Since last month’s edition I was lucky enough to go on a tour of Shimano’s reel factory in Malaysia. It was an education in the manufacture and quality control of their reel products, and afterwards Shimano moved us all by bus to Rompin Resort for a fishing experience I could only have dreamt of – three days of fishing for sailfish.

I caught my first sailfish in the first hour on the first day and then upgraded. Everyone in the group was able to capture and release at least one sailfish, so I can definitely recommend a gamefishing trip to Malaysia.

The adrenalin is still running through my veins, so it’s little wonder I am looking forward to a very good offshore season along our coastline. We might not have sailfish here, but with luck we’ll get good numbers of marlin and kingfish to give us plenty of action. The baitfish will arrive first, then the stripy tuna and kingfish will arrive and then hopefully the marlin will appear again.

The Snowy river has just had a good flush. This flush, combined with the simulated spring thaw from the Jindabyne Dam, means the river has been running at a good volume to ensure a good entrance at Marlo all season. With the good entrance it gives us another access to offshore fishing, and with the big tidal movements it makes the estuary fishing excellent.

Offshore the fishing is great. Anglers have reported gummies galore and mixed bags of flathead, gurnard, pinky snapper, morwong, squid, barracouta and leatherjacket.

The estuary fishing is also great, with plenty of bream being caught from the entrance up to both Lake Corringle and Lake Curlip. Luderick are holding along the rock groins and mud banks, and schools of mullet can be found throughout the whole system.

Down towards the entrance is the place for salmon and tailor. If you fish the run-in tide using metal lures the action is fast and furious. The surf beaches are fishing well with plenty of salmon and tailor patrolling along the shoreline. Anglers are getting good results using bait accompanied by a popper or spinning with light tackle using metal lures.