By Jamie Coates
ANOTHER weekly report brings with it another change in the rules surrounding the abalone virus outbreak.
Things are improving for us recreational fishos, with restrictions surrounding anchoring in the control area now lifted, just be sure to clear any weed or kelp from your anchor where you retrieve it and give the boat and gear a good tub when you get home.
As per the last few weeks, keep an eye on the PIRSA website for the most up-to-date information and we should be good to go.
The calm seas and good weather inspired many boaties to hit the water over the weekend and head out wide in search of a few fish.
Although some found the fishing a little slow, others managed to find some good fish.
A few anglers did head wide to the shelf in search of a fish off the bottom and there were some nice gemfish and pink ling boated, but the blue eye and hapuka did elude most this time.
Anglers also had a troll between spots and I am yet to hear of any tuna or albacore landed, but the signs and the life out there is absolutely amazing at the moment.
Some fishos have seen pods of whales out there that might be 20 or 30 animals strong, not to mention the dolphins, seals, bird life and everything else.
Even if the fish are not playing the game, you will never get bored out there.
In a little closer, the fishing from that 50-100m line has been excellent again.
Good numbers of shark have been reported once more, along with some snapper, nannygai, flathead and other tasty bottom fish.
Now anglers are able to drop the anchors once more, it seems the snapper have picked up right where we left off.
Size and numbers have been just like the weeks prior to the bans, with solid fish over 60cm and super-impressive numbers.
The distribution has still been great, with just about every kelp bed, rocky ledge or seagrass bed worth flicking a bait at.
There has been some nice by-catch in similar areas while fishos are chasing the snapper.
We have seen some monster silver trevally – one I saw was a cracker at over 70cm – plus salmon, pike and even a few squid.
The whiting fishing has been pretty decent this past week or so.
A bit of warm weather and some gentle stir has seen some very reasonable fish caught both from the boats and land-based.
The boaties have been doing well inside the Port MacDonnell breakwater, Livingstons Bay and Carpenter Rocks, while the land-based fishos have found fish on the Port MacDonnell jetty, Nene Valley and Blackfellows Caves.
Alex and Scarlett Carter fished Monday evening off the jetty and found a great mixed bag of whiting, snapper, flathead, trevally and mackerel just to name a few and I think it is safe to say Scarlett is the fisho of that family – she caught the lot.
There have been some decent garfish caught this week by the waders in the Cape Douglas and Livingstons Bay areas and for the first time in a while I am also hearing from those guys that there are several schools of smaller garfish that are moving in too, which is encouraging to see.
The boaties at Livingstons and inside the Port MacDonnell breakwater are still finding some good fish, along with the mullet, salmon trout and tommies they we are used to now.
While the weather settled over the weekend, a few boaties had a crack at the sweep on the reefs around the area and found some cracking fish.
We do not get a lot of days good enough to have a crack at the sweep, but when we do, they are amazing fun and great on the table.
Plenty of anglers have been heading inland recently chasing the freshwater fish.
Rocklands has been popular with anglers targeting yellowbelly and cod.
Some thumping yellow’s nudging 60cm have been caught and the cod are getting bigger and bigger.
There are still redfin on the go too around the timber, so have a crack at them while you are there.
Lake Charlegrark is another place worth a crack for a Murray cod – there are some nice fish in there and the fishing is just about as easy as it gets.
The Glenelg River has been excellent this week, with some very nice fish coming from the length of the river.
Bream and perch captures have been the most spread out, with fish of both species over 1kg coming from up high and down the bottom end.
Lures and baits have both accounted for plenty of fish, so which ever your style, you should find a few fish.
The mulloway news has definitely picked up this week.
Fish over one metre have been caught in the Nelson area on both live and dead baits and even the lure guys are getting their fair share.
The mouth blocking has seemed to stirred up the mulloway, so there is a bit of excitement in the air down there.
The fish have travelled up river too.
Troy Huietma landed a nice 96cm fish off his shack in Donovans on Saturday evening and lost another.
Let’s hope it keeps going.
The forecast for the weekend is a bit cooler than the last, but things still definitely look very fishable for most of us.
As usual, check the weather before you head out just to be on the safe side.
Until next week, safe fishing.
