Ray Millman, with a sample of his salmon catch.
Off the Beach
After their successful outing described in last week’s report, Ray Millman and Kalon Stavris made a daybreak start along the Great Ocean Road at Spout Creek on Friday where they caught several nice salmon immediately, but shortly after sunrise the bite shut down, so they moved to the Lorne Pier.
They caught several salmon here as well, but it was far from a savage bite with fish visibly following their lures with only the occasional strike. Add to that, the intermittent rain showers, they eventually called it quits.
Michael Evans took this photo of a 44 cm redfin he caught from Wurdiboluc Reservoir.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Heading out off Curlewis after the whiting early on Thursday morning, Andrew Johnson and Denis O’Brien picked up half a dozen fish before a swarm of small leatherjackets moved in on their baits persuading them to try out a little deeper.
After making a few more moves, they finished up on a good bite in 6.5 metres of water off Leopold where they topped off their respective bag limit catches of keepers to 43 cm.
John Clements sent in this photo showing the size of the tiger trout being caught from Lake Purrumbete.
Michael Evans with his 64 cm brown trout from Wurdiboluc Reservoir.
Barwon River
Fishing the incoming tide in the Barwon estuary, just downstream from the Ocean Grove boat ramp on Thursday morning, Louie Polgar was catching the usual variety of mullet, salmon, and the occasional whiting.
However, as the flow eased toward high slack water, silver trevally came on the bite. Louie managed to catch four all up, the biggest around the kilogram mark before the bite shut down in the early afternoon.
On Sunday, Murray and Darcy Scott also fished the incoming tide on the Barwon estuary for much the same result, that also included four silver trevally, three around the kilogram mark and one that would have nudged two kilograms had they bothered to weigh it.
However, the salmon and mullet were destined for bait on the bay, hopefully to tempt a snapper, but in vain as it turned out – for unlike on the Barwon – there wasn’t much doing.
Jan Logan of the Maryborough Angling Club with a 63 cm Murray cod from Lake Mulwala.
Ken Hinks with his competition winning cod from Lake Mulwala.
Freshwater
A lure-casting session with a Nories Wasabi Spoon at Wurdiboluc Reservoir proved a rewarding exercise for Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters last week, taking redfin to 44 cm and a brown trout that measured 64 cm.
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that the club had a competition on Lake Mulwala at the weekend with 31 members in attendance.
Unfortunately, Sunday was a wipe-out with the weather, but on Saturday, quite a few fish were caught with Ken Hinks able to tell the tale of a very large Murray cod that escaped. Nevertheless, Ken still managed to win the competition with a cod of 65 cm.
Vicki Martin with a 63 cm cod from Lake Mulwala.
Don Rayner with yet another cod from Lake Mulwala.
Runners up were John Gray, Jan Logan and Vicki Martin, all with cod measuring 63 cm.
John also mentions that, according to his friend Greg Hicks, Waranga Basin at Rushworth is fishing well for redfin, and that anyone prepared to do the trip (240 km from Geelong), should do well.
Snobs Creek fish stocking coordinator Rhiannon Atkinson advises that both Lakes Purrumbete and Bullen Merri will receive the last of the tiger trout allocation for this year on Thursday, May 25; Purrumbete first at around 3.00 pm, followed by Bullen Merri at 4.00-4.30 pm.
Should you wish to attend, please contact Rhiannon on 0407 987 016 or by email on rhiannon.atkinson@vfa.vic.gov.au to be advised of any updates.
Michael Behrens with the mulloway that he and his father Jamie caught from the Maroochy River in Queensland on Friday night.
Maroochydore
Jamie Behrens of Maroochydore in Queensland, along with his son Michael – launched on the Maroochy River on Friday evening hoping to catch a mulloway, and – with mullet jumping everywhere – their hopes were high.
As it happened, they caught two mulloway, one of 12.5 kg, the other at 16 kg. Both were caught – as you might expect – using live mullet for bait. But that was by no means the end of their mulloway fishing quest.
They went out again on Saturday evening and caught three more of approximately 10kg, 14kg and 15kg, all of which – on this occasion – were tagged and released.
Nicolai asks:
Geoff, I’ve been told that balloons must be of a certain colour and size to ensure success when live-baiting for kingfish. What is significant about the colour and size of balloons when live-baiting?
Nicolai, despite risking howls of protest from those who swear by certain colours and sizes, the sole purpose of a balloon when using either live or dead baits, is to suspend the bait from the surface, no more and no less.
Of more importance than colour or size, is that you trim the lip from the balloon, so that it doesn’t foul the loop of line onto which it is tied. Failure to do this could cost you a fish as it has others, me included.