Anthony Parker with one of the kingfish he caught over the weekend at Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Corio Bay Bellarine Peninsula
Despite a howling southerly, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien went after whiting on Friday Afternoon, but their usual hotspot at the Point Richards end of the mussel farm proved just too uncomfortable.
So reluctantly, they raised the anchor and moved into shallower water where they had some shelter from the wind. And, they’ll undoubtedly be making a return trip after catching their respective bag limits of whiting here in quick time.
Fishing offshore from Point Henry on Friday Afternoon were Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar who took 22 whiting, the biggest measuring 42 cm. These came from 3.5 metres of water near the old Alcoa Pier, along with several good size flathead.
Andrew said they would have taken their respective bag limits had it not been for hordes of undersize pinkie snapper taking their baits.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports more catch highlights with Darren Hillier taking a mixed bag of pinkie snapper and flathead across the bay at Arthur the Great, just east of Point Wilson.
Others to do well included Aris Sertaridis who fished alongside the nearby mussel farm taking a mixed bag of whiting, pinkie snapper and flathead.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that, as well as the usually reliable squid and flathead, good catches of whiting continue:
Among the successful anglers were Jeff Richards and Chris Hateley who picked up their respective bag limit catches of whiting from 38 to 42 cm, off St Leonards on Saturday’s ebb tide. These were caught in 7 metres of water just south of the wreck of the Clarence.
Deborah Straight of Torquay with one of her gummy shark above, and her banjo shark below (Pictures: Andrew “Sparky” Mizzo).
Torquay
After covering a good stretch of water from Barwon Heads to Torquay in perfect conditions on Sunday, Murray and Darcy Scott eventually finished up on the drift in 40 metres of water, where – like the ocean – all was quiet.
Eventually though, retrieving s strip of squid revealed an inquisitive school of kingfish, and indeed one took the bait. However, a stray loop of slack line from the reel snared a rod holder, and that was that. They did eventually boat one legal size kingfish though, but not as big as the one that got away.
Torquay angler, Andrew (Sparky) Mizzo’s good deed last week, was to purchase a 3-day fishing license for Deborah Straight, also of Torquay, prior to taking her fishing offshore. While their catch broke no records, with Deborah catching their biggest fish, a hefty banjo shark, it was also memorable for her catch and release of two small gummy shark.
Oleg Marchouba with a nice hapuka, one of several fish he caught out deep from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Portland
Round 4 of the ANSA competitions was held at Portland over the weekend where kingfish were a highlight.
In fact, a long-standing 4kg line-class record was potentially broken not once, but twice: First, when a kingfish of 10 kg greeted the scales, and then – within 20 minutes or so – with another of 12.89kg captured by Daniel Sparks, which was not only the highest point-scoring fish in the competition, but is now a pending national line-class record.
Freshwater
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports fishing the lake, variously with George Gillies, and later with Jim Keating of Ballarat, taking over 80 redfin in total using live minnow for bait.
John also fished Lake Bullen Merri, variously with brother Robert and his son Jarrod, and again with Tony Pepe of Sydenham for a total of 30 chinook salmon, all of which were released because of the poor water quality here due to the blue-green algae infestation.
Another angler with a nice kingfish from Portland.
Conrad asks:
Geoff; my wife and I intend to visit Streaky Bay, South Australia in April, including Easter and would like to know if there is anywhere we could fish land based-based. Also, we would like to know if we need fishing licences?
Conrad, there is a jetty near the Streaky Bay caravan park from where you can fish, with a variety of species, including whiting, garfish, squid and blue swimmer crabs, usually present in April.
Should you want to fish the surf, Australian salmon many be caught from the beach at Point Labatt: This, and other great locations, are clearly signposted within the township.
You don’t need a licence for recreational fishing in South Australia.