Afairly wet but fishable weekend on the Limestone Coast saw plenty of anglers hitting the water.
Some very nice fish were caught and it’s been a great seeing people getting back out there!
The offshore fishing has been pretty good off Port MacDonnell when the weather has allowed.
There has been no shortage of school tuna off the bay, and they’re anywhere from 20 metres and beyond.
Some anglers have been bottom bouncing and have had fish bust up next to the boat, and fish as far as you can see, just acres and acres of them, then they’ll disappear as quick as they came.
Those chasing the big tuna have no doubt heard of the good numbers of fish that were caught in Portland over the weekend.
Fish to 100kg were boated on skirts in 50 – 70 metres of water out behind Lawrence Rocks, so hopefully we see those fish continue along the coast and back out in front of us.
Guys targeting sharks have done well this week with school shark to 30kg being boated, and big gummy shark over 20kg too.
Ben Stevenson, Nathan and Malcolm Kilsby boated some rippers over the weekend, with a couple of their sharks bang on that 30kg mark.
The shark have been spread out at the moment which is making things interesting, some have come from in under five metres of water down along Green and Danger Points, while others have come from the deeper areas, so keep on the move, get the burley going and if you do hook one of these brutes, hang on!
The surf fishing for salmon this week has again been exceptional.
Some great fish up to and over 2kg have been beached, and they have been very well spread out.
I have seen some pictures this week of fish from Browns Beach and Factory Bay which might not have the numbers like in other traditionally well known salmon areas, but the size is definitely there.
Cape Banks, Canunda and the Beachport Salmon Hole have all been excellent again this week, with size and numbers both right up.
Matt Bell had a ripper session on Saturday morning, landing as many as he wanted, keeping a few for the table and letting a heap go. 40g lures were the weapon of choice and colour did not seem to matter at all.
There was a bit of weed floating around, but just being careful where you’re casting was all that was needed to avoid it.
Wayne Little has been finding good numbers at the salmon hole after work last week, a fish a cast in some sessions and fish to 2kg have been keeping him very busy.
Garfishos have been back in on the action while those northerly winds were about.
There was some nice fish caught in Cape Douglas, Hutt Bay and Pelican Point over the last few days, and once that sea settles a bit, we’ll see Livingstons Bay come back too.
There were a few caught in the Port MacDonnell breakwater, and a few around at the Petrified Forrest, so like I mention most weeks, keep the burley up to them and if they’re in the area, they’ll sniff it out!
The mullet have been good for anglers targeting them this week.
Much like the gar above, they can be found pretty much anywhere there’s enough water for them to swim in.
Places like the Port Mac Breakwater, Nene Valley, Blackfellows Caves and Carpenter Rocks are all proven areas that hold mullet, just get the wind and conditions right and you should be in for a good session.
Ash and Riley Cooper did a bit of fishing in the drains around Robe over the weekend and picked up a few mullet, and Riley also nailed a big bream on soft plastics around the boats in the boat haven.
The Glenelg River seems to slowly (but surely) getting back to its best, with more and more fish being reported each week.
This week I have seen some nice mulloway, bream and estuary perch from the river, and a bit more spread out now too.
The mulloway action has been from the Taylors Straight area and below, and it seems that baits are still the most productive.
Like last week, live spew worms have been the most productive, but I would not hesitate to put out a fresh mullet or salmon fillet, or a squid strip.
The perch and bream have been spread out.
One nice catch of 10 bream at Dry Creek I have heard about saw the best fish, with the smallest being 38cm, and the best well up over 40cm.
Whitebait was the standout, but a few came on crab too.
Perch on lures have been about this week too, deep diving minnows have been on fire, or three inch heavily weighted soft plastics on the deeper drops are also worth a crack.
Looking forward to the weekend, and it looks like things are lining up.
The wind is down, the swell is easing and being on the moon, we should have some good tides.
Until next week, safe fishing!
