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In Depth Fishing Report 24/4

24 Apr 26
Haven’t we been blessed this week with conditions? Calm seas and an abundance of fish on offer right across the board. There’s literally something for everyone on offer.

Offshore: everyone knows the tuna are here but the sheer amount of tuna is staggering and the variety of sizes is unprecedented. Fish are ranging from school fish around 15kg right through to 120kg+ models. It shows just how good the fishery is at the moment so it’s time to get into them as we might not see another year like it for numbers. Dan Hoey from Salty Dog Charters has been in the thick of the action putting his clients onto fish they'll never forget, right out of Port Fairy. Andrew Buck from our workshop and his crew landed over 30 school sized tuna on Wednesday fishing off Port Fairy. These feisty fish are more than happy to eat a large skirt as well as the smaller models made for them which just shows how good they are at the moment. Sure, if you’re targeting the bigger fish only you might be annoyed by them but for the majority of anglers they take tuna any size they can get them. From casting stick baits, trolling both hard bodies and skirts to cubing pilchards into the schools they have all been catching loads of quality fish. Some guys have already caught enough trolling and cubing so they’re solely focusing on stick baits for that explosive take off the surface. One stick bait that has really jumped out at anglers is the new Jackall Cian Pencil Serpens which are a 160mm floating stick bait that has an erratic 'S' shape action that entices some crazy explosions off the top. These are a perfect size for the bait that these fish are eating at the moment and some brilliant colours too. There’s some great rods to go with these lures so come into store and check out our extensive range of specific rods for the topwater experience. In other saltwater action there’s been plenty of school shark action on the bottom. It’s funny we always see this where all the focus is on the surface but on the bottom it’s just as good! One boat reported catching and releasing over 20 sharks in a crazy session with some models nudging 30kg. Best baits still being freshly caught salmon, squid and the humble pilchard. It's worth noting that a clear coated wire is the best choice to avoid being chewed off by these toothy terrors. The reason we use a coated wire is because of the electric field that the sharks feel if using an uncoated wire as opposed to a coated wire. Using coated wire also increases your chances of catching snapper and the likes too off the bottom.

Estuaries: the Hopkins River is still fairly healthy after getting a small flush out over Easter thanks to the mouth being manually opened. After only a couple of weeks it appears blocked again and the water levels have risen again. Lots of fish are marking up downstream of the bridge for those small boats that can fit under the bridge but there’s also some great schools coming around the actual bridge itself. On a recent water test we had the Garmin Livescope working around the bridge pylons and were amazed at the amount of fish holding on each of the pylons. Some of these had 10 or more individual fish on each of the pylons so it certainly seems like plenty of fish coming from the lower section of the river. That day alone we watched 4 boats sitting on the mudflat opposite Lyndoch and all of them seemed to be catching fish. In the upper Hopkins, Tim Vincent has been putting the Prolure Hybrid Shrimp to good use on the estuary perch. These super realistic lures have been a hit on the bream tournament scene and it’s great seeing them now be used locally on the EPs. There are a super realistic slow sinking lure that is hard to resist thanks to the natural finish and sink rate. I reckon they would also be deadly over at the Glenelg River in the snags where they fall slowly in front of the fishes face enticing a reaction bite. The Glenelg is also fishing quite well still on rock walls for bream for those anglers using live crabs cast tightly into the walls. This is a real fun way to target bream and requires some accurate casts and some fast winding to get them out before they roast you on the rocks. Still some great topwater action too in the upper reaches on Suisens, Bent Minnows and cicadas cast in tight to fallen trees.

Freshwater: Lake Bullen Merri has seen some decent Rainbow Trout and Chinook Salmon coming from the edges. Anglers like Mason Walpole from the Tackle Shack have been walking the edges casting a range of lures in search of these fish and having great success too. Using your electronics is essential to find thermoclines and schools of fish in this lake. Trout and salmon will hold just below the thermocline or just above it so look for a line on your sounder that is horizontal. This time of year also can see some big Australian Bass being caught down deeper on the bottom. These fish pull like freight trains and can be a real handful on the lighter line that we predominantly see being used for trout and salmon. Scrubworms on the bottom is a great bait option but it’s the soft plastics and metal blades that really get a work out. Slowly jigging a plastic up and down in front of these fish will get them fired up if they’re on the chew. They will eat when they want to eat and are very susceptible to barometer changes which can shut them down completely and then on other days they eat nearly anything put in front of them. Lots of them are caught as by-catch by anglers trolling lures on downriggers. Most productive areas are Potters Point and on the bay on the left of the boat ramp. If you sound fish hard on the bottom then they’re more than likely to be bass so put a waypoint on them and sit over the top and try your luck. Some of these fish are over 50cm and well over 2kg so are a real trophy size fish. Speaking of trophy size fish and that’s what Rocklands Reservoir has been dishing up lately. Justin Nowell landed 3 cod over the magical meter mark in 2 seperate sessions. He also lost 2 fish that were considerably bigger on Live Scope that won their freedom via a tree. Most of these big fish are now taking a soft plastic with a jig head and fly combo. Something that has really taken the cod world by storm especially for those using Live Scope and similar is large plastics and flies. These lures show up extremely well on sonar and send out a pulsing action that cod refuse.

Weather looks good for this weekend so I expect plenty of fish caught over the weekend. If you catch one then send it in and we’d be happy to share it on our social media but better yet you’ll go in the running for a $500 Daiwa Prize Pack filled with Daiwa goodies. Until next week tight lines and best of luck!
 
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