The Pelican's Pick
Friday, 12 September
Victoria, while it’s not a competition, Jude has officially won the trout season opening weekend!
An early morning spent casting lures on the river with his dad resulted in a massive haul for Jude, with a total of 5 brown trout and 1 rainbow! Jude’s dad also got in on the action and caught a stonker brown!
The highlight of the morning was this cracking 64cm brown trout! What a way to kick off trout opening and to spend Father’s Day weekend fishing with dad!
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Along the Coast
As it gets warmer, the Victorian coastline gets packed with action!
Australian salmon are schooling and aggressive, use this time to cast out metal slugs to reel in a quality catch at stunning locations such as Apollo Bay and Lorne. Anglers fishing from Lorne Pier are getting terrific catches of grass whiting, mullet, and trevally, with chicken and pilchards the current bait of choice.
At the back end of the tuna season, there is still fun to be had offshore at Portland, and if you can’t get onto the barrels, the snapper are ramping up!
The Moyne River is providing optimal fishing for estuary perch, with great success from live baits such as yabbies and prawns. If you’re keen to venture out into deeper water offshore, gummy and school shark are increasingly active in the Port Fairy area.
Lakes Entrance is the place to fish if you’re looking for a relaxing day on the water. Target shallow sand banks on a low tide for huge catches of flathead. If targeting bream, find sheltered areas from strong currents with deep banks. These are active feeding grounds and you’re likely to peel some line if using bait such as pipis or sandworms. Bullock Island is offering up catches of sand crab and flathead.
Around the Bays
Keen anglers are chasing snapper as the season begins early in Port Phillip and Western Port. If you’re heading out this weekend, be sure to pack fresh squid for bait. If the fishing is quiet, switch to slimies - larger snapper find them irresistible and it’s sure to get them on the chew.
Whether you’re fishing for squid for a feed or some bait, Rye and Cowes have seen large catches recently. If fishing at first light, use darker coloured jigs over shallow grass beds and rocky structures.
Corinella is the perfect spot if you’re looking for variety! It’s a hotspot for action with catches of gummy, snapper, trevally and squid! Talk about a seafood platter!
Kayakers targeting flathead, paddle out to the Kayaker’s Reef at Kerford Rd Pier, and cast out pilchard or yabbies to entice these opportunistic ambush predators.
The piers in Port Phillip provide anglers with plenty of opportunity to wet a line. If you’re after some King George whiting, St Leonards Pier and Queenscliff are a sure bet with consistent catches reported in both areas. Mornington Pier is perfect for targeting garfish, squid and trevally. When targeting trevally, use small oily fish baits like pilchards or mullet in shallow reef areas and harbours where they can be frequently found swimming this time of year.
Inland
Victoria’s inland fishery is the best in the world (in our unbiased opinion) with anglers spoilt for choice of quality waterways firing up for a fantastic spring of fishing!
The Goulburn River has unleashed the goods for those targeting trout, and powerbait is a reliable option to lure in a decent meal-sized catch. Or you can opt to use dark lures that mimic the African black beetle, which are an abundant pest species our wild trout love to feed on this time of year. Reports from a happy angler recommended using a brown soft plastic curly tail grub at Casey Fields Lake!
With footy finals underway, large gold footballs can be found at Lake Neangar, just use some shrimp or yabbies and you’ll be sure to score a goal! Golden perch will begin to fire up as we head into spring, so be sure to start planning a weekend away at Victoria’s prime yellowbelly fishery, Lake Hume. As the water starts to warm up, target shallow edges around structures with bright spinner baits to land these shiny fish!
While we have a three-month cod fishing closure to give the Murray cod some space to go on romantic date nights for their annual spawning season, why not make the trip to our amazing year-round cod fisheries! Rocklands Reservoir is a great place to target cod using faithful baits such as cheese and chicken, or if you enjoy your lure fishing, try using a size 3 stumpy on the trawl or a soft swim bait if casting.
Tight lines – Mr. Percy!