Trellys Fishing Report
Corio Bay
It’s safe to say everyone has snapper brain at the moment with the majority of local anglers spending their time on the water chasing these red fish. Kevin Barry The outer harbour continues to be most productive with fish to 4kg in plague proportions. Some areas fishing well include the channel between Alcoa and the bend, The Paddock, Portarlington and Leopold. The fish don’t seem to be super fessed on tides and times of day as they seem to be feeding throughout the day however it is definitely better to fish those times if you can time your trips accordingly. Anglers fishing with bait have been doing very well with Silver Whiting and Garfish dominating the reports. Anglers throwing plastics are starting to find some good success as the water is staring to really heat up. 5” jerk shads are always a hot pick but there are heaps of options that work well. Vibes, divers and jigs also all work very well too.
Queenscliff
Queenscliff has offered some fantastic squid fishing this past week with some good reports of anglers getting amongst the action. Swan Bay and the Grass beds have been the latest hot spots with anglers finding bag limit captures on offer with some quality calamari amongst them. It’s great to see some depth in the squid season and reports continuing to come through.
Offshore
Offshore the snapper fishing has been nothing short of simply sensational with reports of tonnes of snapper out there and well on the chew! Most fish are sort of averaging 40-50 cm in length or around the 2kg mark however there is a large number of fish up to 5kg and some well over that again. Bottom fishing with paternoster rigs with baits like salmon, trevally, barber perch, pilchards and squid are all working well and don’t be too surprised with you come across some gummy and school sharks. Jigging has also been very effective on the snapper this past week offshore too and its tonnes of fun, much more fun than bait fishing (in our opinion).
Goulburn River
The wait for cod opening is almost over and even though we have had plenty of rain we should still have a settled river level to chase cod this Sunday. The rain this week has made the river dirty but this hasn’t shut down the fish with some nice Yellowbelly caught around the rapids near the Shepparton cemetery. Tn60 jackals have been the best Yellowbelly lure this week with a number of fish reported on them this week. The focus now shifts from Yellowbelly to cod and at trellys we are fully stocked and ready to go. Here is a few hints and tips that have worked well In previous seasons. If you planning on trolling the 15ft Old Mate has to be the stand out lure it is prominent in our reports for a reason. Previous cod seasons when the water has been dirty local fisho’s have had success using the darker coloured Old Mates such as Purple Raider, Hot Head and Black Magpie. If you’re more into casting lures we have all your favourite Cod options ready for you.
Surface fishing reports are always dominated by both the Bassman Aussie Crawler and also the Jackal Pompadour. These winged topwater lures can be worked on a slow retrieve or a shake and pause. The shake and pause is pretty simple cast near structure and just twitch your rod tip to open up the wings and after 10/15 seconds pause big moth on the surface. Spinnerbaits are another favourite for the Goulburn and we have a huge range of Bassman, Pirate and Old Mates. With the dirty water the singles bladed Old Mate is a great option with its larger single blade. It’s not just lures this cod opening there is some great bait fishing locations along the Goulburn. Bardi Grubs are a great bait alongside trellys chicken baits and large yabbies. Scrub worms and shrimp are also great cod baits and allows you a better chance at catching Yellowbelly as well.
Broken River
Last week there was next to no flow this week we have a bit of a rise coming through this and the added heat has fired up the Yellowbelly. Casting mask vibes below both weirs have been a great way to chase Yellowbelly with one thumping 52cm Yellowbelly reported. There have been good numbers of fish caught this week in the broken on bait also with shrimp and night crawlers being the best baits. Cod opening day is always busy down the broken with many locals heading down to walk the banks and targeting their first cod for the season. If you’re fishing the morning or evening periods or if it’s overcast during the day a pompadour is a must have lure in the Broken. In previous seasons it’s not uncommon for locals to catch 10/15 cod in a couple hours using these lures. The size in the broken isn’t always big but the high numbers of fish can make for a great session. If you’re fishing with a friend or can take 2 rods switch baiting is a great way to land cod after the initial surface strike. Following a blow up you can fire in a spinnerbait, diver or large plastic in the area of the bite.
The different lure in the strike zone can usually buy you a second bite as you’re trying to imitate an injured bait fish under the water. Bait fishing for cod in the broken river can also be a great way to target these great fish. Cheese, chicken, yabbies and Bardi grubs have all been great baits for the broken in the past.
Waranga Basin
The height of the basin is now rising which will push the Redfin up shallow to feed on the freshly covered banks. Both Redfin and Yellowbelly love feeding on these freshly flooded banks and it’s great to be able to chase these fish shallow. Small soft plastics, chubby’s, jerkbaits and spinners are all great lures for shallow water fishing in the basin. The beauty of the shallow bite is you can access these fish both from the bank or from a boat. Out a bit deeper as the heat comes trolling would be the best method and we would be chasing Redfin in around 10/12ft of water. The small codgers, Poltergeist and stumpjumpers are great lures to troll in those depths. With the banks freshly covered with water bait fishing will be amazing and we would just run a lightly weighted sinker on top of a small hook full of worms. The fish are feeding off the bottom at the moment in the shallows so keep your baits down. It’s all about cod from Sunday at there has been some big ones caught at the basin so don’t be scared to throw out a bigger cod lure especially around the flooded timber or along the main rock wall. Cod over a meter have been reported in the basin in the past so we can’t wait to see a few more giants caught this cod season