On the Bite, by Chris Pitman
The Barwon River estuary offered shelter during unfavourable weather over the past week.
Kevin Hunter and Jimmy Robinson anchored up the Thunderbolt section early Sunday morning, catching elephant fish to 2.5kg when the tide eased. Squid on a running sinker with just enough weight to hold the bottom worked best.
Bream were also present in reasonable numbers. I caught some to 35cm during the week on Bass yabbies.
Queenscliff was a standout for whiting, which averaged 40cm. The grass beds again produced fish in numbers, with tenderised squid fished on long lenders working well.
The Swan Bay channel fished well for gummy shark to 6kg during the evenings, with silver trevally and pinkie snapper also biting. During daylight hours grass beds near the mouth were exceptional for squid, which took size-3 jigs cast ahead of the drift.
Corio Bay soft plastic anglers caught pinkie snapper, salmon and flathead. Fishing structures such as piers or yachts was best, while Gulp turtleback worms in Pumpkin Green took plenty of fish.
Lorne Pier helped anglers tangle with King George whiting. Pippies were the bait of choice, with anglers doing best on the sandy patches just out from the pier.
Down the Western District, southern bluefin tuna remained in close off Portland’s North Shore. Anglers able to head further out to the continental shelf encountered not only tuna but albacore too.
Hugh Hanson was keen to try his new Norries Metal Wasaby lure at The Lake of 1000 Casts, or Wurdee Boluc Reservoir, when he arrived on the weekend. Hugh was almost finished his first retrieve when he hooked up a brown trout, which measured an outstanding 70cm and 3.9kg after an intense fight.
Hugh also managed to bank a redfin of 47cm in the same session.
Josh Smith tied spinner bait lures from the reservoir’s rock wall, catching some chunky redfin late afternoon.
Tony Hynds took dad Jim up to Lake Jindabyne over the Easter break. The pair caught 17 brown trout to 2.5kg using downriggers set at 14m and 16m.
Next week should provide chances to catch elephant fish on the Barwon estuary up from the Sheepwash, while whiting should remain plentiful at Queenscliff on the run-in tide.
Anglers wanting to tangle with a tuna should even consider fishing in close at Warrnambool, while Wurdee Boluc might be worth a 1000 casts for brown trout and redfin.
