Cooler days and night remind us that Winter is here, but with still no rain the water is getting clearer and clearer. Rain is the only recipe for better fishing over coming months.

Over the past month many visiting anglers have been struggling to try to catch fish in the lake system.

The good weather in early May allowed offshore anglers to get among the fish and good bags of flathead have been the norm, with fish over 36cm making up the bulk of the catch.

Plenty of gummy sharks are still being caught along with a few snapper. Alex Tindall caught a 2.8kg snapper while fishing for flathead recently, which just goes to show that there is the odd snapper out there where it shouldn’t be.

Kingfish also have been caught by many anglers fishing the bottom for flathead. Most of these fish have been undersize (the Victorian size limit is 60cm) so make sure you measure your catch.

Boats trolling skirted lures out a bit wider have been having success with striped tuna.

Fishing off the beach has been good, with gummy sharks being caught by those fishing at night.

Salmon are also being caught along with the odd tailor.

Wherever the salmon are being caught is the place to fish for the gummies.

The salmon action is improving as the water cools.

Casting metal lures into a school of fish is the way to go; they’ll strike the lure well and put up a great fight.

If the fish are thick, don’t worry about using bait because while you are baiting up someone with a lure would have caught another fish.

The lake used to be that reliable for dusky flathead that you could guarantee a feed at any time of year. These days it’s not as easy.

Flathead used to feature regularly in the catch as incidentals while fishing for bream but now you really need to put in the time to find the fish.

Trevally have provided abundant entertainment with plenty of fish caught from the entrance through to the John Bull channel marker.

Over coming months we should see more of these fish enter the lake.

The Bottom Lake has produced some good-sized pinkie snapper around 40cm caught by anglers fishing with bait and with lures. Fish of that size put up a great fight on light gear.

Both the Top and Bottom lakes have been fishing well for black bream and yellowfin bream.

The yellowfin bream have been caught in the deeper water in the Bottom Lake with vibes and soft plastics working well.

The black bream have been best around the margins of both lakes, with hardbody lures and soft plastics working well.