Saturday double: Thirteen year old Brooklyn Erard and father Col Erard with the gummy shark and snapper they caught offshore from the Mountain View Quarries on Saturday (Picture: Malcolm Erard).
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Collan Erard, along with his brother Malcolm and 13 year old son Brooklyn, launched from St Helens early on Saturday morning hoping to pick up a gummy shark or two, just as his father Ernie and brother Malcolm had done the previous day while fishing offshore from the Mountain View Quarries.
Thirteen year old Brooklyn was first cab off the rank when at 8.30, he hooked a gummy shark that later weighed 4 kg. All was quiet for a while after that, but then, Col caught a 7.5 kg snapper which put a smile on all of their faces.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that pinkie snapper have also been about and among those to catch them was Stuart O’Brien who caught seven to 45 cm in 3.5 metres of water just out from the boat ramp along with ten squid.
Flathead remain the main chance though said Mike, with Gary Adams and Graeme Schultz taking 24 in the deeper water out toward the channel.
Whiting have been present too, but not in their former numbers. However, dedicated whiting enthusiasts, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien – who made an early start on Friday morning – eventually picked up 34 good size fish, the biggest nudging 43 cm; but they didn’t come on the bite until the tide began running off in the early afternoon.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that a variety of fish are being caught, with pinkie snapper to a kilogram among them. However, an abundance of good size squid has presently created the most interest.
Jeff Richards and Ken Shae were among those to do well on the squid, each taking their respective bag limits in two hours or so while fishing over the Prince George Bank near Dead Man’s Stick.
Jeremy McLoughlin with the Mako shark he caught last week (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).
Offshore
Taking a run offshore from Torquay on Friday morning, Kevin McLoughlan and brother Jeremy began a drift in 60 metres of water where they hoped to catch a shark. Not in vain as it turned out for Jeremy’s balloon soon popped, heralding a battle with a lively 25 kg mako.
Barwon estuary
Harley Griffiths and Stanley Owen took the trouble to catch several squid for bait before settling in on the Barwon estuary during the last trickle of the outgoing tide toward evening, just as they did two weeks previous when they caught two mulloway.
While one can never rely on past experience, it paid off with interest on this occasion, for by nightfall they’d caught four mulloway, the biggest nudging 90 cm.
Freshwater
Fishing Lake Purrumbete recently, Trevor Holmes of Victorian Inland Charters, along with Ben Young from Ballarat, found the fishing slower than usual with a respectable catch of redfin to 38 cm saving the day once more.
One of the salmon Bob McPherson caught outside the Portland Harbour last week (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Portland
Down Portland way, Bob McPherson reports that Australian salmon, some approaching the 3 kg mark have been plentiful just outside the Portland Harbour.
Trolling a small rubber occy skirt will elicit strike after strike, said Bob, which is handy should you need some for fresh bait. And that’s what Bob used his for, taking a respectable catch of blue eye trevalla, blue grenadier and gemfish over the offshore marks he finds so productive.
Clint Asks:
Geoff, I am a little confused about setting the drag on my reel. Someone told me it should be at one third the breaking strain of my line, but that seems far too high. Can you suggest how to go about it?
Clint, drag settings that are based on a proportion of the line’s breaking only apply to designated I.G.F.A. line class tackle. Drag settings for ordinary fishing should be sufficiently high enough to put a good working curve in your rod and that’s all.
Should you want to know how much tension is required to do that, you will need to put your rod in a holder with the line threaded through your guides and attached to a spring balance. Then, you can draw off some line while watching the reading on your spring balance, adjusting your drag until you understand how much tension is required to put a good working curve in your rod