The weather sure warmed up last month. Not only did we have several days over 40ºC, we have had our worst bush fire season for several years. The whole of our estuary system has been surrounded by fires, which have burnt out over 200,000ha.

The winds that fanned the fire also caused rough seas preventing anglers to fish offshore, making it a frustrating month for all concerned. When the wind abates for a few days the huge volumes of smoke that the fires pump out have mixed with fog and sea mist making visibility offshore almost nil. The good news is that rain is predicted and hopefully it will distinguish the fires.

Early in the month before the fires started, the fishing offshore was excellent. Anglers reported getting plenty of flathead, gurnard, squid, barracouta, pinkie snapper, morwong, salmon, elephant fish and gummy shark. Anglers have reported fish being taken on most bait.

For game fishing enthusiasts I mentioned last issue some of the local Orbost Sports & Game Fishing Club Inc. members were planing a trip out to the shelf to try and capture a marlin, well the weather didn’t permit the trip to eventuate. The group although disappointed on not being able to venture well offshore, the weather was good enough to fish in closer, and as all anglers know fishing has its surprises.

The first boats that left the ramp at Cape Conran and rounded the point were amazed to see a marlin surface right in front of their boats causing mass hysteria and mayhem with anglers fumbling to find a lure. The marlin was last seen casually sliding down under the bow of one of their boats. With make shift lures they trolled the area for some time with no result, wondering why they weren’t prepared.

With plenty of baitfish and salmon around, the kingfish and mako sharks are still in good numbers.

The surf beaches are also fishing well during the day; anglers have reported getting good bags of salmon and tailor using bait and lures fishing a rising tide. Gummy shark are still being taken in the evening with the best results using squid legs, eel and fresh fillets.

The Snowy River and Brodribb River estuary has been firing for the last couple of months with bream, mullet, luderick, trevally and estuary perch being caught from the entrance at Marlo all the way up to both Lake Corringle and Lake Curlip. For anglers who prefer plenty of action salmon and tailor are smashing lures at the entrance on a run-in tide.