Friday, 1 May

Ballarat might be cold, but the fishing has been red hot! Nathan hit the water at Lake Wendouree ready to chase the quality trout and redfin on the move now that the temperature is dropping.

A 4-inch soft plastic in electric shad colour on a lightly weighted 1/20^th jig head has been the standout lure of choice for Nathan recently.

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Along the coast

Offshore at Lakes Entrance has seen some ripper sessions, with gummies hammering baits of pilchard and squid. There’s been snapper with them too! The Gippsland Lakes has had plenty of flathead landed on squid, and the bream are hunting soft plastics. Paynesville’s also worth a look. Its shallow edges are full of flathead, whereas slow moving pockets with lots of structure are home to schools of bream.

The weed is clearing in patches along 90-Mile and the salmon are running anglers off their feet! There’s huge fish swimming along the gutters. Surf poppers and pillies are your best bets. There’s also a mixed bag on offer with gummy shark, the occasional snapper and reliable flathead.

Over in the west, the Hopkins River has non-stop surface action instore for anglers fishing the dusk session. Park up on the bank or hop in a kayak, equipped with your best surface lures. You’ll be in for a productive trip. Bream and estuary perch are smashing topwater hardbodies mimicking prawns. Cast along structure to lure them out!

Tuna are looking crazy along the West Coast, all the way from Apollo Bay to Portland. There’s a lot of schoolies with barrels in the mix. Regular reports are suggesting the schoolies are hard to get away from! If you’re fishing for multiple days in a row, remember your overall possession limit is 2 tuna or less than 160kg of tuna meat/flesh. There are still a few pinkies going along the coast, and from boats, while salmon are running off the beaches with a few garfish popping up too.

Around the bay

Western Port has giant squid cruising about and with a bit of patience you’ll find them. Aim for areas with grassy seabeds and opt for lighter coloured jigs. The top end is gummy galore with mammoth catches on oily pilchards.

Anglers around Hastings are getting stuck into bait fishing to prepare for a day on the water. Once armed with yakka and slimy cubes, use them up to chase something bigger! Gummy sharks are among the choices with whiting and small salmon a welcome by-catch. The whiting action continues down to Stony Point with big fish caught on mussels.

For e-fish-ent fishing, Cliffton Springs to Werribee have been terrific! There’s plenty of catches to be had so pack the esky with some ice to take home a feast. Casting out pipis will have you reeling in a fresh catch of whiting. Drift over sandy flats with jigs to get a amongst the calamari or use soft plastics and hook into some flatties!

Frankston Pier has been a garfish hotspot with plenty of fish up for grabs! Chuck out some berley and use small bits of prawn for bait. There are heaps of flatties about as well and the odd pinkie hammering squid cubes. Carrum has been producing respectable sized gummy sharks that are taking salmon strips, and monster flatties are loving cubes of mullet.

Inland

The cold nights mixed with warm days are creating mixed fishing conditions along the Goulburn. While some are taking home doughnuts, others are enjoying success.

Seymour is producing quality and quantity! There’s some fat cod getting about and they are beautiful beasts! Chicken is working extremely well from the bank but if you’re on the move then spinnerbaits will entice these river monsters to bite!

Further downstream it’s a different type of action with trout cod aggressively biting around Murchison. It’s always a wonderful sight to reel these threatened fish in and even better to watch them swim off! A reminder that while these trout cod love to be bait thieves if you do reel one in, they must be immediately admired and released.

Lake Hume is maintaining a warm surface temp keeping perch active and ready to bite! Fishing around 5-8m depth with worms, shrimp or small yabbies will see your line peeling in no time! Reddies are feeding in abundance and once you hit one there will be more to come! Catches of yellas are in the mix too with donkeys amongst them.

The streams that flow throughout the High Country are like nothing else in the world with great fishing and an even greater setting. Where else would you rather be? Flicking small lures while wading upstream is the key to success! It’s best to use natural colors in rocky clearwater streams to attract their attention by mimicking prey. If that doesn’t work switch it up to a fluoro orange or pink lure to get a reaction bite.

The Campaspe River is becoming a well-known spot to target healthy cod thanks in part to our record-breaking fish stocking program. There’s been plenty of chunky specimens reeled in recently! The lower reaches of the river are ideal to target Murray cod as they contain deep slow flowing pockets. Using loud lures in slow water will attract attention and spinnerbaits will deliver too! Current water clarity suggests that dark coloured lures will be most productive so opt for blues, purples and blacks.

Tight Lines – Mr. Percy