Adrian Ryan with the 116 kg tuna he caught offshore from Portland (Picture: Portland Bait and Tackle).
Portland
As I reported last week, the fishing is presently good off Portland, and surprisingly, with comparatively few anglers making the journey down that way to share in the bounty.
However, according to the folk at Portland Bait and Tackle, local anglers have been doing well and among the photos they sent me was one of local fishing identity Adrian Ryan. Adrian made the bold move of taking a solo run offshore in search of big tuna and was probably wise enough to have only one lure out when he hooked up.
As you can imagine, he had a battle on his hands with the 116 kg bluefin that took it, and which kept him busy into the evening with the crew from Portland bait and tackle ready and willing to put it on the scales.
Pete Galea with the gummy shark he caught from Portland (Picture: Portland Bait and Tackle).
There were school and gummy shark in the mix as well with local fishing stalwart Pete Galea pictured with a large gummy shark, but with no reference to its size I’d guess it would have been around the 20 kg mark.
Darcy Scott with a 3 kg squid taken out wide from the Lonsdale Bight (Picture Murray Scott).
Martinus de Lange with one of his estuary perch from the Sheepwash.
Bellarine Peninsula
Hopeful of catching squid from the Lonsdale Bight on Sunday morning’s incoming tide, Murray and Darcy Scott were disappointed to find the water heavily discoloured, something which usually puts the squid to ground. A move out into deeper water was also less than encouraging, initially anyway.
Unwilling to give up though, and with the sounder ticking over in just over twelve metres, they found a stream of water clear enough to see the bottom. And the squid, of which they caught 17, including some really big ones to 3 kg. That was before they went off the bite following high slack water.
One of Rob Baxter’s brown trout from Tullaroop Reservoir’s feeder stream (Picture Kevin Wild).
Maryborough Angling Club member John Rivett with his 39 cm yellowbelly from Cairn Curran Reservoir.
Freshwater
Frank Benvenuto has caught bass from the Werribee River over the last couple of weeks, the biggest of which measured 45 cm and took a D-style Reserve, floating minnow-type lure retrieved on a short cast, but that was the only fish that he caught above the weir.
He’d seen it smash prey on the surface for three nights in a row, but in a spot with no casting access. However, the following evening, Frank got as close as he could to where it was rising, flipped out his lure, and within ten seconds or so the big girl smashed it.
One of Frank Benvenuto’s estuary perch from the Werribee River.
Fishing below the weir, he caught another six bass along with the occasional decent size estuary perch. All were taken on 2.75-inch, paddle-tail soft plastics, each rigged with a 1/24th of an ounce jig head; a good imitation of the numerous galaxiid present here, said Frank.
Fishing for estuary perch from the Barwon estuary on Sunday night was Martinus de Lange and casting 2-inch Z-man grubs in the motor oil colouration from the Sheepwash boat ramp pontoon, he caught several, keeping one of 30 cm and releasing the others.
Fishing Wurdiboluc Reservoir last week was Simon Werner who experienced lean pickings from his prolonged casting session with his old faithful Pegron Tiger, eventually being rewarded with a brown trout of just over a kilogram.
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that they had an outing at Cairn Curran Reservoir at the weekend with yellowbelly to 39 cm being taken, both from the bank, and by anglers fishing from boats in relatively shallow water close to shore.
Kevin reports that nearby Tullaroop Reservoir is producing some big redfin from the bank, something to which club member Trevor Perry could attest with his most recent catch on worms including a fish of 47 cm.
And, fishing the main feeder creek into the Reservoir, club member Robert Baxter caught several brown trout, the biggest around 2 kg, using soft plastics.
Some club members have been widely dispersed said Kevin with Ken Hinks making yet another trip to Lake Lonsdale near Stawell where he caught good numbers of redfin to 43 cm on each occasion he ventured out, using soft plastics and beetlespins.
Please send your reports to geoffw10@optusnet.com.au, on messenger, or by phone, 03 5248 1307.