Geoff Wilson’s Fishing Knots And Rigs

Al Castro with the southern saw shark he caught from the beach at Anglesea.

Off the Beach

Fishing late at night from a beach at Anglesea, Al Castro was hoping for a snapper, gummy shark, or perhaps even a mulloway, but the fish he’d hooked didn’t appear to be any of those.

What he caught was actually a southern saw shark which bears some characteristics of the tropical species, which grows to approximately 6 metres in length.

Although much smaller than its tropical cousin there is no doubting the similarities between to two species.

Stephen Eales and son Mason 5, with a sample of their redfin to 41 cm from Tullaroop Reservoir, all caught on soft plastics (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Freshwater

With good reports from Camperdown’s Lake Bullen Merri, Scott Hamilton and Wes Brewer made an early start last week, initially trolling lures, one behind a paravane at some depth, the others along the surface.

As it turned out, both presentations took tiger trout, the biggest around the 1.2 kg mark, along with a couple of slightly larger chinook salmon before the action tapered off.

A change of tactics that involved fishing pilchard fillets a metre or so above the bottom in around 20 metres of water in a berley trail, produced several chinook salmon to 1.5 kg. However, a change in wind direction did them no favours, probably though losing contact with their berley trail.

Fishing Lake Bullen Merri on Friday was Simon Werner who caught both tiger and rainbow trout while fishing pilchard fillets just above the bottom.

VFA Fish Stocking Coordinator, Rhiannon Atkinson expects the first lot of tiger trout for release this year, to be ready for stocking on Thursday, July 18.

These will be released into lake Bullen Merri, and the truck – which will be carrying approximately 4000 tiger trout at an average weight of 100 grams – is scheduled to arrive at the boat ramp at 3.00 pm

Should you wish to attend the stocking please let Rhiannon know so she can pass your contact details for any upgrades.

Another release of tiger trout, into Lake Purrumbete this time, is scheduled for the end of July, which is planned may be followed by yet another stocking of tigers into the crater lakes to reach the allocated 6000.

In the meantime, should you have any concerns regarding the stocking, feel free contact Rhiannon, either by mobile: 0407 987 016 or by email: rhiannon.atkinson@vfa.vic.gov.au

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that Tullaroop Reservoir is still producing redfin for club members including Stephen Eales, who – along with five-year-old son Mason, have had a couple of good sessions on the redfin.

Mina Sivyer with a 2 kg brown trout taken from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).

Andrew Johnson took another solo run down to Leopold on Friday where he was so successful on the whiting last week, but fishing for half an hour from his arrival, he didn’t get a bite.

Heading back east toward The Springs, he eventually came across a good school of fish, and – using squid strips and mussel for bait – finished up with a bag limit catch of keepers.

Launching at Queenscliff on Saturday at around mid-day, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar first fished on the drift for squid off the mouth of Swan Bay catching several good-sized specimens.

And, in anticipation of the flood tide at around 1.30, moved further out into an area, that they’ve fished for whiting on an almost weekly basis, eventually taking bag limit catches of prime specimens despite the strengthening southerly, which – fortunately- followed the direction of the tide.

Trevor asks:

Geoff, I would like to know when low tide occurs at the Barwon Heads Bridge. Since I live at Reservoir, I can’t check this easily. Is it the same as Port Phillip Heads?

Trevor, I suspect what you really want to know is the time that low slack water occurs at the bridge; the time at which the current stops running out before coming back in. This is not the same time as low tide, which occurs earlier.

With the present volume of fresh water coming down the Barwon, low slack water at the bridge occurs about two hours later than the time given for low water at Port Phillip Heads and another hour later at the Sheepwash.

However, should the volume of fresh water coming down the river increase, then low slack water would be even later.

Kevin Wild with one of the Murray cod he caught from Lake Mulwala last week (Picture: Amber Wild).

Barwon beauties

The Barwon estuary is renowned for good fishing at this time of year with bream among the contenders, and – having gone to the trouble of gathering some sandworms – Stan Owen and Tony Ingram were going to give them a try.

However, on their arrival at the Sheepwash on Thursday morning with the tide running in strongly, and with ferocious bait thieves on the job, their sandworm supply was seriously under threat. So, they used up what remained of their pipis from a previous trip taking a mixed bag of mullet and salmon.

It wasn’t until early afternoon on the approach of slack water that they broke out the sandworms once more, only to find toadfish and other pickers were still on the job,

In fact, it wasn’t until the tide started trickling out, did they give the sandworms a final run that produced not only a couple of nice bream around the 700 gram mark, but a luderick as well which was a good deal larger than either of their two bream.

Back at the Sheepwash boat ramp, the diversity of the estuary again became apparent when another angler displayed a couple of decent estuary perch.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Making a pre-dawn start last Tuesday, snapper aficionados Stan Owen and Jason Treloar took a run along the edge of the Corio Channel off Corio Quay and Moorpanyal Park, North Shore where they’d picked up a couple of nice fish three weeks earlier, but despite several more tries, nothing since.

However, this time their efforts paid off with the capture of four nice fish from 4.5 to just on 7 kg from 7 metres of water between the channel and the rocks.

Andrew Johnson did a solo run last Tuesday morning after the whiting, anchoring up in front of Leopold’s “The Sands” Caravan Parks by 7.20 am, one of his favourite whiting marks.

There was no need to move on this occasion because the bite was “on” so to speak, and an hour later he’d raised the anchor and was on his way home with a legal bag of whiting that measured from 34 to 41 cm.

All were caught in around four metres of water using pipis and squid for bait.

After launching at Point Richards on Thursday morning, Gordon and Carol Williams were out to fish the remainder of the incoming tide and were soon off to a promising start with several good size whiting.

However, as is sometimes the case, a hoard of undersize pinkie snapper moved in on their baits, so they moved further west toward Spray Farm where they’d been successful on previous occasions. And, as it turned out, once again.

They probably would have finished with bag limit catches had a seal not moved in on them around 1.30 pm. But by then, the tide had died along with the whiting bite.

Also after the whiting were Andrew Phillips, Adrian Cole and Mark Sesar, who – after launching at Queenscliff at around 1.00 pm on Thursday – they found the flood tide had slowed noticeably, so they decided to have a try for the squid first and fish for whiting on the outgoing tide.

They caught a total of 23 squid before they noticed that the tide had begun running out. So, they moved out into deeper water east of Coles Beacon where their first whiting was an absolute pearler of 44 cm. And the bite continued into the afternoon along with a stiffening southerly that increasingly made fishing difficult.

Never-the-less, they hung in there, until conditions became so uncomfortable that they decided to return to Queenscliff. Their final tally of good size whiting was a surprising 54, all really good size fish.

Freshwater

Kevin and Amber Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club took a run up to Lake Mulwala, mainly to do some maintenance on their cabin last week. Naturally, they took their fishing tackle and picked up a couple of nice cod to 80 cm.

Closer to home, Kevin reports that most local waters, including Cairn Curran Reservoir, have been quiet. However, Tullaroop Reservoir is still producing redfin over the 40 cm mark and is currently the most productive water in that district.

Jim Gillians with the gummy shark he caught from the beach at Collendina, early on Saturday morning.

From the beach

Making a 2.00 am start from the beach at Collendina on Saturday to fish the incoming tide that was due to peak at around 5.00 am, Jim Gillians was hoping for a decent gummy shark or perhaps a snapper.

Initially, all he caught though were great lumps of seaweed on almost every cast.

However, his patience did eventually pay off when he caught a large gummy shark on an Australian salmon fillet that he had on for bait. He didn’t weigh it, but you can see from the photo that it was a beauty.

Early last week, Ray Millman caught up with his friend David Coman at Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula, initially in a social setting.

But Ray doesn’t go very far without the appropriate fishing tackle, so the pair decided to fish nearby Gunnamatta Beach, hopefully to catch some salmon.

That was around mid-day near the top of the tide, which is considered by regulars, of whom there were a good many present, the best tide to fish, but there was little doing.

Their next visit, at Ray’s urging, was the following morning before daybreak on the low tide, hopefully with more of the beach exposed, providing easier access to the deeper water.

Rays first cast on dawn’s first light with his ever dependable 42-gram Sea Missile, produced the first of a dozen salmon to 2.2 kg that they caught on this occasion, and while having the beach to themselves.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Fishing for whiting from Corio Bay’s outer harbour early last week, Gordon and Carol Williams were out off Point Richards to fish the afternoon’s incoming tide, but the whiting bite was a little on the slow side.

After making a couple of moves though, they found a better patch of fish in around four metres of water inshore from the mussel farm. And it was from here they eventually took their respective bag limits of good size whiting, returning a number of small but legal-size fish.

Also included in their catch were several good size garfish that were tempted by the mussels they were using for bait.

Eli McLoughlin 4, with the carp he caught from St Augustine’s water hole at the weekend (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).

Freshwater

Making an early morning start at Wurdiboluc Reservoir last week, Scott Hamilton and Wes Brewer first put in an energetic lure fishing session but with nothing to show for it.

So, a mudeye was deployed under a float on one rod, while changing from soft plastics to a metal spoon put Scott on the board with a couple of decent redfin.

However, Wes caught the fish of the day, a 50 cm brown trout that took the mudeye.

Simon and Jayden Werner fished Lake Bullen Merri last week, and – selecting several places around the lake – pulled their boat up to fish from the bank.

They caught one tiger trout on a lure, but the rest of their fish; three more tiger trout to 2 kg, two rainbow trout and two chinook salmon, were caught on pilchard fillets.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that the lake has been fishing well for a variety of fish, and among the successful anglers was Mario from Caroline Springs.

Mario’s catch from the lake included three chinook salmon, each around 1.5 kg, and a brown trout of 2 kg. All being caught while fishing pilchard fillets a metre or so above the bottom.

Kevin McLoughlin and son Eli 4, headed down to St Augustine’s water hole hoping for a rainbow trout. No luck there, but the lad did catch a fair-sized carp.

Martinus asks:

Geoff, I note the current fishing regulations prohibit the targeting of skates, stingrays, and allied species from any pier or breakwater, or within 400 meters of same.

The rays are an unavoidable capture from said areas, particularly when using large baits intended for snapper. So, is this just another draconian rule?

Martinus, the problem is in the wording. I don’t know anybody who targets the “flat chaps,” as they are sometimes referred to, and as you say, those caught are invariably accidental captures.

Far better, in my opinion at least, it would have been better to urge anglers who make such accidental captures to return them unharmed whenever possible.

Al Castro with the 9.5 kg snapper he caught from the beach at Collendina on Saturday night.

From the beach

Arriving at the beach at Collendina late on Saturday night, Al Castro was hoping his baits of squid would tempt a good-sized gummy shark or snapper.

Well, it was a snapper that took his bait – and on the very first cast, but at 9.5 kg it was a large fish for the surf … or anywhere for that matter.

Needless to say, after catching the big snapper he returned home.

Lockie Wombell with three of the seven blue eye trevalla that he and Bob McPherson caught before the orca moved in (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Lockie Wombell in action with passing traffic along the Continental shelf (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

With the good weather holding over the weekend, Bob McPherson and Lockie Wombell headed out wide from Portland to do some bottom bouncing for blue eye trevalla, and – after the six minutes or so it took for their rigs to hit the bottom – the bite was on.

Bringing the fish up took a lot longer, but they caught seven good size specimens before their attention was drawn to a pod of possibly five orca (killer whales), approaching, obviously eager to share the bounty.

By no means shy, they took each and every one of the blue eye, and possibly other species of fish they hooked from then on, sometimes right beside the boat, giving Bob the chance to take several photos.

By no means shy, the orca took every fish Bob McPherson and Lockie Wombell hooked on their arrival (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Launching at Queenscliff in freezing conditions on Tuesday morning of last week, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck headed out to one of their favourite whiting grounds off the entrance of Swan Bay to catch the remainder of the rising tide.

Unfortunately, though – although they had bites straight away – they were not from the whiting they were seeking but a variety of unwanted fish including small mackerel that were stealing their baits.

Anyway, in the calm conditions they headed out into deeper water where the tide was running more strongly, a move that had previously paid off.

And again, it was here they got onto the whiting, and before too long, each finished up with bag limit catches, and there were some beauties among them with Andrew measuring their biggest at 44 cm.

With their whiting catch stowed, they moved inshore while there was enough run on the tide to fish for squid on the drift, again taking a bag limit catch with Andrew estimating the largest of their cephalopods at around 1.3 kg.

Also, last Tuesday morning, Andrew Johnson and Peter Dawson took a run down to Leopold where they had no trouble at all in picking up bag limit catches of whiting to 41 cm from 5.5 metres of water and were on their way back to the ramp by 10.15.

Heading out to the same spot again on Friday Andrew and Denis O’Brien encountered a lot more smaller whiting, with only 32 keepers, returning fish below 33 cm as is their usual practice.

Fishing from his Kayak just offshore from Moorpanyal Park North Shore last week, David Cox had no problem catching a variety of fish using soft plastics.

These included a bag limit catch of pinkie snapper while returning another four potential keepers, along with three that were undersize, keeping a larger pinkie of 41 cm.

Also included in his catch were a King George whiting, two grass whiting, a small salmon, a toady, and another fish that he describes as a southern Māori wrasse; a variety that I’ve yet to find a reference for.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club with a sample of the redfin he caught from Tullaroop Reservoir.

Don Rayner displays a redclaw crayfish taken from the Thompson River at Longreach in central Queensland.

Freshwater

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club has just returned from Longreach in central Queensland where he joined fellow club members Ken Hinks and Don Rayner, fishing for redclaw crayfish – which resemble a very large yabby – on the Thompson River.

Using opera house nets, of which you can use four in that neck of the woods, they took a phenomenal catch of redclaw – some around the 43 cm mark – while baiting their nets with potato, pumpkin, and oranges.

On his return, Kevin wasted no time in getting his feet wet once more launching at Tullaroop Reservoir with fellow club member Barry Crombie, both taking redfin over the 40 cm mark, the biggest measuring 46 cm. All were caught while trolling lures.

Please send your reports to occytrapper@gmail.com or by phone to 03 5248 1307.

Scott Goleby with the Dorab, or wolf herring he caught from Moreton Bay at the weekend.

Arriving at daybreak to catch the low tide at Moggs Creek, early last week, Ray Millman was hoping to do better than he did on his previous trip when he couldn’t catch a decent salmon for love nor money.

This time however, they were well and truly present and taking his 42-gram, Savage Sea Missile on almost every cast. And, since the largest of his fish were around the 2 kg mark, he only kept eight for the long walk back to his vehicle, releasing the rest.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Cooling temperatures did not dissuade snapper aficionados Stan Owen and Jason Treloar from making an early morning start on the bay, and their usual approach again paid off, this time within the inner harbour.

Despite the threat of rain on Friday morning their patrol along the edge of the Corio Channel paid off with the capture of two snapper, each around 5 kg, after a promising sounding off North Shore.

They probably would have caught more save for the short duration of unusually timid bites before their quarry went quiet on daybreak.

Simon Werner, while on deckhand duties aboard Adamas charters over the weekend, welcomed two clients with an unusual request – for this time of year anyway – and that was to jig for kingfish.

While most kingfish are captured in the warmer months, their clients wishes prevailed, and in a usually productive area off Point Lonsdale – during the warmer months anyway – they put in the hard yards, finishing up with two kingfish of 62 and 65 cm.

While I don’t have the usual number of local reports this week, I do have a couple of interstate reports that should be of interest.

Murray Stewart with the 109 cm king threadfin salmon he caught from the 80 mile beach in WA (Picture: Linda Stewart).

Upstate West

Geelong fishing Identities Murray and Linda Stewart, whom we featured last week with Linda’s sailfish capture offshore from Broome WA, stopped during their trip at 80 Mile Beach – which is between Broome and Port Hedland – where Murray broke out his light surf fishing outfit.

On a stretch of beach outside of the marine park, he found the fishing a bit slow, but on winding in to check his bait he came up tight on what turned out to be a king threadfin salmon that put up a valiant 20-minute fight before he was able to beach it.

And it made quite an impression at the nearby fish cleaning facilities where locals were somewhat astonished that this 109 cm, 11.5 kg threadfin, was caught on only 4 kg breaking strain line.

John Goleby with the golden trevally he caught from Moreton Bay QLD, after exiting the Brisbane River estuary (Picture: Scott Goleby).

John Goleby holding out the mackerel tuna that he caught in the estuary of the Brisbane River that he caught (Picture: Scott Goleby

Upstate North

Brisbane fishing enthusiasts John and Scott Goleby – whose fishing origins began in Geelong – took advantage of a break in the weather last weekend to duck out from the Port of Brisbane boat ramp.

Navigating downstream they spied fish boiling at the surface that they first identified as tailor, but John soon realised they were in fact, mackerel tuna.

So, after a quick lure change, John hooked one that Scott eventually scooped into the landing net to find the hook on John’s lure had almost been straightened.

Buoyed by their catch, they headed out onto Moreton Bay where, initially at least, there wasn’t much doing. So, Scott switched to bait fishing while John continued casting various metal jigs and vibes.

This was a move that paid off with John’s rod loading up with the weight of a powerful fish that he fought on full drag to minimise the chance of it being taken by one of the sharks that this water is noted for, eventually being rewarded after 15 minutes or so with the capture of an 8.2 kg, 91 cm golden trevally.

Later, Scott hooked an unusual Dorab, or wolf herring, adding a thrilling twist to their day, as they returned to the boat ramp, excited by their catches and eager for their next fishing trip.

Please send your reports to occytrapper@gmail.com or by phone to 03 5248 1307.

Four-year-old Eli McLoughlin shows he’s no slouch at catching whiting off Clifton Springs (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Heading out off Clifton Springs on Saturday morning were Kevin McLoughlin, Marcus Pearson, and Kevin’s son Eli, who at the tender age of four, was no stranger to the gentle art of piscatorial assassination.

Whiting were their target species, of which they caught thirty altogether. This was despite the continual presence of two seven-gilled sharks cruising down below that could be clearly seen due to the extreme clarity of the water.

Fishing off the mouth of Swan Bay on the rising tide from mid-day on Saturday were Mark Sesar and Andrew Phillips who were also after whiting.

Initially anchored up near Coles Beacon, where there wasn’t much doing, they moved out to the east where the tide was so strong they had to use heavier sinkers.

But here, the whiting were well and truly on the bite, and from then on, they had no trouble taking their respective bag limits of fish to 44 cm.

Also, well and truly onto the whiting was Simon Werner who found a productive patch, from which he too took a limit catch of good size fish.

Ken Carman with another sample of the redfin he caught while of a lure testing session on Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Michael Evans).

Ken Carmans’s partner Mary with a 43 cm redfin taken during Ken’s lure-testing session (Picture Michae Evans).

Freshwater

Fishing contributor Frank Benvenuto’s most recent companion while fishing the Werribee River has been Ray Doolan from Geelong, who – given the snaggy nature of the river – has been fishing his bait under a float, a move that has yielded good results.

The main species sought here is Australian bass, which Frank has previously confided that, unlike in previous years, they have been difficult to tempt with lures. However, they may still be caught on bait; freshwater yabbies and scrubworms in particular.

Frank mentions that even on bait, the bite has slowed down with the onset of cold weather, and – more than likely – the breeders are heading downstream to spawn in the estuary. And, if history is any guide, those fish should be heading back upstream from September onwards.

Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters reports that his skipper Ken Carman, along with partner Mary, headed out onto Lake Purrumbete on Wednesday of last week testing Ken’s, yet to be released, soft plastics on this water’s abundant redfin.

As it turned out, they had a ripper two-hour session that produced over 60 Redfin with the biggest measuring 43cm, of which they kept 30 odd fish for the table.

(Clockwise from left) Billistic deckhand Gavin taking the photo by an extension, Murray Stewart holds onto wife Linda who holds onto her sailfish by the bill prior to release.

Upstate

Geelong fishing identities Murray and Linda Stewart. made the Journey to Broome in northwestern Australia where Murray caught up with the crew of “Billistic,” an 11.5 metre charter boat from which he’d fished some 17 years ago.

Booked in for Tuesday of last week, the weather gods were not smiling, nevertheless they headed north, sheltering along the coast in winds gusting offshore to 30 knots at times with Murray hoping for Linda to catch a sailfish.

Well, after travelling over 30 nautical miles to a reef renowned for sails, they put out the teasers. However, it was a long wait before a sail came in behind one of them, which was – in turn – substituted with a skilfully rigged garfish that did the job.

Well, that one – the only sail that they sighted – was released, but small tuna were plentiful, rounding out their catch for the day.

Lockie Wombell with a nice gummy shark, part of a catch made by him and Bob McPherson off Portland on Saturday (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Peter asks:

Geoff, I’ve been catching quite a few seven-gilled sharks of late, and we have enjoyed dining on them. My question is: Are the bigger ones a risk because of their supposed high mercury levels?

Peter, the good news is that most fish in Australian waters have very low mercury levels.

In sharks, larger sharks in particular, the level is elevated but not usually high enough to cause health problems. However, authorities warn women planning pregnancy, pregnant women, breastfeeding women and children under six, not to eat shark because of elevated mercury levels.

However, all high-end predators like tuna, marlin, swordfish etc, all have similarly elevated levels of organic mercury.

Please send your reports to occytrapper@gmail.com or by phone to 03 5248 1307.

Jim Gillians with the 5.03 kg rock ling he caught from the beach at Ocean Grove.

Off the beach

Fishing RAAFs beach at Ocean Grove last Wednesday evening, Jim Gillians was hoping for a decent catch like a snapper, gummy shark, or perhaps even a mulloway, but none of those were on offer.

However, he did catch a 5.03 kg rock ling, something more than a consolation prize because they are fine table fare, but very few are caught from the beach.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Heading down Leopold way after the whiting on Tuesday morning were Andrew Johnson and Denis O’Brien who found their quarry in five metres of water.

By 9.30 am, they’d each taken their legal bag of whiting that included some really good size fish to 41 cm using mussels and squid for bait.

Also fishing for whiting from Corio Bay’s outer harbour last week were Gordon and Carol Williams who were out to catch the afternoon flood tide off Point Richards, but initially, there wasn’t much doing.

However, after making several moves, they found a good patch of fish offshore from Spray Farm that kept them busy despite the sea breeze picking up toward evening.

By then though, they’d each taken their respective bag limit catches of whiting using mussels for bait and were heading back to the ramp.

Fishing off Indented Head in around 6 metres of water on Saturday, Simon Werner was also after the whiting, and despite the sometimes blustery conditions, hit paydirt.

He too finished up with a bag limit catch of whiting, the biggest measuring 42 cm, all taken on tiny strips of squid.

Launching at Queenscliff on Tuesday evening of last week, Scott Hamilton and Wes Brewer headed out to the Symonds Channel, where – anchored up in around 15 metres of water near Mud Island – they were hoping for a good size gummy shark, something that this area is noted for.

There wasn’t much doing until the tide began running off at around 7.00 pm, shortly after which they did indeed catch a gummy shark of about 15 kg.

Unfortunately, all they hooked after that were what could only have been various sharks – probably seven gillers – of the larger variety that, fortunately you might say, bit them off.

Barwon estuary

Fishing the Barwon estuary at the Sheepwash early last week were Jason Treloar and Harley Griffiths but there wasn’t much doing until the tide began coming in at around midday when the first action came from mullet and small but legal size salmon.

They put a couple of these out as live baits in case there were any mulloway around, but apart from one bait being chopped by what they assume was a small tailor, almost certainly not a mulloway, which – from all reports – have been a bit scarce this year.

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

Portland

With a break in the weather on Sunday, Bob McPherson, Lockie Wombell and Michael Goldby headed out to the edge of the Continental shelf off Portland where they fished on the drift in around 500 metres of water.

As usual, their target species was blue eye trevalla, of which they had no trouble catching. They also caught blue grenadier and an assortment of other deep water dwellers.

They also brough up a mako shark of possibly 40 kg, a manageable size compared with some they have hooked out there, but with any amount of other edible fish they cut the trace, releasing it.

Fisheries officers wanted

The Victorian Fisheries Authority is now recruiting additional fisheries officers to service Melbourne, Phillip Island, Bendigo, Tatura and Swan Hill.

Women may apply, especially for the regionally based locations, and for Melbourne and Phillip Island, preference will be shown to applicants of Vietnamese or Chinese backgrounds. Applications are now open and close on Sunday, 7 July 2024: www.vfa.vic.gov.au/recruitment

David asks

Geoff, could you please include more land-based fishing reports in your weekly report because some of us don’t have boats?

David, I have one this week. Unfortunately, I

receive comparatively few reports from land-based anglers. I do get some from freshwater locations but very few from salt water. Perhaps if you caught a nice fish land-based, you may care to give me a report.

Please send your reports to occytrapper@gmail.com, on messenger, or by phone, 03 5248 1307.

Lockie Wombell with a sample of the blue eye trevalla that he and Bob McPherson caught offshore from Portland.

Portland

With the weather holding over the weekend, Bob McPherson and Lockie Wombell headed out to the edge of the Continental shelf, where – in around 500 meters of water – they began bottom bouncing on the drift.

Blue eye trevalla were their primary target, and there was no shortage of those, and – judging by the photos Bob sent me – there were some beauties among them.

Also included in their catch were blue grenadier, and as usual, quite a few other deep water species that make fine table fare.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Whiting aficionados Andrew Johnson and Denis O’Brien made an early morning start on Thursday of last week, initially finding the bite a bit slow.

Making several moves didn’t help either, not until the rising tide kicked in at around 8.30 when their baits of squid strips and mussels began to tempt whiting of mixed sizes, but it was the bigger ones they were after, and they found those in around 5 meters of water, each finishing up with bag-limit catches of keepers from 33 to 40 cm.

Keen Kayak fisherman David Cox has had no trouble taking bag limit catches of pinkie snapper from the Grammar School Lagoon, along with a by-catch of flathead, silver trevally and whiting.

David is catching all of his fish on soft plastics, and said he is missing quite a few whiting because they are biting a bit shy of the hook so he’s looking for some way of adding a stinger hook near the tail.

Having fished the Lagoon with bait myself – usually the fillets of Australian salmon – and at this time of year, there is the chance of catching some much larger snapper here.

After a cold start on Wednesday morning, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck fished off the entrance of Swan Bay after the whiting, but it took several moves to find a productive patch.

And, with their respective bag limit catches of whiting to 44 cm aboard, they moved in a little closer to shore, and fishing on the drift they each picked up their bag limits of good size squid.

Fishing between St Leonards and Indented Head, Simon Werner also did well on the squid, taking a bag limit catch after having a lean run on the whiting.

He said the water in that area was very clear, which is good when fishing for squid, but less favourable for whiting.

A mixed bag of pinkie snapper, flathead silver trevally and whiting that David Cox caught from the Grammar School Lagoon.

Freshwater

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that there are still plenty of redfin on the go at Tullaroop Reservoir, and that he, wife Amber, and other club members have caught them, both on various lures and on small yabbies, which are a preferred bait.

Kevin also reports that trophy size trout are also on offer for more patient souls, either by trolling suitable lures or fishing mudeyes beneath a float.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that Chinook salmon remain on offer, and while some have been taken on trolled lures, the bigger fish are down deep, best fished for just above the bottom using cut pilchards or whitebait.

Derek asks

With your description of large tuna being caught close to shore from Portland, May 21, are there any land-based possibilities, from Cape Nelson for instance.

Derek, the rock platforms under the Cape Nelson Lighthouse look feasible as land-based fishing platforms but, from my observations anyway, you would need to abseil down with your gear, and it’s doubtful you could bring a large tuna up from there.

There is a platform where people fish for sweep on the east side of Cape Nelson, via Devil’s Kitchen Road from memory; I suppose that could be a possibility with the right approach.

There may also be possibilities from Cape Bridgewater, but the rocks here are rugged and difficult to fish from. You’d need to spend a day here beforehand looking for a place to fish.

There are also rock platforms along the eastern side of Cape Grant, which are accessible from the Viewing area just off Quarry Road, but it’s a difficult 700 meter walk down the hill and over a boulder covered beach to get there, and further still having reached the rock ledge below the Quarry.

Offshore

Heading out from Barwon Heads, Murray and Linda Stewart’s first stop was in 44 metres of water offshore from the old Sewer outfall at Black Rock.

Beginning a berley trail, they soon had any number of slimy mackerel to around 700 grams on offer, along with snapper to 800 grams or so from lines fished on the bottom.

A slimy mackerel they put out on Linda’s game fishing outfit didn’t last long either, the mako shark of possibly 60 kg that took it, leaped high out of the water and fought bravely before becoming fresh flake.

Linda Stewart’s mako shark comes alongside.

Linda Stewart with the mako shark she caught offshore from Black Rock (Picture: Murray Stewart).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Heading west to Curlewis, after launching at Clifton Springs at around 7.30 am on Wednesday, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien were on the hunt for whiting, and after their initial success dried up, they went on the move.

Eventually, after making several moves and catching a few more fish, they found a productive area between Leopold’s Sands Caravan Park and Curlewis where they managed to top off their respective bag limits of whiting to 42 cm before the southerly breeze picked up.

On Thursday afternoon, Andrew Phillps and Mark Sesar launched at St Leonards to fish the incoming tide off the entrance to Swan Bay. And, despite the number of unwanted species like Tommy Ruff and slimy mackerel taking their baits, and some large squid stealing the occasional whiting, they finished up with their respective bag limit catches of whiting to 43 cm and six good size squid by 6.30 pm.

Trying for a repeat performance on Easter Saturday afternoon, they launched at Queenscliff on this occasion because the boat ramp at St Leonards was just too busy. And, heading out to the same area as before, again picked up bag limit catches of whiting using squid, mussel, and pipi for bait.

Fishing off Indented Head last week, Simon Werner had no problem picking up several squid on the drift before anchoring up on the whiting in 5.5 metres, catching a dozen respectable specimens.

Lockie Wombell with a 6.5 kg gemfish taken out wide from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Lockie Wombell with a good size whiting off Portland (Picture Bob McPherson)

Simon’s friend Michael Dean took advantage of the calm weather over the weekend to head out into 22 metres off St Leonards where he hooked an extremely large gummy shark, certainly well over 20 kg, that tangled all of his lines together before escaping.

And the catch and release of a number of gummy shark pups after that suggested that bigger gummy was their mum.

And speaking of gummies, among those to take advantage of the calm weather were Chris Stamalos and Calvin Mclean who anchored up in around 20 metres of water just outside Port Phillip Heads, where – using silver trevally fillets for bait – their first fish was an 18 kg gummy shark that was followed by another of 13 kg.

With a good supply of flake aboard, they came back in through The Heads and anchored up on the Swan Island grass beds where, eventually – after making several moves – they found a good whiting bite taking a dozen fish to 42 cm before heading back to the ramp.

Chris Stamalos with the 18 kg gummy shark he caught offshore from Port Phillip Heads (Picture: Calvin McLean).

Michelle Wallis of Colac with a 3 kg brown trout she caught from Lake Purrumbete using a pilchard for bait (Picture: John Clements).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that several large brown trout were caught over the Easter Weekend including a 3 kg brown trout on a pilchard by Michelle Wallis of Colac and a 2.5 kg brown taken by Chris Farrugia of Oaklands Junction on an articulated minnow.

Kevin Wild and wife Amber, both members of the Maryborough Angling Club, returned to Lake Mulwala last week where they continued to catch Murray cod to 60 cm or so, mainly on spinner baits.

However, some club members – including John and Jason Gray – have been doing well closer to home, catching redfin to 45 cm using Baltic Bobbers and live yabbies from Tullaroop Reservoir.

A number of large European carp have also turned up with Narelle Harrison picking up a beauty measuring 83 cm.

Portland

With good weather over the Easter Weekend, a good many anglers headed out to the deep water marks off Portland. Among them were Bob McPherson and Lockie Wombell who were well supplied with bait from their by-catch of silver trevally and slimy mackerel while whiting fishing along Portland’s north shore.

As usual, they had no trouble catching blue-eye trevalla and gemfish – the biggest of the latter weighing 6.5 kg – along with a by-catch of ghost cod and nannygai.

John Gray with yet another large redfin from Tullaroop Reservoir.

Large redfin from Tullaroop Reservoir.

Narelle Harrison with her 83 cm carp from Tullaroop Reservoir.

Western Port

George Vlahogiannis fished Western Port Bay Monday morning with his workmate Dave and were well rewarded with a nice catch of snapper, gummy shark, King George Whiting, gummy shark, slimy mackerel and nice silver trevally.

Please send your reports to geoffw10@optusnet.com.au, on messenger, or by phone, 03 5248 1307.

Billy, Rylan, and Mark Stewart with Rylan’s marlin, which he caught off Bermagui, NSW.

Upstate

Mark Stewart, along with his ten-year-old son Rylan and his dad Billy, has just returned to Geelong from Bermagui, NSW where he was hoping to get his dad, and the lad, both onto a marlin.

Well, on the first day out, an eager contender smashed the fish being trolled as a skip bait before turning its attention to one of their lures but without hooking up.

The next few days were too rough, so it became waiting game with the weather, which did improve, along with their fortunes for they caught four striped marlin altogether, releasing three: Billy’s and Rylan’s were each around 80 kg, while Mark’s fish would have been close to 100 kg.

However, after doing a great job in bringing his marlin close enough for Mark to take the leader, young Rylan’s fish had an unfortunate encounter with the boat’s propellor, ruling out its suitability for release, so that one is to be mounted and is going on the wall.

Shown is the accumulation of weed along the Indented Head foreshore (left), and the algal bloom in the same area (right). (Picture: Rod Ludlow).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Scott Morse and Col Simmons made the trip across Corio Bay to Point Wilson in the pre-dawn darkness on Wednesday with high hopes of catching a decent snapper or two.

Anchoring up in around 8 metres of water and using pilchards for bait, they caught three snapper, the biggest around 5 kg, two gummy shark, and a couple of flathead before the bite shut down shortly after daybreak.

However, they were well prepared for some whiting fishing as well with a bag of pipis and some lighter tackle, so – moving into around 5 metres of water – they were again rewarded, this time with a dozen good size whiting and a flathead of 45 cm.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that on Tuesday of last week, local anglers Pete and Des headed out despite the fairly stiff southerly, after a few whiting.

As it turned out, the most comfortable spot was down toward Curlewis, where – anchored up in the lee of the shoreline in 3.5 metres of water on the outgoing tide and using squid for bait – they caught 29 whiting and a good-size flathead before the bite shut down.

They probably would have caught more had their baits not attracted so many undersize pinkies that they returned unharmed, not to mention the unwelcome banjo sharks that were obviously attracted by their berley.

Heading out from Clifton Springs on Wednesday morning, Andrew Johnson found any amount of small whiting, but the bigger fish were initially elusive, and even after making a good many moves, had little to show for it.

Eventually though, he found a more productive patch in front of the Jack Rabbit vineyard where he plucked ten good size fish to 40 cm before the end of the flood tide.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that whiting have been the main catch, anywhere from Grassy Point, south to the Governor Reefs.

Of concern though, said Rod, was an influx of what appears to be an algal bloom, the source of which remains unknown. This, and an accumulation of weed along the foreshore is a very poor look for this once pristine beach.

Chris Stamalos and his companion Jove had intended to head out from Queenscliff after the whiting on Sunday, but the breezy conditions persuaded them to fish within the harbour.

Initially all was quiet, but with the tide coming in from around 11.00 am, and using pipis for bait, they began to catch not only some good size whiting, but a mixed bag of other fish including mullet, silver trevally, salmon, leatherjackets, and several legal-size pinkie snapper.

John Clements of Lake Purrumbete Angling Club, and media personality, Rex Hunt with a sample of their whiting catch from Westernport Bay (Picture: Think Big Charters).

Westernport Bay

Media personality Rex Hunt, along with John Clements from Camperdown’s Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park, and Graham McLeod from the Police Angling Club, hopped aboard “Think Big Charters” under the stewardship of Shaun Furtiere for a crack at the whiting.

And, heading out from Stony Point, each had little trouble bagging out on the whiting that this area of Westernport Bay is noted for.

Frank Benvenuto with a 42 cm yellowbelly from the Werribee River.

Harrison Gibson with one of his bass from the Werribee River.

Freshwater

Frank Benvenuto reports catching of over 40 Australian bass, and the occasional yellowbelly from the Werribee River over the past two weeks, mainly on lightly weighted jig heads in combination with either a scrubworm or yabby on a very slow retrieve.

On Sunday night, Frank introduced his friend Harrison Gibson to this technique, which resulted in him capturing three nice bass.

Frank also said, that – for whatever reason – surface strikes have been few and far between during the day lately, but it’s quite a different story should you be prepared to fish after dark when these fish are feeding at the surface.

Please send your reports to geoffw10@optusnet.com.au, on messenger, or by phone, 03 5248 1307.