STRONG winds and big waves made surf fishing difficult last weekend, with protected locations the best option.
Troy West fished the high tides in Louttit Bay for plenty of salmon around 900g. A move to Artillery Rock produced fewer fish but the size was better, around 1.5kg. Troy caught his salmon on lure but a bait angler nearby landed similar-size fish.
Guy Renfrey caught fish to 2kg at Marengo Beach just past Apollo Bay.
The strong wind discoloured Lake Connewarre, which affected the Barwon River estuary on outgoing tides but the run-up to high tide brought a variety of fish including trevally, salmon, mullet, mulloway and bream.
Bait anglers found pippie, prawn and sandworm best baits, while lure anglers did well on all the soft plastic worm patterns.
George Lucas used soft plastics on Geelong’s waterfront to catch a few nice snapper, his biggest 55cm. His best fishing was on the high tides just after dark. George also hooked a number of unstoppable fish that straightened out his jig heads.
Greg Chee fished after dark at North Shore rocks on Monday night, returning with a pair of magnificent snapper just over 3kg each. Both fish took salted pilchards.
Paul Jefferies caught his bag limit of squid in close to Edwards Point when the weather settled. Paul used 2.5 Yamashita jigs.
Damian Holt also caught squid, mostly small, while casting in the shallows at Hermsley after dark.
West Barwon Reservoir continued producing quality trout, with anglers willing to put in long hours catching fish averaging 1.5kg. Anywhere along the main wall has been working on baits such as worms and Powerbait or slowly fished deep-diving bibbed lures or gold coloured 13.5g Tassie Devils.
Fantastic trout captures continued at many lakes suffering low water levels. Hepburn Lagoon rewarded both lure and fly anglers with quality brown trout, some nudging over 3kg.
Fly patterns to use have been small, dark coloured nymphs and snail patterns. Lure anglers favoured tiger minnows and bob ‘n’ spoons.
Newlyn Reservoir produced the biggest trout I saw for the week, a 3.4kg brown landed by Perry Stevens on a Rapala F3 in the rainbow colour. Perry reported losing a similar-sized fished later in the day.
Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree produced fish on mudeye baits, with most of the trout around 1kg, although Danny Levy managed a 1.8kg fish on bread. He and his son had been feeding ducks with bread earlier in the day when he saw a trout cruise in and sneak a piece, which prompted Danny to return later with his unorthodox bait.
Wurdee Boluc Reservoir, the lake of a 1000 casts, lived up to its reputation for Stan Page who reckoned he made 2000 to catch a trout of 2.3kg and a redfin of 1.6kg.
Michael Evans also caught a trout, with his 3kg fish the best he has caught during his many hours at the reservoir.
Bluefin remained a target at Portland where the tour operators managed to cope with the huge seas over the last week. Most fish ranged between 20kg and 40kg, with Rapala X Rapsor small skirted lures successful.
Settled conditions this weekend should fire up the salmon along the coast, the Barwon River estuary should produce a variety of species and the lakes should be worthwhile for trout.
Numbers of redfin should be available on the river upstream of the Geelong ring road for anglers using vibes and deep-running bibbed lures.
Send reports and photos to info@raylongtackle.com.au or visit Brian at Ray Long’s Fishing World, 105 Shannon Ave, Manifold Heights.
