By BRIAN LONG
ANGLERS chased massive bait shoals in settled conditions offshore last Sunday, finding stripey and small bluefin tuna.
Gunter Marshall found the fish in 50 metres off Anglesea, returning with a few stripeys to 3.5kg and a couple of bluefins around 5kg. He caught all his fish on Pakula Micro Uzis.
Paul Stephens fished off Barwon Heads where he boated four kingfish around 4kg on knife jigs. He said anglers nearby caught kings on bait and trolled lures.
Stuart McGregor used a berley trail to catch flathead at the entrance to Swan Bay, although a shoal of salmon to 1.5kg really kept him busy on bait and lure.
Bendigo’s Donna and Michael Hart found salmon around the face of The Rip where surface action made finding the fish easy. They spent hours casting small soft plastics, catching and releasing almost 50 fish.
Whiting were busier, with many anglers reporting good captures at first light on the grass beds off St Leonards.
George Martin spent many hours in the shallows of Hermsley but bagged out on squid to just over 1kg, with small white jigs working best.
A tail wind helped me cast small metal lures a considerable distance from the rocks at the entrance to Corio Quay on Saturday. I managed two pike of 80cms.
Craig Armour spun the rocks just past Lorne on Sunday, finding plenty of salmon to 900 grams on high tide.
The snapper were quiet, with the best snapper report from Corey Carter who drifted the spoil grounds off Leopold. He caught three fish around the 2kg on soft plastics.
Graham Blake fished bait near Wilson Spit to catch the biggest snapper of the week, a 7.3kg beauty that took the head of a fresh squid head he caught earlier in the day. Unfortunately, it was Graham’s only bite in four hours of fishing.
Herb Mann cast soft plastics along the outer wall of Royal Geelong Yacht Club where he hooked up a clearly big fish but lost it when his line parted 15 minutes into the fight.
Herb packed up and headed in for lunch but retuned an hour later to see a fish splashing on the surface clearly in trouble – it turned out to be the 74cm mulloway he lost earlier.
Bream, trevally and mullet were caught in reasonable numbers in the Barwon River estuary. Bass yabby baits were best, followed by shrimp and sandworm.
The Barwon River upstream of Buckley Falls produced redfin on small bibbed lures or soft plastics such as the Fish Arrow minnow patterns, especially during the last two hours before dark.
Reports of redfin catches have also begun filtering in from Lake Colac.
Wurdi Boluc Reservoir returned a few nice redfin to 1kg, all were caught on lures such as Bob n Spoons and tiger minnows. The fish hug the bottom at the reservoir, so lures must be left to sink before retrieval.
This weekend’s afternoon tides look ideal for chasing snapper on the outer-harbour with bait around Wilson Spit or soft plastics on the shallower water of the spoil grounds.
Send reports and photos to info@raylongtackle.com.au or visit Brian at Ray Long’s Fishing World, 105 Shannon Ave, Manifold Heights.
