Download the mobile app!
Hooking Up Anglers Since 2011.
Well as another south westerly rain & wind-filled front passes across Melbourne, I've found a bit of time to prepare this report on the last few weeks of what could only be described as superlative & very very consistent Snapper fishing for almost anyone prepared to give it a go.
Once again this season has seen absolute huge schools of Snapper move into both Western Port & Port Phillip Bay. With Port Phillip Bay producing possibly the best ever season seen yet, I know this is often mentioned each passing year it seems, however there is no doubt that it is fishing more consistently than our beloved Western Port. Even the media recently (Ch 9) had a story on the outstanding Snapper season many Melbourne based anglers are witnessing.
Big Snapper too have also been recorded in higher numbers so far this season in Port Phillip Bay with the Northern regions around Sandringham through to Port Melbourne offering some real solid fish of over 7-8kg's on occasions. There has also been a few over the magic 20lb or 9.2kg range landed. Most of these larger Snapper are the result of fishing the small hours of 12am through to dawn & are often in depths of 9-5mtrs. Winga & the rest of the YouFish TV Crew have had some great Snapper sessions in the past few weeks in these areas & have found these Snapper absolute screamers in the shallower reefy contours these fish prefer to feed in.
Crimson Shallow Water Snapper- Port Phillip Style
Pawsey's never too far from a buckling rod & screaming reel on Big Snapper
Another solid middle of the night Nthn Port Phillip Bay Shallow Water Snapper.
Once again the annual Mornington Tea Tree Snapper Competition was held on the last Friday of October. This year saw an adjusted start time of 5am Fri morning with the comp going all the way through until Sat afternoon. As always happens the everchanging Melbourne Spring weather was true to its name & ensured this comp was soon tagged 'tongue in cheek' an Endurance event....With some crazy strong Northerly winds forecast ahead of a strong rain filled front it was going to be a big task for all entrants.
Strangely, just an hour or so after lines down at 5am, there was an almost eerie stillness on Western Port as a very small weather window showed itself briefly. This was just what a certain entrant needed to find that winning fish, as moments later most of the Think BIG Charter & YouFish TV Team were to hear & see with their very own eyes. Local angler Mark 'Sully' Sullivan had found that winning Snapper. This monster Snapper later weighed an official 10.55kg's on the club scales.
Click Here for more Info & Pics of this Outstanding Angling Achievement & Exciting News for YouFish TV.
For the rest of the field it was a fantastic effort & input in some very average weather conditions at times. With wind driven rain hitting most entrants in the face because of tidal flow, a lot of people did pull out earlier on during Friday afternoon & into Saturday morning. Below are a few pics of Snapper landed during the comp.
Winga with a nice pair of solid Tea Tree Snapper from Western Port
Joseph 'Quick where's the Camera' Fernand had some fun too !!
Client Ben Emery had this Snapper while out on Think BIG during the Tea Tree comp. This Snapper had gained its freedom prior via a dodgy knot on a circle hook.
Profile of a very hungry King George Whiting taken whilst targeting Snapper one eve prior to Tea Tree, at better than 41cm's it once again shows how many of these better Whiting are about in areas many consider Snapper only locations...
Yep, I think you'd best grab that Buckle !!! This has been very typical of the nature of recent Snapper strikes, no messing about, just a steady & direct loading of the rod. This is the moment all Snapper anglers nationwide live to witness.
We've experienced some very hot action recently with many multiple hookups occuring on the better days. These days have usually coincided with steady to rising barometer readings, however we've also experienced many very memorable charters while out in average weather patterns.
Youfish TV Assistant Sean Hildyard with a Port Phillip Bay Boston Screamer landed off Seaford on a pre work filming session with Winga & Joseph Fernand from YouFish TV
Reg Think BIG Charter Client Edwin with a quality Port Phillip Snapper
Some truly memorable Snapper action on this charter on the 22nd Oct out from Carrum on Port Phillip Bay
Part time Deckhand & good friend Matt 'Squiddy' Stewart has been on some great sessions recently.
The Banana theory debunked yet again!!
Jamie Watson & crew had a top morning out after winning a Nova FM radio competition & arranging the prize to be swapped over to a Think BIG Charter, Well done guys & a huge thanks for the support !!
Nugget White with a good pair of typical Spring Snapper from Port Phillip Bay
Squiddy with a quality Snapper landed in some pretty awful conditions off Seaford one morning
Western Port can always be relied on to produce some excellent bycatch in the form of solid fit Gummy Sharks while targeting Snapper in some areas
Mark Beaconsfield has a knack of finding some good quality fish most charters
Some brilliant colors apparent on this Western Port Snapper from Elizabeth Island & notice the missing section of tail fin. Theres a lot of competition out there under the waters surface for these tasty Snapper including Seals & many species of Sharks.
A fog filled chilly morning off Rhyll produced some good fish including the one pictured below
Once the sun burnt off the low fog & cloud later in the morn, we found a few more Snapper
Western Port Snapper with a client from Compleat Angler Ringwood
Neil Isoderio who's a very regular client has had some good Snapper recently including this hefty Snapper landed off Seaford.
Another solid Snapper from the same session
Great mornings action with many multiple strikes & soft plastics also accounting for Snapper to 4kg
Chelsea was the scene this particular morning for a great session on Snapper to 5kg
Think BIG Charters mechanic Alan Heib from Southside Marine Services Ph 0424 315 112, was aboard on this charter to lend a hand as decky & had a ball with the clients & later found time for a good fish of his own as can be seen below
Nice effort Alan, on a day when things were shutting down bite wise.
Carrum local & long time friend Neil with a nice fish on a perfect arvo on Port Phillip Bay
We recently had the good fortune of having Dallas Dsilva from the DPI Fisheries department aboard for a Snapper charter. Along with his father who was celebrating his birthday we had reg clients Edwin Chen, Herman Cabral & Karl Hughes. These guys experienced one of the hottest snapper bites for the month & were amazed at how aggressive the fish were for over 3 hours !!
Dallas with what he told me was his first actual Snapper from the Bay & not some tiny little undersized Pinkie Snapper
Edwin with a plastic smashing Snapper
A pigeon pair for Dallas back at the ramp at Carrum
A trio of more keener Snapper anglers would be harder to find than these guys
Trent along with his family had a good session on Snapper off Chelsea & Aspendale one grey & stormy morning
His son certainly took out honors for the charter though with this quality Snapper taken on Silver Whiting
David Diogardi & the crew from Olex Cables in Lilydale had a fun filled morning. The Sri Lankan guy Samuel was an absolute crackup during the action. Top fun guys !!
A windswept & storm approaching eve up Nth in Port Phillip Bay near the Transit lane produced some good Snapper like the one above for some Compleat Angler Charter clients.
Nice way to celebrate a birthday charter, this was off Chelsea in close during a strong sth westerly front
Steve from Compleat Angler Ringwood arranged a group together for a Port Phillip Bay Snapper Charter & had some great action.
The crew from the Coldstream Footy Club after a great Snapper Charter
Recently we had the good fortune of a travelling angler all the way from Jakarta Indonesia. Facebook is a wonderful business tool & it's how Diana Itink initially found Think BIG Charters. She also took up the offer of staying at the Somers Holiday Villagewhilst here in Melb.
The brief was: I'd like to catch a Gummy Shark & possibly some Squid...Well although we didn't have the most ideal of weather conditions for this trip we ended up finding what we were after.
This male Gummy absolutely raced off with the squid ring bait during the last stages of an ebbing tide
Some on the Shimano Sephia range of Squid Jigs
& the tried & proven old school method of a simple whole Silver Whiting suspended under a styrene float fished near a drop off...no need to go all EGI & wear your wrists out....This method is very very reliable at extracting the larger models.
Think BIG & YouFish TV fan Shaun Dennehy has had some memorable outings recently & also added good sized Snapper from Port Phillip Bay to his angling line up
Shaun, Yvonne & Linda with a sample of their recent Port Phillip Bay Snapper outing
Rebecca & friends from Inverloch also got amongst the Snapper on a picturesque afternoon on Port Phillip Bay
Harry & crew from Austruck in Seaford had a crazy session on Snapper off Seaford
With Christmas just a few short weeks away, now is the time to book your end of year Think BIG Charter. We still have a few dates available with some weekend openings also available.
Check out our Booking Calendar link here for the latest dates available
Don't forget that it's now time to consider that other favorite of our fishing calendar & thats the Giant Gummy's that Western Port & Sthn Port Phillip Bay are famous for. These big breeders are moving in now & are a great species to land, especially when over 20kg's !! Check link below & stay tuned for reports on these big grey crab crunchers as the season moves ahead.
Gummy Shark Charter Info & Rates
Whiting too are also another favorite & are available right now in Western Port in good sizes & reliable numbers for the most part
Whiting Charter Info & Rates
Until the next report,
Have fun & stay safe.
Cheers,
TBC
This Fishing Report was submitted on 11/2/2012 4:21:34 PM by Seamus and last updated on 11/2/2012 4:21:34 PM.
Including GPX (Universal GPS Format), KML (Google Earth), and XLS (Excel) files.
Gives You Access To:
Download GPS files of fishing spots. Create Custom Maps of fishing spots. Fishing predictions w/ future date & location. Featured Listings for your fishing business.
$7 month or $49 year