The Pelican's Pick
Friday, 24 October
The Bellarine Peninsula - a place to enjoy the sun, sand and a whole lot of fishing! Hannah and a group of friends ventured out last weekend to cast in a line and get some reel action!
They started the day off catching squid, then continued on to target King George whiting. Hannah’s day was a success when she helped reel in a haul of King George whiting, just like this one, with a few going over 40cm!
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Along the Coast
Anglers have been fishing Lake Tyers and with a good variety of species to target, you’re unlikely to go home empty handed. Target channels with flow to hook onto a trevally. You can find perch around the shallow edges or cast hard-body lures to get stuck into large bream, which are active and on the chew.
Hard body lure or bream magnet? Those fishing Lakes Entrance can’t tell the difference with the amount of quality black bream being landed. As the water temperature rises these fish are firing up in the lakes and fishers can’t get enough!
For those chasing something bigger, 90 Mile is providing anglers with big challenges and even bigger results! Bronze whaler sharks are getting caught off the beach. To target these fish, use large oily baits on a heavy-duty surf rod. Catching one will give you plenty of excitement and feed the neighbourhood. Snapper and gummies have been reported in the area too.
Windy weather hasn’t hindered the fishing at Port Welshpool with mega squid caught off the pier. Corner Inlet is a top place to catch that snapper of a lifetime. Reel in one of these big reds and have the camera ready!
Those fishing offshore at Warrnambool are in for a treat with supersized school sharks about and squid drifting over weed beds. Anglers fishing the Hopkins River are reporting decent catches of bream and estuary perch on worms and yabbies.
Portland is a hotspot for meal sized snapper and gummies. Use fresh squid strips and oily pilchards along the breakwater or offshore.
Around the Bays
Albert Park to St Kilda is seeing stunning catches of snapper including off Kerferd Road pier.
A big shout out to Roko who’s been pulling big sessions at Portarlington scoring pinkies, including hitting the jackpot with a 70cm snapper!
Large catches of snapper on pilchards and squid have been seen in Mordialloc, Mornington, Carrum, Sandringham and Queenscliff.
St Leonards and Queenscliff piers are worth a look for whiting, squid and trevally.
The Portarlington Safe Harbour Foreshore will be packed on Sunday with our annual Hooked on Bellarine Festival. See you there!
The Warmies is still generating heaps of heat and fun for anglers. Target bust ups with lures and reel them in quickly to avoid rocky snags. The salmon will school up, so once you’ve found one, you’ll get more.
Western Port is consistently providing high quality fishing for everyday anglers. At Warneet there have been a few enormous snapper caught on squid baits. Corinella is also producing photo worthy reds and gummy sharks are earning frequent flyer points the way they’re soaring into boats.
Cowes Jetty is a great spot to fish at dawn, dusk and evening with loads to be caught! King George whiting, squid, snapper and gummies are amongst the popular species.
Inland
The Mitta Mitta, a river so nice you say it twice! Brown trout have been going off. The reports are in and casting neutral coloured hardbody lures in the upper reaches has been the go. Also regarded as one of Victoria’s best trout rivers to fly fish, target transition zones in the Mitta Mitta where fast flowing water meets slower moving pockets.
The Avon and Nicholson rivers in Gippsland are providing anglers with good catches of Australian bass on hard body lures. Seems our record-breaking stocking program over the last few decades continues to pay off.
The Wimmera River has been yielding golden and silver perch as water temperatures rise. There are several stocked lakes in the region that we stocked with rainbow trout for the September school holidays, with reports of fish still being caught. Target trout with scrub worms or mudeyes, or cast small lures if the water clarity is ok.
The Goulburn River is pumping, and the fishing has been great for browns and rainbows from Thorton down to Molesworth. The calmer waters near deep banks are creating feeding pockets. Cast upstream and aim just past these areas to mimic a natural drift and you’ll be in with a chance.
Nagambie is a hot spot for redfin this time of year. Look for backwaters with snags and weed beds. If fishing the lake, cast small spinnerbaits for yellas in deep channels or near submerged trees.
In the northeast, Lake Hume is good for yellas and a few brown trout too.
Lake Eppalock near Bendigo is warming up on the yellas and no longer has a closed season for Murray cod, so you can chase both species year-round. The yellas will be schooling up and bait fishing from the bank can be very effective with small yabbies and worms. You might tangle with a redfin or carp too. If you’re in a boat at Eppalock, troll small to mid-size hard-body lures in 15-25 feet until you find a school of yellas or redfin. Then troll over them repeatedly or stop and cast lipless crankbaits or soft plastics. The cod can be targeted amongst the timber snags with spinnerbaits and sometimes just turn up when trolling for yellas and reddies.
Tight Lines – Mr. Percy!