Another snapper season is in full swing with plenty of reds being found out in the bay for land-based anglers and those with boats.

Best of all however has been the wide spread of solid fish in the shallower areas, while the deeper water is really starting to heat up with big schools of smaller fish on offer to keep anglers feeling like a one armed wallpaper hanger trying to keep up with multiple rods buckling over.

As it always seems to do at this time of the year the pier has seen numbers of solid snapper coming in for land-based anglers with a lot of the fish being caught ranging from 4-7kg.

While it’s the rough conditions that generally produce the best fishing there has still been the odd big fish taken in calmer weather, often in the middle of the day, so it goes to show that a bigger bait is always worth having out at this time of the year.

In the creek itself there has been a good run of mullet for the anglers fishing small baits suspended under floats, while a small soft plastic thrown around the mouth of the creek has also seen some small salmon being taken.

On a bright note the dredging of the creek should also be finished in the upcoming weeks so that will see the Mordialloc boat ramp back to being open full time.

Out wider the snapper are the focus for anglers with areas like the Hump and out to the 16m area have been producing some good fish early in the mornings, while the 18-20m area have been producing solid numbers of fish during the day and into the evenings.

For those who want to chase some big snapper now is also a great time to get in really shallow water 4-6m during rough conditions with places like the horse paddock and Parkdale Pinnacles being perfect areas to look at. Best of all when it’s really rough you can catch solid reds in these areas all day long.

In Beaumaris Bay the garfish have also been in good numbers along with patches of squid, and while you may need to move around a bit to find them when you do good numbers of them can be taken.

Up off Ricketts Point and through to Black Rock there are still plenty of pinkies on offer with a good mix of better snapper in among them to keep anglers on their toes, and while a lot of anglers are fishing bait and plastics for them another very effective method has been trolling with deep diving minnows or downriggers to work the reef edges, with anglers like Glen Thackeray pretty much now a complete trolling convert and his results prove it’s a great method as he isn’t getting hammered by small fish with the bigger lures producing reds of 2.5-4kg.

Out deeper the 14-16m area is holding snapper with locations like the two fingers mark through to Black Rock holding snapper. Now is also the time that places like the Gasso and its surrounds will really fire up as the snapper move into the area to feed on the mud bottom.

This stretch of the bay can be awesome at this time of the year, especially if you like to fish really shallow, with places like the Anonyma shoal and the area known as the Gully, which is the area just out in front of the rock groynes at Hampton producing excellent fishing at night and when it is rough.

For land-based anglers the rock Groynes at Hampton and the end of Sandringham breakwall will produce snapper in calm and rough weather and when the water is clear there has been some good numbers of squid to be found through the area.

Out wider the edge of the shipping channel is holding snapper with the T1 and T2 area through to the Fawkner Beacon well worth fishing, especially if you want numbers of school sized fish in the 2-4kg size. Berley hard and be patient as the snapper aren’t necessarily feeding for long periods but when they do the action has been flat out, especially on dawn and dusk periods.

Up off Brighton Breakwall pinkies have been good and while I haven’t heard any specific reports of bigger fish from the land-based anglers I am sure a few have been taken and this coming month should see plenty more as the big reds move in to feed on the heavy bottom through this area.

The great thing about these shallow areas in this part of the bay is that while you are snapper fishing there are generally plenty of garfish that you can berley up and catch while you are waiting or casting a squid jig around will often turn up a few calamari for fresh bait.

In the North road area and towards St Kilda reports have been a little leaner however this month should see these locations really fire up and fingers crossed it will be with those big snapper that love to get in the very shallow water at night through places like Elwood and towards St Kilda Breakwall.

If you have never done it I seriously suggest doing a late night session in this part of the world as the snapper are generally big and they fight so hard in these areas you will think they are bigger than they are.

Some good fishing has been on offer around the boats on swing moorings behind St Kilda breakwall with soft plastic anglers finding pinkies, bream and some nice trevally over the past weeks. In along the other piers and land-based locations anglers have been finding pinkies and small salmon, while the boat anglers are starting to work the shallow areas at night between St Kilda and Station Pier, with some customers saying that one fish will be 1kg and the next over 5kg, which makes for some very exciting fishing.

Anglers fishing wide at areas like P2 and along the shipping channel that leads towards the mouth of the Yarra River are also starting to see better numbers of snapper in the area and there would be little doubt that in the coming weeks this area will go crazy with a huge amount of snapper pushing up to these areas as they always do during November.

You have to love November as snapper season is really on. So get out there