Anglers’ kingsize haul
Long journey to Coffin Bay well worth the trip
EARLY last week, Geelong anglers Murray and Darcy Scott saddled up for the 1300km journey to Coffin Bay in South Australia to sample what is arguably one of the best inshore kingfish fisheries in the country.
Although tired after travelling a day and a half and unpacking their gear, they were on the water by around 3pm, and — after catching some small but legal-size Australian salmon for bait — Darcy was soon into a kingfish that weighed 21kg.
Their early success could have been compensation for a less productive trip to the same destination on an earlier occasion, but this time it was clear their luck had changed for the better with a final tally of four kingfish.
CORIO BAY/ BELLARINE PENINSULA
Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck were persuaded to move from their preferred snapper spot on the east side of Wilson Spit on Saturday evening because of small fish taking their baits, but the pinkie bite was widespread and continued until dark.
However, the late shift proved more to their liking with the capture of a 4.5kg snapper at around 10pm. This was followed by another of 5.6kg during the last of the ebb tide an hour or so later, their most productive baits being slimy mackerel and silver whiting.
With good weather predicted for Sunday, Justin Burns and Simon Williams were on the water over the Leopold grass beds by first light, and — fishing with soft plastics — they had a bumper catch and release session on snook to 80cm or so, along with the usual pinkie snapper and flathead.
On Tuesday, as unfriendly as conditions were on the bay, with strong winds and heavy rain, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien couldn’t resist another try at the whiting, and — anchored up in seven metres of water between Hermsley Road Curlewis and the Leopold Caravan Parks — picked up another 25 goodsized specimens and three decent flathead.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire reports that others to catch whiting included Ben Patterson and Andrew Young, who picked them up just offshore from the boat ramp, while Rhys Davis and Matt Drew caught eight goodsized squid in much the same area.
Fishing near the wreck of the Clarence off St Leonards on Friday were Peter Clark and Des McKierana who caught 32 whiting and eight flathead on the incoming tide.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that fishing over the weekend was surprisingly good, with whiting to 40cm well represented in anglers catches, along with squid aplenty, some of them approaching 2kg. There were a variety of other fish taken as well, said Rod, including a stargazer that a client caught while fishing for flathead.
OFFSHORE
With good weather predicted for Saturday. Chris Stamalos and his brother Daniel headed out off Barwon Heads before daybreak.
Anchored up in around 30 metres of water, the fishing was slow to begin with, but while bringing up a large squid the pair were amazed to see a fair-sized gummy shark grab it a few metres below the surface, leaving just a cloud of ink.
Chris wasted no time in dropping a line baited with a trevally fillet over the side, an exercise that resulted in the capture of a 10kg gummy shark. They caught two smaller gummies after that which looked like their lot for the morning, but just as they were about to leave, Chris caught another gummy shark of 16kg.
COL ASKS:
Geoff, as you can see in the photo I’ve sent, there are two snapper that are much darker in colour than any I’ve seen previously. Can you give me any reason or explanation for this?
Col, looking at the photo I can see what you mean. While I’ve caught several, and have seen a good many dark-coloured snapper, I’ve never seen any quite as dark as those in your photo.
They bear the usual muddy stains around the mouth and gill of fish that habitually dig for crabs in the mud, several of which I caught from the Grammar School Lagoon back in the 1960s, but your fish are dark all over. I have no explanation for that.