Why some wily fish can outsmart you

After studying fish behaviour for 30 years, Dr Kevin Warbuton from Charles Sturt University discounts the myth that fish have a three-second memory and discovered they are capable of learning - perhaps from their mistakes of being hooked - and skilled at deception.

"Fish can remember prey types for months; they can learn to avoid predators after being attacked once," he writes in a university report.

But US Professor Charles Eriksen provides the most compelling example of fish memory. He spent several months feeding a pond of fish while calling out "fish-fish".

After a break of five years, Eriksen returned to the pond and called out "fish-fish". Guess what? Several fish swam straight to the surface waiting to be fed.

So take heart if those fish milling below your boat or wharf are impossible to fool. They probably remember being hooked before.

Anglers have been outsmarting the big game fish off Port Stephens during the Interclub tournament held over the past two weekends.

The heaviest shark was a 418-kilogram tiger, the heaviest marlin was a black of 118.5 kilograms and, with that, the capture division was won by Lake Macquarie.

Proving that local knowledge counts, the Newcastle and Port Stephens team won the tag-and-release division. James Holt from Diversion was the top-scoring male angler, Katie Lee from Gunrunner was the best female angler and Jacinta Thomas on Amokura won the junior tagging prize.

Despite the fact that more than 95 per cent of fish are tagged and released during the Interclub, Marine Parks are reportedly pressuring the tournament organisers not to allow fish to be weighed in the future.

There were reports in the Port Stephens press that the event could, if Marine Parks gets heavy, be moved to Sydney, thereby diverting millions of dollars from the local economy. Anglers are also up in arms over the high price of fuel at local marinas.

Meanwhile, from the Central to South coasts, bonito, tailor and kingfish are being taken on the troll. Beach anglers were also scoring big tailor. Unlike other years, though, the hot water has sent the Aussie salmon packing.

Last weekend's ode to whiting proved timely for those who lobbed a live worm from the beaches.

While the onshore winds have since made the fishing tough, the southern corners are worth a cast. Jewfish and bream should be about after dark.

Fly-fishing guide Justin Duggan was staring down the kingfish in Middle Harbour in Friday, but he found they were too well educated. Small saltwater flies eventually proved to be the undoing of some of the kings.

Big tailor are in Pittwater and Sydney Harbour, bream are schooling over the seagrass beds and luderick are milling about in preparation for their annual run. Before long, the mullet will start swimming north. Look for the big jewfish shadowing them.

Botany Bay and Port Hacking are turning on some nice bream, but those who fish the wee hours with live worms will find the big whiting. School jewfish are kicking around the bridges and Hawkesbury, with guide Ron Osman braining fish to five kilograms at Flint and Steel.

david.lockwood@bigpond.com