Pier trip pays off for Ray
OFF THE BEACH
DEDICATED beach fisherman Ray Millman prefers freshly caught Australian salmon for bait when seeking large gummy shark, mulloway or snapper from the surf.
But, as we mentioned last week, salmon have been hard to come by from local beaches, so Ray – along with companion Callum Stavris – made a daybreak visit to the Lorne Pier.
Casting lures, they not only caught a number of salmon, but were amazed at the size of several fish that followed their lures in without striking.
The truth eventually dawned that they were kingfish, not salmon, which – true to form – can be hard to fool with offerings that readily tempt other species.
Those fresh salmon did the trick for Ray, though, and an early morning session at Jan Juc on Sunday produced a 17kg gummy shark.
OFFSHORE
ADAMAS charters client Jamie Worm probably would have been satisfied with the tally of pinkie snapper he caught off Port Phillip Heads, but he also caught a 35kg mako shark; the highlight of his trip.
Kevin McLoughlin and Marcus Pearson also picked up a similar size mako off Torquay early on Saturday and, with the day still young, they investigated nearby surface activity with a spread of lures, picking up four tuna in the 15-20kg range in fairly quick succession before returning to the boat ramp somewhat earlier than planned.
CORIO BAY/ BELLARINE PENINSULA
ON Friday evening, Andrew Phillips and Mark Sesar took a run out off Point Richards to the east side of the mussel farm, hoping to get on to the whiting.
With their lines out by 6.30pm, they were immediately on to a good bite, and by 8pm both had their respective bag limits of fish to 42cm, along with a flathead of at least a kilogram.
Mike Windsor, of Clifton Springs Boat Hire, also reports that whiting remain the main catch, and on Friday afternoon, Andrew Johnson and Dennis O’Brien experienced a frantic whiting bite. Anchored up in 4m of water off the jetty ruins east of the Clifton Springs boat ramp by 2pm, they took their respective bag limit catches of whiting to 41cm by 3.30pm.
And, with last week’s morning high tides, Mike reports the usual familiar faces were down on the boat harbour jetty catching garfish.
Rod Ludlow, of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head,
reports that while fishing has been good, for squid in particular, the tides seem to be falling lower than predicted, and these low and falling tides leave a wide swath of sand, and rocks, to cross when launching and retrieving boats.
Naturally, flathead were still on offer in the deeper water, said Rod, and rewarding clients efforts; those fishing on the drift in particular.
FRESHWATER
WHEN Michael Evans, of Victorian Inland Charters, has a break from work, he still goes fishing, recently at Wurdiboluc Reservoir where he caught some good-size redfin and, best of all, a 54cm rainbow trout. All were taken while casting a metal spoon.
And fishing with Chris Farrugia, of Oaklands Junction, the pair had a session together on Lake Purrumbete, catching a nice fish each – Chris with a 2kg rainbow trout, and Michael a 1.8kg chinook salmon. These were taken while down-rigging their lures at depths to 22m.
However, it has been the redfin that have kept Michael busy on charter with a steady stream of clients craving not only the action this species provides, but it is probably the most reliable method of stocking their larder with fresh fish.
John Clements, of Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park, also reports that good fishing continues, for redfin in particular; they are mostly fish from 400 to 800g, but Point Cook angler, George Anghel caught one that measured 49cm, and would have weighed better than 2kg.
Chinook salmon have also been on offer, said John, and there have been some good ones among them. Among those to catch these were Michelle Richardson, of Colac, and her companion, who bagged out while fishing pilchard fillets just above the bottom in 21m of water. Michelle also caught a 2.7kg brown trout with the same approach.