On the Bite, by Chris Pitman
Anglers spread out far and wide in search of piscatorial action over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
Starting off inside Corio Bay, large schools of Australian salmon kept anglers entertained with nonstop action once a school of fish was located. Casting three-inch minnow-style soft plastics worked best whether from a boat or land-based in the vicinity of the former Yarra St Pier.
Pinkie snapper also made an appearance, while anglers fishing small baits under floats amid strong berley trails caught garfish off the rocks at Limeburner’s Point boat ramp.
St Leonards was a squid hot spot, with plenty taken in 3m to 4m right from Indented Heads’ boat ramp to the entrance of Swan Bay. The slower-running high tides were ideal for casting jigs over the weed beds.
Reasonable numbers of whiting were taken on pippies in the Bourke St area off St Leonards. The average size of the fish was up around 40cm.
Queenscliff also produced nice numbers of whiting, while silver trevally hit 2.5-inch grub-style soft plastics inside the harbour.
Nearby, Point Lonsdale’s Pier was a fantastic option on the run-in tide for salmon to 2kg.
The Barwon River estuary produced well-conditioned black bream along the Sheepwash, as well as the odd mulloway to 1m. The Barwon Heads Bridge section was a great place to snag good numbers of mullet and smaller King George whiting.
The surf Beaches hosted great numbers of salmon. Casting lures or bait fishing were both productive, with beaches from Bancoora though to Lorne fishing well.
Also on the local beaches through to Apollo bay, some great gummy sharks caught by those willing to brave the cold. Nat Barry and brother Finn put in a few hours and were rewarded with a shark each.
Further west, Portland was on fire for school-sized southern bluefin tuna. Gone Fishing Charters’ Chris Vasilevski guided clients onto some insane action.
Anglers fishing Portland also found that casting a line from the breakwall for snapper was worthwhile.
On the freshwater scene, Lake Purrumbete gave up numerous trophy brown trout for anglers trolling Tassie Devils and hard-body lures. Tim Beusmans took a brown tipping the scales at 9lb 11oz.
Next door, Lake Bullen Merri was productive for Chinook salmon and rainbow trout to 2kg. Again, trolling Tassie Devils and Rapala XR-6/ XR-8 Spotted Ghosts on downriggers worked well.
The Lake of 1000 Casts, Wurdiboluc Reservoir, was kind to Ross Gould when he landed multiple brown trout averaging 1.5 to 2kg while casting large spinners from the rock wall.
Next week anglers should keep an eye on the freshwater, with reports really firing up and some serious trophy trout on the move. Otherwise, St Leonards should have well-conditioned winter whiting on the bite.
