Selin Rahman with her prize-winning brown trout from Dartmouth Reservoir (Picture: Paul Rahman).
Dartmouth Fishing Classic
The Dartmouth Fishing Classic, held over the weekend, attracted some 450 entries, and was won by a Geelong team consisting of Selin Rahman, Paul Rahman, Goran Rahman, Matthew Ribcak and Wally Ribcak, their best ten fish weighing 10.36 kg gilled and gutted.
They also took the biggest rainbow trout for Saturday and Sunday and the biggest brown trout, which at 2.25 kg gilled and gutted, was the biggest fish taken during the competition.
Barry Stewart with the 103 cm Murray cod that he caught from Lake Mulwala (Picture: Maryborough Angling Club).
Hopkins Bream
Fishing the Hopkins River adjacent to Warrnambool’s Deakin University from before daybreak on Sunday morning, Martinus de Lange was after bream, and – well supplied with scrubworms and prawns – fancied his chances.
Initially though, those he caught were a bit on the small side and were released. Nevertheless, he persisted, and was rewarded for doing so with a couple of keepers to 39 cm.
Martinus de Lange with a couple of nice bream from the Hopkins River at Warrnambool.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Fishing for whiting off Curlewis early last week, Andrew Johnson and wife Jenny found the going a bit hard at first catching mainly small fish that they returned before searching for greener pastures.
Eventually they found a purple patch of good size fish in around 4 metres of water, topping off their respective bag limits of fish to 39 cm.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that with good weather on Sunday, a good many boats were on the water with flathead the main catch.
Mike also mentions that there are squid to be caught between the old jetty ruins east of the boat ramp and the new jetty, with a few decent size specimens among them.
Snapper are still being caught from the Portarlington breakwater. Among those to catch them was Simon Werner who caught one of 48 cm at the weekend, while another angler fishing nearby caught two, one of 48 cm and another of 52 cm.
Picking a break in the weather on Sunday, Jason Treloar and Harley Griffiths made an early start off St Leonards after the squid, and – catching the last of the rising tide – had no trouble picking up a respectable catch of 18 on the drift.
Nick Tamburro with a nice brown trout from Lake Purrumbete.
Freshwater
Making yet another trip to Wurdiboluc Reservoir last week, Michael Evans picked up some nice redfin, the biggest measuring 47 cm, taken on his old faithful Nories Wasabi Spoon: It just goes to show that we have at least one productive freshwater venue close to Geelong.
John Clements of Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that among the successful anglers on Lake Purrumbete at the weekend were Nick and Matthew Tamburro who caught a mixed bag of fish including brown and rainbow trout, chinook salmon and redfin.
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that although Tullaroop and Cairn Curran Reservoirs have been quiet of late, members have done well farther afield.
Among them was Barry Stewart who caught a 103 cm Murray cod from Lake Mulwala on dusk while casting a surface-running lure in only 1.5 metres of water.
Greg Streets and Leonie Jones from Stawell fished Lake Lonsdale, picking up 21 really good size redfin on Beetlespins and soft plastics, while others made the journey to Waranga Basin at Rushworth to get amongst the redfin up there.
With school holidays at hand, venues stocked with rainbow trout include St Augustine’s water hole at Waurn Ponds, Lethbridge Lake at Lethbridge and Bannockburn Lagoon.
Oliver asks:
Geoff, I’ve heard that if you wind braid onto your reel under too much tension it can spread the spool and damage the reel. Is that true?
Oliver, the problem of which you speak becomes manifest when spooling up some reels – as distinct from highly engineered game reels – with monofilament, not braided, or fused, gelspun lines, all of which are commonly, but questionably, referred to as braid.
This is because, monofilament – after being wound onto the reel under tension – stretches, becoming slightly thinner in the process and expands once on the spool, exerting significant lateral pressure on the side plates.
On the other hand, gelspun lines maintain their diameter throughout the spooling process, and because of this, exert no lateral pressure after being wound onto the spool under elevated tension.
Please send your reports to geoffw10@optusnet.com.au, on messenger, or by phone, 03 5248 1307.