There have been some absolutely monstrous bluefin tuna caught and lost 20km outside ‘The Rip’ towards Barwon Heads. Including a catch that is now a pending Victorian Record (and possible Australian Record) of 163.65kg taken on a 37kg line. A pending World Record of 116.55kg caught on 15kg line by Clinton Addlington.

Clinton fought 5 ¾ hours to land the fish, using stand up tackle. The fish had been tagged in the Port Lincoln area in 1994. Back then it was 95cm long, approximately 12kgs and was about 3 years old. Needless to say that Clinton was one very sore angler for a few days but also a very happy one. World Records caught in Victorian waters are pretty well unheard of, so well done Clinton! Snapper and whiting have also started showing up around the bay in reasonable numbers, let’s hope they hang around longer than last year.

Not many reports have come in from the beaches as most fishos are out chasing reds. Reports from Williamsons and Venus Bays have stated that reasonable catches of salmon around the 600g mark are coming in. Whitebait and surf poppers have been accounting for most of these fish. A few gummies have been caught at Venus Bay after dark.

Whiting and pinky snapper have started in the Cleeland’s Bight area along with some good sized calamari. Outside the Entrance, flathead and arrow squid are around in good numbers and it shouldn’t be too long before the makos start showing up.

There have been lots of reports of snapper coming in from all parts of the bay, The Corals, Elizabeth Island, Corinella, Hastings, Lysharts and Joe’s Island just to name a few. Whiting have also shown up, but not in big numbers as yet. However, the quality is pretty good with most fish around the 38-40cm mark. You just have to move around a bit to find the fish.

There are still reports of big squid in the Flinders area but they seem to be most active in the early morning. Whiting are still hard to find and the odd gummy is coming in, in the Point Leo area.