Ballina, Evans Head fishing report
NSW Fishing Monthly editor Tony Zann reports on the local fishing scene around Ballina and Evans Head …
Bruce at Dave’s Bait Shop says everyone seems to be bagging out on whiting up towards Pimlico island but bloodworms are an absolute necessity for the good catches.
A sprinkling of whiting also in North Creek and along the beaches.
A fair few flathead poking about with bigger females in the lower estuary and better eating size up around Pimlico. Bruce reckons he’s seen more big flathead kept and killed this year than ever before and it’s getting disgusting. He’s dirty on the local paper allowing any hero to weigh in a big breeding flathead for the competition and reckons it’s got to stop.
Two or three young blokes also apparently speared eight big ones along the South Wall – real sporting, that.
Small school jew from Pimlico through to Wardell going OK on live bait and soft lures. Mud crabs seem to have responded to the rain and a few are emerging in the creeks. Low-tide water is coloured but it’s just local runoff and it’s still salty well up.
Offshore, a pretty fair run of mackerel, small black marlin and wahoo on the 32-fathom reefs and a sprinkling of mackerel up around the Lennox Pinnacle. Still snapper and pearlies out wide on the 32- and 48-fathom reefs which should fish well if the wind abates this weekend.
At Evans Head everyone’s wetting a line, although the offshore fleet hasn’t had a crack at the choppy seas for the past few days. Before that there were some decent bottom fish but nothing to write home about on the surface.
The beaches have dart, whiting, flathead and the odd school of tailor while there have been some fair catches of flathead and whiting in the river and still a few crabs left well upstream – watch your traps.
Tony Zann t.zann@fishingmonthly.com.au
