By Jamie Coates
THE weather over the weekend was a bit breezy to kick things off but as we got deeper in, the winds died off, the sea flattened out and plenty of us made our way to the water.
Some excellent catches have come through so far and it looks like most people found the fish.
The offshore crew loved the weather on Sunday – the wind dropped out to virtually nothing while the sea did the same and the fishing was red hot.
The shark fishing in the 60-80m zone has been exceptional yet again, while the reef fish mixed in with them are brilliant.
Some nice terakhi, snapper and latchets have been boated too.
There were some small school tuna caught over the weekend off Cape Jaffa which is an excellent sign of things to come.
The fact we are seeing fish already with – I would imagine – not too many boats out there looking is very encouraging.
The weather did not quite settle down enough to allow the boaties to hit the shelf like they would have hoped but the forecast on the horizon has a few thinking about dusting off the gear, so watch this space.
Surf fishos had a fair bit of wind to contend with on Saturday evening, but those who fished through it managed a feed.
Snapper from the beach have been excellent this season and being able to take one home for a feed has been nice too.
There is still the requirement to log your catch with PIRSA but the process is quite simple.
There has been a handful of gummy shark caught this week off the beaches and they have been spread out from Piccinninni through to Browns Beach, Nene Valley, Carpenter Rocks and Canunda.
The size is varied from right on legal, up to those bigger 8-10-kilo fish.
Salmon have been in fairly good supply again this week.
Fish to a couple of kilos have been landed by lure and bait fishos across the Limestone Coast, so it is great to see anglers still targeting them in the warmer weather.
Whiting numbers have been tip top again this week.
I have seen some stonking fish again this week, some of the bigger examples over 55cm, which is an absolute beast of a King George, but also many of those perfect eaters, the 38-45cm fish that we love down here.
There has not been any secret this year – they are right where they should be.
Sand holes on the edges of weed beds anywhere along the coast have been productive and the land-based guys are also getting in on the action.
Off the rocks at Blackfellows Caves, or along the beach at Carpenter Rocks, you will not be far from the action.
Garfish have been back on the menu this week.
Some nice fish from Cape Douglas and Livingstons Bay have put a smile back on the faces of anglers again.
Size is still impressive and even if the numbers appear to be down, the size makes up for it.
There have been some nice gar caught inside the Port MacDonnell breakwater too boaties and the jetty fishos – just get some burley happening and they will pop up.
There have been a few nice mulloway caught in the Glenelg River this week.
The hot spots have been the bottom of Taylors Straight and up at the Rose Caves but keep the sounder on and see where they are.
The Glenelg River Angling Club held its last competition before the Christmas break over the weekend and although there were no mulloway caught by club members, there were plenty of bream and some nice perch.
Youngster Evie Cram picked up her first bream over the weekend and the smile on her face in the picture tells the story of how proud she is.
Hopefully we see the fish start to spread out a bit more over the coming weeks so we can all get down and have a crack.
Looking forward to this weekend, it looks like it is going to be fishable early, before wind and swell picks up on Saturday afternoon.
Hopefully it is not as bad as the forecast reads, but we will wait and see.
Until next week, safe fishing.
