Bernard Abrams with his 99 cm kingfish from Port Phillip Heads.
Simon Williams with one of the tuna he and Justin Burns caught offshore from Barwon Heads at the weekend (Picture: Justin Burns).
Offshore
Kingfish are on the bite inside Port Phillip Heads, and among those to catch them last week was Bernard Abrams and his mates, Karl, Ben and Wayne.
And, judging by the photos Bernard send me, there were some beauties among them including one measuring 99 cm; Bernard’s biggest to date.
Outside The Heads however, bluefin tuna still remain the main attraction with Bernard and his crew getting into those as well.
Trolling small pink skirted lures in 27 metres of water off nearby Barwon Heads, they caught four tuna that they kept, the biggest weighing 25 kg. They also caught and released several others caught on bibless minnows – customarily referred to as stick-baits these days – a preferred lure for cast and retrieve.
And casting stick-baits to tuna feeding at the surface off Barwon Heads, also proved successful for Justin Burns and Simon Williams, who – in calm conditions on Sunday morning – caught two tuna using this technique.
Justin Burns with another, using the same approach.
Bernard Abrams with one of the tuna he caught offshore from Port Phillip Heads last week.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Early last week, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck were out off Indented Head by daybreak with squid on their mind, and after several unproductive drifts, they found a good patch from which they each took bag limit catches that included a large cuttlefish.
On Saturday evening, Andrew – this time with Mark Sesar – fished offshore from Point Richards for whiting. And, after making a half dozen or so moves for little return, they found a good patch toward dark – just east of the mussel farm – and from here they topped off their respective bag limit catches of whiting.
Calling his friend Dennis O’Brien before heading out with wife Jenny, Andrew Johnson got the drumbeats that good size whiting were indeed off the east end of the Point Richards mussel farm, but with undersize pinkie snapper about, an occasional change of location was warranted.
Fishing a bit shallower than Dennis, who was out in 5.5 metres, was a good move as it turned out, for Andrew and Jenny caught 32 whiting and no pinkies, their biggest measuring 40 cm. That was before the southerly came up persuading their retreat.
However, Dennis stuck it out and finished with a bag limit catch that included two fish that measured 43 cm apiece.
Lachie Wombell with an ocean perch taken out wide from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Four tuna taken by Bernard Abrams and his crew off Barwon Heads.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that the fishing has been good, with even the occasional good size snapper coming in.
Among the successful anglers was Cam Knuckey who found a large pod of snapper off Point Wilson from which he caught one of 5 kg before losing them. Also included in his catch was a 5 kg gummy shark, both fish being taken on pilchards.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that improved weather over the weekend saw an improvement in catches with flathead and legal-size pinkies being taken in the deeper water. However, garfish are plentiful inshore, said Rod, along with squid, while regular client Sean Martin, picked up a nice gummy shark.
Whiting have been a bit scarce off Indented Head said Rod, but says that anglers fishing from the pier at St Leonards have been catching them, particularly of an evening.
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club with his 1.17 metre Murray cod that he caught from Lake Mulwala at the weekend (Picture: Amber Wild).
They didn’t go to waste either.
Freshwater
“His and Hers” was the title of Lake Mulwala’s weekend competition that fielded 44 teams from different clubs, compliance being dependant on teams consisting of one male and one female angler.
Kevin and Amber Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club were one such team.
A somewhat successful team as it turned out, coming second. They were beaten on points generated by numbers of legal fish caught rather than size: Had size been the deciding factor they would have won it outright with their biggest fish, a 1.17 metre Murray cod.
Interestingly, it was only after stopping to eat lunch, with baits of chicken over the side, and after fruitless lure-casting and trolling sessions, that they caught their first of several fish, and eventually, their biggest.
Lachie Wombell with a nice sample of blue-eye trevalla taken out wide from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Lachie Wombell with a blue grenadier taken out wide from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Portland
With good weather at the weekend, Bob McPherson and Lachie Wombell headed out to the edge of the Continental Shelf, where – in around 500 metres of water – they caught blue-eye trevalla and a variety of other species including ocean perch and blue grenadier (often referred to as hoki in the commercial fishing trade).