With winter now behind us we can look forward to some warmer conditions and some great spring fishing on the East Coast.

There’s no doubt this winter has been a cold one, but the frost hasn’t stopped the fishing! The word from the local boat storage is that through the cold there have been quite reasonable bags of fish caught. Local fishing legend Graham Godding can always be found out on the water and the cold hasn’t kept him indoors. Graham is a boater who always seems to get onto fish, while the rest of us mere mortals fail to even get a fish on the scales. One day, while looking for flathead at one of his favourite spots, Graham decided to throw out a soft plastic lure. Time passed and suddenly there was action and after quite a fight - and much to his surprise - he landed a big mullet! Mullet are not often caught on soft plastics, which just goes to show that as far as fishing is concerned - always expect the unexpected.

The Franklin Channel is usually good for quality snapper and gummies. However, apart from the odd snapper hitting up to the 3kg mark and a few good flathead, there hasn’t been a great deal to talk about. Many boaters haven’t bothered to visit this area during the cold months but as the warmer weather cycle continues, the results will definitely improve.

The Lewis Channel has been worth a look as fish have been in fairly good numbers with salmon making a strong display and filling up bags. This should continue to put a smile on the face of anglers! The season will continue to get better then with the arrival of whiting that coincides with rising water temperatures and will provide royals that get up to the 37cm mark or thereabouts.

We all know that you might not catch a fish every time you wet your line, but that you have to be willing to put in the effort and the hours to reap the rewards. Graham Henderson who is a regular to this area decided to try his luck on the jetties with a mate, Laurie Johnson from Pakenham. Graham says that although the pair do not consider themselves great fishermen, they are the first to listen to those who are experienced in the sport. On this occasion they tried dropping down a few whitebait presentations amongst the underwater furniture with long rods. Previously I have suggested that the long rods will assist with hook ups by keeping the fish from becoming entangled with the obstacles under the water. On this occasion they were successful and managed a mixed bag of salmon, silvers, and mullet - all caught on the eastern end of the structure.

Port Albert has seen an influx of whiting in very good numbers. Rob Killury who runs the local general store says that the fish aren’t huge but they are very fat and well over the size limit. This has been the case for some time and there is no sign that they might leave the area. These fish have been caught on a variety of baits such as pippies, bass yabbies and sand worms. The jetties always seem to be worth a visit where fish such as flathead, mullet, silvers as well as eels seem to be in fairly good numbers.