The Pelican's Pick
Friday, 14 November
Ruth braved the freezing cold wind last weekend to cast a line at her local fishing competition. The wind showed no signs of letting up, but she persevered and launched at Lake Tyers. It was a quiet day, until she landed this 38cm forker! She hightailed it further up to the river and caught more quality bream. Persistence is key to landing the catch of the day!
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Along the Coast
Corner Inlet has got solid reds getting hooked in the Toora Channel. Anglers drifting near steep drop offs have scored fish on squid and pilchards. The Lewis Channel has quality squid on the chew. If you’re land based don’t stress, the Port Welshpool jetty has been reporting plenty of squid and pinkies around!
There’s no shortage of beachside fun, with salmon and tailor tearing through Shallow Inlet. Metal slugs and pilchard baits have been the go, especially during the flooding tide. Meanwhile, 90 Mile Beach continues to fish consistently for salmon.
Dusky flathead action indicates summer is well on the way! Anglers casting soft plastics on shallow edges at Lakes Entrance are stirring up huge catches! Keep in mind the slot limit is 30cm to 50cm!
Punchbowl Rocks is living up to its name and is absolutely packing a punch this week! Reports of snapper, pinkies, gummies, and even a few Aussie salmon have anglers grinning ear to ear. Make sure you wear a life jacket if you head out and stay safe! Those fishing into the tide with fresh baits are finding steady action, and it’s shaping up as one of the hottest mixed-bag spots along the Bass Coast right now.
It’s been another cracking week down in Portland, with the snapper bite firing up along the North Shore reefs and inside the harbour where oily baits are working best. Schools of salmon and trevally are keeping anglers busy, with small metals and soft plastics doing the trick!
Around the Bays
Land-based legends are proving you don’t need a boat to bag out! The Portarlington Pier is a hotspot with big reds firing on squid and pilchards.
Trevally are turning up in good numbers around Port Phillip, smashing squid around structure. They are a whole lot of fun to target between the big snapper bites! Trevally love current, areas with good water flow, or tidal movement.
Dromana’s been a steady producer for snapper and flathead, while further up at Patterson Lakes, bream are schooling throughout the river and connected water systems. It’s a great chance to mix it up with some estuary action if the wind picks up.
Williamstown has a sparkle in the water with schools of Aussie salmon about. Oily fish baits are working best. Altona is reporting quality snapper with some pushing the magic 8kg mark!
If you’re heading to Corio Bay, make sure you pack extra squid jigs and snapper rigs in your tackle box. Weed beds combined with the deep channels are a recipe for a good day on the water fishing for snapper and squid!
Corinella and Hastings are gummy hunting grounds, with solid catches on fresh squid and salmon baits. The evening tides have been lining anglers up for a perfect night session under the stars.
Inland
The cold snap continues but so does cod snapping on your line. Lake Eildon is producing mammoth fish like always. Around this time of year, they can be found up the lake arms, particularly the Delatite and Big River arms. Head out in the boat or target the bank at dawn and dusk when the cod like to feed. You can also target schools of golden perch hanging mid-water around large trees with jigging a black curl-tailed plastic as an effective way to lure these fish onto your rod.
The Campaspe River is pumping out yellas brighter than a bar of gold. They’re fat and good for a feed. Bright coloured hardbodied lures are working best near built up structure or soft plastics over weed beds. Waranga Basin is offering up nice catches of redfin and yellowbelly. Lake Neangar is getting in on the yella action with anglers succeeding with worms for bait. To dig for worms, look for soft damp soil especially under leaf litter.
Chasing a wide variety of fish? Blue Rock Lake is the place to go! There’s been some donkey Aussie bass caught among the clear water and built-up structure. Flicking small hardbody lures will see you reel in redfin, rainbow and brown trout.
Rocklands Reservoir is becoming a thriving fishery with an exciting future! The Murray cod and golden perch being caught are getting better each week!
The Goulburn River is 654km long and offering plenty of locations to target. While it’s cod closed season, use this time to target yellas and trout. The Goulburn tailrace and its tributaries are still running cold, and although a bit high and discoloured at the moment, there are plenty of pan-size brown and rainbow trout about. They’re taking all types of offerings from flies to lures like the humble celta to a drifted worm. Look for the deeper pockets of water to find the larger fish sitting out of the faster currents.
The votes are in, and the Goulburn yellowbelly are loving worms this week with all the wet weather we’ve had. The weather is shaping up to make for the perfect weekend to bait fish by the river!
Tight lines - Mr Percy!