| port phillip north & beyond with brenton hodges |
Dated: 27 July, 2012
 | | Youngster, Jed Hull, eventually landed this fine Altona reef gummy shark after it nearly pulled him out of the boat on the first run! |
PORT PHILLIP NORTH & BEYOND...26th July 2012...Report #121
This week, it’s all about the keen up and coming young anglers who just can’t seem to get enough fishing under their belt!
LOCAL TIDE TIMES (WILLIAMSTOWN)
DATE / HIGH / LOW
Sat 28th July – 9:26am (0.85m) / 2:53pm (0.48m)
Sun 29th July – 10:30am (0.84m) / 3:45pm (0.53m)
MOON PHASE
DATE / PHASE
Thurs 26th July - First Quarter
Thurs 2nd August – Full Moon
Always be sure to double check the local weather forecast and tide predictions before heading out on the water.
 | | Casting soft plastics in just 3 m of water, George Gabriel found pinkie snapper to 1.8 kg and a few nice flathead in calm mirror-like conditions. |
PORT PHILLIP BAY
Youngster, Jed Hull, landed a very respectable Gummy Shark on a whole squid while fishing with his family at Altona reef last weekend.
Jed says he immediately knew there was something big on the end of his bait-caster outfit, because it nearly pulled him out of the boat on the first run! At just ten years of age, what a great effort!
Fishing nearby, fellow keen young angler, George Gabriel, and his father Con, found a few quality fish in the shallows while casting soft plastics.
Drifting ever so slowly in calm mirror-like conditions over just 3 m of water, the boys tempted pinkie Snapper to 1.8 kg and flathead on Berkley Powerbait Minnows and Damiki Rippers rigged Texas style on off-set worm hooks.
Earlier in the day, George also managed a thumping big squid and dropped a couple of others.
During the recent holiday period, Nick Whelan ventured out from St leonards in his kayak and managed a nice feed of whiting and flathead.
According to Nick, the whiting were a little smaller than usual, but they responded well to fresh squid, which were a little tough to come by at times.
He also mentioned that berley was the key to holding the whiting close to the boat, but it did bring on the pickers, such as leatherjackets, as the session progressed.
Michael Molinaro from the Fishing Lunatix spent a few hours on the pier at Blairgowrie teaching his twin boys, Ethan and Xavier, some of the basics.
Fortunately, garfish, grass whiting, mullet and plenty of juvenile salmon were all on the chew, which kept the boys very busy and highly entertained.
 | | Hoping for a bream or two, Ash Wojniusz certainly wasn’t disappointed when this Werribee River school mulloway intercepted a lightly weighted Berkley Gulp Turtleback Worm. |
METROPOLITAN RIVERS
According to local tournament angler, Brad Hodges, fishing the Werribee River with lures and soft plastics has become far more difficult throughout the later stages of winter.
When the elements align, however, there’s still a few bream willing to lash out at a carefully presented artificial, along with the occasional school Mulloway, which have been a welcome surprise of late.
Hoping for a bream or two, Ash Wojniusz certainly wasn’t disappointed when a Werribee River school Mulloway intercepted his lightly weighted Berkley Gulp Turtleback Worm.
 | | Nick Whelan landed this Surf Coast bream after scaling down the breaking strain of his line to just 2 lb fluorocarbon leader. |
SURF COAST
Nick Whelan teamed up with his mate, Nick Treloar, down at Jan Juc where small to medium sized salmon were taken on various metal slugs cast beyond the breakers.
The Surf Coast Rivers have been producing some decent bream to 40 cm for those prepared to repeatedly cast shallow running hard-bodied lures. Nick says scaling down to a 2 lb fluorocarbon leader helped coerce the fussy bream into feeding mode.
FURTHER AFIELD
Warrnambool (Offshore)
Armed with a gun belt full of seasick tablets, once again Joe Bonnici ventured back to Warrnambool in search of Southern Bluefin Tuna.
Accompanied by his son, Thomas, and good mate, Kerwin, the trio trolled along the 50 m mark, but unfortunately the tuna were nowhere to be seen.
After covering some 25 km, Joe decided to head in closer to shore, hoping to find a few pike. Trolling Insalt skirted lures, which are manufactured by Joe’s work colleague, Bradley Ferretto, the boys managed six pike and a Barracouta.
Back at the ramp, locals suggested the tuna had moved further out to the 90 m line and those with larger boats had been doing well with several crew bagging out.
 | | Joe and Thomas Bonnici caught these fine snook (aka short finned pike) while trolling Insalt skirts offshore from Warrnambool. |
FRESHWATER
Southwest Lakes
Corey Gallagher has been putting some serious hurt on the trout in the southwest lakes, with fish to 2.5 kg taken in recent weeks.
Fishing alongside Andrew Dellaca last weekend, Corey says a mix of quality browns and rainbows were taken casting small diving minnows to patches of weed. Andrew scored the fish of the day – a beautifully marked and well-conditioned buck brown.
According to Corey, fish were spotted following their lures throughout much of the day which was both exciting and frustrating at the same time.
Lake Wendouree
Nick Whelan reports both brown and Rainbow Trout, as well as plenty of redfin, have been showing up regularly at Lake Wendouree.
Most fish have been averaging 1-2 lb and trolling shallow running minnows from a pedal powered kayak has been the most successful technique.
Lake Eildon
Jed Hull and his father have hit Lake Eildon three times in as many weeks where some good size trout have been taken on each occasion.
Trolling winged lures, such as Tassie Devils, has been their method of choice.
 | | Andrew Dellaca scored this beautifully marked and well-conditioned southwest buck brown on a small diving minnow cast alongside patches of weed. |
BEEN FISHING?
If you’ve been fishing recently and would like to see your name and a picture of your catch published, please forward reports and images to blhodgey@hotmail.com.
You’re certainly not obliged to give away your secret spot, but a please include a general description of when, where, the technique and bait used, and who caught the fish.
Any information based on the top end of the bay especially, would be much appreciated, but I'm also interested in reports from further afield.
Of course, if you have a fishing related question you think I may be able to assist you with, please don't hesitate to ask.
Lastly, if you would like to receive a link to this report each week via email, let me know and I’ll add your name to my distribution list.
All the best,
Brent
 | | Corey Gallagher says numerous trout were spotted following their lures throughout much of the day, with just the odd fish willing to commit on this occasion. |
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This report is proudly sponsored by:
Noel Clarks Tackle Bar, visit their website for your tackle needs...
BOAB Boat Hire, Williamstown, visit their website to see their range of boats for hire...
Team HONDA MARINE, visit their website for latest offers and news...
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