new south wales Wooli Nsw Fishing Spots Land Based?

[Puttee]

Hi all, hope you all had a nice relaxing Christmas and have a great New Years! I'm currently down at Wooli NSW at the caravan/camping park along the water and was wondering if anyone had any land based spots they could suggest for me to try? Or anywhere for me to take my kayak out to.

I've mainly been fishing the rockwall and so far have only predominantly hooked up sting rays...the big one that roams the rock wall area a few times, a little 30 odd cm one off the other side of the beach, a couple undersized bream and a 50 or so cm cobia off of the rockwall. 

I use live bait where possible, yabbies..bream pieces and frozen shop prawns, squid and off cuts of chicken from dinner. Also any decent places to pump yabbies apart from the usual beach spots?

 

Thanks in advance, any fishing spots or yabbie pumping areas would be greatly appreciated as my girlfriend and I were hoping to catch something nice for dinner whilst we're down here, whether it be a snapper or flathead or a few whiting! 

 

[Gad]

Hi Puttee, can not help with any spots around Wooli, if you were holidaying around Frankston Victoria, snapper for dinner would be on the cards.

I hope you did not have to resort to using the bait for New Year`s Eve dinner  

[Angus]

@Drop Bear may be able to help...

[Puttee]

Thanks Gad and Angus, hoping Drop Bear could share some info! Still haven't had much luck

[Old Scaley]

I haven't fished there but a mate has been a few times and gets all excited and starts salivating when he talks about the fishing available there. I remember him saying there is a great bait and tackle shop there and the owner was only too happy to share some local knowledge.  I reckon those guys are your first choice for info if you are fishing somewhere new. Best of luck!

[Puttee]

11 minutes ago, Old Scaley said:

I haven't fished there but a mate has been a few times and gets all excited and starts salivating when he talks about the fishing available there. I remember him saying there is a great bait and tackle shop there and the owner was only too happy to share some local knowledge.  I reckon those guys are your first choice for info if you are fishing somewhere new. Best of luck!

Cheers mate, yeah I had a chat to the couple there but they didn't share too much apart from the common areas and I've tried those areas already, I've seen a few flathead around the oyster lease areas. I might go for a walk and have a couple casts, weathers looking like it'll turn so I won't bother taking my yak out this arvo bugger..was keen to tie the yak up to a few areas and cast around 

[timtam_]

Hey bud. Just got back home from Wooli myself! 

Mate the river is the best estuary fishing I've experienced. Every single weedbed holds pan size flatties. The best way to target them is stick to the eastern bank and at high tide, fish in about 1-2m of water and flick plastics beside the weed beds. Between three of us we picked up 12 flat fish in a couple of hours. Use dark colours!!! They wouldn't touch anything bright coloured in the clear water. 

As for bait, yabbies are gold. Any tide, but to be successful at pumping them it'll be easier if you use a floating bait seive. Yabbies pick up stinker bream, 40cm+ whiting, Tarwhine over 50cm, and flatties as you wish. Try and fish the yabbies anywhere from 0.5-1.5m depth. PM me if you have more questions! I've spent my share of time there.

 

Tim

[Puttee]

10 minutes ago, timtam_ said:

Hey bud. Just got back home from Wooli myself! 

Mate the river is the best estuary fishing I've experienced. Every single weedbed holds pan size flatties. The best way to target them is stick to the eastern bank and at high tide, fish in about 1-2m of water and flick plastics beside the weed beds. Between three of us we picked up 12 flat fish in a couple of hours. Use dark colours!!! They wouldn't touch anything bright coloured in the clear water. 

As for bait, yabbies are gold. Any tide, but to be successful at pumping them it'll be easier if you use a floating bait seive. Yabbies pick up stinker bream, 40cm+ whiting, Tarwhine over 50cm, and flatties as you wish. Try and fish the yabbies anywhere from 0.5-1.5m depth. PM me if you have more questions! I've spent my share of time there.

 

Tim

Thanks heaps mate, might give soft plastics ago, did you have any luck with hardbodied lures? I've got a couple I should give a go. Caught two bream this arvo out in the yak one 30 cm and one 20cm, a 20cm flounder and a small moses perch using live yabbies and frozen prawns, had hits on every yabbie i casted. Going to pump a hump of yabbies tomorrow!

[Gad]

fantastic info there timtam, I`m sure it`s appreciated

[Puttee]

Anyone know what this bit is for on one of my misses dads old surf rods? 

[Drop Bear]

On 12/31/2016 at 9:01 PM, Puttee said:

Thanks in advance, any fishing spots or yabbie pumping areas would be greatly appreciated as my girlfriend and I were hoping to catch something nice for dinner whilst we're down here, whether it be a snapper or flathead or a few whiting!

Hey mate, I love the place and have spent a lot of time there. Are you crabbing? I have some great spots. 

I pump yabbies across from the oyster shop on the western bank. You would need a boat or yak to get to this spot. If you stand on this bank at low tide straight across from the oyster shop and float unweighted yabbs around in the shallows you will get a few elbow slapping whiting and a nice feed of flathead. Dont overlook very shallow water but at low tide they seem to prefer the deeper drop offs on the upstream side of the large dry yabby banks. The next spot is a little hard to explain where it is. if you travel up stream from the oyster shop you go past a floating oyster lease on the left and pass under some high voltage power lines then the channel turns right. I have caught many flathead on the west bank of this part floating yabbies with the tide. About another 300m also upstream the river turns left and there is a small island. the northern end of this has a bit deeper water at low tide and it holds large whiting and flathead. 

Larger options. Many Jewfish are caught at slack water at the coffee cliffs near the river mouth. Better at night and with live mullet. Casting small soft plastics from the main rockwall on the northern side of the river bar can get you bream, dart, trevally and if you go to larger soft plastics there are jewfish. We have hooked kingfish off the front end of the rockwall with live mullet but sometimes the weed makes it impossible to fish this.

The ocean beach normally holds a few large bream. We buy a few raw prawns from the oyster shop and soak a good chunk into the holes. Better at low tide. 

I have only recently started to use lures and intend to fish hard next easter. I'm really keen to try larger slugs, larger soft plastics and micro jigs off the front of the breakwall on the north of the river bar. There are big kingies out there and id love to have a crack. 

Best of luck and let me know if you want some crabbing spots. 

[Drop Bear]

5 hours ago, Puttee said:

Anyone know what this bit is for on one of my misses dads old surf rods? 

Its a broken guide or runner. It needs replacing. 

[Puttee]

Thanks heaps, @Drop Bear! Muchly appreciated. Going to pump some yabbies tomorrow and hire a tinny tomorrow for 4 or so hours, fingers crossed. 

[Puttee]

Wind here and weather has been a bit crazy the past 48 hours so didn't end up hiring a tinny for the day, been beach fishing day and night, caught a little dart and the misses caught 5 shovel nose sharks haha all 60-90cms....lots of little nibbles. Going to fish the rockwall again today because the winds are a good 20-40km/hr still..

[Drop Bear]

2 minutes ago, Puttee said:

the misses caught 5 shovel nose sharks

Delicious.

[Puttee]

4 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

Delicious.

I've never tried them hey, suppose they're good eating? I stick to cod, snapper, flathead etc for eating

[timtam_]

i just ate one I caught off the wall a month ago. Creepy - the fillet almost flicking itself off the plate after it had been cut and skinned... but it was yum. Very mild taste 

[Drop Bear]

On 1/4/2017 at 9:00 AM, timtam_ said:

but it was yum. Very mild taste

I agree they are very underrated although.... I had one once from straddie and it was quite strong flavoured. Perhaps time of year? dunno . normally they are delicious. 

[Drop Bear]

On 1/3/2017 at 6:10 PM, Puttee said:

suppose they're good eating

I like them

[Snelo]

Hi I'm heading to wooli after Christmas staying at big4 park and advice on getting a feed for the family?

[Drop Bear]

8 hours ago, Snelo said:

Hi I'm heading to wooli after Christmas staying at big4 park and advice on getting a feed for the family?

Yep. Lots of crabbing options. Best moon phase is week coming up to full and 2 days after. Lots of pots get raided so perhaps fish next to them for a few hours. you can keep femail crabs in NSW. They don't have the huge claws of the bucs but make fantastic chili crab or Singapore pepper crab. Just make sure you know how to measure them as it is very different than here in Queensland. The servo nest to where you are staying should have a good supply of crab size gauges. They also sell pots and yabby pumps etc.

Make sure to mark your pots correctly as there will be fisheries officers there at that time and they will confiscate pots that are not properly marked. This happened to me as I had not checked how to do it properly and did it like we do in QLD. Oh well should have checked. Serves me right I suppose. Now all my pots and floats comply to both QLD and NSW.

Yabbies are easy to come by. 3kg mono with No 6 long shanked hook. I don't use a sinker or anything and let it drift along and move around a lot. I know @Anguswould have a small sinker with a swivel and long trace.... he normally out fishes me... I like to take a wading bag and put in an empty water bottle in it that I put my yabbies with a bit of salt water in. I tie a rope around yabby pump so can sling this over shoulder. Then walk the edges of the flats at low tide. Lots of flat head an whiting to be had not to mention a fantastic walk. Lots of birds around. Bee eaters kites etc.

I have my PB whiting at 45 cm doing this around cow island. 

Good luck mate.