Andrew Ketelaar with one of the bass he caught from Blue Rock Dam in Gippsland.
Freshwater
Andrew Ketelaar recently visited Blue Rock Lake near the Gippsland settlement of Willow Grove in search of trout and bass and caught several browns to 800 grams or so while trolling pink and gold Tassie Devils around the Lake’s margins at first light.
Catching bass was more challenging though with cooling water temperatures, but – after finding some promising marks on the sounder at 3-4 metres – he slowly trolled a Rapala Tail-dancer, 50 metres back, with the electric motor and picked up several to 45 cm.
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that the club held a competition on Lake Mulwala over the weekend.
Although unfishable on Saturday due to gale-force winds, the Murray River provided a good deal more shelter. On Sunday though, conditions had improved to the point they could fish the lake.
John Rivett with his second-prize winning cod of 67 cm (Picture: Amber Wild).
Winner of the competition was Greg Street with a 76 cm Murray cod while John Rivett was awarded second prize with a cod of 67 cm.
Kevin also mentions that Lake Tullaroop is fishing particularly well of for redfin and other species, which has attracted a good many anglers.
Video of Jarvis Kent’s brown trout capture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT6H9VYs3q0
However, the big news is that a tagged fish worth $10,000 – part of the government’s “golden tag” initiative – was caught by Eltham’s Nick Jenkins who hooked a 48 cm golden perch at Tullaroop, bearing the golden tag: Fisherman wins Golden Tag prize for catch at Tullaroop Reservoir, near Maryborough | Bendigo Advertiser | Bendigo, VIC
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that large brown trout are on offer, and among those to catch them was 11-year-old Jarvis Kent who was fishing with his father Daniel.
The fish, which was in the vicinity of 4 kg, was released following a video that they made of the event.
However, redfin remain the main catch with George Gillies of Winchelsea taking his share of fish to 800 grams on Red Wigglers.
Fish Stocking Coordinator, Rhiannon Atkinson, thanks everyone who was able to assist with the tiger trout stocking into lake Purrumbete last week. The remaining stocking for the lake will occur on Thursday May 20, bringing the total release up to 7000.
The fish will be arriving by truck at around 2.00 pm, and should anyone like to attend, please contact Rhiannon (rhiannon.atkinson@vfa.vic.gov.au or on 0407 987 016), for an update on any changes that may occur.
Jon Dukker with one of his cod from Lake Mulwala (Picture: Amber Wild).
Leonie Jones of the Maryborough Angling Club with one of the Murray Cod she caught from Lake Mulwala on Sunday (Picture: Amber Wild).
Offshore
With some respite in the weather on Thursday, Simon Werner and his mate Nick, headed out off Barwon Heads into 45 metres of water.
Initially, the action was good with the capture of 6 pinkie snapper to around 2 kg. But then, the action stopped, something that caused Simon to remark that there might be a shark around.
More than one perhaps, for after a lapse in proceedings, the next cab off the rank was a 9 kg school shark which was closely followed by a clearly larger opponent that turned out to be another school shark that weighed 21 kg.
The range of prizes at the Maryborough Angling Club’s competition at Lake Mulwala was certainly impressive (Picture: Amber Wild).
Corio Bay
Not many reports from Corio Bay this week, but Gordon and Carol Williams launched at Clifton Springs hoping to catch a few whiting; no problem there but those they caught initially were a bit on the small side.
They eventually found a good patch off Leopold in around 6 metres though, and finished up with bag limit catches, the biggest approaching 40 cm
Colin asks:
Geoff, I repeatedly hear of anglers using bubble floats; can you provide some detail on rigging them please?
Colin, of the many and varied array of bubble floats available, egg, or cigar-shaped varieties with a displaceable central tube allowing the infusion of water to provide added weight for casting, are preferred.
The bubble is rigged as a sliding float threaded onto the line followed by a small bite-indicator float from which the baited hook is suspended. The indicator float, which is fixed in place by clamping a small split-shot onto the line on either side, also acts as a stopper to prevent the bubble float from sliding down onto your hook when casting.
The hook is then attached to your line a metre or so below your smaller tandem float and baited up appropriately, usually with a mudeye (dragon fly lava) and cast out.
Fished this way, the indicator float will submerge when the bait is taken – offering almost no resistance to the fish – allowing the line to pass freely through the bubble float.