These last couple of weeks have seen some perfect conditions
for offshore fishing and anglers have taken full advantage of that. The rivers
and lakes have also been fishing well so don’t discount them when looking for
that next trip.
Offshore: This time of year is known for both its fishing
conditions and also the fishing quality and it has not let us down so far.
We’ve seen some glass out days and some red hot fishing to boot. The
school tuna have definitely turned up and are wide spread like usual. Lewis
Holland and Jessica Lane snuck out armed with some Bassday Bungy Cast stick
baits. They landed some nice school size fish and said that these smaller and
slimmer profile stick baits turned non feeding fish into hungry ones. Lots of
other reports have been coming through by those bottom fishing and noticing the
tuna busting up close by. The areas that most have been targeting is off Port
Fairy in the 30-50m of water. They have been as close as 11m of water as
reported in the past couple of reports but these shallow fish are typically the
hardest to get a bite from. From all reports the tuna have been feeding on
small baits such as white bait and other bait fish. Nick Whelan came down to
fish with local legend Scott Gray and were rewarded with some solid tuna caught
both on casting and fly gear. Saltwater fly fishing is growing legs with more
and more people looking to do it down this way especially when these fish
become fixed on super small baits. Most of the flies that people are using and
tying represent these bait fish to the tee. Max Fry, Janaka Kandage and Peter
Goode headed out off Port Fairy on the weekend during the Warrnambool Offshore
and Light Game Fishing Clubs mixed species member competition. The boys landed
some nice tuna on trolled hard bodies and skirts around the work ups that were
visible on the surface. They also did some bottom fishing with a big school of
swallow tail nannygai coming through and Max getting stuck into them with the
jigs. These swallowtail are slightly smaller and more red in colour when compared to their bigger cousins we
tend to see more commonly. Not only do they take up residency on the deeper reef but you
can also get stuck into them in close while fishing for sweep. They are a great
eating fish and look brilliant too. Still the odd Mako shark popping up also
for those putting in the hard yards with berley and floating baits. Salty Dog
Charters have been heading out into the tuna and gummies, and have always got a floating bait ready just
in case one decides to swim up to the boat. A simple balloon with a heavy wire
trace and a circle hook with a nice fillet of tuna on the end or a squid will
be hard to pass up for a mako. In close there has been some great squid caught
and some nice whiting too. Tim Vincent caught a big one at Killarney
on Monday night after work. He and Joey Bourke hit the main boat ramp area in
search of whiting and squid and they came up trumps with a dozen whiting and
a couple of big squid. Local cricketing export Brody Couch has been doing the
same thing off the beach with a few squid coming in for him. He is looking to
turn these fresh calamari into a big mulloway over at Nelson this weekend.
Estuary: the Glenelg River is alive and well with all the 3
major species fishing well. Mulloway to 21 lb have been caught in the lower
sections of the river from the poles to the ski run. Live mullet and white bait
have been the pick of baits for those targeting them. There is an abundance of
white bait in the river at the moment and with the mouth being closed these
won’t be able to go anywhere. Finding the bigger fish will be
dependant on whether or not you can find the bait schools. Ray and Brandon
Dorman have been landing some quality bream and perch up river on a mixture of
Daiwa Bait Junkie Minnows and Z-Man Slim Swimz slowly rolled along the bottom.
These fish have been reacting better to a slowly rolled plastic rather than the
traditional hop and pause technique that most people associate with soft
plastic fishing. The beauty about the soft plastics is there is no wrong or
right retrieve for them but rather the speed of how you retrieve is critical.
Feeling the bottom is super important as you can tell what type of bottom you
are fishing. If your plastic is banging on the bottom and you can feel this
very well through your rod then you can tell it’s hard bottom. If the plastic
sort of just loads up and releases each wind of the handle then you know it’s
soft bottom and will most likely be either mud or weed. Even sand is a sharper
return through the rod when rolling a soft plastic so you can really pick up on
where and what the fish are holding on. The Hopkins River is alive with a wide
range of bream and perch being caught. These fish have been reported from the
top of the estuary system from Tooram Stones all the way down to the mouth and
everywhere in between. There has also been reports of mulloway to 87cm being
caught in here which is not surprising considering the amount of bait in the
river. Huge schools of mullet are now stuck in here due to the river being
blocked just like the Glenelg. This is my favourite time of year to target big
bream in the Hopkins especially when it blocks and they move up into the
shallows looking for fresh feed that would otherwise be high and dry. They are
hungry, big and willing to eat a wide range of baits and lures which makes for
a fun time of year. These fish will be looking to put some condition on before
they do their annual breeding run up the river. There has been some great perch
fishing recently especially when we get balmy nights with no wind and the
topwater guys can get out and cast their cicada and topwater walkers. Great
signs for the annual Warrnambool and District Angling Clubs Easter Fishing
Classic which is being held next weekend from Good Friday through to Easter
Sunday. The major draw is a Quintrex 350 Outback Explorer and Suzuki 15hp
outboard which could be yours for as little as $20. Entries can be done in
person on Good Friday from 10am at the club rooms on Otway Road or online via
Eventbrite or through the clubs Facebook Page. Loads of prizes for all categories are up for grabs in the fishing section of the competition so get your family together and make
a weekend of it. This event supports the Gillin Boys Foundation this year so by
entering this competition you are also helping find a cure for Muscular
Dystrophy too.
This week has seen a new challenge for our area and that is
the arrival of a trawler that is shooting nets at Killarney. This boat has
already been shut out of Portland and is just moving along the coast working in
areas that haven’t been netted for 20 plus years, operating on an ocean licence with no quotas or catch limits. Don’t get me wrong I know the
commercial fisherman need to make a living also but the places where this boat
has decided to set up is a serious problem and needs addressing before it’s too
late. The amount of by-catch that these nets have killed is a concerning thing
not to mention what these nets can do to the bottom sea floor and the habitat.
This area has long been a favourite of recreational anglers so we need to stand
up and make sure that we do everything in our power to make sure that this area
isn’t ruined by a greedy boat like this one.
This weekend looks to be a hard one to get out and about
offshore with South Easterly winds on Saturday and South Westerly on Sunday.
I’m sure someone will still be out there having a go regardless. Until next
week tight lines and best of luck.