Tickled pink: Dean Hall with his snapper from Corio Bay.
Chris Stamalos with the 7 kg snapper that he caught off Barwon Heads at the weekend.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Dean Hall of the Leopold Angling and Aquatic Club had never caught a decent snapper, but club commodore Ivan Bereza, who catches more than his share, offered to take Dean out to one of his hot-spots off Curlewis.
Here, they fished the outgoing tide from around 8.30 am, during which time they caught three respectable gummy shark but no snapper, and – with Ivan soon due elsewhere – things weren’t looking good. But, right on the death-knock at 2.15 pm, Deano was suddenly in business with his first snapper; a beauty of just on 6 kg.
After an early start, Stevie Lee up picked up three snapper to 7 kg while fishing near the junction of the Point Richards and Wilson Spit Channels by 9.00 am on Sunday.
The night-shift also did well as Andrew Phillips and George Uranus could relate; their two nocturnal vigils on the outer harbour producing a total of six snapper from 4.5 to 6 kg. These were caught from 10.00 pm to 1.00 am on both occasions while using silver whiting and squid for bait.
On Saturday, Andrew Johnson and Denis O’Brien spent most of the day returning whiting that they would have kept a year or two back before eventually finding a school of bigger fish off the Pelican Shores Caravan Park of which they kept 20 from 38 to 41 cm.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Spring Boat Hire reports that Australian salmon have been plentiful of late with good size schools popping up between The Springs and Portarlington. Among those to catch them over the weekend were Matt Branagh and Jessie Hrycyfzyn who encountered a good school near the mussel farm.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire reports that the water has cleared up after the recent northerlies, but theire are still flathead and squid to be caught along with with good size pinkie snapper to 2 kg or so offshore from Steeles Rocks and Grassy Point.
Paul Rabecchi with his 130.8 kg tuna from Portland; one of several taken at the weekend (Picture Bob McPherson).
Two of three: Stevie Lee with a sample from his snapper catch from Corio Bay’s outer harbour on Sunday
Offshore
After making an early start in 35 metres of water off Barwon Heads on Sunday, Chris Stamalos’ first catch was a 7 kg snapper at 8.00 am. After that, an assortment of other less sought after fish kept him busy until 11.00 am when he caught an 8 kg gummy shark.
An early start in 35 metres of water off Torquay on Saturday morning paid off for Kevin McLoughlin and father Joel with two gummy shark of 8 and 12 kg, followed by a 7.3 kg snapper, while their next fish – almost certainly another good size snapper – escaped.
Ben Johnstone and Michael Goldby with a sample of their blue-eye trevalla catch off Portland at the weekend (Picture Bob McPherson).
Michael Goldby with a pink eel that he caught offshore from Portland over the weekend (Picture Bob McPherson).
Portland
Schools of large tuna turned up off Portland over the weekend with Paul Rabbechi starting the ball rolling around noon on Saturday, first tagging, and then releasing a tuna of about 90 kg off Cape Bridgewater. However, Paul’s second strike proved more of a handful with a tuna that eventually graced the scales for a verdict of 130.8 kg.
Others to catch them included Amy Jobson, who – while fishing with Rob Adamo – caught one of 123 kg; a potential women’s world record on 24 kg tackle, while Kevin Agius’ crew; Martin Bezzina and Reg Kalkan, caught three fish weighing 100, 108.8, and 109.1 kg … And they were just a sample.
Over the rainbow: Fishing guide Graham Edridge and Local angler Darryl Luttrel with Darryl’s 19 kg (42 lb) rainbow trout from the Ohau canal on New Zealand’s South Island (Picture: Tom Kulczynski).
Freshwater
We’ve previously mentioned fisheries in New Zealand’s South Island that have yielded trout approaching 15 kg. These were taken from any number of canals including Twizel, Tekapo, Pukaki and Ohau; all being within the district known as McKenzie Country,
We really don’t know just how big these fish do grow because Geelong angler, Darryl Luttrel – who fished here with his friend Tom Kulczynski under the guidance of Graham Edridge last week – caught a male rainbow trout from the Ohau canal that weighed 42 lbs (which converts to 19 kg) in Graham’s specially designed cradle before being released.
This huge fish was netted in a relatively short space of time after taking a trout-egg fly tied on a tiny a size 18 hook attached to a drop-shotting rig with a 3.6 kg trace: This seemingly improbable event, Darryl suggested, was possibly because the male was somewhat spent in his duties to the half dozen or so smaller females visibly in attendance.
Closer to home, John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that Stephen Hill of Camperdown caught a 2.9 kg brown trout, and Josh Fraser of Norlane caught another of 1.19 kg with the same approach.
Redfin are still the main chance said John, with Jarvis Maclean taking the best fish sighted this week at 1.8 kg while fishing with scrubworms.
Murray Stewart’s 13.6 kg mulloway from the good old Jumpin’ Pin channel on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
How long? Murray Stewart’s moray eel; also hooked from “The Pin”.
Fishing “The Pin”
Geelong angler Murray Stewart attended a wedding up on the Gold Coast at the weekend, but still had time to get out fishing with friend Greg Chapman and local fishing legend Wayne Smith, who has something of a reputation for catching mulloway from the Jumpin’ Pin channel between North and South Stradbroke Island.
As it turned out ‘the Pin” was jumpin’ alright, for Murray’s catch included a mulloway that weighed 13.6 kg, using a live tailor for bait, and a moray eel that he reckons would have been at least nine feet long that took a pike.
Snapper ahoy
This weekend, (21-22/10/17) Leopold Angling and Aquatic Club (711-729 Portarlington Road, Leopold) is holding an open waters snapper fishing competition with individual cash prizes to $1000.00 and generous vouchers on offer. Lines may be down from 5.00 am Saturday with a strict weigh-in deadline of 2.00 pm Sunday.
Entry fees are $40.00 for non-club members aged 14 years and over, $20.00 for club members aged 14 years and over, $20 for non-club members aged less than 14 years, and $10.00 for club members aged less than14 years. Onsite camping can be arranged.
Fees may be paid by cash transfer to Bendigo Bank BSB 633-000, Account 149102857, along with names of participants. For more information, please email leopoldanglingandaquaticclub@gmail.com, or phone 0458 431 465.