Darcy Scott eventually plucks a nice one, (Picture: Murray Scott).
Offshore
Darcy Scott made an early start in 30 metres of water off Barwon Heads on Sunday morning but had no response from either the gummy shark or snapper he was seeking.
But at around 8.00 am, a boat trolling lures nearby had a double hook-up on tuna, both of which were eventually caught, and – as word was spread by virtue of mobile telephony – other boats arrived and they too were soon amongst the action.
Having a 24 kg game outfit aboard, along with suitable lures, Darcy joined the fray, soon hooking a good size fish, but as luck would have it, pulled the hook and that was that.
Well, for the time being anyway, but Darcy and his dad Murray returned to the scene of the crime, and this time Darce plucked a nice one. Not sure of how heavy it would have been but you can see how big it is.
Joash Belousoff with a 30 kg tuna he caught offshore from Barwon Heads.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Prior to the tuna encounter off Barwon Heads, Darcy and friend Allie Gebert fished an evening on Corio Bay where their catch included a 10 kg gummy shark off Avalon.
Also, an early morning session with his father Murray produced 15 prime whiting off the Swan Island grass beds at Queenscliff before the bite shut down on sunrise.
Alistair Taylor with a sample of the whiting to be caught off Portland lately (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that although whiting have been tricky to catch, Friday saw Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien with 15 keepers while fishing a 20 knot westerly on the outgoing tide.
Tony and Peter Liddicoat also picked them up off Curlewis, but further out in 9 metres of water, and Matthew Drayton found a good patch near the mussel farm.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head, reports – that despite patchy weather – good catches of flathead have been taken on the drift along the edge of the Prince George Bank, but whiting have been scarce.
Squid numbers have improved though said Rod, as demonstrated by Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck who took bag limit catches after making a 6.00 am start out that way early last week; their biggest weighing 1.5 kg.
Lachie Wombell with a sample of the large Australian salmon currently being taken off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Lachie Wombell with a good sample of Portland whiting taken by him and Bob McPherson (Picture: Bob McPherson).
From the Beach
Fishing the evening high tide from 63W at Torquay last week, Ray Millman caught two whiting of 44 and 46 cm, but they went off the bite on sunset. Not so the pinkie snapper, and although mainly small, they included a half dozen keepers to 36 cm.
Waiting out the pinkies on a second trip last week produced a silver trevally of 1.5 kg just after dark, and a 6 kg gummy shark toward midnight.
Freshwater
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that redfin to 800 grams continue to be the main catch from the lake with Kurt Rundle of Werribee, Mick and Denise Giles of Bannockburn, and Shane and Rylan Hogan of Leopold all taking their share on live minnow and soft plastics.
Brown trout are still on offer as demonstrated by Wayne Kettner of Geelong who picked one up of 2.4 kg while down-rigging with a Tassie Devil, an approach which also yielded a 1 kg rainbow trout.
A sample of the tuna to be taken offshore from Portland lately (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Portland
Down Portland way, Bob McPherson reports that the large whiting this area have been famous for over the years have been late, but they’re here now says Bob, with some over the 50 cm mark.
Among those to catch them of this size was Alistair Taylor, of whom Bob sent in a photo with a sample of Alistair and his catch from Portland’s north shore.
Colin asks:
Geoff, I’m a little confused about the term flat-line trolling; is that just another reference to surface trolling?
Colin, surface trolling simply means letting your lure, or bait, out in the wake of a boat while travelling at a suitable speed, selecting an appropriate drag setting, then putting your rod in a holder in anticipation of a strike: That is not flat-line trolling.
Flat-line trolling (flat-lining) requires one of two things; either a line-release clip (of which there are several varieties) at the transom, which holds the line coming down from the rod tip as close to the water as possible, or the rod being held with the tip at, or near, water level.
There are a good many examples of line release clips for flat-lining – both for fresh water and big game fishing – demonstrated on YouTube, and advertised on the internet. There are also a good many YouTube depictions of flat-line trolling with the rod tip held by the angler at water level.
The following are just three of many examples:
http://www.escapin.com.au/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1797
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_