ON THE BITE with Peri Stavropoulos
The weather has been far from favourable this past week and has certainly made it difficult to venture out for a fish but for anglers putting in the hard work they are landing some nice fish.
Geelong waterfront has been a popular location for land-based anglers getting stuck into a variety of species, especially the pinkie snapper. This time of year is great to get in here and get amongst the action as the fish come in close to all the structures.
The best time to go is unfortunately when it’s at its windiest as the chop and waves stir up all the food driving the fish into a feeding frenzy. Other than the snapper you can expect to catch salmon, flathead, trevally and snook.
Moving to the outer harbour and the whiting fishing just seems to be getting better and better with more fish being caught and at a better size. Anglers have been finding most of their fish along the Curlewis bank in 4 metres of water and fishing the stronger tides has certainly helped land more fish.
Anglers have been finding bag limit captures on offer and fish to 45cm, no better place in the region to chase a whiting at the moment.
Inland has had some great fishing on offer this week with West Barwon Reservoir producing some great captures of brown trout. Anglers casting the bank with shallow running jerkbaits have been having great success with fish to 5lb swimming about.
OSP Bent Minnows are another great lure and well worth throwing around early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
The Crater Lakes continue to fish very well for anglers with all species of fish on offer biting. Flatline trolling remains the most popular technique to tangle with the fish and also casting lures amongst the edge of weed beds (Lake Purrumbete). Daiwa Double Clutches and Tassie Devils are a classic for these lakes. Bait fishing during the day on the bottom with pilchard fillets and plenty of burley in the water has been accounting for plenty of chinook salmon.
The High Country streams are still fishing very well for brown and rainbow trout. Mansfield is a fantastic spot to have a crack with loads of fish on offer and with trout season nearing closure it’s a good time to get up there and have a crack.
