At this time of the year, I usually have a long chat with Graham Cowley.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
We touch base on how our years have been.
We also wish each other a happy new year.
Would you believe, we often end up yarning about how the fishing has been?
Nothing new about that.
What did come out of our chat was just how good the fishing had been at Narooma, despite the weather.
Graham said the fishing around Montague Island had been producing good catches of kingfish, snapper, morwong and flathead.
Graham mentioned that despite it being so early in the season, the kingfish were bringing plenty of anglers into the region.
He said he had never seen so many trailers in the boat ramp car park.
Graham also noted that the number of holidaymakers around Narooma was the most he had ever seen.
He said more people were staying local rather than travelling overseas or interstate, taking advantage of the area.
Graham has a son, Nicholas, who is now a professional fisherman and has a state government contract to clear the shark lines that have been set around the swimming beaches in that area.
He said the lines were electronically monitored, and he was on call to respond when they registered a shark.
He then has to go out, tow the shark out to sea, and release it.
Nicholas says he has caught some massive sharks, including great whites, bronze whalers and even some large tiger sharks, as well as the occasional hammerhead.
Heading south from Narooma to Eden, John Liddell said there were also plenty of holidaymakers in his area.
Reports from Mark, who operates Freedom Charters out of Twofold Bay, mentioned that fishing from Boyd’s Lookout to Green Cape was good.
There were plenty of snapper, morwong, flathead and other table fish being caught while drifting off the shelf.
Kingfish and the occasional tuna provided action for anglers keen to try their hand at game fishing.
John added that large Australian salmon were being caught off the surf beaches during the tide changes by anglers casting silver lures.
At Queenscliff, Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters reported that snapper were being caught along the reefs off Point Lonsdale.
At Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads, Rod said there were also mako and gummy sharks being caught around the cray pots that had been set by cray fishermen.
He also reported catches of calamari squid and whiting among the grass beds from Swan Bay to St Leonards.
He noted the best baits were fresh squid, pipi and mussels.
Rod mentioned that kingfish were being found around schools of salmon in The Rip and off Point Lonsdale.
Reports from James Luddington at Flinders Island indicated good fishing around Lady Barron, Chapel Island and other nearby islands, with flathead and gummy sharks of a good size being plentiful.
Well, that covers all the saltwater spots.
Time to come back to our local region.
One of my favourite spots at this time of the year is in the north-east.
I like to fish the rivers and streams in the hills.
In saying that, I enjoy wading through them, either bait-casting or using lures.
I have an old wetsuit I wear, along with an old pair of shoes.
I carry a small shoulder bag and a net for landing any fish I may catch.
I usually find a spot and wade upstream.
Trout will always pick a hole and face upstream, waiting for their meal to float past.
It’s a good way to not only fish, but to keep cool as well.
So much for the first week of this year.
Stay safe if you do go into the bush, and watch out for snakes.
Good luck!