Henry and Sophia Jankowski with the gummy shark they caught near the West Channel (Picture: Warren Jankowski).
Nick Tsavaris with one of the two gummy sharks that he caught of St Leonards (Picture: Renae Ciuffetelli).
With good weather on Saturday afternoon, Warren Jankowski, wife Pip, daughter Sophia 4, and son Henry 7, headed across to the West Channel from Queenscliff where, fishing on the drift, they caught four flathead and six squid.
Anchoring up nearby, and sacrificing one of their squid for bait in the hope of a bigger catch, it soon became clear that young Henry needed assistance to bring in the fish he’d hooked, which eventually turned out to be a hefty gummy shark; an exciting event for all.
Dean and Keryn Millard with a sample of their offshore catch (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Michael Golby with yet another blue eye trevalla (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Never shy about revealing the location of their late night snapper vigils on Corio Bay’s outer harbour, Andrew Phillips and George Uranus had seen very few boats out at night.
However, their arrival at the Clifton Springs boat ramp at around 1.00 am on Sunday, revealed several trailers in the parking lot, and – judging by the clearly visible anchor lights on their approach to “ground zero” – they had company.
The pair caught a snapper each – one of 4.2 kg and the other weighing 5 kg – using silver whiting for bait, before heading back to the ramp at about 5.00 am. If any others were successful, they certainly weren’t telling.
Fishing the Dell off Clifton Springs, after many a move early last week without finding a decent fish, Andrew Johnson finally took a bag limit catch on strips of squid, and – with a squid jig suspended just above the bottom – picked up a half dozen of those as well.
However, fortunes do change, for on Friday, he tried again with son Daniel, but – probably due to the discoloured water from the rain – they struggled to pick up a fish.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that anglers’ bags have included some respectable pinkie snapper of late. They’ve been a welcome sign said Mike, along with the flounder being speared in significant number by folk wading the shallows at night.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that squid remain the main catch, but some good catches of pinkie snapper and whiting have also been taken. Among the successful anglers on the whiting was David Mossop with bag of fish to 44 cm.
Adam Nikolovski and Renae Ciuffetelli made an early start off St Leonards over the weekend, and were on the drift for squid by first light: Successfully as it turned out for they soon had enough squid for the table, and for bait.
Taking a run into deeper water, and baiting up with some of their freshly caught squid, they added a 5 kg gummy shark to their bag. Fishing nearby was friend Nick Tsavaris, who caught two gummy sharks, each about the same size as Adam’s.
There are salmon a plenty just outside the Portland harbour, and on the cleaning tables (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Peter Paterakis with his catch off Portland, which included a 10 kg blue eye trevalla (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Offshore
Fishing offshore from Port Phillip Heads in 40 metres of water, the salmon fillet that Andrew Habgood had out for bait under a balloon produced a mako shark of about 20 kg.
Also in 40 metres of water, but off Torquay, Kevin and Jeremy McLoughlin were catching any amount of slimy mackerel, and put one out on a 10 kg outfit.
Whatever took the bait had Jeremy in action for more than an hour and a half, but when they sighted the protagonist, a bronze whaler over 250 kg, they ceased the engagement.
Luis Elgueta junior with his brown trout from Lake Fyans (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).
Freshwater
Trevor Holmes of Victorian Inland Charters, reports fishing Lake Fyans with Luis Elgueta and his son Luis Junior on Saturday, with small redfin the main catch.
However, the sight of a good size brown trout taking a moth from the surface nearby prompted the presentation of a mudeye under a bubble float with young Luis on strike. And the strike saw Luis catch his first brown trout; a 54 cm beauty of about 2 kg.
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that members of the Lake Purrumbete Angling Club fished Lake Bullen Merri where the largest fish, a chinook salmon of 1.7 kg, was taken by Rob Helms. Steven Hille and Russell Pickett took up the slack with a mixed bag of both brown and rainbow trout, and a chinook salmon of 1.5 kg. These were taken on various lures trolled behind downriggers.
John fished Lake Purrumbete with his brother in law, Neville Mangan from Swan Hill at the weekend, for a total catch of 30 redfin to 1 kg using minnow for bait.
Dean and Keryn Millard with a sample of their offshore catch (Picture: Bob McPherson).
Peter asks:
Geoff, how do you work out the tides for Barwon Heads? On Sunday it was supposed to be low at 3.20 but it just kept running out for ages after that: Can you clear this up for me?
Peter; I suggest that the predicted times of high and low water at the Barwon Heads Bridge, would not have been adjusted to daylight saving, nor would they have related to either high or low slack water; events that most folk regard as high or low tide.
Adjusted for daylight saving, the predicted time of low water at the Barwon Heads Bridge would have been 4.20 pm. However, the time of low slack water is – depending on the amount of fresh water coming downstream – usually two hours later than that, and later still if the amount of downstream fresh is greater than usual. Typically, you would add yet another hour to the Bridge time for the Sheepwash, and at least another hour for the mouth of Lake Connewarre upstream.