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Glenelg Mouth Open for Bream and Mulloway
  |  First Published: August 2005



Greetings from the great southwest of Victoria. In the last issue I reported that the mouth of the Glenelg River was blocked. I’m pleased to report that it was let go early in July so we now have a river that is very tidal.

Now fishing for bream is best on an incoming tide. The locals who fish the estuary take two good anchors with them and put in a lot of effort to get both the stern and bow anchor right. They anchor across the incoming tide and fish with the moving water. The bream can be quite spooky. There is good structure on the bottom so a bit of checking around with your fishfinder is worthwhile.

I have just done up some mud maps of the estuary so call into the pub and I’ll give you one. I have marked spots that you should try and areas that you should take care in.

Crab is still the preferred bait during the day. At night, whitebait, spew worms, clickers (bass yabbies) or pod worms work best. We still have the problem of small bream pinching baits so the harder crab lasts a bit longer on the hook. After dark, the small pickers seem to be less prevalent so the softer baits work.

Use local pod worms that can be pumped from the sand in the estuary. They’ve always been good bait and will work best after dark. Thread generous clumps onto a no.3 hook with a running sinker. I like to fish on the sand in the estuary because this is where the bream will be foraging around for pod worm. Keep a sharp eye open during the day to find where the schools have been digging. Some of the holes they leave are huge and quite obvious. Anchor just off the holes and fish to them.

I can nearly guarantee you soft plastic guys a feed of bream. I am getting reports of fish on a daily basis. When the mouth was blocked, Chris Carson from Nelson Canoe and Boat Hire had ten days off because his business was under water. He fished everyday with plastics and bagged out every day. During one hot session Chris had caught heaps and so decided to experiment. He tried some ten different plastics and reported no difference when the fish were in an obvious feeding mode. After an intense ten days of experimental fishing Chris reckons that the Atomic Fat Grub in brown crawdad is his favourite. He uses a Climax leader attached to 4lb Fireline.

Chris is very approachable and along with his wife Cheryl and daughters Amber and Bonnie, will help you with boat hire and fresh bait, including local pod worm, black crab, mullet and whitebait as well as frozen baits. They also stock a range of plastics and tackle relevant to the river. His knowledge of the river is fantastic because he works with his family on the river every day.

Bream have also been reported from upstream. Hutcheson’s landing and McLennan’s punt have produced fish of size. Peter Jones from Mt. Gambier, who likes to fish with a double rig, told me about one night at McLennan’s when he got two double headers of size bream on whitebait.

Mulloway have been caught at Dry Creek and Sandy Waterhole on trolled mullet as well as pilchard and spew worms for those fishermen anchoring. If you have been reading my reports each month, you’ll have picked out a pattern on the mulloway this year, which is unusual. They have, for the most part, hung around the same stretch of river. Some of the more stubborn fishermen have fished their favourite spots to no avail.

For newcomers and regulars, please be aware that the boatsheds spotted along the Glenelg River house some fantastic classic boats so please obey the speed limits. The wake that some boaters leave behind really bounces these older boats around and some have been damaged.

Thanks to all of you who have emailed me. Contact me at the Nelson Hotel on (08) 8738 4011.

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