Summer fishing patterns are starting to form but this can mean great day of action and then it can be quiet the next.

Fish will be on the move, the flathead livening up after the cold weather and the bream on the move and hungry after spawning.

But what is still needed is rain. The water is crystal clear right through the system and without rain, Summer will be unusually tough, which has been the pattern for the whole year.

The entrance area has been fishing well for salmon but they are unpredictable, with fish turning up anywhere from Fairhaven to as far upstream as Gypsy Point.

Tailor are still in the lake and they turn up anywhere, anytime. The excellent tailor action over Winter will come to an end as the water warms, when the big fish tend to disappear and be replaced by hordes of small fish.

Some great fishing for flathead has been experienced by clients in recent months with plenty of fish over 75cm caught. These fish have been in the shallows sunbaking, with the best action to be had in the afternoons.

Lightly weighted soft plastics around 100mm long have been working a treat, along with shallow-running hardbodies.

Fish have been caught all around the Top and Bottom lakes and also in the rivers.

School flathead (from 40cm to 50cm) are the size that are best kept for a feed; they taste the sweetest and there are plenty of them. Just remember the bag limit of five fish per person per day.

Fishing for bream, especially in the rivers, has been tough with clear water and what can be described as educated fish – the constant pressure of fishing with lures is starting to show.

In the past, bait fishers have done it a lot tougher than those fishing with lures.

This year I have witnessed bait fishers catching fish one after another while those using lures are lucky to get a bite.

Having said that, there is normally one hour in the day when those fishing with lures find the fish come on the bite.

Offshore fishing has been slow with the water still too cold for consistent catches of flathead.

Gummy sharks are still being caught around Gabo Island.

The gutters along the beaches have had plenty of salmon up to 2kg with fish caught from the entrance right through to Quarry Beach.