Peri Stavropoulos
The snapper have really come onto the chew in a big way over the past week with lots of reports of fish being caught from the outer harbour.
Clifton Springs has been a popular location to those who are chasing more of the pinkies to two kilograms with fish holding in great numbers.
Bait fishing and soft plastics have both been very effective tactics in landing numbers of fish.
Portarlington has been fishing quite well for larger fish up to five kilograms and even reports of some anglers getting up to the eight kilogram mark, channel mark number 1-4 has been a popular area.
Fishing a tide change has been the ideal time to soak a bait, pilchards and squid have been a hot favourite.
The Quarries has been fishing well for about the same size fish as Portarlington but seems to be a few bigger fish on average, big baits is a good way to get past the pickers.
It does pay to keep on top of your baits and keep checking them as there is a lot of weed and rubbish on the bottom and baits could be down there for a period of time with a disguised bait.
Clifton Springs has been on fire with calamari as of late, with reports of plenty of boats securing bags of squid, although not huge in size there seems to be plenty cruising about.
Queenscliff on the other hand is on fire for squid. The deep water in the bight has been red hot.
Big calamari are currently in fantastic numbers and boats are bagging out in no time, big ones too.
Shimano Clinch Rattle jigs continue to be a standout jig, we have put it down to the rattle.
Out the front of the pilot jetty has also been super productive with heaps of squid holding in there too, it has copped as much pressure as the bight so is well worth having a look.
The snapper bite offshore lately has also been on fire, especially for Chris at Gone Fishing Charters.
Chris and his customers have been hauling in boat loads of snapper over the past few charters with some cracking fish among them with plenty of tasty by-catch such as gummy shark.
Drifting in 50 metres of water has been a great depth to start searching, baits like squid and salmon have been a favourite.
Still a few reports of boats sighting barrels and even some boats still catching them, it’s just a matter of going out there and having a go.
