By BRIAN LONG
Settled conditions over the long weekend allowed local anglers to chase a variety of species in fresh and saltwater.
Lake Toolondo was a standout, with anglers returning taking bag limit captures of trout averaging 1.5kg on all methods.
Lake Bolac produced quality trout reaching 2.5kg on Powerbait and local smelt.
Wurdee Boluc Reservoir yielded trout and redfin, with Terry Sharp catching a reddie of 2.3kg on a bob ‘n spoon lure on Sunday morning. Guy McKenzie landed four weighing an impressive 6.1kg combined.
Moorabool Reservoir again returned brown trout close to 2kg on lure and fly. Terry Knott caught and released four on a wooly bugger fly in the black and grizzle colour, while lure casters nearby also landed fish.
Don Delaney fishing Hepburn Lagoon with a tiger minnow lure, catching three big browns to 2.6kg.
Troy Mann made the most of the fishing high up in the Moorabool River before the trout closure, catching reasonable numbers of fish to just under 1kg on small Rapala lures.
Carp were grassed along the Barwon River between Queen’s Park and Breakwater on corn and bread baits, especially when fished in berley.
Snapper began showing in Corio Bay, with the best reports coming from anglers using fresh pilchards on the deep-water mud directly out from the silos piers.
Soft plastics also accounted for quality snapper, with Greg Stevens catching a 6.1kg fish among the moorings off Western Beach.
Danny Martin fished soft plastics on the outer-harbor spoil grounds where last weekend he caught a 3.2kg snapper and flathead to just on 1kg.
Squid were caught on all the inshore grass beds with small, dark-coloured jigs at first light.
Karl Mickleham fished Queenscliff’s cut for a nice bag of trevally on soft plastics.
Salmon were taken in many locations, with The Rip producing fish to 1.5kg. The surf between Lorne and Apollo Bay produced huge numbers of fish for anglers using bait or lures.
Grant Stevens fished near Sheoaks River where over three hours he caught a fish for practically every cast.
Apollo Bay’s Bob Searle also caught salmon at Wild Dog Creek.
Bluefin tuna over 100kg were caught from Port Fairy all the way to the South Australia border, with many taken in just 40 metres of water
Salmon should be worth chasing in the surf again this weekend, while freshwater anglers should look to Lake Tooliorook with Powerbait on a running sinker rig or try Wurdee Boluc Reservoir with lures.
Send reports and photos to info@raylongtackle.com.au or visit Brian at Ray Long’s Fishing World, 105 Shannon Ave, Manifold Heights.
