Hawkesbury
Report by Kris Cameron
Windsor Bait Tackle and Camping
2/3 Baker St , Windsor

18 May 2006

The colder weather has now set in and the annual migration of the Bass an Etuary perch has kicked off. The larger bass have moved out of the creeks and streams as the water has cooled down, and are more easily found schooling up in deeper sections of the river that the water temperature is more to there liking. There are a few schools of thought as to how often and how many of the bass do actually spawn each year and why.

A recent fisheries survey indicates that the mass spawnings and high recruitment years are those in times of flood, with the last significant recruitment year in 2001 which was the last time we saw any good rain. In this report it states that catch rates in tounaments have declined since the 1980's.

There has been a decline in the overall numbers of bass in the Hawkesbury system since this time. Although there are probably several other factors such as the drought and the ever increasing sprawl of Sydney encroaching on the river system with its demands on water, sewage and other forms of pollution.

However we are still catching fish, and some fishermen are doing better than others. The boys who do keep on top of things are reporting some days of 30 to 40 fish. The best results have been trolling 3 to 5 meter divers, such as Stuckeys, Feral Catts and the Taylor Made lures. Natural colours on the clearer water and bright golds and pinks in the dirtier water. The new Chubby lures are proving deadly for the guys who are casting to the structure and over weedbeds.

Estuary perch are now a lot easier to target in these cooler months as the congregate before the spawning runs. They are easily identified on the sounder and can be taken for hours on end using soft plastics hopped along the bottom very slowly until the

22 February 2006
Well the summer fishing has been coming along very nicely on the upper reaches of the river. The bass fishing has been very consistent (so long as the arse has not fallen out of the barometer!). Many of my customers here at Windsor and myself, have been getting out on the river and catching ourselves heaps of bass. I can’ say that all of these local fish have been huge, but they have been in good numbers. I have found that the surface lures have been the best choice at nearly all times of the day, except the middle. The lures that have bee the best producers have been the smaller poppers and fizzers in the Feral Catz, Koolabungs, Daiwa live cicadas, Taylor Made and the various River to Sea popper and walkers. The best colours have been the plain blacks, the black and reds and the ever reliable golds.

During the early morning most of the strikes have come from near to the banks. The bass lie in wait watching for insects to fall down the banks and into the water. It always seems to amaze me how those lures that are caught on the edge are more times than not slammed the second they are wrenched free and fall into the water. The bass must have been watching the whole scene, waiting ,waiting----dinner!
The majority of hits are done and over with by the time the lure has reached the edge of the cover.

Night bassin’ is at its best at this time of the year. The weed beds are full of bass, a lot of them over the 350mm mark with a few pushing 450mm. Smaller black walkers and fizzers are the most effective way to target these night feeders. Leaders are not necessary at night and connections directly to braid are preferred. Then cast out into the darkness spreading the casts to cover all of the available water. Catches of over 100 bass are not uncommon on a balmy night with calm conditions and an abundance of insect activity.

Further up the system around Yarramundi, the big bass are making themselves know. The water in this area can only be accessed by foot or canoes and kayaks. Reports over the last few weeks have been that many trophy sized bass are in residence in this area, with several over the magic 400mm mark having been caught and released.

Downstream between Ebenezer and Lower Portland the bass fishing has been very good in the mornings before the water skiers hit the water, after they hit the water the fishing becomes difficult with the large waves off the wake boats slapping and eroding the banks!!!!! It is of my personal opinion that the damage done from the wake boats is equivalent to the rape of the bottoms done by the prawn trawlers, The ski boats are not a problem, just those wake boats which displace so much water. The bass which are an ambush predator always seem to switch off after the skiers get active.

However on a lighter note, the fishing in this area is at the moment booming for the bass and E.P’s . There is a large amount of weed in the river, which in turn is preventing the prawn trawlers from working, which in turn leaves more prawns for the fish to eat and less fish killed in their nets as unwanted bycatch. The weed is in turn creating more habitat for invertebrates and small fish, which in turn attracts larger fish, for the recreational fisho, this is all good news. Perhaps the government will soon see the destruction the commercial fishing sector is doing to our river and take all commercial fishing out of all of our rivers and estuaries. As they are the nurseries of most of our coastal fisheries, the fishing will only be better everywhere once they are stopped. This has been done and proven all over the world, why are we so far behind?

Wisemans ferry was been fishing well for jewfish, flathead, bream, E.P’s and mudcrabs. Bait fishing with the Hawkesbury prawns and squid are best for the jewfish and flathead. Millet strips are best for both bream and flathead. And the mudcrabs are devouring fresh fish frames and mullet fillets.

January Report
The heat of summer has turned the whole river alive with all of the resident species of fish actively feeding almost all of the time.
The bass fishing over the past two months has been nothing short of spectacular, with large numbers of bass being consistently caught along the whole length of the Hawkesbury river and its tributaries At the present time the larger fish seem to be coming from the middle reaches of the river, where the large congregations of prawns are. Between Wilberforce and Lower Portland some fantastic sessions have been had in the past week, particularly along rock walls and heavy snags. One angler reported this week a session of only an hour with 17 bass, the smallest being 38cm to the fork and the largest a whopping 48cm to the fork. Surface lures were the most productive on this day with the East Coast Fizzers and the Taylor Made Walkers producing the majority of the fish.
Bait fishermen have also had good success with Hawkesbury prawns fished on the bottom, for bass estuary perch, flathead and bream all up as far as the Windsor and North Richmond bridges. Other good baits have been earthworms and dough mixes, which have also produced mullet and some massive carp up to 14 kg.

Night fishing is good at this time of year for those who like to target bass on surface lures. Prime locations are on the weed beds between Windsor and Yarramundi, any surface lure that is big black and noisy seems to be irresistible to the bass of any size. Anglers have reported catches of up to 100 fish in a night.

Further downstream all of the saltier species are ravenous, with good numbers of jewfish of all sizes. From the tiny juveniles to the massive 30kg plus fish. Best baits are mullet strips, live poddies and the good old Hawkesbury prawns either frozen or best alive. Soft plastics in the larger shads are also productive.
Flathead are also numerous and can be targeted with same baits as the jewfish, again fresh is best. Berkley gulp 2inch baby shrimp have been the gun flathead lure this month, cast up into the mangroves and jigged down the flats.

The bream in the river are unusually large this year. Many of the bream caught have been the size of bream that we usually associate with winter time and have been consistently caught on both baits and artificial lures. Lures we have found particularly effective are the soft plastics, again in the Berkley range, gulps, sandworms and bass minnows have been the star performers, other plastics that have been good have been the squidgy range and the atomics. Hardbody lures such as the Feral Catts , the Taylor made lures, the Ecogear sx 40’s and the Daiwa live cicadas, have all been used for good results.

Mud Crabs have been abundant this year with good numbers of large crabs being taken around Wisemans ferry and Spencer. Traps baited with mullet or othe fresh fish frames have produced good results.

October report

Bass fishermen rejoice for the season is upon us!! Great fish are now being caught all up and down the river and on all of the tributaries that flow into the system. A lot of the smaller creeks are holding huge river bass up and over the 45cm mark. Surface lures such as the Taylor Made Surface Breakers,Fizz bangers, Feral Catt walkers and the old standard the jitterbugs are the most effective.

The new live cicadas by Daiwa are a great sub surface lure and have an unreal action working 5 to 20 cm below the surface. Shallow running lures in the Taylor made range in the carp patterns that being pink and gold combinations, are a sure fire way to tempt even the shyest of bass. Another new lure that is proving to be deadly are the felt covered cocoon lures. The felt covering on these lures convince the bass to repeatedly strike the lure and not let go.

Knolls natives in the red and black pattern are also deadly in the smaller creeks. the green natives by Knolls are proving there worth in the main river as are the new divers just out from East Coast lures. Jackalls are accounting for many of the bass and EP's around the Windsor area.

Keep a look out for the new imatation jackalls by Kokoda which are just as effective and almost a third of the price of the jackalls. I personally tested them out at Glenbawn last week and found that they out fished the jackalls 4 to 1 !!!! Perhaps the fish are sick of the origional ones and the slight difference in action and sound is what is needed to get them interested again.

All in all the action is now hot and fast so get out there and hook a beauty!

Upper Hawkesbury
Bass are well and truly into their run up the river and with the water temperature now nearing 22 degrees C are feeding voraciously on nearly all that is put in front of their faces. Nearly all of the popular lures, surface poppers, deep and shallow divers, soft plastics, bibless minnows and spinner baits, are accounting for good catches of bass and estuary perch. The surface lures are really producing in the early mornings and the evenings. Spinnerbaits are the way to go around the weed beds at any time of the day. Those with are soft plastic tail are particularly appealing to bass and E.P's. If estuary perch are your target species then slow rolling the bibless minnows is the approach to take.

Hawkesbury
Jewfish are plentiful in the Hawkesbury at the moment with specimens ranging from smaller soapies to the 30 kg plus monsters. Best baits are the Hawkesbury squid , Hawkesbury prawns (live or dead) and live presentations of mullet and yellowtail. Around Wisemans Ferry catches of 15 or more jewfish averaging between 2 an 7 kg are common with several anglers reporting being busted off by freight trains that they have had absolutly no chance of stopping! Juno point and Brooklyn are the places to target the monsters though with several fish over the 30kg mark weighed in over the past week. All is looking good for next weeks Hawkesbury classic with thae big jewies allready putting on a show.

Hawkesbury
Flathead are in abundance and are taking soft plastic presentations in preference to baits. From Lower Portland to West head bagging out on the flatties has been no problem for anglers this week. For those not willing to take up the soft plastic craze, peeled prawns and live poddy mullet have been the baits of choice. Drifting with these baits accross sandbeds have been very prodictive. Blue Swimmer Crabs are in abundace in the lower reaches of the system. The easiest methods to snare the crabs are with witches hat nets with a fillet of mullet or a fishf rame as the bait. Remember to check your nets every half hour to an hour as the octopus in the area have a taste for the trapped crabs.

8th September

The upper reaches of the river are really staritng to fire. The larger bass and estuary perch have made their way up as far as Yarramundi with some nice fish to 45cm being taken on chartruse Atomic shad style soft plastics jigged along the edges of the alligator weeds.

Around Windsor there have been numerous smaller bass and EPs taken on the troll with smaller diving lures such as Feral Cats, Knolls and Taylor Made lures in purple and the darker natural coulours. Pink and black Feral Cat lures have been the big winners though this week with a 51cm to the fork taken under the Windor bridge by a female angler, just keeping her husband company! Lower Portland has still been fishing well with good numbers of bass and EPs taken day and night on both soft plastics and surface lures. Surface lures have been most productive after dark whilst the bass are chasing prawns on the surface.

With the water temperature on the upper reaches of the river a constant 16 degrees the schooling silver bass and estuary perch are coming further up the river in search of food to regain the condition lost over the winter. They are feeding voraciously on a rising barometer and are easily taken on most types of diving lures during the day and into the early evening. Choice lures are the smaller divers and spinnerbaits with plastic tails. Soft plastics worked slowly are also accounting for a number of these fish, with flathead as an occasional bycatch. Most of the bass and estuary perch are not monsters, in the 20 to 30 cm range with the occasional fish reaching 40 cm.
Bait fishermen are also catching bass and estuary perch on worms and grubs, particularly near the feeder creeks after the rain on Sunday.

Hawkesbury Report 28 August
Windsor
Spring is here early! The bass fishing season is upon us now with the water warming and the bass moving back up into the higher reaches of the river and creeks. Many of the eastern flowing creeks are now warm enough to hold bass, as opposed to the western flowing creeks which have cooler water from the mountains and it will be a few more weeks before they start to fire up. The bass are now starting to feed voraciously to regain weight lost over the winter period and to sustain their metabolisms which increase as the water warms. Bass are now feeding on most lures, the choice of which is usually dependent on the tidal flow. At certain points of the tide spinner baits with rubber tails, namely the nitro jigs and the Bettes Spin spinners are the pick. Green pumpkinseed slider tails are the pick of the rubbers for these jigs. Surface lures are starting to be attacked around the later part of the day in the creeks. Taylor Made Fizz-bangers in the orange and red colour are the most productive this week. Most of the bass taken have been of a good size with the majority of the fish in the 32 to 40 cm range, with a few fish over 45cm landed. It is also worth having a troll along weed beds at Windsor with Baby Feral Catts in purple tiger, a Knolls native green purple or a Taylor Made Tiny Nugget in pink and gold.
A number of bream have also been caught around the Windsor Bridge on unweighted prawns or worms fished back into a berley trail. Bass and Estuary perch have been caught at the same time using this method.

Lower Portland.
Schools of Bass and Estuary perch have been thick for the past month or so around the Colo river and the snags on the Hawkesbury. As with most of the winter the vast majority of the fish have been taken on soft plastics, bounced slowly along the bottom with the currents. The pick of the plastics have been the Manns finesse worms in watermelon purple or blue pearl, Berkley 3 inch bass minnows in pumpkinseed or gold black and yum 2” curltails win watermelon seed. Spinnerbaits with skirts or rubber tails are a sure bet around weed beds with natural colours or purples being the best producers. Diving lures are also starting to produce with the large Feral Catts, Luhr Jensen Hotlips and Stuckey lures in purples and Hawkesbury Green colours accounting for a quite a few good fish. Most of the fish from this area are returning from the salt water and are a more streamlined and silver fish than the fish from the upper reaches, and are more likely to be found in big schools.

Wisemans Ferry to Broken Bay
Bream, Estuary Perch, Flathead, Whiting and school jewfish are inhabiting waters of the lower reaches of the river at this time of the year. Laying a good berley trail and using the freshest of natural baits are a sure way of catching a good mixed bag of fish. Poddy mullet and black crabs are easily obtained and will almost guarantee a good catch. Soft plastics such as the squidgy wrigglers and Berkley 2” power grubs will take Bream, EP’s and Flathead. And the larger shads (paddle tails) will take the school jew.
Jewfish fishermen are having a good time of it at the moment with some very large fish up to 35 kg have been taken from the road and rail bridges and Juno point. Nearly all of the larger fish have been taken on the Hawkesbury squid, fresh mullet and live tailor.

23 July 2005
The river is getting back to normal after the recent rains. Many of the species of fish that vacated the river with the polluted runoff have returned as the water quality improved. Estuary Perch are now throughout the system from Richmond all the way down to Pittwater. Winter techniques in the river for the EP’s are primarily slow presentations along the bottom. Soft plastic bass minnow or prawn imitations fished on relatively heavy stand up jig heads are the most reliable method when schools have been located. Preferred plastics are the squidgy bloodworm size 3, Berkley 2” and 3” bass minnows in the smelt, rainbow silver and ginger beer patterns, Berkley gulp smelt and black shad and Atomic 2” fat grubs in blue silver and jaw breaker. Best bait techniques at this time of the year are grubs, primarily beetle larvae which can be easily obtained by sifting through compost heaps or rotting timber. A running sinker rig is the preferred rig and the prime locations are near creek inlets.

Bass are now accepting spinner baits and soft plastics. Around weed beds seem to be the best places to target the bass. Also the mouth of the Colo river is producing some decent fish. Although predicting when they will bite is anyone’s guess. Catches of up to 10 fish in a session have been reported, some of these fish up to 40cm, the same fishermen have had two or three days between fish producing sessions.

Bream have been available to the soft plastic fisherman in good numbers from Wisemans Ferry down to Pittwater. 3”Bass minnows in smelt and pearl watermelon . 2” power grubs in original pumpkinseed, and 1 and 2” hawgs in green pumpkinseed and watermelon are the plastics accounting for the vast majority of the fish taken. For those of you who like to use the hawgs please be aware that production of them has ceased so the remaining stocks in the stores are all that are left. Stocking up is advisable.

In the lower reaches of the river the hunt is on for the elusive Hairtail. Reports over the past week have been patchy to say the least. Some anglers have taken 2 or 2 fish over a cold night, but many have been disappointed, with the majority of baits been destroyed by squid. Those who have been successful have used pilchards and yakkas fished at various depths, light wire traces with two hook rigs and a red glowstick 1m above the bait.

Calamari squid are prolific in the lower Hawkesbury. Look for shallow weed beds in the day and cast a small pink or lumo squid jig across the weeds with a regular jiging motion to catch the best baits and also a good feed. Often squid are in groups so when one is hooked throw another jig in the same area and the possibility of encounterinThe best rig is a paternosta with two or three jigs attatched and a 75mm yellow glowstick 75cm above the jigs. Send it to the bottom and jig up until a weight is felt then continuously wind allowing no slack in the line. Always net the squid as tentacles have a tendency to break under their own weight. Remember that a squid is a prime kingfish bait and should be put out live .

11 July 2005
The recent rains have given the Hawkesbury- Nepean river system a long overdue flush, and much of the weeds that plague the river have been washed down into the booms and should soon be collected by the relevant authorities. Unfortunately as this has been the first decent rain the system has seen in recent times, the cooler freshwater and contaminants from industry, farms, illegal dumping, sewage and storm water in the fresh runoff have sent the majority of the targetable fish to the lower reaches of the river. All is not lost however as the fishing in the coming weeks should fire up again as the river returns to normal and the fish return. Many of the returning fish will be actively searching out new territories and are likely to be aggressive and eager to take lures and baits.

Further downstream the bass are spawning and if found are great fun on plastic and lures as they are in large congregations. Estuary perch are still abundant in the lower reaches and any soft plastic on a 1/8th oz jighead that resembles a prawn will ensure a hookup.

Stud bream are plentiful along rockwalls and around freshwater drains, especially if it is raining there is water flowing from them. Plastics such as smelt scales bass minnows and power hawgs are the gun lures for the opportunistic fish. Fish these plastics along the edges of moored boats and pylons, ensuring that you land them as close as possible to the structure and keep in contact with the lure, the bights will be light at first so feed them back until you hookup. The bream are big at this time of the year so heavier leaders are a necessity.

Flathead are still in good numbers along the whole river and drifts with flesh baits seem to be the best option. Berley will increase the catch rate if you are at anchor. Soft plastics in the pink colours are best in the dirtier water and Bloodworn in the clearer waters.

Jewfish have been lying in wait after the rains with nearly all fresh and live baits taking fish at some time. Soft plastics have been successful around the bridges as have hardbodies such as the Nilsmaster range, River to Sea Live minnows and the Killalure Jewie 150’s.

19 June 2005

The past couple of weeks have seen a big influx of breeding fish into the more brackish waters of the Hawkesbury. The bass are well and truly into there breeding mode and are schooling up around the mouths of creeks and rivers flowing into the Hawkesbury. They are feeding voraciously on prawns in readiness to spawn. Please remember if you are targeting these fish catch and release is a must at the moment so that the fish can do there thing and have the next generation of fish of to a fighting start. Soft plastics on jigheads heavy enough to reach the bottom seem to be the most efficient way to target these bass during the day. Hard bodied lures in the early morning and evening are also producing good results, the best lures being 3m Taylor Made divers and baby Feral Catts in the more natural colours. Fresh Hawkesbury prawns will also produce the goods fished un-weighted or with a light sinker.

Blackfish are a good species to target around Wisemans Ferry at the moment. Good weed growth around the rockwalls has bought them out in good numbers. Establishing a good berley trail, using prime stringy weed and a run out tide are essential in getting a good bag of fish. Many of the fish captured in the last week have ranged from 35 to 50cm.
Estuary perch are feeding up in readiness to spawn. These fish feed almost exclusively on live prawns so the secret to hooking up to them is to imitate the prawn as closely as possible. Natural coloured plastics such as pumpkinseed 3 or 4 inch bass minnows, the new Storm twitchin nippers or the Storm sprat minnows are the gun plastics for the E.P’s fished on a standup jighead between 1/8 and ¼ ounce dependent on the current. This rig fished slowly along the bottom is accounting for up to 40 fish in a session. With many of theses fish ranging in size from 30 cm up to 47 cm. Fly fishermen are also getting good results with Rio prawns and bass vampires. A fast sinking line is essential as fish are feeding on the bottom.

Large bream are in the river at the moment and the best of them can be found in a section of the river that is largely ignored by the fishing fraternity, namely between Wisemans Ferry and Spencer . Huge specimens have been taken in this section of the river over the past two weeks with some topping the 2 kg and 48 cm mark at the Spencer end and 42cm and 1.5 kg at the wiseman end. Look for depressions in the riverbed and fish the edges of these holes to capture these stud bream. These holes do not have to be in deep water , many of the fish holding areas are in less than 30 ft of water. Rockwalls are also holding big fish.Fresh prawns and flesh baits on light weighted lines are producing the results as are the prawn type soft plastics such as Storm Twitchin Nippers. A welcome by catch to this type of fishing in the river have been the huge jewfish up to 22 kg, taken more on flesh baits and the larger soft platics in the squidgy range. The jewies have been constant in the river between Wisemans Ferry and Brooklyn over the last week with fish of all sizes being taken, from soapies to monsters of 22 kg.

Flathead are plentiful in the system, with many of the large females over 70 cm caught from Brooklyn to Lower Portland. Just about any bait or lure bounced along the bottom will eventually make contact with a flathead along the whole length of the river. Squidgy plastics in bloodworm or silver fox colours seem to account for more than there fair share of the flathead population. Live prawns and flesh baits are out fishing other baits. At any corner of the river establishing a good berley trail will bring good numbers of flathead to you just give the berley time to work. Get it to the bottom and remember small amounts often not large amounts occasionally will bring great results.

24 MAY 2005

The cooler weather has drawn the winter species to the upper reaches of the Hawkesbury river of late. Large numbers of bass and estuary perch have begun their annual migration down the river in readiness to spawn. At this time of the year they are primarily feeding on prawns. Soft plastics fished low in the water table are accounting for lots of E.P's when the schools can be located. Bass are still being taken on diving lures, although not in the same numbers as in the warmer months.

Bait fishing around Wisemans ferry has been producing good mixed bags of bream,flathead and mulloway, with mixed bags of over 50 fish in a session. The bream are of mixed sizes but some studs reaching 45cm have been reported in the past week. Flathead also have been varied in size, the smaller specimens seem to prefer prawns and the larger fish to 93 cm have been taken on fish baits .

Mulloway seem to infest the upper reaches of the river at this time of the year. on an incoming tide it is not uncommon for anglers to catch 30 or more fish in a session. The majority of these fish are soapies ranging up to 45cm. Live prawns are a gun bait and outfish most other baits. In amongst these smaller sized schools of mulloway are quite a few larger fish mainly in the 55 to 70 cm range. Occaisional fish of 10 kg have been taken during the last week on large soft plastics between Wisemans Ferry and Spencer.

With the cooler weather upon us the bass and the estuary perch are moving down river in readiness to spawn. They are feeding primarily on prawns, so plastics fished deep and very slow are accounting for catches of 15 or more bass and perch in the 30 to 45 cm range. Bait fishing with live or frozen Hawkesbury prawns fished on a 1/0 hook with a small running ball sinker, are acounting for good hauls of bass, estuary perch, bream, flathead and juvenile mulloway. Good berley trails will draw the fish to your area and keep them there for hours provided the trail is consistent. Larger Flathead are also being taken on strip baits of mullet or tailor.

Baby Ferals now available on line email your order. 3m divers all $14.95 ea Surface Lures $16.95each plus $9.00 postage and handling .

Bass fishing specialists.Servicing the Upper Hawkesbury. Huge Range of Bass and Native Lures, including much sought lures from Tailor Made , Stuckey's , Ferral Catz, Deceptions and many more....
Phone (02 4577 2813) or email (wbtc@sydneyfishfinder.com.au) orders are accepted and prompt service is always given.
Come in and see us now.

Now Open 7 Days
wbtc@sydneyfishfinder.com.au

*********