With warmer weather and longer days, anglers are starting to get back out on the water.

The winds haven’t been too bad and now that the football is over, it’s time to get the boats, rods and reels out and start the spring hunt for your favourite species. Snapper, gummy sharks, flathead, whiting and various toothies will all be on offer.

Tony Cassidy of Mann’s Beach called in the other day to tell me the gars are going quite well, with catches of quality fish. Tony says the trick to good gar fishing is the berley. Anglers use many different kinds of berley, so try changing your mix if you find the gars are a bit slow.

An old school buddy of mine tried the flathead GPS mark that was in my report in the August issue of VFM and was back at the ramp in 4 hours with a good esky of flathead.

Estuary perch have made a good appearance this month with Port Albert local Peter Suckling weighing in two estuary perch, at 1.5kg and 1.7kg, for the Port Albert Light Game & Sport Fishing Club.

In the coming month the snapper should start to make their yearly run inside Port Albert. These fish are usually of good size and condition at the start of the season, and the best spot to try is down at the entrance at the change of tide. I prefer a running rig with a selection of baits including whole pilchards, whole calamari, squid heads and sauri cubes. You may require sinkers as big as 16oz to hold bottom as the current can get pretty fast.

Just a note of warningfor first time visitors to Port Albert: even though you are fishing inside the entrance, this area can still get quite rough. Wind, tide and sea conditions sometimes work against one another, so be careful.

It’s almost time for my old favourite, the gummy shark, to make a strong appearance and begin to increase in numbers. Whale Bay is the best gummy spot for ocean anglers, while One Tree is the place to be for those anglers who prefer to fish inside.

For up-to-date reports and all your bait and tackle needs, call in and see us at the Alberton Roadhouse or phone (03) 5183 2450.