Geoff Wilson’s Fishing Knots And Rigs

Christina Kemp and Michael Levett with the mulloway they caught from the beach at Johanna.

Off the Beach

An early start by Michael Levett and Christina Kemp at Johanna Beach – which is about halfway between Port Campbell and Cape Otway – Initially seemed fruitless with nary a bite.

But just before 9.00 am, and two hours into the falling tide, they both hooked what were obviously decent fish. However, it eventually dawned that they’d both hooked the very same fish, a mulloway they estimated to be at least 13.5kg, and which had taken each of their blue-bait offerings.

Mark Sesar with a sample of the whiting he and Andrew Phillips caught near Point Henry.

Corio Bay Bellarine Peninsula

Making a daybreak start off Point Henry, in 4.5 metres of water on Saturday, and not very far from the Alcoa Pier, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar were soon into the whiting, taking their respective bag limit catches of fish to 42 cm in two hours.

With minimal interference from the small and undersize pinkies that have been the major stumbling block here of late, they returned for more of the same Champagne fishing on Sunday, using pipis for bait on both days.

Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien found a good patch of squid at the eastern end of the mussel farm near Point Richards, an area where they’d also done well on whiting.

However, the increased number of other boats fishing there and the extreme clarity of the water, persuaded them to head back to another productive spot, in this case just offshore from the Leopold Caravan Parks.

A good move as it turned out for they each took their respective bag limit catches of whiting to 38 cm in two hours or so, along with two flathead of 45 and 50cm and a good size snook.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire also reports that squid and whiting are on the bite with Ray Stratton picking up ten of each while fishing close to the mussel farm.

Also successful on the whiting near the mussel farm were Des McKiernan and Peter Clark who caught 38 to 38 cm and several flathead to 40 cm using squid for bait.

Good size whiting are also to be caught at Queenscliff as Murray and Darcy Scott, and Ben King could relate after taking their respective bag limit catches from the Swan Island grass beds, both on Friday evening and after pre-dawn start on Sunday.

Lachie Wombell with an impressive gummy shark taken out wide from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Lachie Wombell with a gemfish, part of his and Bob McPherson’s catch out wide from Portland over the weekend (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Offshore

Taking a run offshore from Barwon Heads on Sunday after their whiting trip, Murray and Darcy managed to bag a couple of gummy shark to 12kg in 45 metres of water, but – as is often the case – their biggest two fish escaped, one through an ill-fated attempt to grab it by the tail, the other when it wrapped the line around a berley cage tethered beneath the boat.

Fishing a little shallower in 37 metres of water, Keith Fry, Steve Grey and Gary Maya’s catch included a 9.5kg gummy shark, a 3.2 kg snapper and quite a few legal size pinkies, all taken on slimy mackerel, but judging by the frequency they were bitten off, sharks of the toothy variety were also present.

Kevin Wild with an 86 cm Murray Cod he caught from the Murray River near Swan Hill (Picture Amber Stone).

Freshwater

Fishing the Murray at Pental Island near Swan Hill last week were Maryborough Angling Club members, Kevin Wild and Amber Stone. Trolling lures proved fruitless, but within a few minutes of baiting up with chicken, they hooked a cod of 57cm, and followed that with another measuring 86cm.

Tickled pink: Lachlan Sears 9, with his first snapper from Corio Bay (Picture: Mark Sears).

Corio Bay Bellarine Peninsula

Taking a run out from Limeburners boat ramp in their relatively newly acquired 4.8 metre Quintrex, Mark Sears and 9-year old son Lachlan were soon in catch and release mode, with undersize pinkie snapper taking their baits out toward the channel.

Their patience eventually paid off though, each catching a bigger fish around the 60 cm mark within minutes of each other, one of which – Lachlan’s first – caught his bait knife in the struggle to subdue it, flicking it over the side.

Keith Fry had always relied on bait; that was until recently when a friend convinced him to try with soft plastics, Berkley Gulp turtleback worms in pumpkinseed, being specified.

On the plus side he, and his friend John Porter caught two beautiful flathead around 58 cm apiece near Point Henry using these. However, a swarm of undersize pinkies moved in, destroying a whole packet of said soft plastics.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that the fishing has been good, and among those to reap the benefits were David Howell and his mate “Gator.”

The pair were on the job by 5.00am, returning with near bag limit catches of respectable pinkie snapper, all being caught on pilchards.

Fishing barely 300 metres offshore from the Clifton Springs boat ramp, Nick Powell caught his bag limit of 20 whiting to 40 cm using cocktail baits of cuttlefish and pipi.

David Howell with a sample of he and his mate “Gator’s” catch of pinkie snapper (Picture: Mike Windsor).

Also, on the whiting down that way were Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien who plucked their usual catch. However, on cleaning them, one of 35 cm was found to be carrying a tag that turned to have been placed in that fish by Bellarine Pirates Angling Club president Peter Kellum, in much the same area, on November 19 last.

Murray and Darcy Scott also found whiting on the Swan Island grass beds at Queenscliff, and what beauties they were with most going 40 cm or better. They finished with 25 all up and would have taken their respective bag limits, except for pinkie snapper taking over the bite toward dark, but they kept 15 of these that were of legal size.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head also reports that pinkie snapper have been a nuisance, particularly for those seeking whiting and flathead. Of course, squid seekers had no such problem, but they were a bit scarce as well.

Jeff Richards and Chris Hateley, who certainly know their way around these grounds, had a lean time of it before they found a productive patch of squid near the red portside marker off Grassy Point, from which they caught a dozen.

Chris Farrugia with the 5.1 kg brown trout that he caught from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that the Lake continues to produce trophy size brown trout with a beauty of 5.1 kg being the pick of the bunch.

It was caught by Chris Farrugia of Oaklands Junction, while fishing with his son Charlie. Chris, who regularly catches these big fish, uses an approach that involves down-rigging a 26 gram Tassie Devil at a depth of 9 metres or so.

Other good size browns were taken as well with Bill Zahra of Bannockburn picking up a couple of nice ones, while George Gillies of Winchelsea took another great catch of redfin to 600 grams.

Rosco says:

Geoff: may I be so bold as to comment on your column?

In defence, my reference was/is Admiralty Chart AUS157, which – even now in its updated version – nominates that feature after the legendary, but possibly fictitious, King Arthur – who allegedly fought the Saxons back in the fifth and sixth centuries – as “The Great,” and not King Alfred of the ninth century. and to whom that epithet truly belongs

Anthony Parker with one of the kingfish he caught over the weekend at Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Corio Bay Bellarine Peninsula

Despite a howling southerly, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien went after whiting on Friday Afternoon, but their usual hotspot at the Point Richards end of the mussel farm proved just too uncomfortable.

So reluctantly, they raised the anchor and moved into shallower water where they had some shelter from the wind. And, they’ll undoubtedly be making a return trip after catching their respective bag limits of whiting here in quick time.

Fishing offshore from Point Henry on Friday Afternoon were Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar who took 22 whiting, the biggest measuring 42 cm. These came from 3.5 metres of water near the old Alcoa Pier, along with several good size flathead.

Andrew said they would have taken their respective bag limits had it not been for hordes of undersize pinkie snapper taking their baits.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports more catch highlights with Darren Hillier taking a mixed bag of pinkie snapper and flathead across the bay at Arthur the Great, just east of Point Wilson.

Others to do well included Aris Sertaridis who fished alongside the nearby mussel farm taking a mixed bag of whiting, pinkie snapper and flathead.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that, as well as the usually reliable squid and flathead, good catches of whiting continue:

Among the successful anglers were Jeff Richards and Chris Hateley who picked up their respective bag limit catches of whiting from 38 to 42 cm, off St Leonards on Saturday’s ebb tide. These were caught in 7 metres of water just south of the wreck of the Clarence.

Deborah Straight of Torquay with one of her gummy shark above, and her banjo shark below (Pictures: Andrew “Sparky” Mizzo).

Torquay

After covering a good stretch of water from Barwon Heads to Torquay in perfect conditions on Sunday, Murray and Darcy Scott eventually finished up on the drift in 40 metres of water, where – like the ocean – all was quiet.

Eventually though, retrieving s strip of squid revealed an inquisitive school of kingfish, and indeed one took the bait. However, a stray loop of slack line from the reel snared a rod holder, and that was that. They did eventually boat one legal size kingfish though, but not as big as the one that got away.

Torquay angler, Andrew (Sparky) Mizzo’s good deed last week, was to purchase a 3-day fishing license for Deborah Straight, also of Torquay, prior to taking her fishing offshore. While their catch broke no records, with Deborah catching their biggest fish, a hefty banjo shark, it was also memorable for her catch and release of two small gummy shark.

Oleg Marchouba with a nice hapuka, one of several fish he caught out deep from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

Round 4 of the ANSA competitions was held at Portland over the weekend where kingfish were a highlight.

In fact, a long-standing 4kg line-class record was potentially broken not once, but twice: First, when a kingfish of 10 kg greeted the scales, and then – within 20 minutes or so – with another of 12.89kg captured by Daniel Sparks, which was not only the highest point-scoring fish in the competition, but is now a pending national line-class record.

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports fishing the lake, variously with George Gillies, and later with Jim Keating of Ballarat, taking over 80 redfin in total using live minnow for bait.

John also fished Lake Bullen Merri, variously with brother Robert and his son Jarrod, and again with Tony Pepe of Sydenham for a total of 30 chinook salmon, all of which were released because of the poor water quality here due to the blue-green algae infestation.

Another angler with a nice kingfish from Portland.

Conrad asks:

Geoff; my wife and I intend to visit Streaky Bay, South Australia in April, including Easter and would like to know if there is anywhere we could fish land based-based. Also, we would like to know if we need fishing licences?

You don’t need a licence for recreational fishing in South Australia.

Getting a gong: Zavier Anthony 13, of Bell Park with the wobbegong he caught from the beach during the annual Kingston Surf fishing competition in South Australia last week (Picture: Melissa and Raymond Anthony).

Rylan Stewart 5, with a sample of the squid he and father Mark caught off Clifton Springs at the weekend (Picture: Mark Stewart).

South Oz trip

Melissa and Raymond Anthony of Bell Park, along with their 13-year-old son Zavier, visited Kingston in South Australia last week where Zavier entered the annual Kingston Lions, surf fishing competition.

He’d already caught and released several small mulloway that evening, but at about 10.30 pm, he tried for a big one, casting out from the beach with a whole squid. The large bait was obviously too much temptation for a wobbegong measuring over 2 metres long, and which took Zavier 30 minutes to bring in.

Zavier released the wobbegong as well, only to discover the following morning that it would have won a good prize for the largest shark taken; another wobbegong of 57kg caught by Ross Stafford of Mount Gambier taking out that prize.

The overall winner of the competition was Dano Little of Mount Gambier whose 18.4 kg mulloway, the biggest of 36 mulloway weighed in, won him a 410 Polycraft trailer boat.

Kingston Lions sponsor’s representative, Ken Walsh of Techwool Trading Pty Ltd, and Dano Little from Mount Gambier, with the 18.4 kg mulloway, and overall winner of the Kingston (SA) Lions Surf Fishing competition last week and recipient of a fully equipped and registered 410 Polycraft trailer boat that was on offer as first prize.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Mark Stewart, and his 5-year old son Rylan, found a good patch of squid off Clifton Springs, which was something of an adventure for lad, but there was more to come.

Using some of their freshly caught squid for bait in the deeper water, they had no trouble catching pinkie snapper. But then, young Rylan hooked something that Mark described as going like a freight train; the severed trace and teeth and teeth-marks on the line leaving no doubt as to what that was.

Whiting have been good with Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien picking up their respective bag limits on the south side of the mussel farm on Saturday, while Rod Batten and Leo Gmehling caught their respective bag limits in Corio Bay’s inner harbour.

Leo Leo Gmehling and Rod Batten with samples of their whiting catch from Corio Bay’s inner harbour on Saturday evening.

Jason Treloar took a run across the bay from Clifton Springs to fish the feature just east of Point Wilson known as Arthur the Great where he took a mixed bag of whiting, pinkie snapper and flathead using squid and pipis for bait.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head also reports that clients are picking up good catches of whiting although, he said that squid have been scarce. Flathead and pinkies have also been good said Rod, but hordes of voracious undersize snapper have been a nuisance.

Fishing the mouth of Swan Bay on the outgoing tide, Chris Stamalos and Kelvin McLean made good use of their landing net to snare two big flathead that they caught among their mixed bag of flathead, mackerel, silver trevally, whiting and leatherjackets over the weekend.

Lachie Wombell with a sample of the pink ling he and Bob McPherson caught in 620 metres of water of Portland on Saturday (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Ricky Milich with his catch of kingfish taken along Portland’s north shore (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

Bob McPherson reports that kingfish are on the go at Portland and among those to catch them was Ricky Milich. Bob didn’t say what size these were, but from the photos he sent me, Ricky’s fish looked to be around the 9 kg mark.

The “Hooked on Tuna” competition held over the weekend lived up to its namesake with bluefin tuna to 31 kg being taken from the ship anchorage which is between Portland harbour and Lady Julia Percy Island.

As for Bob, he and Lachie Wombell took advantage of good weather on Saturday to head out to the deep mud in 620 metres of water off Portland where they caught several large pink ling.

Leopold Angling Club member Rita Polgar, with a nice squid taken off Clifton Springs (Picture: Ivan Bereza).

Ollie asks:

Geoff, can you provide any guidance, or formula, in regard to the assembling of a lead-line for catching kingfish at Port Phillip Heads?

It is customary to attach a sturdy, say 150mm, rubber O ring at the holding point on the line with a “Cat’s Paw” or similar loop connection, enabling a grip or cleating point. The line itself can then be stowed in a stout plastic bucket ready for use

Hammered: Beau Ely with the hammerhead shark he caught offshore from Bream Lea.

Offshore

Beau Ely was on the water off Barwon Heads by 5.30am, and would have been out even earlier except for the fog; even so, the visibility was so poor he had to concentrate on avoiding the cray pot buoys outside the river mouth.

Soon, he was fishing on the drift with a light breeze and moderate swell in 35 metres of water off Bream Lea, his berley trail attracting dozens of slimy mackerel; great bait for the game fishing outfit, and so ravenous they were even taking bare hooks: Then the kingfish arrived!

There were dozens of them, but unlike the slimies, they wouldn’t take a bait. Rigging with a knife jig did the trick, but those he boated were just shy of the legal 60cm minimum. He also caught a nice snapper on the jig though, and followed that with several pinkies.

With the sounder ticking over in 13 metres, Beau was about to retrieve his lines to begin another drift when the Tiagra game reel screamed into life, heralding a battle with what turned out to a lively hammerhead shark of possibly 70kg. And, by the time he’d wrestled that in through the dive door, he was within cooee of the surfers off Bream Lea.

Matching pair: Andrew Johnson with his matching pair of big flathead from Corio Bay (Picture: Dennis O’Brien).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien’s whiting expedition in just on 7 metres of water off Curlewis on Friday went well, and in the midst of it, Andrew hooked a big flathead that cut him off as it dived beneath the boat.

Re-rigging once more, again for whiting, Andrew hooked what was obviously another large flathead; this one finishing in the landing net, along with hook, line and sinker from the previous encounter. And, while disentangling all of that from the landing net, Andrew’s other rod buried over with a second, equally large, flathead.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that Darren Hillier took a run across the Bay to the area just east of Point Wilson known as Arthur the Great, where he caught a number of pinkie snapper and 18 flathead using squid for bait.

Levi and Oscar of Colac with a nice mixed bag taken off Indented Head (Picture Rod Ludlow).

Fishing close to the mussel farm off Clifton Springs on Sunday was Aris Sertaridis who also returned with a mixed bag that included whiting, pinkies and flathead.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire reports that whiting are well worth trying for with the Inner Governor reef, and elsewhere on the Prince George Bank, producing fish with pipis and mussels preferred baits.

The squid have been patchy said Rod, but keeping on the move, and using a selection of jigs, will usually bear fruit. Bear in mind though that they have been more prolific on the outer marks over the past week, along with flathead; both best caught on the drift.

Lachie Wombell with a pair of spotted ling from 600 metres of water off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

See what I mean, says Lachie Wombell (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that 17-year old Angus Robinson’s tally of 150 redfin was an eye-opener, all being taken on live minnow, while the Washington brothers from Geelong caught several brown trout to 3 kg or so fishing on mudeyes fished under floats.

Chinook salmon have also been caught from the lake with Terry Shepherd of Regal Marine taking his share on pilchard fillets suspended just above the bottom.

Fishing nearby Lake Bullen Merri was Mitch French who caught both rainbow trout and chinook salmon trolling Tassie Devils.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that club members covered a bit of ground over the past week or so with John Rivett taking yellowbelly to 47 cm from the Wimmera River near Horsham, while Ken Hinks and Robert Cook found cod to 60 odd cm in the shallows of Lake Mulwala near Yarrawonga.

This drop in 600 metres of water off Portland, brought up a blue eye trevalla, and – on the very next hook – the trouble maker (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Flathead Challenge

The Bellarine Pirates and St Leonards Angling Clubs are hosting a “Flathead Challenge” on Saturday (Jan 26) with valuable prizes to be won. Fishing time is from 2.00 pm Friday (Jan 25) until 3.00 pm Saturday. That’s also the final weigh-in time, which begins at midday on Saturday at the Clifton Springs boat ramp car park. Entry for adults is $10.00 and $5.00 for juniors; 10-16 years, and the same for nippers; 9 years or under.

Prior registration is required by Thursday (Jan 24) and may be made by email to secretary.fish@bigpond.com Please phone Phil Walters on 0411 215 146 or Peter Kellam on 0408 581 685 for more information.

Jeremy asks:

Geoff, when I wind in to check my bait on Corio Bay, it’s nearly always gone, even if I check it after only a few minutes. What’s to be done?

Angus Illingworth with a catch of whiting by he and his mother Janet, from Corio Bay’s outer harbour. (Picture: Janet Illingworth).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Whiting catches have prevailed over the past week with little else gaining attention. However, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar took a mixed bag of pinkie snapper to 1.2 kg, a couple of gummy shark, and several snook to 80 cm, while fishing offshore from Point Lillias.

On Thursday, 14-year-old Angus Illingworth headed out off Clifton Springs with his mother Janet, their first item on the agenda was catching squid. They finished up with 14 as it turned out, mostly just offshore from the Clifton Springs boat ramp.

With a good supply of pipis – now supplemented with freshly caught squid – they headed some 2 kilometres west of the ramp where they found whiting on the bite: They kept10 fish to 38 cm for a feed and returned the rest.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Spring Boat Hire reports that Peter Clark first tried off Edge-water Drive where he’d been previously successful with no luck. But heading down to Curlewis paid off with 20 whiting to 39 cm.

Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien also took bag limit catches of whiting to 38 cm off Curlewis on Friday afternoon, and were again blessed with a catch of 7 flathead to 54 cm.

With time to spare after work on Friday, Darcy Scott took a run down to Queenscliff with squid first on his bucket list.

With possibly an hour of daylight left after taking his legal 10 from the Lonsdale Bight, he tried for whiting, picking up sixteen fish before losing the seventeenth to what he judged to be shark.

With night closing in, and after losing yet another whiting – and a second rig – he eventually finished with 20 fish, most over 40 cm, before returning to the ramp after dark.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head also reports improved whiting catches over the past week, in addition to the pinkie snapper, flathead and squid that have been his client’s mainstay of late.

Chris Farrugia with one of the trophy size brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete last week.

Freshwater

John Clements says he bears no grudge against George Gillies of Colac who beat him by 200 grams (7kg against George’s 7.2kg) in the Lake Purrumbete Angling Club’s redfin competition on the lake over the weekend.

Apart from that though, trophy size brown trout have been on offer with Portarlington’s Tom Hogan taking one of 3.8 kg. Others to catch them included Tim Beusmans and Chris Farrugia, the approach varying from fishing with mudeyes beneath a float to trolling various lures.

Rod Shepherd fished Lake Elingamite early last week where the water level had visibly dropped over the past week. Frustrated at missing several good strikes, and being harassed by small redfin, he was eventually rewarded with two respectable rainbow trout.

Fishing the Murray near Echuca, Boris Stocki caught and released five Murray cod, each around the 45 cm mark, and a silver perch. However, he told of hooking a much bigger fish that stripped metres of line from his reel before hanging him up on a snag.

Boris said that despite using a variety of baits that included cheese, shrimp, yabby, chicken and marinated chicken, the only bites he had during the day were on cheese. And, although he fished on into the night, all was quiet after dark.

Amber Stone with one of the Murray cod she’s caught recently from the Loddon River at Baringhup (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Estuary perch liberation

On Tuesday, some 45,000 estuary perch fingerlings were released into the Barwon River downstream from Queens Park by Fisheries Victoria, an exercise funded by recreational licence fees as part of a State Government initiative to promote recreational fishing.

Those that adapt, and survive predation by cormorants, eels and the like over the next few years, should – optimistically – reach the legal length of 27 cm, and at least 400 grams in their third year, and possibly 45 cm with a decade.

Jack Oliver with one of the hefty hapuka he’s caught offshore from Port Macdonell lately.

Rod asks;

Geoff, I fished off Avalon on Friday evening and there was a buoy a kilometre or so from the Point Wilson pier, on which was written, Point Wilson Exclusion Zone. I’ll swear it wasn’t there before. Can you tell me anything about it?

For security reasons, advance notice of shipping, and activation of this exclusion zone cannot be given, so your co-operation is requested when the yellow buoy lights are flashing and the red flag on the pier is flying.

Scott Edgar with an example of the flathead to be caught in Corio Bay lately.

Lucy Beusmans with a 1.8 kg rainbow trout (Picture: Tim Beusmans).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

The large flathead presently in Corio Bay have created some interest, and among those to catch them were Paul Raduka and Scott Edgar

The pair caught eight larger-than-usual fish among their flathead catch on Thursday evening while fishing in 8 metres of water off North Shore, their biggest measuring 75cm, which would make it about 3 kg. That one was caught on a whole squid head.

John Goleby with the whiting he caught on the vibe, while on the phone (Picture: John Goleby).

Robbie Wild with one of the flathead he caught from the Sunshine Coast canal (Picture John Goleby).

Fishing the incoming tide for snapper from 5.30am on Wednesday, were Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck who’d anchored up in one of their previously productive spots, just east of the Wilson Spit.

And, as happened last week, they didn’t have long to wait for the action to begin, the pair taking their respective bag limits of fish from 1.5 to 4.5 kg, and returning others; all being caught on silver whiting and squid with the action slowing down after sunrise.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that good catches of flathead have been taken by anglers fishing on the drift in the deeper water, and that snapper are also about, but the volume of undersize fish in some areas can be a nuisance.

Mike also mentions that among those to catch whiting were Peter Clark and Des Mc Kiernan who caught 29, their largest measuring 40 cm. These were taken in 5.5metres of water off Curlewis.

Mind you, they are not there for the taking, something that Dennis O’Brien could relate after a fruitless trip off Curlewis on Wednesday. But on his way back to Clifton Springs, he got the word that there was a good bite at the east end of the mussel farm off Portarlington, and that’s where he eventually took a bag limit catch.

And, that’s where Dennis and Andrew Johnson finished up during Saturday’s stiff southerly, but – despite the blustery conditions – they finished with 22 keepers, but Andrew’s neighbour John Fotias, took bragging rights that evening, catching a whiting measuring 46 cm off Curlewis.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire reports that flathead, including some good size specimens, caught mainly from the shallows, have been taken, but squid have been scarce. The good news, said Rod, is that whiting and pinkie snapper are now regular captures.

Amber Stone with one of the two Murray cod she caught from the Loddon River at Baringhup on Saturday (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Freshwater

Following Kevin Wild’s capture of an 80 cm Murray cod from the Loddon River at Baringhup a couple of weeks ago, he and Amber Stone, both Maryborough Angling Club members, returned on Saturday with a good supply of yabbies for bait.

Not in vain as it turned out, for while Kevin was unable to repeat his previous performance, Amber caught two beautiful cod measuring 79 and 78.5cm.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that brown trout to 3 kg have been taken from the lake with Tony Nisson of Airport West producing a good sample of these while fishing mudeyes beneath a float.

Lucy Beusmans 11, and Ryland Hogan 7, both from Geelong, were also in the mix, Lucy with a rainbow trout of 1.8 kg and Ryland with a brown trout, also of 1.8 kg, while Charlie Farrugia of Oaklands Junction caught a 2.5 kg rainbow.

Michael Bux of Narre Warren and Chris Hayes of Colac have taken any amount of chinook salmon to 1.5 kg on pilchard fillets suspended just above the bottom, while George Gillies of Winchelsea has been catching redfin to 600 grams on soft plastics.

John Goleby with his 47 cm Fingermark; inset, the hook lost by his father Scott the week previous (Picture: John Goleby).

John Goleby with his 52 cm Mangrove Jack (Picture: Robbie Wild).

Upstate

Fishing the Maroochy River, on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane last week, the first order of business for John Goleby, was to capture some herring for live-bait, something he accomplished in short order with a cast net. Following that, John was soon in business, on 3 kg tackle, with what turned out to be a 47 cm fingermark that was carrying another hook; one obviously lost in a previous encounter.

As it turned out, John’s father Scott had fished the very same location the week previous, and – after hooking a good size fish – fell foul of a drifting palm frond, which ended the encounter. And, when presented the hook the fish had been carrying, recognized it as his own.

That was by no means John’s only catch, for – while engaged in a tech support call on his phone, rod between his legs – his 60 cm soft vibe in black, was taken by what turned out to be a 32 cm whiting.

John’s ongoing encounters with his friend Robbie Wild – while fishing the Sunshine Coast’s canals the last week – included one with a 52 cm mangrove Jack that snapped his rod while ferociously doubling back under the kayak’s hull. Never the less, the feisty jack was subdued.

As for Robbie, he picked up two great flathead of 54 and 56 cm on a 60mm soft vibe while working the canal’s sandy edges on the high tide.

Lachie Wombell with a Bigeye Ocean Perch that he caught while bottom fishing in almost 600 metres of water off Portland.

Robson asks:

Geoff, after travelling to the Western District over the holiday period, I would like to fish Lake Elingamite up Cobden way. I hear launching here can be problematic, so can you provide an update on this water? And also, what fish are present?

Present in Lake Elingamite are redfin and trout, both browns and rainbows, all of which may be caught on a variety of baits and lures.

Adam Mason with a freshly caught mako shark off Port Fairy (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).

Marcus Pearson with yet another mako shark off Port Fairy (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).

Western District

Berleying up for a shark in 80 metres of water off Cape Bridgewater on Saturday were Drysdale anglers Reece Holwell, Jim Clay and Trent Booth. And, as you can imagine, they were delighted at the arrival of a mako shark, which was presented with a whole Australian salmon.

The mako, which eventually greeted the scales for a verdict of 112.5 kg, put up 40-minute battle before finishing up as flake.

Fishing off nearby Port Fairy on Sunday, were Kevin McLoughlin, Brian Nolan, Marcus Pearson and Adam Mason who also caught two respectable makos.

A sawfish that was caught at Lorne last week (Picture: Bill Athanasselis).

Sawfish

The term sawfish is usually associated with the large tropical variety, reputedly growing to 6 metres in length. However, at least one species of sawfish is found in southern Australian waters.

Bill Athanasselis photographed one his friend Warren caught at Lorne last week, which – at 1.5 metres long – was larger than the 1.2 metre maximum given in “Sea Fishes of Southern Australia” by Barry Hutchins and Roger Swainston, who rate the culinary qualities of this species equal to that of gummy or school shark.

Kevin Wild with a 52 cm redfin that he caught from Cairn Curran Reservoir (Picture: Amber Stone).

Paul Droney with a 2 kg rainbow trout from Tullaroop Reservoir (Picture: Amber Stone).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

On Saturday afternoon, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar, fished for snapper just east of the Wilson Spit where they picked up a promising signal.

At 4.00 pm they’d barely had their lines out before catching their first fish; the start of a session, during which they each took bag limit catches of snapper from 1.5 to 5 kg, and a gummy shark, using silver whiting and squid for bait.

On Boxing Day, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien fished in 6.8 metres of water off Curlewis for 20 whiting to 40 cm, along with a couple of nice flathead, returning a good many legal size but smaller fish.

Lachie Wombell with yet another pink ling. This one was caught from 600 metres of water off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Trying at the same spot on Friday, despite the strong southerly and rough seas, they didn’t turn a scale, but determined to succeed, they diligently worked their way back to The Springs, eventually picking up a dozen keepers offshore from The Dell.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire also reports that several others picked up whiting 200 metres or so out from The Dell, including Clive Allen-Paisley and Tom Adair who took a catch of 14 here using pipis for bait.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that whiting, flathead and squid have all been represented in angler’s bags, with pinkie snapper a bonus.

Among those to catch them were Jeff Richards and Ken Shae who caught 8 to 40cm in five metres of water between the Prince George Light and the PG2 pile, all taken on the incoming tide, using squid for bait.

Jeff also reminds us to use tough baits out here because the resident hordes of voracious undersize snapper will strip off softer baits, like pilchards, in seconds.

Redfin are definitely on the bite at Cairn Curran Reservoir, but I’d guess that Dylan Mccosh (pictured) had some contributors to this catch. (Picture: Amber Stone).

Freshwater

Although the main catch from Cairn Curran Reservoir last week was redfin, for which Kevin Wild and Amber Stone were well prepared – using both small yabbies and soft plastics – bonus captures of golden perch (yellowbelly) to 52 cm were also well received.

From all accounts, nearby Tullaroop Reservoir has been producing both rainbow and brown trout, particularly at daybreak and dusk, with Paul Droney among the successful anglers, catching a 2kg rainbow trout on whitebait.

A seven-gilled shark caught in 600 metres of water off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Casey asks:

Geoff, I’ve always understood that when fishing from a beach, it was always better to fish on the high tide. I noticed on December 18, you reported an angler catching fish from Ocean Grove, not only on the low tide, but on a very low tide. Can you give me some explanation please?

Linda Stewart with one of the snapper that she and husband Murray caught from Corio Bay last week (Picture: Murray Stewart).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

While depth-sounding technology helps anglers find fish, it doesn’t help catch them; something all too familiar to those who fish for snapper during the winter when water temperatures drop to the point their metabolism is barely ticking over.

But when they’re reluctant to bite in summer, it’s generally a shark problem, something which Murray Stewart and wife Linda were reminded of last week after anchoring over a dense pod of fish that were biting very gingerly to say the least.

Having eventually come up tight on a good fish, and brought it perhaps halfway to the boat, Murray’s battle was renewed with a scorching run and several mighty headshakes before being cleanly bitten off. So, be warned; sharks are about.

Snapper aficionado Andrew Phillips and his pal Colin Radley, came up short after a long stint on Corio Bay mid-week. Undeterred though, they were out again on Saturday night under a near full moon, picking up a snapper of 5kg at about 11.00 pm.

It was something of a just reward after being constantly harassed by banjo sharks, and – after that snapper – an eagle ray that tangled all the lines. But their persistence was rewarded, first with a gummy shark of 10kg, and at 1.30 am, another snapper of 6.2kg.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports having a couple of good days with clients bringing mixed bag of squid, flathead and pinkie snapper, the latter being taken between Steele’s Rocks and the mussel farm.

Kevin Wild with the photo he took of himself with the 80 cm Murray caught he caught from the bank of the Loddon River.

Freshwater

On a recent visit to Lake Mulwala, Maryborough Angling Club members, Kevin Wild and Amber Stone, caught and released a total of 25 Murray cod using both bait and lures. These were taken at the Yarrawonga end of the lake, the biggest measuring 69cm.

Kevin also made a solo effort on the Loddon River, just downstream from the spillway at Baringhup last week. Fishing from the bank with a good supply of yabbies, he had a couple of good bites before, around 9.00 am. he caught, then released an 80cm cod, taking a picture himself holding it with his camera on the tackle box.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that Oscar Vacan and Charlie Green, both from Torquay, fished the lake with Oscar’s grandfather, Bob Brown. Slowly trolling pilchard fillets, they caught rainbow trout to 1.8 kg.

Redfin are still the main catch though said John, with Brian Nygaard of Bacchus Marsh taking his share of fish to 600 grams while jigging with soft plastics. John also mention the nearby Lake Bullen, which has suffered a recurrent algal bloom is virtually a no-go area.

Amber Stone with one of the Murray cod that she and Kevin Wild caught and released at Lake Mulwala (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Off the beach

With high tides during the evenings early last week, surf fishing enthusiast Tony Ingram fished at Jan Juc, initially with cut pilchards and whitebait, and then – with Australian salmon coming on the bite toward dusk – he rigged his lure-casting tackle with a 40-gram metal lure and found the salmon, some better than a kilogram, in a suicidal mood.

With the bite easing off on dark, he sacrificed one of the few fish he’d kept as strip-bait in the hope of catching a gummy shark perhaps, or even a mulloway, but – as he’d done the week previously at Ocean Grove – hooked a toothy-critter that escaped with his hook.

Lachie Wombell with a large pink ling; part of a catch made by he and Bob McPherson off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

Picking a break in the weather, Bob McPherson and Lachie Wombell headed offshore, in calm conditions, where they saw patches of tuna rippling on the surface, and at least one mako shark. However, the bottom fishing was slow, but they did catch a couple of blue-eye trevalla and a large pink ling.

Jason asks:

Geoff, I enjoy reading your fishing page, but you use reports from the same people most of the time. I know plenty of people who catch fish but only the same folk are mentioned; how come?

Lachie Wombell with a good size pink ling from the deep grounds off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Corio Bay Bellarine Peninsula

A fishing information network is good to be part of, especially when fishing for snapper; something clearly demonstrated the week previous when Murray Stewart’s friend Shane called him over to a really hot bite off Curlewis.

Last week, Murray was able to return the favour when he and wife Linda’s rods were-a-buckling the tune of snapper aplenty, eventually leaving the water with bag limit catches.

And it’s always good to make an early start, something that Andrew Phillips and long-time friend Colin Radley appreciate, being on the water by 4.00am on Wednesday.

On the way toward the Nine Foot Bank pile off Avalon, and with the sounder running, they were stopped in their tracks as the screen lit up in 7.5 metres of water with the familiar snapper signature, a kilometre or so past the Wilson Spit.

It was no false alarm either, for – from 4.45 until 8.00 – they not only caught their respective bag limit catches of snapper to 5kg, but a 14 kg gummy shark that took a bait of squid just as they were packing up.

Justin Burns and Simon Williams were on the move from Point Henry by first light on Sunday, and – fishing with Berkley Turtleback worms in pumpkinseed – they caught a quantity of flathead, the biggest about 850 grams, two snook – one of which was about a metre in length – and two whiting, one measuring 40cm.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that Russell Weatherall and a companion caught 9 whiting offshore from the boat ramp, while whiting experts, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien, struggled to get 17 keepers off Curlewis in challenging conditions on Friday afternoon. Mind you, they also released a good many small but legal-size fish.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that pinkie snapper to a kilogram or so have been a welcome catch, with Jeff Richards and Ken Shae picking up 8 to 40 cm just south of the Prince George Light on Friday afternoon’s incoming tide.

Lachie Wombell with a good size pink ling from the deep grounds off Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Off the beach

Taking advantage of really low evening tides early last week, Tony Ingram surveyed the beach between 18 and 19W at Ocean Grove for a clear area to fish through the late afternoon evening.

A productive exercise as it turned out, for he caught three pinkie snapper, the largest around 2.5 kg, right on dark, and shortly before the tide began coming up the beach forcing his retreat.

But then, he hooked another fish, clearly bigger than any of those already in his carry bag, but it was eventually lost, along with his hook and sinker; so, one could surmise the involvement of a toothy-critter at some stage during the engagement.

Wattle grub “frass” at the base of a black wattle (Picture: Australian Plants online).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that Sean Kelly of Eltham, and local angler Mark Cummings, have both taken brown trout to just on 2 kg while fishing with mudeyes under a float, while Geoff Broughton, Brian Nygaard and Matt Hall of Colac have all picked up rainbow trout – the biggest around the 1.8 kg mark – with the same approach.

At nearby Lake Purrumbete Mick Giles of Bannockburn has been among a handful of anglers to take both rainbow trout and chinook salmon while fishing land-based from the north side of the lake.

Sammy asks:

Geoff, I’ve been told that wattle grubs are great bait when night-fishing for large brown trout: How would I get some?

While the harvesting of wattle grubs is taboo, you may purchase lifelike imitations at https://www.a1baitsupplies.com.au/store or https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-tas/wattle+grubs/k0l3008843