Southern Metropolitan Day Trip -July 2016

While being on university holidays I have been trying to get as much fishing and surfing in as possible, unfortunately due to the prevailing weather patterns we have experienced driven by negative IOD conditions in the Indian ocean opportunities have been scarce.With the weather forecast for 10-15knot northerlies and overcast conditions I decided to head to my favourite southern metropolitan beach to target salmon trout. With the tide coming in and small increasing swell conditions weren’t ideal. However from a vantage point I was able to locate a decent looking gutter which was quite deep. The depth of the water was easy to spot due to the low wave action and surprisingly clear water.

I set up 2 PVC rod holders, 1 which had a small plastic burley cage attached that was left to float in the wash. For any beach fishing I do I always use rods 7ft in length or above and today I was using a 4120 10’5 fish striker running a PENN 560 Slammer and a lighter 902 Starlo-Stick by Shimano running a Diawa 3000 exceler reel. The 4120 was rigged with a two ounce star sinker and ganged 5/0 hooks on a paternoster rig, set up for whole pilchard baits. The Starlo-stick was running a 2 hook trailing rig with two 3/0 hooks set for ½ pilchard baits.

The fishing started very slowly with not even a touch in the first half hour, in fact so slow I decided to have one last cast before I would pack up my gear and grab my surfboard from the car to utilise the building swell. This last cast must have landed in the middle of a school of salmon trout as before I could tighten the line, I had the tell-tale thud, thud, thud and inwards run of a salmon trout take I quickly wound up the slack and struck. I thought I was onto a large fish as it was fighting well and quite weighty. Once I was able to bring the fish through the problematic shore break ( keeping a low rod angle towards the horizon of course) I found 2 plump little salmon trout at 25 and 30cms a piece.

I quickly re-baited the Starlo-stick and decided to concentrate on one rod while fish were in the area. The bite remained hot for the next hour and a half in which time I was able to catch about a dozen salmon trout between 22-35cms and I was even able to get a few takers on a 30 gram silver Halco twisty lure. The bite slowed at the tide reached its peak and the increasing swell made conditions difficult to fish. This was a good little session on the metropolitan coastline and I will be returning to this area whenever possible over the next few months.

Key tips for fishing southern metropolitan beaches.

• Burley is always a good thing- cubed pilchards and bread consistently released into a gutter will bring in many of the common to target species

• The outgoing tide is the easiest tide to fish- If you are bait fishing always try and fish the run out it makes the fish-ability of these beaches far improved.

• The conditions don’t need to be perfect to catch a feed, find a fishy spot and give it a go, we are fortunate to still have a relatively good fishery in the gulf so if you put in the tide you may be rewarded.

• Check the prevailing swell conditions- Swellnet is a good avenue for this and as a general rule if the swell report for the midcoast is 1&1/2 feet or greater you are likely to need proper surf fishing equipment.

The most favourable wind direction is easterly, easterlies will come straight over your shoulder and allow greater casting range.