With all of this crazy weather this past month, there hasn’t been a lot of days where boats could get out of Apollo Bay for a fish. When they’ve been able to get out, there have been good catches of gummies, schoolies and decent-sized flatties.

Cape Patton and the Blanket Bay Reef have been very productive for gummies and schoolies in 40-50m of water. Con from Hit N Run Charters reported a bag of three nicely sized gummies recently, with a 20kg schoolie a few days earlier. He also said they got some good snapper with one coming in just over 3kg. They were fishing the change of tide using fresh cut bait like salmon and calamari.

The salmon still remain very patchy off the beaches. Wild Dog Creek Beach is the best of the local spots. If you want to go for a bit of a drive, Johana Beach has been fishing better for the salmon. A paternoster rig, single or double is the best setup, with bait such as bluebait or squid. I prefer to spin off the beach or rocks for the salmon myself, using metal lures like a Juro laser lure, or my favourite, the Halco Streaker.

Local streams and rivers are still flowing well with all of the recent rains, and we are now seeing plenty of baitfish, smelt and galaxia moving upstream. This should really fire up the trout and bream. It would be well worth a trip and casting a few minnow style lures, either hardbodies like Ecogear SX40 and Yo-Zuri Pin’s Minnow, or some minnow style soft plastics like Berkley PowerBait Minnow. Local Andy Orchard caught a nice brown trout using a Pin’s Minnow in ghost colour.

Still plenty of King George whiting are about just off the Bumbry Reef and Marengo with pipis as the preferred bait. There could also be a few kingfish around, as one local recently fishing for whiting got completely spooled in a matter of seconds.

November should see an improvement in the weather with a bit of an increase in the water temperature. With this the calamari in the Apollo Bay Harbour should become a bit more plentiful. Early morning or late evening are the best times. Squid jigs in the more natural colours usually work well. Choose the size and weight of your squid jig based on the tides at the time.

November also sees the southern rock lobster and abalone season opening mid month. Before you don your dive gear and go hunting, be sure to check out all of the latest rules and regulations for both of these, as not following these can prove costly.

If you’re coming to Apollo Bay for a fish, be sure to pop in to get all you bait and tackle needs, as well as an up to date report. Call us on 03-52376426, or check out our website: www.surf-n-fish.com.au.

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A cracker 20kg school shark caught on a charter off Blanket Bay.

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Nice local brown trout caught on a Yo-Zuri Pin’s Minnow.