Welcome to the first monthly report on the Ninety-Mile Beach. I hope you find all the information you need to successfully catch a fish on this wonderful part of our coastline.

We have had some very useful rain recently, which has had an effect on the beach with dirty water and weed causing their share of problems. At present, the beaches at McLoughlins and Woodside are quite shallow, with a large amount of weed and discoloured water making fishing almost impossible. These beaches will pick up as the weather warms and the water clears up. This is an excellent area for good flathead in late spring, early summer.

At Seaspray, Merrimans Creek has opened to the sea, which has caused the water on the nearby beaches to become discoloured and weedy, making fishing difficult. If you can find the edge of the discoloured water it will be worth a try, but you may still get a small amount of weed.

There have been some salmon and flathead around the 1kg mark taken on bluebait, pipis and squid in the Golden Beach area. The weed is starting to clear around Golden Beach, but it may pay to move 100m or so up or down the beach to find a clear patch.

Loch Sport has also been producing some salmon to 1-2kg on bluebait and blue surf poppers. This area isn’t usually affected by the flush of freshwater as it’s further away from the mouth of a river or inlet than the other beaches.

With the nice spring days upon us the fishing will only improve with the gummy and seven-gill sharks patrolling the beaches at night and the salmon and flathead becoming a more regular target during the day.

The Lakes Entrance area has been fishing quite well for salmon up to 1kg taking metal lures and soft plastics. This can be an excellent way to spend a few hours early in the morning and late in the afternoon on a nice fine spring day.

The last time we had some good rain the beaches fished very well the following summer. With a flush of the inlets and creeks pushing a lot of food out into the open sea, this can spark some very good fishing. With that in mind, dust off the surf gear and get out and enjoy some warm spring days and some hot fishing nights.