On the Bite, by Chris Pitman
Anglers only had to venture down to Geelong’s waterfront to get stuck into some piscatorial action last week.
Pinkie snapper to 45cm started to school up in large numbers around any structure in deeper water. Casting out soft plastics was ideal, with Gulp 3” minnows very effective.
The odd large flathead was also taken as a welcome bycatch around the waterfront.
Whiting continued to be patchy along the whole Bellarine Peninsula but St Leonards still produced some quality fish over 40cm.
Squid were in numbers around St Leonards Pier. Anglers casting size three artificial jigs during the evenings had the best results.
Indented Head’s boat ramp was another great location to have a cast for a squid, again during the evenings.
Anglers who fished inside Swan Bay on the run-in tides had a ball boating numerous pinkies and flathead. Most tactics produced fish and once a school was located the action was fast-paced.
Fishing Swan Bay into the night produced gummy sharks to 8kg on fresh squid strips or salmon fillets.
Kingfish stole the show off Queenscliff, mostly in The Rip. Dropping squid baits down proved effective, along with working 150g to 200g knife jigs.
In the same area Australian salmon continued erupting on the surface in feeding frenzies, snapping up most lures that crossed their path.
Offshore from Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads, anglers boated southern bluefin tuna with a variety of tactics. Trolling 4.5” white occy skirts around schools of fish worked extremely well, as did casting smaller-profile stick baits and soft plastics in white colours.
Bait fishing offshore produced reasonable numbers of pinkies to 50cm around reef sections in 10m to 15m of water. The odd gummy shark was taken around the same areas.
On the freshwater scene, Lake Bullen Merri continued dominating reports. Chinook salmon remained on the bite for anglers fishing lightly weighted pilchard fillets, with the rainbow trout set to fire up as autumn advances.
Stony Creek was a great place to stretch the legs and go for a walk casting a Tassie Devil or spoon-type lure. Brown trout to just on 1kg were grassed but the monster redfin were harder to tempt.
The Lake of 1000 Casts, Wurdee Boluc Reservoir, hosted increased captures of redfin. Soft plastics pitched on lengthy casts did the job.
Redfin remained a solid option in the Barwon River between Breakwater and Queen’s Park. Small hard-body lures were ideal for the task.
Next week could provide opportunities to fish locally for tuna, although Swan Bay should be exceptional for mixed bags of fish. Otherwise, keep an eye on the Barwon River estuary for elephant fish.
