Geoff Wilson’s Fishing Knots And Rigs

Andrew Johnson with one of the 9 snapper taken by he and wife Jenny from Corio Bay last week.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Heading due north from the junction of the Wilson Spit and Point Richards channels at very first light on Thursday, Andrew Johnson and wife Jenny had the sounder running, and in 9.5 metres of water pulled up over a promising mark.

Unfortunately, they lost the only snapper they hooked there, and with nothing else on offer, they were on the hunt once more with the sounder lighting up like a Christmas within a hundred metres or so.

The snapper they caught here weren’t all big fish by any means, and they returned quite a few pinkies. Nevertheless, they finished with nine keepers, the biggest of which weighed 5.1 kg.

That wasn’t the end of their day as it turned out, for on the way back to the ramp, they broke out the squid jigs, and – just out from The Dell – they caught nine squid, and there were some good ones among them.

Also on the hunt for snapper early week were Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar who anchored up in around 7 metres of water off Avalon where they caught their legal bag of six snapper from one to 4 kg using pilchards and squid for bait.

Whiting aficionado Denis O’Brien was out after his favourite quarry on Thursday afternoon but found them hard to find.

Nevertheless, he persisted in the Curlewis area, eventually taking 14 good size whiting up to 40 cm in length.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that with improved weather his clients have been catching whiting flathead and squid.

Australian salmon have been about as well, said Mike, but banjo sharks remain a nuisance moving in on angler’s baits.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that clients have been bringing in good catches of whiting and squid, some taking their bag limit, while land-based anglers fishing from the nearby Portarlington breakwaters have been catching any amount of snapper.

Jordan Matthews demonstrates his ongoing success from his Kayak in the relatively shallow waters of Campbell’s Cove.

Campbells Cove

Last week we had a report from Jordan Matthews who was catching snapper to 60 cm from his Kayak in Campbell’s Cove with is just northeast of Werribee South.

Using a variety of soft plastics, Jordan continues to catch any number of snapper in relatively shallow water from the cove and has sent me his GoPro footage of what looks like an aquarium down there.

Frank Bluch with the 8.69 kg brown trout that he caught from the Pukaki Canal, NZ, on a size 12 muskrat fly: A potential tippet-class world record capture.

New Zealand

Visiting Twizel Country in New Zealand’s South Island, Geelong fly fisherman Frank Bluch was hoping to pluck yet another potential tippet class record from the great population of salmonids on offer.

Fishing the Pukaki Canal, Frank caught several species of note including a 4.6 kg Kokanee salmon, two rainbow trout of 10.5 apiece, and – using a 1 kg tippet – he eventually grassed an 8.69 kg brown trout for which he is claiming a world record for that class of tippet.

Rod Butcher with his catch of European carp with one mirror carp in the mix.

Freshwater

My neighbour, Rod Butcher takes a stroll down to the Barwon River at Breakwater every so often and catches a lot of European carp and shows me those captures on his mobile phone.

He caught 34 on his last trip to the Barwon and fitting them all into the picture was a challenge.

Lockie Wombell with a gemfish, part of a catch by he and Bob McPherson caught out wide from Portland last week (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Lockie Wombell with a sample of the blue eye trevalla that he and Bob McPherson caught out wide from Portland last week (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

With a break in the weather early last week, Bob McPherson and Lockie Wombell headed out wide from Portland where they found blue eye trevalla and gemfish well and truly on the bite, taking their bag limit catch by lunchtime.

Heading back to the ramp, in 135 metres of water they had a huge blue whale surface within close proximity to their boat, almost certainly feeding on a patch of krill, an event for which this area is noted.

Andrew Johnson with a snapper he caught offshore from Point Wilson last week (Picture: Jenny Johnson).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Making an early start on Wednesday morning, Andrew Johnson and wife Jenny tried their luck on the snapper, and – anchoring up toward the end of the Point Wilson Pier – Andrew picked up a nice one of just over 5 kg using half a silver whiting for bait.

Fishing for snapper on Sunday morning, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck were anchored up off Avalon’s Mountain View Quarries shortly after 5.00 am catching three snapper from 4.5 to 5 kg.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that dredging operations to restore all-tide access to the boat harbour, and the implementation of additional parking, are both nearing completion.

And, as for his client’s fishing results, Mike says that pinkie snapper and Australian salmon have been the main catch.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that clients have taken whiting to 38 cm with squid, some of good size, on offer as well while anglers fishing in the vicinity of the Prince George Pile have caught pinkie snapper, the largest weighing in at around 2 kg.

Eli McLoughlin 4, with one of his carp from the Barwon River at Breakwater (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).

John Gray holding out a couple of yellowbelly from Cairn Curran Reservoir.

Offshore

Taking a run out into 40 metres of water off Barwon Heads on Sunday, Simon Werner and Mick Spiteri were hoping for a snapper or good size gummy shark, and a 5 kg snapper was the first cab off the rank.

They looked set for a gummy shark as well, but after a lengthy tussle the fish they’d hooked turned to be an eagle ray that was released.

Lily Eales 6, with a yellowbelly from Cairn Curran Reservoir (Picture: Stephen Eales).

Mason Eales 5, with a couple of yellowbelly from Cairn Curran Reservoir (Picture: Stephen Eales).

Freshwater

After trying his luck on the Barwon River downstream from Breakwater, neighbour Rod Butcher, showed me a great catch of European carp on his mobile phone.

By Rod’s reconning, they would have been up to 6 kg. And there were a good many more to be shown that were taken on previous trips as well, all being caught on corn kernels.

Kevin McLoughlin and his 4-year-old son Eli also found the carp in much the same area on Sunday with the lad picking up a couple of nice ones.

Frank Benvenuto fished Melton Reservoir last week, and trolling along the edges with a size 3 Stump-jumper, caught a nice yellowbelly and dropped two others.

Unfortunately, he forgot to bring the battery for his depth sounder, so he was trolling blind. However, he obviously managed to get his lures into the strike zone.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that Cairn Curran Reservoir is producing good catches of yellowbelly to 40 odd cm.

Those to get amongst them while fishing with lightly weighed worms amongst the timber, were Stephen Eales along with son Mason 5, and daughters Lily 6, and Amelia 9.

Tullaroop Reservoir’s redfin have become a little harder to find lately said Kevin, but depth may be critical as indicated by Steven Roberts of Maldon who caught several good size reddies downrigging in 12 metres of water.

Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters with an 85 cm, 9 kg plus brown trout he caught while fishing the canals in Twizel Country, New Zealand.

New Zealand

Michael Evans, Ash Rawlings, Trevor Holmes, and Bjorn Mair made the journey from Geelong to Twizel Country on the South Island of New Zealand and are currently fishing for, and catching, those extra-large trout that the canals in this area are famous for.

Michael said they were well prepared having acquired a good supply of the imitation fish egg and glow bug pattern flies most suited to the ‘rolling’ presentations known to tempt these beasts.

These were backed up with the more orthodox Daiwa, Double Clutch, bibbed minnows that are particularly suited for cast and retrieve.

There were some beauties among the fish they caught including Michael’s 85 cm, 9 kg plus brown trout, of which he sent in a photo.

Don Rayner holding out a yellowbelly from Cairn Curran Reservoir.

Snapper fishing competition

On Friday October 18, the Leopold Angling and Aquatic Club, Geelong, Victoria, will hold an introductory meeting to the snapper competition they are hosting over November: Entry is free to club members and for non-members entry is $10.00

Guest speaker is fishing Identity, Lee Rayner who will provide the lowdown on snapper fishing. That will take place from 6.00 pm, club rooms will be open from 4.30 pm.

Please send your fishing reports to occytrapper@gmail.com or by phone to 03 5248 1307.

Corey Schwarzkopf with the 61 cm snapper he caught from St Helens early last week.

Roger Lewry with a nice pair of reds that he caught from the rocks at St Helens.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

With an ongoing rise in local water temperatures, snapper are now active, and among those to take advantage was Corey Schwarzkopf.

Corey was soaking half a squid head from the rocks at St Helens early last week when one of his rods signalled the unmistakeable bite of a snapper, one that measured 61 cm on this occasion.

Mind you, Corey was not the only successful piscatorial protagonist at St Helens, for Roger Lewry, who was also fishing here, caught two similar sized snapper while also using squid for bait.

Of course, other land-based platforms have produced snapper as well with a number of good-sized fish reportedly being caught from the St Leonards Pier and the Portarlington breakwaters.

Two of the snapper photos Rod Lawn of Adamas charters sent me. The anglers are Rickie Keen
Nathaniel Plant. Both are from Ballarat and members of a buck’s party trip.

Mind you, snapper are on the bite offshore as well, Rod Lawn, Skipper of Adamas Charters sending me several photos of good size snapper taken offshore from Port Phillip Heads during a rare break in the weather.

Launching at Point Richards early last week, Gordon and Carol Williams anchored up just to the east of the mussel farm at around 8.30 to catch the incoming tide.

A good move as it turned out, for they were soon on their way to bag limit catches of whiting.

This they undoubtedly would have achieved had it not been for the unwelcome appearance of a greedy seal, eager to share their good fortune.

With a break in the weather on Thursday, Simon Werner headed down to Indented Head where he tried both for whiting, of which he caught 8 to 41 cm, and squid, of which he caught three.

But with the weather threatening to revert to its former disagreeability, Simon was taking no chances and kept within easy reach of the ramp.

Tyler Kenny with a bass that he recently caught from the Werribee River (Picture: Frank Benvenuto).

Four year old Eli and father, Kevin McLoughlin, with a sample from their weekend’s carp catch from the Barwon.

Freshwater

Headed down to the Barwon River just downstream from Breakwater at the weekend were Kevin McLoughlin and his four-year-old son Eli who was champing at the bit for some action.

Fishing with corn kernels and bread for bait, and a bit of berley tossed in from the bank, the first rod to signal a bite had Eli seizing the day before you could say “carp.”

And carp they were, quite a few of them on that occasion, with their biggest fish – one caught by Eli – providing little or no change from 7 kg.

Werribee River specialist, Frank Benvenuto has had a few distractions of late that have kept him from fishing more than he would have liked, and when invited to go fishing one evening with his mate Tyler Kenny last week, he felt a bit tired and declined.

However, Tyler headed down to the river, and – while casting a 2.75-inch paddle tail soft plastic on a 1/16th of an ounce jighead – picked up a 33 and a 40 cm bass that had Frank admitting that he wished he’d gone after all.

Selin Rahman with her 16.38 kg rainbow trout – a pending women’s record catch – that she caught from New Zealand’s Ohau Canal.

New Zealand

Paul Rahman, his father Horan, and wife Selin, journeyed from Geelong to New Zealand’s South Island where they fished the Ohau Canal in Twizel Country for the extra-large trout for which this district is famous.

They weren’t disappointed as it turned out, catching any number of trout – mostly rainbows – with quite a few from 4.5 to 11.5 kg. However, Selin caught the fish of the trip, a rainbow trout of 16.38 kg, which is a pending women’s world record on 6-pound tackle.

Crime doesn’t pay

A Melbourne fisherman copped a hefty penalty after using an illegal method to catch golden perch from Lake Hume; a further search of his home revealed the flesh of 200 illegally harvested abalone.

In addition to the $20,000 fine imposed, the man was banned from fishing for five years, had his ute, boat and fishing gear all confiscated along with his illegally caught fish.

Jason Treloar with his 47 cm bream from the Sheepwash.

Barwon Heads

Prior to the weather turning sour last week, Stan Owen and Jason Treloar headed down to The Sheepwash catching the last of the incoming tide and high tide change, hopeful of catching some good size silver trevally.

They had previously managed to gather a few shore crabs and were hopeful of also tempting a bream or two.

Initially the pilchard fillets they were using for bait attracted the attention of the numerous small tailer within the estuary, but at the cost of several hooks.

However, the trevally did arrive, and there were some good ones among them. In fact, the only line not in constant action was the one baited with crab.

But as the flood tide eased off toward high slack water, it was the outfit baited with crab that caught their attention, the rod nodding a warning before burying over to the growl of the reel.

Yes, it was a bream, and at 47 cm a real beauty, but despite the redistribution of the remaining crabs to other lines, that was it for the day.

Trevor Perry of the Maryborough Angling Club with the 70 cm Murray cod he caught from the Loddon River below Laanecoorie Weir.

Freshwater

With Thursday the only day forecast to provide relief from the windy weather, Simon Werner and Michael Dean visited Lake Bullen Merri, but the fishing was slow.

However, they did manage to catch a tiger trout each, both around the 2 kg mark. Both were caught on pilchard fillets suspended a metre or so above the bottom; one at around 9.00 am, the other around 2.00 in the afternoon.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Club reports that when weather permitted, most of the interest was focussed on redfin at Tullaroop Reservoir, several of which were over the 40 cm mark.

Club member Trevor Perry fished the Loddon River below Laanecoorie Weir last week and was rewarded with a 70 cm Murray cod, of which Trevor sent in a photo.

I received a press release from VFA reminding anglers of the closed season for Murray cod from September 1 until November 30. However, Cairn Curran Reservoir, along with Lakes Eppalock, Eildon, and Nillahcootie (north of Eildon), and several others will remain open to cod fishing.

Jamie Wells and wife Wendy with samples from their bass catch from Borumba dam, Qld.

Upstate

With local fishing reports scarce this week I’ve had to cast the proverbial net a little wider:

Jamie Wells and wife Wendy don’t mind covering a bit of ground when seeking good fishing prospects having just spent a week at Borumba dam, which is west of Noosa near Imbil in Queensland.

Their quarry – Australian bass – were really on the bite with catches of 10-20 fish in sessions lasting only two hours or so, with their biggest fish measuring 44 cm. All were taken on “Hotbite” lures.

With fishing that good, you’d think they might have extended their stay a little longer.

Possibly suffering cases of itchy feet though, they are now taking the 300 km drive to Cania dam that is not only stocked with Australian bass, but with silver and golden perch.

However, the real drawcard at Cania are saratoga, a species that – speaking from personal experience – will certainly get the kinks out of your line.

Cormio asks:

Geoff, I recently tried to take my small tinny offshore and made a 4.00 am start from the Ocean Grove boat ramp. However, while traversing the Barwon Heads bridge, a rogue gust of wind blew my tinny into a pylon, persuading my return to the ramp.

Do you have any advice on how to safely plan an offshore trip?

Cormio, the Barwon estuary is presently fishing well with numerous species on offer, and I daresay you’re equipped with a craft suited to take advantage of that situation, but – for reasons of safety – not for fishing offshore, neither during the day or at night.

Gun angler, Muhammad Faiz Azmi, with a sample of his silver trevally catch from the Sheepwash boat ramp pontoon on Thursday afternoon.

Barwon Heads

There were few, if any boats out on the Barwon estuary in Thursday’s breezy conditions, but land-based anglers were catching some nice silver trevally.

Among them was Muhammad Faiz Azmi, who – in reply to my inevitable question – proudly displayed an impressive catch of silver trevally in a keeper net he’d secured to the Sheepwash boat ramp’s pontoon.

My next question was, would he mind if I stood by in anticipation of his next catch for a photo?

He didn’t mind at all, but he first hooked three small tailor, all of which bit him off, two escaping with the third hitting the deck, also biting through his trace.

But bite number four was a decent silver trevally that finished up in his already overcrowded keeper net, and of course as a digital record in my camera.

St Helens regular, Frank Simon with the 75 cm snapper he caught from the rocks at St Helens on Sunday afternoon

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Frank Simon spends a fair bit of time fishing at St Helens, and on Saturday evening he tried his luck with light tackle from one of the pontoons within the boat launching area where he caught several mullet.

They weren’t really big enough for the table, but with snapper a definite possibility he decided to use them for bait on his heavier tackle the following day. And, although he to wait until early Sunday afternoon, his strategy paid off with the capture of a 75 cm snapper.

With the current run of northerly winds, Derrick Hargreaves and Harley Griffiths anchored up in around five metres of water off Point Wilson last week, hopeful of catching a few whiting.

This they did, but the surprise of the trip was, after almost getting spooled on his relatively light tackle, Derrick brought in what eventually turned out to be yet another 75 cm snapper they estimated at 6 kg.

The rise in water temperature from 10.5 to the current 12.5 degrees began earlier than usual this year, and – as expected – was enough to trigger the appetites of the snapper wintering in Corio Bay.

With an improvement in the weather on Friday, Andrew Johnson and Steve Timmins were out off Curlewis by 7.15 am.

And, as luck would have it, they dropped straight onto a hot whiting bite, each taking their respective bag limit catches of whiting from 34 to 41cm by 8.45 using strips of squid and pipis for bait.

Also taking advantage of a break in the weather late on Friday afternoon, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck headed down off the entrance of Swan Bay to fish the ebb tide for whiting, and as usual, they bagged out with their biggest measuring 44 cm.

However, a couple of screaming runs, ultimately ending in bust-offs, persuaded them to break out their heavier tackle which was generously baited with squid, and that accounted for three snapper, each around the two-kilogram mark.

Murray and Darcy Scott headed out that way on Saturday, picking up their respective bag limit catches of squid to approximately 1.5 kg on the drift, fairly close in off the entrance to Swan Bay.

And, with the St Leonards boat ramp still being re-furbished, Simon Werner launched of Indented Head, and fishing offshore from St Leonards, picked up his bag limit of ten squid, five of which were nudging the kilogram mark.

Derrick asks:

Geoff, I have noticed that you don’t promote catch-and-release in any of your articles. Shouldn’t you be doing that?

Derrick, anglers have an obligation to release undersize and unwanted fish. There is also a sound argument for releasing some large fish, particularly the pregnant females of same.

On the other hand, the widespread practice of catching, then releasing, large numbers of legal size and edible fish purely for the angler’s amusement, particularly on very light tackle, is – I feel –questionable.

Please send your reports to occytrapper@gmail.com or by phone to 03 5248 1307.

Eli McLoughlin 4, with a sample of his whiting catch of Point Richards.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Launching off Point Richards early last week were Kevin McLoughlin, his 4-year-old son Eli, and friend Marcus Pearson.

As it turned out, they found a good patch of whiting at the east end of mussel farm where young Eli made a major contribution to their respectable catch using pipis and squid for bait.

Heading down toward Leopold last Thursday morning. Andrew Johnson and Denis O’Brien were also after whiting, and – fortunately – dropped in on a good bite straight away.

Anchored up in five meters of water, it took only two hours for each to take their respective bag limit catches of whiting to 43 cm in just two hours using small strips of squid and mussels for bait.

Lockie Wombell with a latchet – more commonly known as flying gurnard – from 130 metres of water off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Shark wrangler, Lockie Wombell in a wrestling match with a hefty school shark caught from 130 metres of water off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

On Wednesday, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck launched at Queenscliff and headed down off the mouth of Swan Bay where they usually manage bag limit catches of whiting, but things were slow to begin with.

Never-the-less they persisted and after making a series of moves they got onto a good patch and eventually picked up a bag limit catch of whiting, the biggest measuring 43 cm.

And, with water clarity remaining good on the ebb, they moved in closer to shore where they picked up a bag limit catch of squid on the drift.

On Wednesday morning, Tony Ingram and Col Simmons tried the Queenscliff boat harbour for trevally on the incoming tide but there wasn’t much doing at all.

Heading out to the wreck of the old J class submarine off Swan Island they fished just outside of the Army’s security zone, but found the fishing slow here as well

However, as the incoming tide slowed down at around 3.30 pm, the trevally came on the bite, and they caught a dozen on the pilchard fillets they were using for bait.

Lockie Wombell with one of the snapper that he and Bob McPherson caught out in 130 metres of water off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Lockie Wombell with a knife jaw caught out in 130 metres of water off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

With a break in the weather last week, Bob McPherson and Lockie Wombell headed out off Portland into 130 metres of water, in an area known to produce Tasmanian Trumpeter.

Alas, they caught none of those, but they did catch both school and gummy shark, snapper, knife-jaw, and even a latchet, more commonly referred to as flying gurnard.

Joe Baillie of the Greenvale Angling Club with a 3.5 kg brown trout that was taken on a mudeye.

Freshwater

The week previous, I mentioned Darren Zammit’s 4.55 kg brown trout from Lake Purrumbete. Well, his son Chris caught a similar fish last week that weighed 4.3 kg: Both fish were caught on lures.

Joe Baillie of the Greenvale Angling Club was also in the mix with a 3.5 kg brown trout that was taken on a mudeye fished beneath a float.

VFA fish stocking coordinator, Rhiannon Atkinson thanks all who could make it to the release of salmon fry – which were only a few grams in size – into Lake Bullen Merri.

However, with the current low water level at Lake Purrumbete, the stocking of these fish will be pushed back to late September, the date to be confirmed.

Next Thursday, August 22, the remaining tiger trout are scheduled to arrive at Lake Bullen Merri at around 3.00 pm, some 350 fish at a total weight of approximately 35 kg.

Following that, another 2500 tigers are to be stocked into Lake Purrumbete approximately 45 minutes after the Bullen Merri stocking

Should you wish to attend any of these fish stockings please contact assistant fish stocking coordinator Julian Lucas julian.lucas@vfa.vic.gov.au for updates.

Errol asks:

Geoff, I have heard that clickers and nippers are good bait for bream. What are they and where do you get them?

Errol, clickers are pistol shrimp, so called because they have a specialized claw that produces a sonic shock to stun other small creatures that come within range preparatory to devouring them.

The most common variety in our waters is quite small, greenish in colour, and may be found in small reservoirs of water under oyster shells and the like at low tide, either in estuarine or other sheltered waters.

On the other hand, nippers, or pink nippers as they are sometimes called are another crustacean known in our state as Bass yabbies. They live in sand or mud burrows sand and mud burrows within the intertidal zone, both on ocean beaches and sheltered waters.

Using a bait pump and a sieve you can collect them at low tide, but since 2007 there’s been a possession and bag limit of 100. Take too many and you risk a fine; but don’t ask me how to count that many bass yabbies.

Please send your reports to occytrapper@gmail.com or by phone to 03 5248 1307.

Nick Powell with his extra-large southern calamari from Queenscliff.

Queenscliff

We began looking for the big female calamari at Queenscliff in September, but they might be a little earlier his year.

That’s judging by Nick Powell’s catch from Queenscliff on Saturday’s incoming tide that included a pearler with a mantle measuring 50 cm.

Nick’s bag limit catch came from depths of 4 to 5 metres and were caught on 3 and 3.5 inch jigs, the most productive colours being red foil and white.

Darren Zammit of the Greenvale Angling Club with the 4.55 kg brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).

Freshwater

Camperdown’s Lake Purrumbete continues to produce trophy size brown trout and among the successful anglers at the weekend was Darren Zammit of the Greenvale Angling Club.

Trolling a Tassie Devil spotted dog on Lake Purrumbete, Darren had just crossed over a drop-off into 27 metres of water when he hooked a 73 cm, 4.55 kg (just over 10 pounds in the old money) brown trout that put up a great fight on his 3 kg line.

Fishing nearby Lake Bullen Merri, Scott Hamilton and Wes Brewer picked up tiger and rainbow trout to 1.5 kg while trolling lures.

And, when that no longer produced any action, they fished with pilchard fillets suspended just above the bottom which produced several chinook salmon, again around the 1.5 kg mark.

However, the gusting northerlies made staying connected with their berley trail something of a challenge, but they were happy enough with their mixed bag of fish.

Fish Stocking

VFA fish stocking coordinator, Rhiannon Atkinson announces that the first lot of chinook salmon fry – which are only a few grams in size – are scheduled to be released from a single truck into Lake Bullen Merri on August 19.

However, with the current low water level at Lake Purrumbete, we will push the stocking of these fish back to late September, future date to be confirmed.

The following week, on Thursday, August 22, the remaining tiger trout are scheduled to arrive at Lake Bullen Merri at around 3.00 pm on Thursday August 22nd, some 350 fish at a total weight of approximately 35 kg.

Following that, another 2500 tigers are to be stocked into Lake Purrumbete 45 minutes after the Bullen Merri stocking

Should you wish to attend any of these fish stockings please contact assistant fish stocking coordinator Julian Lucas julian.lucas@vfa.vic.gov.au .

Catching them two at a time, Ray Millman with double header of salmon on the one lure

Off the beach

Ray Millman has been covering quite a bit of ground in search of salmon lately trying various beaches from Jan Juc to Moggs Creek where he visited last Tuesday morning on the low tide change.

Here, the salmon were ferocious, but somewhat on the small side. However, what they lacked in size they made up for in numbers, at one stage Ray caught two at once on the 30 gram flutter jig he was using.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

With last week’s northerlies, Derrick Hargreaves Harley Griffiths headed out off Avalon to catch the incoming tide change at around 10.00 am, and hopefully, a good catch of whiting.

Well, there were whiting to be caught, but at least half their catch – although of legal size – were a bit on the small size by their reconning, so they kept on the move hoping to find some bigger fish.

However, the ratio of small fish seemed to remain constant, nevertheless, they finished with a legal bag of whiting, and there were a few good size specimens among them.

Offshore

Adamas deckhand Simon Werner reports that while his clients have been content to bottom fish for the usual species, anglers prepared to put in the hard yards out in 65-70 meters of water have taken tuna to 40 kg or so.

Having tried to find them for clients out here and been attracted to likely areas to fish by the surface activity of dolphins, seal and birds, the only glimpse of tuna they got was on the sounder screen around 35 metres below the surface.

Barwon Heads

Heading down to The Sheepwash last Tuesday morning to catch the low tide change, Stan Owen and Jason Treloar were hopeful of catching a good size silver trevally or two.

They had no more crabs for bait that proved successful on the bream the week previous, but they did catch several good sized silver trevally on the pilchard fillets and pipis they were using for bait, along with a mixed bag that included mullet, salmon and a couple of small tailor.

Conway Asks:

Geoff, if the gravitational pull of the moon revolving around the Earth causes the tides, why do tides also occur on the opposite side of the Earth to the moon?

Conway, to the best of my understanding, the Earth and moon revolve around a common centre of gravity that always lies within the Earth because its greater mass.

This reciprocal rotation allegedly causes the second tidal bulge – to which you refer – on the opposite side of the Earth to the moon due to the centrifugal force caused by these rotating bodies.

Please send your reports to occytrapper@gmail.com or by phone to 03 5248 1307.

Jan Pope of Ararat with a 2.7 kg brown trout from Lake Purrumbete.

Tom Hogan of Drysdale with a 3 kg brown trout taken from Lake Purrumbete on the fly.

Freshwater

Tom Jarman picked up a beautiful brown trout measuring 71 cm on the fly from Lake Purrumbete last week and says the bigger fish are to be caught along the shallow weed edges.

Tom’s fish was caught on a Shrek (Olive streamer) while using a type 3 sinking line and says that the best fishing is in windy conditions, that’s as long as you can put up with the cold.

Drysdale’s Tom Hogan also picked another beauty on the fly from Purrumbete, a brown of 3kg that kept him busy for a quite a while.

Offshore

Adamas deckhand Simon Werner reports that snapper, from legal size upwards, are in good numbers offshore from Barwon Heads with 10-year-old Chad Collins – who was on charter with his father Anthony at the weekend – catching a nice one of 5 kg.

Simon also mentions that gummy and school shark are also a possibility with the same approach. Slimy mackerel are also in good numbers out here too, said Simon, and provide excellent bait for the aforementioned species.

Chad Collins 10, with his 5 kg snapper taken from Adamas Charters (Picture: Rod Lawn).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

With a break in the weather early last week, Gordon and Carol Williams headed out off Clifton Springs to catch the morning high tide change.

All was quiet until the ebb tide picked up at around 10.30 am when they began to catch a few decent whiting off The Dell.

However, that bite shut down sending them on the move to one of there more familiar haunts east off McAdams Lane, but once again it was the same story with what looked like another good bite shutting down. But at least they caught enough for a feed.

Queenscliff

Launching at Queenscliff on Tuesday morning of last week at around 9.30, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck headed north, first anchoring up off the entrance of Swan Bay at around 9.30 to catch the outgoing tide, and hopefully some whiting.

Well, it took a couple of moves to find a good bite in the vicinity of Coles Beacon, where – using pipis and squid for bait – they eventually finished up with their respective bag limit catches of good size whiting.

Moving in closer, they found the water clarity good enough to try for a squid or two and were again successful, adding yet another bag limit catch for the day.

There were fewer boats out off Queenscliff last week as one would have expected with the improvement in the weather, However, there was no need to leave the harbour to take a good catch of fish.

This was amply illustrated by Derrick Hargreaves and Jason Treloar who fished Friday morning’s rising tide.

After a cold start, there wasn’t much happening until they got a berley trail going, after which they picked up several salmon and silver trevally both while baiting with pilchard fillets and casting soft plastics.

Tom Jarman with the 71 cm brown trout that he caught from Lake Purrumbete on the fly.

After a successful hunt for shore crabs at a location neither are prepared to disclose, Stanley Owen and Jason Treloar headed down to the Sheepwash on Friday evening to catch the low tide change, and hopefully a bream or two.

And it was at slack water just after sunset before the first bait was taken, resulting in a nice bream of around 700 grams. This was followed with a beauty of 1.5 kg, but that was it for the evening.

Better Boating Clinics

Recreational boat users may register to participate in a series of clinics to be held around the state on the protocols of boat launching, and which will include tuition – under the guidance of experts – on trailer reversing

Funded by the Better Boating Fund, which reinvests recreational boaters’ licence and registration fees, the clinics are free, but you do have to register at www.betterboating.vic.gov.au

Those exclusively for women will begin at Limeburners Point on August 10, continuing at Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree on August 25, and Lake Eppalock on October 6.

Those for both men and women will be held at Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree on Saturday September 7, Patterson River on Sunday September 15, Rhyll on Sunday September 22, Point Richards on Sunday October 13, and at Altona on Sunday October 27.

Jamie Behrens with the 16.8 kg mulloway that he caught on the fly.

Upstate

Soaking a live gold-spot mullet in the Maroochy River on Friday evening was Jamie Behrens of Bli Bli in Queensland; his patience being rewarded with a 115 cm, 16.8-kilogram mulloway that fell afoul of Jamie’s stinger hook.

On cleaning his catch, Jamie found a fresh gold-spot mullet – not the one he used for bait – in its stomach, so perhaps it was its preferred taste for mullet that proved to be its undoing.

Ray Millman with one of the salmon he caught from the beach at Jan Juc.

From the beach

Ray Millman first tried his luck from the beach at Jan Juc last Monday morning, but his only reward was one small salmon before the amount of weed, coming in with the tide made lure-fishing too difficult.

Heading for greener pastures on Tuesday, he visited Moggs Creek early in the morning on the low tide, but with the heavy groundswell it was also virtually unfishable.

Not being one to admit defeat, he returned to Jan Juc around midday to find conditions had ameliorated somewhat, and it took only a few casts with his 42-gram Savage Sea Missile to begin catching salmon from one to 1.5 kg.

However, an angler fishing nearby caught the fish of the day using blue bait.

Initially, his line went slack, which he seemed to ignore, but Ray saw the salmon he’d hooked leap from the water and yelled a warning; the result being the capture of a fish clearly well over 2 kg.

Ash Rawlings with yet another brown trout from the Merri River at Warrnambool.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

With last week’s northerlies, Stan Owen and Jason Treloar made an early start off Avalon hopeful of finding a good patch of whiting, but initially there wasn’t much doing.

However, with the incoming tide kicking in late morning their fortunes improved even if sea conditions were far from pleasant, with some good size whiting drumming the bottom of the fish box.

They probably would have finished with bag limit catches had not the strengthening breeze made further fishing just a bit too challenging.

John Gray of the Maryborough Angling Club with a sample of his redfin catch from Tullaroop Reservoir.

Freshwater

Ash Rawlings, whom we featured last week with a brown trout from Warrnambool’s Merri River, reports that although river is rising, both the water clarity, and fishing, remain good and sent in yet another picture of a nice brown trout from here.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that the only realistic fishing option locally is on Tullaroop Reservoir where good size redfin are still on offer.

There have been some good size browns sighted as well, but it’s the redfin that have attracted most attention with John Gray taking several good size specimens on Baltic Bobbers over the weekend.

VFA fish stocking coordinator Rhiannon Atkinson advises that the release of 3600 tiger trout – ranging in size from 100 to 150 grams – into Lake Purrumbete is scheduled for 3.00 pm next Thursday, August 1.

Should you wish to attend this stocking please let Rhiannon know, either by mobile 0407 987 016 or email rhiannon.atkinson@vfa.vic.gov.au for any updates.

Also, please be aware that the water level in Lake Purrumbete is lower than one might expect, so Rhiannon suggests that this may be an impediment to the customary distribution of these fish by volunteers from boats at various locations around the lake.

Fishing Lake Bullen Merri last week in less than comfortable conditions were Scott Hamilton and Wes Brewer whose opening gambit was trolling lures.

That produced nothing of interest, so they anchored in around 12 metres and began a generous berley trail. And fishing with pilchard fillets suspended just above the bottom, they began catching chinook salmon.

At first, they were a bit on the small side, but then Wes caught the fish of the trip, a 47 cm chinook salmon that they estimated at possibly 2 kg.

Also fishing Lake Bullen Merri last week was Simon Werner who found slim pickings, catching a 1.5 kg tiger trout on a pilchard fillet, and missing another.

Tim Johnson with Saturday’s threadfin salmon from the Fitzroy River in Queensland (Picture Andrew Johnson).

Upstate

An escapee from Geelong’s chilly weather, whiting aficionado Andrew Johnson, headed up to his son Tim’s place at Yeppoon in Queensland.

And on Saturday, the pair took a 45-minute run across to the Fitzroy River upstream from Rockhampton where gathering bait with a cast net turned out to be an arduous process.

However, they got three mullet, one of which Tim baited up live and was taken by a threadfin salmon that eventually measured 1.2 metres after putting up a terrific fight.

The other two mullet were also taken but – unfortunately – Andrew pulled the hook on each of those, there being no guarantees in fishing.

Please send your reports to occytrapper@gmail.com or by phone to 03 5248 1307.

Ash Rawlings with a sample of the brown trout he’s recently caught, and released, on the Merri River at Warrnambool.

Freshwater

Ash Rawlings has been fishing the Merri River at Warrnambool, and on his three most recent trips has caught and released some beautiful brown trout to approximately 1.5 kg, of which he’s sent in photos.

Using an assortment of lures including the hard-bodied, bibbed, minnow-types, like the Daiwa Double Clutch and Rapalas, and soft plastics like the Z-Man Slim Swims that he’s rigged with 1/12th of an ounce jig heads, he’s usually had something to take their fancy despite the extreme clarity of the water.

Despite Friday morning’s cold, wet and windy conditions, Victorian Inland Charters clients Steve and Corey were only too willing to jump onboard before heading out on Lake Purrumbete with skipper Ken Carmen.

They began bait fishing for trout, something which paid off almost immediately with the capture of a beautiful hen brown trout measuring 57 cm.

Unfortunately, they missed a few others. So, with time marching on, rather than persist with the trout they settled in over a good patch of redfin, taking home enough keepers for a feed.

Three-year-old Logan Hunt with one of the silver trevally he and his father Taylor caught in the Queenscliff harbour (Picture Taylor Hunt).

Queenscliff

Garfish have been abundant this year and once you get a berley trail going, they are not usually hard to attract.

They can be skittish though, as Paul Raduka witnessed early last week when he had a good bite going from the Swan Bay jetty.

He caught eleven good size gars, prior to a pod of bottlenosed dolphins showing up, and – although not actively chasing the gars – their cavorting around the jetty put them off the bite.

Launching at Queenscliff in gusty conditions on Thursday of last week, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar headed out off the entrance of Swan Bay at around 12.30 pm to catch the outgoing tide in the hope of getting onto the whiting.

Unsurprisingly, they were the only boat out there in conditions that many would find unfishable, especially with the tide running off into the teeth a strong south westerly wind.

Nevertheless, they persisted, taking a respectable tally of whiting, the biggest measuring 44 cm before conditions worsened to the point that they were persuaded to make the trip back to Queenscliff, but were by no means done for the day.

Anchoring up in the Queenscliff harbour, partially sheltered by the bridge to Swan Island, they were kept busy with an abundance of salmon that appeared in their berley trail. The largest of these were around the kilogram mark and kept them busy until they were ready to call it a day.

Also, fishing in the harbour on Sunday were Taylor Hunt and his three-year-old-son, Logan.

Initially, with an improvement in the weather, they were keen to get out after some calamari, but with the usually productive areas discoloured from recent rain the tasty cephalopods were a no-show.

So, after returning to Queenscliff for lunch, they decided to try in the boat harbour where they soon had a good berley trail going.

A good move as it turned out, for the salmon encountered previously by Andrew and Mark were still on offer, along with some good-sized silver trevally that were destined to finish up as sashimi.

Victorian Inland Charters client Corey, with a 57 cm brown trout from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Paul asks:

Geoff, you said last week, low slack water at Barwon Heads is later than low water at Port Phillip Heads. However, my experience at the Point Lonsdale pier has shown the tide to be still running out strongly, long after the supposed time of low water: How come?

Paul, given that the tidal range inside Port Phillip Bay is about half that of Bass Strait, slack water simply cannot occur at, what is a general expectation to be the top and bottom of the tide. It occurs about mid tide when the levels outside Port Phillip Heads and inside Port Phillip Bay are in equilibrium.

This situation occurs because the narrow passage through Port Phillip Heads does not allow the water to empty or fill at anything like the rate that would be required to have parity with Bass Strait. Just as well, or all of the low lying land around Port Phillip Bay would be flooded at high tide.

Please send your reports to occytrapper@gmail.com or by phone to 03 5248 1307.