Tag Archives: Kiama

Fishing Kiama NSW

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Fishing Kiama NSW Australia

Our Local Fishing Scene – If you are ever in the area for a fishing trip or holiday you will find some useful information on hot fishing spots in our local area for rock fishing, beach fishing, game fishing, reef fishing and river fishing with Fishing Reports of each of the main local fishing areas updated regularly, You will find that we at Ocean Storm Fishing Tackle often make a submission to the fishing reports detailing the latest fishing news for hot fishing spots such as Lake Illawarra, Bombo beach, Kiama blowhole, Shoalhaven and Minnamurra River and often include the latest information on what’s being caught off the boats on local fishing reefs.

Get the low down on what’s happening on the fishing scene in Kiama and other local fishing spots in the Illawarra on our facebook page

Rock Fishing
Fishing Kiama is a popular sport fishing spot – particularly from Kiama Blowhole Point rocks. Here you can catch a wide range of fish species.In Warmer Months the Blowhole is a good live baiting time for species such as Black Marlin, some species of Tuna, Kingfish, Cobia and Sharks. The Kiama blowhole is also great for spinning with metal lures, in brands such as raider lures or halco lures. Surface poppers and large soft plastic lures also work well for a wide range of fish that hang around the point.  For bait, the use of whole or cut strip baits like tuna fillets, mackerel fillets or whole pilchards  for chasing species such as Salmon, Trevally, Kingfish, Mackerel, Cobia, Bonito and the odd Tailor will work well.  Squid are plentiful around the southern side of the blowhole platform and can be caught using a squid jig

In the cooler months there are always salmon hanging about, kingfish and bonito remain in good numbers  usually until late April.  Tailor becomes a good catch around the Blowhole in the early morning and on dark.  Drummer and Luderick are a popular target around the blowhole rock pool area throughout winter and take baits such as Abalone gut or Royal Red Prawns and weed for the luderick.

Game Fishing
Fishing NSW    Kiama boasts of some great game fishing – more particularly from September through to May. We often see captures from the Kiama Canyons and from around the Mount Fuji fish traps species such as: Black Marlin, Striped Marlin, Yellow Fin Tuna, Albacore Tuna, King Fish, Dolphin Fish and a range of sharks. Most commonly used tackle for game fishing in the area is 15-24kg tackle. Trolling lures such as Skirted lures, Xmas Tree Lures, Bibless minnow lures, Rapala luresand Squidgies blue water live series soft plastic lures all work well.Land Base Game fishing is also quite popular off Kiama Blowhole point and Marsdens Headland.

There are many charter fishing boats in the area that have the facilities for game fishing and these include but are not limited to Kiama Blue Water Fishing Charters   Signa Fishing Charters    Predator Fishing Charters   other Fishing charters that reside in the Kiama harbour that service game fishing are: Seaker fishing charters and Kiama Charter service.
Reef Fishing
Fishing Australia    Reef fishing in Kiama is quite good for catching fish species such as Snapper, Morwong, Leather Jackets and other common reef dwelling fish species. Kiama has some great spots for fishing with light tackle. Sand Flats just out off Bombo Beach will produce flathead when the time is right.The Fishing charter boats in the area would be more than willing to book you in for a fishing trip to our local grounds if you are in the area.

Charter fishing operators that fish the local Kiama reefs are:  Kiama Blue Water Fishing Charters   MV Signa Fishing Charters, Predator Fishing Charters  other Fishing charters that reside in the Kiama harbour are: Seaker fishing charters.
Beach and River Fishing
Fishing Information    Kiama Beaches – Fishing from Bombo, Surf, Kendall and East’s Beach’s (In warmer Months)  fish great and produce well for whiting, dart, bream and flathead off the sand.  Whilst off the rock points you will find Bream, Trevally, Salmon and Tailor using Pilchards and strip baits or  if you prefer lures, metal fishing lures and surface poppers are the way to go.

Minnamurra River (In the warmer months) Flathead can be found on the sand flats, Bream around the road and train bridge pylons and dense mangrove area.  Mullet are plentiful throughout, Whiting gather around the mouth area.  Mulloway occasionally are caught in the river also. (However, Shoalhaven river 30 minutes south is the better river to fish if just targeting Mulloway).  Around the mud flats/mangrove areas you can find mud crabs. In the fresh water/brackish sections of the river Bass can be caught using a variety of hard body and soft plastic lures. Usually between September to April. In cooler months the main targets are bream and blackfish all throughout the river.  Winter whiting can be caught around the mouth and the channel area.  Good baits to use are green weed for the Blackfish, they will also take peeled prawns or worms.  For the bream and whiting, nippers, worms and prawns work well.  However soft plastic lures also show good results particularly in the squidgies and  Berkley gulp Fishing Lure brands.

Buy all your gear for Fishing in Kiama here.shop-now

Fish species article: Bonito – Fishing for Bonito

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Species article: Bonito

While Bonito used to be considered a bait fish, its eating properties were overlooked; it is actually a tasty fish if bled straight after capture and cooked fresh rather than frozen. The main reason this species is so popular with anglers is its ability to fight fast and hard, providing great sport on light fishing gear.

Bonito is an inshore pelagic species, often found along the subtropical eastern and western coastlines of Australia. There are a few species of Bonito in Australia  such as: Australian Bonito (sarda australis), Oriental Bonito (sarda orientails) and Watsons Leaping Bonito (cybiosarda elegans).  In Australian waters they don’t grow large: to a maximum of about 7kg on the east coast and about 4kg off the coast of Western Australia.  Bonito are sometimes mistaken for skipjack although their colour is a brighter green and black stripes appear along the top of the body rather than along the lower sides as with skipjack.

The Bonito are surface feeding fish and most often found close to the shoreline, in rocky wash areas and around reefs, so they can be caught from boats or by anglers casting off from rocks or jetties. Around dawn in summer and autumn, when the water is between 16 and 20 degrees Celsius, is the best time to catch bonito.

The same fishing techniques as you’d use to catch species like skipjack, kingfish and salmon will be successful with bonito. The fish will attack live bait and cubes of fish flesh, as well as flies and fishing lures.  While land based anglers are limited to casting and retrieving lures or baits, boat anglers have a much wider range of options including casting lures, and trolling lures and baits.  Because bonito have sharp teeth, metal lures will last longer than lures made from softer materials. One of the best types of lure for attracting bonito is the Halco Twisty Fishing Lure or Kokoda Quarter Back Fishing Lures, both versatile metal lures with an enticing actions, available from the Fishing Tackle Shop.

Bonito are very much sought after by light spinning enthusiasts.  Fishing reels best suited for land based fishing for bonito should allow a reasonable casting distance, so for angling from rocks or jetties consider a six-eight kilo spinning outfit. For boat fishing, lighter spinning outfits (four-six) would be suitable. For land based fishing you’ll need an 8 to 10 foot fishing rod, while a shorter (6-7 foot) rod is better for boat angling. A great rod/reel combination offered by the Fishing Tackle Shop is a Okuma Epix 60 Fishing Reel with 8 foot Crystal Power Tip Fishing Rod which is perfect for targeting bonito from the shore.

You can fish for bonito from the shore or from a boat close to the shore, and light – medium fishing gear is all that’s needed.  Provided that you have the patience to keep casting until the speedsters start to appear, your persistence will be rewarded with some great sport.

Images: The owner of fishingtackleshop.com.au  2011 with  few  bonito captured from Kiama Blowhole Point, NSW on an 8 foot Uglystik Fishing rod paired up with a Shimano Stradic 6000 Fishing reel with 20lb Power Pro Braid. Lure is a  Kokoda Quaterback metal lure.