ON THE BITE Peri Stavropoulos
We’re back from lockdown again and the fish have been biting very well over the past week as anglers return to the water.
The inner harbour of Corio Bay has been a feeding ground for Australian salmon, with multiple schools hanging around Royal Geelong Yacht Club smashing baitfish, which can quite often be spotted splashing all over the surface.
Casting small minnow profile soft plastics into the commotion should result into a hook-up just about every time.
Snook and pinkie snapper have also been in great numbers for land-based lure casters with soft plastics working a treat, in particular gulp turtleback worms.
The snapper reports have been a bit quiet over the past few weeks with a few anglers starting to get them to chew, more-so inside Corio Bay.
It is well worth having a look out towards Clifton Springs as the snapper are sure to fire up any moment now.
King George whiting have been on fire already around the Bellarine Peninsula with big fish in big numbers from Clifton Springs to Queenscliff.
Fishing about two hours before the tide changes has been the ideal time to chase them with fishing going into a feeding frenzy. If you can time it on dark, even better.
Pipis and tenderized squid have been by far the standout baits with a little bit of burley in the water helping hold the fish under the boat.
Offshore Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove have continued to provide quite a productive shark bite with gummy and school sharks both chewing sensationally well.
The 30-metre mark has been a fantastic line to drop bait.
The sharks have been ranging between 10-20kg with plenty of bigger ones popping up too.
There should be a few snapper starting to show up offshore this time of year too.
Reports of trophy brown trout have been coming from Lake Purumbete over the past week with Mick from Victorian Inland Charters landing one tipping the scales over 5kg on a bent minnow.
The 2021 trout season is open and anglers have made the drives across the state to their favourite rivers chasing a fish.
The Otways have been a popular location over the past week with just about all the creeks and rivers providing some solid fishing.
There are still reports of some smaller fish getting around too for anglers trolling lake edges and Chinook salmon on bait down deep.
