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View Full Version : Wheres the fish biting in Yamba?



Todddo
29-04-2012, 08:46 AM
Hi everyone,
My oldies are going down to Yamba (I think in the canals near the mouth) in October for a few weeks and would like to know where to go to get a nice feed. They have a 20ft boat so they can go over the bar (anyone know what it is like?), but mum would prefer to stay inside.
Any general advice would be great, don't want spot x but just a general area for them to start.
They have been together for around 30 years and have fished together I think twice, So would be good to get them on some fish! Dad has a gps too so any coords would be good :)

Thanks in advance,
Todd.

kingcray
29-04-2012, 09:51 AM
Todd
Look up Browns Rocks if you want a few bream. Fisho or mullet fillets is all you need.
Otherwise anywhere along the middle wall there are plenty of flatties in the day and good bream at night.

Deano

Todddo
29-04-2012, 03:38 PM
Thanks alot kingcray, just what I was after!

GABBA110360
29-04-2012, 09:19 PM
mate october is a long way off yet but you are getting into summer fish flathead whiting etc within a mile of all the canal areas in yamba

Freeeedom
02-05-2012, 10:19 AM
I fish Iluka land-based mostly through the winter but have still managed some nice catches when I've been down there in October.

These are the locations that I usually fish.

Cheers Freeeedom

Todddo
02-05-2012, 06:27 PM
Thanks so much for that freeeedom!
Ill let you know how they go in October, Thanks again.

095rat
03-05-2012, 07:50 PM
Thanks Kingcray, heading to Iluka this Qld long weekend , will hopefully be able to post a pic, if I get lucky

Inlike
03-05-2012, 07:57 PM
There is a good whiting bank opposite the boat ramp up near the tavern. fish incoming towards the couple of mangrove trees moving in with the tide. Dont start motor drift in letting rope out.. good yabbie bank opposite tavern but stay to southern end north end used to be to sloppy groud.. As mentioned yamba side of middle wall when tide is slacking for lizards.. Try to cast really close to wall with little weight then get the Net ready..;D..Top end of Collis wall near first house on Goodwood Island where there is Drain is good for whiting on incoming... Cheers .Ps.. If they can they should take down some blood worms if they can.. Can't get them down there....Cheers Paul..:)

Goodoo haven
03-05-2012, 08:38 PM
There is a good whiting bank opposite the boat ramp up near the tavern. fish incoming towards the couple of mangrove trees moving in with the tide. Dont start motor drift in letting rope out.. good yabbie bank opposite tavern but stay to southern end north end used to be to sloppy groud.. As mentioned yamba side of middle wall when tide is slacking for lizards.. Try to cast really close to wall with little weight then get the Net ready..;D..Top end of Collis wall near first house on Goodwood Island where there is Drain is good for whiting on incoming... Cheers .Ps.. If they can they should take down some blood worms if they can.. Can't get them down there....Cheers Paul..:)

Hi Paul,
Are a local from the Yamba/Iluka area? You have put out some really good info there for new people to the area. I hope that I can make it there to the area one day soon for some fishing.

Spoon1337
03-05-2012, 09:30 PM
That bar is terrible and can be really dangerous at times make sure you watch it! If you are up for the drive, look up woody heads out of iluka. Heading off there in the early morning and head about 30mins up to top knob or black rock. Although if you are heading off at woody heads ramp, make sure you head out to the left if looking at the ocean from the ramp. There is some prop killer rocks straight out, it is a terrible launch but its all you have unless you cross the bar and head north back into the bay. Some great reef up there, some monster snapper, been fishing yamba/iluka for most of my life. Great place. Clarence river is quite fished out! If you are chasing jew, flathead or bream, iluka side of the wall opposite the coast guard (middle wall) is great on the right tides. Can get a quick current through it though.

You could also head up the clarence river towards the highway bridge, some good fishing at times. I have not fished the river for a few years though.

I see on your map, Iluka main beach. Some dart up that way. You have noted that a permit is required? I have never used when using my 4wd or read a permit being needed here. Unless you are parking in the national parks you are required to have a parking permit it but I am almost certain there is no permit for beach driving.

Just read your heading out in october, if your lucky and the waters are warmer make sure you troll for Spanish mackerel, they get some thumpers out there.

Freeeedom
04-05-2012, 05:15 AM
I see on your map, Iluka main beach. Some dart up that way. You have noted that a permit is required? I have never used when using my 4wd or read a permit being needed here. Unless you are parking in the national parks you are required to have a parking permit it but I am almost certain there is no permit for beach driving.



I stand corrected. I thought I remembered driving to the beach access point once and seeing a sign that you needed a permit. I'll have another look when I'm down there next - should be in the next couple of weeks. I'll post the answer when I get back.
Cheers Freeeedom

theoldlegend
04-05-2012, 05:45 AM
It's a Council permit, and not a National Parks permit.

You are supposed get one to drive on Main Beach from the wall north to the Bluff.

Freeeedom, remember that mate of mine you met? Well, he found an envelope with a $100 fine from the National Parks mob in his letter box about not displaying a permit at Woody Heads. Wasn't addressed to him so he re-posted it. Shows that they're around...........


TOL

kingcray
04-05-2012, 08:25 AM
As mentioned yamba side of middle wall when tide is slacking for lizards.. Try to cast really close to wall with little weight then get the Net ready..;D..Cheers Paul..:)

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?182987-Middle-Wall-Flatties

;D::);D8-)

Excellent method........ it ry to bounce it off the rocks back into the water, 1/12 or 1/16 jig, a friend went diving there once and told me all the real big girls have their noses shoved right up into the rocks.

Deano

mattooty
04-05-2012, 09:03 AM
It's a Council permit, and not a National Parks permit.

You are supposed get one to drive on Main Beach from the wall north to the Bluff.

Freeeedom, remember that mate of mine you met? Well, he found an envelope with a $100 fine from the National Parks mob in his letter box about not displaying a permit at Woody Heads. Wasn't addressed to him so he re-posted it. Shows that they're around...........


TOL

That's odd he got a $100 fine. They were out in force over Easter and the flat-fine is $7 which is the 'Day Pass' rate. You then had 2 or 3 weeks to pay that, which is quite reasonable, and if not you got whacked with a $160. Alot of people just scrunched them up and binned them claiming bloody murder.

And you're completely correct about the Council Permit. You need it to drive on the beach at Iluka (both main beach and shark bay) as well as down at Brooms Head.

Spoon, I'd have to disagree with you on 2 things. The first being that the bar is one of the safest on the east coast not including the deep-entranced bays. It's a commercial shipping channel, and as such is quite easy to navigate. You just need to watch the swell. The southern side of the wall can get a bit of a stand up wave coming through it at times, but thats the beauty of such a large mouth that you just go to the other side.
And in regards to the river being fished out, you need to fish harder. In the last few months I've caught and released well in excess of ~100 flathead (90% released), a few scores of jew, mangrove jacks, trevally (Giant, tealeaf, silvers) and all manner of ooglies. It's just about putting the time in and paying attention to what you're doing.
Good luck mate.

theoldlegend
04-05-2012, 03:05 PM
We were down there in March Matty, and the letter had been in his box for quite some time. (His unit's a rental.) Also, the letter and contents were badly rain affected, so it's quite possible the amount was in fact $160.

I didn't know you needed a permit to drive along Shark Bay as well. He's lucky he hasn't been pinched.


TOL

mattooty
04-05-2012, 03:46 PM
I doubt it'd be policed, more an honesty system I presume...

Spoon1337
04-05-2012, 05:40 PM
I havent crossed the bar for some time so all I remember is that it can get a bit rough. Next time I am down there I am going to have to give the clarence a go. Where are you fishing in the clarence?

Inlike
04-05-2012, 06:34 PM
Goodoo no i'm not but have spent many enjoyable times down there.

Freeeedom
05-05-2012, 06:15 AM
I'm surprised you need a permit for Shark Bay as well. I usually have a look along the beach at least once every time I'm down there and I've never noticed any sign saying anything about a permit at the access point there. I'll check it out next time
Cheers Freeeedom

Goodoo haven
05-05-2012, 11:29 AM
Goodoo no i'm not but have spent many enjoyable times down there.

Yeah, I bet you have too. I was there years ago around Easter of that year was there and I rained and rained and didn't have much chance to do any fishing.

mattooty
07-05-2012, 09:59 AM
Shark Bay could be encompassed under the National Parks, but I'm reasonably sure that all beaches in the Clarence Valley Council's spread have a beach-permit policy.

Todddo
15-09-2012, 04:31 PM
Hey guys my parents are leaving in 3 weeks, any update on the fishing? :D

kingcray
15-09-2012, 09:35 PM
Todddo,
i just got back yesterday morning from a week in Iluka. As soon as we arrived the local fishing reports were pretty negative. We set out to prove the locals wrong and although i didnt get out as much as i wouldve liked, we hit our usual areas n ended up having a rather dismal report of our own with nothin notable to speak of other than 1 or 2 nice flatties, and a few good bream over the week.
Still the reefs in close to Woody Head , Yamba etc produced some excellent catches of snapper and trag jew.
The headlands still seem to be fishing pretty well for school jewies.
Over the week we pumped plenty of yabbies and struggled to lose one to a bite!
Blackfish around the Yamba shores Tavern and also the walls near the main boat ramp at iluka.
Still loads of legal sized bream around Browns Rocks as always upstream of the green marker on the edges off the big drop off.
Hope this helps and you find a few good fish.

I will be back in march / april !!!

Dean

Todddo
16-09-2012, 06:12 PM
Awesome thanks Dean.
Ill pass on the info to Dad.
Any others been down there lately?

MacDougall
18-09-2012, 12:30 PM
The river is really clean all the way up at the moment so the fish are dispersed throughout the system more so than usual. I think the fisherman are struggling to find the fish because of the ground the fish are able to cover. The fishing between Maclean and Lawrence is unusually good. For the first time in a long time there have been reports of good fish (bream and whiting) coming out of Lake Woolooweyah. A bloke picked up a 7kg flatty in Oyster Channel (the channel closest to Yamba that connects the Clarence to the Lake) last week as well. He's coming at the right time though because by all reports the system is poised to really fire up.

http://imageshack.us/a/img594/6630/fishinfish.jpg

That boat ramp I have pointed at is underused and right in the middle of Oyster Channel. The Channel is pretty shallow and treacherous in places but the fishing is absolutely awesome all through it. Most diverse part of the Clarence fishery. Up around the bridge school jew, bream, tailor and flathead are in good numbers. Flathead can be found right through the channel.

Todddo
25-09-2012, 02:43 PM
Your a champ thanks mate, Ill pass it all on to my dad. Will post up how he goes.
Thanks again to all who posted its greatly appreciated.

Todddo
17-10-2012, 07:35 PM
An update from the trip - was windy as hell but still managed to get a few bream, whiting and flathead. Plus 2 big rays off a 100lb line I let sit over night on our pontoon.
Thanks for everyones help :)