Fabulous weather over the weekend saw plenty of fishos get out on the water.
There was not a cloud in the sky and it was quite warm, just the perfect conditions to get even the fair weather fishos out there!
Offshore news has been white hot this week, tuna have been the target for plenty and with good reason.
There has been some nice fish caught off Port MacDonnell this past week with most of our local charter boats getting in on the action.
Tyson from Want To Fish charters and Jamie from Extreme Marine both found some nice fish over the weekend for their clients, and it seems like trolling skirts in brighter colours has been very productive.
Troll So Hard lumo green UV and Bonze Karma colours are two proven lures over the past week, and spreader bars or teasers have also bumped up strike rates too.
The bite zone seems to be anywhere from 40mt though to 80mt of water, depending on the day, but just make sure if you are trolling out there that you keep an eye out for craypot floats, they are out and about now in certain areas, so just keep your eyes peeled.
In other offshore news, the bottom fishing has remained excellent again.
The gummy and school shark fishing is still ridiculous, I’m hearing of some crews boating upwards of 10 sharks in a session, releasing more than they’re bringing home, and we’re not talking little fish either, some of these are up over 20kg.
There’s also some very nice reef fish on offer out there at the moment.
Whether you’re chasing flathead or knifejaw out in 100 metres, or snapper and nannygai in 60mt, there are plenty on offer.
The surf fishing this past week has been great for most, with the settling sea and light northerlies across the southeast, plenty of anglers have made their way to the sand.
The salmon season so far has been one of the best in recent memory, the size and numbers have been super impressive, and they’re nicely spread out.
The lure guys have still been having great success on 40g metals from the beach, which are easy to cast, travel a long way and the fish love them.
Colour is not as important as getting the casting distance, if you can get it out into the strike zone for longer, then the more chance there is of something eating it.
Bait fishos using half a pilly on a big paternoster are still landing plenty of fish too, and the beauty of baits is you do not need a huge concentration of fish, they’ll sniff it out and come to you.
The hot spots have not changed this week, still plenty at Nene Valley, Cape Banks, though Canunda NP and into the Beachport Salmon Hole.
There has been a few nice shark caught this week off the beaches, areas mentioned have been Jones’s Bay, the beaches through Canunda and the 10 mile at the back of Beachport.
Young Beachport local Ozzi Smith had a fish late arvo on the weekend with his old man Shane, they picked up a cracker of an elephant shark, which are very tasty fish on the table!
Anglers chasing the garfish this week have had a good go at it, and with the weather in our favour, it’s not surprising.
There has been some really good numbers caught in the past week, and it’s also very encouraging to see the size as good as it has been.
A few anglers have been mentioning there has been some solid tommy ruff cruising around with the bigger gar now, so that’s always a plus if you can get a good feed of both while you’re there.
Waders have been having their success at the Petrified Forrest, Cape Douglas, Livingstons Bay and Pelican Point, while the boaties I have spoken too have done well at Livingstons Bay, and inside the Port MacDonnell breakwater.
There has been a few squid caught over the last couple of days, which is just about right on cue.
The usual haunts around Livingstons have been tricky to get a boat in at times with weed being built up there, but kayakers or people coming in from the other end have been able to have an early season swing at them.
We’ll often see some absolute giants over the course of our squid season, some behemoths well over that 3kg mark.
Cape Jaffa, Kingston, Beachport and Southend will all kick into gear very soon, if not already, and we see some very nice squid from those areas.
The Port Mac breakwater and jetty produce some lovely squid at times, and that should all be starting very soon.
There has been plenty more redfin action this week from Lake Wallace, boaties and waders are both sharing the action.
The size is still really up and down, some anglers are getting some real solid 40cm and bigger fish, while others are finding fish quite a bit smaller.
The lures of choice are varying from day to day, some days it’s soft plastics getting the job done, other days it’s spinners or could even be baits.
Mix it up until you tickle their fancy and then enjoy.
The Glenelg River is still fishing very well this week, and we’re slowly starting to hear of the odd mulloway or two starting to pop up.
The mulloway while not massive, are a good start.
There has been fish to the low 70cm range caught so far, and both bait and lures have been getting the bites.
There has not been one specific area where the fish are, but anywhere downstream from Dry Creek is worth a look.
There has been some very nice bream and estuary perch boated this week down there, the bulk of the bream have been taken this week on whitebait and prawn, but those who can get crab or fresh podworm are also doing well.
The perch have more of a liking to lures at the moment, with vibes and deep diving bibbed minnows being the most reliable.
There are still some cracking mullet in the river at the moment, and if you get the burley going, you should find some good size and good number fish turn up.
The forecast for the coming weekend looks excellent.
Easing seas after a week of rough stuff and a light northerly should make for an excellent weekend on the water.
There are plenty of options on for those who wish to wet a line.
Until next week, safe fishing!
