After a pretty good weekend the weather during the week didn’t produce the best fishing conditions but some anglers did manage to get out for a fish.

Saturday, at this time, has forecast some pretty good conditions inside Westernport and Port Phillip whilst outside the bays it is destined to hover between the 15kn to 20kn zone for much of the week.

As always, please check the boating conditions forecast before venturing out onto the water. 

The poorer conditions this week has served to break up a mysterious “sludge” that has been floating around from Davey’s Bay all the way south to MacRae.

At this stage the relative authorities have no clue as to what the “sludge” actually is, nor its origin, but they are advising bay users to avoid it.

Other news is the commencement, on Monday 6th of February, of maintenance dredging in the South Channel. Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) are saying the need to conduct the maintenance dredging has become a matter of some urgency despite the Channel Deepening Project being completed only a couple of years ago.

The maintenance dredging will run for approximately 35 days and remove 330,000m3 of sand from the South Channel and dump in the South Eastern Dredged Material Ground off Balcombe Bay near Mt. Martha. PoMC expect there will be turbidity affecting the southern region of Port Phillip as a result of the maintenance dredging program.
Fishing around Port Phillip forges on with reports coming in from top to bottom.

Anglers working plastics around the Rickett’s Point to Black Rock areas are being rewarded with some good numbers of smaller Snapper whilst larger Snapper up to 6kg are still the mainstay of angler fishing out from Frankston to Carrum.

For those fishing the pre-dawn tides, the opportunity for a Snapper in close off Frankston to Seaford is worth the effort of an early start. Anglers fishing the humble Pilchard have landed Snapper in depths from 8m to 12m. 

King George Whiting have grabbed the attention of many anglers in Port Phillip this past week. Responding to some early reports we sent several customers and some newcomers to the area to Davey’s Bay and the foot of Oliver’s Hill chasing the King George Whiting from the land-based position.

All have reported back with success, landing numbers of King George Whiting around the 35cm size on Squid Strip baits or cocktail baits of Squid and Pipi.

There has been some good reports of Garfish, not only from the piers and rocks but also out in boats. The rocks from Mornington to Mt. Martha have provided the bulk of the reports with angler fishing similar areas to those fished for King George Whiting and Squid but anchoring instead of drifting.

Chinese Silver-Fish and Maggots are the preferred baits but don’t go heavy with oil in your berley as this can put the Garfish off a little. A rig capable of adjusting the depth of your bait is essential in maximising your efforts when chasing Garfish in either Port Phillip or Westernport.

Further south off Mornington has also been working well for King George Whiting, this time in close for the boaters. The King George Whiting from this area appear to be a little large, on average, than those from closer to Frankston. Again Squid Strips or the Squid/Pipi cocktail have been working very well.

Squid along this section of the bay are again “on-the-go” responding well to jigs worked over the weed and reef patches whilst drifting. 

Various jigs and colours are working well with a favoured size for this area being 2.5 with the most productive depths between 3m to 5m. Basically select the Squid Jig to suit the time of day and conditions. 

Elsewhere around Port Phillip some schools of Australian Salmon are moving around the bay and some Yellow-Tail Kingfish have shown up in the rip.

Gummy Sharks are becoming a regular capture for anglers fishing just either side the South Channel with the better side being near the Great Sands.

Flathead are responding well to soft plastics in particularly the worm type plastics in natural colours.

Over in Westernport nothing much is changing and the King George Whiting continue to be active along the Middle Spit and inside the Middle Bank for those fishing south of Sandy Point. Whilst the reports of 50cm plus fish have slowed there are still plenty around the 50cm mark and just under..

Over the top of the Middle Spit, Garfish are being caught in sizes that would match all but the biggest King George Whiting. Garfish measuring +40cm are a welcome catch with the best results coming about by fishing in the very shallow water over the top of the Middle Spit and nearby Invisible or Submerged Islands..

Gummy Sharks are still on the chew with numbers being caught toward the southern end of Westernport along the edges of the main shipping channel. Gummy Sharks up to 20kg or more are being encountered although at this size it can be a little hit and miss when it comes to getting them into the boat.

This week has also seen a few patches of Pinky Snapper around Corinella, Rhyll and Hastings.

Thanks to David “Bad Santa” Pye of Port Albert who reports that the fishing in Corner Inlet is improving despite some pretty poor conditions making it difficult for anglers to get out and about. There are some nice Gummy Sharks, Snapper and King George Whiting being caught but watch out for harassing Bronze Whalers and Great White Sharks appearing out of nowhere to have a chew on berley pots and outboards when fishing in the deeper section nearer the entrance.