The fishing has been tough with strong winds hammering the coast the past few days, though we did sneak in a couple of fishable windows over the weekend that produced some solid catches.
Estuaries: The Hopkins River really fired, with both bait and lure anglers landing cracking bream. The Warrnambool & District Angling Club held its first comp in honour of Barry Thomas on Sunday, with 37 anglers braving a frosty start before the sun and fish came out. The standout was Michael Hunt, whose 5 best bream went 4.922kg, including a 1.528kg beast and another at 1.47kg—he even dropped one at the net that would’ve pushed him past the 6kg mark! All his bigger fish came on a Nomad Live Ops Radiax Grub in Motor Oil, fished on the bottom with a 1/12oz jighead. Not far behind, Sarah Gloury landed a 1.401kg beauty on bait, and Fiona Steenhuis weighed in a 1.269kg bream on crab.
The schools have been shifting daily—what was stacked with fish earlier in the month now looks barren, likely due to too much salt pushing in. At this time of year, bream are chasing that perfect mix of fresh and salt for spawning. When you do find them on the sounder, the trick is getting them to bite. Targeting the edges of schools often pays off, and keeping a lure in the strike zone longer—by stepping up to a 1/12oz or even 1/8oz jighead—can trigger bites.
In other estuary news, Lewis Holland got into some brute estuary perch on the Nomad Live Ops Spectre Minnow, with his best 5 nudging 6kg, topped by a 1.65kg horse around 45–48cm. The Glenelg River also hosts the Victorian Fisheries perch breeding program this weekend. Anglers will be catching, holding, and penning fish for hatchery selection—usually 150+ perch across the event, all caught on lures to ensure safe release.
Freshwater: Tim Vincent joined the AFN Fishing Show crew on the upper Hopkins and Merri, filming a local trout segment. They landed some quality 3–4lb fish, including a late double hook-up, all sight-cast with soft plastics and hardbodies—a style of fishing that really comes alive with a good set of polarised sunnies. We recommend Tonic Photocopper or Green Mirror lenses for freshwater, but they’ll cover plenty of other outdoor uses too.
The Hopkins has been a bit tougher than the Merri lately, though that should change. Crater Lakes remain tricky—Lake Purrumbete is still unfishable by boat due to low water and weed, but when levels rise expect some real trophies. Lake Bullen Merri is still the go-to, producing trout and salmon on trolled hardbodies, Tassie Devils, and baits like whitebait. A recent ANSA comp saw a healthy 2.5kg tiger trout weighed in, with rainbows and browns also active along the edges and down deep.
Saltwater: Salmon fishing has been red-hot. Dave Robertson’s been finding fish 1–2kg (and the odd 3kg+) trolling small hardbodies in Port Fairy Bay. They’re a perfect target for kids—plenty of fight and rarely give up. If offshore isn’t an option, beaches are loaded too, with salmon taking metal slices and paternoster rigs. New Dacinka long-cast sinkers have just arrived—these clever grapple sinkers carry your bait taped on, then release it cleanly in the wash, adding up to 30% more casting distance. They also feature a foam insert for tuna oil, for extra scent. Available in 4–6oz, they’ll be a hit with surf fishers.
Offshore, the weather has been a challenge, but when boats do sneak out there are still plenty of gummies, school shark, and the odd small mako around. Salty Dog Charters at Port Fairy has been putting clients onto some quality sharks, and even had a couple of encounters with big white pointers—an incredible experience to see up close.
The forecast this weekend is all wind and swell (up to 7m!), so it’s the perfect excuse to swing by the Tackle Shack and Richardson Marine for our annual Marine Expo. Huge deals across new boats, re-powers, Garmin electronics, and tackle you won’t want to miss.
Until next week—tight lines and good luck!