BELOW average conditions over the past week made the going tough for anglers competing in the Port MacDonnell Offshore Angling Club’s tuna and sports fish competition, with only a handful of days allowing the opportunity to head out.
The few days which were good enough produced some lovely fish and though the tuna size was well down on what we are used to, the numbers were excellent.
Tuna to 10kg were caught from 40 metres to 400 metres over the week, with plenty of anglers taking the opportunity to fish some real light lines.
Both 2kg and 3kg lines are what you would normally associate with garfish or whiting fishing, but these guys are catching tuna up to four and five times the size of the breaking strain.
It is tough fishing even in perfect weather, so to be able to land these fish in the recent conditions is a job well done.
There was also a nice mixture of bottom fish caught, with Samson fish, nannygai, terakhi, knife jaw and snapper all weighed in.
The weather for the upcoming weekend looks a bit more favourable for those venturing offshore, so hopefully the fishing stays as good as it is.
The surf fishos have found excellent numbers of salmon right along the southern coastline, but the Beachport salmon hole seems to be producing the most fish.
The size is gradually increasing, but the majority are still hovering around the 800g to 1kg mark.
There have been some nice catches at Cape Banks by both the land-based and boat anglers.
From the boats, trolling metal lures or four inch soft plastics has been the most reliable and those on the beach have all been using their metal lures.
Those along Canunda have done well on baits, with half a pilchard or a strip of squid doing the damage and there has even been whisper of fish over 2kg from those areas.
Anglers fishing along the coast have found some good numbers of school and gummy shark.
We have not seen many 20kg plus models just yet, but the 10kg to 15kg fish are in abundance.
From what I have heard, the baitfish around this area has been very prolific, hence why we are seeing such good numbers.
There are still a few snapper kicking around the kelp beds, so do not be surprised if you pick up two or three while targeting shark.
Garfisherman are still licking their lips, with plenty more fish reported from Livingstons Bay, Cape Douglas and Pelican Point.
The standard bunch of gents under a pencil float has been the most productive, but I know of several good fish taken on cut cockle, prawn and even pilchard strips.
There have also been quite a few reasonable fish caught inside the Port MacDonnell breakwater, so that is a good land-based option without getting your feet wet.
Also around the breakwater, whiting has been in abundance.
I know of a couple of boats who managed their bag limits in the couple of hours before dark and even half a dozen reasonable fish off the jetty.
Carpenter Rocks still has plenty of whiting sniffing around, but the conditions have to be relatively calm to fish the area safely.
The Glenelg River has been fairly good and I know of several lovely fish from the estuary area on unweighted whitebait thrown across the flats.
Some of those fish were nudging the 40cm mark.
Fishing upriver can be a bit touch-and-go this time of year, as the fish will tend to congregate in one area of the bank.
The trick at the moment is to keep on the move until you locate the fish, because once you do find them, you can often land several from the one school.
The mulloway have been spread out and I have not heard of any huge catches, just the odd one here and there, so those on boats with good sounders will have the advantage there.
Estuary perch have been consistent up river, with the areas up above Wilsons Hall the best, though there has been plenty of smaller fish mixed in with them.
Keep on the move and you will find some reasonable fish.
This weekend looks like it should be very fishable so far, so let’s hope the weatherman has it right.
Until next week, safe fishing.
