SUPERB conditions over the weekend saw countless boats hit the water and head offshore and with another good forecast on the horizon, the fishing should only continue this week.
There were some excellent fish landed over the weekend, with everyone getting in on the action.
Those who headed out wide to the shelf found some lovely hapuka and blue eye in the 400-450mt areas.
There have also been some nice gemfish and pink ling caught in the same areas.
The anglers who fished a bit closer to shore in the 60-120mt mark found excellent numbers of flathead, knifejaw, terakhi and of course gummy and school shark.
Nigel Telford and Hayden Sneath boated several big flathead and some lovely shark on Saturday afternoon, plus a few big latchet fish too.
Josh Whaites fished with Dewain and Georgia Barrett to boat a monster snapper of 80cm, which was released safely after a quick photograph.
Young Georgia also boated a nice shark and a good selection of other bottom fish.
The surf fishing has been on fire this week, with no one place performing better than another.
The action has been pretty hot between Piccininni and Browns Beach, with good numbers of gummy shark and smaller school mulloway.
There have also been some good reports from the Canunda area this week and although the beaches are soft, the track is fine and accessible.
School and gummy shark have been on the menu up there and fish to 15kg are great fun off the beach.
The back of Beachport has also fished well for school shark, with the bigger fish coming from this area.
It is not uncommon to find fish 20kg or bigger in the area and fish of that size really test your gear out.
The Coorong is still going well and I think it will only get better from here on in.
Mulloway at 10-15kg have been landed and some crews are even talking of bigger fish being lost.
The whiting fishing has again been phenomenal this week, with fish over 50cm being caught.
The Port MacDonnell breakwater continues to be consistent, with plenty of anglers catching their half a dozen legal fish without too much worry.
There have been some very nice fish caught through Cape Douglas, Nene Valley, Blackfellows Caves and Carpenters Rocks by both the boaties and the land-based anglers.
Land-based whiting fishing might not be the hottest and fastest action, but it is very relaxed and more often than not, the rewards are excellent.
Garfish numbers have been red hot again this week, with some good catches coming from Cape Douglas and Livingstons Bay.
The average size has been great, and they are showing no real signs of slowing down.
Squid numbers around the Livingstons area have also been fantastic and though the fish are not those 3kg plus models we have seen over the last few weeks, they are still a great eating or bait size.
Yabbies have been going well again this week and I think just about all the lakes, both locally and across the border, have been productive.
The standouts have so far been Rocklands Reservoir, Lake Toolondoo and Green Lake.
Just remember to take only what you need and throw back all the berried females to ensure we have yabbies for the future.
The fresh water fishing has continued to fire as well, with the little stocked lakes such as Casterton’s Ess Lagoon and Lake Koonongwootong well worth a shot for a trout or two.
The Glenelg River has been a bit hit and miss, with some anglers tasting success and others struggling to land a fish.
Those doing the best on the mulloway front have been using a mixture of baits and lures.
Live mullet have always been hard to beat, but a strip of squid or half a pilchard is normally just as effective.
The lure fishos have been trolling 1-2mt diving minnows around the 90-140mm range and something with a heavy rattle is worth a try.
The bream and perch news has been spread out.
I know of some nice fish in the estuary, along with the upper reaches from Dry Creek and above.
The forecast this weekend looks incredible yet again and it looks like mother nature is repaying us for the horrible weather we experienced all winter.
I have no doubt that we will see some more excellent fishing over the coming days.
Until next week, safe fishing.
