It really is amazing that so many angler’s pack away their snapper gear after Christmas when we have such a fantastic run of late season snapper!

This year has been no exception with fantastic fishing right through to now.

Around 22m, otherwise known as ‘the Fairway’, has been a highlight with some thumping bags of fish coming in during autumn. Fishing a little closer to the Great Sands, we’ve seen some larger models moving around in the tidal water.

Fish to 8kg have been reasonably common, but generally they have been caught as singular fish, taken on fresh calamari baits locally caught.

These fish are absolute honkers and well worth a trip on a cool autumn day!

Some great catches of gummy hark have been taken out behind the fort and up toward the north east of Mud Island. There have been plenty of fish to 15kg with autumn proving to be an exceptional time to target the species. With the summer crowds gone the gummy shark fishing really comes into it’s own.

If you can manage to find some fresh salmon, silver trevally, octopus or squid you are in with a chance at snaring a trophy fish!

The whiting fishing has been fantastic for a number of weeks now, with excellent catches of fat fish coming from around the quarantine station and in the fast running water around Point Nepean, outside the Marine Park. Just remember to pack some decent sinkers and some extra hooks, the heavy rubble ground around Point Nepean ensures you lose a rig or two. If you use a bit of berley you will find a few silver trevally mixed in with your bag of King George.

Salmon have been patchy this year, but we have our fingers crossed that at any moment some bigger models will show up with the cooler weather. There have been sporadic bites of fish between 400-800g, but few are much bigger than this.

On the other hand fishing for yellow eye mullet has been pretty productive from the surf with plenty of anglers reporting good bags of the species.

The best fishing for salmon has probably been inside the bay, where those in boats have regularly spotted busting schools between Mt Martha and Mornington.

Fishing from the rocks in this area has also been productive in targeting these feisty fish.

It is not worth locking down one specific area when it comes time to talk calamari. The fact is they have been thick all over the Peninsula the last month, with most of the known grounds providing sensational fishing.

Common areas, the White Lady Marker out from Rye, the rubble ground out behind the Fort and the boat moorings at Sorrento, to name but a few, have just been unbelievable in the volume of squid they have produced.

For those land-based, Rye and Portsea pier would have to be the picks of the bunch – Rye for it’s numbers and Portsea for it’s quality.

Check out our great range of Harimitsu jigs if you are looking to really do some damage!

For more information contact Dan and the boys at Peninsula Total Tackle at 11 Boneo Road, Rosebud. Ph: 5981 1994.