Jamie Coates
WE had it all this weekend, rain, sunshine, strong winds and at times even no wind.
Luckily the worst of the weather still was not too bad and fishos managed to hit the water.
The offshore fishos found fish from out on the shelf, through to the inshore reef systems.
Those who did venture to the shelf found some good numbers of Blue Eye Trevalla and Hapuka in the 400-450m depth range.
Geoff and Zac Currie boated some very nice samples of both species, including Geoff’s first hapuka.
On the way home the boys stopped for a quick drop in 150metre waters and Zac picked up a ripper tassie trumpeter just as the cherry on the cake.
Boaties from up around Beachport and Robe have been into the sharks over the last few weeks.
Wayne Walker boated a couple of beauties last Monday in the Beachport area, a schoolie over 20kg and a beast gummy of nearly 30kg.
This time of year is always great fishing for sharks in the bay there.
Schoolies and gummy sharks are in good numbers and you’ve got the protection of the bay, so when conditions are right, it’s worth having a crack.
In a bit closer to shore off Port MacDonnell, the bottom fishing in 55m to 70m has remained excellent.
I’ve heard of Snapper to 80cm, Blue Morwong to 70cm and Nannygai over 2kg, that’s before we even mention the sharks.
Gummies and schoolies over 20kg have been common, and some guys have been boating multiple big sharks in a session and just letting them go.
There have been whispers there could be tuna still sneaking about along the front but no one has hooked up.
Speaking with a few boaties out there, one crew saw School Tuna jumping in 100 metre waters late last week, while some cray fisherman have spotted big bait balls with birds, seals, dolphins and whales feeding on them which is exactly where the big tuna will be hanging out.
The surf fishing has been good, and the salmon numbers are still impressive.
Guys throwing lures have found plenty in the Beachport Salmon Hole again and a real mix of sizes have come through.
If the weather is perfect for us, it’s usually too good for the salmon, and they’ll be hanging back hard on the reef.
On days where the sea is up and the wind is blowing, salmon are in the middle of the bay and just about everyone will be within casting distance.
The Canunda and Carpenter Rocks fishos have found some more nice fish but it seems to be the bait anglers with the upper hand.
The concentration of fish is unlike the Salmon Hole, so the beauty of the baits is the fish will come and look for the smell.
In other off-the-beach news, there’s been a few early season whiting caught around Cape Douglas, Nene Valley and Carpenter Rocks in the late afternoons which has been great to see.
The Port MacDonnell Breakwater has been on the go again, the boaties have had no trouble finding a nice feed of whiting, while the land-based guys who fished the jetty and boat ramp in the evenings
have both been finding some good fish.
Other areas for the boaties have been Green and Danger Points, Blackfellows Caves and Carpenter Rocks.
Garfishos have had another great week on the fish, and to echo the last probably 8 weeks now, it’s been a good even split of fish between the boaties and the waders.
The usual hotspots such as Petrified Forrest, Hutt Bay and Cape Douglas, Livingstons Bay and Pelican Point have all produced well.
October is always a great month for the squid fishos in Livingstons Bay.
We just need a couple days of flat seas and the water clears up just nicely and is perfect for squidding.
There has been some absolute beauties caught over the last couple of weeks, one beast I know of weighing in at 3kg.
I haven’t heard much from the Port MacDonnell Jetty from the squidders but I did notice a few fresh ink spots on the jetty so they must be starting to kick into gear now.
The freshwater scene has been full of news the last few weeks, with all the trout lakes still producing some nice fish but the biggest has been Rocklands.
There have been some very nice fish caught over there recently, with Callop, Murray Cod, Australian Bass and Redfin boated.
The Glenelg River has fished well again for the Bream and Perch guys, with some beauties to 50cm boated.
Wayne Little had a red-hot session just before the sun went down, he boated good numbers of fish to 48cm and even had a few multiple hook-ups.
The Mulloway news again has been patchy and light on but there has been some fish caught.
The Estuary has been the main area for activity and if the water starts to clean up and become nice and tidal, I think we’ll see more and bigger fish filter through.
This week definitely looks fishable for most anglers, as usual, keep an eye out on the swell and wind if going offshore.
Until next week, safe fishing!
