Offshore: The bottom bouncing crew have enjoyed some quality shark fishing this past week especially on the gummy front. Salty Dog Charters have again dialled in on the shark for their clients with some belters hitting the deck off Port Fairy. The bonus of this time of year is you can catch these tasty suckers from shallow waters right through to 150m which opens up endless opportunities for anglers to get a feed. The majority of anglers are using a single paternoster rig with an 8/0 circle hook with a strip of squid on it fished like a hang bait. The advantage of this is that while the squid is wafting around it draws the fish in and usually makes them eat it on reaction. While most are fishing single rigs, if you're wanting more chances to land a shark then try the Black Magic Big Bait Snapper Snacks which are a 7/0 KLT rigged on heavier mono leader than its smaller 5/0 brother. These are a great attractant as well as a great rig in general.

Snapper have also been great the past couple of weeks with many been taken in shallow water especially along the North Shore area at Portland where many 3kg fish have been caught on soft plastics and small jigs. Along with the snapper there is also an abundance of tuna around lately which anglers have been having great fun with on the light tackle. Fish ranging from six-20kg have been caught on a range of small skirts and hard bodies as well as the ever popular stick baits on the surface.

Estuaries: Finally the Mulloway have begun to play the game in the Hopkins with a couple of cracking fish being hooked with one of them landed at 15lb and 94cm by Aiden Gordon on a live crab of all things. The influx of blue water has definitely helped the cause and a big school of mullet making their way to the river is also not going to do any harm what so ever. If you're serious about targeting these great-looking fish that pull like freight trains then your gear needs to be as good as you can get which includes your bait. Fresh cut mullet or live mullet, fresh pilchards, squid and spew worms, if tides permit, are stand out baits when chasing mulloway. The lightest sinker that you can use on the given day or night and ultra-sharp hooks such as the Black Magic C Points and BKK Octopus hooks will give you every opportunity to tangle with a potential fish of a lifetime. When it comes to lines both braided lines and mono can be used but I prefer the mono when chasing mulloway as it is like a spring when the fish shake their heads. I generally run 8kg Platypus lo stretch on Shimano bait runners and long rods in the 9ft range which seems long for some people but they have a purpose and that is to stop the fish throwing the hook mid fight. If you don't like long rods then a snapper outfit will be sufficient also with either braid and a fluorocarbon leader or just mono again.

Along with the mulloway in the river the local bream have also been eating all manner of things put in front of them. Both the Warrnambool and District Angling Club and Allansford Angling Clubs held competitions over the weekend and there were some very nice bream taken both on lures and bait. John Gordon took out his second comp in a row for Allansford with a 1.2kg fish taken on crab. The Warrnambool club competition was their annual Denny Chapman perch competition where the biggest fish was taken out by Graeme Whittaker with a 1.09kg perch caught in the freshwater section. The perch were very quiet with only 21 perch caught between 19 anglers. Thankfully the bream are making up for the lack of perch being caught lately. Myself and Mick Hunt fished Monday night for a few nice fish to a bit over a kilo on Zman Grubz cast up tight on mudflats. The fish were extremely aggressive at one point making it hard to hook due to the speed they were hitting at.

Freshwater: Some more great trout and redfin fishing has been happening especially at Lake Purrumbete and Lake Ellingamite, where some beautiful late-season fish have been taken on both lures and live baits. Mud eyes fished in the weeds have again been the hot bait for these smart fish especially in Ellingamite. A few quality fat rainbows have been taken using this method also, along with redfin. Lake Purrumbete has finally produced some great fishing with browns and rainbows hitting the nets of anglers targeting them. Fish to 3kg have been landed by the dedicated few who have a passion for these very smart fish. The redfin there have also been taking lures and soft plastics with some red hot sessions taking place.

The Shipwreck Coast Fishing Classic is live and entries can be taken online at www.wolgfc.com or at the Tackle Shack. A $500 Okuma pack is up for grabs for early entries, which is for anybody who enters at the Tackle Shack before Christmas Eve, when it will be drawn. Great prizes are on offer this year including a Anglapro 434 Chaser paired with a Suzuki 30hp four stroke engine and Easytow trailer.

With a couple of hot days on the horizon we should see the start of the king fish season and more people out on the ocean.