It’s been a bit of a wild and woolly over the last month or so, with winter really kicking in and making things pretty tough for anglers. There have, however, been some good days dotted in amongst the howling south westerlies and there has been some top quality bream landed.

Better areas to try have been around the mouth of the river and on a line from the channel from the mouth of the river. Bobs Bay has been a good option as well, particularly when the wind blows hard from the west. Sandworm is still the most popular bait with a few fish also taking peeled local prawn.

There have also been some good catches of bream made in the lake, with vibe type lures working well out in the open water. Drifting is probably the best option when trying to locate the patches of fish. Often you will get a couple of hits in the one small area. As far as colour goes, anything with a bit of bronze and orange seems to be working well. Ecogear VX-40s and River2Sea Glassies have both been a big hit.

The channel is always worth a look and is a good place to find a bit of shelter when the wind blows. There are plenty of fish showing up on the sounder in the deeper holes, but so far they have been hard to catch. I think they could be a mixture of tailor, luderick and bream, with only the odd tailor being landed. I did also hear of one angler foul hooking a couple of luderick while trolling diving lures in these areas.

In late winter the lake remains closed, but with the recent rains and huge seas coming over the top of the sandbar into the lake, the water level has risen significantly, to a point where it is not far away from the height required to open the entrance. With a bit of luck we should see the lake open by early spring. It will really be a perfect time to open, with the bream able to head up the river and spawn and the chance of another excellent prawn season a real possibility.

We should also be chance to see the schools of salmon and tailor enter the system and hopefully a top up of the big luderick that have dominated much of the action over the past few years.

After being a bit of a sleepy hollow over the winter months, we now head into some of the busiest months of the year. The fishing over the past year has probably been some of the best we have seen for many years. The way things are shaping up, it looks like we are in for more of the same in the coming months.

Like just about everywhere, vibe style lures are working well in the estuary at Bemm River.