We’ve had excellent weather over the past month with little to no rain here in Mallacoota. The rain has been to the north and to the south of us, but here on the corner it has been missing us no matter where it comes from.

Recently, the town has been busy with fishers enjoying the good weather. It’s pretty standard to have 50-60 boats at the boat ramps each day. The past month has seen some great fishing offshore. Boats using the Bastion Point Boat Ramp have had no problems as the harbour has recently been dredged and the seas have been flat with only the odd day of big seas.

Out wide, the water temperature has been up and down with the water around 24°C. There were mahimahi caught. Those who were lucky enough to latch onto a few fish are still talking about how great they are to eat. Striped tuna were also caught in the same area.

Out around the Star Banks, good numbers of yellowtail kingfish have been caught with fish up to a metre in length. Fish were being caught on jigs, with live slimy mackerel the best choice for bait. Broadbill are still being caught with anglers travelling up to 70km offshore to catch fish. Good numbers of sand flathead are also showing up. Tiger flathead have not featured in the catch as much as they had in the past few months.

Gummy sharks are still being caught to the north and south of Mallacoota. The water temperature really dropped, but recently it warmed up again. It won’t be long before it cools right off, only to warm up again around Christmas. Along the beaches, salmon have started to turn up along with good-size tailor.

Fish are being caught down around Tip Beach and the entrance to the lake. The entrance to the lake is a touch wide, and with the way it’s going the lake could be closed to the ocean soon with a heap of sand inside the entrance really choking things right up. There is sand built up where it hasn’t built up before.

Good numbers of silver trevally are in the lake along with tailor. Plenty of small pinkie snapper are also in the lake. If the lake closes for any length of time there will be some good fishing for these fish.

A few yellowfin bream are also being caught. Black bream are a real challenge to catch. Bait fishers are still coming in with good bags of fish. Flathead are still being caught, but they have really slowed down as the water is cooling. Plenty of schools of whitebait are in both the Top and Bottom lakes, giving plenty of tucker for fish to eat over the coming months.