On the Bite, by Chris Pitman
Anglers faced off against wet, windy weather again last week.
Queenscliff Harbour provided shelter for Tackleworld Geelong’s Adam Van Der Lugt who banked pinkie snapper to just over 50cm along with silver trevally to 38cm during several outings. Adam found the last of the run-in tide most productive for casting soft plastics rigged on a jig head heavy enough to reach the bottom.
Snapper anglers flocked to Clifton Springs as snapper schooled along the section of the channel known as the turn. Pilchard on a lightly weighted running sinker rig worked well when fished on a tide change.
In closer, squid remained in excellent numbers for anglers who drifted over grass beds in 3m to 4m of water using artificial jigs.
Alcoa Pier attracted large numbers of Australian salmon to 40cm. Anglers who found them said they were in exceptional numbers and keenly devouring lures.
St Leonards recorded an increase in whiting captures, along with a larger average size.
The entrance of Swan Bay hosted large schools of Australian salmon reaching 2kg on the run-in tide. Trolling or casting lures did the trick, with pike to almost 1m taken as by-catch.
The Barwon River estuary continued allowing anglers to tangle with a wide variety of species. The recent rain should also put mulloway back on the chew.
Bancoora Beach’s salmon action picked up for anglers spinning lures beaching. Fish to 2.5kg were caught at last light, with Sea Iron lures working best.
Jan Juc and rock platforms either side of Lorne also held salmon.
Freshwater anglers fared well on redfin, Chinook salmon, brown and rainbow trout during the ANSA convention.
Tyler Sparks boated a 2.98kg brown trout while trolling a Daiwa TD 95 minnow at Lake Purrumbete.
Lake Elingamite also produced browns of almost 2kg for anglers trolling Tassie Devils in the deeper sections. Kevin Hunter boated Chinook to 1.32kg fishing lightly weighted pilchard fillets suspend above the lake floor.
Noel Porter caught a nicely conditioned rainbow trout of 1.4kg from the bank at Lake Bullen Merri using Powerbait.
Piatara and Nat Barry made the trip to West Barwon Reservoir where they cast hard-body lures. Piatara landed three brown trout to 2kg as well as impressive redfin of 40cm. with a Jackall Soul Shad working well.
Fishcare Geelong-Bellarine hosted a successful National Gone Fishing Day on Geelong’s waterfront last Sunday. Plenty of people attended for activities including fly casting and wetting a line from the jetty.
Next week anglers should try the spoil grounds off Clifton Springs for snapper and pike, while St Leonards could be ideal for whiting. Freshwater anglers should keep Lake Purrumbete in mind for trophy brown trout.
