Outside the entrance there have been very good reports of salmon being caught mainly on surface lures. Gummies have also been bagged in pleasing numbers and quite a few kingfish have been caught out wide near Cliffy Island.

Well known Sandy Point fisherman, Greg ‘Bucky’ Buckland, won bragging rights for at least the week when he hooked into and landed a very nice tuna out from Cliffy Island on a fresh bait temptation. The fish dragged the scales down to the 12kg mark and, although not setting any records, certainly put up a great fight before being brought on board.

Greg has been fishing this part of the world for many years and says that this is not the first tuna he has heard of being caught in this area. There have been a few other reports and the last he heard of was that a crew from Traralgon recently bagged a similar size tuna. He says that there has also been quite good numbers of kingfish being caught in the same area, which is further good news.

Inside the entrance there have been quite a few bronze whalers caught, with plenty of sightings in the shallow waters.

The local jetties have been going along reasonable well but persistent winds have been a bit of a nuisance. Having said that, there have been quite a few silvers, flathead and mullet making up reasonable bags and a trip to the structures would be worth the effort.

Whiting continue to be caught in the Lewis Channel. This is where visiting boater Vic Graham and a mate decided to tie up at the long jetty to wet a line. They had some fresh Bass yabbies and in a short time they bagged out on the royals, which were all around the 35cm mark. They also managed a sprinkling of silvers and mullet. There have been other similar reports in this area for boaters and the fish should stick around for a while yet.

There have been good size snapper caught in the Franklin Channel where pilchards, fresh fish fillets and squid seem to be the best presentations. The fish have been to the 5kg mark. There have also been quite a few gummies also making up impressive numbers.

On the other side of the inlet at Yanakie there have been very good numbers of flathead taken on both sides of the tide. I received a report from Stewart Graning who decided to try his luck in the Bennison Channel on the run-off tide and bagged a very impressive bag of whiting, silvers and flathead. Land-based anglers have also been doing well off the beach where flathead and gummies have been caught with the best results at evening into nightfall, when the fish move in closer to look for prey under the cover of darkness.

The other nearby port is Port Albert where shortly before this report their pub burnt down. The wonderful building was one of the oldest hotels in the state and had already survived being badly burnt in around 1893. Unfortunately there was so much damage that very little could be saved this time and one of the most historic towns in Victoria is without a watering hole and, for that matter, a nerve centre.

There is good news however from the local general store, which is run by Ulla and Rob Killury. They say that the fishing is going along very well with whiting everywhere. Fish to the 40cm mark are not uncommon and have been caught inside the entrance. They are taking a variety of baits with Bass yabbies, pipis, strips of pilchards and small pieces of squid doing the job very well.

Good size flathead have also been caught by boaters, along with silvers and big mullet. Rob says that this should continue while the weather conditions permit. Rob has also installed a gantry for the larger fish, such as sharks, and has scales for the smaller species. He has been weighing in plenty of fish and will also take photos, or you can do that yourself for bragging rights.

A local angler, Jack decided to make use of this service and weighed in a very nice mako shark, although not huge it dragged the gantry down to the 20kg mark.