We are in full swing offshore with some great weather and conditions, making it fishable out on the open ocean. Inland the rivers are flowing hard, but hasn’t at all deterred the trout.
Saltwater: with the slightly warmer weather comes the more typical summer target species. Cam Pickert had a day out with his mate off Port Fairy landing some quality snapper to 75cm and releasing more. We usually see a early run of bigger fish come through our waters which could be those making their way to Port Phillip Bay for their annual spawning season. The boys also landed a few gummy sharks, the intended target for the day. Local snapper can be targeted both on bait and lures so there’s something there for everyone. We have everything you need to target them successfully so if you want to target the snapper this season, stop in and have a chat. Not only are the snapper fishing well, but both the gummy and school sharks have been keeping anglers happy. Fridges have been filled with fresh flake and this should continue right through spring. Harry Anders caught his bag on Wednesday off Port Fairy with one particular shark weighing over 20kg. Fishing fresh baits such as squid has been Harry’s choice recently, and our Californian squid are a perfect choice for both snapper and sharks. Just one thing to keep in mind is that there is lots of whales and dolphins around at the moment. Some anglers have been officially warned in regards to distances between boats and pods of dolphins, so if you see some it might be best to drive away from them (as hard as that is), it might save you some hassle. The tuna bite remains steady but we might be at the end of what has been an incredible season on barrels so far. Now anglers will begin to look out for the smaller school size tuna which typically hang around right through summer and into autumn.
Freshwater: the Hopkins and Merri Rivers have risen this past week thanks to the big rainfalls that have hit us recently. Shannon O’Brien landed a solid buck brown trout whilst fishing the Bromfield weir on a Daiwa Double Clutch. He also mentioned that there was numerous others spotted but they were holding right in close to the banks. When you hook these fish and there is stronger currents, you really need to make sure your leader and trebles are up to the extra pressure needed to land them. Fishing 10-12lb leader is not uncommon in order to have a chance of landing a fish. Upgrading the trebles is also sometimes needed to stop straightening them. Lake Purrumbete and Bullen Merri have still been producing some decent chinooks both from the bank and boats. Ben Cunnington has been catching some nice fish on bent minnows cast along the edges of the weed line. The bulk lot of Redfin have been found in 40-50ft of water which can be difficult for those without a downrigger but using a lead core line can do the same thing or the other option is Javelin sinkers. These relatively inexpensive trolling sinkers allow you to fish a lure down deeper while trolling. Simply place at the end of your main line and attach a trace to the rear of it and attach your chosen lure. They come in different weights to allow you to change up the depth your lure runs at.
Estuaries: the Hopkins is again dirty and has some flow to it, but shouldn’t be affected as much due to some decent seas coming in on high tide. Barry Johnson has been getting some solid perch on Daiwa Bait Junkie grubs and minnows. Fishing the middle of the rivers he has found some feeding fish willing to take his plastics off the bottom. The bream have also been pretty active considering the water clarity with some nice fish caught and some even bigger fish lost boat side and at the bank. One unlucky angler had a fish of a lifetime on and pulled hooks at the bank where the fish won its freedom. Estimated at 50cm+ it sure would’ve been a true giant if landed. Over at the Glenelg there has been some serious mulloway caught in the past couple weeks. One of which was over 25kg! The lucky angler is getting it mounted and rightly so as it’s a fish of a lifetime!
With some nice weather and footy just about wound up I’m sure there will be more anglers come out of the caves and start their summer assault. Until next week tight lines and best of luck.