AMAZING conditions over the weekend saw just about every boat owner head for the water last week.
The guys who ventured out offshore found some excellent fishing from both right in close, to out wide on the shelf.
The hapuka and blue eye numbers have been good for those putting in the effort and there are also plenty of gem fish to report too.
In a little bit closer, the 100-150m line has been producing some great fish.
Flathead, knife jaw, Tassie trumpeter and a selection of sharks, just to name a few, have all been boated.
The 60m line has seen some nice gummy sharks over the past week or so, with the odd fish even nudging the 20kg mark.
The snapper have also been good in the 60m, with plenty from 40-60cm being boated.
Tuna have been the talk of the bay for the last week or so now, and we are seeing an unusual run of fish to 40kg.
Trolled skirts, deep divers or even casting slugs has been a great way to get in on the action.
Most fish have been inside the 50m depths, so conditions over the weekend even allowed guys in tinnys to have a crack.
The surf fishing this week has been quite good again with some very nice fish being caught locally.
The beaches from Piccininni through to Browns Beach have produced plenty of mulloway, again the majority have been undersize, but the odd fish to 90cm has been mixed in with them.
Gummy sharks have been in good numbers, Chris Hoggan managed a nice one on Australia Day morning and a handful of smaller mulloway.
The Coorong has fired again this week, with the anglers between the Tea Tree Crossing and the mouth finding the best fish.
One crew managed half a dozen gummy sharks to 12kg and a nice 10kg mulloway over the weekend and I know of at least another two or three crews who tasted similar success.
Green and Danger Points have been a bit hit-and-miss the last week, but the guys who have managed to strike it when the fish are feeding are having an absolute ball.
Snapper to 70cm are still being boated among smaller fish and the numbers of bronze whaler sharks have also been excellent.
Quite a few anglers have been snagging the odd whiting at their snapper holes and a more than 50cm whiting that takes a pilchard on a 4/0 hook is always going to put up a good fight.
The Port MacDonnell Breakwater has produced some ripper fish this week, with whiting, salmon, trevally and squid all being caught, just to mention a few.
The landbased guys are catching a few whiting from the jetty in the afternoon and then getting a few squid in the evenings.
Smaller dark coloured jigs seem to be the favourite at the moment, but as you know with squid, their tastes can change in the blink of an eye.
The salmon fishing in the breakwater has been great fun again.
Small metal lures towed behind the boat has been the best bet, but with some burley and small baits, you will do well too.
Whiting have been great around the cray boats this week, small sandy patches are ideal and the are very spread out, so do not be afraid to move around if they go quiet.
Cape Douglas and Livingstons Bay have produced some lovely gar over the past week or so and although the catch numbers have been down a little bit, the size has more than made up for it.
The mullet and tommy ruff about the place has also been impressive, with excellent size and numbers of both being reported.
The Glenelg river has fished extremely well this week, with the upper and lower reaches producing mulloway.
Michael Gordon fished the estuary Saturday evening for five nice mulloway and dropped a monster boatside.
Up river, there has been some nice fish caught from Dry Creek to the Princess Margaret Rose Caves, with fish upwards of 80cm have been boated and I expect the fishing up there to continue improving.
The bream and perch have been very wide spread this week with some beautiful fish coming from the sand flats of the estuary and some more nice fish up river in the snags and on the rock walls.
With the warm nights we had over the weekend, the perch on surface lures fired up big time and perch in the high 40cm range were landed.
There is nothing quite like the big splash of a surface strike from an angry perch to get the heart racing.
This weekend’s forecast looks fishable, but the wind might be a bit of a pain for the smaller boats wishing to head offshore.
Lucky we have plenty of other options.
Until next week, safe fishing.
