Port Lincoln fishing report 08/01/2015

BURLEY IS ESSENTIAL

Burley has been essential these past couple of weeks with many anglers heavily relying on it to find fish. Both boaties and land based anglers are finding that many species of fish are in scarce numbers during times of feeding unless burley is being presented. One thing to stress however, don’t use too much! Using too much burley can give your target species a good feed causing them to loose interest in your bait, as well as attracting unwanted by catch species in the area. The common species needing burley recently were King George Whiting, mostly crushed shellfish or a pellet mixture, and Garfish, requiring a surface burley such as bran & pollard with fish oil. Snapper was also a topic mentioned, with results of anglers increasing if using burley.

Pictured are Jarra Sellen with a mighty 60cm King George Whiting that was caught out at Sir Isaacs and Jack Jacobs caught this 10 foot Bronzie just north of Lispon Cove. It took almost 2 hours to reel in and was tagged and released.

Now for what was biting and where

Elliston / Sheringa

Snook are being caught from the Elliston jetty. There have been reports of some good Sweep from the rocky outcrops and King George Whiting from the beaches. Most of the Whiting have been small, so check them for legal length before putting them in the bag.

Almonta / Gunyah Beach

Not many reports this week, but there should still be a few Salmon on the beaches. Our tip is to use metal lures and search the gutters and holes for the bigger fish. Spanyid Raiders are a good lure for this, as they cast well, and have a good action that will attract fish from a fair way off.

Farm Beach

King George Whiting are being caught in the area but tending to be on the smaller side if fishing is shallower water, with larger fish coming from deeper water.

Coffin Bay

Small King George Whiting continue to be caught with only a few legal sized ones amongst them. Anglers have been doing well on Flathead, Tommies and Silver Trevally, with the odd Rugger Snapper being caught in the channel on Squid baits.

Out wide, Tuna are the talk of the town, with them showing up in most of the popular spots, and even close in. Boaties have been getting some good fish around the reefy areas jigging and drop baiting for Snapper and Nannygai.

Port Lincoln

Tuna – Low Rocks, Cabbage Patch, Thistle, Williams Island, just to name a few of the spots where they have been reported. Deep diving lures such as the Rapala XRAP and smaller skirts trolled a long way behind the boat seem to be the most effective methods so far. Colour does not seem to be a factor so far, but keep the lures on the smaller size, as the Tuna are mostly small.

Local jetties have been good for squid all day round and into the evening. Tommies and Gar are being caught if burley is presented. Best results tend to be early in the morning or mid to late afternoon. Snook have been a little on the quieter side with a few being caught when smaller prey is in the area.

Don’t go too hard on the burley as unwanted by-catch such as Puffer fish, small Leatherjackets, and Trumpeters are also attracted and quiet often take your bait rather than your target species. Some smaller Stingrays have been loitering around local jettys and bays, so just be wary if you are not targeting them. They are bottom feeders and can take Whiting and general purpose rigs or baits.

Tumby Bay

Good numbers of Garfish off the Jetty, and a good variety of fish in the Marina.

Port Neill

Garfish are being caught from the jetty / breakwater area.

Arno Bay

Snapper, King George Whiting and Blue Swimmer Crabs are being chased by local anglers. The local charter Ops have reported that the Snapper are hit and miss, so if you are heading up, allow a couple of days to ensure you get one of the big ones.

Cowell

Blue Swimmer Crabs and Snapper have been reported in decent numbers.

This week's Port Lincoln fishing report is supplied by Port Lincoln Fishing and Outdoors - Port Lincoln