Trellys Fishing Report
CORIO BAY
The Land based snapper fishing is still proving to be super effective over the past week with the Geelong waterfront being yet again one of the number one hotspots. Wagim Walk is still providing some fantastic fishing with anglers still hauling in fish to over 60cm, bait fishing has been most effective but as the weather warms up it’s well worth throwing some soft plastics around. St Leonards pier has been a hot spot with plenty of reports coming through of anglers landing some good fish. Bait fishing on the rougher days has been most productive but in saying that anglers are still getting them on the calm days too. Fresh Baits like Pilchards, Squid and Whiting have all been working a treat. As the warmer weather warms up the bay the snapper should hopefully come onto the chew hard. St Helens rocks has had some decent fishing on offer also this past week with reports of both Pinky Snapper and Flathead all making appearances, Andrew Orchard had a crack down there during the week landing some quality Flathead over 50 cm.
QUEENSCLIFF
Queenscliff has been another hot spot for the fishing this week with its usual resident fish fishing very well. King George Whiting have been chewing very well from the grass beads off Queenscliff all the way up to St Leonards with the ‘White Lady’ proving to be the current hot spot. Anglers fishing the big tides have been having no trouble in boating good numbers of whiting with plenty of fish getting over 40cm. The Point Lonsdale bight has been a prime location for Calamari as of late, boats that have found a patch out there have had no problem in finding a bag of squid. Casting big squid jigs has been super effective and so to has handlines with a squid spike, especially if you want one of the big ones that lurk below.
BARWON HEADS
Offshore Barwon Heads is still producing bulk amounts of snapper and Gone Fishing Charters is right in the thick of it. Chris (gone fishing) and other boats are finding large schools of snapper holding anywhere between 30 – 45m, heaps of fish around the 1.5 kg mark with plenty of fish hitting the deck that are over 3kg.
IRRIGATION CHANNELS
It’s all about drop bars this week in the local channels around Shepparton, Murchison & Rushworth.
Fishing both the high side vertically jigging blades for Redfin. Or casting Fish Traps or Tn50s on the downside of the Drop Bars. Yellowbelly & Redfin have been more prominent around these areas with the odd cod being caught where the water starts to settle and not as washed around on the downside. During closed season those casting Spinnerbaits and Tn60s have reported plenty of cod in the channels while chasing Yellowbelly. Scrub worms and small yabbies are working well on the downside of the drop bars or around bridge pylons around Karramomous.
GOULBURN RIVER
Going back a couple weeks we have been getting heaps of reports of cod being caught on smaller Yellowbelly sized lures in the Goulburn around Shepparton, Toolamba and Murchison. Now it’s cod season it is worth sticking to these smaller lures because if they worked last week on cod they are surely going to work this week. If you are only thinking BIG fish then yes upsize to a bigger lure like a Mumbler or Coddog even a Old Mate Swimbait. But if your after higher numbers of cod you can stick to Bassman Shortys, Balista Dynos or even a Oar-Gee Pee Wee. Bait fishing will take off even more now anglers can target cod on Chicken & Cheese. There is some great bank fishing spots in behind the Shepparton Lake or out towards Moira Park.
BROKEN RIVER
There is plenty of water pumping down the Broken River and it has seemed to have fired the fish up. Plenty of Yellowbelly and cod have been caught in the days leading into cod opening on smaller lures and worms. Once cod season officially opened that afternoon reports started to flood in with mostly Cod taking lures like the bigger singled blades Old Mate Spinnerbaits or Bassman Codman in darker colours. Benalla end of the Broken seemed to produce more fish then in the heart of Shepparton but there was still some Yellowbelly & Cod caught on bait closer to town. As the water settles the surface lure sessions should get even better but if the water still flows hard target the pockets of water behind the bigger snags and focus on the smaller zones where the lure will work best before it gets swept by the faster currents.
KIALLA LAKES
2 out of 3 ain’t bad and that’s what we have at Kialla Lakes 2 of the 3 fishing well These are the 2 bigger lakes and bait has been the stand out. Floating worms around the drop offs has paid off for those fishing that way. Having your baits a little off the bottom limits your carp catches and maximises the chance of both Yellowbelly or Redfin catches. Lure fishing has slowed off a little but the reports we received were those catching fish were using small Spinnerbaits in purple and black or slow rolling Zx40 blades in black or gold colours.
LAKE EILDON
Warmer weather has brought the Yellowbelly to life this week which is a little later then normal but it’s great to see there chewing regularly. We have had reports of Yellowbelly caught down towards Bonnie Doon and up around the wall. Grubbing larger trees or casting zx40 blades or Tn70 jackals at points or recently submerged trees has worked best. Those targeting cod have had some luck Trolling during the day down towards Jerusalem Creek or surface fishing in low light times. Balista Tremors & Jackal Pompadours are a must have at lake Eildon of your chasing big cod off the top.
LAKE HUME
Plenty of water in the lake at the moment with 4 gates opened during the week. Yellowbelly are still holding on trees and points but most reports we are getting is those grubbing gulps or jigging blades on larger trees. Bait fishing has predominantly been around the trees also with worms or yabbies working best for both Yellowbelly & Redfin. There has been plenty of by caught cod caught in recent weeks all around the 45/65cm mark. We would expect to see more cod being caught in coming weeks with more now trolling larger cod lures.
LAKE MULWALA
It’s Cod Classic time a great sign that the world is starting to become normal again. This year there will be plenty of water pumping down the lake due to the Lake Hume release but don’t let that spook you because we have already had reports of meter plus cod being caught. Codman Spinnerbaits in orange, Larger swimbaits or Bassman Aussie Crawler surface lures have accounted for many fish on day one of cod season. There is still Yellowbelly around the mouth of the Mulwala channel with scrub worms or TN60’s Working best for those chasing the golden variety of fish. Make sure you drop into one of your local Trellys stores on the way to the classic this year and stock up on your Bait & Lure needs or even a new Rod & Reel combo to make your classic weekend a memorable one.
BLUE ROCK DAM
Dirty water + Football Jigs equals Big Bass, that has been the story at blue rock lately. As reported last week the jig bite is now upon us and it is now consistent. It’s not only football jigs working well with surface fishing continuing to heat up. Some reports we heard were 30/40 small bass caught within a 2 hour period on dark on the edges of the main basin. Bait fishing from the bank has resulted in Carp, Redfin and Bass have mostly been caught just near the main Boat ramp.
INTERSTATE - Copeton Dam
Local Shepparton fishing wiz Gary recently stocked up at Trellys Shepparton for a trip to Copeton Dam. Over a few hard days fishing Gary managed a few cod and a hand full of Yellowbelly capped off with a cod nudging the 1mt mark but unfortunately had it fall 3cms short of the magic meter. All cod were caught casting swimbaits and Yellowbelly were caught slow rolling black grubs. If your planning a trip interstate make sure you come into one of our 4 Trellys stores and stock up on some new gear and on the return let us know how you went. We would love to feature a few new locations fished by our loyal customers on our reports.
