Tag Archives: #tailorfishing

Iluka – The Clarence River and the Bundjalung Headlands – December 2023

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December was hotter and drier than usual in the Clarence Valley. In fact the only substantial rain for the month came on Christmas Day. The river was crystal clear and full of bait. The flathead were plentiful and even though I could not find them, other anglers were catching mangrove jacks especially on the more humid days..

Since I decided I can no longer afford G.Loomis rods (or perhaps just cant look after them properly), I have been using the Samaki Zing Gen 3 SZG-562SXL for light tackle fishing in the estuary. It is a great rod with a very fast action and sensitive tip. It is also unbelievable value at under A$150. However I never miss an opportunity to spend more money on tackle so I have been looking for something even lighter.

My search for and even more sensitivity put me firmly in trout rod territory and after a few windy days scrolling the internet and reading the reviews I decided to buy a Daiwa 22 Presso 562ULRS. This is an even faster action rod with a 0.3g to 5.0g cast weight rating but Daiwa stresses it should be very durable thanks to its ” X45 and HVF Nanoplus blank “. It is very light and demands a very light line and leader with its tiny guides. I pair it with my Daiwa TD SOL MQ 2500D spinning real, PE 0.8 braid and usually a 10 or 12lb breaking strain fluorocarbon leader. When fishing for flathead and bream in the estuary it really means you feel absolutely everything your lure comes in to contact with. So far I have found it very capable of subduing quite big fish and I am very happy with it. If I hook a small jewfish or a big flathead it makes landing the fish a little more challenging but I am prepared to let the drag do the work.

There were not many days when the swell stayed light enough to fish the rocky headlands. However when conditions were safe enough I went looking for jewfish. I found quite a few. They were mainly hiding under the overhanging ledges but not many were keeper size. The bait was thick and we had a run of bonito following the schools around. The tailor were also hanging around. The bonito eat what the tailor eat and will attack any fast moving lure. I kept a few for sashimi, which I have never tried before and they were delicious. It is a much lighter flavour than fresh tuna. As always eating it within12 hours of catching it probably helps. I am very lucky to live where I do.

Iluka – The Clarence River and the Bundjalung Headlands – November 2023

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November was an excellent month for fishing at Iluka on the Clarence River. The weather was cool and dry. The river was full of small bait fish and the flathead were plentiful. I caught plenty, fishing mainly GULP soft plastic lures along the bottom. Their favoured hang out is the sandy or muddy bottom right at the base of the rock walled river banks.

Out on the rocky headlands of the Bundjalung National Park the swell was safely manageable for a few sessions and I caught my biggest jewfish of the year, so far. It was 90cm long and put up quite a fight trying to flee into an underwater cave. It was just after first light a few days before the new moon. On several mornings I caught and released multiple fish over 70 cm. I opened the stomach of one of the particularly fat mulloway that I caught. It was bursting with small whitebait.. I also had a few good early morning tailor sessions, out on the rocks. The tailor were also spitting up the same small bait.

Iluka – The Clarence River and the Bundjalung Headlands – October 2023

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I was a away during September so did not get to fish. In October our short Northern Rivers winter was already fading. It was a dry month with rainfall about 50% below average.

The Clarence river was running clear. There were plenty of flathead in close to the bank. The trevally were still patrolling and on dawn and dusk. There were plenty of small jewfish hanging around the drop offs. The bream were around, but elusive.

Out on the headlands, when the swell dropped off, I went in search of bigger fish. The tailor are pretty much a permanent fixture at dawn and dusk around the rocky points of Iluka. I was trying to catch jewfish/ mulloway and found a few in their usual hideouts. The tailor will attack anything they pass but I like using the various long thin slow sinking garfish impersonations and these are proving very successful for me.

Iluka – The Clarence River and the Bundjalung Headlands – August 2023

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August was a great month for winter fishing in the lower reaches of the Clarence River. The mornings were cool with mainly light south westerly winds. The water temperature was a degree or so warmer than August the year before averaging about 20.5 C.

Flathead injury

The warmer waters may have been attractive to the flathead. I caught plenty through the month in virtually all sections of the river. I caught the occasional bream but it has definitely not been a good bream year. There was plenty of bait and the cormorants and pelicans herded it around in the shallows.

Out on the rocky headlands there were plenty of tailor. There was ample bait schooling up and when the tailor were biting they did not much mind what lure I threw at them. Quite often I was fishing for a jewfish/mulloway with a big soft plastic when a tailor grabbed the lure. Sometimes I landed it and sometimes it just ate its way up the plastic and then bit through the leader. Either way I would then swap to a hard body and a few casts later I would get another one.

The resident eagle at Woody Head is getting increasingly bold when it comes to stealing fish. On one occasion he picked up a tailor that was still hooked. I had loosened the drag and thrown the fish in a rockpool while I went in search of my pliers. The eagle saw its chance and grabbed the fish and flew off. I heard the screaming drag, grabbed the rod and after a brief tug of war, it dropped the tailor back in the water with the lure firmly in its jaw. It was slightly easier to land second time around.

I could not find any jewfish in August. They were no doubt there but I was away for a week or two at the end of the month, so I did not fish as much as usual.

Iluka -The Clarence River and the Bundjalung Headlands – July 2023

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July brought more cool mornings but quite consistent south westerly and south easterly winds. These usually turned northerly in the afternoons. The month started off with sea temperatures a degree or so cooler than usual at around 18.0 C.  We had a few quite misty starts. We started the month with a full moon and a pretty wet week.

The tuna were still visible, jumping around out beyond casting distance. The pro fisherman thought they were hanging around because there was a huge school of pilchards in the area. I have hooked a few but never stopped one.

When the swell and wind was light enough I had some great rock fishing sessions, particularly in the lead up to the full moon at the end of the month. I caught tailor and mulloway. The mulloway took soft plastics and the tailor ate anything I threw at them.

Tailor
Tailor on small Noeby sinking stickbait

The small tailor were everywhere in the Clarence River and the trevally were marauding around. There were still plenty of flathead in close to the banks, feeding on tiny jelly prawns.

Iluka – The Clarence River and the Bundjalung Headlands – February 2023

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January rolled into February and we had a bit of rain and a south easterly blow. After the massive floods the year before everyone was on edge. But the rain did not last long and there was to be no repeat inundation in northern NSW.

The river was full of jelly prawns and other bait schools and fished well for flathead. The small tailor were everywhere. They were a pest when trying to fish for flathead with a soft plastic lure. You would feel a bump and grab on the drop and pull up a munched and now useless soft plastic.

Tailor
tailor

I caught plenty of flathead and had a few good fishing sessions on the flats nearer the mouth of the Clarence River at Yamba. On one occasion I hooked a small flathead that was then eaten by bigger one at my feet. I dropped the rod tip and waited for about 30 seconds and when I took up the slack, sure enough the bigger fish took off. I pulled it around for about five minutes and then it either regurgitated the fish or just spat it out. I reeled the little one back in it looked completely unharmed. I took the hook out of its lip and it swam off.

Clarence River flathead

I was able to get out to fish the rocky headlands on a few days. I caught plenty of small jewfish/ mulloway at Woody Head and Iluka Bluff, but none of February’s fish were big enough to keep. There were also a few tailor schools hanging around at dawn and dusk.

Rudra Jerkbait Pro

Iluka – Iluka Bluff, Woody Head and the Clarence River June 2022

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June was a cracking fishing month on the headlands and also pretty good in the Clarence River. The bream fisherman where getting good catches.

I caught plenty of jewfish at Woody Head, Iluka Bluff and Frasers Reef. The start of the incoming tide seemed to fish best for me and the GULP Squid Vicious soft plastic in the nuclear chicken colour, rigged on a 3/8th ounce, size 2/0 hook jighead worked best. I was generally fishing with a 40lb leader.

When fishing for jewfish I often caught some ambitious, chunky, bream. They are often lurking in the wash at the base of the rocks. I also caught some decent tailor and trevally, when I was casting metal slugs around at dawn or dusk.

Iluka – Woody Head and the Clarence River – Late November 2021

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Most of us were now getting vaccinated against the Wuflu with the exception of a few very boring people who insisted on sharing (at length) the reasons why they weren’t. I carried on fishing (and slowly going bankrupt).

We finally had a break in the swell in late November. It was still grey, windy and rainy but I was able to get back out on the rock platform at Woody Head and fish through a middle of the day low tide. The moon was 25 days old and waning. It was about 20% visible.

It looked like perfect jewfish weather but after a few casts a good tailor grabbed my soft plastic. I landed it and changed tactics. I rigged up a metal slug. I was using a 40 gram multi-coloured metal slug from Gillies. It soon found its mark and after a couple of casts I connected with another tailor. It was a decent fish, about 65cm long. I decided to keep that one for supper. I connected and then dropped another two tailor and then swapped back to a soft plastic set up to try for a jewfish.

Tailor will always hit a soft plastic if they are passing

I selected one of my rapidly declining store of GULP Crazylegs Jerkshads in the Lime Tiger colour and put it on a 1/4 ounce, size 2/0 jighead and lobbed it out just in front of me. I was using my battered Daiwa Demonblood 962 H rod and Daiwa TD SOL III LT 6000D-H spinning reel. I was using 40lb braid and 40lb fluorocarbon leader. I made a few casts with no results. I moved a bit further along the rock platform. I kept dropping the soft plastic in close to the rocks. After a while I felt some resistance, paused and set my hook. The fish tried to swim under an overhang but I managed to pull it out and land it. It was a school jewfish. It was about 60cm long and so after a few pictures I sent it back into the ocean. I could not find anymore fish that day.

Tailor and jewfish/mulloway from Woody Head

The swell came back up but the Clarence River still fished pretty well for flathead and smaller tailor all through the month.

Browns Rocks flathead