Hi guys, I hope all fishos had a great Xmas and New Year and fingers crossed the next 12 months will bring even better fishing.

A lot has happened over the Xmas period here in Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula, if you have thoughts of staying on the foreshore at St Leonards next Xmas you better make other plans. Over the last few weeks as people arrived for their summer holidays they were told that they had to make new plans for next year as the Portarlington foreshore committee have closed all the caravan Parks to make way for walkways and ticketed parking. This includes a possible $10 fee to use all the boat ramps along the Bellarine Peninsula; even now they are dredging the Clifton Springs Boat Ramp to prepare it for the ticket machines.

On the Fishvictoria Radio Show we have an award called the "Dick of the Week Award" and this week is worth a mention. The Barwon Heads Boat Ramp is a small ramp with a sleeper at the bottom to stop people reversing their trailers of the end of the ramp. But a few holiday makers are determined to get there boats off the trailer, if there is no water on the ramp or it's just about low tide use the Ocean Grove boat ramp instead. Let's go fishing!

Corio Bay
There were a few big snapper taken in the Bay last week all about 6kg to 8kg in size but they were hard to find. As has been the case over the last 3 or 4 weeks most of the bay has been over run by small Pinky Snapper. Still there have been some very good catches on the outer edges of Corio Bay. We will start this week at the Grammar School Lagoon, for the fisho who is prepared to put in the time and use berley you will reap the benefits of what is still a very good fishery. The water temp has hit 18.5 degrees and the flathead are on the chew, pilchards are the best bait. Also in the area there are some very good garfish and mullet and by using smaller hooks these fish are an easy target. Although no snapper have been reported in the Lagoon I still think that they are about at the bottom of the outgoing tide.

A large concentration of boats has been around the St Helens to Griffins Gully area, mostly fishing on the edge of the Channel. Fresh squid and pilchards are the best bait choices although silver whiting have been a popular choice with some snapper fishos. Point Henry early morning will find that the snotty trevalla are on the chomp, best baits are fresh chicken or peeled yabby tails, berley is a must. Also some very good snapper have been caught in the old turning area of the side of the pier. A simple drift across the bay should provide most fisho's with a few good flathead for a meal.

Bellarine Peninsula
At Portarlington Pier Joe Falcone reported that fishing With Bass yabbies proved to be very productive. Joe caught 12 whiting up to 32cm in size he also reported that the whiting were biting very softly. Joe did another trip of Point Richards where he encounter only small fish but did manage to catch a few legal size flathead for a meal. He also reported that there are a few silver trevelly being caught on fresh muscles, and I have been told that there are plenty of garfish about.

At St Leonards Geoff and Shirley Green reported that squid fishing was quite good, most fishos including Joe Bayona bagged out on squid up to 2kg in no time at all. Yozuri style jigs fished deep are the best method for picking up good quality squid along the Bellarine Peninsula. They also said that the garfish are in good numbers.

Geoff and Shirley Green from Bellarine Bait and Tackle in Drysdale also reported that a few whiting are about but the netters got wind of the Whiting being on the prowl and they totally rapped the area with nets on New Years Day. But there are still some good whiting around the mussel beds.

A new fishing club is about to be formed at St Leonard's. Also if you haven't got your boat licence yet a test will be held at the St Leonard's Hotel on the 12th January. Bookings are essential. For details on both of these events call Bellarine Bait and Tackle on 03 5253 2166 or 0417 621 570.

In Swan Bay there are still some gummies being caught on the rising tide but the full moon phase is better, pilchards are the best bait. Also at Lakers Cutting good numbers of bream up to 1.2kg are being caught on live shrimp and sandworms.

Surf Coast
There has been not much change to the reports this week from last week so you will find that the reports are basically the same, but I still think this is the best target spot on the Surf Coast. With the weather improving, so is the boat traffic on the Barwon Estuary, try to find a quiet spot, lightly berley and fish with a light outfit probably 2 or 3 kg line is the best way to target fish in the Barwon Estuary at the moment.

A nice catch of Barwon Eastuary bream.

Good bags of trevally and bream are being caught right through the Estuary and near the mouth around Fisherman's Jetty good whiting up to 38cm in size are being caught. Fishing the rising tide is better when targeting bream and trevally and the bottom of the tide is best for whiting. If you are fishing upstream the outgoing tide and low tide will only produce toadfish, and large silver belly eels.

Marty from Marty's Bait and Tackle in Barwon Heads reported that the super low tides and the new moon phase has bought the mulloway back into the Estuary in good numbers. Some very good mulloway have been caught near the Sheepwash. Glen Mitchell reported that A friend caught 2 10kg jews during the week on fresh squid, also Steve Roth reported that the a mate from work also caught 2 jewies at 6kg and 11kg. Fresh squid by far has been the best bait. Off shore Barwon Heads at the moment sees the barracouta in very good numbers, also in around 40 meters of water good mako sharks are being reported.

For interested parties, we are doing a live Fish Victoria Show from Barwon Heads on the 25th of January from 6am to 10am, there will be a sausage sizzle and fishing clinics and some local fishing charter operators will be on display. Come and meet some of the crew from Fish Victoria radio show and enjoy the morning, plus you might even learn something.