The busy time is on us, with plenty of visitors here enjoying the holidays. The majority of people are here to go fishing but swimming, surfing and bushwalking also keep them busy during their stay.

Remember, you need a Victorian fishing licence and must adhere to the laws and bag and size limits. Fisheries officers are out in full force over the Christmas period.

Beach fishing is a popular and an easy way to wet a line, with a number of beaches allowing easy access to fishers.

Salmon are regularly caught, along with yellowfin bream and sand whiting.

The big morning tides over Christmas would have to be one of the best times to wet a line.

The offshore fishing starts to pick up now as tiger and sand flathead come on the bite, along with gummy sharks and a few snapper.

Take care when launching and retrieving at the Bastion Point boat ramp; a car and trailer went under here a while back.

When heading out to sea, make sure you pick flat conditions. Local knowledge is needed when crossing the bar.

A new business called Mallacoota Fishing Charters will be up and running over the holidays. Jason’s boat is capable of taking five anglers offshore and he supplies all the gear, call him on 0419 223 101.

The lake has fished well for plenty of flathead over the past month. A lot of these fish are small and is it really worth killing a fish for such a little feed? Fish between 36cm and 45cm are the best size for a feed.

An early start is the go over the next few months, with the best fishing in the early morning and then late in the afternoon. An early start also gets you out there before the wind picks up.

Good yellowfin bream have been biting in the shallows around Goodwin Sands with prawns and live nippers doing well.

Luring for bream in the shallows has been good with small plastics on light jigheads and shallow-running hardbody lures catching fish. But eh bream can be tricky to catch at times because there aren’t too many lures that they haven’t seen over the past few years.

Plenty of black bream around 30cm are being caught above Gypsy Point.

Remember, the big bream and flathead are a real asset to the fishery at Mallacoota so take a quick photo and let them go and in the future they will make someone else’s day, too.