Fishing legend, Cliff Rossack, is still – figuratively speaking – on the job at 85 years of age, nowadays with rod and reel.
With a break in the weather last Tuesday, he and fisheries manager Taylor Hunt, headed out off Barwon Heads, and in around 50 metres of water, came across big schools of slimy mackerel and other baitfish; all being harassed by seals, dolphins, and – most interestingly – tuna.
Casting surface poppers, stick-baits and soft plastics into the melee, they caught three tuna in the 15-20 kg range before returning from a great day’s fishing.
Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula
Last Tuesday, Michael Bealham took a run over to Point Wilson and was back at the St Helens Ramp some two and a half hours later with three snapper, the biggest weighing 7.5 kg, and releasing another.
Naturally, Candace Mimms, Michael’s oft-times fishing partner, wanted some of that action. So. on their next trip, Candace again contributed to their snapper tally.
Historically speaking, catching whiting has been a challenge toward the full moon, one assumption being that during this phase, they probably feed at night rather than during the day.
Because of this, Garry Ridgeway’s advice to friends coming down from the Western District after the whiting was to avoid the early start they’d planned last week, and instead, to come down later and fish into the evening.
As it turned out though, both parties began fishing early, but those making the longer return journey left earlier with only a handful of fish, the same as Garry had by then, but he fished on into the evening and left with a full bag.
However, some do well regardless, like Andrew Johnson and wife Jenny who dropped onto a good whiting bite off Clifton Springs that yielded 30 odd whiting to 42 cm right off the bat, one morning early last week.
But, as usual, that bite didn’t last, so they kept on the move until Andrew eventually dropped the pick at his old favourite “Jack Rabbit” mark off McAdams Lane.
And it was here – in five metres of water – using cocktail baits of pipi and squid, that they topped off their respective bag limit catches.
Corio Bay’s inner harbour is worth a look as well with Mark Richards and a companion catching 37 whiting over a patch of broken ground in Stingaree Bay on Wednesday evening.
Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar picked up 16 squid to a kilogram or so just off the mouth of Swan Bay early last week, and with the incoming tide imminent, they moved out a little deeper to try for whiting.
With the tide coming in on dusk, the whiting made their presence known, along with the unwelcome presence of bait-thieving, yellowtail scad.
Fortunately, the scad dispersed as night fell, but the whiting bite continued, the bigger fish coming on after dark, including some whoppers to 44 cm.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that the dismal weather over Easter proved an obstacle for most.
However, there are fish to be caught, with Simon Werner and Michael Dean catching five flathead to 50 cm while drifting Indented Head’s shallows on Saturday, using soft plastics.
Off the Beach
Encounters with wobbegong (carpet shark), are rare from local beaches, but last week, Jesse Baron caught one that he estimated at 50 kg from Torquay’s Cosy Corner, a noted spot for whiting.
And they were Jesse’s quarry, his belief being that the wobby had homed in on a whiting he’d hooked, becoming “hoist of its own petard” so to speak.
Freshwater
Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club, and fellow Club member Ken Hinks, were well rewarded for making yet another trip to Lake Lonsdale, near Stawell over Easter.
Using soft plastics and Profishent rubber vibes, they caught 20 redfin from around 1.4 to 1.8 kg, and many others in one of the most hectic fishing sessions either can remember.
Redfin too were the main catch at Lake Purrumbete where John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park, along with Daniel Kelly and Richard Thorpe on one occasion, and Jeremy Richardson on another, took any amount of redfin from 10 metres of water using scrubworms for bait.