Reel Life

By Kevin Tyler

Nov 10, 2022

They’re everywhere: You only have to step outside to realise the dreaded mozzies are in plague proportions. Photo by Simon Bingham

There are two reasons why the fishing in the rivers and streams in our region is not producing good results, but only one is actually to do with fishing.

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The flooding in our waterways is the major reason, but there is a secondary concern.

By now you will have noticed the clouds of blood suckers that greet you the moment you step outside your door.

I am referring to the mozzies that have reached plague proportions and need little urging to try to carry you off.

Not only does the high-pitched buzzing of these insects annoy you, they sting as they pierce your skin with their blood-sucking mouthpiece. They don’t bite, they stab you with a needle-like straw, which is coated with a toxin that causes an ongoing itch and they suck up and gorge themselves.

They are also carriers of disease and viruses, which they can transmit to humans.

So a word of advice, don’t go outside without first dousing yourself liberally with a top-quality repellent.

Normally, mozzies attack at night and dusk but at present they will strike at any time of day, so be prepared.

The flooding is still a problem in as much as the river character will have changed, and new snags and other timber will alter what you were once familiar with.

While the rivers and streams are a no-go for fishing, the lakes and dams are a different story. With redfin still on the bite at Waranga Basin and Lake Hume, good reports have also come in from Eildon and Nillahcootie. Best results have come from anglers trolling lures and other attractors such as ford fenders and soft plastics.

The same goes for Dartmouth dam despite it flowing at over 100 per cent capacity.

Driving to these locations can be a chore, with a lot of roads damaged by the floodwaters.

For some real fishing action, head to the salt water.

South at Queenscliff, Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters said his customers were lining up to get among the snapper.

Rod said inside the heads and off the coast he was boating good-sized snapper as well as plenty of pinkies. Rod said he was catching them on bait such as salmon fillets and fresh squid and also on soft plastics.

Rod said he was also catching flathead, squid and salmon. He said there were also signs of kingfish off Point Lonsdale, although he said it was still a couple of months before he expected kingfish to be around in big numbers.

Rod said he was still catching some trevally, which are a deep-water fish. They are a great table fish and it is unusual to see them off Barwon Heads.

Along the coast to Western Port Bay, fishing is not all that different, with snapper biting along the rubble beds lining the shipping lanes, from Hastings to the steelworks. Snapper up to 8kg to 10kg are not unusual, as well as plenty of pinky-size fish.

In the deeper water off Cowes and San Remo, gummy shark can be caught on the run-out tide — a fresh fillet of fish is the best bait.

North of the border at Eden, John Liddell said fishing the inshore reefs was producing bags of snapper and morwong, as well as other table fish. These include flathead, leatherjacket and gurnard.

John said the best fishing was around Green Cape, almost to the Victorian border.

Further along the coast at Narooma, Graham Cowley said the shelf was closer to the shore, just the other side of Montague Island.

Graham said when it came to yellow and southern bluefin tuna, trolling a pattern of lures was getting good results — mostly skirted style lures as well as hard-body types.

Graham said bottom bouncing the inshore reefs also produced plenty of table fish.

Safe fishing, stay out of floodwaters to avoid disease, and if you do go fishing, good luck.