Trellys Fishing Report
Outrer Harbour
Snapper have come back onto the chew this week with some nice reports coming from the outer harbour with anglers putting in some hard work being rewarded with some nice fish. Anglers fishing a tide change or on first/last night have been finding the better success. Fishing your typical snapper baits like Pilchards, Squid and Silver Whiting have all been accounting for plenty of nibbles.
St Leonards
St Leonards through to Queenscliff has continued to fish well for King George Whiting especially with the stronger tides we have received. Squid Strips and pipis have been the stand out baits as per always.
Offshore
The Offshore Tuna bite has been much hit and miss these past weeks with anglers either getting nothing or having sessions to remember. The key lately has been finding the better quality water, bait and birds. Once those 3 are in line then it’s only a matter of time until the tuna show up in force. When they do you will pick them up on the troll with hardbody or skirted lures however the most exciting way and at times like this the most effective method would be to thrown top water lures into the commotion. Large Schools of Australian Salmon are still hanging around but can expect them to move on at some point so it’s a good time to get out there and try load up on gummy baits for the winter. Kingfish have still been in numbers have definitely slowed up. Being persistent and working hard should show some results.
Barwon River
The Barwon estuary has been another popular location this past week with anglers finding a whole variety of species on offer in the system with towards the front providing lots of options, especially if you are trying to escape the weather or want to have some fun for the kids. Salmon, Trevally and whiting are all on the chew and in good numbers. Moving further up and above the lake the Estuary Perch have been in fantastic numbers. Anglers getting out have been landing fish to over 50cm which is great to see for our local waters.
Goulburn River
There has been plenty of reward for those fishing the Goulburn River lately with plenty of reports coming in. The Shepparton locals have been having plenty of fun from the banks of the Goulburn with Chicken & Cheese being great baits for those chasing Murray cod. Jordan’s bend and near the junction has been great spots for cod this week with most of our reports coming from these areas.Yellowbelly fishing has been great out towards Murchison with some legal sized Yellowbelly caught on both Tn60 jackals rigged with a single hook to get nice and tight to structure and also shrimp for those using bait. Trolling Old Mates has also been reported regularly this week with some legal cod caught amongst a lot of smaller fish around Arcadia.
Those fishing with surface lures have been finding the mornings around first light has been best with plenty of cod still feeding on top. Jackal Pompadours have been the stand out surface lure this week with the shake and pause technique working great. It’s pretty simple just cast as close to a snag or bank as possible and shake your rod tip to get the blades buzzing on top like a big moth.
Waranga Basin
The morning and evening edge bite continues from both the bank and a boat at the basin. The Redfin in those times have been pushing shallow and feeding on small bait fish so matching the hatch has been the key. 2/3 inch soft plastics like the Keitechs and strike tigers have been really popular for those fishing shallow recently so has bent minnows and small jerk baits. It’s not just lure fisherman having fun in the shallows it’s also been those bait fishing. Floating worms and small yabbies have been great with a lot less carp being caught by keeping the baits off the bottom. If your keen to catch carp the just run your sinker on top of the hook and keep your worms or corn hard in the bottom. There have been some monster carp caught lately from the basin which can be great fun for kids or adults as the put up a great fight. Out deeper in the heat of the day the fish are heading deeper so trolling small hard bodies or vertical fishing blades has been best.
Shepparton Lake
The lake is starting to fish really well now the heat in the days is going away. Autumn and spring seem to be the best times for both Redfin and Yellowbelly in the Shepparton lake as the fish seem to be more inclined to come out of the deeper weed areas. Casting small jerkbaits and bent minnows has been a great way to target these fish lately with both lures running above the weed or a little deeper in the weedless pockets. The key lately has been the pause with a few jerks followed by 3/5 second break. Those fishing with weedless rigged soft plastics have also been catching fish mostly around the grass hill and boat ramps. Smaller plastics seem to work best in the Shepparton Lake so don’t go to big with your lures. Bait fishing recently has been good with worms under a float in the weed or run with a small sinker in the weedless areas being best. Silver perch, Redfin and the odd trout have been reported lately so it’s worth chucking a bait rod out when you’re at the lake. As the weather cools off we should start seeing more trout being caught so stock up on Powerbaits as they absolutely love it.
Irrigation Channels
The main eastern channel around Shepp east has fished well this past week with some legal cod and Yellowbelly reported. Small square bills and also Tn60s rigged with a beetle spin working great. As soon as your lure gets down a super slow roll is working best with fish following the lures right to the bank so it’s been best to angle your rod tip so the lure stays in the water for maximum time. Bait fishing around the inlet channel at the basin has also been another great location to chase both Redfin and Yellowbelly. Small yabbies and scrub worms have been the stand out baits for those fishing out towards the basin in the channels.
Eppalock
With a few people reporting great success here and others not so good it really seems to depend on conditions when you hit the water, fish still seem for the most part to be in the deeper water 70mm AC invaders being a great choice for hitting deeper water. If your land-based flicking lures it can help you to wade out a bit which will help you find some deeper pockets/water. Baits are always popular with euro worms or scrub worms usually producing fish, smaller sized yabbies are another great bait from the bank.
Campaspe River
Some nice cod caught in the past week on surface and spinnerbaits in late afternoon. Smaller more subtle surface lures seem to be working far better in getting the cod to come up and have a crack. Popular spinnerbaits have been Bassman single willow in color 42 and Spinwright single willow in mission special, both getting a couple nice mid-sized cod. Cairn Curran has had really good numbers of smaller school yellowbelly being caught on worms and yabbies this past week even though the waters dirty. Another great option if you do find schools of fish is using blades or ice jigs. Redfin also seem to be going ok mainly on bait and spinners, 5.4-gram tassie devil spinners are a great option and come in a really good spread of colors
Loddon River
Not a huge amount to go off this week, some local guys had a solid session on the ballista dyno 90 in the duck color managing 3 cod between 58-71 but other then this we haven’t had any other word in the shop, with hardbody’s working well in other places locally I’d say its worth picking your favorite colors and giving them a good crack. Laanecoorie
From what we have heard this week bait seems to be doing pretty well here, weather targeting cod / redfin / trout / carp / yellowbelly there is always a good that’s generally going to get you some fish, worms are going to attract most fish with baits like cheese or chicken mainly being a murray cod bait. If you can catch a few shrimp are a excellent bait.
Bridgewater
This past week had some reports of a few people doing well trolling hardbody’s in the 15ft range mainly sticking to more natural colors or purple and black. A handful of nice 50-70cm fish being pulled up. Another local found some luck using larger 1oz spinner baits. Late afternoon was when the bulk of the fish were caught.
Serpentine
Not to much to go off here this week as we haven’t had any reports but if you’re trying we would stick to smaller surface lures and single willow spinnerbaits or small to mid-sized hardbody lures, it might be a good time to try some silent hardbody’s / jackals.Bendigo Family Lakes
Weeroona – Tom Thumb – Crusoe Res
Some Reports of good sized redfin coming out of Crusoe res this week using soft plastics on a very slow hopping retrieve along the rock wall along with worms getting plenty of redfin. Not much word about Weeroona this week but using worms/corn usually does well here and on a good afternoon curl tail plastics are great for the redfin, popular spots being next to the rowing club/the timber boardwalk on the café end of the lake. Plenty of carp from tom thumb this week on a mix of corn worms and bread a few redfin here and there but nothing big.