The one good thing about wintertime is that there are usually no long queues lining up at boat ramps. Contrary to a wide held belief there are very good patches of weather when the returns are great.

At Welshpool outside the entrance there have been very good results. I received a call from a visiting boater Henry Gordon who checks in at the local boat storage to see what’s happening. This is always a good idea as can be expected they have up to date information as to the weather and fishing conditions as well as places to try your luck.

He decided to try his luck out wide on a fine calm day with not a ripple on the water. He went out as far as Cliffy Island and decided to see if he could catch a salmon. He and his mate threw out a lure each and in no time they were into the torpedo fish that were to 2kg. The fish were on the surface in a huge school and really savage when taking the lures.

The action continued and although they bagged out they lost many more than they caught but that didn’t matter as they had plenty anyway and only kept what they wanted. They then went looking for something else and were soon into the flathead that were caught on soft plastic lures and after catching as many as they wanted, returned home with a very impressive bag of fish.

The entrance is always worth a visit where the best results seem to be on the run-out tide where traditionally gummies, snapper and big flathead like to call home. The best of the baits include squid, fish fillets and pilchards.

The whiting are a bit on the quiet side as they often area at this time of year. The best place to try your luck is in the Lewis Channel on the run-in tide. The whiting have been to 36cm, which is normal for this area. Boaters like to anchor or tie up to the long jetty, which seems to be the most productive spot.

Land-based anglers have been doing all right off the jetty when conditions have allowed. This is a bit of a lucky dip area as just about anything can pop up including leather jackets, silvers, flathead, squid and whiting. The best area seems to be on the eastern end of the structure form some reason.

On the other side of the inlet at Yanakie Tony Holgate says that the fishing has been non-existent as the weather has been awful and the area not worthwhile visiting.

The other port to the east is Port Albert. I usually contact Phil Janson who runs the Seabank Caravan Park, which is just before reaching the township. Phil says that the fishing has slowed down as expected at this time of year. Flathead have been the main catch along with salmon that are making a visit to the area worthwhile.

The jetty is worth a try where there has been an assortment of fish being caught mainly on the run-in tide. Mullet, silvers, flathead, barracouta and squid have been making up most bags. There have also been very good numbers of big garfish being caught.

Rob and Ulla Killury run the local general store and have also installed a gantry to handle anything big that might come along. They also have scales to weigh the smaller fish. Whiting are a bit on the slow side but inside the entrance there are very good numbers of salmon being taken on natural baits and lures. There is also good numbers of garfish being taken on both sides of the tides and they should stick around.

Rob says that outside the entrance around 1.5kg out boaters are doing well on GPS marks where there are plenty of flathead and gummies making up impressive bags. He says that a trip to the area on a fine day would be time well spent and he will be only too pleased to weigh any fish.