Shane Stevens with the 3.63 kg brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete last week.
Freshwater
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that trophy size brown trout are on offer and among those to catch them last week was Shane Stevens of Ballarat who picked up a beauty of 3.63 kg casting an OSP Bent Minnow.
However, John insists that those looking for fishing action have concentrated on the redfin, and early last week, Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters – who had already explained to prospective clients Ronnie, Mack, and Brad that conditions were marginal – said they still wanted to go.
Well, the wind was blowing at around 20 knots, accompanied by quite heavy showers of rain, but – with redfin on the bite – nobody suggested a retreat. And, despite the challenging conditions, their impressive final tally of fish for the morning was 90 redfin and one chinook salmon.
Ken Hinks and Don Rayner with a sample of their redclaw catch from the Thomson River at Longreach in Central Queensland (Picture: Amber Wild).
Don Rayner with a catch of redclaw from the Thomson River at Longreach in Central Queensland (Picture: Amber Wild).
Nearby Lake Bullen Merri, which has been quiet over the late autumn and early winter, now appears to be kicking into gear, producing a trifecta of chinook salmon, rainbow, and tiger trout.
While anglers fishing from boats have been picking up all three, those fishing land-based in the vicinity of the boat ramp have also been doing well; their preferred approach being the presentation of live minnow beneath a float.
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club, who – again reminds us of club member’s willingness to cover quite a bit of ground to get their feet wet – reports that his wife Amber, Amber’s dad Don Rayner, and Ken Hinks, made the trip to Longreach in Central Queensland to get onto the redclaw that this area is famous for.
This species, which resembles a yabby on steroids, is primarily vegetarian, hence the yabby traps, that they positioned in the nearby Thomson River, were baited with potato and pumpkin. And they’re not scarce either, for on one day alone they caught 112.
Kevin reports that closer to home, club member Darren Watts continues to take good catches of redfin from Lake Lonsdale near Stawell, while yet another member, Trevor Perry, has caught Murray cod measuring from 56–60 cm from the Loddon River below Laanecoorie Weir.
Three-year-old Elijah McLoughlin with one of the rainbow trout he caught from St Augustine’s Water Hole in Highton (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).
Some local anglers, and their kids, have taken advantage of the recent stocking of rainbow trout into St Augustine’s Water Hole off South Valley Road, Highton. Among them, 3-year-old Elijah McLoughlin, who – accompanied by his dad, Kevin – caught a couple of these pan-size rainbows from here using worms for bait.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Making a daybreak start off Curlewis on Sunday morning Andrew Phillips and Tony Mollenhauer were after whiting, but those they caught initially – although of legal size –didn’t quite make the grade as keepers.
A series of moves produced much the same result. However, a trial run out into 6 metres of water produced a better class of fish, and – with the tide still running in – they persisted until finishing up with their respective bag limit catches by late morning.
Taking a run down to Queenscliff on Sunday afternoon, Mark Sesar and Andrew Phillips were after squid, and fishing on the drift with the outgoing tide and following breeze, each took a bag limit catch off the mouth of Swan Bay, their biggest around the 2 kg mark.
Tom asks:
Geoff, fishing off Point Wilson recently, I heard the unmistakable calling of penguins. The sea was a bit choppy wo I couldn’t see them clearly, but they were penguins alright; I’d swear to it.
Do you know anything about penguins in the bay, and if so, what variety would they be?
Tom, I did have another report of penguins being sighted in the bay some years ago, and in the very area you specify, and which I reported in my column. An upshot from this was being informed that there was indeed a penguin rookery on the northern shores of Corio Bay, but with no exact location being specified.
While I don’t know much about penguins, a web search suggests they are almost certainly “little penguins” (Eudyptula minor), sometimes referred to as fairy penguins