Pleasant days and eased seas saw plenty of anglers getting back on the water over the weekend.


We saw boats head wide to the shelf, boats bottom fishing in that 100ish metre mark and plenty inside that too.


We also saw plenty of fish on the beach, inland and up the river, so we have got plenty to get through this week.


Starting with the offshore news, we have seen boats hitting the water from Port MacDonnell all the way along to Beachport and beyond.


There has been plenty of fish boated this week for anglers out there.


I did see one boat had a nice catch of blue eye from over the shelf on the weekend.


It’s been a little while since we have had a run of weather good enough to get out there, but it is encouraging to know there are plenty of fish out there waiting for us.


The inshore fishos have done extremely well in the 80mt thru 120mt mark again this week.


The shark fishing out there is nothing short of spectacular at the moment.


We’re seeing school and gummy shark over 20kg every week, and something else I’m loving seeing at the moment too is anglers taking one or two smaller shark home for a feed and letting some of the real big ones go.


Lots of anglers are invested now in tagging programs for sharks and other species and collecting the data on where the sharks go and what they get up to is both great for research and very interesting to us as anglers.


It’s not just sharks that have been on the chew out there, plenty of snapper and nannygai for the guys dropping metal jigs down, anything in the 60g to 150g range is worth dropping and if you work it or sit in the rod holder and let the boat do the work, the results have been great.


The flathead out there around 100mt will happily eat a jig too if you drop one in front of them, but the bait fishos have had the edge this week, boating the majority on either fish fillet, squid or pillies.


Again there has been no tuna news, but the current run of big fish off Tasmania is lighting a fire in the bellies of barrel fishos from the South East, those fish geographically are not that far away, let’s just hope they sneak back up our way for one more run!


Off the beach there’s plenty of news this week.


The South East Amateur Surf Fishing Club held their last competition for the season and their members enjoyed favourable conditions and plenty of fish.


There was a great mix of gummy shark, elephant fish and salmon weighed in, and the winners were Scott Attiwell, Jackson Thomas and Hayden McPherson in the seniors category, and juniors was Jett Attiwell.


Flynn Thomas also picked up the mystery weight prize too.


In other beach news this week, I have seen a few anglers having a crack for whiting, some successfully, others not so much.


Dawn and dusk have been the most productive times for the beach fishos, though the daytime tides will also produce fish.


Paternoster rigs with 1oz star sinkers and small circle hooks are the easiest and best bet for the whiting, they’re also gutsy enough to hang onto snapper too if you stumble upon them.


The boat whiting fishing has been up and down in the past week, some fishos are finding a nice feed without too much trouble, others have had a real battle jumping from sandhole to sandhole just to scratch a feed together.


Bear in mind too, this season is still very much in its infancy, so there’s no cause for alarm just yet if your favourite whiting hole is not producing just yet.


The calmer seas have been excellent for those fishos chasing the garfish this week, there have been good numbers caught by waders and boaties this week in Racecourse Bay, Hutt Bay, Cape Douglas and Livingstons Bay, and even a handful of rippers off the Port Mac jetty.


As has always been the case, a steady burley trail and a bunch of live gents under a float will put you right in the game.


The inland fishing has been excellent, the Glenelg River Angling Club members headed off for a camping trip to Lake Charlegrark and they caught plenty of fish between them over the couple of days.


Murray cod were the most caught, with fish to around 60cm caught, though most around that 35cm – 50cm mark, a few redfin and even some giant goldfish! It’s a great place for both boaties and to throw a rod in from the bank, so if you have not, definitely check it out.


Rocklands is still producing nice yellowbelly this week, some of the better fish have been high 50cm range, which is a cracker in anyone’s books.


Cod have been caught there too this week, some of the better ones nudging the 80cm mark, which make for excellent fun getting them out of the sticks.


If trout are more your thing, we’re seeing some nice fish from Lake Toolondo.


Trolling diving minnows or throwing soft plastics is getting the bites, and always keep on the move is the key.


The Glenelg River is fishing very well this week, and as has been the tune for a long while now, bream and perch are in great shape, but the mulloway are still proving elusive.


Matt Bell and Craig Turner fished the Dry Creek area over the weekend for upwards of 40 fish between them on lures, mostly perch, but a few nice bream mixed in too.


The bait fishos have been finding the most success on scrubworm and prawn, or live crabs if you can catch a few.


The mulloway news that I have heard is only of small soapies taken by accident when chasing the bream.


The forecast for the upcoming weekend looks like we should be able to wet a line around the South East.


The sea is set to pick up a bit mid-week, but we’d expect that to settle fairly quickly.


Until next weekend, safe fishing!


Coatsy