Geoff Wilson’s Fishing Knots And Rigs

Andrew Phillips with a sample of the snapper that he and Mark Sesar caught off Point Richards early last week (Picture: Mark Sesar).

Darcy Scott with his 8.45 kg snapper. (Picture: Murray Scott).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Fishing Corio Bay’s outer harbour on the west side of the Wilson Spit, Murray and Darcy Scott have had no trouble taking bag limit catches of snapper to 8.45 kg; again using squid for bait.

Early last week, at around 1.00 pm, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar headed out off Point Richards hoping for a snapper or two. Initially though, there were just a few pinkies on the bite, but their patience paid off.

At around 4.00 pm the bigger fish arrived, and by 5.45 they’d taken bag limit catches, their biggest fish weighing 8 kg.

Fishing in much the same area on Friday were Andrew and Tim Johnson and Dennis O’Brien. They too had no trouble taking their respective bag limit catches of snapper.

With the snapper well and truly sorted, Andrew and Tim, and Tim’s lady friend Caitlin Slater, went out looking for squid on Sunday and found a good patch off Macadam’s Lane, just east of Clifton Springs.

Tim Johnson with one of the snapper that he, his father Andrew and Dennis O’Brien caught off Point Richards (Picture: Andrew Johnson).

Louie Polgar caught these two snapper on Saturday during the Leopold Aquatic & Angling Club snapper comp (Picture Rita Polgar).

The wind was blowing too strong for drifting, but anchored up in cast and retrieve mode, they each took bag limit catches of medium size squid.

Also successful on the squid was Simon Werner who found a good patch off Portarlington, and likewise took a bag limit catch.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that although whiting have been scarce, with just a handful being taken in the vicinity of the outer governor reef, squid have come back on-song with a couple of clients taking bag limit catches.

As usual, said Rod, flathead have been taken on the drift in the deeper water toward the edge of the Prince George Bank with the added bonus of an occasional good size pinkie snapper among them.

Rod also mentions seeing snapper up to 3 kg or so being caught while taking a walk on the larger of the two Portarlington breakwaters.

Michael Evans with another chinook salmon sample from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Michael Evans with a couple of redfin from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Parks reports that the lake has been fishing well, and among the successful anglers was Melbourne angler Mark Murray who took both chinook salmon and brown trout.

Both species fell victim to a Daiwa Double Clutch bibbed minnow with the biggest of both species approaching the 3 kg mark.

Local angler Wayne Snell has also taken brown trout to 3 kg fishing mudeyes beneath a float, while Geelong angler Les Broughton has taken respectable catches of chinook salmon on pilchard fillets suspended a metre or two above the bottom.

Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters also reports good fishing for his clients on Purrumbete. They included George who plucked a catch of chinook salmon to 1.5 kg using pilchard fillets for bait in 25 metres of water.

That was followed up with a good session on the redfin on live minnow.

Victorian Inland Charters client George with one of his chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete.

Nathan Sobko with his 1.7 kg redfin from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Client Aaron, and his two kids, Scarlet and Spencer, also bagged 35 redfin to 37 cm using live minnow and worms in 12 metres of water.

On Saturday morning, regular client Nathan Sobko from Geelong started off on the redfin, and among his catch of 35 or so, was a 47 cm beauty weighing 1.7 kg.

And, soaking a mudeye under a float, Nathan was a little surprised to tempt a 58 cm chinook salmon.

Michael also picked up his share of chinook salmon and redfin on his day off using soft plastics and live minnow.

Nathan Sobko with his 58 cm chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

George Vlahogiannis with the 73 cm snapper he caught from the Mordialloc Pier at around 5:00am on Friday using a pilchard for bait.

Algae busting

Historically, Lake Bullen Merri has been subject to blue green algae infestations and their associated toxicity; a problem with few solutions.

Corangamite Shire is conducting a 12-month blue green algae control pilot in Lake Bullen Merri using solar-powered, ultrasound technology units supplied by EnviroSonic. The ultrasonic effect causes the algal cells to collapse, but fish and other life in the lake are unaffected.

Should anyone require additional details about the trial, please feel free to contact Lyall Bond at lyall.bond@corangamite.vic.gov.au

Habitat restoration

Many of our State’s rivers have been de-snagged, straightened, diverted, drained or dammed, the result of ill-informed authorities embarking on flood mitigation to control flow. Sadly, these works have often proven disastrous for fisheries and other ecology.

So, it was pleasing to receive news from CCMA project officer Olivia Brandimarti of a joint restoration project between CCMA, Oz Fish Unlimited, and the Colac Secondary College to install two areas of additional habitat within the Curdies River, a project supported by funding from the Australian Government’s Fisheries Habitat Restoration Program.

Vale Peter Bone 1942-2021; a unique identity on Geelong’s fishing scene:

As a nine or ten-year-old fishing from the Rippleside Jetty in the early 1950s, this kid beside me hooked two whiting; one on each of his rods.

“I’ll get the other one for you mate,” said I.

“Nobody touches my rods!” He exclaimed, introducing himself as Bone.

“The name’s Bone,” said he, “like dog’s-bone; got it?”

Peter William Bone was an unforgettable character with whom I had an edifying association over many years.

Murray Scott with a snapper from Corio Bay’s outer harbour (Picture: Darcy Scott).

Murray Scott with both hands full (Picture: Darcy Scott).

Corio Bay

Among those to catch snapper during early last week’s good weather were Murray and Darcy Scott, and on one occasion, Darcy’s partner Allie Gerbert: All took bag-limit catches from the west side of the Wilson Spit.

After Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar picked up some promising signals on the sounder north of the No 5 Point Richards channel marker, they too – all too soon – reached their bag limits of snapper to 5.5 kg, and returned the following day for a similar result.

Fishing much the same area with his good friend David Jacobs, Tsuyoshi Murase was immediately at action stations when at 7.00 am, the squid head he had on for bait was taken by a snapper measuring 73 cm; his biggest yet.

Darcy Scott with another good sample (Picture: Murray Scott).

Launching at Clifton Springs early last week in search of whiting, were Garry Ridgeway and Lindsay Robinson.

Initially, things were a bit slow, which initiated a couple of moves, but – eventually – a good bite kicked in and they took their respective bag limit catches, their bigger fish nudging the 40 cm mark.

Baits used were mussel and squid.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that whiting and squid are still on offer, although perhaps not as abundant as they were the week previous.

The best whiting, said Rod, both in size and quantity, came from the Governor Reef and surrounds, and flathead of course, are still plentiful out in the deeper water with clients catching any number on the drift.

And speaking of flathead, Simon Werner has continued to catch them to 57 cm while wading the shallows at Beacon Point, casting soft plastics.

Tsuyoshi Murase with his 73 cm snapper (Picture: David Jacobs).

Off the beach

Fishing the very low evening tides off RAAF’s Beach, Ocean Grove early last week, Tony Ingram and Col Simmons picked up several pinkie snapper, the largest around 40 cm, and – unexpectedly for here – a couple of good size salmon.

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that the lake has been fishing well with chinook salmon to 3 kg, brown trout of similar size and larger, along with tiger and cheetah trout to 1.8 kg.

Redfin have also been taken said John, particularly of an early morning and evening, many falling victim to Berkley pumpkinseed soft plastics.

Among those fishing the lake early last week was Jack Paasse, who – in the mid-afternoon – began fishing mudeyes under a bubble float, almost immediately hooking a very large brown trout.

Unfortunately, it fouled a clump of weed before leaping from the water and snapping his line.

But, persisting as before, Jack caught a brown trout of 2.5 kg – noticeably smaller than the one he’d just lost – along with a tiger trout.

Also fishing Purrumbete was accomplished angler Roger Tolland, who – as usual – had no difficulty taking a bag limit catch of chinook salmon from just over 20 metres of water.

Roger’s strategy being to berley heavily with poultry pellets and pulverised fish scraps with baits of either whitebait or pilchard fillets, suspended a metre or two above the bottom.

John of the Kyneton Angling Club with a 61 cm yellowbelly taken from Cairn Curran Reservoir (Picture: Kyneton Angling Club).

Chinook salmon agreement

Concerns have been repeatedly raised by knowledgeable anglers over the length of time that chinook salmon hatchlings are held in Snob’s Creek hatchery before being released into Camperdown’s crater lakes.

This, it has been suggested, deprives them both of their initial, and critically important growth period and delays their adaptation to the challenge of preying on available biota after being raised on processed food pellets.

Concerned anglers holding that view would welcome the following announcement expressed last week by VFA fisheries manager John Douglas:

“As previously agreed at a meeting with LPAC and CAC on 23 October 2019, we are currently stocking a mix of fingerlings and fry into lakes Bullen Merri and Purrumbete …”

“To accommodate some anglers concerns that we have received, it is proposed to maintain this strategy in the upcoming 2022-23 stocking year with fry into Bullen Merri (50,000) but with the modification of stocking both yearlings (20,000) and fry (20,000) into Purrumbete.”

Hopefully, liberating fry and fingerlings, rather than on-grown yearlings, points the way to restoring the trophy chinook fishery experienced in the late 1970s and early 80s when specimens of 10 kg or more were recorded.

Late copy:

On Sunday, Kyneton Angling Club member “John” caught the biggest fish for the Midland Shield for the second year running, with a 61 cm yellow-belly that he caught while fishing close to the bank using a yabby for bait.

Maryborough Angling Club was the outright winner with 3300mm of fish, all yellowbelly, the biggest measuring 37 cm, Kyneton came second, thanks to John’s fish. Castlemaine and Bendigo Flyfishers also participated.

Conditions were challenging with rough water, gusting wind and rain and an air temperature of 10-15 degrees

Mark Stewart with a sample of his snapper catch off Clifton Springs on Melbourne Cup Day.

Colleen Howard with the 90 cm snapper she caught off Clifton Springs in Friday night’s fog (Picture: Ray Robertson).

Corio Bay Bellarine Peninsula

Sounding up a school of snapper off Clifton Springs on Cup Day afternoon, Mark Stewart hooked his first fish within minutes of putting his lines out.

While playing that one, two more rods buckled over, reels growling, and – as he reached for his landing net – his fourth rod joined the fray. One escaped, but with three fish – one at 83 cm and the other two at 75 cm apiece – he’d boated a bag limit catch with scarcely time to catch his breath.

Naturally, others caught snapper as well including Colleen Howard who was fishing with partner Ray Robertson off Clifton Springs. They were out near the shipping channel during Friday evening’s fairly dense fog.

Colleen caught their only fish, a snapper that stretched the tape out to 90 cm. It took a yakka (yellowtail scad) at around 8.30 pm, an hour or so before the low tide change.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that snapper of various sizes have been caught near the channel junction off Curlewis, just out from the No 18 marker where Dylan Spark and Kysan Notting were both successful using squid for bait.

Chris Stamalos with a sample of his trevally catch from the Barwon estuary (Picture: Daniel Stamalos).

Also fishing out here were Andrew and Tim Johnson who’s best of four fish weighed 4 kg.

Whiting aficionados Dennis O’Brien and Pete Dawson initially found their quarry elusive, catching only a couple of fish for their trouble.

However, after a series of moves they hit a purple patch just east of the Portarlington mussel farm where they topped off their individual bag limits, their biggest – among several pearlers – stretched the tape out to 45 cm.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head also reports an influx of really good size whiting with some clients taking bag limit catches; a first for the season.

Simon Werner has again been successful while wading the shallows off Beacon Point, Clifton Springs, taking flathead on soft plastics; the biggest on his most recent trip measured 55 cm.

Michael Giotas, Nick Karavasamis and Matt Magri with the thresher shark they caught off Barwon Heads.

Offshore

Fishing offshore from Barwon Heads in around 40 metres of water, Matt Magri, Marcus Magri, Michael Giotas and Nick Karavasarmis, were hopeful of catching a gummy shark or two, but barber perch were taking their baits.

So, they put one of these little tackers on for bait and found themselves in a 45-minute battle with what turned out to be a thresher shark of about 70 kg, and of which they sent in a photo.

Barwon estuary

With the tide beginning to run in around 10.00 am on Sunday, Chris and Daniel Stamalos, who had anchored just upstream from the Barwon Heads Bridge, began catching, any number of large mullet and silver trevally as the water began to clear.

Also included in their catch were legal size Australian salmon, whiting and tailor; enough to keep them in fresh fish for some time.

Kevin Wild with the 46 cm yellowbelly he caught from Lake Hume last week (Picture: Amber Wild).

Freshwater

Frank Benvenuto fished Melton Reservoir – on Melton’s southern boundary, and which has been stocked with a variety of native fish – from his kayak last week.

Frank caught more than 15 fish for the afternoon including 5 yellowbelly, 10 redfin and an estuary perch. Most were caught on a Z-man 3.5” grub in watermelon red.

Fishing nearby was Frank’s friend Chris who caught a 40 cm Australian bass out in 5 metres of water while slowly working a 55mm, Cutting-Edge Tomahawk bibbed-minnow in the tiger-prawn pattern.

Fishing Lake Elingamite, up Cobden way from his new Kayak, Jack Passe spent three hours without even a bite, but come 5.30 pm, that all changed.

He caught 3 rainbow trout, all around 750 grams (that were released, along with a redfin) and another rainbow of 1.7 kg. All were caught on mudeyes fished with a bubble float rig.

Frank Benvenuto’s friend Chris with the 40 cm Australian Bass he caught from Melton Reservoir.

Jack Passe with a rainbow trout from Lake Elingamite.

We haven’t heard much from Lake Tooliorook near Lismore of late, but local source, Geoff Campbell, reports that rainbow trout to just over a kilogram have been caught recently, along with the occasional brown. So, here is yet another potentially productive water.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports good fishing from the lake with a wide variety being caught from redfin to trophy size brown trout, Donna Kniese picking up two of the latter – each weighing 3.6 kg – using mudeyes for bait.

Tiger and cheetah trout, mostly around the 2 kg mark, are also on the bucket list and among those to catch one of the latter was Michael Johnstone who also caught a 3.5 kg brown trout. These too were taken on mudeyes.

Chinook salmon are also on offer, with some – presumably from the 2019 fingerling release – topping the 3 kg mark.

Among those to take bag limit catches of chinook were Garry Ridgeway, Hansi and Marti Bluml, and Bill Montgomery.

Michael Johnstone with a 2 kg cheetah trout that he caught from his kayak using mudeyes for bait.

Frank Benvenuto with one of the yellowbelly he caught from Melton Reservoir.

Also in the mix were Lindsay and Gordon Robinson, who – along with their catches of chinook salmon, which were taken on pilchard fillets suspended just above the bottom – also caught two brown trout, each weighing 3 kg, and a 1.5 kg tiger trout. These were taken on mudeyes fished under floats.

Kevin and Amber Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club fished Lake Hume last week. They caught any number of redfin, keeping 20, along with a 46 cm yellowbelly.

These were taken using the generous supply of small yabbies and shrimp that they took up with them.

Martinus de Lange with two of the snapper he caught from the beach at St Leonards on Friday evening.

Martinus de Lange headed down to St Leonards on Friday afternoon intending to fish from the pier for snapper.

But with the pier crowded, and the wind still howling after Thursday evening’s storm, he decided to try elsewhere and finally settled on the beach just south of the St Leonards Bluff.

Not expecting to catch anything here, he was delighted with a snapper of about 3 kg at around 3.00 pm. Encouraged, he stayed on until dark and caught two more, the biggest around the 4.5 kg mark.

Also fishing land-based, off the main Portarlington breakwater on this occasion, were Simon Werner and Jake Callahan.

Among the first arrivals, they caught three snapper from 2 to 3 kg and some smaller pinkies. That was before a good many others arrived, but the bite had slowed somewhat by then.

Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck were on the job early last week and were eventually out in one of their favourite spots north east of Point Henry by 7.00 am.

They had their first fish, a snapper of 3 kg, aboard by 7.45, and from then until 9.45, they caught another three, the biggest weighing 5.5 kg.

Fishing near the channel junction off Curlewis at daybreak early last week, were John Coe and Peter Wells, both eager to catch a snapper.

Well, they did catch one of 5.5 kg soon after their arrival, but no more after that.

Paul Rahman was at anchor off Point Wilson when he caught a snapper of 3 kg at around 5.30 pm, but nothing for another hour or so. But then, each of his rods loaded up, reels growling.

They weren’t snapper though, but large Australian salmon with a couple around the 3 kg mark.

So ferocious was the bite, he was soon persuaded to retrieve his lines to avoid an embarrassing over-catch.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head was pleased with an increase in trade over the weekend, but squid and whiting – although present – were difficult to come by.

However, flathead saved the day as usual with anglers bringing in good catches while fishing on the drift out in the deeper water, mainly off St Leonards.

Will Farrugia of Roxburgh Park with a 3.85 kg brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete over the weekend.

Off the beach

Fishing Wednesday’s afternoon high tide change at Jan Juc, where he’s caught a good number of salmon to 1.5 kg on 40-gram metal lures lately, Ray Millman set to work with the same approach.

But on this occasion, although plentiful, the salmon were much smaller with fish to 30 cm or so being caught on almost every cast.

They would have been good bait for bigger prey on a planned trip the following night. However, the storm that moved in put paid to that.

Jeremy Richardson with one of the chinook salmon he caught from Lake Purrumbete over the weekend.

Freshwater

On Sunday, Paul Rahman made an early start on Lake Purrumbete, where – fishing with mudeyes under a float – took a mixed bag of rainbow, cheetah and tiger trout ranging in size from one to 1.5 kg.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Angling Club reports that a variety of fish are on offer including chinook salmon, some going better than 2 kg with most being caught on pilchard fillets suspended just above the bottom.

Among those to catch them were Donna Kneise of Werribee and Jeremy and Michelle Richardson of Colac.

Trophy size brown trout were also on offer for patient anglers like Will Farrugia of Roxburgh Park whose catch included a 3.85 kg brown on a mudeye fished under a float.

Will’s catch also included chinook salmon caught using the same approach.

Michelle Richardson with a sample of her chinook salmon catch from Lake Purrumbete over the weekend.

Oliver asks:

Geoff, when lure fishing for bream, is best to use soft plastics or hard bodied lures?

Oliver; lure-fishing exponents seeking bream use a variety of soft plastics and small bibbed minnows, which are somewhat erroneously referred to as “hard-bodied lures.” This is possibly based on the assumption that if a lure is not a soft plastic it is hard-bodied; a complete nonsense in my opinion.

However, it is the input from the angler, rather than the type of lure being used, that dictates success or failure with any lure used in the cast and retrieve mode.

Having said that though, small bibbed-minnow-type lures like the 70 mm Rapalas have proven efficacious on bream.

Belinda and Tony Brogna with the 145 kg tuna they caught offshore from Port Phillip Heads (Picture: Richard Abela).

Tony Brogna and his crew bring their 145 kg tuna aboard off Port Phillip Heads.

Offshore

With reports of large tuna outside Port Phillip Heads, Tony Brogna and wife Belinda were eager to christen their new craft, an A3000 series Noosa Cat.

So, accompanied with close friends Richard Abela and fiancée Kym Cecil, they departed from Sorrento to try their luck.

Upon leaving Port Phillip Heads, they were encouraged to see dolphins and sea birds. However, it took several hours of trolling before getting a strike from a big tuna, from which – unfortunately – they pulled the hook.

Never the less, they persisted, but by 5.00 pm or so, like others fishing out here, they’d more or less given up hope.

But then, one of Tony’s reels howled off, heralding an adrenalin-fuelled, 90-minute battle with a tuna that greeted the scales back at Sorrento for a verdict of 145 kg.

The fish of a lifetime, some might say, and it was caught just 10 km outside of Port Phillip Heads.

Martinus De Lange with the 5 kg snapper he caught from the St Leonards Pier.

Murray Scott with a 2.85 kg squid from Queenscliff (Picture: Darcy Scott).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Snapper continue to be caught, with land-based anglers in the mix:

On Wednesday evening, Paul and Selin Rahman, and friend James Dildis, fished from the inner Portarlington breakwater, and from 7.00 pm until 8.30, they caught three snapper averaging 4 kg apiece using squid for bait.

Also fishing land-based was Martinus De Lange who caught a 5 kg snapper from the St Leonards pier at 3.15 am, in the rain, on Saturday morning. Martinus was also using squid for bait.

Naturally, anglers in boats – including Andrew Johnson and his son Tim, who were fishing near the channel junction off Curlewis – have also been successful on snapper as well.

Andrew caught a snapper that weighed 5.4 kg.

James Dildis with a snapper he caught from the Portarlington breakwater (Picture: Paul Rahman).

Simon Were, his son Jayden, and Jake Callahan have shown time and gain that the bigger flathead are to be found in the shallow water.

Wading the shallows at Clifton Springs, and casting a variety of soft plastic lures, the most recent venture yielded flathead to 60 cm.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that, apart from flathead – which often save the day – his clients have caught whiting, mainly off the Governor Reefs, along with squid that have been increasing, both in number and size.

Squid are also about off Queenscliff as Murray and Darcy Scott could attest.

After recently fishing the Lonsdale Bight, they caught their respective bag limit catches that included some real beauties over the 2 kg mark; their biggest was an absolute pearler of 2.85 kg.

Jayden Werner with a 60 cm flathead he caught casting lures while wading the shallows off Clifton Springs.

Michael Evans and Rex, (Ruff ruff), with the 2.9 kg brown trout Michael caught from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Freshwater

Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters had no trouble finding redfin for clients Nathan Sobko and Rodney Cations, catching them on running sinker rigs with live minnow for bait.

Nathan also caught a 45 cm tiger trout fishing a mudeye on a bubble float rig.

And, just to put the icing on the cake, Michael caught a 2.9 kg brown trout on a Bent Minnow lure that he cast around the weed margins during the last hour of daylight.

Simon Werner made another tip up to the Goulburn River at Thornton, where, using a Rapala F7, he caught three rainbow trout, two quite modest in size, the other, a whopper weighing 6.5 kg.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that Cairn Curran Reservoir is currently worth a visit with yellowbelly being caught, both from the bank, and by anglers fishing from boats.

Kevin and wife Amber also caught yellowbelly to 44 cm after visiting the Loddon River at Serpentine.

Anthony Connell and several companions visited Apollo Bay at the weekend intending to fish the beach at Skenes Creek.

However, the weather was so atrocious that fishing the beach would have been a non-event. But, while Anthony’s companions persisted, he decided to get his light outfit and fish the creek – that curved behind them, separated from the beach with a sand bar – with a soft plastic.

And, as luck would have it. Anthony caught the only fish for the trip, a 30 cm rainbow trout within spitting distance of the unruly surf.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club with a 44 cm yellowbelly that he caught from the Loddon River at Serpentine (Picture: Amber Wild).

Scott Cooper with a nice gummy shark he caught offshore from Portland over the weekend.

Fish liberations

Rhiannon Atkinson, of Snobs Creek Hatchery provides the following dates for fish liberations:

• Wednesday 27^th October: Lake Bullen Merri, 50,000 brown trout fry.
• Wednesday 3^rd November: Lake Purrumbete, 4000 rainbow trout at 50g, and 500 chinook salmon at 70g.
• Tuesday 9^th November: Lake Bullen Merri, 60,000 chinook.
• Thursday 11^th November: Lake Purrumbete, 40,000 chinook.

Please contact Rhiannon should you wish to attend: M: 0407 987 016
E: rhiannon.atkinson@vfa.vic.gov.au

Martinus asks:
I’ve fished from St Leonards Pier for 40 odd years, along with a good many others, but – unfortunately – the constant deterioration of the pier and breakwater makes this an ongoing challenge.

My campaign back in 1992 had great support from local residents and some politicians, but nothing has been done to restore this iconic fishing structure: What else could be done?

Martinus, given the Labor Party’s $43 million commitment to recreation fishing following its 2014 election win. And, the extension of that commitment with a further $35 million after its 2018 win, there are certainly grounds to articulate your concerns to the relevant ministers of government.

Selin Rahman with her snapper from Corio Bay.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula-

Late on Thursday afternoon, Paul Rahman and wife Selin headed out from St Helens in search of snapper. And, with the sounder running, they eventually found some promising marks, but – as we know – that’s no guarantee of a catch.

On this occasion though, their baits were taken by snapper to 45 cm or so, and the bite continued until they were just one fish shy of their respective bag limits; Selin still had one to go, so the hunt went on into the night.

But, with a thunderstorm coming across the bay, they were just about to head in when a single, solid arch showed on the sounder at around 8.40 pm.

An unweighted pilchard dropped over the side did the trick with an almost immediate hook-up on what turned out to be the fish of the night, a snapper of 7 kg.

Also included in their catch was a 3 kg flathead.

Tim Johnson with another nice snapper from the Wilson Spit.

Paul Rahman with is 3 kg flathead from Corio Bay.

At around 5.00 am, and just prior to reaching their last productive spot north east of Point Henry on Thursday, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck throttled back as their sounder screen lit up with indications of snapper.

Well supplied with the fresh squid they’d caught a day or two earlier, they wasted no time in slipping the anchor quietly over the side before casting out their first bait, which soon tempted a 4.5 kg snapper.

Two more, each around the 3 kg mark, quickly followed before the bite inexplicably shut down, and – although they stayed will into the morning, and put out a good deal of berley – all they caught after that were banjo sharks.

Others to do well included Zac Barnes who picked up a beauty of 8.1 kg from the inner harbour, and Tim Johnson who picked up a couple of nice snapper near the Wilson Spit providing even more assurance that the snapper season had begun.

Zac Barnes with a 8.1 kg snapper, also from Corio Bay.

Putting in another whiting session off Curlewis, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien were hopeful of a big-fish-session after pulling a 43 cm fish first up. So, their expectation of more of the same was high, but they were plagued with smaller fish after that.

Never the less they sat it out, hopeful that the early afternoon tide change would deliver: And it did, initially anyway, and they were well on their way to respective bag limits of whiting, along with a number of silver whiting and salmon when the bite shut down.

However, on the way back, they anchored up offshore from the boat ramp; a good move as it turned out for their luck continued, topping off their bag limits of King George whiting.

Steve O’Keefe and Anna McLean tried their luck just offshore from the pilot’s jetty at Queenscliff, first for squid with the tide coming in, and of which they caught some beauties to 2 kg.

With the water colouring up on the afternoon ebb tide, they tried for whiting in much the area, and again the bigger specimens – up to 41 cm – were well represented.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that squid are on offer, but you may have to look for them. Whiting are present but scarce, but flathead are there for the taking, particularly on the rising tide when fishing on the drift, out deep off St Leonards in particular.

Jordan Oakley 7, with the 4 kg snapper he caught offshore from Barwon Heads (Picture: Warren Jankowski).

Off the beach

On Thursday evening’s rising tide at Jan Juc, Ray Millman began a cast and retrieve exercise with a 40-gram metal lure that yielded 20 Australian salmon, the largest weighing 1.5 kg.

All had been feeding whitebait and the like; one had even swallowed another smaller salmon, so ferocious was their appetite. However, an angler fishing nearby, with bait on this occasion, was having no luck all.

Ray beckoned him over, and contributing one his lures, also put him well and truly in the strike zone; some brownie points on offer there.

Offshore

With tuna recently caught off Barwon Heads, Warren Jankowski, Dean Oakley, and Dean’s 7-year-old son Jordan, spent several hours trolling lures, but it eventually became obvious it wasn’t going to be their day, and young Jordan was itching to catch something.

So, they anchored up in 50 metres of water, initially sampling the usual gurnard, wrasse, slimy cod etc. But after an hour or so Jordan hooked what turned out to be 4 kg snapper, the fish that saved the day with high fives all round.

Amber Wild with the 1.15 kg rainbow trout she caught from Lake Fyans (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that chinook salmon have been on offer of late and the preferred approach has been to suspend baits like pilchard fillets just above the bottom.

Among those to catch them in this manner include Geelong Anglers Jeff and Les Broughton who have taken fish to 2 kg or so, and Colac’s Jeremy Richardson who also had money in the game.

Brown trout are also on offer to patient anglers. These have included Stan Mackerel of Colac, and of course redfin – although a little slower of late – are coming on the bite during the last hour of daylight.

And, among those to be successful on the reddies were Carly Solomon and her son Eli, 9, who had John for a coach: So they couldn’t go wrong really!

Fishing Lake Fyans, near Halls Gap, Maryborough Angling Club members Kevin and Amber Wild had trout in mind, and Amber did indeed catch a nice rainbow of 1.15 kg on a mudeye fished beneath a float.

And, with the same approach, they also caught a number of redfin.

Making the trip up toward Eildon, Simon Werner put in a lure-casting exercise on the Goulburn River at Thornton, initially with some success, catching one of the brood stock rainbows recently liberated into this water.

Unfortunately, following recent heavy rain in that river catchment, the water soon became heavily discoloured and unsuitable for lure fishing.

The fish Simon caught weighed 4.5 kg and was taken on a Rapala F7.

Matt Tormey; a serious angler with a serious fish, a 9.1 kg rainbow trout from the Ferntree Gully Quarry.

Big fish specialist, Matt Tormey, visited the Ferntree Gully Quarry – which is regularly stocked with rainbow trout prior to each school holiday break – for a lure-casting exercise.

He may have got more than he bargained for though, when the rainbow trout he caught – and of which he sent in a photo – weighed 9.1 kg.

Chris Stamalos with the 3.6 kg snapper he caught from Point Richards (Picture: Daniel Stamalos).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Fishing out toward the No 6 beacon of the Point Richards Channel on Thursday evening, Chris Stamalos and brother Daniel were hoping for a snapper.

They weren’t having much luck, in fact all they’d caught were a couple of banjo sharks. But just on sunset, a line baited with a whole silver whiting signalled the unmistakeable bite of what turned out to be a 3.6 kg snapper.

On Friday afternoon, Andrew Johnson and wife Jenny tried for whiting in one of their usually productive spots off Leopold’s Pelican Shores caravan park, but with only two fish, they decided to move back to Curlewis.

They had better luck there with 18 more fish in the boat within half an hour; well on their way to bag limit catches they thought, the only impediment being a freshening north-westerly that had them retreat to the boat ramp.

Simon Werner has often picked up a good size flathead or two wading the shallows and casting lures off Beacon Point, a technique he tried again on Sunday afternoon.

With the flathead more abundant than usual, he caught ten measuring from 45 to 50 cm casting a Mr Twister orange grub.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that squid fishing is on the improve with some good catches coming in, anywhere between Grassy Point and St Leonards. However, flathead still remain the most abundant catch.

Darcy Scott reports fishing for squid in the Lonsdale Bight with father Murray and Trent Budinski last week, but with the water discoloured, and the bite being shut down by a seal on one occasion, it wasn’t easy fishing.

Never the less, they eventually brought home the goods, their biggest squid nudging the 2 kg mark.

Off the beach

Fishing off the beach at Torquay early last week, Ray Millman was again plagued by what were almost certainly seven-gilled sharks as he was on his previous visit, being bitten off a number of times.

However, things settled down around midnight with the tide running out. There were no more sharks, and by around 2.30 am, the only other bite he had turned out to be a 2 kg snapper.

Michael Korbut with his 8.1 kg brown trout from Eildon Pondage.

Amber Wild with a redfin from Lake Hume (Picture Kevin Wild).

Freshwater

Fly-fishing the rock wall at Wurdiboluc Reservoir last week were Mark Richards and his friend Paddy Donovan, both of whom had fish follow the fly, but it was Mark who caught their only fish for the day, a brown trout weighing 1.56 kilograms.

Kevin Wild and wife Amber, both members of the Maryborough Angling Club – along with other club members – made the journey to Lake Hume where they had no trouble catching any amount of redfin to 800 grams or so using both soft plastics and worms.

Club member Stephen Eales tried his luck trolling lures and was rewarded with a beautiful 65 cm brown trout from the same water.

John Clements of Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that chinook salmon, the biggest weighing 3 kg, have been taken from the lake, the most productive methods include suspending baits, mainly pilchard fillets, just above the bottom in depths up to 25 metres.

Brown trout, also to 3 kg have also been taken by a number of anglers. These have included Darren Busfield, Dan Mackerel and Jason Bongart, all from Colac, Shane and Rylan Hogan from Moolap, and Mark Gerkovich from Warrnambool. The most productive method being mudeyes suspended from floats, but some were taken on lures.

Redfin remain the main catch though with live minnow and soft plastics among the most effective approaches.

Stephen Eales of the Maryborough Angling Club with the 65 cm brown trout he caught from Lake Hume (Picture: Amber Wild).

Mark Gerkovich with a sample of his catch from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).

Fishing Eildon Pondage throughout the night last week, Michael Korbut, who – berleying with saltwater pilchards and using the fillets of same for bait – finished up catching 13 of the brood-stock rainbows that have been liberated into this water.

He kept two, one of 5 kg, the other a massive fish – of which he sent in a photo – that weighed 8.1 kg.

Lachie Wombell with one of the whiting that he and Bob McPherson caught at Cape Nelson over the weekend (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

Taking a run down to Cape Nelson, Bob McPherson and Lachie Wombell whose main catch was sweep. However, they also managed to catch a few good size whiting.

Conrad asks:

Geoff, when surf-casting I’ve occasionally snapped off sinkers. Casting with lures has been even worse because of their cost. Trying to solve the problem by using a heavier shock leader made the problem even worse with the shock leader knot snapping off going through the guides: Do you have any suggestions?

Conrad, knots are a liability when passing through the guides at speed after making a cast. They are likely to snap as close to the reel as the first guide.

The only solution when surf fishing, is to use an extended shock leader of 10-15 metres in length. This gives the rod time to straighten allowing the join to pass through the guides with less friction.

Tapered shock leaders in various weights are available from a good many sources; the slender end is attached to the line on your spool while the stout end is affixed to your rig, providing sufficient strength to withstand the force of your cast.

I don’t recommend you use a shock leader when casting lures though because repetitive casting will shorten the life of any join travelling through the guides at speed, even when using progressive splices like the so-called FG knot.

Chris Stamalos with one of the snapper he caught offshore from Barwon Heads on Sunday.

Offshore

With good weather predicted for Sunday, Chris Stamalos headed out from Barwon Heads, and anchoring up in 30 metres of water, was hopeful of catching a snapper or two.

He caught four as it turned out, the biggest weighing 4.2 kg, along with a gummy shark, a catch that should keep him and his family in seafood for a while.

Dave Reynolds holding 10 of the whiting that he and Neil Slater caught in 4 metres of water using pipis and squid for bait on Saturday afternoon off Curlewis (Picture: Neil Slater).

Lucis Mebis and a companion caught these whiting off Blacknose Point, Portland on Sunday (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Also, with snapper on their mind, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck launched at Limeburner’s Point early last week, and by 4.00 am were at anchor north east of Point Henry where they’d previously been successful.

A snapper of 5 kg soon came aboard, followed by another of 4.2 kg. Hoping for more, they fished on as the day unfolded until their departure was hastened by a strengthening south easterly that chopped the sea up against the outgoing tide.

Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien headed out to Curlewis to catch the late morning high tide change, and in 4.8 metres of water, they had no trouble catching whiting, and there were some real beauties to 43 cm among them.

Inexplicably, the bite shut down in the early afternoon, but with 35 prime fish in the bag they had little to complain about.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire reports that extremely discoloured water, that’s passing though in patches – possibly due to a nearby dredging and beach reclamation project – has slowed the squid down somewhat, but flathead are again saving the day for anglers; those on the drift out in the deeper water anyway.

Shoals of Australian salmon have been keeping anglers entertained at Geelong’s waterfront, both those fishing from boats and land-based.

Among the latter was Ray Millman who caught his share from the wave attenuator using soft plastic lures; great bait for his planned trip to the beach at Torquay that night with friend Kallon Stavro.

Fishing near the Torquay boat ramp, their catch included a pair of gummy shark to 4 kg or so, but Kallon hooked what was possibly a good size school shark, that – after making a couple of solid runs – bit him off.

Selin Rahman with a nice chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete on Sunday (Picture: Paul Rahman).

Brian Rivett, Robert Rayner and Don Rayner with a good sample of yellowbelly from the Loddon River below Laanecoorie Weir.

Freshwater

John Clements of Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports some good catches were taken from the lake over the weekend where he fished with Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters.

They caught chinook salmon to 2.8 kg, both on trolled lures, Daiwa Double Clutch and bent minnows on this occasion, and others on pilchard pieces suspended just above the bottom.

John says that redfin have become a little harder to catch of late, but John Hewett of Port Fairy has taken his share, including some to 800 grams, along with a brown trout of 3 kg.

Among others to do well on Purrumbete at the weekend were Paul and Selin Rahman who also took some good size chinook salmon.

Simon Werner, along with son Jayden and his friend Jaimie Dixon, headed up to the Goulburn River near Eildon, and forewarned of rising water levels took their kayaks.

A good move as it turned out for there was no bank access and fishing difficult; a few modest rainbow trout being their only result.

Moving to the Eildon Pondage – where they fished from the bank, casting and retrieving Rapala floating minnows – proved more productive with the fairly recently released brood stock rainbows on offer.

They finished up with three beauties, the biggest weighing 6 kg, the other two weighing in at 5.5 and 3 kg.

Michael Korbut photographed the 4.67 kg brown trout he caught from a farmer’s paddock, alongside the somewhat larger rainbow trout he caught, and kept, from the Eildon Pondage.

More on the Pondage

Michael Korbut provides an update on the Goulbourn River at Thornton, which is high and heavily discoloured and almost unfishable, and the nearby Eildon Pondage where he put in an all-night session just prior to the October new moon; the most productive period according to Michael.

With all the brood stock rainbows in the pondage, he was disappointed not to get one over the 7 kg mark, two of which he caught on a previous trip, but – over the course of the night, and using mainly saltwater pilchards for berley, and the fillets for bait – he caught nine rainbows, keeping one for the smoker.

But he wasn’t done yet: On his return, he noticed a large fish, obviously feeding in a farmer’s paddock, flooded by the Goulburn. Ever up for a challenge, he positioned himself in what he assumed to be the fish’s path, and after patiently waiting, presented it with an unweighted scrubworm.

Remarkably it was a wild brown trout, not part of any brood stock, and needless to say, at 4.67 kg was by far the biggest brown trout he’d ever caught.

Yellowbelly

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that club members fishing Cairn Curran Reservoir have done well on yellowbelly of late with Brian Rivett taking one measuring 57 cm from the bank using worms for bait.

Fishing a little farther afield, Robert, Don, Brian and John Raynor picked up their share of good size yellowbelly from the Loddon River below Laanecoorie Weir.

Peter asks:

Geoff; where can you get the tubing that allows the hook to slide on your mulloway and snapper traces?

Peter, while I don’t know exactly what the tubing is on the production items, which are made in China, the original samples were submitted with 2 mm plastic tubing that I bought from Spotlight in Geelong. It’s still available, and in a range of colours.

Senad Osmic with the 7 kg gummy shark he caught from Corio Bay (Picture: Azi Osmic).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

With the sweet smell of snapper in the air, Azi Osmic and son Senad, anchored up between the Mountain View Quarries and the Nine Foot Bank off Avalon where they baited up with fresh garfish.

Initially all was quiet, but come mid-morning, Senad’s rod buried over, reel growling to the tune of what turned out to be a gummy shark of just over 7 kg. It put up a great fight, an event witnessed by the water police who were also suitably impressed as they pulled alongside for a routine check.

The Clifton Springs boat ramp’s entrance/exit has silted up rather badly causing some groundings during the weekend’s low tides, but old hands Dennis O’Brien and Andrew Johnson made it through OK.

However, they found the fishing a bit slow in their usually productive spot off Leopold’s Pelican Shores caravan park.

They moved several times for only three whiting, and that might have been their lot had they not moved to Curlewis, hopeful that the tide change would improve their luck.

Well, it did that in spades; they finished up with their bag limit of whiting and were back at the ramp by mid-afternoon.

Readers would recall that Andrew’s son Tim picked up a nice snapper of 5.5 kg fishing the Wilson Spit the week previous. Well, Tim tried his luck again on Saturday evening, this time just off the junction of the Wilson Spit and Point Richards Channels.

Using silver whiting for bait he wasn’t having much luck, so he tried half of same, adorned with a squid tentacle, and it did the trick producing yet another snapper weighing 5.5 kg.

Tim Johnson with yet another 5.5 kg snapper from Corio Bay (Picture: Jenny Johnson).

Freshwater

Garry Ridgeway and Marty Blumel recently tried their luck off Hoses Rocks at Lake Purrumbete, where – fishing mudeyes with bubble float rigs – they caught a number of tiger trout and a nice rainbow of about a kilogram; but there was more to come.

At the approach of evening, Garry hooked what was clearly one of Lake Purrumbete’s trophy size brown trout. Unfortunately, it escaped at the verge of capture right at the rocks. But then, he hooked another, which – although visibly much smaller than the first – still weighed a respectable 3 kg.

Stuart asks:
Geoff, I believe there has been enough rain to raise the water level of both Lakes Murdeduke and Modewarre, so assume there must be something else going on with their water catchments. Do you have any information on this?

Stuart, possibly due to Covid, I’ve received no reply to your question from the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority. However, I was asked a similar question pertaining to Lake Modewarre in February 2017, which was answered by Donna Smithyman, Catchment, Manager, Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, Colac, which was as follows, and may answer one part of your question at least.

“In 1969 Lake Modewarre was very low and the then Geelong Water and Sewerage Trust (GWST) supplied water to the Lake, which was repeated periodically in the ensuing years.

In 1976, a further request to the Geelong Water and Sewerage Trust on behalf of the Lake Modewarre Reserve Committee was made, requesting that water be provided to Lake Modewarre.

This was denied, citing low storage levels in the Barwon system. Further to these specific requests up to 1976, the Geelong water supply system previously included a section of open channel that passed through the Lake Modewarre catchment, carrying water harvested from the Barwon River catchment.

This water was used to supply the Pettavel Basin and was transported via the Pettavel channel. To protect the channel from failures or prevent overflows to abutting private properties, at times excess flow was diverted out of the channel into Lake Modewarre.

The channel was replaced in the early 1990s with a pipeline to improve potable water quality and reduce water losses. As part of this modernisation, the channel and associated easements were transferred from Barwon Water to the private landowners.

Therefore, the opportunity to transfer water from Wurdee Buloc Reservoir to Lake Modewarre cannot occur due to the fact that there is now no infrastructure in place for such a transfer. Further, the Wurdee Boluc reservoir is managed and not part of a natural filling cycle.”

Will Cumming, Sam Long and Hugh Cumming with the 120 kg bluefin tuna Sam caught offshore off Barwon Heads last week.

Early last week, Sam Long, along with Will and Hugh Cumming, took a run out from Barwon Heads in search of any activity that might betray the presence of tuna. And, with the previously choppy sea calming off, they headed out wide, eventually spying a flock of birds circling on the horizon.

With dolphins also working the same patch, they initiated a spread of skirted lures, one of which was taken, putting Sam in the hot seat for half an hour or so before they were able to wrestle, what turned out to be a tuna that eventually weighed 120 kg, aboard.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

With snapper making an appearance in Corio Bay as water temperatures begin to rise, anglers in the know are trying their luck.

Among them was Tim Johnson who fished the Wilson Spit early last week, and anchored up out toward the shipping channel with half a squid head for bait, he caught a snapper weighing 5.5 kg.

John Daskourelos was another snapper success. He caught one of around 3 kg while fishing land-based from the St Helens Rocks on Wednesday, confidently expressing there would be plenty more to come.

Early last week, Gordon and Carol Williams tried their luck on the whiting off Curlewis, and with the tide beginning to ebb, they were soon in action with a dozen or so fish coming aboard in short order.

But then, losing fish to that seal that’s currently been giving anglers a hard time down that way, gave them no other option but to move, and eventually retreat when the breeze picked up.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that a break in the weather last week had a handful of clients going for the main chance, which was – and still is – catching flathead on the drift, virtually straight out from the ramp.

Tim Johnson with his snapper from the Wilson Spit in Corio Bay’s outer harbour.

Off the Beach

With Saturday’s virtual gale-force winds easing toward evening, Ray Millman was about to head off fishing at Torquay when his friend Trev dropped in.

Both decided that the fishing trip was on with Trev calling some of his mates whom he suggested might also like to come along, the result being that seven hopefuls were eventually lined up fishing along the beach at Torquay, just north east of the boat ramp.

Ray and Trev, both caught seven-gilled sharks, the biggest around 2 metres in length. But come the high tide at around 8.30 pm, virtually everyone else had been bitten off, by – presumably – other seven-gilled sharks. Never the less, I guess there would have been enough flake to go around.

With evening high tides last week, Tony Ingram fished Bancoora Beach hopeful of catching an Australian salmon or two despite there being a fair sea running.

But the salmon were there, and using cut pilchards for bait, he caught several, the biggest approaching 1.5 kg along with a couple of tailor, each around the kilogram mark.

Freshwater

I’ve had few freshwater reports, but – despite the discolouration of the water, and an increase in flow – Justin Burns has been picking up an occasional carp, the biggest around 5 kg or so, along with a redfin or two from the Barwon at Queens Park using worms for bait.

Simon Werner, along with a number of other Geelong anglers, fished the Goulburn River at Thornton last week taking a rainbow trout of 5 kg, a great fish certainly, but dwarfed by others taken, both from the Goulburn, and the nearby Eildon Pondage.

Sammy asks:

Geoff, I was fascinated to hear of your trip on 31/08/21, to Shark Bay back in 2000, can you provide any further information such as time of year, and any information on getting bait?

Sammy, the best time to fish Shark Bay West for snapper was – advisedly – from July through until October. So, we spent a week there in August and, fishing either at dawn or dusk, caught – and released – 50 odd snapper to an estimated 11 kg.

We stayed at the Nanga Resort, phone 08 9948 3992, and bought whiting heads at the Denham Fishermen’s cooperative 08 9948 1352. I just phoned them, and they still sell these by the block, along with various other baits.