This month there have been some mixed fortunes offshore, mainly due to the high winds and stormy weather. As the opportunities to get offshore arose, so did the success rates with the snapper. Roy Wood and the boys caught themselves 15 pinkies to 5lb and the next day Steve Warner and the lads from Rochester caught themselves another 20. As usual, patience and a slow constant berley trail were the keys to success.

Later in the month, charter boat Chaser returned to Port Albert and bagged out on good quality snapper to 8lb as well as 20 or 30 nice flathead (with a number of them over 60cm). Add to that some Coutta to 5ft and needless to say, the boys from Corporate Charters were all smiles.

According to Chaser’s Skipper, Dave Steinhauer, the bag-out occurred by 1.30pm. This happened quite some way along the coast at McGauran’s Beach in 25m of water. Coutta and the usual bucket mouths (gurnard) were a nuisance as were the juvenile slimeys, so be prepared to take along lots of sinkers and rigs to get the results.

On the shark front, it’s been a little quiet, except for some patchy gummy action at Kearney’s Entrance and a freak hook-up by Danny Kerrison near one tree (inside). It seems he hooked onto something large but unidentifiable, just as it was turning dusk. After a long fight and a bit of a tow along the channel, he identified the monster as an estimated 12-foot white pointer, and as such, had to disengage the fish immediately. Rick Berryman has also had some good gummy results in the Whale Bay area using either trevally or coutta fillets.

As for the whiting, it’s still quiet, with patchy reports of catches around towards Mann’s beach and in the old Port Channel. Clickers and pippis are the best baits for these. On the jetty front, Mick Alderson from the Port Albert Hotel tells me that there was an 8lb cobia caught last weekend from the co-op pier! This fish has been photographed by Mick and according to locals, it’s an extremely rare occurrence as this is a long way south for the species. The usual trevally, flathead and the odd cobia are being caught around the piers on squid and pippis.