Geoff Wilson’s Fishing Knots And Rigs

Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters with a 74 cm chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Freshwater

With a client’s cancellation early last week, Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters, headed out onto Lake Purrumbete by himself to soak pilchard fillets in the depths, hopefully to tempt a decent chinook salmon.

The main difficulty was that his baits were constantly under attack from pesky little, newly released rainbow trout from 20-30 cm. Never-the-less, Michael’s persistence was eventually rewarded with the capture of a 74 cm, 3.6 kg chinook salmon.

From all reports, nearby Lake Bullen Merri is still producing a variety of fish from brown trout to chinook salmon with most being taken on trolled lures. However, the larger chinook salmon have reportedly been taken on either pilchard fillets or whitebait, suspended a metre or so above the bottom.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that nearby Tullaroop Reservoir has now been re-opened to boating, and that club members, Don Rayner and Ken Hinks have recently caught any amount of redfin from here using both soft plastic lures and small yabbies.

Damon Sherriff with yet another big snapper taken just offshore from Bridport in Northern Tasmania last week. This one weighed 8.91 kg.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula-

Making an early start in one of their usually productive locations, just east of the pile marking the Nine Foot Bank last week, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck caught their first snapper, a nice fish of about 5 kg at around 5.30 am.

They followed that up some 20 minutes later with a similar size fish. But after that, all went quiet until around 6.45 am when they caught their final snapper of the morning, a fish of about 4 kg.

They would have stayed a bit longer, but from then on, were plagued by banjo sharks, rays, and other unwanted species, so they headed back in.

Picking a break in the weather last week, Gordon and Carol Williams headed out off Clifton Springs, hopeful of catching some whiting on the mornings incoming tide.

They first tried off Curlewis, catching a dozen or so nice fish before a seal showed up, shutting the party down. However, a move down toward Leopold proved fruitful, adding ten more fish to their tally before the bite eventually ceased on slack water at around 10.30.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that a wide variety of fish, including gars, whiting, pinkie snapper and flathead have been caught off The Springs of late.

Among those to do well here were Harley Griffiths and Jason Treloar who took a mixed bag of flathead and pinkie snapper while fishing on the drift, out toward the channel, using pilchards and squid for bait.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that whiting are still present in reasonable numbers and have been caught in a variety of locations from Steeles Rocks, south to the Governor Reefs.

Squid can be a bit hard to catch, particularly on days of poor water clarity, said Rod, but persistent anglers are still bringing in reasonable catches.

From the Beach

Fishing last week’s evening high tides from Bancoora Beach. Tony Ingram and Col Simmons were hoping for some good size Australian salmon, but most of those they caught were a bit on the small side, for the table anyway, but proved OK for bait on the outgoing tide.

Their first catch after dark included a couple of gummy sharks to 6 kg or so – a welcome catch certainly – but on both occasions they fished, the less desirable draughtboard sharks and Whitley skates proved a nuisance.

Colin asks:

Geoff, I accidentally wound the line on my reel back through the level-wind. Is there any way to re-align the level-wind without taking all the line off the reel?

Colin, without re-threading the level-wind, if you pull some line from the spool to determine its position and direction of travel, you can then mark it with a small piece of adhesive tape or the like.

Next, cut the line so that the marked section remains, showing its position on the spool. Then, wind the handle of the reel until the level-wind reaches the spot you have marked.

So, provided you matched the direction of the level-wind with the direction of the line’s travel across the spool, you may then thread the line back through the level-wind and it should be OK.

Ken Hinks and Kevin Wild with a sample of their Lake Lonsdale yabby catch (Picture: Amber Wild).

Freshwater

Regularly making the 270-kilometer journey to Lake Mulwala, Kevin Wild and wife Amber, both members of the Maryborough Angling Club, invariably bring home the goods, so to speak.

But therein lies a contradiction because the Murray cod they target are invariably released to be caught another day, and such was the case during their last visit when they caught several using chicken for bait.

On their return, there was no let-up on the fish, taking a number of good size redfin from Lake Lonsdale in the Grampians, most of them being caught while out checking their yabbies pots, which also produced a generous catch.

Kevin also reports that the Midlands trophy was held at Lake Tullaroop, with Kyneton Angling Club taking out that title, but there were excellent catches of redfin and yellowbelly all round, which was the main thing.

p, that’s a yabby from Lake Lonsdale.

Last week, Garry Ridgeway and Alf Bluch visited Camperdown’s Lake Bullen Merri seeking the larger chinook salmon now on offer; their current size being directly attributable to their release as fingerlings, rather than first having been on-grown to yearlings in the hatchery before release.

Needless to say they weren’t disappointed, and – fishing with pilchard fillets suspended just above the bottom in around 12 metres of water – had no trouble at all in taking bag limit catches of chinook salmon to 3.6 kg.

Charlie Hung and Mark Sesar with a sample of their snapper catch from Corio Bay (Picture: Tina Sesar).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Early last week, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck headed out to one of their favourite whiting marks, and by 7.30 am, were anchored up in 6.8 metres of water, just east of the Point Richards mussel farm.

And, using pipis and squid for bait, they were soon rewarded with their respective bag limit catches that included some impressive fish, the largest of which measured 45 cm.

After that, with the day still young, they broke out the squid jigs, and fishing on the drift with the light south easterly breeze, they also took bag limit catches of squid.

Seeking snapper on Sunday, the pair made an even earlier start, and by 5.00 am, they’d located what appeared to be an aggregation of their quarry between the Nine Foot Bank pile and the Wilson Spit. And, by daybreak, they’d taken their respective bag limit catches of snapper from 1.5 to 4 kg.

Also seeking snapper on the early morning shift last week were Mark Sesar, wife Tina, and Charlie Hung, who headed out into 8 metres of water off Clifton Springs to catch the morning tide change. However, they had quite a long wait before Tina initiated proceedings with a snapper of about 4 kg that took a squid head.

Daybreak produced a double hook-up with Mark and Charlie both bringing in good-size snapper, each almost certainly over the 5 kg mark, and both being tempted by baits of silver whiting.

All was quiet after that though, and by 9.00 am they were all but packed up to leave when the last rod to be wound in signaled a hook-up, right on the death-knock so to speak, with Tina bringing in yet another 4 kg snapper.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that, among those to do well out from The Springs on Saturday were Colin Stokes and Dale King.

They fished just off the nearby mussel farm taking a mixed bag of whiting, pinkie snapper and flathead using squid and pilchards for bait.

At Indented Head, Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire reports that whiting are still on offer with good bags of fish coming in from Grassy Point, south to the Governor Reefs, along with squid, which seem to growing in number.

Kevin asks:

Geoff, I saw this guy trolling on Lake Purrumbete with rod holders that pointed the rod tips down rather than up.

Later, I managed to ask him what advantage having his rod tips almost at water level was. He said it was to make his lures run deeper.

That wouldn’t be right, would it?

Kevin, the lower the rod tip is to the surface, the more line there is in the water, and to my way of thinking anyway, at some point, the added resistance of more line in the water would eventually negate any perceived advantage in depth that reducing the towing angle could provide.

However, the technique of flat-lining – that some erroneously refer to when surface trolling with rod tips elevated – is achieved in the manner you describe, and allows swimming action lures like bibbed minnows, to be trolled close into the stern with no loss of action.

Laurence Hill with his 3.85 kg brown trout from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Michael Evans with his 3.6 kg chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Lake Purrumbete

Early last week, Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters had clients David Hill and his son Laurence down from Wollongong, and – anchoring up on Lake Purrumbete in 16 metres of water – they fished for redfin.

But as it turned out, they got more than they bargained for, for as well as catching redfin, one of the live minnow Laurence had on for bait was taken by what turned out to be a 74 cm, 3.85 kg brown trout.

Michael sometimes has a free session, and on the most recent occasion, broke out the pilchards, fillets from which he baited up on his running sinker rig and fished in 20 metres of water for chinook salmon.

Initially, all he managed to catch were some newly released yearlings to 30 cm or so. But then, he hooked a much better fish that turned out to be a 3.6 kg chinook salmon.

Ivan Taradick with a sample of the snapper that he and Mark Sesar caught out wide from Clifton Springs on Sunday evening (Picture: Mark Sesar).

Damon Sherriff with a 9.2 kg snapper that he caught just offshore from Bridport, Tasmania last week, using freshly caught calamari for bait.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Finding the whiting slow on Sunday afternoon, Mark Sesar and Ivan Taradick headed out wide from Clifton Springs, baiting up their snapper gear with silver whiting and squid heads.

A good move as it turned out, for it wasn’t long before Mark caught a nice snapper of around 5 kg followed by Ivan picking up two around 4 kg apiece.

A run of good size pinkies followed before Mark was onto another good fish of around 5 kg, just on dark.

And, speaking of snapper, Damon Sherriff has had a great season catching snapper just offshore from Bridport in northern Tasmania, and continues to send me photos of the great fish he catches, and usually releases. His most recent big fish weighed 9.2 kg and was taken on freshly caught calamari.

On Sunday Morning, Mark Richards, his son Ted 12, and friend Carl Alexander, tried for whiting over one of their usually productive spots off the Leopold Caravan Parks.

The bite was a little slower than they would have liked, but they persisted, finishing up with a total of 17 whiting, all really good size fish, the biggest around the 40 cm mark.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that Australian salmon schooling off Point Henry have saved the day for some, but whiting have been a little harder to catch.

Local anglers Peter and Des apparently struggled for a bag of 13 off Beacon Point, and that’s been the case for many, said Mike, but it would seem better prospects were to be had further down the Peninsula.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that clients did better than usual on the whiting, particularly on Sunday with good weather providing plenty of scope from Grassy Point, south to the Governor Reefs.

Pinkie snapper were also taken, said Rod, mostly from the deeper water, both by anglers at anchor and by those fishing on the drift for flathead.

Offshore

Aboard Adamas charters on Sunday morning, Simon Werner’s clients caught any amount of flathead on the drift, more than 30 of which were keepers to a kilogram along with a good many slimy mackerel, but were frustrated by the numerous tuna they could see but couldn’t catch.

With the morning’s charter out of the way, Simon, and companion Michael Dean, decided to head out themselves in pursuit of the tuna. And, although they managed to catch one of 16 kg, it was still a largely frustrating exercise.

Kevin and Amber Wild, and Kevin’s daughter Nikita, with their 103 cm cod from Lake Mulwala.

Kevin and Amber Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club with a nice Murray cod from Lake Mulwala.

Freshwater

Kevin Wild, wife Amber, and Kevin’s daughter Nikita, have just returned to Maryborough from Lake Mulwala where Murray cod were really on-song, with some good ones among them.

At one point, while Amber was playing a fish on one of her two rods, she hooked another on the other. Nikita picked it up but met her match with what turned out to be a 103 cm cod that Kevin eventually helped subdue.

Frank Benvenuto’s 43 cm bass from the Werribee River.

David Cox with one of the yellowbelly he caught from the Werribee River (Picture: Frank Benvenuto).

Frank Benvenuto continues to catch any number of Australian bass from his favourite Werribee River haunts, and in a 30-minute, afternoon session upstream from the weir, he caught three bass, the biggest measuring 43 cm.

They’re not the only species on offer though, for Frank’s friend David Cox who was also fishing nearby, caught and released two yellowbelly, each measuring 35 cm, both on a spinnerbait.

Adrian Cole with a sample of his, and Mark Sesar’s snapper catch (Picture: Mark Sesar).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Heading out wide from Clifton Springs early last week, Mark Sesar and Adrian Cole were no sooner at anchor toward evening when Adrian initiated proceedings with a nice snapper of around 4 kg on a bait of silver whiting.

A number of pinkies to 2 kg followed before Mark hooked their second good size snapper, also on silver whiting.

Later on, noticeable bird activity indicated the approach of a large shoal of Australian salmon, which resulted in a mixed bag, for – as well as the snapper – their final catch included half a dozen salmon to a kilogram or so.

Early Saturday morning, Mark headed off again, this time with wife Tina and friend Andrew Phillips, and soon after anchoring up just to the east of the Nine Foot Bank pile at around 5.00 am, were at action stations.

They’d caught a total of 7 snapper from 2.5 to 4.6 kg, all on silver whiting. before the bite shut down around sunrise, but then Mark was on once more.

Not a snapper this time though, for he was almost spooled of line before –what was obviously a shark – bit through his heavy trace. So, content with their catch, they called it quits.

Gustavo Kurten and his friends Wally and Goran, tried for whiting off Curlewis, but after making several moves, they finished with only 20 – all good fish though, the biggest 40 odd cm – but they were a little hard to find.

Fishing services, including Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire and Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head, also report that you do need to put a bit of effort into the quest for both whiting and squid, which is usual for this time of year with all of the activity on the water.

Charlie Farrugia with a 4.2 kg chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete.

Kevin Wild with grandson Hayden, and a nice cod from Lake Mulwala.

Offshore

Michael Bealham picked up some nice pinkies from the bottom in 40 metres of water off the Barwon Heads Bluff after an unsuccessful hunt for tuna.

He was also able to present a bait to a 2 metre mako shark that managed to steal it without becoming hooked.

Additional attempts to catch it were in vain. So, he returned to the prolific pinkie ground where he also caught numerous slimy mackerel and two good size gummy shark, biggest weighing 12 kg.

Simon Werner, Jake Callahan and Michael Dean spent a fruitless afternoon trying to catch tuna off Barwon Heads, which were plentiful but uncooperative. However, the day wasn’t completely fruitless.

Kevin Wild with another nice cod from Lake Mulwala.

Moving closer into shore, and trolling strips of squid dressed on small rubber skirts they picked up three kingfish, which saved the day.

On Sunday, Chris Stamalos fished offshore from Barwon Heads in 30 metres, but there was nothing doing until he was about to pack up, and that’s when he caught his only fish, a seven-gilled shark.

Moving into the river estuary to catch the incoming tide at around 4.30 pm, he had much better luck with a mixed bag of King George whiting, some good size silver trevally, salmon and mullet, all taken on pipis.

Lachie Wombell with a good sample of whiting taken off Portland’s north shore (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Lachie Wombell with a pink ling. One of a variety of fish that he and Bob McPherson caught offshore from Portland on Sunday (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Portland

Fishing at Portland has been good lately with whiting currently plentiful along Portland’s north share, and that’s where Bob McPherson and Lachie Wombell found them last week, catching several over 40 cm.

And, with good weather on Sunday, the pair headed out to the wide grounds, where – in around 500 metres of water – they caught a variety of fish including blue grenadier, pink ling, gemfish and blue-eye trevalla.

Lachie Wombell with a nice gemfish taken offshore from Portland (Picture: Bob McPherson).

Damon Sherriff with a nice snapper of 10.1 kgs, taken on fresh calamari from 9 metres of water off Bridport in northern Tasmania.

Freshwater

From all accounts, chinook salmon from the crater lakes are growing in size with the biggest fish nudging the 5 kg mark.

Among those to catch them last week were Chris and Charlie Farrugia, with young Charlie taking the biggest fish at 4.2 kg on a Tassie Devil from Lake Purrumbete

Gustavo Kurten and his friend Mick had no trouble catching any number of chinook salmon from Lake Bullen Merri, fishing with pilchard fillets suspended just above the bottom, along with a bycatch of tiger and rainbow trout.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that he took his grandchild Hayden out on Lake Mulwala over the weekend where they had no trouble catching any number of cod to 60 cm or so using chicken for bait.

Club member Stephen Eales, along with daughters Amelia 8, Lily 7, and son Mason 3, fished Cairn Curran Reservoir where they had no trouble at all in taking any number of redfin on worms.

Alexia Kurten with the 4.1 and 2.7 kg chinook salmon that she and husband Gustavo caught trolling lures on Lake Bullen Merri on Friday evening.

Freshwater

Gustavo Kurten and wife Alexia, took a run out to Lake Bullen Merri on Friday evening, and trolling Daiwa Double-Clutch bibbed minnows around the margins, caught a 4.1 kg brown trout and a 2.7 kg chinook salmon, both after sunset.

What was interesting said Gus, was the number of minnow that became impaled on their lures’ treble hooks, something which goes to show how much feed there is in that water.

Rob Thornton with a 3 kg tiger trout from Lake Bullen Merri.

A Werribee River bass, one of a good many Frank Benvenuto took from the Werribee River last week; this one took a Jackall Micro-Tappy.

Rob Thornton and Alan Fennell also had a great day’s fishing on Lake Bullen Merri last week where their catch included a couple of tiger trout, one of which went 3kg, a couple of rainbows and a chinook salmon.

However, an attempt to catch redfin from nearby Lake Purrumbete proved less successful. However, some operators, like Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters, have been doing alright on the reddies.

Frank Benvenuto spends quite a bit of time fishing the Werribee River where his favourite target is the prolific Australian bass population, where – over six days of fishing last week – he caught 24.

These ranged in size from 35 to 48.5 cm and were all taken on lures, mainly Jackall Micro-Tappys and Pompadours. However, Frank also says he has had a great deal of success on 90 cm whopper-ploppers.

Max Slater 14, with one of the squid that he and father Neil caught off Queenscliff on Saturday (Picture: Neil Slater).

Victorian Inland Charters clients Mick and Shell, with their catch of eighty-odd redfin from Lake Purrumbete early last week (Picture: Michael Evans).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck hadn’t long anchored up at one of their favorite snapper spots on Friday morning, when Andrew’s bait of silver whiting tempted a 7.1 kg snapper.

That was around 5.30 am, and the first of four fish they caught, the others all being in the 2.5 kg range.

After that though, the snapper bite shut down and they had to contend with rays and other unwanted species that had moved in on their baits.

After locating a promising signal on the sounder east of the Wilson Spit, Darcy and Murray Scott soon had three good size snapper aboard before the bite shut down, indicating the presence of a threat to their safety.

Next thing, one of their reels began to unwind at a pace that clearly showed something a lot bigger than a snapper had taken the bait, and with almost all of the line gone, the protagonist – a shark of probably 2.5 metres in length – leapt from the surface before breaking free.

That episode must have – understandably – spooked the shark, for the snapper were soon back on the bite.

Local boat hire services are hoping for good weather come the Christmas break, with good fishing dependent on the weather.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that local anglers, Peter and Des, had taken good catches of whiting to 40 cm lately, while – down at Indented Head – Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire also reported good results on both whiting and squid.

Neil Slater and 14-year-old son Max fished for squid off Cottage by the Sea at Queenscliff just before the slack water at The Heads on Saturday. Both caught some nice squid but Max’s managed the biggest on his pink jig.

George Vlahogiannis caught these pinkie snapper, the biggest 43 cm, from the Mordialloc Pier using rock cod fillets for bait.

Offshore

Jae Peters reports braving the inclement weather we had early last week and – having reached 40 metres of water following bird activity off Barwon Heads – found himself surrounded by juvenile bluefin tuna.

Getting a hook-up was no problem said Jae, but it was tough work in rough conditions, so – having taken his fish – returned to Barwon Heads.

At Portland, with a break in the weather on Saturday, Bob McPherson and Lachie Wombell headed out wide hoping for some deep-sea edibles.

Not in vain as it turned out for, in around 500 metres of water, they had no problem taking the respective bag limits of blue-eye trevalla, at one stage with an audience of pilot whales checking them out.

Tasmanian angler Damon Sherriff with his 100th snapper this year: It was taken of Bridport in northern Tasmania on freshly caught squid; he’d already released 95.

Out of state snapper

We are having a great snapper season in Victoria, and they are plentiful elsewhere it would seem.

In Tasmania, Damon Sherriff has caught 100 snapper so far this season, mainly off Bridport in northern Tasmania, 95 of which were released, and there have been some big ones, two nudging the 9 kg mark, among them.

One can only assume they are prolific in South Australia as well. And it’s something of a puzzle that bans on snapper fishing in that state, that have already been in place for three years, have now been extended until July 26, 2026 because their populations are – allegedly – struggling: Extraordinary!

Swainston’s Fishes of Australia by Roger Swainston.

Book Review

Reference books to fish and fishing, I have many, from Lance Wedlick’s “What Fish is That?” in the1960s, to CSIRO’s Shark and Rays of Australia by Stevens and Last. Most used to date is Sea Fishes of Southern Australia by Barry Hutchins and Roger Swainston, of which I have two copies.

The illustrator of the latter, and to a substantial extent, Sharks and Rays, Roger Swainston’s illustrations are beyond photographic, something amply portrayed in his most recent publication: “Swainston’s Fishes of Australia,” both a comprehensive illustrated reference and superb work of art.

Swainston’s Fishes of Australia is priced at $85.00: Inquiries and purchases may be made at http://www.anima.net.au/

Gustavo Kurten with the 21.87 kg mulloway he caught from the Glenelg River estuary in Western Victoria.

Gustavo Kurten had already made quite a few trips to Nelson on the Glenelg River estuary in Western Victoria where he’d spent many an hour in search of the elusive mulloway.

And he’d been successful; up to a point anyway, with he and wife Alexis catching quite a few respectable fish to 8 or 9 kg, but he badly wanted to catch one over the 20 kg mark, and at the weekend, tried his luck once more.

Successfully, as it turned out; for right on daybreak, and using a live Australian salmon of about 30 cm in length for bait, he tempted a 21.87 kg mulloway that filled the bill nicely.

Jimmy Holland with the battle-scarred snapper he caught from St Helens (Picture: Jefri Klasevski).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Fishing from the rocks at St Helens on Thursday afternoon, Jimmy Holland was delighted to hook a snapper of around 4 kg on the pilchard he was using for bait, which – judging by the partial loss of its tail, and some tissue from its head – had been in the wars.

Jimmy’s friend Jefri Klasevski, who was fishing nearby, photographed his fish and said that he’d seen another snapper on the surface recently, and – by its errant swimming motion – also looked somewhat the worse for wear. So, I guess we’re sometimes reminded that it’s a jungle down there.

Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck were out before dawn on Saturday, and heading north west from Clifton Springs, found a promising signal north of the Wilson Spit Channel between Point Lillias and the Wilson Spit.

They had their first snapper at around 5.30 am, and eventually took their respective bag limit catches from 2 to 4.5 kg, along with two flathead, each nudging a kilogram.

All were caught on either silver whiting or squid before the south easterly came up, making it a bumpy ride back to the ramp.

Michael Bealham, whose snapper catches we’ve featured from time to time, has introduced friends and associates to his snapper spot off Point Wilson. But, as I mentioned last week, there are also sharks to contend with out here, particularly at night.

Michael’s friend, and Geelong fishing identity, John Wesolowski, almost bagged a bronze whaler, probably just shy of two metres, but lost it around the anchor rope. Michael also lost another of similar size that bit him off. So, wire traces are the go now with sharks a new target species.

Andrew Johnson and wife Jenny were out off Curlewis at daybreak on Friday to beat the mid-morning breeze, and fishing in only 3.5 metres of very discoloured water, had their respective bag limits of whiting by 8.00 am with Jenny catching the biggest fish at 44 cm.

Boat Hire services have found the going tough with the weather, but Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that there are squid to be caught off The Dell and pinkie snapper are on offer for most of the time.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire has had little mercy from the unseasonal easterlies we’ve been having lately, but those that got out on Saturday morning caught pinkie snapper and flathead.

One of the local anglers on Wooroonook Lakes with a nice redfin.

Offshore

Simon Werner, who does decking duties aboard Adamas Charters, reports that there are still a few tuna about, having spied birds working outside Port Phillip Heads.

Lures went over the side and they soon had two juvenile southern bluefin below the 10 kg mark, but – as is often the case – they went to ground after that so to speak, and that was that.

Ray Tribe of Bibby Lures with a 3.23 kg tiger trout from Lake Bullen Merri (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Don Rayner of the Maryborough Angling Club with a sample of yabbies from the Wooroonook Lakes.

Freshwater

On Friday afternoon, Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters was joined by Adrian Bibby and Ray Tribe of Bibby Lures, eager to put their products to the test on Lake Bullen Merri.

Initially they caught a couple of small rainbow trout on the troll, but half an hour or so later, Mark’s rod buckled over, his reel singing to the tune of what turned out to be a 60 cm female tiger trout weighing 3.23 kg.

But the party wasn’t over, for shortly after that, Adrian hooked what turned out to be a male tiger measuring 58 cm and weighing 2.5 kg, and then, a 50 cm chinook salmon.

Come evening, they still had their version of the bent minnow to try out and not a great deal of time to do so, but a casting session produced a nice brown trout nudging 2 kg.

Kevin Wild and Don Rayner of the Maryborough Angling Club, headed up to the Wooroonook Lakes near Donald with thoughts of a yabby harvest for Christmas, but took no fishing rods.

That was a pity because redfin and yellowbelly were well and truly on the bite as the locals clearly showed.

Yabbies were scarce, but those they caught were of the XOS variety, half-filling their bucket.

Michael Bealham with yet another snapper in the 7 kg range taken offshore from Point Wilson (Picture Candace Mimms).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Corio Bay’s successful snapper anglers include Michael Bealham who put in daylight sessions with companion Candace Mimms, and various night time vigils with John Wesolowski, Daniel Grant and Mark Kirby.

All took snapper to 7 kg or so, mainly off Point Wilson where, unfortunately, sharks and rays became a nuisance after dark, moving in on their baits.

On the water at 6.00 am on Saturday, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar were after the whiting, and anchored up in 6.7 metres of water off Point Richards, they were soon into a good bite catching 20, the biggest measuring 46 cm, along with several pinkie snapper to 800 grams or so.

But then, a shoal of Australian salmon moved in, taking every one of their baits, and that was the end of the whiting fishing. So, they changed over to 12-gram metal lures and made the most of the salmon bite.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports good fishing off The Springs, and among the successful anglers was Hamish Hodgson whose catch on Saturday included a nice snapper measuring 69 cm.

He caught that in 9.5 metres of water just off the mussel farm. And, prior to that, several squid offshore from Beacon Point.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that inclement weather has been the stumbling block to excellent fishing on the few days weather permits.

Whiting have been the most sought-after fish, with clients returning with respectable catches of whiting to 40 odd centimetres, anywhere from Grassy Point, Portarlington, south to the Governor Reefs.

Michael Evans with a 62 cm chinook salmon from Lake Bullen Merri.

From the beach

Last Tuesday evening, Ray Millman and Kalon Stavris had to contend with a lot of weed while fishing just north of the Torquay boat ramp, but it cleared on the rising tide and they caught half a dozen legal size pinkie snapper.

Kalon caught a 6 kg gummy shark later in the night, but all was quiet after that until Ray hooked something large at around 1.30 am that took off at a rate of knots, eventually pulling free of the hook.

Kalon left after that but Ray stayed on, all he caught after that though was a very large Whitley skate that he returned.

Archie Tyler 10, from Birchip with a Lake Purrumbete redfin.

Denley Tyler 8, also from Birchip with one of his redfin.

Freshwater

Fishing Wurdiboluc Reservoir on Sunday, Andrew Ketelaar had a good day on the redfin, catching some beauties to 45 cm while casting a Nories Wasabi spoon around the weed margins.

With Thursday morning free, Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters, called up his mate Kenny Rogers, and they headed out onto Lake Bullen Merri, where they caught chinook salmon to 55 cm trolling various lures.

Des Coffey 9, another member of the Birchip crew with another redfin.

Stephen Eales with a nice Murray cod from Lake Mulwala.

As the morning wore on, the fish went a bit coy, so they dropped soft plastics over the side, but again, to little avail. Then Michael tried adding some “Dizzy Scent” to the mix; a good move, for that produced two more salmon, the biggest measuring 62 cm, and a rainbow trout.

John Clements of Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that, as usual, redfin have been on the bite.

Among those to catch them was Jarryd Tyler, along with sons Archie 10 and Denley 8, and their friend Des Coffey 9; all from Birchip. They were soon well and truly into the redfin using Shimano, Bio-Tough, soft plastics.

Maryborough Angling Club members Kevin Wild and Stephen Eales spent a couple of days fishing Lake Mulwala last week, catching and releasing 42 Murray cod using chicken for bait, their biggest fish measuring 74 cm.

On their return, the pair fished from the bank of Tullaroop Reservoir where they caught a number of redfin, this water being still closed to boating because of the water running over the spillway.

Kevin also reports that club member Ian Morse fished the Loddon River below Laanecoorie Weir, where – using yabbies for bait – he caught two Murray cod of 59 and 61 cm.

Kevin Wild with one of the Murray Cod he caught from Lake Mulwala.

Andrew Ketelaar with one of the redfin he caught from Wurdiboluc Reservoir on Sunday.

Warrnambool

Recent improvements to Warrnambool’s Lady Bay boat ramp include a grooved concrete surface to provide more traction, along with upgraded mooring jetties with secure tying-off points when launching and retrieving.

Dredging, and other measures are also being undertaken to a provide safe passage to and from the ramp with additional revetment to provide protection to the ramp from wave action.

Murray Scott with one of the snapper that he and son Darcy caught on Saturday morning using snook for bait.

Candace Mimms with another nice snapper (Picture: Michael Bealham).

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Murray and Darcy Scott have the knack of finding snapper, probably due in no small part to their usual habit of heading out well before daybreak, covering likely areas with the sounder ticking over.

As it turned out, they found a good patch east of the Wilson Spit on Saturday and finished up with a bag limit catch of fish to 7 kg by 7.30 am.

Also on Saturday, Michael Bealham. and companion Candace Mimms, tried one of Michael’s favourite snapper spots off Point Wilson, where – having just arrived – a rod soon buckled over.

An insane session on the snapper followed, during which some were released, but not a rock cod that was in the mix, the head of same was their final offering; a very large bait they hoped might tempt a much larger fish.

Michael Bealham with one of his, and Candace Mimms’ snapper catch off Point Wilson (Picture: Candace Mimms).

Michael with another sample of their snapper catch (Picture: Candace Mimms).

Well, the 6.8 kg snapper that scoffed the cod’s head was indeed their largest fish, but even so, that bait must have been quite a mouthful.

Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar were out off Point Richards after whiting on Saturday, and – anchored up in 6.8 metres of water just east of the mussel farm – they had no need to move, so ferocious was the bite.

Well on their way to eventual bag limit catches – their biggest fish measuring 46 cm – despite their session being interrupted, first by a shoal of salmon, and then by undersize pinkie snapper.

Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien also finished up off the Point Richards mussel farm after a fairly dry run on the whiting off Curlewis, but they did catch a dozen squid there before making that move to where they too did well on the whiting.

Jeff Richards and Chris Hateley headed out off Indented Head at around 1.30 on Thursday, first catching 8 nice squid before settling in on the whiting near Dead Man’s Stick, which is clearly marked, inshore from the Prince George Pile.

They finished with 24 whiting by 6.00 pm, and probably would have caught more had they stayed, but with only one fish shy of 40 cm, it was still a class catch.

Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that among the whiting reports was one from Anthony Matheson, who – along with his family – caught whiting from 35 to 40 cm on pipis and squid.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire also reports that whiting have been on the bite lately with good size fish the norm off Indented Head, but squid have been patchy.

VRFish Executive Officer Ben Scullin, with the 3.3 kg tiger trout he caught from Lake Bullen Merri (Picture: Roger Tolland).

Maryborough Club member John Logan with one of the cod he caught during the “Cod Classic” held at Lake Mulwala over the weekend (Picture: Amber Wild).

Freshwater

An unanticipated benefit of the new boat ramp at Lake Bullen Merri is that larger fish, like chinook salmon and trout, have been herding smaller fish – minnow and the like – up against this structure in a feeding frenzy.

Among the many anglers to benefit from the land-based opportunities afforded was VRFish Executive Officer Ben Scullin who took full advantage, catching a couple of chinook salmon around the 2 kg mark.

That was before being invited out in the boat by crater lakes specialist Roger Tolland, but only far enough to cast back to the boat ramp frenzy, catching even more fish that included a 3.3 kg tiger trout that took Ben’s soft plastic.

And, there are still plenty of fish out deeper as Garry Ridgeway and Lindsay Robinson could attest, with bag limit catches of chinook salmon to 3 kg, all taken on whitebait fished just above the bottom in 15 metres of water.

Kevin Wild with one of the cod he caught during the “Cod Classic.” (Picture: Amber Wild).

Amber Wild with another cod taken during the Mulwala “Cod Classic.” (Picture: Kevin Wild).

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that nearby Lake Purrumbete is also fishing well, and among the successful anglers was Shaun Kelly from Eltham who caught a 3.5 kg chinook salmon and a 2 kg rainbow trout, both on trolled lures.

Also successful, said John, were Tony Missan from Airport West who caught a number of rainbow, brown, and tiger trout to 1.5 kg, all taken on mudeyes fished beneath a float, and – fishing with John – were Andy Martin and his son Jason from Monbulk, and – naturally enough – they fished for redfin, catching some nice ones up to 800g.

Fishing the “Cod Classic” at Lake Mulwala over the weekend, which is run by the Mulwala football and netball clubs, were 20 or so Maryborough Angling Club members, including Kevin and Amber Wild.

Some 1700 people were in attendance and 700 or so legal-size cod to 1.18 metres, and yellowbelly to 58 cm, were registered on a catch and release basis.

Kevin also reports that club member Stephen Eales fished the Loddon River below Laanecoorie Reservoir, taking any number of yellowbelly, keeping half a dozen or so. These were mainly taken on worms. However, a few were taken on trolled lures.

Mordialloc

Dedicated land-based angler George Vlahogiannis has been doing well on the Mordialloc Pier lately, and – using calamari for bait – recently took a bag-limit catch of respectable pinkie snapper.

He followed that up another day with a lure-casting session, catching a number of good size salmon from the pier using a 25-gram Savage Gear Sea Missile, a metal lure, and a 3.75 inch, Zman Streak, soft plastic.

Boat ramp upgrades

Submissions are invited regarding proposed upgrades to the St Leonards boat ramp and vehicle parking area.

These may be emailed to www.betterboating.vic.gov.au/consultation until the January 13, 2023 deadline, or in person at the St Leonards boat where a consultation meeting will take place from 4-7 pm on December 15, next.

Jeremy McLoughlin with one of the gummy shark he and his brother Kevin, released, this one with a tag (Picture: Jeremy McLoughlin).

Offshore

Fishing offshore from the Black Rock sewerage treatment plant, in just over 40 metres of water on Saturday, Keith Fry, Steve Grey and John Porter caught their respective bag limit catches of snapper to 4 kg along with a mixed bag of other fish.

These included leatherjackets, the biggest going 2 kg, slimy mackerel to a kilogram, two gummy shark, a barracouta and a snotty trevalla. They were also bitten off a time or two by what were probably seven-gillers.

Also fishing offshore, in around 30 metres of water, were Kevin McLoughlin and his brother Jeremy. As it turned out, they also caught several gummies, keeping a couple for a feed and releasing the others.

Robert Coon with a nice snapper that he caught land-based from St Helens on Friday afternoon.

Land-based fishing

Snapper are about, and while most are being caught by anglers out on the bay in boats, land-based anglers have also been successful.

While the most productive land-based options are almost certainly the breakwaters at Portarlington, and the St Leonards Pier, anglers have also been picking up some nice fish from structures around Corio Bay.

Among them Robert Coon, who caught a nice specimen of around 4 kg from the rocks at St Helens on Friday afternoon using a pilchard for bait.

But land-based anglers have not only caught snapper; Jim Gillians took advantage of an offshore breeze last week to put a generous bait out under a balloon from the old Black Rock outfall site, hoping to catch a shark.

His patience was eventually rewarded with a hefty seven-giller that should keep him and his family in flake for some time.

Jim Gillians with his seven-gilled shark from the old Black Rock outfall site.

Kevin McLoughlin with the bronze whaler he caught off Torquay.

Offshore

Fishing off Torquay in around 30 metres of water on Saturday morning, Kevin McLoughlin, Brian Nolan and Jason Terpstra were hoping some action from below, from perhaps a gummy or school shark.

However, it was a bronze whaler of around 25 kg that took Kevin’s bait, providing enough fresh flake for all three.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Breezy conditions kept a good many anglers ashore last week, but in calmer conditions on Friday, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien tried their luck in six metres of water, just east of the Point Richards mussel farm.

A good move as it turned out, and – using slender trips of squid for bait – they each took bag limit catches of whiting, the two biggest of which both stretched the tape out to 46 cm.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that the fishing has been good, and on those days the weather permitted access, both whiting and squid were caught in good numbers.

Michael Evans with one of his chinook salmon from Lake Bullen Merri (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Nathan Sobko with one of a bag limit catch of chinook taken from Lake Bullen Merri on Sunday (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Freshwater

John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that the fishing is good with redfin the main attraction, and among those to catch their share was Geelong angler Les Broughton who took any amount of reddies to 800 grams last week using live minnow for bait.

Fishing Lake Bullen Merri on Wednesday, Michael Evans of Victorian Inland Charters fished Lake Bullen Merri, and trolling around the edges in around 5 metres of water with a CD5 Rapala, he caught a 58 cm tiger trout and a 55 cm chinook salmon.

Having come ashore and about to leave, Michael decided to have a few casts off the jetty, catching two more chinook salmon.

A return trip to Lake Bullen Merri on Sunday afternoon with client Nathan Sobko yielded bag limit catches of chinook salmon, several of which were taken trolling on Rapala CD5s in 5-7 metres of water, but most were caught bait fishing with pilchard fillets in around 15 metres of water.

Their biggest fish on that occasion measured 58 cm and weighed 3 kg.

Trevor Perry of the Maryborough Angling Club with a yellowbelly from Tullaroop Reservoir (Picture: Kevin Wild).

Michael also reports taking clients that included Dennis Grundy, Peter Riley and quite a few others, out on Lake Purrumbete. And, fishing in 12 metres of water with live minnow on a running sinker rig, found enough redfin to put smiles on their faces.

Maryborough Angling Club member Kevin Wild reports that Tullaroop Reservoir is fishing well, and venturing out, took 5 redfin and 3 yellowbelly on Beetlespin lures; a soft plastic and spinnerbait combination.

Fishing from the bank at Tullaroop was fellow club member Trevor Perry, who was also successful on the yellowbelly.

Lilydale angler Dennis Grundy with his catch of redfin from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

Peter Riley with his catch of redfin from Lake Purrumbete (Picture: Victorian Inland Charters).

James asks:

Geoff, reading the reports of snapper catches in your column, I have to ask: How do they do it? I’ve been out several times in the places where you have reported catches coming from, but all I catch is flathead.

Can you provide any tips please?

James, you are not Robinson Crusoe, not by any means. A good many anglers return with little or nothing to show for their efforts when snapper fishing.

Assuming you are shipshape as far as boat and tackle goes, the most important thing is patience, and to make an early start, preferably before the sun comes up.

Murray Scott with one of the snapper he caught last week.

Darcy Scott with a couple of nice ones.

Corio Bay/Bellarine Peninsula

Buckling rods and yelping reels had Andrew Johnson, and son Tim, hooked up to at least eight fish during an insane, daybreak snapper bite along the north-eastern edge of the Wilson Spit on Thursday.

They kept four, the biggest nudging 7 kg, releasing the others, all being tempted with offerings of silver whiting and squid heads.

Murray Scott and son Darcy did similarly well with one shy of a bag-limit catch before a fish that Darcy hooked snagged him, forcing him to break it off.

Thinking no more about it until leaving, they found the snagged snapper was actually snagged securely on their stern-weight tether. So, it too went into the fish box, making up their bag limit.

Tim Johnson with a sample of the snapper that he and Andrew caught on Thursday morning (Picture: Andrew Johnson).

George Vlahogiannis with the larger two of the five snapper he caught from the Mordialloc Pier early Sunday morning.

The pair usually catch salmon, squid and the like for bait before heading out; On this occasion though, two of their snapper were caught on a flathead that took a snapper bait; one took a fillet, the other, the flathead’s head.

Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck were anchored up just east of the Nine-Foot-Bank pile by 4.30 am on Friday, each taking their respective bag limit catches of snapper by daybreak before most began heading out.

Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports, that – weather permitting – fishing has been good, especially for whiting which have been mainly caught between Grassy Point and the Governor Reefs.

Darcy Scott with a snapper that snagged him on the stern-weight tether.

Flathead’s head made a successful snapper bait for Murray and Darcy.

Mordialloc

Making an early start from the Mordialloc Pier on Sunday morning, dedicated land-based angler, George Vlahogiannis was in action with a good size snapper at very first light.

He finished up with five altogether. The two larger fish – the bigger of which was abound 4.5 kg – came first, followed by another over 40 cm, then three pan-size pinkies.

George sent in photos of his catch, all of which were either caught on pilchards or Tommy Ruff.

Chris Farrugia with the 5.02 kg chinook salmon he caught from Lake Purrumbete last week (Picture: John Clements).

Tim Raine of the Maryborough Angling Club with a nice redfin from Tullaroop Reservoir (Picture, Kevin Wild).

Freshwater

Anglers have welcomed the larger chinook salmon now to be caught from Camperdown’s crater lakes, and of which I reported last week, the capture of a 3.6 kg chinook salmon from Purrumbete.

Also, last week, regular Lake Purrumbete angler Chris Farrugia. caught another chinook salmon from Lake Purrumbete weighing 5.02 kg, and of which I was also sent a picture.

These noteworthy captures, are directly attributable to the fingerling-sized fish stocked by VFA in 2020 – rather than the larger, and more expensive to produce, and transport – yearlings: End of argument I would have thought!

Gustavo Kurten with his 48 cm redfin from Wurdiboluc reservoir.

Wurdiboluc Reservoir fired for Gustavo Kurten and Mick Szkirka while casting soft plastics last week. They caught any amount of redfin with some good ones among them, their biggest measuring 48 cm.

Kevin Wild of the Maryborough Angling Club reports that he and wife Amber fished Cairn Curran Reservoir last week where they caught any number of yellowbelly, although most were a bit on the small side.

However, in addition to the yellowbelly, they caught five really good size redfin. These were caught amongst the timber on both lures and worms.

Kevin also mentions that Tullaroop Reservoir is also fishing particularly well for redfin, with most of the action toward the tower adjacent to the spillway.

Snobs Creek Fish stocking coordinator, Rhiannon Atkinson has announced a planned liberation of rainbow trout averaging 50 grams, into Lake Bullen on Thursday, November 24.

These, hopefully, will be followed on Thursday December 1, with the liberation of 50,000 chinook salmon and 30,000 brown trout fry, also into Bullen Merri.

Both releases are planned for around 1.30 pm, but should you wish to attend, please contact Rhiannon, either by mobile on 0407 987 016, or by email rhiannon.atkinson@vfa.vic.gov.au to be informed of any updates.

The good news is that the long-awaited boat ramp at Lake Bullen Merri is no operational; a huge benefit to those fishing this water.

Kids day

Corio Bay Anglers Club, which is based in North Shore, is holding a fishing day for kids – no age limit specified – at St Helens on Sunday November 27, from 10.00 am till 2.00 pm.

For those without fishing tackle, some tackle and bait will be supplied. Parents may also fish provided they have a fishing license. For more information, please ring Angela on 0432 611 174.

Cornelius asks:

Geoff, I’ve been told that you can get more strength from a knot by first doubling the line before tying it. Is this true?

Cornelius, by simply doubling the line into an unsecured loop before tying a knot makes the knot bulkier and of uncertain strength.

On the other hand, securing that loop with a progressive splice like a Bimini Twist or Plait, provides a significant advantage in strength that simply doubling the line does not.