Fishing Tips, Lengths and Limits

W A R N I N G

Please observe all bag and size limits in your area

LIMIT YOUR KILL

DON"T KILL YOUR LIMIT !

Australian Salmon can be caught from the surf, rocks, harbours and bays, just cast your rig into deep channels around the bays and harbours, if you are fishing off rocks or the beach surf cast into the deep surf gutters or into the wash of the rocks, these are a great sporting fish that are fast when hooked, the best bait for Salmon is WA pilchards on a ganged 4/0 hooks, they can be found in most southern waters.

Legal Length: None

Bag Limit: 5

Australian Salmon - Scientific Name; Amipis trutta. Found South of Queensland, New South Wales,Tasmania and Western Australia. Growth to 75cm and 9kg. Taste - Strong fishy taste, oily but strong texture

Australian Bass/ Estuary Perch love lures and are aggressive on the surface and in deep water, they can be found in most coastal river systems on the east coast from Queensland to the Victorian border, casting lures around rocky sections of the estuaries will also tempted them for a chew, other baits used can be worms, insects, crustaceans and small fish

Legal Length: Only 1 over 35cm

Bag Limit: 2 in total, between June 1 to August 31 a Zero bag limit is enforced

Australian Bass - Macquaria novemaculeate. Found in Queensland, New South Wales to the Gippsland Lake in Victoria, Maximum weight around 4kg and 65cm in length. Females are much larger than Males, mild taste with firm texture - excellent eating

Bream and Tarwhine travel in schools, so if you come across fish that are not biting or you can see they are only small, move on to another location to find a school that is bigger in size, bream can be found in reef areas, oyster leases in rivers, around piers and their pylons and in weeds beds. For the best baits prawns, sandworms, crabs and marine worms are all very good, use a Long Shank from size 4 to 2 with bait holders 1-4, before setting the hook allow the fish to take the bait, best time to fish is dawn to dusk going into high tide, these guys will response to small minnow lures and some soft plastics

Legal Length: Black/Yellowfin Bream 25cm – Tarwhine is 40cm

Bag Limit: 20 in total

Bream - Sparidae. Caught all year round Australia wide, Weight up to 3.5kg, average is 1 to 1.5kg, they are a excellent eating fish and can live up to 14 years.

Tarwhine - Rhabdosargus sarba. Found Northern Queensland, New South Wales around to Southern Western Australia, Length can be up to 40cm and weight around the 3kg and caught all year round

Dolphinfish (Mahi Mahi) when hooked will leap and jump making it a excellent sport fish, commonly found around floating objects when offshore like big sections or scattered weed, buoys and driftwood, Dolphinfish tend to swim around these objects, using a strong 8/0 down to a 4/0 gang hooks with whole baits such as WA pilchard, slimy mackerel or gar fish, just troll at a medium pace past the objects and you might get a bite, you can also use artificial lures with this species who prefer the warmer currents in oceanic waters

Legal Length: 60cm. Only 1 over 110cm

Bag Limit: 10

Dolghin Fish or Mahi Mahi - Coryphaenidae hippurus. Caught from October to May Australia wide except South East Australia, size can be up to 36kgs, the taste is sweet yet flavour can be slightly strong, meat is creamy to white with texture being smooth, Mahi Mahi means Strong Strong in Polynesian

Flathead – every Aussies favourite eating fish, these guys take anything to feed their hungry mouths, from whitebait, cut up pilchards, very small live baits, pipis, squid, marine worms will tempt these guys, you can find these guys just offshore in the inner reefs and along the sandy bottoms, for the best technique in a boat is drifting, when you come across some good catch, drop anchor for some more action or if you like drifting drop some maker buoys so you can drift that section again or draw another line of attack. Long shanks sizes 1/0 to 3/0 or Suicide hooks 1/0 to 3/0 are the best to use, if you are fishing flatties from rocks, pier or a wharf make sure you slowly wind in you bait and tackle. A common catch catch is also on soft plastics, flies and diving lures.

Legal Length: Dusky Flathead 36cm, with only 1 over 70cm, Tiger and Bluespotted Flathead must be 33cm

Bag Limit: Dusky Flathead 10 and all other Flathead species 20 in total

Flathead - Platycephalus fuscus. Australia wide and all year round, average size from 30cm to 60cm but can be as big as 120cm, weight maximum 15kg and can live for 9 years. More than 40 species are found in Australian waters, tender to firm meat with mild flavour,This must be Australia's favourite fish at the dinner table or BBQ

Garfish are attracted to movement, using a Long shank 8 to 10 with light tackle and some burley as a helping hand, Garfish tend to bite the bait at the surface, just jiggle your float to bring the unweighted bait to the surface, good baits to use are prawns, pipis, maggots, pieces of yabby and marine worms.

Legal Length: None

Bag Limit: 20

Garfish - Hemiramphidae. Found all over Australia and caught all year round and can grow up to 51cm, when eaten it has a sweet to mild flavour and has many fine bones that can be eaten. Sea garfish are endemic only to Australian waters and live in sheltered bays, estuaries and clear coastal waters to waters about 20m deep.

Jewfish (Mulloway) are caught either side of the full moon or on the rising tides, fresh live bait will improve your chances, you can catch a Jewfish (Mulloway) from rocky headlands or the beaches, if boating, estuaries, close reef and ocean will have these chewing. Tempting baits are live squid, fresh slimy mackerel, WA pilchards, yellowtail, mullet (live) or marine worms, and oily fish such as tuna, live bait hooks or 8/0 – 6/0 suicide hooks can be used

Legal Length: 45cm. Only 2 over 70cm

Bag Limit: 5

Mulloway - Argyrosomus japonicus or hololepidotus. Maximum weight 60kg amd length to 1.8m, found in most waters except Tasmania, they mature at approximately 6 years of age when they are about 75cm long. Mild to very distinct flavour with white to pale pink meat, fat content is very low.

Kingfish (Yellowtail) are powerful and will challenge any keen sportsman and their gear to the limit, we recommend you use very strong 6/0 – 8/0 ganghooks or trebles for live bait, Kingfish will also take lures such as poppers, deep divers and jigs that are dropped down to the bottom and brought up fast and jerky. Live baits such Squid/Slimly Mackeral/ and oily fish such as tuna can be used. Their habitat is inshore and offshore reefs and rocky headlands

Legal Length: 65cm

Bag Limit: 5

Yellowtail Kingfish - Seriola Ialandi. Caught between January to May from Southern Queensland, New South Wale, Victoria, South Australia to southern Western Australia, size can be to 2.4 metres and weighing up to 70kg average catch is 10 - 15 kgs and around 1m long, texture is firm with a mild to srong flavour.

Leather Jackets take prawns, mussels, squid, pipis, crab, pilchards, they have great biting power and love to chew through your line, so use a long shank size 4 to 8 if possible, also allow the fish to take the bait then lift your rod firmly and hook the fish, you can catch these guys hanging around rocky headlands and reefs extending offshore, manmade walls, large weed beds and piers, when handling be careful of the top and bottom prone as they can hurt

Legal Length: None

Bag Limit: 20 in total

Leatherjacket - Monoacanthidae or Reef Leatherjacket - Meuschenia freycineti. Offshore species can grow to 3kg/ 45cm but are generally under 1kg closer to shore.There are more 20 species of leatherjackets and can be caught all around Australia, the flesh is white, firm and excellent eating.

Mackeral (Spanish or Spotted) can be found around bommies offshore and their systems, when trolling or caught off rocks over inshore reefs, they are fast and furious and make a magnificent sporting fish, any small bonito, tailor, slimy mackerel, yellow tail will tempt these guys, you can also troll using minnow and skirted lures, hooks to use for trolled baits and live baits are 6/0 – 8/0 or 6/0 ganged hooks. Wire leads are required as these guys have sharp razor teeth, during the summer season they are normally restricted to northern NSW waters

Legal Length: Spotted Mackeral 60cm – Spanish Mackeral 75cm

Bag Limit: 5 in total

Mackerel (Spotted) - Scomberomorus munroi. Maximum size 100cm, found in northern NSW and extending southwards towards Victoria following the warm currents, it has a dark fillet and a meaty flavour. Its a very important commerical fish and makes great bait for Marlin fishing

Morwong (Grey or Jackass) are found in schools around rocky bottoms and are very strong fighters, best to use 1/0 – 2/0 suicide hooks with either strips of fish, prawns and squid, again this fish needs to have a good mouthful before you strike, so be patience as this fish makes excellent eating. Commonly found in areas where rock and sand mix meet

Legal Length: 30cm

Bag Limit: 10 of each species

Jackass Morwong - Nemadactylus macropterus. Also known as Sea Bream or Jackass Fish. Can be caught all year round from the southern half of Australia including Tasmania, firm flesh and excellent eating under a grill or BBQ. Weight can be 3kg and 61cm in length but the average is around 0.5 to the 1.3kg range

Snapper – the fights on when you hook into one of these guys if its a fair size, these will strike at baits from fish fillets, prawns, WA pilchards, garfish and squid, with plenty of berley early morning, late arvo’s to evening and using suicide hooks 4/0 to 6/0 will bring these guys on, they school over inshore reefs for boating as well as off headlands and points for the land based angler, the juvenile snapper are common in protected bays and estuary , let these guys take the bait and have a run before striking, so free up your spool, remember the berley, and plenty of it to bring in a nice size plateful.

Legal Length: 30cm

Bag Limit: 10

Tailor have razor sharp bite so the use of ganged hooks with wire traces are a good bet and will save you from being bitten off, baits such as garfish, pilchards and yellowtail are best, if possible berley up some chop fish to get their taste buds on the chew, tailor can be found on the beaches, close inshore reefs around rocky headlands, lakes and estuaries, best hooks are ganged around 4 x 4/0 or 5/0 and 3 x 4/0 or 5/0. Always let the baits have plenty of movement, when they strike a good fast reel in is recommended, they fight aggressively and respond well to metal lures and diving minnows

Legal Length: 30cm

Bag Limit: 20

Tailor - Pomatomus saltrix. Tailor can grow up to 1.2 metres and weighing 16kg. Tailor can be found all over Australia except the Northern Territory. Tailor are one of the most sought after fish by recreational fisherman, the taste is strong fishy flavour and texture is soft to strong.

Trevally (Silver specie) are a great fish to eat with plenty of fun catching them, they don’t strike hard or fast so they are easy to reel in with their soft mouths, best hooks are 2 to 2/0 suicide with pieces of fish, pilchards, marine worms, prawns or squid on the end of them for the best results, small colourful lures can be used also, you can find these guys around bridges, bays and offshore. If you are rock fishing they hang in the gutters and the wash around the rocks waiting for a feed, best time is early morning or late evening at ever end of the tides

Legal Length: 30cm for Silver Trevally only

Bag Limit: 20 in total

Types of Trevally - Silver trevalley, Giant trevalley, Diamond trevalley, Bigeye trevalley, Blue Trevalley, Thicklip Trevalley, Gold Spotted trevalley, Sand Trevalley, Bluefin trevalley, Banded trevalley. There is at least 23 species of trevalley found along the east coast of Australia, Silvers grow to 1.4m, Gaints grow to 1.4m and the larger ones growing up to 2m and weighing 80kg. Mildy fishy flavour with firm texture and have superb eating qualities.

Whiting (Sand) can be caught all day long if you have plenty of berley but early morning or late afternoon if preferred, try to coincide with the tides if possible, long shank hooks to be used, for the large ones 2 to 4 and the smaller ones 6 to 8, baits on the end can be marine worms, squid, pipis, crustaceans or saltwater nippers. For the larger whiting you can find them in deep channels in estuaries or bays and some heavy laid reefs, smaller ones seem to like the bottoms with sand and weed patches, always try to fish in the lighter areas.

Legal Length: 27cm for Sand Whiting

Bag Limit: 20 in total

Sand whiting - Sillagindae. Whiting can be caught Australia wide with the peaks July to December, average weight 300 grams and 35cm in length to 1.4kg and 55cm. They favour sandy or muddy sand substrates in shallow water to about 6 metres, They form large schools in surf zones, sand banks and river mouths, they are very delicate in taste, white flesh with many fine bones.