Even though the cooler weather will soon be with us, there is still plenty of fish to chase.

I recently received a call from visiting angler George Hage who is a regular to the area with good mate Gordon Buidge. They camped locally and spent most of their time looking for whiting. On the first day they bagged 22 very nice fish to the 42cm mark that were taken on Bass yabbies. They also had a long battle with a big gummy shark but it broke free at the boat.

There have been other encouraging reports in the vicinity of Stevies Gutter where whiting, mullet and smallish flathead have been taken, which never seem to get bigger than the midget stage. The water is fairly shallow in this part of the world but still a favourite with locals and visitors who rarely miss out on taking something home when fishing at low tide.

Wonthaggi junior Joel Brann can always be seen on the beach with Dad Steve and on his last trip managed a nice bag of whiting and silvers that were taken on Bass yabbies.

Low water in the area known as the Snags has also been very popular. The best results have been flathead to 40cm on Bass yabbies, pipis and pilchards. Graham Collins from Morwel says that he likes a bit of a ripple on the water for best results but moves when the tide begins to roll in too quickly.

Flat Rocks has also been very popular with boaters and land-based anglers. There is a good variety of fish to be had in the area at low tide.

The fishing platforms on the Tarwin River have been a must-fish area with visitors. It makes for easy fishing but just be careful at high tide as the water can bog a vehicle very quickly.

There was a party of overseas visitors at Tarwin River who decided to make a day trip from Melbourne in a mini bus. I came across them around midday and stopped for a bit of a chat. They were amazed at the beauty of the area saying that they were from Vietnam and already they had a nice bag of perch and mullet. They were very happy with their efforts as the fishing is fairly ordinary in their part of the world.

Wonthaggi Angling Club member Alan Lowe decided to try his luck in last month’s competition and although he won the day with a smallish perch caught above the highway bridge he asked me not to say anything about it as he doesn’t likes to skite.

Shallow Inlet has been very productive with whiting to 40cm being taken mainly on the run-in tide on pipis and Bass yabbies. There should be the annual influx of salmon, along with big silvers, making an appearance as they usually do this time of year, and when this happens the light gear will be severely tested.