Narooma can be a haven for fishos during April because just about all species are available, offshore and in the estuaries.

With the water hovering around 22°, those anglers fishing the continental shelf are in for a great time.

Black and striped marlin, yellowfin tuna, albacore and an array of shark species will be chewing, with a mixture of different techniques getting the desired results.

April usually means bigger yellowfin tuna patrolling our waters, with trolling skirted lures a great method to find some.

You get to cover a lot of water and once you do locate fish, reverting to a cube/live bait trail can be dynamite.

Fish over 70kg can be encountered and if previous April diaries are anything to go by, this could be a bumper month.

Over previous weeks there have been a handful of solid tuna to 50kg caught but the majority have been school fish to 20kg.

Albacore have played the game but these have mostly been quite small and are mixed with the striped tuna schools which are plentiful at the moment.

Expect a few marlin around the schools of small tuna; the billfish have been a little hard to find lately but that will change, with plenty of marlin having been caught to the north of Narooma.

The fish that have been caught have responded well to switch-baiting live baits after teasing them up. This method takes a bit to get used to, but once your crew has it together, expect some dramatic increases in catch rates.

Montague Island is alive with kingfish but the majority are on the smaller side. The legal limit is 65cm and most of the fish are 55cm to 63cm.

There have been a few bigger fish mixed with the rats but it may take you awhile to get a few.

The northern and western sides of the island are holding fish with jigs and squid working best.

If you persist with live bait you will get bigger fish and a trolled live slimy mackerel is a good way to tempt them when they’re on the surface.

On the reefs, snapper continue to do the right thing with the southern end of Montague, Potato Point and Tuross the hot spots. Off Tuross in 60m to 70m has been good for some nice reds to 4kg.

In the estuaries it’s been a little bit hit and miss lately with Narooma definitely fishing better than its northern cousin, Tuross.

Anglers fishing the deeper water in Wagonga Inlet have been rewarded with legal snapper, bream, flathead and flounder.

A mixture of bait and lures has accounted for the fish with bream responding well to blades fished deep or around the moored boats. Some of the bream are nudging a kilo.

The flatties have been a little quiet but I suspect this will pick up. Last April was a cracker for frogs to 98cm, mostly on soft plastics.

A few mulloway will also be around hunting the tailor schools in the main basin and Fosters Bay.

Anglers fishing surface lures have done extremely well lately, especially on afternoon rising tides with a wind present. We had a cracking session there not long back that netted 34 bream to 1.25kg and eight whiting to 42cm.

That action should continue for a bit longer yet.

Tuross fishing has been tough. There’s still the odd flattie around with bream and whiting but this place is in drastic need of some rain.

I love this joint but over the past few weeks the water level continues to drop and it’s like watching the system die in front of your eyes.

Sure, you’ll still get fish but you have to work very hard for them, especially the flatties.

The bream that are being caught are around the racks and weed edges, with hard-bodies and surface lures working.

The Narooma breakwall is the place to fish if you’re the rockhopper type.

Some ripper bream have been caught on striped tuna on the inside of the north wall – fish the ebb tide and you should be in business.

Salmon can be found off the end of the wall, especially on the run-out tide with some swell running.

There are still a few bonito of the golf course rocks, with tailor, salmon and frigate mackerel keeping anglers happy. Most fish have fallen to lures and ganged pilchards, with morning sessions definitely getting better results.

If you’re after a feed, blackfish, drummer and bream will be on the cards with the northern end of the golf course rocks the place to fish. Better baits are cunjevoi and cabbage.

The beaches continue to produce. All the usuals are available with some big salmon to 4kg keeping the beach goers happy.

Tilba, Narooma Main and Brou to the north have been the hot spots with live beach worms and pilchards the pick baits. Fish the last two hours of the flood tide into the evening.

Those using lighter outfits are seemingly faring better than those wielding heavy surf rods so remember to take a few outfits and use which ever is most suited to the conditions that you have.