On the Bite, by Adam Van der Lugt
Winter got off to a great start last weekend with some fantastic trout fishing had all over the region.
Lake Purrumbete saw brown trout to 8lb caught by anglers using bait or casting and trolling lures.
Fishing on the outside of the weed beds on the northeast side of the lake was productive at first light, with anglers casting bigger hard-body lures like the Daiwa Double Clutch or Atomic jerk minnow catching fish.
Anglers fishing mudeye under a float also caught fish at Purrumbete. It’s a good idea to target trout from first light to mid-morning then focus on redfin, which are in huge numbers at the lake and happily biting all day.
Since Tullaroop Reservoir was recently opened up to kayak and electric powered boats we’ve seen some fantastic captures. One angler to do well was Damien Keirl who caught a beautiful rainbow trout of 3kg on a mudeye.
Damien also caught a few smaller trout on trolled Tassie Devils and witnessed another angler land a redfin of 48cm.
Land-based anglers also did well on Tassie Devils and soft plastics cast off the bank at Tullaroop.
Wurdibuloc Reservoir continued producing big redfin close to 50cm for anglers casting lures in the mornings.
Small estuary creeks along the Surf Coast fished well for bream and mullet. Using scrubworms or fresh-caught shrimp with a small ball sinker or even unweighted where possible was effective, while using live crabs and small freshwater yabbies was a good way to specifically target the bigger fish.
Surf beaches from Point Lonsdale across to Anglesea saw a number of gummy shark and mulloway caught by anglers fishing after dark.
James Ivens fished near Torquay during the week and caught a pair of gummies sharks within 20 minutes of starting fishing. The first had eaten his pilchard bait before he even had a chance to put the rod down after casting.
Baits to try for gummies off the beach include pilchard, squid and fresh caught salmon fillet.
Gone Fishing Charters’ Chris Vasilevski reported good numbers of school tuna being caught in 100m of water off Cape Bridgewater. Trolling seven to nine-inch skirts was the most-productive method, Chris said.
