Fishing Reports for Victoria, Westernport and Port Phillip Bay

The gummies have been going off! If you're after some light tackle sport and a feed of fresh flake then now is the time to be amongst them. Both bays have been producing nice fish, and the offshore action has also been great.

Customers Johnny and Thao have had a few good sessions throughout the western entrance of Westernport with some solid sharks to around the 20kg mark, and a good amount of nice table fish to 13kg or so. Chunk baits of freshly caught salmon and yakka have been the goods when fished on heavy gauge 9/0 in-line circle hooks and 80lb leader. Fishing the bigger tides and deeper channel edges has required lead to 30oz and suitable rods coupled with fine diameter braid to help hold bottom.

Just outside the entrance the gummy fishing has been outstanding, with customers Christian and Jason catching some good fish. Fishing either behind Phillip Island or Cape Schank around the 20-25m line and deeper out between 40-50m has been the go especially when conditions along for a good drift. Finding small isolated patches of reef around these areas can be an excellent way of location both the gummies and suitable bait. The boys have been fishing fresh wrasse and slimies on similar westernport gear but without the needed extra lead. Paternoster rigs can be successful offshore also and they provide extra movement of the baits when held just off the bottom.

If venturing offshore or towards the entrance isn't your thing the gummy fishing has been good further up the bay. Customers Jamie and Brad landed 3 nice fish in a recent session while fishing out from Stony Point. The guys were sitting along a nice channel drop and using freshly caught baits of yakka. Finding a suitable drop to intercept the gummies is the key to prime location, and catching your own fresh bait helps immensely.

The southern end of Port Phillip has been excellent for large gummies also, with the south channel being the main hunting grounds. Customer Josh has been out over the past week and has been landing some ripper fish to around 20kg. Fishing the south channel itself with freshly caught squid and salmon has been the undoing of these fish. Fresh trevally have also been excellent when they have been around.

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. 

Autumn is a great time of year to be out chasing the gummy sharks, both in the inlets and bays and also offshore. When calm Autumn conditions prevail, the gummy fishing can be very productive as many have been finding out. Customer John landed a cracking gummy of 23kg recently while fishing offshore from Port Albert. John was fishing 26m of water and had a 20 minute fight in light line with the big female gummy, which snapper the stem of his reel off the rod during it's last powerful run. After some tense moments the fish was in the boat. The successful bait was freshly caught slimey mackerel.

Inside Westernport there have been plenty of table sized gummies about, and some elephant sharks floating about in the same areas. Fishing the muddy waters around Corinella, customer Alex has been landing fish to around 6kg. Fishing freshly caught fish baits around the edge of mudflats and channel drops has been the most consistent method, with baits of mullet, salmon, trevally and mackerel all working very well. Customer Anel and mates have been catching both gummies and elephants from the shore around Corinella and Lang Lang on oily baits like pilchard and salmon. Fishing after dark has been the best, with the fish moving right in close to the channel drops.

The south end of Port Phillip has been fishing well for autumn gummies for local anglers also. Customer Petar has been catching quite a few fish out from Rye in both the Rye and south channels. Petar has been averaging a few fish around a metre most trips, with some larger toothies earning their freedom also. Freshly caught yakka and squid have been the most effective baits.

If you're going to put some time into targeting these gummies, it's well worth stocking up with smaller hooks and sabiki rigs, along with a good amount of berley - as freshly caught bait is simply the most effective on these sharks. The scent that a fresh bait puts out is irresistible to any nearby shark. Petar has been catching yakkas not far from where he is fishing, with some berley and small lures. Jigging small slow jigs in the deeper water has been very effective when the mackerel come through the berley trail, which is keeping him busy and providing him with quality fresh baits.

The offshore action continues around the state, with many anglers concentrating on bluefin tuna and kingfish. While the kingfish would be the harder of the two to keep on top, the numbers of tuna round have been very exciting for the next few months ahead. The West coast has been holding good numbers of tuna out from Portland all the way back to virtually Melbourne's doorstep.

Customer Tony fished out from Portland over the weekend in search of the tuna and found fish in the 20kg range. The fish were encountered from 20m depth out to around 60m of water, across to Julia Island. The most effective lures for the guys were small skirted lures in 'lumo' colour. Tony was fishing these smaller lures on lighter spin gear and lighter hooks, and he didn't lose any fish. Just remember to chose your hook correctly when changing between light and heavy tackle, or mono and braid.

Customer Jason also got into some bluefin action over the weekend, but with fish just outside of Port Phillip.heads. There have been schools of fish pushing their way up into the bay all the way north of Mud Island. With plenty of food available, there's no reason for them to not be there! Jason found casting stickbaits and poppers into the schools was most effective, with the schools giving themselves away only by the appearance of a 'shimmer' on the surface. Casting to these fish is more effective than trolling through them in many instances.

While the kingies are still about and playing hard ball customer Joel had just about had his arms removed from his body after a trip across the ditch to New Zealand. Joel fished hard for the monster kingfish that NZ in known for, and in 4 days stacked up nearly 60 fish - and all jigging! Needless to say Joel won't be performing many tasks with his arms for the next 6 months or so, but who'd be complaining!

The gummy shark fishing has been good in both bays and offshore recently, with fish ranging from just size and perfect table sized fish through to large fish in the 20kg range. In southern Port Phillip there have been some quality fish to 20kg roaming the channels and pushing up the bay. Fishing around the channel out from Rye customer Peter landed a solid gummy of around 11kg on freshly caught squid. The latter stage of the run was when Peter caught his fish.

Out wide from Mt Martha and Mornington there have been a few nice sized fish caught while chasing the snapper also. Customer Bashir scored a nice fish of around 5kg on pilchard doing exactly this.

The shores of Westernport have been producing fish for customer Anel. Anel fished with his brother and a few mates over the weekend to land a brace of nice eating sized fish. Anel has been fishing with pillies and squid down at Stockyard Point and Lang Lang around the bottom of the tide to score his fish. Fishing after dark has been the most successful time especially when the tides coincide.

Customer Bill has also been landing some ripper gummies while fishing the southern end of Westernport. Bill has been fishing for the larger fish that enter the port and use the southern channels, with most of the fish coming from buoy 6 towards Flinders bank. Bill has been finding fresh slimey mackerel the most effective bait but fresh squid has also accounted for one of the fish during the run out tide.

Out from Port Albert customer John landed some nice gummies using a variety of baits, with pillies the most effective and getting the most bites. John landed a couple of nice eating sized male gummies around the 9kg mark while fishing over the shallow inshore sand and rubble out from the entrance.

There have been plenty of gummies caught by angler over the past week. Many fish to 9kg or so have been making their way into the catch, with both bays producing the goods. The hot area has been the southern end of Port Phillip, with the channels from Safety Beach across to Swan Bay holding good numbers of moving fish. Many of these smaller channels are all excellent to fish but will produce better on the correct stage of the tides. Sitting a tide out in a particular spot can be the best way of working out when the fish move through the area.

Customer Josh fishes for gummies regularly around the southern end of the bay and over the weekend he got into a couple of quality table fish around 12kg out from Portsea. Josh was fishing some of the feeder channels around Mud Island and found that chunks of freshly caught salmon were the most effective baits.

Customer Andy also fished the southern region of the bay over the weekend, with his 2 gummies coming from the channels around Rye. Freshly caught squid was the gun bait for the gummies, which were all caught on red foil Hayabusa jigs. The couple of fish that Andy caught were perfect eating sized males around 7kg each.

Over in Westernport, gummies of the same size have been a common catch during the week. Customer Bart has been landing fish to 10kg fishing out from Rhyll in 19m of water. Bart has been finding pilchards the most consistent bait but also needing to be replaced as pinkies and other fish constantly pick them off the hook.

In the same area customer Michael and mate landed 3 nice fish to 6kg over the weekend. The guys were fishing the area for some larger toothy sharks with heavier gear, but also had some gummy baits out, and took some flake home for their efforts. Baits of freshly caught mullet, salmon and squid all did the job, with the fish running along the mudflat edge on the run out tide. 

The 'everyday' species on offer around the bay have been providing whether you're in the boat or fishing from the shore. Squid fishing of late has been productive all around the bay as customer Peter has been finding out. Peter fished with a mate out from Rye over the weekend to land a nice bag of squid. Most productive jigs were size 3.0 Yakamitos in the 'ribena' colour.

Customer Tony fished with mate over near Queenscliff on the weekend to land some nice squid and cuttelfish. Tony found that the stand out jig was a fluoro yellow 'lemon meringue' coloured jig. The bright coloured jig out-performed all others in the area, and has a good track record in the Queenscliff region.

The local piers and sandy spits and coves have been holding some nice garfish lately also. The 'normal' piers such as Frankston and Mordialloc have been producing but they have been better during the day rather than at night. If you are able to get out on the water and berley up the size of the gars has been better. Customer Edly has been making the most of these tasty fish over the past few weeks, with some good numbers of fish to 35cm being swung aboard. Silverfish and maggots have been the best baits of late, with a light trickle of berley enough to keep the fish nearby.

Squid fishing around both bays has been pretty good recently, as we've had no rain until just the last 24hrs. Some of the northern regions of both bays will be discoloured and will need a good few days to clean up - but these areas have been a tad too warm for numbers of squid recently anyway. While you will catch squid right up in the warmer water of the bays, the larger squid tend to prefer the cooler oceanic water coming in from the bottom of the bays.

While it's not mayhem yet - it won't be far away. Mornington pier has been starting to produce a few more squid, and in a month or so there should be large numbers of small squid in the harbour. Stock up on small jigs in the 1.75 & 1.8 size while they're in stock! Customer Connor fished the pier recently and caught a few squid to 25cm hood length. Connor found 2 different were effective over 2 days - bright orange and pilchard patterns in size 2.2.

The southern end of the bay has had lots of squid in the 200g size especially around Rye and Rosebud. Customer Jason was out stocking up for a kingfish session recently and found no shortage of squid in around 5m of water off Rye - with darker coloured jigs working the best. Blacks, dark reds and dark greens were the most effective.

Across in Westernport bay the squid fishing has been good further south also. While not known for producing huge numbers, the Flinders area has seen some bigger size as per usual. Customer Ryan caught a couple of nice specimens from the pier in between all the mackerel floats. With all the mackerel around Ryan found the natural mackerel pattern Yamashita worked the best. Just out from the pier customer Justin caught some really solid squid. Fishing the area out from the pier in the boat can be effective with size 3.5 fast sink jigs, as there is some undercurrent that will keep lighter jigs from reaching the 'kill zone'.

Customer Brendan also found some nice squid out in Westernport over the weekend. Brendan found a UV orange belly/brown back Yamashita jig did the damage. Brendan was targeting the edge of the grass beds in 6m of water to catch his squid.

The gummy shark fishing has been over the past few weeks, for both table sized fish in both bays along with the larger females that move into the bays to pup over this time of year. The smaller table fish have been caught frequently from Tenby and Stockyard Point in Westernport especially during the nights. Customer Anel caught 5 nice fish with some mates over the weekend on the run out tide. Anel found that pilchard and squid were the better baits.

Southern Port Phillip has been producing some super solid fish for anglers persisting and using fresh baits. Customer Josh has been fishing with mates in the channels around the Rye and Sorrento region and he has been catching some good fish. Josh fished the south channel over the weekend to land a ripper female fish of 18kg. Josh fished the run out tide and found fresh slimey mackerel was the successful bait.

Customer Ryan has also been catching quite a few small gummies from the Mornington region. Ryan has caught fish from 18m through to 21m, using fresh baits of yakka, slimey and squid. These smaller gummies have been present in the area, and also to the north around Brighton and Altona. Fresh baits have been the key in attracting the gummies in rather than berley also.

Port Phillip has still been producing similar bread and butter species as Westernport,with whiting and gummies the main targets to the south of the bay. Customer Mario and mate fished out from Mt Martha in search of KGW recently and he found a nice bag of fish from 35 - 46cm. Mario found that fresh squid and cuttlefish were the gun baits

Out wide from Mt Martha customer Josh tried his luck on the gummies again. Josh worked his way into the south channel where he picked up 2 nice table sized gummies of about 7kg each. Josh found strips of freshly caught squid were effective, as he couldn't find any salmon for bait. Josh found the top of the tide the most productive time.

While many anglers have been battling to find much in the way of size pinkies, there have been patches of fish to around 1kg about. Customer Ryan fished the inshore reef south of Mornington to take home some nice fish up to 44cm. The larger fish have been hanging in schools away from the smaller fish, so if you find yourself stuck catching undersize a simple move a bit deeper might put you on to some better fish. Larger baits and hooks have been weeding out the small fish, with harder baits like yakka performing well. Soft plastics in 3 - 4 inch have been good at minimizing smaller fish as well, especially if they are a TPR style plastic. Mornington and also Black Rock have been holding some decent fish among the small fish.