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Fishing Botany Bay You know, the best fishing isn't always in some remote and peaceful spot… sometimes, the busier - the better! Botany Bay is not only Sydney's biggest port - you can also just about touch the planes as they takeoff from the nearby airport. But the wetlands mean there's still plenty of wildlife around, including fish. "We're in a very historical spot on Botany Bay. Behind me is the buoy which marks where Endeavour anchored in 1770 - over there is Kurnell, where Captain Cook first set foot on Australia." Our captain today is Scott Lyons, who's been guiding around the Bay for four years. This morning, these beacons are our prime targets. Over the summer months, kingfish visit the bay. Come in and feed on baitfish, and squid so we try to resemble these with our lure, throwing in around pylons and beacons. It's amazing how these things work. Once this sluggo lure hits the water.. you have to make it look lively - so we spin pretty quickly to entice the kingies to strike.And when they're on - they give you a run for your money. We soon discover that Kingfish aren't the only ones who hangout around the beacons and rock walls. The water erupts and we're almost swamped by a school of greedy bonito. Bonito feed on the surface, so the best bet is to troll light lures right in amongst them. Looks like we've interrupted their lunch ! Well, we've conquered the kingies and the bonito on Botany Bay using lures. Now Scotty reckons we should try our hand at a little bait fishing. A perfect day for fishing, no shadows, the fish can come in and feed naturally. We're chasing the bream that feed across the sandflats, by tempting them with a pretty tasty feed. Scotty's increasing our chances by putting out four or more rods at once… Before long, a wave of bream comes through. Scott's using an old fisherman's trick - he holds onto the sinker after he's dropped the bait in, so he can feed out more line to create a much longer trace of 20 metres or so. In fast currents, this long trace waves your yabby around - and the bigger fish strike. These fresh yabbies also attract some of the Bay's other inhabitants. To round off our exploration of Botany Bay - we head towards the runways and container walls where the baitfish are cruising.And we find the tailor not far behind them. Little chopper tailor by the thousands out here. Like Scotty's rig - sinker and treble.. See the bait fish coming out of their mouth, so we try to match the hatch - look at the baitfish next to the white sinker, not too far apart. Tailor school in the bay in the summer months… Like the bonito, they'll gorge themselves silly when they're feeding, so surface trolling is best. Gotta keep tension on these fish otherwise tailor shake their heads and come off. Drag set pretty loose. They have very sharp teeth, so if they bite your line - you lose it. Botany Bay is just 15 kilometres from the centre of Sydney, and as we've seen, right next to the airport. Scotty Lyons and his Green Machine can find all the best structures for Kingfish, Bonito, tailor, bream and a swag of other species. He can take four people on
a 7 hour fishing trip on a Saturday or Sunday for $440…
even cheaper on weekdays. |
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Botany Bay Fishing Southern Sydney Fishing
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