Billy Houli with the 100 kg tuna he caught casting a lure to tuna feeding at the surface from “Reel Weapon” (Picture: Richard Abela).
West of the border
Another run of barrel size tuna along the west coast, and just over the South Australian border in particular, have attracted anglers, despite recent unsettled weather.
With big fish busting up on the surface among bait shoals in around 50 metres of water off Port MacDonnell on Saturday, Richard Abela, first mate Jason Tedesco and good friend Billy Houli – fishing aboard Nick Lazarevski’s Edencraft 223 formula “Reel Weapon,” were quick to take advantage.
Billy Houli caught his 110 kg tuna casting this Fish in N hooker to barrels bursting at the surface off Port MacDonnell in South Australia (Picture: Richard Abela).
Rather than trolling, they took the opportunity to cast lures among these surface feeders, and – using spin tackle and a Fish inc N hooker (a bibless minnow customarily referred to as a “stickbait” – Billy found himself in the battle of his life for just over six hours with a tuna that greeted the scales for a verdict of 110 kg.
Mark Sesar with a sample of his, and Andrew Phillip’s, last Monday’s catch of whiting (Picture: Andrew Phillips).
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Last Monday, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar arrived at Indented Head around mid-day to be confronted with a cold south-westerly breeze, but with whiting on their mind, they didn’t hesitate in launching.
Despite making several moves, they caught nothing until the ebb tide picked up, when – although battling wind against tide, something Andrew attempted to remedy by fishing one rod over the bow from the forward hatch, which unfortunately slammed shut in the breeze, snapping the rod in two – they began to catch a few fish.
Despite the adverse conditions, and noticing they were appeared to be the only boat out, they eventually took bag limit catches of whiting with the biggest nudging 43 cm.
Jony Ai Ung (left) sent me this picture of the snapper taken on UNG Reel Adventures last week. Wouldn’t tell me where they were caught, but it’s nice to know that big red is on the move.
The road closure at Jun Juc.
They’d taken a GPS mark at their successful location to enable their return in calmer weather. So, following a promising forecast for Saturday, they were anchored up on the very same mark by 5.00 am, and by sunrise they’d already caught a number of fish.
Understandably though, given Saturday’s fair weather forecast, more boats began to arrive, and – with Andrew and Mark clearly in the midst of a hot bite – it wasn’t long before they were surrounded by other craft, their occupants eager to share the pair’s good fortune. So with 25 good size whiting and several squid in the bag, they called it a day.
Amber Wild with the 63 cm Murray cod she caught from Lake Mulwala (Picture: Kevin Wild).
Ash Rawlings with the 6.8 kg brown trout he caught from one of the Twizel Canals on New Zealand’s South Island.
Freshwater
Maryborough Angling Club members, Kevin and Amber Wild, fished Lake Mulwala last week, first unsuccessfully with lures. Changing to using chicken and cheese for bait made all the difference though with capture and release of six Murray cod to 68 cm.
Geelong Angler Ash Rawlings fished the Twizel Canals on New Zealand’s South Island last week, and – with the guidance of Openseasonz guide, Graham Edridge – caught some remarkable trout, both browns and rainbows, and sent in a picture of a 6.8 kg brown that he caught casting a size 8 Rapala, and which he admits, was the highlight of his trip.
Jeremy McLoughlin with the gummy shark he caught offshore from Torquay on Saturday (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).
Offshore
Taking advantage of a break in the weather on Saturday, Kevin McLoughlin and his brother Jeremy, fished in 30 metres offshore from Torquay. Things were pretty quiet, but Jeremy caught a good size gummy shark on an Australian salmon fillet.
Bob McPherson took this picture of a whale from the Lee Breakwater at Portland.
Ron asks:
Geoff, I was somewhat disappointed to find that access to one of my favourite fishing spots, below the Surf Lifesaving Club at Jun Juc has been closed. Do you know when it will be reopened?
Ron, the closure is to permit unhindered access for the folk re-building the Jan Juc Surf, Live-Saving Club, a work – judging from my enquiries – that should take another six months or so.
There is limited parking just prior to the enclosure sign for about three vehicles, and from here it’s about a five minute walk down to a steeply-sloping, all-tide fishing beach to the left of the creek.
One of my contributors had fished here until the outflow from the creek discoloured the water, making it less attractive for Australian salmon (his target species), but mulloway, and various shark species could still be present.
Naturally, you can park in the larger car park, and from there you can walk down to the beach on the right hand side of the creek, which slopes more gently and is more popular with surfers – but the creek is currently flowing strongly and inadvisable to cross.