By Brian Long
ANGLERS enjoyed outstanding opportunities over the past week, with top action in fresh and saltwater.
Surf fishing was fantastic, with many salmon taken between Lorne and Apollo Bay. Lure was best method, accounting for huge numbers of fish just under a 1kg and a few specimens nudging 3kg.
Paul Norton fished just past the St George River where he landed over 30 salmon in two hours. I saw him into the action as I drove past to Sheoaks River where the fish were equally cooperative, with my son Hudson and I catching and releasing around 20, the best over 3kg.
Steve Clancy had a Sunday evening spinning session at Grey River where he lost count of the number he caught.
Tom Holt fished the beach at Fairhaven after dark for any number of salmon to 2.85kg.
Many anglers also returned with quality squid. The shallow grass beds off St Leonards down to the entrance to Swan Bay were consistent location, with dark coloured jigs working best.
Jacob Welsh fished land-based at Hermsley for a squid. He caught his bag limit in around two hours on a Yamashita pilchard-coloured jig in size 2.5.
Graham Norton cast soft plastics in the cut at Queenscliff to constantly hook up on small salmon. His patience was also rewarded with trevally close to 1.5kg, with all the action on the run off from high tide.
The Rip held good numbers of salmon. Most were under 1kg but their sheer numbers made for fantastic fishing either trolling or, better still, drifting and casting into the surface action with soft plastics.
The Barwon River estuary produced a variety of fish including small mulloway, salmon, trevally and mullet two hours either side of high tide.
Corio Bay was reasonably quiet but Andrew Cummings had luck on Geelong’s waterfront after dark, landing three quality snapper over 55cms. Turtleback worms worked for Andrew but another angler using chicken soaked in tuna oil also caught fish.
Last weekend marked the first bluefin tuna captures from Apollo Bay this season. Masses of bait were found at both Big and Nine Mile reefs, ensuring more fish will be taken in coming days, depending on the weather.
Some of our lakes produced fantastic trout action.
Hepburn Lagoon yielded browns over 3kg on lures of enough weight to be cast long distances. Tiger minnows and Tassie Devils were successful.
Moorabool Reservoir also fished extremely well on lure but. Like other local water supplies, wading is disallowed, so long casts are required.
Lake Elingamite remained low but still returned trout of more than 2kg along with redfin to 1.2kg. Mudeye baits and slow trolling Tassie Devils both worked.
Lake Tooliorook continued producing trout in the right weather for land-based anglers wading out before casting Powerbait into the clearer water.
Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree produced trout to just over 1kg on mudeye fished under floats.
Fresh water flowing into the Barwon River fired up the carp in Geelong. Queen’s Park should be producing fish over 5kg for anglers using berley with bread or corn baits.
This weekend’s predicted winds should produce clean water along the coast, so salmon will again be a major target species. Places to try should include Fairhaven on the high tide and Eastern View on the low but expect the best fishing on the rocks between Lorne and Apollo Bay.
Freshwater anglers should try Moorabool Reservoir on tiger minnows or gold-coloured Tassie Devil lures, with the best fishing likely to be in the middle of the day when the temperature peaks.
Send reports and photos to info@raylongtackle.com.au or visit Brian at Ray Long’s Fishing World, 105 Shannon Ave, Manifold Heights.
