Trellys Fishing Report
Corio Bay
The Geelong Inner Harbour has had some good fishing especially from Landbased anglers. Wangum Walk has offered some good fishing for Pinky Snapper, Australian Salmon and Flathead to those either casting soft plastics or bait has been accounting for plenty of fish. There has been a school Yellow Tail Kingfish hanging around the waterfront at the moment too so it’s well worth having a big rod handy in case you see them
Clifton Springs
Snapper reports continue to get better and better in the bay over the past week, comparing to previous years this season is certainly a bit later than usual and the water temperature is lower compared to last but with some day of warmer weather it should rise and the fishing could explode! Clifton Springs is still offering some solid reports with fish to 5kg proving to be in good numbers, The Spoil Grounds and channel are again proving to be some very productive grounds to fish. Fishing the tides with baits like Pilchards, Silver Whiting and Calamari are always great bait options with pilchard cubes tossed in for burley.
Bellarine Peninsula
King George Whiting out from Clifton Springs are still not slowing down with reports coming in with loads of fish and at a fantastic size. YES, we have been speaking about the whiting here for weeks but they are still going hard! Ideally fishing the stronger moving tides or when the tide is moving its hardest will result in the better fishing. Bit of burley definitely goes a long way too. The whiting are spread right across the Curlewis Bank, past Portarlington and through to St Leonards.
Queenscliff
Queenscliff has had a hot calamari bite last week with some fantastic reports coming through with Calamari in huge numbers and at a quality size! The Queenscliff Bight has been the main hotspot for them in anywhere from 3 to 12 metres. So you may have to cover some ground to find them but when you do, it could absolutely hectic. Size 3.5 and 4.0 jigs are working best and of course a real/fresh bait on a spike is lethal for the giants. Fishing a slack tide, ideally the high is the best time to fish for them.
Barwon Heads
Offshore continues to offer some great snapper fishing out along the 50 metre line, anglers drifting and anchoring are picking up plenty of fish with the average size around the 1 kilo mark with some fish getting to 5kg and a few gummy Sharks too. The odd Thresher shark is also still popping up for anglers chasing snapper which is a very cool capture whilst fishing for snapper.
Broken River
The river is reasonably low at the moment but there continues to be plenty of reports from those fishing the river. Bait fishing in the deeper pools has been great with shrimp, yabbies and worms working well. As the temps start to rise, we are seeing more shrimp being caught and there isn’t a better spring time bait in the broken than live shrimp. Those chasing Yellowbelly with lures have reported some legal sized fish caught around Nalinga, Orvale and also down towards the junction.
Small Spinnerbaits, soft vibes and also hardbodies have all been report as great lure choices recently.
There has been plenty of carp caught also with below the weirs being great locations for those chasing carp.
Goulburn River
There was plenty of activity over the long weekend on the Goulburn River with some good-sized Yellowbelly reported. Moira Park was a great location for bait fishing with some reporting 4/5 Yellowbelly a session being caught with scrub worms and shrimp the best baits. Rafteries road was also a great spot for those bait fishing over the Melbourne Cup period with Yellowbelly caught constantly off the sand bars in the evenings. Just like in the broken Freshly caught live shrimp have been great on these sand bars. In the heart of Shepparton, we have had some reports back in from those trolling the stretch from the boat ramp to the junction having success with small codgers, old mates and also the Balista Smoke 65s working well. Bait fishing behind the Shepparton Lake has been another way to target Yellowbelly with some legal sized fish reported this week from those fishing these areas.
Kialla Lakes
The main lake is low again and the fish have shut down on the edge. There has been some fish caught out deeper on both soft plastics and blades. Don’t let the main lake turn you off heading to Kialla with the second lake producing plenty of fish on both lures and bait. The second lake gets a lot less pressure and can produce some great fishing. Small jackall chubbies have been working great in the second lake as well as Rapala XR6 jerkbaits. Black gulps lightly weight and cast around the weeds has also been another great lure choice when chasing Yellowbelly. Bait fishing with scrub worms around the weeds or shrimp near the sand areas has also worked great over the Melbourne Cup period.
Irrigation Channels
It’s golden time in the channels with a heap of Yellowbelly being reported from those chasing fish in our local irrigation channels. Square bill crankbaits around rocky banks have been a great way to chase Yellowbelly as these lures are great at running over rocky banks. In the weed small soft plastics have worked well with more Redfin holding in the weed. Darker coloured Tn60 jackals have worked great especially out towards Karramomous with some big Yellowbelly caught recently by those targeting the bridge pylons. The channels near Waranga basin have also fished well for those using bait with Yellowbelly and Redfin being caught on small yabbies and scrub worms.
Lake Eppalock
Lake Eppalock has really started to fire up over the past week or so, Healthy numbers of redfin and yellowbelly and the odd Murray cod are being caught as the water temp begins to rise coming into late spring. Worms are small bait yabbies are proving to be the most successful method with most reports coming from baits such as live yabbies or worms. However yellowbelly are being caught on spinnerbaits and good size redfin being taken casting metal vibes or trolling deep diving hard bodies.
Cairn Curran
Cairn curran has been fishing well with reports of yellowbelly being caught sitting in the roots of trees on lures such as Jackall tn50s and deracoups. Much like Eppalock, bait is also doing well on the redfin and yellowbelly.
Loddon River
After a slow start to spring, the Loddon has started to fish well with multiple reports of successful trips coming into the store. Fishing the wider water by boat or bank walking skinnier sections are both delivering healthy numbers of yellowbelly. A variety of lures are working well including bassman spinnerbaits and the new TT switch minnows.