On the Bite, by Adam Van der Lugt
Anglers who braved last week’s rough weather were rewarded for their efforts.
Corio Bay’s inner-harbour produced big snapper, garfish and snotty trevalla along with the pinkies, salmon and flathead that have been biting for a while now. Anglers chasing the big winter snapper had the best results, especially on unweighted or lightly weighted fresh baits.
The trevalla were present around structure like Cunningham Pier and Royal Geelong Yacht Club, while the garfish were caught off the rocks at Limeburner’s Point and St Helens boat ramps.
Bream responded well to the rain’s light flush of local estuaries. Most small creeks along the coast from Torquay to Apollo Bay fished well for anglers using unweighted scrub worms or small freshwater yabbies, although lightly weighed creature-bait soft plastics also worked.
Local surf beaches fired with some fantastic salmon fishing. Jan Juc, Bancoora, Anglesea and Moggs Creek were all hot spots whether using lures of bait.
The tuna fishing continued down the southwest where Portland, Port Fairy and Apollo Bay were hot spots for fish from 15kg to over 120kg. The latter produced numerous reports of barrels, while the former two fished best out near the shelf in 100mto 130m.
Freshwater fishing was outstanding last week, with Lake Purrumbete producing brown trout in excess of 10lb for anglers flat-line trolling Tassie Devils. Dropping soft plastics or worms in 4m to 8m on the outside of the weed beds resulted in caputures of redfin, which were present in plague propotions.
Wurdibuloc Reservoir was fantastic again for redfin. Anglers casting soft plastics on 1/4oz jigheads caught fish, while hard-body minnow lures and bladed spinners landed some brown trout.
Lake Bolac fished well for rainbow trout of 3kg and above. Using Powerbait or pilchard fillets accounted for fish, although patience is the key for successful anglers who spent several hours without a touch before the bite began.
