By Jamie Coates
ANOTHER breezy weekend across the South East was a bit of a pain for anglers, but there were still plenty who hit the water and some nice fish caught.
The offshore fishing options were limited on the weekend thanks to the mixture of wind and swell.
We just can not seem to catch a trick at the moment, but the fish are definitely there when we can get to them.
The tuna are still in massive numbers right through the south east coast, with as many school fish as I can ever remember being out there.
There are still big fish mixed in with them, but when the schoolies are eating the same baits as the big fish, it is a luck game as to what size fish is going to eat your lure.
There are plenty of fish still off the bottom when the weather allows, from sharks and snapper, to flathead and nannygai, there is something out there for everyone.
Out wide on the shelf is still fishing well too, but like everything, it is the weather that is holding us back.
You can expect hapuka, blue eye and gemfish out there and you never know what else might come up from the depths next.
This time of year salmon from the beach is our bread and butter.
They are accessible, the weather is not super important and you do not have to spend thousands of dollars on gear to catch them.
Matt and Alex Bell have been hooking in over the last few weeks and finding some nice fish off the sand.
Flicking lures has been the best for the boys recently, with Alex snagging a few over a couple kilo.
It is great to see some of those bigger fish turn up now and hopefully they stick around.
Areas that have been productive have been Cape Banks, though Canunda and the Beachport Salmon Hole.
I have chatted to a few crews who tackled Canunda over the past week and they have all said about the water on the tracks.
It is quite deep in spots and sometimes unavoidable, so do take care if going the whole way through, there is not much worse than having to get a tow out of there.
Winter gar are in full swing at the moment and I have not heard many complaints of either size or numbers.
This week there have been plenty caught by both the boaties in the protected bays and waders off the beach.
I probably sound like broken record when it comes to targeting the gar, but the only secret is to get the burley flowing nice and steady and if there are any gar around, they will soon be at your fingertips.
There are all sorts of floats, hooks, lines etc that anglers use, but as far as for what the best is, it is really up to the individual angler.
What works well for me and my style of fishing might not work for you, so have fun with it, change it up until you find the best set up for you.
There have been some nice mullet caught in the last couple of weeks by anglers right through the Limestone Coast.
We have had some nice entries for our mullet competition we are running over on our Faceboook page, some from over in Portland and the Glenelg River, through our local areas and even some beauties from up in Robe in the bream lakes.
Local areas worth having a crack have been Nene Valley, Cape Douglas and Carpenter Rocks.
Much like the gar above, burley up, fish nice and light and you are in with a red-hot chance.
We do not cover a lot of the crater lake stuff in our report, but it is definitely worth mentioning just how well they are fishing lately.
Located near Camperdown in Victoria, Bullen Merri and Purrumbete Lakes are a cracking place to head if the weather offshore is not much good.
Deep crystal clear water is just perfect for trout, chinook salmon and redfin, all which grow to a nice size over there.
The guys at Victorian Inland Charters are absolute gurus when it comes to the crater lakes and I have seen some of the pictures of what these fellas are catching and it is very impressive.
Whether you want to take your own boat, or give the guys at Vic Inland Charters a buzz and fish with them, it is a fabulous area definitely worth exploring.
The Glenelg River has proved itself this week that even if the water looks like it is not going to be any good, it is always worth a crack.
I have seen some catches from the weekend of some very nice fish.
The most impressive part is that they have been spread out.
Fishos from up around the Dry Creek have found some nice ones on a mixture of crab, whitebait, pilchard and worms, whereas the fishos closer to the mouth have had success on live podworm and prawn.
The water is brown wherever you fish, but that is the fresh sitting on top of the salt, so under what we can see, the river is pretty much normal.
Mulloway news has been slow, although I did hear of a good fish hooked on a live bait down in the estuary over the weekend which was unfortunately lost after a 10 minute fight.
I know it is not much news, but it is something.
Perch are a lot like bream at the moment and the majority that I have seen caught these past few weeks have taken a bait, so if you do snag a couple while chasing the bream, they are a welcome surprise.
The forecast for the coming weekend looks like it is going to be another salmon weekend.
Big swells and strong northerly winds are ideal for the beach fishos, but the river guys will also be able to find somewhere nice to wet a line too.
Until next week, safe fishing.
