The Clifton Springs area various angling options over the past week.
Australian salmon at times erupted on the surface in feeding frenzies, with three-inch gulp minnows landing fish to 1.5kg when cast into the commotion. At other times the salmon were taken by anglers trolling along Alcoa Pier.
The spoil grounds off Sands Caravan Park produced numerous pike and pinkies, again on soft plastics.
Squid were still available too over the grass beds in 3m to 4m and along the Curlewis Bank, with size three Yamashita jigs doing the trick.
Whiting snapped up pippies and mussels on the same ground but out a little deeper.
Around the corner, St Leonards remained the Bellarine Peninsula’s hot sport for King George whiting. The Bourke St area had fish over 40cm on the chew.
Fishing amid decent tidal flow in the evenings with pippies or tenderised squid top baits worked well on the whiting.
Swan Bay’s channel produced some huge silver trevally along with pinkie snapper and flathead. Fishing into the night on a run-in tide with pilchard and salmon baits led to captures of gummy shark around 6kg.
The Rip fired up for kingfish, with knife jigs working well on fish to more than 8kg. Notable, southern bluefin tuna were also seen in The Rip, although only one was boated.
Bell Reef and Queenscliff Pier were very productive land based locations for squid, with larger 3.5 size jigs working best.
Kingfish were also a target offshore from Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads. Fish from legal size to 5kg were the most common, although larger fish were cruising around.
Fish were holding in various locations from Charlemont Reef to the back of Point Lonsdale in 40m. Trolling white skirted lures with a fresh squid strip did the trick, along with jigging and working soft plastics down deep.
Andrew Delica and I took a run out from Point Lonsdale, boating six kings around 65cm in 40m with soft plastics.
Also, gone Fishing Charters’ Chris Vasilevski guided clients onto some well-conditioned snapper and kingfish offshore from Point Lonsdale.
The Barwon River estuary gave up bream over 40cm to anglers fishing with live Bass yabbies. A few mulloway were encountered too, with casting soft plastics or fishing fresh squid baits preferred methods.
Whiting and smaller salmon were common captures toward the front of the system.
Port Fairy and Portland held school bluefin tuna in solid numbers. Trolling lures like a Samaki Pacemaker 140D or a small three-inch skirted lures accounted for fish to 30kg.
Lake Purrumbete remained the place for a trophy brown trout, either downrigging Tassie devils or fishing mudeye under a float along the east bank. Smaller rainbow trout were taken on lure around the weed banks at first or last light.
Next week should be worth fishing for kingfish offshore, either though the Barwon River or The Rip, while snapper should be still available at Clifton Springs. Freshwater fishos could head west, where Lake Purrumbete fishes well during summer.
