Western Port and Surrounds
9 May 2008
With Jarrod Day
See Jarrod's Profile here.
Mallacoot
Last week Paul headed up to East Gippsland with gun fisherman and good mate “Bushy”. The boys fished at Mallacoota with the IFISH Tackleworld film crew. The main targets were, big black bream and boy did they smash some thumpers. Throughout the day they managed to land about 30 bream both black and yellowfin, with the biggest weighing over 1.3kg. They also landed good flathead and some tailor. They were out trying Bushy’s new prototype lure, called a good vibe metal lure which will be out in the shops very soon.
They fished in the middle of the bottom lake around no structure or snags and found the fish on the depth sounder. The technique was to hop the good vibe along the bottom until it got slammed by a hungry bream. Paul said it was amazing fishing and can’t wait for the lures to hit the stores.
The crew also fished Tamboon Inlet and got good captures of big Bream, Flatties and Tailor, all on the good vibes and Bushy’s stiff minnows and squidgy soft plastics.
GOLD COAST
Paul fished the Gold Coast also this week and bagged a nice number of quality snapper, and also Mac tuna while filming a new add for Evinrude.
SURF
The salmon have started to fire and have arrived in larger numbers this week with quality fish to 2.5kg being caught from Kilcunda right through to Venus Bay. Most of the salmon are from 800g-1.5kg with the odd bigger fish mixed in with the school. Best baits have been whitebait, bluebait and squid.
Blue and red surf poppers are also a must when going surf fishing. A few beaches to try would be Williamsons, Kilcunda, Baxter’s, Venus Bay Beach 3 and 4 and Gunnamatta.
FISHING TIP: Try using squid when surf fishing, because it is a stronger, tougher bait, it stays on your hook a lot better, and it won't cast off like softer baits.
WESTERN PORT
COWES
The pier down at Cowes has been pretty productive with plenty of small salmon, trevally and the odd pinky on offer for those willing to brave the weather. Best baits have been squid, and pilchard fillet.
CAT BAY
There have been a few gummy sharks caught around the Cat Bay area this week with plenty of smaller fish taken in numbers. Customer Paul Hobb found a nice fish estimated at 13kg. Best baits have been cured eel, squid and salted tuna fillet fished along the drop offs.
CORINELLA
Plenty of small gummies are being caught around the Corinella area with fish up to 6kg being reported. Best baits have been squid, fresh salmon fillets, and salted tuna fillet.
STOCKYARD POINT
A few customers over the past week have been venturing down to Stockyard Point in search of elephants and gummy sharks. The elephants have slowed down a bit as they end their spawning run but a few good fish to about 4kg have been caught on pilchards and squid. A few smaller gummies around the 3kg-4kg mark are also being caught on the low tide.
WARNEET
Warneet has fished well this week for both the land-based angler and the boaties. Off the pier, there are plenty of mullet and small salmon around if you want to take the family down for a fish. With the amount of small fish around I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of mulloway are taken and the best way to target these fish is with live bait. There are still some good whiting to be caught around the channel out from Warneet and the Tooradin Channel. Best baits have been squid, pipi and mussels.
MIDDLE SPIT
The Middle Spit has been one of the hot spots around the Port with plenty of good fish on offer for the dedicated angler. Elbow slappers to about 45cms are being caught with plenty of smaller school sized fish to 35cm in numbers. Fishing on the edge of the spit in depths from 4m-6m of water is a good place to start with pipi or squid strips as bait.
LAND-BASED GUMMY
The land-based brigade, which consists of staff member Mark, and mates Brad, Clint and Ash pulled an all-nighter last Saturday on the beach at Somers. 5 minutes after Brad's first cast his reel screamed off and a 12.5kg gummy shark was brought to shore. The fish was caught on a mullet fillet and was released again to fight another day. Good job Brad, great fish.
PORT PHILLIP BAY
BLACK ROCK
The sport fishing in Port Phillip the last few years has seen a lot of guys getting out there and targeting salmon on soft plastic lures. The Black Rock through to Ricketts Point area is a great place to start and the next few months should see some hot fishing action. This time of year as the water cools down the salmon come out to play and provide plenty of fun on light tackle. Schools of fish can be seen busting up bait balls and it is quite a sight. 3” bass minnows are the weapon of choice along with 3” Gulp minnows in pumpkinseed and smelt. Plenty of small pinkies and some bigger ones to 2kg are being caught on baits and lures also. Squid and pilchards are the baits of choice.
PATTERSON RIVER
The Patto is fishing fairly well with good reports of salmon being caught off the rocks near the mouth. Customer Justin fished it during the week to land about 20 salmon to 35cm on soft plastics and metal slugs. The area around the floodgates is producing some solid bream to about 38cm. Best baits have been freshwater yabbies or the river2sea baby vibe lures.
MORNINGTON
A few snapper up to 5kg have been caught out wide of Mornington in 18m-21m of water on pilchards, silver whiting and squid heads. In around the shallow reefs from Frankston to Mornington there are plenty of squid on offer with a few corkers to about 2kg. Drifting over the weed beds is very productive, flicking out the new brown Harimitsu in a 2.5 is dynamite. Other good squid jigs to try are the smaller Yo Zuri in a size 2 in pink or orange.
PORTSEA
Staff Member Jarrod fished with mates Blakey and Ben with Phil from Rip Charters. The boys fished out from the Portsea Pier in 8 metres of water where they smashed whiting to 40cm. The funny thing was all the whiting caught were taken on the prototype Whiting Whacker rigs due in store soon.
BERMAGUI
Over the last couple of days the fishing at Bermi has been really good with plenty of boats smacking the yellowfin. What they lack in size they certainly make up in numbers with heaps of fish up to the 17kg mark. From what we have heard 80% of the fish are falling victim to one lure, the Halco King Brown Laser Pro.
Staff member Aaron is at Bermi at the moment and he boated his first tuna that was about 15kg on what else but a Halco King Brown Laser Pro. The crew have also caught some albacore and heaps of stripey's ranging from 2kg-3kg.
FRESHWATER
EILDON
A lot of reports have been coming from Eildon this week with quality trout to 6lb being caught on trolled Tassie Devils and casting hard bodied lures to the trees and structure.
Customer Wayne Clark fished the main arm at the Eildon Weir and landed 6 beautiful trout, with the best rainbow going 49cm and the best brown going 40cm. All fish were caught on Tassie Devils.
BLUE ROCK DAM
Blue Rock has started to fire up with some nice trout to about 3lb being taken around the margins of the lake. Some solid redfin have been caught around the sunken timber and trees when bobbing freshwater yabbies or scrub worms straight up and down.
For fishing club presentations, drop me an email.
Good luck and fish hard,
Jarrod Day
See Jarrod's previous report here.
