The Bellarine Peninsula remained very productive for anglers chasing calamari over the past week.
Casting size 3.0 jigs in 3.5m of water over weed beds produced great results from Clifton Springs through to Swan Bay. Queenscliff Bight was a little patchy but should really fire up over the next few weeks.
Gummy shark also continued fishing very well along the peninsula, with St Leonards again holding plenty of fish around 5kg to 10kg and Queenscliff producing the better sizes. Clifton Springs also provided a few reports.
Fresh bait was a massive game-changer on the gummies, so it pays to put in the time to catch some species like squid, salmon or pike beforehand.
Shark fishing was also hot offshore, with the reefs in 35m of water between Port Phillip Heads and Torquay the hot spots. Fishing out from Apollo Bay, Bruce Munro managed to boat a pair of ripper school sharks of 24 and 17kg on freshly caught mullet.
Portland continued producing barrel tuna for keen anglers. Trolling 10” skirted or diving lures was by far the most-popular and most-post productive way to target them.
Just behind ‘The Rock’ through to Cape Bridgewater was the area worth fishing. Redbait-pattern lures took the most fish, although a variety of colours might be needed to match the baitfish being fed upon.
The fishing in the Barwon River estuary was nothing short of spectacular over the past week. The Sheepwash and the area around the Barwon Heads boat ramp were standout locations.
Salmon, trevally, mullet, bream and tailor kept anglers guessing, with even the odd mulloway lurking. Sam Pitman and Tyson Heaton-Lansley had a ripper session on Sunday afternoon, managing a great haul of silver trevally fishing with live Bass yabbies pumped earlier in the day.
Trout enthusiasts should try Moorabool Reservoir. The fishing has been on and off but persistent anglers have banked some great fish on soft plastics, larger-size spinners and unweighted scrub worms.
