While those awful summer winds and easterly blows have gone, the fishing still remains very good.

The local jetty is still well worth a visit where land-based anglers are being rewarded for their efforts. A mixture of fish are being caught including mullet, silvers, salmon and even the occasional whiting. The best time is on the run-in tide. On my last visit I came across John Raison and Wally Grayson from Morwell who had a mixture of mullet, leatherjackets and flathead that were caught on the eastern end of the structure.

This seems to be the most productive spot for some reason but no one can explain why but it really doesn’t matter I suppose as long as the fish respond.

On the other side of the inlet at Yanakie Tony Holgate has the caravan park and says that the fishing has been great. Two of his regulars Brad and Jamie Francis have been doing very well on the gummies. On their last trip they bagged out in very short time and then continued to catch and release the fish until they became sick of it, something that doesn’t happen to most of us.

Another of his locals Rod Higlett has been targeting the whiting with very good results where they have been to 40cm. If there is a down side to this area it is that when the tide runs out there is just mud. This means that there is a long wait if you are caught and have to wait until the return run-in tide allows you access to the boat ramp.

Many anglers are taking their own cleaning facilities such as ironing boards (preferably not the good one) to clean the fish other wise there can be a bit of inconvenience. Tony is negotiating with the authorities so that he can install a proper structure at his expense and is still awaiting a reply.

Maffra angler Mitch Dignan is just 14 years old but has achieved what most of us mortals can only dream about. With a crew out wide Mitch was looking for a big snapper and even in his wildest dreams he didn’t expect a ripper big red that came along. After a long battle he landed the big fellow that stretched the tape way out to 98cm. He was keen to weigh his fish but with the scales only reaching 13kg it was not near enough but has a photo to remember his great effort.

Before compiling this report I always have a chat to Phil Janson who runs the Seabank Caravan Park located just out of Port Albert on the foreshore. Phil has been itching to get out on the water but commitments at the park restrict his activities but he gets plenty of mail as far as the fish are concerned. He says that there has been good numbers of pinkies making an appearance inside the entrance and just behind his park there have been pinkies, silvers and whiting being bagged in good numbers. Phil says that the idea is to use small baits and light sinkers for the best results.

Alan Lowe is a keen angler who runs the Yarram Bargain centre and says that the awful east wind has been blowing like crazy. As a result the swan grass has been everywhere inside the entrance and making life difficult but even so there have been reasonable bags of fish making the efforts worthwhile.

Outside the entrance there have been numerous reports of gummies being taken about 1.5km off shore along with good size snapper and flathead.

The Knox fishing club recently visited Port Albert and took on the locals. Despite not having as much local knowledge as their opponents they completely out fished them. Among the fish caught were very good numbers of gummies, snapper and flathead that were caught on a variety of presentations about 1.5km off shore.

Rob and Ulla Killury run the local general store and have installed a gantry, which will accommodate virtually any size fish along with scales for the smaller ones. Rob says that they are only too happy to weigh any fish and you can take a photo to mark the occasion if you wish.