Anglers enjoying the last week of the holidays before school resumes in the ACT reported catching reasonable bags of fish, despite indifferent weather.
Offshore there were plenty of legal-size sand and tiger flathead in 30-40 metres of water and enough morwong and snapper to provide a feed.
The snapper were feeding close in early in the morning and one angler bagged out near Black Rock before 7am.
The fish moved out into deeper water later in the day, presumably to avoid strong sunlight.
Good-sized kingfish showed at Green Cape, Montague Island and especially around the steep rock faces at Jervis Bay. One angler at Jervis Bay using live squid landed a massive kingfish weighing 46kg.
Tailor made for success
Beach anglers fared reasonably well.
There were tailor to around two kilograms at Durras, together with a lot of rays and banjo sharks, flathead to 40 centimetres at Surf Beach and salmon at Tomakin and Moruya airport.
Pilchards were the top bait but anglers may have to look for alternatives in the near future as there is a looming shortage of pilchards resulting from poor weather in harvesting areas in eastern and Western Australia and poor stock availability.
Prices also have increased dramatically with a 2kg block now costing $16.50.
Sting in fortescue's spine
Estuary anglers had to work reasonably hard for good fish.
Some nice bream were reported from Corunna and Burrill but other lakes including Coila and Tabourie were strangely murky and did not fish well.
One angler, relatively new to the coast, had the misfortune to catch a fortescue, a small venomous fish that packs a powerful sting when mishandled.
Its poisonous spines penetrated his hand and it ached and throbbed for several days afterward.
Hat-trick brightens day
Plenty of Murray Cod were reported from Canberra's urban lakes and in Burrinjuck Reservoir, taken mostly on blades, deep divers and spinner baits.
One angler got three hook-ups in three casts in a lake on the northern side of Canberra then backed up for four more cod the next night.
In Burrinjuck most of the cod came from the main basin, where the water is clearest. Elsewhere in Burrinjuck there were a few 42cm silver perch upstream from Woolgarlo and plenty of redfin near Wee Jasper.
Fly fishers don't take bait
In the mountains fly fishers were grinning, while lure and bait anglers struggled to find fish.
Big insect hatches throughout the day and especially late in the afternoon brought fish to the surface and close to the bank.
Fly fishers had a great time with beadhead nymphs, midges, crickets and woolly worms. One angler caught and released more than 30 fish in a session near Old Adaminaby at Lake Eucumbene.
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