The cold snap has arrived, and there’s a lot of miserable anglers out there! Fishing opportunities have been fairly hard to come by for most this week, but there are some die-hards out there braving the conditions.
Estuaries: the Hopkins is full thanks to the king tides last week which seen some heavy flows of saltwater push through the entrance. With this has come a big school of mulloway into the system and for some lucky anglers they have caught some quality fish. Xavier Ellul and Luke Gercovich have been casting bigger swimbaits after dark which have accounted for 2 nice fish. Xavier’s was the standout fish measuring 92cm and was his first mulloway on any type of lure. After seeing him lose two fish a couple years ago and the clear devastation that followed, it’s great to see him finally put it all together and land one. There would be a few spots worth trying, being the mouth of the river (especially around the danger board sign during a big high tide), and the bridge if you can stand the wind at the moment. When you’re fishing the bridge you will need heavier tackle as they will go straight for the pylons and if you don’t have the right gear, you’ll be busted off instantly. Deakin is another area worth having a go at especially later on in the tide movement as the water seems to slow right down up there but still makes a difference. So what baits are you likely to need to target a mulloway this time of year? Live mullet is the standout bait for mulloway; mullet form the largest proportion of their diet. Not only are mullet alive a great bait but cut fillet is also worth a try and will also account for plenty of big bream and estuary perch too. When new comers think mulloway they think big baits with twin hooks in them but this isn’t the case for our fish down here. If you’re targeting that fish of a lifetime, and don’t care about smaller fish then by all means fish bigger baits, but a simple strip of mullet between 8-10cm long will be sufficient for most of our fish that we will encounter. A running sinker rig with a swivel and a leader between 20-50lb is going to stop all the fish we will encounter. The Black Magic C-Point 5/0 hooks are a popular choice as they are fine gauge but super strong too. Using this style of hook allows the angler to strike quickly once the fish has eaten the bait. Baitrunner reels are another must for mulloway as you basically set and forget your drag and let them take the bait. Once you’re happy they have taken it enough, then you can either wind the handle over or flick the switch at the rear of the reel and it engages the fighting drag. The Glenelg River is full of mulloway at present and seem to be widespread from the bottom all the way up to Pritchards. Lewis Holland and Tim Treloar had a great day fishing soft plastics in the schools of fish marking up on their sounder. Bloodworm Slim Swimz were the standout plastic for them and accounted for plenty of bream and perch. Lewie said that Saunders was where they found the most mulloway on the sounder.
Saltwater: Portland has been red hot for school tuna recently and as Matt Hunt said “there is enough schoolies here you can walk on them”. This has been evident in how quickly Matt and some of the other charter boats have been back at the ramp with their bag. Skirts, divers and stickbaits have all accounted for plenty of fish lately. It’s been quite obvious where they are due to the amount of birds swarming over the bait schools. Monday looks to be the goods for an offshore adventure and should see plenty of fish pushing in closer to shore which makes them more accessible for small boats. Closer to shore the whiting have still been productive for those heading around the shallow weed beds. Port Fairy and the bay in Warrnambool have been productive especially when the water is murky from the rough seas. Using pippies as bait on a Black Magic Whiting Snatcher, anglers have been landing some nice fish up to 45cm. What we usually find in winter is that the size increases but the numbers slow right down. Along with the whiting there have been some nice silver trevally caught again. These rampaging fish are one of the most fun to catch and provide both excellent bait and some good sashimi.
Freshwater: the freshwater rivers are alive and well for trout. This past week has seen plenty of trout caught mainly on hardbodied lures and soft plastics. Lewis Holland has also been giving them a bit of a touch up recently landing multiple fish each session. Scotty Gray has also been nailing a few trout on his old faithful Berkley Power-bait T-Tail minnows. These lures have accounted for loads of Scott’s trout over the years and will do so for years to come. Now that the bigger fish are more likely to be caught means that your leader size should be upped so you avoid disappointment when you lose the fish of a lifetime running light leaders. 8-12lb leaders are pretty standard this time of year and will be enough for all trout in our systems. Lake Purrumbete is continuing to produce some ripper trout and redfin and is now in the prime time to get out in the cold and target a genuine 10lb trout. There has already been some quality fish pushing 8lb caught by both lure anglers and fly casters. Along with the browns there has been some great tiger trout to 7lb caught too which would be a real handful if the smaller ones are anything to go by.
This weekend sees almost unfishable weather even in the rivers but early next week seems reasonable, which will see the tuna bombarded again. Until next week tight lines and best of luck.