The Barwon River redfin were going nuts but then we were on the receiving end of a fair soak of rain for a week! The rain and resulting dirty water combined with cooler water temperatures can really turn them off in the Barwon so a bit of extra work may be required to find them this month.

Quality reddies were scoffing soft plastic lures and minnow profiled lures fished deep but it was live minnow that got them super pumped. Fish from tiddler sizes to 900g were grassed.

Wurdi Buloc Reservoir near Moriac has produced some big redfin to 46cm for anglers prepared to cast soft plastics until their arms go numb (lots of casts!). Over the coming month as the water cools, the trout should really come on the bite here. Mudeyes under a float can be deadly as can a Tassie Devil style lure cast and retrieved. Easterly winds are best for float fishing as it will take your bait out further.

Andreas Rohringer has been fishing the local jetties around Geelong and the Bellarine where he has caught a couple of decent whiting, leatherjacket, flathead and undersized pinkie snapper. The Geelong waterfront continues to produce flathead and snapper to 40cm for those anglers using soft plastic lures and pilchard fillets for bait. They have been biting best after dark and well into the night. This time of year brings out the hardcore snapper fishers – anglers that were born with beanies already on and know how to handle the cold. I tip my hat to you guys as I know how hard you work for a winter snapper but they are available if you are prepared to put the hours in on those cold nights. The rewards are there as each year hardcore snapper anglers land fish in excess of 7kg fishing inside Corio Bay into the night.

Round five of the Australian National Sports fishing Association ‘King of the Rip’ was held in March. Although the fishing was tough the Bellarine Light Game and Sports Fishing Club juniors came through with great results taking out three sections. Ellie Gibson landing eight different species of fish, taking out the highest point scoring sub junior female, James Daglas taking out highest point scoring junior male. Ellie Gibson, James Daglas and Luke Robinson in a combined effort took out the highest point scoring junior team.

Rod Ludlow from Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head says squid have been biting well and are best early morning. While they have been hard to find during the day, it is still possible to get a few for food and bait if you move about a bit and keep changing jigs. Best spots have been Governors Reef and Grassy Point. There have been some good sizes in amongst them as well and have been taken on a mixed variety of jigs, so be prepared to keep changing or try a few at a time. Rod says clients have had some very big cuttlefish of around 3kg taken as well but there were some even bigger ones that got away as lines snapped.

Flathead are back on the chew over the last month with the incoming and high tides best anywhere from St Leonards back to the Prince George Bank.

King George whiting have been hard to find during the day over the last month. Rod says this is because most were taken late in the day and after dark. All the fish Rod has seen have been a good size as well. Best spots have been Swan Bay entrance, White Lady and weed beds further out off St Leonards. Also, Portarlington from Steeles Rocks back to Point Richards during the day.

There are some large schools of Australian salmon around as well with several being taken on squid jigs around the Governor Reef.

Tony Mackenzie took his sons out fishing off St Leonards last month as they had a day off. They anchored up in about 22m of water off St Leonards and the flathead were thick, but unfortunately not too many were size. The lads had great fun catching flatties in calm conditions so then decided to head to a gully near Mud Island for any chance at a gummy shark. They had two lines in with whiting heads as bait and both lines got busted off in a matter of 15 minutes. Tony says there was something big down there but they will have to wait until next time to find out what it was.

The Barwon River estuary has been fishing well for a wide variety of species of late. Elephant fish to 5kg were on the bite over April but stopped biting as if someone flicked a switch in May. Silver trevally and whiting were caught around the 40cm mark by anglers fishing the run-out tide downstream of the road bridge. Small mulloway from legal length to 70cm have been caught by anglers fishing a few days before the full and new moon using fresh squid after dark.

The Surf Coast will be the place to be as the Australian salmon invade the beaches over June. Don’t be surprised if you beach a mulloway as there has been a few caught after dark that have nudged 7kg along the surf coast beaches.

• Catch a few around Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula or Surf Coast to Lorne recently? Send in a report to --e-mail address hidden-- with “VFM” in the subject field or give me a call on 0408 997348. Please include where (without giving away your secret spot!), when, what on and who caught the fish. Pictures are always great, but please make sure they are at least 1mb (file size).