Geoff Wilson’s Fishing Knots And Rigs

Dennis O’Brien with the snapper he caught off Point Richards on Friday.

Tim Johnson with one of the snapper he caught off Point Richards on Wednesday.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Heading out on Thursday evening to catch the low tide change, Paul Rahman and Goran Nedic anchored up near the Wilson Spit.

The action was hectic from the start with pinkie snapper to 40 cm or so well and truly on the bite. Then, as the rising tide kicked in at around 9.00 pm, they took fish to 5 kg; in fact they took bag limit catches in both size categories of which Paul sent in a photo.

Fishing north of the No 9 Point Richards Channel marker from 5.00 pm on Wednesday, Tim Johnson had all the action he could handle; rods buckling and reels screaming.

Keeping one fish of around 5 kg for the table he released the others that ranged from respectable pinkies to fish near the size of the one he kept.

Tim’s father, Andrew, and his friend Dennis O’Brien, tried their luck out here on Friday in what turned out to be atrocious conditions, and initially, after dragging the anchor a number of times, they headed closer in to where it was calmer.

Andrew Johnson with the snapper he caught off Point Richards.

Brodie Harrison with the large yellowbelly he caught from Lake Eildon.

But by 6.00 pm, the wind had eased quite a bit, so heading out once more, they again faced the still lumpy conditions.

Andrew soon took a snapper on a squid head that later weighed 5.5 kg. But, with the wind squalling up once more, they were ready to call it quits for the second time when Dennis caught another snapper of 4.8 kg, and that was their lot.

Whiting are still about, and on Thursday, Pete Dawson, his friend Steve Timmins and Cousin Dave Nagle of Shepparton, tried off Curlewis in 4.5 metres of water.

While the sea was heavily discoloured from the earlier easterly blow, the fishing was OK, for they caught 45 good size whiting, the biggest stretching the tape out to 42 cm.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that whiting have also made a welcome appearance off Indented Head with both clients and independent anglers catching fish to 40 cm or so.

Among them were Jeff Richards and Chris Hateley whose first mission on Thursday was to catch squid, which they did in spades, their biggest weighing 1.8 kg. That was before settling fairly close in off the Indented Head Yacht Club on the whiting.

But, as has been the case of late, the wind squalled up again spoiling an otherwise perfect day. Never the less, they finished with 21 good size fish before calling it quits.

So much for King George whiting; school – or silver whiting as they are best known, and which make great snapper bait – are on the bite as well as Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports:

Chris Tainton was among those to pick up quite a few, as did Billy White and Dimmy Rodriguez. They also took pinkie snapper to a kilogram or so, and several flathead.

And, speaking of flathead, last Tuesday evening, lure fishing enthusiasts, Tyson Brodding and Luka Kapitelli caught 25 on soft plastics between Steeles Rocks and the mussel farm at Portarlington, along with two pinkie snapper and four squid.

Lachie Wombell with a sample of the whiting he and Bob McPherson caught at Portland over the weekend (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Terry Lindsay of Geelong with a 3.6 kg brown trout from Lake Purrumbete.

Freshwater

Fishing Cairn Curran Reservoir, Maryborough Angling Club members Kevin and Amber Wild, Don Rayner and Kevin Parker, fishing from two boats, found the reservoir heavily discoloured from recent windy conditions, but yellowbelly were on the bite.

None were huge, but they were plentiful and eager to take worms being bounced along the bottom within the timbered areas.

However, club member Brodie Harrison who was fishing at Lake Eildon, caught a very large yellowbelly trolling an Oar Gee lure. I don’t have the weight, but from the photo he sent in it looked to be the size and shape of a Sherrin football.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that redfin and brown trout are on offer with Geelong angler Terry Lindsay catching both: The redfin were from 600 to 800 grams and caught on minnow, while his brown trout, which weighed 3.6 kg, was caught on a mudeye fished beneath a float.

Ryan Phillip with the large Australian bass he caught from Lake Bullen Merri.

Geelong anglers Garry Ridgeway and Lindsay Robinson also took trophy size brown trout, their biggest weighing 4.5 kg. These were also taken on mudeyes.

And also of interest was a large Australian bass taken from Lake Bullen Merri by Ryan Phillip of Geelong, but with no further details.

Shayne Taylor and grandson Carter 4, with the snapper they caught from the rocks at St Helens (Picture: Ben Taylor).

Tim Johnson with a good size snapper from the Corio Bay outer harbour (Picture: Caitlin Slater).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Fishing from the rock wall at St Helens last week was Shayne Taylor and his four year old grandson Carter; the lad being instructed to watch a rod baited with a pilchard fillet.

However, at around 11.30 am, Carter found himself a little out of his depth with the fish he’d hooked.

Luckily, grandfather Shayne knew what it was all about, and being an old hand at catching good size snapper, he soon had this one up on the rocks where it greeted the scales for a verdict of 4.2 kg.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that snapper were also taken from the outer harbour with Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck among those to catch them.

At anchor in 7 metres of water between the Nine Foot Bank pile and the Wilson Spit by 5.00 am on Sunday, they didn’t have long to wait for two of their rods to bury over, each yielding a 4.5 kg snapper.

An hour or so later, Tony caught a 6 kg gummy shark, but with banjo sharks and pinkies moving in on their baits, they headed back in.

Caitlin Slater with her snapper from the outer harbour (Picture Tim Johnson).

Robbie Bartuccio with his 7 kg snapper (Picture: Sam Melia).

Also making and early start on Sunday morning were Tim Johnson and Caitlin Slater who had the anchor down by daybreak, some 60 metres north of the No 9 Point Richards Channel Marker; the larger of their two snapper weighing 5.5 kg.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that whiting have made a welcome appearance in client’s bags, but squid remain their main catch.

And, on Sunday evening, Sam Melia and Robbie Bartuccio went squid fishing off Point Richards; successfully at it turned out. That was before putting in a session on the fairly well known Darby Day mark, perhaps a little early, inshore from the mussel farm between Steeles Rocks and Calhoun Street, Portarlington.

But the snapper were already there: They’d bagged out by 8.30 pm, not only on fish to 60 cm or so this area is noted for, but on some bigger ones as well; one weighing 7 kg.

And, silver whiting – a favoured bait for big snapper – are readily caught in the outer harbour by anyone prepared to drop over an appropriately baited light outfit. That’s if you can find a spot to avoid the undersize flathead:

John Stewart found such a spot last week.

However, John’s bottom fishing routine was interrupted by an eruption of surface activity near the wreck of the Aneiura off Avalon, prompting a lure-fishing exercise that yielded any quantity of Australian salmon.

Speaking of flathead, Paul Mayer and john Didge have been prospecting relatively shallow water within the Corio Bay inner harbour with Monroe soft plastics for a respectable dividend of big flathead, including one measuring 60 cm. However, the biggest surprise of all was a whiting measuring 48 cm that took the soft plastic.

Fishing from the Portarlington Breakwater pier extension early on Sunday morning was Daniel Harrison.

At first all he caught were some small pinkies, a couple of whiting and a few rod cod, but then he caught two good size snapper, one of which he sent in a picture of.

Victorian Inland Charters clients, Nick and Kristian with a sample of their redfin catch (Picture: Michael Evans).

Chris O’Toole with a 6.2 kg snapper that he caught offshore from Clifton Springs.

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that trophy size brown trout are still to be caught from the lake with Mick Harbour and Jacinta Kelly of Drysdale picking up fish to 2.7 kg up on trolled lures, while James Busfield of Colac caught one of just over 3 kg casting a Bent Minnow along the lake’s margins.

Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters reports that redfin fishing on Lake Purrumbete has slowed down somewhat, but he worked hard to find them for clients Nick and Kristian. And, using live minnow for bait, they picked up 40 to 39 cm in 18 metres of water, keeping 20 of the larger ones for the table.

Rhiannon Atkinson of VFA said she is hoping to organise the remaining chinook salmon release of 40,000 fry into lake Purrumbete today. Hopefully, the truck will arrive on site at around 1:15 pm.

Should you want confirmation, or wish to attend, please give Rhiannon a call on 0407 987 016.

Matthew Hunt’s clients Mick, Wayne and Shaun, with their mixed bag from 80 metres of water, south east of Lawrence Rock.

Portland

We didn’t hear much from Portland this week, but charter boat skipper Matthew Hunt found a variety of fish for clients, Mick, Wayne and Shaun. They were out in 80 metres of water south east of Lawrence Rock where their catch included snapper, nannygai, jackass morwong, and a large Chinaman leatherjacket.

A sample of the mulloway and European carp recently washed up on the beach at Ocean Grove (Picture: Paul Rahman).

Robbie Bartuccio with his 7 kg snapper (Picture: Sam Melia).

Paul asks:

Geoff, my cousin was walking along Ocean Grove beach recently and found a number of dead mulloway, the biggest possibly 15 kg, along with several European carp, washed up.

They move back and forth from the estuary to the ocean with no ill effect from the down-flow of fresh water from the river. Any guess on my part as to why there were so many washed up on the beach would be pure speculation.

Don Rayner with a yellowbelly from the Loddon River (Picture: Amber Wild).

Kevin Wild with a 49 cm yellowbelly he caught from the Loddon River (Picture: Amber Wild).

Corio Bay Bellarine Peninsula
Whiting remain the most sought after fish around the Bellarine Peninsula with Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien taking bag limit catches in less than 5 metres of water off Portarlington.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that snapper continue to be caught off The Springs, and among the lucky anglers were Darcy and Curtis Bibby, and their mate Lachie Poole.

They picked up five reds to 78 cm on Sunday evening, while fishing almost straight out from the boat ramp toward the channel and using squid for bait.

However, whiting and squid have been the main catch said Mike, with James Sarpi and George Vasiljkovic, who were out off Curlewis at very first light, catching both whiting and squid before returning to the ramp, as did Paul Rahman and Goran Nidic who also picked up good catches of both from much the same area.

Mark Gerkovich with a brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete.

Jacinta Kelly of Drysdale with a brown trout she caught from Lake Purrumbete.

Simon Werner has covered a bit of ground of late, recently returning from Eildon where he caught two trophy size rainbow trout from the Goulburn River, each over 5 kg, while casting and retrieving a Rapala bibbed minnow. And, with a total of 7 tonnes of rainbow trout brood stock recently released here by the VFA, there are still plenty more to catch.

Being something of a perpetual fishing entity, Simon has recently caught snapper to just on 3 kg from the Portarlington breakwater recently, and – aboard his kayak – has been pursuing flathead with soft plastics off Beacon Point, Clifton Springs, his best recent fish being a 55 cm flathead that weighed 1.15 kg.

Michael Evans with one of several trophy size brown trout he’s caught recently from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Michael Evans).

Xavier Gercovich with a brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete.

Freshwater
As usual, Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters has found fish for his clients on Lake Purrumbete, and in-between-times, he’s also caught a few himself.

Prospecting the lake’s shallow margins during the late afternoons and evenings, and casting his ever-reliable Bent Minnow, Michael has caught several large brown trout recently, some better than 3 kg.

Of course he’s not the only one to do so as John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park is quick to point out, giving the folk at VFA full credit for the great fishing to be experienced, both in Lake Purrumbete and nearby Lake Bullen Merri.

John sent in a good many photos of folk who’d taken what would be regarded as trophy size brown trout from Purrumbete, including some of Warrnambool Fishing writer, Mark Gerkovich and his sons Luke and Xavier. There were others of Mick Harbour and Jacinta Kelly of Drysdale, and Wayne Snell, all of whom caught large brown trout.

However, there are other species to be caught from the lake as well including chinook salmon, and tiger trout that were released into the lake as part of the three year trial and appear to be doing quite well, judging by recent captures.

Among those to catch tigers last week – after a successful bait-fishing trip on nearby Lake Bullen Merri for chinook salmon –-were Mark Richards and Paddy Donovan. They caught two, each better than a kilogram, on the fly. The Gerkovich boys caught some as well.

With recent success fishing the Loddon River near Laanecoorie, Kevin and Amber Wild, Don Rayner and Brian Rivett; all members of the Maryborough Angling Club, returned on the weekend. And, again fishing just downstream from the Laanecoorie Reservoir and using worms for bait, they took a total of 12 yellowbelly to 49 cm.

Lachie Wombell with a Nannygai taken offshore from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Lachie Wombell with a gummy shark taken offshore from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland
Picking a break in the weather over the weekend, Bob McPherson and Lachie Wombell headed out into 130 metres of water for a bottom-bouncing session.

As luck would have it, they encountered a variety of fish that included red cod, nannygai, gummy shark and knife-jaw: Probably missed some, but they did alright.

Wayne Snell with a brown trout

Lachie Wombell with a knife-jaw taken offshore from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Martin says
Geoff, there’s a sign on the St Leonards Pier entitled “Ray Fishing Rules.” It bans the taking or possession of rays from the pier: I thought there was a bag limit on rays and the like; I find such things very confusing.

Mind you, a 1.5 metre wide smooth stingray, as illustrated on page 21 as an example, would weigh well over 100 kg; something of a handful I would have thought.

Smooth stingray of 1.5 metres width, as depicted in the current Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide, alongside a smooth ray of this size, caught, photographed and released from The Narrows Beach at Queenscliff that certainly would have weighed well over 100 kg.

Martinus De Lange with the snapper he caught from St Leonard Pier.

Stanley Wang with the snapper he caught from Portarlington Pier.

Corio Bay Bellarine Peninsula
Snapper are about and were caught, both by land-based anglers and by others who were fishing from boats.

Martinus de Lange caught a beauty measuring 87 cm from the St Leonards pier at 1.30 on Sunday morning using squid for bait.

Also using squid for bait on Sunday was StanleyWang; he was fishing with partner Wena from the Portarlington Pier and caught a snapper of 4.5 kg at 6.00 am.

On Thursday, with the wind backing off in the afternoon, Warren Jankowski, along with his son Henry and his friend Paddy McCaffrey, launched off Clifton Springs for a drift on the flathead.

They got a bit more than they bargained for though when all three rods loaded up, reels growling the snapper tune.

During the mayhem, of passing the rods around to avoid a tangle, Warren gave the boys credit for keeping their cool as he barked orders, somewhat un-necessarily he admits for the boys landed all three of the fish, the biggest weighing in at 4 kg.

Henry Jankowski and his friend Paddy McCaffrey with one of their snapper from Corio Bay (Picture: Warren Jankowski).

Kevin and Amber Wild with a 50 cm yellowbelly from the Loddon River downstream from Laanecoorie Reservoir.

Anchored up a little to the east of Corio Bay’s Nine Foot Bank pile by 4.30 am, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck were also hoping for a snapper; not in vain either for within 30 minutes, Andrew’s reel began singing a familiar tune:

That one weighed 6 kg, and, with dawn’s first light in the sky, Tony was on the job with a 4.5 kg snapper.

After that though, those pesky banjo sharks moved in on their baits so they left. 15

Earlier in the week, they were out after the squid off Queenscliff, where – after making several moves – they found them off the mouth of Swan Bay, catching enough for the table and for their aforementioned snapper trip.

In fact they finished with a bag limit catch before heading out after the whiting, which they found just east of Coles Beacon, again taking a bag limit catch – their biggest fish measuring 42 cm – on the latter half of the flood tide.

Fishing off Curlewis for whiting in 6 metres of water on Sunday were Andrew Johnson and Pete Dawson, and they too were onto them pretty much straight away. But then the undersize pinkies moved in on their baits, so they moved closer in toward the shore.

Things were slow to begin with here in 4.5 metres of water, but when the tide changed to come in around mid-day the action picked up and they’d caught 30 before a strong southerly came up, spoiling their party.

Twenty nine of their were between 33 and 40 cm, with Pete rounding the day off with an absolute pearler that measured 46 cm.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that squid remain plentiful with some really big ones weighing in at more than a kilogram, among them.

Rod also says that flathead are on offer as well, that’s when favourable weather allows for fishing on the drift in the deeper water.

Kevin Wild with a nice yellowbelly from the Loddon River downstream from Laanecoorie Reservoir.

John Wild with a yellowbelly caught downstream from Laanecoorie Reservoir.

Freshwater
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that large brown trout are still on offer with Drysdale angler Mick Harbour’s best fish weighing 3.6 kilograms.

Evan Mason and Craig Mitchell of the Ballarat Fly Fishers Club have also been amongst them taking similar size browns, and the occasional rainbow, on the fly.

Redfin have also been on offer with Terry Lindsay of Geelong picking up fish to 800 grams on live minnow.

Kevin and Amber Wild returned to the Loddon River downstream from Laanecoorie Reservoir at the weekend and were well rewarded with several yellowbelly to 50 cm using worms for bait.

Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters with one of the brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete at last light on Saturday.

Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters with a 50 cm chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete.

As usual, Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters managed to find fish for his clients, and in-between-times, caught a few himself.

On Lake Purrumbete with client Dennis, and his boys Deejay and Jacko, redfin were the target; they caught 50, along with a 2.8 kg brown trout, all taken on live minnow, fished on the bottom, at a depth or 20 metres, with a running sinker rig.

Client Bryce, and his sons Cael and Ayden were also after the redfin, to grace the table and caught 20, again on live minnow, and in 15 metres of water on this occasion.

With time on his hands, Michael was out on the lake by himself, berleying with cut pilchards. On this occasion his catch included a 50 cm chinook salmon which finished up in the smoker, and with a break in the weather on Friday, he was out there again.

With the winds dropping off, Michael went prospecting along the shallow margins of the lake, casting a D&A Bent minnow, in the smelt pattern on this occasion, and came up tight on a 65 cm buck brown.

Saturday’s charters were cancelled because of very strong winds, but late on Saturday afternoon, the wind eased, and – in the very last hour of daylight with the lake almost completely glassed off – Michael was again on patrol along the lakes margins casting the bent minnow.

And, in the very last light of the evening – changing over to a black version of the bent minnow to affect a silhouette at the surface – caught two beautiful browns, one of 64 cm, the other measuring 68 cm; these fish weighing in at 3 kg and 3.12 kg respectively.

A sample from the mixed bag taken by Matthew Hunt and his crew off Cape Bridgewater on Saturday (Picture: Matthew Hunt).

Evan Mason of Ballarat Fly Fishers with one of his brown trout from Lake Purrumbete.

Portland
The flathead grounds off Portland are well known, and when conditions allow, a drift along the 80 metre line is almost guaranteed to produce great catches.

However, Charter boat captain Matthew Hunt, and a couple of his crew, caught a somewhat wider variety of fish on their drift past off Cape Bridgewater on Saturday, when – as well as flathead – they also caught a 6 kg snapper, a respectable gummy shark, a school shark, and a couple of colourful latchet, more often referred to as flying gurnard.

Victorian Inland Charters client, Dennis, and his boys Deejay and Jacko with a sample of their catch from Lake Purrumbete.

Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters with the brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete on Friday afternoon.

St Helens Projects
Minister for fishing and boating, Melissa Horne, has announced the imminent construction of three artificial reefs in Corio Bay, one within close proximity to the St Helens rock wall.

Considering these reefs will be seeded with native oysters and mussels to form a productive fish habitat for marine life, one can only hope the St Helens reef will not be close enough to the rock wall to be a snagging threat for anglers casting out from here.
Speaking of St Helens, Geelong and District Angling Clubs Association Secretary, John Hotchin, reports successfully obtaining a grant from the recreational fishing licence fund, initially, to place two solar-powered lights along the St Helens rock wall.
In addition, the Geelong City Council – at the behest of the Association – has agreed to install a further two such lights within the car park as well.

Riley McLeod Harrington with a 1.5 kg tiger trout that he caught from Lake Purrumbete.

Garry Ridgeway with the 60 cm brown trout he caught from Hoses Rocks on Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Renater Ridgeway).

Freshwater

Fishing Lake Bullen Merri, Garry Ridgeway joked at being in some trepidation of putting his hand over the side of the boat, so savage were the chinook salmon (the biggest measuring 45 cm) that he encountered there last week.
That was in the pouring rain: Testing enough! But when the wind came up to near gale force, that proved a bit too much.

Retrieving the boat, he moved to Hoses Rocks on nearby Lake Purrumbete, suitably equipped with an umbrella and a good supply of mudeyes for bait with which was hopeful of tempting a good size brown trout.His first mudeye was stolen with barely a movement from the float. Not the second though, for it snared a female brown trout measuring 60 cm, and – given its condition and the amount of eggs it was carrying – possibly 3 kg.

With an improvement in the weather, Garry was out in his boat the next day, again on Purrumbete, fishing mudeyes along the weed beds where he hooked a much bigger brown than the one he’d caught the previous day, but pulled the hook.
Patience prevailed though, and he eventually caught another brown measuring 64 cm.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that Mick Harbour caught a brown trout of 3.4 kg on a trolled lure, while Jeremy Richardson of Colac caught redfin from 600 to 800 grams on live minnow.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that good size redfin are still being caught from the Loddon River below Laanecoorie Reservoir, and – after last week’s report – club member Rob Rayner called up his mate“Woofza” from Castlemaine, and fishing here, took good catches of yellowbelly to 48 cm.

Garry
Ridgeway with the 64 cm
brown trout he caught from his boat on Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Renater
Ridgeway).

Corio Bay

Bellarine Peninsula Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that there are whiting are to be caught off
Curlewis’ red shed, while good catches of squid have been taken off The Dell. Andrew Johnson and
Pete Dawson found the whiting plentiful off Portarlington but a bit on the small side. Never the less, while returning anything less than around 33 cm,they still had 16 keepers.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head, reports that squid have been on offer despite some patches of discoloured water, and there have been some good onesamong them.

Off the Beach

Early last week,Ray Millman fished from the beach at Torquay, just north-east of the boat ramp.
And, he didn’t have wait long before catching a gummy shark just shy of a metre.
After dark, he caught a 45 cm whiting on his light outfit, which was baited with squid, but the strike of the night was on his heavier outfit that was baited with a whiting head/squid-strip cocktail.Although line screamed off the reel for a few seconds, it was all over before he reached the rod. Winding it in he found the bait had gone, and that was his last bite for the night.

George Pogany with a 70 cm flathead, caught from the Brisbane River on a live pike (Picture: Scott Goleby).

George Pogany with a 42 cm bream from the Brisbane River (Picture:
Scott Goleby).

Snapper competition

Snapper aficionados are reminded that the current 2020 Bellarine Snapper Challenge is already underway and will continue until December 8.Entry fees are $20.00 for seniors (18 year and older), and $10.00 for juniors. Payment is to be made – before any fish can be weighed in – by direct credit, to Bellarine Pirates BSB 633-000 A/C1398 75348, and identified as S20 along withyour name.Prizes are for the first, second and third heaviest snapper, along with five additional awards for mystery weights. For more information, please contact secretary.fish@bigpond.com or phone
Phil Walters on 0411 215 146.

Scott Goleby with a 62 cm flathead from the Brisbane River that he
caught on ultra-light tackle while fishing for bream.

Upstate

Scott Goleby and his friend George Pogany spent an afternoon on the Brisbane River, and not in vain as it turned out for included in their catch were two flathead of 62 and 70 cm, and a 42 cm bream.

John asks:

Geoff, while fishing offshore from Curlewis I caught this creature, brick-red in colour,that appeared to be half crayfish and half crab. Do you know what it would be?

John, the creature you caught was almost certainly a shovelnose lobster (Ibacus peronii). They used to be fairly common in Port Phillip Bay prior to scallop dredging; and – as you’ve demonstrated – they are making a comeback.

Martinus de Lange with a sample of the whiting catch from Corio Bay (Picture Joe
Spitiri).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

After launching into Thursday’s choppy nor’easter, Martinus de Lange and Joe Spitiri headed into the lee of Point Henry for shelter, first anchoring up in around 5 metres of water off Windmill Lane. However, it took three moves to shoreward before their anchor finally took hold Fortunately, whiting were on the bite and they caught 32, their biggest measuring 42 cm and weighing 496 grams; all being caught on either pipi or squid.

Also on Thursday, Harley Griffiths and Stan Owen were on their way to bag limit catches off St Leonards when that nasty
wind change from the north east shut their operation down. Pipis and squid were the favoured baits and their fish ranged from 32 to 38 cm.

Fishing for whiting at Queenscliff on Sunday afternoon were Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar who first caught several
squid off the entrance of Swan Bay. Then, with the tide beginning to run in at around 4.00 pm, they broke out the whiting tackle.

Initially there wasn’t much doing,but after making a series of moves they picked up a good bite just east of Coles Beacon and finished up with 35 beauties to 42 cm.

Andrew Phillips with his and Mark Sesar’s whiting catch (Picture: Mark Sesar).

Murray Scott and a companion put in some productive squid sessions from Queenscliff last week, mainly in the Lonsdale Bite. Fishing both of an early morning and even on Saturday afternoon in the rain, they took bag limit catches with some whoppers among them, a couple nudging 3 kg.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports being open for business once more, in respect of COVID-19
protocols of course, but says that recent heavy weather has left the water discoloured: Not so good for squid, but with good size snapper now being caught, both from the St Leonards Pier and the nearby Portarlington breakwaters, these are definitely a possibility.

Andrew Johnson and son Tim weathered the rain on Saturday, hopeful of catching a snapper or two from the outer harbour.
First, they tried over the rough ground just north of the Wilson Spit Channel where they caught and released two small but legal size gummy shark, but then the undersize pinkie snapper moved in on their baits.Moving toward the channel junction off Curlewis, they found a few good marks on the sounder and caught a decent pinkie snapper of at least 40 cm before, once again, the smaller pinkies moved in on their baits.

Jaiden McIlroy with a 94 cm mulloway that he caught from the Hopkins River at
Warrnambool on a soft plastic (Picture: Corey, Richardson Marine).

Warrnambool

We had some great bream reports from the Hopkins River estuary at Warrnambool earlier this year, but there are estuary
perch and mulloway to be caught here as well, as Corey of Richardson Marine at Warrnambool reports.

Last week, Jaiden McIlroy – who wasfishing with his uncle Tony, who has quite a CV as a piscatorial assassin caught a
94 cm mulloway on a soft plastic from the Hopkins; his first,but almost certainly, not his last.

Amber Wild with a yellowbelly from Cairn Curran Reservoir (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Kevin Wild with a yellowbelly from Cairn Curran Reservoir (Picture: Amber Wild).

Freshwater

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club,reports that redfin are still on the go at Lake Tullaroop with good numbers of fish coming out. However, he and wife Amber, and in another boat, John Gray,fished Cairn Curran Reservoir which has been fishing will since its surface temperature has reached 15 degrees Celsius.

Anchored up just out from the timber, and bobbing with worms just above the bottom, they caught any amount of yellowbelly (golden perch); no big ones mind, but they provided good fishing.

Kevin asks:

Geoff, if you accidentally wind the free end of your line back through the level-wind on your reel, is there any way you can re-align the level-wind without taking all the line off the reel?

Kevin, I suggest that – before re-threading the level-wind – pull some line from the spool to determine its position on, and in which direction it is moving across the spool and mark that spot.Next, cut the line so that the marked section remains in its position on the spool. Then, wind the handle of the reel until the level-wind reaches your marker.
Provided you matched the direction of the level-wind with the direction of the line on the spool, threading the line back through the level-wind should resolve the desired situation.

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

Murray Scott with an outsize calamari he caught at Port Phillip Heads on Sunday (Picture: Darcy Scott).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Launching from St Helens on Saturday morning with a good supply of pipis and squid for bait, Collan and Malcolm Erard were after whiting, and it was actions station from their first drop of the anchor just east of Point Henry.

With fish continually coming over the side, they had no need to move, and within two hours had caught their respective bag limits of whiting from 35 to 41 cm.

Also launching on Saturday morning, but with snapper in mind, Murray and Darcy Scott headed out from Avalon, anchoring along the western edge of the Wilson Spit.

They had only a few tentative bites to begin with, but at 8.00 am, one of Murray’s rods buckled over, reel singing to the tune of a 5 kg snapper that took a strip-bait from a fresh squid that Darcy had caught the night before.

Off to an early start, Jason Treloar and Harley Griffiths were soaking their baits off North Shore at the weekend, when – at very first light – their patience was rewarded with the capture of a 6.5 kg snapper that took a fancy to one of Jason’s pilchards.

There was nothing doing after that though, so – after waiting until an hour or so after sun-up – they trolled a couple of lures in close to the North Shore Rocks, hoping to pick up another snook like the one Jason caught land-based the week previous, but they may have left their run a bit late in the day, for there was nothing doing in that department.

However, they did pick up some small, but legal size Australian salmon to augment their snapper-bait supply.

Speaking of salmon, they’ve been present in Corio Bay and a fairly abundant by-catch for anglers seeking other fish like snotty trevalla, which have also been abundant and a species of which Darcy Scott has arguably, caught his share while fishing with various companions in the vicinity of Corio Quay recently.

Salmon have also been present inside the Queenscliff boat harbour, along with good size silver trevally, the latter reportedly being present during the latter half of the rising tide and eager to take various baits and soft plastics.

Ash Rawlings with a sample of the chinook salmon to be caught at Lake Bullen Merri (Picture: Trish Rawlings).

Freshwater

Ash Rawlings, who fished Camperdown’s Lake Bullen Merri with wife Trish on Saturday, reports that – judging from the number of folk fishing from boats, and from the bank – news of this great fishery has spread far and wide.

The crowds hadn’t slowed the fishing though, for no sooner had they put their lures out, before chinook salmon to a kilogram or so struck with ferocity, both at the surface and on the lures they’d down-rigged at some depth – particularly their Rapala X-Raps in the Pearl White and Spotted Ghost colours – enabling the catch, and release, of perhaps 30 of the fish they’d caught.

They also bait-fished successfully for a period of time, but returned to trolling for the sheer joy from the exciting strikes that this approach produced.

Collan Erard with he and his brother Malcolm’s catch of whiting (Picture: Malcolm Erard).

Off the Beach

Fishing one of the daybreak low tides at the Point Lonsdale back-beach late last week, Tony Ingram and Col Simmons had to put up with some of the usual unwanted species like draughtboard sharks, but their luck eventually changed for the better with a couple of good size pinkie snapper, the biggest just on 50 cm, using squid for bait.

Lachie Wombell with one of the snapper he and Bob McPherson caught offshore from Portland at the weekend (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

While fishing on the drift in 130 metres of water offshore from Portland over the weekend, Bob McPherson and Lachie Wombell broke no records, but they did catch plenty of fish.

These included Tasmanian trumpeter, snapper, rock ling, flying gurnard and red cod. While they kept a selection for the table, most – those that were in good condition – were released.

Ash Rawlings with the seven-gilled shark he caught from the Lee Breakwater at Portland.

Ash Rawlings with a sample of the chinook salmon that he and wife Trish caught from Lake Bullen Merri.

Down Portland way, Ash Rawlings reports that vast schools of bait fish have been pushed inshore by predatory barracouta and snook, their presence being betrayed by birds circling overhead.

He, and son Cam of Portland Bait and Tackle, were quick to take advantage, catching them from the Lee Breakwater, both for the table and to go into the freezer for future gummy shark bait.

Naturally enough, with other species on offer from the breakwater like snapper, they put portions of their barracouta fillets out for bait, and on one occasion, caught a seven-gilled shark of about 25 kg that was released to swim away unharmed.

Ash, and wife Trish, also fished from their boat on Camperdown’s Lake Bullen Merri where their berley trail soon had chinook salmon on the go, catching them at will using pilchard fillets for bait.

Hoping for more variety, and a change of pace, they set about trolling lures, but once again, chinook salmon – mostly around the 700 gram mark – were all that was on offer.

Cam Rawlings with a sample of the barracouta and snook currently on offer from the Lee Breakwater at Portland.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

With yesterday’s low tide at first light, Jason Treloar – who’d caught a nice snapper nearby the previous week – fished land-based from the North Shore rocks below the Esplanade where, casting a bibbed lure paid off with the capture of a good size snook.

Andrew Johnson and wife Jenny were at crossroads as to whether they would try for whiting or snapper, given that a few of the latter have been taken lately, and eventually – given the stirred up conditions on the bay – snapper were to be their target.

The usual signature of small pinkies wasn’t hard to pick up around the channel junction off Curlewis, so they took a run to the north, soon picking up more promising readings, and it wasn’t long before one of their baits, a squid head, was taken in typical snapper fashion.

Unfortunately though, the hook pulled free, and passing that information onto his oft-time companion, Dennis O’Brien – who was just heading out at the time – going for whiting seemed a more realistic proposition.

And, his decision to anchor up on one of their favourite whiting grounds off Curlewis paid off, for he picked up fifteen good size whiting before the bite shut down.

With a break in the weather early last week, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar headed out off Queenscliff, hopeful of catching some whiting offshore off the mouth of Swan Bay.

Initially it was lean pickings, and like a good many others of late, found them scarce. But undeterred, they kept prospecting here and there until late afternoon, when – after anchoring up just north of Coles Beacon – their luck changed for the better.

And, by the time the incoming tide had slackened toward nightfall, they had their respective bags of whiting, the biggest measuring 42 cm.

As unbelievable as it appears, these fish are of approximately the same age. The 700 gram chinook salmon was released as a fingerling while the 20 gram rainbow trout was released as a yearling, it’s extended time in the hatchery depriving it of its most critical period of growth, and adaption to its eventual environment (Picture Garry Ridgeway).

Freshwater

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club and wife Amber fished Lake Tullaroop last week, but it was lean pickings there with only three redfin to show for their efforts.

Undeterred, Kevin was out again a day or so later with Don Rayner; and although their lure-trolling exercise was for naught, switching to the use of micro-jigs, which they dropped over any clusters of fish that showed up on the sounder, saved the day as it turned out, for they caught eight good size redfin doing that.

Chinook salmon fishery

Renowned angler, Garry Ridgeway’s response to last week’s question as to why chinook salmon no longer reach the comparatively large sizes that they have been recorded as reaching in the past, is worthy of consideration.

He makes the point that their greatest period of growth, and most important adaptation to their environment, occurs immediately following their emergence as hatchlings.

The longer they are deprived of their introduction to the wild, the more limited their eventual size will be. And, he says, this is demonstrated by the reduction in the limited growth of fish that have been retained in the hatchery for extended periods.

While being sheltered from predation in the hatchery, and fed on processed food – sometimes for the first year of their life – satisfies some management criteria, he says it severely limits the size to which these fish will eventually grow.

Ash Rawlings with one of the large squid he caught at Portland last week.

Trish Rawlings with a sample of the flathead they caught on the drift offshore
from Portland (Picture: Ash Rawlings).

Corio Bay

Late August, and the first hint of rising water temperatures, has always been a good indicator for so-called winter
snapper coming on the bite; something mentioned in last week’s report.And before last week’s inclement weather moved in, fish to 3 kg continued to be taken in close proximity to the boat moorings off both Eastern, and Western Beaches, with Jason Treloar picking up one of 6 kg just offshore from Moorpanyal Park North Shore.

Although somewhat reluctant to reveal exactly what Corio Bay real estate he was casting from, land-based angling
stalwart Danny Skene, took several snapper in abysmal conditions last week using fish heads and partial frames to defeat the smaller specimens also present.

Danny said he didn’t have long to wait for his first fish to come along; a nice one of around 3.5 kg. That was
followed in fairly quick succession by several more, mainly around the 2 kg mark with the biggest possibly 4 kg.

Danny Skene with one of the snapper he caught land based from Corio Bay last
week.

Danny Skene after working up a sweat catching Corio Bay snapper, land based.

Portland

Early last week, Cam Rawlings of Portland Bait and Tackle, put to rest a rumour that gummy shark have been a rare catch

off Portland of late after returning from a trip with his mates; their catch including three good size gummies from 80 metres of water.Cam also fished off Portland with his father Ash and mom Trish, their catch including quite a few of the flathead presently abundant offshore, while Cam caught another gummy shark, a beauty ofpossibly 30 kg that was released unharmed.

Also included in their catch was a very large squid, similar in size to the spring run of big squid that have just
turned up closer to home off Queenscliff, but have received little attention due to last week’s inclement weather.

Cam Rawlings with a gummy shark of possibly 30 kg that was released (Picture:
Ash Rawlings).

Freshwater

Readers will recall my mention of Wurdiboluc Reservoir being closed to recreational fishing on 11/08/20.
As of 21/08/20, a media release attributed to Shaun Cumming, general manager of infrastructure and technology at Barwon
Water, advises that following waters are now open to recreational fishing, in those areas where it is permitted:

Wurdiboluc Reservoir (Cape Otway Road south west of Moriac), West Barwon Reservoir (Apollo Bay Road, Forrest), Bostock

Reservoir (Old Melbourne Road, Ballan), Upper Stony Creek No1 (near Anakie on the Geelong/Ballan Road), Bolwarra Weir (via Denherts Road some 7.5 km north of Ballan; not to be confused with Bolwarra near Portland), and Painkalac

Reservoir via Airey’s Inlet.Naturally enough, protocols in respect of COVID-19, apply. Picnic and barbecue facilities at all sites remain closed; signage at same being reviewed and updated in respect of government requirements.

Colin asks

Geoff, I am encouraged by your reports of chinook salmon of a kilogram or more being taken from Lake Bullen Merri.
However, my question is: Are these the same as the quinnat salmon that used to be caught from here and Lake Purrumbete? And, didn’t they grow much larger than the chinook salmon taken here today?

Colin, your question raises some issues:

First, the fish we once referred to as quinnat salmon are now officially referred to as chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus
tshawytscha).

Historically, chinook salmon have been recorded as growing relatively large in Lake Purrumbete and Bullen Merri: One of my erstwhile correspondents, the late Henry Rantall, caught one of 10.4 kg back in the 1980s, while Victorian Fisheries net surveys in that same time-frame took specimens to 11.8 kg; others of similar size were also caught,

Recent captures of large chinook salmon from these waters have been exceedingly rare though. They’ve include one of 8.6 kg taken from Lake Bullen Merri in 2018 by Terry Shepherd and another of 8.2 kg was taken by Jason Castles from Lake Purrumbete in 2017; both captures strongly indicate the general reduction in the size of these fish is not degraded genetics as some have suggested.

Paul
Mayer with one of the
snapper he caught at Rippleside (Picture: John Didge).

Paul
Mayer with one of the
tailor he caught while fishing for pinkie snapper off Rippleside (Picture: Paul Mayer).

Corio

Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Lara fishing identity Arie de Wit, made an early start at the Grammar School Lagoon; one of his favourite fishing haunts, but things were pretty slow to begin with.

Moving to just east of the boat moorings didn’t improve matters; not immediately anyway.

And, with the tide now running out, so was his luck; or so he’d thought.

But around mid day, one of his rods buckled over, its reel singing to the tuneof a good size pinkie snapper.

It was the first of five Arie caught in a short but frantic session before the bite shut down,the largest of which measured just on 40 cm.

They must be about, for Paul Mayer and John Didge (the jig man), found another school of good size pinkies off the proposed Rippleside marina site, catching and releasing several to 60 cm using Munro soft plastics.

Andrew Johnson and wife Jenny couldn’t find any whiting, so on Wednesday they headed out off Portarlington where they caught a dozen nice squid, the biggest a beauty of around 1.5 kg.

They tried again the following day, but the water was cloudy and the only interest shown was from one very large squid that would repeatedly follow their jigs but without making contact, and – to make matters worse – another boat was
coming uncomfortably close.Turns out it was the water police, who checked them out as far as safety gear went: All was OK,but that one large squid had been spooked.

Martinus
de Lange with his catch of
Tommy Rough from the St Leonards Pier.

Martinus de Lange

visited St Leonards Pier early last week to fish the evening ebb tide for TommyRough.
There were dozens of them milling around under the lights of the pier when he arrived, so hewasted no time in breaking out a Sabiki rig, and – using it to great effect – he took his bag limit of 20 in short order.

Kevin
Wild with the 86 cm Murray
cod he caught from the Loddon River (Picture: Amber Wild).

Kevin
Wild with the Rainbow
trout he caught from Talbot Reservoir (Picture: John Gray).

Freshwater

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club, and wife Amber, had been soaking baits of raw chicken from the bank of the Loddon River below Laanecoorie Reservoir for about an hour on Saturday when Kevin caught, and released, an 86 cm Murray cod. Prior to that, and following some promising reports from Talbot Reservoir nearEvansford, Kevin and fellow club member John Gray arrived with a good supply of mudeyes; Kevin catching a rainbow trout of about 1.5 kg.

Kevin also reports that Tullaroop Reservoir is still fishing well for redfin, the best approach being down-rigging soft plastics (preferably white in colour) at depths to 18 metres: Kevin’s father-in- law, Don Rayner has recently
taken fish to 40 odd cm using this technique.

Don Rayner with a couple of nice redfin from Tullaroop Reservoir (Picture: Amber Wild).

Portland

With good weather on Saturday, Bob McPherson and Lachie Wombell took a run out to the edge of thecontinental shelf, where – in around 500 metres of water – they commenced bottom-bouncing on the drift.

The fishing wasfavourable, and it wasn’t long before they’d taken bag limitcatches of blue-eye trevalla and gemfish, the latter being more than willing to take baits of their own kind.

Four year old Kai Dawe with a
flathead he caught from Cunningham Pier using pipi for bait (Picture: John
Dawe).

Harold asks:

Geoff, I’m trying to catch a big winter snapper but am not having much luck. I hear the Grammar School Lagoon is a good spot to try for them at this time of year. What are your thoughts?

Harold, while the Grammar School lagoon is known to produce snapper at this time of year, the presence of those larger fish is by no means dependable. Some years, with the appropriate expenditure of time and effort, they are there to be caught, but in other years they don’t seem to be present in sufficient numbers to warrant the effort.

As teenagers, RossMiddleton and I spent a good deal of time fishing for them here, catching a good many throughout autumn, winter and early spring, including several over the old 20 lb mark:

While we had success on the high tides at either dawn or dusk, the most productive time of all was during the first two or three hours of the flood tide, particularly when that occurred either late at night or during the early hours of the
morning: I trust this helps.

Please send

fishing reports and photos to geoffw10@optusnet.com.au