With calm settled weather, anglers set out around the Bellarine Peninsular and found excellent numbers of squid last week.
Clifton Springs was the most popular location, with bag-limit captures common in 3m to 4m of water over the grass beds.
Whiting were also caught at Clifton Springs, with the area out from Hermsley Rd very popular on sunset.
Inside Corio Bay anglers boated a mixed bag of pinkie snapper, salmon and flathead on Gulp three-inch minnow soft plastics. Anglers fishing bait on the edge of Stingaree Bay’s spoil grounds landed whiting to 40cm, with pippies the most-desired bait.
Offshore from Barwon Heads, anglers made the most of the calm weather and had no trouble in boating gummy sharks. Some gummies tipped the scales at 20kg plus.
As a by catch snapper to 6kg also featured among anglers’ bags.
Heading down the Surf Coast, the rock platforms between Lorne and Apollo held fantastic numbers of Australian salmon to more than 2kg. Spinning with 30g lures rigged with a single hook was ideal.
The beaches also fished well for bait anglers, with Bancoora a standout for salmon.
The offshore area from Port Fairy to Portland produced southern Bluefin tuna, although at times they were temperamental. Portland was the pick of the two for anyone seeking a barrel tuna.
Just down the road, Nelson was a hot spot for bream, estuary perch and mulloway. Casting vibe-style lures worked well on all three species, with some mulloway reaching 1m.
The fishing at Nelson should continue to remain good for a while, with the river well and truly open to the ocean.
Freshwater anglers took to Lake Purrumbete at first and last light along the east bank where brown trout to 2.5kg were taken while casting bent minnows and Daiwa Double Clutch lures. Trolling Tassie Devils was also effective.
Wurdi Boluc Reservoir, The Lake of 1000 Casts, produced some impressive redfin for anglers putting in the time. Lures that allow a longer cast are ideal.
Next week, anglers wanting to wet a line keep an eye on the Surf Coast for salmon, with the north winds making for good conditions. Otherwise, anyone fishing around the bay should find Clifton Springs a hard option to go past for whiting and squid.
