Warrnambool

WARRNAMBOOL Mark Gercovich

mgercovich@hotmail.com

What has been the best big tuna season for many a year has continued recently. The focus on barrel fishing moved from Port MacDonnell back east, with fish coming from around Portland as far across as Port Fairy again. A wide range of fish from 60-120kg have been on offer, with trolling again becoming the preferred technique to find the more well spread fish. With the season being so long and the fish spread out, it means if you find the fish you can often have them all to yourself, something that’s often quite rare in a hot barrel bite. October is usually the end of the big tuna season but given what’s happened so far this season I’m sure there will be some around still.

The offshore action hasn’t just been about tuna though. There will be plenty of gummies and snapper on offer in the coming weeks, with the fish being more available in closer in the 35-40m range, as opposed to further offshore where most good bags have been taken recently. Some exceptional captures of quality snapper were taken offshore in the 120m range recently, with some fish to 7kg taken using a variety of jigging techniques. Warrnambool boat ramp remains closed at this stage, so for those wanting to access offshore fishing it’s best to use Port Fairy ramp.

October is often a good month to start fishing the surf. As the weather warms up you can get some nice, flat evenings, and with it being too early for kings and the crayfish season still closed, targeting a gummy in the surf is a great option.

After fairly minimal rainfall, particularly compared to the rest of the state, the rivers finally came up and followed hard in late August /September. This produced the run-off fishing that many trout anglers were waiting for. Some seriously big browns to 3kg have been taken by anglers using large lures, such as the 95mm Daiwa Presso Minnow and Gancraft Claw swimbait. It looks as though some of the freshwater rivers might be the perfect height and clarity and still fishing well during October. Just be careful of snakes, because long bushes along overgrown stream areas can be risky at this warmer time of the year.

As is often the case in the cooler months, the estuary section of the Hopkins River has been hit-and-miss during early spring. When we finally did get some decent rainfall and the waters dirtied up, the fishing did improve. Good schools of bream and estuary perch started marking up in the lower sections of the river, and bit well on the incoming tides.

From page 78 Some bigger trout have been showing up as the rivers rise. This winter has been excellent for big tuna.

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a feed, whether it’s the tuna, deep bottom fish species, or some tasty table fish from the bay. And for those anglers without a boat, there are some great land-based opportunities. Plus, we are only a short drive away from some great estuary fishing from the Surry, Fitzroy and the mighty Glenelg River.

If you are local or Alenuihaha

looking at making a trip to Portland, be sure to call into the store and say g’day to the team. We certainly have all your bait and fishing needs covered. You will find us at 61 Bentinck St, Portland, next door to the Gordon Hotel. You can also contact us on 03 5521 1844 or follow us on Facebook.

Happy fishing!