This week has seen some much needed rain hit the South West and hopefully we can see more coming to help the struggling rivers out. There has been some great fish caught again both in the freshwater and saltwater which just solidifies our area as one of the best in the state for fishing choices.
Freshwater: the trout fishing has continued to be a great choice for those wanting to get out for a quick fish after or before work. Mason Walpole from the Tackle Shack turned to bait recently and scored a solid brown trout on a scrub worm. A lot of anglers associate trout to taking predominately minnow style lures and live minnow but they love a fresh worm just as much especially when the water begins to flow. Being the natural food that is flushed into the systems after a big deluge it’s only natural for it to be a great bait to use for them. They can be used either on the bottom with a small piece of split shot or under a bubble float suspended under the surface. The floats technique is a great visual way of fishing especially when it comes to taking kids fishing. The ability to put water in bubble floats not only helps them to be cast further distances then the foam floats or quill floats but they also can hold in slightly rougher water. If soaking a bait isn’t your thing then casting hard bodies and soft plastics has still been a very productive technique both in the Hopkins and Merri Rivers. Ash Rawlings headed over from Portland on a day mission fishing the lower Merri in search of some trout. He landed a solid brown in what looked to be decent conditions but these good conditions won’t last long with a cold blast here for a few days. Trout will respond well to these conditions though due to the run off of water from the paddocks and drains so straight after this has gone through it will be game on! Over at Lake Bullen Merri there has been some great tiger trout caught by anglers trolling tassie devils and hard bodies on down riggers. Peter Brilliant thought he hooked the magical 10lb trout on a recent trip but after a solid fight that went 100m from where he hooked it the fish came up to be a solid 57cm tiger trout hooked in the belly. Even more reason to make sure your trebles and single hooks are sharp and up to the fight. Lake Purrumbete is slowly getting better on the fishing front with Victorian Inland Charter operator Ken Carman putting his clients onto some decent redfin to 41cm and some nice chinook salmon too. If you want the opportunity at a trout of a lifetime then hit up Ken and book a day or two out with him. He has extensive knowledge of both lakes and can put you onto the fish so give them a call on 0402 347 515.
Saltwater: the gummy shark fishing has again been fantastic offshore with some ripper shark taken on the bottom. Mark Gercovich and Dan Grixti got some great sharks whilst dangling baits on the bottom. Not Mark’s normal method of fishing, but he said that the biggest gummy put up one hell of a first run screaming off. The key to getting some better shark is the freshness of the bait used so getting some out there either before you head to the grounds or on them. Typically a light snapper rod with small pieces of bait will get you plenty of smaller fish which can then be used as fresh baits. Barracouta, slimy mackerel, yakkas, wrasse, barber perch and other reef species are all a great option. A simple fillet hung from a single circle hook will be enough to make any gummy or school shark interested. Closer to shore there has been a few good salmon kicking about along the beaches especially around Peterborough. Casting metal slugs and using double paternoster rigs with a surf popper on one dropper and some blue bait or pilchard on the other will be your best chance at a fish. The beauty of having a surf popper on one and the bait on the other means that if you lose your bait the salmon have something to keep going after. These small foam poppers are a very simple but effective way to entice a bite especially in rough seas when the baits etc are moving around so much. A 9ft rod is the preferred length to use for casting metals out as they allow you to cast a long distance and keeps your line out of the crashing waves. When it comes to bait fishing a 10-15ft surf rod with a large spin reel spooled with either mono or braid will get you into the action. Surf fishing can be a messy style of fishing so you need to do everything you can to keep your gear going as long as possible. One thing that will make your life so much easier is using 2 rod holders and that is simply to stop the sand from getting in your reel cause that’s a big no no. Use one when your bait is set in the water and use the other one if you have to re-tie or bait up. It will make your reels last a long time and avoid any early retirements.
Estuaries: Alby Ryan spent the morning fishing with his pop Peter White in the Hopkins River in search of some estuary perch and Alby scored 5! These fish took a liking to some soft plastics fished deep in front of the Deakin Uni campus. Believe it or not that soft plastics are easier then you think to use so they are a great option for kids. Let them cast them out and sink down and tell them to just wind them back slowly with a couple of small flicks. That’s a simple technique that will catch loads of fish and hopefully get them hooked like Alby is. Kurtis Powers and Barry Johnson also have been landing some good size perch down the bottom section of the estuary but they are also getting the odd better bream mixed in. Typically this time of year we see the bream and perch mix in with each other and seems no different this year. With the river mouth opening and then closing back over within a week it didn’t give the fish much time to adapt so they are still holding in the deep. Everyone is holding out for that big flush of freshwater to hopefully take with it some of that sand build up down the mouth. Can’t do much about it fishing tough until that all happens. One place that is fishing well still is the Glenelg River for bream and perch and the occasional small mulloway. The poles area is absolutely loaded for perch at the moment and some anglers are moving away in search of a challenge from this area as they aren’t the hardest fish to catch at the moment. Using metal blades and heavy weighted plastics is the most used technique by anglers. Using the fish finder to track down the main body of fish and then targeting those. Using soft baits such as shrimp and cut baits will be a great choice especially on lighter sinkers or even unweighted baits. These light weight baits can’t be weighed down otherwise they won’t commit to the bait and will drop it. Some anglers opt for the open bail arm option this time of year due to the soft bites they get.
With a weekend of unfishable weather we might see some lack of reports coming in but if you do get into the fishing then send them through to us. Until next week tight lines and best of luck.