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Flathead fans rejoice
  |  First Published: December 2015



A slow start to spring had local anglers biting their nails in anticipation, some even wondering if the bite was actually going to show up at all. Well I am very pleased to say the wait is over! The water has warmed up and the local fishing has improved drastically over the past few weeks with some fantastic reports filtering through.

Lakes Entrance

Fishing has been great around the local jetties with bream and trevally readily taking fresh local un-weighted prawn. Larger bream have also been taken in the quieter pockets of Cunningham arm by both lure and bait fisherman. Small style grub plastics to 80mm have proven deadly in the late afternoons hunting the sand flats and drop offs, although these fish have also been taken on cubed pilchard fished in a berley trail intended for flathead. The flathead have finally shown up on the local sand flats and have been giving anglers plenty of entertainment wading the shallows in the spring afternoons. Large, bright, prawn style plastics worked slowly over the sand will see you tangle with a few frogs, as they are a sucker for a moving target. This style of fishing is my favourite way to teach my kids how to fish plastics.

OffShore

The big boats have started coming home with smiles on their faces after enduring a couple of tough months out in the deep blue. Good size snapper to 6kg are almost a sure bet when anglers take the time to locate less fished broken bottom. The fishing has been a lot better away from the more known reefs, so some extra time may be needed before anchoring up. Large fresh fish baits fished in a steady berley trail is proving deadly on the reds in the early morning. The gummy shark fishing has been very consistent, with fish starting to come a lot closer to shore in recent weeks. A good number of fish caught just beyond the breakers along the 90mile has seen local gummy on the menu for many anglers. The fishers fishing the first two hours of the run out tide with fresh fish baits or squid legs have had the greatest success. However, the winds have been a little unpredictable of late so please double check the weather conditions before heading out over the bar.

Beaches

The beaches have been a bit of a letdown lately, with no real consistency coming from the sand at all. Anglers fishing for salmon with blue bait and surf poppers have been waiting for the high tide to align with dawn or dusk, as this has proven to be the only reliable method as of late. The local shark anglers are playing the same tune and it’s only the fishers putting in many hours to catch a gummy shark that come home with success stories. For now, anglers await the next full moon with anticipation to see what the sand will bring them.

Lake Tyers

After a very long wait and a slow start to spring, the flathead fishing at Lake Tyers has been nothing short of incredible. The flathead have had the local’s undivided attention this month, so much so that 5000 mulloway fingerlings were released into the system almost unnoticed. This initiative will hopefully provide East Gippsland anglers a viable option for chasing the silver ghosts in a local system. With the recent introduction of the 55cm slot limit on Dusky flathead the fish out at Lake Tyers seem to have really taken full advantage of it, with a very good number of fish being caught well over the legal 55cm mark. Large female dusky flathead up to 5kg have been taken regularly in the main body of water by anglers over the past few weeks and it seems many locals and visitors are taking the opportunity to get a photo with these large breeding female fish before they release them to fight another day. A leader of up to 6kg may be required to land some of the larger fish that the Lake has been producing lately. Anglers have headed to the sand flats and targeting with large bright coloured flick baits to 14cm fished on the lightest jig head the conditions allow. Even though Lake Tyers is predominantly a boater’s lake, many fishos have successfully targeted these fish from the shore or wading the warming shallow water. Wading the shallows with a spinning rod and a pocket full of plastics is a deadly method for catching flathead and will soon see you in a fight with a Lake Tyers dusky.

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