By Jamie Coates
A BIT of a breezy weekend across the Limestone Coast deterred a few anglers from hitting the water but those who fished late last week or on the bigger boats still managed to find some great fish.
The offshore fishing has continued to impress, with some lovely captures coming from the charter boats.
Jason and Tyson from Port MacDonnell Fishing Charters put their clients onto a nice mixed bag, including gummy and school shark, terakhi, blue eye and three cracking Tassie trumpeter, which if you talk to anyone who has either caught or eaten one, and they will tell you they are one of the best fighting and best eating fish we get in our area.
Clint and Carn from Southerly Charters have put their clients onto their fair share of fish, with some nice snapper, gummy shark, school shark and even a few mako’s coming aboard.
I have not had any tuna reports from this week just yet, but I also have not heard of many boats targeting them too seriously either, so once we get a spell of decent and fishable weather for the trailer boats, I am sure we will see more fish.
The inshore fishing around the Danger and Green Point areas has stayed excellent again, with plenty of reports of snapper over the 60cm mark, some big whiting – one horse I did hear of which was 55cm – and a handful of mulloway with some of those being up around the metre mark.
This time of year is red hot along the coast with so many fish on offer and generally speaking, it is the time of year of our most predictable weather.
It is not only Greens and Dangers where there are plenty of snapper, other areas such as Orwell Rocks, Blackfellows Caves and Carpenter Rocks have all fished well for the boaties, so keep on the move and try a few new places.
You will be surprised at some of the other ground around the place.
Surf fishos have found some more nice fish this week, with snapper and whiting the target species for most.
The guys fishing the Cape Douglas, Nene Valley and Carpenter Rocks areas have been picking up some nice hauls of whiting in the late afternoons and into the evenings, while those targeting snapper have done well along Factory Bay, Orwell Rocks and Jones’s Bay.
There is always the possibility of other species while you are there.
I have heard of gummy shark, elephant fish, big salmon and even some nice flathead, so you just never know what you might find.
There have been plenty of gar reports from the last week or so and this time it seems the waders and land-based fishos have had the upper hand.
The usual hot spots such as Cape Douglas, Livingstons Bay and Pelican Point have all been fairly consistent, and this week I have also heard of some cracking fish from the Port MacDonnell breakwater.
Boaties had a bit of sea and wind to contend with over the weekend, so land-based was the best option for most.
The mullet and tommy ruff are still thick too, so do not be surprised to sneak a few of those in.
There have been plenty of fish from the Glenelg River this week.
Bream and perch have been fabulous for most.
Under the bridge of an evening has produced some nice perch on both lures and baits, while the bream guys have found plenty during the day on rock walls and undercut ledges.
The go-to bait seems to be whitebait, prawn and crabs, while the lure guys are doing the best on cranka crabs and 2.5 inch grub soft plastics.
Mulloway news has been patchy again, but fishos trolling live baits have had the best success.
The fish are no monsters but they are getting bigger and a bit more consistent.
The long weekend is fast approaching and as I put pen to paper, it looks like Mother Nature is going to turn one on for us.
Moderate winds and a bit of sunshine will be just perfect after the last week or so.
Until next week, safe fishing.
