The Pelican's Pick
Friday, 3 October
There’s nothing like a long weekend, good boating weather, and hungry squid! Hayley headed out off St Leonards with her dad and sister to catch some dinner, and didn’t they deliver! Bagging out in two hours, Hayley reeled in the biggest squid of the day and her PB, with a hood measuring 45cm. It’s obvious why they call Hayley the squid slayer! Orange and brown jigs were the choice of the day, and a salt and pepper crumb was the choice of the night. Yum!
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Along the Coast
Although the weather improved slightly last weekend, conditions on the water along the coast were still a little choppy. Nonetheless, keen anglers just kept the fishing land based.
The Gippsland region was busy over the long weekend, with 90 Mile buzzing, and Golden Beach the hotspot. Some anglers were putting drones to work, while others stuck to casting. Despite flat seas and heavy weed, gummies, salmon, and flathead were on the bite with blue bait proving to be the winner. Up at Loch Sport, the gummies were also on the chew. Estuary perch and black bream have been taking prawns in the Tambo River, and the squid have been taking jigs in Port Welshpool.
Reports from the southwest were a little quieter this week, but Lorne Pier delivered its usual mixed bag of trevally, squid, and salmon. Further west, the Moyne River continued to provide solid estuary perch.
Around the Bays
Another busy long weekend in the bays, with Western Port anglers keen as ever and getting out on the boats despite the strong winds. Solid squid on bright jigs, salmon and gummies (even the odd sevengill shark) were caught, along with some solid snapper. Corinella, Carrum and Hastings seemed to be the hotspots, with the largest snapper we saw coming in just under 90cm! Pillies have been the go-to bait, and the best action has been from late afternoon into the evening.
Over in Port Phillip, results were mixed, with some fishos having a brilliant weekend while others went home empty-handed. Land based fishing continued throughout the bay, with anglers catching a lot of - you guessed it – snapper. If you’re after the snapper, they’ve been biting off the piers at St Kilda, Mornington, Frankston, and Portarlington. With the Portarlington Pier being busy, a few have taken to the rock wall which has also produced a few solid fish. Closer to the city, pinkies and salmon have been biting on pillies in Port Melbourne, while Brighton’s foreshore has produced pinkies on paddletail soft plastics.
With the water starting to clear up, squid have been landed around St Leonards and Geelong, and the snapper have been taking blue bait off the Barwon Heads Jetty and in Werribee.
The Mornington Peninsula has been busy with garfish at the Frankston Jetty, and snapper taken off the Mount Martha rocks. Mornington Pier has had smaller squid, so smaller jigs are working best. There have also been reports of gummies off Rosebud Pier, and salmon taken from the Blairgowrie back beach on metal and hardbody lures.
Inland
Eildon has been nice and active as the water temps warm up, both on the lake and in the pondage. Some solid meteries have been landed, along with a few donkey yellas – the biggest we have seen coming in at a whopping 66cm. In the pondage, both brown and rainbow trout have been hooked on spoons. If you’re after Murray cod, whilst not meteries, Taylors Lakes has been producing well.
The Goulburn River is still running high, and fishers are finding success in the backwaters. Around Thornton, the tributaries upstream of the bridge have produced good browns, as has the Ghin Ghin region. Browns have also been biting in the Merri River, Bellfield Lake, and streams in Gippsland and Noojee.
The rivers in the state’s southwest around Warrnambool continue to produce large brown trout too, as well as some chunky redfin. The best lures have been soft plastics, and results coming from well-placed casts close to structure. Lake Bellfield near Halls Gap has also been producing nice brown trout to 50cm.
As expected with increasing water temperatures, the yellas are biting! Other than Eildon, success at Lake Hume continues, as does the stocked waters around Bendigo, with the Campaspe and Loddon Rivers also providing solid catches.
Tight lines – Mr. Percy!