What a mixed up month of fishing it has been around Apollo Bay!

Just when the tuna got into full swing, a big two week blow stirred the sea and since then the tuna have been very scarce. This month my tip is that everything will be back to normal and the fish will have returned as there has been lots of bait schools sighted again in recent days. It was this time last year when the big fish turned up again so make sure you are prepared for everything when out on the water.

The lack of tuna has meant more people stopping for a bottom bash and the results have been surprising. Excellent captures of snapper have been coming from the Cape Otway area along with the usual gummy shark reports. A few mates have been catching large flathead out from Blanket Bay in 40m but I don’t expect them to hang around. During the winter is when they’re in their lowest numbers but if you do happen to drift over a patch then make sure you get yourself a nice feed.

The harbour has been home to some big calamari squid recently. Casting a 2.5 sized squid jig around should see you get into some action but don’t expect lots of numbers, just better then average sizes.

The Aire River has been firing for black bream with both bait and lure fishers catching good numbers of fish from around the camp grounds. Try fishing at low tide when the river is at its lowest level as this has been when the bream have been feeding most vigorously.

This river is also still available to fish for brown trout below the Great Ocean Road bridge as the closed season does not encompass this part of the river. Try trolling small hardbodied lures from the junction with the Ford River up to the Ocean Road bridge.

Another option for trout is the West Barwon Dam at Forrest. Here both brown and rainbow trout have been caught from the dam wall. Casting winged lures or small hardbodied lures works as does bait fishing. Some of the rainbow trout have been up around 5lb in weight and in excellent condition.