Amber Wild, and Ingi, with one of the Murray cod she caught during the Cod Nationals at Lake Mulwala last week.
Cod Nationals
Kevin and Amber Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club fished the Cod Nationals comp, held over four days at Lake Mulwala last week. The pair did well, Amber coming 23rd overall; she and Kevin also coming 21st in the teams’ event, wining enough in prizes to easily cover their individual entry fees of $750.00.
Tom Ireland of South Australia with a chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).
Hayden from South Australia with a chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).
Freshwater
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that fishing has been excellent of late with redfin the most sought-after species.
However, rainbow and brown trout, and chinook salmon, have all been on offer, responding both to bait fishermen and to those casting, trolling and down-rigging with various lures.
George Vlahogiannis with a kingfish taken off Barwon Heads.
Reel Time charters’ clients’ catch off Barwon Heads.
Offshore
Arriving off Barwon Heads after two hours travel from Martha Cove, George Vlahogiannis and other clients aboard Reel Time Charters, were hoping to catch tuna, but initially there wasn’t much doing. However, a fortuitous phone call to Oscar, the skipper, had them heading in closer where a number of other boats were trolling in only 25 metres of water, and it was here they had their first strike.
The first of several as it turned out, yielding not only four southern bluefin tuna, the biggest around the 20 kg mark, but a 63 cm kingfish that George caught before it was time to head back in.
Rob Walters of Hamilton with a nice catch of redfin (Picture: John Clements).
Hayden from South Australia holding out a 38 cm redfin he caught from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that whiting have been the main attraction, and among those to take bag limit catches last week were Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck. They took their respective bag limits of fish to 42 cm off Point Richards, along with several flathead to a kilogram or so, just east of the mussel farm
Saturday morning was looking pretty grim with the outgoing tide pushing up against a strong easterly off Clifton Springs, but Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brian eventually decided to head out at around 10.00 am.
And, despite the awkward conditions with wind against tide – and possibly a metre of swell – eventually took their bag limit catches of whiting from 34 to 40 cm, along with several good size flathead, using pipis and squid for bait.
Murray and Darcy Scott headed out off Avalon on Saturday evening, also after the whiting, and – fishing in four metres of water – they too took a bag limit catch of whiting to 40 cm using pipis and squid for bait, as did Steve O’Keefe and Anna McLean on Sunday.
Launching from Swan Bay at around 6.30 am, the pair headed out in the vicinity of Coles Beason, off the entrance to Swan Bay where they took quite a few fish on the last of the ebb tide. Then waiting out slack water, were in business once more from the start of the flood, and – by 2.30 in the afternoon – they too finished with bag limit catches of whiting to 40 cm
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that squid have been present in good numbers, but sometimes touchy and whiting have been a little hard to find.
Clients fishing on the drift for flathead have had a by-catch of gummy shark, some a little too large to handle, along with the occasional pinkie snapper.
One concerning feature has been the amount of sand missing from the beach, said Rod, and – like others – believes the amount of sand being dredged in close proximity to shore – for whatever purpose – has been to blame.
Off the Beach
On Tuesday evening, Ray Millman and Callum Stavris fished from the beach at Jan Juc, and, at around 8.30 pm, Ray caught their first fish, a 2 kg salmon.
This was followed by the pair capturing a number of pinkie snapper, the biggest, a respectable 2 kg. That was toward the top of the tide, after which the sea calmed off, along with the action. And, although they fished until midnight, all they caught after that were a couple of banjo sharks that were returned.
Damon Sherriff with yet another snapper; part of a bag-limit catch taken off Bridport, northern Tasmania last week. This one measured 78 cm.
Roland asks:
Geoff, while I realize the construction of the new Bullen Merri boat ramp is expected to take possibly four months, I understood that there also is some hold-up to the temporary launching facility scheduled to provide access to this great fishery in the meantime: Do you have any info on this?
Roland, having made some enquiries, I can assure you that the Victorian Fisheries Authority (incorporating Better Boating Vic) are all-go on this proposal. However, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) have outlined extensive consultation and approval processes for such a temporary boat ramp that include; native title assessment, native veg permit, land management consent, bed and banks management consent – and so on.
This was unforeseen in our earlier discussions with VFA, during which simply placing gravel on the bank to provide short term access, was planned.
It appears that a temporary ramp is not going to be feasible given the above timelines that DELWP has outlined and the works at Bullen Merri will be completed before a temporary ramp can be installed. Better Boating Victoria is working with Corangamite Shire to see if access can be opened up as soon as it is safe to do so.