Some quality bream are now showing up at the mouth of the Mitchell River, right up to the Grassy Banks, where fish to 35cm are taking worms and prawns. There have been some great results from working soft plastics down very deep and slow in this area; bream to 40cm have been caught on Squidgies and Berkley Bass Minnows. Flathead are about to turn up in big numbers right along the silt jetties and it’s important to remember the five fish bag limit. Not much to report on the upper reaches of the Mitchell, but the water looks to have cleared nicely and looks very fishy.

The Nicholson is again the highlight of the big three rivers, and with clean waters right up past The Junction, the fishing will really start to fire. Expect another good run of duskies into the area downstream of the railway bridge. The big bream will be lurking in the snags well upstream, but will be very spooky in the clear water, and be a real challenge.

The Tambois already producing a great run of bream from Swan Reach right through to Lake King. Bait has accounted for some thumpers to 1.6kg, and there are plenty of anglers lining the banks each weekend looking for them. Lure fisherman should also put time in here, and don’t be surprised if some big luderick turn up as well. The dirty water in the upper reaches of the Tambo has been a little slow to clear but will fish better as summer rolls on.

Fishing is still very slow to fire at the moment with the dirty water from Lake Wellington still dominating flows through the Strait. A lot of floating weed has also been making things tough down at Hollands Landing.

Joel Crosbie was down in the Paynesville area recently and watched plenty of duskies get landed on soft plastics. This area is definitely a good starting point for land-based anglers, and for boaters, as lots of places to fish out of the wind are available either side of Raymond Island. When the afternoon easterlies get up, try the area from Wollaston Bay to Point Tyers, where flathead, bream and whiting are all possibilities.

Down in Lake King there have been some really hot sessions on the whiting around Rigby Island. Laurie Ellul contacted me recently after reading my report in a previous issue. He was looking for a few tips on the fishing before heading to Lakes Entrance, and I was glad to help out. Laurie ended up fishing the Hopetoun Channel and landed some ripper whiting to just over 40cm on sandworm. He released all his catch, and if it weren’t for the windy conditions would have caught plenty more. Thanks for the pictures and report Laurie - nice fish!