Lachie O’Reilly of OREELY Fishing Guides with the 105 kg tuna from Portland.
With tuna on offer, Lachie O’Reilly of “OREELY” Fishing Guides, and his deckhand Mac, headed down to Portland on Friday night ready to punch out through the rough on Saturday morning.
No sooner had they began trolling out wide of Lawrence Rock, when a mate called over the radio to say he’d hooked a good size fish and that assistance would be appreciated.
So, with the weather taking a turn for the worse, Lachie complied. And, with the boys needing a breather after a two-hour battle, Lachie Jumped aboard; his assistance soon making the difference with the tuna, that eventually weighed 105 kg, alongside.
Lachie and Mac were out again on Sunday with the additional crew of James, Ashby and Branden, this time for only a half day outing, this time with James in the hot seat battling a tuna of 92 kg with Lachie driving the boat.
And, after bringing that fish aboard, they were back at the ramp by lunch-time.
Michael Evans with the 3 kg trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete on Thursday evening (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).
Freshwater
Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Fishing Charters had finished up with his last Lake Purrumbete charter on Thursday afternoon, but – as usual – he headed out for a few casts on evening, hooking another great brown trout.
“He came out of nowhere,” said Michael, “crunching my D&A Bent Minnow and putting up a great fight before getting a quick verdict of 3 kg on the scales, and a photo, before setting him free.
From all accounts, nearby Lake Bullen Merri is also fishing well. However, the upgraded boat ramp promised by August, has yet to be completed.
And, although the temporary ramps have been useful, for some reason, the mooring pontoons have reportedly been removed, creating a degree of difficulty in boarding and disembarking, particularly for the less agile among us.
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that nearby Tullaroop Reservoir is now totally full, and that while the redfin are currently off the bite, trout – both browns and rainbows – have been feeding around the reservoir’s margins.
Taking advantage last week was club member and fly-fishing aficionado Brian Hughes who took a couple of nice browns around the 1.5 kg mark from Tullaroop, and a similar size rainbow from nearby Teddington Reservoir; all taken on the fly.
Queenscliff
On Wednesday afternoon’s ebb tide, Steve O’Keefe and Brett Bravo fished the Draper’s Reef area, just off the Pilot Jetty at Queenscliff where they caught 21 good size whiting.
Steve’s attention was drawn to birds working over an object nearby, and – on investigation – found a large cuttlefish, minus its head, floating on the surface. The flesh was in good condition though, and that’s what he and partner Anna McLean used for bait on Sunday.
Fishing the Lonsdale Bight on this occasion, they took 28 whiting of various sizes, their biggest measuring 46 cm.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
On Wednesday morning, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien were at anchor off The Sands caravan park at Leopold by 7.30 am. The water was heavily discoloured, but whiting were on the bite.
By 10.15 am, they’d both taken their respective bag limit catches of whiting, ranging in size from 34 to 42 cm. So, they decided to try for squid.
The difficulty there was that squid are usually shy in dirty water, but they’d recalled that the water had been a lot cleaner when they’d launched at Clifton Springs, so that’s where they tried; successfully, as it turned out, taking 16 squid between them.
George Vlahogiannis’ catch of bream and an estuary perch from the Patterson River, all taken on maggots.
Patterson Lakes
George Vlahogiannis makes the most of any fishing opportunities that come his way. Recently he has been fishing from the pontoons in Patterson Lakes where he’s taken impressive catches of bream, and the occasional estuary perch.
And what bait does he use? Blowfly maggots of course, one of the most effective baits for the majority of fish around bayside structures.
Colin Butler with a good size tailor taken from Waddy Point, Frazer Island, QLD (Picture: Scott Goleby).
Wayne McCosh with an 81 cm queen fish caught from the surf at Fraser Island this morning (Picture: Scott Goleby).
Upstate
My friend Scott Goleby is currently at Frazer Island, Queensland (06/09/22) and he’s sent photographic samples of the fish currently being caught from the beaches there.
Kevin Wruck with a golden Trevally caught in last afternoon’s session on pilchard rigged for tailor at Fraser Island (Picture: Scott Goleby).
Robert Wruck with a nice tailor from the beach at Fraser Island (Picture: Scott Goleby).
Carl asks:
Geoff, you have previously mentioned that late August and early September are prime times to catch snapper in Corio Bay, where should I be looking for them?
Carl, with water temperatures in Corio Bay now around the critical 12-degree Celsius mark, any resident snapper should be on the move. And, as for the best places to find them, you might try sounding between the North Shore Rocks and the Corio Channel off North Shore.
On the other hand, anchoring up off the Geelong Waterfront can also be productive. But bear in mind, most of the action happens after dark.