The weather is good, the sea is calm and the fishing is great. Fish are here in big numbers with all species being caught on baits and lures.

Mullet are still here in big numbers and seem to be just about everywhere. Bream are moving about and some monsters are being caught. Estuary perch are moving onto the snags and some good catches have been reported. Luderick are being caught but have not moved onto the rock groins around the islands. Salmon and tailor are still plentiful down towards the entrance. Flathead are being taken below the Marlo jetty.

Coringal, Point Ricardo and Conran beaches are fishing well for salmon, trevally and flathead. Best baits are bluebait, whitebait and pillies, with surf poppers or soft plastic grubs a must. Plenty of salmon are also being taken on Lazer and Raider lures.

The Snowy River has been producing some good catches in the lower reaches beginning at the Devils Backbone through to the entrance. Perch and luderick are being taken on the snags, while bream and mullet have been caught along the reeds.

The Snowy River, above the Orbost Bridge, is where most of the action is happening. Bass are on the prowl and some really good catches are being made. One of the best captures was a trophy bass of 1.995kg and 52cm long (4lb 5.5oz in the old scale) caught by a keen young and responsible angler, Terry Janson, using spinnerbait. The bag limit for bass is two per day and most bass that are caught by responsible anglers are released to live, breed and fight another day.

The Brodribb River has been the best for bream with some good bags taken between the little Snowy and Lake Curlip. The area around Cabbage Tree Creek is producing bream, luderick and estuary perch and seems to be where most fish are being taken. The stretch of water from the bridge up is where some really big bream have been caught. Local angler Colin Weir bagged a beauty weighing 2.01kg and measuring 48cm long only to be outdone by a visitor from Nicholson Fishing Club with a even bigger bream. Numerous other catches of good fish have been reported.

When the fishing’s hot, it’s hot! Fishing off Cape Conran, Ray Evans and Stan Dunn had a purple patch bagging out on gummy shark and flathead, but the really hot news… one of Ray’s gummies measured 1.8m and weighed 41kg cleaned! Now that’s a good catch!

CAP

Terry Janson caught this 52cm Australian bass on a spinnerbait.