An ideal weekend of weather across the Limestone Coast saw many boats hitting the water.


Light winds, flat seas and warm, sunny days were an absolute delight to anglers right across the district, and there was some excellent fish caught too.


There’s plenty to go through, so let’s jump straight in!
The offshore fishing over the weekend was fabulous.
From the inshore reef to the continental shelf, we saw plenty of fish caught out there.


The tuna fishos have been in on the action again this week, the charter fleet have again been nailing some big fish out there.
Tyson from Want To Fish Charters took his wife for a trip on Sunday for her birthday and what a day it was! Steph boated a cracking 120kg tuna after an hour-long fight on a Troll So Hard lure.
Now that’s my kinda birthday present!

Wilba from Southerly Charters has been having a good run on the big tuna of late, boating some great fish around that 85kg – 100kg mark.


The trailer boaties have been landing their fair share of big tuna too, some boats tagging and releasing multiple fish in a day.


The live bait is still small out there at the moment, so once we see that getting a bit bigger, no doubt we’ll hear of more fish caught that way.


There has been some incredible footage I have seen from the last few weeks out there, you’d swear it was a David Attenborough documentary.


Whales, seals, and dolphins jumping out of the water, any amount of birds all diving and eating bait, then there’s the big tuna free jumping from the water.
It’s seriously incredible stuff!


It’s not all big tuna out there though at the moment, the bottom fishing has been great too.


A few boats went wide to the shelf over the weekend, and while it was a bit slower than most had hoped for, there were still some lovely catches.


I have seen blue eye and hapuka caught right along the coast, from Beachport back to the border, though you have had to move around a bit to locate them.
Pink ling, gemfish and a few other weird and wonderful animals have also been caught out there, it really is a big lucky dip.


Inshore a bit, Jamie Widdison from Extreme Marine Charters has been doing it all, from big tuna one day, to shark the next.
He took his young fella for a run over the weekend and Archa Widdison boated his first ever gummy shark, and it was a beauty too!
The surf fishing over the weekend was pretty good for most, there was a bit of weed to battle in some areas, but most were fishable.


This time of year is historically very good for school shark from the beach, and we’re bang on the money.


Some nice fish have come from the past week up at the 10 Mile in Beachport, some nice fish in Canunda around the Channel Rock and Old Drain areas, and a few too at Piccaninnie beach.


There have been a few gummy shark in the mix too, and even the odd snapper still being landed.


We’re seeing a big influx now of salmon being caught, which is excellent for both the bait stocks, and the smoker.


I think I mention it every year, but the set up for pinging lures at salmon is key.


Without the right gear, you’ll struggle to get the distance with your lures.
A 9 foot (preferably graphite) rod, 4000-6000 sized spin reel and 10lb – 15lb braid.


That’s it!

You’ll find you’ll get the maximum distance and halve your effort over a standard 7 footer.


Hot spots have been Cape Banks, Canunda and the Beachport Salmon Hole, though they will spread out eventually.


There has been plenty of whiting action over the last few weeks, I know of boaties and land-based anglers getting stuck into them recently, and size and numbers have been quite 
impressive.


The land-based guys are still finding good numbers at Nene Valley, Blackfellows Caves and Carpenter Rocks, while the boaties are doing well in the Port Mac breakwater, Livingstons Bay and Carpenter Rocks.


While anglers might not be getting their bags every trip, they’ll get their half a dozen or so good fish, then move onto the next thing.


The garfishing has been good again this week, with plenty of fishos making the most of the excellent weather.


I have seen some great numbers of fish from the waders and boaties this week, and the size is excellent.


The waders have found their fish at the Petrified Forrest, Hutt Bay and Cape Douglas, while the boaties are doing well in Hutt Bay, Livingstons and Pelican Point.


As has been the case the past few weeks, mullet and tommies are still in the same areas, and I’m even hearing of the odd whiting nailing a bunch of gents in the shallows, so you just never know what may come along.


The Glenelg River has again fished well for bream and perch this week.


The full length of the river has been productive, and we’re seeing some really nice fish.


The bait fishos are reporting that prawn, whitebait and crab are getting the job done, while the lure guys are doing well on white three inch minnow profile plastics.


Fishing the snags and rock walls has been where the fish have been holding up, and while the water is still so clear, it makes sense.


The mulloway have been hard to find again, though the odd smaller fish is still being caught amongst the bream and perch.


The mouth is flowing nice and the big tides this week are giving it a good flush, so hopefully we see a few mulloway swim in

.
The forecast for the remainder of the week looks like we’re in for some wind and rain, along with some hefty seas, so the river and inland might be our best option for a little while.


Until next week, safe fishing!