It’s been great weather for chasing bluefin tuna

Apollo Bay

Tuna season is in full swing, with fish right along the coast. Recently we went out for a look, after hearing reports of a lot of bait in the water being smashed by bluefin tuna.

We travelled southwest from Apollo Bay about 30km, where we saw dolphins, seals and birds feeding on a large bait ball in about 50m of water. We put the lures in and hooked up straight away. The fish went down but kept coming up. We went on to hook fish between 12-23kg on 5” skirts, and purple was the best colour on the day. We also got fish casting Nomad stickbaits.

Since then there have been good catches of fish around the 60kg mark, with some bigger ones in the mix weighing over 100kg. This is the time of the year we typically start getting fish, and they should run for a few months. In the absence of any bird action, some anglers have been using berley to attract the fish, while others have been blind trolling around the reefs. The wind has been kind, which has allowed the boats to travel a good distance from home, and boat some really good fish.

All the reefs have been producing pinkie snapper, with some larger species thrown in. A nice mako of about 120kg was weighed in recently, and a few blue shark as well. There’s so much bait in the water at the moment, and also couta and aero squid, which attracts the odd shark.

Flathead of good size have also been around, and they have been going well for a while now. Flathead are a great table fish, and taste great in fish tacos. Give them a try!

Whiting have been on, but many people give up too easily. The high tide change has been the best. If you have no luck, keep moving until you find them. Stick it out until the tide runs hard, and use berley to bring the fish to you. Berley really is a must to get the whiting chewing.

There have been very small snapper in amongst the whiting, which can be frustrating. You just have to put up with these pickers to get a good feed. The fish have been up to 43cm.

The squid fishing has been good in the harbour, with darker colours working well. Just before dark has been the best time to target them.

There have been a few schools of salmon around. They make great fresh bait for the gummies, and if bled when caught they are good in a fish curry. There are also some garfish being caught off the rocks. Small maggots have been the go on the outgoing tide with a northerly wind.