This week has been a mixed bag of results with offshore and
our rivers and lakes still producing some cracking fish. Let’s see what has
been keeping anglers occupied across the South West.
Offshore: the big tuna have again been making people travel
long distances to be a part of the action. Some quality fish have been caught
by both locals and traveling anglers hoping to bag a prized tuna. Bailey Petch
has continued his red hot form since purchasing his own boat with another
quality barrel being caught by a group of mates while fishing onboard his
Stabicraft 2050 Supercab. Trolling skirts around big work ups of bait, fish and
birds is how most have been hooking up. The work ups have been pretty serious
and very hard to miss lately with the usual gannets bombing from high distances
and being in flocks of hundreds. The tuna seem to be feeding on a mixture of
sauries, yakkas and redbait so matching your skirts up to these colours will go
a long way to getting a hook up on that fish of a lifetime. The charter boys
are also getting into the action with Matthew Hunt still producing some great
action for his customers and helping out the average punter wanting to have a
go themselves too. The Bonze spreader bars have been a hit for nearly every
boat that is having a crack at these monster fish. Whether you’re wanting to
rig a lure on the back of them and troll the whole thing or just use it as a
teaser close by to your spread, they have certainly increased the bite ratio as
opposed to the anglers who haven’t been using them. Just remember that if you
are using them with a lure attached then there is a fair bit of difference in
the pressure on the rod so I would suggest using it on a 24kg rod as a minimum.
Although most anglers that are serious about these fish use that class and
higher anyway it’s certainly going to make things easier on you. In other
reports there are plenty of school and gummy sharks being caught off Port Fairy
with one boat landing a 34kg school shark! Yep you heard that right, 34kg which
is an absolute beast of a shark in anyone’s books.
Estuaries: This past weekend the WDAC held their latest
competition over at the Fitzroy River. Fish of the trip certainly went to
Kurtis Powers; with a 2.2kg estuary perch! Bream were also caught with Mick
Hunt taking out the heaviest bream award, with a fish just over a kilogram. The
Hopkins has fished well this week, with weakening freshwater flows allowing the
estuary to clear. Fish are in their usual haunts at this time of year; the mud
flats behind Deakin and opposite Lyndoch, and the deep water between the bridge
and danger board. Ben Woolcock, Darcy Cutter and Tim Vincent found a few bream,
perch, mullet and salmon casting plastics around the bridge and surrounding
rock banks. The new TT Switch Prawn was also effective on the perch. Young Max
Kandage has been finding some bream with his dad Janaka on the mudflats,
walking the edges on a low tide and casting soft plastics. Recently the Z-Man
soft plastics in Gudgeon and Green Pumpkin have been popular. Try these on a
1/12th jighead to allow the lure to swim naturally despite the
current flows. The Moyne River at Port Fairy would also be worth a try
currently for bream and trevally on a run in tide.
Freshwater: The rivers are clearing but there’s still trout
to be caught for the next few months. Ollie Sharp found himself a solid brown
in the upper Merri River this week; a very productive area this year. Mark
Gercovich has also been in on the action casting Daiwa hardbodies in the lower
stretches of the river with some nice trout to be found. Lake Elingamite has
been a great spot in recent weeks, with bags of up to 50 redfin being taken
from this shallow weedy lake. It’s stocked annually with trout and bass were
stocked for the first time last year, so it’s a great mixed bag fishery. It’s
not a spot you can fish landbased due to thick, deep and very boggy peat mud on
the shorelines, so boats and kayaks only here. Further inland, the redfin
fishing has been red hot for anglers up north. Lakes Fyans, Wartook and Wallace
have all been fishing as good as ever for both quality and quantity bags of
redfin; so if you’re inland, these three are well worth consideration. Bullen
Merri continues to produce; Marty Ellul got amongst some chinook salmon action
here on the weekend.
With Father’s Day creeping up, don’t leave your presents too
late this year! The Tackle Shack has everything a father could ever want, and
more. Come in and see us for any fishing, boating and outdoor gear for your
dad, or maybe a shopping spree for yourself! With conditions not ideal for
saltwater fishing this weekend, a trip to the tackle store or inland would be
our recommendation.