Trellys Fishing Report
West Coast
Big news this week has been the Barrel Tuna down the coast with port Mac being the standout location, however don’t count out any ports between there and our back door step as these fish could pop up literally anywhere. The bites have been very hot and cold, by that one day it could be a day of double and triple hook ups with most boats landing fish and the next being the complete opposite. Josh Caruso landed a solid barrel recently alongside Peri Stavropoulos from Trellys Geelong and Anthony Pirrottina with the fish pulling the scales down to 141kg bled. Great way to start the season for Josh! Fish was taken on a Skirted Lure.
Off Port Fairy has seen lots of school tuna hunting the 60 metre line with anglers getting down there and having some hot sessions on them. Trolling small skirted lures with the aid of a teaser and diving lures has been working very well. Not only tuna on the chew but plenty of sharks on the bottom and top! Mako, Gummy and School sharks have all been in great numbers out in the deep too.
St Helens Rocks
St Helens rocks has fished well again this week with some big flathead being caught. Anglers launching baits like squid and pilchards have found flatties to over 40cm along with some pinky snapper and King George whiting. Fishing early morning or late afternoons are the prime time to fish here. North Shore is another great option if you want to try another sport or if it’s too busy at St Helens.
Bellarine Peninsula
St Leonards to Queenscliff has still been productive for King George Whiting with reports still coming through of boats getting stuck into good numbers of fish with the area known as Bourke Street proving to be the standout location. Fishing strong tides will definitely be your best time to fish which we are expecting this weekend, going to be a great weekend for whiting fishing. Out the front of Barwon heads we are heading into that time of year that the Gummy Sharks should really fire up offshore. The 30 metre line is a great area to start and yes it’s mentioned a lot but it really is the best line to fish (in my opinion). Fishing tides with fresh blood baits are key to having your best chances.
Broken River
The weather is starting to cool off and this usually means the successful top water sessions drop away. The next couple of weeks is probably the last chance to chase high numbers of fish in the Broken as we then switch to chasing bigger individual fish. While the days are still hitting the mid 20s the smaller fish seem to still bite well and this week we have been getting consistent reports of 3/4 fish a session. Casting smaller hard bodies seems to be the best method during the day for those cast and retrieving with a nice show and steady retrieve working best. The top water reports this week have been mostly been those casting pompadours which is a great sized lure for these kids of fish. As the weather gets cooler the focus is more big fish so don’t be scared to throw a Bassman Aussie Crawler or even throw a Balista Tremor. There is plenty of big fish in the broken system so don’t count it out this upcoming winter. Bait fishing this week has been good around the Broken River Drive area with plenty of school holiday kids catching plenty of carp and the odd Yellowbelly mostly on worms. A couple of cod have been reported around the weirs with upstream of both weirs being the best reported spots.
Kialla Lakes
The lake is still super low which has slowed the fishing up a little but that’s expected this time of year. Anything with a bit of flash seems to be working best in the sunny periods with reports of Yellowbelly and Redfin being caught on small Spinnerbaits, beetle spin rigged plastics or small chatterbaits. The edge bite has been a little tricky due to the levels and being super shallow but there is still some fish cruising around in 1ft in the afternoons with bent minnows being the best lures to use in these depths. Bait fishing around the willows with small yabbies or scrub worms has been working well with some legal sized Yellowbelly being caught.
Shepparton Lake
The Shepparton Lake has been out of action lately with the weed getting a well needed chop. Once the water settles after this it usually takes a week for the fishing to fire back up again and now it’s cooling off we should start seeing some trout reports. In the past we have found smaller plastics such as the strike tigers and also the keitechs have worked well on a slow roll. Small hardbodies such as the Rapala XR6/8s are a popular jerkbait type lure for the shepp lake with some nice sized trout and Redfin caught on them last year at this time. Bait fishing now in the cooler months is all about Powerbaits as this stuff just catches fish in the Shepp Lake, it can be floated or lightly weighted you just don’t want it to sit deep in the weed.
Boosey Creek
Something a little different this week is carp fishing reports from the Boosey creek. There have been some high numbers of fish being pulled from the smaller creeks and rivers this school holidays which is great to see. The Creek at Katamatite has been fishing great for the kids with up to 20 carp being caught in a session. Worms have been the stand out baits with corn and bread also working well. Chasing carp is a great way to get kids into fishing as you can usually get good numbers and they put up a great fight on light gear.
Campaspe
Plenty of carp are still cruising around the Campaspe, great fun on light gear and great forkids to learn to fish. Using worms, corn or balls of bread have been effective in catchinggood size and numbers of carp, with plenty of fish being caught around Elmoe weir.The natives, although have been fishing slow, some numbers of both yellowbelly and smallcod have been caught on bassman tubbies and small spinnerbaits such as spinwright 5/8oz single willow in purple or any natural, darker colors. Fishing around Axedale and Elmore has proven a popular spot to get onto a native.
Cairn Curran
Although little reports coming from the lake, with the odd redfin being caught on worms, and yellowbelly and larger redfin being caught on yabbies. An interesting report of numbers of murray cod being caught on Jackall TN60s throughout the upper reaches of the lake, with people targeting the trees for yellas picking up good numbers of cod with the odd cod measuring up 75cm.
Loddon RIver:
Flows have just receded, in the past week, and the water clarity has not quite improved, proving tough for luring for yellas and cod. The odd cod have been wicked up along the bridgewater stretch of water trolling old mates and casting jackall TN80s. Bait has been the choice, with cheese and chicken very effective throughout Bridgewater, Newbridge or Serpentine.Walking the skinny water around Serpentine with codgers have also proven effective in getting good numbers of yellowbelly in the past week, with 10 and 15ft 55mm codgers being the choice, with Spinwrights 5/8oz spinnerbaits being effective in stirring up the odd cod.
Bendigo Family lakes:
Lake Weeroona
Spinners and blades have been effective in catching good sized redfin along the opposite side to the playground and boardwalk. Casting these and slowly retrieving them has been effective ing getting bites when the fishing is tough.
Crusoe Res
Fishing the rockwall has been producing some good sized redfin and the odd trout in thecooler morning. Again, spinners have been effective alongside worms and powerbait fortrout. Again Fishing slowly and and tight to the bottom has been the best way to get the bites.