Geoff Wilson’s Fishing Knots And Rigs

Gary Mayr and Keith Fry with the kingfish they caught offshore from Barwon Heads.

Offshore

With a break in the weather last week, Keith Fry, Gary Mayr and John Porter headed out off Barwon Heads with the squid they’d already caught off Clifton Springs, for bait.

Slimy mackerel were on the bite, and they also caught several pinkie snapper, a sergeant baker and a gurnard before the action tapered off. But, toward stumps, Keith hooked something much larger; and Gary was on too.

Initially, it appeared they may have hooked the same fish, but when Gary brought in a 67 cm, 2.8 kg kingfish with Keith still hooked up, they realized that couldn’t be the case: Keith’s kingfish was somewhat larger at 6.2 kg

Also fishing off Barwon Heads that day was Ben Cranage who caught a mako shark. No details were given, but from the photo it looked to be at least 50 kg.

Mako sharks must be about, for on Sunday, Kevin McLoughlin caught and released two small ones off Torquay.

These were taken on slimy mackerel, which have been plentiful offshore lately, and have proven to be – when conditions permit – effective live bait for kingfish at Port Phillip Heads.

However, as luck would have it, Australian salmon in the 70 cm range, which are more plentiful here than kingfish, often beat them to it.

Ben Cranage with a mako shark he caught offshore from Barwon Heads last week

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs reports that small pinkie snapper are nuisance off The Springs, but Adam Robinson and Dave Howell took five keepers along with a mixed bag of silver trevally and flathead out toward the channel.

Whiting have been a little slow said Mike, but on Sunday, Andrew Johnson, Dennis O’Brien and Peter Dawson caught 17 good size specimens in 4 metres of water off Curlewis before the bite shut down.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head also reports that whiting are about but can take a bit of finding, and squid have been scarce. Flathead are plentiful though, but uncertain weather has kept most from the more productive grounds further out.

From the Beach

With particularly low evening tides early last week, Ray Millman fished from Cosy Corner at Torquay where pinkie snapper were on the bite as soon as he arrived on dusk.

Although most were on the small side, there were some better fish among them with the biggest of the keepers close to 40 cm.

Fishing from RAAF’s Beach at Ocean Grove, Tony Ingram was also among the pinkies, struggling to keep a bait on in fact, but again, some larger fish came on after dark with a couple around the 50 cm mark.

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that among those to catch good size brown trout over the weekend was Drew Young from Spotswood. He picked up one of 2.9 kg while Joe Bailey, and his son Matt of the Greenvale Angling Club, caught another of similar size.

Redfin remain the main catch from the lake though said John, who fished with Jeremy Richardson of Colac for a tally of 60 reddies to 600 grams using live minnow for bait.

Portland

Down Portland way, Bob McPherson reports that bluefin tuna to 18 kg or so have made an appearance off Portland with most being caught in the vicinity of the ship anchorage north east of the harbour. They’re a bit skittish though said Bob, so small lures might be the go.

Roland asks:

Geoff, I caught a silver trevally that had some creature in its mouth that looked like a large slater: What could that have been?

“Tongue biters are isopods (a type of crustacean) belonging to the family Cymothoidae. This whole family consists of fish parasites, some of which attach to the fish’s mouth, others to the gills and fins, while others burrow into the flesh. They’re found on hundreds of species of marine and freshwater fishes throughout the world’s tropical and temperate regions.”

Rylan Hogan of Leopold with his brown trout from Lake Purrumbete.

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports brown trout are on offer and that 10 year old Rylan Hogan of Leopold, who was fishing on Lake Purrumbete with his father Shane, caught one weighing 2.9 kg.

Others to catch them included Glenn Rigby of Mildura with a 57 cm brown that weighed 2.3 kg, and Michael Houlihan of Warrnambool with another of 58 cm. Both were clients of Michael Evans, skipper of Victorian Inland Charters.

And, as we’ve come to expect, redfin remain the main catch from the lake with Geelong anglers Jeff and Les Broughton taking their share of fish to 600 grams or so. However, a Mr Jolly, also from Geelong, weighed in a reddie at 1 kg.

Kevin and Amber Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club report that Tullaroop Reservoir is still producing good size redfin, and that’s no secret with other club members, including Ken Hinks and Don and Robert Rayner picking them up as well.

Most have been caught on Storm micro jigs, ice jigs, and on small yabbies.

Kevin also mentions that club members became involved with the release of 50,000 Murray cod in Laanecoorie Reservoir, and another 50,000 into Cairn Curran Reservoir, which augurs well for good fishing in the future.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that there are whiting to be caught, but the hoards of undersize pinkie snapper can make fishing for them hard labour.

Never the less, some – including Jim Anglei and George Ili – were rewarded with reasonable catches of whiting just south of the mussel farm off Clifton Springs.

Also fishing in much the same area was Peter Sierakowski whose catch included several flathead, including a beauty measuring 62 cm, and 2 kg snapper.

Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien spent a good deal of Sunday afternoon after whiting, just inshore from the Portarlington mussel farm.

Well, they finished up with 20 fish to 37 cm, but would have caught more had their baits not proved so attractive to the multitudes of undersize pinkie snapper.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire reports that patchy weather put a dampener on fishing for much of last week, but whiting are about with clients bringing in some good catches.

Squid have been scarce lately though said Rod, although their numbers improved over the weekend. But once again it was flathead that saved the day for many with most being caught on the drift along the edge of the Prince George Bank.

S.A. introduces a snapper lottery

The backlash against South Australia’s three year ban on snapper fishing (from November 2019 until February 2023) has prompted the S.A. government to introduce a limited snapper fishery.

Access to snapper fishing south east of Kangaroo Island is being allocated through a lottery that closes on January 19. However, both Gulf St Vincent and Spencer Gulf, and the remainder of South Australia, will remain closed.

In all, 606 anglers – who must reside in specified South Australian post codes – will be chosen to take 3030 snapper for an estimated 6000 kg, all of which are to be specially tagged: Mind you, that figure of 6000 kg works out to be less than 2 kg a fish; less than a third the average size of a South Oz snapper.

Tourists will have to rely on the government’s allocation of a further 3788 tags to licensed charter boat operators – 49 tags each – for an expected catch of 7500 kg as part of this trial. A further revision to the ban includes an allowable commercial catch of 60,750 kg of snapper, along with an as yet undisclosed quota for Aboriginal fishers.

Paul asks:

Geoff, every fishing magazine I look though promotes the use of some lure or other. Most of the fishing I am involved with relies on the use of bait: Am I missing something?

What you have to realize is that fishing publications rely heavily on advertising, and – I dare say – encourage fishing writers that use the products advertised.

Short changed: Charter boat operator Ivan Bereza with the snapper that came up a bit short.

Offshore

With a good weather forecast for Sunday, Chris Stamalos was out through Barwon Heads and at anchor in 30 metres of water by daybreak, his berley trail soon attracting a shoal of slimy mackerel; great bait for the bigger fish out here.

And a perfect pink dawn was matched by the colour of Chris’ first good fish, a snapper of about 3 kg. It was followed by two more of the same size before all went quiet … that was until around 7.00 am when another reel growled off, the rod it was on buckling over.

But this fish was clearly no snapper; peeling metre after metre of line from a brand new outfit he was using for the first time. However, patience eventually prevailed for Chris with a school shark of possibly 25 kg in his landing net.

End of term: Chris Stamalos with the school shark he caught offshore from Barwon Heads on Sunday.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Ivan Bereza of Geelong Boat Hire and Fishing Charters has had no problems finding snapper for his clients off Curlewis, so when his brother-in-law Bill, and his two sons, Christopher and William began talking snapper, he knew just where to take them.

One fish of 42 cm was a good start, but it wasn’t until an hour or so after that, that another rod buckled over, the reel howling for several seconds before a mako shark, well over two metres in length, leapt from the water.

And they did catch a snapper: It should have been around 5 kg, but it came up a bit short, missing about a third of its body up from the tail.

And, speaking of mako sharks in Corio Bay, Darcy Scott hooked a very large specimen on his snapper gear on Sunday morning near the Nine Foot Bank. It leapt from the water several times before breaking free, and – interestingly – was accompanied by another smaller mako that appeared near the boat while the bigger fish was in play.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that good fishing has been a blessing, especially if you are an early starter like Dean McDermott who set off at 3.00 am to be rewarded with a mixed bag of whiting, flathead and pinkie snapper to 2 kg from the mussel farm.

Bigger fish have been on the go as well said Mike, with Charlie Grasso’s catch including snapper to 4.2 kg.

Kevin and Amber Wild with a sample of their weekend’s redfin catch (Picture: Amber Wild).

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports a case of flathead-elbow this week, having cleaned and scaled so many for his clients. Squid have been a bit scarce though said Rod, but cuttlefish are present and fishing for whiting has been good.

And speaking of whiting, a 4.00 am start off the Swan Island grass beds at Queenscliff on Friday put Murray and Darcy Scott into a full-on whiting bite. They boated their respective bag limits of 20 fish each on the incoming tide before daybreak, the bigger specimens approaching 40 cm.

Also on Friday, Peter Dawson, Steven Timmins and his son Luke, picked up 27 beautiful whiting to 40 cm off Portarlington in the afternoon before giving Andrew Johnson – who had just finished work – a call.

Luke abandoned ship, but Andrew and Dennis O’Brien were only too happy to join Pete and Steve on the whiting, but – as it turned out – they were now clearly off the bite.

So, following an executive decision on tactics, they put heavier leaders on their whiting gear and headed north across the Point Richards channel hopeful of catching a snapper.

They caught twelve as it turned out, not monsters by any means, but at an average size just shy of 3 kg, it was a memorable catch.

Jamie Dixon (right) with his 6 year old son Harley and one of their carp from the Barwon River.

Freshwater

Jamie Dixon and his 6 year old son Harley fished from the Barwon River near the James Harrison Bridge in Belmont where they had no trouble catching European Carp. These ranged in size from 3 kg to one purler that bottomed out their 8 kg scales. All were caught using a combination of corn kernels and bread for bait.

Maryborough Angling Club members Kevin and Amber Wild fished Tullaroop Reservoir over the weekend, and jigging with Storm micro jigs, they caught any amount of redfin in 8-9 metres of water, keeping nine from 38 to 43.5 cm.

William Little and Dean Wombell with a sample of their blue eye trevalla catch over the weekend (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

With good weather over the weekend, Bob McPherson headed out to the shelf off Portland with Dean Wombell and William Little. They were hoping for some deep water action, which they achieved in spades with bag limit catches of blue eye trevalla.

Darcy Scott with a sample of his snapper catch taken off Avalon on Saturday.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Making an early start, Darcy Scott was on the water off Avalon by around 4.00 am on Saturday, hoping for a snapper.

He caught five as it turned out, three just over the 40 cm mark, and a couple just under. He stayed on for a while, hoping for a few more pinkies, but with the sun now in the sky, the show was apparently over.

Making a 4.00 am start on Sunday Morning, Andrew Phillips and Darren Baldock were soon anchored up in their favourite spot off Avalon, but with banjo sharks continually taking their baits they decided to move.

Travelling slowly east, they picked up a promising reading in 8.5 metres of water, and within 15 minutes or so they had a snapper of about 2.5 kg. They followed that one up with another five, the biggest at 3.8 kg, before the bite shut down around 6.45 am.

Mark and Tina Sesar fished out toward the channel off Clifton Springs on Sunday morning, but there wasn’t much doing until just before the high tide change around mid-day when Mark caught a nice snapper of about 5 kg.

In addition to that, before coming in, they each caught a half dozen squid at The Dell in the early afternoon.

Chris, Lenny and Cash with their snapper taken off Curlewis (Picture: Mike Windsor: Clifton Springs Boat Hire).

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire also reports that The Dell has been producing squid with Nikola Jovic and his sons among those to catch them here.

Mike also sent in a photo of Chris, Lenny and Cash, three of the anglers returning to the ramp with snapper over the weekend. However, Andrew Johnson, Peter Dawson and Dennis O’Brien found them slow at their recently productive snapper spot, discovered a kilometre or so north-east of the Point Richards 7A channel marker.

Moving back across the channel toward the Point Richards spoil ground proved more fruitful for they boated two snapper of about 3 and 4 kg almost immediately, but that was their lot for the day.

Mark Sesar with a nice snapper taken off Clifton Springs on Sunday (Picture: Tina Sesar).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that redfin are still the main catch; fish usually from 400-600 grams. However, Bannockburn angler Mick Giles’ weekend catch included fish to a kilogram.

Some good size chinook salmon have also been taken from Lake Purrumbete of late including one of 3.4 kg by Les Broughton of Geelong. He caught that on a pilchard fillet suspended just above the bottom while Roger Tolland caught a 3 kg rainbow trout on a mudeye fished beneath a float.

John also mentions that visiting anglers have taken brown trout, reportedly around the 3 kg mark, but none of those were officially weighed in.

Chris Stamalos with one of the snapper he caught last week (Picture: Calvin McLean).

Ahmed asks:

Geoff, on September 24 last, you described fishing with sliders from the beach. I wouldn’t mind trying that. Can you provide any direction on how to proceed?

Ahmed, having first spooled your reel with a good quality nylon monofilament line, the next requirement is the ability to make a long cast with a heavy, grapnel-type sinker of similar design to those introduced by UK Company Breakaway, copies of which are available in Australia.

Having been cast out, this sinker is designed to grip the bottom somewhat like an anchor, an essential requirement for the operation’s success.

Your leader – which should be at least twice the breaking strain of your main line, and be of wire should catching sharks be on your agenda – should be a metre or more in length with a hook, or possibly two hooks at one end. The other end is attached to the arm of a non-return slider, the assembly for which you can purchase from eBay.

Having made your cast, the non-return slider is attached to your line via the obvious spring configuration, with the arm of the slider – to which the leader is attached – facing forward; a configuration that prevents it from being pushed back up the line by the incoming waves.

Then, having baited the hook on trace, the device is allowed to slide down the line to the water, where wave action – along with some assistance from the angler shaking the rod – permits the assembly to keep going out until reaches the end of the line or is taken by a fish.

Lachlan Oliver with one of his snapper from Corio Bay (Picture: Ken Oliver).

Off the beach

With a high tide during the early hours of Friday morning, Ray Millman was rigged and ready near the BBQ area just south of 64W at Torquay by 1.30 am, his first reward being a 3 kg gummy shark at 2.45 am. That was on the lighter of his two outfits, which was baited with bluebait.

As the night wore on, drifting weed became a problem, but he stuck it out: Then, as the first hint of daylight lit the sky, a good bite on his heavier outfit – which was baited with squid – heralded the capture of a 4 kg snapper.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

An early start paid off for Lachlan Oliver and his father Ken last week, who were at anchor off Clifton Springs by 4.00 am in perfect conditions.

Using squid and silver whiting for bait, it wasn’t long before their first rod buried over, reel singing to the tune of a 4.5 kg snapper. It was followed by two more with the show finishing on daybreak.

On Friday evening, Andrew Phillips and Darren Baldock anchored up near the pile marking the Nine Foot Bank off Avalon where their first catch was an eagle ray.

It was all hands on deck after that though as they took bag limit catches of snapper from 3 to 4 kg on their silver whiting and squid baits.

Chris Stamalos with the 6.8 kg snapper he caught offshore from Point Richards on Saturday evening.

Also fishing for snapper, but just north of the channel off Point Richards on Saturday evening, Chris Stamalos and Brendan McKenzie were initially occupied with a run of respectable pinkies. But, just before dark, Chris caught a beauty of 6.8 kg on a strip of squid.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that windy conditions have proved the only obstacle to generally good fishing with anglers, that included Jordan Whitman – who was fishing between the mussel farm and the channel – picking up mixed bags of flathead and pinkie snapper.

Squid have been on the go as well said Mike, with George Mioch, Jason Haw, and Lee Cleary picking up 15 from “The Dell.” They also caught a number or silver whiting down near the channel junction off Curlewis.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Heads reports that, during the few days providing safe access to the water, the fishing has been good with whiting turning up regularly in angler’s catches.

In fact whiting numbers have improved around the peninsula as Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien could attest after taking 30 beauties – their biggest fish measuring 42 cm – on Friday.

They fished in 6 metres of water between the Portarlington mussel farm and the shore in possibly the worst conditions imaginable, including strong winds, occasional bouts of heavy rain, and wind against tide.

Jeremy McLoughlin with a gummy shark he caught off Torquay (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).

Offshore

Picking a break in the weather on Saturday morning, Kevin McLoughlin and brother Jeremy headed out off Torquay, where – in 30 metres of water – they each took a respectable gummy shark in double-figure weight range.

Freshwater

John Clements of Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that redfin are still the main catch from the lake, and of which he caught quite a few himself, being in good company with George Gillies of Winchelsea, and Geoff Broughton of Geelong who also added a 2.4 kg brown trout to his bag.

A 5 kg chinook salmon also greeted the scales. It was taken by an Melbourne angler known as Gary who caught it trolling a lure at some depth with a downrigger.

With current access to Lake Elingamite near Cobden, for boats to 4.5 metres or so, Rod Shepherd tried his luck, but initially there wasn’t much doing.

Come 4.00 pm though, the sea breeze kicked in creating better prospects, but Rod’s presence was soon required elsewhere. Never the less, in the remaining time available, he caught a 45 cm redfin and a pan size rainbow trout, both on a Pontoon 21 Crack Jack lure.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that his friend Andrew has taken a number of large brown trout, up to 2.7 kg from Teddington Reservoir near St Arnaud.

It’s not a place that would suit everybody, with no mobile phone or internet coverage, but the fishing is OK.

Tyler Harris with a 7.2kg snapper that he caught offshore from Clifton Springs (Picture: Mike Windsor, Clifton Springs Boat Hire).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

It was all-aboard for Jo and Anthony Catanzaro of Kilmore, who – along with daughters Hannah 14, Hayley 13, Emily 9 and Dusty the Kelpie – hired a boat from Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire, Indented Head on Saturday.

After catching an assortment of the usual suspects, virtually straight out from the boat shed, it became clear that Hayley had hooked something special. It was in fact a 6.5 kg snapper that was eventually hauled over the side to much applause, and a great deal of barking from Dusty.

Rod also had a story to tell, along with some photographic evidence showing what was left of a gummy shark hooked by client Daniel. The ill-fated fish was attacked by a small bronze whaler alongside the boat, which – in turn – was attacked by a much larger bronzie that was taking no prisoners.

When previous co-worker Steve Leaumont called Andrew Johnson from Townsville to say he was coming down south, suggesting a fishing trip, Andrew had some good info.

Son Tim and his pal Callum Olsen had recently caught their respective bag limit catches of snapper out toward the channel between Spray Farm and Portarlington, so that’s where they headed.

Steve Leaumont and Andrew Johnson with a sample of their snapper catch.

That was on Friday afternoon, and despite only fishing for two hours they too took bag limit catches of snapper to 6 kg or so and left them biting.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that, not only are there snapper about, there is a variety of fish on offer as Nebz Ristic of Melton demonstrated on Sunday with a mixed bag of flathead, squid, a gummy shark and several whiting.

And speaking of whiting, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien found a good patch of those in 6 metres of water out toward the mussel farm off Portarlington on Saturday taking 25 beauties to 41 cm.

Jeff Richards, Ken Shae and Corey Verney also found a good patch of whiting near the wreck of the Ozone off Indented Head in 4 metres of water late on Thursday afternoon, from which they caught 17 before electing to try for the pinkies off Portarlington.

Antonio Bellia with a sample his and his father’s catch of squid from Queenscliff (Picture: Tony Bellia).

By 7.00 pm they were anchored some 500 metres out from Calhoun Road where they topped of their catch with 19 good size pinkies from 35 to 55 cm before dark.

Taking a run off Queenscliff, Tony Bellia and his 9 year old son Antonio were after squid, but initially things were quiet. Eventually though, they found a good patch in around 5 metres offshore from the rock wall, just west of the dog beach, from where they picked up some beauties to 2 kg.

Tim Johnson with one of his recent snapper from the Corio Bay outer harbour (Picture: Callum Olsen).

Off the beach

Fishing Torquay’s Cosy Corner from just before midnight on Wednesday, Ray Millman found the tide hadn’t dropped as low as he would have liked, the shore-break surging over the beach with each wave. However, he didn’t have to wait long for a bite on the squid he was using for bait.

His first fish turned out to be a gummy shark of about 3kg. That was followed by a banjo shark, and then a tussle with a fair size eagle ray, the conditions creating some difficulty in flipping it over to retrieve his hook.

After that though, a belief he’d solved the mystery of being bitten off on several occasions previously after catching a small bronze whaler that did indeed bite him off, but not until he’d dragged it up onto dry sand by the tail.

Hayley Catanzaro with the 6.5 kg snapper she caught from Indented Head.

Freshwater

On Sunday night, Kevin and Amber Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club anchored up on Cairn Curran Reservoir where they took a number of modest size yellowbelly while bobbing with worms amongst the timber.

Kevin also mentioned that club member Ken Hinks, and his grandson Brody, fished Taylors Lake near Horsham on their return from Dimboola. They not only caught yellowbelly to 1.4 kg, but caught and released a couple of respectable Murray cod; a promising sign for the forthcoming opening.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Angling Club reports that redfin are presently the main catch from the lake with John Eastman of Ballarat and Brian and Jackie Jones from Camperdown taking their share, along with Terry Shepherd who did likewise.

Record rainbow: Geelong angler, Frank Bluch, with the 13.3kg rainbow trout he caught from Lake Ruataniwha in New Zealand.

Record catch

Geelong fly fisherman Frank Bluch recently returned from New Zealand after adding yet another pending world record to the several he already holds.

On this occasion it was a 13.3kg rainbow trout that he caught from Lake Ruataniwha in the Twizel district using a 2 kg tippet; an incredible capture!

Red round-up: Collan and Malcolm Erard with Saturday’s snapper catch.

Off the beach

With an exceptionally low tide on Saturday night, Ray Millman fished Torquay’s Cosy Corner , where – just on dark – he caught a nice pinkie snapper using squid for bait.

As the tide began coming in around 9.30, he caught a gummy shark of 3.5 kg. Then, around 11.00 pm, as the tide covered the beach, he caught another gummy of 10 kg.

He and Dean Graeme returned the following night, and on this occasion their catch included a good size whiting, a 6kg gummy shark and an Australian salmon. Sadly though, the largest fish they hooked headed out to sea and escaped.

Tina Sesar with the gummy shark catch.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Snapper are about, and among those to catch them were Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck who picked up two of 4.5kg and 5.7kg just east of the Nine Foot Bank Pile off Avalon on Friday at daybreak.

On Saturday, Collan and Malcolm Erard headed out at around 10.00 am, their first order of business being to catch some squid for bait, and – after making several drifts off Avalon – they caught six; ample bait for a snapper session.

And what a session it was: They each caught three snapper, the biggest weighing 5.5kg, and – naturally enough – all were taken on their freshly caught squid.

Others to catch snapper included Kirt Behan and his companion Tanya Higgins, who – on Saturday afternoon – anchored up just north of the 7A Point Richards channel beacon where Tanya caught her first snapper at 5kg.

With barely time to admire her catch, Kirt’s rod buckled over, his reel singing to the tune of another snapper of 3.5 kg.

Fishing off Clifton Springs in a fairly stiff breeze on Sunday afternoon were Mark and Tina Sesar. Although they caught no snapper, each was rewarded with a gummy shark of around 4kg.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that fishing has improved lately with snapper to 7.2 kg being taken. Tyler Harris, who was using a pilchard for bait out near the No 14 Wilson Spit channel marker on Sunday, caught that one while Melton anglers Nebz Ristic and Nick Shirmer caught 20 flathead and two gummy shark, also using pilchards for bait

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that while squid remain the main catch, the appearance of whiting in clients bags has been welcomed.

Zac McKenzie 8, with the 3.1 kg carp he caught from Lake Lorne at Drysdale (Picture: Ben Clay).

Freshwater

Fishing Lake Lorne at Drysdale, with the rod he got for his birthday – and using bread for bait – 8 year old Zac McKenzie caught a 3.1 kg carp using 2 kg breaking strain line; and that certainly put a smile on his face.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that Cairn Curran Reservoir is still producing yellowbelly from the bank, but – although these have been taken to 58 cm – there are a good many small fish: Yabbies and worms are the preferred baits.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that redfin are the main catch with George Gillies of Winchelsea and Geoff and Les Broughton from Geelong picking up good catches of fish from 400 to 600 grams.

Tanya Higgins with her snapper from Corio Bay’s outer harbour.

Clive asks:

Geoff, how would you separate a jammed ferrule on a fishing rod?

Should that not work, a suggestion from a friend of mine who recently faced this problem with a high-end, casting rod he imported from South Africa, was to immerse the ferrule section of the rod in ice, and that solved the problem

Sophia Jankowski 7, with her 3.7 kg snapper (Picture: Warren Jankowski).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

With a break in the weather on Sunday afternoon, Warren Jankowski took a run out from St Leonards with 7 year old daughter Sophia, and they caught several pinkie snapper as they’d done on their previous trip.

However, as they were about to leave, Sophia hooked a clearly larger fish, which – on the light tackle she was using – proved quite a challenge for the young lady, and – greeting the scales for a verdict of 3.7kg – it was her biggest snapper to date.

Early last week, Sam Melia spent an evening fishing near the channel junction off Curlewis where, using light tackle, found silver whiting plentiful, and – taking advantage of the fresh bait they provided – caught two snapper of 3.7 and 4.5kg.

Fishing the Ron Kitchen Memorial competition over the weekend was Daniel Sparks, who – on Friday evening – anchored up off Clifton Springs in a 38 knot gale, took three snapper from 3.5 to 6.9kg. This gave him an almost unassailable lead before clinching his victory with two fish of 7.5 and 6kg the following morning in similarly abysmal weather.

Andrew Phillips, Mark Sesar and Darren Baldock, who fished off Avalon on Sunday night, took two snapper, each around the 3.5kg mark, on squid.

On Sunday evening, Chris Stamalos and Kelvin McLean fished alongside the mussel farm off Clifton Springs where they had an entertaining session catching three pinkie snapper, two ling, a gummy shark and a good catch of both King George and silver whiting.

While much attention has been on snapper, King George whiting remain the focus for some including Andrew Johnson and Tony Mollenhauer who were fishing in 6 metres of water off Curlewis on Sunday night when I rang just after 7.00 pm. They’d already taken 20 respectable keepers by then, and those bigger fish, some better than 40 cm, had just come on the bite.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head has faced the unseasonal bad weather that’s affected us all lately, but – despite this stumbling block – clients who picked a break in the weather returned with good catches, and some with their bag limits of squid.

Ian Morse of the Maryborough Angling Club with his competition-winning 58 cm yellowbelly from Cairn Curran Reservoir.

Freshwater

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that the club hosted the Midland Shield over the weekend, an interclub competition involving a number of clubs from central Victoria; quite a big event, which was held at Cairn Curran Reservoir.

The competition was won outright by Ian Morse of the Maryborough Angling Club who showed exceptional form in taking, not only the winning fish, a 58 cm yellowbelly (golden perch), but two other yellowbelly over 50 cm. All were caught from the bank using yabbies for bait.

On September 17 we published an account, and photo, of Geelong angler Frank Bluch’s world record capture of an 8.25 kg rainbow trout on a 1 kg class tippet from New Zealand, one of several world records he currently holds.

Well, Frank has just returned from New Zealand with yet another world record from Lake Ruataniwha in the Twizel district, in this instance, another rainbow trout of 13.30 kg taken on a 2 kg tippet; an incredible capture.

A mixed bag taken on Sunday night off Clifton Springs by Chris Stamalos and Kelvin McLean.

Gordon asks:

Geoff, with time on my hands now, I’d like to fish for trout. I used to fish Lakes Modewarre and Murdeduke and caught some of my best ever trout from the latter. Are these lakes currently stocked?

Gordon, neither lakes Murdeduke or Modewarre are currently stocked because they hold either insufficient water, or water of insufficient quality to sustain viable fisheries. Your current options within 100 km of Geelong include the following:

· Wurdiboluc Reservoir, which is only 40 km from Geelong via Cape Otway Road, but negotiating the rock wall could be problematic.

· Upper Stony Creek Reservoir, which is less than 50 km from Geelong via Anakie on C141, provides bank access with both trout and redfin on offer, and is only one of several reservoirs stocked with trout north of Geelong.

· Lake Wendouree at Ballarat, which is just over 90 km north of Geelong on the Midland Highway/A300, has excellent pontoons and other bank access, with both brown and rainbow trout being regular captures.

· West Barwon Reservoir at Forrest, which is also just over 90 km, but south west from Geelong via Cape Otway Road and C119, is currently full and regularly stocked with both brown and rainbow trout.

· Lake Tooliorook, which is 5 km from Lismore, via the Hamilton Highway and some100 km from Geelong is also productive and, there are land based options including a jetty near the boat ramp.

· Deep Lake, which is some 4.5 km from Derrinallum – a few kilometres up the highway past Lismore – may also be worth investigating with the rock ledges along Chatsworth Road providing good land based access. There is also a pontoon, from which you can fish as well.

Red alert: Daniel Sparks with a sample of his recent snapper catch from Corio Bay.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Making an early start on Wednesday morning, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck were at anchor just east of the Nine Foot Bank Pile off Avalon by daybreak, and they didn’t have long to wait for their first fish, a snapper of 3.5 kg.

Using silver whiting and squid for bait they caught four altogether, the biggest just over 5kg, before the bite shut down at 8.30 am.

Earlier in the week, on the October new moon, Daniel Sparks and his friend Trent fished the afternoon shift, also in the outer harbour but just east of Point Henry. Both took bag limit catches of snapper ranging from 6 to 8.1 kg on squid and left them biting.

Mind you, not everybody seeking snapper has been successful so I wouldn’t like to give the impression they are there for the taking; but, as someone reminded me recently, that’s why it’s called fishing and not catching.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that although the focus has been on snapper, whiting are still on offer more or less straight out from the boat harbour and squid have been present in good numbers west from the mussel farm.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Heads reports that squid are still about, but took a bit of finding last week, but as usual, flathead saved the day for a good many with some reasonable pinkie snapper in the mix.

Don Rayner with his 56 cm yellowbelly from Cairn Curran Reservoir (Picture: Amber Wild).

Freshwater

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that 23 members fished Cairn Curran Reservoir at the weekend with Don Rayner taking the best fish, a yellowbelly measuring 56cm, one of the few larger fish taken on the day with yabbies and worms the preferred baits.

Kevin also reports that the Loddon River below Laanecoorie Reservoir remains good value with club member Robert Rayner picking up five yellowbelly to 50cm, along with a couple of cod that were released.

Gaiji Koyama with the 45 cm flathead he caught from the Mackey Street Rocks on Sunday (Picture: Seiya Koyama).

Lachie Wombell with a sample of the King George whiting to be caught at Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Off the beach

Taking advantage of the very low evening tides last week, Ray Millman fished Jan Juc, where, repeated casting with a 40 gram metal lure, produced several Australian salmon, the biggest just over a kilogram.

After last week’s storm, Ray was on the job again, this time at Torquay’s Cosy Corner with his yabby pump: So, with a good supply of yabbies, along with portion of an octopus he’d brought along, he set about fishing from the sand shelf where all was quiet until sun down.

First to put in an appearance were a couple of Tommy Rough, but as the light faded, the game became more serious with pinkie snapper to 50 cm coming to the party, along with a good size whiting that measured 46 cm.

Phil Stanford with his bag limit catch of squid from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson)

Portland

Bob McPherson has in recent times, lamented the scarcity of whiting and squid, species that are usually on offer at Portland at this time of year. But, as the saying goes: better late than never” they are certainly there now with he and Lachie taking good catches of whiting, while Phil Stanford was among those to bring in bag limit catches of squid.

Geelong Advertiser photo of Noel Moody’s 27 pound snapper (05/09/62) held by his sons Steven, Anthony, Richard and Rodney.

Vale Noel Moody

Late of Rice Village as a nonagenarian, Noel Moody had triumphed in a number of endeavours, not the least of which was fishing, at one time from a boat he built himself.

However, Noel was also a land based angler of renown who spent time fishing for snapper, either from the once great sand spit at the Grammar School lagoon, which is now virtually gone, or from the jetty.

And it was from the jetty on September 4, 1962, he’d just reached for his rod to leave for work at the Shell Refinery at 6.20 am when his reel ran, heralding the capture of a 40 inch snapper weighing 27 pounds, a photo of which appeared next day in the Geelong Advertiser held by his sons Steven, Anthony, Richard and Rodney.

Ollie asks:

Geoff, with snapper about, and me without a boat, I am wondering if you could give me some guidance as to where I might catch a snapper land-based, I’ve tried a few spots like St Helens, but to no avail: Where do you suggest I try?

Ollie, the most consistent area to produce snapper, of any size, land-based, has been from the Portarlington Breakwaters, the one directly north of Fisher Street in particular. However, it’s rough underfoot, has no creature comforts, and you do need a long-handled landing net, and preferably a good mate who can use it to subdue any good size fish you may hook, and naturally vice versa.

Mark Sesar with an elephant fish taken offshore from Clifton Springs (Picture: Andrew Phillips).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Making an early start off Clifton Springs last week, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck had snapper on their mind, and by 5.00 am were at anchor on the north, or Point Wilson side of the Wilson Spit Channel with the high tide running off.

Within half an hour, they’d caught the first of three snapper, a nice fish of about 3.5 kg, and followed that with two more, each around the 4.5 kg mark right on sunrise.

After that though, apart from undersize pinkie snapper picking at their baits of squid and silver whiting, there wasn’t much doing, so they took a run down to Point Richards where they replenished their supply of squid, both for bait and for the table.

Their success on the snapper prompted another trip on Saturday afternoon, this time with Mark Sesar. Unfortuntely there wasn’t much doing on the day shift, but Mark’s bait did tempt a 3.5 kg elephant fish.

On Friday, Andrew Johnston and Dennis O’Brien fished for whiting in difficult conditions, having to contend with strong winds, rain and fish that were too small for their liking.

Never the less they stuck it out, and on evening, they struck a purple patch of bigger fish in around 4 metres of water just east of Hermsley Road Curlewis and took 30 beautiful fish to 41 cm.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that squid have been his clients most sought after species. These have ranged in size from the larger fish we have come to expect at this time of year down to pea-dodgers barely larger than average squid jig.

Whiting have been scarce around the peninsula though said Rod, with the best fishing in the evening. And, that was when Jeff Richards and Chris Hateley picked up their bigger fish on Friday.

Fishing in the Coles Channel in front of the St Leonards Yacht Club since mid day initially provided little encouragement. However, they stuck it out, and by 6.00 pm their catch included a dozen fish in the 40 cm range.

Jeff, who lives down that way, also reports that land based anglers fishing from both the pier at St Leonards and from the two breakwaters at Portarlington have caught pinkie snapper from legal size to approximately 1.5 kg.

Freshwater

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that he and wife Amber have had no problem catching modest size yellowbelly and cod amongst the timbered areas of Cairn Curran Reservoir, none of which would have broken any records.

However, fellow club member Trevor Perry – who was fishing from the bank at Cairn Curran – took yellowbelly to 43 cm and a 60 cm cod: All fish mentioned in these reports were taken on worms.

Kevin also mentions that local anglers have caught good size yellowbelly from the Loddon River below the Cairn Curran spillway.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that god size brown trout remain on offer and Among those to catch them was Geelong angler Kevin Hunter whose best brown weighed 2.3 kg. Kevin also took chinook salmon to 1.3 kg.

Also successful on the Lake was Mike Georgio, also from Geelong who caught several brown trout to 3 kg fishing mudeyes suspended beneath a float.

Jack asks:

Geoff, I have heard that circle hooks are best for big fish. But I can’t see how they can possibly work. Can you explain please how they work and how to bait up with them please?

And, In South Africa, where this system of securing a bait originated, a toothpick is sometimes used to impale the bait, through the eye of the hook, aligning it at a right angles to the bait.