Kevin Wild and John Gray with their catch of redfin from Lake Tullaroop at the weekend (Picture: Amber Wild).
Freshwater
With the recent opening of Lake Tullaroop, near Maryborough, to Kayaks and boats powered with electric motors, has been a boon to anglers with some really class redfin being taken, including one measuring 50.5 cm caught by Brad Sturgess of Castlemaine.
Maryborough Angling Club members have been to the fore with Kevin and Amber Wild, John Gray, Jon Dukker and his daughter Imogen, all taking good size redfin while others were fortunate enough to pick up several respectable brown trout.
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that the large brown trout this water is famous for were well represented in last week’s catches with Scott Gray and Colby Lesko taking several while trolling OSP bent minnows and a number of redfin in cast and retrieve mode.
Scott also hooked a large fish that emptied his reel of line, the speculation being that this may well have been an XOS chinook salmon.
Others to catch brown trout from this water included Luke Gercovich who picked up three beauties trolling a Daiwa Double Clutch.
Kevin Wild with another good size redfin from Lake Tullaroop (Picture: Amber Wild).
Corio Bay
Australian salmon have been a saviour for a good many fishing trips on Corio Bay, and that was the case for Harley Griffiths and Stanley Owen who headed out off Avalon last week despite less than pleasant conditions.
An early start in the hope of catching snapper as has been their good fortune of late while at anchor in front of the aquaculture sites, proved fruitless for – apart from a banjo shark or two – there wasn’t much doing, but on heading back to the ramp, the sight of birds wheeling overhead prompted a lure fishing exercise.
While there was no surface activity to speak of, the salmon were there alright, taking their lures with alacrity, the largest among their catch being close to a kilogram.
Brad Sturgess with a 50.5cm redfin from Lake Tullaroop (Picture: Amber Wild).
Whiting aficionados, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien had no trouble finding their target species on Saturday, but were frustrated by the downward shift in size, and this was the case in all areas they fished between Hermsley Road Curlewis and The Dell at Clifton Springs.
While most of their fish were above legal size, the larger fish, those in the high 30s and low 40s, and which usually make up the greater portion of their catch, were missing.
Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck who fished the early afternoon high tide change on the Leopold side of Point Henry, found a better class of fish and took their respective bag limit catches on the ebb tide using pipis for bait. Also included in their catch were several good size leatherjackets and flathead.
Hugh Bloink with one of the tailor he caught from Mill Point at Lake Tyers.
On the Beach
Octogenarian angler Hugh Bloink of Mount Duneed, has a house at Lake Tyers Beach in East Gippsland from which he has just returned having spent ten days or so.
His passion is fishing the surf from which he caught innumerable Australian salmon with 40 gram metal lures on which he replaced the trebles with single hooks, which he advises, provides a more secure hold on these leaping speedsters.
Come the rough weather though, the surf became virtually unfishable, but with more than one string to his bow, Hugh fished at Mill Point inside the lake, where he broke out the light tackle, and fishing with a single size 1 hook, a light running sinker and wire trace he caught several tailor, the biggest around the 1.5 kg mark, using chicken for bait.
Imogen Dukker with her redfin from Lake Tullaroop (Picture: Amber Wild).
Ollie asks:
I fish mainly in summer, but have been tempted to try for the Corio Bay winter snapper. Can you give me any tips?
Ollie, because the water is too cold at this time of year to fully support the snapper’s metabolism, they can be tricky to catch, remaining inactive for long periods. However, one advantage at this time of year is that they huddle together in small pods which are fairly easy to locate with a good sounder.
Places where I have caught snapper in the winter include the Grammar School lagoon, Corio Quay and the North shore Rocks. Fishing does not seem to be permitted within Corio Quay these days, but you can fish outside the Quay or in the vicinity of, but not within, the Corio Channel.