On the Bite, by Chris Pitman
Queenscliff drew the attention of anglers over the past week, with everything from bluefin tuna to whiting on the chew.
The grass beds east of the harbour held excellent fishing for whiting. Tenderised squid baits caught fish over 40cm, along with the odd flathead.
Gone Fishing Charters’ Chris Vasilevski again guided his clients onto large numbers of whiting and pinkies at Queenscliff. Moves of 50m produced more fish when the bite slowed.
Squid kept anglers entertained in the bight while supplying ideal kingfish bait.
Jigging and trolling The Rip produced kings, some up to 1m.
Anglers found tuna just out from The Rip and further down the coast. Trolling small skited lures worked well, while casting stick bait lures to boil ups on the surface was also successful.
Trelly’s Geelong’s Adam Van Der Lugt fished land-based in Queenscliff Harbour again, landing a bag-limit catch of squid, some of impressive size, too. Adam’s 2.5-size jigs were able to hit the bottom almost, which was his key to landing numbers of squid on the slower-running tides.
Clifton Springs held good numbers of pinkie snapper on the spoil grounds and some larger specimens down toward Alcoa Pier. Whiting were taken out from the old Dell.
The Barwon River estuary produced some well-conditioned silver trevally, while keen fishos seeking elusive mulloway caught fish to 90cm but found the going hit and miss.
I took a run up the estuary on Saturday, catching some well-conditioned bream to 44cm.
Anglers spinning for Australian salmon from the rock platforms between Lorne and Apollo Bay enjoyed impressive captures. The lead-up to high tide was best, with lures like the Sea Iron Pelacus and Sluks getting the job done.
Western district anglers kept boating huge numbers of redfin from Lake Purrumbete, along with the odd trout.
Next door, trolling Lake Bullen Merri produced Chinook salmon averaging 1kg. Anglers spinning with spoon-type lures from the bank managed rainbow trout.
The Barwon River in Geelong continued fishing well for smaller redfin. Anglers casing lures like Atomic Hardz shads in colour 17 around the snags banked some good numbers.
Carp were also grassed, with fish to 6kg taken around Breakwater.
Next week’s forecast weather should provide opportunities to hunt tuna off Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads with small skirted lures like Richter Jelly Babes. Snapper anglers could try Clifton Springs, while freshwater enthusiasts should head to Lake Purrumbete for redfin and trophy-size Chinook salmon.
