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PPB coming to life after long winter
  |  First Published: September 2016



There is no denying that it’s been a genuine winter this time round in Victoria, with everything from solid rain to more than a few howling gales, and generally a lot of wind.

On the upside however, the solid amount or rain that has fallen over the state is going to be a good thing for the fishing in general over the coming year or so.

As we roll into September, it’s time for everything to start coming out of the winter slumber, with the trees and plants starting to blossom as we put winter behind us and we head towards another summer.

September can be, and often is, one of the wettest and windiest months for the year, however those bouts of ordinary weather are generally dispersed with some great spring days. At this time, it’s the perfect opportunity to set out in search for some early season snapper, which are now the focus for a lot of anglers for the next three months.

Mordialloc to Black Rock

The creek and the pier have been fishing really well for mullet and bream, with anglers also reporting that there have been salmon and pinkies on various days, especially if it’s been a bit rough.

The coming weeks are the time to get serious for a land-based snapper as the big fish move into this area from now on to feed. The best results have been coming from those anglers who are brave enough to fish when the wind is howling in their face, especially at night.

The best rigs are the standard paternoster, but a lot of our customers at Fishing Fever also had great success last season using the Black Magic distance casting rigs, as they allow far better distance in your cast, especially in a head wind. This is the prime time to be on the pier for a big snapper.

Up in Beaumaris Bay, it’s also prime time to be putting in effort on the Beaumaris Pier, with the calm conditions seeing plenty of squid around, and when it’s rough the big snapper flock to this area. For the past few years it’s been a prime place to catch a snapper.

Out in the boats, it’s also the time to be looking for a good early season snapper, and while the pinkies have been going great over the past few weeks, now is the time to get serious by fishing some larger baits or plastics. It’s only a matter of time until the big fish move in on to the shallow reefs.

Good areas to focus on over the coming weeks are the Parkdale Pinnacles and the very point of Ricketts Point, with the area out the front of Table Rock often seeing some of the first big runs of snapper for the season.

Further along towards Black Rock the pinkies and the salmon have been in good numbers, but the big news has been the large numbers of garfish on offer for anglers to target for both food and bait. Fingers-crossed this will continue in September to provide us with a great source of snapper bait.

Sandringham To St Kilda

Plenty has been happening over the past few weeks, with really good pinkies found all along the shallow reefs from in front of the Red Bluff Hotel, all the way along to Brighton, with the 6-8m line producing numbers of fish up to 45cm in length.

Out wider and around the Anonyma Shoal, the garfish have been great, with good numbers of them being caught. Anglers have been reporting that the gars around the Anonyma are a great size and, as an added bonus, flicking a squid jig around this reef system has also seen some solid squid being taken. So with all this life around the area, it would make perfect sense to put some effort in for an early season snapper.

Back in close to shore, the shallow reefs have been holding squid and that should continue over the coming weeks, with good reports coming from the Green Point area and any of the shallow reefs that lie either side of the point.

Up Off Brighton, pinkies have been taken at night by land-based anglers, and now it’s time to get serious for some bigger fish. On the inside of the wall, I have still been hearing of a few pinkies and trevally getting caught by anglers who berley up and fish floating baits.

Up at North Road, I haven’t heard too much on the fish front over the past weeks, but when the water has been clear the squid reports have been good with anglers reporting plenty of smaller sized calamari on offer.

As this month rolls by, the wider grounds out towards the Fawkner Beacon will also see some better sized snapper being taken as the big schools of fish start to feed and move their way up along the edge of the shipping channel.

St Kilda to Port Melbourne

Solid amounts of rain have kept a fair bit of colour in the water over the past few weeks, but this won’t affect the snapper fishing one bit. In fact, many anglers live for the dirty water, as they feel that this is what the snapper are following to feed and spawn in.

Either way the coming weeks could and should see some solid reds being taken in this part of the world, with Kerford Road and Lagoon piers being top places for the land-based anglers and the area around Princess Pier being one of the top choices for the boat anglers.

No matter what you get up to in the coming weeks, now is the time to get the gear ready and head out on the water in search of that elusive early season snapper.

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