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Time your tides to maximise your prize
  |  First Published: March 2016



According to Rob and Ulla Killury who run the local general store, the fishing in Port Albert has really fired up. This is great news as far as the fishing community is concerned. Whiting and other species have been bagged off the jetties. The fish have been of very good quality and take baits such as pips, bass yabbies, squid strips and sand worms. There have also been other species such as garfish, mullet, silvers and flathead that have made up very presentable bags.

Rob says that local anglers Belinda Baird and her husband recently caught gummy sharks to the 10kg mark on fresh bait they purchased from the general store. They also have scales at the store to weigh catches as well as a camera for bragging rights.

The area known as the basket beacon has gone very well, there are great numbers of snapper to the 7kg mark taken on pilchards on the run-off tide. There have been many boats out on the water at night and when conditions have been right there have been good numbers of big reds bagged on traditional presentations. Still inside the entrance, in the Old Port Channel there have been very good numbers of whiting caught on the usual baits as well as very good snapper. In what is known as the Wreck Gutter, which is not far from the Port Albert Entrance there have also been good numbers of whiting caught as well as quality flathead, making the effort worthwhile.

I received information from a visiting boater who, alongside mate Andrea Johanson decided to try his luck in an area known as the Port Albert Channel. They had heard of good-size fish, mainly flathead that were caught on the run-off tide. Armed with a variety of baits, the pair headed out early one morning, but weren’t so excited about the seal that was intent on following them for quite a fair way. They were fortunate however when their unwanted visitor decided to leave them and look some place else. They quickly found some yanks around the 1kg mark, and caught them with natural baits and came away with a lovely bag of fish.

McLoughlins Beach is not far away and is situated at the eastern extreme end of the lakes system, located at the start of the 90mile beach. Thumper whiting are swarming here as well as big garfish, flathead and gummy sharks. There is a great boat ramp that caters for land-based anglers who wish to try their luck. Best results here come on the run-in tide at night, when flathead and a variety of gummies and toothy species come out to play. Some brave souls swim out beyond casting range after dark and drop down bait in the hope that a larger predator will grab it. Good luck to them!

A short distance from Port Albert to the west is Port Welshpool, where the boat storage is always good for up to date information as well as reliable fishing information.

There have been positive reports of kingfish in good numbers taking a variety of lures. The fish mainly seem to be in the rat category, but there are plenty of them, and they really put up a great fight when hooked. There continues to be positive reports of quality fish caught in the Lewis Channels and local legend Rob Cartridge says that he has had some great results in the same area. As well as whiting there has been a sprinkling of other fish such as silvers, mullet, flathead and garfish. Rob is a very keen snapper fisherman and has had great results on the last two hours of the run-in tide and the first two hours of the run-out flow. He says that gummies are also in very good numbers and the water temperature is good.

There have been reports of bronze whalers and hammerhead sharks making an appearance and taking a variety of presentations.

The jetties are the places to be, and land-based anglers have done very well on the run-in tide. This is where fish such as flathead, silvers, mullet, garfish and a few reasonable size whiting are caught on a variety of natural baits.

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