The bread and butter species like gummy shark are an excellent option during the winter months, as you are able to catch them shore based in the bays, from the surf beaches, boat fishing the bays and also offshore. The best part about this style of fishing is you don't have to go overboard, for a landbased session a surf outfit of your choice is the way to go, along with a sturdy rod holder and enough tackle for the session. 

Staff member Dylan did just this last week, took to the the ocean beaches in search of a gummy or two. A nice gummy of around 7kg hit the sand during the first hour of the run in tide, and took a fillet of freshly caught grass whiting on a single 8/0 circle hook. Picking your preferred beach during the day can give you the advantage in spotting the more likely gutters and rips, and taking the guesswork out of your fishing.  Programs like Google earth can also help you identify similar features from the palm of your hand, but just be mindful that these conditions can change subtly between aerial shots.


If the boat fishing for gummies is more your thing, then the offshore fishing at the moment has been worth getting in to. The gummy fishing just offshore from Western Port has been exceptional, with much better average sized fish coming in. Among the gummy sharks, you will also have other species like snapper and flathead to keep you busy offshore, so you can really bring back a mixed bag at times.


Frogleys Offshore Victorian Rep Gerry took his new boat out for a spin last week in search of a gummy or two while offshore conditions were good and he wasn't disappointed. Gerry landed 2 lovely fish destined for the table using the lightweight Atomic Arrowz offshore model rods.

Customer Steve also got out offshore in the same region to land a nice fish just under 11kg. Steve fished a patch of reef that he normally tries for gummies and found multiple fish around it. Locally caught couta was the best bait for the day, which were thick mid water and easily catchable on small sabiki style rigs.

 

Westernport bay has been producing lots of elephants and pinkies recently, along with a few table sized gummies. The elephant fish have been fairly thick throughout the 'triangle' over the last few weeks, with fish to 5kg being caught. Customer Shane fished out from Tortoise Head recently and caught a couple of good sized fish in 8m of water. The most effective bait on them was fresh squid.

James from Unreel Fishing Charters has been catching a few elephants with customers out between Tortoise Head and Rhyll, with baits of pilchard, squid and pipi being the most effective when fished on a sliding sinker rig. Depths of 7 - 14m over mud and broken ground have been good for the elephants, with the odd gummy finding a bait as well. Some customers have even been catching the odd elephant from the pier at Rhyll.

On the pinky front, most of the 'normal' areas where anglers would target snapper and pinkies have been loaded with fish in the 25 - 35cm size. There have however been some much better fish getting close to 2kg mixed in with the smaller fish. The trick has been to fish a larger, tougher bait that the smaller fish can't rip off the hook in 5 seconds flat, which will give the bigger fish a chance to get to it, and also fit it in their mouth. Baits of squid, salmon and couta have been good when targeting these larger school sized fish. James from Unreel Fishing Charters has caught some nice ones mixed in with smaller fish and elephants recently, which none of his customers have been complaining about!

 

The Gummies have been pretty good in Westernport lately; with quite a few anglers targeting the larger models that frequent the entrance channels.  Most of these fish are over 12-13kg and are breeding females and should be released promptly.  Staff member Harley caught Gummies to about 9kg, along with large Sevengill Sharks and Pinkies along the channel edge from Vetnor. 

Customer Jacob caught a few smaller Gummies around Newhaven on Wednesday afternoon, with all of them taking Trevally fillets as bait.

Around Stony Point, customer Marek and his son caught fish to 7kg fishing with their new Shimano Saragosa reels.  The Gummies came from a channel ledge in around 10m of water.
 

Customer Casey and mate Tyson made the most of the weather and went out from Corinella to try for a Gummy or Elephant fish.  While the Gummies they caught were only small, the Elephant fish made up for this, being quite prolific.  Fresh Squid and Bluebait worked on both.

 

Whiting are in good numbers and excellent size in both bays.  The Newhaven area has good numbers of whiting around the 43cm size with most taken on squid and pippies.  Hayden reported using frozen whiting berley which kept the fish around without attracting ‘rubbish fish’.   

Team member George tried his luck off Mornington and Mt Martha, landing whiting up to 38cm on pipi/squid ‘cocktails’, and using prawn based berley pellets to keep the fish in the area.  Mornington Pier over Christmas also proved successful for Andre, who reported landing whiting up to 37cm and Salmon to 42cm.  The whiting have been best on mussel and pilchard fillet and the Salmon preferring the whitebait.

Customer John and two friends launched off Hastings at the change of tide and landed 40+ whiting up to 50cm, with the average around the 35cm on squid and pippies.  John’s tip – if you have not got onto the fish within 15minutes – move onto a new spot.

Whiting are also in good numbers around Beaumaris Bay in 7 metres of water with reports of fish up to 41cm being taken on pipi/mussel combo. 

The Entrance to Gentle Annie Channel is also starting to fire with customer Simon reporting taking whiting up to 40cm on pippies.  Also good sized Rock Flathead taken on pippies.


 

Mark went down to Phillip Island to have a look around the piers, and ended up staying at Newhaven pier to catch the Barracouta that have been around.  Using vibes and heavily weighted soft plastics, Mark caught Barracouta up to 80cm long.

Mick has been fishing Frankston Pier during the week, catching plenty of Salmon on whitebait.  He has noticed the fish moving around the sand ridges on the incoming tide.

Sop has been catching some nice size whiting off Stony Point pier, using pilchard fillets. Later in the afternoon has been the best time, especially with an incoming tide.

Reginald has been catching Mullet in Patterson River, down towards the entrance.  Dough baits on size 16 ST-36 trebles are the way to go, with plenty of fine-grit berley a must.