Rugby league great andrew ettingshausen shares his passion for fishing and reveals his top spots to drop a line with sheriden rhodes.
It’s the stuff of childhood dreams; a sturdy wooden rowboat, a skilled fisherman for a grandfather and a boatshed to sleep in at night. Andrew Ettingshausen’s Huckleberry Finn-like childhood, spent fishing the Brisbane Waters on the Central Coast, has led to a lifelong passion for the sport and spawned his own television program Escape with ET. His late grandfather, Bob, and father, John, passed down their knowledge to a young Andrew, who went on to captain the appropriately named Cronulla Sharks rugby league team.
His love of fishing never left — and in fact this spurred him on through the long football season. “When I wasn’t playing footy, it’s all I ever thought about,” says Andrew, or ET as he is affectionately known.
As a youngster, Andrew and his friends used to take out his grandfather’s rowboat to hunt out their own secret fishing spots around Empire Bay. They’d collect nippers from the exposed sand bank at low tide. His grandmother would mix up dough, which the boys would use to catch mullet and garfish. Every school holidays and countless weekends Andrew spent perfecting his fishing skills.
“We’d just fish and fish,” says Andrew. His grandfather and father taught him where to fish for mullet, garfish, brim and flathead. “It was truly a great childhood.”
After Andrew made his first grade debut as a 17-year-old schoolboy, he’d spend every spare moment fishing and at the end of the season would head off with his mates to fish. “Because we had limited time off, I’d dream of this trip all season.” Now ET is living what he describes as the “stuff of dreams” and travels at least every two weeks to some fantastic fishing spot as presenter of Channel 9’s Escape with ET.
He thanks friend and fellow fishing presenter Rex Hunt for planting the idea of hosting his own fishing show.
“I had the opportunity to fish with Rex up in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. I kept thinking ‘this guy has the best job in the world’.” After he retired from football, Andrew, who had already appeared on The Great Outdoors and Sydney Weekender, put the wheels in motion. Today Escape with ET is in its fifth season.
“My passion for fishing began at a young age, learning from guys who passed on their trade secrets.” While Andrew had the benefit of his grandfather’s and father’s extensive fishing experience, he believes novice fishermen can learn the tricks of the trade by asking lots of questions, observing and, where possible, picking up local knowledge. “It’s like anything. The more you get involved, the more you learn and the more you know.”
Here, he shares his tips and favourite fishing spots with The Open Road.
ET’s Top Five favourite fishing spots in NSW“The good thing about New South Wales,” says Andrew “is it offers everything from rivers and lakes in the Snowy Mountains region down south to fantastic tropical fishing up north, and the full array of fish.” He says the most important thing about fishing is to identify what sort of fish you’re targeting, where they live and what they feed on, and then take the right gear so you can ensure that you land them.
Andrew knows the Central Coast and Hawkesbury River region, which starts at the Hawkesbury River Bridge, intimately. When we spoke, he was planning a trip to the area to show it off to some of his mates. “I like to spend most of my time on the Hawkesbury River chasing jewfish.” He says it’s not uncommon to catch jewfish sized between 20 and 50 pounds [nine to 23 kilos]. And the best spot to catch them he says is the muddy part of the river.
“Towards the mouth of the river where the Brisbane Waters and the Hawkesbury meet there are some great places like Juno Point and Flint and Steel. Almost every day, fishermen will catch jewfish there in excess of 20 pounds [nine kilos].” Andrew says the waterway also holds many other great fishing spots where jewfish like to hang out. “I like to head to a whole range of spots, points, drop-offs and the odd wreck.” He says it’s important when going after jewfish to use heavy-duty tackle. “If you’re trying to catch a 50 pound [23 kilo] jewfish with light line you will have next to no chance.” Bait is also important. “We use legal-sized taylor and huge 30cm-odd mullet for bait.”
The best time to fish for jewfish in the Hawkesbury is in the summer months, Andrew says, but the great thing is they bite at anytime of the day because they live in muddy water which provides cover. “We’ve caught 20 and 30 pound [nine to 13 kilo] fish in the middle of the day, which is definitely not the norm with fishing. The other good thing about the Hawkesbury is you’re only an hour from Sydney.”
Despite claims that Sydney Harbour is “fished out”, Andrew reckons it’s still a great place to fish. “I do a lot of fishing in the Harbour for kingfish, salmon and taylor.” Andrew’s favourite spots on Sydney Harbour are around the structures where the fish like to congregate and feed.
“There are lots of structures in Sydney Harbour and lots of deep water. Some of the big marker buoys in Sydney Harbour hold a lot of fish. It’s a place where the baitfish can hide and the bigger fish come in to eat the smaller fish.” Andrew says your best bet is to look for where the baitfish are. “You can almost be guaranteed that not too far behind are some bigger fish.”
One of his favourite memories of fishing on Sydney Harbour was going out with a guide to catch kingfish. They first caught squid for bait, which can be found in most of the bays around the Harbour. “We caught half a dozen squid and then headed to the big beacons or ‘wedding cakes’ which are used to show tankers the channel. We threw the live squid in using heavy-duty lines and basically just hung on. We ended up with about 10 kingfish from that session, but you can also catch amber jack and samson fish which are fighting fish and best caught in the summer months and in the late afternoon.”
Whenever he is in the Alpine region, Andrew likes to head out with fishing guide Steve Williamson, who runs a trout fishing adventure tour on Lake Jindabyne. “He has never let me down,” Andrew says. Steve gives participants the option of fly fishing or trawling with lures for brown and rainbow trout. “Even if you’re not a great fly fisherman you can still experience catching trout, which is great.”
Andrew says the best spots on Lake Jindabyne to catch trout are the weed beds, which are relatively deep underwater. “But you can also walk around the shore and have just as much fun, especially in spring. This is when the trout come back from their breeding run up the Thredbo River... [they] enter back into the lake and are pretty hungry.” Spring, Andrew says, is a good time to wander down and have a fish from the shore, especially where the little creeks and rivers run into the lake.
Brunswick Heads, close to the Queensland/NSW border and 15 minutes north of Byron Bay, is another of Andrew’s favourite fishing spots. He likes to head out with a friend, who operates a local fishing charter business, Mono’s Sportsfishing Adventures, and lives and breathes fishing.
“The good thing is Brunswick Heads has a lovely river system which runs out into the ocean. You can either fish in the river for bream or mango jack, which is a tropical fish, or head out of the heads and catch everything from marlin, cobia, mackerel, mahi mahi and all the other tropical sport fish which make it so fun to fish up here.”
Andrew says the northern part of NSW is also great because you can catch fish almost year-round. “However, if you’re looking for some of the big travelling fish like tuna, mackerel, marlin and cobia which move a lot, your best bet is the summer months. I really like to fish for amber jack and close in I’ve caught cobia and Spanish mackerel, which were between 30-40 pounds [13-18 kilos]. They’re fun to catch and beautiful eating fish.”
The Clarence River is one of NSW’s biggest river systems and is located in northern NSW not far from Ballina. The river, Andrew says, is a great place to catch everything from blackfish and flathead to huge jewfish, and there are big break walls which are great to fish off. The river runs into Australia’s most eastern port, The Port of Yamba.
“Yamba has always been a fishing port and has a big fishing fleet which operates out of there.” Andrew says if you have access to a boat, or can hire one, the best spots to fish are along the huge walls, which run along the mouth of the river. “There is an abundance of bream, blackfish, jewfish and flathead. It’s an ideal spot and you are almost guaranteed to catch something.”
Andrew tends to release 90 per cent of those caught. “Sometimes when we go away on trips, we only need to keep one and that’s enough to feed all the crew on Escape with ET. We usually tee it up with one of the local restaurants to cook them for us, or if we’re in a remote area we simply cook them straight over a fire.”
Protected species are of course thrown back. “Use a wet rag or wet hands to hold the fish as you carefully remove the hook and keep it out of the water for as short a time as possible. With a pair of tongs it’s sometimes possible to remove the hook without taking the fish from the water.” It’s also a good idea to wear gloves.
If you’re feeling inspired to dust off the rod, check out the NRMA fly-fishing Member-only offer.
You need to carry a NSW Fishing Licence if you want to fish in NSW waters, both freshwater and saltwater, although there are some exceptions. Contact the NSW Department of Primary Industries/Fisheries on 1300 369 365 for more information on costs and exemptions.
Andrew loves fishing for barramundi and the best spot to do this is the Northern Territory. “The best time for barra fishing is late March/early April. This is when you get what’s called the run off where all the rains over the wet season drain into the rivers and out to sea. This is the breeding season for the barramundi and there are thousands of them, which feed on other fish, which are washed down from the various billabongs. It’s nothing to catch metre plus barramundi which are 40 and 50 pounds [18 and 23 kilos], and the best place to do so is the mouth of the Mary River, two hours east of Darwin.”
Hinchinbrook Island located between Townsville and Cairns is a favourite. Andrew says there is a huge channel between the island and the mainland and 50 kilometres of rivers and mango swamps, with a backdrop of stunning mountains. “It’s an absolutely picturesque spot and people catch everything from barramundi and mango jack to trevally and mackerel. The list goes on and on. It’s easy to get to and a haven for fishermen, who often retire here”.
October is a great month to catch school-sized snapper not far off the shore from St Kilda, using pilchards as bait, says Andrew. “You often see all the boats tied up close together in that section of Port Phillip Bay, where people are catching snapper between one to two kilos.” In Western Port, along with snapper you can also catch an unusual looking fish called the elephant fish, says Andrew. “They’re magnificent creatures. Very funny looking with a big snout, and we’ve caught them up to five kilos.”
One of Andrew’s favourite fishing adventures was with Peter Hayes who is a fly-fishing legend based at Perth, near Launceston in Tasmania. “We went with Peter on a raft up the higher sections of Macquarie River. He steers the raft with his oars to keep it against the flow of the current, and you just fly fish as these trout rise up all around you on this most magnificent river.”
Port Broughton is a seaside town south of Whyalla and Port Pirie, a few hours drive from Adelaide. Andrew says one of his most memorable fishing experiences was catching 50 snapper up to 12 kilos in size in one session. “We even got cheeky in the end and were catching snapper up to three kilos fly fishing in the burley trail and hooking really nice sized snapper on soft
plastic lures.”
Andrew reckons of all the states, WA has the best fishing of all because of its huge coastline, its remoteness and small population. “The Kimberleys is such a picturesque and beautiful area. The scenery alone is breathtaking and that’s half the reason why you go fishing — just to see these magnificent parts of Australia.”
The Kimberleys extends from Broome in the South West to Kununurra and Wyndham near the Northern Territory border and teems with fish, including the well-known and much celebrated barramundi.
4WD
