Pat Stapleton with a nice snapper taken from Corio Bay last week (Picture: Ivan Bereza: Leopold Angling and Aquatic Club Commodore).
Chris Stamalos with the larger of the two gummy sharks he caught offshore from Barwon Heads on Saturday.
Offshore
On Saturday, Chris Stamalos headed offshore from Barwon Heads into 30 metres of water where he was hopeful of catching a good size gummy shark or snapper.
But all was quiet until around nine o’clock when of his rods buckled over, the reel growling to the tune of what turned out to be 10 kg gummy shark, which, in turn, was quickly followed by an even larger specimen of 18 kg.
Also launching at Barwon Heads on Saturday morning, Joash Belousoff, his brother Judson, their father Paul and friend Ben Wickstead, were hoping for a kingfish or two, but there wasn’t much doing there.
Fishing on the drift for flathead in 30 to 45 metres of water proved more effective though, for they caught – in their words – plenty; the biggest measuring 60 cm. And then, a mako shark of about 30 kg showed up in their berley trail.
They wasted no time in presenting it with a large squid head, which it took with alacrity; finishing up as flake after a lively tussle.
Keryn Millard and Adriana Nedelcu with a sample of their spotted ling catch from the wide grounds off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).
James Kollaris with a Victorian Scalyfin that he caught from the Lorne Pier (Picture: Mick Kollaris).
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Fishing off Curlewis in around six metres of water last week were Ivan Bereza and Pat Stapleton of the Leopold Angling and Aquatic club. Things were quiet at first, but their patience was rewarded when Pat caught a snapper of about 6 kg.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that Shepparton anglers Ross Gibson and Gavin Flanagan triumphed with good catches of squid and flathead from The Dell over the weekend.
Whiting have been the stumbling block for many though said Mike, but once again, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien found them offshore from Curlewis, taking 30 on each occasion both on Thursday and Friday afternoons.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that reasonable catches of whiting were taken last week, but none were sighted over the weekend.
Squid were a different story though said Rod, with Jeff Richards and Chris Hateley among those to pick up their respective bag limits.
Kevin McLoughlin with the marlin he caught and released at Bermagui at the weekend.
Judson Belousoff with the mako shark he caught offshore from Port Phillip Heads.
Freshwater
Rod Shepherd put in two days work on Thursday, leaving Friday free to lure-fish Lake Bullen Merri. However, it wasn’t until 12.15 pm that he caught his only fish for the day, a reasonable chinook salmon that took a Pontoon 21, Greedy-Guts lure.
So, after Friday’s effort at Bullen Merri, Rod tried his luck at Lake Purrumbete on Saturday, bagging a respectable catch of good size redfin on a 3” Magbite Jig at a depth of around 12 metres.
John Clements of Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that the fishing has been quiet on Purrumbete, but mentions that Mulligan’s luck prevailed when Camperdown angler Brian Jones and Kevin Mulligan from Tassie went head to head, a match during which – in terms of rainbow trout – Kevin caught five to Brian’s one.
Leon Leonardo shows off one of the flathead he’s been catching from Merimbula Lake in southern NSW lately (Picture: Courtesy of Dave Matthews).
Portland
With good weather over the weekend Bob McPherson was out on the wide grounds catching the usual tasty bottom dwellers to be found in around 500 metres of water.
However, he wasn’t alone: Keryn Millard – the most indefatigable fishing lady down Portland way – was fishing nearby, along with her friend Adriana Nedelcu, who’d never fished before: The big surprise was that Adriana caught not only their biggest pink ling at 15.4 kg, but probably the biggest anyone’s heard of from the wide grounds off Portland.
New South Wales
Hoping to catch a marlin, Kevin McLoughlin, Brian Nolan and Scott Smith, headed up to Bermagui in southern NSW. As it turned out, Kevin took the strike and brought a striped marlin of possibly 100 kilograms alongside before releasing it.
Merimbula Lake has always been know for the variety of species that inhabit this water, large flathead being of particular interest, especially of late to Tura Beach angler Leon Leonardo who has tempted some beauties to 92 cm of late using tailor fillets for bait and then releasing them back into the lake.
Doc asks:
Geoff, a friend and I fished off Clifton Springs on Saturday afternoon, but caught nothing of note. However, because it was fairly calm, and probably crowded at the boat ramp toward evening, we stayed out until just on dark when I hooked a huge fish.
It jumped out of the water, landing with a tremendous splash before the line broke: What do you think it could have been?
Doc, while I can’t say for certain, I think it was probably a large eagle ray. They’re fairly common, they take just about any bait, make powerful runs, and often jump clear of the water exactly as you have described.
Of course it could have been a shark, especially as your line may have been bitten through; some of those tend to get a bit jumpy when hooked.