Jamie Coates
A HOT but breezy weekend across the South East was a little bit of a challenge for most anglers, but those who were keen still wet a line and we saw some pretty decent fish caught.
The offshore guys did well late last week and even Saturday morning.
The shark have certainly played the game for boaties, with the 50m through to 120m line of depth producing some rippers.
After a little while off the boat, it is great to see Wilba and crew from Southerly Charters back on the water and doing what they love – putting their clients onto a boat load of fish.
The crew managed to land over 15 sharks before lunch time, keeping a couple for the table and sending the rest back for next time.
Other species have been on the go too.
We have seen some nice red snapper, flathead, blue morwong and terakhi, just to name a few.
Up the coast a bit there has been some nice tuna caught off Kingston and Cape Jaffa by the trollers.
Small skirts and minnow-style diving lures seem to be doing the trick.
There are kingfish out there too and they will quite happily eat the same stuff, so you never know your luck.
The surf fishos across the district are gearing up for the Kingston Lions Club Annual Surf Fishing Contest which kicks off this weekend.
There has been a bit more news filtering through this week, including that of some nice one-metre-plus mulloway landed.
The location has been kept pretty secret since it is competition weekend, but the fact that they are on the chew is very encouraging.
Sharks, big salmon, big snapper and even big flattys have been caught this week, which will make for a real mixed bag in the fish display come Sunday morning.
We have plenty of entries for the competition still available until close of business on Thursday evening, so swing in and get organised.
Locally this week there has been some nice fish caught from the beach.
The Beachport and Southend area has been exceptional, with mulloway, shark and snapper all copping a mention.
Rivoli Bay has been great, as has the 10-mile and the back beaches.
Nene Valley, Browns Beach and Piccininni have all fished well.
Snapper have again been the most prolific species, but the odd shark, small mulloway and salmon have still been caught.
Elephant fish are starting to pop up more often now and they are beautiful on the table too.
Snapper fishos are having no problem in the boats finding the fish.
It does not seem to matter where the guys are fishing now, the snapper are everywhere.
The usual hot spots such as Green and Danger Points, Orwell Rocks, Blackfellows Caves and Carpenter Rocks have all continued to produce not only good numbers of fish, but big fish.
Nate Little fished with his dad and pa over the weekend and boated plenty of nice fish in a hot session in around the kelp beds.
There have been a few salmon, pike and even squid eating the pilchards destined for a snapper, so you never know what else might be lurking around.
One crew chasing snapper at Livingstons Bay got a bit of a surprise when young Hamish Ferguson pulled in a 60cm kingfish.
He had a quick happy snap then released it to fight another day.
Our dream run of whiting has continued again this week.
Land-based fishos are probably getting just as many as the boaties.
The Port MacDonnell breakwater has been fantastic from both the jetty and the boat ramp for whiting and even across at the Hammonds Drain rock spit.
Alongside the whiting, I am seeing salmon, mullet, tommy ruff and even some big sea bream thrown in.
The boaties have been doing well inside the breakwater, Hutt Bay, Cape Douglas and Pelican Point.
The gar fishing has been excellent this week again.
We are seeing more fish and bigger sizes, so everyone in happy.
The usual spots like Livingstons Bay and Cape Douglas are always pretty reliable, but if you are after somewhere a bit more spread out and not as busy, just look for a semi-protected bay with a good patch of ribbon weed and that is all the gar need.
Get the burley flowing and they will come.
The Glenelg River is slowly but surely coming back to its beautiful self.
The water is clearing slowly, but the fish are starting to move around nicely now.
The bream and perch are spread from the bottom of the estuary, right up into the sticks up river now.
They are being caught on hard-bodies and soft plastics – just mix it up a bit until you find their flavour.
The mulloway have been tricky.
I have heard of one nice fish in the mid-80cm range from the Dry Creek area, but not a lot else.
There are some thumping mullet getting caught at the moment down there by the land based and jetty fishos, so it is a great time to get down and have a crack.
The forecast for the weekend looks like it could be a little breezy, but it is definitely fishable for most.
If you are heading offshore, just double check and make the call in the morning.
To all those heading up to the Kingston Surf Fishing Comp, Good luck, stay safe and lets hope we see a few big silver slabs hit the beach.
Until next week, safe fishing.
