Last edition I suggested we usually have an east coast low this time of year that flushes out the whole system. Well the east coast low arrived bringing torrential rain that flooded the Snowy and Brodribb Rivers, flushing away any stagnant pools of water and rubbish that had collected since the last flush.

The good news is the huge volumes of fast running water has dredged open the entrance that was beginning to sand up, making it deep and wide and again navigable to the ocean, giving saltwater anglers in our area a second access to Bass Straight.

With the winter flush and the entrance deep and wide it allows huge volumes of water to flow in and out with the tides. With that amount of water entering the system it is little wonder big schools of fish are entering and moving throughout the whole system, restocking the estuary with fresh ocean fish. Big schools of bream are moving in and getting ready for their early winter spawning run. Schools of luderick and mullet will move in with them, as well as big schools of salmon and tailor moving in and out with the tides.

The surf beaches have been fishing well all year, with plenty of salmon and tailor moving along the coast in our area. Anglers have reported getting the best results using blue bait, pilchards, pippies, and squid accompanied with a popper. Other anglers have been getting good results fishing with light gear and spinning with metal lures.

Offshore the water has cooled down and most of the pelagic fish have moved to warmer waters leaving us with our normal fishery that that we are very fortunate is good all year round. Anglers have reported big schools of salmon breaking the water and creating plenty of action for anglers that fish with light tackle. Our normal runs of fish are abundant with anglers reporting getting plenty of flathead, gurnard, pinkie snapper, squid, barracouta and gummy shark.

Don’t dismiss August for a fish around the Marlo area as the water is in tip top condition and with fresh fish on the chew, August looks set to be a great month for fishing.