Catch causes commotion
Brothers beam after snaring brown trout
JOHN Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that fishing from the jetty is popular and occasionally as productive as from a boat, something illustrated by brothers Chas and Jed Laforgia while soaking a mudeye here, beneath a float at the weekend.
John said the commotion this event caused could be heard from his office as the pair eventually subdued a 4.8kg brown trout with the landing net.
Steve O’Keefe also had a story to tell after fishing Lake Mulwala near Bundalong with a few of his mates last week.
While the fishing was slow with yellowbelly scarce, Jamie Avery of Mathoura took a spectacular strike which resulted in a battle through an obstacle course of timber and twigs before he was able to capture, and then release, a Murray cod that measured 1.22m in length.
OFFSHORE
Following his previous success on snapper off Black Rock, Chris Stamalos headed over that way again last week and picked up two more snapper, the biggest around 4.5kg.
After that though, apart from having squid take his baits every now and again, things were pretty quiet. However, as he was about to leave, he hooked what turned out to be a large gummy shark of probably 15kg.
CORIO BAY/BELLARINE PENINSULA
Mark Sesar and his friend Peter Richards fished offshore from Point Henry near the Alcoa Pier last week, where they were successful on the whiting during the early morning flood tide.
Using fresh squid for bait, they caught 12 before the bite eventually shut down, and what beauties they were; the biggest measuring 42cm.
Fishing the ebb tide at one of their favourite whiting marks off Curlewis, in just under 7m of water last week, were Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien, who took half a dozen good size fish before they went off the bite.
Moving west off Leopold to another formerly productive spot was no better, so they resumed fishing at Curlewis, where — with the aid of a substantial berley input of crushed mussels — they eventually finished by early afternoon with a tally of 20 keepers to 42cm and three respectable flathead, the biggest measuring 48cm.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire also reports that good size flathead are about, and on Sunday, John Hollis and John Dunlop’s catch included fish to 40cm; that was before the wind came up, persuading their return.
Gummy shark are about as well, with Lachlan and Jake O’Brien picking up two off Portarlington, while Henry Wynhover and Andrew Chandler had success off Clifton Springs.
PORTLAND
Bob McPherson reports that the fishing has been somewhat slow down Portland way, but he and Lachie Wombell have been picking up whiting around the 40cm mark along the north shore using pipis for bait.
GEOFFREY ASKS:
Geoff, what are your thoughts on the FG Knot? I couldn’t find it in your knot book or video.
Geoffrey, I take it you do understand what FG stands for in this context? And, none of the so-called FG Knot versions are actually knots, they are all progressive splices based on the process of plaiting, either conventionally or in reverse.
While the plaited splice I’ve illustrated has been used for over 40 years to my recollection, and is formed in the manner of a hairdresser plaiting hair — with two of the three required strands being manifest by forming a loop in the main line, the third strand re- quired being either an additional length of similar line, or a leader of heavier line — methods of tying the so-called FG Knot usually form the plait in reverse.
Most YouTube versions involve attaching a monofilament leader, the short end or tag being introduced at right angles to the main line, which is held under some tension. The leader tag is then alternately wrapped around each side of the main line until a splice of sufficient length is formed. The fixed end of the main line is then released and used to form a series of half hitches around both the leader tag and main line to secure the splice.