Hey guys, just wondering if anyone had some winter fishing tips for when it's too cold or too murky to get diving. I just bought a rod and have been out a couple times at mordi pier to no avail. Any spots/tips/bait&rig info would be greatly appreciated!

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J.bizzle, putting pieces to the pizzle

most PPB landbased fishing gets pretty quiet at this time of the year. its hard enough at the best of times in melbourne as you are in competition with many other anglers that dont have boats.
as for tips, it depends on what you are targeting and if just taking the "throw in a line and see what you get" approach, its gonna make it all that more harder. try to always have a target fish, as it pretty much governs where and how you fish.

to get you started, squid have been on the go at st leonards, a fair few whiting have been taken landbased recently and snapper at docklands can always be had during winter

Thanks for the pointer,

I read that salmon are common catch at mordi pier in winter, so should i be trying whitebait for them or soft plastics? I might buy a jig and head to Brighton pier, I hear a lot of squid are caught there...

I wouldnt mind going for leatherjackets either just dont know what bait and rig to use...

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J.bizzle, putting pieces to the pizzle

squid are yet to make a big appearance at brighton, they are very late this year.
ive always found pillies pretty sucessful when bait fishing for salmon. when they are biting they will take almost anything. however sometimes if they are a bit slow lures are much more effective. i've found metal lures most effective however plastics, minnow and spinners are also pretty popular.
as for leatherjackets, they are rarely targeted as they have tiny mouths with big teeth and are hard to hook. most catches are a bi-catch when fishing for other reefies. if you do give them a go, use small hooks something like a size 6.

Plenty of squid at Pt Cook or St Leonards

Haha twitch is right about them being rarely targeted because they're damn near impossible to catch without losing your bait or catching fifty thousand toadfish due to the small hook size.

According to recent reports the squid have been on the go at Flinders and sth PPB piers like sorrento and portsea. yamashita natural jigs are going for $10 each or less atm from some tacklestores and theyre pretty reliable jigs. Stuff paying $25+ for a squid jig!!!

I only caught 4 squid from the boat last week at daveys bay(frankston) in an hr while having lunch. Spot where we were fishing was 5ft of water and could eaisly be reached with a good cast from the rocky point. If you put in the time you could get your bag here.

Mt martha rocks is also good anywhere from balcombe point to bradford rd. If your going for squid, head down an hr b4 sunset and leave an hr after. From my experiences this is "primetime".

tightlines shaz

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"I told her that I've never had sushi before...."

Awesome, mondays looking good Might bring my dive gear down too.

Thanks for the tips everyone, appreciated. If you got more, keep it coming!

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J.bizzle, putting pieces to the pizzle

Brought the young lad down to dromana pier this evening for an owl fish. We caught a couple of small garfish but threw them back as they seemed very small. What would be considered pan size for garfish. There was a couple of lads beside us pulling them in like a good thing. They had 2 big buckets full of them, all looked very small.

I would have liked to catch something bigger but we weren't set up for it. I'll be better prepared next time.

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I don't get sea sick, the sea gets sick of me!

They may have been catching them for bait for something else but more likely just fuckwits that keep small fish. There is no min size for gars.

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WARNING: CONTAINS CARROT

i'd say the latter. What's a decent size for a gar.

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I don't get sea sick, the sea gets sick of me!

a good gar is about 2 thumbs thick(top to bottom) and around 40cm+ long. thats if your going to eat them. a bit smaller is still ok but depends on how much bother you want to go to to cook them. if i do get small gars i salt them and use them as bait for surf fishing. they hold up really well once salted.
i have also been doing plenty of surf fishing on beaches in the torquay and fairhaven areas lately. just been using lures mostly with more success than bait. 15 to 30 to gram baitfish lures have all worked well.

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Do you know what really makes me smile? Facial muscles.

Whats the best/easiest burley for gar? and the best baits. I went out yesterday using prawn sections in a spot i know (from diving) usually holds gar but just ended up giving baitfish a good feed...

im using no 12 hooks, float + split shot with hook about 20cm from float. anything else i need to know?

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J.bizzle, putting pieces to the pizzle

i use chook pellets mixed with a can of cheap catfood and some fishoil and warm water for berly. i always use berly when going for gars. long shank hooks between size 8 and 12 and prawn for bait. i find garfish to be very wary on the bite sometimes and you realy need to watch your float closely for any different movement. sometimes you will see the float rise up a bit when they take the weight of the bait and hook off the float. depending on how they're biting , sometimes let them take the bate for a few secondsbefore striking. other times strike straight away. just have to try different methods to suit thier mood.

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Do you know what really makes me smile? Facial muscles.

I thought you couldnt use catfood for burley?