On the Bite, by Chris Pitman
Mixed catches attracted many anglers to St Leonards over the past week.
Tackleworld Geelong’s Peri Stavropoulos, farther Michael and Damien Raven ventured out early last Friday in search of whiting and squid. They got stuck into whiting in 5m south of St Leonard’s Yacht Club.
Shifting into the Swan Bay channel the trio then started casting soft plastics for a catch of silver trevally and Australian salmon. Then they moved around to the Point Lonsdale Bight, where Damien boated an excellent squid on an artificial jig.
Clifton Springs remained busy with whiting and squid. The Curlewis Bank was hot for both species, with squid devouring size three jigs while the whiting took pippies.
Snapper anglers boated fish to 6kg on the edge of Point Richard Channel with silver whiting baits.
Michael Moore had a few quick casts at Queenscliff Harbour on Sunday afternoon, taking a 40cm trevally on soft plastic. The catch surprised Michael because the tide was roaring out at a high rate of knots.
Other anglers took pinkie snapper at the harbour entrance.
Corio Bay produced well-conditioned flathead on plastics cast over the spoil grounds. Gulp Turtleback Worms in Pumpkinseed and rigged on 1/8oz jibs were a standout.
Anglers fishing along the Great Ocean Road rock platforms landed salmon to 2kg. Metal lures around 25g to 40g worked best.
Anglers fishing baits landed gummy sharks on the beaches at night.
Freshwater anglers found newly opened Stony Creek Reservoir productive for brown and Rainbow trout along with the odd redfin. Lures, bait and fly all worked a treat.
The Barwon River around Breakwater through to Queen’s Park was outstanding for carp. Corn kernels on lightly weighted running sinker rigs caught fish to 6kg, although a few were taken off soft plastics.
Jef Klasevski had a fast-paced session at Wurdee Boluc Reservoie, banking a brown trout of 65cm and 3.3kg on a mudeye suspended under a float. Jef was kept so busy he could only fish one rod at a time.
Lake Bullen Merri fished well for Chinook salmon averaging just over 1kg along with the odd Rainbow trout.
The holiday period should produce good fishing for whiting and squid along the Curlewis Bank off Clifton Springs, while snapper anglers should target the spoil grounds with soft plastics in the evenings.
Swan Bay channel should produce mixed bags on the run-in tides, while kingfish and salmon could be found offshore from Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads, with mako sharks likely to be lurking in 50m to 60m.
Land-based anglers could try the Barwon River estuary for bream, whiting, salmon and even the elusive mulloway, while freshwater fishos should focus on Stony Creek Reservoir for trout and redfin.
