The long cold winter is now behind us and the fish have decided that it’s time to have something to eat.

The local jetties have come out of slumber and land-based anglers have been doing very well when conditions have allowed. I received a call from visiting angler Bruce Donaldson who is a regular to this part of the world and doesn’t own a boat. Bruce says that this doesn’t stop him from fishing the coastal waters from the shoreline. He was with his son Jamie on a recent trip and fished the eastern end of the jetty along with quite a few other hopefuls. It wasn’t long before the fish came along and in very short time they had a very impressive mixed bag of Australian salmon, silver trevally, flathead and mullet. The fish were caught mainly on whitebait and silverfish. Other anglers were also trying their luck where the best results were on the incoming tide.

The Lewis Channel has also come out of a long cold winter dormant stage where boaters are doing well on whiting salmon and silvers. The last of the run-out tide and first of the inflow is producing best results which is usually the case in this part of the world. Quite a few boaters tie up to the long jetty where they have been doing very well with whiting being in fairly good numbers. The fish are to the 36cm mark and taking a variety of baits including Bass yabbies, pipis and silver fish.

When conditions have allowed the entrance is also going along very well where snapper have been taken in fairly good numbers along with flathead and good-sized gummy sharks.

The Toora Channel is a favourite with many boaters where Geoff Noad and dad Stan can often be found motoring around the area looking for whatever comes along. There have been good reports from locals and visitors who have been doing fairly well and just before this report I received a call from a visitor Harry Claymore who put in from the local boat ramp and headed for a special spot and was very happy when along came three very nice snapper to 3.5kg taken on pilchards. He also managed a couple of very nice flathead to cap off what he said was a worthwhile effort.

On the other side of the inlet at Yanakie Tony Holgate runs the caravan park and says that through the winter there had not been much activity but now the snapper have made an appearance. Tony says that Rod Francis knows the area well and shortly before this report he managed some very nice snapper that were caught on pilchards to 3kg.

There are very good numbers of flathead and silvers being taken on a variety of presentations but as yet the whiting have not made an appearance but hopefully that will change before my next report.

Outside the entrance in the deeper water salmon are being bagged on natural baits and surface lures. Out wider there have been quite good numbers of snapper, flathead and gummies being bagged but it can be very hard on fuel so if you are contemplating a long trip then take plenty.

Not far down the road to the west is Shallow Inlet where the news is positive with salmon, silvers and flathead in good numbers and a trip to the area should be well worth the effort. The whiting have been a bit on the scarce side as they usually are at this time of year but this is not unusual but as the water temperature continues to rise that will change.

Snapper to 6kg have been caught of Port Welshpool like this cracker.