What a hot little patch of fishing the top end of Western Port has experienced over the last month! A few snapper continue to hang around and the gummies and whiting have really turned it on as we get right into the thick of summer.

The snapper fishing in the Port has slowed up a little bit but every time we are just about to call the season over a nice patch of fish decide to go on the chew and it keeps us interested for another week. If you’re after snapper, there are still a lot of school sized, around 1-2kg, hanging around Joes Island. Pilchards and squid are the best bait, and don’t be afraid to downsize your baits if you notice a few pickers around. The Methers family found one of these patches of fish recently and at one stage all four of the Methers clan were hooked up at once!

The North Arm still has some nice fish around and they seem to be a little bigger in this area. Again, it has been a little bit patchy but the rewards are still there. Local angler, Mick, spent the night on the Port and ended up with five beautiful snapper. It took a lot of patience and a few moves but the biggest fish in his bag measured 89cm and weighed in at 8.2kg so it was well worth the time and effort!

My good mate Don Newman says that there are still some fish stacked up at Esso, but getting them to chew has been difficult. I would keep this area in the back of your mind though as those fish will hang around for a little while longer, so it’s always worth a look.

King George whiting at Western Port have really hit their straps this month, which should continue for the next couple of months at least! Nathan Peterson has dominated some good fish in the Tooradin Channel on the run-out tide. He tells us there are a lot of small fish around the area so make sure you have the ruler handy and let anything that is undersize go. Nathan took home a nice feed of a dozen fish that were all over 30cm, so if you stick it out and wade through some smaller fish you can still leave with a nice bag for the table.

Ric and Logan Perna put in a few hours out of Warneet and anchored on top of a good school of whiting that went bananas for a couple of hours. They had their bag in no time at all with fish maxing out at 44cm. Well done boys!

If you want a whiting, the Middle Spit is where you need to be! Keith Diprose of Think Big Charters has put his clients onto a heap of fish and has done a few small things that have made a big difference. During the middle of the tide Keith works the shallow banks in 1-4m of water and finds a lot of school sized fish between 30-35cm. As the tide slows Keith pushes out to the deeper water to find the bigger whiting up to 47cm. Mussel and squid cocktails have been the best bait, and berley is an absolute must in the shallow water.

Shaun Furtiere of Big Time Charters is another angler working the spit with great success finding fish to 44cm quite regularly in the shallow water. The boys from Roxburgh Park recently did a trip with Shaun and each took home a lovely feed of fresh whiting. Pipi and mussel again were the best baits.

Hastings has also seen a bit of whiting action as Chris and Michael O’Connell found out. The boys landed seventeen beautiful whiting to 45cm on a recent trip, along with a few mullet and some nice table sized pinkies. Whiting snatchers baited with a little strip of whiting did all the damage.

The gummies have been one of the biggest improvements over the last month, and some really nice fish have started to come in. Shaun Furtiere has been fishing for the gummies as the tide slows between whiting bites. Shaun got young Tyson on to a ripper fish one evening and the young gun was stoked to take home a bit of fresh flake for the family.

Chris Preston took his good mate John Macleod and his girlfriend Tiff Andrews out for a session on the gummies one night, and after pushing through a lot of rays and seven-gill sharks Tiff showed the boys how it’s done with her PB gummy. Whiting chunks were easily the best bait accounting for most of the fish that night.

Kozzi and Huff smashed a few whiting up on the Middle Spit on a recent trip and decided to put bait out in the deeper water as the whiting slowed down. It turns out this was quite a good move as they boated a nice big gummy stretching the scales down to 10kg!

Western Port has been fishing the best it has fished in months so there is no excuse not to get out there and enjoy the action! Good luck and keep those reports coming!