On the Bite, by Chris Pitman
Anglers jumped at the chance of a break in the weather over the past week, with offshore angling between Point Lonsdale and Barwon Heads popular on Sunday.
Trelly’s Fishing World Geelong’s Peri Stavropoulos and Kevin Hunter anchored in 30m out from Barwon Heads before setting out fresh Australian salmon baits.
Peri soon boated 7.5kg gummy shark, with the pair catching three in total, one of which was released, along with two seven gill sharks to 30kg – all without berley.
Squid fishing was excellent from St Leonards though to Clifton Springs, in terms of both numbers and size. Casting artificial jigs in size 3 was a standout tactic, with white colourations like the Shimano 14T working well in clean water of 3m to 4m.
Snapper anglers began fishing around the Point Richards channel and other outer-harbour spots, but reports remained slow. Small gummy sharks to 5kg were a by catch for anglers fishing the channel. Anglers fishing soft plastics around inner Corio Bay found the salmon a little hit and miss, although fish were easy boat when schools were located.
Lake Purrumbete again turned on trophy brown trout fishing, with multiple fish over 4kg caught in a single day. Casting hard-body lures to fish chasing minnows did the trick, with anglers fishing into the evening finding the best results.
Lake Bullen Merri gave anglers chances to cross paths with Chinook salmon. Hugh Hanson banked himself a ripper of 2.6kg while casting a Daiwa TD 95 minnow land-based from the lake margins.
Deep Lake entertained anglers with brown and rainbow trout to 2kg. Trolling or casting Tassie Devils or Daiwa Double Clutch lures was effective, along with Powerbait on a running sinker rig.
Wurdee Boluc Reservoir gave anglers casting spoon-type lures plenty of action with a mix of redfin, brown and rainbow trout on the chew.
Next week should be good for squid, with the whole Bellarine Peninsula holding good numbers, while calm weather could present opportunities to fish for gummies offshore. Freshwater fishos should try casting or trolling white Tassie Devils at Lake Tooliorook or Deep Lake.
