The fishing around ‘the Island’ continues to provide a mixed bag of fish. Inside the port there are whiting and elephants on offer, outside there are still sharks to be found. Australian salmon are also gathering in large numbers just outside the surf zone.
The last few weeks have seen some good catches of King George whiting coming mainly from Middle Bank. On my last few trips I have bagged out on fish between 34-38cm.
Unfortunately I have found that after you locate a good spot, the next time you turn up the netters are there and you have to hunt around to find somewhere else that produces. Hopefully the Bracks Government will keep its promise to ban netting in Western Port. Otherwise I fear that over the next few years we will see a drastic decline in whiting numbers.
Woolamai has been the most consistent of the surf beaches with salmon between 1.5-2kg and gummies to 5kg. There have also been good numbers of salmon to 2kg caught at Cemetery Beach at Kilcunda. Locals report big schools just outside the surf zone, so it’s looking good for the coming months.
Below the bridge, whiting are still about in reasonable numbers along with barracouta, salmon, flathead, trevally and pinkies. Pipis, pilchards and squid are the best baits.
Above the bridge there are good numbers of garfish and they are best fished for on the run in tide. The Boys Home Channel is still fishing well for whiting and trevally.
There are plenty of elephant fish on the go for anyone wishing to target them. Remember that the bag limit is 3 per angler per day because Fisheries have been very active in this area.
There are still some sharks around, mainly blues, makos and threshers, and there have also been reports of bluefin tuna off Pyramid Rocks.
Cowes Pier has been producing good numbers of elephant fish and small snapper, with best results coming in the evening. The Newhaven Pier has seen mullet and flathead landed, along with the odd whiting and big salmon.
At Buoys 14, 15 and 16 some ripper gummy sharks to 20kg have been caught on cured eel and striped tuna.
Some excellent whiting in the 40-50cm range have at last shown up in the Somers and Balnarring area. Catches of 15-20 fish per session are common. On my last trip to Balnarring we managed 16 whiting that weighed a total of 7kg. There is also the odd gummy shark around.
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