With the long cold winter now behind us we can look forward to some good fishing, and the early reports indicate this will be the case.

Salmon are still in very big numbers throughout Anderson Inlet from the entrance right up to the double islands.

Grant O’Neil from Mirboo North is a regular land-based angler who says that he expects big things from around Mahers Landing. He has already managed some reasonable size gummies along with good size silvers, flathead and mullet. He says the best time to try your luck is on the run-in tide. There has also been a return of the sea grass, which is great news and the fish have been moving in fairly close to shore.

The good news about Mahers Landing is that it is going to be upgraded at some time in the near future. If this is true the upgrading will be most welcome.

On my last trip, I came across quite a few boaters who were returning from a day out on the water and just about everyone had something to show for their efforts. One such crew was Ross and Scott Harris and a mate, Nathan Woytaszek. They headed towards the entrance at Point Smyth from Mahers Landing and managed quite a few salmon on lures. They were happy with their work but were content to throw them all back to swim and fight another day.

The big tides over winter have had a dramatic effect on the sand bars inside the inlet. For those not now familiar with the situation it would be a good idea to have a look at the water at low tide and see how things have changed.

Land-based fishers have been doing very well in the vicinity of the bathing boxes and Pensioners Point where the main catch is salmon and to a lesser extent whiting, silvers and flathead. As has been the case for some time the best time to try your luck has been the last half of the run-out and first of the run-in flow. The main reason is of course that at other times the tide is too fast.

Outside the entrance whiting, silvers, flathead and garfish are being taken in reasonable numbers and as usual they are always very good quality. Whiting to the 40cm mark are being taken on Bass yabbies, squid and mussels. Inverloch legend Henry Sedelies has a secret spot where he hardly ever misses and on a recent trip, he managed 18 very nice whiting.

For the land-based fishers, the surf at Venus Bay has been very productive on all of the five beaches. It’s hardly news that the main catch is salmon, which have to the 2kg mark and are in very good numbers. There are quite reasonable numbers of flathead and a few gummies also making an appearance and Graham Lardner can vouch for the fact that there are big fish at number three beach.

On a recent trip Graham was doing quite well on the salmon and had eight very nice fish between 1-2kg. He was feeling fairly happy with his efforts when suddenly along came something and scoffed down a large piece of squid he decided to try.

There weren’t any nibbles or anything of the sort, just an almighty run straight out towards and deep water and in very short time there was no line left on the spool. Graham was left with nothing but to ponder what the big fellow might have been, but he was sure of one thing: it was big.