton angler David Bellamy who led the way with a nice 1.45kg fish taken from the Yamba break- wall on black weed.
Visiting anglers are reminded that a Beach Access Permit is re- quired for driving on Main Beach at Iluka, and these can be pur- chased at the Riverside Tourist Park in Charles Street Iluka or the Clar- ence Valley Council offices in Maclean and Grafton.
Over at Iluka, the breakwall has yielded the odd nice fish on live mullet, however it has been dead bait such as
Even once you have done the right thing and bought a permit, it re- mains illegal to either drive or camp on the dunes and to drive be- tween the on-track south to the breakwall be- cause this is a designat- ed pedestrian only area.
As the song goes, girls just wanna have fun and Iluka angler Rebekah Ellis had a ball starting her jewfish catching career with this nice speci- men taken in the Clarence River on live mullet.
Double trouble, Mischa and Rebekah with a nice schoolie each taken on live mullet in the Clarence River.
Offshore catches have been dominated by big snapper and reasona- ble-sized jew, with the best snapper this month
So, get your thermals on and get out there at night, and get in on the action that everyone else has been enjoying.
Page 28 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, July 2020
Until next month, safe fishing.
Elsewhere in the riv- er, flathead continue to provide anglers with a tasty feed and bream numbers continue to grow as winter really gets into gear.
Main Beach and the southern end of Back Beach have both had good formation on them recently and in turn rea- sonable catches of chop- per tailor to 2kg have been reported, while the rocks at Shark Bay have also produced good tai- lor when the swell has been too big to access other locations.
If I had to give recent fishing a rating, I reck- on it would have to be anineoutoftenandas I mentioned earlier, as long as nothing stupid happens weather-wise, July should be every bit as good – if not better.
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