Martinus De Lange with the snapper he caught from St Leonard Pier.
Stanley Wang with the snapper he caught from Portarlington Pier.
Corio Bay Bellarine Peninsula
Snapper are about and were caught, both by land-based anglers and by others who were fishing from boats.
Martinus de Lange caught a beauty measuring 87 cm from the St Leonards pier at 1.30 on Sunday morning using squid for bait.
Also using squid for bait on Sunday was StanleyWang; he was fishing with partner Wena from the Portarlington Pier and caught a snapper of 4.5 kg at 6.00 am.
On Thursday, with the wind backing off in the afternoon, Warren Jankowski, along with his son Henry and his friend Paddy McCaffrey, launched off Clifton Springs for a drift on the flathead.
They got a bit more than they bargained for though when all three rods loaded up, reels growling the snapper tune.
During the mayhem, of passing the rods around to avoid a tangle, Warren gave the boys credit for keeping their cool as he barked orders, somewhat un-necessarily he admits for the boys landed all three of the fish, the biggest weighing in at 4 kg.
Henry Jankowski and his friend Paddy McCaffrey with one of their snapper from Corio Bay (Picture: Warren Jankowski).
Kevin and Amber Wild with a 50 cm yellowbelly from the Loddon River downstream from Laanecoorie Reservoir.
Anchored up a little to the east of Corio Bay’s Nine Foot Bank pile by 4.30 am, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck were also hoping for a snapper; not in vain either for within 30 minutes, Andrew’s reel began singing a familiar tune:
That one weighed 6 kg, and, with dawn’s first light in the sky, Tony was on the job with a 4.5 kg snapper.
After that though, those pesky banjo sharks moved in on their baits so they left. 15
Earlier in the week, they were out after the squid off Queenscliff, where – after making several moves – they found them off the mouth of Swan Bay, catching enough for the table and for their aforementioned snapper trip.
In fact they finished with a bag limit catch before heading out after the whiting, which they found just east of Coles Beacon, again taking a bag limit catch – their biggest fish measuring 42 cm – on the latter half of the flood tide.
Fishing off Curlewis for whiting in 6 metres of water on Sunday were Andrew Johnson and Pete Dawson, and they too were onto them pretty much straight away. But then the undersize pinkies moved in on their baits, so they moved closer in toward the shore.
Things were slow to begin with here in 4.5 metres of water, but when the tide changed to come in around mid-day the action picked up and they’d caught 30 before a strong southerly came up, spoiling their party.
Twenty nine of their were between 33 and 40 cm, with Pete rounding the day off with an absolute pearler that measured 46 cm.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that squid remain plentiful with some really big ones weighing in at more than a kilogram, among them.
Rod also says that flathead are on offer as well, that’s when favourable weather allows for fishing on the drift in the deeper water.
Kevin Wild with a nice yellowbelly from the Loddon River downstream from Laanecoorie Reservoir.
John Wild with a yellowbelly caught downstream from Laanecoorie Reservoir.
Freshwater
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that large brown trout are still on offer with Drysdale angler Mick Harbour’s best fish weighing 3.6 kilograms.
Evan Mason and Craig Mitchell of the Ballarat Fly Fishers Club have also been amongst them taking similar size browns, and the occasional rainbow, on the fly.
Redfin have also been on offer with Terry Lindsay of Geelong picking up fish to 800 grams on live minnow.
Kevin and Amber Wild returned to the Loddon River downstream from Laanecoorie Reservoir at the weekend and were well rewarded with several yellowbelly to 50 cm using worms for bait.
Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters with one of the brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete at last light on Saturday.
Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters with a 50 cm chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete.
As usual, Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters managed to find fish for his clients, and in-between-times, caught a few himself.
On Lake Purrumbete with client Dennis, and his boys Deejay and Jacko, redfin were the target; they caught 50, along with a 2.8 kg brown trout, all taken on live minnow, fished on the bottom, at a depth or 20 metres, with a running sinker rig.
Client Bryce, and his sons Cael and Ayden were also after the redfin, to grace the table and caught 20, again on live minnow, and in 15 metres of water on this occasion.
With time on his hands, Michael was out on the lake by himself, berleying with cut pilchards. On this occasion his catch included a 50 cm chinook salmon which finished up in the smoker, and with a break in the weather on Friday, he was out there again.
With the winds dropping off, Michael went prospecting along the shallow margins of the lake, casting a D&A Bent minnow, in the smelt pattern on this occasion, and came up tight on a 65 cm buck brown.
Saturday’s charters were cancelled because of very strong winds, but late on Saturday afternoon, the wind eased, and – in the very last hour of daylight with the lake almost completely glassed off – Michael was again on patrol along the lakes margins casting the bent minnow.
And, in the very last light of the evening – changing over to a black version of the bent minnow to affect a silhouette at the surface – caught two beautiful browns, one of 64 cm, the other measuring 68 cm; these fish weighing in at 3 kg and 3.12 kg respectively.
A sample from the mixed bag taken by Matthew Hunt and his crew off Cape Bridgewater on Saturday (Picture: Matthew Hunt).
Evan Mason of Ballarat Fly Fishers with one of his brown trout from Lake Purrumbete.
Portland
The flathead grounds off Portland are well known, and when conditions allow, a drift along the 80 metre line is almost guaranteed to produce great catches.
However, Charter boat captain Matthew Hunt, and a couple of his crew, caught a somewhat wider variety of fish on their drift past off Cape Bridgewater on Saturday, when – as well as flathead – they also caught a 6 kg snapper, a respectable gummy shark, a school shark, and a couple of colourful latchet, more often referred to as flying gurnard.
Victorian Inland Charters client, Dennis, and his boys Deejay and Jacko with a sample of their catch from Lake Purrumbete.
Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters with the brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete on Friday afternoon.
St Helens Projects
Minister for fishing and boating, Melissa Horne, has announced the imminent construction of three artificial reefs in Corio Bay, one within close proximity to the St Helens rock wall.
Considering these reefs will be seeded with native oysters and mussels to form a productive fish habitat for marine life, one can only hope the St Helens reef will not be close enough to the rock wall to be a snagging threat for anglers casting out from here.
Speaking of St Helens, Geelong and District Angling Clubs Association Secretary, John Hotchin, reports successfully obtaining a grant from the recreational fishing licence fund, initially, to place two solar-powered lights along the St Helens rock wall.
In addition, the Geelong City Council – at the behest of the Association – has agreed to install a further two such lights within the car park as well.