Rory Adam with the 132 kg tuna that he and friend Jiles caught offshore from Barwon Heads.
Offshore
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve reported on Portland’s run of large bluefin tuna. Well, they have now turned up closer to home.
With that in mind, and a favourable forecast, Rory Adam, and companion Jiles Gallichan, headed out off Barwon Heads, their attention being eventually drawn to birds wheeling over a disturbance at the surface, which – as they approached with lures rigged and ready – was a veritable zoo of dolphins, seals, and even whales.
And it wasn’t long before one of their reels howled off, heralding a lengthy battle with what turned out to be a tuna that weighed 132 kg.
Hartley Peace 13, with the 40 cm bream he caught from the Barwon Estuary (Picture: Lucky Peace).
Alan Morgan’s surprise catch from The Sheepwash last week.
Barwon Estuary
Spending the school holidays at Ocean Grove, 13-year-old Hartley Peace from Lysterfield made good use of his bait pump on Sunday morning’s low tide, gathering sufficient crustaceans for a session from the bank on the rising tide.
Rigging up with a live pistol shrimp, He cast it out into the deeper water, and within a few minutes, Hartley was in a tense battle with what turned out to be a 40 cm black bream that he estimated to be at least a kilogram.
Fishing the Barwon estuary on Wednesday, but further upstream at the Sheepwash, Alan Morgan had a surprise catch on the cut pilchard he was using for bait that he identified as a quinnat salmon (now referred to as a chinook), and sent in a photo.
Well, it certainly was an unusual catch, and at 820 grams it finished up the table where its pink flesh was enjoyed by the whole family.
Two of several bream taken by George Vlahogiannis from the Patterson River at Carrum using gentles (blow fly maggots), for bait.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Taking a run out off Curlewis early last week, Paul Raduka and Dennis McDowell were after whiting, and after being plagued with small and undersize specimens, a series of moves into deeper water produced a better class of fish.
And, while most of those they caught were in the 30 odd cm range their catch included a beauty of 46 cm, another of 41 cm, along with a couple of nice flathead and a snotty trevalla, all being taken on pipis and squid.
Andrew Johnson reports managing to get out for a fish on Thursday morning and caught 10 whiting before a massive stingray moved in and they went off the bite.
Andrew moved a couple of times and found another good bite in four metres of water off Curlewis, taking twenty keepers from 35 to 41 cm.
Also fishing for whiting from Corio Bay’s outer harbour last week, Gordon and Carol Williams were out to catch the afternoon tide change at one of their formerly productive spots off Point Richards, but pinkie snapper and other bait thieves became a nuisance.
However, after making several moves, a drop in 5.5 metres of water produced a couple nudging the 40 cm mark and were kept busy out there with quality fish until the gathering breeze initiated their retreat, each just shy of their legal bag limits.
Bradon asks:
Geoff, I am going after the tuna, first opportunity, and have bought some wind–on leaders to use. However, I’ve been told that you shouldn’t use wind-on leaders with skirted lures. Is this right, and if so, why?
Bradon, the difficulty arises – particularly with tuna which travel in schools – that when a fish strikes the lure, hooks up and takes line, the lure will slide all the way back up the leader to the loop-spliced Dacron sleeve at the other end where a second strike on that lure is likely to dislodge the sleeve from the leader, freeing the hooked fish.
This event can be easily overcome by rigging your lures on separate leaders, no more than say 1.5 metres in length, which can be attached to your wind-on by means of strong clip and swivel.
Please send your reports to geoffw10@optusnet.com.au, on messenger, or by phone, 03 5248 1307.