Big wet sees fishing affected

Trying his luck fishing at Yamba Ferry Wharf was Oscar Rigg, 11, of Yamba with his mate Zac Burke, 11.

THE extreme weather and flooding rivers have really slowed down the fishing effort along the North Coast this week.

The dirty muddy water has changed the coastal landscape, with plenty of logs and rubbish washing on to the local beaches.

ROCK AND BEACH

The mulloway activity along the break walls is living up to flood time expectations, with lots of small fish being caught towards the surf side on both walls.

Many fishos are using soft plastics and lures and there has been plenty of activity over the past few days. Bream and flathead are also starting to appear on the surf side, with mullet pieces and school prawn baits catching fish.

With the southerly winds, we may see the water clear up away from the immediate river mouth.

Lots of fish pushed out during the floods generally try to work their way back into the river. With this in mind, you always find fish around the edges of the dirty water.

Most of the dirty water has pushed south of the river mouth. So, the north side spots could have clean water.

ESTUARY

When the river is in full flood, it's very hard to find much other than catfish, sharks and stingrays at most spots. With more fresh water expected to come down the river, the chances of finding a spot to fish could be a few weeks away.

Oyster Channel and the lake could be holding some fish due to the fact that the main arm of flooded water tends to push past this section. The two boat harbours on the bottom end also offer sections of water locked away from the main flow of raw flood water.

Fish like bream, flathead and whiting will school up in these spots and readily bite in the dirty water, if you can find them.

OFFSHORE

The fishing on the offshore front has been severely affected by the recent floods. Very few boats have been able to get to sea in the past week. However, the commercial prawn trawlers have been getting big day-time catches of both school and king prawns, as a direct result of the floods.

TIPS OF THE WEEK

Rock and Beach: Floods and dirty water. Mulloway on lures and bream on flesh baits.

Estuary: Back water sections like the boat harbours for bream and flathead.

Offshore: Cash in on the prawns, both for food and bait.