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Mulloway Mayhem
  |  First Published: May 2005



At the moment, many local anglers are praying for a dry winter and the continued presence of mulloway in the river.

The mulloway seem to be living mainly in the area between Donovan's Landing up to Sapling Creek. While other areas of the Glenelg River have been okay, this particular stretch of river has been the hot spot for the last three seasons, producing amazing fishing.

Live mullet, either trolled or suspended under a float, have caught their share of fish. One shack owner at Reed Beds has accounted for over 70 mulloway to 15lb this year. These lucky folk have the privilege of sitting in their lounge chairs watching television and fishing for the lovely mulloway – quite unique.

Call into the Nelson Hotel and we will show you how to set up a rig that will allow you to put your live baits in an area and keep them there. This will improve your strike rate, especially if you are going to fish all night. The rig helps to keep your bait in the chosen spot.

The bottom fishers have been catching their share with spew worms, pilchards and rabbit. Jointed Rebels or Rapalas, particularly in blue, Attacks in black and yellow and gold Galaxia Minnows work fine. Troll slowly along the river’s banks. I like to troll with at least one live mullet out the back. My second line tolls a lure. Keep one eye on your fish finder and the other on your rod with the live bait. Both will send off an alarm if there are any big mulloway near.

Always remember to have your drag set very lightly so that you don’t scare the fish off when they first hit and run. I know of plenty of fishing rods that have been lost to the river’s muddy depths. Get to know how much is one third of the breaking strain of your line and don't set your fighting drag over that. These fish hit so hard that you really need to use your best knots and gear. Any weak spots will show and you’ll have another story about the one that got away!

Bream catches have been reported throughout the river, with nice fish as far up as Dartmoor (around 70km up stream) caught on scrubworms. These worms can be sourced from under old logs – dig down in the moist soil under the log or bark and you should get plenty.

At the mouth of the Glenelg River, anglers are still mainly using black crab. A fish finder is recommended to find good structure down at the estuary as there are some amazing holes down there.

A few locals love to fish up at the Pritchards Landing area this time of the year, and swear by cut pilchard for bait. The best technique to use there is to fish a spot for about 20 minutes before moving on to another site, even if you have caught a fish there. You might move 30 times in a session, but it is worth it. Nose your boat into the bank, cut the pilchard into 2cm pieces and fish along the river’s edges (or if the water is dirty, fish out towards the centre). Just remember to berley often and you should have some good fun.

If you have photographed some nice catches, you can email them to me at --e-mail address hidden-- for possible inclusion in this report. Make sure you include you name, along with details of where the fish was caught and what technique was used. Call in to the Nelson Hotel and see Kerrell or myself for any advice on what’s been biting. Mention this article and we'll buy you a drink!

This 42cm bream weighed 3lb and was caught on a crab.

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