The offshore fishing is seriously red hot at the moment and showing no sign of slowing down.
The bluefin tuna bite at the moment is fantastic, it did start a little later than previous years but the fish are here now and going strong.
There definitely is a mixed variety of sizes at the moment with fish ranging from five kilograms through to over 40kg, so it does pay to be prepared and perhaps run a slightly heavier setup just in case a big one comes along.
Trolling skirted lures with the aid of a teaser or spreader bar, Pakula Flippy Floppys are famous for this work.
When the fish are on the surface boats have had great success casting surface lures into the schools of fish, Nomad Riptides and Maria Popqueens have been by far the standout lures.
Kingfish continue to be quite productive out in the deeper water all along the coast from Point Lonsdale through to Aireys Inlet.
Anglers sounding around marking fish have been having great success dropping knife jigs on top of them with kings to around 85cm being extracted up.
On hot days it’s quite common to spot them cruising on the surface and, just like the tuna, casting surface lures into them to get the bites.
Maria Rapidos and Nomad Riptides have been popular stickabits as of late.
Mako sharks have seemed to be in great numbers right along the coast at the moment with plenty of sharks being caught off our local area.
Torquay to Aireys Inlet in 60 metres of water has been very productive with lots of makos hanging around between 20-50kg.
Finding some empty water to drift and let out a big burley trail can be tricky with all the boats zooming around for the tuna but if you can get away from them, it’s well worth it.
Peri from Trellys Geelong alongside Owen Westwell ventured off Port Fairy on the weekend in search of a mako and after a four hour fight with no harness the shark was released boat side and estimated around 150kg.
St Leonards through to Queenscliff has been fishing very well for squid and whiting over the past week to anglers sticking inside the bay.
Out the front of Swan Bay right through to the area known as ‘Bourke Street’ has been quite productive with plenty of fish getting around to 40cm.
Calamari have been going good in similar areas but in particular Swan Bay yet again proves to be the current hot spot.
