Last November the reds really fired up and it all looks set to happen again. Good patches of snapper started appearing throughout the port as early as mid September but they were very reluctant to feed. They must have been sitting down there shivering, as the water temperature was as low as 10 degrees.

Isolated reports slowly filtered through from the mouth of the Tooradin Channel and the rubble beds off Lysaughts. Joes Island also produced a few early season snapper. Several fish of between 3 and 6kg were taken there during early October. There were a few monster gummies landed in the same area, most by anglers chasing snapper. It is always exciting to see the first new season snapper at the shop. If November is warm, I think we can expect exceptional fishing.

Glen Harvie of Adrenalin Charters has also been seeing plenty of action. I recently fished aboard his 7.8m cat, chasing the reds with Cranbourne Fishing Tackle staff members. It was a lovely calm night and we headed for the fairway buoy. Glen had prepared a great selection of fresh salmon, squid and slimies for bait. He managed to find a few good schools of snapper on the sounder, near some patchy reef, and down went the pick. Now, considering it was handed to us on a silver platter you’d think we would catch a few fish. However, despite the fact that his previous customers had landed some decent snapper there earlier, we drew a blank. Several moves later we found ourselves at Lysaughts. As it turned out the barracouta were in plague proportions and we packed up after feeding the savage beasts most of our tackle. We had a great time and I am sure if Andrew, Jarrod and Jamie had any fishing ability at all we would have bagged heaps!

Dickies Bay has finally seen some good numbers of whiting, though the average size has been small. Cat Bay is a better option with whiting over 45cm being landed from the kelp beds. Squid strips and pipis will do the job but be sure to drop a pot of berley over to get them into a feeding mood.

Whatever you do, don’t forget the squid! Boy, do they love this time of year. The big calamari are thick near the port’s entrances. Flinders Pier has seen some absolute whoppers with squid in excess of 5lb not uncommon. An incoming tide is great but don’t be too fussy as they can be caught at any time. Be sure to choose the bigger jigs as jumbo squid aren’t afraid of a big meal.