Local anglers had success on everything from tuna to trout over the past week.
Justin Rayner ventured down the Surf Coast in search of Australian salmon on the weekend, hooking up a 3kg fish after casting 25g Sluk lure for a couple of hours. He spent 15 minutes fighting the fish before landing it on the rocks and also took plenty of smaller salmon and ‘couta as well.
Other anglers capitalised on settling weather to hit the waters off Portland in search of southern bluefin tuna. Dylan Pace was successful, finding fish averaging 12kg while working Rapala X Rap 30s in 50m of water.
Dylan said dolphin fish attempted to take a trolled skirted lure but failed to hook up.
Closer to home, pinkie snapper were caught on three-inch Gulp pumpkinseed minnows around Geelong’s waterfront. A lucky few caught fish nudging 3kg, which gave an excellent account of themselves on light tackle.
Sam Pitman caught reasonable-sized squid on the shallow weed beds at Clifton Springs. Size 2.5 jigs worked the best, with mid-morning the peak time.
Pat Rollinson fished in 30m off Barwon Heads on Saturday morning when he lost one bait before a rod screamed off. After 40 minutes he boated a 42kg mako shark, which took a fresh ‘couta bait.
The Barwon River estuary remained consistent for school-sized mulloway on small baitfish-profile lures and fresh squid strips. Silver trevally were also present in good numbers throughout the estuary.
Freshwater remained productive, particularly the crater lakes.
Fishing World staff member Michael Moore took his daughters for an early run to Lake Bullen Merri on Sunday, arriving to find almost glass-like conditions on the lake. They found the trolling a little slow but then dropped down some lightly weighted salted bluebait fillets and Powerbait, soon catching Chinook salmon from 1.3kg to 1.5kg.
Other anglers reported similar results at the lake during the week, again bluebait and Powerbait.
Next door at Lake Purrumbete, Shane Hutchins also fished on Sunday, boating a brown trout of 2.7kg on a trolled clown-pattern Tassie Devil.
Azi Osmic fished Wurdee Boluc Reservoir where he caught a 1.2kg redfin on a pink and blue Tassie Devil. Lake Wurdi Bullock is a great choice for a local freshwater fix and has a reputation for producing large Redfin, just make sure to work your lure close to the bottom.
Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree produced trout on mudeyes suspended under floats. Lure anglers were successful casing small baitfish-profile lures among the rowing lanes where they caught rainbow and brown trout snapping up there lures.
Lodge reports and photos at info@raylongtackle.com.au or facebook.com/raylongfishingworld or visit Chris at Fishing World Geelong, 105 Shannon Ave, Manifold Heights.
