Local catches are well worth the numb toes

GEELONG Neil Slater slaterfish@gmail.com

Colder months from now onwards will see the snapper taper off and kingfish vanish, while bream, salmon and trevally will be the focus for inshore anglers. There are resident snapper

Australian salmon have made their presence known inside Corio Bay, with increasing numbers over the last few years. Anglers have seen them busting up on occasions along the Geelong waterfront, and other landbased locations such as Griffins Gully Jetty and Limeburners rock wall. I’ve had a few colleagues who walk the waterfront send me pop up and nick off pretty quickly if the bait schools are sparse. However, the fish are chunks at 50cm+, and always willing to scoff a metal or plastic piffed into the madness when they are smashing bait on the surface.

Silver and snotty trevally to 32cm have been caught by anglers bait fishing with chicken along Cunningham pier around the end of April. The snotties used to draw quite a crowd when the June high tides corresponded with dawn or dusk at Cunningham pier – keep an eye on these fish for their fighting and eating qualities. Fish light or unweighted baits such as raw chicken, pipis or pilchard fillets to give you the best shot at this time of year.

Trout and fewer but larger reddies will make themselves available at

Wurdee Buloc and Stoney Creek reservoirs, while those anglers keen on offshore work could jag the caught a few, it was Oliver’s turn. Ian said Oliver was standing holding his new rod when a whiting hit so hard it caused Oliver to jump! Oliver fought the beast like a seasoned angler, and called it a “monster” as it was hauled aboard! Ian measured it in at 40cm, so not a bad first whiting!

Bruno Lombardo fished out off Clifton Springs with his fiancée Kristy recently. Kristy caught a ripper snapper weighing in at 3.1kg, while Bruno caught and the Surf Coast trying out a few land-based possies. The pair have caught some respectable pinkie snapper around the 40-50cm mark, which have provided great sport and tucker. They gave the Queenscliff cut a go on the after dark slack tide, and managed to haul in a cracking snapper of 71cm, which sure got the blood pumping! Great land-based snapper there!

Dave Reynolds loves a bit of offshore work around the Surf Coast, and loves his inside Corio Bay that can be caught by beanie and thermos users (i.e. cold night fishing) so if you are keen, they can be caught. In years gone by, Corio Bay inner harbour used to hold some rippers up over 7kg, so it’s well worth the numb toes. videos of topwater salmon mayhem at Cunningham pier and around the western walk past Griffins Gully.

I’ve always thought King George whiting bite fairly well up to the end of June around the Curlewis Bank and inside Stingaree Bay. However, last winter, they were fairly consistent so consider this as your head’s up that they could be well worth a look this June right around the Bellarine Peninsula. Six meters of water off Leopold was my go-to last year, but they were biting very well from St Leonards to Queenscliff too.

My son Max and I have had a few goes out off Limeburners and Clifton Springs, with mixed captures of squid and whiting. Without setting the world on fire, we’ve gotten a fair feed each time. Calamari caught that day and fishing between 2-6m has always been a successful plan for Clifton Springs and around the Bellarine Peninsula to Queenscliff.

Salmon have been quite hard to predict inside Corio Bay for boaters, as they odd tuna or gummy shark. But remember, there are no rules and kingfish were still being reported offshore and pinkie snapper were going great guns into the last week of April.

The land-based possies inside Corio Bay have been producing pinkies to 50cm for those that have been prepared to put in the time.

Mick Lane fishes these land-based areas in Corio Bay’s inner harbour a fair bit, and has been catching quality pinkies to 50cm, plus the odd whiting and flathead. Mick did say things were quietening down, but it’s still worth a look.

Ian Clissold took his grandson Oliver out off Clifton Springs in search of whiting recently. Oliver was dead keen on catching some after he’d watched a few YouTube clips on them, and Ian had told him how hard they fight. They headed out off Clifton Springs at 5am to one of Ian’s favourite whiting spots. After Ian had a nice gummy shark at 5kg. After seeing Bruno catch a gummy, Kristy was keen to catch one as well. She did land one that day, but unfortunately for her it was undersized and went back for next season.

Wayne Tempest and his partner Angie have been cruising around Geelong gummy sharks as well. Dave has been out a few times and always seems to boat a gummy. On his last trip out, he and a mate boated two, with Dave’s fish being the best at about 8kg. Dave caught this one down near Jan Juc in about 35m of water using squid for bait, and regularly catches