| geelong & corio bay with geoff wilson |
Dated: 29 October, 2007
 | | Pip Ainsworth shows the size of squid to be taken off St Leonards lately. |
Snapper
On Friday evening, Andrew Phillips and Chris Stamalos headed out off Point Richards and anchored up in around 8 metres of water on the north side of the Point Richards Channel.
They had to wait a while for a good bite, but from 10.00 pm until 2.00 am they took six Snapper from 4 to 5 kg, and a Gummy Shark of 7 kg. After that, everything went quiet once more.
All of the fish they caught took whole silver whiting.
Rod Batten from Ballarat reports, that like a good many others, he is having little luck on the Snapper despite some lengthy sessions. However, some of his friends from up that way have done quite well:
Fishing at Clifton Springs on Friday night was Lee Webber and Wayne Walker Dunn. They boated one fish of 7 kg that took a bait of squid.
Fishing nearby was Ian Gullock and three companions, They boated their first fish at 4.30 pm. At that time there were no other boats in their immediate vicinity.
However, by the time they’d boated the last of their seven fish weighing between five and 7.5 kg, they were surrounded by at least 20 boats. The baits they used included garfish, squid and whiting.
WERRIBEE GUMMIES
On Friday evening, Mark Mangion headed out off Werribee South. Baiting up with pilchards on the drift he caught several flathead to 35 cm or so and a squid.
 | | Mark Mangion with one of several gummy shark he has taken off Werribee South over two nocturnal trips. |
By then it was dark, never the less he anchored up in 4.5 metres with his rods, including his garfish rig, out.
Later on that night, he caught a Silver Trevally on the tiny piece of flathead suspended under his garfish float. The Silver Trevally was, in its turn, filleted and the head discarded.
Putting on one of the fillets for bait, he caught a metre long Gummy Shark, the biggest of eight he has caught here over his last two trips. And later, on cleaning it, found it had already eaten the discarded trevally head.
TALKING GUMMIES
Early Saturday morning, Matt Grgic, along with Neville Pollock and Neville’s son Rob, anchored up in 13 metres of water off Jan Juc hoping for a Snapper.
While they caught no Snapper, their catch did include a Gummy Shark that Matt estimated to be around 14 kg and lost another similar size gummy alongside the boat.
WESTERN DISTRICT
Doug Lucas of Colac reports that he and friend Bob Casper fished the Aire River at Horden Vale but found things a little slow, probably dure to the mouth being closed.
However, going to the trouble of catching local shrimp for bait, paid of and they caught several nice bream to 41 cm.
Last Monday, from around 3.30 pm until just on dark, and using garden worms for bait, Doug fished from the bank at Lake Bullen Merri where he caught three chinook salmon and two Rainbow Trout, all around the kilogram mark.
Doug reports that Lake Purrumbete is still very low, but that John McDonald managed to launch his flat bottomed punt onto the lake for a good result.
Using bullhead gudgeon for bait that he had captured in nearby Lake Bullen Merri, John caught a Brown Trout of 2.2 kg, a Rainbow Trout of 1.4 kg, and a redfin.
 | | Matt Grgic with the big gummy shark he caught off shore from Jan Juc on Saturday morning |
PORTLAND Snapper
Down Portland way, Bob McPherson reports that Snapper numbers have increased with several fish up to 7 kg being taken from the Lee Breakwater.
Peter Johnson was among them. He caught a beauty of 7 kg on fresh squid.
Bob says the best time to catch big Snapper from the breakwater seems to be early in the morning, especially should that time of the day coincide with a tide change.
Other good catches of Snapper have been made along the north shore toward Narrawong. Most have been from legal size to 40 cm or so and have been coming on the bite toward evening.
Bob also mentions that Barracouta are still about in good numbers and make good bait for those seeking Snapper from here.
 | | Peter Johnson with a 7 kg snapper that he caught off the Lee Breakwater at Portland over the weekend. (Photo Bob McPherson) |
RARE CATCH
Bottom fishing in 350 metres of water out wide from Portland last week were Ken Hines and Cameron Ordner, when Cameron’s line, which he’d baited with a generous slab of Barracouta, was taken halfway down by 59 kg porbeagle.
Closely related to the common mako shark, the porbeagle resisted strongly for two hours and 15 minutes before Cameron was able to bring it alongside:
Grumpy asks:
Geoff, on reading your column anyone would think the Snapper are there for the taking. That is not the case, I have been out a dozen or more times without catching a decent fish. What could I be doing wrong?
Grumpy, you are not Robinson Crusoe by any means, I would say the majority of hopefuls are returning empty handed. On the other hand, there are those who rarely miss out.
Making an early start so that you are on your chosen ground by daybreak would be a step in the right direction. Apart from that, and provided your tackle is in good order, checking your bait regularly is important.
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Geoff Wilson
Fishnet Pro Angler
Email : geoffw10@optusnet.com.au
Fishing reports may be sent by e-mail, or mail to Geoff Wilson:
PO Box 384,
Geelong 3220. |
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