The cold weather is now with us and naturally at this time of year the numbers of boaters will decrease but there will be plenty of land-based anglers out and about trying their luck.

Of course there will be many patches of weather when the conditions are great and returns very encouraging, just that it can be a bit on the cold side.

I received a call from one such boater who is often out in his 5m runabout. Josh Evans from Morwell says that he likes to put in at Port Welshpool when the conditions allow. He says that this is when there is not the crazy amount of boats trying to get in and out of the water seemingly all at once when arguments break out as to who should go first.

Josh says that he has been making the most of good conditions and he has a few secret spots that always seem to produce fish. He says that he doesn’t really mind not catching what he calls glamour fish in snapper as he thinks they are over rated as far as eating is concerned. This opinion is shared by many fellow anglers.

There have been positive reports where good numbers of silver trevally have been taken in the Lewis Channel with many boaters anchoring or tying up at or near the long jetty. As well as the silvers there have been very good numbers of Australian salmon making an appearance but the whiting have been a bit on the quiet side. This could be that baits intended for them have been scoffed down by other hungry surface fish.

As is usually the case, the entrance is worth a visit where good-size flathead and gummies have been bagged. No news as far as the snapper are concerned but this is not unusual for this time of year.

Further out wide there have been big flathead, salmon and gummies being caught on a variety of presentations. George Thomas and a mate had a great day out on the flathead in the deep water and over a four hour stretch they lost count of the big flathead caught but returned home with only what they required for their immediate needs.

The local jetty is always worth a visit when conditions allow but not when there is a gale blowing. On a recent trip to the area I decided to have a look and spoke to some of the locals who were trying their luck. I was not surprised when they said that the eastern end of the structure has been the most productive. This is where good numbers of salmon, silvers, flathead and mullet have been taken. The best time to try your luck has been on the run-in tide.

A short distance to the east is the sister port in Port Albert. Rob and Ulla Killury run the local general store and have a gantry that will weigh just about any size fish. He says that even though the cold weather has slowed down fishing there have been quite good size gummies being taken to around 1.6m. These fish have been caught mainly in the deeper water outside the entrance along with salmon to 2.5kg.

Back inside the entrance there have been salmon, silvers and flathead being bagged by boaters. The big salmon have also been taken off the jetty which is interesting and if they happen to stick around this area it will be a must fish location. There has also been flathead and gar fish along with the occasional leather jacket making an appearance.

There have been quite good reports from nearby McLoughlins Beach. Daryl Leighton had just returned from a visit to the area shortly before this report and said that he had a very good time on the gummies and salmon.

Daryl says that they should soon be accompanied by flathead and when this happens the fishing will be better still.