Awet and wild weekend across the South East hampered the efforts of lots of fishos, but those who braved the elements and wet a line were rewarded with some nice fish.

There is a bit to get through this week so let’s get into it.

The offshore guys have been hit the hardest by this weekend’s weather.

Not only have they had the same strong winds and rain as everyone else, they had big swell thrown in.

There were some fishable days late last week that saw good numbers of tuna boated, but there has not been much happening since.

Jason and Tyson from Port MacDonnell Fishing Charters have continued their run on the big fish again last week, boating some good fish between 80kg and 100kg for their clients over the last week, along with excellent numbers of school fish.

Jamie Widdison and the Extreme Marine Charters crew have been in on the action yet again.

Their client Ian Mattheson boated a nice fish late last week and John Schinkel managed a solid 110kg fish the day prior.

We are lucky when it comes to charter operators in Port MacDonnell, so if you want the best chance to go toe to toe with one of these world class fish, the local charter fleet from Port MacDonnell have the runs on the board and are the only way to go.

The South East Amateur Surf Fishing Club held their annual Oil Rig Square fishing competition over the weekend and it was awesome to see plenty of fishos brave the wind and rain to hit the beach.

There was some great fish weighed in over the weekend and the top prize this weekend went to Graeme Ploenges with a couple of nice gummy sharks.

There were some nice salmon to just under 2kg weighed in, by the seniors, and the juniors prize was taken out by young gun, Alex Lamb with a nice bag of salmon.

The Beachport Salmon Hole has been a bit hit and miss this past week and I am still yet to hear any reports from the weekend down there but I would not mind betting the big sea over the last few days has kicked some of those bigger fish into gear.

Through Canunda and south into Carpenter Rocks has seen an improvement in numbers over the last week or so.

The fish are of varying sizes, but they are consistent now.

Anywhere from salmon trout size through to a couple of kilo have been caught by the lure and bait fishos over the last week, so it’s starting to feel like the season has properly kicked off.

There has been fish further to the east along Nene Valley, Browns Bay and Piccininni, but after a bit of a blow, the weed has been a problem at times.

The garfish have continued again and even with the feral weather, the fish are still eating.

The best and most consistent spots still seem to be Cape Douglas, Nene Valley and Livingstons Bay when the weather will allow, but as per usual, the other protected bays with a bit of ribbon weed around will be worth a look too.

Mullet numbers have been pretty good again and the corner of Red Rock and Lighthouse Bays have both been productive thanks to the piles of rotting weed acting like a big burley bucket.

Other spots worth a try are Nene Valley, Hutt Bay or Racecourse Bays too.

The inland fishing has been great over the school holidays, and it’s fabulous to see the Victorian Fisheries stocking hundreds of little lakes and dams with trout or natives for the kids to catch in the school holidays.

The Ess Lagoon in Casterton is a fabulous spot to take the kids, there is plenty of room to pull the camper up or pitch a tent, and the Lagoon is freshly stocked with rainbow trout.

Jett Lennon and his family spend a couple of days down there over the weekend and managed to catch a few trout on spinners just off the fishing platform.

They will also take soft plastics or bibbed minnows, or if bait is more your thing, a worm under a float or some powerbait.

The Glenelg River was a buzz with anglers over the weekend trying their luck, and from all reports, there was a few mulloway boated.

There were not any hot spots over the weekend, but anywhere from Taylors Straight up to Dry Creek seemed to be worth a look.

The fish have not been massive just yet, but 70cm to 90cm seems to be the average at the moment, which are still excellent fish.

The bream and perch have been in good numbers again this week and they are just as spread out as they have been previously.

Nelson and the estuary has been great, through to the upper reaches along the snags and the deep rock walls.

Hard bodied minnows and soft plastics have been popular for the lure chucker’s, while the baitos have done well on whitebait, prawn and cut crab.

Looking forward to the weekend and it looks like we could be in for some very fishable days, the swell is laying down and the winds are easing, so I have no doubt we’ll have plenty to chat about next time.

Until next week, safe fishing.