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Much on offer at Mallacoota
  |  First Published: February 2009



Plenty of fish have been caught at Mallacoota over the past month, with good bags coming from both the estuary and offshore.

The fishing offshore should only keep on improving as the water warms. There’s little wonder there are so many reports of fish being caught, as it is possible to count up to 40 boat trailers at Bastion Point on a good day.

Some big sand flathead have been caught with fish to 1.4kg not uncommon. Being in the right spot seems to be the key, as some boats are filling the freezer while others are struggling to get a feed. Some of the better bags of fish I have seen have come from the Arials.

Gummy sharks are also around with the bigger fish measuring up to 1.5m. Again you have to keep moving until the fish are found. A good depth to start looking is around the 40m mark.

Kingfish have already put in an appearance with a few fish caught on trolled lures in and around the bait schools. This is good news, as things will only improve over the coming months.

Salmon are being caught on trolled lures with beach fishers getting amongst a few fish in the gutters along the beach. When fishing the beaches at this time of year you can expect to catch the odd gummy shark as well. Fishing into the night with big baits, such as salmon fillets or salmon frames, is the way to go. Just remember to pick a gutter where you have been catching the salmon.

The lake and rivers have been fishing well. Flathead and bream are throughout the river systems, while bream, trevally, tailor, salmon, flathead and pinkie snapper are being caught in the Bottom Lake.

The tailor and salmon have been reliable in the Goodwin Sands area, particularly towards dusk. Metal lures, such as Psychos and Raiders, retrieved through the school are a sure fire way of catching a fish. Plenty of lures have been lost, too, as there have been tailor to 2kg amongst the fish. If one of these latches on, it is not uncommon to see the fish get away with the lure in its mouth.

The tailor and salmon have also been turning up in the main channel through to the John Bull channel marker.

Flathead are spread throughout the system with the biggest concentration of fish in the Bottom Lake. Having the right lure on the day makes the difference as they can ignore your offering until you find what turns them on. When fishing with clients we have had good success on green lures and white 3” Slam paddletails.

Fishing for bream has been best in the early mornings and towards dusk. Bait anglers are doing well on live baits (prawns and Bass yabbies). The Goodwin Sands area has been the best with some good-sized yellowfin bream amongst the catch.

Despite the lure fishing being tough, fish have been caught on hardbodied lures and soft plastics, with plenty of fish to 30cm caught in the rivers.

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