Trellys Fishing Report
Offshore
The pelagics are here and on the chew! Offshore Barwon heads and Ocean Grove is where all the goss in local fishing is at right now with Tuna and Kings both on the chew! The tuna have been popping up all over the joint in anywhere from 20 metres right out towards 60 metres. Most anglers are trolling diving hard bodies or skirted lures aided with a spreader bar or daisy chain. Most fish have been a bit on the smaller side but as the week has gone the average size has been increasing which is pretty typical for the summer run of fish. Small early in the season but the big ones roll through a bit later. Yellowtail kingfish have been hot on anglers radar this past week also with some great reports coming through, especially from the RIP. The RIO can be a tricky piece of water to fish and often dangerous so fishing slack tides is ideal for the fishing and safety. Fish to over a metre have been reported this past with knife jigs and live baits such as Yakkas, Slimeys and Squid.
Corio Bay
Inside Corio Bay there has still been some good Snapper reports rolling through with anglers picking up plenty of snapper to 4kg. Haven’t been hearing of many getting too much bigger than that but the numbers seem to be very good of that size class fish. Most anglers have been finding success fishing with baits like Pilchard, Silver Whiting and Squid however soft plastics and vibes have too been accounting for plenty of fish and when the fish are at this size they are sensational fun on light gear and plastics.
Bellarine Peninsula
King George Whiting have been pretty hit and miss around the bellarine at the moment with lots of mixed reports. Some anglers smacking them and others struggling. As usually mentioned fishing the stronger tides is ideal and going to give you your best chance for sucsess. St Leonards still remains the main hot spot as of late for the whiting but Clifton Springs and the Grass beds off Queenslciff are two spots always worth keeping on the cards.
Barwon River
The Barwon River running through Geelong has been a great fishing option these school holidays with Kids and Families having an absolute ball down there getting amongst a variety of species including Redfin, Carp, Estuary Perch and the odd Bass. Worms make for a great allround bait for the river. Lures also work extremely well, in particular small spinner baits with a soft plastic trailer on it.
Goulburn River
It’s been as busy as Burke Street on the river at Murchison with a heap of boat traffic and banks lined with campers this Christmas holiday period. The extra boat traffic has not shut down the cod with plenty of reports coming in from those fishing many different ways. Those trolling have found Spinnerbaits and tn70s have worked in the shallower water with some cod being caught on smaller stump jumpers.
Bardi Grubs and cheese has been the stand out baits for those fishing around the Murchison Toolamba area with plenty of legal cod caught amongst a heap of smaller fish. It’s not only Murchison that is fishing well it’s also upstream around Seymour. We have had more reports this week than any week in recent memory with cod up to 75cms being reported in the river near Seymour. Bait seems to be the best way to target the cod in this area with cheese, chicken and scrub worms all working. Down towards Shepparton we have had some reports of good numbers of cod and Yellowbelly caught on the troll with dark coloured hard bodies being the best. Surface fishing in the evening has also worked for those fishing in Shepparton with the Codger surface lures and also Aussie Crawlers working great.
Waranga Basin
The water levels continue to fall and the boat traffic has been pretty full on this Christmas period but this has not turned off the fish this week. With the extra traffic and some hot day’s approaching the Redfin seem to have pushed deeper. So most reports this week has been trolling in around 18/20ft with RMG crazy deeps in both the Redfin or white and orange colours. It’s not just trolling that’s working out deep as we have had some reports of Redfin being caught casting zx40 blades or bouncing an ice jig off the bottom. If you’re bait fishing, you can bottom bounce some worms out deeper or try and find a bank with less boat traffic.
Kialla Lakes
The main lake is at its highest level for a while now and the water clarity is much better.
This has seen the Redfin and Yellowbelly push up shallow in the evenings and feeding on all the little bait fish that hangs in the reeds and on the rock ledge. Bent minnows, OSP I-wavers and jerkbaits have all worked well for the super shallow areas with Jackal Chubby’s and soft plastics working better out deeper. Bait fishing around the sand bars has also been a great way to fish the lake with yabbies and worms working best.
Arcadia Fish out Pond
The pond has seen plenty of visitors lately and the good news is that the stocked fish are on the bite. Plenty of cod have been caught on both bait and lures. Scrub worms have been the stand out bait for those targeting cod with small Spinnerbaits being the best lures. With some hot weather predicted coming up make sure you fill your Yeti drink bottles up with plenty of cold water and slip slop and slap as it can be pretty brutal in the sun out at Arcadia.