Anglers enjoy multiple options

IMPRESSIVE CATCH: A nice shark boated on board Port MacDonnell Charters.

By Jamie Coates

ABSOLUTELY perfect weather for the weekend across the Limestone Coast was taken advantage of by lots of anglers and with so many options and different things to do, there was plenty of fish caught.

The annual Kingston Lions Club Surf Fishing Competition has been run and won for another year, with local Kingston lad Chad Vanstone taking home the new tinny with a cracking mulloway at 26kg – a sensational fish and a deserving first place winner.

There were eight mulloway all up weighed in and a special mention has to go to another Kingston local, Tyler Baker who landed a great 21.4kg fish, which is another cracker.

The shark section was won by local gun Brad Pilven with a nice 10.3kg school shark and youngster Kane Taylor from Encounter Bay took home the honours in the junior section.

From all reports it was a lovely night on the beach up there and even though there were not heaps of fish caught, I think everyone still had a great time.

Locally our surf fishing has continued to impress.

There have been some more nice gummy shark caught this week around the Browns Bay and Paradise area and back along the coast to Piccininni.

Salmon numbers have remained good, so fresh baits or a salmon for the table has not been too hard to manage.

The offshore fishing has been unreal the last week or so and the shark fishing in particular has been exceptional.

The numbers and size of both gummy and school sharks has been fabulous in 55 metres of water and beyond.

All of the charter boats over the weekend put their clients onto some big numbers of shark and other tasty reef species.

There have been some nice blue eye caught over the shelf in the past week or so by the anglers willing to travel out there and although the fish have not been monsters, the numbers have been great.

There are also plenty of pink ling, blue grenadier and gemfish on offer.

There is still no tuna news from Port MacDonnell but they can not be far away.

The fish are all around us, so it will not be long.

There have been some nice snapper caught this week by both the land-based fishos and boaties.

The land-based guys have done well at Piccininni, Paradise and Nene Valley, while the boaties are catching some good fish at Danger Point, Green Point and Carpenter Rocks.

The size has been up and down, but most are in the 40-55cm bracket, which are perfect table-size fish.

There are plenty of other fish being caught by the snapper chasers in the same areas, such as salmon, pike and whiting and I would not be surprised if we start seeing a few mulloway turning up soon.

The whiting fishos have had a field day over the past few weeks’ right across the Limestone Coast.

The size and numbers of whiting has been probably the best I can remember and so has the distribution.

Fish in good numbers have been caught from Danger and Green Points, along the coast to Port MacDonnell and right up to Carpenter Rocks.

The clear conditions have possibly slowed them down a little bit, but considering the conditions, the fishing is unreal.

As per usual, remember to chuck a squid jig out when you are whiting fishing, because they are almost always floating around.

Gar numbers are hot and cold again but those finding the fish are reporting some good size specimens.

The hot spots at the moment seem to be the Port MacDonnell breakwater, Livingstons and Pelican Point – and the story has been the same for boaties and land-based anglers.

Those passing time between gars in Livvys have caught some nice squid this week.

Usually the squid run is tapering off this time of year, but they still seem to be in good numbers.

The local snorkelers and divers have made the most of the calm seas and warm days over the past week and I have seen some very nice catches by those guys.

There have been plenty of crays coming off the shallow reef and rocky areas by the swimmers and also some nice abalone.

The spear fishers are getting some nice sweep and morwong among the kelp and ledges too, so there is plenty on offer if you are going for a swim.

The Glenelg River Angling Club held a fishing comp over the weekend and there were some nice bream boated.

Mark and Lynn Struthers managed 10 lovely bream between them for over 7kgs of weight, which is a cracking average size.

There were several other big bream caught by other anglers and only one mulloway weighed in, but a great night on the water.

There have been a few mulloway caught this week by the trollers in the estuary in the mornings, with live bait the best bet still.

There has not been much news from up river, but if you have a crack, you should find fish.

The forecast for the coming weekend looks like there is a little bit of wind on the way, but the sea is still pretty calm.

We should see a few more fish about the place I think.

Until next week, safe fishing.