Michael Reichler with his bag limit catch of whiting.
Geelong angler, Frank Bluch, who’s just returned from Canada, where – fishing the fly on the Tree River, which runs into the Coronation Gulf on the Arctic Ocean – hooked what was literally the fish of a lifetime, using a 3 kg tippet.
The protagonist eventually turned out to be a lake trout weighing 16.82 kg, almost 6 kg above the fly-casting record for the species, but – because the fish was foul-hooked in the dorsal fin – it was ineligible for such a claim.
Also fishing in Canada, Mike Vanderkelen – also of Geelong and a keen fly fisher – enjoyed a guided trip on British Columbia’s St Mary River, a milestone birthday gift courtesy of son Jordan: An enjoyable trip as it turned out, for his catch on the dry fly included a plump cutbow (hybrid rainbow) trout displayed in the photo by his guide, Gaby.
Mike Vanderkelen’s plump cutbow trout from the Mary River in British Columbia displayed in the photo by his guide, Gaby.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Warehou, locally known as snotty trevalla, have been about, and among those to catch them over the weekend were Mark Sesar and partner Tina.
They caught 28 from the Geelong Yacht Club Jetty between the moored boats, using bubble float rigs baited with chicken.
Fishing for whiting in 7 metres of water off Clifton Springs on Friday afternoon Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien were plagued with small fish, but they persisted, eventually finishing up with 20 whiting to 38 cm between them.
Andrew’s sons Daniel and Tim were out before daybreak hoping for a snapper, and – while fishing near the Wilson’s Spit – one of their reels screamed off. Sad to say the fish, obviously a good one, escaped.
Fishing the grass beds off Swan Island on Saturday morning, Derrick Hargreaves and a companion took a respectable catch of whiting on the ebb tide. They stayed on for the afternoon flood, but caught no more.
Whiting have been scarce for some, but among those to take bag limit catches early last week were Michael Reichler and Renato Spadoni who were fishing in much the same area.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports lean pickings with few boats out. However, some did return with good bags of flathead taken on the drift.
Squid are usually reliable said Rod, but last week they were harder than usual to find with some anglers missing out.
Tobias Hurst with a nice snapper that he caught from the Tamar River Estuary in Tasmania.
Surf
Australian salmon are still a proposition on local surf beaches, and with big afternoon tides last week, rewarding catches were made, both by angers fishing with baits like cut pilchards and whitebait, and with lures.
Among the successful anglers was Tony Ingram who had quite a tussle with one of the salmon he hooked at Jan Juc, not because of the fish’s size as it turned out, but by the missing scales and rake marks along its body from … well, who knows.
Freshwater
On Saturday, nine members of the Lake Purrumbete Angling Club fished in competition on the lake from which eight fish were taken for a total weight of 7.86 kg.
The heaviest chinook salmon weighed 886 grams and was caught by Hans Bongart. The heaviest rainbow trout weighed 808 grams and was caught by Brian Nygaard. The heaviest brown trout weighed 1.586 kg and was caught by Andrew Robinson.
The overall winner of the competition was Brian Nygaard with two rainbow trout and two browns while Don Swayn picked up $400.00 with a chinook salmon that made the secret weight of 757 kg.
Farther afield, I have a couple of reports from Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club that Lake Tullaroop has been producing brown trout, some around the 2 kg mark, with most of the action within an hour of sunrise.
Lake Wendouree at Ballarat is also worth fishing said Kevin, with Club members taking brown trout to 2.3 kg with mudeyes fished beneath a float the most productive approach.
Robert asks:
Geoff, I followed with interest your discussion on Lake Elingamite of July 24 & 31, Do you know if anything is being done to provide safe access to this excellent fishing water?
Robert, I rang Victoria’s Fishing Authority who told me that Parks Victoria was responsible for that water. However, my call to Parks Victoria on the number provided received no response.
On July 26, I wrote to Jaala Pulford Minister for Agriculture over this important matter and was referred to Victorian Fisheries Authorities project manager whose contact details I forwarded to you.
However, since recent rain has raised the level of this water, with due care, small boats may be launched as you would have seen in my column of last week: