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Re: queenscliff report friday 31st
Posted by peter d on September 8, 2001, 1:05 am , in reply to "Re: queenscliff report friday 31st"
 
G-day nick;
 
The reason I fish the western side of the bay alot [Queenscliff, indented heads, pt Lonsdale] is because I live in the northern suburbs, and the ring rd cuts my travelling time, I have a boat but I still like fishing land based, you said your not very experienced in squid fishing? where do I start !!
 
I've been fishing since I was about 10 years old, I'm 43 years old now and still learning, lets see, if you live in Albert park you could try Mornington pier, I haven't fished there for a couple of years but when I did I did catch squid, another pier that I've done well at is flinders, if you fish these two piers or any pier you will need a scoop net of some kind, especially flinders!!
 
Ive caught squid to 3 kg's there if you don't have a net you will drop them every time, in fact any pier from Mornington down to Sorrento will hold squid, one thing I've learnt is every location has a different technique and what worked on your the last trip may not work on your next trip, you have to assess the particular night, eg, how clear is the water, do you use a yosuri jig ? can they see it or do you use a baited jag so they can smell there way to the hooks? do you suspend the jig / lure under a float or fish it on the bottom near the sea grass? that would depend on how they are acting on the night if they are chasing bait fish or are cautious,
 
I'll give you a tip if you fish Queenscliff, take a small thread line outfit with you tie on a garfish hook about 2 to 3 feet under a very small float and use a maggot or a bit of pipi the size of a maggot or mussel and you will catch tommy ruff's, use these on a squid jag, they cant resist them! but tommys may not work at other locations, this is what I mean by every pier is different, some times they'll take a jig without you moving it and other times you will have to cast and retrieve or jig up and down in the one spot, always remember, water clarity, fresh bait, broken, reefy, weedy, ground is were they prowl, these are the area's to look at,
 
at this time of the year the piers start to get busy so I start using my boat more, the prime times I think they bite best is from 4pm to about midnight and then from about 5am to about 9am, Ive caught them at all stages of the tide so I don't think tides matter too much, though I've had better success on the out going tide at flinders, see, again different location and different scenario, I've gone some nights thinking I'll do really well and still come home empty handed, and other trips the water has been a little dirty and strong winds and I haven't felt lucky and I've bagged out, you just have to frequent the same location for a while to get the place "wired"
 
just because you don't catch anything on that first trip to that pier doesn't mean that there's nothing there, it just might be one of those nights that it doesn't fire up, so just remember the key points I mentioned above and you'll have a better chance of success, I could rave on for hours but theres nothing like experience, and that has to be learned through trial and error I'm afraid, I hope some of this is of benefit to you, regards peter d .


Responses
Re: queenscliff report friday 31st - Peter H September 8, 2001, 7:37 pm