Bream fishing over the holidays

WayneK
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Bream fishing over the holidays

Post by WayneK » Tue Oct 02, 2018 8:44 pm

Hi everyone,

My two boys were keen to catch some fish over the school holidays so I took them down to Lakes Entrance for a few days. We targeted Bream and fished the Tambo river and a few spots around Metung. I'm trying to teach them to fish 'light' and so we fished from the bank using 6Ib line and teeny, weeny sinkers. (Peeled frozen prawns and fresh sandworm were the baits.) The fishing was a bit 'slow' but, in stark contrast to other trips, it resulted in a haul of fish that were all above legal size. The smallest fish we caught was 28cm long and it, along with most of its mates, was returned to the river. (I'm trying to instil the importance of fish conservation to the pair of them.) All the fish caught in the Tambo were caught within 500 metres of the bridge at Swan Reach (south of the bridge).

My 10 year-old-son caught a Bream that trumped his dad's best fish, big time! He caught, fought and landed a Bream weighing a smidge under 2Kg all by himself. It was caught off the boardwalk at Metung. The fish was a fat, heavy 'horse' that measured 44cm in total length. To say I was stoked was an understatement. I had absolutely nothing to do with catching or landing the fish!. Definitely a memorable trip, even though my eldest boy was dejected and said he's considering giving up fishing. Oh, the joys of being a parent!!!

WayneK
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Re: Bream fishing over the holidays

Post by WayneK » Tue Oct 02, 2018 8:57 pm

Got photos to prove it but haven't worked out how to post them, yet....

purple5ive
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Re: Bream fishing over the holidays

Post by purple5ive » Tue Oct 02, 2018 8:59 pm

Man that's an awesome report ..
Well done on the big blue nose. And good to see the kids enjoying some fishing and outdoor activities
Cheers

Lightningx
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Re: Bream fishing over the holidays

Post by Lightningx » Tue Oct 02, 2018 10:04 pm

Sounds like it was a great trip!
Ripper bream caught by your son! :thumbsup:

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Sinsemilla
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Re: Bream fishing over the holidays

Post by Sinsemilla » Tue Oct 02, 2018 11:53 pm

Nice work mate. sounds like a great trip with the kids. I'm just getting into estuary fishing and hoping to fish the tambo this year at some stage. I'll be chasing that fish your son released!

Cheers, Anth

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Re: Bream fishing over the holidays

Post by smile0784 » Thu Oct 04, 2018 6:03 pm

Sounds like a awesome trip well done

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sandef
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Re: Bream fishing over the holidays

Post by sandef » Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:42 pm

WayneK your report is spot on my club fished the same area for same results got our bigger fish on crab

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Re: Bream fishing over the holidays

Post by FishnMiss » Thu Oct 04, 2018 10:18 pm

I was down the silt jetty last week along the Mitchell LB. Great scenery, got bites but no catches :(
Comercial fishos were running hundreds of metres of nets into Eagle bay.
First day I saw one I called Fisheries but they didn't seem fussed at all. These blokes were out every day even in choppy conditions & they were running 2 or 3 nets in different spots.
I know they gotta make a living but from what I keep hearing & my own personal experience in this area over 12-15 years is fishing has got a lot harder in this area alone.

Good to hear you & your boys had a great time :thumbsup:
" For Evil to triumph, all that Good people have to do is - Nothing "

ango
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Re: Bream fishing over the holidays

Post by ango » Thu Oct 04, 2018 11:06 pm

Yeah,
I don't fish in the Lakes much any more because the fishing is so slow. It is not difficult to see why when I read the above, and for sure there are other factors like nutrient runoff and rising salinity but the netting can't be helpful. I find it hard to understand why it is allowed to continue. Economic studies have indicated there is more money made from fishing related tourism than from the netting and the ongoing netting places this in jeopardy. There is an article in the September edition of fishing world about Lake Macquarie in NSW and how the fishing has bounced back, to quote "with the removal of commercial netting operations (Lake Macquarie) has now enjoyed more that 15 years of continually improving recreational fishing opportunities".
Anyway, my two bobs worth.
Ango.

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Re: Bream fishing over the holidays

Post by re-tyred » Fri Oct 05, 2018 2:31 pm

[quote="FishnMiss"]I was down the silt jetty last week along the Mitchell LB. Great scenery, got bites but no catches :(
Comercial fishos were running hundreds of metres of nets into Eagle bay.
First day I saw one I called Fisheries but they didn't seem fussed at all. These blokes were out every day even in choppy conditions & they were running 2 or 3 nets in different spots.
I know they gotta make a living but from what I keep hearing & my own personal experience in this area over 12-15 years is fishing has got a lot harder in this area alone.

Good to hear you & your boys had a great time :thumbsup:[/quote
They have a licence to fish there. So no the fisheries wouldn't be interested. They don't fish everyday, just week days till midday friday.
The reason the bream fishery has gone down hill in the lake. (the rivers are pretty good) is that a very large portion of the fresh water that once came down the rivers is now used by the people who live in victoria. It is used both for domestic and farm use. Without fresh water entering the lakes from the rivers the only viable breeding grounds for bream are in the rivers. Only people allowed to fish the rivers are recreational fishers.
Removing the last few commercials fishers from the lake will make very little difference.
All the publicity about it has now done exactly what I predicted a couple of years ago. The Greens have entered the debate. Now, to their credit, they acknowledge that the issue is not the 10 commercial netters. However they are calling for a complete review of all users of the lakes and rivers with the end game being that everyone will be restricted from water users to recrreational fishers. Standby for a push to make it a marine park with no fishing... They particularly pointed out the idea that no commercial and an increase in rec fishers would be a bad thing.. The first thing they will push for once they have had a good look at it is the restriction or closing of the rivers during breeding season. Why? because from a fish conservation sense it makes good sense.
There's nothing . . . absolutely nothing . . . half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats.
Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows (River Rat to Mole)

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