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Bonkers for barrel tuna
  |  First Published: July 2017



Things have gone a little quiet along the local beaches lately with only a few small salmon being caught. There have been some very decent gummies caught off Johanna Beach at night; one local hooked into two gummies around 5ft long in the space of an hour. He was using a fresh salmon fillet on a running sinker rig.

Out wide there have still been good catches of gummies, snapper and flathead off the Bald Hill and Blanket Bay reefs in 40-50m of water. The gummies have been mainly caught on the change of the tide again using fresh salmon fillet or squid.

The southern bluefin tuna have been getting most of the attention out of Apollo Bay lately. Large schools of 10-20kg fish have been seen and many have been caught. Con from Hit-n-Run Charters has told me that they have quickly bagged out a few times now.

There have also been several fish weighing in at 88-94kg. The most recent barrel weighed in at 116.5kg. Most of the fish have been caught around the Nine-Mile and Eleven-Mile reefs off Cape Otway, and predominately on 8-10” skirts. Lumo green, black, purple and fluoro pink seem to be the best colours.

The local rivers and streams have still been fishing pretty well for bream. Try using 4cm hardbody minnows or scrubbies. Just remember though, trout season is closed until September 1.

On 22-23 July, the Victorian Game Fishing Club is hosting the SIMRAD Victorian Tuna Classic competition here in Apollo Bay. It was held here last year and was a big success, so it’s on again. All the details are on the Victorian Game Fishing Club’s Facebook page.

• 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 5237 6426, or check out our website www.surf-n-fish.com.au.

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