Redfin are back on the bite in Lake Tuggeranong, with plenty of fish to 39 centimetres feeding on small baitfish along the shoreline. They are easy to catch on soft plastics, especially patterns with a good wriggly tail action and hard-bodied models such as Hogback, Lucky Seven,Tear Drop and StrikePro minnow. Some larger fish have been taken near the weir and under the Soward Way road bridge.

Golden perch are also back in numbers in Lake Ginninderra. A kayak angler caught some nice specimens trolling straight down the middle of the western arm of the lake towards the dam wall and a visiting Melbourne angler took three nice ones on scrub worms adjacent to the fenced swimming area, also on the western side.

The old Molonglo River channel adjacent to Black Mountain Peninsula has again been the hotspot for golden perch in Lake Burley Griffin. Several nice fish were taken on scrub worms and small yabbies and participants in the Canberra Cup will be targeting it again this week.

The cup, run each Thursday night for eight weeks, is a pleasant social fishing competition that has attracted 43 of the best anglers in Canberra. Some nice goldens to 40cm and Murray cod to 50cm already landed will be vying for the $1500 prizemoney. Tournament organiser Adam Samios fished Yarralumla Bay with a Noxious spinnerbait and landed an 80cm cod.

Burrinjuck Reservoir has dropped to 49 per cent this week and fishing has suffered accordingly. Despite this, a Wagga angler landed a 124cm Murray cod trolling a big AC Invader after dark and others measuring 50, 60 and 62cm.

Early morning and early evening anglers at Eucumbene and Jindabyne landed some nice browns on fly, with Mrs Simpson, Fuzzy Wuzzy and black beetle the best patterns. The fish rose from about 5.30am and later around 8.30pm close to shore and took the flies readily.

Some nice browns and rainbows were taken also on scrub worms and Power Bait and on trolled green or brown Tasmanian Devils. Best locations were Hatchery Bay in Jindabyne and Braemar, Yens Bay and Seven Gates at Eucumbene.

Sussex Inlet was the pick of the estuaries this week, with good catches of bream, flathead and whiting reported. The fish were taken on live prawns netted on site, on striped tuna and on lures. The best bream were taken on blades, the flathead on soft plastics and the whiting on the magic SugaPen prawn replica.

Offshore the flathead were a little reluctant to bite but most anglers who persisted at various depths eventually landed their bag of 10 fish.

There were small snapper to about 40cm on the reefs, with the best fishing early in the morning. Kingfish also have shown in scattered areas, with the best fishing with live and dead bait at the southern end of The Banks.

Almost every game boat that ventured to sea last weekend reported one or more marlin strikes. Some reported up to 15 strikes in a day and catching and releasing up to five fish, mostly striped and small black marlin. Some fish have been taken on lures but mostly by switch baiting. The fish were found all the way from the 70 fathom line out to the 100 fathom line.

Dr Bryan Pratt is a Canberra ecologist.