The Pelican's Pick
Friday, 29 August
Smiles all round! Dean and John hit the lower Barwon with 2 ½ inch clear paddletails and were soon rewarded with a cracking haul of silver trevally, backed up by a few tailor and some solid estuary perch. Keen for a fun fishing session like this? Time your trip with the tide, whether it’s running in or out, if the water’s moving it won’t be long before the fish are biting. Safe to say it was an enjoyable day out on the water for Dean and John!
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Along the Coast
We’ve spotted a few keen fishers making the most of the water this past week, but the weekend forecast is looking a little rough with heavy rain and strong winds on the way. Still, this is Victoria, the land of four seasons in one day, so keep an eye out for those windows of opportunity, but stay safe and on top of the conditions!
The Warrnambool and Portland region remains a hotspot, with anglers landing quality gummies, school sharks, and snapper. If you’re keen on estuary species, bream and perch are still on the bite throughout the area.
Further east in Gippsland, a variety of fish are biting all along the coast. Salmon are schooling up off the surf at Loch Sport, Lakes Entrance, the Bemm River mouth, and Marlo channel, with metal lures and pilchards doing the trick. The bream fishing has also been hot, with solid catches coming from the banks, boats, and jetties at Paynesville, Lakes Entrance, and along the Nicholson River. Both fresh bait, including crab, prawns, pipis, and blue bait have all been working, as well as lures.
With the known peak time of our beloved flatties nearer than further, we are happy to see anglers scoring some solid table fish. Flat head tails for dinner? Yes please! Fishos are reporting landings in Lake Tyers now the entrance is open, Eastern Beach, and the mouths of Mitchell and Nicholson Rivers, using blue bait, prawns, and soft plastics.
Over in Port Welshpool the current Victorian squid frenzy continues, with consistent bag outs. Squid jigs are always getting the job done in a variety of colours, accompanied with lure scents.
Around the Bays
Despite the chilly water temps prevalent across the bays, things warmed ever so slightly over the weekend, keeping anglers busy with a wide variety of species on the chew.
Squid remain the standout across both Port Phillip and Western Port, with not just bags being filled, but monsters being landed. Land-based anglers have had consistent success from the piers at St Leonards, Rye, and Blairgowrie, while those in boats are doing well working the weed beds in Western Port and right through the bay. Bright lures are still the go-to, and for something different, fishos have been pulling squid from the rocks at Williamstown using 2.5 inch mullet squid jigs.
King George whiting and salmon are still consistent throughout Port Phillip, now joined by pinkies, and flatties. Across both bays, anglers are also landing gummies and seven gill sharks. The snapper have been on the chew across Western Port, with anglers reeling in fish over 70cm around Corinella.
Inland
While the cold weather continues inland, the opening of a few key seasons should be enough to get keen fishers out and about.
Trout have been biting in the Eildon Pondage with Stumpjumers doing the job for rainbows, and Jimmy Lizards for the browns. Although the pondage is open year-round, excitement is building for the official trout season, with closed waters reopening next weekend.
Don’t want to travel far? We’ve stocked 1,000 ‘stonker’ rainbow trout this week across 17 metro lakes, check out the list here.
In the Ovens, fishers are making the most of Murray spiny cray season before it wraps up. This weekend is your last chance, with the season closing Monday 1 September 2025 and not reopening until 31 May 2026.
Redfin are still on the bite throughout Lake Eppalock, with anglers targeting structured areas using worms and yabbies as bait. Down on the Peninsula, Brad wrote in to share that there’s some cracking reddies coming out of Devilbend Reservoir, caught by hopping metal spoons along the bottom. Out west, both Green Hill Lake and Lake Fyans continue to produce chunky fish, with reddies pushing the 48cm mark.
Lake Eildon is still firing, producing reddies, yellas, and Murray cod. Just a reminder – this weekend is the last opportunity to target cod in many waterways, with the season closing Monday 1 September until 30 November (inclusive). Lake Eildon and a handful of other waters remain open year-round, so if you’re planning to chase cod after Monday, make sure you’re fishing a permitted area.
Upcoming Events
A busy few weeks coming up around the state! We are heading into our second last week of our 2025 Recreational Fishing Forums, if you’re keen to check one out, click here for more information. Also, we have the Ballarat Fishing Festival and Goulburn Fishing Festival next weekend! Both events are FREE and will have fishing lessons, market stalls, cooking demonstrations and more! For further information visit here.
Tight lines – Mr. Percy!