It's been a big week of fishing in the estuaries with some solid reports coming in from offshore too. The bream are all fired up in the local rivers, and we've seen a few head out after their first crays of the season.
In the salt, the news this week has been the opening of the cray season. This is a much anticipated annual event for many here in the south west and some ripper crays have been caught. Mick Mahney got out for a dive and scored a few, and Rodney Bawden also sent us in some pics of local crays he caught with the biggest over the 2kg mark. Whether you're diving or dropnetting, it's a fun way to get out on the ocean and have a 5 star feast at the end of the day. Crays can be found on any rocky outcrop or reef along our coast, with the more popular spots (eg Thunder Point, Warrnambool Breakwater, Killarney, Port Fairy South Beach) still producing crays in smaller numbers. If you can find yourself a basalt or limestone reef, with deep undercuts and overhangs, away from fishing pressure, you're in with a good shot. Just make sure you're aware of all the current rules and regulations, which can be viewed on the Victorian Fisheries Authority website, as fines can be heavy for those doing the wrong thing. Plenty of whiting are also starting to pop up along the coast with reports from Killarney and Port Fairy. As always, fresh pippies fished on a flashy rig down a berley trail is key. I like to fish low light on the edge of reef and sand, whiting come in much closer ashore during those times and the by-catch of wrasse is much less. Killarney has still had a few salmon coming and going, quite unreliable but if you manage to intercept a school you're in for some fun as the fish are over 2kg. Keneisha Ferguson and her mates got amongst a big school last week with the whole crew scoring plenty of 2kg salmon, on both bait and lures. Offshore, reports are quiet but we did see a report from Rhooky who scored a ripper snapper off Warrnambool while fishing with Peter Goode. No kingfish reports yet but I guarantee they're being caught at the North Shore and kept quiet! South easterly winds have meant green water in this area and that is often a deterrent to kingfish action and explains the quiet start to the season; although December is traditionally go time.
Bream fishing has really fired up along the coast this week; the pick of the rivers being the Glenelg, Fitzroy and Moyne. Mason Walpole from the Tackle Shack has been sneaking out on the Moyne most nights landing plenty of bream, and a few estuary perch, using the new Berkley Stunna lures. The EPs in this river are present in small numbers and usually come as a surprise to those targeting bream. There's also a huge amount of mullet present at the moment in there which means mulloway cannot be far away! Speaking of mulloway, Nelson has finally fired up with plenty of anglers getting into the action over there. Jayden Cleaver had a ripper trip targeting mulloway down the bottom end with 13 fish for the trip. It's been a long time (2 years) since a good run of fish down there. The top three methods, as usual, are static bait fishing with mullet, squid or pilchard, slow trolling live mullet and diving 100mm minnow lures, and casting the edges with soft plastics or vibe lures. A few bream have been caught either as by-catch or targeted, and this weekend sees the river become buzzing with boats for the Vic Bream Grand Final. Good luck to all competitors!