Spring is a great time to be fishing. The warmer days make it pleasant on the water, so let’s hope we don’t get the howling winds that this time of year can often bring.

The increase in daytime temps also mean an increase in water temperature. This is when the flathead come alive, moving out of their Winter haunts to areas where the everyday angler would expect to find them.

The lake at present is devoid of weed. The rain over the past few years has left the lake murky for extended periods, resulting in reduced light getting to the weed; the weed then dies and is washed away.

Clear and warming water should be all that’s needed to get the weed growing again, to create a place for fish food to flourish and lots of species to forage.

The flathead will be one species to quickly move into these areas once the weed is established. They are being caught upstream at Gypsy Point right through the Top Lake and out into the Bottom Lake.

Keep a close eye on the water temperature at this time of year; an extra couple of degrees in can indicate more active flathead.

Black bream are starting to spread out after spending time spawning well upstream. These fish are hungry and looking around the edges for a feed.

This is the ideal time to be chasing them with hard and soft plastic lures, as well as prawn baits.

Anglers have reported some good success on black and yellowfin bream in the shallow water around Goodwin Sands.

The bream in the deeper water (8’-plus) will still take a blade but not with as much confidence as they once had. They are now well and truly educated, so when a fish is on, keep winding fast until the full weight of the fish is felt – they have learnt to swim at you really fast, which is a great tactic on their part as they escape more often than not.

The offshore fishing is still quiet with things not firing up until Christmas, or a bit after.

Plenty of salmon are still being caught on all the local beaches. Salmon fishing only slows down for a few months of the year when the water is at it’s warmest.

Paul with a good sized salmon from the lake, so much aerobatic fun to be had.