THE BANKS

Much has been written about the Sir John Young Banks. Around five nautical miles north-east of the Beecroft Peninsula, near Currarong, The Banks are a series of shallow humps of around 20m quickly rising out of 80m of water inside the continental shelf . Currarong itself now has a fantastic ocean launching facility for even the biggest trailer boats and you can be off the ramp and fishing the banks or below the cliffs in 15 minutes. Inside the main humps are gravel beds and broken ground that is great country for reef species such as snapper and morwong. Kingfish abound year round, depending on the bait, and the main focus over the Summer is the run of small black marlin and sharks. Gone are the days of chasing big fish from big boats; this is trailer boat billfish heaven on its day with plenty of 5m boats getting in on the action. The preferred method these days is to slowly troll live slimy mackerel. In the height of summer the place is like a carpark with 30 or more boats within spitting distance of each other. But The Banks is a year-round fishery provided you check the weather use your VHF or 27mHz radio to log on with Marine Rescue Shoalhaven, located at the Crookhaven Pilot House. The weather in this part of the world is fickle and changes at the drop of a hat. Being caught with a raging current from the north and a southerly change can be hell, so be prepared and have a back-up plan, like the river or Jervis Bay, if the offshore weather is foul.

CURRARONG

Currarong is one of those quaint little fishing villages you see in post cards. There is a caravan park and cottages and homes for holiday letting. The village is 27km off the Princes Highway and is surrounded by the natural beauty of the Jervis Bay National Park, Crown land and the Jervis Bay Marine Park. As you continue to wander south it’s worth mentioning that the South Coast has a very different flavour to the somewhat commercialised North Coast. Unspoilt natural beauty is the area’s biggest asset. There’s no high rise by the sea, no marinas full of game boats and yachts and for the majority of the year bar Christmas and Easter, no crowds.

NOWRA

That doesn’t mean that you have to go without. Nowra has all the services and retail therapy required for the whole family. McCallum’s Tackle World and Nowra Marine are your best port of call for all your fishing and boating needs. If it’s boutique shopping and decaf lattes you hunger for then Berry, to the north, is the epicentre for all things quaint and expensive. The pubs do a great feed for all the family, along with the Hungry Duck restaurant, which serves Asian and modern Australian cuisine, is BYO and child-friendly.