I'm fortunate to have visited and fished at many places around Australia. Everyone has their favourite place, a place where they feel most at home, most a part of. For me that place is Yamba. It has a bit of everything, a family connection, great fishing, great beaches, a relaxed atmosphere, a great climate and probably one of the best located pubs in Australia.
Photo is of Yamba Main Beach taken from below the lighthouse
The fishing is generally excellent. Bread and butter species such as whiting, bream, flathead and blue crabs are very common. In the river, those that target them can catch good jewfish, bass and even mangrove jacks. There is also a very healthy offshore fishery with snapper and pearl perch for the bottom fishos and tuna and both spottie and spanish mackeral for the surface fishos. I love fishing for many of these species, but for me Yamba will always make me think of the humble blackfish.
Luderick fishing is simple provided you observe a few details closely. One of these details is the use of an appropriate float. A float is required to suspend a bait at the depth where the fish are feeding, it then provides a bite indicator and finally it allows time for the bait to be swallowed and for a hook to be set.
Floats come in all sizes and shapes, some people even like to use small bobby corks and eggbeaters to target luderick. I prefer to use a centrepin reel for reasons spelt out in this article. When you use a centrepin it's only natural that you use a long stemmed float. Apart from anything else, a stemmed float gives you some weight to cast when using the centrepin. Stemmed floats can also give you stability in rough water conditions and windy conditions, they drift nicely in a current and can be very visible in all conditions.