On the Bite, by Chris Pitman
Anglers have hit the ground running in 2016 with a wide variety of species all on the bite.
Queenscliff, always a favourite location amongst anglers this time of year for its access to some of the Bellarine Peninsula’s most exciting fishing, was among the hotspots over the past week.
Last Friday evening Kevin Hunter and I headed out from Queenscliff on the hunt for whiting. Anchoring on the area know as the grass beds to the east of the harbour entrance at the start of the run-in tide, it wasn’t long for the first whiting to be boated.
By the end of a fast-past session we had caught 35 whiting between us, ranging in size from 36cm to 43cm. Fresh tenderised squid and pippie baits did the trick.
Tackleworld Geelong’s Michael Moore was only a few hundred metres away and also managed to boat an impressive bag of healthy-sized whiting.
Just around the corner at Swan Bay squid were again holding in large numbers, as Daniel Baden discovered. Daniel was on the water first thing Sunday morning for a bag-limit capture of squid in quick time.
He then moved inside the channel, spending half an hour or so casting soft plastics along the edges for some impressive flathead from 50cm to 56cm.
Over at Clifton Springs snapper anglers reported slightly better results on fish to 6kg over at the Wilson Spit. Fresh squid strips or pilchards got the job done, especially for anglers fishing a tide change in conjunction with sunrise or sunset.
Small squid were on offer for anglers slowly drifting over the shallow grass beds while casting 2.5 size jigs. Anglers fishing the shallow sand flats with soft plastics caught flathead to 45cm.
Inside Corio Bay, Justin Burns refined the art of catching rock flathead. Using an ever-reliable 2.5-inch Gulp Crabby, Justin boated a well-conditioned rocky of 58cm along with three others as well as numerous pinkie snapper to 35cm.
Anglers fishing the spoil grounds little trouble boating pike, with some of these toothy critters reaching 90cm.
Some of the most exciting and anticipated fishing for the start of the year began offshore from Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads.
Tackleworld Geelong’s Kevin Hunter made the most of calm conditions on Sunday morning out wide from Ocean Grove. Boating a hefty blue shark after setting a liberal berley trail.
With some time still up his sleeve, Kevin targeted kingfish on knife jigs in the deeper water, catching a fish just over 60cm.
But Monday proved the hottest kingfish bite in a long time, with hordes of anglers finding large schools surface-feeding and devouring most lures cast into the commotion. What made the day really standout was anglers finding such large numbers of fish all day long.
Matt Alsop and Dylan Pace were in on the action, catching and releasing numerous kings by jigging and casting lures.
Still keen to tangle with the kingfish, Kevin took Adam Van Der Luht out Tuesday morning. Intent on using light tackle, Adam managed to hook and boat a king of just on 60cm with a 15gram Koika Jig.
The Barwon River estuary produced school-sized Mulloway to 85cm on bait and lures for dedicated anglers, along with some beastly silver trevally to 45cm.
Down the coast, Portland and Port Fairy began to produce school-sized southern bluefin tuna – if they ever really left! The tuna were taken in as close as 30m of water off Port Fairy and 12 metres off Portland.
Small skirted lures trolled around surface feeding fish worked best.
Jamie Dalton spent the past few weeks fishing down at King Island. Casting metal lures from the rocks, Jamie banked a quality kingfish of 8kg that gave an excellent account for itself.
Back home, freshwater anglers found Wurdee Boluc Reservoir worth the effort. Bradley Cox and Trevor Holmes spent a few hours casting Bob N Spoons and Fish Arrow soft plastics from the rock wall, landing redfin to 46cm in trying conditions.
Next week should spoil anglers for choice, with most locations fishing their best in months. Kingfish should be available offshore for anglers with the right boat and safety gear, while Queenscliff’s whiting could provide both a great feed and a fun session.
Freshwater anglers should fish Wurdee Boluc for rainbow trout and redfin off the main rock wall.
