Fishing | Autumn magical on coastal waters

On the coast the water temperature is quite warm for this time of year and thanks to this, the marlin bite has remained strong, with plenty of bait around. Deep water dropping has still been very productive.

Long liners have been getting some very chunky yellowfin over the last few weeks; finally some favourable currents this week and bang - the tuna are now accesible for us rec anglers.

Fish have been caught all the way up the coast and the next few weeks should yield quite a few tuna. I can't wait to get out and start cubing.

Bread and butter fishing has been fantastic. I ventured out of the Bay on the weekend to gather some live baits on the sand ground adjacent to the Tollgates to begin a day's reef fishing.

I found what appeared to be bait on my sounder - turns out there were massive schools of red spot whiting and below them hungry, larger than average flathead.

Using a simple bottom bouncing rig with small, 6-10 size hooks and light leader added to a higher catch/hit rate.

Snapper, pigfish and mowies have been very present on the reefs and taking a range of lures and baits, and I found the shallower reefs were less plagued by leather jackets.

Locally LBG and Googong have both boasted decent goldens for those anglers willing to put in the hours.

Burrinjuck and the Murrumbidgee have both come alive for natives with large swimbaits accounting for many captures.