After a cold wet winter it’s starting to warm up. With spring here and summer around the corner, more visitors are heading to the far south coast. It’s a great time to be here, before the town gets real busy over the Christmas holidays. The offshore water temperature is warming up around 18°C, a lot warmer than Mallacoota to the south.

With the warmer water, the fishing is starting to pick up. Good catches of tiger and sand flathead from between the Pinnicles and Haycock Point have been had, with good size snapper still caught on the inshore reefs. Morwong, leatherjackets and nannygai are also being caught on the inshore reefs.

Yellowtail kingfish are about, and it’s worth getting out there and chasing these fish. The full moon gets the tide moving, which is the best time to chase kingies anywhere from South Head down to Mowarry Point. Whether trolling lures, live baiting or jigging, you need to keep an eye on the sounder. Once fish are found, you can then work out the best way to catch them.

Keep an eye out for whales that are migrating at the moment. Some have been spotted very close to shore. Salmon are still on the local beaches with sand whiting and yellowfin bream being caught on beach worms on the rising tide. Dusk or dawn tides are the most productive. With the amount of salmon around, you can expect to encounter them in local estuaries as they move in and out with the tide, terrorising bait schools and anything else they come across.

Fishing from the rocky headlands has been good for luderick and big drummer. More and more people are getting into this style of fishing and the Eden area has some productive spots for it. The local estuaries are starting to fire up with the warm water. Dusky flathead are on the go with some good black bream further upstream.

The fishing will only improve over the coming months. In the fresh at the top of the rivers, bass fishing is coming alive. Remember, this is a catch and release fishery, as they are too valuable to only catch once.

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A great day with good size flathead on the bite.