Tightlines - South & East Gippsland & more

5 May 2008

With King George
(Alan McFayden)
Wonthaggi
Phone 0401 199 223

The unfriendly weather has slowed the boaters down a little but there are still those who are venturing out, and in some cases being rewarded with good bags of fish.

Black Rock
Cranbourne angler Mitch fished with mate Paul Malov at Black Rock during the week. The boys fished in 6-10 metres of water around Ricketts Point and Black Rock to catch and release good numbers of pinky snapper to 40cm, plenty of salmon to 1 kilo, and calamari, with 3” Bass minnow soft plastics working best in the pumpkin seed colour.

Port Phillip Heads
Phil from Rip Charters reports catching and releasing over 100 snapper offshore from Barwon Heads this week. Most fish have ranged between 1 to 3 kilos with squid and pilchards being best baits. There has also been some great fishing for whiting near Sorrento and Portsea in 14-15 metres of water. Phil also said there were plenty of salmon on the heads. Trolling with white occy skirts is the best method.

Cowes
Andrew Kilfoyle fished in 21 metres of water out from Cowes last weekend. He used squid strips for bait and caught a nice snapper of 6.5 kilos on the last hour of the ebb tide.

Cat Bay
Customers of Paul Worsteling, Nick and Ryan, fished out from Cat Bay last week in 20 metres of water. They used barracouta for bait and caught an 18 kilo gummy shark and a 35 kilo seven gill shark. They were fishing the incoming tide.

Elizabeth Island
Wayne fished the area in 3 metres of water on Friday where he used squid strips to catch silver trevally, gummy sharks and elephants. He said the low tide was most productive.

Stockyard Point
Another customer of Paul’s, Elmer, along with Glenn and Maria, fished the low tide and Stockyard Point last Saturday. They found that squid and pilchards were very effective as they managed 4 elephant sharks to 5 kilos.

Joe's Island
Dean Glatzer and mate Steve Ward fished in 20 metres of water near Joes Island at the beginning of the run-out tide using pipi and pilchards. To their surprise they managed 8 kingfish ranging 45cm-50cm.

Warneet
Cranbourne angler Ron Smith has been fishing for gummies around the area this week and on his last trip he managed a 5 kilo gummy and lost another estimated at around 12 kilos. The start of the ebb tide was most productive. All fish were taken on eel.

Surf Beaches
Woolamai Beach has been fairly productive through the week where salmon have been taken to the 1kg mark, but it would be fair to say they would average out at around 500 grams which is best for the table anyway. The bigger fellows are very spectacular when they jump out of the water, with many escaping. To counter this, some anglers feel that by using just one hook they have more fish being boated as the fish can’t get as much purchase on the single hook.

Williamsons and Kilcunda beaches have also been productive, where the torpedo fish have been a bit better, being to 1.5kg. Anglers are having best results on whitebait and surf poppers.

Baxters Beach has been the standout, where many local anglers have been doing much better than at other locations. For the information of visitors or those fishermen who are not familiar with this area, there is a 20 minute trek through the sand dunes but it's here that the water is deeper and the fishing much better, with salmon frequently taken to the 2kg mark and better along with flathead, mullet and gummies. The run-in tide has been the best time to wet a line.

Wonthaggi Angling Club
The club held its annual presentation evening at the club rooms with around 70 people in attendance. They were treated to a great meal which was supplied by “Hassle Free” caterers which was much appreciated and drew many favourable remarks such as “let’s have them again next year”.

The senior male champion was Peter Clarke, with runner up being Alan Bentick. The senior female winner was Rae Haines and runner up was Sue Hamilton. The junior male champion was Ben Wardle and runner up Ren Hamilton. The junior female champion was Molly Gray and runner Kealey Hamilton. The veteran winner was Chris Haines and runner up George Scott. The best club person was voted by the committee to be Bruce Cox who has been a tower of strength and a very popular winner. Well done Bruce, and the club really appreciates your efforts.

President Graham Gray welcomed everyone along and thanked everyone who helped make the past year so successful. He also reminded everyone that the Three Rivers competition will be held on the weekend over the 24th May. The AGM for the club will be held on Monday 19th May where all positions will be declared vacant. Graham also said that he would like to see as many people as possible come along and help support our club over the next 12 months. The next competition will be on Sunday 18th May where fish of the month will be bream.

Inverloch
The boats have thinned out, no doubt due to the weather conditions and also the colder, shorter days, but near the entrance land-based anglers are still taking a variety of fish including salmon to the 600g mark that are making an appearance just about any time, regardless of tides. They have been in big schools, and when this happens a slow period of time suddenly erupts into red hot action where the torpedo fish will take just about anything that is thrown into the water.

Whiting to the 36cm mark are being taken on the last half of the run-out tide and first of the run-in flow where Bass yabbies, pipis and squid have been the best of the presentations. Through the week Graham Colden decided to try his luck one evening when he had nothing to do, and in the first five minutes he bagged a 1.5 metre gummy shark that took a pilchard, but from then on he failed to trouble the weigh master. Even so, he was not complaining with his bag.

There have been a few anglers who have been having a go in the vicinity of Maher’s Landing, taking silvers and the odd gummy shark, but it would be fair to say that there has been a fair bit of water mixed in with the fish. There was a late report to King George from a fisherman who said that he came across a couple of good sized gummies on the beach near the entrance. One was dead and the other just alive, and the angler was puzzled as to how they came to be there. One explanation was that they were caught by someone who didn’t know what they were and just left them there. Of course the logical thing to do in these circumstances would be to return them to the water. King George would appreciate any further info.

Tarwin River
In the vicinity of the rock wall there have been quite a few elephant fish being taken on pilchards and whitebait, regardless of the tide, along with silvers that have been to the 34cm mark. There has been a sprinkling of perch which are slowly building up in numbers after a fairly long lean period. The fishing platforms are still very popular with fishermen who find that they are easy to fish from, and enjoy making it a barbecue day.
Around the highway bridge there have been quite a few mullet making an appearance and it is around this time of year that the perch should start arriving in good numbers, when they respond quite readily to Bass yabbies, strips of fresh chicken and soft plastic lures worked around the snags.

Waratah Bay
Land-based anglers have experienced some lean times where there has not been much to get excited about, but on the other end of the scale there has been some action. The more positive results have been around evening on the run-in tide, as has been the case for some time as the fish come in close under the cover of darkness.

Shallow Inlet
The whiting are still being taken in good numbers much to the surprise of many anglers familiar with the area. This is because they usually find somewhere else to call home over the cooler months, but not so far. There are good numbers of salmon being taken to the 1kg mark on lead lines, and also on the surface where just about any type of lure seems to be doing the job.

Lakes Entrance
Not a lot of action this week, due to the cold snap. However there were a few luderick caught off the rocks around Bullock Island with a few whiting in the main channel.

Lake Tyers
Plenty of bream around 40cm+ and the odd flathead, but you definitely have to fight for them. Best bait is local prawn.

Mitchell River
There a few bream around, with good sized ones caught in the backwater and in the cut area at Eagle Point. Best bait is local prawn

Tambo River
There have been good catches around Rough Road to Whelans, and at Marshall’s Flats towards the mouth of the river - mainly bream, with the odd flathead. Best bait is local prawn.

Nicholson
There have been plenty of good bream around from the car bodies to the bridges and the back of the old oats and the swimming hole. Best bait is local prawn.

Paynesville
Not many fishermen around, however quite a few bream have been taking local prawn off the jetties and at the mouth of the Mitchell River.

Hollands Landing
Last weekend was very successful for fishermen, with plenty of bream and mullet caught in The Straits and the bream particularly heavy around Tom’s Creek. There was a lucky angler who bagged 30 mullet in 2 hours. Best bait is local prawn.

Lake Tyers
Regular customer of Paul Worsteling, Borno, headed off to Lake Tyers last weekend with a few mates. They fished both Saturday and Sunday for good numbers of flathead to 50cm and bream to 900g. They also caught prawns and good numbers of tailor. Soft plastics and metal lazer lures worked best.

Marlo
The cooler weather has arrived and made fishing outings a little tougher, but fish are still around, although a little smaller. The platforms along the Snowy are still producing plenty of bream, luderick and mullet. Marlo foreshore is doing likewise, with good size flathead and the occasional estuary perch. Luderick are in big numbers around the rock groins, best bait is sandworm under a float. The Brodribb River has been producing bags of bream, luderick and estuary perch. The surf beaches are all fishing well, with good catches of salmon, tailor, flathead, mullet and shark. Offshore, they are still reporting good catches of mixed species. Best results have been on bluebait, whitebait, and squid baits, combined with JIG-EM lures.

Bemm River
The entrance remains closed with the water level rising slowly. Once again, anglers have worked pretty hard for their fish, but some good quality bream have been landed. Sandworm and peeled prawn have been the most successful baits. Bait prawns are still running down the channel in huge numbers. It would be fair to say that with all the feed about the chances of a fish taking something with a hook in it would be fairly slim, even though they are in great numbers.

Mallacoota
The surf is producing plenty of salmon using whitebait and poppers. Fishermen have been spinning a few salmon and tailor at the entrance on the flood tide. In the bottom lake trevally up to 1kg are taking whitebait and soft plastics. The flathead have gone quiet and are moving up the system to escape the cold water, but a few good bream have been caught on prawn and soft plastics. In the top lake there are still plenty of garfish and bream being taken, particularly around Gipsy Point and Genoa.

Bermagui
Steve Tedesco from Head Hunter Charters reports some really good yellowfin fishing throughout the week. Most fish have been taken on the troll and have ranged from 15 to 35 kilos. One fish that was weighed in was 67 kilos. Steve also said that the outlook for the next few weeks is looking fantastic.

Tip of the Week
Many new boat owners just put their boat in the shed over the colder months and forget about them until the warmer weather arrives. Experienced operators take the opportunity to have their boats serviced and have a look at the trailer, especially the wheel bearings, as they know that the motor keeps them going on the water and the wheels keep them going on the road.

Keep the fishing info coming to King George on amcsayte@bigpond.net.au
or call 0401 199 223.

Good Luck and TIGHTLINES.