Conditions no deterrent to fishing success

As I mentioned, the snapper fishing has been great off Warrnambool, Portland and Port Fairy, with the annual influx of pinkies and the odd bigger fish mixed in for good measure. Chris Fowler fished North Shore for a heap of small snapper in 12m of water. Fishing a mixture of soft plastics, pilchards and squid, they landed quite a few.

At this time of year, the north shore at Portland is alive and well and usually has everything from King George whiting right up to tuna swimming around the area. Typically, the early season snapper are quite small, but as the water begins to warm up, the bigger models move in close. The Lee Breakwater is producing some great shark and bigger snapper, with anglers fishing in comfort from their own car. This is a pretty unique way of fishing for us down here, which has been producing quality fish for as long as I can remember. The bigger snapper seem to be caught just after a big easterly wind, which still confuses people as to why. However, a few of the seasonal anglers believe it's because it stirs up the edge of the wall, causing feed to become dislodged from the rocks. The only thing I know is that it's a lot harder to get one of these fish on a boat, even if you're anchored close to the wall itself.

Closer to home, the snapper and shark have also been fishing well, with snapper to 80cm caught on the Black Magic Snapper Snatchers and Snapper Snacks. One customer caught 11 gummy sharks off the one mark, and even though the size wasn't great, it still shows that they are around in numbers. Jimmy Lombardo landed his new PB snapper fishing off Warrnambool with Xavier Ellul and a couple of other mates. Jimmy's snapper ended up being 80cm and took a pilchard as bait.

Speaking of bait, the amount of bait offshore at the moment is amazing, meaning that once the school tuna find it, they should stick around for a long time. We all thought that maybe they were here already, but since the first reports of fish, they have been absent. There is a heap of fish at Portland towards Bridgewater and behind Lawrence Rocks. Here's hoping we can all enjoy these speedsters sooner rather than later.

All of us at Richardson Marine and the Tackle Shack ventured down to the Curdies River on Saturday for our annual Christmas fishing competition. Bream to 40cm were caught by those using soft plastics, whilst the boat that claimed they had no bait for anyone else caught quite a few bream mainly on worms. They also caught a couple of eels on worms.

Downstream from the Lodge, there is some nasty algae just beginning to bloom, so possibly take care if you're looking to take a feed for yourself. In sections, the water looked like neon soup and with the warm weather just beginning to come into effect, it will only get worse unless something drastic happens or it gets a good flush out.

The Hopkins River has again fished well this past week for bream and perch on a range of baits. Colin Hurford and Jamie Twaddle fished for a nice feed of bream on both garden worms and cut baits, such as mullet and salmon. Jamie caught a good perch on a fillet of freshly caught salmon after only being out there for a short period of time. Fishing around Kinnear's was the most productive area and is also where the big school of Mulloway has been sounded up recently but they continue to be a challenge to get a bite from.

With glimpses of warm weather in recent weeks, the bream are beginning to look at eating hard baits such as crab and coral, so turning your attention to fishing structure, such as submerged reef and the many rock walls that line sections of the bank, will bring rewards. If you are flipping rocks to find your bait for the day, keep in mind that the possession limit per person is only one litre or a combined total of 30 whole or parts of crab from one or more species. The other thing to keep in mind is to flip back the rock that you move, as, for one, you're sure to stand in that hole and wreck your ankle and also because it could be the home of a crab or some other creature too.

Skeeta Andrews has been catching some nice perch and even a surprising bass out of the same section of water. Casting hard bodies has been the preferred option for Skeeta and others chasing them, but it won't be long until they smash the surface lures again. Fishing heavier leaders than if you were fishing in the estuary section of the river is a must, as there is loads of submerged trees and these fish know exactly how to wrap you around one. Typically, a 6-10lb leader is sufficient for this type of fishing, which seems to not deter these fish when they are looking to eat the lure. Lachlan Read caught a good trout while fishing with his dad Tony out of Brucknell Creek on Tuesday. In only skinny water, it would have been a real heart in the mouth fight for both of them. Summer isn't usually regarded as a great time to target trout but this shows there are some decent fish.

This weekend is another that could go either way but, by the look of it now, it seems unlikely we will get a chance to head offshore, with 30km/h winds expected and some swell up around 2.5m. Sunday will be the day if anything changes as it blows from the north-east early and changes around lunchtime. If you do head out this weekend and you want to share your catch then email it to fishing@richardsonmarine.com.au to go in the running for the Daiwa Saltist MQ golden fish prize.

Until next week tight lines and best of luck.

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