VIC
Old favourites are loving the warm water fantastic with some real whoppers approaching a kilo in size. Chris notes that Portarlington Pier has been fishing well for king
GEELONG
Neil Slater slaterfish@gmail.com
March is a great time to fish the region. The water is at its warmest so kingfish and tuna are getting everyone excited while the old favourites, snapper, flathead and whiting have been going great guns. The region has copped more rain keeping the Barwon River in Geelong less than clear in town. Clarity improves slightly the further upstream you go. The 2018 release of estuary perch have found their way a fair way upstream and some are approaching 28cm. they can be caught in numbers
Manish and his son Aideanna are all smiles with the big gummy they caught on Queenscliff Fishing Charters.
George heaving this gummy caught off Portarlington. on some days and other days they’re very fussy. Small minnow pattern or single tailed soft plastic lures have worked well when they’re in the mood. Redfin to 35cm have
there has been a fair run of silver trevally and King George whiting. The trevally were nudging 50cm last month and lately around the 40cm mark. The whiting have been a little sporadic
as well. Surf Coast anglers have boated quality fish to 4kg drifting in 30 to 55m and the shipping channel inside Corio Bay has also produced fish to a similar size. David Curwood flicked me a message asking what was biting as he had a few nights at Mannerim and was dragging his tinnie down from Melbourne. I figured the whiting and squid had best strike rate at the time but he was keen on snapper so I suggested the shipping channel. Talk about a hot tip! David and his mate hooked six solid fish boating three of them up to 76cm using pilchards! David says they hit the water at the crack of 10am and had the mad session for an hour after using old pilchards with his hands covered in 2-stroke and sunscreen. Preparation is the key here folks. Corio Bay seems to be teeming with pinkie snapper from undersized bait stealers to 35cm fish. Point Henry, Point Wilson, Curlewis and Stingaree Bay Spoil grounds for boaties while land-based anglers should try Limeburners and St Helens rock walls, Cunningham, St Leonards and Portarlington piers
have all produced pinkie snapper on pilchard fillets and soft plastic lures. Rod Beer loves fishing around St Leonards and managed to land a ripper gummy shark that weighed in at 16kg recently. A lot of the big gummies caught on the Bellarine are out deep and love a bit bait of fresh salmon if you can get it. Chris Pitman from the new Drysdale Bait & Tackle says the squid fishing off Clifton Springs has been
80 MARCH 2023
but mostly showing up on the incoming tide in the bottom half of the estuary. Pipis or pilchard fillets will get you in with a good chance at the silvers while squid or pippies puts you in the frame for a feed of whiting. Snapper have been biting well in the region
Dave has done well on the gummies off Barwon Heads this year.
David had a hectic 1-hour session on the snapper off Clifton Springs and kept these two 76cm models.
Rod with a ripper gummy he caught fishing off St Leonards. been caught by anglers using single tailed grub plastics up around Queens Park. The technique here involves keeping the lure as close to the bottom for as long as possible with small movements of the rod tip to entice a bite. Further downstream in the Barwon River estuary,
found on the local jetties and lately has had a crack at drone fishing! Gummy sharks have been fairly busy inside
For the Skurka family, fishing at Princetown wasn’t easy with the easterlies but they made do.
George whiting and a few pinkie snapper to 50cm. Chris has had a few goes at the Clifton Springs whiting and noted they were on the smaller side while the larger fish have been caught closer to Queenscliff. Eleven-year-old George Ross loves fishing out off Clifton Springs with his dad Lenny. On a recent trip, the father-son team boated a pair of solid gummy sharks and a good sack of whiting to round out a fine seafood basket. Lenny says George loves fishing so much that he can often be
Port Phillip Bay, along Bass Strait and down the Surf Coast. Dave Reynolds fished with Grant Greenwood where they boated four solid gummies before 9am fishing the spoil grounds off Breamlea in around 50m of water. At this depth, squid is great bait as it hangs on after those pickers have had a peek at your bait. Manish and his son Aideanna were fishing in 5m of water on board Queenscliff Fishing Charters and Scenic Tours when Aideanna’s rod screamed off. It was going so hard, dad took over for a bit and fought what turned out to be a solid gummy shark right to the boat. As soon as the gummy hit the deck, Aideanna claimed the catch – well done Aideanna! The southern bluefin tuna and kingfish have been hot to trot in the region. Tuna round 15kg have been fairly common but some 40kg models have shown up from Breamlea to Anglesea in around that 30m mark. Green teasers and/or green skirted lures seemed to be doing the most damage out there. Mick Allardyce had a day out off Barwon Heads recently where he found plenty of smaller kingfish in 16m and lots of pike
