good catch of sweep taken off Portland by Bob McPherson and Lachie Wombell (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
On the water by first light early last week, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck were surprised to see several other boats anchored within their happy hunting ground east of Point Henry. And, the whiting were a bit hard to find as well.
Never the less, after making a series of moves they both began catching good size fish – their biggest measuring 43cm – eventually taking their respective bag limits.
Some of their fish were followed to the surface by large snook, two of which – each around the 80cm mark – they caught on pilchards, along with several flathead to 53cm.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that whiting remain the most sought after catch at the moment but they can be hard to find as Harley Griffiths and Stanley Owen could relate.
Having found a good patch of whiting off The Dell after making several moves, they were obliged to move yet again as undersize pinkie snapper took over the bite. Eventually though, they finished just shy of their respective bag limit catches of whiting to 39 cm.
Mike also reports that the fishing jetty has been fully occupied of late regardless of the weather, with both squid and flathead being taken, particularly on dusk.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that rough weather was the stumbling block last week, along with the footy, but those who availed themselves of his service caught squid, whiting and flathead.
Off the Beach
Tony Ingram knew that last week’s easterly winds would not make for comfortable fishing from the beach at Ocean Grove; he was prepared to put up with that, but the biggest problem he faced was that – unexpectedly – the tide did not fall low enough to expose the beach.
This, combined with the strong onshore breeze, persuaded him to park near the Barwon Heads Bridge, walk to the beach downstream on the Ocean Grove side of the estuary where at least he was sheltered from the wind.
With a few mulloway about, he was hopeful of catching one, but had to settle for one elephant fish, returning another due to the overly-restrictive possession limit of one only in this State; and that was his lot.
Freshwater
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Angling Club was in a buoyant mood having prevailed in the Lake Purrumbete Angling Club’s competition at the weekend, with a prize-winning catch of redfin.
Others to do well on the redfin included George Gillies of Winchelsea, Terry Shepherd of Bayswater and Drew Young of Yarraville.
Brown trout are still on offer said John, with Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters finding them for client Jason Harris whose catch included two brown trout of 1.8 and 2.3kg and a 1.4kg chinook salmon, all being caught drop-shotting 26 gram Tassie Devils down at 12 metres.
Blanche Port, copy from Admiralty chart AUS 121.
Roland asks:
Geoff, on February 5, I was fascinated to read your advice on Streaky Bay in South Australia, particularly so after having read an old magazine article you wrote describing the varieties of fish that you and your companions caught there including big snapper.
Geoff, are big snapper still to be caught here? I’ve done an internet search and come up with nothing on snapper at Streaky Bay. And, is there a decent boat ramp there?
Roland, there is an excellent boat ramp on Blanche Port – the sheltered tidal lagoon on which the township of Streaky Bay is situated – with ample parking. However, since I’ve fished there, a state-wide ban on the taking of snapper in South Australia, from November 1 until December 15 – which is the prime time to catch big snapper at Streaky Bay – has been implemented, so that is probably why your search was unsuccessful.
However, big snapper – and 9kg would be an average fish – enter Blanche Port from around the third week in October, so you’d have a week or more during which you could legally catch a big snapper or two, the area just off the Oyster Spit, in about 6 metres of water, being a prime spot (refer to Admiralty chart AUS 121 for more detail) or, you could fish from the Streaky Bay Jetty, as others have, with some expectation of success.