In Depth Fishing Report 1/11

A couple of nice days meant that the offshore crews were able to venture out again in search of some tasty fish for the plate, meanwhile the estuaries are beginning to fire up after opening to the sea.                             

Saltwater: The offshore fishing has been nothing short of sensational lately with many anglers dusting off the boat in search of some bottom tasty critters. Dylan Fiasco headed offshore armed with his new AFN Kool Bag and it didn’t take long to put it to use. Landing some nice size gummy sharks off the coast and with the addition of our flake ice and the kool bag, these sharks were in pristine condition when he got back to the ramp. Using a good quality chiller bag and flake ice will give you the best quality meat when it comes time for the table. Another piece of advice that will certainly help meat quality is making sure you bleed your shark properly. This will mean that you don’t get any bad pieces of flake, and the flesh will be a very light pink colour if you’ve done it well. The other thing is gutting your shark once you dispatch it which will not only mean you don’t have blood sitting in the gut cavity, but it also gives you a great place to pack it full of ice. Turning the shark upside down and packing the ice in will bring the temperature down and will also make it so much easier to fillet when you get back into land. So when you’re heading out next don’t forget to come in and get some fresh flake ice to give your fresh flake the best taste. Along with the plethora of sharks there has been some solid snapper kicking about too. Alan Greig landed some nice ones off Port Fairy up to 60cms in  just 30m of water. This sort of depth seems to produce some great fish early on in the season before they come right in close to the shallow reefs to torment and test the local whiting anglers. The King George Whiting are slowly picking back up after a super slow winter and spring season. Some nice fish have been caught at both Port Fairy and Killarney on pippies and squid. If you’re new to these tasty little critters then remember that they really like tide flow so make sure you base your efforts around a tide change or incoming tide. If you can get a tide change around the time of a sunset or sunrise then even better as they love the low light conditions also. A simple paternoster rig is all you need but a couple of small changes can make all the difference to your catch rate. Using a small red bead above your hook with a piece of red tubing is a deadly way to get the whitings attention. You can also use a lumo bead or lumo tubing instead but it seems as though the red ones are best. Berley is the other important thing when chasing whiting and this is especially important when fishing off the bank. We find the Hookem whiting pellets are a standout choice with their biodegradable fish scales and prawn based scent.  

Estuaries: the local estuaries have seen an influx of white bait make their way into these systems. With this comes a lot more activity both on the surface and subsurface with huge schools being smashed by both fish and bird life. The Hopkins River is fishing quite well again for bream and perch up and down the river and it should only get better once the water temperature climbs. There are a lot of estuary perch down the bottom end of the system and these fish have been caught in super shallow water all the way out to the deeper sections. Most of these fish still have spawn in them which probably indicates that we won’t get a good spawn in the river this year and that’s partly due to the lack of seasonal freshwater flows. The Curdies River is producing some nice perch and bream despite poor water quality over the past 6-12 months. Thanks to a proper opening at the correct time, the system is looking a lot better. Just like the Hopkins and other estuaries there have been huge schools of whitebait come into the system and these fish have been smashing anything that looks like one. Michael Moore tested the new Berkley Stunna 60mm jerk baits a couple weekends ago and the trip proved well worth it. Using the smelt colour casting and slowly trolling along the edges him and his mate “Donut” landed some great fish. It will only be a matter of time before we start turning our attention to the surface and looking to fish the shallow areas of the systems. 

Freshwater: Rocklands Reservoir has been a go to spot for anyone looking for their freshwater fix. Loads of yellowbelly, Murray cod and the occasional bass have been taken on a mix of lures and baits. Mason Walpole headed up there with his family and they landed 12 goldens on live yabbies fished from the bank. Despite the massive size of this lake, there are still some great landbased spots; the wall end being best, fishing around steep rocky banks where there is deep water close to shore. Tim Vincent headed up for a couple of days kayak fishing where he caught some big yellas and a solid Murray cod, casting black grubs and slow trolling shallow crankbaits. Lake Purrumbete and Bullen Merri has seen some big schools of Chinook Salmon balling up in the deeper water. Mick from Victorian Inland Charters has been putting his customers into some good action lately. I’ve heard that the redfin are very slow lately and only a handful of fish have been caught by anglers. Lake Bullen Merri had a tinge of green water when Tim had a quick fish last week but that seems to have passed after another angler had a quick stop off during this week. 

We have a Boating and Fishing expo on the 16th of November starting at 9am. There will be loads of specials and some great boat packages available on the day. Industry reps and our expert staff members will be on hand to give you the best advice for all your needs. Keep this one in the diary cause you won’t want to miss out on it. Some strong winds are on the forecast this weekend so it looks like another hard weekend for a fish. Until next week tight lines and best of luck!