Shae-Lee Cooper and Zac Schmidt with the 107 kg bronze whaler shark they caught off Clifton Springs (Picture: Bailey Cooper).
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
With sharks about, as there usually are at this time of year, Bailey Cooper, Zac Schmidt, and Shae-Lee Cooper decided to head out off Clifton Springs early last week to see if they could catch one.
Using slimy mackerel for bait in 8 metres of water with a generous berley trail, they had several half-hearted strikes that left toothmarks in their baits; nothing to get really excited about. Nevertheless, it was an encouraging sign, so they headed out again the following evening at around 7.30 pm.
Unlike the previous evening’s action, there wasn’t much doing, but at 11.00 pm Zac’s 15 kg outfit screamed off, heralding an hour-long battle with what turned out to be a bronze whaler that eventually greeted the scales for a verdict of 107 kg. So, I guess there will be no shortage of flake for a while.
Harley Griffiths and Stan Owen headed across to the Nine Foot Bank off Avalon from St Helens and anchored near the aquaculture sites in 7.5 metres of water at daybreak.
Using squid for bait, they didn’t have long to wait for their one and only snapper of around 5 kg, but as the sun rose, all their baits attracted were banjo sharks and other unwanted species.
Fishing for whiting from Corio Bay’s outer harbour early last week, Gordon and Carol Williams fished the early afternoon high tide change off Point Richards, initially without much luck, so they went on the move.
Whether it was the quickening of the tide, or whether they were lucky enough to drop onto a hot bite off McAdams Lane, it would be a bit hard to say. However, with no need to move, were soon on the way to their respective bag limit catches.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire reports that whiting have been the main catch this week, and there have been some good ones among them.
Most of the action has been between Grassy Point and the Governor Reefs with some catches being made within a few hundred metres of the shore.
Some good size flathead to around 45 cm, have been taken as well, said Rod, mainly by anglers fishing on the drift, with the largest fish being taken closest to shore.
Off the Beach
Fishing Friday evening’s low tide from RAAFs Beach, Ocean Grove, Tony Ingram and Col Simmons were initially plagued by small pinkie snapper, but a nice one of about 3 kg as the sun went down was encouraging.
However, with the incoming tide creeping up the beach they were eventually forced to retreat, adding only a gummy shark of around 5 kg to their bag before the beach became awash at around 9.30.
Freshwater
Lake Purrumbete continues to fish well, both for local anglers and visitors, among them, Graeme Mead from Ballarat and his companion Leigh Idmurn who’ve put in several recent trips.
They’ve had no problem taking bag limit catches of chinook salmon on pilchard fillets on each occasion, the biggest around the 2.5 kg mark along with several brown and rainbow around the two-kilogram mark. These were taken on mudeyes fished beneath floats.
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that Tullaroop Reservoir is fishing particularly well for redfin at present and was able to take his long-time friend Robert Cooke from Darwin, out for a productive session.
Fishing nearby, Stephen Eales, his dad Lyal, daughter Lily 7, and son Mason 5. They too did very well on the reddies with soft plastics and Beetlespins among the most successful lures.
Colin asks:
Geoff, an article I read recently suggested the use of a running sinker when fishing for snapper. What is a running sinker?
Colin, a running sinker is achieved by first threading your line through a sinker; usually but not always, a small to medium size ball sinker, before tying on your hook, or leader with a hook attached.
This enables any fish picking up the bait to pull line freely through the sinker, rather than dragging the sinker along behind as would be the case if the sinker were fixed to the line.
Please send your reports to geoffw10@optusnet.com.au, on messenger, or by phone, 03 5248 1307.