In May the weather finally turned around with some lovely calm days after a long period of rain that continued through to the end of April.

I was able to go out on a Dale Richardson charter to Mornington Island. We caught some awesome fish including nannygai, golden snapper, black jew, cod and other reef species.

Two of the crew were boasting that they could catch fish all day because they were younger and fitter than some of the others. I was more than happy to take up the challenge and we set out towing some poppers out the back.

Double hook-ups of giant trevally had the boys working hard and after some bust-ups they had both landed three each, which all measured more than 1m. They had to take turns to land the next one before rethinking their earlier statement. Us older blokes then had the pleasure of occasionally reminding them they weren’t quite as good as they thought.

Dale did a great job on the charter and I will be going again as time permits. You can contact him on 0429 011 675.

June should see the mackerel really fire up. The pros have started to catch some big 20kg plus fish up the coast, which should make their way down soon. The place to be is out on the other side of the sand island. Just be aware that as the tide goes out you will need to travel further to get back in without running into a sand bar.

Anchoring up and floating out a pilchard on ganged hooks is the easy option or you can troll in the same area for them with shallow mackerel lures such as the lively blue pillie.

Grunter have been about in small numbers out near the grunter hole in front of the windsock. Squid and peeled prawns are the best baits for grunter. Attach running sinker to a swivel then add 30cm of 40lb mono trace to a 4/0 hook. Drifting around can help you to find the fish but be careful to not run aground on one of the many sandbars.

Blue salmon have also turned up and they are great fun on lures. A great place to catch them is off the beach in front of the fisheries houses. This is most rewarding as it is only a short walk to the Sunset Tavern to restock supplies for those longer sessions.

I continually find people in tinnies doing two things wrong: going past other boats at planning speeds within 30m and bypassing other boats coming towards them to the port side.

Please note it’s no fun to be sitting in a small tinnie when someone goes past and makes waves by doing something that is illegal. It can become quite dangerous when people try to pass on the wrong side.

Please remember that boats work off the American system where you pass on the starboard or right side, which is the opposite of our road rules in Australia.