Action-packed autumn WIRF
Cara Cummings
What a packed autumn we have experienced so far. Whether boat or land, sea or river, the fishing has been exceptional and our WIRF Facebook group has been flooded with a huge variety of different species. From first time catches to landing PBs the page has been
was a little murky and weedy, however, with a slight breeze, the fishing conditions were promising. “We pulled up to our favourite spot and cast out, using prawns for bait. “I had hooked up to a smaller bream when Scarlett (11yrs) decided to check her rod and just as she picked it up, it took off like a freight train! She did a top job of winding it in, making sure to take her time
for her to keep. Scarlett also managed her PB bream of 39cm the same day. “My other daughter, Emmy (12yrs) also caught some cracking bream on that weekend when we sounded up an amazing bream patch on the Sunday. Using light gear and prawns and pilchard chunks for bait, she managed to also land her PB bream. “It was wonderful to see the kids doing what they love and teaching them how to respect and release the fish we catch. My hope is that my kids will grow up respecting our waterways and fish as much as I do, and fish responsibly. They always take such great care releasing their fish, and it sure makes me proud. We do keep a few fish here and there to enjoy for dinner, however the majority are released. “All in all, our weekend was a great success. Scarlett won
Merril with one of her rainbow trout catches. the rain and dreary weather, the kids put on their raincoats and were given the chance to catch a new hobby in a supportive environment with help from the experts. Eight fishing clinics ran
Scarlett (and Alix) with her PB flatty. abuzz! As we soon head into the cooler weather, it will be interesting to see what the change of season brings us. MEMBERS BRAG MAT WIRF member Merril Wenlock had a fabulous time fishing with her club, ‘Yarra Valley Fly Fishers’ at the private fishery of Millbrook Lakes (www. millbrooklakes.com.au). “Nine members of YVFF attended the weekend, we were split into groups and had our own guide for two days,” Merril said. “The guides were excellent, very well-known in the industry, informative and I learnt a lot from them. The bonus was, that they are experts at landing fish successfully! “I caught most of the fish on Woolly Buggers to imitate small baitfish or smelt, and dry flies such as Shaving Brush and Possum Emergers to imitate hatching mayflies. “Overall, it was a very successful weekend!” WIRFLINGS ON THE RISE We love seeing the stories of up and rising young fishing stars, and WIRF member Alix Furnell proudly shared with us her daughters’ recent success at a fishing competition. “My daughters, along with my partner and I were fishing at Lake Tyers for our fishing club flathead competition (Drouin Angling and Social Club),” Alix said. “The weather was perfect, mid 20s, the water 90
MAY 2022
as she was using light gear on her Daiwa LDZ combo. We were pleasantly surprised to see a flatty on the end. Scarlett was super excited, as this was our targeted species, but the flathead was one very angry fish. We measured it, and as
often. To check out upcoming fishing events, head to the VFA website at vfa.vic.gov.au/ recreational-fishing/events. HOOKED ON LAKES WIRF leader Kelly Derks shared with us her fun-filled weekend at the recent Hooked on Lakes event. “Tripping off along with my husband and daughter, our adventure started on Friday 11 March (Labour day weekend) when we arrived at Lakes Entrance for the Hooked On Lakes event,” Kelly said. “We decided to head to Lake Tyers that night to try our luck at some prawning. We were hoping to get at least a handful to use as bait for our fishing trip the following day. As freshwater fishers, we were excited to take our new boat out as it was our first time fishing salt water. “When we arrived at the
Emmy with her PB bream. throughout the day, with each session running for one hour. They were led by Vic Fish Kids ambassador Lee Rayner, and VFA Ambassador and threetime Richmond premiership player Bachar Houli. All equipment was provided, and each child that participated received a free rod to take home to continue their fishing adventure! The Vic Fish Kids series are all part of the Go Fishing Victoria plan to get more people fishing, more
Kelly attending at the WIRF stand.
Madison with a good haul of prawns. I was trying to get Scarlett to hold it for a photo, it slapped her in the face with its tail! It measured in at 67cm and was her first proper flatty and her personal best. Scarlett was happy to release the beautiful fish as she says, ‘It’s important to release them to have babies.’ She also knew it was too big
Water Wheel Tavern car park, we were amazed at how busy it was and it took some time before we were able to find a car park. We have been prawning here for many years and have never seen so many people in the water. Once set up we didn’t have to wander very far from the car park to land us around 10kg of prawns! The prawns were prolific. Usually, you’ll only see one prawn here and there, but we were seeing at least 4-5 in the one spot! Fellow prawners were filling up their kayaks and eskies everywhere. “Unbeknown to us, we were told that this was due to a natural occurrence resulting from the system opening and then closing to the sea. That meant that millions of prawns had made their way to the lake, congregating in the shallows each night.
the fishing club comp with her flathead as it was the biggest caught for the weekend, and Emmy also earnt club points for her great bream.” WILLIAMSTOWN VIC FISH KIDS WIRF Leaders were present at the Williamstown Vic Fish Kids event. Despite
Kelly with a nice whiting.
“Lake Tyers is experiencing its best prawning season in 30 years, with bag limits of 30L per person. Due to the late night prawning, our time fishing on the Saturday was restricted to about an hour in the afternoon, and I successfully landed a 34cm whiting. “The ‘Hooked on Lakes’ event was very successful on the Sunday, with many families in attendance. There were seafood demonstrations, free Fish Care clinics, ‘Come and try’ fishing clinics for kids and families, Maritime safety Vic float safe inflatable life jacket clinics, pop up bars and many more exciting things to see and do.
