Drysdale angler Mick Harbour with a 3.8 kg rainbow trout that he caught from Lake Purrumbete on a live minnow (Picture: John Clements).
Zavier Anthony with the 6kilo snapper he caught off Clifton Springs (Picture: Ray Anthony).
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Snapper are still about off Clifton Springs, and among those to catch them last week was Zavier Anthony. Zavier was fishing with his father Ray, mother Melissa and sister Zara when he caught a beauty of 6 kg on a portion from one of the squid they’d caught earlier.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that, although sometimes hard to find in any quantity, whiting remain the main attraction off The Springs, and among those to find them were Kalen Douglas and Colin Northwood who picked up a respectable catch off Curlewis.
Andrew Johnson, Dennis O’Brien and Pete Dawson also found the going tough on the whiting on Friday, only picking up 8. However, they did catch six flathead to 49 cm; a fairly reasonable catch given the strong southerly wind and rough conditions.
Andrew’s son Daniel, along with Joel Trezise, made a pre-dawn start off Limeburners ramp on Friday, and – rigged and ready for a soft plastics mission – headed over to the North Shore Rocks where they had no trouble catching pinkie snapper, and one bigger specimen of just over 2 kg.
Amber Wild with the 1.07 metre Murray cod that she caught from Lake Mulwala using cheese for bait (Picture: Kevin Wild).
Greg Streets with one of several Murray cod that he and Leonie Jones caught from Lake Nagambie (Picture: Leonie Jones).
Something of a surprise though, was the number of snook they caught, mostly of modest size, they did get a couple of big ones around the 80 cm mark.
With the bite easing off as the sun rose, they headed over to the Grammar School Lagoon, and – on the ebbing tide, again with soft plastics – caught several flathead, the biggest just shy of 50 cm.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that whiting, after promising catches being made last week, seemed to have gone quiet, but says that anglers fishing into the night have done much better than those fishing during the day.
Garfish have become more plentiful though with Ken Shae and his mate Con picking up over two dozen gars on what was a whiting trip between Dead Man’s Stick and the Prince George Pile. They also caught a similar number of whiting.
Phil Ardiri with the remainder of his tuna after “taxman” took his share (Picture: Kane Ardiri).
Sharing the spoils (Picture: Kane Ardiri).
Offshore
Fishing off Port Phillip Heads in 30-35 metres of water on Thursday, Kane Ardiri and his sons his sons Joey and Phil, were after the bluefin tuna currently on offer out here, and it wasn’t long before Kane hooked up on a nice fish of 25 kg.
Phil hooked another of around the same size, but the taxman – a large bronze whaler in this case – cometh, and after taking his share, the remainder weighed 14 kg.
They baited some of that remainder on the hook and trace of a game fishing outfit, but the bronzie, that could still be seen lurking nearby, was having none of it.
Simon Werner and his companion DJ, managed to boat a couple of tuna to 20 kg that came in unscathed. Not so Danny Skene though who hooked a barrel-size fish later in the week that was heavily taxed.
Heading down to Warrnambool on Friday evening, Kevin McLoughlin and Marcus Pearson were on a nocturnal mako-shark mission, and – undeterred by what appeared to be a building sea – they reached the edge of the continental shelf after a two-hour journey at around 11.00 pm and began a berley trail.
Initially all was quiet, but at 3.30 in the morning they caught a mako shark of 80 kg, not as big as they’d hoped for, but a satisfactory catch all the same.
Drysdale angler Mick Harbour with a 3.8 kg rainbow trout that he caught from Lake Purrumbete on a live minnow (Picture: John Clements).
Drysdale angler Mick Harbour with a 3.7 kg brown trout that he caught from Lake Purrumbete on a mudeye (Picture: John Clements).
Freshwater
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that club members have done well of late. They included wife Amber who caught a 1.07 metre Murray cod from Lake Mulwala using cheese for bait.
Leopold angler Terry Lindsay’s catch of redfin from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).
Jon Dukker fished Laanecoorie Reservoir for a mixed bag of yellowbelly and redfin, while Greg Streets and Leonie Jones caught and released 10 Murray Cod from Lake Nagambie at its junction with the Goulbourn River.
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that both brown and rainbow trout are on offer, and that Drysdale angler Mick Harbour’s catch included a 3.8 kg rainbow trout, taken on a minnow, and a 3.7 kg brown trout taken on a mudeye.
Redfin have also been on offer with Terry Lindsay of Leopold taking his share on minnow and soft plastics.
Jamie Peel and son Jaydon with a sample of the kingfish currently on offer off Portland.
Marcus Pearson and Kevin McLoughlin with their 80 kg mako shark taken during the early hours of the morning off Warrnambool.
Portland
Bob McPherson reports that fishing has been good of late with tuna of varying sizes being taken offshore. However, an inshore kingfish fishery has really caught on with an abundance of fish to a metre or so in length being taken with a variety of methods.