Finally the town has started to quieten down. With all powered sites in the huge caravan park fully occupied since Christmas, this has been one of the busiest seasons, showing the popularity of Mallacoota with visitors.

Anglers who know what they are doing have been leaving Mallacoota with some happy memories.

With little or no swell lately, anglers have been heading offshore, with mixed results.

Good numbers of quality flathead (sandies and tigers) have been caught but it often takes a few moves to find the fish. Once they are, found good catches have been on the cards.

The gummy sharks have been a bit slow with not too many to report.

Big schools of striped tuna are about with the odd marlin also sighted. These fish won’t be around for long because the cold water will be on its way and these big migratory fish will head north.

Boats have been crossing the bar safely but just make sure the tide is right and if you’re unsure, don’t go.

Beach fishing will start to pick up as we head into Winter with good-sized salmon available from the gutters along all local beaches.

The lake has started to clear right up after the recent rain with clear ocean water pushing in through the entrance. The dirty water, as usual, made for a fishing smorgasbord with nearly everyone getting fish.

Now the water has cleared, good fishing is still available but it is just a bit harder to find the fish.

The Bottom and Top lakes have been fishing well with bream (yellowfin and black) taking bait and lures and flathead biting well on soft plastics. Some good-sized silver trevally have also been caught.

Over the past few months there have been some excellent perch available with my clients enjoying catching trophy fish on more than one occasion. But the perch fishing has not been easy, with tight casting into structure with lures needed for most success.

Good numbers of smaller bream have been caught upstream from Gypsy Point, along with some good-sized flathead. It won’t be long and the water will cool right off bringing a change to the tactics used when fishing.