Topography of the Seaway – Getting to know the areas you fish.

The seaway is made up of 2 major rock walls, 2 minor rock walls, a mostly sandy bottom with a few select areas of heavy rock bottom structure.  Each area is different and knowing what the structure is like can put you ahead of the game and give you a better idea on how to fish it effectively without losing too many lures.  This article covers 4 area's and includes underwater video footage and screenshots taken when water visibility was around 15 metres.   Any areas that are missing I currently don't have footage for, they will be added when conditions permit.  If you want to take your seaway fishing to the next level, I highly recommend spending some time watching the video to get an idea of the areas you are fishing.




The following image shows where each section of footage was taken.

1. The South Wall Tip 

The South Wall Tip doesn't have any rocky structure once you get away from the wall, though there is a deep sandy hole approximately 50m off the northern end of the tip which is 8 metres deep and sometimes holds fish.  The majority of fish hang around the area where the rocks meet the sand so you need to fish fairly close to the wall, within 10 metres in most areas.  Use your sounder to locate the area where the rocks meet the sand and fish around there with plastics on the bottom.  As the tip area gets alot of wave action the rocks off the tip have cunjevoi and barnacles right down to the sand, this means the chance of snagging is high so use caution if you are casting around the tip.

The south wall tip showing the area where the rocks meet the sand

South Wall Inside edge approximately 10 in from the tip

South Wall Tip Fish Eye View Video

2. North Wall Line to One Tree

The North Wall Line is a sandy dropoff area with a few rocks that holds alot of fish, schools of luderick, trevally, tailor, mulloway and more will hold along this dropoff on both run-in and run-out tides.

The North Wall Line Dropoff showing a school of Luerick, Bream and Trevally holding along the edge.

The Tabletop Edge(the Bottom of the Face) is the North Western edge of the deep hole.   It is made up of large boulders and sandy patches.  Between these boulders is the occasional stick and weed patch.   Fish will hang in the eddies between these boulders so getting as close to them as you can without snagging up will get you more fish.

The front edge of the tabletop

The edge of the deep hole along the face

The Deep Hole is made up of mainly sand patches with a few areas of rubbly coffee rock bottom.

North Wall Tip to One Tree

3. One Tree to Hairtail Reach

One Tree to Hairtail Reach is sandy bottom once you get away from the wall edge with just the very occasional piece of coffee rock,  most fish seem to hang along the area where the rocks meet the sand but some schools of Trevally will hang out a bit further.  As this area is quite shallow(4-8m) it tends to only fish well at night or when there is a large swell that provides wash cover.

The area where the rocks meet the sand opposite the sign on the north wall.

The area where the rocks meet the sand in Hairtail Reach

One Tree to Hairtail Reach

4. Northern Y North to Canyon Edge

The Northern Y North to the Canyon edge is made up of coffee rock and sand patches, there are large jagged edges, holes and valleys in this rocky bottom making it an ideal fish holding and feeding area.  The edge of the Canyon  itself is made up of rock which has splintered and has formed some sharp dropoffs.   Away from the Canyon edge rubbly patches of rock take over again until mid way along the Canyon where it turns into a sandy bottom.

Mid section of the Northern Y showing the rugged bottom.

Where the Canyon starts to taper down on its eastern most point

The southern most edge of the canyon has a few sharp edged dropoffs.

Northern Y North to Canyon Edge