Trellys Fishing Report
SNAPPER!
The snapper bite is seriously heating up at the moment with lots of reports coming through from most parts of the bay fishing very well. The Portside Marine 2022 Snapper competition was held over the weekend and some fantastic fish weight submitted in. The biggest fish came in at 9.7kg which cracks that milestone 20lb mark, plenty more quality fish were caught during the competition from all different parts of the bay. The spoil Grounds, The edge of the channel, The bend, the old steam boat channel, Wilson spit and Alcoa pier are all fishing very well for snapper as of late.
Land based fishos have been doing quite well along the many land abased structures along the Bellarine peninsula with Portarlington rocks and St Leonards Pier both producing the goods. Adam Van der Lugt from Trellys Geelong has had some great success landing snapper to 4kg land based with silver whiting proving to be his number 1 bait.
If you’re up for a bit of a drive towards the other side of the bay (Mornington, Seaford, Chelsea) there is some fantastic fishing on offer over that side with anglers making the drive worthwhile landing some great fish being caught. Peri Stavropoulos from Trellys Geelong fished off Carrum over the weekend landing multiple snapper to 5kg with fresh squid and silver whiting proving irresistible. Lots of guys are actually throwing soft plastics around and picking up lots of fish doing so, 4” worm profile plastics by gulp are hands down the best to throw
Bellarine Peninsula
Calamari remain a popular target species for anglers fishing along the entire Bellarine peninsula continuing to produce reports. Clifton springs to Portarlington have been very consistent with anglers finding bag limit captures on the regular. King George Whiting still remain a hot target in the similar areas to the squid
Offshore
Snapper and Gummy sharks are still chewing well off Barwon heads with the 40 metre line holding both species. Anglers dropping snapper snatchers down with fresh squid and salmon for bait are picking up some great fish. The water to the east of the bluff is very dirty (near brown) but to the west it’s quite clean and the fish are chewing! Reports of Barrel Tuna are still coming through, although the bite has slowed down quite a bit there are still a few guys heading out mentioning that there is still plenty of life and even picking up a few fish too.
Broken River
The Broken River is still very high but has been at a very similar level for over a week now which has given some locals a bit of confidence targeting Yellowbelly around the edges. Casting small Spinnerbaits and divers has resulted in a couple of reports this week but fishing with worms has been the best way to target Yellowbelly in the flooded river. The trick is to keep the baits out of the main river flow and target the 2/3 feet water dept around larger trees that block the current. The water is not residing super quick so it’s great to see some locals finding new ways to target Yellowbelly in the springtime.
Kialla lakes
The lake has been full of activity this past week with plenty of keen fishos walking the banks mostly casting lures. With the rivers running high and the Shepparton Lake still not back fishing well Kialla Lakes becomes the go to location to take your kids fishing. This week there has been Yellowbelly up to 48cms reported with soft plastics rigged on a beetle spin or a Tn60 jackal working best. The sand bars and willow trees have been great locations to target the Yellowbelly this week.Bait fishing down the archer street end of the lake has also been successful with worms or yabbies working amongst the rocks.
Waranga Basin
The basin is starting to come right on with many reports of good numbers of Redfin being caught over this past week. Casting vibes or soft plastics around the shallows has worked well so has trolling the very popular RMG poltergeist lures in both the standard big and crazy deep big depending on the depths your fishing. There has been some reports of Yellowbelly now being caught around the boat club and rock walls with trolling Codgers being the best way to chase them. Bait fishing has been another option to target Redfin this week with shrimp and worms working either from the bank or in a boat but sticking to the shallows predominantly.
Lake Eppalock
The Redfin are on the chew at Eppalock with heaps of reports of both good numbers and good sized Redfin caught. Target the shallows and flooded trees with both soft plastics and small vibes.
They have been very active and a quicker retrieve has worked well. There has been the odd Yellowbelly caught but we would expect as the water warms up they will become more active. Bait fishing has also worked this past week with scrub worms accounting for plenty of fish with both carp and Redfin being caught.
Lake Eildon
Yellowbelly on Spinnerbaits this week has been reported by numerous fisherman who have fished Eildon. Smaller Bassman Compacts or Shorties have been the stand out with a super slow retrieve around points working best. The Redfin and Yellowbelly in the trees are becoming more active with black gulps or worms working for those targeting the trees. Make sure you don’t waste to long on certain trees if you don’t pick up a bite in the first 5/10 minutes move on until you find a active tree.
