This week’s fishing report is another shorter one due to the
lack of fishing being done. In this we will touch on a great new initiative by
a local fishing club and some of the upcoming events that will be taking place
in the fishing world locally.
Let’s start off with some fishing news and we kick things
off with the Hopkins River playing host to two local angling clubs competitions
over the weekend. Firstly the Warrnambool and District Angling Club held their
3rd scheduled competition of the year with 22 anglers trying their
luck in freezing cold conditions. In what was found by most to be a very slow
day Shane Murphy found some great fish using pod worms down the bottom half of
the river. His best 5 bream weighed 5.613kg and his heaviest bream also won the
prize for heaviest fish which was a very solid 1.406kg bream. Although Shane
did catch some great quality fish he said that it was still pretty slow with a
bite coming every half an hour or so. The ladies section saw 2 women brave the
conditions with Jessica Lane winning yet another competition with a healthy
estuary perch that weighed 814g. Young gun Flynn Colins landed the only fish
for a junior with a 357g bream which to some doesn’t mean much but when 8 of
the 22 anglers didn’t catch a single fish, having one is way better than
nothing. One thing I will mention is that the fish are certainly schooled up in
certain sections of the river and unwilling to commit to any type of lure or
bait that is put in front of them. At one stage my Garmin was reading 5m of
water and there would have been 2.5-3m of fish too. I haven’t seen the fish as
little interested as the fish in the Hopkins are now so hopefully they are a
bit more active in the next couple of weeks. The Koroit and District Angling
Club also held a competition on the same day with 23 entrants hoping to land
the winning fish. In similar fashion they found the going very tough with only
12 fish caught for the day between the entrants. Heaviest fish from the bank
was a brown trout that weighed in at 954g caught by Jason Harper. Heaviest fish
for men from a boat was caught by Brenton Bishop with a bream of 847g. In the
ladies section the new president Angela McNaughton caught a 352g bream. Hamish
Bishop caught the only fish for all the juniors with an Australian Salmon
weighing 108g. Warrnambool’s next competition will be held at the Rocklands
Reservoir on the 5th and 6th with entries being taken
from Brodies Corner from 9.30am. The weigh in will be at 6pm also at Brodies
Corner and the final weigh in and presentation at 12pm on Sunday. All details
can be found on the clubs Facebook page. The Koroit Angling Clubs next competition
will be held at Lake Gillear on the 29th of September from 9am -3pm.
Entries and weigh in from the boat ramp. There has been some reports coming in
from Nelson with smaller Mulloway caught and the odd bigger one lost in the
last week or so. Whether these are the same fish that have been getting marked
up for months or new fish that have come in on the big seas we have had. Either
way the excitement levels are slightly higher than they were a month ago which
should be great for the town which has really been struggling lately after the
Kiosk closed its doors. Anna and Andy Cumming fished up river in their new
Quintrex 450 Hornet Pro earlier in the week and found some solid estuary perch
to 45cm. Anna’s new PB of 45cm was caught on a Daiwa Bait Junkie in Oil Flash
UV and was caught in the first 15 minutes of fishing. They ended up getting 16
perch and a nice bream for the day until the seal decided to follow them around
making it hard to catch anything.
In 2025 we welcome back the Warrnambool and Light Game
Fishing Club’s Shipwreck Coast Fishing Classic on the 3rd,4th,5th
of January in a scaled down version compared to previous years.
More details will be released closer to the date so keep an eye out on the
Facebook and website of the club to find out how to get involved. Another
competition that is scheduled in for 2025 is the Warrnambool and District
Angling Clubs Easter Fishing Classic on the 18th, 19th
and 20th of April. After a bumper couple of comps in previous years
it’s sure to be one to look forward to and get the family all involved. More
details will also be available closer to the date so keep an eye out on the
clubs Facebook page as information comes to light. The Koroit and District
Angling Clubs now annual Carp Fishing competition will go ahead again during
2025 but the exact date is yet to be confirmed. All in all we see some great
community events coming up in the fishing season so if you’re keen to get
involved with one of these clubs or any of the local fishing clubs then
you can get in contact with me at the Tackle Shack and I can get you in contact
with the presidents of those clubs to get involved.
If you have gotten out this week and want to show everyone
your catch then remember to get your entries into fishing@richardsonmarine.com.au
or via our Facebook and Instagram for your chance to get a free packet of Daiwa
Bait Junkie soft plastics which is drawn each week and the final prize of a rod
and reel combo valued at over $400 just for sending in a picture. Hopefully
everyone has a great weekend so until next week tight lines and best of luck.