Geoff Wilson’s Fishing Knots And Rigs

Chris Farrugia with the 3.63 kg brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete on Wednesday of last week.

Chris Farrugia with the 2.72 kg tiger trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete on Wednesday of last week.

Offshore

With a break in the weather on Friday, prior to the storm, Danny Skene, along with Trent Schiller and Tom Buckland, headed out from Barwon Heads in search of tuna.

They found them in 40 metres of water and had no trouble catching medium size fish trolling skirted lures.

They then decided on a change of tactics and began fishing on the drift, hopeful of catching a mako shark.

They were unsuccessful with that exercise, but with tuna coming within casting range, the guys let fly with poppers, once again adding to their catch.

But there was even more going on with a school of small kingfish milling around the boat, and of which they caught several to 63 cm.

Simon Werner also found the tuna on Monday of last week while fishing with Matt Dean. They took four on that occasion, weighing from 15 to 22 kg, while trolling white occys.

And, Simon was out off Barwon Heads again on Thursday, this time with Jamie Dickson. They too came across a school of kingfish, catching several from 61 to 72 cm.

Amber Wild with one of the Murray cod she caught from Lake Mulwala last week.

Kevin Wild with one of the Murray cod he caught from Lake Mulwala last week.

Freshwater

Lake Purrumbete continues to produce great fishing, and among those to do well was regular attendee at the lake, Chris Farrugia of Oaklands Junction.

Trolling a vibe-pattern lure at a depth of 19.5 metres, with the aid of a downrigger on Wednesday of last week, his catch included a brown trout of 3.63 kg and a tiger trout of 2.72 kg.

Maryborough Angling Club members Kevin and Amber Wild spent some time up at Lake Mulwala last week rehearsing tactics for the forthcoming National Cod Championships.

And, sharpening their lure-casting skills – on this occasion with spinnerbaits – caught and released any number of cod during a frantic bite session, just prior to Friday’s storm.

Trent Schiller with one of the tuna that he Danny Skene and Tom Buckland caught off Barwon Heads on Friday (Picture: Danny Skene).

Richard Schuster with the 97 cm mulloway he caught within the Port of Brisbane.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

On Friday afternoon, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien headed out from Clifton Springs and were surprised to find very few vehicles and boat trailers at the ramp, possibly because of a fairly ominous forecast.

Anyway, they found the whiting in four metres of water off Curlewis and began catching some excellent fish before the weather closed in. They eventually finished up with 26 whiting to 43 cm, along with several good size pinkie snapper that they released.

They were still fishing when the storm hit, and began receiving some concerned phone calls from family and friends. But, once back at the ramp, were surprised to find they were by no means the last to head back in.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that improved weather conditions since the storm saw a good many anglers catching fish.

Among them were Rodger Bush and Ollie Klautmann who took a good catch of whiting and some good size pinkie snapper over the weekend.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that flathead, taken mainly on the drift out in the deeper water, were the main catch.

However, the heavily discoloured water had slowed the squid fishing down, said Rod, and whiting were hard to find.

Off the beach

With reports of salmon off Thirteenth Beach, Tony Ingram and Col Simmons, tried their luck from the beach adjacent to 50W early last week, where – in the late afternoon – there were fewer surfers.

Things were slow to begin with, but toward evening, the salmon had obviously moved in with the rising tide, for they began to catch a few around the 500-gram mark.

However, on the high tide toward dark, some bigger fish appeared on the scene, a couple of these nudging the 2 kg mark.

Upstate

Richard Schuster reports on making a trip to Brisbane with his mate Chris.

They fished from their boat in the Port of Brisbane where they had a varied catch that included prawns, mullet and squid, some of which they used for bait, but all they caught on these during the day were catfish.

They had better luck at night, and on the last kick of the outgoing tide – again using live prawns and squid for bait – they caught a 97 cm mulloway and two threadfin salmon measuring 112 and 117 cm, some of their catch finishing up on their Sunday night BBQ.

The late Terry Sheppard with the 1.1 metre chinook salmon he caught from Lake Bullen Merri in January, 2018.

Vale Terry Sheppard

First known as a pioneer of coarse fishing in Australia back in the 80s and 90s, and author of several publications including “Australian Coarse Fishing with Terry Sheppard : The Art of Catching Fish with Bait.” Terry Sheppard passed away at the weekend.

In more recent times, Terry worked for Regal Marine in Canterbury Road, Vermont where he was a great source of information on things nautical, fishing in particular.

Terry was also a constant visitor to Camperdown’s crater lakes where he caught, and sometimes released the fish that he caught. And, he was one of the few anglers to catch a very large (1.1 metres in length and possibly 9 kg) chinook salmon from Lake Bullen Merri in recent times – which he photographed and then released – a report of which was featured in my column of 16/01/18.

Paul Carson and Brian Nolan with their mako shark catch off Warrnambool (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).

Offshore

Picking a break in the weather early last week, Kevin McLoughlin, Paul Carson and Brian Nolan took a run out into 180 metres of water off Warrnambool on a late-night quest for a mako shark.

They caught two as it turned out, one of 60 kg at around midnight, and another of 80 kg at 3.00 am. They sighted a third that showed up in their berley trail but it couldn’t be tempted to take a bait.

Simon Werner continues to find any amount of tiger flathead in 30-50 metres of water for clients off Port Phillip Heads from charter vessel Adamas, but tuna – although visibly active on most days – have been difficult to tempt.

Don Rayner with one of the yellowbelly he caught from Cairn Curran Reservoir.

Amber Wild and niece Emily, with the 60 cm cod Emily caught from Lake Mulwala (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien found whiting, their usual quarry, in less than 3 metres of water off Curlewis on Friday afternoon, despite the water being discoloured from the easterlies we’ve had of late.

Never the less, they caught 30 that included several beauties; the biggest measuring 42 cm.

Also fishing for whiting, and squid, off Clifton Springs were Paul and Selin Rahman, who took excellent catches of both following an improvement in the weather on Sunday.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that, just like just almost everybody else, his activities have been restricted because of the easterly winds that have been so prevalent of late.

Never the less, those in a position to take advantage of the somewhat scarce windows of opportunity that have occurred, caught a variety of fish including pinkie snapper and flathead from the discoloured water.

Squid too have been on offer as the water clears, said Rod, usually on the incoming tide, along with occasional catches of good size whiting that are to be found, mainly in the vicinity of both the inner and outer governor reefs.

Ryley Munro of Edenhope with the 74 cm snapper he caught from the Lee Breakwater at Portland, early on Thursday morning (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

Fishing from the Lee Breakwater at Portland early on Thursday morning, Ryley Munro of Edenhope probably got more than he bargained for when he hooked, and eventually landed, a large snapper.

He doesn’t say what it weighed, but it stretched the measuring tape out to 74 cm.

Danny Skene with the 70 cm brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete on Wednesday.

Freshwater

Fishing at Lake Purrumbete on Wednesday, Danny Skene had no trouble taking a good feed of redfin on soft plastics on the day shift, and there was more to come.

Heading out again during the last hour of daylight, he sat in tight against the weed margins, fishing a mudeye under a float.  He was hoping for one of the big trout this water is famous for, and – measuring 70 cm – a big buck brown filled the bill.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports covering quite a bit of ground last week when he fished with wife Amber, and Amber’s niece Emily Rayner at Lake Mulwala.

Emily 14, was delighted to catch two Murray cod measuring 57 and 60 cm that were both taken from the lake using chicken for bait, along with several others they caught with a similar taste for poultry.

A little closer to home, Kevin reports that Tullaroop Reservoir continues to produce good catches of redfin for club members including Danny Miller, who – along with son Kaden – caught any amount of redfin to 48 cm.

Club members Robert and John Rivett kept eight yellowbelly from a catch of twenty from Cairn Curran Reservoir, while Don Rayner and Brian Rivett, who were fishing nearby, took six keepers, also from a catch of twenty.

Also covering some ground was Steve O’Keefe, who – despite hearing promising reports from Lake Fyans in the Grampians – struggled to raise a scale there, so he tried his luck at nearby Lake Wartook.

Initially, things looked promising with a catch of redfin and rainbow trout, the biggest of the latter weighing 1.2 kg, but after a while, the action here also died.

Brandon Scott and Dan Moore visited Gippsland’s Lake Glenmaggie for the very first-time last week, making an early morning start and fishing until lunchtime.

Australian bass were on offer, and each of their best three (all released unharmed), measured 39 cm.

All were caught on deep-running, Strike-pro, cyber-crank lures fished among the snags, something that normally would be something of a challenge, but the lake is currently quite high with the snags less of a threat.

Dan Moore with one of the Australian bass he caught from Lake Glenmaggie in Gippsland.

Brandon Scott with one of the Australian bass he caught from Lake Glenmaggie in Gippsland.

Len asks:

Geoff, after an extended lay-off for a number of years, I’m returning to fishing.

Can you please advise on the occurrence of tides falling suitably low enough to pump my legal quantity of bass yabbies, preferably at the mouth of the Barwon River, so that I can fish the Sheepwash for bream.

Len, suitably low tides for pumping yabbies occur following both the new and full moons; the next suitable low tides occur in the evenings during the first week of February, and again from around 10.00 am, on February 24-26.

Danny Skene with the 91 cm mulloway he caught from the Barwon estuary on Thursday.

Barwon estuary

Taking a run upstream from the Sheepwash boat ramp on Thursday’s high tide, Danny Skene and Ian Gullock went to the trouble of catching some mullet for live bait, hopeful of tempting a mulloway.

However, it wasn’t until the afternoon ebb tide that they hooked a good size fish, that on this occasion, fancied a pilchard.

Once aboard, it stretched the tape out to 91 cm and weighed 8.5 kg.

Roderick Lachlan and Johnny Mazurek with their snapper from the Port Campbell pier.

Matt Simpson caught this southern saw shark off Warrnambool using a barracouta fillet for bait (Picture: Cranbourne Fishing World).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Early last week, Darcy Scott was out in the pre-dawn darkness at one of his favourite snapper spots near the Wilson Spit with the sounder running, but with nothing coming up on the screen.

Putting the anchor down anyway, he hacked the larger tentacles off a frozen squid he’d brought for bait, and cast a line before returning to dissect the squid, a task interrupted with the rod buckling over almost immediately.

That fish weighed 8 kg, and was the first of two he caught before daybreak.

But then a seal showed up, and there was nothing doing for a while after that, and – with the wind gusting up – he was persuaded to retreat, but not before adding a third snapper to his tally.

Tim Johnson with one of his Murray Cod from Gunbower.

Kevin Wild and Ingi with a 43 cm redfin from Tullaroop Reservoir (Picture: Amber Wild).

Darcy wasted no time in telling his father Murray about his catch, and early on Sunday morning, he also headed out, returning with two nice

snapper of 3 and 4 kg.

On Friday afternoon, the 18-20 knot nor-easterly had ensured that Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien had plenty of room at the Clifton Springs ramp, which is rarely the case in calm weather.

They battled wind against tide as they had in similar conditions to the week previous, and had to move a number of times until they found a good pod of whiting off Curlewis in 3.5 metres that yielded 23 keepers to 40 cm.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire also reports that the main catch has been whiting, with a few squid being caught out from The Dell.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire reports that the weather has been a stumbling block of late with those able to get out, particularly on the flathead in the deeper water, doing well with a by-catch of gummy shark and pinkie snapper to 35 cm.

Although whiting have been scarce, said Rod, squid are still on offer with those getting out of an early morning doing alright, something to which Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck could attest after picking up a bag limit catch after a daybreak start on Friday.

Port Campbell

The jetty at Port Campbell produces a variety of species from barracouta to crayfish, but most of the crew that fish from here are somewhat tight-lipped about how good a spot this really is.

However, among last week’s visitors were Johnny Mazurek and Roderick Lachlan whose catch included a snapper of about 3 kg, and who were only too happy to send me a photo of it.

Michael Goldby and Lachie Wombell with a sample of their blue eye trevalla catch offshore from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Ding-a-ling: Michael Goldby and Lachie Wombell show the size of the biggest pink ling that they caught offshore from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

Picking a break in the weather last week, Lachie Wombell and Bob McPherson headed out wide for what turned out to be a productive bottom-bouncing exercise off Portland.

On the drift in 500 metres of water, it wasn’t long before they made contact with pink ling, some of which were very large indeed, and blue eye trevalla.

Bob also reports that kingfish are on the go along the north shore, particularly off the abalone farm, and there are fish to well over a metre in length to be caught here,

And, it was here that Jamie Peel, an old hand at the game, coached daughter Samara and son Jayden in the noble art of tempting kingfish, mostly with fresh squid, but Jayden opened his account casting a Sluggo at a pod of kingies on the surface.

Samara Peel with one of the kingfish she caught from Portland at the weekend (Picture: Jamie Peel).

Jayden Peel with one of the kingfish he caught from Portland at the weekend; abalone farm in the background. (Picture: Jamie Peel).

Freshwater

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that Tullaroop Reservoir is still producing redfin, and that he and fellow club member John Gray both took fish to 43 cm on their most recent visit.

Kevin also reports that Cairn Curran Reservoir is fishing well for yellowbelly, of which he took a good sample.

Others, those specifically targeting Murray cod from this water, said Kevin, have taken fish to 70 cm on deep-running, bibbed minnow-type lures like the larger Stump-jumpers.

Speaking of Murray cod, Tim Johnson and his friend Jack fished the Murray River at Gunbower for 2 days last week.

Darcy Scott took this, and a good many other pictures of the Lake Bolac fish kill last week.

They caught and released 23 cod in total; nothing huge, but there were plenty of fish on offer, the best baits being cheese and local shrimp.

On a recent visit to Lake Bolac, along the Glenelg Highway, Darcy Scott was amazed to see dozens of dead fish, that looked like galaxiids or minnow, in the shallows where he was fishing.

He didn’t get a bite from the trout he was seeking and moved to another location, which – unfortunately – was likewise littered with a variety of dead fish.

Inquiring locally, he was told that the general consensus is that chemical run-off from nearby farms was to blame, obviously something that warrants further investigation.

Marcus Pearson with one of the gummy shark that he and Kevin McLoughlin caught offshore from Torquay (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).

Zac Cross of Cross Country Fishing Charters with a thresher shark taken off Port Phillip Heads (Picture: Cranbourne Fishing World).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien were somewhat disappointed to be confronted with a 20-knot southerly on arrival at the Clifton Springs boat ramp on Saturday, but decided to head out anyway.

The boat swinging on the anchor made fishing difficult, a problem partially solved by bridling up with a second rope, which steadied the boat, but most of the whiting they caught were small – and although above legal size – were returned.

Despite the difficult conditions, they made several moves, eventually finding the bigger fish in 6 metres of water off Curlewis, finishing with 23 keepers, the bigger ones stretching out the tape to 40 cm.

There are whiting within the inner harbour as well, and Mark Richards, son Teddy and friend Carl Alexander could attest after finding a good bite in Stingaree Bay, but once again, most were a bit on the small side. Never the less, they finished with a dozen or so keepers.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that, weather permitting, the fishing has been good with good numbers of whiting being caught anywhere from Grassy Point, Portarlington, to the Governor Reefs off Indented Head.

Squid are on offer as well said Rod, but – once again – flathead are the main chance with anglers catching their share while fishing on the drift out in the deeper water along with a by-catch of good size pinkie snapper and gummy shark, some of the latter being large enough to create a challenge.

Simon Werner reports wading the shallows off Beacon Point again last Thursday, and – casting and retrieving soft plastics – picked up four flathead measuring from 50 to 63 cm, which just goes to show these larger flathead are to be found close to shore.

John Gray of the Maryborough Angling Club with a 42 cm redfin caught from Lake Tullaroop (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Guy Rayner with a Murray Cod from Lake Mulwala (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Offshore

Simon also reports good fishing from the charter boat Adamas with a variety of fish, from Australian salmon in the Rip, to tuna offshore – the latter being something of a challenge to tempt – regardless of the methods being used.

Taking a run out from Torquay last week, Marcus Pearson and Kevin McLoughlin were hoping to catch a gummy shark or two, and – anchored up in 30 metres of water – they caught their legal bag of gummy shark to 8 kg or so and tagged, and released, a couple of others.

Michael Evans with one of the two brown trout that he caught from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Lachie Wombell with a couple of the Australian salmon that interrupted their whiting session off Portland (Picture Bob McPherson).

Freshwater

Kevin Wild reports that he, wife Amber, and Guy Rayner, all members of the Maryborough Angling Club, fished Lake Mulwala last week, taking – and releasing – any amount of Murray cod to 64 cm, both on surface lures, which is pretty exciting, and on various baits including chicken and cheese.

Somewhat closer to home, Kevin fished Lake Tullaroop with fellow club member John Gray where redfin to 43 cm were on the go, and eagerly taking the bobbers they presented.

Redfin have also been the main catch for clients of Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters on Lake Purrumbete, some coming from as far away as Echuca.

Michael’s been using live minnow for bait, and usually finding the reddies in 8-12 metres of water.

But finding himself with a free session on his hands last week, broke out the downrigger for some deep-water trolling.

And, as Michael said, luck was with him on this occasion for he caught two brown trout, one a hen at 3.56 kg, the other a 3.3 kg buck brown, both taken on bullet lures at depths from 10 to 20 metres.

Michael Evans (centre) with regular Melbourne clients Joe and son Kurt after a session on the Lake Purrumbete redfin (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Portland

Bob McPherson and Lachie Wombell were out on the whiting off Portland, and – as usual – picking up a few when a shoal of Australian salmon moved in on their baits, and event that really tested their whiting tackle.

Ben Sherriff with a 57 cm whiting that he caught off Waterhouse Island in northeast Tasmania.

Damon Sherriff with a 58 cm whiting that he caught off Waterhouse Island in northeast Tasmania.

Tassie whiting

We’ve already reported on Damon Sherriff’s bream and snapper catches close to where he lives in Bridport Tasmania, but it would seem there are even more strings to Damon’s bow.

Making a visit to Waterhouse Island last week, which is some 30 km northeast of Bridport, this time with son Benjamin, they snared eight whiting, and what beauties they were.

None were much under 50 cm, said Damon, and he sent me photos of a couple of fish of 57 and 58 cm, all taken on freshly caught calamari.

David says:
Geoff, I was annoyed that you mentioned that the tiger flathead are back off Port Phillip Heads. As you said, they were once plentiful, but the trawlers regularly took them out until they eventually disappeared altogether.

Now that they are back, the last thing we want is for that to happen again,

David, we just have to live with the fact that many of the fish in our waters are commercially harvested. However, I doubt very much that commercial fish-harvesting operators depend on fishing writers for their information.

According to the Department of Primary Industries, the tiger flathead fishery is considered sustainable https://fish.gov.au/report/325-Tiger-Flathead-2020 So, I guess we’ll have to live with that.

Mark Stewart and son Rilan 8, with their snapper catch off Clifton Springs.

Lachie Wombell with a sample of his and Bob McPherson’s whiting catch from Portland, and the entire shell of a juvenile abalone (inset) that this fish had swallowed (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Like many of us, Mark Stewart has a couple of favourite snapper spots, but after trying these with no return by mid-day on Thursday, decided to go on the prowl with the sounder ticking over.

Fishing had been quiet said Mark, but he wanted to find some action for his 8-year-old son Rilan. However, with the easterly picking up against the outgoing tide, conditions were becoming less than comfortable.

Eventually though, some promising returns lit up his sounder screen off Clifton Springs.

Over went the anchor, followed by their silver whiting baits, the first being taken immediately. That was followed with a double hook-up on their remaining two rods, followed by yet another.

Their three larger fish measured from 75 to 78 cm, and a smaller fish measuring 61 cm was returned. A couple of others were lost through misadventure, but in all, theirs was a pretty good result.

Andrew Phillips reports on two, pre-dawn snapper trips over an historically productive mark, just north east of Point Henry last week.

The first was on Wednesday with Mark Sesar, and that yielded bag limit catches of fish to 3 kg before they went off the bite at around 7.30 am.

The second was a 3.00 am start on Friday morning with Tony Greck, that again produced bag limit catches; their biggest fish this time weighed 4 kg.

Pilchards and squid were the successful baits on both occasions and, which – unfortunately – also attracted some large rays that proved to be difficult customers on their relatively light tackle.

Early last week, before boat ramps on the Bellarine Peninsula were stretched beyond capacity, especially over the weekend, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien went on the hunt for whiting, first off Curlewis where initial pickings were pretty lean.

Not to be deterred, they kept on the move with minimal returns until they finished up back at The Springs where they found some salvation, eventually returning to the ramp with  25 really good size fish between them.

Good size Australian salmon have kept anglers busy on Corio Bay, those that could find them anyway, something which has be difficult with the strong winds and choppy seas we’ve had of late.

But, with the assistance of telephony the news soon spread, resulting in a good many folk picking up these feisty fish, anywhere from Point Henry to Avalon, and on just about any lure presented.

Damon Sherriff with one of several snapper he caught offshore from the Bridport Harbour entrance in Tasmania last week.

Lachie Wombell with one of the gemfish that he and Bob McPherson caught off Portland last week (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Offshore

Historically, there were populations of tiger, or toothy flathead to be caught offshore from Port Phillip Heads, when conditions allowed, but we haven’t seen many of those in recent years.

However, Simon Werner, on the charter vessel Adamas, reports finding a good patch for clients last week, and said they may have boated as many as 40. And, there were some good ones among them, the largest stretching the tape out to 57 cm.

Maryanne Farrugia of Glenroy with a 4 kg brown trout she caught from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).

Charlie Farrugia of Oaklands Junction with a 2.72 kg cheetah trout that he caught down-rigging with a Tassie Devil on Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).

Freshwater

John Clements of the lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that anglers were rewarded with some great fish over the Christmas New Year period. Among them the Farrugia family who always seem to do well.

Charlie Farrugia’s catch included a 3.27 kg chinook salmon and a 2.72 kg cheetah trout, both being taken on a Tassie Devil trolled at depth with a downrigger, while Maryanne Farrugia’s catch included a 4 kg brown trout.

Kevin Wild and wife Amber, both members of the Maryborough Angling Club, along with club members Leonie Jones and Greg Street, fished Lake Mulwala while based at Yarrawonga last week, and over the weekend.

Catching Murray cod of intermediate sizes kept them busy throughout their stay, some were caught on lures, but the majority were taken on baits of chicken and cheese.

Kevin also mentions that club members Don Rayner and Brian Rivett had no trouble taking bag limit catches of yellowbelly from Cairn Curran Reservoir on a recent visit, using small yabbies for bait within the timbered areas.

Charlie Farrugia of Oaklands Junction with a 3.27 kg chinook salmon that he caught down-rigging with a Tassie Devil on Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).

Leonie Jones with a Murray cod from Lake Mulwala (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Portland

Down Portland way, large whiting are by no means rare, with fish to 50 cm occasionally being caught.

Fishing off Blacknose Point last week were Bob McPherson and Lachie Wombell who took a good sample, but somewhat surprising was the shell of a juvenile abalone inside the stomach of one of their larger fish.

With the weather improving toward the weekend, Bob and Lachie headed out wide, where – bottom-bouncing in 500 metres of water – they had no trouble taking their bag limits of gemfish and blue eye trevalla.

Greg Street with a Murray cod from Lake Mulwala (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Tassie

Damon Sherriff, who we featured with his son Jack on 14/12/21 with their catches of bream and snapper from Bridport Tasmania, was out on the snapper twice last week, and on both occasions, took bag limit catches.

Fishing in 10 metres of water just out from the Bridport Harbour entrance, Damon caught his fish, the biggest weighing 5.5 kg, on freshly caught squid.

Vale Eric Box 1932-2021

An occasional contributor to this column, Eric was a true gentleman and a fine example to the fishing fraternity and to all those who knew him: And so, ends another chapter.

Rodeo champ, Ty Parkinson with one of the snapper he caught while fishing Corio Bay with Darcy Scott on Thursday morning. (Picture: Darcy Scott).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Originally from Tamworth in NSW, Ty Parkinson is currently a world champion rough-stock rodeo rider with many accolades.

These include “All-Round Cowboy” at the 2019 International Professional Rodeo Association, held in Oklahoma City; the list goes on.

His introduction to Darcy Scott last week – a local angler of considerable repute – while visiting a family of cattle-wranglers at Ballan, put pressure on Darcy to take Ty fishing, and – hopefully – produce the goods.

As luck would have it, on Thursday morning, Darcy found the snapper near the Wilson Spit, and – from 5.30 until 7.00 am – the pair took bag limit catches of fish to 6.5 kg before they were done there.

With the day still young, a quick run across to the east side of Point Henry produced 30 thumping, elbow-slapping, King George whiting.

The upshot being that Ty remarked that this was his best day’s fishing.

And that’s no bull, given that in repeated interviews with USA’s Rodeo News, Ty has said that relaxation helps him be a better cowboy, a better competitor, and that fishing is his favourite way of relaxing.

Anchored up in their favourite snapper spot off Point Wilson by 5.00 am on Sunday were Jackson Smith and Jonathan Tucker, and using some of Johnathan’s freshly caught squid for bait, Jackson caught their only snapper of possibly 6 kg.

On the move again they sighted a shoal of salmon at Point Henry and had a good deal of fun catching any amount of those on light tackle.

Early last week, Dennis O’Brien found a good patch of whiting in 3 metres of water off Curlewis after making several moves over unproductive ground. He eventually finished up with a bag limit catch of fish to 42 cm.

He tried again the following day, but they’d obviously gone off the bite because he caught only 7.

On Thursday, Brian and Jenny Cumming fished south of, and just a little wide of the Prince George Light off Portarlington, probably hoping for a snapper, but what Brian hooked turned out be a gummy shark measuring just on 1.4 kg.

And, not being familiar with cleaning such a creature, enlisted the help of his Indented Head neighbour Jeff Richards, an old hand at the game, who finished up with a feed of flake for his trouble.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that indeed, gummies turned up some numbers over the past week, several of his clients catching them and engaging Rod’s fish cleaning skills as well.

Squid and whiting are also on offer said Rod, but flathead remain the main catch, particularly for those fishing on the drift in the deeper water.

Oscar Ford with the bluefin tuna he caught off Port Phillip Heads from a Jet-Ski (Picture: Cranbourne Fishing World).

Offshore

There are tuna of varying sizes off Port Phillip Heads, and that’s no secret. Sometimes they are amenable to offerings presented by anglers, at other times, not at all.

Most are caught from boats of various sizes, but taking a slightly different approach last week was Oscar Ford who set about fishing for them from his jet-ski.

Not in vain either, for an early morning start for Oscar paid off with a solid hook-up on what turned out to be a 13 kg bluefin tuna.

Don Rayner of the Maryborough Angling Club with a sample of the yabbies to be caught from Tullaroop Reservoir at present.

Freshwater

Covering quite a bit of ground last week, Paul Rahman fished Bostock Reservoir at Ballan, and after finding a comfortable spot on the bank, began a lure-fishing exercise with Fish Arrow soft plastics.

As luck would have it, he caught a total of possibly 35 redfin. And, there were some good ones among them, including one measuring 47 cm.

And, on another occasion, he and wife Selin tried their luck at Wurdiboluc Reservoir where it took some time to find a spot sheltered from the fairly stiff breeze.

Once again, casting out and retrieving Fish Arrow soft plastics, they had quite a few tentative strikes, but only managed one hook-up, and that was on a rainbow trout of 1.5 kg.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that members Stephen Eales and Ken Hinks have had no trouble taking redfin to 40 cm or so from Tullaroop Reservoir.

But what is now a big attraction is the number of yabbies in this water. Among those in the know was Don Rayner who, in only three lifts of his yabby nets, caught just on a hundred large yabbies.

Jackson Smith with his snapper from Point Wilson on Sunday.

Mordialloc

George Vlahogiannis continues fishing the Mordialloc Pier, hopefully adding to his tally of snapper, which are currently somewhat scarce, but – like any wise fisherman – George has more than one string to his bow.

Casting a lure in the evening produced a good size tailor, followed by a similar size salmon, and then a snook; a triple-treat, and of which he sent in a photo.

Giorgio asks:

Geoff, I must be doing something wrong. After reading about the snapper catches in your report, all I can catch are flathead a few small pinkies: Any tips?

Giorgio the best tip I can give you – provided you have good quality bait and tackle – is to be in your spot early, preferably before daybreak.

The evening is a good time to fish as well, but the sea breeze is often up by then, making fishing uncomfortable.

Also, being on the water an hour or so before either tide change, may also be productive.

Victorian Inland Charters client Dennis with a 38 cm redfin from Lake Purrumbete.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

After a lean run on the snapper of late, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck headed out to a formerly productive spot just north-east of Point Henry early last week, anchoring up with their lines out before daybreak.

A good move as it turned out, for they caught a snapper of 4.5 kg at around 5.45 am, closely followed by another of 5 kg.

They caught no more snapper after that, but at around 7.00 am they hooked what turned out to be a 7.5 kg gummy shark that tangled all of their lines – those they still had out – together, before they were able to bring it aboard.

Fishing for whiting off Curlewis on Friday afternoon were Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien who initially experienced lean pickings, catching only small fish that they returned. But, after making several moves, found a better class of fish.

They caught 23 of these, not the numbers that are sometimes on offer, but quality prevailed over quantity with their bigger fish nudging 42 cm.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that whiting are still on offer, when weather permits. But, with silver trevally amongst them, some anglers – like Rod’s neighbour, Ian Ray – have been taken unawares with one of these feisty fish snapping his whiting rod.

Victorian Inland Charters client Mario with the 62 cm chinook salmon he caught while casting a Bent Minnow lure on Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Michael Evans).

Offshore

Charter boat Adamas’ deckhand, Simon Werner, reports having no difficulty finding good size pinkie snapper for clients on Friday morning, along with an occasional kingfish to 75 cm.

However, their attempts to tempt a pod of tuna they spied circling off Port Phillip Heads, first with lures, and then by trying to entice them into accepting unweighted pilchards, were unsuccessful.

Fishing offshore from Torquay in 30 metres of water on Friday evening were Kevin McLoughlin, Marcus Pearson and Brian Nolan who caught two gummy shark apiece, each around the 6 kg mark.

Joel, Mark, Brad, Will, Brian, Phil, Sam and Ben of Woodend’s Blackforest Tyre and Auto with example of their catch from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Michael Evans).

Freshwater

Visiting Lake Tooliorook near Lismore on Friday morning were Martinus de Lange and Paul Raduka who found the bank unfishable because of the encroachment of weed. So, the jetty – although in disrepair – was their only option.

The Berkley Powerbait they were using for bait created no interest, but baiting up with a gudgeon from their bait trap, produced a brown trout of a kilogram for Paul, and anglers fishing from a boat returned with similar fish as well.

My enquiries indicate that the Jetty will either be repaired, or perhaps replaced with a pontoon, but that may not be for some time.

Fishing Lake Purrumbete on Saturday, Michael Evans of Victorian Fishing Charters had no trouble finding fish for two groups of clients from Blackforest Tyre and Auto, Woodend, celebrating their Christmas break-up.

The first group of four were greeted at daybreak with strong winds and showers, which was tough going, but the second group enjoyed more benevolent conditions during the afternoon. All did well on the redfin which were caught on live minnow from12 metres of water.

Trolling 26-gram Tassie Devils in the Traffic Lights colouration produced a bonus catch for the latter group, including a tiger trout and three chinook salmon to 45 cm.

Earlier in the week, client Mario’s catch included a 62 cm chinook salmon that took a Bent Minnow presented along the edges of the weed margins, during a lure-casting exercise.

Glenelg Bream

Garry Ridgeway and Geoff Clay visited the Glenelg River South Australia’s border last week, and with some inside info on where the bream were biting, began soaking scrubworms at Simson’s Landing, upstream from Nelson.

A productive exercise at it turned out, for they both finished up taking bag-limit catches of bream, the biggest measuring 38 cm.

Tassie topics

Last week’s report from Damon Sherriff on fishing in Tasmania attracted some comment that included the following:

Mike said

Thanks for reviving my memories of north eastern Tasmania last week where my grandparents had a small dairy farm at Scottsdale, and of the local streams, including the Brid River that you mentioned.

The Brid’s great claim to fame – up near where it rises at Springfield – was, and still is hopefully, its population of giant Tasmanian, freshwater crayfish (now fully protected) that my uncle would catch and put into our farm dams.

Jack Sherriff with the 2.63 kg black bream he caught from the Brid River at Bridport in north eastern Tasmania on Wednesday morning (Picture: Damon Sherriff).

The Brid River at very low tide.

Fishing Tassie

The bream are bigger in Tassie, and tempting them with square-backed crab and prawn from the Brid River in north eastern Tasmania on Wednesday of last week, were Bridport resident Damon Sherriff and his son Jack.

They failed to connect on a couple that went the crab, but a magnificent 2.63 kg (5-pound 13 ounce) black bream that fell for the raw prawn did the trick for Jack, and of which Damon sent in a photo.

Snapper were also about: Damon caught 4 beauties to 80-odd centimetres in breezy conditions on Saturday afternoon, just offshore from the Bridport harbour entrance in 9 metres of water.

All were caught on fresh mullet heads, Damon’s favourite snapper bait.

Damon Sherriff with one of the four snapper he caught while fishing offshore from the Bridport harbour entrance on Saturday afternoon (Picture: Damon Sherriff).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

With disagreeable weather for most of the week, there was certainly plenty of elbow room on both Corio Bay’s inner and outer harbours, so – with snapper on their mind – Derrick Hargreaves and Ben Davis soaked a few pilchards out toward Point Henry where there was some shelter.

Anchoring just south of the Hopetoun Channel proved fairly comfortable, and produced a couple of nice snapper around the 5 kg mark as well.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire had a lean week with all the easterly winds we’ve been having of late, but on Sunday afternoon, the wind dropped and the punters were lining up.

Not in vain either for whiting were on offer with some good ones to 40 cm –mainly from the Governor Reef area – among them.

Squid were harder to find, said Rod, but those prepared to cover a bit of ground brought in some nice catches, while flathead – again – proved the main chance with good numbers being taken on the drift out wide.

Michael Evans with his brown trout from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Michael Evans with his rainbow trout from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Offshore

A deckhand on Rod Lawn’s charter boat Adamas, Simon Werner reports there are snapper a plenty off Ocean Grove, and – fishing at anchor in 40 metres of water – their clients had no difficulty taking fish to 5 kg on Sunday.

Mind you, it wasn’t a day for small boats, said Simon.

Ken Carmen with his redfin catch from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

John Clements with a 96 cm Murray Cod that he caught on a Bardi grub at Lake Mulwala.

Off the beach

With the extra low evening tides early last week, Tony Ingram and Col Simmons fished RAAF’s beach at Ocean Grove where they caught several good size pinkie snapper.

And, after dark, as the tide began coming in, they were hoping for a gummy shark or two, but after being bitten off a couple of times, the sharks that had moved in were obviously of the toothy variety.

Stephen Eales with a pair of redfin from Tullaroop Reservoir, the biggest one measured 49.5 cm (Picture: Amber Wild).

Lachie Wombell with a good size squid from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Queenscliff

Darcy Scott, along with his young fella Alfie and friend Trent Budinski, headed down to Queenscliff on Sunday in search of squid

Arriving at the ramp around 12.30, they were back an hour or so later after an extremely hot session on the squid, taking 30 beauties from the Lonsdale Bight, the biggest weighing 2 kg.

Freshwater

Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters had little difficulty finding good fishing for his clients on Camperdown’s Lake Purrumbete last week, among them Ken Carmen who was after redfin.

They found a good patch in 10 metres of water pretty well straight away and hit them with soft plastics that they took without hesitation. They also caught some on live minnow.

Michael spent quite a bit of time himself in pursuit of the trout, both browns and rainbows, that this water is noted for. And, he caught both; a 48 cm brown trout weighing 1.3 kg and 60 cm, 2 kg buck rainbow.

Both were caught on mudeyes suspended from floats.

Steve O’Keefe headed up Deniliquin way, prospecting for cod on the Edwards River.

As luck would have it, the cod were plentiful but mainly small. However, his biggest fish stretched the tape out to 75 cm.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that club members have been doing well on redfin from nearby Tullaroop Reservoir of late. Biggest to date measured 49.5 cm and was taken by Stephen Eales.

Kevin, wife Amber, and a handful other club members journeyed to Yarrawonga on Lake Mulwala where chicken proved the most effective bait, with Don Rayner taking the biggest Murray cod at 72 cm. Amber also took a couple of respectable cod of 62 and 68 cm.

Darcy Scott and Alex Andjelkovic with a sample of last week’s Corio Bay snapper catch.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

With the scent of snapper in the air, Darcy Scott and Alex Andjelkovic arrived at Darcy’s hotspot, just west of Wilson’s Spit, where taking bag limit catches of snapper proved less challenging than another fish Darcy hooked.

The back anchor, used to prevent the boat swinging, presents few problems with snapper because, by the time they’ve been played out and brought alongside, they can usually be manoeuvred around that obstacle.

However, Darcy’s fish showed no sign of quitting: It was in fact, a large gummy shark of perhaps 15 kg, which – on coming into view – wrapped the stern anchor rope, and – with a final burst – snapped the line.

Also into the snapper were Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck.

Anchored just north of the channel off Point Richards by daybreak, they took three from 3 to 5.5 kg in quick succession using squid and silver whiting for bait.

But as the sea calmed off after sunrise, so did their frantic snapper bite.

Paul Rahman found a good patch of whiting within Corio Bay’s inner harbour in just under two metres of water out from the Rippleside jetty.

He took a bag limit catch, something that once would have been exceptional from the inner harbour; likewise for his biggest fish that measured 40 cm.

Lachie Wombell with a sample of his, and Bob McPherson’s catch of squid, whiting and silver trevally off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Fishing Corio Bay’s outer harbour, initially off Curlewis, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien found whiting hard to find, but find them they did, down toward Leopold’s caravan Parks, and what great fish they were:

Averaging in the mid-30s, their biggest fish stretched the tape out to 43 cm.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head, reports that whiting were also present down that way – from the Governor Reefs back to Grassy Point – with the bigger fish measuring 40 odd centimetres.

Squid have also been present in good numbers said Rod, but again, flathead have been the main catch with anglers catching any amount on the drift out in the deeper water.

Mick, Mark & David came down from Horsham, and – as you can see – returned with a nice catch of redfin.

Lorne

With persistent easterlies making beach fishing difficult last week, Ray Millman and Callum Stavris arrived at the Lorne Pier at around 4.00 am.

Already present were two anglers catching yellowtail scad (yakkas), from the low landing. And, after polite negotiation, Ray and Callum also joined the fray, catching enough to use as bait, hopefully for something larger.

Not in vain as it turned out, for just on daybreak, Ray’s reel howled off to the tune of what turned out to be a snapper of about 4.5 kg, the first of three they caught before most other anglers arrived.

John Gray with a good size redfin from Tullaroop Reservoir (Picture: Amber Wild).

Don Rayner with a 47.5 cm redfin from Tullaroop Reservoir (Picture: Amber Wild).

Freshwater

Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters found fish on Lake Purrumbete for his clients and a few for himself.

The latter included a 60 cm chinook salmon on a 26-gram Tassie Devil and nice tiger trout on a mudeye under a float.

Client George’s catch included a beautiful, 60 cm (3.3 kg), hen brown trout that took a mudeye under a float in the late afternoon after his catch of redfin on live minnow from 10 metres of water with a running sinker rig.

Other clients to catch redfin included Mick, Mark & David from Horsham, Chris, Peter and Daniel from Ballarat and Heath from Geelong. They all caught plenty of redfin to 40 cm or so, mainly using Michael’s running sinker rig in 10 metres or so, but some were taken on soft plastics.

Michael Evans with a 60 cm chinook salmon (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters.

Michael Evans with a nice tiger trout that took a mudeye fished beneath a float (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters.

Manny asks:

Geoff, your mention of the white occys skirts last week reminded me of a much older diagram you made showing the insertion of a small ball sinker in the body, something my uncle – whose an old fisherman – said wasn’t necessary and that you don’t need the sinker: Can you explain?

Manny, those skirted occy lures are designed to be used with a small sinker (usually a size 0) in the head; that is a fundamental design feature of the lure.

Without the sinker; one, they are very difficult (almost impossible) to deploy from the back of a moving boat, especially in a cross wind, and two, the sinker acts as a spacer to position the hook back in the skirt, and to prevent the skirt riding up over the swivel should a hooked fish take line.

Darcy Scott with two more snapper from Corio Bay.

Andrew Phillips with one of Wednesday morning’s snapper that were taken off Point Richards.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Making a 4.00 am start on Wednesday morning, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck anchored up just north of the Point Richards, No 5-channel beacon – where they both had been previously successful – hoping for a snapper.

They caught two as it turned out, each around the 4.5 kg mark, and both at very first light.

Heading out from Avalon on Thursday morning, Darcy Scott came across neighbour Alex Andjelkovic who was into the snook (usually referred to as pike), off Point Lillias:

They’re great bait for snapper, especially when freshly caught, so Darcy botted one in exchange for a snapper that he had yet to catch.

Darcy got his pike, and – fishing on the west side of the Wilson Spit – caught three snapper of 3, 5 and 6.5 kg; his legal bag, less the one he gave Alex in exchange for the pike.

Shane Bastin with a chinook salmon and a tiger trout from Lake Purrumbete.

George Vlahogiannis with a 66 cm snapper that he caught from the Mordialloc Pier at around 5:00 am on Thursday morning using a pilchard for bait.

Making a move on the whiting despite a strong easterly pushing against the outgoing tide on Thursday, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien were faced with a slow start off Curlewis.

A couple of moves put them in the bite zone, but with wind against tide it was a tough road toward their respective bag limits. But they got there, and were back at the ramp by 3.30 pm.

On Thursday, Steve O’Keefe found the fishing challenging off the Swan Island grass beds, for squid in particular, with patches of heavily discoloured water going past.

Looking for more variety, he headed over toward the South Channel where there was bird activity aplenty. So, he put out the ever-reliable white occys that got Australian salmon to 66 cm, and probably 3 kg, eager to party.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head was shy of clients until it calmed off on Sunday afternoon.

Squid were about, but the wider marks fished best because of the discoloured water in close, but that didn’t deter the whiting, with the biggest fish stretching the tape out to 44 cm.

Flathead were the main catch though, most being taken on the drift in 12 metres or so, mainly off St Leonards.

Wayne Bastin with a pair of nice browns from Lake Purrumbete.

Tony Missen of Airport West with a 3.5 kg brown trout that he caught on a mudeye under a float from Lake Purrumbete.

Freshwater

Kevin and Amber Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club tried their luck on Tullaroop Reservoir where their biggest redfin measured 45 cm with most fish in the high 30s.

And fishing with worms, Amber brought up something quite heavy that turned out to be an extremely large yabby that finished up in the landing net. And, it wasn’t alone: Good enough reason, said Kevin, to bring a few yabby nets on their next trip.

Wayne Bastin and son Shane fished Lake Purrumbete last week catching brown trout to 3.4 kg and tiger trout to 1.8 kg, releasing some; a very productive trip despite having to battle a somewhat stiff breeze.

These were all taken on mudeyes fished beneath floats, offerings which also tempted quite a few redfin.

Rhiannon Atkinson of VFA has organized 10,000 Australian bass for Lake Bullen Merri tomorrow; a welcome addition to the 5000 stocked last year.

Their expected time of arrival is 2.00 pm, but should you wish to attend, give Rhiannon a call on 0407 987 016 to narrow that down.

Kenny asks:

Geoff, I’ve heard that large estuary perch can be caught from the Barwon River estuary, but nobody I’ve asked seems willing to provide any information.

Can you assist? Have kayak, will travel.

Kenny, under favourable conditions (and that may not be for a while, due to current heavy rainfall), estuary perch to 50 odd cm have been caught from the Barwon River estuary, and – since you have a kayak – you are halfway there because they inhabit the tributaries draining the Wallington Wetlands.

One of these enters the estuary just upstream from the Ocean Grove boat ramp. Another enters a little further to the west, almost, but not quite opposite the Sheepwash boat ramp.

Estuary perch also inhabit the Barwon River between Lake Connewarre and the Second Break, accessible with your kayak from Tait Point via Staceys Road, Connewarre. From here you can launch your kayak and proceed 700 metres or so up the north-west arm to the river entrance on your right.

The entrance is very shallow, but there is a kilometre or so of productive water that you can fish upstream from here.

They respond either to live-baits like small mullet or bass yabbies, or to lures like the 50 mm black and gold Squidgies, on which onetime Barwon Heads angler Jamie Behrens caught a good many to 52 cm.