Maryborough Angling Club member Kevin Wild with his competition-winning, 42 cm redfin from Tullaroop Reservoir (Picture: Amber Wild).
Freshwater
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that the club held a competition on Tullaroop Reservoir over the weekend that he won with a 42 cm redfin caught on a small yabby. Placegetters included Alan Poole, John Rivett, and junior angler Mason Eales, all with redfin.
As a matter of interest, the fishing had been slow on Tullaroop, said Kevin. Something he put down to receding water levels because of significant water releases into the Loddon River. However, now that the water levels are again stable, the fish – the redfin anyway – are back on the bite.
And, as is often the case, club members have been covering quite a bit of ground of late with Greg Street and Ray Martin, first fishing Lake Fyans where they drew a blank, and then nearby Lake Lonsdale where they picked up good bags of redfin while trolling small lures.
Michael Evans with Wednesday evening’s catch of two redfin of 42 and 44 cm from Wurdiboluc Reservoir (Picture: Michael Evans).
Club member Mark Greenwood had something of a disappointment when he hooked a large Murray cod on a spinnerbait cast from Loddon riverbank just downstream from Cairn Curran Reservoir.
He would have released it anyway, but to have it shake free beside the bank, then swim away, wasn’t quite the same.
Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters spends his spare time fishing when not finding fish for his clients, and one his favourite locations is Wurdiboluc Reservoir, where he’s visited several times over the past two weeks taking redfin on each occasion.
They were plentiful in the shallower/weedy margins said Michael, mostly in the 25 to 35 cm range, some smaller, but were all eager to take pretty much any shape or colour spoon-type lure presented.
However, there were enough bigger fish to hold his interest, and on one occasion, when fishing into evening’s last light, he picked up two beauties on consecutive casts with a Wasabi metal spoon: One measuring 44 cm, the other, 42.
Mason Eales with his prize-winning. redfin catch in the junior section at Tullaroop Reservoir (Picture: Stephen Eales).
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Making an early start just east of the Wilson Spit early last week, Jason Treloar anchored up in around 8 metres of water where it didn’t take him very long to open his account on the snapper.
He picked up one of about 4 kg right on daybreak, then – while removing the hook from his catch – his other rod put him on notice that a second fish of similar size to the first, would soon be added to his tally.
There appeared to be no more snapper on offer, but he did pick up a nice flathead around the kilogram mark. All was quiet after that until he spied some surface activity on the way back to the ramp.
Putting a couple of lures out, he was soon into a shoal of salmon to 600 grams or so that held his attention for a while before heading back to the ramp.
On Wednesday morning, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien headed out off Curlewis after the whiting, and – using strips of squid and mussels for bait in five metres of water – picked up a bag limit catch of good size fish, the biggest measuring 43 cm.
Making an early start to catch the last of the outgoing tide on Thursday morning, Gordon and Carrol Williams were also after whiting, heading out off Point Richards where they’d done well previously.
They found the whiting alright but had to move on occasion when pinkie snapper moved in on their baits, but they eventually picked up 30 nice whiting, and – as usual – there were a couple at 40 cm or better.
Fishing just east of the Point Richards mussel farm on Sunday evening, also for whiting, were Mark Sesar, Adrian Cole and Andrew Phillips.
Although they caught whiting throughout their stay, the bite was sometimes interrupted by pinkie snapper. However, the grand finale began an hour before sunset when a much larger class of whiting moved in, displacing the pinkies and topping off their bag limit catches of whiting to 45 cm.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that squid have been back on song after a period of apparent disinterest, with clients taking good numbers.
Whiting too have been present said Rod, with some being taken by anglers drifting for flathead.