The water temperatures are now hovering around 20C and as a result the fishing is improving no end.

The jetties are going along very well as to be expected given the conditions. I received a report from Josie Graham who decided to try his luck from the structure as his boat had given up the ghost. He only took a couple of short rods and soon found out that this was not a very good idea.

His choice of baits was fine with Bass yabbies, white bait, squid and small strips of pilchards which were very effective as he was soon into the fish with a very good size flathead which was followed with a good size salmon. As the tide neared its run-in peak the good fishing continued with silvers and mullet making up for a very impressive mixed bag of fish. There have been numerous reports of good fishing from the structure where as usual the best results seem to be from the eastern end.

Getting back to Josie and his short rods. He learnt that these were not such a great idea even though he had a fairly good outing. The down side was that he lost quite a few fish. The reason was that as soon as he had a hook up they would head straight for the underwater furniture and of course as soon as this happened then was the end of the penny section. The only thing to do was to break the line and start over again. He soon realized that most of the other anglers had long rods, which of course kept the fish out from the pylons, a lesson well learnt.

The Lewis Channel has been going along very well as has been the case for some time where whiting have been the main catch. The royals have been to the 37cm mark and taking a variety of presentation where Bass yabbies, squid and strips of pilchards have been doing the job. There have been quite good numbers of silvers and flathead also in good numbers. It is not unusual for boaters to drop anchor near the long jetty where whiting are putting a smile on the faces of anglers.

As has been the case for some time, the entrance is well worth while a look where snapper, flathead and good-sized gummies are being taken in good numbers. As is usually the case it is a good idea to have a variety of baits, which include pilchards, squid heads and fresh fillets of fish such as barracouta and silvers.

The Franklin Channel is going along very well where boaters have been doing very well on snapper and flathead along with very good size gummies making an appearance. The better results have been on the run-out tide where the traditional baits have been doing the job very well.

At the time of this reports there have been unconfirmed reports of big sharks being hooked up but have been far too big to handle. They have just taken off at such a rate of speed that the gear has not been near enough to do the job and a guess that white pointers, whalers or something of the like have been the main suspects.

On the other side of the inlet at Yanakie the news is all positive, where land-based anglers are doing very well on the run-in tide. This is where flathead, gummies and big mullet are plentiful and even better results have been obtained if the tide coincides with dusk as the fish move in close to shore under the cover of darkness.

The good news continues as far as whiting are concerned where they are to the 40cm mark where Bass yabbies seem to be the best of the baits. If you can’t get any then try pipis are a good substitute along with pilchards or squid. There are also good numbers of pinkies being taken and are considered as good as any other table fish in our waters.

For the benefit of visitors or those not familiar with this part of the world the boat ramp at Yanakie is quite alright at high water but you should be aware that at low water there is just mud with a fair wait until the incoming tide comes to the rescue.

Good-sized fish like these snapper, flathead, mullet, whiting and squid are being caught in good numbers at Port Welshpool and Yanakie.