By BRIAN LONG
Mid-September is generally when the run of bay snapper begins, with numbers increasing over the past week.
John Pierce landed his first red of the season, a 6.3kg fish, on the southern edge of Wilson Spit last weekend then boated two more over the next three hours, one weighing 7.7kg.
Owen Lundy and Trevor Aston fished with whiting snatchers on the bay, taking small flathead until a 50cm snapper folded Trevor’s favourite rod, his first of this species.
Craig Hold drifted over the Hermsley spoil grounds with soft plastics to boat five fish from 35cm to 56cm.
Paul Blackborrow took young son Taj for a run off Barwon Heads, with the youngster catching a snapper around 2kg.
Garry O’Shea fished the surf just past Lorne for salmon only to catch three snapper around 1kg.
John Mole and I tried Cinema Point last weekend where many of the salmon were under 1kg but a handful pushed 2kg.
Grant O’Toole cast lures near Sheoaks River for a catch of a dozen fish over 1kg and a few small couta.
Persistence paid off for Reece Kawitzki while fishing soft plastics at Queenscliff’s cut when he managed a pair of quality fish on his light gear.
Harrison Reid also chased trevally in the cut, catching six fish, including a beauty just over 2kg, on soft plastics after dark on Sunday.
Anglers reported better squid fishing, with in close at Duck Island and Lonsdale Bight producing bag limits. The best jigs were in natural colours and in sizes to 3.5.
Joel Henry drifted in front of the mussel leases off Clifton Springs for a nice feed of flathead caught both on bait and soft plastics, although the latter produced bigger specimens to more than 50cm.
Pike began showing on the grass beds from Clifton Springs to Point Henry. Troy McKenzie landed 10 on Sunday, with the biggest over 1m.
Salmon remained present in the bays, with Alcoa Pier hosting plenty of surface action. The grammar school lagoon also produced fish to 1kg but mainly from under the moored boats.
Freshwater angling was also busy over the past week.
Lake Purrumbete yielded brown trout close on 4kg, with many others between 2.5kg and 3.5kg. Mudeye worked but lure was generally better on the bigger fish, with Daiwa Double Clutches working well thanks to their deep diving compared to most small-bibbed lures.
Lake Bullen Merri also returned some big brown trout. A 3.6kg fish was taken on a trolled holographic Tassie Devil, while other lures and baits also caught trout.
Moorabool Reservoir was quiet, although Clive Peterson managed four trout to an impressive 2.1kg while casting small smelt-pattern plies along the shore margins.
West Barwon Reservoir remained lightly fished but should be worth trying for trout to more than 2kg. Lures such as Tassie Devils or any deep-diving bibbed models should be worth using.
Lake Tooliorook’s prolific weed growth continued to be a daunting prospect for anglers but also a significant food source for the lake’s thriving fish. Bait anglers using mudeye fished close to the weed banks have been taking fish, while shallow-running suspending bibbed lures also worked when fished extremely slowly with a stop-start action.
Trout have been following but failing to take lures at Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree but this should change as the weather warms. The best trout fishing should occur between October and Christmas.
Rainbow trout have been released again into North Geelong’s Seagull Lake and Highton’s St Augustines Lake in time for children on school holidays. Powerbait or worms should catch fish from both waterways.
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