Trellys Fishing Report
Corio Bay
Snapper reports are slowly starting to pick up with more consistent fishing and an improvement on average size. The outer harbour is starting to produce some better fishing with snapper to 5kg starting to be landed on mainly baits with some fish also being caught on plastics. Some of the better baits have been the humble Pilchards and squid with some fish also being caught on Manta Shrimp, Sauries and Salmon. The edge of the channel is well worth having a crack for a snapper and the spoil grounds are another fantastic spot to chase them. Wilson Spit is also worth putting some time in and you could expect a better quality fish from here too.
Clifton Springs
The Curlewis bank has continued to fish super well with some sensational fishing on offer. Large numbers of fish are still pouring in and at a great average size too. Most fish are around the mid-30s with some fish getting well over 40cm which is fantastic for inside the bay. Squid strips are the best baits to be running closely followed by pipis. Bit of burley in the water plays a big factor to success too.
Quennscliff
Queenscliff has gone into overdrive with the calamari fishing this past week with the squid coming through thick and fast and some absolute crackers amongst them. Squid jigs seem to be working best in either a size #3.5 or #4.0 working best. They seem to be holding all over the bight area both shallow and deep, can just depend on the day or 2 day period on where is fishing best. If you are after a giant then it is hard to beat a natural/real bait like a salmon, sliver whiting, mullet or king George whiting on a spike.
Offshore
Offshore the snapper fishing has only been getting better and better with some great numbers of fish being pulled in and of course gone fishing charters are right on the action. The crew have been getting there customers onto great numbers of what you would call perfect eating fish with some getting upwards of 5kg. Drifting with baits like squid and salmon in 50 metres of water is a good way to chase them out here and don’t be surprised if you stumble across Gummy Sharks, School Sharks, Thresher Sharks and maybe even a kingfish.
Waranga basin
With the levels being not so high some of our favourite spots at the basin are high and dry but don’t let this turn you off making the trip out there for a fish. There has been plenty of Redfin feeding up shallow in both the mornings and afternoons. Tn50 jackals, small plastics and crankbaits have been working well with high numbers of smaller fish being caught up shallow.Fishing from the bank with the same lures and worms has also been a great way to chase Redfin at the basin. Trolling small codgers has been another way to target Redfin with the fish pushing deeper as the days go on so focus on the water around 6/10ft earlier on then push out deeper to 12/17ft as the day heats up. There has been more Yellowbelly being caught lately off the newly flooded timber and also on other structures such as big rocks or old fence post. Vertically bouncing blades has been the best way to target Yellowbelly in these areas.
Goulburn River
The reports are becoming more regular from the Goulburn with plenty of legal Yellowbelly being caught. Murchison has been on fire for those bait fishing with scrub worms and also bobbing yabbies around snags. In Shepparton there has been good numbers of fish caught using small square bills and also black gulps. Those using live sonar are fishing active fish holding on recently fallen bushy trees and picking up 2/3 fish off these trees by pitching the gulps right in front of the fish. Bait fishing down towards Undera has also been great with some big carp and also Yellowbelly being caught on night crawlers.
Irrigation Channels
There has been some good flow pushing down the channels lately and this flow has really fired up the fish. Those targeting Yellowbelly and Redfin have reported their favourite techniques at the moment has been fishing blades vertically on the high sides of drop bars. On the downside there has been plenty of fish also caught on the edges of the turbulent water with Spinnerbaits working best. Spinnerbaits have also been working well under bridges with Yellowbelly hitting the spinnerbait on the drop a lot. Just cast up stream of your target pylon and let the current drift the spinnerbait down alongside it. The Yellowbelly are usually sitting in behind the pylon in the calm water and waiting for a feed to come past. Bait fishing has been a little harder in the flowing water but those who have been upsizing their sinkers have been catching both Redfin and Yellowbelly with worms and small yabbies working well.
Shepparton Lake
As the days warm up it will become a little more difficult to catch fish in the shallows and you will need to start focusing on fishing through the weed or out deeper.This week we have had some reports of legal sized Yellowbelly being caught on soft plastics with the 2 inch easy shiner working well but the key has been to rig them on a weedless jig head or some have gone up to a 3 inch plastic and rigged on a un weight worm hook. The fish are sitting deep in the weed when the sun is above but as the sun drops you can find Redfin and Yellowbelly become more confident and will fly out of the weed and ambush smaller jerkbaits, bent minnows and also light spinners but the key is to be fishing with those lures either when it’s overcast or in the evening. Bait fishing has been a great way to target fish in the weed with scrub worms lightly weighted or even just unweighted allowing the worm to drift in and around the weed. Redfin, Yellowbelly and silver perch have been caught on scrub worms by fishing deep in the weed.