Although the trout season is over and the rains about, there is no need to stop fishing as there is still plenty of fish in the sea.

There should be some good saltwater action in June with many species hanging around the coast. Australian salmon are still about in numbers and in size with a few good fish coming to boats through out May; this shouldn't change for June.

Calamari are able to be found, but not as strong as a few months ago but if you specifically target them you may end up with a few. The Wynyard and Sisters Beach areas are good places to head when chasing squid.

There are also some gummy sharks around the North West, which are always fun to target. There has also been a few kingfish around which has been a bit of a surprise, there isn't many around but if you target them hard then you might catch a few before they disappear ‘till summer.

The trout season is closed for most waters apart from a few waters such as Lake Burbury, Great Lake and Lake Barrington that are open all year round. But don't stop thinking about trout fishing just cause there isn't much to be done as there is a lot of things to be done to get ready for the cracking trout season to come.

Whether you’re a fly, lure or bait angler there is still stocking to be done. For flyfishers I don't think there is a much better way to spend a rainy day than to sit in front of the tying bench and whip up a few flies.

A few every now and then over the next few months and your box will be looking healthy and ready to tackle the trout of the 2010-2011 season.

As for lure and bait flickers, grab the tackle box and have a look through it. Make a list of what you need and hit the tackle shop, there is nothing like a fully stocked tackle box to start the new season strong.

This may seem a bit of a tedious job, but when it comes to catching a fish I would rather rely on sharp hooks than hooks that are blunt or broken. So sit down with a fine hook sharpening file and a couple of packets of hooks and replace and sharpen hooks and trebles. It will make you fishing all the more successful.

This doesn't have to be restricted to the close season also, this can be done whist fishing, its not hard to carry a small file with you and give a hook a quick sharpen when it looks a little blunt.

A big one in tackle maintenance is our reel. It can be as quick and easy as a wash and polish, or more complex as to go into the reel to get rid of sand and other stuff that my of gathered in the reel over the season and oiling and greasing where necessary. If in doubt take the reel to your favourite specialist tackle store – that way you won’t end up with spare bits after the reel is put back together.

A great idea to do is to get some new line on your reels. Over a season you can lose a lot of line through snags, knots etc. A lot of monofilament lines weaken after continuous exposure to sunlight, so change those lines while you have time.

You may think that rod maintenance is not important as reel maintenance. But it should still be done and it is easy as giving them a quick polish, and general check up for broken guides and reel seats.

I always like to do this in the winter months when fishing is a no-go: research, research, research. Wether it new water, a lure or a technique, research is very handy and time spent will seldom be wasted.

On a wet wintery day, why not start the off-season tackle maintenance.