Fishing Reports for Victoria, Westernport and Port Phillip Bay

The bream fishing has really heated up as Autumn has kicked along. Traditionally Autumn is a great time to be out chasing bream whether it's local or down the road. The bream fishing throughout Gippsland has been good, as many of the estuaries that have been shut over the warmer months are now open and have some fresh water pushing down them, and tides moving the bait around and firing the fishing up. Staff member Chris fished out in Gippsland with mates and found that the bream were aggressive towards baitfish pattern hardbodies around the weedbeds.

The Gippsland lakes are starting to produce some large bream as the weather cools down. with the three big rivers all producing fish. The recent rain has triggered some bigger fish to start schooling for their spawning movements later during winter. Customers Luke and Luke fished the rivers recently and found some solid bream to 44cm in the Tambo. The boys found that the early morning bite was the most productive fishing, and the addition of stealth was what got the bite over the line. The boys moved into position by the use of boat paddles as to not spook the fish.

Meanwhile back in the local rivers the bream have also been fishing pretty well. The Patterson river is always a good spot to tackle a decent bream, as customer Ange has been doing. Ange has been lure casting from the shore during both the day and at night, and he has been catching fish to around 35cm. Lately small deep running crankbaits have been the most effective for him, as they bump along the bottom to entice a bite. Staff member George has also been down at Patto and has been landing fish to similar size. George has been fishing a variety of baits and has found baits like pipi, squid, and small strip baits of fish have been working when fished on very light leader and sinkers. The fish have been biting well into the night, with some as late as 11pm.

The Werribee river has produced some nice fish for anglers fishing with small freshwater yabbies. Customer Glenn from the Keysborough Angling Club weighed in two nice fish recently fishing the lower section of the river. Both of Glenn's fish were in the mid 30cm size range. Baits of shrimp have also been effective when fished around the reed edges.

The Yarra river has also been fishing well for bream. Customer Ryan has been enjoying some good sessions on the fish while fishing land based. While the water clarity was excellent the fishing was tough, with picky fish cautiously rejecting lures if they weren't sure of them. Ryan has managed some nice fish to just under 40cm on small shrimp imitations. Small stickbaits and sinking hardbodies that imitate the local shrimp have been the best when let sink slowly around the pylons and pontoons. Staff member Dylan has also been catching bream to just under a kilo in the Yarra recently. Dylan has been fishing small baitfish profiled soft plastics around the retaining walls and concrete pylons in the river. The Megabass Hazedong shads have been excellent when fished on a 1/12th jig and slowly twitched very close to the structure.

Things are good in the fresh! There are plenty of options for all manner of fishing and heading in all different directions. Up around the Eildon region the pondage has been producing fish from pre-holidays stockings when conditions allow. With plenty of water still being sent down the Goulburn river the pondage has experienced increased flow which has made the bite a bit inconsistent. Fishing during the next spell of low pondage flow will see the fish come back on. Dough style baits and light line have been the key to catching these fish. Staff members Don and George fished the pondage during the week and found a few smaller fish amongst tough conditions. Persistence and the correct berley have been key.

While the Goulburn itself hasn't been super exciting in terms of trout reports there have been some nice fish caught in the rivers above Eildon itself. Customer Chris had a good weekend fishing with his two boys recently on both the Delatite and Howqua rivers. While Chris had good success fishing small bladed spinners and hardbodies, his sons Atticus and Flynn caught both brown and rainbow trout on unweighted worms free drifted into some of the pools.

In the south Gippsland region the rivers have been running as low and clear as ever but still producing fish. While the fish may be small they are not pushovers and still require an element of stealth in approach unless you want to see the tail end of the trout heading in the opposite direction. Customer Brendan fished the Noojee region over the weekend and landed a few typical brown trout from the Latrobe river. Brendan found that the most effective lures were small slender jerkbaits in natural galaxia patterns.

On the cod scene things are starting to heat up for the bigger fish. Early Autumn is an excellent time to target the bigger fish in the lakes and dams, while the smaller fish will still keep you busy. Customer Shane fished Lake Mulwala just recently with his wife in some lovely conditions.  The lake produced a few fish for them, with 3 nice cod around the 60cm mark taking spinnerbaits worked along the channel edges.

Continuing on with the cod, the locally stocked lake of Karkarook Park has produced a couple of fish for persistent anglers. While they aren't monsters they have been caught on lures and can be caught. Customer Cip fished the lake last week and connected to one of the small cod on a small spoon. Cip was fishing the spoon over a shallow clay bank drop off in search of trout when the cod pounced.

Autumn's chill in the air and water temperature is proving to be excellent for the Murray cod and yellowbelly. Whether you're fishing Eildon or the Murray, autumn is a good time for targeting these natives as they make the most of the food before the colder months. Big news over the last few weeks has been the stocking of both cod and yellowbelly into some local suburban lakes. Karkarook Park in Moorabbin is one such lake, with Murray cod around 40cm stocked into the waterway. Customer Jon went and did some hard yards fishing the lake and managed to land one of these cod on a small surface lure.

Up along the Goulburn the cod and yellowbelly have been on the go. Customer Will and mate Clancy fished the river last week where they landed some nice fish casting lures. The most successful lures this trip were high buoyancy bibbed hardbodies, cast deep into the timber and slowly crawled back out.  

The guys found that most of the cod were in the 50 - 60cm size range and prolific in the heavy timber and corner pockets which is where the hardbodies came in handy. The buoyancy of these cod lures enables them to be crawled through heavy timber and stopped if hit amongst the logs, where they will float back up and minimized snagging. Using lures with long deep bibs will also help get down to the fish fast and hang there enticing a strike.

While there have been some inconsistent estuary reports, anglers spending the time on the water are ultimately reaping the rewards - whether it's locally in the Yarra and Maribyrnong or out in Gippsland.

Customer Shane proved that the real only way to catch fish in make sure you're out there doing it! Shane caught and released a monster flathead of 92cm from the shallows in Lake Tyers just over the weekend. The monster fish swum back to the depths and shows the quality of the fish on offer. Shane was fishing the Nowa arm of the lake, which seems to be a bit more productive than the main basin at present. Warmer water mixed with a more brackish salinity is keeping both flathead and bream happily eating.

There have been enough bream hanging about on the edges of the estuaries and rivers of Gippsland but the trick has been offering them what they want to eat. With loads of small shrimp flicking about along the reed and grass edges customer Morgan found a skinny profiled surface lure was most effective. Morgan has been fishing a few estuaries recently and has found the fish wanting different lures most of the time. Small shrimp profiles in the shallows have been very effective, while larger crab and minnow soft plastics in the deeper water have been getting the bites. Changing lures and baits to try and persuade the fish is all part of it.

Customer Ryan has been finding some quality fish in the local metro rivers. Ryan has been fishing both the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers and landing bream to around 39cm on bait and lures. Ryan has been finding soft plastics effective but only when fished right up in cover and shade, as the fish aren't covering out from cover to eat. Watermelon coloured plastics in curl and paddle tails have both been good, while baits of cut crab have also been working. Fishing larger crabs requires hooks in the size 2 range, with wide gapes helping to present the bait and aid in positive hook ups.

The fishing for both trout and redfin has been popular over the past week or so, with anglers taking to the local lakes and streams in search of both. Customer Luke has been fishing the small creeks in the Noojee region and finding plenty of small aggressive brown trout. Luke tried out some new Yamakito 'Raven' hardbodies in a few colours and found the fish lining up to eat them - whether it was on a slow wind or aggressive twitches around the undercut banks.

To the north of the city, customer Eray has been catching plenty of good sized redfin out of lake Eppalock. Eray has been fishing landbased and casting small bass style jigs around the timber and rocky shorelines. He has been fishing a lighter baitcast outfit to accurately place and control the small jigs as they fall around the structure, with a lot of the hits coming on 'the drop'. Finesse style bass jigs are becoming more popular on local fish species, with a lot of versatility in rigging to suit different species. If you're not sure what they are or are interested in trying them on your local fish pop by and check them out.

The local stocked lakes have been producing rainbow trout for anglers fishing with coarse methods and pellet berley. Karkarook has been the main standout lately, with a slight dip in temperature firing up the trout along the edges. Customer Liam fished the lake recently for the first time to try his luck on the trout, and after some guidance in-store with correct tackle and rigging he caught his first few rainbow trout. Liam caught the fish on both specialist trout dough and pink powerbait, while berleying around his bait and rig with crushed trout pellets. This method really is the most effective in our stocked lakes, and worth giving a go if you haven't already!

The freshwater reports have been overshadowed a bit by snapper but there has been a bit on offer in the sweet water. Murray cod season has just opened up and is looking good for the Summer ahead, there have been yellowbelly and redfin caught locally and the trout fishing has been excellent still.

Eildon pondage has again been the standout if you're chasing a couple of nice trout and not fussed on either lure or bait fishing. Customer Zoran has been fishing the pondage and has been catching fish to around 2kg on a mixture of dough and powerbait. Long rods fished with mono have been the go in setting the hook on subtle bites and pickups where shorter rods simply can't.

Eildon pondage received a top up of ex brood fish averaging 4kg last Thursday, with plans for another top up before Christmas, so it is well worth a trip up. Customer Jozef helped release some of the fish into the pondage which has baited him to get back up and try to catch them. Jozef did witness some large fish caught on small hardbodies as they cruised through the shallows as they hunted for small minnows and insects. Having a spin rod rigged with a small hardbody or plastic is a good idea while you're bait fishing.

A bit further north many anglers tried their luck fishing for cod over the opening weekend. Mulwala had a large field of anglers for the Cod Classic, with some lovely fish to over a metre caught. Customers Shane and Sue Brown fished the busy lake over the weekend with tough fishing but did manage a couple of small cod casting spinnerbaits at the timber.

Customer Steve also tried his luck for the first time on the cod, fishing the Murray up around Cobram. Steve and mate Ev camped in the area and tried a few techniques on the cod, with Ev landing a 57cm fish on a large yabby. Steve tried out some lures he purchased in store and nailed a nice 60cm fish on a spinnerbait. Steve has since purchased a baitcasting outfit to get into them even more.

Reports from Sugarloaf reservoir around Mebourne's outskirts is that it has been fishing well for yellowbelly. The dam is normally reasonably quiet for anglers but can be a good spot for a walk around the shoreline casting lures. Of late the yellowbelly have been active, with warm water bringing the fish on to the edges to look for food. Customer Ryan has been catching fish to around 40cm on a mixture of vibes and soft plastics. The vibes have been a fast way to 'search' the banks for a school of fish, while the weedless rigged soft plastics can be fished back slowly and thoroughly to make the most of the patch of fish.

With some warm weather coming through the freshwater reports haven't been as thick - as many stream trout anglers stay away from some of the snake infested rivers. But there has still been on offer if you are out and about! Down at Blue Rock Lake the redfin and bass have been getting caught by angler casting lures. Most of the redfin have been in the 25cm size range with big numbers moving about in the bays and coves. Many of the bass have also been on the small size but there are some big fish in there for those persistent enough. Customer Jordan has been catching a few on deep diving crankbaits along the edges of the timber with lures like the Daiwa Spike and Yakamito Devil Edge both working well.

Staff member Dylan has also been catching some fish to around 30cm size range in the lake, with small swimbaits and crankbaits working the best. The new Megabass Vibration-X Vattalion has been a very good addition to the box for this area, as the fish have really been hitting it.

The yellowbelly have been fishing well in most of the dams and impoundments around the state, with Lake Eildon producing some nice sized fish. The fish can be tricky to locate in such a big waterway but once they are found normally you can catch a couple. Fishing the vertical timber with plastics has been a good method on sounded schools, along with casting and trolling crankbaits on the rocky edges. Customer Jason has been catching some solid fish to 55cm on hardbodies from the shores of the lake over the week.

Among the yellowbelly some good sized redfin have been getting in the act. Fishing a bit larger lure has been one method of catching slightly bigger fish than normal, with small lures simply getting pestered by fry sized fish. The larger fish are happy to eat a bigger lure and you may catch a yellowbelly or two by upsizing lure.

Around the pondage there have still been some quality trout being caught, especially early during the day. The low light bite has been good for both lure and bait fishers here. Customer Frank has been landing some nice trout of both species on both methods, with coarse feeder fishing one method, and casting 13g Tassie Devils in colour 55 his other successful method.

Young angler Flynn fished down at Karkarook after coming into the store with his dad, and caught his first trout. Using the suggested dough and feeder cage rig suggested by the guys in store was the successful method. The locally stocked lakes can be quite productive at this time of year if you pay attention to the small details in rigging and fishing methods.

For anglers thinking about trout fishing over the long weekend, reports are still good! Whether you're going to stay local or head up into the high country the trout have been active enough to get into a few. Around the local stocked lakes there have been enough fish to catch both on lures and bait. Customer Scott came in to the store with daughter Pheonix to set themselves up for some local trout fishing, and after their first session young Pheonix managed to land her first fish, a nice little rainbow trout.

Customer Manny fished locally in the upper reaches of the Yarra to land nice brown trout to around 400g. Manny was fishing small shallow running hardbodies in a good black and gold contrasting colour. Being that the Yarra is silted and darker coloured water the flash of the gold gets attention while the dark silhouette gives a solid profile for fish to attack.

Up at Eildon the pondage has been fishing well again with some freshly released fish really getting in on the action. With a long weekend coming Eildon is the ideal location to try your luck on these freshly stocked fish, but ensure that you have the correct specialized tackle and bait. If you are unsure swing past the shop and talk to the guys who can get you set up.

While the smaller trout have been getting amongst it, there are still some thumpers to be caught. Customers Jozef and Margaret fished the pondage during the week where they landed some ripper trout on both bait and lure. Powerbait and dough fished well in the coarse berleying method while a couple of fish also took 7g tassies. Brighter coloured tassies and spoons are effective on the pondage and can trigger a reaction bite from the fish, so make sure you have bright as well as natural colours in your box.

Customer Zoran has also been getting amongst the solid trout on the pondage, with his last trip being early this week. Zoran mentioned that there is no shortage of smaller aggressive fish and good numbers could easily be caught if you are using the correct methods. Zoran did manage a few big fish on top of the smaller fish, with his best rainbow going 12lb and taking the specialzed trout dough fished on a feeder cage rig.

 

 

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.

Local lakes Karkarook and Devilbend have been producing quite a few rainbow trout for lure fishing anglers over thw past week. Rowville lakes has also reported some trout coming from the main lake but Karkarook and Devilbend have been doing the best. Young gun Ariiff has been catching plenty of trout down at Karkarook using some of his new lures, with the 'tailbenders' his go-to lure for here now.

Staff member George has been down to the lake and has also been catching the trout. George has been trialing new lures and testing some on the fish to see how they respond. George has had a few successful lures including the 'Nano Vibration' from Megabass. This tiny lure has been representing a small yabby very well along the clay and sandy shorelnes and the trout have been racing in to nail it.

Staff member Don has been catching rainbow trout from Devilbend during the week, with the fish active right into the early evening. Don has been seeing a lot of rising fish around the open water and these fish are generally trout eating 'midge' or small emerging insects. These fish can be tricky to catch but quick accurate castiing with a small 'buggy' style soft plastic or small gudgeon patterned hardbody will normally see a hook up. Don has been casting lightly weighted soft plastics at the cruising trout, with slim swims going well among other small mudeye patterns. While these fish can be frustrating to follow around and cast to, catching them can be rewarding.