You don’t need a boat for autumn action

Phillip Island

Craig

Edmonds

With the economy as uncertain as the fishing at the moment, it would appear that a lean 12 months is coming up for the tackle industry. That’s the line the government would prefer anyway. However, the best part of fishing is you don’t need to spend lots of money to get out and enjoy the fresh air. While you might not be able to afford to get the boat out every weekend, there is very little money needed to change it up and start fishing from the land.

Land-based fishing can be a challenge and you will need different thought processes, but the rewards can be greater as well. There are so many places to fish from the land around Phillip Island and it would take you weeks to check them all out.

There is also every species that you can target from the boat available from the land, you just need to put some thought into it and look. It’s a great way to kick-start your bait collection for next season, when hopefully fuel prices will be more affordable. You should already have all the necessary tackle from your boat, you might just want a few longer rods for land-based fishing.

There is always an increase in land-based reports over holiday periods, and this year has been no exception. We have had a lot of quality fish reported and even an increase in numbers of some of the better eating fish like flathead and whiting.

We have even had several reports of kingfish from the jetties, with some customers now starting to target them and keeping very quiet about how they are doing it. I have one customer in particular that has been targeting them on the open side of the island near Kitty Miller Bay by casting poppers and stickbaits. The best he has landed so far has been 8kg, which he was very happy with.

Calamari have been the species that, surprisingly, have not turned up like they normally do. Numbers have been low all season from the land, and despite a couple of excuses with weather and weed there is no real explanation as to why.

We have seen flathead and whiting showing up in more places and even a couple of pinkies from the surf at Kilcunda.

On the boating front, it’s been tuna, kingfish and more tuna for the last couple of months, with everyone heading offshore when the weather has allowed. It has been a little different this year, with dozens of smaller schools of fish spread over a much larger area, and the bait has also spread out instead of being herded into balls. The kingfish are mixed up with the tuna, and it’s no surprise to have a tuna and a king hit lures at the same time.

Tuna sizes have ranged from 5-100kg and have been found from 12-70m of water, and between 500m-20km offshore from the western entrance to Inverloch. The lucky or smart anglers were heading out early and had their lures in the water just as they passed the red marker. After that they could fill up on flathead, then a have quick stop at the sand hill on the way in to grab a few calamari and whiting to finish off the trip. It didn’t always happen that way, but we did hear that same story many times over the last few months.

Back in the bay and it’s business as usual, with elephants now showing up. The odd bigger snapper is still around, and tiny flathead, pinkies and gummies are steeling baits quicker than you can put them on. Overall, reports have been positive, with plenty of fish coming back for the table.

Flathead only made an appearance in the bay in good numbers about five years ago, and they were all tiny, whereas now there is some real quality showing up and customers are reporting that they are catching half a dozen or so around the 40cm mark each session.

Whiting have also improved over the last few years, and the condition of them just hasn’t seemed to have dropped off like it used to.

While the calamari off the land have been slow, but there hasn’t been too many problems from the boats and from all corners of the bay now that people have realized that you can catch calamari in any part of the bay.

Gummies and schoolies had been at their biggest we have seen caught in the bay, but they disappeared for a while, with only the odd catch reported last month. We are still seeing gummies around the 4-6kg mark in the bay, but to find the bigger one’s you’ll need to head offshore.

Most of the attention will continue to be offshore either, and can be prepared in many different ways. They are, however, one of the most frustrating and challenging fish to catch.

Easter is almost here and that means our Good Friday Appeal Fishing Competition is almost here as well. The comp has been growing over the years and our donation last year was over $4,000, which we hope to better this year! We have many great sponsors that make it all possible and many of our customers and their friends who help us get as we wait for the expected changeover between school tuna and the barrels that have shown up the last couple of years.

Elyse loves chasing tuna, which have been available in good numbers.

The other offshore options won’t slow down, with traditionally settled conditions through to May and June a good time to head out for a feed of flathead, gummies and snapper, or to fill up the bait freezer for next season.

If you’ve had enough of tuna or they just aren’t your thing, don’t forget to have a look around for some kingfish. Pound for pound its harder to find a better fighting fish, and they aren’t too bad eating to the donation target. We designed the competition around the family unit, and no experience needed to get involved. You can fish from a boat, jet ski, kayak or just from the land somewhere with 100% of your donation going directly to the Children’s Hospital Appeal. There are sections for adults, juniors and small fry, with a few extras thrown in over the weekend and our much-anticipated hourly giveaways will be back! Melanie is gathering the sponsors and prizes, putting the prize list together and entry forms will be available via our socials or in the shop.