Trellys Fishing Report
Bellarine Peninsula
The Lanbased snapper this past has week been just phenomenal, all we can say is WOW. Most landbased structures and rock walls have been producing fish with Portarlington and St Leonards being the 2 main hotspots. Anglers launching baits like Pilchards and Squid has been accounting for quite a few fish, Peri Stavropoulos from Trellys Geelong has been using Whole pilchards and been finding fish to 3.5kg. Ben Rowse landed a cracking fish after work during the week on half a Yakka only just past the rocks, brilliant fish off the rocks. Anglers have also been finding plenty of Smaller pinkies inside Portarlington harbour taking a liking to small soft plastics like Grubs, Paddle tail and of course the famous turtleback worm.
Corio Bay
Out in the boats anglers are starting to find more consistent fishing for snapper as the water starts to warm up. Most success has come from anglers fishing with baits and some with soft plastics. Some areas that are producing are Alcoa Pier, Leopold, Point Henry, Wilson Spit, The Paddock and Portarlington. Most fish have been ranging around the 2kg mark but there does seem to be a healthy number of fish around 4-6kg. There has also been some fantastic King George Whiting on the go from what we have been hearing from multiple sources with bag limit captures about to over 40cm. Fishing the stronger tides and ideally of an evening you should be in for a hot chance at some of the finest eating. Offshore snapper have been a little slow but could have a fair bit to do with the poor weather, as we get some better days we should start to see more opportunities to get out there and have a crack. Fishing the deeper water with paternoster rigs has proved to be quite productive over time.
Goulburn & Broken Rivers
There has been a good drop in river heights over the last week with both rivers starting to head back to normal levels. We have had a couple of reports of Yellowbelly being caught on both lures and baits. In the broken river the waters just below both weirs have been best with TN60 jackals and small Spinnerbaits working best. The reports in the Goulburn have come from those casting small Spinnerbaits and chatterbaits from the banks around Murchison and also Arcadia. Bait fishing in both river systems has been mostly dominated with carp captures but there has been a couple of Yellowbelly caught on both yabbies and scrub worms.
Freshwater Rivers & Streams
We are starting to get plenty of good trout fishing reports from numerous locations. With some rivers still running a bit high the key has been to target backwaters or areas that have restricted flow. Casting small diving lures has been best in these areas with less current, those fishing the faster flowing water have been getting the odd fish with spinners working best in the flow.Bait fishing this week has been a great option with drifting scrub worms and letting them settle in the still pockets working well.
Lake Eildon
The water temps are still a little low for a prime Yellowbelly bite but we are starting to hear of some promising signs the peak is getting closer. Some Eildon regulars have reported back to us that they have caught 3/5 fish in a session off both grassy points and rock walls with the grassy points fishing best in the mornings. Slow rolling soft plastics or hopping mask vibes have been the lures of choice. The numbers of Yellowbelly captures are getting up there but the average size is still around the 30/40cm mark. In coming weeks, we should start to see some trophy sized Yellowbelly being caught in Eildon. Success chasing Redfin in the trees has also been frequently reported lately with both the freshly flooded trees or the older larger timber producing fish. Slow rolling black gulps or blades in the older larger timber has worked well with small jerkbaits and plastics have worked best in the freshly flooded trees.
Irrigation Channels
The channels are now fishing very consistently with plenty of reports of big Yellowbelly and Redfin being caught around Murchison, Shepparton east and the outlet channel at Waranga basin. Bobbing yabbies around bring pylons and the high side of drop bars has worked well for those bait fishing. Square bills and Spinnerbaits have worked well for those using lures with bridges producing more fish than open water. The key this week with the channels has been to focus on pausing your lure with the Yellowbelly smashing both kinds of lures on the pause.