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What a difference a month makes
  |  First Published: December 2011



What a difference a month makes! Anglers in the region are again enjoying a cracking snapper season with some real trophies coming in.

Inner harbour Corio Bay has seen some top class snapper fishing with fish boated up to 8kg for hardcore all night bait fishos while daytime soft plastic anglers have managed fish close to 60cm. Try off Shell, the Nine Foot bank, Curlewis and the shipping channel.

Light tackle soft plastic anglers have caught some impressive pike from both the North Shore area and close to Point Henry.

Ross Winstanley ventured to the Corio Bay outer harbour where he tangled with a wonderful 5.4kg snapper plus a feed of flathead.

Geelong Freshwater

Geelong enjoyed a fair flush out over spring and the Barwon River remained clouded for most of the last month.

However, bait anglers have enjoyed some carp up around the 5kg mark using corn and worms for bait and redfin either side of 600g have been taking lures. The larger redfin have been taken around and upstream from Buckleys Falls.

Minnow pattern lures have been most successful but good fish have also fallen to 2” single tailed grubs in bright colours.

Clifton Springs and Portarlington

Clifton Springs and Portarlington have long been known as the snapper capital of the Bellarine and it is with good reason. Whopping snapper up around 8kg have been taken by anglers fishing pre-dawn and post dusk while 3-5kg fish are still being taken throughout the day when conditions are favourable.

Fresh squid has been a great bait and these have been available in around the Curlewis weed beds.

Ross Winstanley fished there on the drift recently and bagged 10 calamari up to 1kg.

St Leonards to Queenscliff

Rod Ludlow from Beachlea Boat Hire in Indented Head says the snapper have been biting well after dark off St Leonards. Pier fishing here has also been productive with several snapper over 4kg being taken after dark.

Rod says that if you are after a feed of flathead to head out along the edge of the deeper water from St Leonards around to Portarlington on the drift using the fishy baits such as pilchards and bluebait.

Rod also notes that the squid fishing has continued its fine form around the Bellarine Peninsula with top captures coming from Grassy Point near Portarlington.

Queenscliff boat harbour has been the place for silver trevally with soft plastic anglers coming from all regions to tussle with them. They have been biting best on slack water and have approached 45cm. Single tailed grubs in Motor Oil and small smelt patterns are the best bet.

Barwon Heads

Barwon Heads has been absolutely pumping with the estuary and offshore providing plenty of action. Ken Stevens of Barwon Heads Angling Club says the snapper and gummy sharks have been in fair numbers offshore but the river has been the talk of the town with some extra large silver trevally pulling line from reels.

Pinning down their location has been hardest but when you locate a school, silvers over 1.5kg have been taken on pilchard fillets and pipis.

Chris Stamalos, Keith Fry, Adrian Cole and Mark Sesar fished off Barwon Heads recently hoping for a shark. During the morning they managed six snapper of 3-6kg plus a number of cuttlefish, squid and also a 3kg gummy shark. After a long period of no fish, Chris's reel screamed at “a hundred miles an hour”. It soon became evident the lads had hooked a fair lump of shark.

Three times Chris brought the shark to the surface but it kept on diving to the depths out of gaff range. After approximately an hour of battle and the shark was successfully gaffed and brought aboard. The amazing thing about this capture was that the big thresher was caught on a ganged hook with pilchard attached on only a 20lb leader!

Torquay and Great Ocean Road

Thirteen-year-old Oliver Hood fished with his dad, Michael, from the Lorne Pier recently. Michael grabbed a metal slice and spin gear to have a flick about for salmon. Michael found an old piece of pilchard on the pier, popped it on a whiting hook and lowered it between the pylons.

Before Michael had finished his second cast, Oliver hooked up on something solid that made his reel shriek as it unloaded line. Michael says Oliver subdued the beast like a pro while he scaled down the pier where he cradled a belter of a snapper that eventually weighed in at 3kg – not bad for ten minutes of pier work!

The fish was rushed back to the family holiday home where it was prepared for lunch and enjoyed by all.

Catch a few around Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula or Surf Coast to Lorne recently? Send in a report to --e-mail address hidden-- with “VFM” 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).

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