Wreck Beach is seeing very good size whiting being caught close into the shore line with specimens to the 50cm mark not uncommon.

There are plenty of pinkies to 45cm being bagged along with good size flathead. The fish are taking a variety of presentations with squid the standout presentations. The reason being that it stays on the hook much better and will stand up to the pounding waves. Surprising enough the fish are in very close which of course means that you don’t have throw out your shoulder to get to them.

Cape Paterson is always worth a try where boaters have been very happy with their efforts. Some have been launching from the beach and motoring a short distance off shore and to the west where the very good size whiting are being taken to 45cm on pipis and Bass yabbies. Land-based anglers are also doing very well off the beach where good size salmon are showing up as they usually do at this time of year when the water temperature drops. The best time has been on the run in tide with whitebait, salted pipis and surf poppers doing the job.

Still talking about land-based fishers, the area around Flat Rocks is always worth a try and this is where there are very impressive whiting, silvers, flathead and garfish also in good numbers. For boaters who know the area there are good pickings but local knowledge is a must.

The large salmon schools have arrived at Anderson Inlet and one sure-fire spot is off Point Smyth directly opposite the boat ramp at Inverloch. The best method is by trolling lures. When there is a number of boats then co-operation is the best method. By this I mean that you travel around in a circle and everyone will get some fish. Not rocket science but I had a report of one boat that saw the action and headed off for his share. The other boaters couldn’t believe what they saw when this goose decided to go against the tide so to speak and managed to ruin everything and get everyone very upset.

The salmon have moved upstream it seems and another favourite spot has been out in front of what is known as the ‘A’ frame house. This is where the salmon are also in very good numbers and taking a variety of surface lures. I watched the action from the boat ramp for a while one day and after a while a boat came to shore. I got talking to the crew, Morando from Melbourne and his mate Grant Robinson who is a local and said that they were happy with their efforts but only kept a few salmon, silvers and a nice size flathead on the run-in tide.

Steve said that the fishing had been great and lost count of how many salmon they caught but also lost quite a few for some reason. I had a look at their lures and noticed that they were fixed treble hooks. I suggested that they swap the treble set up for a single hook on a swivel and see how they go. I explained that by this method they will probably not lose as many as the fish can’t get as much purchase as the hook will just spin around.

Land-based anglers are doing very well from the jetty where there have been good numbers of silver trevally, salmon, flathead and the occasional gummy shark making an appearance. The best time has been on the run-in tide with best baits being pipis, whitebait and small strips of pilchards.

The Tarwin River has been going along reasonably well and it is interesting to see those kayaks on the water and paddling slowly along looking for whatever might be around. This form of fishing is not for everyone but those who have taken it up swear by it. I received a call from a Morwell local who bought one recently and put in a short distance downstream from the highway bridge. He paddled around the water’s edge and threw out a variety of lures for not much return. His patience was rewarded though when he bagged three very nice perch as the run-in tide neared its peak.

The surf beach at Venus Bay is always worth a look and at the time of this report there have been good numbers of salmon being taken from all five beaches. The fish have been at times in excess of 2kg, but really they are not much value on the table and are better off being returned to the water.

Having said that they can be used for bait as the high blood content makes them great for this purpose but you can only use so many.