VIC
David says if salmon are on the bottom, you can’t beat a jighead around 1/8-1/4oz, and any soft plastic you like. When they are busting up, you can catch them both from the surface and sub-surface. Pike are still a plague, and any Daiwa Double Cutch from 75-95mm will work on them. The fish have been on the smaller side though. St Leonards to Queenscliff has seen a solid
run of King George whiting, with a few bag-outs and some solid fish from 35-40cm coming over the side. They seem to bite best when the tide is running hardest, so you’ll need a decent sinker around 2oz to hold bottom, and a long leader around 1m to increase the captures. Queenscliff has been hot lately, with stacks of silver trevally, yakkas (yellowtailed scad), salmon and calamari around the harbour.
Small baits and lures have been picking up the yakkas and trevally, while salmon have pretty much been a by-catch. Calamari like the areas in the Queenscliff harbour without too much flow, so pick a few sheltered areas to try for them. There have been plenty of gummy sharks down along the Surf Coast – I know, that’s no news flash – they’re always there! Kevin Mcloughlin headed down to
Salmon have been moving around Corio Bay.
Jeza with a vote for the KMart rods – a solid gummy shark!
Anglesea with his brother Jeremy in search of a few fish. Armed with something a little different – light K-Mart blister pack rods! To make sure of their success, the lads had two rods each – just for a laugh. The first few baits down they got blue-throat wrasse and yakkas. However, soon after they had a double hook-ups on gummy and seven-gill sharks, with Jeza getting a nice 14kg gummy on the budget rod. Jeza managed another 8kg gummy, and sadly lost one over the side when the drag locked up. If
you’re up for some comedy, check out their YouTube channel ‘Surfcoast Anglers’. Classic stuff lads! The tuna bite has been red-hot over the last 12 months. The action continued along the Surf Coast for all of March and into April, with anglers locking horns with tuna from 10-25kg. Casting poppers and stickbaits has been effective, or you can troll skirts or divers, with or without teasers. King brown, green and pink colours have been getting plenty of fish on the troll, while natural looking baits have
worked best for those casting at schools. Until next month, fish hard – die happy! • Catch a few around Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula or Surf Coast to Lorne recently? Send in a report to slaterfish@gmail. com with ‘FMG’ in the subject field or give me a call on 0408 997348. Please include where (without giving away your secret spot!), when, what on and who caught the fish. Pictures are always great, but please make sure they are at least 1MB (file size).
FISHING NEWS
NSW DPI and VFA team up to fight fishing crime A joint investigation by the Victorian Fisheries Authority and NSW DPI Fisheries has resulted in the most significant penalty relating to a freshwater species in Victoria in the last 20 years. The investigation found that between 2017 and 2019, a 40-year-old man had illegally netted almost 12 tonnes of golden perch from the Darling River and sold them on 56 occasions for a total of $205,600. The man was convicted by a NSW court for illegally netting fish from the Darling River,
and a Victorian court for selling them to a wholesaler in Melbourne. In March, a penalty order was issued for $205,600. The man had previously been fined $11,000 by a Victorian court and $15,000 by a NSW court, along with forfeiting his boat and equipment. Victorian Fisheries Authority Director of Education and Enforcement Ian Parks said that the joint operation has successfully disrupted and dismantled the illegal take of native fish from inland waterways. He added that several dangers to the community had been posed by this behaviour. “The unauthorised use of
A man tried to drive off with this illegal haul in his boot, but was intercepted by Fisheries Officers.
mesh nets is a danger to fish and wildlife, and seafood caught in this way can be a health risk to consumers. This remains a high priority for Fisheries Officers in both states,” Mr Parks said. ILLEGAL ABALONE HAUL The Victorian Fisheries Authority has announced it will charge a man suspected of a large illegal abalone haul in Brighton. The individual was apprehended by Fisheries Officers in Greens Point and will be charged on summons with a variety of offences including taking undersize abalone, exceeding the catch limit and possessing a commercial quantity of abalone. The individual was found to have caught more than 460 abalone, 92 times over than the daily bag limit, which is five abalone per person. 420 of the caught fish were also under the legal minimum size of 10cm. Fisheries Officers returned all the caught abalone to the water. Victorian Fisheries Authority Director of Enforcement and Education Ian Parks said two officers were patrolling the intertidal zone one evening when they allegedly observed a man with a speargun continuously diving offshore. “Additional Fisheries
A 40yo man has copped a very large fine after netting golden perch and selling them illegally for two years. Officers were called to assist with the apprehension of the man before officers on the scene allegedly saw the man remove a large catch bag from the shallows,” Mr Parks said. “The man proceeded to allegedly place the large catch bag of abalone into the
boot of his Toyota and was intercepted as he attempted to leave the car park.” This apprehension follows another at Greens Point on New Year’s Eve when Fisheries Officers discovered four men who had allegedly harvested 311 abalone, 276 of which were
undersize. If you see or suspect illegal fishing, call the VFA’s 24/7 reporting service, 13FISH (13 34 74), to speak directly to a Fisheries Officer. You can remain anonymous. – Victorian Fisheries Authority
Fishing Monthly would like to apologise for an error in last month’s magazine on page 84. We printed a news story listing the dates of local
forums in the Victoria area, however the dates were for 2022, not 2023. At present Victoria Fisheries have not confirmed the forums will
be held again this year and the mistake was due to an administration error on our behalf. Sorry for any confusion – Editor, Fishing Monthly Magazine
Fishing forum error
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