VIC
Signs point to a good season PHILLIP ISLAND
Craig Edmonds
After way too many days away, everybody can finally travel back to regional areas and go fishing. It had been a long time since we had our Melbourne customers into the shop, and we were very grateful for the support they gave us over the Cup weekend, and throughout November. We must also acknowledge our local customers who have been
continuing to support us through this period, making it possible for us to remain open and keep stock on the shelves. As always, there is hope that the lockdowns are finally over, and the buzz around Westernport Bay and Phillip Island is now better than it has been for months. Customers have more confidence that things are turning around, and although it’s a late start for many they are keen to stock up and get out on to the water. This is season number 16 for us in the shop, and
Amanda with a 7.1kg snapper.
every one of them has been different for one reason or another. Nothing surprises us anymore, and we have learnt to expect the unexpected. Traditionally, if you wanted to catch a bluefin tuna in Victoria you would need to make the trip down the highway towards Portland, then travel what seemed to be a similar distance on the water. The last couple of years we have seen a huge change, and while there are still tuna to be found off the western Victorian
coast, we now have a tuna fishery off Phillip Island. That was confirmed again this spring, with more barrels showing up than the previous few years. More importantly, there was a significant quantity of fish on the sounders that weren’t caught, and numerous schools found from the western entrance to Cape Patterson. We just need the school fish to show up again in the summer, and it will be as busy offshore as it is in the bay in the middle of snapper season. Another good thing with the tuna fishing off Phillip Island is they are accessible by most boats that fish in the bay, with most being caught within 40-50 minutes of the Newhaven ramp. Being school fish, you can land them on your better snapper rods and reels, but to increase your chances why not invest in something of quality that will double as a set up capable of landing the forgotten kingfish we have off the island? It took a long time for the snapper to settle this year with the everchanging weather we were having through the early spring, but once they did it began turning into a very good season. We had more bigger fish caught than the previous few years, and started seeing a mixture of sizes much earlier. As we move into
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DECEMBER 2021
Loran with a quality land-based snapper. December and as they come to the end of their spawning season, we will start to see some very mixed bags and from a wide area. You will still have your patterns of deep early and shallow late, but as we get to holidays, we see a lot of not-soserious anglers hit the water after breakfast, and this is where we will get the mixed bag reports from. We don’t often see a lot of big snapper from the middle of the day (although the odd one will show up), it’s mostly the small and pan-sized pinkies. The corals will be the best spot to try for a feed of fish, but if you still want to look for that bigger one during the day, try the deeper channel edges. Whiting are starting to thin out, and I don’t mean numbers but quality. Plenty of the summer pencils are now showing up. The bigger, fatter whiting, like the snapper, will become a bit harder to find this month. Over the last few years the quality of the summer fish was quite good, but it’s not looking that way this year, with plenty of pencil whiting reported already. On the upside, these little whiting are a good sign for our future stocks. At the time of writing, there is no sign of the pipis as yet, just those imported clams that no one seems to have much success with. However, by the time this goes to print the pipis will hopefully be back in shops at a reasonable price. The
fear is they won’t show at all, or that if they do, they’ll be very expensive. If this happens, anglers might stick with using cheaper baits of squid, pilchard and mussel, which all catch fish. Offshore will soon start to kick off. A few boats have already been out chasing tuna, but the majority of the trailer boats will be looking for a feed of flathead and other species that have been getting better and better over the last few years. If you’re after some bottom fish, head down the coast to Kilcunda to the various reefs down there. Take the time to use your sounder, go a couple of hours earlier if it’s your first trip after winter, and do plenty of sounding. The very rough weather we have had this year would have changed the landscape a little, and you might be surprised at what has shown up. While the sand gets scoured away, the heavy reef, rocks and other structure will stay and quickly become a food source for bigger fish. If you are looking for arrow squid, they will be on the bottom laying eggs so get your jigs to the bottom. Gummies will be best on the moon phases, and the multitude of other species that keep showing up will be where the food is around some type of structure. I know tuna has been the flavour of the month for the last few years, but don’t forget the kingfish.
