As the temperatures soared in summer, so has the fishing and the amount of reports coming through has been mind blowing.

Whiting and calamari continue to fire along with the welcome addition of some monster garfish and a thumping 10kg snapper that also reminds us that the snapper season is far from over!

Whiting, calamari, pinkie snapper and gummy sharks have all called the top end home in the last month and it won’t be to long until we see a few elephant fish move into both Bouchier and Boulton Channel either.

Luke McCredden headed out from Tooradin with his mate Ron Smith and had some success in the Tooradin Channel. The boys managed a heap of nice whiting ranging from 32-40cm. Whole baby bottled squid with a little bit of pipi draped over the top was the preferred bait.

Warneet has been another hot spot with a large variety of species being taken. A lot of whiting have been up on the banks of the Warneet Channel and mixed in with them have been a lot of table-sized pinkie snapper. Stuart Dwyer made a day of it and stayed within the channel itself and had a great day on whiting, pinkies and nice little 3kg gummy shark taken on a whole pilchard.

The reports of calamari from along the Quail and Tyabb banks also continue to pour in and we have seen a little bit of a change in preferred colours of jigs. Traditionally darker colours have been a winner with deep dark reds and blacks being a stand out but it looks as though the traditional pink jig has come back into fashion and getting the job done. It just goes to show that it pays to have a variety of colours at your disposal just incase they are honed in one particular colour.

The only thing hotter than Victoria’s summer this year is the fishing in the North Arm of Western Port! We have seen big whiting, big garfish and even bigger snapper!

With everyone quickly forgetting about snapper I have a report that will quickly have everyone reaching for a pair of 5/0’s. Yarringa Fishing Club’s newest member, Paul Taylor, who braved the elements and strong winds to boat a once in a lifetime old man snapper that tipped the scales at 9.7kg. He was fishing off Lysaghts and fresh calamari was this fishes undoing! Well done Paul!

The middle spit continues to practically throw fish into anglers boats and with the welcome return of some monster ‘mini-marlin’ garfish, it adds another dimension to a spectacular piece of water.

Many of these big garfish have a healthy average size of about 38cm and have been caught on small pieces of squid floated down a fine berley trail. For everyone who has not tried eating garfish, do yourself a favour and get stuck into a few of these agile creatures. They have a beautiful sweet flesh and with fish around that 30-40cm mark around it is even possible to take a delicate fillet off them. Along with the gars there are also whiting to 42cm, with a cocktail of pipi and squid doing the job on these great eating fish.

Local fisho Don had a great little session on the spit with a variety of species rounding out a solid bag. He managed whiting, mullet, salmon, flathead and garfish and said the key to his success was plenty of berley. He was also using one of the many whiting catcher rigs available on the market at the moment.

Wayne Wills and mate Darren have also been seeking out what the Middle Spit has to offer and on a recent trip the boys easily got their bag of whiting with pipi and squid being the go to baits.

Hastings is another of Westernport’s gems and it has not failed to impress over the last month. Frankston Blues basketball superstar Matty Witherden skipped practice and hit up Western Port with partner Alice and old mate Azza to put a dent in the local whiting population. The crew boated 20 plus whiting and also scored a visit from a local seal who tried to include himself in the festivities by resting on the back of the boat!

Peter Ferguson took mate Colin Sires out for a squid bash off Hastings and landed Colin his new PB calamari with a hood length measuring 40cm. They managed 16 squid for the session with Colin’s new PB coming on a gold Yamashita squid jig.

There you have it, another chocker block report and it’s very exciting at just how well the top end of Westernport has been fishing. Good luck to you all and good luck with your next fishing adventure. Keep the reports coming!