On the Bite, by Adam Van der Lugt
Corio Bay was a great location for local anglers wanting to stay near home last week.
The waterfront and inner-harbour in general hosted huge schools of Australian salmon busting up randomly. Anglers lucky enough to be present for a bust-up had no dramas hooking into fish, some over 60cm, on either metal lures or baitfish-style soft plastics.
Pinkie snapper were also still in good numbers. Fish to more than 50cm responded well to soft plastics and pilchards or bluebait, with flathead and snook taken as bycatch.
Garfish were also present. Small bits of pippie or squid fished under a float with a light burley was effective for targeting gars either land based or at anchor.
Clifton Springs was a hot spot again for anglers chasing squid, with easy bags taken over the weed beds on size three to 3.5 jigs.
Queenscliff hosted some fantastic fishing for squid, whiting, gummy sharks and the odd kingfish. The land-based squid fishing was still exceptional, with the pier producing some thumpers and the harbour’s cut also producing quality bags on slack tide.
Offshore from Barwon heads was again a popular location in the calm conditions over the past week. Small snapper and pinkies were taken on micro jigs and bait from around the 30m mark, along with good-size gummies on fresh salmon fillets.
Further west, Port Fairy was the place to be for southern bluefin tuna.
Trelly’s Geelong’s Peri Stavropoulos ventured out in search of busting fish and didn’t take long to find them. Casting the 56g Sea Iron Pelacus and Bassday Bungy stick baits into the feeding fish led to multiple hook-ups on fish pushing 30kg.
Along with the tuna, bronze whaler sharks were also present in good numbers off Port Fairy.
Freshwater fishing really started to fire up.
Wurdibuloc Reservoir produced solid redfin in good numbers on metal spoons and soft plastics. The water level is quite low, requiring long casts beyond the weed.
The odd big trout was also caught on bigger minnow-style lures at first and last light.
As the temperature starts to cool the trout fishing should only get better over the weeks to come.
