Clear skies and quality catches

Fine weather allowed anglers to finally get among some quality fish over the past week.
Andrew Whitford fished Corio Bay’s inner-harbour on a fine but frosty evening for a catch of two quality snapper of 5.48kg and 6.22kg on pilchards.
Plenty of anglers fished Barwon Heads’ offshore reefs for snapper and gummy shark. Danny Skene anchored in 50m before establishing a berley trail to catch three gummies and a snapper around 4kg. Others in the vicinity also caught gummies and snapper.
Danny also fished Portland for tuna with Matty Carroll. Putting lures in off Cape Nelson, one of the outfits began emptying at an alarming rate with a fish that, after a long fight, pulled the scales down to 135kg.
Quite a few other barrels were landed over the weekend, with anglers reporting incredible amounts of pilchards in the area. Let’s hope the bait continues to head along the coast and brings the tuna a little closer to home.
Salmon continued featuring along the coast with Bancoora Beach the best location closest to Geelong. Anglers caught fish to 2kg on bluebait and lures such as the Norstream baitfish and Asari Mahis.
Many of the beaches and rock platforms along the Great Ocean Road also produced quality salmon, with Grey River an ideal location when shelter from wind and swell was required.
Land-based anglers had great options, with the Barwon River estuary fishing well for trevally and small salmon. Queenscliff Harbour also produced trevally and a few squid.
Anglers continued catching whiting and squid from St Leonards Pier.
Whiting remained a great option for boat anglers, with bag-limit catches reported from Queenscliff all the way around to Clifton Springs. Fresh squid, pippies and mussel were the preferred bait.
On the freshwater front, Adam Van Der Lugt and Ross Gould fishedo Wurdee Boluc Reservoir on Sunday. The fishing was tough but Adam managed a nice redfin of 44cm on a fluoro orange Entice vibe.
Anglers fishing Lake Bullen Merri caught rainbow trout from the bank with chartreuse Powerbait.
Lake Purumbete produced the odd brown trout for anglers trolling Tassie Devils.
Over the next week tuna anglers with barrels on their minds should head to Portland to get among some of the large fish on offer at the moment. Land-based anglers should have plenty of options, with salmon, trevally, squid and whiting all available from many platforms, while anyone prepared to brave the cold after dark on Corio Bay will have a chance of catching quality snapper.