Cooler weather indeed, but the fishing remains hot across the western shores of Port Phillip with a range of species continuing to feed hard.

Daniel Mizzi emailed through a few photographs of the gummy sharks he’s been catching off Werribee South of late. Dan says the action has been at its best midway through the run-out tide, particularly during the new moon phase. Fresh pilchards have been getting the job done in 12m of water.

Southern blue spot flathead have been in good numbers from Werribee South through to Point Cook, particularly in depths ranging from 4-6m. Despite the cooler weather, even the shallows at the entrance to Werribee River have been holding some solid flathead to 45cm and sometimes beyond. Both soft plastics and various flesh baits have been getting the job done on these fine-eating fish.

According to the boys from Hooked on Bait and Tackle, squid have been active from Wyndham Harbour through to Campbells Cove with plenty of boats securing a feed after a few drifts along the 3-4m line. Further along at Point Cook, the action on the squid has been comparatively slow, but those caught have been of a good size.

Expect plenty of juvenile pinkie snapper on the inshore reefs this month. Most will range in size from barely legal up to about 55cm or 2kg in weight, with the odd 5kg plus monster certainly not out of the question. Feeding heavily on mussels, scallops, marine worms and the abundant bait schools, which also seek refuge across the inner reefs at this time of year, pinkie snapper certainly offer some entertaining action in the shallows.

Both the inner and outer drift over the shallow reef in front of Altona Boat Ramp through to the pier can also be highly productive, especially of an evening.

Further around towards the Yarra River, the shallow reef extending from the Time Ball Tower on Battery Road out towards the Gellibrand Shoal marker and across to the Williamstown Football Ground pavilion is another hot spot. It’s worth noting that the mobile berley trail created by marauding schools of Australian salmon attract all manner of opportunistic scavengers, including pinkie snapper.

Provided you can get a soft plastic past the sambos, pinkie snapper are often found lurking below the commotion, mopping up pieces of flesh and guts as it falls through the water column. Any sign of birds diving at bait schools is worthy of investigation. The trick is to hang out wider and cast behind all the surface activity where the bits of bashed up bait are still lingering.

Massive schools of baitfish have been gradually making their way up the Yarra River. As has been the case over the past few years, juvenile salmon are also thick throughout the lower to middle reaches of the system.

Further upriver, school mulloway to about 80cm have been encountered on soft plastics and blades cast amongst the bridge pylons. While larger specimens have no doubt been hooked, landing these beasts amongst structure can be a real challenge.

The Maribyrnong River bream have been getting a good working over of late with many of the local tournament specialists dropping in between events. At this time of year, the stretch from Edgewater through to the Anglers Tavern is a consistent performer for those pitching lures and soft plastics. The bridge pylons especially will be well worth a go this month as the fish generally start to move away from the shallow rocky margins.

Crab imitations have been a standout of late, along with the tried and trusted vibe style offerings and single tailed grubs. For the land-based bait fishers, a fresh supply of mussel or live tube worm should see you amongst the action.

Also on the bite this month, expect pinkie snapper to start showing up on the higher tides especially. Likewise, school mulloway should continue to be a viable target for both lure and live bait anglers.

Whether fishing from a boat or the bank there are plenty of areas to target bream in the Werribee River, from the mouth of the estuary right up to the golf course. Traditional baits such as Bass yabbies, tube and sand worms are without doubt the most productive baits for the resident bream. These can be collected from nearby beaches at Altona or purchased from some local bait and tackle stores. Live shrimp run a close second, while freshwater yabbies and scrub worms are also effective after a recent down pour. As the water temperature continues to drop and the bream begin to school in the deeper sections of the river, small metal blades will be the best bet for lure anglers.

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