Pike Legal Size Victoria
Shortfin fish can be caught on most coastal reefs and seagrass beds. Areas known to be prolific in the northern half of Port Phillip Bay include Black Rock, Brighton, Williamstown and Point Cook. St. Leonards and Indented Head are worth a try in the southern part of the bay, as are the reefs around Avalon and North Shore in Corio Bay. Pangolfish: The legal size of the fish must be checked at the earliest opportunity. Fish that are not the required size should be released immediately. Measure the fish from the tip of the snout with the mouth closed to the tip of the tail. The short-finned pike (also called snook) has a long, rounded body. The tail is large and forked and all fins are relatively small. The head and jaws are elongated, and the mouth contains large, very sharp teeth. The back of the short-finned pike varies in color from bronze to greenish blue, and the underside is creamy white.
When you hang out from a boat, long, thin strips of garbage or octopus are drawn onto a series of bridge hooks. If a school of shortfin pike is found, an effective method is to use white baits and pilchard fillets. These baits should float in water with little or no lead weight. The most common method of catching shortfin pike is to troll bait or bait on productive ground from a slow-moving boat. A range of standard bibs and metal baits can be successfully fished from suitable spinning rods. Shortfin pike can be caught near the surface at dusk and dawn, but is found much deeper in the water during the day. A traditional method of trolling still used by some fishermen is a heavy monofilament handline (15 to 24 kg) on which up to 50 small barrel pellets are set at regular intervals. A swivel joint is attached to the end and a guiding force with an elongation similar to the break is added.
The hand line makes it possible to drag a bait or bait near the bottom. The average size of shortfin pike caught in the Port Phillip area is between one and two kilograms. Larger specimens weighing up to 3 kg or more are less common and are more than a metre long. Shortfin pike can be found in schools and are seasonal visitors to the Port Phillip area from spring to early fall. The preferred habitat is via coastal reefs and seagrass beds in the shallower waters of Port Phillip and Westernport Bay. Estuary perch (including Australian perch and hybrids) There is a catch limit of 5 for each unlisted fish species. Mackerel (all trachur and scomber species except yellowtail scad) Southern and bearded rock cod (red cod, bearded cod, big-toothed bear, slender bear).