Last weekend saw some of the AFN crew head down to Apollo Bay in search of Australian salmon.
We were greeted by overcast skies and occasional rain but the conditions weren’t looking as bad as predicted. Saturday morning saw us rise at sparrows fart to catch the rising tide at Wild Dog beach and boy were we glad we did – the fishing was phenomenal with two fish being brought in within the first minute of the baits hitting the drink. We were rigged up with baits first thing in the morning but then moved on to lures as the tide started to turn and the swell begun to eradicate. Red and yellow surf poppers were the go and salted bluebait and pencil mackerel from Marios (Geelong) did the trick. Dual paternoster rigs were employed with breakaway sinkers anchoring the baits to the sea floor. We ended the day with 30 fish or thereabouts all caught on baits and metal lures from GT-BIO.
A couple of us headed back down to the beach on sunset to fish into the night for gummies but after a few hours we pulled up stumps – we hadn’t turned a reel in three solid hours. The one highlight was being approached by a fisheries office after dark – something we don’t see often enough.
Sunday morning was a little bit different – the entire landscape had changed with a building south westerly Wild Dog was no longer fishable and we were forced towards Marengo where it was a little bit more protected thanks to the reef. This time we left the bait behind and armed ourselves with lighter gear and GT-BIO metal lures. Due to the uncomfortable conditions we only landed a handful of fish before being blown off the sand.
Despite the inclement weather and lack of filming (thanks to the rain) we had a good trip with plenty of fish and more importantly heaps of laughs. We’ll be back soon…