Offshore mix up

Offshore reports were mixed over the past week, with the kingfish elusive.
Many anglers search for kingies instead stumbled across large schools of striped tuna in 15m to 20m off Ocean Grove. These extremely fast moving fish took small metal lures and clear-coloured soft plastics cast ahead of the schools.
The most productive fishing to be had last week was inside Port Philip Bay.
Steve Prior, Paul Jones and Jason O’Sullivan anchored in 21m off St Leonards last Friday night when they baited up with fresh slimy mackerel fillets. They boated a hard-fighting gummy shark of 14kg, which took all three of them to subdue.
Anglers fishing closer to shore had great results on whiting over the grass beds. Pippies were the bait of choice and the run-out tide was best.
Clifton Springs was the go-to location for snapper, with fish to 6kg holding along the channel edges and spoil grounds. Alcoa Pier was also a solid option, although the size was down with most fish averaging 40cm to 50cm.
Bradley Cox cast Fish Arrow soft plastics scented with S-Factor around Geelong’s waterfront, banking flathead to 40cm.
Anglers fishing Bird Rock at the entrance of Corio Bay boated flathead while drifting and casting soft plastics among the sand and weed patches.
Whiting were also taken from Bird Rock, with most fish averaging 33cm to 36cm. Tenderised squid caught the larger whiting.
The Barwon River estuary produced elephant fish and mulloway in great numbers. Daniel Baden and I baited in the estuary with fresh squid, catching an elephant fish just over 3kg and a mulloway of 60cm, which we released.
North winds were conducive to spinning the surf for Australian salmon, with beaches such as Bancoora and further along toward Lorne holding fish to 2kg. Anglers who made daybreak starts had the best results.
Portland and Port Fairy were hot for tuna and kingfish.
Port Fairy hosted plenty of anglers casting stickbaits into schools of surface-feeding fish, while finicky tuna holding in close off Portland were taken on trolled occy skirts.
On the freshwater front, Wurdee Boluc Reservoir produced redfin to 45cm for patient anglers. Long casts were essential to get out over the thick weed beds.
Down the western district, Lake Bullen Merri yielded Chinook salmon to 2kg on baits fished down deep amid solid berley trails. The odd rainbow was a by-catch for anglers using glassies or Powerbait.
Next week should be worth fishing for kingfish off Barwon Heads, with Sunday looking the most likely day conditions-wise. An alternative will be fishing for snapper along the channel edges inside the bay.
The long weekend might also present an opportunity to hit Port Fairy or Portland for the tuna and kingfish.