Ray Long Fishing Report
On The Bite 21 Apr 2010
FANTASTIC FISHING CONDITIONS
Perfect conditions have greeted bay anglers this week and for those making the most of the weather some outstanding captures were landed.
Darren Holmes found the salmon only to willing to nail his soft plastics while drifting just out from Corio Quay this week, with most being close to one kilo a lot of fun was had here. Darren also landed a mixed bag of flathead, snapper and whiting all on Gulp Turtleback worms while fishing both the Grammer School lagoon and North Shore rocks.
Henry Spalding found the whiting keen to bite while fishing the Stingaree Spoil grounds, all the action was happening just as the tide started to run off, pippies and mussel were the baits, Henry also caught a nice bag of flathead while drifting along the Alcoa Pier.
The boat moorings between the Royal Geelong Yacht Club and Eastern Beach saw good numbers of snapper taking soft plastics but the surprise capture was of some quality Trevalla some nudging 950 grams, once again turtleback worms were clearly a stand out.
Bird Rock has seen numbers of whiting available to bait anglers, Craig Varker had a morning session this week and found the fish extremely cooperative landing a mixed bag of both whiting and flathead.
While the outer harbour spoil grounds have been quiet, for those prepared to hammer this area a few big snapper have been taken, yet again soft plastics will be the most successful with four inch minnow patterns a favorite of most.
Wilson Spit has once again produced some of the best captures with snapper to 6.5kg and gummy shark close to ten kilo. This week Tom Ritchie landed his first Gummy, at around eight kilo not bad for his first, bait used was cured eel fished just after dark on the run off tide.
Squid reports have been endless with huge numbers gathered all along the south shore, while the best captures have come from, Duck Island, Edwards Point, St Leonards and the Lonsdale Bight there are more than enough around Clifton Springs to keep all happy.
Swan Bay has had its share of attention this week and for those prepared to fish after dark some nice gummy shark have been landed, best fish we saw this week was just over ten kilo with a report of a female gummy caught and released this week estimated at over twenty kilo. Those getting the results are suspending there baits mainly pilchard just off the bottom under a float, a liberal berley trail is also a must.
Craig and Sharron McMahon have caught there combined whiting bag limits on two occasions this week using fresh squid they caught from off Edwards Point. Craig informs me the fish came right on the bite just on dark and continued right up until they landed there last fish at 7.15pm. Sharron also landed a gummy shark of around 4kg on her whiting tackle a good effort on 3kg line.
Queenscliff Cut saw some action with trevally being taken on soft plastics such as small curl tail grubs and worm patterns, while most fish are around 600 grams a few beauties of over 1.5kg were also taken this week. As a by catch a number of whiting to 45cms were also landed. Generally an hour either side of high tide has been best, keep a squid jig handy as many anglers are finding squid following up there hooked fish.
With offshore winds most of us thought the surf would be ideal to fish but while a few hundred metres off shore the water was flat a huge in shore break made fishing difficult. Most anglers struggled to even stay dry let alone catch a fish. I once again had results from Stony Creek just before Lorne, while most fish were around 600 grams the best just on a kilo. Lure clearly was out fishing bait something to be aware of over the coming week or so.
This week I saw Andy Schmidt fishing from his Hobie Kayak offshore from Eastern View, while conditions were not perfect Andy had a ball catching and releasing numbers of salmon along with some outstanding silver trevally, all were taken on soft plastics. I’m seeing more and more anglers using Hobies along our waterways with fantastic results, this looks like the next huge thing in fishing as the mobility of these sleek craft give access into many untouched areas.
Bruce and Faye Doherty just returned from a few days chasing flathead and bream at Swan Reach in Gippsland, landing ten to fifteen fish a session they had a ball on there soft plastics. As always Faye landed the best fish, a cracker flathead of around 2kg. While the bream were somewhat quieter than the flatties they were taken to 1.5kg by locals on fresh bait.
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While conditions remain warm the Barwon River is still firing with quality redfin some nudging the kilo bracket. While you will catch a few redfin on bait there is no doubt that quality lures such as SX40s and Micro Minns will bring the best results. Fish upstream from Buckley Falls, Fyans Park and along Landy Field, here you will land a few.
Trout captures are on the increase from both Lakes Purrumbete and Bullen Merri, baits have been Power Bait and mudeye but better results have come to those trolling lures such as the ever reliable tassie devils in the white and gold colorations. Lures trolled at a depth of five to ten metres are working a treat so use either a lead core line or trolling sinker to achieve these depths.
The Portland tuna competition has been run with many good captures to show, best tuna weighed just over 100kg, a similar weight achieved for a mako shark. Albacore dominated captures with fish averaging 18kg with the best around 24kg. While tuna captures are down on this time last year the large numbers of Albacore are certainly making the trip to this area worth while
Chris of Gone Fishing Charters had been getting punters onto some fantastic kingfish action offshore of Barwon Heads, landing over 30 fish but unfortunatley half were under size and had to be returned, but with the better fish measuring at 83cm a ball was had by all. Chris has told of the loss of two much larger fish so if you would like a piece of the kingy action give Chris a call on 0418510794.
Hot report just in from renowned Queenscliff charter operator Tim Biviano, Tim has found the salmon busting up in and around the rip area so if you are looking for a salmon fix or to just have a great time on a variety of species call Tim on 0458504058, that’s Queenscliff Fishing Charters & Scenic Tours.
With the absolute HUGE number of squid on offer thought it best to have a SPECIAL this week on jigs, so here is the deal.
ANY 2 CLICKS JIGS for just $30 (our best selling jig)
ALL YO ZURI JIGS 20% OFF (that’s off the entire range)
Buy 1 Yamashita Jig & we will give you 1 at No Charge
Want the latest info on where to catch the squid call in to the store and we will put you right on the money.
Good Luck and hope to see you all on the water somewhere, Brian, Jeanette, Brendan, Hudson & Ray.