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The Month of Change
  |  First Published: September 2011



September always feels like a month of change.

Emerging from the cool of winter we are often confronted with warm winds that herald the change of seasons, the beginning of spring and the awakening of the summer angler!

Personally, I love this month. It’s a great time to dust off the boat and like many of us, go hunting for big the squid before the next important stage of the season – snapper mayhem!

Australian Salmon

The last few months saw considerably more northerly winds than we have had in recent years. The downside has meant that there have been less days of good conditions for bay fishing. The upside has been that it has meant for a cracker winter surf scene.

The northerly winds have meant that the back beaches have been blessed with plenty of offshore days meaning surf conditions have been fantastic for salmon fishing. Almost every weekend Gunnamatta and the other beaches have seen a plethora of anglers and good salmon to 2kg have been caught right through August.

Bluebait and salted pilchards have been the gun baits, but it is the anglers spinning lures who have really turned heads, often catching two or three times as many fish as the bait anglers.

The west end of Portsea back beach, near London Bridge has seen some really good salmon, while St Andrews has also produced a couple of thumpers along the edge of the reefy ground.

For guys sticking to the surf over the next few weeks, it’s worth packing a lighter rod and a packet of size 8-10 hooks as there have been plenty of yellow eye mullet and a few trevally caught for those fishing the shore break.

Squid

In recent weeks we have seen some bigger calamari being caught but there have been an absolute ton of small to medium squid caught off the shallow ground in front of the Blairgowrie Marina and Rosebud Reef. The big specimens have come from Lonsdale Bight and the ground south of the Queenscliff Pier.

For the land-based angler, Portsea Pier has been the standout with plenty of medium-sized squid and a lot of gars available. Surprising the Sorrento boat ramp has also been seeing some really good squid caught at night. A new range of jigs called Evergreen have been really popular as they do a size 3.5 jig which has an extra shallow bib, meaning that it sinks really slowly. These jigs have proved to be absolutely weapon on the big squid in shallow water. Check them out next time you are in your local tackle store.

Finally, a few silver trevally have started to make a showing as well as some tommy ruff from the Sorrento Pier. Their numbers should increase over the coming weeks. But let’s hope we get a bit more calm weather because I know there are more than a few anglers who are keen to get out and have their first crack at a new season snapper!

For more information contact Peninsula Total Tackle at 11 Boneo Rd Rosebud or phone the shop on 5981 1994.

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