VICTORIAN SURF FISHING

With Paul (Benno) Bennett
EASY FISH LAND-BASED FISHING CHARTERS

See Benno's profile here.

22 August 2007

Hello everyone, I hope there have been many fish scales on the kitchen sink since my last report. It appears that the salmon are moving around a bit since my last report.

When giving advice on the best locations it can come down to a toss of the coin between 2 or 3 beaches, depending on recent reports and if a low pressure system came through the week. So what does a low pressure system have to do with fishing, and how can it affect an angler? Most of us judge fishable weather by the 7 day forcasts on the TV or the reports in the paper. During winter you will see that the temperature from the overnight low, to our max temperature, will only change slightly. But, compared to summer, the difference can be discribed from cold to freezing, with wind.

The best way to understand weather forcasts, is to take notice of the bars that appear on the weather map. They vary from 1030 down to 1006 and lower - these represent high and low pressure. Fish can  pick up on these changes and go off the bite. With today's information via the internet we can see what the pressure system is doing, but you might ask, why is this important?

Too often for some reason, a pressure pattern can slow down as it hits Victoria. And sometimes a pressure pattern coming up from the south can move away from our coast, allowing the pressure pattern from the west to continue towards Victoria. These changes can happen at any time of the day or the night, and if you're a boat angler or a rock hopper, this information is very important, not only for fishing but more importantly, for your saftey.
 
I had a great report from the Greenvale Sport and Game Fishing Club this week. 19 anglers competed in their annual surf fishing competition at Gunnamatta surf beach. 57 fish were caught with the best salmon weighing in at 2.04kg.

Last Saturday being the 18th of August, I took some kids fishing that I met through the Rowville Salvation Army. I had a write-up in the Knox Leader newspaper about wanting to get more kids involved in fishing and for them to see the benifits of fishing as a hobby or a sport. My local Member of Parliament sent me a letter asking if he could be of any assistance, and one thing led to another, and I touched base with the representative of the Rowville Salvation Army, and a trip was organised with some kids.

We took 4 kids to a hot spot near Kilcunda and set up the gear. We went through the basics and got into fishing. Although for safety reasons I cast into productive water, the junior was taught to read the bite and to keep a bend on the tip, then once we had a hook up the angler would guide the fish to the shore, where I would retrieve the fish from the surf.

I was so hopeful that we could score a few salmon, and by the end of the day, one junior had caught 15 salmon and kept 3. In fact they all caught salmon, and they even showed up some of the adults on the beach. By the time we had packed up, they were all presented with trophies and photos were taken for the Knox Leader newspaper.

Before we had left the car park they were asking about the next trip. A big thanks to Hook Up Bait and Tackle in Ferntree Gully who supplied the bait, and to All Trophies in Boronia for the trophies. All of the kids had massive smiles. And, a big thanks to Wilson Fishing Rods and Sure Catch for the tackle. I hope to get some photos up on the site soon. Keep the emails coming, and I have a few seats left for my trip this Sunday. Try a trip, it may change the way you fish.

Regards,

BENNO

EASY FISH LAND-BASED FISHING CHARTERS
Paul Bennett
Telephone: 0418 547 990
Email: easyfish@bigpond.com.au  

See Benno's previous report here.