Sambos are generally caught up north of South West Rocks in the cooler months starting in June. Some years are better than others and these brutes can often turn up out of nowhere. They’re closely related to kingfish, but with a higher body and mottled markings alongside.
Flathead are of one species or another are caught in virtually every habitat we fish. ‘Duskies’ as they are known live in the Macleay River and grow over a meter in length. Sand flatties and blue spotted are out on the flat bottom and rubble. Marbled and armour headed around the reef edges and tigers in the deep. They’re all yummy!
During the warmer months these red devils are found along the river break walls. We generally target them drifting live baits employing a heavy handed “first round knockout” approach – jacks are dirty fighters and will have you cut off under a rock in no time.
Wahoo as the name suggests are truly crazy. The first run is like hooking your line to a jet ski, and the direction changes during the fight cause most anglers to loose contact, and often loose the fish. Similar looking to a mackerel but with a sharper snout, sharper teeth and thick vertical blue zebra stripes.
The Venus Tuskfish is one of the most attractive species we target, frequenting the heavy coral incrusted reefs to our north. They will take lures and bait, and taste as good as they look!
Longtails are a true inshore tuna species. They’re almost year round but are most common through autumn and winter in our neighbourhood. Exceptionally hard fighting, the meat is best done as sashimi or pan seared and left raw in the centre.
Yellowfin Tuna have bounced back somewhat along the east coast in recent years. The large models are primarily targeted in South West Rocks during cooler months, whilst the small “jelly been” sized fish (3 to 15kg) are prolific inshore during summer and autumn when the water is clean.
Cobia or ‘black kingfish’ are one strange critter! They aren’t fussy eaters and will munch most things, including crabs, and can be found from way up the river and estuary to offshore reefs and wrecks during warmer months. Quite often found swimming alongside large rays and sharks, they grow to massive sizes in their own right
Blue Marlin are true ocean wanderers, and probably the craziest fish in the ocean once hooked. Their insane runs along the surface jumping and greyhounding create a mass of thrashing foam and white water that no angler will ever forget. To target takes commitment and long hours of wait time, but for those keen the rewards are BIG.
Striped Marlin start to frequent our offshore grounds from around 80 meters to 300 meters deep during late winter and throughout spring time. They hunt the masses of large slimy mackerel that school up over this period, and can also be found chasing sauries on the surface.
