WELL folks, I think it might be safe to say that the worst of winter’s bitterness and fishless days are now in the rear view mirror.

Is this the left turn at Albuquerque, we've all been waiting for?

Well I'm quietly confident that we can start to look forward to longer days, sunny skies, and fishing good times.

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OK! OK! It might not be quite t-shirt and thongs weather yet, and there maybe the odd day that will remind us of the bitter winter left behind.

But in the not too distant future, it will be time to slip, slop, slap – that is slip your boat in, slop on a lure, and slap it your favourite honey hole. Time to take your sunscreen off layby folks! Here is your weekly fishing report.

BIG BLUE: Still no good news for the horizon haunting tuna enthusiasts, as the water still remains in the unsuitable category.

There was one or two mad keen never say never fisho's that must have shares in an oil rig that travelled the distance, but an empty wallet is all that was found.

Moving in closer to the motherland, some found making the trip to Tuross worth the effort, like Wazza from Lighthouse Charters, who managed a nice mixed bag for Trent Anderson and company from Griffith on Saturday.

Trent scored himself a cracker of a snapper, and along with the rest of the crew a swag of other mixed reef dwellers.

Horse nannygai, snapper, mowies and gummy sharks were all tightening lines at some stage, while the icing on the cake was a few sand flathead on the way home.

It was mentioned that deeper water seem to be more productive over the weekend so take note, some food for thought there.

It's been a couple of weeks on the trot that we've seen some reasonable size snapper coming in, hopefully this will only improve as we head closer to the preferred time of year around October.

Shallow water reefs like Brou, Mystery Bay, Tuross, Bingie, Cuttagee and of course the housing commission estate for seals, Montague Island, are all great places to pitch your anchor and try your luck.

Whether bait or lure will depend on the day, but burley is a must if you want make the top eight.

If you’re lure dependent, then 5"-7" jerk shads are about as good as a lure you will find, with best colours being either as bright and psychedelic as you can find, or the total opposite side of the apple tree, being in plain white or pearl if we are being fancy.

If you’re lure intolerant and still like to use traditional methods, then nice fresh squid, pilchards, stripey or slimey should all prove to be award winning recipes.

One killer method that works well on anchor is cubing, and pilchards are best for using this method, which can prove to be the trump card on a tough day.

This method works best in shallow water when there is little current. When you’re fishing deeper water, sometimes it pays dividends to send the Burley down the anchor line in a cage or the likes. This way it will keep the fish close under your boat within obtainable distance.

BEACH AND ROCK: Good to see this arena has returned to its top form, amazing what a difference a bit of swell pounding our picturesque coastline does for revitalization.

Along the golden sands, the swell reshapes and renovates old used gutters, turning them into new five-star accommodation for every sand loving species looking for a home.

While along the stones, the swell will harass and bash every living food source that lives on the edge until it succumbs to the sea where awaiting white water riding species will slurp up the smorgasbord of continual goodies.

The golden sands are still producing plenty of salmon at present, along with the occasional tailor, bream and trevally.

Live beach worms are the way to go if you want an array of different species and impress the neighbours.

While the humble pilchard will be like a McDonald’s playground is to a five-year-old kid at lunch time for salmon and tailor.

Some beaches worth a look would be Brou, Dalmeny, Duesbury's, Handkerchief, Corunna, 1080 and Tilba.

The rock hoppers are remaining very tight lipped about their success with finesse, but I can tell you there are a lot of drummer, bream, and luderick around at present.

Fishing light in and around the washes adjacent to crystal clear waters being the finesse part, while finding the balance between light and too light the success part.

8-12lb leader should be in the ball park of where you need to be, 8lb if you’re fishing high up in the water column under a float, and 12lb if your sending your bait down amongst the structure.

If fishing the bottom, make sure your lead sinking device is round and is closer to a feather then a house brick, as getting snagged becomes a lot easier if its heavy and odd shaped.

RIVERS, LAKES & INLETS: Slow, steady, and more patience then a school teacher with a class full of Tourette sufferers is needed when taking on any of our local estuaries at present.

Cold, clear, and barren are not good ingredients if you’re hoping to make fish cakes any time soon.

Until later in the day, after the sun has defied all odds and lifted the water temperature back into double figures, does much action seems to happen.

Hopefully this menu will only be temporary and will change in the months to come.

But for the moment afternoons around a tide change seem to be more productive then the cold bitter mornings.

Wagonga, Wallaga and Tuross all seem to be producing a hard-sought feed for the persistent, stubborn angler who refuses to go home without a tally card.

Trevally, tailor, salmon, bream, and flathead are abundant in all these estuaries, but finding the time and place that they wish to feed is the challenging part.

Bait balls are the number one go to choice for me to haunt when chasing any of the above species, then it’s just a matter of slogging it out while playing the waiting game.

If your unable to locate a bait ball worth the patience and effort then your guess is as good as mine, there is always the “Willie Nillie” option, but generally from past experiences this is all but clutching at straws and a waste of time.

Unless the Mrs has a household to-do list longer than the Great Wall of China, that doesn't include fish cleaning, then the “Willie Nillie” option will suffice and pass the day by until it's too late for any of those other chores.

I heard on the braided line that there is a few flathead in Corunna Lake lately, but I haven't explored this option myself.

Due to the fact it did open up recently it may well be worth a look.

If you’re planning an assault on Corunna, I would say live nippers would have to be the top of the bait man’s tree, while for the guru with PVC running through their veins, the good old Garry Glitter in 65-70mm is a Corunna specialist for these tasty mud dwellers.

Hope you all have a fantastically awesome week’s fishing!

Cheers, Darren “Dash” Bowater

Narooma Sport and Game Fishing Club

THANKS to Les Waldock who on Saturday morning took Jan Hemmingsen, John Cathor and Lou Moore on his new boat up to Potato Point and Tuross Head for some fishing.

Even though the fish were a bit patchy, Les managed to find us a couple of good spots and the end result was several good size snapper, a couple of morwong, a flathead and various oddballs caught by an unnamed person.

On Saturday afternoon, we gathered at the club to celebrate Gavin Mitchell’s 40th birthday.

Congratulations from all of us and thanks to his brother Dave, who came all the way from Melbourne.

On Sunday some of us gathered on the beach at Dalmeny to enjoy a bit of beach fishing.

The day was perfect with the sea maybe a little to calm, but some salmon were caught, and afterwards we stopped to have a cup of coffee and cake near the bridge and a bit of a chinwag.

Altogether it was a great morning.

Our Presentation Night and AGM are on with dinner this Saturday, August 22 at 6pm.

Please consider coming to both and applauding the members that fished hard throughout the year.

New committee time again, so if you’re interested in climbing aboard let it be known please, you’re very welcome.

As usual the Narooma Sport and Game Fishing Club rooms, situated on the inlet near the restaurants, will be open for fish stories, drinks and snacks from 4pm till 9pm on Friday.

Visitors are most welcome to come along make some new friends and have a chat with the members.

- Jan Hemmingsen