The whiting’s not biting
However, squid were the main chance, said Rod, with bag limit catches being made both by his clients and other anglers including Jeff Richards and Chris Hateley, who retired from squid fishing in pursuit of the somewhat elusive whiting ... but that’s another story.
John Clements of Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that redfin are still the main catch, with Michael Evans of Inland Fishing Charters (South West) picking up a catch of 50 over the weekend.
These were caught both while using minnow for bait, and on lures.
Brown trout have also been on the bite, said John, with Phillip Pirotta and Tom Hogan both catching fish to 1.8kg on various Tassie Devils.
Bob McPherson reports that the first of four legs of the annual tuna competition was run over the Easter weekend with Muson Shiltze, who was fishing with his brother Michael, taking out the $500.00 prize with a fish of 22kg.
The competition will continue to run over the next three weekends.
As for Bob, he and Lachie Wombell have been fishing for whiting at various places off Portland, seemingly with no difficulty in taking respectable if not bag-limit catches of fish to 44cm using squid for bait.
Geoff, I’ve been fishing Corio Bay for more than 30 years but all I seem to catch is small flathead. What I would really like to catch is a nice gummy shark. Can you recommend any good spots to try?
Steve, if you are catching nothing but small flathead, then your baits are too small.
By using larger baits — and of course rigging appropriately with a running sinker — you will be targeting snapper and taking gummy shark as a fairly frequent bycatch.
The golden rule for using large baits, like the fillets from the flathead you are catching or fairly generous strips of squid, is to ensure that your hook protrudes well clear of the bait. You may do this by simply inserting the hook (preferably size 5/0), through just one end of the bait or, to provide more security, bind the bait to the hook and trace using bait-elastic like Ghost Cocoon or even a couple of small cable ties.