On the Bite, by Chris Pitman
Corio Bay hosted some excellent snapper fishing again over the past week.
Matthew Kirby and dad Alistair enjoyed an exceptional session on the bay, boating two trophy snapper of 10.45kg and 10kg.
Other anglers found plenty of smaller models to 45cm while casting soft plastics among the Western Beach moorings.
Squid anglers had little difficulty boating bag-limit captures from Clifton Springs right around to the mouth of Swan Bay. The run-in tide was best, with size 3 jigs working well.
Some anglers fishing along the Point Richards channel also caught snapper, but they were finicky, probably due to the water still being on the cool side.
Tackleworld Geelong’s Adam Van Der Lugt was at it again, this time down the Bellarine Peninsula. A beastly bream of 48cm devoured one of his soft plastics, putting Adam through his paces on light tackle.
The Barwon River estuary’s lower reaches were surprisingly productive, considering the recent rain. Mullet, Australian salmon and even tailor ended up in anglers’ bags.
Fishing the run-in tide below the Ocean Grove boat ramp was best, with baits such as pippie and prawn working well.
Mark Stewart ventured out from Portland to troll skirted lures for southern bluefin tuna, catching a 100.4kg fish after a three-hour battle.
Freshwater anglers kept their attention on Lake Purrumbete where brown trout up to 5.5kg have been devouring hard-body lures cast or trolled at first and last light along the east bank. Anglers noted that casting or trolling around schools of minnow rippling on the surface during the evening was the key to success.
Daniel Baden and I spent a few hours fishing the smaller streams around Beech Forest on Sunday morning. We landed numerous wild brown trout to 30cm on shallow-diving hard body-lures and spinners.
Next week should be worth fishing for snapper along the Point Richards channel off Clifton Springs, while squid and whiting should be prevalent in 3m to 6m along the whole of the Bellarine Peninsula. The Barwon River estuary and Highton’s St Augustine Lake, stocked with rainbow trout, should be ideal for kids on holidays.
