Catches for the few and the brave

A large swell and strong wind made angling difficult over the past week but quality fish were still caught.
Queenscliff Harbour was a great option for trevally on soft plastics. Anthony Angelevski managed a couple of quality 40cm-plus fish on Turtleback worms in the Pumpkinseed colour.
The harbour also produced small squid on size 2.5 and 3.0 Yamashita jigs.
Whiting continued biting well right around the Bellarine Peninsula. Weed was a problem but patient anglers prepared to regularly clear their lines were rewarded with bag-limit captures.
Southern Bluefin tuna lured anglers to Apollo Bay where quality fish taken to 100kg-plus were boated. Portland and Port Fairy produced good numbers of fish in all sizes, while smaller albacore were caught out around the shelf.
Tackleworld Geelong’s Chris Pitman fished Mallacoota and Bemm River last week. The weather was inclement but Chris still bagged quality bream on Z-Man grubs and some good tailor on trolled hard-body lures such as the Double Clutch 75.
Tim Beusmans travelled to West Barwon Reservoir, near Forrest, to discover an extremely low water level. Tim cast out a couple of carefully rigged mudeyes suspended under a bubble float, soon finding himself tight to a hard-fighting quality brown trout of 1.5kg.
Tim’s fishing mate, Mick, managed a pair of smaller rainbow trout, also on mudeye.
An influx of anglers at Wurdee Boluc Reservoir co-incided with a reduction in trout catches, although plenty of quality redfin were still taken. Trent Schiller caught fish to 45cm, while Phill Walker banked his personal best, a 49.5cm reddie of 1.9kg, that took a Fish Arrow soft plastic.
Michael Evans making the trip up to Newlyn Reservoir on Saturday morning, landing two quality redfin over 45cm. Michael caught both fish on Ecogear Powershad soft plastics.
Over the next week anglers should consider freshwater destinations, with recent rain likely to fire up the local trout and salmon fishing. When conditions along the coast allow, salmon should be available, with some quality fish reaching 2kg available from many of the rocks and beaches.
For anglers with bigger things on their mind, Apollo Bay should be a great option for larger-model Bluefin tuna.