Early Winter Sydney: Tailor, Salmon and Bream on the Chew

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Sydney fishing report. Light westerlies and clear skies have had the harbour and beaches looking mint most of the day, with just a bit of afternoon chop as the breeze pushed up. Temps have been sitting in the high teens, low 20s on the coast, cool starts but very comfortable on the water. Sunrise was around twenty‑past five this morning, sunset just after five, so that first and last light bite has been short but punchy. Tides today have been running a standard two‑tide cycle, with a solid morning high pushing bait right up onto the flats and into the washes, then easing into a draining afternoon low. That run‑in around the bridges and headlands has been the key window, with the run‑out this arvo better for fish holding tight to structure and drop‑offs. Fish activity’s been classic early‑winter Sydney. In the harbour and middle reaches, tailor and salmon schools have been chopping into tiny whitebait and pilchard fry, especially off Clarke Island, Bradleys Head and around the Spit. Flicking 20–40 gram chrome slices and small white metal slugs into the edge of the bust‑ups has pulled consistent fish, with a few better salmon nudging the 60 cm mark. Fast, erratic retrieves are doing the damage. On the stones and beaches, bonito and the odd kingfish have been cruising the washes on the run‑in. Pilchards on ganged hooks, live yellowtail, or squid strips have worked well, with metal lures and 5–7 inch stickbaits also picking up fish when they’re up on the surface. Kings have been a bit patchy but there are still legal models hanging around headlands and marker buoys if you put in the time with live baits. Bread‑and‑butter species are very much on the chew. Bream and trevally have been stacked up around wharves, pylons and deeper moorings. Best results have come on lightly weighted peeled prawn, chicken gut and small pilchard cubes, as well as 2–3 inch soft plastics in motor‑oil and bloodworm colours hopped slowly along the bottom. There’ve been some solid bream to 35–38 cm and trevs in the 40s for those fishing light leaders and plenty of berley. Flathead are still taking advantage of the dropping water on the sand and mud edges, especially in Botany Bay and up the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers. Paddle‑tailed plastics in the 3–4 inch range, worked along channel edges and drop‑offs, have produced good numbers of fish, with a few in the mid‑60s turning up for anglers slowly dragging whitebait and pilchard baits. A few squid have been around the kelpy points and weed beds, particularly on the eastern side of the harbour and in the lower bay. Bright orange, pink and natural prawn‑pattern jigs in the 2.5–3.0 sizes have been the pick. Fresh squid is still the best bait in town for kings and big snapper out wider, so it’s worth putting in a session. Couple of hot spots to put on your hit list: – Middle Harbour, from the Spit up to Roseville, for bream, flathead and the odd jewie after dark. Work the edges with soft plastics and lightly weighted baits on the change of tide. – Botany Bay’s Towra Point and the Captain Cook Bridge area for flathead, bream and school jew, especially on the run‑out with soft plastics and live poddy mullet. Best all‑round lures right now: small chrome metals, 3–4 inch paddle‑tail and jerk‑shad plastics in natural baitfish tones, and 2.5–3.0 squid jigs. For bait, you can’t go past fresh squid, pilchard, peeled prawn and live yellowtail. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn