St Kilda Boat Sales -
5 March 2008
Fishing Report - Victorian Waters
Effective: 5th March 2008
PORT PHILLIP BAY:
Big snapper up to 7kg still going strong out deep between Mornington and Mt Martha with 19mt to 21mt being best depths, red rockets, silver whiting and pilchards are best baits with the now famous snapper snatcher rigs still sleighing them. Near the shipping channel off St Kilda has seen good size pinkies up to 1.3 kg on cut pilchards, baby bottley squid and soft plastic gulp lures in the smelt natural whitebait colour. Don't forget to stay outside of any of the exclusion zones. The area from Parkdale to Black Rock is still holding good numbers of salmon up to 1kg, pinkies up to 45cm and whiting up to 38cm as well as some good garfish. Salmon have been best casting soft plastic lures in the gulp 3" nuclear chicken colour while some customers having good success trolling sting metal baitfish lures in green mackeral colour at a fast walking pace speed. The whiting in our area have been strong on pippies, mussells and frozen marine worms with the area straight out from Mentone Hotel fishing well. Quality pike are also in good numbers around Ricketts Point with customer using trolled " minnow " lures behind a deep diving paravane doing well, good quality and numbers, the last hour before dark being best, staff member Jeff landed one of 91cm. For the land based angler Brighton Pier has been good for pinkie snapper up to 45cm, best bait by far is the baby bottley squid fished on a snapper snatcher rig smaller 1/0 size, best results on a southwesterly wind. Brighton Pier has also been good for whiting up to 36cm while staff member Claude and friend Cailin did well off Kerford Rd Pier on pinkies, trevally and garfish, overcast days are best with best methods floating pilchard baits as well as twitching squidgy soft plastic bloodworms along bottom.
WESTERN PORT BAY:
For the land based angler, Cowes Jetty has been good for whiting, trevally and occasional leather jackets, with Stoney Point Pier and Warneet Pier showing reasonable catches of whiting for those prepared to put in the time. Boat anglers fishing the Tortoise Bank area have been doing very well on quality whiting up to 37cm while the area out from Rhyll in 6 to 8 mts has been producing pinkies up to 1½ kg on smaller snapper snatcher style rigs in 2/0 baited with a small bottley squid. The middle spit is still producing good whiting for those prepared to keep moving until you find them, one customer caught 32 over a 3 hour session.
OFFSHORE:
Report of an extremely large mako, estimated 250kg hooked and lost out from Cape Shank area. Still some good size mako's up to 45kg out from Kilcunda and Woolami area if you can get the weather conditions right. Plenty of berley required with striped tuna best bait. Portland has turned up some bluefin tuna up to 18kg on trolled rapala x rap 30 deep diving lures, hopefully this is the start of now annual bluefin tuna run in this area, stay tuned for more.
YARRA RIVER:
There are more fish in our mighty Yarra than you think. Pinkie snapper up to 42cm have been caught around the Bolte Bridge area as well as some nice trevally, best bait has been cut pilchard, one regular customer saw another fisherman land a nice mulloway of approximately 7 kg on a mullet fillet. Anglers also having success on soft plastic gulp sandworm with nice bream up to 36cm.
PATTERSON RIVER:
Anglers fishing after dark have been producing quality bream around the marina flood gates on peeled prawn, fish up to 37cm. One regular customer worked a squidgy pro critter soft plastic lure ( which is a shrimp style look alike ) and landed 4 nice bream by slow twitching along the bottom.
GIPPSLAND:
Algae is a problem in some areas however appears to be slowly dispersing, hopefully all gone by Easter. Lake Tyres has been good for bream and flathead while Marlo has been consistent for estuary perch, salmon, tailor and bream. The Nicholson River around the railway bridge has been good for bream with lure fishermen doing well on eco gear sx40 lures, while the best bait has been peeled prawn. Good bream in the backwater at Bairnsdale while the Metung area has been excellent for whiting and quality bream.
SURF:
Loch Sport and Golden Beach producing salmon up to 1½kg on blue surf poppers tipped with pippie bait. Anglers fishing the same beach after dark catching gummy sharks on snapper snatcher rigs baited with a small squid, customer Theo said the rods with the snapper snatches out fishes the rods without by 4 to 1 ratio success rate. Theo also said he charges up his snapper snatches by shining an "ultra violet torch " on them for about 10 seconds before casting out , it makes the lumo glow in the dark beads stand out like an underwater traffic light. ( Ultra violet lights are available from most good tackle stores for around $20 ). Local beaches have still been a bit slow with spasmodic catches of salmon up to 800gms from Williamsons, Kilcunda and Gunamatta for anglers putting in time, still waiting for them to get into full swing.
EILDON PONDAGE:
The tailrace has seen some good quality trout landed on tassie devil lures in metallic green colour, fish up to 3 kg. The main pondage area has been good for anglers using pink powerbait fished on a #12 treble hook. One customer had great success down the Bourke St end landing 4 rainbows up to 1.8kg using the pondage "special dough mix". This is a special concoction made up by crushing the exact pellets the fish are used to feeding on in the hatchery into a mouldable putty style of bait, pondage fish love it. (it is available at most good tackle stores)
EILDON WEIR:
Golden perch / yellowbelly taking scrubworms, yabbies and spinnerbait lures along the rock faces in Delatite Arm and power lines area. Some nice trout caught on halco deep diving polterguist lures in redfin colour, these lures dive down to the cooler water. Redfin around houseboats at Jerusalem Creek boat ramp and also the trees in Frazier National Park on bobbed scrub worms and soft plastic gulp scrub worms, the reddies love em.
GOULBURN RIVER / RUBICON RIVER:
Fly fishermen are finding the edges and slower water are best with knobby hoppers, duns, elk hair caddis and cochybondhu beatle patterns working best in dries, while nymphing upstream with #14 and #16 beadhead pheasant tail nymphs also a good option if fish are not rising to your dry floating offerings.
BULLEN MERRI / LAKE PURRUMBEETE:
Chinook salmon up to 2kg and small rainbows at Bullen Merri. Purrumbeete brown trout up to 2 kg.
Compleat Angler - with thanks:
This fishing report is compiled by Compleat Angler. Thisfishing report has been reprinted with their permission.
Compleat Angler
915 Nepean Hwy
Bentleigh Victoria 3204
Ph: 03) 9557-8011
Fax: 03) 9563-9707
All reports are as accurate and reliable as we can get at the time of printing, of course mother nature and fish themselves can switch it on and off at any time