Craig Philp
Our biggest challenge this past week has been the weather.
We have had a couple of fabulous days, but for the most part borderline, especially for those heading offshore for tuna.
Portland on the other hand has been absolute chaos, with most days producing multiple numbers of tuna to 100 plus kilo.
Sunday alone saw 16 weighed in from 57kg to 110kg.
Out off Port MacDonnell it has not been quite as hectic, but on any given day 100-plus boats steam out of Portland Bay and half a dozen steam out of the Port MacDonnell.
However, we are still seeing enough action to keep us excited.
A few decent fish from 15kg school size up to 60-odd kilograms were boated.
We just need a few more boats out there to find out where the bigger fish are hanging.
In close the shark fishing has again been excellent.
Nathan and Flynn Thomas boated two lovely school shark and managed a couple of big crays last Tuesday afternoon just out of Danger Point.
The gummy shark and schoolies have been spread right along the coast in good numbers for quite a while now.
There is still plenty of snapper for the boaties and land-based fishos.
There are no secret spots for the boaties – the edges of kelp beds or any little drop off is the go.
Land based, Nene Valley through to Jones Bay is still one of the most consistent stretches of beach.
This area has also been a whiting hotspot.
Inside the Port MacDonnell breakwater has been hot and cold this past week.
Some have struggled to bring home a feed, while others have not been able to keep up to them.
Whiting, tommies, salmon trout and silver trevally have all been mentioned.
Most of the consistently successful anglers do go through plenty of burley.
Garfish have been good this week.
Livingstons as usual has been mentioned, but Hut Bay has also been fishing well.
The Glenelg River did not play the game over the weekend.
Donovan’s down to the estuary fished the most consistently.
Ali Bey landed an absolute brute of a bream that went 45cm off one of the Nelson landings Friday night – a quick measure and straight back into the river.
I have only heard of a couple of small mulloway and again in the Nelson area.
Those fishing up river really struggled.
It sounds like water was released out of Rocklands recently and has put the fish off, but they should fire up when it settles down.
Until next week, safe fishing.
