The Pelican's Pick
Friday, 27 June
Nick and his son Louie, who absolutely loves a fish, headed out off the Bellarine Peninsula at St Leonards for a crack at the squid. Things started slow, but about an hour after the incoming tide change, the action fired up. The squid smashed size 3.0 red and green foil jigs, and the father-son duo (fishing’s very own Batman and Robin) reached their bag limit. Among the catch were three absolute krakens with hoods over 50cm. Huge squid followed jigs right to the boat, making for an exciting and memorable day out. The smiles say it all! Well done, Nick and Louie!
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Along the Coast
To the west, big schools of 40–60cm salmon are moving off Johanna, with metal lures proving deadly. The deep gutters right in close to the shore let you fish light and maximise the sport fishing potential of this species. Fresh squid is also a great bait option. Make sure you never turn your back to the surf and stay safe; ideal conditions are flat or low swell with offshore winds.
Lorne Pier is currently producing great fishing, especially for those chasing a mixed bag of species. Over the weekend, anglers found success catching salmon, whiting, mullet, trevally, snapper and squid!
In the Glenelg River, the action continues to impress, with quality bream and estuary perch on the chew. Some absolute monster bream were landed during last weekend’s Glenelg Shire Bream Classic!
The Barwon River saw plenty of small sambos caught over the weekend. If you find a school along the Surf Coast, you’re in for serious fun on light tackle.
Schools of salmon are on the chew at the Inverloch entrance and along 90 Mile Beach near Loch Sport — it’s salmon season everywhere right now!
Flathead and squid are being caught around Port Welshpool, as well as the occasional mako shark. For the best chances of success make sure to berley hard.
Across East Gippsland, the usual species are all still being caught regularly. At Lakes Entrance we’ve seen plenty of trevally, snapper, bream, tailor and salmon up the arms. Pipis and mussels have been the best performing baits, while all of these species will readily take a soft plastic for those fishing with artificials.
Bream are reliably being caught using fresh mussels at Metung, as well as across all of the river mouths, including the Bemm, Nicholson and Tambo.
Around the Bays
San Remo Pier proved to be a great location for squid over the weekend - fishing the drop-offs is key at this location.
Decent snapper are hard to find in Port Phillip Bay now. To get onto some you’ll need to sort through a few smaller fish to find your keepers. Altona, Black Rock, and Dromana Pier all produced solid catches for those putting in the hours last weekend. Fishing after a storm is usually a reliable time to catch snapper for those willing to sit out in poor weather.
Successful whiting sessions have been hard to come by lately. our best tips are to keep on the move and use fresh squid, mussels and pipis.
The salmon have come into Port Phillip as well, with reports of schools swimming through Rosebud. While they aren’t all quite the size of the offshore models, some good numbers of fish are being caught.
Flathead are on the bite in 2-4m of water right across the bay. Drifting across sandy areas using a paternoster rig is a proven and effective method to cover ground and find feeding fish.
As the temperatures drop, the Warmies is beginning to fire up. The pumps are drawing in everything — tailor, bream, snapper, and even the occasional jewfish and whiting. If you find yourself there at the right time it can deliver legendary sessions.
Down the Bellarine Peninsula, squid are thick off Portarlington and St Leonards. If you target the patchy weed beds in 2–7m of clear water, you can quickly catch a fresh feed of calamari for dinner. In similar areas, whiting are being caught around the 4-6m mark, with best success coming to anglers using berley.
Further out, a few big gummies from 12-18kg were landed on Saturday out in 20m. Fresh squid heads did the trick on 8/0 circle hooks.
The Geelong waterfront always has the potential to produce fun sessions. Throwing plastics around structure during the day is a common way to get onto a few pinkies, and it’s not uncommon to catch snook around sunset and into the night. To target them, try throwing around larger surface or sub-surface hardbodies on a calm evening, including bent minnows and double clutches.
Some big snapper are still hanging around in Western Port. To increase your chances of getting onto good sized models, fish the incoming and outgoing tides and use fresh bait. For land-based anglers, squid have been caught off Stony Point Pier during the morning.
Inland
Lake Wendouree and Lake Fyans have delivered quality brown trout up to 50cm over the past week. Lake Wartook is worth a look too for trout and you’re always in with a shot at a redfin too, at all three of the above waters.
Lake Bullen Merri continues to fish well for conditioned tiger trout and rainbows from the shore. A few solid Chinook salmon have been taken on fly too, but you’ll need to put in the hours.
The Goulburn remains a solid Murray cray spot, with good-sized crustaceans wandering their way into a few hoop nets. Remember to release any berried females!
Winter typically means a different approach to cod fishing across the state. The colder water makes fish less aggressive, so when using lures, fish them close to structure and retrieve them slowly to give lazy fish plenty of opportunity to strike. This time of the year is often productive with bait and chicken is an ever-reliable option. Lake Eildon has been producing large cod, particularly at night for those willing to brave the cold and the dark. Fish to 116cm have been taken, which are trophy specimens in anyone’s book and right up there on the national stage of cod captures. Otherwise, it’s worth a crack for the odd cod at Cairn Curran Reservoir and in the Loddon River.
Over at Pykes Creek Reservoir near Ballan, brown trout are hitting hardbodies, making it a good time to flick lures around or fish a bait rod from the shoreline early or lake in the day. Just rug up, especially if the wind’s coming across the lake from the southwest or west.
Tight lines – Mr. Percy!