Lachie Wombell with a good size pink ling from the deep grounds off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Corio Bay Bellarine Peninsula
A fishing information network is good to be part of, especially when fishing for snapper; something clearly demonstrated the week previous when Murray Stewart’s friend Shane called him over to a really hot bite off Curlewis.
Last week, Murray was able to return the favour when he and wife Linda’s rods were-a-buckling the tune of snapper aplenty, eventually leaving the water with bag limit catches.
And it’s always good to make an early start, something that Andrew Phillips and long-time friend Colin Radley appreciate, being on the water by 4.00am on Wednesday.
On the way toward the Nine Foot Bank pile off Avalon, and with the sounder running, they were stopped in their tracks as the screen lit up in 7.5 metres of water with the familiar snapper signature, a kilometre or so past the Wilson Spit.
It was no false alarm either, for – from 4.45 until 8.00 – they not only caught their respective bag limit catches of snapper to 5kg, but a 14 kg gummy shark that took a bait of squid just as they were packing up.
Justin Burns and Simon Williams were on the move from Point Henry by first light on Sunday, and – fishing with Berkley Turtleback worms in pumpkinseed – they caught a quantity of flathead, the biggest about 850 grams, two snook – one of which was about a metre in length – and two whiting, one measuring 40cm.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that Russell Weatherall and a companion caught 9 whiting offshore from the boat ramp, while whiting experts, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien, struggled to get 17 keepers off Curlewis in challenging conditions on Friday afternoon. Mind you, they also released a good many small but legal-size fish.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that pinkie snapper to a kilogram or so have been a welcome catch, with Jeff Richards and Ken Shae picking up 8 to 40 cm just south of the Prince George Light on Friday afternoon’s incoming tide.
Lachie Wombell with a good size pink ling from the deep grounds off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Off the beach
Taking advantage of really low evening tides early last week, Tony Ingram surveyed the beach between 18 and 19W at Ocean Grove for a clear area to fish through the late afternoon evening.
A productive exercise as it turned out, for he caught three pinkie snapper, the largest around 2.5 kg, right on dark, and shortly before the tide began coming up the beach forcing his retreat.
But then, he hooked another fish, clearly bigger than any of those already in his carry bag, but it was eventually lost, along with his hook and sinker; so, one could surmise the involvement of a toothy-critter at some stage during the engagement.
Wattle grub “frass” at the base of a black wattle (Picture: Australian Plants online).
Freshwater
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that Sean Kelly of Eltham, and local angler Mark Cummings, have both taken brown trout to just on 2 kg while fishing with mudeyes under a float, while Geoff Broughton, Brian Nygaard and Matt Hall of Colac have all picked up rainbow trout – the biggest around the 1.8 kg mark – with the same approach.
At nearby Lake Purrumbete Mick Giles of Bannockburn has been among a handful of anglers to take both rainbow trout and chinook salmon while fishing land-based from the north side of the lake.
Sammy asks:
Geoff, I’ve been told that wattle grubs are great bait when night-fishing for large brown trout: How would I get some?
Sammy, although the black wattle is considered one of the most invasive species in the world, and in some parts of Australia, the long-standing process of locating their parasitic grubs (larvae of the wood moth) by excrement or “frass” at the base of the tree, then excavating them from the trunk – in the manner of black cockatoos and other bark-gleaning birds – is unlawful, and considered an offence to the tree.
The logging of black wattles in the early 1900s for their bark, which was valued for tanning, adhesives and antiseptics, allegedly resulted in significant deforestation: Australia now imports its black wattle bark, for these applications, from South Africa.
While the harvesting of wattle grubs is taboo, you may purchase lifelike imitations at https://www.a1baitsupplies.com.au/store or https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-tas/wattle+grubs/k0l3008843