Swan Bay serves up an Easter gift

Swan Bay was popular with local anglers over the Easter break.
Anglers fishing over sand patches alongside weed beds around the entry to the bay caught King George whiting to 42cm on pippies. When the bite slowed, heading out the front and drifting with size three jigs caught squid averaging 1 kg.
Just round the corner at St Leonards, the area known as Bourke St provided bag-limit captures of whiting, with pippie again the bait of choice.
Kingfish remained elusive off Queenscliff but the monster whiting kept anglers busy. Fishing into the dark resulted in bag-limit catches of larger fish, with the grass beds north of the harbour and the change of tide producing the best action.
Big schools of Australian salmon were present over at Point Nepean and further down. Anglers trolling white occy skirts caught fish of 2kg.
The Barwon Reiver estuary threw up some trophy-size elephant fish and some good bream. Oscar, Dan and Digby Ford fished the Thunderbolt with squid baits, catching and releasing eight elephants all around 2.5kg mark over two hours.
Anyone after elephant fish will have to make the most of the next week or two because this species’ season normal ends in late April.
Other anglers fishing the same area of the estuary caught juvenile mulloway and bream.
Corio Bay’s spoil grounds returned pinkie snapper onb soft plastic lures, particularly Gulp turtleback worms in the Pumpkin Green colour. Some pinkies reached 2kg, while good-size flathead were a welcome by-catch.
Fishing out of Port Fairy on Easter Saturday was
Tackleworld Laverton’s Ceasre Abbate, Anthony Rae and Kyle Maher trolled Rapala Xrap 30s in baitfish patterns for tuna off Port Fairy on Saturday. They boated fish from 15kg to 25kg, most of which were holding in 48me southeast of the harbour.
Wayne Barry fished the annual Whyalla Snapper Championship last weekend. After attending the previous 22 competitions, Wayne won this year’s event with an 11.84kg snapper.
Local freshwater angling continued improving with the cooler weather.
Wurdee Boluc Reservoir hosted lot of anglers banking redfin and trout. On Monday evening I saw numerous anglers bank redfin of 47cm on the south side, with casting distance essential to success.
The main lures were Pegron Tiger minnows and Fish Arrow soft plastics, with the fish moving in a little closer as the Sun set.
Trent Shiller cast BoB ‘N’ Spoons along the rock wall just around the corner, landing a rainbow trout of just over 1kg.
Paul Blackborrow travelled to the Mount Beauty area where he found well-conditioned rainbow and brown trout in the streams. With a Celta his lure of choice, Paul caught and released 15 trout.
Wurdee Boluc Reservoir should be worth trying with lures over the next week, with persistence essential. Saltwater anglers should try for whiting at Queenscliff, fishing into the night for the larger fish.