A guide by Fishing Australia’s Rob Paxevanos
“May Day” is more commonly associated with a Marine Distress Call…but experienced local fishos and sea farers here often use it to describe quite the opposite – the perfect day of weather and fishing that the month of May often brings.
Starting in May and through winter this part of Australia experiences the calmest number of days on the calendar – a proper local “May Day” has beautiful mild weather , magic calm seas and warm offshore currents lingering over from summer – absolutely divine for ocean fishing.
This Seasons Ocean delights
Pencil in some fishing – this May is proving to be a ripper.
So far we are finding there is still a few of the famous South Coast Marlin about, the Mahi Mahi are thinning out however being the fastest growers in the sea they are at their maximum size at the moment …proper world record jobs (a lot bigger than this little one pictured).
However, it is the mighty Yellowfin Tuna and Bluefin Tuna that have started to appear and it is predicted to shape into another bumper season thanks to some perfect east Australian currents forming on the game fishing grounds.
Since this is article a guide for beginner and intermediate anglers the first place I will point you to catch these ocean fish is a charter boat.
World class game fishing charter skippers operate from the beautiful ports of Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma. For me the time spent chasing these big game fish is all part of the fun. You’ll see sea bird life, dolphins and whales along the way.
If you prefer numbers of quality fish rather than giant game fish, look at the many boats that offer reef fishing. Autumn through to winter is one of the best times to catch snapper, morwong and a bevy of other great fighting and delicious tasting reef species.
Now yes, while May onwards has more good weather than usual, there are still days the ocean gets rough and won’t let you go out,. My my hot tip is to book a longer stay if possible, that way your charter operator has the ability to pick the best days for you. If you can sneak down here outside school holidays and long weekends even better! Charter boats LOVE that, it gives them more chance to look after you even better.
You can find a list of quality charter boats here.
And for the members of the family that don’t like going to sea, there is LOADS to do in Eurobodalla while dads out on charter. Check out things to do and see in Eurobodalla.
Land based options
In my earlier summer guide I covered how to target the abundant bream. They are a great fish for the whole family, and I included my favorite way to cook them…Yum! You can find that article here.
You can catch bream in the rivers and lakes I detailed, but Autumn is the time the biggest of the bream gather up and travel out to sea. Any beach with rocks or a headlands is the best place to find them.
Good spots include the rocks at Durras and Murramarang National Park, and around Batemans Bay, including Surfside, Catalina, and Lilli Pilli. Further south around Moruya, Kianga and Mystery Bay (to name a few – there’s plenty of options…like I mean plenty.)
As per the earlier article, cast your juicy fish flesh bait onto a sandy bottom withing 10 metres of the rocks. This keeps it clear of the snags but close enough to lure bream to your offering.
An hour or two either side of the high tide is best, especially when it coincides with dawn or dusk or into the night. Add in the rigs we went through, and this will have you fishing some of the prettiest places in Australia. Alongside bream you are also in for a chance of flathead, tailor, salmon, pinkie snapper and a few other prized species.
Salmon and their surf-loving friends
Australian Salmon are one of the hardest fighting fish in the sea, and if looked after when caught yield a large thick tasty fresh fillet loaded with Omega 3’s – yum!
I must have helped a thousand anglers catch their first salmon and it would give me great joy for you to be the next – you will LOVE it when it happens – they are a wonderful fish in every regard…and they are getting easier thanks to better fisheries management resulting in a massive comeback.
There’s two main ways to catch them; walking the beaches spinning or relaxing with a bait out.
Spinning for Salmon
For me spinning is bliss – one rod, a small backpack with essentials, and a cooler bag with a little ice to chill your catch. This allows you to be mobile and stroll a kilometer or two along a beaches and seek out the salmon.
Spinning requires you to be reasonably good at casting, but practicing is half the fun and a wide open snag free beach is the perfect environment to hone your skills.
Spinning Gear
Metal lure between 10 and 40 grams are cheap and cast the furthest. A tackle shop can advise which weights best suit the rod you have.
A wind pushing on an angle roughly out to sea is a big help to carry your lure out towards the last breaker. You can look at a map and pick a beach where the prevailing winds are offshore.
Walk the Walk
The process is simple – you effectively cast as far as you can and wind the lure back swiftly. After each cast walk 20 metres and repeat. It’s an active fun form of fishing and you can burn thousands of calories without even realizing. The salmon are fast, hungry predators and when you cross paths with them they usually LOVE a moving lure to chase down and engulf.
Along the way you should slow up spend more time casting in the deeper looking holes (known as gutters) and bypass the shallow sand bars. It is still most important to stay moving until you find a few salmon.
The salmon often school up this time of year and if you’re lucky you might see a large dark patch of fish with tens of thousands of salmon in it…when these schools move within casting range it’s on for young and old. Having a look from the vantage point of a headland, looking for active sea birds following the salmon, or asking the local tackle shop all possible ways to encounter this action.
More commonly though you will find what we call resident or straggler salmon…these are the ones that are not travelling in large schools and could be in numbers from two to twenty. You often don’t sight these fish, but rest assured they frequent the deeper gutters – again tackle shops will advise more on spots. Best time to get them is within an hour of high tide change especially early or late in the day or night. However, the nature of spinning along the beach is effective mainly because you are likely to pass them as you actively cover ground to find a travelling/willing fish, so it’s always worth a try , day or night.
To maximize your chance of crossing paths with these fish keep spinning as continuously as you can, even stay walking during the retriever. If fishing with a mate, alternate the casts so that there is always one lure travelling through the water in case the salmon are mobile – sure you are looking to find a patch of resident fish, but also want any swift ones travelling along the beach travelers to encounter your lure , and the only way to do this is keep your lure in the water and stick at it.
Bait Fishing For Salmon
Those gutters mentioned earlier sometimes have fussy salmon not fired up enough to chase your lure…so another great option is to cast in a bait. A pilchard is ideal. If there’s any salmon nearby they just can’t resist sniffing an easy feed of their favorite food.
Whilst you need to carry a bit more gear (bait, bucket, etc) once you get there you can settle in and relax while waiting for a bite.
Best time is within an hour of a high tide change, especially when this falls early or late in the day. Night is also good if you wish to rug up and sip on a thermos your fave hot bevy while waiting for a bite.
Bait Fishing Tackle and Rigs
If it’s super calm and the breeze is offshore, you can catch salmon on the lighter bream gear detailed in previous article. Usually however, the surf waves mean you’ll need an 8 to 12 foot rod capable of swinging out a larger 3-6 ounce sinker that anchors your bait out in the sand. The wave action and current will carry the smell of your pilchard a fair way and usually entice a salmon over.
You can use a running sinker rig, but a paternoster is better. It holds the bait up off the bottom, away from the bait-stealing crabs, and where it is easier for the salmon to take it. Salmon don’t bottom feed as much as flatties or bream.
You’ll have to become proficient at putting the bait on properly so it doesn’t come off during the cast. Hook on a half pilchard with a few half hitches around the tail for best results.
If all this rig talk sounds Greek definitely drop into the local tackle store. Bring your gear to show them. The one-on-one advice will get you sorted proper, and within in a season or two you’ll be proficient at all the above. It’s a skill worth learning and will help you enjoy fishing and fresh fish for years to come.
Salmon Hot Spots
All surf beaches hold salmon, but some of the better ones include North and South Durras, Richmond Beach, Malua Bay, Rosedale, Tomakin, Broulee, Bengallo, Moruya, Tuross, Dalmeny and Kianga. You can easily find a few other fishos for company, or even more easily find a whole beach to yourself – the Eurobodalla is beach fishing paradise.
Salmon will also enter the bays and estuaries, especially at this time of year, but are more commonly caught on the surf beaches.
GAME ON!
One thing no one mistakes is the fight. When a salmon hooks on they are pound for pound one of the hardest fighting fish on earth. The average 1-2 kilo fish will bend that rod like a rainbow, and if you get a 4kilo plus model you will never forget it.
Ocean to Plate: salmon are THE most sustainable catch.
Salmon were not regarded a good table fish for a long time, and that’s because they need good care after being caught. Now we have those means. The process is simple: put them to sleep quickly and humanely with a brain spike. Next, bleed them by making a small incision around the tail wrist and a second under each pectoral fin. Then get them on ice immediately. But don’t let the freshwater ice directly touch the fish. A plastic fish bag within your cooler bag is one way to achieve this. However you do it, you must get the flesh of the fish chilled as quickly as you can and don’t let it touch fresh water.
Ideally, just keep one to two salmon, that way you don’t need to carry a ton of ice along the beach to cool a big bag of ’em down! When you get home, refrigerate the salmon for a few hours. You want it really cold but not frozen. The firmer it is the easier it is to fillet, skin and cut out the blood line.
It will take a few goes to master caring for your salmon, but it is worth it. There are literally millions of salmon along the coast, and while some anglers are not convinced they are good table fare, when looked after properly they offer up a thick firm fillet loaded with omega 3’s. Fillets are ideal for pan frying in butter and lemon, a light tempura batter, smoked, salmon patties and a whole heap of other tasty ways. Being a rich oily fish, be sure to serve just enough to keep the troops coming back for more… and when you get it right they will!
This is an exciting and developing fishery and you can be part of it. It’s a great way to get a regular feed and it is the most sustainable way of getting a feed on the planet.
Quality Bonus Catch
While fishing for salmon on lure or bait you will also catch Tailor – which are delicious but must be cooked fresh.
If you are bait fishing for Salmon you will also catch bream , flathead and trevally along the way.
School Shark and Gummy Sharks will also take bait, especially if you use squid or crab for bait at night. These sharks are being seen in increasing numbers thanks to great fisheries management. They fight great and are the original “flake”…delicious…you’ll know the difference if you get to try it.
There has also been the best run of Jewfish aka Mulloway we have seen in years…these are the absolute prize catch from the shore, and while they will take the salmon bait/technique above they typically require a bigger bait and a lot more patience and skill – more on that in spring when they bite even better.
SIZE AND BAG LIMITS
One thing you will have to do is take a rule book with you. Tackle stores can provide these.
OR keep this link handy: https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/fishing-rules-and-regs/saltwater-bag-and-size-limits
Memorize the size and bag limits of the common fish discussed above. That way if you catch an undersized or oversized (breeder) fish you can get it back in the water as quickly as possible. If you can’t get a fish off quickly keep it in the water until you can so it can breath and stays wet. This insures a high chance of the fish surviving.
If you catch something you are unsure of apply the rule: if in doubt let it back out. This helps look after species you might not realize are protected.
If you are keen for more, check out our Eurobodalla episodes and clips on YouTube and Facebook.
Looking forward to the Spring Column! Meanwhile, enjoy those “May Days” – it’s a little chillier, but nothing a jumper, and some fresh cooked fish and local produce back at the dinner table won’t fix.
See you on the water.