The Pelican's Pick
Friday, 15 November
Last Friday, Aliff hooked into this ripper 50cm bass up the Snowy River. The winning technique was casting deep diving hardbodies towards the rock walls, where he lipped this one in about 2m of water. After a good battle and a quick photo from his dad, this one went back to fight another day. Well done, Aliff! Our bass stocking has kicked off this week, with Gippsland waters receiving fish including Cann River, Blue Rock Lake, the La Trobe River, and more!
Along the Coast
Offshore along the Surf and Shipwreck Coast, anglers are catching school sharks, gummy sharks, flathead, and snapper. Land-based fishing off Apollo Bay has been quieter but still offers decent trevally, snapper, and occasional runs of scad and mackerel.
Offshore from Lakes Entrance, plenty of pinkies are being caught on the reefs, and a few bigger model reds are around as well. Gummies and flathead are getting caught in close to shore as well. Bullock Island has been slow for sand crabs, but a few salmon have been caught on the incoming tides.
Out at the Gippsland Lakes, Mitchell River, Tambo and Nicholson River are fishing well, with plenty of bream taking lures, and some King George whiting kicking around at Metung. You can also find bream on the Metung and Paynesville jetties using vibes.
At Lake Tyers, flathead are taking plastics and hard bodies, while bream are actively taking bait and lures up the arms. A few large tailor are also floating around so check your leaders!
At the Snowy River, decent estuary perch have been caught on lures, plus bream around the islands and luderick on sandworms.
Good numbers of flathead and a few gummies are being caught offshore from Cape Conran.
Around the Bays
Snapper are going nuts just off the Beaumaris Yacht Squadron, where you’ll find catches between 45-55cm. They’re taking everything from soft plastics to baits, and plenty of boats are bagging out during the week.
The whole of Port Phillip Bay is firing with big reds consistently being caught across the bay. For a land-based option, Werribee South Marine rock wall is producing good snapper at the moment.
King George whiting have been on the chew in Western Port, particularly in the southeast corner between the bridge at San Remo and Reef Island. Epic catches have been sighted both at the ramp and on the water, with pipis and bass yabbies being the preferred baits for the successful anglers.
Fisheries Officers dropped into the Women In Recreational Fishing And Boating (WIRFAB) squid fishing clinic whilst out on a vessel patrol at San Remo Jetty. It was fantastic to see such high participation and there were plenty of squid caught during the event. There were smiling faces all round and without a doubt some core memories made.
Western Port snapper have been fishing well and seem to be more consistent now that the water is hovering around 17 degrees. There have been excellent catches coming into the ramp at Warneet and Hastings. Some anglers have managed to bag out in less than 30 minutes and there seems to be plenty of fish in the 50 to 70cm range frequently being caught on squid baits and fresh salmon fillets.
This weekend also marks the start of the abalone open season for the Central Victorian Zone waters. Take is permitted every Saturday, Sunday and public holiday between 16 November and 30 April the next year inclusive, as well as 25th December through to the second Sunday in January the following year inclusive. Central Victorian waters are defined as marine waters east of the mouth of Aire River to Arch Rock (near Cape Liptrap) including Port Phillip Bay. The southern boundary is a line running three nautical miles from the coast, which is the seaward limit of state waters.
Inland
As the weather warms, Lake Eppalock and Cairn Curran are seeing solid catches of golden perch, and Bendigo’s lakes offering plenty of native fish action, too. Good old fashion baits like worms and small yabbies are doing the trick, though lures are also landing fish.
Redfin are beginning to school up in the larger Bendigo lakes, and anglers are reeling in some impressive Murray cod in the year-round fisheries at Lake Eppalock and Cairn Curran.
Lake Dartmouth has been producing good catches of browns in recent weeks, with some pushing the 50cm mark. Most consistent methods have been casting small hardbodies into the shady deeper banks or trolling Tassies in pink or clown pattern. Anglers are also reminded that if a Macquarie perch is accidentally captured, it is to be released back into the water immediately as it is prohibited to take in all Victorian waters.
Lake Hume is fishing well for golden perch, with fish up to 4kg or 60+cm regularly caught! Best methods include blades or soft plastics around the trees or using yabbies as bait. Most popular locations include Bowna and Ludlow’s Reserve. With the warmer weather around, Lake Buffalo and William Hovell Dam are starting to be more consistent with the reddies. Trolling small hard bodies is the most successful option with a few bags of 10 observed.
Most rivers have been fishing well for brown and rainbow trout, and majority are running clear and lower than in previous years. Upper Kiewa and Mitta have been producing quality browns on jointed minnows or drifting hoppers. Upper Ovens upstream of Bright has been productive for rainbows using Celta’s. The Lower Ovens near Bundalong has been fishing well for golden perch with fish up to 50cm being caught on shrimp and casting vibes.
If you’re out fishing this week and would like to feature in Pelican’s Pick, send your snapshots to pelicanspick@vfa.vic.gov.au!
Tight lines – Mr. Percy!