Reel life

Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff has assured us the snapper are on the bite, as well as calamari squid, salmon and couta.

The couta I can live without, although they do make a good bait and are fun to catch; although, with their teeth, they do tend to bite through lines, so a good leader is needed if you fish for them.

Rod said that when the weather settled down the fishing should be good again, and as we get closer to Christmas, kingfish should come on the bite. They are one of the best fighting fish going around.

And when all else fails, there is always flathead to be caught along the sandy bottom between the reefs — flathead tails make a mighty fine meal when fried in a batter mixed with beer.

I tend to put flathead tails second behind whiting fillets as my all-time favourite dish.

In Western Port, the fishing is similar. Good bags of snapper are being caught along the rubble beds on the edges of the shipping lanes, whiting in the grass beds closer to shore and gummy shark, as well as leatherjacket, in the deeper water near the mouth of the bay, while couta are off shore.

That leaves saltwater fishing along the coast — at Portland they are catching tuna offshore, while snapper and other reef fish are biting on the inshore reefs.

Heading north of the border in NSW, John Liddell at Eden said both yellowfin and southern bluefin tuna were biting off shore. This is about a 20km boat trip.

Fishing the inshore reefs is worthwhile, with snapper, morwong and other reef fish, and on the sandy bottom between the reefs there are quality flathead.

An hour-long boat trip from Eden will put you off Green Cape on the border with Victoria and NSW. Really good fishing can be had on the reefs and also on the sand: huge gummy shark, metre-plus flathead, horse-sized snapper, big nannygai — a redfish that is as good as any table fish I have eaten — as well as good-sized kingfish.

Back at Eden, Boyd’s Lookout is producing snapper and morwong.

At Narooma, Graham Cowley said they too were getting tuna off the shelf, which, by the way, is far closer to the shore, just off Montague Island.

Some of the best flathead fishing I have ever done is on the sandy bottom between Narooma and Montague Island, while bottom bouncing the reefs results in snapper, morwong and other reef fish.

If it is too rough off the coast, fishing in the lake is producing bream and flathead. They are being caught around oyster leases and other structures.

In our region, the fishing in rivers and streams is still restricted by floodwaters.

On the bright side, the lakes and dams are worth wetting a line in.

At Waranga Basin, redfin are still being caught. The best spots are the old quarry, in front of the island and along the water pick-ups at the back of Harrimans Point.

Eildon is also fishing well: redfin, some late-season trout, yellowbelly and cod. It is still legal to catch and keep cod in Lake Eildon, where the closed season does not apply.

The cod season will reopen at midnight on Wednesday, November 30. That means you can take cod from all rivers and streams, as long as you follow bag and size limits and have a fishing licence, if you require one.

Some late season trout are still being caught at Dartmouth Dam in the north-east.

While fishing in the dam is possible, the winds are causing problems for anglers.

Strong gusts can whip up waves and rough waters on inland waterways, and being on the water can be dangerous, so keep safety in mind if you plan a boating trip.

Well, it is back to the drawing board for me — replanning our trip to Queenscliff.

Stay safe, both storm- and flood-wise, as well as with the pandemic, as another wave of COVID-19 has begun.

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