Follow the birds for bait fish

Peri Stavropoulos with a tuna. (Supplied) 324577_01

The inner harbour of Corio Bay has had some fantastic fishing on offer, with snapper on the chew and areas like North Shore producing some nice fish to 3kg.

Bait fishing on a tide change has been producing the best results. Pilchards, squid and silver whiting have all been accounting for fish.

Flathead have also been present in solid numbers, with anglers picking up some ripper sized ones while chasing the snapper.

It’s well worth having a lighter rod out with small baits when out there at the moment. Kingfish have also reportedly been caught off Lineburners boat ramp with sizes estimated between 90-100 cm, which is fantastic to hear.

The outer harbour has been holding the usual species we mention in our reports but over the past week have heard some other species making a big presence such as silver trevally and gummy sharks.

The gummies have been in massive numbers right through the outer harbour with some boats landing up to 12 fish a session, and although lots of them are just legal there are some fish coming in at over a metre.

The Bellarine Peninsula has continued to fish well, from Clifton Springs right through to Queenscliff. Anglers there are picking up solid whiting and calamari.

The closer you get towards the heads, the better the fishing seems to be for both species.

The key is finding the correct clarity. For example, the whiting are best in dirty water and the squid in clearer water.

There have also been plenty of garfish around at the moment, anchoring up with a burley trail with some float rigs should get you among that action.

Offshore has continued to offer some fantastic bluefin tuna fishing this week, with anglers having some insane sessions on super aggressive fish.

The fish have been seen pretty much daily busting on schools of whitebait, so using small white stickbaits have been matching the hatch perfectly.

Poppers have also been producing fish, which look nothing like a whitebait but the fish don’t seem to mind.

Sticking with the birds is crucial as they are the masters of the hunt for these bait fish; they have a much better eye than us and will be onto them quick. The birds are our best friends at the moment.