Pro boats report that big numbers of yellowfin, together with a few bigeye tuna have been gathering wide of Bermagui and they have taken up to five tonnes in a shot with their longlines . Some of the best fish have been taken just over The Shelf, within easy reach of recreational boats. Even better, they have been hungry, taking yellowtail, slimey mackerel and frigate mackerel baits with gusto.

Some of the fish have been huge, with dorsal and anal fins extending beyond the tail, which is a rough guide to size used by pros and recreational anglers. The longer the fins, the heavier the fish.

The competition has a prize pool of more than $400000 and a $5000 angler lucky draw, organised by the hosts, the Canberra Game Fishing Club and is their premier event of the year. A large number of local and interstate anglers are expected to participate.

An added drawcard this year is the chance of encountering a greatly sought after bluefin tuna. Some early specimens in the current annual migration north from Victorian waters have been seen on the far south coast and fish to 80 kilograms have been taken near Marlo, just a few days swimming from Bermagui. Bluefin are highly prized as sport and table fish and as sashimi are considered the best tasting in the world.

Further details of the competition can be obtained from Greg Campbell on 0417 209 612 or gregory.campbell@kone.com or Marco Imbriano on 0421 049 191 and mimbriano@bigpond.com.

Anglers at Batemans Bay with good knowledge of tides and fish movements have had great success with mulloway in the Clyde River.

Fishing mostly at night with slab and live baits they have taken two to three fish in a session and the fish have ranged up to 25 kilograms. Best baits have been live mullet, tailor and yellowtail and slab baits of striped tuna and fresh salmon, and fresh local squid. The best fish came from the deep holes either side of the Batemans Bay road bridge.

A little rain in the catchment was all that was required to tempt the prespawning brown trout into the Eucumbene River and a large crowd of anglers quickly gathered to fish for them with fly and lure tackle. Our regular reporters Nathan Walker and Chris Skillin did particularly well. Chris took four fish to about 2 kilograms on lures and Nathan top scored with nine fish on fly. His largest fish weighed about 4.2 kilograms. Nathan said the fish were much more vigorous than fish caught at night at Providence Portal the previous week. One fish in particular took him upstream through several pools before he could subdue it. All the fish were taken on small dark nymphs.

Dr Bryan Pratt is a Canberra ecologist