How often do you hear “I couldn’t get a bait to the bottom without those annoying little flathead pinching the bait”. Where there are little ones, there must be bigger ones. Well, they are about and the photos prove the quality of the fish. They have been caught by both land-based anglers and those in boats, by bait fishing and casting lures, from the inlet and off the Venus Bay beaches.

In Andersons Inlet, you can walk the sand flats casting lures on the run-out tide. The pick of the large assortment of plastics have been prawns, yabbies and shads in natural colours. On overcast days and at first and last lights, the fluoro colours have been dynamite.

At the Kiosk, the entrance to Stevies Gutter and out of the shell bank in front of the ‘A’ frame house at Mahers Landing, whiting to 45cm are taking live Bass yabbies, squid strips and mussel (even the whiting can’t afford pipi these days!).

Trevally, salmon and mullet are throughout the inlet on the running tide and are taking the full array of baits.

The pinkies are deep in the inlet, along the green buoys towards Nolans Bluff and are taking US squid, whole pilchards and saury pieces.

Gummy shark activity has been plentiful for land-based anglers at the entrance to the inlet after dark and at Mahers Landing. Boaters are having good success at Stevies Gutter, the bottom of the Horseshoe and the green buoys towards the mouth of the Tarwin River. Best baits have been saury, eel and trevally fillets. The size range has been up to over 1m and there is a few schoolies amongst them.

The Tarwin River is bubbling with mullet to 35cm on the rising tide, along with trevally and salmon to 30cm.

Estuary perch are taking live Bass yabbies, hardbodied lures and soft baits around the Venus Bay Islands, the mouth of the Tarwin River and above the road bridge on the run-out tide.

At Flatrocks, there are whiting, trevally and pinkies to 40cm being caught around the low tide. Best baits are live Bass yabbies, pilchard strips and squid.

On the Venus Bay beaches, flathead to 2.5kg are taking pilchards. The best location is between Beach 5 and the point.

Salmon schools are being taken from the back gutters on bluebait, whitebait and surf poppers, while the mullet schools are inside the break in the whitewash. Whitebait, pipi and chicken strips are the most productive baits.

Larger gummies to over 1m are about at night on the lead in to the full moon.