Lockie Wombell with a sample of the blue eye trevalla that he and Bob McPherson caught offshore from Portland.
Portland
With the weather holding over the weekend, Bob McPherson and Lockie Wombell headed out to the edge of the Continental shelf, where – in around 500 meters of water – they began bottom bouncing on the drift.
Blue eye trevalla were their primary target, and there was no shortage of those, and – judging by the photos Bob sent me – there were some beauties among them.
Also included in their catch were blue grenadier, and as usual, quite a few other deep water species that make fine table fare.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Whiting aficionados Andrew Johnson and Denis O’Brien made an early morning start on Thursday of last week, initially finding the bite a bit slow.
Making several moves didn’t help either, not until the rising tide kicked in at around 8.30 when their baits of squid strips and mussels began to tempt whiting of mixed sizes, but it was the bigger ones they were after, and they found those in around 5 meters of water, each finishing up with bag-limit catches of keepers from 33 to 40 cm.
Keen Kayak fisherman David Cox has had no trouble taking bag limit catches of pinkie snapper from the Grammar School Lagoon, along with a by-catch of flathead, silver trevally and whiting.
David is catching all of his fish on soft plastics, and said he is missing quite a few whiting because they are biting a bit shy of the hook so he’s looking for some way of adding a stinger hook near the tail.
Having fished the Lagoon with bait myself – usually the fillets of Australian salmon – and at this time of year, there is the chance of catching some much larger snapper here.
After a cold start on Wednesday morning, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck fished off the entrance of Swan Bay after the whiting, but it took several moves to find a productive patch.
And, with their respective bag limit catches of whiting to 44 cm aboard, they moved in a little closer to shore, and fishing on the drift they each picked up their bag limits of good size squid.
Fishing between St Leonards and Indented Head, Simon Werner also did well on the squid, taking a bag limit catch after having a lean run on the whiting.
He said the water in that area was very clear, which is good when fishing for squid, but less favourable for whiting.
A mixed bag of pinkie snapper, flathead silver trevally and whiting that David Cox caught from the Grammar School Lagoon.
Freshwater
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that there are still plenty of redfin on the go at Tullaroop Reservoir, and that he, wife Amber, and other club members have caught them, both on various lures and on small yabbies, which are a preferred bait.
Kevin also reports that trophy size trout are also on offer for more patient souls, either by trolling suitable lures or fishing mudeyes beneath a float.
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that Chinook salmon remain on offer, and while some have been taken on trolled lures, the bigger fish are down deep, best fished for just above the bottom using cut pilchards or whitebait.
Derek asks
With your description of large tuna being caught close to shore from Portland, May 21, are there any land-based possibilities, from Cape Nelson for instance.
Derek, the rock platforms under the Cape Nelson Lighthouse look feasible as land-based fishing platforms but, from my observations anyway, you would need to abseil down with your gear, and it’s doubtful you could bring a large tuna up from there.
There is a platform where people fish for sweep on the east side of Cape Nelson, via Devil’s Kitchen Road from memory; I suppose that could be a possibility with the right approach.
There may also be possibilities from Cape Bridgewater, but the rocks here are rugged and difficult to fish from. You’d need to spend a day here beforehand looking for a place to fish.
There are also rock platforms along the eastern side of Cape Grant, which are accessible from the Viewing area just off Quarry Road, but it’s a difficult 700 meter walk down the hill and over a boulder covered beach to get there, and further still having reached the rock ledge below the Quarry.