The festive break is the perfect time to go “Casting with Coatsy” from Spot On!

The weekend’s weather was just about perfect for most fishos heading offshore, we saw the swell lay down and the winds ease enough to get most boats out of the shed.

Plenty headed for the shelf down off Port MacDonnell and Carpenter Rocks in search of blue eye and hapuka, and from all reports, just about everyone came home with a nice feed.

Hayden Sneath, Adam Sims, Colby and Justin Munro found a nice mixed bag of hapuka, blue eye and pink ling, while most other boats found the same.

The fishing wasn’t flat out, but there are plenty of fillets for Christmas. In a little closer, the fishing along the 60mt – 100mt line saw a bit of everything caught this weekend. I saw pictures of flathead, nannygai, snapper, morwong and sharks all from in that zone. Baits and jigs have both been productive, so everyone has been sharing the action.

The shark fishing in close has been surprisingly good considering the clear calm water. Danger Point and Green Point have fished well; the kelp beds and broken bottom sections seem to be the hot spots at the moment, but the deeper ledges out wider will also continue to produce.

Corey Auld fished Cape Jaffa from his fishpro jetski over the weekend and managed 2 nice big school shark, and released a couple of others. The boys also reported plenty of mackerel in the bay there too, which is great for those targeting some bait. There has been a huge amount of snapper caught as by-catch this week again which is still very exciting as we get closer to being able to take a couple home for a feed.

Whiting numbers have been excellent this past week right along the coast. I’ve seen some nice fish from inside the breakwater at Port MacDonnell, Cape Douglas and Carpenter Rocks. Ash Sturges gave Cory Broad a towelling late last week on some big whiting to 46cm around the rocks area, but Cory did well to keep all the eagle rays and port Jackson sharks away from Ash’s baits!

The Port MacDonnell Break water hasn’t had fish to quite that size, but some good fish of around 40cm have been caught, and plenty of those 32-38cm fish mixed in too. The silver trevally that are often caught in the same spots have been great again, some over 40cm and nudging that 1.5kg – 2kg mark. We’re supposed to get a bit of a stir this week, so I’d imagine that will stir them up again.

Gar numbers have been pretty decent again this week. Our usual spots around Cape Douglas and Livingstons Bay have continued to produce, while the Petrified Forest, Hutt Bay and inside the Breakwater have all seen some nice fish. The boat guys and land based guys have all shared in the success across most places, so it’s very accessible for most people. Tommy ruff, mackerel, salmon trout and mullet are all fairly common by-catch when you burley up, so you’ll have fun with those guys too.

Since border restrictions were lifted, we’ve seen some very nice fish coming from Lake Charlegrark. While most are between 40cm and 80cm, there are some fish in there that are nearing 1 metre long. Adrian Finch and his young fella fished up there over the weekend and managed 4 between them, all on baits from the bank.

There have been a few nice redfin and trout caught from the Koonongwootong Reservoir at Coleraine over the past couple of weeks, but anglers have kept lures/baits quiet. Soft plastics are always productive over there, as are trout nuggets, so mix it up a bit!

The Glenelg River has started producing some nice fish this week, I’ve seen bream, perch and mulloway caught in the last week or so, so that should get everyone excited for the Christmas break. Mulloway news has been spread out, there has been fish caught from Dry Creek down to the estuary. There hasn’t been any exceptional size yet, but legal fish are legal fish!

There has been a massive amount of clean blue sea water pushing up river, and with it has come some unusual species for the river. Just this week I’ve heard of gummy shark, silver trevally, Port Jackson shark, eagle rays and gurnards! You never know what you might catch next!

The perch have been hungry this week, local fly fishing guru Gordon Jeffrey has been catching some beauties just off the landings in the Nelson Township, taking a fish or two for the table and letting the rest go. The bream are happily taking lures and baits this week, with the bigger fish coming from the bait guys using live crab.

It’s been a whirlwind year for everyone, but I think as a whole, us Southerners have been very lucky and have dodged the worst of things. Our neighbours over the border in Victoria have done a great job and all deserve a pat on the back for the sacrifices they made this year.

The team here at Spot On Mt Gambier would like to wish all of our customers, old and new, a very merry Christmas and a safe new year! Let’s put 2020 behind us and hope 2021 is bigger and better!

Until next week, safe fishing!

Coatsy.