Fishing Reports for Victoria, Westernport and Port Phillip Bay

The salmon fishing continues to provide entertainment along all of the beaches in the state, from local peninsula beaches through to south and east gippsland. While the gippsland beaches have been producing good quality fish, beaches like Gunnamatta have also had some sold fish running. For the Melbourne local beaches Gunnamatta and St Andrews have been good, with the east gutters along Gunnamatta producing better numbers of fish during the week. 

Some of the sections of the 90 mile in Gippsland have been fishing better than others, with Loch Sport being one of the more productive. Staff member Don fished the area recently and found plenty of salmon to about 3lb. Don predominately fished twin paternoster rigs with a mixture of bait and artificial offerings, and also spun metal lures as well. The bait that was most productive was bluebait, with surf poppers and 'bungy' baits on the top hook taking a lot of fish also. Berleying up the area you're fishing is critical when on a busy beach also, as confining the fish to your area will see a lot more landed.

Customer Reg fished the same area with some mates recently also and found good numbers of fish taking pilchard and surf poppers. Just be sure to rig your surf popper on the 'top' hook, as it will float up and away from your second hook and away from the crabs. 

Again this week the beaches have been firing for Australian salmon. With some less than ideal weather for boat based fishing, coupled with northerly winds beach fishing has been ideal. All beaches have been worth a look from Lakes Entrance in the far east to Port Fairy in the west. More locally, Venus Bay has been excellent along with Williamson's, Kilcunda and Gunnamatta. 

Customer Mark fished Venus Bay last week with sons Sam and Harry, and mate Darren. The fishing has been excellent for them, with fish to 2kg taking surf poppers, plastics and also pilchard and bluebait. The guys have had some awesome sessions with 4 way hookups and double headers, with the best fishing coming as the flood tide strengthened. Picking a section of beach at Venus is a good way of locating the fish as the gutters here differ compared to beaches like Gunnamatta and Kilcunda. 

Customer Perry has been fishing the west coast beaches as he loves doing throughout the winter months. Perry has been fishing the beaches around Angelsea and Aireys Inlet and has been catching salmon to 1.5kg or so. Perry has been casting metal lures with single hooks as well as small soft plastics around 3 inches in size. Perry has been finding the fish around low tide, as they have been working a gutter behind a small sandbar that can only be reached on low water. 

With some lovely late Autumn and early Winter weather, many anglers have flocked to their local beaches with a rod. And why not, something as simple as walking the beach on a nice afternoon can be a great de-stress for many. Lucky for them also the salmon fishing has been good so far, with many beaches providing fish to around 6lb for lure and bait fishers. Gunnamatta has been fishing well for salmon, with the first light bite the prime time, but the changing of the light during late afternoon has also been kind to mobile lure anglers fishing their way up the beach. 

For anglers looking to go for a drive, the beaches at Venus Bay and around Kilcunda have also been fishing well. Again early mornings coupled with a slight northerly and flood tide are the pick of the conditions. Baits of bluebait, whitebait, small squid and pipi have been best.

Customer Jim came in to stock up for a fish with some mates down at Venus Bay over the long weekend, and the boys had fun and caught a few fish for their efforts also. The last 90min of the flood tide and hour or so of the ebb was the best time, with the fish moving right up on the berley. Paternoster rigs baited with bottle squid and 'bungy bait' rigged poppers worked the best. Most of the fish were around a kilo or so, with some decent mullet finding their way to the bait in the shore break also.

Staff member Don fished Gunnamatta during the week, with a late afternoon spin session in the gutters along from the surf lifesaving club. Don took one light spin outfit and worked metal slices and stickbaits up to 40g around the edge of the gutters to rack up 20 or so salmon. Fishing the lures under the whitewater with a 'burn and kill' retrieve was the way to get the fish fired up. Flash-assist hooks on the lures helped in keeping the jumping fish hooked well. 

While the average weather hasn't been super motivating for many forms of fishing, it's probably the best time of year to focus on simple bread and butter species around the bay. The many species on offer for angler at the moment are bream, garfish, salmon, pinkies and flathead. The best part of fishing for these species is that most of it can be done from the shore, kayak or in close in the boat. The current amount of freshwater washed into the bay has dirtied the water up and although this makes the water look very uninviting, the fish can normally bite better.

The bayside rivers and creeks have had a real good flush out and this has fired the bream up a lot over the last few weeks. The Patterson and Maribyrnong rivers have been producing some nice bream as more food is flushed around for them, and they have decreased sensitivity due to murky water. Customer Robin fished the Patto just recently and found a few nice bream near the mouth. Robin landed fish to 38cm on scrubworms fished on small whiting 'flasher' style rigs in 90 minutes of fishing.

The same area around the mouth of the Patto has also been producing salmon as they move up and back along the Eastern side of the bay. While they sometimes don't hang about for long, if the conditions are good the fish shouldn't be far away. Onshore winds and dirty water lines are good signs, especially if there are any baitfish schools about. Mordialloc through to Frankston is the region to look around through, with bluebait and whitebait the best baits. For the lure anglers, slim profile stickbaits and metal 'angry baits' have been effective in long casts into the wind, while small minnow soft plastics have also been catching fish once a bit of scent is added. Youngster James has been enjoying the salmon on soft plastics and lures with dad Chris when they can find a break in the weather.

Once the weather backs off a bit the garfish will come back on the chew. The same areas mentioned for the salmon have also been producing some good size gars when the wind hasn't been too strong. Onshore winds of 10 knots or less are generally what to look for when chasing the gars, and make sure you have heavily weighted and buoyant floats like the strada sliding floats. These floats are able to carry lots of lead for casting weight but will stay upright and alert you of any small gar bites very well.

The top end of the bay has also been producing some nice flathead in the shallows. The region from Port Melbourne through to around Sandringham has been the most productive stretch, will Atona bay another good spot to try. Staff member Dylan caught a bucket load during the calm weather trolling hardbodied lures from 90 - 130mm in size, with the best depths being around 2.5 - 3.5m of water. The rougher weather has seen many caught in even closer with the breakwalls and piers producing fish to around 42cm most days. If you're going to target a feed of flatties, make sure you lure or bait has got plenty of natural attraction and scent. Baits of small squid or squid heads have lots of movement in the rough water and might even score you some pinkies also. Small 'flutter jigs' are excellent for casting good distance as are soft hybrid vibes. The best lure choices are ones that the fish can find the easiest in the murky water, and gel or aerosol scents will increase their effectiveness 5:1.

The local landbased has been producing a few different species for anglers getting out there and having a crack. The squid fishing has been hot and cold but with recent clear water the water clarity is good in most areas. Customer Angelo has been fishing the peninsula after the squid and has been catching some to just under a kilo. Angelo has been favouring early morning sessions when fishing piers like Flinders. Angelo has been preferring size 3.5 Clicks jigs  in squid ink and hot green colours. Some other large squid have been taken from the pier, again with early morning or late afternoon light changes the prime time. Bright colours or dark greens and black have been good.

Fishing the same sort of piers like Flinders, Sorrento and Portsea gives a chance of a few other species also. With cold ocean water pushing in from Bass Strait species like Barracouta and snotty trevally are starting to show up. Customer Angelo has been finding good numbers of couta from the pier at Flinders and they have been attaching small soft plastics. Soft plastics between 1.5 and 3 inches have been the most effective when matching the small baitfish that hang under the pier.

On the peninsula piers, there have scattered garfish reports. The main areas have been Dromana, Mornington and Seaford piers. The calmer weather has brought the fish in and once berleyed up they have been hanging around. The rougher weather sends the garfish off as the larger salmon have moved in and spooked the garfish off. Staff member Don fished Mornington pier during the week and caught a small bag of gars. Don found multiple float changes crucial along with very fine mix berley. The bites from the gars were timid, and lightly balanced floats were only just 'tipping' instead of bobbing under. Tiny pieces of silverfish were also the best bait on number 14 hooks.

The beach fishing has been good lately as well. Local beaches like St Andrews, Gunnamatta and Rye ocean beach have all been producing salmon, along with Kilcunda and Williamsons. The numbers of fish have been good, but without berleying up and holding fish to your area you may only get a couple. Lure anglers spinning 40g slim profile metals and stickbaits have been landing larger fish to 1.5kg or so, as they cover more beach. Staff member Don has been out on the beach at Gunnamatta and has landed salmon to pretty much bang on a kilo. Spinning and bait fishing has been productive for him,with the last 2 hours of lead up to the high tide the most productive time. Bluebait has been his most productive bait, but a few smaller fish have taken pipi as well.

Fishing the beaches with bait and paternoster style rigs has been effective as always, but even more effective when you rig a popper or soft plastic on your bottom hook. White and blue poppers have been good lately, along with 'bungy baits' in natural baitfish colours. If you fish either popper or plastic make sure you to smear some gel style scent on them. Gel type scents stay on much easier and trickle small amounts of smell out to roaming fish - so you are almost berleying at the same time when fishing like this.

The salmon numbers have been increasing over the past weeks, both on the beaches and also in the bay from the piers and rocks. Nearly all of the beaches have been performing well with the average size of the fish around 1kg. Customer Mark has been catching some nice fish out on Venus Bay beach number 1 on both bait and lure.

Customer Mario has also caught some ripper salmon on the beaches lately. Mario fished the surf around Lakes Tyers and found the gutters holding some really solid fish. Mario found bluebait the most effective with fish to over 2kg happily eating full sized baits. The run in tide was the most productive time, especially with low light around dawn giving the fish some cover to feed.

Members of the Keysborough Angling Club fished the beaches from Kilcunda to Williamsons just recently, with over 60 fish landed by anglers. The average size of the salmon were around 900g each, with customer Norm landing the biggest fish at 2.5kg. Bluebait and salted pilchards were the most effective bait, with a few fish taken on surf poppers in various colours and also on plastics. Fishing the popper/plastic combo on the bottom hook keeps the sand crabs away from the baits and if you are using the TPR 'bungy baits' the crabs can't even tear your plastic up!

Staff member Don has fished the surf during the week and caught salmon to just under 1.5kg. Don has fished Gunnamatta and has found good numbers of fish moving along the beach, from gutter to gutter. As usual berley has been the difference between catching 1 fish or holding the school around to catch a lot more. Pellet berley layered with freeze dried pilchard is the way to go, especially if made before time and let to soak with some extra oil.

Don found the salmon most happy to eat half bluebait, with double headers on twin hook paternoster rigs not uncommon. Spinning with 40g and 60g slugs was also very productive around the edge of the gutters, especially when the swell started pumping. Fishing the metal lures with corded assist hooks was the best way of keeping the fish hooked up.

The autumn run of salmon is starting to show up both along the beaches and inside the bays, with varied size fish getting around. The back beaches of Gunnamatta, Kilcunda and Venus Bay are all producing fish, with some nice fish to 3kg turning up. Inside the bay the fish have been moving along the eastern shoreline from Portsea to Mordialloc as onshore winds condense the bait for them. Customer Aziz has been catching some thumpers as they make their way past the piers, with some really sold fish around 3kg getting around. Aziz has caught fish from Sorrento to Patterson river, with weather conditions dictating where to fish. The most successful lures for Aziz have been small pencils and stickbaits that imitate garfish and whitebait.

Around the eastern seaboard there have been schools of salmon working the shoreline gutters and inlets. The mouth of Patterson River, Seaford pier, Mordialloc pier and Frankston piers have all been worth a look, especially during or after a strong onshore (southwesterly) wind. The poor baitfish really get pinned in by these strong winds, which gives the salmon an easy meal. Customer Scott got down to the mouth of Patto and found a school of small fish keen to eat plastics. The tip for catching these fish in calm conditions is to down scale your plastics to small offerings in the 2 - 3 inch size, matched with 1/12th through to 1/6th jigheads.

The beaches around the Bass coast have been starting to produce some nice salmon. Customer Mark has been fishing Venus Bay and has been landing fish to around 1kg. The small gutters and holes in close have been holding small numbers of fish which have taken bluebait and pilchard. A light berley trail consisting of pilchard mix and medium size pellets has been the key to catching multiple fish before they move off. When conditions allow small plastics and metal stickbaits have been working exceptionally well also. The best performers have been the Yakamito 'live fry' and Bungy Baits 'viber'.

The west coast of the state is fishing well for a multitude of species at present, with the offshore scene really on fire. The Port Fairy and Portland region has been red hot for kingfish and tuna with loads of bait around. There have also been some big sharks lurking out wider for the anglers chasing them. Customer Tony popped in to the store to pick up some supplies and lure variety before hitting the North shore, and Tony and mate had a ball on the kingfish. While most of the fish have been 'rats' the guys did hook up to larger fish in the 10kg range that blitzed them on the shallow reef. Tony found squid strips and white 'Bungy Baits' in the 5 inch model the most productive of the lot.

The bluefin tuna have been found by anglers fishing for the kingfish in as shallow as 10m of water. While the tuna have been caught amongst the kingfish there have been better numbers of fish out to around 50m of water. These fish can be very fussy however and many are seen simply 'cruising' or sunning themselves. With the abundance of small baitfish, small lures are the go. The odd fish will take a normal 5 - 6 inch lure, but a lot of the summer food are small whitebait so lures as small as 2 inches have been catching fish. Customer Aaron fished out from Portland over the weekend to land some thumper bluefin to around 30kg. Aaron found trolling smaller skirts was the best method of hooking these fish.

Customer Bruno was down at Portland recently and found himself a nice little mako shark. With the amount of food about, the sharks have been active - with bronzies, schoolies, threshers and makos all making an appearance. There has been plenty of larger bait out wider with slimies and salmon providing good fresh shark baits. A bit further back towards Melbourne customer Anel spent the weekend catching heaps of salmon from the beaches and rocks. Anel found some lovely salmon to 1.5kg hanging around the deeper gutters back towards the Great Ocean Road.

While the keen salmon anglers don't fish the beaches over the warmer months normally, there has been been some nice salmon about. The numbers of fish haven't been huge but the size has been good with fish over a kilo. The beaches have been sporadic with where the salmon will turn up, but if you're fishing a good deep gutter or hole near a bay or inlet entrance your chances are increased. Customer Robin has been fishing the beaches around Phillip Island over the past few weeks, where he has caught some nice salmon. Robin's most effective bait lately has been salted mullet gut, which he has caught from the beaches himself.

The beaches along the 90 mile have been holding big numbers of mullet, and by fishing finesse surf gear in the shorebreak and shore gutters you can catch plenty of them. With loads of mullet about the bigger predators like flathead and toothy sharks have hanging by too. Flathead to 60cm haven't been uncommon from Golden beach and Woodside beach, with bluebait a good bait choice. Even better have been 'TPR' style plastics like the 'Bungy Baits' - which are crab proof and attract the attention of the fish.

A bit closer to home around Phillip Island there have been some bigger predators taking advantage of the available food also. Customer Seb had a night fish from one of the ocean beaches and snagged a ripper school shark of around 20kg on a salmon head. During the session him and a mate also got bitten off another 4 times, potentially by other 'schoolies'.

The land based fishing for snapper has been exceptional over the past few weeks. The normal run of land based reds occurs from late July onward but the shore based fishing has really heated up the past fortnight, both locally and out of town. Customer Taki has been chasing the reds from the rocks around the bay and his last session down towards Mt Martha yielded 2 nice fish up to 4kg. Pillies fished on 4/0 circle hooks did the job.

Customer Shibu has also been catching some nice school snapper from the shore. Shibu and friends have been from the beach along the Mordialloc - Black Rock region where fish to 2.5kg are not uncommon. Running sinker style rigs have been letting the bait move about naturally and have been attracting more bites. Pilchard has been the most effective bait along the area.

While there have been plenty of fish caught along the shoreline of the bay, there have been plenty from along the rocky ocean platforms out of town. Ocean ledges like Punchbowl have been producing snapper for the anglers out there in search of them. A bit further down the road around Wilson's Prom Customer Abdul has caught some nice fish to around 80cm. Abdul came in to store to prepare for a snapper session from the rocks and his organization led to success.

Abdul took a light rod and heavier shore rod for snapper, and caught some salmon using pilchards as bait - which were used for the snapper. The fresh fillets of salmon accounted for all of the snapper and a nice gummy which broke off at the rocks. Carrying minimal gear and catching fresh bait can be the huge advantage to catching quality fish.