You just have to love April, with lots of fishing options and generally great weather, it’s now time to get really serious on the fishing front.

And if the last few weeks are anything to go by then I think we are in for some insane fishing over the coming weeks.

The big news however has been the whiting that have been in good numbers over the past weeks with the recent run being better than we have seen in several years.

The pier as always has been producing fish with the best news being that the variety of species on offer over the past weeks has been great.

The early mornings and late afternoons have seen pinkies and some good whiting being taken off the pier, with the best baits being the humble old pipi and baits of peeled prawn. Adding to this the garfish have been in decent numbers and with a bit of berley going in the water it’s also attracting some small salmon and a few trevally.

In the boats anglers have been finding good number of pinkies and some excellent whiting all along the shallow broken ground that runs from Mordialloc up through the Parkdale Pinnacles and around the mussel farm in Beaumaris Bay.

The best news for anglers has been the overall size of the whiting with a lot of the fish being taken in the 35-42cm size and fat as pigs. Best time for these fish has been early and late in the day, with some of the really good hauls being taken after sunset. Many anglers also report bigger whiting are preferring baits of mussel and fresh squid.

Off Ricketts Point and through to Black Rock it’s a similar story with whiting and pinkies being the focus for the majority of anglers. However as an added bonus Australian salmon have been making spasmodic appearances, and when they do they are generally better sized fish. Just remember however that if you want to catch them for an extended period you will do far better by sitting off the school and casting into it, rather than driving through the school with lures out the back.

Yellowtail kingfish have been quiet but saying that it seems that everything has been a bit late this year so hopefully the coming weeks will see these yellow terrors moving into town in some sort of numbers.

Out wider there have been some good reports of better sized pinkies in the 40-50cm size, and even some snapper being taken on the rubble bottom, which can be found out along the 15-16m line off Rickett Point.

This part of the world always fishes well at this time of the year with quite a lot of species on offer. The past few weeks have seen some of the better whiting reports coming from this area. With locations such as Yorkies Reef and the Anonyma shoal producing whiting reports, and while the numbers of fish hasn’t always been big, the overall size has been very impressive, with a lot of the whiting around 40cm. Best baits have definitely been mussel and squid baits.

Further to the north there has been more whiting reports and some great catches of pinkies along the reef edged that run through the Green Point and Brighton areas. As an added bonus to the bags of fish those anglers who are throwing a squid jig or two around are finding some decent calamari on various days with larger sized jigs in the 3.0-3.5 sizes finding the better sized fish.

Garfish have also been found in good numbers by land-based anglers fishing the shallow reef areas off Green Point and up around the North Road area, and while most of the garfish are of standard size there has been the odd patch of much bigger garfish to be found further to the north of the bay.

Out in the bay there is a lot of baitfish to be found along the edge of the shipping lane. With the majority of it being yakkas, slimy mackerel and pilchards it will prove to be a great area to fish for snapper in the coming weeks when the water starts to cool a little and bring the fish back on the bite.

It’s a busy time of year in this part of the world with lots of people enjoying the warm water in this part of the bay, and while the warm water may bring the people it also brings the fish, and for those anglers who want to fish the shallow areas during the night there can be some great fishing on offer.

Off the breakwall and St Kilda Pier of an evening there has been some good garfish and the odd trevally, while a larger bait cast out into deeper water has also seen a few pinkies and some nice flathead being caught. The other thing well worth doing is wading the shallows casting small hardbodied lures or plastics into any of the likely looking gutters or slightly deeper areas for some very decent flathead that like to hide away in the shallows, where they warm up and feed on the small baitfish that move over these flats.

Off the piers that run along the north of the bay anglers have been getting stuck into a range of species from mullet and garfish to small salmon and pinkies. The best results have been coming to those anglers who are fishing in the later parts of the day when the sea breeze picks up and there are less boats and people on and in the water.

Out in the boats however its bit of a different story being able to chase the fish as they move around with a few whiting reports and plenty of pinkies to be found out on the cunjevoi beds that run through the Kerford Road to Station Pier areas in 6-12m.

Overall it’s a cracker of a time of year to be on the water so get out there.