The big news this month is the reopening of the Stripey Trumpeter fishery and the Rock Lobster fishery to recreational anglers. The Striped Trumpeter were closed to recreational fishing for the months of September and October and the Rock Lobster closed completely to male and female fish for the same months.

Early reports have the Rock Lobster slow to start with the odd angler doing well but the vast majority falling well short of any quota’s……lets hope fishing picks up as the season progresses.

The Stripey Trumpeter however have fared better, with the fish having a couple of months rest from angling pressure the fishing has started off very strong with many anglers reporting good catches. Areas such as the Binalong Patch, the 14 Mile patch off Eddystone Point and areas down off Bicheno and Seymour have all produced fish. There has even been a handful of fish caught closer to home on Merricks Reef and the Gravel Patch

With the weather starting to stabilise a little better there has been much more action offshore lately with boat anglers reporting good hauls of King Flathead in 70-80 metres of water and appear to be quite large in size.

Further inshore Georges Bay has been firing hard, some good seasonal rainfall has flushed the bay well and there have been large amounts of small bait fish moving throughout the bay.

Earlier in the month anglers were witness to some amazing fishing where large Australian Salmon around 4-5lb were hoarding schools into the shallow water all along the beach near the Sea Scout Hall and feeding on them in little more than half a metre of water……anglers were able to catch good fish right at their feet.

Up in the Moulting Bay area, boat anglers have been consistently catching good Australian Salmon up to 4-5lb and some good Tailor to around 2lb. Most of these fish have been caught using soft plastic lures with the Squidgy Flick Bait in Evil Minnow colour being very popular.

The Silver Trevally are also hot on the bite and are being caught all over the bay. Anglers fishing Kirwins and Parkside Jeti have been rewarded by good sized fish as have boat anglers fishing the channel and Moulting bay areas.

Two species showing up in regularity at the moment have also been Squid and King George Whiting, both fantastic eating fish and take a little bit more searching to find but are well worth the effort. Casting Jarvis Walker Squid Jigs around the weed beds should produce the Squid if they are in the area and small #2 Gamakatsu Bait Keeper hooks laced with a Pipi bait and cast to the edge of the weed beds should produce the Whiting if they are around.

The Scamander River has the Bream in full swing spawning and has been producing some fantastic fishing. One local angler from Scamander has reported some excellent fish being caught using the Squidgy Wriggler in Wasabi and Bloodworm colours and fished lightly into the tree snags where the fish are schooling up.