The authorities responsible for the Glenelg River decided on May 5 to release the mouth of our wonderful river. As I have mentioned in the past there are several government bodies that need to sign off on the releasing plus extensive testing including oxygen levels, fresh and saline levels so that we don’t see mass fish kills.

The mouth was opened successfully two days after the Victorian Bream Classic fishing competition was held here on the Glenelg. Congratulations to Wayne Sleep and Gary Tebb ‘Team Pelagic Extreme’ on their maiden tournament win.

Wayne and Gary fished from the car park boat ramp just below the Nelson Hotel to the Isle of Bags. That’s about 1km of river so they didn’t waste too much money on fuel and I understand Gary didn’t waste time changing lures either. Gary used the same Lucky Craft Bevy Vibe in a solid gold colour all weekend; the trusty lure didn’t have much paint left on it by Sunday arvo. Gary changed the trebles twice and put a new leader on for the second days battle.

In fact most of the top place getters fished the same water. Gillian Knight along with hubby Phil boated the biggest bream for the comp in the same area, a whopper at 1.74kg on an Ecogear VX40 colour 435. Caught by a very excited Gillian who could be heard all over Nelson with her screaming celebrations.

Thanks to all the competitors for supporting these weekends they are fantastic for all the businesses in town. Also thanks to Bill Hartshorne and his merry support crew who run these ripper comps, they really put in the hard yards to make the weekends that little bit more special.

The fishing didn’t miss a beat on the releasing of the mouth. The usual thought is that it muddles up the fishing for a couple of days but I had a day out with a mate the day after release and we boated plenty of bream from the estuary right up to Hutchison’s Landing. I used crab and whitebait and my mate used plastics and lures. Just for the record, bait pumped lures on numbers but he pipped me for the biggest that was pulled in on a Gulp Banana Prawn.

If you are thinking of venturing down to the Glenelg for a bream fix during June I would suggest fishing from the estuary through Sapling Creek; how much rain we have will rule which part of the river you target. Clean estuarine water should see fish along the banks but if the rains put a fresh top to the river you will need to target off the bank towards the middle where the fish will be. Again move around and think outside the square and try different techniques. Lures will need to be weighted to get them down deeper and baits should be as fresh as you can get.

For those who want to try their luck on estuary perch I have heard of good sessions up between Battersbys and Pritchards Landings; plenty of snags to keep you entertained up that way and you will need to budget for some gear losses.

One angler who has been getting into them saves a special snag for the end of day, so far he has lost the battle losing one or two lures each campaign. Such is the beauty of these lure smackers, you have just got to grin and bare it. Ecogear SX40 lures are fantastic and you can appreciate why he gives up after losing a couple as the costs rise. Mulloway catches, while not exciting at present are still on the radar. Over the last few years someone gets a good one that spikes interest in them, I’m not saying heaps are caught but June and July have produced some fish between 20-38lbs. Quite a lot of hours go into a few special brag size fish but some lucky and persistent fisho will have his or her turn in the limelight.

Leon Megaw has started up a fishing charter on the Glenelg. Leon’s boat is an professionally set-up bream tournament craft, 20ft long with the biggest motor I have ever seen hanging off the stern, it has all the goodies on board to make your day memorable call 0419851900 for bookings.

Along the coast the salmon have fired up at Cape Banks, Red Rock and Lighthouse Bays with best baits pilchard and squid but lures probably win you more fish. Garfish, while dwindling in numbers are still worth a go as size has improved especially at Livingstons Bay with fish to 500g not uncommon.

Offshore the tuna have been fantastic with most boats getting quota and tagging plenty. Massive numbers of mako shark around 50-80kg have been bought back into the Port MacDonnell Harbour – one monster caught by Andrew Hood pulled the scales down to 152kg. The boys towed the fish in 10km and a crane was bought in to get the still live fish onto land. I don’t know if you’ve seen a mako but they put a shiver down your spine, they are one mean looking beast. If you catch one make sure they are good and dead before you put them in the boat as they will thrash around and break anything in the way.

Jason Fulham is still running charters out of Point Mac. Donnell for tuna and bottom bouncing, you will have a great day out on his 48ft boat. Call Jason or his lovely lady, Suzie, 0428382483 for bookings.

If you are looking for a house to rent down here in Nelson call Lorraine Pevitt 08 87384241, she has several good properties to choose from. Hope to see you here in Nelson, call into the pub and say hello, we are sure to have the fire going.