On the bite
VARIABLE winds made fishing difficult over the past week.
I fished the coast just past Lorne where big numbers of quality salmon were available on lure. Most fish were well over 1kg.
Troy Mann had success at Cinema Point until the tide began dropping and his catches started entangling in heavy kelp attached to the rock ledges.
Kingfish were again taken in and around The Rip on jibs, live baits and imitation squid.
Corey Dalton fished the entrance to Swan Bay for the first time, using plenty of berley for a catch of 20 fish.
Whiting captures were inconsistent. The area between Queenscliff and St Leonards was best.
Noel Cunningham fished close in at Bird Rock where he caught whiting averaging 32cm to 34cm just on sunrise.
Paul and Martin Maloney drifted the outer-harbour spoil grounds with soft plastics, catching 10 snapper to 3.8kg.
Xavier Hope fished soft plastics on Stingaree Bay’s spoil ground, catching lots of undersized snapper and three around 1kg.
Paul Henry fished the rocks at North Shore last Saturday night for a 3.7kg snapper on a salted pilchard. He had three other runs that failed to hook up.
Grant Thompson fished bass yabbies in the Barwon River estuary, bagging six bream and two silver trevally at high tide. He said an angler nearby caught three small mulloway on blue bait.
Bluefin tuna and albacore action increased out wide at Portland. Small skirted lures caught fish, with anglers using a variety of colours to determine the choice of the day.
Anglers trolling Lake Purrumbete caught salmon, mostly around 40cm, and small redfin.
Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree produced redfin over 1kg and trout of more than 2kg. Mudeye baits and shallow-running lures were effective.
Paul Smeaton landed brown trout to nearly 3kg at Newlyn Reservoir on mudeye-pattern flies late in the evening and after dark.
Moorabool Reservoir produced mainly redfin on lures fished close to the snaggy bottom.
Michael Evans’ persistence at Wurdee Boluc Reservoir was rewarded with some big redfin. He advises that anyone fishing the reservoir will need to make hundreds of casts to catch one of its fabled big reddies.
This weekend’s salmon fishing should be excellent between Lorne and Apollo Bay on the morning high tides, while freshwater anglers should try drifting a mudeye out under a float at Lake Wendouree.
Send reports and photos to info@raylongtackle.com.au or visit Brian at Ray Long’s Fishing World, 105 Shannon Ave, Manifold Heights.
