Many anglers have been aware of the tuna activity along the west of the coast, and have been making the most of these fish again this week. There have
been fish stretched from Portland and further west right across to offshore from Westernport and Inverloch. There have been fish inside both bays but
they have been flighty and hard to come across, but they have been there to be caught.
Customer Billy has been catching some nice bluefin just offshore from the heads on small skirts. He has also landed a couple of fish in the 20kg range
from inside the bay, with both skirts and deep diving hardbodies working well. The fish inside the bay have been moving about a lot, but the 'rip'
section has been where the fish have been pushing through mowing down schools of pilchards. Customer Jason has also been landing fish offshore from
the heads and further down towards Phillip Island. Jason has been landing fish on small 5'' skirts, and a few fish on surface poppers cast around the
schools.
Customers Izzy and Bruno have been getting into the tuna also. Izzy fished out from Torquay during the week and found fish to 25kg. Skirts in the 5'' size
range were the most effective on the fish, with the fish being attracted up to the surface from the commotion of deep running hardbodied lures. While
the fish around Torquay and Barwon have been good there have also been some nice fish coming from Portland and Port Fairy. The fish have been cruising
inshore in water depths of 15 - 50m and have been responding to the same methods - with stickbaiting and popping also very productive.
Among the tuna out west there have been schools of rat kingfish hanging about. The inshore reef around Portland has been the best holding ground for the
numbers of these fish, with Izzy and Bruno catching some while down at Portland. Stickbaits and small surface poppers have been effective when the
fish are on, but baits of slimey and calamari have also been deadly when the lures haven't gotten the interest of the fish. The fish have ranged in
size from just legal to around 18kg, with some much larger fish harassing the smaller rats.
While not normally known for it's kingfish, the Gippsland lakes has been experiencing a run of school sized fish moving about the system. The fish have
been moving from as far up as Paynesville right the way down to Lakes Entrance itself. Customer Kevin has found himself holding a knife while in a
gunfight while fishing out of his canoe. Kevin has been fishing the north arm around Lakes Entrance and has been landing kingies to around 80cm. Small
plastics that imitate the abundant prawns have been easy for the fish to eat and getting most of the bites.