The end of winter brought some welcome relief to the bay’s anglers over the past month. As the days get longer and warmer, more and more anglers have been dusting off the gear and the boat and getting out amongst the action. We have experienced some extended calm periods of late, which have provided some superb fishing and boating conditions.

While some of the bay’s main target species are still in a state of flux between the seasons, there has been some pretty good action on the ‘bread and butter’ species, like squid, salmon, mullet and garfish. Encouraging reports have also reached my desk of some decent flathead being taken on lures in the shallow shore gutters, especially around the Frankston and Mt Eliza areas.

And while the traditional snapper season does not start for another month or so, many of the bay’s diehard snapper heads will have their minds focused on the annual migration of snapper into our bay. By the time you read this issue of VFM, many of you will already have done a trip or two, and run the sounder over some of your favourite marks. And the reports that I have already received suggest that there is enough resident snapper around right through the winter to keep most snapper anglers interested anyway.

If the winter snapper action experienced in Western Port is anything to go by, we’ve got a lot to look forward to in PPB this season, and I know that I am not the only one who’s looking forward to the warmer months ahead.

Currently we still have incredible numbers of smaller pinkie snapper on the inshore reefs, with the odd bigger fish of around 1-2kg keep anglers interested enough. Bait fishing for these smaller pinkies can be a pain, but lure fishing to these schooling fish is great fun, and a great method to get the kids and those new to fishing lures in the bay up to speed. The techniques and methods are no different to those used on the larger spawning fish, just the tackle and lures needs to be upsized a bit.

Key areas at the moment seem to be varying with water quality and clarity but most areas in the 4-6m line with good solid and broken patches of reef are best places to start. Fishing from a drifting boat is the best way to cover water, and remember to cast with the drifting boat so your lure spends more time near the bottom. Action can be frantic at times and even though many of the fish are small, the next cast could be a 2kg fish or even better. At the moment productive areas have been Fishermans Beach, Sunnyside, Ranelagh and Safety Beach. The reef areas close to the entrance of Martha Cove are also worth a look.

The added advantage of fishing in the shallower water while it remains cooler is the by-catch. Expect to encounter plenty of squid too, and these can be effectively targeted with a ‘sleeper’ jig placed in a rod holder and allowed to move at the same speed as the drifting boat. Don’t forget to back off the drag though, or you might loose your favourite squid outfit.

Salmon, pike, flathead, red mullet and plenty of others will also be on the cards in these areas and can really provide great variety at this time of year.

There’s been plenty of action from the bank as well, particularly with some very large schools of salmon visiting various piers along the eastern shoreline, particularly around dusk. The good thing is they are only around for one reason – food, and will respond to lots of different methods. Metal lures, plastics and surface lures are preferred as they provide good casting distance and accurately imitate the bait the salmon are chasing. Don’t be too shy to vary the speed of your retrieve as more often that not you can’t wind fast enough. Sometimes the fish will go a little quieter though and sit right on the bottom and a slowly worked plastic bounced through the school can be deadly. Most of the fish have been between 1.5-2kg, but some much bigger models exceeding 3kg have also been reported.

Plenty of anglers have been busy gathering bait for the season ahead as well, with some lovely calm days producing good numbers of gars and smaller salmon. With all this on offer and the lure of a bigger red as well, the bay really is the place to be over the next month.