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Silver Ghosts
Luke Smith
As we worked our way along my favourite bank, the first tell-tale 'jewie' bump appeared on the sounder screen. We were casting tight up against the reed beds and letting our Motor Oil GrubZ flutter to the bottom. Once there we slowly worked them over the drop and along the bottom, twitching them in between pauses. I was staring at the braid, waiting with anticipation for that first clunk that mulloway so often do. Braid began to peel off the little 2000 spin reel but unfortunately it was not connected to my rod, I was destined to be the netter this time.
In the past year the rivers of southwest Victoria have seen an influx of juvenile mulloway enter the systems and gorge themselves on baitfish. Four of the regions systems have been producing jewies on a regular basis. These rivers are the Glenelg, the Fitzroy, the Moyne and the Hopkins. Over this article I will give a brief rundown of each system and share some tips to help increase your mulloway results.
The Glenelg River that lies on the border of Vic and SA is one of the most consistent mulloway producing locations in all of Victoria. It is a long river that is boat able for over 40km and there are mulloway caught almost every day of the year. Whilst most fish in the region range from undersize through to 70cm, this river has the ability to produce fish in excess of 50lb. Winter is peak time to target these big brutes as they enter the river's mouth and ambush schools of mullet and salmon with the aid of the some deep holes and the flowing water.
The mouth is located in the township of Nelson and has several boat ramps that are suitable to launch all manner of craft. This provides great access to some top notch mulloway action, as one of the hot spots is no more than 400m from the main ramp. This location is known as the poles as there is several poles on the river bend that mark out the channel. This is the deepest part of the river, with water up to 18m. The banks drop off sharply as it is only a narrow river, thus creating great ambush points for mulloway.
Productive techniques in this area range from plastics and vibes, to bait fishing or trolling hard bodies and livies. Trolling and bait fishing after dark are great methods when the mulloway are more actively feeding and moving around. During the day however casting lures and bouncing them along the bottom is very hard to beat. Mulloway are generally lazy during the day and will hide along drop offs and ledges and lie in wait for food to pass by. In this situation lures will out fish bait most times as you are actively finding the fish.
Lures such as the ZMan 2.5" GrubZ, ZMan 3.5" GrubZ and the ZMan 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ are great for working along the bottom and letting the current move them around. Motor Oil is a dynamite colour and often out fishes most other colours. Other productive lures are the ZMan 3.75" StreakZ, ZMan 2.5" Slim SwimZ and the ZMan 3" MinnowZ, again with Motor Oil being the pick of the colours, along with Shiner, Greasy Prawn and Bad Mood. The 1/8oz and 1/4oz TT Lures Switchblade is the alternative to plastics when lure fishing. The natural and dark colours usually work better than the bright colours. Simply hop them along the bottom and up the channel edges.
The Glenelg also has a lot of winding bends with steep rocks walls. These are perfect for vibing up mulloway. Throw in at the wall and let them drop. Hopefully the lure gets crunched on the drop, as they so often do. The advice that I can offer is to cover ground until you find the bait as the jewies will not be far behind. The second piece of advice is to keep your lures in contact with the bottom. Mulloway love nothing more than a lure that is ripped up off the bottom.
The Fitzroy River is located between Codrington and Tyrendarra and is a hidden river that only the locals know about. It is only small and access by boat is limited to approximately 8km, with a few shallow reefs that can cause problems. Caution must be taken when boating in this system for the first time. To the west of the boat ramp there are two separate reefs that stretch the width of the river. The best option is to go slow and watch the sounder. Once passed these areas, the river offers reed lined banks along with mud flats. There are no secrets to working this river, apart from watching the sounder and covering ground. The river is narrow and with two anglers fishing, both banks can be prospected. Once fish are located you're laughing! The river is full of bream, usually of a good average size. There is also resident estuary perch, that come down from the fresh in the winter months when the river floods. However the time for mulloway is summer.
Again, the same lures apply but I would start with the GrubZ, Slim SwimZ and 1/8oz vibes as the mulloway are usually only small in this system. Whilst they will still readily take the other lures previously mentioned, you will limit your chances of the bream and perch by-catch.
The Moyne River mouth is located in the quiet township of Port Fairy. It is only a small system and boat access is limited to about 1km. The river spans out into a large shallow lake that has a mud and rock bottom. If adventurous, a small tinny may be taken into here but caution must be taken. However, this is a great advantage of a kayak. This system is also fantastic for land based access, as most of the mulloway fishing takes place from the road bridge to the mouth of the river.
Bait fishing is very productive over summer when the mulloway school up in good numbers. Pilchards, clickers and spew worms are the best options. Fishing at night near the boat ramp jetty is a great option as there are usually schools of small mullet and salmon feeding on the scraps from the cleaning tables.
During the day lures are far more productive as the fish are a bit more shutdown. A correctly worked lure is often too good to refuse for a mulloway. Afternoon is a great time to start flicking some lures as jewies become more active nearing dark, otherwise tide changes are your friend. The river is very tidal and fishing an hour either side of high tide can certainly help to increase your catch.
Lure choice remains the same with GrubZ, Slim SwimZ, vibes and 3.75" StreakZ all working well. Depending on the tidal movement, jighead size may have to be up to 1/8oz to be worked correctly. Motor Oil colour is a consistent performer in this river, however they do like Violet Sparkle and Chartreuse Sparkle in the GrubZ, Mood Ring in the Curly Tail SteakZ and Greasy Prawn in the Slim SwimZ, along with Shiner and Redbone Glow in the StreakZ. The river can be dirty after heavy rainfall and this is when vibes, such as Switchblades in Red Nightmare 1/8oz and 1/4oz work so well.
Whether land based or in a boat it is a matter of working your lures from the middle to the edge or from the edge to the middle. Most important thing is to keep your lures in contact with the bottom for as long as possible. When fish are found it is crucial to thoroughly work that spot with repetitive casts. Mix up the retrieves to try and entice the fish to bite.
The Hopkins River, located in Warrnambool, is better known as a bream fishery but in recent years has been producing some excellent mulloway fishing. The Hoppies, as it commonly referred to, offers many different structure types with mud banks, weed beds and rock walls being favourite locations to find jewies. Most of the mulloway fishing occurs in the bottom half of the river but they are often caught at Jubilee Park and higher.
The Hopkins Bridge is a great spot to target mulloway at sunset and later into the night. Bait fish congregate under the bridge lights and the jewies use this structure as a great ambush point. Dark vibes create a silhouette during the night that is very effective in the Hoppies. A 1/8oz vibe is all you need as the river is fairly shallow and a slower flutter gives it more chance of being eaten on the drop. The ZMan 3.75" StreakZ in Shiner colour is a favourite of mine at night, paired up with a 1/12oz jighead and some Pro-Cure Mullet Super Gel Scent to help entice the fish to bite.
The ski run is another favourite spot of mine for bream or mulloway. I love working the south bank of the river as it offers a shallow flat in the transit lane, before it drops into deeper water. Ninety percent of the time that I fish this bank I will be using a Motor Oil 2.5" GrubZ or a Motor Oil Slim Swimz, with a 1/16oz jighead. This combination is just deadly for working this shallow bank. I prefer to stay a cast length away from the bank and work the GrubZ along the bottom out into deeper water. By doing this I am able to keep an eye on the sounder and quite often fish can be sounded up on the drop off and with a quick shift in boat position I will work along the bigger drop off that is located 20-30m off the bank.
Another great spot is the bank immediately behind the Deakin University. This is on the north side of the river and offers mud banks with some weed beds and reef, as you head towards Rowans Lane. Again I love using the GrubZ but also the StreakZ. If fishing first or last light I will fish tight to the bank, otherwise I pull out a touch wider and work the 2m line, as the fish often move off the flat when the sun comes up.
The fourth spot I target a lot is the flats at Rowans Lane. There are great mud flats on the north and south bank of the river and both produce mulloway. Quite often many anglers only fish the north bank, but the south can fish even better at times. The same lures and techniques apply. The time of day and light conditions will dictate whether you focus on the shallow flat or the drop off.
The increase in mulloway numbers over the past few years is great to see and with this fishery improving, I hope everyone takes steps to ensure that it only becomes better. Hopefully the above information can help you get connected to one of these great fighting fish. Remember to check the size and bag limits for the area that you're fishing.