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Solid snapper reward the offshore angler
  |  First Published: December 2012



Outside Anderson Inlet at Inverloch boaters have been doing very well where there have been good reports of gummies, flathead, snapper being taken out wide.

Wonthaggi angler Wally Leijen was very happy with his efforts when he and Mathew Hogan decided to try their luck and managed a very nice bag of snapper. The best red went 7.5kg which is by far the biggest he has caught an bagged it on a whole pilchard.

A little closer in, but still outside the entrance, has also been very productive a far as boaters are concerned. Very good numbers of flathead are being bagged. They are not huge but still well over that ridiculously small limit, making the effort worthwhile. The most productive it seems is not far beyond the breakers at Venus Bay and along with the flathead have been pinkies and gurnard. Every so often there will be a good size gummy shark making an appearance.

For those who know the area around flat rocks there have been ripper whiting being bagged and local angler Jules Tiziani can often be seen out with his young bloke Hunter, who is just about keen as dad. They are into the big fellows where is not uncommon for them to be up to the 50cm mark and better. This would put a smile on the face of any angler. Of course fish this size puts them right into the 1kg category mark, which many of us have yet to make.

Back inside the entrance land-based anglers have been doing well where salmon, flathead, silvers and mullet along worth surprising good numbers of whiting are also being bagged. The best time has been on the last half of the run-out tide and first of the flood. The whiting in this area are well worthwhile going after with hardly any having to be thrown back with most being around the 36cm mark where Bass yabbies are probably the best of the presentations. If you haven’t any of them try small strips of squid, silver fish, or small pieces of pilchards or whitebait.

The snags area has also been going well which is the deepest part of the inlet but as the name suggest, it is also the place where you will be likely to lose rigs. The idea is to get the fish up quickly as they will head for the underwater furniture and if this happens then you will have to start all over again.

For those who know the area up near Stevies Gutter there are quite reasonable numbers of whiting that seems to be around all year but their numbers improve in the warmer months. I came across a crew not long before this report and they had quite a nice mixed bag of silver trevally, mullet and whiting. Again what is typical for this area as they were nut huge but certainly worth the effort.

As has been the case for some time the fishing has been great around Maher’s Landing where land-based fishers are doing well on the run-in tide. This is where flathead, silvers, gummies and even whiting are making an appearance.

Many old timers who have been around for a long time and say that the inlet is in pristine condition with the return as much sea grass and everything is pointing toward happiness. One unexpected spin off has been that perch have been making an appearance in places that they haven’t been caught before. It is thought by some that they have been washed out of the estuaries that run into the top of the inlet which would seem to make sense, especially that there is not much action there at the time of this report.

Tarwin River has not been doing much with eels being the main catch. This is to be expected with all the fresh dirty water but when things settle down there will be the return of silvers, perch and mullet.

The beaches at Venus Bay have been going along very well and as is usually the case the best time to try your luck has been on the run-in tide. There will be the occasional gummy and flathead also making an appearance which will make the effort well worthwhile.

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