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Temps drop, fishing soars
  |  First Published: June 2014



As we slide past yet another summer, to be expected the temperatures drop but the fishing continues to make efforts worthwhile.

In this part of the world boaters and land-based anglers continue to do well with boaters bagging good numbers of big gummies, which is good news. Many experienced fishers err on the side of caution and will often return big fat gummies to the water as they may well be females in pup.

I was talking to one such person, who did not wish his name to be published, who was with two other mates and went out wide looking for gummies or whatever might come along. As it turned out there was not much of a wait and in a matter of minutes they had an enquiry. After a long time he had a very big gummy in the boat which the crew suspected might be a female and it was returned to the water to swim and fight another day. This continued for another hour or more and they actually bagged five more that were all returned to the water until they caught another smaller fish, which was well over size but a male.

They then decided to move to another spot where they had plenty of success. This was a GPS mark, which is just beyond the breakers off Venus Bay and they managed a very nice bag of flathead and pinkies that were well above size and they were happy with their results.

I have received quite a few similar reports of this nature and there was a very good size mako shark caught out wider still. However, experienced boaters who have the right gear and a big enough boat should only tackle these fish. The reason is that they very dangerous and great care must be taken and must not be brought aboard while they are still alive as they can cause great damage.

Wonthaggi angler Dino Tiziani and good mate Craig Amy can often be found out on the water in this area. They have been doing well outside the entrance where the whiting are often to the 45cm mark. Craig says that Bass yabbies, squid and small strips of pilchards are among the best baits for these prized fish and as well they have been catching very good size silvers and flathead. One of the reasons that they do so well is that they know the area well and have been fishing for many years.

The entrance at Inverloch is notorious and over the years it has claimed too many lives. Like many other entrances it is shallow and inexperienced boaters should not cross it. The best way to learn is to have someone on board who knows what to do, as there is no second chance in the water.

The Tarwin River at this time of year usually begins to give up quite reasonable numbers of perch and this year is no exception. Just before this report I visited the area and came across Tony Hanlon from Morwell who says that he can often be found on the river near the highway bridge. He had a couple of quite nice perch that would have been around the 33cm mark that were caught on Bass yabbies that he pumped at Inverloch. While I was there talking to him he had an enquiry and was excited with the weight of what was on the other end. This quickly turned to despair as the fish turned out to be a huge toadfish that had blown itself up, as they always do. In disgust it was returned to the water and I left Tony wishing him better luck next time.

The fishing platforms that have been constructed along the bank of the Tarwin River have been getting quite a workout, especially when the conditions are favourable.

I visited quite a few of them and even though the conditions were great, the best most anglers could manage was mullet and wrasse but they were enjoying themselves.

Down at the stonewall, which is virtually on the entrance, locals and land-based anglers have been trying their luck where there have been a few more perch being bagged along with silvers and mullet. Wrasse, or parrotfish as they are better known, are not much value on the table as far as most fishers are concerned, but they are also being caught.

There are also some fairly big eels being caught.

I came across a couple of visiting anglers from Frankston who were enjoying a relaxing time during the holiday break. Rod Kessells and Frank Van Der Hayden say that they come down whenever they can as the area is so peaceful and, even though they had not had anything in the bag, they were just happy being there. They reasoned that they won’t catch anything at home, and who can argue with that?

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