HOT SPOTS - Altona & Pt. Cook

By Peter Jolly
See Peter's weekly report for fishvictoria.com here.

Fishing around Altona and Pt. Cook is very rarely a fishless exercise. There are good spots no more than 500 metres from the front of the ramp. If the fishing is slow in one area and you are not getting the fish you want, rig up for something else and you won't be disappointed.

Once out from the ramp go left and you will find yourself near the mouth of Kororiot creek. Here you can drift for whiting and flathead. There are quite a few here but they are usually just on size. Then go across to the Footy ground and you will come across a reef that is a good spot for pinkies in season, also leatherjacket can be taken here.

There are a couple of navigation markers around the point of the footy ground that fish very well for snapper in season. There has been gummy picked up here on dusk and if the weather is right it's a pleasant place to dangle a line. It is very snaggy here so keep your wits about you.

Going across towards The Stick at Altona you can pick up some whiting, pinkies and flathead. There is a red marker on the way to the Altone Pier and this is a good spot for some big leatherjackets. Further west about 30-50 metres out from Millers Road is a top spot for pinkies in season.

Between the pier and Point Cook this area has some of the best flathead fishing in the bay. It is not unusual to get upwards of 15-20 fish per hour on the drift. This is the motled area on the map. This part of the bay is very good if you want to get someone into fishing because the action on flathead can be very hectic.

Nearer the shore over to the outlet of Skeleton Creek there are a number of deep gutters. These gutters can sometimes hold some MASSIVE flathead - up to and over 3 kilos. These are really only taken in summer and can be tempted by some berley and then casting a lure or fly to them can give a good result. Watch out for the tide as you can get stuck in a gutter without enough water to get out the other side.

To the east of Pt. Cook we head across to the Dumb Joe marker and further east the P2 bouy. Between these two spots is a good snapper area but probably one of the best in the bay is the P2 spot. P2 is a bouy that marks the gas pipeline that runs across the bay from Altona to Black Rock. This pipe acts as an artificial reef and fishing around here is a good option in season. When anchoring you must be at least 150 metres from the pipe and the bouy.

(22 March 2001)


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