Local waters full of great fishing

That’s great news for anyone who wants to wet a line, with the best months of the year fast approaching.

Bluefin tuna have been teasing anglers all winter. Now it looks like they’re threatening to come close enough to shore to catch.

Small pockets of blues to 100kg are on offer 60km off Merimbula. One of two marlin are also around, with the water nudging 20 degrees at times.

Closer in, albacore are plentiful over the Shelf, although the largest schools are still about 40km offshore.

The reefs off Bermagui are fishing steadily for snapper, morwong, flathead and pigfish. Small makos are still around and causing a nuisance – unless you’re deliberately targeting one of course!

Tailor are the number one species biting in the estuaries, with good catches at Moruya, Tuross and Pambula.

The best fish I’ve heard of lately was a whopping 3kg chopper taken from Tuross Lake.

Tide is playing a major role. The hottest bite is occurring on an incoming tide, especially if that coincides with mid-to-late afternoon. Look for birds to pinpoint the fish.

The water in most of the estuaries is still around the 12-degree mark. However, there are still some decent dusky flathead and bream about in the frigid conditions.

The best flatties at this time of the year are often sunning themselves in relatively shallow water, which can be a degree or two warmer than the rest of the system.

Rocks and beaches around Moruya, Congo, Potato Point and Tuross are fishing well for salmon and tailor on lures and pilchards.

As I write this, more than 200 large ex-brood stock rainbow trout have just been liberated into Lake Jindabyne, courtesy of Gaden Trout Hatchery.

It might be time to pay the lake a visit!