June promises to be a great month to fish the Glenelg River as well as many of the other smaller systems on the south west coast.

The colder months are generally the time we see the biggest blue nose southern black bream really on the chew and increased inflows to the river systems herald the start of spawning behaviour in our estuarine species. Bream and estuary perch will start to school up and begin their recruitment before moving into full spawn mode making them easier to find in large numbers but not always easy to catch.

Late April saw an artificial opening of the Glenelg mouth with water levels becoming very high and inundating the landings and jetties along the river. This was certainly not a popular decision as the river had been fishing exceptionally well with the high water level, however the Catchment Management Authority had done all the applicable testing and deemed the opening to be appropriate.

Patterns start to really change in the month of June as rains start to increase the inflow of water into the river. Bream start to move off the edges and school up in large numbers in the mid to high regions of the river. These fish are often found out in 2-4m of water on the sounder in large schools but are not always easy to catch and can be very finicky.

Bait fishers often find success dropping lightly weighted scrub worms, peeled prawn, pilchard fillet or cut crab down to these fish. Lure fishing can become harder but deep diving hardbodies like Jackall Chubbies rolled extremely slowly along the bottom or just above often catch fish. Vibe or blade style lures are also a very successful technique to employ.

Increased flow also indicates that the time for big mulloway is near. Of course, this is dependant on an open mouth to the estuary system but generally good flow will keep the mouth open. Large mulloway move into the lower part of the river and tend to hold in the estuary section hunting baitfish in the dirty water. In past years, cast vibe lures and larger trolled hardbodies have accounted for some great fish. Trolling live mullet is also a very popular technique at this time of year.

Estuary Perch also move to the lower section of the river and can be caught in the estuary. Vibes, deep diving hardbodies, heavily weighted soft plastics or live baits such as minnows and whitebait are all very effective. The perch tend to stay in the deeper water but can often be found up on the mud flats early in morning before moving back out during the day.

For those who are keen enough to brave the colder weather, June can be a fantastic month to fish the Glenelg River, so get out and enjoy the exceptional fishing that winter has to offer.