I feel like a broken record each week reporting that the weather has hampered fishing trips, and this week has been no different. The rivers have swelled again which has made it impossible to fish the upper reaches. Offshore has been very quiet also due to high seas and strong winds. However, there's still been some nice fish caught in weather breaks so let's take a look at what's been landed.
Jess Lane and Lewis Holland have been making the most of the small windows of opportunity with a quick trip to Rocklands yielding some solid Golden Perch. Rocklands is fast becoming a brilliant waterway with so much potential after millions of fish being stocked over the past five years. A big congratulations must go to the Victorian Fisheries Authority for their hard work in bringing this up to where it is now. Most anglers have been casting spinnerbaits, soft plastics or vibes through the many trees along the shoreline, or through fish located using a sounder. For a more passive style of angling, some nice goldens and cod have still been landed bait fishing at camp or trolling hardbodies such as Stumpjumper. Redfin and Murray Cod have been the bycatch for those targeting yellowbelly.
Another waterway which has been fishing very well despite the rains is Lake Bullen Merri which Jess and Lewie have also been hitting up recently. Jess was on fire this particular day landing a nice salmon and a cracker brown trout in consecutive casts. Lake Purrumbete has also produced a few trout, redfin and chinook salmon. Our freshwater rivers (Hopkins, Merri, Mount Emu) remain too high to fish, but fingers crossed these rivers drop back to normal soon.
Luke McGuinness has been fishing off the Warrnambool Breakwater with his daughter and they have been catching some solid snapper and the odd small gummy shark. Luke also reports that there was loads of rock cod about too which can be annoying for those chasing table fish. Reports are also coming in of whiting along the coast however you'll want to concentrate your efforts around areas away from river mouths (Killarney would be a good location). Rough weather has made most saltwater fishing unfeasible this week however.
The local estuaries are slowly beginning to fish well too. Tim Vincent fished the Hopkins land based this week, catching a few nice bream and estuary perch below the bridge using blades. The Warrnambool and District Angling Club held their Round 3 competition at the Fitzroy River last weekend, with Dudley Wright taking both the heaviest fish and bag for the competition. The fishing was reportedly good, with fish sitting near the edges. Max Kandage found himself 20 odd fish on fly, slowly fishing the edges with a Hammerhead.
The weather is coming good this weekend with a couple of fishable days coming up. Offshore should get a work out for snapper, sharks and even tuna. There was a large school of barrel fish reported in close off Port Fairy last weekend. If you’re heading out this weekend tight lines and best of luck!