Martins Bay by Bruce Thomson

This is a choice spot, good public loos and friendly locals.

The fisheries inspector has an old red Datsun and will come and see you but he is a good guy.

We spent two days fishing outgoing tides here with a Dropper Rig.

Initially we encountered problems setting due to horse mussels until we removed most of the weight from the hook section. The locals reported good catches from boats close inshore, as well as from a torpedo long line launched regularly from the beach.

However the days we were there it was very slow with only pickers and the odd small fish landed. We used squid for bait and fished 1000m out. All the bait was stripped from the hooks after 20 minutes and we put this down to there being plenty of pickers.

The wind was a southerly of 20 - 25 knots but there are several calm spots in wind shadows on the way out, this is due to the wind coming over the hill. Once you get about 500 metres out though, the wind fills and the pull really comes on. Watch for rocks at both ends of the beach.

I am hoping to try fishing the incoming tide there this weekend as the outgoing is not ideal in this area. Find out about the Running Float Dropper Rig Here

Alan Radcliffe and I fished Martins Bay in 1990. Using two Dropper Rigs, the gear was set up and the first set was let out just before dusk.

It was just after high tide and we fished until the tide was fully out at about 1am.