Trellys Fishing Report
Barwon Heads
The barrels have been running pretty hot this past week with plenty of reports coming through lately with local anglers making the most of the hot action! The fish have been widely spread with fish holding from Bells Beach right through to the Western entrance of Western Port and even further east to Cape Patterson. The fish are primarily feeding on whitebait so getting bites can be a challenge at times but with persistence the rewards are certainty on offer. Over the past week small 6.5” Skirts from JB Lures have been a standout as it’s at the perfect size to represent the bait the fish are feeding on. Finding the fish isn’t too much of a mission either as if you just find the life (Bait, Birds, Whales, Dolphins and Seals) the Bluefin won’t be far away at all. Cody Carruthers Christened his new boat in style landing a Barrel Tuna on the very first time hitting the water! Cody was fishing alongside Ethan Solly with the fish the pair landed pulling the scales down to 118kg.
OuterHarbour
Snapper have really started to come onto angler’s radar this week after getting a taste of the good weather and have wasted no time in getting out and soaking a bait. The outer harbour of Corio Bay has been productive with both the north and south sides of the channel producing fish with some fish getting to 6kg. If Bait Fishing the best baits pretty much all season are Pilchards, Squid, Silver Whiting and just about anything you can get fresh. At the moment the water is still quite cold so be sure to try and fish on a tide change to increase the chance of a fish by fishing on that key feeding time. There has also been a good amount of anglers picking up some small to medium size gummy sharks whilst chasing snapper over the past weeks. The gummys have just been picking up snapper baits, no real need to put a big bait out for them. Portarlington Rock Wall has been producing some great land based snapper action and over the next few weeks on those windy nights is should only fish better!
Bellarine Peninsula
Calamari remain a popular target species this past week with squid spread right along the region from Clifton Springs right Through to the bight in Point Lonsdale. Fishing from Clifton stick to smaller 2.5 – 3.0 jigs and ramp it up as you go around. Fishing the bight be sure to use a 3.5 or 4.0 jig.
Goulburn River
The river in Shepparton has been running high the last couple of weeks and now is on the fall. During this time, it was a little bit difficult to guard exactly how the early season Yellowbelly bite was. We did get some reports of legal sized Yellowbelly caught but the key was to upsize the weight of your Spinnerbaits and chatterbaits to counter the extra current.Bait fishing was the same with those catching fish reporting having to use heavier sinkers with scrub worms working the best. As the water drops and settles, we should see some good spring time fishing, compact Spinnerbaits, lipless crank baits and square bill crank baits will be great for when the river clears up.
Irrigation Channels
The water in some of the main channels has been running pretty hard recently making some areas harder to fish. If your fishing bridges it can be a bit difficult to get under and cast while the water is high. So, a great way to target both Redfin and Yellowbelly is using a floating diver that you can cast and drift under bridges until the lure is in the right spot then crank it back. Another way to target the bridges is to cast Spinnerbaits up current and allow them to drop and drift past the uprights. The fish usually sit in between the uprights and can come out to ambush your Spinnerbait on the drop. The channels with less flow have been producing some nice size Yellowbelly with lipless crank Baits or Spinnerbaits working well. Bait fishing in the flow can be difficult but don’t be worried if your baits drift shallow as there has been some nice fish caught just off the banks around the rocks or weeds.
Kialla Lakes
A complete opposite to the last 2 areas with kialla very low at the moment with the water sitting at least a foot lower than normal. The water clarity also is very dirty so it’s made fishing a little more difficult especially with the smaller finesse type lures. With lure fishing being a little tough many have switched to bait and There has been some fish caught on night crawlers especially around the willows. Either unweighting a bunch or worms and drifting them in the trees another technique that has worked this week is floating worms about 30cms under the float just on the edge of the branches of the willow trees.
River & Stream Trout
It’s been a great week for those chasing trout from the high country to the Eildon Pondage. We have been getting reports of some nice rainbows being caught up stream of Molesworth and also around Alexandra. Drifting scrub worms has been the best method for those using baits.Small divers and jerkbaits have worked well in the smaller streams with some trout following the lures right to the bank before eating the lure. The Victorian Fishing Authority continues to stock some trophy sized trout in both rivers and the Pondage so there is no better time to get out and sample some great trout fishing.
