Western Port: Strength to Strength by Jarrod Day

The fishing in Western Port has grown considerably from strength to strength over the past month.

Those who couldn't get enough of the big reds still searched for that last run for the season. Although the bigger versions were elusive, the pinkie snapper made up for them in good numbers. Most of these fish took cover on the reefs and provided some great light tackle entertainment if you knew where to look.

INSIDE THE PORT

There wasn't a day where the fishing really let anglers down, provided they worked hard for their fish. Weather conditions may have kept some at bay, but the fish were still willing to jump on the line.

I headed out with Gawaine Blake and other clients from Think Big Charters. We fished around Crib Point in 10m of water over a small patch of reef. After berleying for a little while, the whiting rods were deployed and line screamed off the spools instantly. The day ended up with a dozen pinkie snapper to 1.2kg, a few whiting, silver trevally and plenty of salmon.

Schools of salmon could be found everywhere in the Port with the most prolific schools in the Western Entrance. All anglers had to do is follow the birds and soon enough they'd discover a boiling patch of salmon. Trolling was a successful method, but casting metal lures and soft plastics proved to be the most consistent technique.

With all the salmon around something just had to be eating them, as Gawaine found out.

Gawaine headed out to get some salmon before fishing for gummy sharks in the Western Entrance. His clients were most impressed when they got to experience gummy shark fishing at its finest.

One Saturday, Gawaine and clients managed three gummy sharks between 5kg and 7kg, a 14.7kg and 17.47kg gummy tagged and released. One client returned from the previous week after catching and releasing a 27kg gummy to back it up with an 11.2kg gummy. Amongst the gummy mayhem they