The entrance was finally opened in early May after being closed for six months.

We didn’t receive enough rain in the preceding weeks to lift the level of the lake, but rough conditions offshore saw a huge volume of water wash over the sand bar, and in the space of a few days Parks Victoria were in a position to open the entrance. Within 48 hours the lake had returned to its normal level, once again giving us access to our main boat ramp and the new floating jetty.

The first couple of months after the lake opens is normally a great time to fish, and despite some pretty ordinary weather, early signs and reports have been good.

Bream and luderick have been caught in both the lake and the channel. Trevally have been coming from the latter too. The drop offs around Pelican Point and Mud Lake have been popular places to try with the area around the mouth of the river also producing a few fish.

Sandworm continues to be the most popular bait although some anglers have had excellent results using frozen prawns and shrimp.

The surf has been excellent with a steady run of quality salmon caught when conditions have been favourable. The best results have been achieved using surf poppers with bluebait and pilchards also accounting for a few fish, including the odd tailor and trevally.

Casting metal lures has also worked well and is a good way to cover plenty of water. Picking what tide to fish has been a bit tricky with several good catches taken on the bottom of the run-out.

A few gummies are still being caught on the full moon for those keen enough to sit on the beach in the colder weather.

After missing out last year it will be interesting to see if the big schools of salmon venture into the channel now that the entrance is open. I have heard of a few being caught whilst trolling but it’s only early days and anything can happen. Anyone who was lucky enough to experience the couple of big years we had in the channel should be pretty excited at the thought of tackling these great fighting fish on light gear again.