GUSTY conditions forecast for the coming weekend might make things a little bit uncomfortable for fishos, but the keen guys will not be put off by a bit of wind.
The offshore scene has been fishing quite well this week, with some good catches coming from far and wide.
There has been confirmed captures of tuna off Port MacDonnell in the last couple of weeks, with the fish being between 10kg and 20kg in weight.
There have been several anglers heading out wide in search of blue eye and hapuka and most have found some excellent fish.
There has also been some great numbers of gem fish and pink ling, so the variety is brilliant at the moment.
The 100 metre depth area has produced more lovely flathead this week, with sandys and tigers both over 2kg being boated.
The 60 metre line has consistently fished well again, with the bulk of the gummy and school shark news coming from this area.
Fish of around 15kg have been “the norm”, but I know of the odd bigger fish still being boated.
Surf fishos across the southern half of Australia are all gearing up for this weekend’s Kingston Lions Club Annual Surf Fishing Contest.
The fishing over the last few weeks has been incredible from the granites, all the way up.
The mulloway have been the stand out again, with fish over 20kg being reported again this week, along with a nice mix of school, gummy and bronze whaler sharks and even the odd nice snapper mixed in too.
The weather looks like it is going to be better than first expected, so I think it will be another excellent weekend – hopefully the fish play the game.
Locally the surf fishos have been catching plenty along Canunda this week, with school and bronze whaler sharks being the most common.
Smaller mulloway are still sneaking around, we just have to fish through those to find a legal fish.
Salmon numbers have been unusually good for this time of year, which explains the good shark numbers.
We are starting to get some good tides now, so I would not be surprised if the fishing this weekend really turns it on.
There have been some more lovely snapper captures this week, with fish spread from Kingston to the Victorian border.
Fish over 60cm have been caught in around the kelp beds again this week, so that’s where I would be trying my luck.
Guys chasing the snapper have reported a huge number of bronze whaler sharks around the same areas, so if you keep getting bitten off, chances are the bronzies are hanging around.
A few guys have been trying five inch gulp soft plastics and catching some nice fish.
Bright colours seem to be the only secret at the moment, so take a packet next time you are snapper fishing and you might just be surprised.
Whiting fishing this week has been red hot, with some nice fish coming from right across the South East.
The Kingston to Robe are has produced some monster whiting, the best I have heard of was a 62cm 1.6kg beast caught by young Brice Rowntree out in the deeper water.
That is the biggest I have heard of for a long time.
The guys fishing land based have been doing well, and although the numbers are not quite like that of last year, the size has definitely made up for it.
The Port MacDonnell breakwater has been excellent again, several anglers have managed half a dozen or more per trip and the fish have all been between 32 and 40cm.
There have also been plenty of smaller flathead inside the breakwater, it takes some weeding out to get the legal fish, but there is plenty around to keep you entertained.
Garfish catches have continued to impress this week.
The size has remained excellent, as has the numbers.
Livingstons, Cape Douglas and even the breakwater have been the hot spots, so it is reasonably easy fishing in most conditions.
Tommy ruff and mullet have been in good numbers too this week, so finding a feed has been quite easy.
There has still been the odd squid floating around the place, the Port MacDonnell jetty and Livingstons Bay have been the most productive, so it would not hurt to throw a jig around.
The Glenelg River has produced some nice bream and mulloway for the bait fishos over the weekend and the lure guys had no trouble finding perch and bream in the upper reaches.
Chris Hoggan, Josh and Logan McDonald and I fished Saturday evening for five mulloway to 70cm and a dozen or so bream to 35cm just below Donovans.
There were some nice fish caught right up high in the upper reaches of the river on a mixture of topwater, hard body and soft plastic lures over the weekend.
Perch in the high 40cm range, along with several bream were caught and released.
Good luck to all those fishing in the Kingston Surf Fishing Competition this weekend, I am sure we will have plenty of fish to report next week.
Until next week, safe fishing.
