The Christmas rush is well and truly upon everyone so
fishing reports have been a bit slow but there are still some nice fish being
caught around the traps.
Estuaries: The Hopkins River is fishing well down the
bottom section of river for both bream and estuary perch. The Warrnambool and
District Angling Club held their annual Denny Chapman perch competition over
Saturday night. 22 anglers braved the wind and at times rain for mixed results.
Tim Treloar and his son Dusty had a ball landing some solid perch to 1.029kg
below the bridge and on the mud flat opposite Lyndoch. Using soft plastics
Dusty caught his first fish using soft plastics and did it all on his own.
Dusty’s 585g perch took out the junior section and Tim’s kilo perch plus his
3.174kg bag of 5 got both heaviest fish and heaviest bag. Jessica Lane continued her
run of fine form taking out the ladies section with the only perch weighed by a lady
that weighed 436g. But everyone was outdone by Peter White who landed a
fantastic bream that weighed in at 1.476kg. Whitey caught this fish on a
Rapala Suspect soft plastic cast along the ski run wall. This was Whiteys new
personal best and one that will take a bit of beating in the clubs end of year
presentations for biggest bream caught in the Hopkins River. It’s amazing what
a bit of flowing water can do to the mood of these fish after being very slow for a
number of weeks. A few anglers ventured over to the Curdies River but the perch
were elusive. The bream more than made up for it though with Michael Hunt
saying he would have had a 4.5kg bag two times over while chasing perch. Most fish came
from the bottom reefs but some great fish have been caught in the sticks up
river from Boggy Creek too.
Saltwater: the opportunity to get out offshore has been minimal but when anglers have been able to get a chance they have been doing
well. The crayfish have been crawling and anglers have been doing very well
with drop nets along the coast. There's plenty of pictures of crays around
and over 2kg lately so I suspect there will be lots of crays being consumed on Christmas lunch by those families. Divers have been doing quite well too when
the ocean hasn’t been stirred up. There are reports of lots of small abalone
too so make sure you are using the correct measurements when taking them as a
few people have been fined and cautioned with under size abs. If in doubt
just leave them to grow for next season and avoid a fine. Same goes with crayfish lately as people have been cautioned with undersized crayfish- but some
are well and truly under, so a hefty fine was handed out. At the end of the day
is it really worth taking an under size cray when there are plenty of bigger
ones out and about? Snapper to 4kg have been mixed in with smaller fish between
30-45m of water. This is the same with the gummy sharks with some smaller models
being caught with the better ones. Something that we will start to see more of
is the increase in mako shark activity once the bait fish and squid start to
come in closer. Like each year extreme caution is needed when targeting these
sharks as they can turn a good day into a pretty bad one in the blink of an eye.
These sharks aren’t something that you can just turn up and hook and expect to land
one easily as they will rip your boat to pieces once they are in the boat; let
alone what they can do to you. Unexpected jumps and erratic movements in the
water leave them very unpredictable and one not to mess with if you don’t know
what you’re doing. One fish that is reasonably easy to land in comparison is
the humble King George Whiting that come inshore every year around this time.
Anglers have been enjoying some nice solid fish to 45cm on pippies and squid.
Not huge fish but a very much sort after fish for the table amongst most
anglers around here. There aren’t many more fish sub 50cm that get anglers more
excited than whiting and that’s due to their fighting ability and the eating
quality too. Even though the bag limit is 20 per person the majority of anglers
that target these are happy to land 5-6 good size fish for a feed and get the
rest another time. Whiting are one of the few fish that taste better the day or two after you get them without freezing. Pretty much you can fillet them that day
and batter them up and enjoy! Not much more you need except a nice drink to go
with them and good company.
Freshwater: The meter cod that Luke Smith caught has had
a big impact on Rocklands Reservoir with people talking about what
possibilities that system now has. It was already a great fishery but now it’s
gotten to the point where it is really taking off. The cod fishing alone has
been excellent but let’s not forget the yellow-belly and the chance to land a
3kg Australian Bass too! These fish don’t come much bigger than this and when
you hook one you know straight away what it is as they don’t give up. Although
not a common fish they certainly are a trophy fish out of any lake or reservoir
in Victoria. We haven’t really touched on how to target these fish as not
many people know much about them but the common lure that is used to target
them is lures such as the Jackall TN range of bibless crank baits. A lure that
has a very loud rattle and can be cast a very long way to cover water but it’s
usually best used around timber and drop offs. Many anglers are using these
with livescope and shaking them in front of the bass and that is all it takes
to get a reaction bite out of one. Other lures such as Jackall Squirrels, metal
vibes when they are in deeper water and spinnerbaits are also a great option
especially when they are holding deep in the trees. Unfortunately you’re bound
to lose a few of them just due to the fact that these fish hold so tight in the
snags that they will tow you back in and roast you. Fishing heavier leaders in
the 10-15lb range will definitely slow that down but you’ll still undoubtably get one that
will take you back and give you nothing but a shredded leader in return.
With some hot days in the forecast next week hopefully we
see more action offshore. Until then tight lines and best of luck.