VIC
Anglers are still on the lookout for big tuna WARRNAMBOOL
Mark Gercovich mgercovich@hotmail.com
April can be an excellent angling month locally, with everything from barrel-sized tuna offshore, to big brown trout in the local rivers and streams. Although kingfish season usually just draws to a close as April comes, this year it appears to have ended earlier than usual. A few days of massive swells in late February dropped water temperatures, and the kings seem to have vacated early. It had been a fairly good season, big fish wise, but there was not the number of mid-sized fish that had been around the previous few years. The summer tuna have continued to be prolific though, with plenty of good school-sized fish being caught. Come April they seem to drift out to the slightly deeper areas with the new run of fish that appears from the west. Of course, now is the time of year when keen tuna anglers are on the lookout for the bigger run of tuna in the 70-100kg+ size. Last April saw some schools of these big tuna present along the coast off Port Fairy, and hopefully we’ll see more of the same this year. There is already plenty of bait around in the 50-70m mark, so
Estuary perch have been responding well to topwater lures in optimal conditions. fingers crossed there will be some big boys feeding on it shortly. Closer inshore, whiting fishers have been enjoying some good catches. These fish should still be present along the sand holes around
the inshore reefs right through April. The Hopkins River has had a pretty average six months for fishing after the big floods of late last year. However, it has now definitely turned the corner.
Water clarity has improved with the wide-open mouth, and the bream and estuary perch have been in big numbers along the edges of the estuary. Targeting these fish on surface lures in prime conditions has been awesome fun, and some days almost every good cast has produced some form of enquiry. Also, the number of smaller fish of bream and EP has been a great sign for the future of this waterway. It’s a handy positive given the continued reports of big carp infiltrating the upper freshwater reaches of the system. With deeper mouth and the influx of sea water, we have seen many surprise catches with all sorts of unusual species for the river. These have included squid, flathead, banjo sharks and trevally. Unfortunately (and surprisingly), mulloway reports have been pretty much non-existent. Still, April and the Easter tides are a traditional mulloway peak period, so hopefully a few silver slabs will turn up soon. Cooling weather in April should see the local trout population really start to kick into gear. After a fairly cool summer, following all the rain we had in the lead up to summer, the trout should be in prime condition. There were a lot of solid mid-sized fish around last year, so another 6-12 months of growth into these fish should see some quality fish encountered.
Last April produced a good run of big tuna along the southwest coast. Let’s hope 2023 produces as well.
Decent bream catches in the Hopkins River COBDEN
Rod Shepherd
Some excellent yellowtail kingfish have been caught in close by those specifically chasing them. The bycatch has been Australian salmon to 2.6kg as well as some small bluefin tuna to 6kg. Some of the kingies are pulling the scales down in excess of 14kg. Fresh baits such as slimy mackerel and yakkas pinned to a ganged rig and allowed to waft unweighted slowly down over any shallow reef area has worked on the kingies. Also, many anglers are jigging a variety of lures over similar ground. When the bite is on, casting and trolling lures around feeding
One of many Hopkins bream taken on shallow divers worked over the shallow mud flats on a rising tide.
schools works well. Anglers targeting kingfish are launching off Boat Bay, Warrnambool, Killarney Beach and Port Fairy, and fishing reefstrewn ground in depths less than 20m. East of Warrnambool, the flathead grounds have been worth a shot for many anglers, with some bagging out with flat fish measuring up to 44cm. The best bait has been squid topped off with a pilchard chunk and allowed to drift along the bottom, in line with the boat. Some nice King George whiting have been caught off various beaches between Port Campbell and Peterborough on nothing but pipi meat. Either side of a high tide is best, and so too is introducing some berley into the wash.
Casting out beyond any gutters is the go for the bigger fish, which are measuring around 39cm. The Hopkins is doing well for bream and perch, and it seems some mulloway are still in the system and testing the patience of many anglers’ bream fishing gear. Cubed mullet or salmon is attracting mulloway bites whilst soft plastics in shrimp patterns are catching a few bream, especially in the shallow mud flat areas at dawn and dusk. At low tide, the bommies (coral mounds) that can be found out in the Bay of Biscay area are holding schools awaiting the building tide. They are well worth a cast or two, as you may annoy a bream or perch into attacking your bait or lure. APRIL 2023 79
