Pier launches hook impressive whiting

St Leonards continued attracting anglers over the past week with bag-limit captures of whiting to 40cm common.
But what really caught attention was the exceptional whiting taken land-based from St Leonards Pier.
Keen anglers using fresh squid and pippies in conjunction with lengthy casts out from the end of the pier landed fish to 40cm along with the odd pinkie and Australian salmon as a by-catch.
Squid were also taken from the pier. Daniel Magee caught some to 900g while casing jigs for a few hours after dark last week.
Whiting also dominated reports from Queenscliff where usual haunts, like the grass beds to the left of the harbour, produced quality fish to 45cm.
Swan Bay provided more shelter for anglers who caught respectable bags of squid and, inside the main channel, gummy sharks to 6kg.
Tackleworld Geelong’s Peri Stavropoulos fished Saturday morning inside the Queenscliff Harbour.
Anchoring near the yachts, Peri caught numerous silver trevally, whiting and salmon with a mixture of tactics including soft plastics and bait.
The Barwon River estuary fished well for mullet, salmon, whiting and silver trevally, although most were reached only 30cm.
Anglers who took time to gather fresh baits such as Bass yabbies and shrimp caught black bream around the Sheepwash.
Mulloway remained elusive in the estuary but should return with the recent rain and dropping water temperature.
Corio Bay produced pinkie snapper on soft plastics cast hard against structure, while salmon to just over 1kg schooled in large numbers from Rippleside Jetty through to the grammar school lagoon entrance. Diving birds betrayed salmon feeding on the surface while fishing deep around piers was successful when the schooling activity ceased.
Wild weather again made fishing difficult down the western district but anglers who had opportunities to fishing out of Portland and Port Fairy caught southern bluefin tuna and albacore from the shelf.
On the freshwater front, Adam Van Der Luht spent more time casting lures from the main rock wall at Wurdee Boluc Reservoir where he had no trouble banking redfin to over 40cm on Entice vibes.
The action should start to fire up with water now running into the lake.
West Barwon Reservoir remained productive for brown trout for anglers casting Daiwa Double Clutches around the margins.
Low water allowed anglers to cover ground which was usually inaccessible.
Last week Daniel Baden and I ventured up to the Eucumbene River where we caught excellently conditioned brown trout to 2.5kg on lightly weighted flies.
Anyone thinking of capitalising on the rising river should take plenty of spare flies and terminal tackle because fishing as close to the bottom as possible is essential.
Next week should be worth fishing for the incredible numbers of whiting off St Leonards and Queenscliff, while the Barwon estuary and Queenscliff Harbour will be option if the wind’s strong.
Freshwater fishos should keep an eye on West Barwon and Wurdee Boluc reservoirs for redfin and trout.