Without a doubt, the single biggest outlay in purchasing your fishing gear will be a boat and trailer.
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Now, depending on whether you have a small tinny or a large multi-hull, big-engined cruiser, the costs far outweigh those for hook, line and sinker gear, which includes rods, reels, etc.
Whether you buy new or second-hand, it is still a large investment and carries with it a number of expensive commitments.
First, there’s insurance, registration, maintenance and other incidentals, such as anchors, life preservers, ropes, a set of oars, flares and, if you go offshore, an electronic locator, marine radio, a fish finder, rod holders — the list goes on.
Now, put the boat to one side.
Let’s look at the trailer.
For a start, it must be road-registered, roadworthy, with lights, brakes, tires, safety chains and a fire extinguisher.
On top of that, the single most overlooked part is the wheel bearings — they must be well-greased.
Keeping your boat and trailer free of salt is a sure-fire way of protecting them from rust and corrosion, thus giving them a long, trouble-free life.
To a lesser degree, washing rods and reels with a weak solution of dishwashing liquid and rinsing with clean water is also a good idea.
At the same time, check the line for any nicks or cuts.
There is a publication I would recommend that you add to your tackle box — one on the tying of knots.
Sure, in the Boy Scouts, a reef knot or granny knot might gain merit points, but when that fish of a lifetime is on the end of your line, you want to know the knot holding it is not going to let go, leaving you with a sense of frustration.
With the modern lines of today, they need specific knots to hold, and these knots are described and shown in detail in special books.
Get one and practise tying them until they become second nature.
One final thing about boats: you must have a boating licence — not just for Victoria, but for every state in which you operate a boat.
Be it NSW, Queensland, or even South Australia, while the boats might be the same, there are variations in the regulations, and holding a licence in one state does not give you permission to use it in another.
Now let’s take our boat to Lake Eildon.
Early mornings in the river arms are the best times to fish for trout.
The best method is trolling a fender trailing a bunch of worms or lures.
However, you must find the depth at which the fish are feeding.
This is shown on your depth sounder, where warm water meets the cold.
Later in the day, you’ll find that cod will move into these areas, but they’ll be at the surface, and poppers or surface lures work the best.
At this time of year, while most people fish for cod and yellowbelly, it’s still a good time to chase what most think of as a winter fish — trout.
I like to think it’s an excellent time to fish for them.
However, you need to change tactics.
Instead of fishing the lakes, you should try rivers and streams, mainly in the mountains.
My preferred method is to wade the water, either bait-casting or using lures.
Wade upstream and cast to likely shady banks or holes.
Now, a look at saltwater fishing.
Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff said that when the weather was suitable, he was catching snapper and other table fish off Barwon Heads and Point Lonsdale.
But inside the bay, there was plenty of whiting to be had, fishing the grass beds on either side of the heads.
The secret to successful fishing at Queenscliff, according to Rod, is to fish the tides, either on a flood tide or a run-out tide.
Generally, the fish bite less when the tide is at its lowest or when it’s at its peak.
North of the NSW border, at Eden, John Liddell said the boys from Freedom Charters were bagging snapper, morwong, gurnard and gummy sharks from Boyd’s Lookout to Green Cape.
Kingfish were also on the bite.
Further north at Narooma, Graham Cowley said the fishing was the same around Montague Island.
James Luddington, at Flinders Island, said he was bagging gummy sharks and big flathead around Lady Barron and Chappell Island, as well as snapper and kingfish.
Stay safe, and more on fishing next week.