Fishing Reports for Victoria, Westernport and Port Phillip Bay

Westernport bay has been fishing well as we roll on into the start of Spring. The main species are on offer for anglers chasing them with whiting, squid and snapper all worth the effort. While the snapper fishing is far from red hot, there are fish in the port willing to eat if you are out there looking for them. The usual late Winter areas of the port are where the fish have been, with the Corinella region to Spit Point a good area to look, along with up the North arm out from Hastings. Customers Thao and Johnny have been out making the most of the weather windows in the port and have seen a couple of fish for their efforts. Snapper to 4.4kg have made their way into the boat with fresh squid being the successful bait. 14m of water and the early stage of the run out tide were the go.

The squid fishing has been good in the port also, even with some milky water up on some of the banks after the rain. The hot spots have been the Quail and Tyabb banks, with most coming from slightly deeper grassbeds in the cleaner water. Spring is normally a great time to be out in search of the larger squid as they spawn - and the southern end of the port has already seen some nice specimens caught. As usual a variety of jigs will give you be best results rather than 'putting all your eggs in one basket' with one colour. The best thing to pay attention to when selecting jigs colours is light level in the sky and water colour.

Staff member Don and mate Sam fished out on the port over the weekend in search of some squid and they caught some up to around a kilogram. Water conidtions in the morning were ideal but as the wind picked up they were forced to fish a bit deeper off the banks in 8m where they caught some larger squid. Red foil jigs worked well on the shallower banks, with UV blues and greens doing more damage in the deeper water. James from Unreel Fishing Charters has also been spending time out in the port with customers on the squid grounds - with plenty of happy anglers. James has been fishing a variety of colours and sizes with blacks, green, and bright UV yellow/orange all working - just depending on light and cloud conditions. The Tortoise head area and south of Sandy Point has been excellent for numbers of squid.

While many anglers aren't really thinking King George whiting, there have been enough out in the port to keep any KGW angler happy. Numbers of fish have been good, and average sizes around the high 30cm mark to low 40cm nothing to turn your nose up at. The middle spit and Tortoise head have been excellent areas to try and where most of the fish have been coming from. The region around Balnarring and Somers has also had some quality fish but much smaller numbers of fish. Customers like Long have been catching some respectable bags of fish to around 39cm from the area on both pipi and squid. Pipi has been the standout in the shallower water with the fish really firing up before dark.

The squid fishing has been good around the bay as the water clarity stays good.Most of the usual land based locations are producing, with the mid northern end of the bay starting to fish well.

Staff member Dylan has been fishing from the shore around the top of the bay and has found the fishing pretty good. Multiple sessions of bag limits have been had in short time, normally around an hour. In amongst a few anglers fishing the standout jigs have varied a bit but blues and purples have been very effective lately. The Yamashita 'Live Search' jigs with incorporated rattle have been deadly when t hings have gone quiet.

Around the Brighton region customer Peter has been catching a few nice sized squid from the shore. Peter has found green/glow jigs have been effective during full sunlight conditions.The same sort of jig colours have also been working for customer Aaron down near Mornington. Aaron and mates have been fishing the reef in approximately 6m of water and doing well. Green/glow, gold foil and also red foils have all been working in that depth.

On the whiting front, there have been good catches of excellent size fish coming from Westernport bay over the past week or so. While there hasn't been many anglers chasing them, the fish getting about have been of very good average size. Customer Steve found out last week that the quality of the fish was good, fishing around Tankerton and the middle spit. Steve found that the bite was hot at certain stages of the tide but as usual the fish had to be followed around and baits changed to suit. Pipi and fresh fresh was excellent with most fish going on pipi.

Customer Pat fished with his dad out in the port recently and found a good bag of fish around tortoise head and the surrounding banks. Pat fished the outgoing tide and moved about to stay on the fish. The bank edges fished the best in water around 5m deep. Pipi and mussel cocktails got the bites when fished on a small wide gap hook.

The squid fishing ash been consistent, and will only get better especially for the larger models as the weather gets colder. Both bays have been fishing well as they have had clear water conditions, even with the recent rain. This weekend's weather should really give some good squid fishing with no rainfall and clear sunny conditions. Customer Thao has been catching some quality calamari for the table and for fresh baits out in Westernport. Thao has been concentrating around the grassbeds near Tortoise Head and Tankerton with some good size squid finding the net. Size 3.0 jigs in natural yakka and also UV white and orange have been the best.

Out from Stoney Point customer Jamie and mates caught good numbers of squid fishing size 3.5 jigs along the bank drop offs. Fishing during the faster stage of the tide the 3.5's were crucial when in only 3m of water, as they stayed in the kill zone for long enough. UV white jigs worked when the cloud cover came through and during sunshine the red foil did better.

Mornington pier and rocks have still been producing good numbers squid for patient and persistent anglers. Fishing size 1.8 jigs has been fine when fishing the inside of the harbour or small pier, while the outside edge of the main pier and rocks are better approached with 2.5 size jigs. Red foils have been good around first or last light, with UV whites and aggressive colours like pinks and oranges have been excellent during sunlight hours.

Further north in the bay the region between Brighton and Black Rock has started producing more squid as the water cools off. Customer Peter fished from the rocks near Brighton recently to land a bag of nice sized squid. The aggressive viper red foil did the damage when their was a small amount of sunlight. UV pinks and also natural grass whiting patterns are very consistent around this region also. 

Whiting fishing has been steady in the port, and still the mainstay for local anglers. James from Unreel Fishing Charters has been catching some good size fish up the top end of bay, with many of fish around the 40cm mark. Fresh mussel has been an excellent bait along with tenderized squid.Staff member Don has also been catching whiting up around Tyabb. Don and mate Sam fished an afternoon run out tide in 6m of water to land around 20 fish up to 43cm. The average school size fish were in the 36 - 39cm and fell to squid and pipi cocktail baits.

With the onset of Autumn the pinkies and school snapper will pick up in the port. While there have been hoards of smaller fish, there have been some better fish coming from the long reef area (think Lysaughts through to Eagle rock). Working through the undersize fish has been a chore but larger baits and hooks will keep the smallest fish at bay - also hardier baits of yakka and pike will help hang in there until a bigger fish finds it. Depths of 10 - 14m have been better for larger fish, with the deeper water carrying large numbers of small fish. Customer Michael fished with a mate out from Stony point in 10m of water out from the pier to score a nice bag of pan sized fish on pilchard.

Westernport has been fishing well for all bread and butter species with plenty on offer. The squid fishing around the southern end of the port has been good for numbers and size of late. Customer Igor fished around Cat bay and Vetnor in search of some bigger squid recently and found some quality models fishing Egi Oh K Yamashita jigs around the reef and heavy weed. The 'K' series jigs have a different body buoyancy and will 'hoer' on the bottom a bit more than a regular jig, and will soft hands they can be walked through heavy structure without hanging up.

Customer Trent also did well on the squid in a similar area of the port down close to Phillip Island. Trent fished with a few mates and caught squid to 1kg on a variety of jigs, with size 3.0 and 3.5 getting down to the bottom easier in the current. Red foil and black jigs were the most productive on the day.

Some of the piers in the port have fishing well for squid, with Flinders the standout.  Customers Angelo and Ryan have fished the pier recently and found the daytime fishing better than after dark. The nights here have seen the pier packed with anglers chasing the yakkas, so the days have been much quieter. Angelo has been finding the colour 17 and 'White cow' clicks jigs have been go-tos in size 3.0 recently. Ryan has been finding red foil jigs in size 3.5 and also dark greens have been the best for him, especially late in the afternoon.

The large summer garfish have pricked many anglers attention recently, with some exceptional size fish about in decent numbers also. Many of the shallow banks have been holding the fish but the middle spit has also been an excellent place to start a berley trail. Customer Edly stopped at the spit recently after looking for the kingfish and got a great feed of gars. Edly found good numbers of gars in 2.5m of water and boated them on small sabiki rigs under a float.

On the kingfish front, there have been fish caught from West head and the 'Knobbies' around to Cape Woolamai and back to Cape Schank. A good sounder is your best friend is locating these fish, as their position will change depending on tides and current. Customer Andrew came past the store for some terminal tackle to hit up the kingfish and he managed a lovely fish out in the Western entrance. Andrew found live yakkas trolled slowly were the gun bait.

Westernport has become the more popular bay for the fisho's recently, as the attention has swung towards the shallow banks and grass beds in search of King George whiting. There haven't been any real hot spots for the whiting as many anglers will have their own favourite marks and locations, but one thing is for sure - if you're not moving around you won't catch. Moving about between the shallow bank edges and deeper holes and mixing up baits has been the go forf many anglers. Customer Mario has been doing well on the whiting in the port over the past few weeks with lots of mini moves earning the goods.

Mario has been a few different areas of the port but using the same techniques and looking for similar ground. Mario has been consistently finding quality fish along small lumps and flats in 16m of water along the north arm, with pipi and squid cocktail baits normally doing the job. Staff member Don also fished for the whiting before heading off on holidays around the middle spit and Tyabb area, with good bags of school fish to around 40cm coming from around 6m of water. Squid strips and pipi were also the most consistent performers, with size 2 straight worm hooks holding the baits steady in the current.

Amongst the whiting there have been plenty of fish keen to take the baits - which is perfect if you want some fresh baits for gummies and the like. Customer Ryan has been picking up whiting out from Stony Point, along the edge of the grass beds in 7m of water. In with the whiting Ryan has caught squid, pinkies, yakkas, slimies, leatherjacket, salmon and flathead. Plenty of mixed bag fishing to be had, with a small berley trail from the weighted bucket keeping the action happening. Ryan found that the Hayabusa 'spark' rigs were dynamite on all species.

On the bait front, the numbers of slimies and yakkas has been excellent. Some of the slimies have been up to 50cm which will give you a real run on light gear. Small pieces of pilchard or squid have been good to collect some top notch bait, with the main pier structures around Stony and Hastings holding good schools.

Further down at Flinders customer Angelo has been doing well on the yakkas using bait. Angelo has noticed an increase in 'ajiing' around the pier, which is finesse gear fishing for the yakkas and small pier fish on lures. Angelo noticed one particular angler who bagged over 20 yakkas in less than half an hour during the week using this method. Needless to say, Angelo has since purchased some specialised 'aji' style plastics and jigheads to try this method for himself. If you are interested in giving it a go talk to the boys in store, as there is a good selection of finesse rods and tackle to match.

On the gummy front, there has been no shortage of nice fish about. Small table sized fish have been plentiful while fishing the top end and along the deeper whiting patches, with some big females making their presence felt towards the western entrance. Customer Jeff caught a cracker of around 20kg recently from the western channel. Jeff kept the fish as it was tangle in the net it broke, and bleeding badly from the gills but completely stoked on it as a capture. Gummies like this are really on the cards over the next month or so as they come into the port to give birth.

Meanwhile just outside the port the bottom bouncing has been good. While many anglers have been starting to look for kingfish the gummies have been good just out from Flinders bank. Customer Aaron fished just out from here to land a heap a nice table sized shark amongst a heap of flatties to around 1kg. Aaron found squid was the most effective bait for everything.

Westernport has seen fewer snapper reports of recent compared to Port Phillip but there have still been some nice fish moving about. The snapper have been found along the 'plateaus' of the North Arm, between Stony Point and Yaringa, and also in reasonable numbers out from Rhyll. Customer Steve caught some nice fish to around 4kg out from Rhyll in 17m of water recently, with fresh squid and salmon working the best. Customer Thao fished the North Arm in search of some snapper and got a nice bag of fish to 4kg on freshly caught squid.

The gummies of the port have been the unsung heroes of late, and while they are always a possibility when fishing Westernport, there have been some nice fish about - with many large breeding females starting to move in. Customer Justin has landed gummies to 16kg during the week fishing around the Western Entrance with chunks of fresh salmon.

Customer Steve has been landing some nice gummies in amongst the snapper out from Rhyll. Steve has found the table sized gummies have been fond of pillies and trevally, and normally coming through and the tide reallys starts picking up. Around the Corinella region customer Mark has had a hard time finding a snapper through the gummies. Mark has been fishing fresh squid in depths of around 6m and has had no shortage picking up gummies in the 5kg size.

Customer Steve has been catching a few nice gummies around the Rhyll area. Some of the gummies Steve has been landing have been up to 15kg, with fresh chunk baits doing the job. Salmon, trevally and wrasse have been effective when fished on BKK 'glow' gummy circle hooks. A few bite offs from larger toothy sharks have been common in the region also, which are normally school shark and bronze whalers.

On the whiting front, things have been good for anglers moving about to stay on top of the fish. Customer Cashir fished with a mate along Tankerton and Tortoise head to land their bag of fish. Staying in the shallows of around 3m of water was the go, with pipi, squid and mussel cocktail baits working well.  Customer Tu fished the middle spit using pipi and strips of fresh squid to land some solid fish to 44cm. Tu found the 6m line was the better ground to stay in, while moving along to keep on top of the school.

There have been plenty of people out squid fishing during the week! The land based reports have been a bit on the quiet side, but with calm conditions and clear water the squid fishing has been excellent. Westernport bay has been the go for many anglers, with plenty of quality Autumn squid coming in.

Customer Lee took his young son out in Westernport where they fished along Tyabb bank. Lee's son had just purchased a new graphite rod with his birthday money and used it to good effect with a nice bag coming in. Size 3.0 and 3.5 Yamashita jigs in both UV whites and red foils were the standouts on the day.

Fishing in the same area customer Peter caught some ripper squid with some proper giants coming in at around 2kg. Pete has been a fan of the 'nemo' or broken colour patterns on the squid, with 15lb braid helping to drag these larger models out of the current easier.

Customer Alex has not long returned from a trip up north and is straight back into things with some excellent squid coming in to the boat. Alex was fishing with his father up the top end of the port to land 13 squid all up.

Customer Brendan also fished the port with a mate chasing squid, launching at Stony Point. The guys worked their way along the banks, changing their depth and drifts from 2m through to 9m of water to find a bag. The last hour of the run in tide fished best and a fair variety of jigs were used in order to find some success, with the most consistent being natural red foil/grass whiting and glow white.

Some of the boys' squid were up to 37cm long hood length, with a couple more lost at the boat along with a big cuttlefish estimated at around 2kg.

The whiting fishing in Westernport has been slower for most anglers over the last week, with many people going donuts on them. The anglers catching KGW aren't all getting their bags, but they have been noticing better average size on the ones around. The deeper marks and channels have been worth a fish as these spots are normally where you have a good chance at finding some proper 'kidney slappers'. Just remember to get yourself organized as you won't get a massive bite window on these fish once the tide starts to get going in the deep. Preparation is the key.

Mario and John however did well just days ago on this bag of fish from the top end of Westernport. The usual constant small moves and changing baits over frequently was the key to stacking a bag together.

Customers Damien and Benny also got into some nice sized fish around Tankerton just recently. The boys found the fish actively feeding in 5m of water, and fresh squid was the gun bait on them. The larger fish didn't muck about when biting either, with a couple of them gut hooked on 'C10U' style fine gauge hooks.

The whiting fishing in westernport has picked up a bit over the last week or so, with some better size fish on the go. The hot areas have been the middle spit and also the Yaringa end of quail bank. Many fish over 40cm have been around, with the average size being about 38cm. Customer Carlo got out over the weekend and got into some nice sized fish. The hot bait was fresh squid, with a few taking pipi also. The run out tide fished the best in 6m of water.

Quail bank has been producing some solid whiting like this ripper for customer Colin. Colin fished around the 4m area along the bank and got his bag of fish, with 10 of them being over 40cm. Pipi and mussel fished best during the incoming tide.