Catch of the Day (April 21): So much to report for the SE NSW Fish Files Catch of the Day fishing report this Easter Monday, but let’s focus on giant flathead first! Tania Hextell and Ray Rosskelly were fishing up the top of Wagonga Inlet on Easter Saturday for mullet using a small hook and bit of peeled prawn. They spotted a very large flathead in the shallows and decided to cast over the bait and hey presto they hooked up to the big girl. They measured her at 90cm before carefully releasing her back into the inlet. Tania and Ray also sent a nice photo of a big mud crab in the pot over the campfire but we’re not sure whether they caught it the inlet or got it at the fish shop. Interestingly there are mud crabs on the South Coast if you know where to find them in most of the estuaries including Wagonga and as far south as the Bega River. But we digress and back to big flathead and speaking of the Bega River, Kim Constable of the Bega Fishing Club also got a great flathead in that river on Sunday. As a member of the club, she would have had to kill it gut and take it in to weigh it to make it count. But she says: “I couldn't take this fish being a big breeder so it doesn't count.” We hope being included in the Fish Files is some recognition of this fish and we are always keen to raise awareness of catch and release, and like Kim says not all fish need to be killed and wasted to count :) Narooma News and Fish Files editor Stan Gorton also got out on Easter Sunday for some shallow bank fishing on his favourite river south of Bermagui, getting a nice fish approaching 60cm. Rob Shaw of the Bermagui kayak group was also it again in of his local rivers on Easter Sunday getting a couple of nice underwater shots. This time of year is excellent for flathead fishing in the shallows as they seem to come up and bask in the autumn sunshine – I’m talking very shallow in less than 10 or 20cm of water and baitfish being chased is a sure sign they’re feeding. Bream also often lurk in the shallows and hard up the back is a great spot to cast a plastic. Meanwhile it seems further up the South Coast, the Australian bass are biting. John Williamson of Bomaderry used the “send us a photo” feature on this page to send us a photo of his nice healthy Shoalhaven River bass that went 42cm to the fork and weighed 1.5kg. Offshore things also heated up on Easter Sunday with the Charter Fish Narooma boat Playstation having a great couple of sessions at Montague Island on the kingfish and snapper. Skipper Nick Cowley reports his morning charter managed 14 legals and some good snapper on the morning charter, while the afternoon charter managed at least 25 kingfish, heaps of flathead with 10 kings being around 5 to 6kg and 80-90cm range. Scotty at Bermi Bait & Tackle meanwhile reported on Facebook that there were a few yellowfin tuna on the 1000-fathom line with some cooler water looking good for more tuna – that’s right cooler water! Click here to check out all the Fish Files fishing stories!
