STRIKE IN NICK OF TIME
RAY Robertson and partner Colleen Howard made an early start on Saturday, sounding around off Geelong’s waterfront in search of snapper.
Not in vain as it turned out, for they found some promising marks near the wave attenuator. Initially at least, there was nothing doing, and because they had a prior commitment that morning, their time was limited.
But, as sometimes happens, just as they were just about to pack up, Colleen hooked up to what turned out to be 77cm snapper that took a strip of squid, and which greeted the scales for a verdict of 5.4kg.
With rough seas on Friday, Ray Millman gave his usual surf fishing spots a miss, instead, doing the rounds from Limeburner’s Point to Geelong’s waterfront, where he saw several tailor caught from the wave attenuator.
Wasting no time in rigging a light lure-casting outfit, he was soon in business, picking up 20 tailor from around 25-30cm. The only problem being their sharp teeth made mincemeat of the soft plastic lures he was using.
That didn’t seem to matter though because they were in a suicidal mood, hitting his jig heads eagerly, even though – in the closing stages at least – there wasn’t much left of their rubber bodies.
On Friday, Dennis O’Brien and a companion fished off Curlewis where they were hopeful of catching a few whiting, and they did get a few.
But that was just prior to the flood tide change, after which they finished up with bag-limit catches; their two biggest fish stretching the tape out to 43cm.
QUEENSCLIFF
ON Friday morning, Andrew Phillips and Tony Greck headed out off the mouth of Swan Bay to catch the last of the ebb tide.
And, anchored just off Coles Beacon, it wasn’t long before they were into the whiting.
Using pipis and squid for bait, they had their respective bag limits of fish – the biggest measuring 43cm – by the time the tide petered out around 11am.
BARWON ESTUARY
WITH most of the discoloured water flushed from the
Barwon estuary following last week’s spring tides, Simon Werner – with a good supply of bass yabbies – fished the flood tide downstream from the Ocean Grove ramp.
A good move as it turned out for, among the usual array of mullet and other small fish, he caught bream to 38cm and silver trevally to 40cm.
FRESHWATER
MICHAEL Evans, of Victorian Inland Charters, fished Lake Purrumbete on Sunday evening for an hour or so before dark.
Casting a bent-minnow surface lure in the natural smelt colour along the shallow, weed-bed margins, he caught a 77cm, 4.7kg brown trout (10.34lbs), a big fish even for Purrumbete, and Michael’s biggest so far.
Kevin and Amber Wild, both members of the Maryborough Angling Club, fished Cairn Curran Reservoir on Friday, where – bobbing worms around the timbered areas – they caught 30 yellowbelly, of which they kept seven to around 40cm.
Fellow club member
Shane McCallum and his seven-year-old son Jack, fished the Loddon River just downstream from the Laanecoorie Weir, where – using earthworms for bait – they too caught their share of yellowbelly.
Club member Brian Rivett made the trip to Lake Wallace at Edenhope where he was well rewarded with several rainbow trout, the biggest weighing 3.12kg, that he caught from the bank using Berkley Powerbait.
Paul Rahman, and his young companion Aras Veral, headed up through the Alpine National Park to the Mitta Mitta River below Lake Dartmouth at the weekend.
They were hoping to catch a trout or two. And that’s exactly what they did, embarking on a lure-casting session that produced a pair of browns, each around 3kg.
MARTIN ASKS: Geoff, do you have any idea why fisheries officers carry so much stuff. After being approached by a couple of officers at St Helens before lockdown, I noticed they appeared to be carrying more gear than a Swiss Army knife: Why is this so?
Martin, as far as I know, fisheries officers in Victoria carry capsicum spray, batons and handcuffs, but from what you say, their equipment must have been upgraded since I last took notice.