Finally anglers get to enjoy some offshore action

Two days where you could go to the shelf is pretty uncommon this time of year, so lots of those took advantage of it.

As I mentioned above, the flat seas made for an epic weekend of fishing conditions, with loads of variety caught in all sorts of depths.

Tom and Matty from the workshop took our Stabicraft 2500 demo boat to the shelf, with Matty's Dad, in search of some blue eye and other deep creatures.

They didn't expect to land a nice 70-80kg Mako shark, especially on the electric rod and reel.

After an intense fight that led to the shark jumping and landing in between the two engines, it was on deck.

Unfortunately for them, the shark wasn't done there and came back to life after being dragged backwards for a number of kilometres, so over it went again for another little ride behind the boat.

This time it was done and the boys could relax a bit more.

Janaka Kandage fished the shelf with the Graham boys and they too scored themselves some tasty Hapuka and Blue Eye Trevella.

Scott Gray and Jimmy Taylor fished the shelf off Port Fairy on the weekend also and scored some ripper pink ling, blue eye and some blue grenadier.

Jayden Cleaver also fished the shelf with Brett Gatt and his son for some nice blue eye up to 16kg.

The tuna also fired back up off Warrnambool and Port Fairy after seemingly vanishing off the face of the earth.

Sam Powell and Chris Clarke caught six tuna off Port Fairy, trolling skirts and hard bodies.

I had a customer call me asking me to put a piece in the paper this week regarding bag limits, as he witnessed a fellow angler keeping nine tuna between himself and his two sons.

Please don't keep over your bag limit, as we don't want these fish to become critically endangered again after making a resurgence.

If you do see someone doing the wrong thing, then call the hotline on 13FISH (133474).

The Hopkins River has again fished well, up and down the river, for both bait anglers and lure casters.

Skeeta Andrews and his brother headed out over the weekend and had a red hot session on the bream, catching 10 or more fish over a kilogram.

The boys were casting live crabs deep into the rock walls throughout the middle section of the river.

This also resulted in some epic bust offs but that is part of fishing with live crabs.

Further up the system, the estuary perch are still feeding well on both surface and subsurface, which is probably due to the amount of crickets that are around at the moment.

Bait anglers are catching loads of bream on crickets and ep's also when fished under a float at night.

Max Kandage scored his PB perch on Wednesday night, measuring 47cm.

To make it better, young Maxy caught it on his fly rod, which he has taught himself how to use, making it that little bit more sweet.

Scott Gray has been sneaking out in his kayak, casting bent minnows at big bream and perch in the last couple of days with great results.

One piece of information that a customer told me last week, which was exciting, is when the mouth was open, he witnessed a huge school of Mulloway swimming into the system and some of these fish were pretty big.

Now until June is predominately the pick of the time to target the bigger fish in our area.

It's just the most uncomfortable also, with the wind typically icy.

Rug up and get the big gear out and you might just get connected to a fish of a lifetime yourself.

The Glenelg is fishing a bit tougher this week, as some of the ANSA members found out last weekend for their annual catch and release competition.

I don't know whether it's to do with the water temperature dropping or the weather constantly changing lately but hopefully, it improves going forward.

Dave Robertson fished lake Purrumbete last week and landed some nice reddies using Palms Slow Blatt jigs and bait fished through the schools.

It was that good, that Dave is already planning his next trip down the highway.

I would expect some pretty big trout to start to get caught more frequently.

Ashby Hoey landed a stonker of a Cheetah Trout over the weekend while fishing with James Cauchi, who also caught a solid Chinook Salmon the same day.

These Cheetah trout have only been stocked in this lake for a few years and to see them get to this size already shows just how much bait is in that lake.

Lake Bullen Merri still has a bit of algae in the water, and with the new boat ramp works well and truly underway, it's impossible to launch a boat anyway, so a land-based fish is your only option.

Don't forget about the Warrnambool and District Angling Club's annual Easter Fishing Classic held on Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday.

The competition begins at 10am on Saturday and will run through until Sunday 12pm.

Entries will be taken from 9am down at the clubrooms on the corner of Otway Road and Simpson Street.

All rivers from the Curdies in the East to the Fitzroy in the West are in the field of play.

There are some great prizes up for grabs in all sections, so grab the kids and grab your mates and make the most of the Easter weekend.

Entry is $20 for Adults and Junior under 16 will be $10.

Monday looks like the day to head offshore, providing the weather forecast holds up, that is.

Until next week, tight lines and best of luck