Big snapper were again the main target species for local anglers looking to take advantage of the nice weather around the Geelong region over the past week.
Anchoring out from the channel around Clifton Springs was productive for snapper around the 5kg mark, with a number of gummy sharks thrown into the mix. Fishing a tide change with fresh squid, silver whiting or garfish while using a light berley gave anglers a good chance of hooking into either species.
King George whiting were also being caught off Clifton Springs, especially along the Curlewis Bank. Pippie and squid baits worked well when fished in the evenings.
Daniel and Lisa Baden joined Trelly’s Geelong’s Chris Pitman to hit the water over the weekend with squid in mind. Fishing in 4m out the front of the Ozone ship wreck at Indented Head had them hooking into squid with every drift over the weed beds, leading to bag-limit captures on size 3.5 jigs in King George whiting and plain white colourations.
Bryce Nurnaitis reported some great results while fishing Queenscliff Harbour with soft plastics recently. Using Gulp Turtleback worms, Bryce caught pinkies, silver trevally and salmon.
Anglers aiming to fish the harbour should focus on slack tide, which is usually around 2.5 hours after Port Phillip Heads, so they can fish comfortably between the strong currents as the tide moved in or out.
Good surf fishing was also reported over the past week, with local beaches like Bancoora and Jan Juc producing catches of salmon. Using whole bluebait accounted for fish to 1.5kg, while other anglers found good fish by casting metal lures into the gutters.
Good salmon fishing can also be expected from the beaches and rock platforms along the Great Ocean Road.
Lake Bullen Merri fished well for Chinook salmon, especially when trolling lures like the DUO Spearhead Ryuki 70mm or the Daiwa Double Clutch 75. Anglers preferring to use bait should try anchoring around Potter’s Point in around 10m before fishing pilchard fillet or glassies in a berley trail, which might take up to an hour to attract fish.
