If you didn’t know already, spring is here! The footy finals are on and the fishing is improving.

The last month has been pretty quiet, with very few people fishing because the weather has been cold, wet and windy. Now the weather is warming up there is no excuse for not getting out and giving the beach a go.

Lately, salmon have been hit and miss with all beaches having some fish at various times and in various sizes. They seem to be moving from beach to beach without holding up too long in one location. Some fish have been up to 2.5kg but most are between 500g and 1kg. They have been taking bluebait, pilchards, pipis, red and blue surf poppers and metal lures. Anglers fishing for salmon have also taken tailor and trevally.

Gummy and seven-gilled sharks are becoming a more common catch as the water warms, with the best baits for them being fresh baits of salmon, tailor and trevally. Frozen baits of squid and eel are also well worth a try. The best times are three days either side of the new and full moon. There are also numerous draughtboard sharks and rock cod, which can be a nuisance when targeting more preferred species – especially when you have gone to the effort of getting fresh bait.

Later in the month flathead may start appearing again. The best baits are bluebait, whitebait and pilchards with surf poppers, saltwater flies and soft plastics fished on a paternoster rig (bait on one hook, artificial on the other). The size of fish will be smaller to start with, but later in the year the size and numbers will increase.

With spring in the air, it is a great time to get out and enjoy the beach without it being too hot. The fishing is also pretty good and only getting better. If you get out during spring don’t forget to take the camera with you and if you land a good fish, please take a photo while on the beach and email it to me – and I will include it in my report.

Metal lures have been producing salmon of all sizes. I recently landed this smaller fish from Eastern Beach at Lakes Entrance.