Ray Long Fishing Report
On The Bite 11 Feb 2010
GEELONGS BAY OF PLENTY
After last weeks report of a fantastic capture of an eight kilo mulloway from St Helens rocks I thought that was a one of but as things turn out yet another fish of five kilo was landed this week, just shows there may be a larger population of mulloway here in the bay than we all think.
While small snapper have dominated captures from the inner harbour with perseverance there are better quality fish to be had. Noel Porter fishing soft plastics from North Shore Rocks caught over a dozen fish under 30 cms then his next two snapper were both beauties of 48 and 51cms, the fish certainly took a liking to his Gulp Turtleback worms in the green pumpkin color. Similar reports of small fish followed up by one or two better fish has been common of late.
Salmon have been holding up in and around the Royal Geelong Yacht Club with those casting soft plastics in the minnow patterns all doing well, as an added bonus snapper, flathead and trevalla have also been taken.
Clearly the outer harbour is the place to be with any number of reports coming in, snapper are about in good numbers to both bait and lure anglers alike. Those once again fishing soft plastics are having the most fun with large shoals holding up between Clifton Springs and the Alcoa Pier, this same area is also the place where the salmon are actively feeding on baitfish.
While kingfish are not the species to be consistently caught from the bay small fish of between 2 and 4kg have been making there presence felt wherever the salmon shoals are working, you will soon know if you hook one of these great fighters.
Whiting are available from Bird Rock to Point Wilson, shallow water, generally under 4 metres will have you catching a few, if you have South Australian pippies or fresh squid and fish right on dark you should do well.
Huge numbers of salmon have been harassing baitfish in the vicinity of Point Wilson, clearly the birds will soon show you where the action is happening, stay well away from the shoal and cast your lures into the action, small baitfish profile lures are doing the trick nicely.
John Reid and Keith Dowell are both relative new comers to soft plastics fishing but in a short time they have found just how successful this style of fishing can be, contending with rough weather this week they decided to retreat to the protection of the Alcoa Pier while they poured a much needed cuppa, while Keith was doing the honours John had a cast and hooked up big time, pulling the hooks Keith cast to the same spot and an instant hook up on a nice quality snapper, believe another good fish was also lost.
James Cunningham was also looking for snapper on Monday evening, anchoring just off the channel near the Wilson Spit with only one rod in the water the reel screamed off and a nice 3kg snapper was boated, re baiting and casting out the same rod just as the rod was being placed into a rod holder the reel screamed again this time a snapper of 6.2kg, after that not another bite was to be had.Swan Bay has seen its share of boat traffic this week but still good captures are to be had, with snapper, gummy shark, garfish and flathead all in reasonable numbers to those prepared to sit back on a berley trail. The high tide running off has seen the most action of late and this will most probably continue to be the case.
Charter operators at Queenscliff are still finding numbers of flathead for clients along with some quality salmon. Trolling the rip during the ebbing tide has seen the salmon push baitfish to the surface and actively feeding, while most fish are under the kilo size we saw a couple of beauties of 2.5kg each. White ockys with tinsel skirt inserts have been hard to beat, followed by small metal baitfish profile lures.
Offshore has seen mako shark working the 50 to 70 metre depths, while many fish have at times been sighted far less are taking a bait, they must be well fed at present. Striped Tuna are still present off the rip and giving anglers plenty of fun. Most are finding small Christmas tree lures very successful but soft plastics are also working a treat.
Surf fishing has seen all the best action coming from the area known as the Wells at Black Rock. Here snapper averaging 900 grams are common of an evening with some huge whiting some close to 48cms also nailing fresh squid baits.
Further down the coast has seen lure casters catch plenty of small salmon of around 600 grams, best are has been Cinema Point and Grassy Creek. While the summer is not the best time for salmon fishing it is great to see them along our coast at present.
Freshwater has seen the Barwon River continue to provide plenty of action to those casting lures such as SX 40s and Micro Minns, clear colored lures are working the best. Fish anywhere there are deeper under cut banks with some of the best results coming middle of the day when it is bright and sunny. Bait anglers will need to catch either live minnow or shrimp if they wish to get into the action.
Carp are thick at present around Queens Park, use corn or bread for bait fished unweighted on a number four hook, berley your area and you will have some fun, fish close to 8kg have been taken over the past couple of weeks. The warm evenings have been the time to fish and it’s just pleasant to be there anyway.
Hope to see you all on the water somewhere, Brian, Jeanette, Hudson, Brendan & Ray.