A mate of mine Andrew Barnes was hitting Wagonga inlet at Narooma on the NSW South Coast for the first time, my advice if he wanted good numbers of hard fighting and great tasting fish was to target tailor, and he had a ball! Here is the brief I gave him before he headed out.
The deeper estuaries and inlets have been slower to warm due to cooler than average spring nights, and as a result the tailor season has only just hit top gear in some spots like Wagonga.
The quickest way to find tailor before they get wary of holiday boat traffic is to troll the open water looking for signs of feeding fish and/or birds following the tailor schools. Sometimes just a single bird dipping into the water or looking like it is tracking fish means there is tailor (and sometimes salmon too) just beneath the surface.
A mix of shallow and deep running lures is the go, my favourite shallow runner for tailor is the Rapala 8 cm X-Rap (XR08) Best 0eep runner is the 10 cm X-Rap. (XRD10) Andrew also did well on these, but said that the new Rapala X-Rap Magnum 5 (XRMAG05) was also very good, and had stronger hooks which was handy given there were so many tailor coming over the side. Andrew and friends caught over 60 tailor, the average size was a whopping 60 cm, with a few thumpers bigger than this.
Importantly try to gauge which way the school is moving and give the front runners a wide berth by about 50 to 75 meters, which is how far back your your lures should be running (shallow runners 75 m, deep divers 50 m back). This distance helps the fish find your lures without getting spooked by the boat. Some days however they are attracted to the boat, a lure in short around 15 meters back will cover these braver specimens. An extra deep diver is the go here, and a superb option is the Rapala Shad Rap SR07
Whatever you do, don’t drive straight through a feeding school or you might put the fish down and spoil things for everyone.
If the Tailor are too spooky to approach on the troll, sneak ahead of the school, cut the motors and cast at them with metal slugs (eg 20 g Williamson Gyro Spin) or an even better option; long casting minnows like an 11 cm Max Rap (MXR 11) and you’ll get excellent results. An electric motor or a kayak is another good way to sneak within casting range if the fish appear boat shy.
While good spots include Sydney Harbour, Georges River, Top Lake at Merimbula, St Georges Basin and Jervis Bay just to name a few. In fact this technique will work in any Estuary on the south coast at the moment, but the standout is Wagonga Inlet at Narooma.
Early and late in the day is great, but a tide change during the day will also work. However it is usually more about moving around and looking for a school of feeding fish.
Somedays there on straight away, other days it takes an hour or two to locate a willing school and get stuck into the action. Always great fun!
Tailor don’t freeze well but if bled and iced immediately, and eaten witan 24 hours-they are absolutely superb on the plate. Pan fried in butter with a squeeze of lemon and a side salad-fitting end to a healthy day out!
Regards,
Rob Paxevanos
