VIC
Bream and EP are still active in the estuaries especially if the mouth was recently opened. Despite the massive fish kill that occurred here a little over a year ago, fish have survived. Recently avid angler Michael Moore travelled over from the Bellarine Peninsula and made Peterborough his home base for a couple of days. Michael and a mate managed some excellent bream and perch in the river working surface poppers and medium diving hardbodies along the river’s reedy edges. I believe all fish were released after a pic or two, which is fantastic as these fish will be needed as future broodstock to repopulate this estuary. In the Gellibrand, perch can be found upstream opposite bankside tea tree growth, which is found near the Kangaroobie canoe launching area. However, when the mouth is open at this time of year, the fish can be picked up along the
COBDEN
Rod Shepherd
Our estuaries are fishing well, especially for estuary perch as these fish have congregated down near the mouth in search of salty water in which to spawn. Plenty have been caught in the Hopkins, not only in the deeper water near the danger board near the mouth, but either side of the road bridge, within a cast of Lyndoch aged care facility, as well as the mud flats opposite. Fish to 49cm have been caught in recent times, mostly on soft plastics and minnow lures. In the Curdies, the perch are often found in and around the ‘Aquarium’, which is the area where the river runs into the lake. However, schools have been known to travel down towards the town channel near the main boat ramp,
Hopkins River bream and perch in all sizes are succumbing to surface poppers and shallow divers worked in low light conditions.
reed beds below the footy oval/campground bridge. So, in summing up, bream and estuary perch are quite active in all three estuaries, and are moving around in search of a feed as well as preparing to spawn. The general rule of thumb is when the respective river mouths are open, you should fish the lower reaches, and when closed, bream can be found scattered right along the river’s length, including right upstream. Don’t discount the odd mulloway either. They are currently believed to be present in all three estuaries, although it’s anyone’s guess how many there are. In another month or so, the bream will begin to school up in anticipation of doing their own spawning run upstream. How far upstream? Depends solely on how much freshwater flow is working its way downstream.
Attractive options for freshwater anglers in June WARRNAMBOOL
Mark Gercovich mgercovich@hotmail.com
The beginning of winter may seem like depressing time in the far south coast, but there are plenty of exciting fishing options available, from big tuna out to sea, to quality trout in our rivers. On the tuna front, the focus of the barrel fishing has moved from Portland to Pt Mac in recent weeks. However, with the sheer number of these
There have been good numbers of school fish off Port Fairy and Warrnambool lately, and these will continue to be an option throughout June if the weather holds. If tuna aren’t your thing, there has been some excellent bottom fishing happening. Dan Hoey from Salty Dog charters has been producing some excellent mixed bags of shark and finfish like snapper, morwong, and nannygai. Out further towards the shelf, local anglers have been taking trumpeter, pink
the WDAC Easter fishing competition. Plenty of kilo plus fish were brought in, with the largest catchand-release bream being a 1.546kg behemoth taken by Ray Dorman. To even get into the top ten in the junior section you needed a fish over 830g. With good schools of small baitfish present, many fish are being taken fishing lures to the edge, or glassies or other small fish baits on the bottom. The mouth is still open, and plenty of blue water is coming in on the tide.
Harry Jenkins with a Hopkins bream.
Winter time is big trout time in the South West. big fish present along the coast this season, you could have them turn up anywhere, so have the big gear with you and keep an eye out on any long sea journey this winter.
ling and blue-eye when the conditions have allowed. The Hopkins River has been fishing very well for bream recently. This was evidenced by some of the excellent fish taken during
There still has been no sign of any mulloway catches despite seemingly perfect conditions for them. In the freshwater, estuary perch have been responding to topwater
lures, with fish over 40cm being encountered. These bigger perch will start to move downstream as we head into winter, and can be taken on vibes and heavily weighted plastics as they begin to school up in the estuary section. I haven’t heard of any big runs of salmon at Killarney Beach yet, but it’s a location that is always worth a look at this time of year on a nice winter’s day when the wind is from the north. Wandering along towards the east from the boat ramp, throwing metal slice lures, is the best way to locate any schools
present in the area. WINTER TROUT Trout fishing is also popular locally at this time of year, with the Hopkins, Merri and Moyne rivers and Mt Emu Creek remaining open during the traditional closed season. This means most of the prime local trout waterways are fishable all winter. It allows anglers to target the trout in what is the most productive time to fish these waters; the higher water levels and cooler water temperatures are perfect for trout fishing. Also, all these South West coastal rivers are reliant on annual fish
stocking, with research showing very little if any natural recruitment. This reduces the need to ‘lock up’ the rivers to protect spawning fish at the best time to be fishing them. With all the snakes in hibernation, it’s safer and more pleasurable to make those long treks along the rivers without the constant dread of stepping on a ‘wiggle stick’. If you encounter one of the many dreaded carp present in the river, please don’t release them. Instead, dispose of them away from the water’s edge. JUNE 2023 75
