Port Lincoln 24/09/09

Jamie Crawford and Jason Stevenson are pictured with some nice snapper caught out from Arno Bay recently. King George whiting were pestering their baits and they ended up with a good feed of those too.

Tom Tierney recently hosted a motley mixed crew from Adelaide and Melbourne for some impressive catches out at the Group off Tumby bay. Among the visitors were ex Adelaide Crows CEO Bill Sanders, Adelaide-based restaurateur Bunna Ngov, part time EP resident Shane Mensforth and son Brett, Adelaide accountant Darren Webb and Victorian ring-in David Reid.
The boys caught some lovely whiting to 49cm at the Group, a few salmon at Millers Hole and then a heap of sweep and blue throat at Hareby Reef. Bunna emerged as the champion overall.

Oscar and Remi Woods are two young and very keen anglers and often get dad Damian to take them out in his boat. This time Arno Bay was the venue and both youngsters were able to catch some very nice whiting for tea. Oscar and Remi are shown holding examples of their King George whiting.

One of the images this week is from well known fishing fanatic Tom Tierney of Tumby Bay. Tom and some mates did a few days trout fishing at Twin Lakes in Tassie recently for some extraordinary catches. The brown trout Tom is holding measured out at 32 inches and weighed just less than 14lb; whilst this was an excellent catch, he also caught a 20lb rainbow in the same lake system.
For the brown trout, tom successfully used a purple and black “Fuzzy Bugger” fly.

Fishing license fees are always a contentious issue and reading latest industry info from WA only adds to the argument. What is proposed in WA starting mid October is a structure of licences where an angler wishing to fish all sectors will be paying $405 per year. Previously a full licence was $81. A pensioner or child under 16 gets 50% discount i.e. $200 annually. Charter boat clients will need a $30.00 boat license and depending on what they are targeting an additional $20 per day.  Apparently a boat licence is required even if you are using it to transfer fishing gear to a shore based location.
Needless to say that even though many of the fisheries are under serious threat, some pretty lively discussion is taking place to try and bring some sense to the proposed complicated and expensive licensing system.

New SMS service for fish size and bag limits
South Australian anglers now have better access to the latest fishing rules and regulations – and it’s all at the push of a button.
Agriculture, Food & Fisheries Minister Paul Caica recently launched a new mobile text messaging service known as SMSFish, which provides recreational fishers with more rapid and convenient access to fishing information.
“SMSFish allows fishers to quickly and conveniently determine all the relevant information they need to know to allow them to stay within the law while fishing,” Mr Caica said.
“Simply by sending a text message to the SMSFish number 0427 767 995 with the species name that they are targeting, fishers will then receive an immediate return message providing them with the minimum legal size, bag and boat limit, along with any information on closed seasons that relate to that particular species.
Mr Caica said that the new service makes it even easier now for anglers to conform with current fisheries regulations.
SMSFish stickers will be handed out by Fisheries Officers and Fishcare Volunteers, and will be available at all tackle shops.”


Elliston
Anglers using burley are more than happy with the amount and size of tommies caught from the jetty, squid are around when the water is clear. A few whiting came from the beach at Anxious Bay but boaties fared better.
Locks well
A good gutter has formed here and salmon catches were very good.
Sheringa
Salmon fishing has been a bit quiet.
Farm Beach
Still plenty of whiting and other smaller species including garfish & salmon trout.
Almonta / Gunyah Beach
There was plenty of action last weekend as the salmon really turned it on with most fish over 2 kilo. Almonta Beach had a school pushed up close against the Golden Island reef with fish in really close around anglers’ feet.
Coffin Bay
There are still lots of salmon trout in the bays and for a few patient anglers some nice 20lb plus snapper.
Port Lincoln
Anglers returning from Millers, Wiseman’s and the Salmon Hole, report whales, large and small salmon.
It appears that the salmon have moved on from Tulka and locals are reporting an improvement in catching other species. There are some whiting in the deeper holes but many are just undersize.
Local jetties have fair numbers of squid, the town jetty has a few king George but most are just undersize; the main wharf has a few salmon trout and some mackerel.
Louth Bay has seen some nice rugger snapper come in from the rocks with better times being late afternoon. Some visitors to our region managed to get some a few days in a row.
Tumby Bay
Second Creek is still good for salmon of mixed sizes and some good sized trevally were found along the reef areas. The northern end of the Group was ok for whiting but not with a northerly wind blowing. A few garfish were found in the bay, big whiting were caught north of the town but a lot of shifting is required to find them
The jetty has the usual tommies and a few squid especially at night.
Port Neill
Boats have been doing well on nice size fat whiting especially north of the town. Boats are also getting good numbers of squid & snook.
Jetty and breakwater anglers’ are getting plenty of squid and tommies but the garfish and snook are more plentiful for the boaties.
Arno Bay
Good fishing is happening regularly with visitors and locals getting nice feeds of whiting, snapper and squid from boats and off the beaches even some mulloway. Jetty has squid and a few tommies.

This report has been supplied by Port Lincoln Fishing & Camping World