Port Albert

South Gippsland firing

PORT ALBERT Brett Geddes

b.geddes@bigpond.com

Welcome to my first report for Port Albert and Welshpool. For over 25 years I’ve fished in this area and I’m very passionate about promoting sustainable fishing in this scenic, plentiful and diverse fishery.

I’ll be covering all of the massive Corner Inlet estuary, offshore fishing and even some surf action along the Ninety Mile Beach. Just one hour from home, I visit this area about 60 days a year and I’ve been blessed to land a wide range of fish. I’ll be talking about many species including whiting, squid, salmon, gummy and school sharks, snapper, yank and rock flathead, snook, garfish, leather jackets, flounder and more. Welshpool also happens to be the capital of the biggest estuary perch in the country. There’s a good reason I live close to this part of the world, so let me get on with it. WHITING

AND SNAPPER

Spring is when the whiting start to fire up and they are usually the biggest fish of the year. A lot of anglers mistakenly believe summer is prime time, and that may be true for the numbers of whiting but by then the sizes are usually down around 28-35cm. September and October see the bigger 40-45cm models show up in quite good numbers. The hotspots right now will be at the entrance areas of Mcloughlins, Manns, Karneys and Port Albert or the channels not far from the Welshpool ramp.

Obviously, pipi baits are the best, along with live nippers but I can assure you that shrimp and mussel works just as well. I’ve also had good success with small strips of fresh salmon flesh, and I leave the skin attached to keep them on the hook longer.

In those same areas the snapper will be there, but they’re mostly pinkies in the 35-42cm range. Last spring and summer we saw the biggest number of these fun fish ever, and they turned up in terrific schools from Macs through to Port Albert. In all my years fishing those areas I have never caught so many fat pinkies on lures, while also catching perch, whiting and flathead at the very same time. If you’re serious about chasing bigger pinkies or larger reds right now, then head offshore. SQUID AND SALMON

About five years ago we had an amazing three seasons where the squid at Port Albert turned up in real force. It was nothing to bag out with 10 squid in half an hour, and they were even thick right at the boat ramp. I used to slide the kayak in at the main ramp and drift over to the nearest channel, and all the people on the jetties watched me bag out in no time. Then sadly, for some reason over the last two years it’s been very hard to find any squid on a regular basis. This spring will hopefully see them return. The early signs are not good, as I’ve yet to hear of any good captures.

No such problem at Welshpool, where over the last month their numbers have been very strong and as usual, some large hood sizes too. There’s some debate over which part of the tide is best, but I’ve definitely found two hours before and after high water to be the best. Other people will say as long as you have good flow they will take jigs no problem, and still others reckon it depends on what time of the year you chase them. I have even caught squid during the still water of low tide, all stacked up in deeper holes of certain channels.

One thing’s for sure, the best way to find out is to put in the hours and let the squid tell you! Gradually you’ll see a pattern develop over time – and you should also look out for boats parked up close together as a surefire giveaway. I love chasing salmon and I believe their numbers are at their prime in early spring, and usually the bigger 2-3kg fish are about in massive schools and provide so much excitement using surface lures or for long battles on the fly rod.

I think Manns entrance is your prime spot for big salmon, but don’t rely on trolling lures around to find them as this doesn’t always work the best. A better approach is to work lures deep and pull them along with the current to keep them down. Another tip is to try small soft plastics or blades, as sometimes the salmon are chasing little baitfish and will ignore larger presentations. At other times you’ll see the water turn black in the shallows, and it’s then time to fire them some nice early season yank flatties too, and I even get big whiting attacking those same lures as well, especially the larger grass whiting that are very aggressive in chasing down lures. I’ll have more news on grass whiting down the track as I know they are not recognised as a regular target, and yet they

Anthony Havers with a typical lure-caught pinkie snapper at around 40cm, caught while chasing perch and flathead.

From page 88 HOLLANDS LANDING

When it comes to the biggest bream caught in this area, there’s a name that keeps doing the rounds amongst all of us who never seem to match his amazing and consistent captures: Mitch Chapman. Mitch is a fishing legend, but of course he would never admit it. In fact, it seems that whatever species he targets, he lands the extreme extra-large models. Bass, EP, flathead, tuna and even cod, just to name a few. He rarely talks of his incredible captures, and I usually have to grill him for info!

I’ll tell you the very latest. He rang me from his home recently around 9am and asked me if Hollands was worth a look. I warned him it’s been a little slow, and the big fish seem to have really thinned out. After finishing his dad duties and the near 2-hour drive, he arrived at Hollands for a 1pm launch. Just three hours later he had landed about 14 stud bream, with most well over 40cm and the biggest going 47cm. All were caught on a soft plastic that is not currently a ‘go-to’ lure, the one and only legendary 100mm bloodworm Squidgy Wriggler on a light jighead. Let that be a lesson to us all!

BREAM STOCKS

To finish up here’s some really good news: record numbers of juvenile bream have been detected following a survey conducted by Fisheries in the Gippy Lakes back in June. The bream were spread right across the system, and found at many sites in the lakes where they are not normally found, including Blonde Bay, Jones Bay and Butler Point near Paynesville. Most of them were found in the lower section of the Mitchell River and the McLennans Strait, and the number of fish is more than twice the previous peak in 2017. Whiting and big garfish are on the cards right now, and they’re two of the tastiest fish to swim in Corner Inlet. Snook can be caught as by-catch.

Pinkies in early spring can be a lot of fun on lures, even when land-based near the Port Albert channels at low tide.

up with surface lures. YANK AND

ROCK FLATHEAD

While it’s true to say flatties will get going more in mid to late summer, I can assure you some really big rockies will be lurking right now, and will turn up when you least expect it. All the bigger estuary channels around Manns right through to Welshpool will be your best options. I recommend using mediumsized plastics with a heavy jighead or 45-50mm blades and search the edges and drop-offs thoroughly. You may also be surprised with taste as good as their King George cousins.

Over the last six years I’ve seen rock flathead numbers grow so much right across Corner Inlet. It used to be a rare event to land a few, and they were mostly between 30-40cm but now I expect to get them. The real shock is the size of these rockies, and on some trips I’m getting up to 10 fish and seeing them right up to 65cm. For those who have yet to eat rockies, I can assure you once tried they will be eagerly sought after, as they have no equal across all the flathead species.