With summer on its way, the fishing is picking up, along with everyone’s spirits. We’ve definitely all had enough of the cold weather!

Salmon are still plentiful on all the local beaches with good gutters between Tip Beach and Betka Beach. Plenty of fish are moving around the entrance area.

The numbers of fish ensure you will catch some, as they have been hitting anything that moves in front of them. If you’re not catching them it’s because they aren’t there.

Salmon schools also have been roaming the lake, with bream anglers encountering fish above Cape Horn.

Flathead are still being caught by anglers willing to take the time to find them. At this time of year, 1 of warmer water can mean the difference between a successful session and a fishless one.

When chasing flathead, you may need to try a range of different lures before you find one that works.

I recommend a slow retrieve. At this time of year you can see good results by working the lure painstakingly slowly.

The main fishing effort has been directed at black bream. Plenty of them are holding upstream from Gypsy Point for spawning, but they can be hard to catch.

Yes, on some days they’re switched on and it can be easy to get them, but usually it’s a challenge.

I recommend suspending hardbodied lures around the snags but you can also catch fish on soft plastics, blades and vibes.

Of course, as with all the snags in these areas, lure losses are high.

As I mentioned in my last report, the boat ramp at Bastion Point is going ahead, so we can look forward to better access to the ocean.

The concern now is the current fishing regulations for flathead. When fishing offshore you are allowed 20 fish per person, so four people on an extended trip can keep 80 fish one day, then 80 the next, and so on. If this heavy fishing pressure continues, it won’t be too long before you’ll have to travel a long distance from the boat ramp just to catch a feed.

The main fishing effort has been directed at black bream. Keeping warm makes fishing all day fun for young people.