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Best Moons/Tides for Mulloway Fishing


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I have always been told new moon leading up to full moon, or more specifically three days leading up to full moon. Also mostly fish west/far west coast.

Seeing as I just fish when I have the time, but would like to target better in the future, what is the consensus? I know they go nuts when the barometer drops quickly.

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I've got a mate who sets an alarm on his phone and watches the water to make sure its gone slack - then he casts - he likes the the exact second the incoming tide starts. He doesnt want to put lures infront of fish that arent ready to feed yet

I'm a bit more relaxed - I'll take any stage of incoming tide.  But I prefer it to happen around dusk.

With lures - I usually put 12 casts in to a spot before moving on to the next.

But with livies - I'll sit it out and a 3- 4 hour session is long enough to let me know if they were going to hit or not.

I really start to focus on the rod tips once darkness begins to fall - thats mainly because I've caught all my livies and I've got nothing better to do - but change of light and the hour or 2 after, are when I do my most intense staring at tips.

I do like weak incoming tides in the most of the spots I fish. Theres always exceptions where the complete opposite is true - like a bottleneck where bait is forced out on an out going tide. But as a general rule - incoming tide at dusk is what I go for

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5 hours ago, Knackers said:

I have always been told new moon leading up to full moon, or more specifically three days leading up to full moon. Also mostly fish west/far west coast.

Seeing as I just fish when I have the time, but would like to target better in the future, what is the consensus? I know they go nuts when the barometer drops quickly.

I’m probably the worst fisher to talk about Mulloway . I’ve caught three in total from 26 cm to 40cm then lost a bigger one . I can’t recall the moon or tide . All I can tell you it was 6.55 am four February mornings at the Pat . Bait fish were everywhere and these great bream by catch took the bream lures on bream gear . I had no idea they were there but they were hungry things . But it was way back in 2014.

cheers 

Micky 

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47 minutes ago, Squid Inc. said:

Going to the FWC end of October to test out the theory. Been twice before & the build up to the new moon has fished better than build up to the full moon, so going the on the new moon again. Not that we got much anyway.

I reckon we'll be there before the new moon on 27 Nov. Fishing Dog Fence and Yalata.  I think, well, guess, that the fish in the port and pat, being estuaries, fish differently to the surf beaches. 

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One rule I learnt many years ago when fishing for mullies if they are there and hungry they will bite if they they are not there,no matter what moon you will go home empty handed.I have fished the west coast on different tides,moons and times of day and been successful.Salt creek is the same. My biggest mullies(30-40 kilo)have all come from outer harbour end of the port in the last hour of the outgoing tides on live baits(mullet and salmon trout being the best) in the middle of the night.I have kept a diary since the early 80s and I can say looking back the best time of year has been August and the moon phase has played little part.A tip for anyone fishing live baits ,keep them off the bottom,about a meter is fine.Any live bait casted out with a hook shoved in it is going to hide and only become crab bait.Here is a cryptic clue to the best mulloway spot in Adelaide,the deep side of 34...….im to old to sit there on cold nights so I don't mind giving up my fav mullie hole...good luck to anyone giving it a try,remember august is the best time but they do show up all through the winter months.

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When fishing from a boat or wharf I use a running rig,and simply drop it down to the bottom and lift it up a meter.This encourages the bait to keep swimming trying to find cover.Surf fishing is different, I will use large slab baits of salmon or whole squid.I like to hook my livies just in front of the dorsal fin just piercing the skin.when fishing river systems I would use a large foam float, I have seen this work well around west lakes and creek mouths around the port.

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34 minutes ago, jackmac said:

When fishing from a boat or wharf I use a running rig,and simply drop it down to the bottom and lift it up a meter.This encourages the bait to keep swimming trying to find cover.Surf fishing is different, I will use large slab baits of salmon or whole squid.I like to hook my livies just in front of the dorsal fin just piercing the skin.when fishing river systems I would use a large foam float, I have seen this work well around west lakes and creek mouths around the port.

Ahh I see - I was on the wrong track imagining you were casting out into the middle of a river.

Yeah when I fish wharfs for them - first I do recon to find a spot where the biggest schools of bait hang out at night - then I burley all session and set one livie at 1.5m down and the other at 3m.

I like to Burley half a teaspoon at a time, every 5 mins over the session, Helps to build the bait school bigger/ keeps it flashing and darting around / keeps scent in the water and gives me something to do while waiting for a hit.

I even used to experiment with splashing 10 litre buckets of water over a wide area to simulate surface activity. Cant say for sure whether this helped - but on some nights it definitely didnt hurt. Especially when the little pack hunting Jewies were charging through the surface bait schools

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Back when I lived in Ceduna, a mate and myself targeted the mullies at Bellamore Beach and always on the last couple of hours of a run in tide that would peak just after sunset. Bellamore has huge sandhills where we would park the Hilux on top of the highest one and scan the gutters using binoculars to spot which ones had the fish. We didn't bother with the moon phases and neither did the fish. Bait of choice was whole squid and tommies.

Some evenings were better than others, but never once did we leave the beach without scoring a few fish, not as big as those we caught at the Dog Fence or another secret location that will not be named, but generally they were up around the 15 to 20 kgs. 

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5 hours ago, snafu said:

Back when I lived in Ceduna, a mate and myself targeted the mullies at Bellamore Beach and always on the last couple of hours of a run in tide that would peak just after sunset. Bellamore has huge sandhills where we would park the Hilux on top of the highest one and scan the gutters using binoculars to spot which ones had the fish. We didn't bother with the moon phases and neither did the fish. Bait of choice was whole squid and tommies.

Some evenings were better than others, but never once did we leave the beach without scoring a few fish, not as big as those we caught at the Dog Fence or another secret location that will not be named, but generally they were up around the 15 to 20 kgs. 

Where is Bellamore? Know Tuckamore Beach well.

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Hi Knackers, Bellamore is not far west of Ceduna. Take the Denial Bay road and continue on towards Nadia Landing - this will take you through to Davenport Creek, but before you get there, a track off to the right will take you over the sandhills to Bellamore. Getting in is not the easiest, but getting out can be very tricky with a very steep climb over the sandhill. 

 

InkedCapture_LI.jpg

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Some very interesting information, I've only ever caught 2 mulloway, landed one, i recently tried locally but had no luck, it seems the methods, everyone has said seem to be the same everywhere but the times of year differ, in W.A (where i caught mine) it was late spring through summer, here in vic it april through winter, the one common sign is slack water.

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The beach to the right in the image (white arrow) is good for schoolies and a lot easier to access than Bellamore. It is known simply as the ocean beach to those locals who camp at Davenport Creek, seen to the north of the beach on the other side of the sandhills. The creek produces some decent flathead and KGW's.

 

InkedCapture_LI.jpg

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November through to February were the best months for me, but in saying that, I was a bit of a wimp when it came to beach fishing during the colder months so I never tried for them outside of the warmer months.

Water temp would play a big role. There was definitely an increase in baitfish with warmer water, so it stands to reason that there would be an increase in the number of predators also. I got spooled a couple of times at the Dog Fence by what I can only guess were big bronzies, definitely gets the heart pumping until you realize what it is and not the mother of all mulloway.

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  • 2 months later...
On 03/09/2019 at 9:32 PM, Knackers said:

I reckon we'll be there before the new moon on 27 Nov. Fishing Dog Fence and Yalata.  I think, well, guess, that the fish in the port and pat, being estuaries, fish differently to the surf beaches. 

Hey mate were heading up to dog fence on the 28th, don't know if you remember, but we met on the fowlers bay jetty one  night couple years back, prior to that you had been feeding me heaps of info for that  particular trip. Hopefully the new moon will bring the fish on, didn't get out to dog fence last trip due to losing my wallet in the dunes near mexican hat( was  a miracle we made it back to adelaide) so pumped this time round might have to have a beer if we cross  paths 🍻🎣🎣

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On 10/11/2019 at 7:41 PM, nters123 said:

Hey mate were heading up to dog fence on the 28th, don't know if you remember, but we met on the fowlers bay jetty one  night couple years back, prior to that you had been feeding me heaps of info for that  particular trip. Hopefully the new moon will bring the fish on, didn't get out to dog fence last trip due to losing my wallet in the dunes near mexican hat( was  a miracle we made it back to adelaide) so pumped this time round might have to have a beer if we cross  paths 🍻🎣🎣

No worries. I remember, even though I had probably had a few sherbets by then. We are leaving here Saturday and departing there the next Sunday.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
43 minutes ago, Hunter69 said:

Beautiful fish, incredible how deep its so close to shore. 

On one trip the swell dropped right off - it was northerly for 3 days and 40 deg+. I had my fins and mask and went for a look. Some of those holes are 20 ft deep just off the beach. It is really deceptive.

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  • 9 months later...
On 06/09/2019 at 5:40 AM, snafu said:

Hi Knackers, Bellamore is not far west of Ceduna. Take the Denial Bay road and continue on towards Nadia Landing - this will take you through to Davenport Creek, but before you get there, a track off to the right will take you over the sandhills to Bellamore. Getting in is not the easiest, but getting out can be very tricky with a very steep climb over the sandhill. 

 

InkedCapture_LI.jpg

Can you camp on the beach or in the dunes if you wanted to fish a couple of nights? Or is the beach too soft to drive on

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  • 1 month later...
On 13/09/2020 at 4:02 PM, Snook said:

Can you camp on the beach or in the dunes if you wanted to fish a couple of nights? Or is the beach too soft to drive on

Sorry about the delay in responding to your question Snook, but I've been up in FNQ for the past few months with no internet service.

It's mostly soft sand all the way along the beach and the dunes are large and steep, but if you've had experience driving in such conditions it's not too bad to get in and out. The drive out needs a bit of thought to make sure you pick the right line up over the dunes. If you're not real confident with tackling huge soft dunes, see below.

On 06/09/2019 at 5:43 PM, snafu said:

The beach to the right in the image (white arrow) is good for schoolies and a lot easier to access than Bellamore. It is known simply as the ocean beach to those locals who camp at Davenport Creek, seen to the north of the beach on the other side of the sandhills. The creek produces some decent flathead and KGW's.

 

InkedCapture_LI.jpg

 

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