Geelong

GEELONG Neil Slater

slaterfish@gmail.com August is a cold son of a month around Geelong and the Bellarine. In years gone by, August meant packing everything in the shed until the snapper and whiting came back. I can’t say whether there are more fish around, more people fishing or both, but our winters seem to be getting better and better.

We had some decent rains so the Barwon in Geelong went all coffee on us so your freshwater options are Wurdee Buloc or Stoney Creek Reservoir. Stoney is the pick for clear, sheltered water but big smelting trout can rip through baitfish in the murky shallows of Wurdee on a calm day so keep an eye on the weather. Calm, head to Wurdee, breezy, give Stoney Creek a go.

Going back over my records, there are definitely more pinkie snapper, whiting and larger flathead coming over the desk as fishing reports. Techniques have definitely improved and knowledge sharing over social media and the internet has seen skill levels and fish captures increase on a much sharper gradient than the pre-internet days of the early 90s. More anglers are fishing the same way for whiting in winter as the do in summer and reaping the rewards. Torquay fishermen have fished for whiting through winter for as long as I can remember. Geelong people called this ‘the winter run off Torquay’ – well, maybe they just didn’t stop? There are definitely ebbs and flows with numbers and sizes of whiting but more and more anglers are consistently catching them throughout winter – and there’s no secret method other than putting on a beanie and going.

This time last year, whiting were flat stick off Curlewis in 6m of water. I’m sure they’ll be there again as there are no nets allowed to round them up. They were mostly in six meters but friends were getting them towards Portarlington in less than three metres on glassy sunny days so there goes my theory about dirty water and overcast days bringing them on the bite. It can be hard to pick a bottom with sand and weed combo in six meters unless the sun is high on clear water. I was just anchoring and casting around the boat until the rig came back without weed. If you landed in the weed, there were hordes of mini leatherjackets and small wrasse that would make short work of your bait. Berley worked on the whiting of course but also got those bait stealers excited.

Geelong waterfront has been going off its head with plenty of pinkies, snotty trevally, salmon and flatties jumping on baits and lures.

The wave attenuator, Wangim Walk is super popular with fishos targeting the mini pinkies and salmon with both baits and plastics. Note that it does close off to the public after dark and when the northerlies make it hazardous so plan your trip.

There has been a lot of undersized snapper pinching baits and lures around the Geelong waterfront with a few legal length fish maxing out around 35cm to keep people happy.

The salmon have been sporadic and showing up unannounced crashing baitfish parties all over Corio Bay. Predicting where and when is the tricky bit. Calm conditions has been best for spotting them and keep an eye out for birds diving. Salmon have also been on the wrong end of the food chain copping a bit of the same treatment from the local dolphin population ripping into them here and there. The whole food chain thing is pretty cool to watch when it’s putting on a show.

The Bellarine Piers have been producing whiting and calamari with the best time being dawn and dusk. Clifton Springs jetty in particular has seen solid captures of calamari for a few lucky anglers while Portarlington and St Leonards piers have been more consistent for those targeting squid and whiting.

Rod Ludlow from Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head says squid have been the main game at Indented Head with good numbers and mixed sizes. They seem very widespread from Governors Reef right around to Grassy Point of Portarlington.

Flathead have also been plentiful for anglers drifting in about 8-12m of water with bluebait, pilchard fillets and whitebait.

Rod says things have been pretty slow with lock downs and all, which seem to be when the weather is best. So, if you’re in the region, hit Rod up for a boat ride, grab a pie from a local milk bar and drop in for a pot ‘n parmi at the local once the fish are cleaned up. Small coastal towns rely in the tourist dollar so toss ‘em a few next time you’re in town.

Queenscliff has seen some ripping silver trevally biting in the cut and boat harbour with some pushing 50cm. Motor oil coloured soft plastics have always done well here so pack a few of them. Time your assault with the slack water (no tidal flow) and you’ll be in with a good shot.

Tibby Flora has been fishing for whiting out off St Leonards with good success. Interestingly, he has found them biting best right on 4pm when most others that have been fishing all day have given up. He notes that the bite did not happen until the flood tide whereas they will on a recent trip. Alex had never fished the river before so credit to him for dragging a few residents out. Alex fished the deeper, shaded areas with high flow and slowed down his lure retrieve, which saw him grab plenty of salmon and perch around the low 30cm mark. Standout lures were the Daiwa Tournament Spike 53P in lazer ayu being slow rolled along deeper drop-offs while the ZMan Slim Swimz 2.5 in motor oil claiming a majority of the larger fish for the day.

August can see some solid salmon patrol in closer along the Surf Coast Beaches and rock platforms. Past reports tell me to expect the best fish to nudge 3kg but these are most common from rock platforms. While beach fishos can expect more fish, just less than 3kg. Surf Coast rock platforms are best fished with lures while those fishing the beach can opt for a leisurely bait soak Alex had a ball catching salmon and estuary perch on the Surf Coast.

Tibby Flora has done very well on the whiting at St Leonards using a squid/pilchard combo as bait.

often feed on the ebb tide. Tibby also uses a pilchard/ squid cocktail bait and says it has been out fishing both those baits when presented by themselves. Tibby says most of the fish have been small at around 30-35cm with the odd fish around 40cm. Tibby also has a great YouTube channel and website called The Happy Fisherman. There is some great underwater footage that shows you what goes on when you’re whiting fishing.

The Barwon River estuary has also been on fire with silver trevally, topping 45cm, grabbing baits on the incoming tide. Bait fishos should try pilchard fillets or raw chicken as bait tied onto a paternoster or if the tide will allow, a lightly weighted paternoster rig.

Alex McCormick had a great session down the Surf Coast recently. Alex says he found estuary perch and salmon in good numbers throughout the Aire River along the West Campground in a gutter or walk the beach piffing lures at every likely gutter, hole and current.

Those fishing out off Lorne have enjoyed a run of flathead to 50cm+. Typically, these are best caught around summer and in 50m+ but have been found in around 25m – nobody is complaining though!

There has been some XOS tuna around the 120kg mark caught down near Apollo Bay – let’s hope they drop by the Surf Coast again this year. FISH HARD – DIE HAPPY!

Catch a few around Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula or Surf Coast to Lorne recently? Send in a report to slaterfish@gmail.com with “FMG” in the subject field or give me a call on 0408 997348. Please include where (without giving away your secret spot!), when, what on and who caught the fish. Pictures are always great, but please make sure they are at least 1mb (file size).