Port Phillip East

Great fishing reports coming in

PORT PHILLIP Gerry Morsman

What a season it has been so far! It seems the majority of boats and land-based anglers are all getting their piece of the action, which is really great to see. Obviously, the weather has been very average, but this can actually have its advantages when it comes to fishing. You just have to .report will help. There have been some great fishing reports coming through for all of our popular species down here in Melbourne. SNAPPER

I’m going to start off with the land-based fishing as it has been quite an incredible season to say the least, especially around the Mornington area. The key spot has definitely been the Mornington pier. It’s not uncommon to walk down there, especially on a nice day, and see upward of 100 rods in the water. With the size of the pier, believe it or not there is still room to catch fish as the whole pier has access to very fishy areas.

The key time to fish Mornington Pier is with winds around 20 knots coming from the north or west. Snapper love the shallow dirty water, which provides a lot of food pushed in from the incoming waves. The best baits have been either squid or fresh chunk baits like Blue-spot flathead are always a welcome by-catch when fishing for King George whiting.

Matt Anderson was fishing in close at Mt Eliza with his dad John and had a very good session using silver whiting as bait.

salmon or cuda, if you can get it. The best times have been early in the morning, late in the evening or the tide change. Boat-based anglers have been getting a lot of fish from Frankston through to Mornington. The typical areas around Ansetts and the hospital have been holding good numbers, but don’t be scared to go in shallow. I’m talking like 6m of water, especially after a big blow when the water is quite murky. The more popular baits have been silver whiting and fresh squid if you can get it, otherwise frozen packet squid is fine. KING

GEORGE WHITING

Again, the land-based anglers have been getting amongst the action and doing well. King George whiting love to come in close to

feed during the night, early in the morning and late in the evening. The technique is pretty much the same along all the hotspots that have been fishing well lately. A nice long rod with a 2-3oz sinker on a paternoster rig will get the job done. Tougher baits like squid are the key so you don’t lose your bait on the cast. If you are going to use a pipi be sure to put the pipi on first and put a strip of squid on after, to hold your pipi on.

Fishies Beach Mornington has been fishing well, especially late in the evening. Anthonys Nose in Dromana has been fishing exceptionally well at night. You will catch fish all the way through to sunlight, and then they will usually disperse.

The boats are reporting that Rye is going very well on squid strips and mussels.

They key around these southern areas is to not berley too hard. This will keep all the small leatherjackets away that ruin good sessions. Sorrento and Portsea around the boat moorings are producing good fish as they always do, and just near the pier at Portsea is seeing some great reports on the run-in tide. SOUTHERN CALAMARI

It has been quite tough all the way from Black Rock down to Mornington due to how much rain we have had. The water has been super dirty, making it very hard as the majority of the squid have moved a little further south in search of the cleaner water. As you get to Mount Martha it gets a little better, and there have been some OK reports of the smaller squid that people like for baits or food. The key is to use darker jigs in the

murky water, as darker jigs give off a better silhouette, making it easier for the squid to see them. As you get down to Rye where there is a bit more tide, the water really clears up and this is why we have been seeing so many good reports.

These big squid are being caught on larger sized 3.5 jigs. Using brighter colours during the brighter days helps the squid to see your jig from a far distance, and I believe the brighter colours fire them up a bit more when they are being finicky. Sorrento in around 4m of water is fishing well along the broken ground, and Portsea pier has been going off when you are allowed on it.

GUMMY SHARK

Sorrento through to Portsea has been fishing very well first thing in the morning through the south channel using fresh fish baits like salmon or silver trevally. These are very oily baits, and with the heavy tidal flow through this area it will carry the scent a long way, allowing the gummy sharks to hunt your bait out.

When heading offshore it’s hard to know where to start with these, as there aren’t many places offshore where you don’t have a chance of catching one. There are so many techniques and areas but by all the reports I have received, the most effective are as follows. Barwon Heads in around 45m of water over reef has been a huge stand out in recent weeks. As usual, the best technique has been anchoring up. When anchoring offshore make sure you let plenty of rope out, especially when it is a bit choppy or there is a large rolling swell. This will give you the best chance at holding anchor, and therefore landing more fish. The stand-out bait has been freshly caught parrotfish during the day or freshly caught squid during the night. The reason squid works best at night is because that’s when the pickers (e.g. parrotfish, barbers perch) get in their caves to hide from hungry predators, mainly sharks, which love to feed of a night.

Other areas that have been fishing very well for big gummy sharks have been Cape Schanck in around 30m, and Flinders in around the same depth. Drifting along the sandy ground out the front of Woolamai has proven to be quite successful also.

Daniel Borno and his son Benji were all smiles after a good session off Mt Martha.