Cool weather and a few icy blasts have let us know that winter is on the way but for anglers fishing this part of the bay the coming months often produce some of the most reliable fishing for winter species.

Saying that, now is not the time to stop fishing, instead it’s just time to grab a jumper and get out there.

While Mordialloc Pier always seems to fish well the past weeks has really seen it turn on the action for the land-based angler with good number of pinkies being caught of an evening with heaps of fish in the 30-35cm size, as well as a fair smattering of fish over the 40cm mark. Best of all, these guys will only get better and better as the water cools in the bay over the coming weeks.

The slight drop in bay temperature has also seen good numbers of salmon being taken off the pier on small metal lures and baits of pilchard tail or whitebait fished on a paternoster rig. Adding to the salmon and pinkies have been the decent flathead that have been smashing baits with fish to 50cm being taken on more than just the odd occasion.

If you’re like me however it’s the return of the squid that we have been patiently waiting for over the past months and after a few false starts due to some early winter blasts, which keep stirring the water up, it seems that we might now be on the verge of some decent squid action. Anglers have been getting them fairly consistently over the past weeks.

Finally if you like to fish in the creek itself now is the time to get in there with small floats and a bit of berley in search of the yellow-eye mullet that are coming into the creek each day.

Moving up into Beaumaris Bay, the squid are really making their presence felt with lots of anglers reporting plenty of little squid on offer, however as a bonus for those that are heading to some deeper water and fishing bigger jigs in the 3.5 size, they are getting squid to almost 1kg in weight, this is a great sign for the upcoming winter months.

The trick to getting into the bigger calamari is to fish the deeper edges of places like the Parkdale Pinnacles and up towards Ricketts Point off the edge of the green sticks. In these areas use bigger jigs such as the 3.0 and 3.5 sizes with the Evergreen deep red, brown and gold and hot orange patterns and the Yamashita live 3.0 in red or silver being exceptional.

For the land-based anglers Beaumaris Pier will fire up over the coming weeks and months for squid and this will only get better through winter. However, if you prefer your own quiet bit of fishing then walk along the rock areas until you find a suitable spot and you should be able to get into plenty of squid.

Up off Ricketts Point and through to Black Rock, it’s pinkie season with loads of them moving on the shallow reefs just waiting to gobble up a bait or soft plastic, which if you have ever wanted to try plastics this is the best stomping ground to do it on as the fish are aggressive and there are plenty to catch. Add to this the odd good whiting being around, and it’s always a good idea to have a squid jig out the back as they love to lurk around while the pinkies are on the chew.

Great reports have filtered in through this area over the past weeks with the area from the Anonyma Shoal through to the red marker buoys off the Hampton Rock Groynes producing some solid pinkies in the 1-2kg size for anglers fishing early in the morning. The closer in areas have still been producing the odd good catch of whiting, and while the numbers of fish may not be huge, the size of the whiting makes it well worthwhile. Add to this plenty of pinkies and a few squid and you have yourself plenty of action.

At this time of year, off the end of the Sandringham breakwall is a great place to be chasing pinkies on first and last light as they tend to hold off this point before moving into the shallows.

Off the Rock Groynes themselves I have had customers reporting good pinkies on occasions, along with squid and a few garfish, however the coming weeks should see the pinkie fishing really heat up in this area.

I know I have probably mentioned it before, but boat anglers should be considerate to the land-based guys on these rock groynes. Give them a bit of space as they can’t move around as freely as the boaties.

Further along, Brighton breakwall has been producing solid pinkies and some good flathead. There have also been reports from one of our super keen squid anglers, Ange, that he has been catching garfish off the breakwall. This has been confirmed several times with other customers at Fishing Fever reporting the same.

Ange also reports that there has been plenty of salmon in the area, so it’s worth keeping a lure rod rigged and ready for when they come past.

Up at Green Point and through to St Kilda Marina there have been some really great reports of squid and some solid salmon lurking about on the right day. Over the coming month, when the water will really cool off, is a perfect time to get into the big red mullet that love this region.

Moving along from the St Kilda Marina, there have been some solid reports from the pier flowing in from anglers finding success on the local flathead and trevally population. The best method has been to use a bit of berley in the form of mashed up pilchards, pellets and a bit of tuna oil. Then either throw balls of it out in the water and fish near that, or use a berley pot that hangs just under the surface, then fish a unweighted bait of pilchard fillet and allow it to sink through the water column.

Off Kerford Road and Lagoon piers, the past weeks have seen plenty of anglers putting the effort in. They are being rewarded with some good catches of pinkies and flathead of an evening, while during the daylight hours, some days have proven to be very good for the schools of salmon that are patrolling the stretch of coastline between St Kilda and the mouth of the Yarra River.

Over the coming weeks another great option for anglers is to fish either a large live or dead bait off the Station Pier. It’s the time of the year when the mulloway tend to move through this area before heading into the Yarra to harass the local mullet population.