The fishing has been very positive when conditions have allowed. As in most places when that awful east wind blows in the fishing seems to go off and this has been the case in this part of the world.

Local jetties have been productive where leather jacket, flathead, mullet and silvers taking a variety of baits. For some reason the eastern end of the main jetty has been producing best results. Bass yabbies have been a popular presentation along with sand worms, pipis, mussels and small strips of squid.

The Lewis Channel has been reasonable when conditions have allowed where whiting are to 37cm along with silvers and a few flathead.

The entrance is worth a try and as usually is the case boaters can be seen at anchor or being tied up to the long jetty. Of course the Lewis Channel flows past this area and is a good spot for whiting, silvers and flathead that are being taken on the last half of the run-out tide.

The Franklin Channel has been fairly good for snapper, gummies and big flathead that have been taking a variety of larger presentations including squid, fresh fillets of silvers and pilchards.

Tony Holgate runs the caravan park at Yanakie and says that the fishing has been great in his part of the world as it has for quite some time, which is welcome news. Tony said that two of his regulars Jamie and Brad Francis from Menzies Creek stayed at his park for a few nights. They had a great time on the whiting, silvers and big flathead that are showing up in good numbers as they usually do at this time of year.

Land-based anglers have also been well catered for according to Tony who said that big flathead are being taken from the beach. Geoff Graham from Dandenong was one lucky angler with a very nice bag of yanks and already has booked a return to Tony’s caravan park hopefully to do it all again.

The area around Port Albert has also been the victim of easterly winds which has done nothing to lift the spirits but when there has been a break the fishing has responded in kind. Rob Killury runs the Port Albert General Store and as well as scales to weigh catches he also has a gantry where the larger predators can also be weighed. On the positive side Rob says that there have been plenty of large flathead being taken on a variety of baits and soft plastic lures in the Old Channel.

Near the entrance good numbers of quality whiting are being taken to 40cm along with big flathead. Also inside the entrance there are good numbers of gummies making an appearance and taking pilchards, squid and a variety of fresh fish fillets.

A comparatively new innovation is creeping in as far as boating is concerned in the form of kayaks. These are foot powered and proving a real hit with just about any type of fish being caught. I have seen fish such as whiting, silver trevally, flathead, gummy and a host of other fish being caught by this method. Some will say that it’s not their preference which is fair enough but having seen then in action there is no doubt they can get into those tight spots and the results speak for themselves.

McLoughlins Beach has also been very productive when the wind is not blowing where good numbers of whiting have been caught along with salmon, gummies and garfish.

The jetty has also been going along very well where the best time to try your luck is on the run-in tide. Garfish, mullet, flathead and silvers are in fairly good numbers.

Soft plastic lures are worth a try along with white bait, squid and silver fish.