VIC
Taking the time to lend a hand PHILLIP ISLAND
Craig Edmonds
I don’t think it matters where you live in on the east coast of Australia, the first thing on your Christmas wish list would have been for a New Year with better weather conditions. Hopefully we will get favourable weather extending well into the autumn to make up for the poor end to the year. When the weather has allowed, the bay has been so healthy this season so far that keen anglers couldn’t help but catch something (although
good-size yakkas, mackerel, salmon over the 1kg mark, and flathead worth taking home. All these and other species have been reported in good numbers. We will now start to see a bit of a change, with smaller sizes of all species starting to show up. With them will come the kingfish and mulloway reports, and that’s just in the bay. Offshore will also start to fire up, and with a handful of school tuna already being caught, maybe we are in for another excellent season. The kingfish will increase in numbers in the coming weeks, and of course the flathead,
water who are new to fishing and boating. The novices are going to be slow at the ramps, taking what seems like forever to get ready or launch their boats, get in your way and maybe even stick to speed limits and correct waterway rules because they have just got their licence and remember the rules. Then they are going to pull up on your spot because of course, it’s your spot you have fished for years, or drag their anchor back into your boat. All in all, they will probably act and behave exactly the same as you did when you started off. They will likely be out
Anglers doing night sessions have been rewarded with some quality snapper. not all the fish caught were the target species). We’ve had very few reports of anglers spending a day on the water and not losing a bait, which is very different from normal years. Apart from the gummies, anglers are catching school shark, snapper, whiting and calamari, From page 88
next month and holiday period and our bays will be busy so make sure you show some patience and respect to fellow anglers. Over the holidays our piers will be crowded, our beaches will be crowded and so will our boat ramps. There is plenty of good fishing to be had from snapper, whiting, squid, flathead, salmon, snook, and gummy sharks and our lakes will also fire with redfin, estuary perch, yellow belly and more. It’s an enjoyable period and I will no doubt be enjoying the water with family and friends throughout. Remember it’s the 1%s that can be all the difference to a productive day’s fishing. I’ll leave you with some last tips to keep in mind when
one of the better table fish, will be bigger and more plentiful. Don’t forget, we can handle all your rigging and respooling needs at the store if you are heading out chasing the tuna or kingfish. January is also the time of the year where we see plenty of people hitting the
fishing again the next time you are, so a good idea would be to give them a shout at the ramp, “hey mate, can I give you a hand”. Have a talk to them about boating, fishing etiquette and generally help them out. It will probably work out a lot better for you (and them) rather than yelling
you’re fishing this holiday period. Marine electronics can play a massive role in finding fish and anchoring close to them. Fresh baits will always outfit packet baits so if you have time do a bait run of squid, salmon, yakka’s, snook etc. Experiment at different locations and with different techniques, this includes trying soft plastics and even trolling lures if you have never done this before. Most importantly enjoy yourself a quiet day on the water beats a busy day at work any day. If you need extra help then visit FishingMad Members website which has local reports to get you onto a few fish as well as workshops, tackle talks, tips, and rigging guides. Until next time, good fishing everyone. Feel free to contact me directly
to share your fishing experiences, photos and catches around Melbourne, Port Phillip Bay and beyond which we can feature in next month’s article. You can contact me by email at alan@fishingmad.com.au. Please consider becoming a FishingMad member at w w w. f i s h i n g m a d . c o m . au/member for fishing reports, workshops, podcasts, and exciting monthly giveaways. Also, don’t forget to follow my fishing adventures on the FishingMad YouTube channel www.youtube. com/c/fishingmad and social media on Facebook page www.facebook. com/fishingmad.com. au, Instagram page www. instagram.com/fishingmad. com.au and on Channel 31 Tuesday evenings at 9:30 pm and Saturday afternoons.
and screaming at them to get out of the way. The same will happen at the jetties and beaches, where all those new Christmas presents will be put to use. Most people will have no idea what they are doing – they’re just trying to get out and have a go. Many will be kids with not a parent in sight; somehow jetties act as a baby-sitting service, which is not the kids’ fault. Just like at the boat ramp, if you spend 10 minutes helping them it could make a huge difference to them, and also make it easier for you next time. There are enough kids stuck indoors these days, and we don’t need to add to that number by making them not want to be outdoors doing something. There are plenty of studies around that show the benefits for kids when engaging in outdoor activities like fishing, and learning new skills. Plenty of people have been starting to make their way to beaches and jetties. We have been seeing good reports of calamari still, and the size is holding as well. Those anglers who are now bagging out with calamari are doing so because the smaller ones have shown up. Artificial jigs are now taking over from baited jigs in the warmer and cleaner water. If you are fishing from a boat though I would still put out a baited jig under a float while you are fishing for something else. That goes for wherever you are in the bay, because we see calamari caught in every corner of the bay now. The jetties have been a little quiet for calamari, and seem to be going through in waves. You must be set up
Jacko was very happy with this quality whiting. and ready to go when they show up to take advantage. Snapper are almost an all-year-round fishery now, and although the numbers and sizes change, we still see them caught every month. It’s obvious that they come and go from the bay each season, but we are starting to see more and more stay. This probably reflects just how healthy the bay is. As the months change, so must you with your fishing approach. That is very obvious when we get reports, as they change throughout the year. Once we get hot, sunny weather and clear water, almost all of our reports come from the change of light or after dark,
It’s great to see kids out fishing. Gareth loves taking Ollie out in the boat.
and generally shallow. During the winter almost every report we get comes from one hour before or after the tide change, and normally in the deeper water. Pinkies you can catch anywhere or anytime during the summer, but most are undersize. The beauty with Westernport Bay though is that you just don’t know what you will get or when you will catch it. Don’t ever think that something is impossible. You never know what might turn up on the end of your line, and that was proven this season with the amount of whiting caught on snapper gear that almost everyone called as a pinkie or salmon. The whiting have been exceptional for the last few years, and 40cm is expected now, not a surprise. The fishing for them has developed over the years as well. It wasn’t that long ago when there was about four spots you targeted them, and if you told someone you were going to water deeper than 3m, people would say you were crazy. Offshore, the flathead have been good size and you can get a bag with an average of 45cm and a mixture of types once you find them. Finding them is the trick though, and it can take a few kilometres and drifts to do so. The most successful anglers have been telling me to pick a depth, and do three or four drifts 100m apart of about 1km each. Then, if you have no luck, move to another depth. Don’t forget to change sinkers as you change depth, and if you are going to fish two rods, make one a gummy type of setup with a much bigger bait. Don’t try to fish two rods for flathead, as you will lose far more than you catch. JANUARY 2023
89
