Rob Walters of Hamilton with his 46 cm redfin from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).
Lake Purrumbete
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that the lake is fishing well with redfin the main target species: Robert Walters from Hamilton caught them up to 46 cm using scrubworms for bait in 9 metres of water while John Hewitt from Port Fairy got a nice catch as well, his biggest was 42 cm.
Mind you, John and Jimmy Oldani had crews of their own consisting of Lance Oswald, Mick Ryan, Peter Edgar, Greg Woods, Graham Franklin, Colin Mathes, all coming down from Strathmerton. They managed to cover the cleaning table with redfin with 10 of their fish over the 40 cm mark: their biggest measured 46 cm.
Trophy size brown trout are also on offer said John, but Chris Farrugia’s recent capture of a 4 kg specimen from the lake might take some beating.
Fish stocking coordinator, Rhiannon Atkinson reports that Lake Purrumbete is to be stocked with 10,000 brown trout and the same number of rainbows over the next few weeks. The ETAs for these stockings will be from 1:15-1:30 pm.
First stocking will be next Thursday, the 12th of October, with one truck holding from 8000-9000 brown trout at an average size of 40-50g. The next stocking will be on Wednesday, the 18th of October, with 1000-2000 brown trout and 8000 rainbows, all on one truck. The final rainbow trout stocking will be on Tuesday, the 24th of October.
Please let Rhiannon know by email, rhiannon.atkinson@vfa.vic.gov.au or by mobile, 0407 987 016 if you wish to attend any of these Lake Purrumbete stockings.
Stocking dates for Lake Bullen Merri are dependent on planned boat ramp upgrades and water quality. These will be notified in due course.
John Clements’ crew on a hot redfin bite in 9 metres of water on Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that, early last week, local anglers Peter and Des fished for whiting off the mussel farm, where – initially at least – the fishing was quiet, and battling wind against tide was uncomfortable.
However, after the tide changed – now becoming more aligned with the breeze – they made a couple of moves, eventually dropping onto a good bite that yielded 32 keepers from 36 to 43 cm while using squid for bait.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire, Indented Head, welcomed an improvement in the weather over the weekend with squid of mixed sizes the main catch.
Jeff Richards from Indented Head reports that each of the two breakwaters at Portarlington are producing snapper for land-based anglers with the shorter structure at the north end of Fisher Street arguably the most productive, but watch your step going out here, particularly at night when the bigger fish seem to be caught.
Barwon Estuary
Having acquired a good supply of crabs for bait last week, Jason Treloar and Harley Griffiths headed for The Sheepwash in the late afternoon to catch the last of the incoming tide, and possibly first of the ebb, hoping to catch a bream or two.
They caught three as it turned out; a couple of good ones around the kilogram mark, and another around 700 grams; the action happening as the tide slackened off toward evening.
George Vlahogiannis’ catch of snapper from the Morning Pier last week.
Peter asks:
Geoff, given the glowing reports by some noteworthy anglers, including yourself, on the effectiveness of circle hooks, I’ve tried them, but with disappointing results. Can you provide any advice on their use?
Peter, circle hooks work by trapping any ridge of cartilage, particularly the jaw hinge, in the gap between the point and the shank of the hook, but for this to happen, it is important that this gap not be clogged with bait, or the hook won’t take hold.
Impaling strip baits at one end so that they swing freely from the curve of the hook is effective, up to a point, but are susceptible to pickers and can be easily removed if the fish sought does not engulf them completely.
So, for increased security, binding the bait to the trace with bait elastic – or, as I have done on occasion with large baits, with small cable ties, taking care that the hook stands well clear of the bait – is probably the best option.
Please send your reports to geoffw10@optusnet.com.au, on messenger, or by phone, 03 5248 1307.