By Brian Long
COOLER conditions lured more anglers onto the water over the past week, with a consequent increase in reports of captures.
Surf anglers caught big numbers of salmon from the rock platforms between Eastern View and Wye River. Lure accounted for the majority of fish, with most under one kilogram and taken two hours either side of high tied.
Snapper were also taken from the rocks late in the evenings, with Black Rock productive but the area between Lorne and Mount Defiance even better.
Geoff Reid trolled The Rip to catch reasonable numbers of salmon around 1kg. Larger fish were taken on lures fished deep.
Swan Bay’s entrance produced whiting, flathead, gummy shark and garfish, with berley the key to success.
Troy Marchant fished in front of Duck Island for a bag limit of quality squid in under an hour before catching flathead to 1.5kg on soft plastics.
Whiting reports were inconsistent, with most anglers finding fish difficult to locate and the average size down around 33m. Lonsdale Bight was the best location, especially late in the evening or just after dark.
Paul Fisher and Damian Moore drifted in 15m off St Leonards for flathead to better than 50cm along with legal-size snapper, all caught on soft plastics.
Stephen Goodfellow was one of the few to catch a big snapper, with his fish a beauty of 10kg. Neil Palmer landed two others also on Monday morning near Wilson Spit, both just over 5kg.
The area between Bird Rock and Point Wilson continued to produce some of the best fishing, with whiting, flathead, garfish and pinky snapper taken early morning or late in the evening.
Soft plastics angler Corey Sharp fished the outer-harbour spoil grounds for any number of flathead and snapper to 62cm.
Stuart Reid fished from his canoe between Alcoa Pier and Point Henry’s sandbar with pippie baits for an impressive tally of whiting and an exceptional number of small-but-legal-size snapper. Stuart said the last two hours of daylight was best.
Sam Pither fished Geelong’s waterfront from his kayak with bait and lure for a mixed bag of fish that featured an 80cm pike.
The Barwon River in Geelong was again productive, with many carp caught on baits of bread or corn fished with berley. Redfin were caught on hard-body and soft plastics lures between the Shannon Ave bridge and Ceres.
Lake Purrumbete was the best local freshwater destination. Anglers using downriggers set at 10m to 15m caught trout, while mudeyes suspended under floats worked well close in to the weed beds.
Further afield, Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree began producing trout and redfin again after the hot weather on lure or bait. Fly anglers fishing after dark also caught fish on floating mudeye patterns.
Lake Toolondo produced the best trout fishing, with lure and bait taking brown trout to over 2kg and rainbows to 1kg. Anglers should check fire danger warnings before heading upstate to the lake and other waterways in the area.
Lake Burrumbeet, just outside Ballarat, will host a carp-fishing competition on 1-2 February. The entry cost of a gold coin will go to local charities.
Around $2000 in prizes will be awarded, with more information available by phoning Daniel on 0497 098 216.
Send reports and photos to info@raylongtackle.com.au or visit Brian at Ray Long’s Fishing World, 105 Shannon Ave, Manifold Heights.
