Port Phillip East

PORT PHILLIP NE Jared Standish

Hot weather has brought even hotter fishing this past month on the eastern side of Port Phillip, especially with bread and butter species such as flathead, calamari and whiting.

The rule of fishing in peak times, first or last light, has somewhat been thrown out the window. A perfect example is the fun and tasty species calamari. Plenty of squid have been caught in the middle of the day in reasonable sizes and numbers off Mornington Pier. Also, if you are fishing for them along the weed and reef patches between Olivers Hill and Safety Beach, you are sure to have some success.

Over this past month we have had some great weather and water conditions to suit squid, so the colour of the jig hasn’t been of significance. However, there has been more than one conversation about red foils doing the damage with anglers who are focusing their efforts on the calamari.

There are some weed patches that have developed in deeper areas around Mt Eliza and Mornington. So anglers that usually cast smaller sized jigs in 2.5 size, are now stepping things up to a 3.0 or even 3.5 and looking for those deeper broken ground areas, especially to adapt to the slightly bigger sized squid.

King George whiting has been fishing the best it ever has in the areas between Seaford and Safety Beach. However, they do not come easy, you definitely need to work hard to get onto them. But once you do, your rewards will show just how good the fishery is. Not only are the

Ben on a great whiting session off Mt Eliza. This year has been one of the best whiting seasons on the bay.

numbers of fish incredible, the size of fish anglers have been reporting means the average size coming in is comparable to our next door and notable whiting fishery, Western Port.

Fishing for whiting amongst the weed and reef is key but the kicker, as I mentioned before, is working hard. Be patient in the same spot, especially if you are catching lots of fish that aren’t your target species, as this has proven the bite will happen. Alternatively, anglers have also achieved results by moving, as you could be missing the mark by a short distance, so be sure to work the area if you’re up for the challenge.

The tide has been rather slow in the best part of these areas. Nevertheless, it hasn’t been so much about the flow, although it can help, but more about the time of day to getting great results.

For anglers fishing on the water, the bite window is best between first light to morning tea. Anglers fishing on land have described late night as the best time. This might have something to do with how busy the beaches have been. Bait such as pipis and squid strips are nothing out of the normal but mussels have been a standout.

Over the past few years, warmer weather patterns seem to hang around well into March. If the wind allows us to spend time on the water, we can expect another run of snapper usually in the deeper water from Frankston to Mt Martha.