It’s time to rug up for a day on the lake fishing; as usual, the cold weather has got the fish on the chew!

This time of year very few anglers are on the water, which adds to the appeal.

The town is quiet, with many of the food shops closed, and it will stay that way until things warm up later in the year.

There is little to report on the offshore fishing scene with very few boats venturing out.

With the water around 14.5º, it is not going to be worth heading offshore until things warm up.

Along the beaches, salmon are building up in numbers, with the odd fish entering the lake. In the coming months we will see them enter the lake in plague numbers.

There are plenty of tailor in the lake, but the majority are only small choppers. Nevertheless, the big tailor are there, but landing one is another story!

Plenty of good-sized trevally have been caught in the Bottom Lake, with fish turning up wherever the schools of bait can be found.

Some of these trevs are around 2kg, which are excellent fighting fish on light bream gear.

Flathead are still being caught in both the Bottom and Top lakes.

Some days the fish are really on the go, allowing a bag limit (five fish) to be caught in less than half an hour; the key is moving around to find the fish.

Bream, bream and more bream, yellowfin and black, have been on the go, with fish caught anywhere from the Bottom Lake through to Gypsy Point.

The tough days for fishing have been when there is not a cloud in the sky and it’s mirror-glassy. A bit of wind and cloud cover will mean plenty of fish caught with 40cm-plus fish not uncommon.

The yellowfin bream have been more evident in the Bottom Lake, but good numbers have also been caught in the Top Lake.

At present the water is crystal clear. A little rain would be great to put some colour in the water and really fire things up.

The Betka River is still closed to the ocean and, with clear, cold water, there has been little to report.