Anglers capitalised on calm conditions off Queenscliff over the weekend for catches of squid to just over 1kg.
Others fishing deep in Queenscliff Bight boated larger specimen on baited or size 3.5 artificial jigs, with some anglers then using their fresh bait to catch gummy sharks to 15kg in the south channel.
Clifton Springs also produced squid. I went out at first light on Sunday morning drifting over the shallow grass beds just east of the ramp where I boated squid to 600g on 2.5-sized jigs.
Anglers reported catching snapper to 6kg in the Wilson Spit area during the evenings, with counterparts drifting the channel edges caught flathead to 45cm.
Corio Bay’s inner-harbour hosted pinkie snapper in tight against structure and over the spoil grounds. Tackleworld Geelong’s Adam Van Der Lugt was successful with soft plastics on fish to 40cm.
The Barwon River estuary continued producing reasonable numbers of Australian salmon near the entrance. Small metal lures did the trick on the incoming tide, with salmon to 1.5kg banked.
Further up the river anglers who had pumped Bass yabbies banked bream to 38cm and the odd mulloway as a by-catch.
The tuna season showed no sign of slowing down in the western district, with numerous fish over 60kg taken off Portland and Port Macdonald. School-sized tuna to 15kg were present in shallower depths off Portland where small skirted lures such as Richter Jelly Babes worked a treat.
Lake Bullen Merri produced Chinook salmon to 1.5kg on pilchard fillets fished on lightly weighted running-sinker rigs amid well-established berley trail. Anglers trolling the north end of the lake around first light boated well-conditioned rainbow trout to 2kg on Daiwa Double Clutch 75s.
The so-called Lake of 1000 Casts, or Wurdee Boluc Reservoir, provided Frank Benvenuto with an impressive-sized brown trout of 64cm. Frank noticed the trout leaping from the water around his mudeye under a float for some time before engulfing the bait.
Frank’s friend nearby had similar success, landing a brown trout of 1kg while casting a Rapala Spotted Dog lure along the main rock wall.
Bradley Cox and Michael Evans teamed up with Trevor Holmes for a trip on the trout to Lake Toolondo. Working lures around the timber, Bradley hooked his first brown trout, a trophy fish of 58cm and 2.8kg that made quite an impression.
They guys then went on to catch a few smaller-model redfin and rainbow trout.
Over the next week anglers should consider Queenscliff for squid or silver trevally inside the harbour, while a trip down the western district for tuna could be worthwhile if the weather allows. Closer to home, the Barwon estuary should provide the best family fishing for bream, salmon and trevally.
