John Logan of the Maryborough Angling Club with his prize-winning cod from Lake Mulwala (Picture: Kevin Wild).
Freshwater
With the Murray cod season ending this week, Kevin Wild and wife Amber, along with several other members of the Maryborough Angling Club, headed up to Lake Mulwala for a season-ending fling.
The ten members finished with a total of 60 Murray cod (all caught and released), and there were some good ones among them, the biggest – a nice fish measuring 81.5 cm – being caught by club member, John Logan.
Amber Wild with a last-of-the-season Murray cod from Lake Mulwala (Picture: Kevin Wild).
Kevin Wild with a nice brown trout taken from the bank of Tullaroop Reservoir.
Kevin reports that Tullaroop Reservoir has risen somewhat of late because of the rain.
While this has put the redfin off said Kevin, those in the know have been fishing the margins of the reservoir with both brown and rainbow trout feeding over the newly covered ground.
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that redfin have also gone somewhat quiet on the lake, but he, Tom Hogan and Jacinta Kelly managed to take a reasonable catch of reddies over the weekend.
All species of trout remain on offer said John, and among those to catch them was fishing and media identity Rex Hunt, whose catch included a 2.5 kg tiger trout.
Queenscliff
The good news from Boating Victoria is that the Queenscliff boat ramp is now open and includes a new third lane. The pontoons have been upgraded, the car park has been resurfaced and now includes additional parking in response to what has been described as overflow prior to present upgrades.
The Boating Vic cameras are up and running so you can view conditions and parking before you get there, but so far there’s been no word on the progress of the very necessary fish cleaning facilities required at all major boat ramps.
Taking a run down to the entrance of Swan Bay at Queenscliff last week, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck found a good patch of whiting just east of Coles Beacon on the morning’s incoming tide, and of which they caught 27 – the biggest measuring 43 cm – before the bite petered out toward midday.
With the tide still running in, but the whiting now well and truly off the bite, they headed in closer to shore where they broke out the squid jigs.
A good move as it turned out, for they topped off their catch with several good size squid, including some of the large spawning females present at this time of year.
On Friday, Steve O’Keefe and Anna McLean had a good day on the whiting off Queenscliff, with several of their respective bag limit catches including fish well over the 40 cm mark.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Mark Richards and Taddy Donovan fished in front of Leopold’s, The Sands caravan park where Mark did well on the whiting, the weekend previous, and – from 2.30 to 4.30 on Saturday – they took 33 whiting from 36 to 42 cm.
On Thursday, Andrew Johnson was out off Curlewis by 7.30 am, and took 15 whiting within 45 minutes or so. But then a large seal moved in so further fishing would have been in vain.
But Andrew waited the seal out, and as it disappeared to greener pastures, He tried for the whiting again, but they’d gone off the bite.
Further attempts at the whiting nearby also proved fruitless, so, out came the squid jigs, and – fishing on the drift – he picked up a bag limit catch.
The following day, with the hint of spring in the air, Andrew tried for a snapper over toward the Wilson Spit, and a promising run gave him high hopes. But they faded after he retrieved his line to find the hooks had been bitten off.
Another cast with a generous bait resulted in a longer battle, but in the end, the result was the same. So, judging there were better things to do than feed what were obviously sharks, he took another bag of squid off Curlewis.
Lachie Wombell and Michael Goldby with a school shark they caught offshore from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Portland
Taking a run out to the edge of the continental shelf off Portland in good weather on Saturday, Bob McPherson, Lachie Wombell and Michael Goldby, were hoping for some blue eye trevalla.
However, they got more than they bargained for with a mixed bag of blue-eye, pink ling, ghost cod, school shark, gemfish, nannygai and several other species.
Mike Vanderkelen one of the cutthroat trout he caught during his recent visit to Canada’s British Columbia/
Canadian cutthroat
Returning to Geelong after a visit to Canada, fly fisherman, Mike Vanderkelen, reports catching a number of cutthroat trout, or cutbow as they are referred to in British Columbia, where his visited his grandson.
All of Mike’s fish were released, and he says that in comparison with many regions in Australia, the provincial licensing and fishing regulations are very strict, with the objective of ensuring sustainable freshwater fisheries.
Other species from the region he fished include bull trout, which as the name suggests, are a larger and tougher opponent that he hopes to catch on his next visit. However, their “blue-listing” indicate populations of this species are in decline.