Jason Scott with the kingfish he caught from Griffin’s Gully Jetty at Western Beach.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Jason Scott was amazed to see kingfish in the 60-65 cm range cruising around the piles of Griffin’s Gully Jetty at Western Beach last week and decided to try his luck at catching one.
Arriving at the jetty early on Friday morning, he saw no kingfish, not initially anyway, but there were a good many garfish, several of which he caught with the idea of using one for bait.
He cast out a dead one, which was followed by several kingfish but not taken.
Hooking one on as a live bait was a different story altogether; it was snapped up in short order, the kingfish soon finishing on the deck, an event that had him call his nephew Ben who also caught a legal-size kingfish with the same approach.
Early last week, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar headed out off Point Richards hoping to catch some whiting.
And anchoring up in a previously productive spot, just east of the mussel farm in around 6.5 metres of water, they were onto a good whiting bite. And despite some inroads by pinkie snapper, they finished up with bag limit catches of whiting, the biggest measuring 43 cm, by 7.00 pm.
Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien also headed out after the whiting on Friday morning’s incoming tide. It was slow going at first, but eventually, after making several moves, they came across a really-good patch of fish in 5.5 metres of water, just east of the Point Richards mussel farm, taking their respective bags of fish.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that among those to catch whiting were brothers Patrick and Richard Assli who found a good patch of fish to 40 cm offshore from the red shed at Curlewis.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head also reports that whiting are on the go down that way as well, and have been caught more or less anywhere between Grassy Point and the Governor Reefs.
Simon Werner and Michael Dean put in an evening from the Portarlington breakwater over the weekend, taking three snapper, each around the 45 cm mark and a number of legal size pinkies.
Simon also performed a wading session, casting soft plastics at Indented Head on Thursday morning’s high tide, picking up two nice flathead of 48 and 52 cm.
Jim Gillians with the hefty wobbegong he caught off Fisherman’s Beach, Torquay.
Off the beach
Fishing off Fisherman’s Beach, Torquay on Saturday night were Jim Gillians and Ben Malouf, and casting out with generous baits they were hoping to catch a bronze whaler or some other variety of edible shark.
Initially, there didn’t seem to be much doing, but at 11.00 pm, and three hours into the outgoing tide, Jim hooked up. Not to a bronze whaler, but a fair size wobbegong that’s now destined for table fare.
Maryborough Angling Club member Tony Savage with a 60 cm yellowbelly taken from Lake Eildon off Paradise Point.
Bendigo angler Derrick Blow got a surprise to find one of the cod he’d caught at the Lake Mulwala Cod Nationals had all but swallowed another Murray Cod about a third the size of one he’d caught.
Barwon Estuary
Chris Stamalos, and his mate Rob, fished the Barwon estuary upstream from the bridge on Sunday evening anticipating good fishing on the incoming tide, and they weren’t disappointed.
Using pipis and squid for bait, they caught 30 whiting altogether, two of which made 40 cm, along with several Australian salmon.
Jordan Matthews with a nice bass from the Werribee River (Picture: Frank Benvenuto).
Clint Tinsey with a 42 cm Australian Bass that he caught on a surface lure from the Werribee River (Picture: Frank Benvenuto).
Freshwater
Frank Benvenuto has been fishing just upstream from the Werribee River Weir of late and continues to catch bass on a variety of lures including Strike Pro Bass Beetles and Jackall Pompadours.
He’s also been encouraging others like Melton angler Clint Tinsey, who – after a number of attempts – caught a 42 cm bass retrieving an imitation cicada lure along the surface, and Jordan Matthews who’s done similarly well using Whopper Ploppers and Jackall Junior Pompadours.
Kevin and Amber Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club fished the Cod Nationals at Lake Mulwala last week but didn’t break into the winner’s circle, which in turn was dominated by Derrick and Kayde Blow from Bendigo who weighed in cod, the biggest 80 cm, on most days.
In fact Derrick got something of a surprize to find one of the cod he’d caught had all but swallowed another Murray cod about one quarter the size of the one that had taken his lure.
Kevin also points out that among club members to cover a bit of ground last week was Tony Savage who fished Eildon Lake, taking yellowbelly to 60 cm offshore from Paradise Point at Jamieson.
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that the lake is fishing well and producing both chinook salmon and all varieties of trout.
However, redfin are still the main drawcard, said John, and among those to catch them last week was Darren Campbell of Lismore who caught any amount on scrubworms.