Easter Mulloway at Barwon Heads

[Nitro]

For anyone interested in BIG Mullowy then Barwon Heads should be firing about now. I used to live there years ago and Easter time saw the big fellas come into the river at night. Happened every Easter without fail.
Best time was at night on the low tides. We used anchor up just up from the little jetty upstream from the bride.
Use live baits, salmon you catch earlier in the day.
But the best action was on the bridge itself.
Dont know what the bridge is like now but this is what we did.
We used big skirted lures like those used for big tuna fitted with 10 O hooks and a big sinker inside the head of it. The colour choice was hot pink and white.
We fished on the change of the low tide from slack water till just as the water/tide started to come back in.
A low, low tide was the best. The higher tides didnt work. ie minimal difference between high and low tide. Not a big tide movement.
We would slowly walk back and forwards the walkway with the lure just on the edge of the light and dark where the lights from the bridge hit the water close to the bridge. Virtually just dropped straight down.
The big mulloway would be there to ambush the small bait schools with the mulloway hiding in the dark under the bridge ready to pounce.
Low tide saw the bait schools compacted into tighter areas and not spread out.
Best area was from the ocean grove side of the bridge to the middle of it. From the middle to the Barwon heads side was never that good. When you hook one this is what you do. Use big gear and a tough as rod. 20KG line.
Hook up and you run or go as fast as you can to the Ocean Grove side of the bridge and get onto the sand and move upstream to fight it away from the bridge.
9 out of ten will run upstream for about 50 meters and give you just enough time to do so.
You will lose about 50% as some turn early and head back under the bridge.
But when you get one they are usually big bruisers up to 15 to 30 kg.
I dont go there these days so im happy to impart this bit of info to anyone willing to tackle them.
Good luck if anyone does. :thumbsup: ps The run usually lasts from two weeks leading up to Easter till a few weeks after it.

[Fish-cador]

sounds like good fun. Too bad the place is too far for me to try.

[Fish-Hunter]

I have fished the Barwon river many times , right from the mouth to sheepwash rd . Theres plenty of nice Bream , Salmon trout , trevally , mullet & the mighty mulloway . I havent caught mulloway in the barwon , but someday hope to , your advise is spot on "thanks for sharing it" . :thumbsup:

[Cuda]

Hi Nitro,
Thanks for the info...Skirts sound really unusual on Jewies...Is there a spot under the bridge, on the Ocean Grove side, one could fish from? LIke the place you're describing where you fought the jewies from...

[Drifta-X]

Props to u for giving jew advice.
Most people would say boo, let along give such detailed info.

Know much bout bass?

[Fishsniper]

Props to u for giving jew advice.
Most people would say boo, let along give such detailed info.

Know much bout bass?

This is a proper fishing forum, unlike another which I will not mention where it's all about the individual!!!

[Drifta-X]

Props to u for giving jew advice.
Most people would say boo, let along give such detailed info.

Know much bout bass?

This is a proper fishing forum, unlike another which I will not mention where it's all about the individual!!!

Can I mention it. :twisted:
Those guys gimmi the poos 99% of the time.

[Nitro]

The skirt type we used were hollow rubber headed and we added our own weights/sinkers in the hollow head. We used to buy them from Longs fishing tackle in Geelong.
We fished off the bridge itslef which enabled you to walk back and forwards and aslo to now and then see the Jewies just poking out from the shaddows. The skirts were about 10" long.
The time frame I mentioned is the hottest Mulloway bite you will get at Barwon Heads.
I suppose fishing from the edge, Ocean Groce side and casting a livie towards the shaddow/light area could work. Then you wouldnt have to run and get onto the sand to fight them. But the way we used to fish for them there was the killer method. It was a bummer one night when a giant Jewie hit my lure and ran upstream but turned real early and didnt give me time to get down. I saw it and it was huge, biggest I had ever seen there. But you did lose plenty fishing that way, but when you got one it was all the more sweeter. I was using a Penn Jigmaster with 15kg line and a stump puller boat rod that night and it was like I was using a whiting outfit. Will never forget that one.
Another great option down there is a month before the snapper start to move into the bay in numbers.
They first would be in the surf areas at night before entering the Port Philip bay areas. Feeding at night along the surf/wave breaks just offshore. A person onshore with a good surf outfit would have been just able to hit us or come real close. We would go out in a boat and just anchore up just behind the wave breaks, maybe 20 to 30 foot back from them, in about ten foot of water. Let a pilchard rig straight down, leave the real in gear and wait. Which at times was not long. In those conditions they hit hard and fast, you didnt need to let them take it and play. They hooked themsleves, straight up.
If you fished out of gear free spool they would hit it run and drop them every time. Rarely missed one when fishing in gear and the drag at fight setting ready to go. Would hook themselves. Couldnt leave the rods just sitting there as you would have it hit and over the side before you realised. Either sitting in a rod holder or hold it yourself was the go. Were all good size snapper too, no pinkies. 5 to 12 kg. This was all 20 years ago but it was always the same and shouldnt be any different now. Back on the Mulloway, I reckon the most hits came from the centre of that area I mentioned. The outer limints being the centre of the bridge to the Ocean Grove side of the bridge. Dont know what the locals are like these days down there as people have changed. I sometimes fished alone on the bridge and sometimes with mates.
But these days on the bridge at night I dont reckon id go alone given the way some are. Would probably be with a couple of mates if I did. Cheers.

[vikodin]

Mate I live there and there is rarely any problems with people although holiday season does bring all sorts.

Fishing from the bridge the way you explained is basically impossible. The old bridge no longer exists and has been replaced with 2 new ones. The new fishing\walkway bridge is on the wrong side (design idiots) Its on the ocean side and there is a car bridge on the Geelong side.

People still fish off the bridge of course and it has been designed to fish off, problem is this river has always fished better on an incoming tide so someone stuffed up big time with this and wrecked a great land based spot.

[vikodin]

Mate I live there and there is rarely any problems with people although holiday season does bring all sorts.

Fishing from the bridge the way you explained is basically impossible. The old bridge no longer exists and has been replaced with 2 new ones. The new fishing\walkway bridge is on the wrong side (design idiots) Its on the ocean side and there is a car bridge on the Geelong side.

People still fish off the bridge of course and it has been designed to fish off, problem is this river has always fished better on an incoming tide so someone stuffed up big time with this and wrecked a great land based spot.

P.S. Hi Drifta