Huge schools of salmon and tailor have patrolled our coastline, and surf fishing has become a very rewarding pastime. Reports have come in from all our surf beaches of anglers catching big salmon, with some well over 3kg and tailor nearly as big. Baitfishers with surf rods or anglers using light tackle and spinning with metal lures have taken the best catches.
The gutters and eddies hold good-size bream, mullet and flathead, which can be caught with a variety of bait including pippis, sandworm, prawn and salted baits. Anglers have reported catches of gummy shark while fishing both in the early morning, or late afternoon into the evening using squid legs, pilchards, blue bait and fresh fillets.
Offshore the fishing is great whenever the weather permits. Anglers have complained about the windy conditions and rough seas. On good days, anglers have reported plenty of gummy shark, flathead, gurnard, barracouta, squid, and pinkie snapper caught on a variety of baits. For the anglers who want more action, things have been a bit patchy, kingfish are here with many schools sighted but anglers have struggled to capture good size yellowtail. So far Marlo reef seems to only hold rat kingfish up to 65cm. Other reefs further north including the Bemm River Reef and further on to Tamboon Reef see bigger kings caught, although this can change over night. Anglers have also reported catches of sevengill shark, blue shark, and the occasional mako shark.
The rivers and estuary are serving up premium fishing, with the prawn season in full swing and the prawns moving down towards the entrance in big numbers Big schools of fish can be found throughout the whole system. Large schools of bream can be found as far up the Snowy to the highway bridge at Orbost, so hit the platforms along the river. The same may be said for the Brodribb River, and bream are found all the way up to Lake Curlip, which makes the Brodribb an excellent place to fish. Luderick are in good numbers along the rock groynes that surround the islands and along the riverbanks. Yellow eye mullet are throughout the system and can be found from the entrance up around the islands and up the rivers to both Lake Corringle and Lake Curlip.
As mentioned, the big schools of salmon and tailor that patrol the coastline also enter the system on the incoming tide in huge numbers, which gives anglers plenty of action with metal lures. Many anglers spin from the shore, others troll lures from boats, but both have achieved excellent results.
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