Fishing in October has been nothing short of exceptional. I’m not going to guarantee you a fish if you come and try, but I can say there are plenty of fish in the system.

Mulloway entered the river in large schools at the start of October. The first school that arrived blessed us with mulloway to 29lb, with many fish boated between 8 and 15lb. That’s pretty special stuff! The second school consisted of similar sized mulloway.

A frenzy of anglers targeted the estuary and throughout October we saw hundreds of fish boated. I know there will be people who read this and reckon we only catch relatively small mulloway down here and I will not disagree. But I can say, and without too much argument, that Glenelg mulloway are caught in good numbers, consistently.

The last two seasons have been quite ordinary by Glenelg River standards, but this year has been shaping up as a belter. With the early run of nice fish and the prospect of more large schools to come, look out. If you want to come and try your luck give me a call at the Nelson Hotel on (08) 8738 4011. We’ll give you the low-down, and if you haven’t been to Nelson before, we’ll send you an information pack on the town and surrounds. Call into the pub and say g’day to my wife Kerrell and me. She has started to wonder if I’ve left her for a mulloway.

Time your mulloway trips around the moon phases. I am a great believer in the Anglers’ Almanac, a cheap little book available at most tackle shops. Some of the more serious anglers use the Rothries computer charts, which really put you onto the productive times.

Lee Rayner fished the Glenelg in October and planned his trip around the Rothries suggested dates and times. Lee and his mate bagged out big time on plastics and trolled live mullet. Lee loves it down here and fishes the river, even when he’s not making TV shows. He gets this twinkle in his eye when he talks about the Glenelg and the fantastic casting habitat for bream, mulloway and perch.

If you’re coming for a look and you have access to spew or bloodworms in your area then bring them with you. They are a great bait for night fishing. Squid, pilchard and fish fillets are also good, as is crab, particularly for bream. Shrimp and gudgeon are high on my list for perch.

Failing that, contact Chris and Cheryl Carson at the Nelson Boat and Canoe Hire on (08) 8738 4048 to order fresh bait for you. They’ll get the baits ready so you can fish on arrival.

Bream fishing has also been very good with large numbers of breeder size fish having made their way upstream to spawn. They have almost finished reproducing.

Some anglers, who haven’t taken part in the mulloway madness, have caught good bags of bream in the Pritchard’s area about 45 to 50km upstream. We’ve also been catching some nice fish in the estuary as well. In both areas crab has been the preferred bait.

Some locals have just about mastered estuary perch fishing and return with the bacon every time. I’m learning some of their secrets. Shrimp, gudgeon and small muddies is about all I’ve got out of them so far. They’re a secretive lot these perch guys. I got a glimpse of a nice bag the other day with six fish to around 5lb. They were caught in the Sapling Creek area, some 20 to 30km upstream.