After a long, busy tourist season the town is once again quiet and the big caravan park is nearly empty. There has been very little rain recently. This winter the cold weather is showing its head.

The fishing is starting to slow down with the water temperature in the lake already down to around 15°C. Along the beach the temperature is around 16°C with warm water still moving out wide. Looking out from Bastion Point, it’s common to see whales moving up the coast letting us know the real cold water is not far away.

Fishing from the local beaches has seen anglers catching salmon. Good gutters on the main beach and around at Tip Beach are holding fish. Yellowfin bream are still being caught around the lake entrance along with a few sand whiting. Beach worms are the best bait.

The entrance is nearly closed and with the way it’s going, I wouldn’t be surprised if it closes over the next few weeks. It’s going to take good rain to create a good entrance. The lake shutting is nothing new. It being closed off to the ocean for a few years at a time is not uncommon. Unfortunately, there are not big numbers of yellowfin bream in the lake at present. Luckily there are plenty of small snapper that will grow to a good size if trapped in the lake for any length of time.

Out wide, broadbill are still around with a number of fish caught each month. Closer to shore, out around the Star Banks, there has been some good fishing for yellowtail kingfish. One group of anglers had a ball catching a number of fish to 90cm. Sand flathead have been caught, but with the water cooling the fishing is slowing right down. It has been tough to catch a feed with no tiger flathead caught over the past month.

The dusky flathead in the lake are still being caught. It’s a lot tougher to catch a feed now than it was a month ago. Slowly worked blades and soft plastics have worked well with plenty of moving around needed to find fish. Fish have been caught as far upstream as Gypsy Point, in the bottom lake and out around the entrance.

Silver trevally are also right through the system with fish being caught in the rivers above Gypsy Point and throughout the top and bottom lake. Those fishing for bream with fresh baits, nippers and beach worms have been catching good bags of bigger-than-average fish with good numbers of smaller fish caught by anglers using lures, blades and soft plastics. Once again, fish are being caught in both the top and bottom lake and upstream towards Gypsy Point.