South East Fishing Calendar by Martin Auldist

Each year I draw up a fishing wish list for the coming year. As life becomes more crowded I'm finding that my trips need to be planned well in advance. What's more, the timing of those trips need to be carefully matched with the best times of year to fish for certain species.

This fishing calendar for southeast Victoria will hopefully provide anglers with some ideas for 2007. To help decide which months were best for which species I enlisted the help of other VFM contributors in the area. I coerced them into giving up a range of species so that we ended up with a different species each month. You could easily fill in an entire year with snapper, whiting and salmon - but I wanted more variety than that. So go on - make yourself some New Year's fishing resolutions!
JANUARY
Species: Eastern king prawns.
When: September to May; peak in summer.
Where: Lakes Entrance, Marlo, Tamboon, Bemm River, Mallacoota.
Technique: A feed of these tasty crustaceans will go well with new year BBQs! A drag net can be used in some waters (check regulations) but it's more fun to catch them at night with a dip net and an underwater light. Wade along in the estuary shallows (knee deep is fine) until you spot them in the beam...