It took a little while to fire up but the snapper season is again in full swing. It is turning out to be another cracker too, with huge numbers of fish on offer. Best of all the fish are widespread and are being caught everywhere from land-based locations to the middle of the Bay.

The pier has fished well for months on end now and still doesn’t look like slowing down, with snapper to 5kg taken in the rough weather over the past weeks. Now as the water really heats up, anglers will also start to see good numbers of squid and whiting move into the reef areas on the right hand side of the pier.

There have also been good numbers of trevally and salmon caught in the creek and from the pier, ranging in size from tiny to around 1kg. Baits suspended under a float or a paternoster rig baited with whitebait are the best options for catching them.

Out in the boats there have been excellent numbers of snapper landed, from just out the front of the pier in 8m, right out to 21m. There is a good spread of bigger fish in the shallow areas, with spots like the Mordi Hump and around the yellow buoy being favourites.

Back in the shallower water the Parkdale Pinnacles, and the shallow reef nearby called the Horse Paddock, are producing some whiting and will fish even better after Christmas. This area is also great for squid.

Beaumaris Pier has squid on offer, as well as a few pinkies, but the following weeks will also see some whiting appear.

Boat anglers fishing around Ricketts Point along the shallow reefs have found success on some big fat whiting, as well as good numbers of pinkies of 35-45cm. There has also been the odd school of big salmon in the area, and these should get more numerous over the coming weeks.

Trolling along the reef edge or casting with lures has seen some big snook being taken, with lots over 60cm.

Deeper areas, such as the Gasso in 18m, continue to fish well, with big numbers of school snapper on offer along with the odd bigger fish.

Out from Black Rock there have been reports of whiting from around the Cerberus, down towards the Red Bluff Hotel and out from the reef known as Yorkies.

The breakwall at Sandringham has seen plenty of pinkies caught in the rough conditions over the past weeks. Anglers fishing out from the breakwall at night in 8-10m have made some good catches of snapper, especially during or after a good blow.

Further along the shoreline the rock groynes out from Hampton have had pinkies for the land-based anglers, and the upcoming weeks should also see some whiting start to move in around the rough bottom just out from these locations.

Green Point has had a few garfish and some squid along the shallow reef areas, while out from here and towards the Fawkner Beacon has seen good numbers of snapper, with lots of school fish of 1-3kg and a few thumpers mixed amongst them.

Up towards Brighton the breakwall continues to produces snapper in the rough weather, along with pinkies on most evenings. The inside of the wall is also producing some trevally.

Down towards North Road, Elwood and St Kilda, the shallows have been producing a few big snapper for those anglers who fish during the middle of the night.

Both rivers continue to fish well for bream, with the upstream sections of the Maribyrnong producing good numbers of fish on both baits and lures. Peeled prawn and Bass yabbies are the pick for the bait anglers, while for the lures fishers the new Atomic Hards and the Ecogear SX-40s are producing fish. The upcoming weeks should see fish starting to make their way back down the river, and sitting higher in the water column as the water warms.

The fishing in the Yarra has also been good, with bream being taken up around the Punt Road Bridge and all through this section of the river. Mixed in with them are a few nice mulloway ranging from a few kilograms to unstoppable monsters.

Around the Westgate Bridge, anglers are getting good numbers of mullet and a few bream, along with the odd snapper to 3kg.

Back at the Newport Power Station (the Warmies) the fishing is continuing as usual, with bream and mullet being caught along with a few small tailor

The moorings around Williamstown Harbour are producing bream and trevally, especially for lure fishers who keep mobile, moving from one spot to the next till they find the concentrations of fish. The shallows in the area are also producing some decent flathead. December will see the fishing here improve as the water warms up, bringing the flatties into the shallows to feed on the bait that is abundant in the area.

Around at Altona, everything is going full steam ahead now that the entrance to the ramp has been dredged, allowing anglers to launch easily from this extremely busy area,

Out from footy oval snapper have been caught, along with a few squid and whiting, but for the most part it’s the deeper areas of P2 and along the edge of the shipping channel that are seeing most angling attention.

Up towards Point Cook there have been some good snapper reports, with some big fish being taken whenever there is a good blow happening. Most of the better fish are being taken in 8-10m of water. The key has also been to try fishing some bigger, harder baits, such as barracouta heads, whiting heads or even just big whole silver whiting. The bigger baits are left alone by the smaller fish, giving the bigger snapper a better chance of finding them.

Around the Werribee River mouth area the whiting are starting to make a show along the shallow grounds where the broken weed is. There are also plenty of squid, ranging in size from perfect bait size up to around 1kg or more.

The Werribee River is also producing small salmon at the mouth and a few bream in the river itself, with best baits being podworm.

For more information pop in and see us at Fishing Fever, 517 Main St, Mordialloc (03 9590 9899), or jump on the website for weekly reports (www.fishingfever.com.au ). All the best and have a great and fish filled Christmas.