Fishing Reports for Victoria, Westernport and Port Phillip Bay

If there was ever a season to be making the most of the salmon around the beaches and inshore land based spots then this year has been it. The salmon have been unstoppable this winter and by normal accounts should stay strong until the water temperature starts warming up - so around the start of October or so. While there are still days when conditions aren't favourable and the fishing is hard work, the fish have been cooperating more often than not.

Speaking of unfavourable conditions the wind recently has been typical of late winter winds, constantly strong but also with a fair bit of north to it. Northerly winds make beach fishing somewhat easier, generally better than anything with south in it, so although the forecast might be strong there's still enough fishing to be had.

Customer Mark has been down at Venus Bay making the most of the salmon run, with more fish to around 2kg caught on lures over the weekend. While strong winds have meant constant gutter and bar movement, the fish are still around and hungry. Customer Dimitri got down to Gunnamatta beach and got into some nice fish on bluebait and surf poppers over the weekend also.

Speaking of Gunnamatta, it has been the best performing local beach with most anglers getting into good numbers of salmon. Staff member Don spent an afternoon on the beach last week armed with a light and long spin rod and some Yakamito 'Angry bait' metals to land some nice salmon to around 900g. Constantly moving along the beach in search of holding gutters and small pockets of fish was the key, as when one was caught there were generally a lot more around.

Members of the Keysborough Angling Club fished Gunnamatta last weekend for their surf competition with 9 anglers fishing the beach. Overall 25 salmon were caught, which was good considering the rough conditions and strong winds present. The largest fish caught was just over 1.5kg which is excellent fun on any gear - so even if the conditions are less than ideal there are still plenty of salmon to be caught.

For the bayside angler, the rough conditions have meant that there have been plenty of salmon about along the shore of the bay. Areas to try of late have been around Sandringham, Mordialloc, Patterson rivermouth, Frankston and Mornington. Further south Mt Martha, Blairgowrie and Sorrento have all been worth fishing depending on how far you want to drive. The fish have been somewhat larger further south, with some well over 2kg coming from piers like Sorrento. Lure fishing for these landbased salmon is the go as the schools are constantly on the move in search of baitfish. If you're unsure of which lures to try on light gear for long landbased-casting come in and talk to the team, as there are quite a few options.

Venus Bay has really been on fire this winter for the salmon. We have had some excellent salmon fishing around the state this season, with plenty of fish in the bays and along the beaches - but Venus Bay has been a real stand out. While the fish numbers are fairly good, you can still have an average day if you don't pay attention to the small things. Berley. Reading the beach for gutters and holes. Paying attention to current or drift direction. When you put all the small things together you have a much better chance at having a good day.

Michelle Kelly fished Venus Bay over the weekend with her husband to land 6 nice salmon all up, with Michelle landing 5 of them including a double hook up. A mixture of soft plastic and surf poppers spiced with bluebait got the job done.

Customer Mark fished Venus Bay over with weekend with his uncle where they had a good session spinning. Mark has been mixing things up down at Venus with some bait fishing and spinning, with some days bait outfishing lures and vice versa. With better conditions for spinning over the weekend Mark decided to persist with the lures and ended up with some nice fish. Pilchard pattern and blood head metals did the job, and light jig assist style hook kept fish on right to the beach. 

If you aren't using assist style hooks on your salmon lures this season then you really should be. The disadvantage with standard trebles on a lot of metal lure is the that they are often quite thick on the points, which makes them much harder to 'pop' through the corner of the salmon's jaw - and results in a very high percentage of fish frustratingly shaking themselves off in the shorebreak. The assist hook proves one single hook point which holds all of the fishes weight, and prevents them shaking the lure out with a shock-absorbing kevlar cord connecting the hook to the lure. If you're unsure just ask us and we can show you the correct set up, which should increase your odds!

There has been no shortage of Aussie salmon around this winter, and they show no signs of letting up yet! The numbers and size of the fish recently has been excellent, with fish around 1.5kg nice but not out of the ordinary - and average fish anywhere from 600g to a kilo. For anglers looking to tangle with some salmon but not drive to the beaches the piers have been holding schools during onshore winds. South-westerly and Westerly winds have been what to look for, and areas to concentrate around have been Brighton, Beaumaris, Mordialloc, Patterson River, Frankston and Sorrento. All of these locations have been fishing well the schools have been moving about as the baitfish move.

Customer Cipto fished Sorrento pier recently while there were some large fish moving about, with fish to around 2kg hitting the pier. Cipto found soft plastics were doing the best when the fish were a bit cagey, with lead weighted stickbaits also working well when cast a long was out the back of the schools.

For those keen to walk the beaches, the really hot beaches at the moment have been Gunnamatta on the Peninsula and Venus Bay in south gippsland. Staff member Don and mate Jack fished Gunnamatta recently during a run out tide where they caught a heap of school fish on lures. 40g Metal lures like the Yakamito 'angry baits' were the most effective, especially when fitted with flashy assist hooks.

Customer Mark has been down at Venus Bay most weekends and has been learning the movements of the fish as the weeks have gone on. Mark has has mostly successful trips, with excellent numbers of fish to 2kg, and some larger fish earning their freedom. Mark has been catching fish on both bait and lures, with bluebait being the pick when fished on dual hook paternoster rigs. The top dropper has been deadly with a surf popper and 'bungee grub' on it, and the bait on the bottom dropper.

If you wanted to go and catch some salmon then the time is now, the beaches are going nuts. Most of the beaches have been producing as good as each other, and you'd pretty hard pressed to find a beach that isn't holding good numbers of fish at one stage or the other. If the fishing is a bit slow then a good berley mix will really help bring them out. Days with northerly winds have helped in flattening the swell off a bit and creating calm 'pockets' for the fish to hold in, and they also help aid your casts and hold the line straight.

Customer Mark and his boys Samuel and Harrison fished Venus bay over the weekend to land some ripper salmon. Mark recently came in to the store to retro fit all of his metal lures with flash-assist hooks to help in keeping the big fish on, and grab a top up of surf poppers and 'bungee grubs'. Mark reports that excellent numbers of fish are holding on all of the beaches at Venus bay, with both of his boys catching their 'PB' fish. The most productive method for the guys was keeping a good berley trail unbroken and fishing pilchard and surf popper mixes. The hot colour popper on the day was the red.

Customer Shaun came in and reported that Gunnamatta has been fishing well for him. Shaun's last session saw him land a couple of nice fish on the incoming tide. Shaun was fishing with paternoster rigs baited with bluebait, and a yellow surf popper. While red and blue are the norm with surf poppers, sometimes the yellow can be dynamite.

Thea beaches around Kilcunda and Williamsons have been fishing well also for bait and lure anglers. Customer Luke fished Kilcunda during an afternoon session with the lures and spin rod and he ended up bagging 7 nice fish. Luke was spinning small metal lures in a pilchard profile, which the salmon were nailing. If you don't spin for the salmon on the beach you really should! The advantage of packing just a lighter weight spin rod from 8ft - 11ft and some lures is that you will cover more water with the possibility of crossing paths with a school of fish.

Well we're right in the thick of the beach fishing season here and many anglers are experiencing the best salmon fishing that they've seen for at least the last 2 or 3 years. Numbers of fish have been good and average size has also been good - with good sized schools of bigger fish hanging about as well. As for the hot beaches, close to home the best have been Gunnamatta and Kilcunda, with Venus Bay/Walkerville excellent and the 90 mile has been very good also.

A hot tip if you're heading out to the beach - check the conditions of your chosen location from aerial maps or satellites first if possible.

When you're looking at a satellite view of your location the giveaway of deep water 'gutters' and 'holes' is easily picked up in the above photo. Gunnamatta beach has a few nice gutters which are easily distinguished by the red stars marking them. The darker water usually means deeper water or weed and rock - but in this case you can see that it is deep clear water. From the satellite view you can see the breaking water and the direction which the gutters move along the beach - just bear in mind the satellites aren't updated every day so they are a 'guide' for you, when you get to the beach a 10 minute scout from the dunes or high vantage point will confirm deeper water for you.

Customer Mark has been putting his beach knowledge to good use down at Venus Bay this week with some great salmon landed. During his last few sessions Mark has been spinning the fish up using metal stickbaits in 40g and 60g weights. Mark has caught more than his share of fish, with some models topping 3kg on the lures. Leaving them biting and having some much bigger fish shake the trebles out, Mark will be back with a vengeance after upgrading to assist hook set ups on his lures.

Customers from the store and members of the Keysborough Angling Club fished the section of the 90 mile beach in Gippsland at Woodside beach and had some excellent results. With all members landing salmon it was an excellent trip, and the largest salmon weighed in at 1.5kg which was caught by Mark Watson. Over all just over 150 salmon were weighed in over the two days, which shows excellent numbers of fish.

Happy anglers with their salmon! The salmon along the 90 mile have really been hitting bluebait, with blue and red surf poppers also claiming lost of fish. Some anglers fishing small 'bungee grubs' on the back of their poppers have been catching just as many fish as anglers who are fishing bait. The best part about these plastics is that they're crab-proof!

The surf beaches around the region have really been producing some quality salmon of late. With some nice calm winter weather and moderate swell it has made for good beach fishing conditions, and salmon to over 1.5kg just top it off. While there have been fish along most of the beaches, Gunnamatta and St Andrews have been the pick along the peninsula, with Kilcunda and Venus Bay providing plenty of fish heading down into South Gippsland.

Staff member Don fished Gunnamatta for an afternoon during the week to land a few nice sized fish. While Don wasn't fishing for 8 hours, fish around the kilo mark were around and responded to his berley. With other anglers on the beach reporting no fish, and no berley it really is the key. Don berleyed up enough in the gutters to bring some fish in and keep them there. Bluebait and soft plastics got the bites on the paternoster rig but the key is getting the fish in to your area.

Customer Mark fished Venus Bay beach number 1 with friends over the weekend where they did really well on the salmon. Bluebait and pilchard were the best baits but again the key was to create a berley trail to bring the fish into the small holes and troughs just out from the shoreline. When making your beach berley you have to ensure that you have enough smell and consistency to create a trail for the fish to hone in on, but it also has to be fine enough to not feed the salmon and send them away full and no longer hungry. A normal beach session will see around 20 litres used so make sure you pack your gear adequately and don't cart too much heavy and unneeded gear with you. 

Australian salmon have really been on the go this past week, with heaps of anglers getting amongst them - whether it's been on the surf beaches or from many of the local piers and rocks. With the more recent weather the fish have slowed off a bit locally, but a big blow and rain band will see them return within many angler's shore based reaches soon enough. For the pier fisherman Mornington has been one worth looking at, especially early morning or later in the afternoon.

Customer Patrick has been enjoying the sporting aspect of the salmon from Mornington pier recently, with small metal jigs getting the bites when conditions are quiet. 'Shore jigging' is fairly under utilized here in Victoria, but fish like salmon can be absolute suckers for small falling jigs when a normal fast retrieve doesn't get spark their interest.

The ocean beaches have been producing good bags of fish for anglers persisting. While the lure casting has been a bit hit and miss, there still have been some nice fish landed. The real key for turning the odds in your favour on the beach is to fish a quality berley. Berley will bring the salmon from a good distance away on the beach and hold them in your area for long enough to capitalize.

Staff member Don experienced just this at Gunnamatta over the weekend, with only a few fish seen along the beach. After setting a good berley trail, and knowing at which stage of the tide to deploy it, Don ended up with a bag of fish to around a kilo.

Customer Mark fished Venus bay beach number 4 with his kids over the weekend to land some ripper salmon. Mark landed fish 2kg + on both pilchard and bluebait, and also surf poppers in blue/white combination.

Staff member Dylan lure fished a few of the surf beaches along the west coast over the weekend. While not every beach produced fish, many were only fished for a few hours and not on 'ideal' tides. Most beaches around Torquay, Lorne and Apollo Bay were holding numbers of smaller fish to 30cm. Further west past Cape Otway the beaches were producing larger fish around 1kg. Dylan and mate Jordan walked the gutters spinning metal lures and stickbaits and caught over 20 fish per session, with assist hooks the trick to keeping fish hooked in the shorebreak. The salmon were coughing up medium sized pilchards so the stickbaits were the ideal imitation. Sub minnows and bungy casts were the most successful.

During the recent rain and wind the squid fishing slowed off a little. The dirtier water with suspended sediment normally puts the squid off but things are starting to clear up. A little bit of rain here and there will slow proceedings for a few days but the squid fishing is starting to improve. The southern end of Port Phillip is the go for consistency at the moment, but the top end banks in Westernport have been producing for anglers out there.

Customer Steve has been out along Tyabb bank during the week with mate Nick, and they have been getting some cracking squid. Fishing the 4m edge of the bank where the water is a bit clearer, the guys have been getting on to squid up to 2kg. Mixed bag of colours have been working well, but the Yamashita 'warm jacket' technology has been putting more squid in the boat than others, especially in aggressive colour patterns.

Some of the clearer water further south has been producing smaller squid around the shallows, with more natural colours getting the bite. Mullet and whiting colour schemes in size 3.0 have been good on numbers of squid to 500g when fished around the same areas that these fish are found.

The Australian salmon have turned up this autumn and were quite prevalent throughout the rip and lower end of the bay over early autumn, but are now making their presence felt around the rest of the bay. Good schools of fish have been moving about and can be found around most prominent points and estuary mouths, especially during some rougher onshore winds and rain. The eastern side of the bay has seen good numbers of fish around Frankston and Mornington piers and Mt Martha rocks during westerly winds, with the average fish varying from just under a kilo to about 1.5kg.

Frogleys Offshore representative Gerry has been catching some big fat salmon down around the southern end of the bay, with larger fish to 3kg having no problems inhaling 100mm stickbaits, plastics and hardbodies. The larger fish seem to stay down the bottom end of the bay and if you're lucky they have been turning up around Blairgowrie and Portsea during the flood tide.

The salmon pier along the local piers has seemed to be more consistent around first and last light, so if you're at one of your local piers during these times, it's worth having something rigged up and ready to go. During high winds and rough water metal slugs and slow jigs have been good, but without hardware alterations you stand the chance at losing fish. Calmer conditions call for small subtle soft plastics so it pays to keep both on you.

Staff member Dylan has been catching fish to around a kilo from Morinington and Mordialloc piers, and along the rivermouth at Patterson river. During rougher conditions metal lures like the Yakamito 'angry baits' have been excellent, with small but strong assist hooks fitted to prevent shake offs. So far Dylan has not lost a single fish, so with the assist hook set up hook up rate is the very best it can be at 100%.

The beaches both locally and further afield have been producing good numbers and size salmon also. The producers at the moment have mainly been down the east coast with Gunnamatta, Kilcunda, Venus Bay and further around Lakes Entrance the pick. Customers Mark and Darren fished Venus Bay beach no.1 last week to land a swag of fish with some pushing 2kg. The boys found that once the berley got the school in they went off, with the fish biting like crazy right into the night on whole pillies.

While the reports haven't been coming in thick and fast, the land based action at this time of year can be excellent. Depending what you want to catch and how far you wish to travel, there are normally plenty of options.

Down along the shores of Westernport customers Matt and Brendan have been having fun with some nice table sized gummies. The areas such as Stockyard point and Tenby point have been good as has the Somers region. Freshly caught salmon, pike, yakka or squid has been excellent, otherwise pillies and frozen squid or cuttlefish have also been doing well with fish averaging around 4kg. Tides will depend on location you choose, as you won't be able to access some areas on high tides, others you will want to fish as the tide reaches it's peak.

The surf beaches have started producing some numbers of salmon, with no huge schools present at the moment but as always the larger fish seem to come through before the smaller school fish do. Peninsula beaches such as Gunnamatta and St Andrews have had some solid fish to just shy of 2kg, with early morning or late afternoon high tides the hot times. Bluebait and squid have been the best baits, but there have been a good number of fish caught on unbaited 'flasher' style rigs and surf poppers. Remember whenever you fish the beaches these types of rigs will stand out to the fish much easier than a normal rig, and increase your chances of a bite.

Customers Mark and Darren fished the beach down towards Venus bay, which has been producing better numbers of smaller school fish. The guys fished beach no.5 where they caught salmon to just under a kilo, and a couple of flatties to around 35cm. The guys found that bluebait and pipi were the best baits, with a number of fish taking the red surf popper also.

The pinkies have been fishing very well from most of the shore based locations around Port Phillip bay recently. The many rock groynes and points, along with the piers have had schools of fish anywhere from 25cm through to around 3kg. Fishing first or last light is the prime time to catch a few, but right through the night they have also been fairly active. First light has seen some better sized fish come through, with customer Sergio catching some lovely fish to nearly 2kg during the morning.

Sergio has been fishing a few different locations around the top end of the bay, with nearly all of them producing fish. He has been finding pilchard or salted mackerel fillets to be the best baits lately, with pinkies, flathead and small gummies all taking the same baits.