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Hooking Up Anglers Since 2011.
Yes folks,
It's that time of the year again when things are starting to move along slowly but surely. Recent spikes in water temps in areas of both Western Port & Port Phillip Bay have seen a few Snapper landed by those putting in dedicated time & perservering. The last 3 weeks has seen some unprecedented weather patterns with many fine days with above average daytime temperatures. This in turn has the desired effect of lifting water temps, however slight, it's these small changes that have seen Snapper around the 5-6kg bracket in both Western Port & Port Phillip Bay.
The vast majority of Snapper landed in recent weeks have been during gentlemens hours from mid morning onwards, particulary nearing a tide change. As the season heats up so to speak, the early morning bite will increase, especially during the first few weeks of October. Often the bite period can be short lived, so it pays to have everything organised & be on the water well before first light with baited lines in ready....
Here's a few pics of some quality fish landed over the last two weeks out of both of Melbournes favourite Snapper haunts.
I first met up with Robert Johnstone at 1.30am at a service station while fueling up Think Big after a Gummy Charter a few weeks ago. He approached me on a motorcycle & was pretty stoked & keen to tell me of the Snapper he'd landed earlier that day. This area is around the Silver Leaves through to Observation Point & is a mecca for many thousands of Snapper every year. It's also an area where that 'grey-white-pointed nose speedster' aka the School Shark is often hooked but all too often lost mid battle or nearing the end when boatside....but more on that later....
Youfish TV Fan Matt Callus found this handsome Snapper a couple of weeks back while fishing Western Port. Unsure of bait, but from the backdrop view off a pilchard dangling of an outfit, This may have been the bait of choice.
Our long time friend snorey Pawsey also found some quality action a couple of weeks back in Port Phillip Bay, fishing in 18mtrs, He along with good mate Joshua had some fun with Snapper to almost 6kg. Again this was a late morning bite.
Fruits got out in Port Phillip for an exploratory trip & had this nice early season opener of 4kg off Carrum in 18mtrs. Fishing with an old school friend Pat from Whittlesea who also happens to be a member of the Mr Fisho website, He was stoked to see a new season Snapper !
This was taken on a single circle 5/0 Gamakatsu with a tail section of Silver Whiting. Down sized flesh baits seem to work well during these earlier times, with full blown larger head baits working better as temps slowly increase.
Regular weekday client Khalid snuck out early Tuesday morning of this week & found what he always had wanted, a plump fresh hard fighting Port Phillip Snapper. At just on 4.5kg, he was pretty stoked & later informed me it was a task to fit in his fridge at home!!
Fruits with a Snapper from Port Phillip Bay this week. This fish took a fancy to a freshly caught Salmon chunk. The Salmon had been caught less than 24 hours before, little things like this will always help find better hookup rates.
The New Moon in September will see a rise in Snapper activity in both Western Port & Port Phillip Bay, so pace yourselves everyone, as it's still early days yet & will only get better towards October onwards.
The ongoing action on these tidal cruising hound sharks with spots continues on very well with consistent catches on pretty much every single charter. Some of these Gummys have been large too!!
As always the best fishing has come with the use of fresh baits aquired prior to settling in on an area.
Now here's a true genuine Great Grey Sub!!
Kurt Emmerson who's a regular client on Think Big! has an uncanny knack of being present when 'Big' things happen. This big grey girl at a conservative 25kg's was a subtle take at first & didn't really perform as hard as we've seen similar sized Gummys perform, once netted this was easy to understand however as she was fairly bursting at the seams with a very full belly of future gummys for everyone to enjoy. So after a quick few pics & revival boatside, she was soon off none the worse for the experience. Well done Kurt, again you've seen some special stuff.
Jamie from Pakenham arranged an rdo charter along with a few other work mates and possibly picked the best glassed out mild to warm day weather wise we had seen in a week or so. After some fresh bait collection we set off & soon had a few undesirables in form of draughtboards & port jacksons...par for the course of fishing reefy areas in winter. As the tide primed up we had this sporty male Gummy engulf a bait and create a bit of fun for Jamie. Nice way to round out a lovely day on the water.
Recently we had Alan Heib of Southside Marine Services out with us for an evening Gummy Session. Around an hour or so into the session we had this creditable Rock Ling take a yakka chunk bait. At 2.5kg it was a nice size Ling & more importantly, possibly one of our Southern Waters finest eating species. Rating highly on the menu & commanding a good price all year round, it was a little bit mouth watering when Alan showed me a pic of the finished result & mentioning it was up there with the best eating fish he has encountered yet.
Don't think there's much that can top a feed of fresh Rock Ling & Gummy Shark with a side of Salad & Chips...Did I mention Gummy Shark ?? Yes Alan was later to add Gummy to his menu with the capture of this good sized model later on.
This Gummy took a small chunk bait of fresh Yakka and woke up mid fight & really got going.
Here's a close up of one of the marine worlds most efficient & sensitive sensory systems. All over this part of their heads hundreds & hundreds of tiny scent & vibration receptors enable these to sniff out crabs in the sand from long distances.
Yes those speedy grey,white pointy nosed Sharks are beginning to show their presence.
Just a day or two back our very own YouFish TV Camerman Joe Fernand, saw his Uncle Tony down within the Western Entrance of Western Port in hope of a Gummy, however a sizeable School Shark showed up & was almost, almost.....landed...Unfortunately as in many other cases leader failure in the closing seconds was the link in the chain that caused the loss....
Below is a fleeting glimpse of this enigmatic species that is just that much harder to boat within the boundaries of typical Gummy Shark rigging.
The next few months will see many more of these excellent sportfish hooked, We are going to be giving these our best shot in the following months so stay tuned...
Once again as we move into Spring proper, so to do we see huge increases in the number of larger & larger Cephalopods in both Port Phillip Bay & Western Port. Thes actively growing Squid all have one thing in mind, Eat & Grow Fast!!!Lay Eggs, Spawn....Then die....They increase there size and weight at a huge rate this time of year & are often quite aggressive towards an artificial or baited jig.
Recently we have found some good fishing in some of the deeper regions of lower Western Port. These areas aren't as well suited to the current growing fashion of shallow water EGI techniques, however it's a style of fishing that doesn't require high end 'egi style rods' etc, with a common Whiting or Soft Plastics outfit more than adequate for these Squid, These methods will be outlined soon on an upcoming segment of YouFish TV. We also have charters available over the next few weeks on Squid where many methods are explained & shown on these trips.
Just checkout the booking calendar link or call Shaun direct on '0423 696 061'
Here's the sort of calibre Calamari that not only near wrenches the rod from your hand on the strike, but also takes a good deal of line before being boated. It's also possibly the Number 1 BIG! Snapper Bait you could use when seeking larger Snapper in any location in Victoria.
A recent bait collection trip to the Sthn areas of Port Phillip Bay showed the effectivness of slow trolling deep diving minnow lures, despite no visible surface activity. All too often many anglers want to see the obvious surface signs of fish busting up & Terns & Gannets wheeling and diving signifying Salmon.
By keeping a close eye on the sounder when in depths of 5-8mtrs, especially around structure, these Salmon can sometimes be found schooled up on these areas as they pluck off baitfish at will. Slow trolling by this, I mean walking pace with lures around 20-25 mtrs behind boat can find the action your after. It's also worth mentioning that the old style Paravane some anglers may have seen is also another proven way of finding these Salmon & also Couta & Snook when in a similar scenario.
Here's a chunky Salmon landed on above outlined techniques by a balaclava wearing Khalid. Yes it was a tad chilly this morning, but well worth it with Salmon of this size on 2kg outfits, Lots of fun & even better as a fresh Snapper bait as Khalid was to find out, when he turned this into a 4.5kg Snapper the very next day.
'Matt addicted to most fish Squiddy' with another quality Salmon landed on the Deep Diving Tilsan Bass Minnow, also adding that "These are one of my absolute favorite fish to land" Couldn't agree more as Salmon have been way underated for too long now & are slowly gaining more popularity as a sportfish that is well worth targeting.
In the coming weeks we will have more to report on & will be Thinking Big! as always
Until then stay safe & enjoy life for what it is.
Cheers,
TBC
This Fishing Report was submitted on 11/2/2012 4:21:37 PM by Seamus and last updated on 11/2/2012 4:21:37 PM.
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