By Jamie Coates
IT was a productive weekend for anglers across the South East, with boats on the water, fishos lining the beaches and plenty of fish caught.
The offshore scene was again excellent.
Countless numbers of shark were caught by bottom bouncers in any depth from 50 metres through to the shelf at 450 metres, with a good mix of gummy and school shark, with many released.
The reef fish have been excellent, with more snapper and nannygai boated in the 30-60-metre line, along with a few blue morwong and terakhi.
There has not been any more tuna news yet, but the signs of bait and marine life out there are amazing, so it should not be long.
The surf fishos did well this week along the local beaches.
Piccininni and Paradise produced some nice fish in the surf, with gummy shark, snapper and elephant fish beached.
There are a few mulloway about the place but most have still been a little on the smaller side.
The snapper fishing off the beach has been excellent, with some nice fish coming from Factory Bay, Orwell Rocks, Nene Valley and Blackfellows Caves.
The fishos targeting the snapper have been picking up a few whiting as by-catch on the bigger rigs, which is a welcome sight.
While we are talking whiting, there has been some more cracking fish caught this week along the Limestone Coast.
From Cape Jaffa down to Port MacDonnell, it has been a belter of a season.
The fish have been good size, the numbers have been excellent and the distribution has been great.
Land-based or out in the boat, everyone seems to be catching their fair share.
Fish to 50cm have been boated but most are still those 35-45cm models that are perfect for the table.
Gar fishos this week have enjoyed the calmer weather and the fish have been good.
The usual spots such as Hutt Bay, Cape Douglas and Livingstons Bay are all fishing quite well still and I have also seen some more nice fish from the Port MacDonnell breakwater, Pelican Point and Gerloff Bay.
The usual by-catch species are still mixed in around most spots, so do not be surprised if a few extras come around.
There have been a few reasonable snapper and whiting which have taken a liking to fishos gar baits and you know about it when you hook one of those on such light gear.
A few fishos have been burlying the shallows in Red Rock and Lighthouse Bays this week and getting some nice mullet.
The old mullet is a great fish to catch and they are pretty good on the plate.
A bit of burley and tuna oil is generally enough to bring the mullet in, then a small sinker and a couple of little long shank hooks baited with some cockles is all you will need for a feed.
There have been plenty of fishos hitting the freshwater and having a look for reddies this week.
Mill Swamp has been popular but the fish have not been huge.
The odd bigger fish around 40cm has been caught but there are plenty of tiddlers between them.
There have been some nice fish from Lake Edward this week.
The Kayakers have done well trolling little minnows, while the land-based guys have done well flicking vibes and spinners.
There has been some more nice fish from the Glenelg River.
The mulloway are starting to bite a bit better now and we are seeing more caught.
Dakota Caines boated a nice 4kg fish on Saturday on a live mullet and a bag of nice bream too.
The putters are still boating some nice fish down in the estuary, with the poles area seeming to be the most productive.
The bream have been spread out fairly well.
I have heard of fish from up as high as the Pines Landing and down as far as the estuary, so I do not think it matters where you pull up, you will find the fish.
The forecast for the coming weekend looks to be a little breezy, but definitely fishable for most.
Hopefully it stays as forecast and we see a few fish.
Until next week, safe fishing.
