VIC Fishing Report
Weekly Fishing Report from Compleat Angler Dandenong 12th October 2018
Snapper
With some warm weather present over the past week, things have heated up on the snapper front. Both bays are producing quality fish with 4-5kg common. Another 3 weeks or so and things should be almost red hot, but there are fish out there ready to catch now! Bill from Mornington got out and scored a nice 4kg fish in 18m on pilly. The Mornington area has been well worth a shot especially out in the 18-22m area.
Customer Mana scored a ripper fish at 7.8kg out from Mornington also in 21m towards the channel. Mana caught the fish on pilchard and had to bring the fish via handlining method as the braid-spooled reel knocked into freespool and caused a massive knot which meant the fish had to be retrieved old school style!
Out in Westernport the fish have been going fairly well, but the hoards of anglers haven’t flocked to many areas of the port just yet. The ‘top end’ is the place to be concentrating – with the area around Joe’s Island attracting numbers of anglers and also producing some nice fish. The surrounding channels have been harbouring fish to 8kg, with many around the 5kg mark also. Customers Jason and Brent were fishing the area over the weekend and caught fish around the 5kg mark using freshly caught yakkas.
The deeper water out from Rhyll and Cowes has been holding some nice fish with some good gummies mixed in. Fishing in 18m of water around ‘Silverleaves’ is a pretty good way to connect to a nice fish at present. Customer Johnny has been landing fish to 6kg from the area on freshly caught squid. Silver whiting can be a good bait option here also and pilchards are just plain silly to forget also!
A bit further around towards Warneet there have also been some nice fish caught. The shoals of Bagge Harbour and Long Reef at Lysaughts have had fish to 8kg popping up, with the shallower areas producing the better fish. Customer Zac has been having fun on fish to 7.5kg out along the area between 8 and 15m. Pilchard, squid and pike have all accounted for fish this week.
Quality squid about
The Spring squid fishing has been good with some excellent sized squid about. While Westernport has been producing it’s usual large squid, Port Phillip has been even better. The northern end of the bay has been a bit quieter than usual but with less anglers fishing the area it’s no surprise. The southern Mornington Peninsula has been the go, with Rye onwards to the heads producing excellent squid.
James from Unreel Fishing Charters has been catching some very nice squid in between snapper trips lately, with most of his squid coming from the Mt Martha area. James has been finding solid white jigs to be productive during bright sunny conditions. Staff member Dylan also caught some smaller squid around the Mornington area over the weekend, with bright orange jigs working the best in around 3m of water.
Around the southern end of the bay, customers Benny and Christian have been catching some good squid. The boys have been working the Portsea – Queenscliff area and have found the better squid in the deeper water. Using ‘tiprun’ style jigs the boys have been able to get down fast and deep to the larger squid, with purple cloth killing it down deep. Tip run style jigs are designed to be held down in depth and current and respond to the slightest movement which helps lure the big squid to them.
Reports of big squid would be incomplete with mentioning Flinders. The pier has seen some nice squid hitting the planks over the last few weeks. With some of the big spawning models coming inshore to breed in Spring, Flinders is always a good chance for a true monster. While not super consistent with wind and swell taking affect, this time of year you have got a real shot. Fishing big jigs like 3.5 or even size 4.0 you are getting the attention of the biggest squid.
Having a baited jig out under a float is also a good way to increase your chances. Silver whiting or grass whiting are excellent bait for the big squid, but tommy rough and salmon are also good. Customer Tuan has been landing some proper squid on the baited jigs of late, with some of them hitting the 50cm mark!
Do YOU want to catch more and BIGGER squid??
Make sure you don’t miss out on our YAMASHITA squid info night, tickets are selling fast!
Contact the store on 039794 9397 to book and learn the tips from the masters from Japan!
Bread and butter landbased options
The land based fishing around the bay has been good for quite a few different species lately, whether you’re after some fresh baits or for some fresh fish for the dinner table. The salmon have been moving about, and while not as thick as they are during the cooler months there have still been enough about to normally get in to a few. Customer Brendan got into a heap at the mouth of the Patto recently on soft plastics. Brendan found that small paddle tail soft plastics under 3 inches were the most effective when fished on light jigheads. During the calmer conditions the fish will push deeper and need to be fished with more finesse, and this is when plastics will outfish most other offerings.
Customer Frank also found some solid salmon fishing around Mornington. Frank again found small plastics the most effective when the other lures went quiet. Some of the salmon around the southern end of bay have been 1.5kg upwards. Around the same areas, especially inside the calmer harbours and coves the garfish have still been about. Not many anglers have been chasing them but some quality fish have been about. Staff member Don has been fishing for gars around Mornington and back to Frankston and he has seen some larger models. As usual, fine berley and very small pieces of silverfish have been the go – with size 14 hooks getting a lot more bites than bigger hooks.
Nearer to the ocean beaches, there have still some large salmon showing up. Beach fishing anglers have slowed off but there have been fish upwards of 3kg hanging around the gutters and headlands from Port Phillip heads down to Punchbowl. Customer Robin was fishing one of his usual areas around Phillip Island and found plenty of thick fish to 2.5kg. Bluebait fished on flasher style paternoster rigs with small squid skirts added got all the bites.
Around the shallower sections of the bay the flathead have starting moving in. Now is actually a good time to target these tasty fish as they push inshore and are hungry and hunting. There are a few species of flathead on offer for anglers also, with rock, sand and yank flathead all available. Customer Ryan found some nice rock flathead from the piers around the top end of the bay – with Brighton and St Kilda both productive.
Small paddle tail plastics like the Megabass Hazedong Shads were super effective when fished on 1/8oz jigs. Staff member Dylan also good numbers of sand flathead to 41cm in close along the Seaford – Frankston area. 2.8” ribbed style paddle tails accounted for every fish, with more than 30 fish caught in the space of a few hours.
Good luck this week from the team at Compleat Angler Dandenong – George, Dylan, Don, Chris and Glenys.