Double the mulloway
After a slow start, two anglers hook the same haul
AN early start by Michael Levett and Christina Kemp at Johanna Beach — which is about halfway between Port Campbell and Cape Otway — initially seemed fruitless, with nary a bite.
But just before 9am, two hours into the falling tide, they both hooked what were obviously decent fish. However, it eventually dawned that they’d both hooked the very same fish, a mulloway they estimated to be at least 13.5kg, and which had taken each of their blue-bait offerings.
CORIO BAY/ BELLARINE PENINSULA
Making a daybreak start off Point Henry in 4.5 metres of water on Saturday, not very far from the Alcoa Pier, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar were soon into the whiting, taking their respective bag limit catches of fish to 42cm in two hours.
With minimal interference from the small and undersized pinkies that have been the major stumbling block here of late, they returned for more of the same champagne fishing on Sunday, using pipis for bait on both days.
Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien found a good patch of squid at the eastern end of the mussel farm near Point Richards, an area where they’d also done well on whiting.
However, the increased number of other boats fishing there and the extreme clarity of the water persuaded them to head back to another productive spot, in this case just offshore from the Leopold Caravan Parks.
A good move as it turned out, for they each took their respective bag limit catches of whiting to 38cm in two hours or so, along with two flathead of 45 and 50cm and a goodsized snook.
Mike Windsor of Clifton Springs Boat Hire also reports that squid and whiting are on the bite, with Ray Stratton picking up 10 of each while fishing close to the mussel farm.
Also successful on the whiting near the mussel farm were Des McKiernan and Peter Clark, who caught 38 to 38cm and several flathead to 40cm using squid for bait.
Good-sized whiting are also to be caught at Queenscliff, as Murray and Darcy Scott and Ben King could relate after taking their respective bag limit catches from the Swan Island grass beds, both on Friday evening and after pre-dawn start on Sunday.
OFFSHORE
Taking a run offshore from Barwon Heads on Sunday after their whiting trip, Murray and Darcy managed to bag a couple of gummy shark to 12kg in 45 metres of water, but — as is often the case — their biggest two fish escaped, one through an ill-fated attempt to grab it by the tail, the other when it wrapped the line around a berley cage tethered beneath the boat.
Fishing a little shallower in 37 metres of water, Keith Fry, Steve Grey and Gary Maya’s catch included a 9.5kg gummy shark, a 3.2kg snapper and quite a few legal-size pinkies, all taken on slimy mackerel, but judging by the frequency they were bitten off, toothy sharks were also present.
FRESHWATER
Fishing the Murray at Pental Island near Swan Hill last week were Maryborough Angling Club members Kevin Wild and Amber Stone. Trolling lures proved fruitless, but within a few minutes of baiting up with chicken they hooked a cod of 57cm and followed that with another measuring 86cm.
John Clements of Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that a number of anglers took good-sized brown trout over the weekend, including Joe Vito of Ferntree Gully, who also caught rainbow a trout of 1.2kg, and Chris Zammit of Greenvale. Their best fish were around the 2.7kg mark and were taken on a variety of lures, either fished down deep with downriggers or trolled along the surface.
Redfin were also caught from Purrumbete, with Mark Malone from Geelong and James Keating of Ballarat picking up impressive tallies of fish to 600 grams or so with minnow and scrubworm the preferred baits.
Chinook salmon have also been caught, both from Purrumbete and nearby Lake Bullen Merri, with cut pilchards suspended just above the bottom the preferred approach, but Scott Jardine picked up a good sample while downrigging with Tassie Devils.