Marcus Pearson with a gummy shark he caught off Torquay.
Offshore
With reasonable weather, anglers fishing offshore have taken some good size gummy shark of late with 20 to 30 metres of water a good place to begin looking. Among those to do well were Kevin McLoughlin and Marcus Pearson who caught and released one approaching 18 kg off Torquay on Friday evening.
Freshwater
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that some big fish have been hooked by anglers fishing the lake, but – as is often the case – few were landed.
Among those weighed in was a rainbow trout of 4.5 kg that was caught by a Camperdown angler on a lure, while Andrew Robinson caught several brown trout to 1.5 kg, also on lures.
Also, redfin continue to be caught from the lake in good numbers, said John, with Stan Rea and Josh Fraser from Norlane, taking another good catch over the weekend
Lake Bullen Merri continues to produce both chinook salmon and rainbow trout to a kilogram, both to anglers fishing from boats, and anglers fishing from the bank; the latter including Steven Hill from Camperdown who’s done well using soft plastics.
A 2.3 kg Australian Bass taken from Lake Bullen Merri by Michael Craig was something of a surprise, but there are a good many in the lake, especially in the area of Potters Point, but few anglers seem to fish for them.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
With cold weather and patchy fishing, comparatively few folk have been on the water. However on Thursday, Tom Robinson and Keith Berry, who were trying for squid off Curlewis, with limited success, spied a patch of surface activity, almost certainly betraying a school of salmon feeding on baitfish at the surface.
Initially trolling lures, strikes weren’t long in coming, with salmon to a kilogram or so fish to kilogram or so soon flapping on the boats floor. From then on, cast and retrieve proved just as effective for the duration f their encounter.
A migration of spider crabs into Port Phillip Bay this year, an event associated with them moulting their shells, have now turned up in Corio Bay. Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that no bait on the bottom is safe from the crabs in the outer harbour, and this has had an impact on fishing.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire reports that while whiting are scarce, flathead and squid are still on offer, with few anglers missing out.
On Saturday morning Jason Treloar and Harley Griffiths fished the grass beds off Swan Island hoping for a whiting or two on the rising tide. They had no luck there, but they did catch several squid including one over the kilogram mark.
With the wind picking up against the tide, they decided to head back to the Queenscliff boat harbour, hopeful of catching a silver trevally or two. They had no luck there either, but they did catch a number of small but legal size salmon and several large mullet.
Small bluefin tuna are putting smiles on the faces of charter boat clients (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Portland
Down Portland way, Bob McPherson reports that small southern bluefin tuna have been the main catch with fish being taken from 30-40 metres of water south west of Lawrence Rock. Although these have only been around the 10 kg mark, they’ve attracted a good many anglers from far and wide.
Ahmed Asks:
Geoff, how do you know at what tension to set the drag on your reel?
I’ve heard it should be one third the breaking strain of your line, is that right?
Ahmed, drag settings based on a proportion of the line’s breaking apply to designated I.G.F.A. line class tackle, details of which – along with used and unused samples – need to be submitted when claiming a record for any specific line class. However, you first need to belong to a club affiliated with I.G.F.A. to make such a claim.
On the other hand, should you be using non-designated tackle as most of us do, you can easily determine your appropriate drag setting by putting your rod in a holder, with the line from your reel threaded through the guides, and attached to a spring balance.
You will need an assistant to monitor the scales, while loading the rod up to the point where it becomes obvious that the drag should be yielding line. The reading from the scales at that point indicates your primary drag setting.