Andrew Phillips with a sample of the snapper that he and Mark Sesar caught off Point Richards early last week (Picture: Mark Sesar).
Darcy Scott with his 8.45 kg snapper. (Picture: Murray Scott).
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Fishing Corio Bay’s outer harbour on the west side of the Wilson Spit, Murray and Darcy Scott have had no trouble taking bag limit catches of snapper to 8.45 kg; again using squid for bait.
Early last week, at around 1.00 pm, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar headed out off Point Richards hoping for a snapper or two. Initially though, there were just a few pinkies on the bite, but their patience paid off.
At around 4.00 pm the bigger fish arrived, and by 5.45 they’d taken bag limit catches, their biggest fish weighing 8 kg.
Fishing in much the same area on Friday were Andrew and Tim Johnson and Dennis O’Brien. They too had no trouble taking their respective bag limit catches of snapper.
With the snapper well and truly sorted, Andrew and Tim, and Tim’s lady friend Caitlin Slater, went out looking for squid on Sunday and found a good patch off Macadam’s Lane, just east of Clifton Springs.
Tim Johnson with one of the snapper that he, his father Andrew and Dennis O’Brien caught off Point Richards (Picture: Andrew Johnson).
Louie Polgar caught these two snapper on Saturday during the Leopold Aquatic & Angling Club snapper comp (Picture Rita Polgar).
The wind was blowing too strong for drifting, but anchored up in cast and retrieve mode, they each took bag limit catches of medium size squid.
Also successful on the squid was Simon Werner who found a good patch off Portarlington, and likewise took a bag limit catch.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that although whiting have been scarce, with just a handful being taken in the vicinity of the outer governor reef, squid have come back on-song with a couple of clients taking bag limit catches.
As usual, said Rod, flathead have been taken on the drift in the deeper water toward the edge of the Prince George Bank with the added bonus of an occasional good size pinkie snapper among them.
Rod also mentions seeing snapper up to 3 kg or so being caught while taking a walk on the larger of the two Portarlington breakwaters.
Michael Evans with another chinook salmon sample from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).
Michael Evans with a couple of redfin from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).
Freshwater
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Parks reports that the lake has been fishing well, and among the successful anglers was Melbourne angler Mark Murray who took both chinook salmon and brown trout.
Both species fell victim to a Daiwa Double Clutch bibbed minnow with the biggest of both species approaching the 3 kg mark.
Local angler Wayne Snell has also taken brown trout to 3 kg fishing mudeyes beneath a float, while Geelong angler Les Broughton has taken respectable catches of chinook salmon on pilchard fillets suspended a metre or two above the bottom.
Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters also reports good fishing for his clients on Purrumbete. They included George who plucked a catch of chinook salmon to 1.5 kg using pilchard fillets for bait in 25 metres of water.
That was followed up with a good session on the redfin on live minnow.
Victorian Inland Charters client George with one of his chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete.
Nathan Sobko with his 1.7 kg redfin from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).
Client Aaron, and his two kids, Scarlet and Spencer, also bagged 35 redfin to 37 cm using live minnow and worms in 12 metres of water.
On Saturday morning, regular client Nathan Sobko from Geelong started off on the redfin, and among his catch of 35 or so, was a 47 cm beauty weighing 1.7 kg.
And, soaking a mudeye under a float, Nathan was a little surprised to tempt a 58 cm chinook salmon.
Michael also picked up his share of chinook salmon and redfin on his day off using soft plastics and live minnow.
Nathan Sobko with his 58 cm chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).
George Vlahogiannis with the 73 cm snapper he caught from the Mordialloc Pier at around 5:00am on Friday using a pilchard for bait.
Algae busting
Historically, Lake Bullen Merri has been subject to blue green algae infestations and their associated toxicity; a problem with few solutions.
Corangamite Shire is conducting a 12-month blue green algae control pilot in Lake Bullen Merri using solar-powered, ultrasound technology units supplied by EnviroSonic. The ultrasonic effect causes the algal cells to collapse, but fish and other life in the lake are unaffected.
Should anyone require additional details about the trial, please feel free to contact Lyall Bond at lyall.bond@corangamite.vic.gov.au
Habitat restoration
Many of our State’s rivers have been de-snagged, straightened, diverted, drained or dammed, the result of ill-informed authorities embarking on flood mitigation to control flow. Sadly, these works have often proven disastrous for fisheries and other ecology.
So, it was pleasing to receive news from CCMA project officer Olivia Brandimarti of a joint restoration project between CCMA, Oz Fish Unlimited, and the Colac Secondary College to install two areas of additional habitat within the Curdies River, a project supported by funding from the Australian Government’s Fisheries Habitat Restoration Program.
Vale Peter Bone 1942-2021; a unique identity on Geelong’s fishing scene:
As a nine or ten-year-old fishing from the Rippleside Jetty in the early 1950s, this kid beside me hooked two whiting; one on each of his rods.
“I’ll get the other one for you mate,” said I.
“Nobody touches my rods!” He exclaimed, introducing himself as Bone.
“The name’s Bone,” said he, “like dog’s-bone; got it?”
Peter William Bone was an unforgettable character with whom I had an edifying association over many years.