The weather gods have given us a few days of great weather and the offshore crew have taken full advantage of this. Inland has been fishing well for both trout and bream so there will be something for everyone in this week’s report.
Saltwater: As mentioned, the ocean was kind this week for a few days in a row and that was a welcome return for those wanting to head out. Ed, Tom and Matty took good customer Rhooky over to Port Macdonnell in search of a hapuka but were unlucky on this trip. The guys still had a solid day with blue eye trevalla and some nice school shark hitting the deck, making a nice feed. The same day there was a 33kg hapuka caught only 50m from the boys so there is some big fish to be found. On the tuna front there is a good bite happening now off both Portland and Port Fairy which has seen multiple 100kg+ fish taken on skirts. Matthew Hunt landed a nice fish on Wednesday while trolling a JB Dingo in the Blue Dog colour. These sloped faced skirts are a brilliant barrel lure and have been landing fish for many years. We have these in stock along with other brands such as Bonze, a favourite of Dan Hoey of Salty Dog Charters, who caught a 100kg fish on a D Shackle earlier in the week. It’s great to see these fish taking skirts again after being very hard to get a take-off as they were fixated on live baits. The fish that are about currently seem to be staying up on the bait balls for longer which in turn means we as fisherman have a longer shot at them. Like every year, having courtesy on the water and knowing where other anglers lines are will mean that you won’t have any conflict back at the boat ramp. If someone says they are hooked up, then try and steer the boat as far away as possible and don’t run your lures through that school. The use of a marine radio is so important in these situations but make sure that you use it in the right manner. The gummy fishing is also going quite well off Port Fairy which is where all the local crews have been launching from due to the closure of the Warrnambool ramp for repairs. Barry Thomas and Gavin Buchanan have been getting some nice fish in the 40m mark. Barry mentioned the lack of decent snapper this season which could mean they have migrated deeper in search of warmer water or the feed just isn’t in close for them. Hopefully heading into summer we see some big schools start to come into the shallow grounds.
Beaches: the salmon fishing is beginning to heat up with some solid schools being targeted in the usual haunts. Fish to 2.5kg have been landed recently by both anglers casting metal slugs and bait rigs. If you’re wanting to fish bait, then a double paternoster rig with a surf popper on the top and a half blue bait or pilchard is definitely worth trying. When these fish are in such a frenzy they can often knock the baits off and will leave you frustrated as all hell. With the addition of the surf popper you get the action of a bubble trail and this often stirs the school up even more. Killarney, East Beach, Yambuk and Levies have all been producing some fish lately. Working around a tide change is your best bet for finding some active fish.
Freshwater: the Merri has been producing some solid brown trout for Skeeta Andrews this season and this past week has been no exception. Using some of his own custom painted lures, Skeeta has been coming up trumps with a few solid fish. Is it going to be a late season for these fish or will it be all over red rover in a couple of weeks? I’m hoping that we get some good flushes of dirty water and they become even more fired up. Over at Camperdown the two lakes there have been fishing fairly well again. Chinook salmon and both brown and tiger trout have been prolific. Anglers walking the banks at Lake Bullen Merri are getting stuck into some great fishing on both lures and fly. Scott Gray is having real trouble putting his fly rod down lately but why would you when you’re catching 4lb chinook salmon on the fly?
Estuaries: the local estuaries have been very quiet lately especially the Hopkins but that looks to have changed this past week with some nice fish caught over the weekend. Lewis Holland and Jessica Lane got a couple of great fish down the bottom end just fishing off the bank. Mick and Fergus Mahney also got into some nice fish while using bait. The lack of fresh water coming down from the top has contributed to the slow fishing but hopefully it begins to pick up and we see exactly what the Hopkins is renowned for, big blue nose bream. There is still some nice perch being caught lately which definitely makes up for the slow bream fishing.
If you have been catching some good fish and you would like to share the picture, then send it through to us and we would be more than happy to share it via here or our website. Until next week tight lines and best of luck!