While winter was certainly one to remember with all the snapper that were being caught on a weekly basis, we are now well into spring and the next few months are going to be truly outstanding.

If I can offer one piece of advice when it comes to snapper season, it’s get to the ramps early, otherwise you’ll face a good 2 hour wait to launch your boat on most occasions. That is when the weather is calm anyway. If this season pans out to be like any in the past, there will be some unfortunate accidents caused at local boat ramps.

Preventing boating accidents should be a forethought without letting the anxiety and excitement of snapper season get in the way. Unfortunately though for some, the excitement of launching the boat and catching a red does get in the way and simple things like remembering too turn off your headlights when on the ramp and just putting your car in park rather then pulling the hand break on get forgotten. Last season, a few anglers had these misfortunes at Hastings and with the added excitement of rushing to get out to catch a red saw a few cars attempt to become boats; cars don’t float!.

Remember, it only takes a minute or two more to take a breath and check that you have done everything in the right order to avoid ruining your day as well as others.

The boat ramps are going to become extremely busy and year after year this trend continues, especially with more and more boats hitting the water in the nice weather. People new to boating can have difficulties arise which can lead to minor accidents along with taking a considerable amount of time to launch, causing other boaters to get frustrated and often mouth off.

All this does is inflame the situation, while the easiest and least time consuming task is too ask to lend a hand and clear the problem with minimal effort. Hey, you might also be able to tech them something, which will help them in the long run and prevent future problems from arising.

Though some mindless people do consider sitting at the local ramp having a beer on a hot day while watching the mayhem entertaining, I’m sure if they just offered some help to those in need problems wouldn’t arise and everything would run smoothly. Still, the more we can all lend a hand, the better it will be for everyone.

October is really the start of something big when it comes to snapper season and although the reds have started off nicely, the bigger models are loitering around the Corinella area. Over the past five or so years, Corinella has been producing some sensational fish early in the season and this year has been no different.

Local angler Jason Anderson managed a couple of nice fish while fishing just south of Spit Point. Fishing in the early hours of the morning, he fished the run out tide to catch one snapper of 5kg with a second fish of 4kg. Both took fresh squid baits.

The run out tide has proved to be the time to be fishing in this area of late with many anglers reporting their captures during this tide.

First light has been the key as boat traffic isn’t as congested as during the day.

Two other locations which are also fishing well are along the edge of the channel near Elizabeth Island and in Coronet Bay. Like always, you do have to be quiet in these locations due to the shallowness of the water as the slightest noise can spook fish easily.

Shaun Furtiere from Think Big Charters reports that the snapper are really going well around Corinella and are creating an ongoing interest.

Squid and pilchard baits have accounted for snapper to 8kg or so over the past few weeks.

Another hot location that will see quite a few anglers anchored up will be between the bottom end of the Middle Spit and Hanns Inlet. You could almost call this the beginning of the north arm and it is a very popular location to catch snapper from during the run out tides. This is the time when the fish enter the Port and swim up current towards the top end and hitting them off at this location yields good results.

If you are looking for consistent locations to catch snapper though, you really can’t go past Corinella as it seems to be the place to be and will continue on well throughout the rest of the season.

Gummy sharks have also been a popular catch although they have been caught as a by-catch while searching out snapper. Not that anyone would complain, most have been ranging from 3-8kg and seem to be about in solid numbers.

As the temperature warms, the summer season usually sees an influx of smaller males and while most are caught as a by-catch, they certainly are welcomed.

The run of calamari throughout Western Port hasn’t gone unnoticed with plenty of anglers getting stuck into them from the Flinders Pier.

Of late, some of the models have been exceptional with angler Cameron Christiano reporting he weighed one he caught that went just under 5 kilos. It was caught during the high tide on a baited jig.

Other anglers have also reported some impressive models taken on both artificial jigs and baits.

This season has already begun with a bang and I can’t wait to see what the coming weeks bring. If you catch a cracker and want bragging rights, flick me an email with your report along with a photo at --e-mail address hidden--