Trellys Fishing Report
Offshore
The Offshore fishing as of late has been nothing short of sensational over the past week or so with Pelagics on the chew! Between the Barwon Heads bluff and ‘The RIP’ has offered some sensational fishing options for Kingfish, Southern Bluefin Tuna and Mako Sharks. Anglers chasing Kingfish have found their best success fishing in closer from 20 metres and under whilst slow trolling. Livebaits, Squid strips and rigged Garfish all make great baits to troll around. The Rip has also been fishing sensationally lately and probably the standout location for Kings at the moment. Only struggle is anglers are finding at the moment is catching live bait. A great tactic and by far the most effective way is to sound around with a sabiki rig ready to drop and the second a school is sounded up drop a bait right on their head and use the boat to hold ontop of them. Wrecks are a great area to spend time sounding. Bluefin Tuna have been holding a little deeper than the Kingfish, more so from 35 metres to 50 metres. Quite often the schools of fish can be sighted on the surface just cruising around opening an opportunity to cast topwater lures such as poppers and stickbaits at them. The fish are usually very timid when behaving like this so a slow, stealth approach is key. Try avoiding going in hard or driving through the school, this will increase your chances hugely. When they can’t be sighted trolling has been working very well with divers and skirted lures getting plenty of bites. Out deeper again the Mako sharks have been in great numbers for those drifting a strong burley trail. The 60 metre line has been a fantastic starting area and with a solid trail a shark should come up hungry and ready to put on a show (fingers crossed).
Corio Bay
Corio Bay Inner Harbour has offered some great family fishing options for the school holidays and when the weather is a bit wild. Along the edge of the channel, in particular near Alcoa pier has been holding a good mixture of species including pinky snapper, Whiting and Flathead. Soft plastics work great and of course bait is always a great tactic to secure a feed.
Outer Harbour and Bellarine Peninsula
The outer harbour and around the Bellarine Peninsula has been producing some good reports on King George Whiting and Calamari. Artifical jigs in bright and funky colours have been a standoput for the Calamari in size 3.0 and 3.5 jigs working best, when fishing further back into the bay it does pay to even run some size 2.5 jigs. The whiting have been fishing well on the stronger tides and if you can time that at the end or start of the day your chances will increase. Squid strips and pipis make for the best baits with some chopped up Pilchards in the pot just off the bottom makes for great burley to get them in and hold them at the back of the boat.
Goulburn River
The river in Shepparton has seen a rise lately with the river sitting about a foot higher than usual. As the river started to rise the fish really fired up with plenty of reports coming in. Spinnerbaits and casting hardbodies were a very popular way to chase cod in Shepparton during the rise. Bait fishing has been a little more difficult with the faster flowing water but there have been a few legal cod caught this week on Bardi grubs and cheese, but just remember to upsize your sinkers to stay connected to the bottom. Upstream around Murchison we have had reports of Yellowbelly and carp being caught on worms off the bank during the day. In the evenings the cod seem to be more active with plenty of smaller cod being caught around the sandbars on Chicken and scrub worms. The surface bite has been pretty consistent this week with reports of cod being caught in a number of areas along the Goulburn system from Murchison all the way down to Undera.
Broken River
There has been plenty of activity along the broken river lately with some positive reports coming in. There has been numerous methods and locations mentioned in the reports we have received which is great to see. Those casting from the bank have reported small Spinnerbaits and square bills have been working well out towards Nalinga. Bait fishing down stream of Benalla with shrimp and worms has seen some good Yellowbelly being caught. In Shepparton there has been a couple of legal cod caught on Jackall Swing Mikey 72s with evenings being the best time to use these lures. Further downstream around the Broken/Goulburn junction there has been some cod caught on cheese and chicken. Surface fishing is still the most popular option for those fishing the Goulburn with plenty of smaller fish being caught amongst the odd 65/70cm cod.
Kialla Lakes
The main lake is on fire at the moment with plenty of Yellowbelly being caught.
Walking the banks in the afternoons and evenings has been be best time with anglers of all ability catching fish. There hasn’t been any certain structure or bank that has fish best with many just randomly picking up fish as they walk and cast around the lake. There has been a few stand out lures this week. Those using hardbodys have been having success Slow rolling the Rapala Shad Rap Elite 55s, 3m RMG Poltergeist or the small Jackall Chubby. Another great lure option has been rigging a Bassman Beetle spin on a 1/6 jig head with a Crush City Suspect in the Budgie colour. The Yellowbelly have been hitting this lure combo super hard both out deep and close to the banks. Bait fishing has also been a great way to spend an afternoon at Kialla with small yabbies and scrub worms working best.
Waranga Basin
There has been plenty of land-based fishing at Waranga this week with a lot of anglers walking out into about a foot or 2 of water and casting spinners and small divers as far as possible. The Redfin are now again pushing shallow in the evenings so this has been a great way to chase them. Out deeper there has been some nice Redfin trolled up in 15ft with small codgers and the 3m RMG poltergeist working best.
Greens Lake
The lake is continuing to drop and this has seen a 5-knot speed limit enforced on the lake. The lake is still fishing well even though it’s dropping with plenty of water to chase both Redfin and Yellowbelly. Trolling tn60 jackals shallow or casting 3inch plastics has been a great way to chase both species this week. Bait fishing from the bank has seen some big carp and Redfin caught. Night crawlers and scrub worms have been the best baits alongside small yabbies.