Conrad, visiting from the Gold Coast, with the 3.71 kg brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Michael Evans).
Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters reports that Camperdown Lakes, Bullen Merri and Purrumbete are fishing well.
Purrumbete is still producing trophy size brown trout, Michael being able to find one of 3.71 kg for Gold Coast client Conrad who caught it while casting an OSP Bent Minnow.
Michael also reports that, although redfin have been harder to catch from Purrumbete, he’s found that using live minnow on fish schooled up just above the bottom in around 20 metres of water has resulted in some great catches.
Most of the action has come from Lake Bullen Merri though said Michael with rainbow trout to 1.5 kg and chinook salmon taking lures with brothers Storm and Anthony from Bendigo picking up their share on cast and retrieve. That was before heading over to Lake Purrumbete where the pair topped off their outing with a good catch of redfin.
Jesse Baron 14, with a good sample of winter snapper from Corio Bay.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Paul Mayer, along with Jesse Baron and Shane Marriot, fished the Western Beach moorings on several occasions last week, and using Munro soft plastics, they caught any amount of snotty trevalla (Warehou) and small pinkie snapper, which – for the main part – were something of a nuisance.
However, on Friday, they hit a purple patch of snapper from 45 to 60 cm: Great fishing until they disappeared and the smaller fish moved back in.
Initially seeking whiting on the east side of Point Henry, Harley Griffiths and Stan Owen had managed to take several whiting before the wind came up strongly from the south west, causing them to seek shelter near the old Alcoa Pier.
They caught no whiting here, but they continued fishing and were rewarded with a good catch of snotty trevalla. And, when the wind eased, they headed out toward Leopold once more where they did catch several more whiting.
On Wednesday, Dennis O’Brien and Peter Dawson also found the going a bit tough in much the same area, and consequently kept on the move in the hope of finding a good patch. That didn’t happen until just on dusk, but from then on they finished with 26 nice fish.
Storm and Anthony from Bendigo with their mixed bags from Lakes Bullen Merri and Purrumbete (Picture: Michael Evans).
Freshwater
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports on making a visit to Yarrawonga on Lake Mulwala over the weekend but the pickings were lean, with only one small Murray cod, which was released. However, there were two cod, each over a metre in length, also caught and released during his stay.
Kevin also reports that club members have been covering a bit of ground of late with Lake Fyans, on Pomonal Road on the way to Stawell, producing redfin, likewise the Waranga Reservoir near Rushworth.
Daniel Maddalena with the thresher shark that he caught offshore from Barwon Heads (Picture: Daniel Maddalena).
Offshore
Picking a break in the weather, Daniel Madallena, along with his two sons, Sebastian 16, and Hudson 14, headed offshore from Barwon Heads hopeful of catching a good size gummy shark. But out here, in 50 metres of water, what Daniel hooked was a good size thresher shark that kept him busy for an hour or so before he was able to bring it alongside.
Portland
Down Portland way, Bob McPherson reports that tuna are still being caught, mainly in the smaller sizes, but there are some bigger fish among them, the only stumbling block being rough weather for most of the time, but with light winds forecast for most of next week things should improve.
However, Bob, and his mate Lachie Wombell, took advantage of a recent break in the weather to head down to Cape Nelson where they took a respectable catch of sweep.
Gareth asks:
Geoff, a friend and I have been trying for snapper in the Corio Bay outer harbour, but – although we can sometimes find them on the sounder – have had no luck. Another problem is that, after dark, sea-lice sometimes take our baits, is there a solution to that?
Gareth, my experience at Shark Bay in Western Australia, where both snapper and sea lice are on the bite after dark, showed that using fish (mainly whiting) heads for bait, solved the problem. While lice ate the eyes and gills, snapper still took the heads. That solution has also proven effective on Corio Bay.
Another solution is to mush up some bait in pantyhose or in a length of stocking and knot it up tightly into a ball on the curve of the hook. Last week I described this technique being used with an Australian salmon head, a strategy that took a large gummy shark.
Additional solutions include buoying the bait two metres or so off the bottom, either with a piece of Styrofoam gap filler or a partially inflated water-bomb balloon.