Fishing Reports for Victoria, Westernport and Port Phillip Bay

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.

Port Phillip has still been busy with holiday boaties over the past week, and most of the reports have been bread and butter fishing for pinkies, whiting and squid. The rip has seen some kingfish caught but this week has been a bit patchy. For the persistent anglers some of the pinkies have been reasonable, but you'll have to fish through the smaller ones until a few larger fish come through. Customer Darcy slogged away from the rocks recently in search of a better fish, and managed a nice fish of around 3kg from near Mt Martha. Pilchard was the go for him, and most of the better fish have been taken late into the night.

While the whiting fishing has been patchy around the full moon, there have still been plenty of anglers getting into a few of them. Customers Bashir and Danny have been doing alright on the whiting fishing out from Altona. Fishing the broken ground between 4 - 6m has been the go, with pipi and mussel being the most effective baits.

Most of the whiting have come on the bite before dark, which has been when a bit of the water traffic has slowed down. It pays to have multiple rods rigged and plenty of baits prepped around this time, as the small pinkies have also been ravenous around last light.

The other hots area for the whiting at present has been around Sorrento. Customer Josh fished out from here during the week and found some nice fish over 40cm. The best bait was pipi, but fresh cuttlefish is also very good in this southern section of the bay. Fishing the broken ground wide of the moorings and around the broken patches of the 'south sand' has been effective, especially when fishing in depths of 5 - 7m.

The squid fishing around the bay has been good, without being red hot. Most of the piers and everyday areas have been producing some solid squid, but no real monsters this week. Staff member Dylan has found that red and orange jigs have been super effective this week, moreso than most other colours. Dylan has been fishing the piers between Mornington and Sorrento, with size 3.0 being the most 'universal' size.

Customer Noel fished from the pier at Sorrento during the week where he managed a nice cuttlefish. Noel caught the cuttlefish on a red  foil jig, while conditions were cloudy and overcast. Fishing your jigs very close to the bottom and almost dragging them above the sand is a very good way to land cuttlefish, as they seem to prefer the jig 'hovering' just above the bottom. Fishing this method 'tip run' style is the best way to keep contact with the jig, and be ready to strike or move it from the weed as soon as you feel the drift change.

While reports have thinned off a little from Port Phillip, there is still plenty going on! The snapper have slowed off a little with their usual pre-xmas spawning movements, but there are still plenty of patches of fish to catch. The southern end of the bay seems to be the go at the moment, as the water temp is slightly lower and more conducive to a snapper bite.

Out from Mornington, customers aboard 'Relax, Go Fishing' charters have been getting some solid fish to around the 6kg mark throughout the week. Baits of silver whiting have been very effective along with squid, and a few fish taking the usual pilchard as well. The productive areas have been from Mt Eliza through to Mornington in 16-17-18m of water.

Out from Black Rock customer Adrian has been catching some nice fish to around 4.5kg on pillies. Adrian has been fishing around the reef edge in 9m and fishing pilchards. Using a strong berley trail of pilchard cubes has been the best way to keep the nearby fish interested, with a handful of cubes going in every 40 minutes or so. Customer Michael has been getting a few fish still out from Carrum also. Michael has been fishing nearby to the outer artificial reef in 18m and finding the odd fish around sunrise. Fresh squid has been Michael's preferred bait.

Customer Mick came into the store recently to set up some Port Phillip 'specific' gear. After realizing that some of his stuff was more suited to Western port Mick purchased a lighter outfit to tackle the finicky nature of Port Phillip's snapper. Very next session Mick was out and into fish to about 3.5kg, with long octopus tentacles getting the bites.

Down along the Peninsula there have been some squid caught from some of the piers. Dirtier water and winds have slowed things a bit but persistence and constant jig changes has been the way to piece a bag together. Staff member Don got down to Mornington and although conditions weren't super favourable he still managed a decent haul. Switching between rattle and non rattle 2.5 size jigs was the go, with UV colours and rattles getting bites before the other jigs.

At the bottom of the peninsula there has been some movement from the schooling kingfish. While not 'on fire' yet, there are fish around - and they are worth targeting. Friend of the shop Bruce fished around the heads and offshore towards Barwon over the weekend to get into a few school sized fish. Bruce's best tactic was to run a 'Fanasty squid' hardbody behind the boat and pin a long squid strip on a dropper behind the lure. The lure works to get the king's attention and the squid strip seals the deal.

Squid reports have been good over the past week even with the rain that has washed into the bays. Westernport has seemed to be consistent with the squid fishing and there have been some big squid caught. Customer Justin caught some nice models around the 1kg size up along the shallower banks of the top end.

Customer Chau and his brother fished out from Hastings recently to land some thumping squid on the banks. The guys managed squid to 2kg on a mixture of jigs, with blacks and greens working - along with jigs baited with silver whiting. 

Customers Stan and Stephan fished the Sorrento and Blairgowrie area of Port Phillip recently with some big squid landed. Covering ground from 4m to 10m in depth they found some good patches of squid. Size 3.0 jigs were most effective when fished with small chin weights to get down faster, with red, UV clear and UV black the best performers.

The rocky sections of the bay's shoreline have been producing average sized squid as per normal. Ledges such as Mornington and Mt Martha have had squid in the 20cm size range caught on size 2.5 and 3.0 jigs. Some anglers fishing slow sinking 3.5 jigs have also been luring in larger squid with the extra distance on the cast, so if you haven't used a jig like this it may just land you that big one from your favourite land based location.

The run of large squid has lasted around Mornington of late, with local angler Mario landing a good bag of big squid from the area. Again size 3.0 and 3.5 jigs have been the go, covering the water more effectively and catching the attention of the bigger squid. Customer Jo also caught some nice ones at Mornington and also Beaumaris. The Beaumaris region is very shallow and rocky so size 2.5 or 3.0 shallow jigs are the go.

Port Phillip's snapper bite has picked up over the last few weeks, and even moreso this week. The fish have been more active and bites have been occurring around first light and also in the afternoon. The northern section of the bay has been more productive with Patto - north the real better section. Customer Harry and mate Stephen fished around the reef off Black Rock in 7m during the week to land a couple of nice table fish on silver whiting. Silver whiting has picked up dramatically over the last week as a bait also.

Customer Sam got out on Thursday morning and scored a nice fish in 15m off Frankston in flat conditions. The Frankston - Seaford area has been holding smaller patches of fish but certainly not as much boat traffic as further north around Black Rock. Customer Danny has been bagging fish to 3.7kg off Black Rock himself with both pilchard and garfish working well.

Staff members George and Chris fished out from Black Rock on Sunday afternoon. With sloppy southwest conditions and a late tide change the fish were going to bite. The guys found some small reef ledges in 13m that were holding fish nearby so started berleying. After about 15 minutes a few rods went off and the guys had a decent bite for about 2 hours, with 8 fish to around 4kg coming aboard. The smaller fish were around 40cm but still happy to nail a whole silver whiting on tandem 5/0 and 6/0's.

Out from Carrum on the mud there have been fish to be caught. With a lot more moving about to find active fish and a bit of intuition as to which direction to head in, there hasn't been as many boats. The areas that seem to be holding numbers of fish seem to be around the 15m line from Carrum, 13m off Seaford and again 15m out from Mordialloc. Customer Zoran got out with his Dad a couple of times over the weekend and scored some nice fish to 4kg out in 15m from Carrum. Silver whiting and pilchard worked equally on these fish.

There have still been some quality squid on offer in the bay, especially from Frankston south. Around Mornington there have been some better than average squid about, so upsizing to bigger jigs is a very good idea. Around Sorrento and Portsea the large squid have been about, with slack water producing more for anglers the shallower water. Across at Queenscliff the big squid have still be about, as staff member George found out. George fished with mate of the store Bruce and AFL footballer Bachar Houli. The boys fished just outside Queenscliff harbour over the grass beds in 3m of water to land over 20 big squid. Hayabusa and Shimano jigs were the best performers of the session.

After cleaning up on the squid the guys targeted whiting just north of Queenscliff. Fishing the tide around last light in 3 - 6m of water some nice whiting were caught on pipi and fresh squid. With the bite a bit slower than normal changing to lighter leader and smaller hooks converted a few extra fish.

There has been a fair bit of action happening on the land based fishing front. All along the shoreline of the bay there has been activity from a few different options. Squid and salmon have been plentiful and the landbased pinkies and snapper have been good.

Customer Brett took his young fisher mate Walter down to the local piers on the peninsula where some big salmon had been spotted. Casting small metal lures around the current lines and drop offs resulted in some super fat salmon hitting the deck of the pier. Some of the locals were even getting belted on large squid jigs, so the competition between fish is fierce. Keep an eye out for the bait schools if you are fishing the piers, as large numbers of pilchards and small anchovies are in the bay at the moment, as these fish are gorging themselves on them.

The peninsula around Mornington and Frankston has been producing some super-sized squid over the past few weeks, which have been much bigger than usual. Size 2.5 jigs and small squid are the norm in the area, but at the minute there are plenty about that area a kilogram or bigger, and size 3.5 jigs have been the go. Staff member Don fished Mornington pier during the week to land some of the bigger squid, using bigger jigs. Staff member Dylan also caught some similar sized squid in the area over the weekend, with size 3.5 jigs in UV lemon and pilchard patterns getting the job done.

On the land based snapper front, there hasn't really been a standout spot - moreso if you have a location that has produced for you it is worth fishing at the moment, especially with some strong wind forecast over the weekend. Customer and APL local ninja Cipto fished from a couple of the piers around Black Rock during the week to land a ripper school fish just before dark on bluebait. 

While normally an early season location, customer Frank has been catching snapper from the rocks on Phillip Island. Frank has been catching fish to over 70cm on pilchard on the surf gear, with some solid fish getting back in to the reef. If you are fishing the local rocks just be mindful of the swell and tide conditions, and fish heavy mono instead of braid if you can. Mono will give you a bit more resilience around the rocks and a some more shock absorption during those final headshakes and lunges.

From the local Port Phillip piers there have been some varied size snapper caught. There have been some large fish caught, with customer Peter reporting fish to 5kg from Mordi pier. These fish are not uncommon and it is just a matter of persistence and picking the conditions for them. Customer Connor also caught some nice pan sized fish from Mornington pier. Connor has been out early braving the wind and rain to catch his fish, which have taken bluebait. One thing's for sure, you won't catch fish like these sitting at home!

The school snapper have even been hanging around some of the piers in the southern end of the bay. While not normally a common catch from the piers around the Rye and Rosebud area, customer Eisa reports of some nice table sized fish from Dromana pier. Fishing with pilchard and slimey mackerel Eisa caught 5 nice fish to 46cm and a good flathead. The first few hours of night were the most productive during the incoming tide.

The squid fishing around Port Phillip has been good over the past week or so, and there has been some quality squid on offer. After presenting an information talk on squid fishing at the store, Eisuke Kawakami from Yamashita got out and did some fishing with Kosta from 'Hooked Up' magazine and Victorian Yamashita representative Mitch. Fishing the southern end of Port Phillip the guys managed some serious size squid, on a mixture of jigs and techniques. 

Some of the best action was had fishing deep in 15+ metres of water using the 'tip run' method. Many anglers would not even contemplate fishing this depth for squid but years of squid fishing knowledge led Eisuke to suggest this technique. If you missed out on the Yamashita squid talk or want to get in on some of the deep water squidding, pop in store and talk to the guys about the 'tip run' method.

Staff member Dylan got out into the bay during the week and fished around Frankston and Olivers Hill for squid. After getting some aggressive bites on smaller jigs, Dylan changed to size 3.5 and 4.0 jigs and proceeded to land some serious squid, for the area. 10 squid was no problem as the bite was aggressive in 4m of water, with many of the squid around or over 1kg in weight. A mixture of colours were successful but the Yamashita 'K' series in red mullet and DTD in the same colour pattern were the standouts.

Continuing on the theme of big squid, customer Mario has been catching some thumper squid from the Mornington area. The size of the squid along the Frankston - Mornington area has been excellent over the past week, with some of larger models topping 1.5kg which isn't common for the area. Many different coloured size 3.0 jigs have been working well, as the larger squid seem to be more aggressive.

Meanwhile the King George whiting have been going very well for anglers fishing the Portsea - Queenscliff area again this week. The Lonsdale bight through to Queenscliff has been the hot spot, with Portsea shallow producing some quality fish also. Friend of the shop Bruce fished out from Queenscliff over the weekend to land a bag of quality fish on freshly caught and pipi.

The whiting have been going well in Westernport also, with the top end starting to produce good numbers of fish. Tyabb and Quail banks have been producing fish to 40cm on pipi, and staff member Don has been getting amongst them. Don fished out from Yaringa over the weekend and found some nice fish to around the 40cm. Fresh squid was the most productive bait and the fish bit best during the top half of the run in tide.

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!