It's been an average week of weather here in the southwest (what's new!), but luckily there have been a few good weather windows to get out for a fish. Anglers made the most of the conditions over the long weekend and some great fish were landed!
Saltwater
Somehow the flattest seas this week managed to fall on a Monday! Three of our RIchardson Marine & Tackle Shack crew (Mason, Cooper & Tim) headed out from Port Fairy aboard the demo Quintrex 550 Territory Legend, fishing around 45m depth. The boys landed five nice gummies for a morning session on the run-in tide, with the biggest being 15-20kg coming in as the last fish of the day - which sure put young Cooper through his paces! Fresh baits of mackerel, squid and barracouta did the trick, with the boys also landing some pinkies and even a gummy on a jig! There are stacks of big slimy mackerel all along the coast at the moment, especially off Port Fairy and Portland so be sure to take a lighter rod out with you to stock up the bait freezer (take only what you need). These fish respond extremely well to a berley trail, and can be easily caught using unweighted pilchard cubes on a 2/0 hook - or even a small (10-40g) jig which can be a fun way to pass time whilst waiting for something more substantial to come through. Portland bay and the town reef also has plenty of salmon inshore at the moment too, which also make an excellent bait when caught, put on ice (don't leave them to gasp and flop around on the deck) and vac-sealed when home for maximum freshness and blood retention. Still over at Portland, plenty of small kingfish are being caught off the town reef, sometimes as the target species but usually a by-catch for those chasing salmon, whiting, pinkies or even squid - a welcome surprise! Bigger kingfish have been quieter this season unfortunately, but some monsters are still being landed at Lady Julia Percy Island. Inshore, the pinkies are still firing as is typical for this time of year. These fish can be caught in just about any water depth - from deep reefs to rock ledges, sandy bays and wide beaches. For pinkies, set yourself up with a 15-30lb leader, 2/0-5/0 hooks on a paternoster with squid or pilchard for bait, and a suitable sinker for your water depth. Soft plastics and jigs however provide a much more active method of fishing, often equally as effective as bait and definitely cleaner and more fun! Thomas Becker landed a ripper 60cm+ snapper off the beach after stopping by the Tackle Shack for some grapple sinkers - which make a huge difference to bait presentation on our rough, open beaches. It is worth noting the waters in some areas such as Port Fairy Bay are a little cloudy and green following strong south-easterly winds (due to the proximity of the rich Bonney upwelling) so sometimes fishing a little deeper or moving along the coast can put you into cleaner, clear water which tends to fish better for most species. Andy Joosen had a great trip inshore with fresh pippies - landing 19 solid King George Whiting up to 46cm! Andy also reported some solid salmon to 53cm as well - and even kingfish as by-catch! On the flat days, crays have been a popualr target and there's still plenty out there to be found under the rock ledges of the Shipwreck Coast and amongst the basalt boulders further west. March really is a cracking month on the inshore scene so get out there and make the most of it.
In the estuaries, bream and perch are still fishing well. Mason Hunt has been spending plenty of time on the Hopkins recently after picking himself up a new top shelf Daiwa Infeet SK x Airity combo from the Tackle Shack. Mason's been frequenting the lower reaches of the estuary around all the jetties and boat hulls, scoring some ripper bream! It's always been a common sight to see "jetty rats" sneaking along the Hopkins' abundant pontoons and jetties - and they score some seriously good fish whilst doing so! The best approach for this style of quick and easy fishing is a super light (3-6lb) flurocarbon leader with a small light sinking lure - Cranka Crab, Outback Breamer Muss or a soft plastic grub/creature bait on a 1/20th jighead. These bream are super smart and fussy, yet find one willing to eat and you'll have a whole lot of fun trying to wrestle it out of the coral, ropes and rocks! Matt Price has been having plenty of success in the Hopkins on the bream both landbased and out of his kayak, running a range of lures from Prolure and Outback Breamer. All of our estuaries from the Glenelg to the Aire are full of mullet at the moment - big yelloweyes up to 45cm! Sam Schrueder has been out having success on some big mullet to 42cm fishing the lower extremities of the rivers, just where the river meets the sea waves. Sam's also been having success on the bream further upstream around Deakin in the Hopkins running prawn baits. Mulloway reports remain quiet for the most part - with a few fish still coming from Nelson on live mullet.
Freshwater
The Hopkins River has seen a bit of activity in the freshwater this week. Oscar Pearce had a fish up at the Hopkins Falls, scoring himself a lovely 48cm brown trout - usually more of a winter target locally, but they're certainly present year round and do see a lot less lures during summer! Blue green algae has been thick in some reaches of the Hopkins around Allansford and Wangoom which while not currently at dangerous levels for fish kills, is not nice to look at and is best avoided for fishing and water contact. Plus, all your lines and lures turn green after fishing it!
Yellowbelly have been a great target inland recently. The Grampians area has been fishing well, with Rocklands still producing plenty of good goldens for those baitfishing with worms and yabbies, as well as trolling Stumpjumpers. Bellfield has also produced some really nice yellowbelly and even Murray Cod to around 60cm last few weeks - the heavy stockings of natives into this quiet scenic lake over the last few years are paying off big time! Tim Vincent also scored a giant yellowbelly from the Grampians area over the weekend, casting a small Jackall chatterbait whilst targeting redfin - a pleasant surpise. However, the best catch this week undoubtably goes to Justin Nowell with his massive one metre cod from Rocklands! Justin landed this fish whilst fishing the lake with Luke Smith who landed his own Rocklands metrey last year. Justin was casting a big swimjig whilst using Live Scope to score this giant - a fish which does not come easy out of this lake, no matter what anyone says!
Every week we draw a winner from all of our weekly fishing report submissions to enter our Golden Fish Award - and for March, April and May the stakes are raised! We've been generously donated a $500+ prize pack from Daiwa Australia to go to a lucky winner - so all fishing reports submitted during this period will go into the draw to win! All catches must be local (south west Vic), and be sure to be subscribed to our newsletter to see if you've scored the Golden Fish Award each week - there's still a packet of Bait Junkie plastics available every single week before the big draw at the end of May!
This weekend isn't much of one for offshore fishing, but no doubt the inshore grounds at Portland and Port Fairy will be busy with anglers still, and of course there's some great freshwater and estuary fishing on offer too. So get out there and make the most of it!