Report by Rob Hill
Feb 6th-8th 2026
While last Saturday was the official club outing most club members decided to make a weekend of it and headed out to fish early on the Friday morning. Perfect sea conditions and a 23C water temp greeted the Sea Bees, which only boosted the excitement after Roy Wartmann caught his first Marlin on the previous day. Confidence levels rose even further as we all managed to stock up on ample quantities of slimys and yellowtail for live bait.
Our boats congregated around the area of Roy’s previous day’s Marlin conquest, but after hours of persistence our hopes began to fade, with no strikes forthcoming despite mountains of teasing bait balls and ideal water temperature. ‘ You should have been here yesterday’ soon rang true. Bottom bashing soon became the order of the day but again, the fish were few and far between. Some nice Bonito were landed by Andreas, Ron Abdila, Mick Withford and Robert Hill, but the outside boats were upstaged by Peter Bylsma and Ben Withford landing some nice bream and whiting between them on Fingal Beach.
A new day brought fresh hope for comp day but again the fishing proved challenging. Robert Hill and Mick Withford managed a few flathead from Andreas’s boat as well as bag limit catches of Bonito with their crew companions Ron and Andreas. Other notable catches of Bonito were presented by Peter Bylsma, Kurt Forrester and his dad, Neil. Snapper were also landed by Rob Sinclair, Peter Bylsma, Kurt Forrester and the best going 63cm by Mark Formosa. Meanwhile Ben Withford showed the beach was just as productive as the ocean with a nice haul of whiting.
With all boats safely back at Little Beach Ramp our thoughts soon turned to tonight’s social get together and presentation at the Shoal Bay Country Club which saw some fantastic prizes presented by the club to the category winners. With twenty members, family and six boats participating, the Port Stephens weekend is growing from strength to strength. There are several improvements planned for next year to further enhance our fishing experience. This outing confirmed the strength and comradery that exists withing the Sea Bees and thank you for making it such a success.
Robert Hill CB12
