The month of April has proven to be a magnificent month on Georges Bay with some fantastic weather, beautiful glassy calm windlass days and best of all loads of fish all over the bay. It has been almost a daily occurrence of schools of small to medium Australian Salmon busting up the surface up and down the bay feeding hard on schools of small baitfish. Anglers in boats have had good success casting small silver lures and soft plastics at these fish with most fish being around the 2-4lb size. Lures such as 10-15gm Halco and Raider and soft plastics such as Yep Tassie Tackle 3” Minnow and Squidgy Flick Baits have been ideal. Mixed in with the schools of Salmon have been good sized Tailor and Mackerel offering a bit of a lucky dip when casting at the feeding schools. The Tailor will take the same lures and baits that the Salmon do and can be found by watching for bird activity.
Also being caught in good numbers are Large Silver Trevally, these fish are excellent sport on light gear and can be found in areas such as the main channel in the faster current, Moulting Bay and also deep underneath the schools of Salmon and Tailor feeding on baitfish.

Large Garfish are now being caught in good numbers and can be found mostly around the sea grass beds down along the red channel markers. A small float with a small #10-12 hook and a tiny piece of white squid bait is the perfect rig for the garfish. Whenever fishing for Garfish berley is as important as the bait and Ultrabite Stimulate Ground Berley mixed with a small amount of fish oil and sent in a trail down current will attract a school of Gars very quickly.
Offshore anglers are starting to have good results bottom fishing for Striped Trumpeter and Blueye Trevalla on areas such as the Binalong Patch and the 14 Mile Patch East of Eddystone Point.

A simple twin or three hook paternoster style rigs will do the job with a 16-24oz Snapper style sinker dropped down on to some suitable reef. St Helens Bait & Tackle has custom made Striped Trumpeter Deep Sea Rigs that are just perfect for the job and also now stock Tassie Baits Squid and Redbait which is dynamite bait for big Striped Trumpeter. Also the new Gillies “Flash’N’Catch” rigs are an ideal twin hook rig for bottom fishing, consisting of a two 4/0, 5/0 or 6/0 circle hooks on a 50lb trace, they will stand the rigors of deep sea fishing as well as Flathead & Gummy Shark.

Flathead anglers along the coast are catching good numbers of large Flathead, and most fish seem to be in the shallower water not far outside the breaking waves along the beaches. Areas along the coast between St Helens and Scamander have been producing good bags particularly around Paddies Island and Ring Rock. The best lure for Flathead at the moment seems to be the Neptune Arrow Jig rigs in both the pink and pink/white however the new “LUMO colour has proven to be absolutely deadly and these are available exclusively at St Helens Bait & Tackle.
Local anglers are reporting good numbers of Prawns still on the go with Georges Bay, Anson’s Bay, Scamander River Mouth and various coastal Lagoons all still producing good quality Prawns. The last month or so has seen them grow a little more and the next few weeks or so should be prime time for Prawning. Remembering that the possession limit is 2kg per person, if you happen to see anyone breaking the law contact Fishwatch on 0427 655 557.
For any more advice on where to go and what to catch just drop in and see me, Jamie, at St Helens Bait & Tackle…….Tight Lines.