We’ve made it through another winter! It is pure sweet relief after a pretty cold and wet few months on the Mornington Peninsula. Spring is absolutely my favourite period of the year.

It’s not just the spring run of snapper, which is obviously a huge event for the recreational fishing community, but the promise of all the fishy adventures we’ll have over the next six months as we move through the busiest fishing period.

To kick it all off let’s have a look at what’s been happening over the last few weeks.

The gar are in good supply at almost all of the local piers at the moment with larger models coming in from Portsea and Sorrento.

If you are land-based don’t forget options such as Mt Martha rocks or even off the sand at Safety Beach where, in the right conditions, some of our customers have literally be dragging them up on the sand.

Interestingly this year, the salmon were bigger at the start of the season than they have been in recent weeks. Most of the fish coming from the back beaches such as Gunnamatta and Portsea have been between 300g and 800g with a few larger.

Inside the bay, there have been good schools available at Blairgowrie Marina, the moored boats are a natural attractant to the fish at this time of year.

Always a big talking point in September, there has been plenty of squid action around Queenscliff and Portsea. However the squid grounds off the Sisters at Sorrento have been a bit quieter, as have the Mt Martha rocks.

The area around the sub at Queenscliff has been a particular hot spot and should continue to fire for the next couple of months.

There is no doubt that winter whiting fishing is now a staple of the Mornington Peninsula fishery. So much so that we now have a number of charter operators from Melbourne who specifically visit the peninsula through late winter and early autumn to fish for these tasty little guys before the snapper run begins in earnest.

The western moorings at Portsea Pier have been fishing well as has the Sorrento Channel. St Leonards has provided fish consistently throughout the last few months although at times the size of the fish can fall right down to around 30cm.

Early season snapper marks around Queenscliff are well worth a look, but keep your mind open as we had a terrific ‘off season’ on the snapper. It could well be worth taking a trip out to your tried and tested favourite snapper mark – you never know what you might find!

For more information feel free to drop in and see the boys at Peninsula Total Tackle, 11 Boneo Road in Rosebud or phone: 03 5981 1994.