Evans Head - 2023 Part one

[NAGG]

NOTHING TO SEE HERE

Chris

[chris69]

NOTHING TO SEE HERE

Chris

To much wind ????????

[NAGG]

To much wind ????????

I did have a reply that summed it up ...... but lost it

need to get motivated to write it again

wind was part of the problem but cold green currents I believe caused a shut down fishery

Chris

[NAGG]

So , as the story goes - we arrived on the tail end of the recent cyclone but had good enough conditions to head out on day 1 ( a first for Evans Head ) .

I have to say I was immediately concerned when we had water temps of just 21.6 deg - green water .

Over the next 3 days we tried all my close shallow locations which seemed like a desert - tried some deeper water but the current was raging (spot lock running at 9/10) those reefs were barren . For al our efforts I managed just 1 x 60cm snapper & a surprise 50cm Fingermark . One of the days we ventured quite away North & found the water was even colder @ 21 deg - yeh we did get some tailor but left when we were plagued by undersized Trag . Decided to go out to the Fad & to check out a favorite location nearby - certainly the water was significantly better @ 27 deg with nice blue water . The reef certainly had the best sounding of fish & they were well of the bottom (snapper) ..... In hindsight we should have stayed & fished but the deckie was keen to fish the FAD . At the FAD I had a hookup on a pillie first cast .... lots of Kingies but after that lost fish everything went quiet with the kingies not even coming out to look at the cubes we were throwing in . We even tried towing a live yakka around . Anyhow it was getting late & we both agreed that we should try the nearby reef again first thing in the morning .

Next day we couldn't get out with winds gusting over 50km/ hr - those conditions remained for the next 3 days & all we could do was stick to the river to fish for flathead & bream - thankfully we did bring some crab pots & managed a good feed (Singapore chilli mud crab ) - landed a few flatfish & bream but even the river was pretty quiet .

Our last day was Saturday & we managed to go out in marginal conditions - the southerly did its job & pushed in some better water with temps rising to around 25 deg C ....... not that it improved the fishing where we would go for 30mins without the baits being touched. Moved around a bit & then at about 2pm decided to pull the pin to clean up & pack as we were checking out in the morning .

Now general consensus at the boat ramp was that fishing had shut down for the past week - it was reasonably good prior to the cyclone . A bloke who had done a couple of charters confirmed the same - A couple of spearoes did see a few Spanish on the last day ...... at the filleting table not much in the way of fish frames - the odd bream . 20 deg water temps in Feb was certainly unexpected & despite me having a fairly decent grasp on the area the results shocked me . Even last Fridays fishing report was certainly uninspiring

Evans Head

A few tailor along Airforce Beach, bream and luderick along the rock walls at the Evans River mouth and bream and flathead in the lower reaches.

Certainly not what you would expect in Feb

Anyhoos I've got 3 months before I head back for our usual Autumn trip & hopefully redemption

Oh & by the way ....... Not one slimey caught despite trying several times to catch them

Chris

[NAGG]

Oh & apparently the fishing improved the day we left

Evans Head

Snapper, trag jew and spotty mackerel on Kahors Reef and North Ground, bream and tailor along Airforce Beach, bream, tailor and luderick along the rock walls at the Evans River mouth, bream, flathead and whiting in the lower reaches and mud crabs in the upper reaches.

[Dignity]

Oh & apparently the fishing improved the day we left

Evans Head

Snapper, trag jew and spotty mackerel on Kahors Reef and North Ground, bream and tailor along Airforce Beach, bream, tailor and luderick along the rock walls at the Evans River mouth, bream, flathead and whiting in the lower reaches and mud crabs in the upper reaches.

You've got to love so called fishing reports. Often doesn't change even if fish aren't being caught. Sometimez a good fish caught and reported means they're hot but it was the only one 😀

[Out-Station]

Tough run by the sounds Nagg. I'd been researching through your past reports over the last month or so as i'd been thinking i might do a run down there to get awat from the mac closure this end. I fished evans a couple of times back in 2006/2007 but not sense then. Better luck next time around, overall been pretty knind to you in th past by the looks of the back reports.
Scott

[fishtragic]

Sounds like you know Evans. Gut wrenching to do all that planning and expense to get smashed by the weather. I would suggest keeping your powder dry till August. Always red hot late July through Early September. Fingermark at Evans, they make the right noise in the frypan.

[NAGG]

You've got to love so called fishing reports. Often doesn't change even if fish aren't being caught. Sometimez a good fish caught and reported means they're hot but it was the only one 

The cleaning table is always a great indicator . What fish frames have been tossed into the water .

Another thing with the Evans boat ramp is that you get lots of drive by's - locals who want to chat about the fishing ....... & it was doom & gloom but I'm pretty certain that the fishing was going to improve with the blue warmer water moving back in on the Sat..... & with maybe 50 boats out on Sunday - I reckon they would have found the fish

Chris

[NAGG]

Tough run by the sounds Nagg. I'd been researching through your past reports over the last month or so as i'd been thinking i might do a run down there to get awat from the mac closure this end. I fished evans a couple of times back in 2006/2007 but not sense then. Better luck next time around, overall been pretty knind to you in th past by the looks of the back reports.
Scott

Hi Scott

Evans has been absolutely outstanding over the past several years & this trip was a complete turn around ....... I'm certainly not discouraged though as I'm pretty certain that cold current shut the place down & then when I found the fish / better water & currents ....... we lost the next 3 days with big winds / seas .

I normally have 10 day trips to Evans - this was a 6 dayer . There certainly have been past trips were it has taken a few days to get wired in ...... then it's game on .

So if the weather plays it's part - I'm confident that our May trip will be another good one.

Chris

[NAGG]

Sounds like you know Evans. Gut wrenching to do all that planning and expense to get smashed by the weather. I would suggest keeping your powder dry till August. Always red hot late July through Early September. Fingermark at Evans, they make the right noise in the frypan.

Having now spent around 50 days offshore now at Evans - I'm pretty well wired in for the inshore fishing & have my wider mark ( can be red hot).

Our past trips have mostly been in May / June ....... last year I arrived & fished ANZAC day - couldn't get offshore but did the next day & we had magnificent fishing for the next week - That was our best trip for quality & close to the best for qty . So I'm hesitant to muck around with months ..... May has been great for Snapper / Jew / Spotties ...... with some Spanish / Kings / Cobes mixed in . Weather has generally been good too.

Anyhow - I'm locked & loaded .... 13th-23rd May for Part 2

Chris

[Dignity]

Chris I went out as soon as I could after the cyclone passed by, leading up to New Moon, bait scarce - expect it this time of year but still can usually manage enough. Fish were hard to find and even then they didn't really want to bite once found even in the deeper 60m+ waters. Apparently in the bay though there were some good snapper caught. Sounds like the sudden change of water temp in the ocean had an effect whereas the bay being more protected didn't have the same problem.

[NAGG]

Chris I went out as soon as I could after the cyclone passed by, leading up to New Moon, bait scarce - expect it this time of year but still can usually manage enough. Fish were hard to find and even then they didn't really want to bite once found even in the deeper 60m+ waters. Apparently in the bay though there were some good snapper caught. Sounds like the sudden change of water temp in the ocean had an effect whereas the bay being more protected didn't have the same problem.

Yeh - 21 deg is extreme for this time of year ......... on those close grounds & I have no doubt it was the cause of our fishing woes - just 15km offshore & we were at 27 deg.

The southerly pushed in the warmer currents raising the temps to over 25 deg ....... 2 days later - the close grounds were fishing well again .

It's just one of those unlucky things .

The afternoon we went wide - I really should have spent some time on the reef ...... we had a fishable current - we had good soundings of bait & decent fish well off the bottom (snapper) but old mate wanted to fish the FAD ...... oh well

Chris

[disorderly]

Guess you werent kidding about the current.....maybe all the fish got washed away too...

[NAGG]

Guess you werent kidding about the current.....maybe all the fish got washed away too...

All the way from Byron Bay ......... tour of the NSW coastline

Chris