Fishing | Spring puts the bounce into perch

Many years ago, Dr Brain Pratt told me that once the wattle is out flowering and in full colour, the golden perch come on the chew.

That has definitely been the case as we have started to see some good fish coming out of Gungahlin Pond, Lake Tuggeranong, Googong and Lake Burley Griffin - along with the bright wattle.

Canberra on the Water have just released details of Canberra's biggest yellow belly comp on LBG - the MEJ Big Burley Bash, which kicks off on the Thursday, October 10.

The comp will be held every Thursday night from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and will run over nine weeks - we should see some great fish throughout the competition.

On the coast, some large schools of blue fin have emerged from Batemans Bay down to Eden.

A few friends ventured out of Narooma and landed four fish off a five-way hook-up with the biggest going just shy of 80kg!

Several other boats fished that day and also found the fish; both boats said fish were loving Halco laser pros and skirts.

Snapper action is hot when you can avoid barracudas; Jervis Bay has been really good and also Bermagui.

Floating pilchards and squid bait have been good, but plastic and jigs are the way to go.

I see it all the time - boats anchoring on top of the structure/reef which limits your options; try working around the structure and bring the fish off the reef.

Trust me, you will pull more fish than ever before.

One of the best things about spring is the open of the bass season so grab your gear and get fishing.