Mornington report - VIC

[Chick3n]

Thought I'd try my luck down mornington today, however to no avail.



Winds were very strong northerlies, and there were only the odd couple of squid caught by others.



Oh well, it was worth a try...





Regards,

Chick3n

[supersquid]

Hi Chick3en

It was a bit too windy today but sometimes the squid just go bananas in a strong wind, fishing down deep on a windy day will improve your chances

[beno1]

Went out of mornington to mills beach sunday fished from 2pm to 4 pm and landed 8 squid between 20 to 30 cm all cout on 1.7 ounce jigs only 100 mtrs of shour drifting. The best jig's were dark coloured jig's

[Chick3n]

Hello,



Went to mornington pier this morning, nice weather with hardly any wind. Ended up with 5 squid losing 3. Few others catching some, however it seems that the pier hasn't really started becoming too productive yet.



Cheers,

Chick3n

[Steeny]

tried my luck at mornington pier yesterday even though it was blowing a gale. no luck. in fact, didn't see a single squid caught in the 2 hours i was there. tried both fishing deep under a float with a baited jig and casting a 2 inch prawn style jig in both green and pink with no success. perhaps when the wind settles down a bit we might have more luck.



on the upside, i did see a fair few nice size gar caught off the end of the pier. perhaps i'm chasing the wrong species <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':woot:' />

[ieie]

Went down to Mornington on Saturday evening till about 1am. Was mainly after some pinkies, got a few bites but people kept casting over me. So went squiding half way down. Got 1 small calamari, was going to use it as some fresh bait. Then went down to the small jetty and caught two more.

Wind was up as well.

[glen]

went to mornington this evening. wind was Ok at first and then picked up.



ended up being fairly cold and miserable.



no squid were caught.



i saw a fair few small (tiny) squid but they were not interested in the squid jigs....



we tried some tiny jigs down to 3cm long and still received no interest...oh well...i probably needed a squid fly to have any chance! <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



cheers, glen <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blueboxbullet.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' />

[Chick3n]

Fished off Mornington Pier today, there was little wind and it was quite warm. Ended up with 3 in after quite some time, there were a few others catching however most of them were landed early in the morning before I arrived. Also saw a decent leatherjacket, some quite large slimey mackrel, flathead and a banjo being caught as well as a school of quite large fish (Salmon/kingfish?) swimming around the yatch side of the pier! There were also some red mullet in the shallows which could be seen.



The divers thought it was a great day as well, rocking up in large numbers; claiming to see large schools of KG whiting around the pier!



Hope that helps

[glen]

i was close by snorkelling at mt martha and saw a few king george whiting so i think what they said is true. I also saw a big school of yellow eye mullet and lots of baitfish. I saw a fair few squid but they were all tiny <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



Cheers, Glen

[supersquid]

Hi Glen



Any thoughts to as why the squid around Mornington pier are always said to be small

I hardly ever hear of any big ones from this area

[glen]

hi supersquid, my guess is the bigger ones prefer the open ocean......and queenscliff is very close to the open ocean hence the bigger squid...i guess there must be a bigger and better food supply for them outside of the bay <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



then again, while snorkelling on the weekend I saw heaps of bait fish in the bay! lots of small fish that looked like anchovies or something similar <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':woot:' /> i would have thought this would have been good squid tucker!

[supersquid]

Glen I was refering more to the pier area of Mornington as I have caught some big ones around the rocks and at Mt. Martha, it just amazes me hat everytime I go to Mornington peir or hear reports from others the squid they get off the pier are always small I find the phenomenon interesting I have caught a few big ones off the pier but not many <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/xyxthumbs.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Will be giving Mt Martha a try in a few weeks for some gars and squid

[Chick3n]

Hi supersquid,



In all the times ive been to mornington pier, i have seen a variety of sizes caught, as well as having caught a variety of sizes. Having said that, the average squid caught there would be 500g and below, however occasionally i've seen squid well over 1kg being caught. Perhaps the baby squid prefer to stay in that area and move around as they grow larger; as i know queenscliff has a larger average size.



Smaller squid are better i think, they are more tender and are better for bait. So im quite happy with mornington pier for calamari, although having the larger ones on your line sure would be fun!

[supersquid]

[Hi Chick3n



Id say tidal force and currents have a lot to do with the smaller squid hanging around the peir and I agree when you say the smaller ones are more tender YUM YUM .Its not like you dont see small squid around any other pier its just that every time I fish Mornington pier I seem to only get small ones but if I move to the rocks near the pier or at Mt Martha The size increases dramaticly.As far as other fishing is concerned I reckon Mornington would have to be the best pier in PPB



Come the end of the holidays I will be out terrorising the squid of Queenscliff once again <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/xyxthumbs.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[Chick3n]

Went down to the pier again today, the winds were quite strong. However, i was rewarded with two squid off the first two casts of the day. Slowed down after that, ended up with four for the day. These squid caught were quite a bit larger then whats usually caught down there, which was suprising.



Good luck to all.

[scitt]

Hi all, tried Mornington pier last night, no luck by anyone on pier (at least when we were there between 8.30pm 10.30 pm). Should have been good as there was little wind or waves, and we were right under a big light. Local experts alongside us blamed the scuba divers who were cruising about under the pier!

Thanks for forum.

[supersquid]

Hi Scott and welcome



Divers can be a right pain at time but they have thier right to be there too however the problem wasnt just their presence.

Going by the times you fished it was the last two hours of the run out tide, now some people will say that tide dosnt make a differnce when fishing for squid and at times they are right but I myself favour the last two hours of rising tide and first two hours of the runout and the bottom of the tide as well,also there has been a full moon over the last few nights and this also has an impact on catch rates as will wind direction .Pick your times, a rising tide late evening or early morning should produce the goods.

Mt Martha rocks is also as good chance for some nice sized squid

[scitt]

Divers can be a right pain at time but they have thier right to be there too however the problem wasnt just their presence.

Going by the times you fished it was the last two hours of the run out tide, now some people will say that tide dosnt make a differnce when fishing for squid and at times they are right but I myself favour the last two hours of rising tide and first two hours of the runout and the bottom of the tide as well,also there has been a full moon over the last few nights and this also has an impact on catch rates as will wind direction .Pick your times, a rising tide late evening or early morning should produce the goods.

Mt Martha rocks is also as good chance for some nice sized squid

Supersquid, what you are saying is that you would suid two hours either side of the high water mark, I will try that, however you also said you fish at the bottom of the tide; is that not what I was doing? (Last two hours of the runout tide)(I really arent 100%). Thanks for the help.

[supersquid]

Scott yes that what I am saying two hours either side of the tide and the very bottom of the tide as you were doing , the only thing you need is for them to be about and hungry

Also the regular squidders around mornington use a small sinker with a 30cm leader below the jig, this helps keep the jig down deep near the bottom where the squid tend to hang out around this area.

Scott I am more knowledgable of the Queenscliff area and have only fish Mornington every now and then and can say that the technique with the sinker is not needed at Queenscliff but seems to be the productive technique at Mornington. Please feel free to ask any questions you like as thats what we are here for

<img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/xyxthumbs.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[ieie]

In regards to the small sinker below the jig, I used to fish that way and catch squid down at mornington. However last month or so I have been using no sinker attached.

The gear i use now with the change is a 6'6" length 4-8lb graphite rod, 2500 spinning reel, 6lb fireline with a 10lb flurocarbon leader, could say bream gear. Attach the jig using a small snap swivel (only to stop retying the jigs on a change) and cast away. Jigs used are around 1.8 size so sink rate is slow can leave it there for 10-15 seconds and slowly wind and jig. Found this setup to increase the catch rate when other people were getting none.

Hope this helps.