VICTORIAN SURF FISHING

With Paul (Benno) Bennett
EASY FISH LAND-BASED FISHING CHARTERS

See Benno's profile here.

1 October 2007

As we look at the weekend of the 29th and 30th of September the odds of catching a few salmon look excellent, with great reports flooding in from most costal beaches. The best reports I have received were from Rye Back Beach through to Williamson's Beach, with catches of salmon over 4lb at Rye Back Beach. There have also been excellent reports from Golden Beach with good schools of salmon, gummies and seven gill sharks after sunrise, with squid being the preferred bait.

This Sunday looks like it's going to be a great day to take the kids fishing. Rick Dobson from Aussie Angler in Greensborough reports awesome fishing from the Queenscliff Pier and also from the Barwon River. There is a great run of over size whiting from Queenscliff to Portarlington, and good numbers of trevally, salmon, mullet and garfish to be caught, and both Queenscliff Pier and the Barwon River are top spots for kids to learn how to fish.

If you are not sure what rig or what bait to use for different fish, don't forget the Land-Based Fishing Guide for Port Phillip and Corio Bays, and the Land-Based Fishing Guide for Western Port and Phillip Island. They are available from most tackle shops and make getting started with fishing a lot easier.

Bill Fisher at Nepean Highway, Frankston, reports that the garfish have dropped off a bit but advises that when we have the next S-S/W blow, hit the pier on the left-hand side for some salmon fishing, and don't forget to pack some lures. Blue and Green are good colours. If you are not sure about what type to buy, call in and see them, they also stock the Land-Based Fishing Guides that I mentioned.

Snapper are starting to school up outside the heads and some are also filtering through the heads right now. This is also a great time for surf anglers to try a different species - land-based snapper. The best advice for a surf angler who wants to try for land-based snapper is to invest a few dollars and buy a large bait-runner reel. The reason being that a bait-runner has 2 drag settings. The first drag allows the fish to take line without you losing your outfit into the drink. Hours can pass without a touch, then the line screems off the reel. This light drag setting allows you to get to the rod and prepare to go into battle.

One turn of the handle and the main drag jumps into gear and puts pressure on the fish having a run. It is so easy to be impatient, thinking that you are going to lose all your line. Just stay cool and allow the fish to run and burn off energy, then lift and wind, lift and wind, then as the snapper gets closer he might go for another run depending on the size of the fish. Again, stay cool, remembering that a tired fish will be easier to land, and a tired fish will find it harder to swim deeper, and that's where the rocks and reef are.

Night fishing for snapper is very exciting, but you have to use a running sinker rig. The best bait would have to be squid, then pilchards, but rember that sea lice come out at night and they eat through pilchards very quickly, so check your pilchard baits often. Your surf rod will give you the best casting distance, as we need to cast towards inshore reefs and kelp beds. And don't get caught without a landing net.

From now to December the best spots for land-based snapper fishing on the western side of the bay are Point Lonsdale, Queenscliff and St Leonards piers and Portarlington Jetty. On the eastern side of he bay we have Mt Martha Rocks, and most of the piers through to the Brighton Breakwall. With a strong S-S/W blow, hit the Mornington Pier, and mid-December I would fish the Lagoon and St Kilda piers at the top end of the bay, and also around this time you can catch snapper up to 10lb in the Yarra River, yes the Yarra River. Any questions drop me an email.

Regards,

BENNO

EASY FISH LAND-BASED FISHING CHARTERS
Paul Bennett
Telephone: 0418 547 990
Email: easyfish@bigpond.com.au  

See Benno's previous report here.