By Jamie Coates
BIG swell and strong winds have put a halt to just about all offshore fishing this week but there is some reprieve on the horizon with the days leading up to Christmas looking like they are going to be very fishable.
Christmas Eve forecasts look to be fabulous at this stage, with light winds and calm seas expected for those hoping to put a fish or a cray on the Christmas table.
There are also quite a few tourists and locals who have a Christmas tradition of going to check the cray pots on Christmas morning and it looks like it is going to be almost perfect out there.
The fishing up until the weather turned was fantastic.
There are lots of species on offer this time of year, from shark, snapper and terakhi in the 60m zone, through to flathead, Tassie trumpeter, hapuka and blue eye out in the deeper stuff.
The list could go on and on.
There have been reports of school tuna caught in Robe and Cape Jaffa over the last week and also across the border in Portland.
Hopefully with fish either side of us, we see an early run come through Port MacDonnell.
Surf fishos have had it tough with the wind and swell hampering their efforts.
The brave and dedicated have found areas still fishable and out of the wind but most have opted to wait the weather out.
Salmon numbers have been good yet again for the beach fishos, with fish to around a kilo and a half coming from the Canunda NP area.
Gummy shark are still poking around in the usual spots such at Browns Beach and Nene Valley but the weather again has slowed that right down.
I am seeing some cracking snapper come from the beaches of the South East over the last couple of weeks.
Plenty of fish between that 40cm and 55cm bracket are being caught and I even know of one that was over 65cm, so do not think you will not find the big fish from the surf.
Whiting numbers have continued to impress and this stir we are having now is going to do them no harm.
As most keen whiting fishos know, the more stirred up the water, the more the whiting love it.
There are good reports coming from the Port MacDonnell breakwater, Racecourse Bay, Cape Douglas and Carpenter Rocks, so they are definitely well spread out.
Black Magic whiting snatchers have been the game changer down here for the last few years and this year has proved no different.
Whether you are boat or land-based fishing, it does not matter, the whiting can not help but eat these things.
There are plenty of other species kicking around in the same spots, from trevally and mullet, to the odd snapper and flathead.
Garfish have been fickle the last couple of weeks.
Some anglers are getting their dozen or so fish in less than half an hour, while others are fishing half a day to scrape up a feed.
The Livingstons and Cape Douglas areas have been the most productive but the Port MacDonnell breakwater and Pelican Point have also seen fish.
The Glenelg River has fished okay this week, but we are still not seeing the numbers we would usually expect for this time of year.
There could be any number of reasons why, or simply we are just not seeing the amount of anglers on the water that we normally would for this time of year.
The fish are still there, there is some great sounder readings so stick it out, they will fire up.
I have seen some bream and perch this week from the Donovans area caught by Ben Jeffrey and crew on lures and heard of a few more downstream.
The mulloway news has been a little bit quiet, but one gentleman did manage to boat three legal fish in the estuary fishing overnight late last week on cut pilchard and mullet fillets.
The upcoming week looks to be pretty fishable at this stage, so I have no doubt we will see plenty of action over the break.
From the crew at Spot On Mount Gambier, we wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas and a fish-filled new year.
