We have had no wet and the fish have just realised it. The climate has been unseasonably hot but when this finally changed, it got the fish going. The last month has seen plenty of good fish caught with 5m+ barramundi caught off the beach near the hut.

The Normanton River bridge has seen a great number of barramundi and king salmon landed at night when the temperature has been more friendly. Live bait has been the go with soft plastics also working well.

The Easter weekend is the Normanton Barramundi Fishing Competition and with over $10,000 in prizes will be a cracker. Get there early as there is only two lanes on the boat ramp and remember to have patience as it will work out.

The rock bars will all hold fish but you will need shallow lures to get the job done. Be careful as the rock bars will come out of the water at low tide and they will make a mess of your prop if you hit them. The Albion Hotel is where you go to sign up and it will be a great weekend.

Tides have been out of kilter with the tide chart so be careful when travelling outside; make sure you have enough water to get back past the tavern, as if you don’t make it the crowd will let you know. It can be pretty embarrassing to be able to step out of your boat when it’s 100m offshore just north of the tavern. After dropping anchor, you can always just walk right into the tavern to salute the crowd.

Our new charter operator has got off to a flying start landing some great fish in hard and hot times. Groover's clients have landed some nice barramundi with one lucky lady landing a good sized GT that gave her a real workout.

April usually gets the grunter moving again and you will be able to find them out the front near the sand island. Strip baits will do the job with local squid the gun bait.

The rubble patches out the front have seen some nice golden snapper caught with one angler landing and releasing a 87cm specimen that went 8.5kg. I would suggest that live bait is well worth the time and effort to collect before heading out.

Do not just sit in one spot and expect the fish to come to you; move around every 15 minutes if nothing is biting.