Better be quick: Baitsanity lures are half-price while stocks last.
Once again, Mother Nature put paid to any plans I might have had of going fishing last weekend.
While river levels were low and water quality was good, fishing from the banks was definitely off the menu. They were, and still are, wet and slippery — and dangerous for land-based anglers.
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It will take a stretch of warm, dry weather for the ground to dry out and for the river banks to become safe enough to fish from. Fishing from a boat would be the best option but launching one would be the tricky part.
Once on the water the fishing becomes easier, just drop your bait in a likely spot and Bob’s your aunty, so to speak. But if you drop your bait on top of a fish, it all becomes a walk in the park.
Reports from those who have been able to fish from a boat have been promising. Some good-size yellowbelly taken from the Goulburn between the cemetery and Toolamba, mainly on worms and small yabbies, chicken and even cheese. Very little action for anglers using lures.
While yellowbelly are on the move, cod are still being caught. Most are juvenile-size but keepers can still be caught. That is for the next couple of weeks. At the end of this month, cod season closes, with Lake Eildon being an exception. There, cod can be caught all year round, though bag limits and size limits still apply.
While rivers and streams are closed for trout, Dartmouth and Eildon are open season, but once again, size and bag limits still apply. But the season on trout will be open soon.
While fishing Eildon for cod and trout, you can also catch yellowbelly and redfin. The yellowbelly can be found around the rocky ledges as well as in the national park, while redfin are around the tree lines. The best spots are around the concrete galleon around Peppin Point, the tree line at Bonnie Doon and the big river arm at Jamieson. Redfin are also on the bite at Lake Hume and Waranga Basin.
I haven’t mentioned Lake Nillahcootie for a while but what was a prime spot for redfin is now a place to catch yellowbelly and cod. This all happened after the floods in 1993 when the redfin vanished and the natives moved in.
I notice that magpies are starting to nest. This has meant an early start to the swooping season, so when you are outdoors, wear a hat. If you are near where magpies usually nest, keep alert to the fact that you might get swooped.
With the wattle blooming and magpies swooping, it means an early start to yellowbelly season. It could be the time to go a little bit lighter with your fishing gear. The heavy tackle you use for cod is not suitable for yellowbelly, as they are sensitive when they bite. So lighter gear is a better option. Remember there are size and bag limits on yellowbelly, details of which are contained in the Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide, which you can obtain, free of charge, from your local tackle store. I got my copy from Trelly’s here in Shepp.
The minimum size for yellowbelly (or as it is also known, golden perch) is 30cm and the bag limit is five fish. There is another perch native to our local waters: silver perch. These fish are protected in all rivers and streams and should be released if caught. They are sometimes called silver bream but they are perch.
Now, let’s head south to the salt water. At Queenscliff, Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters said he was catching plenty of pinky size snapper along the inshore reefs off Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads, as well as on the snapper marks inside the heads and as far up the bay as Mornington.
Rod said there were signs bigger fish were starting to move back, and he expected the main snapper run to begin at the end of this month. This would be several weeks earlier than usual. Rod said he was also bagging flathead on the sandy bottom between the reefs. Rod said that off Point Lonsdale he was also bagging gummy shark around the dive sites — best baits were fillets of salmon and fresh squid. Speaking of squid, he said the southern calamari squid were being caught on jigs both baited with small whole herring as well as coloured shrimp jigs. Those were among the grass beds off the beach between the Point Lonsdale jetty and the ferry terminal. Rod said they could also be caught on the opposite side of the heads.
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Rod said he was catching whiting off the mouth of Swan Bay. He was also catching silver trevally. Rod said anglers were losing fish to marauding seals, eager to catch an easy feed of fish at the end of an unlucky angler’s line.
Western Port Bay was also providing anglers with pinky size snapper, flathead and leatherjacket along the rubble beds on the edge of the shipping lanes. From Hastings to the steel works, good-size gummy shark were being caught in the deep water off Phillip Island.
Up north at Eden, John Liddell said the crew from Freedom Charters were bagging plenty of reef fish inshore from Boyd’s Lookout to Green Cape.
Further up north at Narooma, Graham Cowley said there were plenty of good-size flathead being taken on the sandy bottom between the Barr and Montague Island.
We are getting close to the end of the footy season and for the first time in a decade, my team may make the finals. But who cares? It’s back to fishing for me, so stay safe and tight lines.
