Geoff Wilson’s Fishing Knots And Rigs

Phillip Pirotta with his 4.8 kg brown trout (Picture: Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park).

Snook are about in good numbers, in both Corio Bay’s inner and outer harbours. Among those to catch them last week was Darcy Scott who picked up several, using the fillets of one of them for bait.

To good effect as it turned out, for he caught two snapper around the 2 kg mark and a gummy shark of about 5 kg.

Darcy, along with companions Aidan, Liam and Layton Kelly, also did well on the whiting in the Lonsdale Bite at Queenscliff, and what beauties they were: They caught 20 altogether, ranging in size from 40 to 48 cm, using squid for bait.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that squid are back in good numbers over most of the inshore reefs, along with modest catches of good size whiting, particularly on the flood tide.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that the southern boundary of the mussel farm is producing the goods of late with pinkie snapper; gummy shark and flathead being caught. However, good size whiting are scarce.

Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien had a good crack at them on Friday afternoon, and in one of their favourite areas off Curlewis, but as sometimes happens, they caught no big fish at all and had to settle for the ever-present pea-dodgers.

The following day though, Andrew, and his friend Luke Hurley, returned to much the same ground, armed this time with squid jigs; a good move as it turned out for they caught 17 with some good ones among them.

Spearfishing closer in to shore, in about 3 metres of water, Andrew’s son Tim was hunting for the large flathead this area is known for, when he got a surprise. What he first thought was a shoal of large salmon, turned out to be a half dozen or so kingfish, each around the 70 cm mark: But they passed too quickly for a shot.

Fishing offshore from Limeburners Point with soft plastics on Saturday morning, Justin Burns and wife Katryna were soon in business with rock flathead to 800 grams or so, and some fairly large snook. However, the snapper they were hoping for, and which they’d caught here previously, didn’t seem to be present.

Simon Williams with the rainbow trout he caught from Wurdiboluc Reservoir (Picture: Justin Burns).

Peter Collicoat with his 3.9 kg brown trout (Picture: Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park).

Freshwater

On Sunday morning Justin and Simon Williams tried their luck at Wurdiboluc Reservoir, where – fishing from the rock wall near the car park – Simon caught a rainbow trout of 1.4 kg while Justin had to settle for a half dozen small redfin.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park, reports that large brown trout are still on offer with Phillip Pirotta hooking a real beauty on a Rapala F11 one evening last week, only to lose it near the boat.

Undeterred, he headed out first thing the following morning and was rewarded with a brownie of 4.8 kg that – on this occasion – took a Tassie Devil.

Drop-shotting with a Tassie Eliminator, Peter Collicoat from Bellbridge picked up another beauty of 3.9 kg.

Redfin also remain on offer said John, with regulars like Joe Vito picking up fish to a kilogram or so last week using scrubworms for bait.

Lachie Wombell with sample of the whiting being caught at Portland lately (Picture: Bob McPherson).

George Gereige with a sweep from Cape Nelson (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Ryan asks:

Geoff, I recently caught a snapper with a hook in its mouth and trailing a short length of line. It had obviously been there a long time because the hook was corroded and the line had seaweed growing from it. I’ve been told that fish get rid of hooks in a short space of time; so what is the truth?

Ryan, fish that become hooked and escape with the hook imbedded, are stuck with it for quite some time; usually until the tissue around the hook forms a cyst, which eventually breaks away with the hook: A somewhat unpalatable fact for many.

A lot of unwanted or undersize fish are released by cutting the line, leaving the fish burdened with the hook. That is why having a suitable hook remover with you when fishing, and using it carefully to remove the hook – preferably while holding the fish with a wet towel or the like – is a good idea. Of course some fish swallow the hook and there’s little to be done about that.

Justin Burns with the six-banded moonlighter he caught from Cunningham Pier (Picture: Aisha Burns).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

A variety of fish have been caught from Cunningham Pier and along the Geelong waterfront over the years. I’ve even caught a few offbeat numbers myself, particularly in my youth while fishing – and, dare I say – spear-fishing beneath the pier, but I’ve never encountered a six-banded moonlighter, a specimen of which Justin Burns caught while casting soft plastics from here at the weekend:

Apparently they’re widespread, but not that common

Last week, I reported a catch of snapper from the Corio Bay inner harbour: No fluke as it turned out, for early last week, and in bright moonlight, Andrew Phillips and George Uranus – who’d experienced a couple of dry runs in the outer harbour since last week’s report – fished offshore from the refinery after launching at Limeburners Point.

They lay at anchor there for three hours or so, catching nothing but a couple of banjo shark and a large spider crab before their first snapper, a fish of about 4 kg, took one of their pilchards at about 10.00 pm.

From then on the action was constant until they left at about 11.00 pm leaving them biting; each having caught their respective bag limits of fish from 3.5 to 5.2 kg.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that gummy shark have been turning up amongst anglers catches along the southern border of the mussel farm with Jonny and Mowie Maroenz taking them to 1.5 kg.

Pinkie snapper are still about as well with Matt Fry, who also caught a decent gummy shark, picking up ten of legal size and four flathead while fishing directly out from the boat ramp.

Lachie Wombell with another good size King George Whiting from Cape Grant (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Lachie Wombell with one of the sweep that he and Bob McPherson caught at Cape Nelson last week (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien managed to find the whiting last week, on Thursday, when they caught 24 in six metres of water off Curlewis using their reliable pipi and squid cocktail baits.

Trying again on Sunday afternoon, they anchored up in their previously successful spot and soon had six good size whiting on board, but after that, things went quiet.

Obviously the fish had moved, an event, which in turn had them prospecting nearby areas before reaching their eventual total of 26 fish, the biggest measuring 41 cm.

Jeff Richards of Indented Head reports that snapper are still being caught within the Portarlington harbour, and that a friend of his caught one of 4 kg, and witnessed the capture of another last week. These were caught from the internal breakwater – which begins at the end of Fisher Street – while casting toward the nearby barge mooring.

Shane Hogan of Drysdale with his Murray cod from Bundalong (Picture: John Clements).

Paul Connor of Warrnambool with the 4 kg brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: John Clements).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that rainbow and brown trout to 1.5 kg are still being taken in good numbers, but Tim Beusman – who’d already caught a number of these – was disappointed to lose a brown trout of about 4.5 kg alongside his boat. However, Paul Connor of Warrnambool caught one of 4 kg while trolling a Tassie Devil.

Redfin remain plentiful said john with anglers like Les Broughton still picking up good catches of fish to a kilogram or so from the lake using scrubworms and minnow for bait.

As for John, he spent some time with Shane Hogan of Drysdale, and his father Tom last week while on the Murray at Bundalong near Yarrawonga where Shane took the largest of their three cod at 11.3 kg. The other two were both around the 6.5 kg mark.

Bill Athanasselis and Mick Kollaris on a file photo of a thresher shark that took a lure offshore from the mouth of the Surrey River near Portland some years ago.

Mason asks:

Geoff, I’ve seen you-tube footage of kayakers catching thresher sharks on lures and want to give it a try. Are thresher sharks about? If so, what lures do I use, and where do I fish for them?

Mason, I too have seen footage of thresher sharks being caught, and released, from kayaks – always in the company of other kayakers doing likewise – but never alone because this is a risky activity clearly demonstrated in some of this footage.

Thresher sharks are present at places along the west coast like Point Impossible with November and December good months to try: Lures like the larger Rapala CDs and X-Raps do the job, and from daybreak onward is when to fish for them.

Having caught threshers on lures myself – but never from a kayak – I can tell you that most – if not all – become hooked in the tail, from which you will need a gloved hand and a good set of pliers to affect release.

Lachie Wombell with a smple of the whiting he caught at Cape Grant last week (Picture: Bob McPherson).

On the rocks: Gaiji Koyama with a nice flathead from the rocks at St Helens (Photo: Seiya Koyama).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

With few reports from the Corio Bay inner harbour of late, it was encouraging to hear that visiting anglers, Harley Griffiths and Stanley Owen, picked up two snapper, each around the 4-5 kg mark. They were fishing with pilchards for bait offshore from the Corio refinery and also caught some respectable pinkies and several flathead.

Speaking of flathead, Gaiji Koyama picked up a nice one of 45 cm from the rocks at St Helens while fishing with his father Seiya on Saturday.

On Tuesday evening, night shift snapper hunters Andrew Phillips and George Uranus were out in their usual spot by 8.00 pm, between the channel junction off Curlewis and the Point Wilson Pier.

While the fishing was slow to begin with, George caught a nice snapper of about 5 kg at around 10.30, then Andrew caught another that weighed 7 kg shortly after that; both being caught on squid: Staying out until around 1.00 am, they added a good size gummy shark to their bag, but no more snapper.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire has seen plenty of pinkie snapper and leatherjackets being cleaned at the boat harbour lately; not many snapper though. However, there has been the occasional good catch of whiting

Tom Robinson and Keith Berry picked up a dozen nice fish offshore from The Dell on Thursday evening after returning a host of pea-dodgers. However, just before dark, the incoming tide encouraged fish to 40 cm or so, to the table.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that although onshore winds had muddied the waters, some clients – particularly those able to pick a break in the weather – took good catches of whiting, some better than 40 cm.

What is interesting said Rod, is that those doing best of all have been fishing on the drift, something that is not the usual approach for whiting, but technique leads by example so it’s best to take heed.

Legal size pinkie snapper have shown up as well said Rod, probably due to the discoloured water, but those to catch them over the 50 cm mark, have usually ventured out toward the Prince George pile, usually of an evening.

Barwon estuary

Fishing the incoming tide from The Sheepwash on Saturday morning, Simon and Jayden Werner had no trouble catching Australian salmon and mullet that were biting freely; some of which in turn were presented as live bait, hopeful of tempting a mulloway.

They caught two as it turned out, more or less one after the other at around 11.00 am, just before it began to rain; the larger of their two fish measuring 93 cm.

A result like that was worth a replay, so they set out with high hopes of a similar catch on Sunday, only to find there was nothing doing; nothing at all. Interestingly, on Saturday, the water temperature within the estuary was between 18 and 19 degrees, but on Sunday, for some reason, the water temperature had dropped to 15 degrees.

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that early last week, people were complaining about the heat. Come the weekend rain though, and with the track too heavy for most, those – like Terry Sheppard of Regal Marine – who were prepared to accommodate the weather, caught any amount of redfin to 800 grams or so.

Trout fishing was by no means spectacular, said John, but Phil Pirotta of Warrnambool took rainbow trout to 2 kg trolling Tassie Devils, while John Smithson took both brown and rainbow trout of a similar size using the same approach.

Chris asks:

Chris, in my estimation, a pinkie of 40 cm (total length) would barely weigh a kilogram, while a fish of 60 cm would be approaching 3 kg, the generally agreed size over which they are referred to as snapper. I did make a submission recommending a size increase for pinkies – when such were invited – alas, to no avail.

Aaron Habgood with the 7.5 kg snapper he caught off Clifton Springs last week (Picture: Aaron Habgood).

Aaron Habgood with two crayfish he caught by hand (Picture Aaron Habgood).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Although pinkie snapper to 50 cm or so have been the main catch in the outer harbour, Aaron Habgood of Red’s Fishing Adventures, caught one of 7.5 kg from 9 metres of water off Clifton Springs last week.

After making an early start on Monday morning, Andrew Johnson anchored up after finding a promising signal some 30 metres south of the Point Richards Channel, hoping for a decent snapper.

As it turned out, there were snapper a plenty, all good size pinkies, most of which he returned unharmed, keeping three fish from 2.5 to 4.5 kg.

While the ratio of big snapper to pinkies is much better after dark, something to which night-stalkers, Andrew Phillips and George Uranus could attest, but they’ve put in the occasional unrewarded vigil over the past week or two. However, that wasn’t the case on Wednesday night.

After moving from their usual spot, north of the channel junction off Curlewis – mainly because of the number of banjo sharks and other unwanted fish taking their baits – they had their first snapper by 9.00 pm.

It was all hands on deck after that though with a total of five snapper from 3.5 to 5.8 kg – one short of their respective bag limits – coming aboard. Although they stayed until midnight hopeful of catching another fish to make up their legal total, that was their lot.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that pinkies have been plentiful in daylight hours, and among those to catch them were Jason Hockey and Stephen Budzienny who found a school east of the mussel farm.

Whiting have been a bit scarce said Mike, but on Friday afternoon Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien caught a dozen beautiful fish to 43 cm, while David Jeynes picked up several while fishing from his Kayak just out from the harbour.

Also seeking the whiting on Wednesday were and Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire of Indented Head and Jeff Richards who picked up half a dozen to 40 cm offshore from Indented Head.

Jeff also had another go at the whiting on Friday afternoon, this time with Chris Hateley of the Keysborough Angling Club. They took eight to 44 cm near Dead Man’s Stick, which is a kilometre or so inside the Prince George light pile.

With the bite slowing down, they moved out to the gutter inside the pile from where they picked up six pinkie snapper, all over the 50 cm mark, and – with the inappropriate length restriction of 40 cm on pinkies – were back at the ramp by 6.30 pm.

Aaron Habgood with a gummy shark that he caught offshore from Barwon Heads (Picture Aaron Habgood).

Colin Crook with the Bream Lea Gummy Shark (Picture: Rici Hedditch).

Offshore

Making an early morning start in 22 metres of water off Bream Lea on Saturday, Rici Hedditch and Colin Crook were disappointed to lose what they thought was a good size gummy shark. Later on though, they did catch a female gummy shark of about 10 kg that they released; both took yakka (yellowtail scad) fillets.

A gent of Murtoa with a 4.42 kg brown trout that he caught from Lake Purrumbete (Picture and info from Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park).

Jackson Toff of Pakenham with a 50 cm, 1.9 kg redfin from Lake Purrumbete (Picture and info from Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that trophy size brown trout are still on offer with Milan Radocaj of Geelong catching one of 4.42 kg on a Tassie Devil, with yet another fish of 4 kg being taken by a gent from Murtoa.

Rainbow trout to 1.5 kg or so are also on offer said John, taking both on bait and lures, along with some large redfin; the biggest to date being taken by Jackson Toff from Pakenham whose fish measured 50 cm, weighed 1.9 kg and was taken on a scrubworm.

Trevor Holmes of Victorian Inland Charters, along with former test cricketer Merv Hughes and Jason (Stop the Bus) Kennedy, filmed forthcoming segments of Channel One HD “Fishing with Merv Hughes” at Lakes Wartook, Rocklands Reservoir and Lake Toolondo where good size redfin took centre stage.

Trevor also spent a couple of days at Lake Eildon with Michael Evans and Matthew Grinham, whose persistence in deteriorating weather was rewarded with several redfin, a golden perch and three Murray Cod to 70 cm; the biggest of which took a spinnerbait that Michael had cast to a snag.

Michael Evans with his cod from Lake Eildon (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Former test cricket star Merv Hughes with a redfin from Lake Wartook (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Portland

Bob McPherson reports that there is not much doing close in at the moment with most inshore species only being taken in deeper water by trawlers. Even the bottom fishing in the deeper water is slow said Bob, with his most recent offshore trip with George Gereige producing only three blue eye trevalla and a pink ling.

Jason (Stop the Bus!) Kennedy and Caravan Industry Association CEO Rob Lucas with a nice redfin from Lake Toolondo (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Milan Radocaj with a 4.42 kg brown trout from Lake Purrumbete (Picture and info from Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park).

Ben asks:

Geoff, while fishing for snapper off Point Wilson last week, I hooked what seemed to be a good size fish, but was bitten off by what could have only been a shark. The same thing happened to a friend of mine who was fishing nearby. Are there usually sharks about at this time of year?

Ben, from late November through to late January, large female sharks, predominantly bronze whalers, and sometimes other species as well, are present in Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Western Port, to bear their young. Having experienced such an encounter it’s best to move elsewhere.

George Gereige with a frothy pink ling taken offshore from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Andrew Byrne with a trophy size brown trout from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park).

Damian Coter with a 5 kg brown trout from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park at Camperdown, reports that the lake is still producing trophy size brown trout with Damian Coter and Andrew Byrne individually picking up fish – one of which was just on 5 kg – on lures fished on downriggers.

Naturally, there were a good many smaller fish taken as well – mainly rainbow trout – by anglers like Phillip Tirotta from Warrnambool who picked up fish to 1.5 kg using mudeyes for bait.

Although Lake Bullen Merri has accumulated a surface layer of blue-green algae, it’s still producing chinook salmon, said John, with Kane Broughton – who was staying up that way with his family – catching one of 3.7 kg at the weekend using a fillet of pilchard suspended just above the bottom.

Redfin as still going strong, said John, with Uri of St Albans Angling Club getting his fair share to 1.4 kg using scrubworms for bait.

A little farther afield, Steven Hill of Camperdown, and his companion Ron Webb, visited Lake Tooliorook last week, taking a mixed bag of rainbow and brown trout to 3.12 kg, on lures.

Linda Stewart with a couple of nice pinkies from Corio Bay (Picture: Murray Stewart).

Corio Bay and the Bellarine Peninsula

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire, reports that there are plenty of good size pinkie snapper about during daylight hours, and among those to catch them on Sunday morning were Murray Stewart and wife Linda.

After launching at Clifton Springs, they anchored up in around 7 metres of water off the Pelican Shores caravan park at Leopold, and as it turned out, their baits of silver whiting were taken by good size pinkies before they’d even reached the bottom.

The thing is, with the improbable size restriction on pinkie snapper at 40 cm, they had their bag limit catches in no time and left them biting.

Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien made yet another trip off Clifton Springs for whiting, trying an area in around 7 metres of water where they’d caught them previously.

However, although the fishing was slow, they caught a dozen really good size fish to 42 cm by 2.00 pm. But then the wind came up from the south-east at around 20 knots, which persuaded them to head back in.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that whiting catches are on the improve, so much so that even folk fishing with whitebait for flathead have been picking up some good size specimens with fish over 40 cm by no means rare. However, the best bait by far said Rod is mussel, which is readily available from various sources at Portarlington.

Kelvin Maclean and Chris Stamalos with one of the gummy shark they caught offshore from Barwon Heads on Sunday.

Barwon estuary

Fishing the Sheepwash from his boat on Wednesday, Simon Werner found catching mullet and small, but legal size, salmon no problem. So, with the tide still trickling in, he broke out the heavier tackle and put one of those on for live bait. A good move as it turned out, for it wasn’t long before he caught a mulloway measuring 86 cm.

With a result like that, it was worth a replay, so on Friday; Simon initiated the process once more, this time catching a mulloway that measured 94 cm.

Offshore

Making an early start on Sunday, Chris Stamalos and Kelvin Maclean were hoping for something decent after anchoring in 31 metres of water off Barwon Heads on Sunday morning.

Their first sign of action came at 7.30 when one of their rods wrapped over; reel screaming to the tune of a 16 kg gummy shark. After that, they caught several slimy mackerel and a couple of large southern calamari, both of which provided first class bait; arguably resulting in their second good run at around 9.00 am, which resulted in the capture of a 22 kg gummy shark.

Ahmed asks:

Geoff, you always seem to have fishing reports from the same people: I see hundreds of people out fishing, so why do you keep mentioning the same ones?

Aaron Habgood with yet another good catch of snapper off Clifton Springs (Picture: Aaron Habgood).

Zoe Stanford with a sample of her whiting catch from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Bellarine Peninsula/ Corio Bay

On Friday, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien failed in their quest for whiting off Leopold, and in other places where they’d done well recently. So, after hours of catching virtually nothing, they headed back to Clifton for one last try before heading in.

That was around 3.00 pm, by which time the tide had began running in, and with it, the whiting came on the bite. They kept 27 ranging in size from 35 to more than 40 cm, and two flathead, each approaching 50 cm, while using pipis and squid for bait.

Andrew’s son Tim, along with companions Joel Trezise and Callum Olsen, also did well after crossing the channel and anchoring up north east of Point Richards on Sunday where their catch of snapper ranged from 2.5 to 4.5 kg. Hard to say how many they caught, but they kept only one each, releasing the rest.

The night shift remained productive for Andrew Phillips and George Uranus who made another successful trip off Point Wilson on Friday night. Andrew caught a snapper of 7.2 kg toward the high tide at around 8.00 pm, and George caught one of 6.5 kg at midnight.

Alf Cardarelli with the snapper he caught off Clifton Springs last week (Picture: Mike Windsor).

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that while snapper remain the main attraction – as Alf Cardarelli could relate after catching one of 5 kg on Thursday – good size pinkies snapper are also present. And that’s something Terry Beasley and Peter Richardson from Cobden in the Western District could relate, having caught them from 35 to 72 cm using pilchards and squid for bait

Australian salmon have also been a strong presence in Corio Bay for some time now and are easily located by the aggregation of birds overhead; something that Simon Werner, daughter Kassidy, and friend Jake Callahan, took advantage at Point Wilson over the weekend, taking fish to a kilogram and better at will.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports on the first good catches of whiting this spring with clients bringing catches of up to a dozen fish, with some around the 40 c mark. They’ve mainly been taken on mussel and pipi. Apart from that said Ro, there’s been plenty of flathead taken as well, along with squid, which were fewer in number this week.

Offshore

With a break in the weather last week, Steve O’Keefe made an early start off Barwon Heads, where – in 43 metres of water – he picked up several snapper from 40 to 69 cm along with a gummy shark and a couple of other species.

George Bolton of Colac with his 4.55 kg brown trout from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park).

Jayden Wright with a rainbow trout that he caught from Lake Bullen Merri (Picture: Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park).

Freshwater

Steve also fished Lake Elingamite near Cobden where his catch included a 1.76 kg brown trout.

Lake Tooliorook near Lismore has been producing some fine fish lately, and among those to do well here last week were Jake Habib and Justin Cole. They kept ten rainbow trout from 2 to 3 kg, while releasing a good many others; all were taken on lures.

After their success, a return trip was in order , this time with Justin’s 3 year old son Mason, who – with a bit of deft coaching – caught a brown trout of 2.5 kg and a similar size rainbow.

Sammy Giles of Bannockburn also fished Tooliorook last week where his catch included a 2.7 kg rainbow trout that he also took on a lure

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that trophy size brown trout are still on offer with George Bolton of Colac picking up a beauty of 4.55 kg on a Tassie Devil. Tim Beusman of Geelong also caught one of 2.72 kg – while down-rigging with Tassies – along with several smaller browns and rainbows.

Gary Drew and Jason Eastman from Ballarat tackled Lake Purrumbete’s seemingly inexhaustible population of redfin, taking any number from 600 grams to 1.2 kg using minnow and scrubworm for bait.

Tim Beusman of Geelong with brown trout from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park).

Mason Cole 3, with the fruits of his introduction to fishing (Picture: Jake Habib).

Portland

Down Portland way, Bob McPherson reports that shoals of good size whiting are widespread from Portland’s North Shore, all the way down to Cape Nelson, and among those to catch them last week were Zoe Stanford and her father Phil, who – no doubt – have already dined on whiting fillets.

Graham asks:

Geoff, have you done any calculations on sink the rate for rubbers and various head combinations? For example; what weight of jig head would you use on a 6″ paddle tail rubber in 25 metres of water running at 2 knots using 10 kg braid?

Aaron Habgood of Red’s Fishing Adventures with one of several snapper he caught off Clifton Springs last week (Picture: Aaron Habgood).

Bellarine Peninsula/ Corio Bay

Although our regular night shift snapper fishermen, Andrew Phillips and George Uranus, didn’t turn a scale on their first trip off Point Wilson early last week, they made up for it on Thursday night with four snapper from five to 6.5 kg.

Beginning their shift on the low tide change just after dark, it looked like another unproductive trip until around 11 pm when they picked up a fish of 5 kg. They followed that with another three toward the high tide change in the early hours of Friday morning using squid and silver whiting for bait.

Naturally a good many snapper have also been taken throughout the day as Aaron Habgood of Red’s Fishing Adventures reports as he and his companions continue to take bag limit catches of large snapper off Clifton Springs with squid being the best bait.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that good size pinkies are about as well; Tony Vicary and his companion taking ten off Curlewis out toward the channel junction. However, Mike also says you don’t have to go far out to catch respectable flathead either as Sam Dowling demonstrated by catching several to 38 cm just offshore from the boat ramp.

On Saturday, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien found a good patch of whiting in 7 metres of water off the Pelican Shores Caravan Park, and although they were mostly small fish, there were some big ones among them, and – using cocktails of squid and pipi for bait – they finished up with 20 fish over 35 cm; the biggest measured 43 cm.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that squid were definitely the main catch last week, with some good size specimens being taken close to shore anytime there was a break in the weather.

Rod also mentions that snapper, mainly good size pinkies – along with some bigger fish – fired offshore from Portarlington between Oxley Street and Calhoun Road (the old Derby Day mark). Historically speaking, these should be about for the rest of the month.

Snapper in custody (Picture: Victoria State Police).

Thin blue line

On Friday night, the Victoria Police Angling Club had a snapper competition on Port Phillip Bay, during which, 13 members and one guest caught 44 snapper with nobody missing out.

The event was won by Tony Buhagiar (not the renowned footballer) with four fish weighing 12.27 kg taken off St Kilda. Tim Hose came second with five fish weighing 10.31 kg, and Chris Prescott came third with three fish weighing 9.81 kg; both of the latter catches being taken off Williamstown out toward the T22 marker Buoy.

Paul Rahman with a king-size redfin taken from Stony Creek Reservoir along the Geelong/Ballan Road.

Aaron Habgood of Red’s Fishing Adventures with his 2 kg rainbow trout (Picture: Aaron Habgood).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that trophy size brown trout are still on offer with Ken Sewell of Ballarat picking up one of 4.6 kg while trolling a pink Tassie Devil over the weekend.

Numerous brown and rainbow trout, including one of 2 kg that was taken by Aaron Habgood of Red’s Fishing Adventures, have been on the bite as well, said John with the preferred approach for these being either trolling lures or fishing mudeyes beneath a float.

Redfin too have been offer with John, and George Gillies of Colac, taking fish to 1.5 kg. John also reports that nearby Lake Bullen Merri is still producing chinook salmon, with Daniel Sparks taking one of 3 kg on a cut pilchard suspended just above the bottom.

Matt Paech with one of the squid he caught during the Weekend Fishing Competition.

Portland

Bob McPherson reports that although he knows of a couple of big tuna, 104 and 86 kg, being taken last week, there are now more anglers than fish with around 70 boats seeking them over the weekend: But that’s the nature of fishing.

As for Bob, he mentions that there are still some really good size whiting about and that he and Lachie Wombell found them on the bite in the shelter of Cape Nelson last week.

Family Fishing Comp

Last weekend’s family fishing competition – run by Bellarine Pirates, St Leonards Angling and St Leonards Yacht Club & Motor Squadron – attracted thirty six competitors. However, high winds and rough seas kept most ashore.

Adult male champ was Joe Scaffidi with the heaviest snapper at 1.355kg. Runner up was Matt Paech with heaviest flathead at 327 gm and the heaviest squid at 1185gm. Junior champ was Jesse Paech with a catch of flathead, whiting and squid, and junior runner up was Brandon Scaffidi, also with flathead, whiting and squid. The heaviest leatherjacket weighed 462gm and was caught by John Bustard. Nipper champ was Connor Paech with the heaviest whiting at 427 gm, along with a catch of flathead and squid.

A weedy sea dragon fits right in when putting rubbish in a bin (Picture: Walter Penrite).

Walter asks:

Geoff, see the accompanying photo of a rubbish bin. It was taken at the Ocean Grove boat ramp, and onto which was stuck a poster featuring a large and colourful picture of a weedy sea dragon accompanied with the text: “Weedy Seadragon Hero of the Bay;” Victoria’s State Government being acknowledged as the source.

Walter: What a great example of Envirospeak! How a weedy sea dragon could be either hero or heroine – compliant with any accredited definition of same – is a puzzle. I see that the only relevant message is written in tiny print at the bottom of the poster, and over a background that makes for difficult reading. It says: “Put your rubbish in a bin.”

Above: Bill Athanasselis with one of the snapper he caught while fishing offshore from Ricketts Point last week. Below: Bill’s use of a small cable tie to secure the circle hook in its most effective attitude.

Young Baxter George with the 52 cm flathead he caught near Coles Beacon off Swan Island, near Queenscliff on Saturday. He also caught two others of 48 and 41 cm. (Picture: Craig Parker).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Snapper are still on offer from Corio Bay and there are some good ones among them, like one Aaron Habgood of Red’s Fishing Adventures caught on calamari ring in 10 metres of water offshore from Clifton Springs and estimated to be at least 7 kg.

On Thursday night, Andrew Phillips and George Uranus were surprised to see a good many boats out in their usual snapper spot north of the Curlewis channel junction and put their anchor down some distance away. However, conditions were less than encouraging with a fair bit of shop on the water and banjo sharks taking their baits of silver whiting.

Never the less they persisted, and at around 11 pm Andrew caught a snapper of 7.5 kg. By this time the sea had calmed off, but it was another long wait before George picked up a snapper of 6 kg in the early hours of Friday morning.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that pinkie snapper to 40 cm are also on the bite off Curlewis with Lee Cleary catching them on silver whiting fillets. Flathead are also about with Jake Williams catching several to 48 cm. However, salmon continue to be a big attraction with fish to 50 cm being taken between Curlewis and Point Henry.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that patchy weather kept many boats ashore. However, land based anglers caught snapper from both the Portarlington breakwater and St Leonards Pier over the weekend.

Jeremy McLoughlin with his 20 kg school shark taken offshore from Torquay (Picture: Kevin McLoughlin).

Big Red: Aaron Habgood with yet another big snapper from Corio Bay (Picture: Aaron Habgood).

Offshore

Making an early start offshore from Torquay on Friday, Kevin McLoughlin and brother Jeremy headed out deep looking for snapper. There wasn’t much doing there, so they moved in mush closer looking for a whiting or two.

They caught only one as it turned out, but Jeremy was kept busy for some time by whatever took the fish fillet he had on for bait, and which eventually turned out to be a 20 kg school shark.

Paul Rahman with the 4.6 kg brown trout he caught from Lake Purrumbete on Saturday evening (Picture Paul Kovzan).

Georgia Spokes with the 45 cm redfin that she caught from Lake Toolondo trolling a Rapala BX Minnow; just one of 16 she caught on Saturday’s twilight charter (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Freshwater

Lake Purrumbete continues to produce trophy size brown trout as Paul Rahman could relate after catching a beauty of 4.6 kg on Saturday evening. He, and Paul Kovzan, who deftly netted the big fish, also caught eight smaller fish to 1.4 kg; all being taken on mudeyes fished beneath bubble floats.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that Warrnambool fly fisher Paul Barnaby took a 4.2 kg rainbow trout on the fly. However, redfin still remain the main chance on the lake said John, which was demonstrated by “Ferno” and “Bathy” from Cobram who put their catch of 180 fish down to the efficacy of their Fish Arrow J Huddles in Wakasagi silver.

Simon Rinaldi of Red Hot Charters with Glen and Luke Stevens, and the 135 kg tuna they caught offshore from Portland last week (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Nigel Ah-Cann with his 125 kg tuna, also taken offshore from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

Down Portland way, Bob McPherson reports that tuna, some well over the 100 kg mark, are still being taken offshore. Simon Rinaldi of Red Hot Charters had no trouble finding them for his clients who have weighed in fish to 144 kg. Mind you, a good many others have caught them as well including George Hemmings and his crew who caught a beauty of 152 kg from 70 metres of water offshore from Lawrence Rock.

Bob also mentions that bottom fishing out wide from Portland is still producing a variety of fish including blue eye trevalla, one of which Keryn Millard – who fishes with her father Dean – caught last week weighing 20 kg.

Kevin Agius and his son Korey with the 118 kg tuna they caught offshore from Portland.

George Gereige with one of Portland’s great whiting (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Family fishing comp

St Leonards Yacht Club and Motor Squadron at 1001 Lower Bluff Road, St Leonards is hosting a family fishing competition next weekend (November 4 and 5). Lines maybe down from 6.00 am on the Saturday with fish to be presented for weigh-in no later than 3.00 pm on Sunday. For further information please contact secretary.fish@bigpond.com or Phil on 0411 215 146l.

A total prize pool of $2,500 is on offer for a family entry fee of $10.00 which covers all sections. They are: Nippers (male and female) of 9 years and under, Juniors (male and female) of 10 to 18 years of age, and Adults. Payment may be made by direct credit to Bendigo Bank BSB 633-000, Account 134873140 as “Family17” (with surname and initials included), or by post to PO Box 1070, St Leonards 3223.

Keryn Millard with the 20 kg blue eye trevalla she caught while bottom bouncing off Portland with her father Dean.

Stephan asks:

Geoff I’ve fished from the old Black Rock outfall site a fair bit; weather permitting. Unfortunately I’ve lost several good size fish that I’m sure were snapper when the sinker became snagged. Do you have any rigging recommendations that would help?

Stephan, to make any progress in this field I suggest you Google “pulley rigs,” the two primary purposes of which are to enable increased distance when casting – something that is achieved by securing your baited hook to a release clip above the sinker – and to reduce the loss of tackle, and fish, when fishing over rough ground.

Early bird: Danny Skene who won first prize in the Leopold Angling and Aquatic Club’s snapper competition at the weekend with a sample of his catch.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

The Leopold Angling and Aquatic Club held its snapper competition over the weekend with Danny Skene catching the biggest fish of 7.7 kg: Second biggest, 6.3 kg, was taken by Matthew Kirby and third biggest, 6.2 kg, was taken by Ian Skirka.

Good weather on Thursday night saw Andrew Phillips and George Uranus on yet another nocturnal snapper vigil in their usual spot, which is north of the Curlewis Channel Junction, but they had to wait until 10.00 pm for their first fish of 5 kg.

After that, there was wasn’t much doing until the high tide change in the early hours of the morning when they caught another two fish of five and 6 kg, making a total of three altogether, all being caught on silver whiting and squid.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire also reports that snapper are about off Clifton Springs, and among those to catch them was Aaron Newtown with two of 6 and 8 kg. And on Sunday, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien caught one of 5 kg, also near the channel junction off Curlewis; that was before the wind picked up and sent them packing.

Australian salmon are about as Mike told us last week, and on Friday, Simon Werner, Jake Callahan and Frank Thorogood spied of flock of birds over a shoal of toward the Wilson Spit and caught their share, so to speak.

Anchoring up in much the same area, and using the freshly caught salmon for bait and berley, the dinner bell eventually rang at around 4.30 pm, heralding a catch of five big snapper within an hour, Frank catching the largest at just on 9 kg.

Matthew Kirby whose 6.3 kg snapper won second prize in the Leopold Angling and Aquatic Club’s snapper competition at the weekend.

Freshwater

Fishing Lake Purrumbete last week, Garry Ridgeway and Roger Tolland caught so many redfin on scrubworms that they eventually lost count, but of those they kept, the biggest weighed 950 grams. They also fished mudeyes beneath floats for a tally of nine rainbow trout ranging in size from 750 grams to 1.25 kg.

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park, reports that those to do well during the weekend ANSA comp – which was held at Lakes Purrumbete, Bullen Merri and Ettrick – included Daniel Sparks with a 2.4 kg brown trout, Peter Thorpe with another brown of 3.6 kg and Glenn Miller with a rainbow trout of 2.1 kg; all from Lake Ettrick. Frank Naylor weighed in a redfin of 1.1 kg, and Terry Haig, another of 1.3 kg from Purrumbete, and fishing Lake Bullen Merri was Kevin Hunter who caught a chinook salmon of 2.4 kg.

John Woolard and David Torelli with their tuna at Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

Bob McPherson reports that large bluefin tuna are still to be caught offshore from Portland and among those to find them was Simon Rinaldi of Red Hot Charters. He located a school off Cape Bridgewater last week for clients John Woolard and David Torelli who both hooked up to big fish that eventually weighed 120.4 and 95.6 kg.

As for Bob, he and his friend George Gereige took advantage of the current run of whiting, and – while fishing close in to Cape Nelson – caught some good ones.

George Gereige with a sample of the whiting presently on offer at Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

The Ron Nelson memorial fishing competition for junior anglers is to be held from 9.00 am until 1.00 pm on Sunday 29/10/17 at St Augustine’s Waterhole off Pigdons Road in Highton, which is on the grounds of Deakin University (Melway ref: 464 J-K5).

The event is hosted by the Association of Geelong and District Angling Clubs Inc. and sponsored by Trelly’s Fishing Tackle and Taylor Made Insurance; so there are valuable prizes to be won.

Prizes will be awarded in various sections including:

Heaviest trout for boys and girls from 2 to 10 years old.
Heaviest trout for boys and girls from 11 to 16 years old.
Heaviest species other than trout in all sections.
Encouragement awards.

All anglers must register before competing, and – while entry is free – you will need to bring your own bait and fishing tackle (one rod and reel). Drivers are to ensure that their vehicles are parked within designated areas:

For further information phone Ian Pickering 5266 1008 or John Hotchin 5248 6817

Paul Rahman with a big one that didn’t get away.

Paul Rahman has had a great deal of experience fishing the Twizel Canal system in New Zealand and has caught a good many trophy size fish in doing so. He now works part time as a guide on these waters and may be contacted on silverraider@hotmail.com

Fishing the New Zealand Canals * * * Paul Rahman

News of colossal trout being caught from the Twizel and Tekapo canals on New Zealand’s South Island has spread world-wide. These bodies of water, which are kilometers in length and interspersed with nine different dams, are a major power infrastructure for the South Island, and for a large portion of the North Island as well.

These canals produce an extremely high flow of well oxygenated water all year round and have been locally named; Tekapo Canal, Pukaki Canal, Ohau A, Ohau B and Ohau C. All are well stocked with trout, both browns and rainbows, both reaching truly large sizes.

The canals are also used for farming salmon which are secured in pens within these canals until they are large enough to be harvested and distributed, both locally and world-wide, as a product judged to be of impeccable quality.

The trout take advantage of these salmon farms, both as cover, and as a food source as they gather beneath these netting enclosures to feed on the substantial quantity of fish pellets that the salmon miss: This situation being responsible for producing the colossal trout for which this system is noted.

The approach for catching these beauties differs substantially from what you might use in your local streams, rivers or lakes. This is because these fish are well fed and rarely show the aggression attributed to these species elsewhere; a fact that has left some otherwise capable anglers disappointed.

These fish have been presented with all manner of offerings, which has resulted in them being wary of lines testing more than 6-8 lbs, an issue that raises significant angling challenges should an extra large fish – like a 30 lb fish – be hooked: The current world record brown trout of 42 lbs came from these canals, something that makes you wonder what lurks within these waters.

Trout in these canals begin spawning in May, continuing through until late October, the latter being the best time of year to connect with the bigger fish, which – while they seldom leap clear of the water – are an awesome sight when spawning along the canal banks.

Overall, the canals are unsurpassed for trophy size trout. However, acquiring the services of a canal fishing guide can make all of the difference between a frustrating day and a trophy size catch because the biggest fish are by no means the easiest to catch.