Victoria and Tasmania Fishing Monthly April 2020 by Fishing Monthly

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April 2020, Vol. 15 No. 6

Contents WEST COAST West Coast

Warrnambool 17 Apollo Bay

Cobden 18

CENTRAL Geelong 20 Port Phillip West

Port Phillip North East

Mornington Peninsula

Port Phillip Surrounds

Western Port South

Western Port North

Phillip Island

EAST COAST Gippsland Lakes

Corner Inlet

Marlo 38 Lakes Entrance

Bemm River

NSW SOUTH COAST Bermagui 41 Mallacoota/Eden 41 Merimbula 42 Moruya 43

VICTORIAN FRESHWATER Wagga Wagga

Robinvale 51 Yarrawonga 52

From the Editor’s Desk... FISHING EXCITING, WORLD IS A WORRY At the time of this magazine going to print, the last of the $10,000 Golden Tagged fish has been caught in the Bemm River. It’s the same place where the first one was caught at the Hobie bream event only weeks earlier. Congratulations to the VFA for running a speedy and successful promotion that helped get spending into bushfire-affected areas in a timely manner. Remember that if you catch a tagged fish, they’re still worth $2,000 a piece and there are still nearly a thousand of them out there! Also, the Tasmanian ABT BREAM Tour has just wrapped up with a flotilla of boats travelling across to the Apple Isle and joining the keen locals to enjoy the amazing bream fishing that the state offers. We saw our first

international angler take an ABT title with Singapore’s Mike Sutcliffe taking the win on the second event of the Tassie Tour at St Helens. All of this positive activity sits under the impending cloud of shutdowns and disruption from Coronavirus. Let’s look broadly, however. Fishing may be one of the best things you can do. When the footy and

cricket are shut down because of cancellation of mass gatherings, we will be still able to wet a line at our local. Also remember to spare a thought for your local tackle and boating businesses. These guys are members of your local community and it’s probably a great time to spend a few dollars and help these guys out in a time of uncertainty. Looking for a way to

avoid all of the negativity and the mainstream media talking you into depression? Grab your copy of Fishing Monthly and lay down on the couch…we’ll talk about what’s biting and what’s coming into season where you are. Sometimes you just need to shut off the TV, log out of social media and enjoy the basics. We’ll be here for you.

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Nagambie 58

Dam Levels

Flyfishing Scene

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Nagambie writer Sunny Martins caught this lovely Murray cod in the Nagambie Lakes system. A Sunny Martins image.

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OUR COVER

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What’s in store for fire-ravaged fisheries?

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offers plenty of opportunities to do this. Low light periods and during the night are the best times. Cod tend to push out of the deeper creek and river channels to feed along the numerous reed beds and muds flats. Set yourself up to drift along a drop-off and cast towards the reed edges or if you have ventured out during the night, drift and cast the timbered flats.

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really starting to bear fruit, as the area, particularly the Goulburn Weir section, is starting to produce some serious Murray cod and golden perch. What is even more impressive is the array of methods you can use to get yourself one of these fish. Soaking a bait By far one of the most popular ways to fish the area, a bardi grub, yabby, scrubworm

Cozens Ln The Salt Lake

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April is a busy time for the Nagambie area. The second ever GoFish Nagambie will happen from 2-5 April, bringing a multitude of anglers from far and wide. The Goulburn Weir is a particular highlight of the river, and after spending a couple of days with our Nagambie report writer, Sunny Martins, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the diversity of fishing options. ACCESS TO THE WATERWAY This is probably the biggest challenge of fishing the weir section of the Goulburn River. It is predominantly flanked by private property so there is limited shore-based angling. However, there is a section adjacent to Goulburn Weir Road that has good shore access and is known for holding good numbers of golden perch. If you have a boat, life is a

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little easier. There are a number of boat ramps upstream of the weir that provide water access and then it is just a matter of navigating your way down to the weir. Care should be taken, as there is plenty of timber in the water you’ll hit if you are a little off course. The only public boat ramp at the weir itself is a dirt ramp at Cozens Lane. It is a small boat ramp only and users need to take care when using it. It would only take one person doing the wrong thing to make the ramp unusable. Once on the water, please be aware that shallow water and structure

The author loves fishing with spinnerbaits and got this decent golden perch rolling his Obsession Spinnerbait down the rocky bank in the background. or cheese fished vertically when tied up to a willow or any of the abundant timber in slightly deeper water has a big chance of success. Getting quality baits can sometimes be an issue but Nagambie Outdoors sells fresh baits

Don’t be afraid to use big lures, as it doesn’t seem to deter smaller fish from biting and it may well be the catalyst to hooking that fish of a lifetime. Popular lure options are the Barambah Baby Bidjiwong and Bidjiwong, the

It definitely pays to have a few hardbody lures on board when you are fishing the Goulburn Weir. Australian-made Kuttafurra lures are popular amongst the locals.

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APRIL 2020

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Sunrise is a great time to be on the water throwing surface lures. are never too far away. FISHING THE WEIR The Nagambie section of the Goulburn has been heavily stocked by VFA for quite some time. The hard work put in by the local angling club in conjunction with Fisheries is

locally and Boats and More in Shepparton always has good fresh baits available. Surface lures and swimbaits I am not sure if there is a more exciting way to catch a Murray cod than surface fishing and the Goulburn Weir

Kuttafurra Creepers and Rats, and the Zerek Stalker and Live Swimbaits. All will catch their fair share of fish. Hardbodied lures In many cases, once the sun has made its way over the horizon it is time to look

NAGAMBIE at other lure options. The key is still to target structure and shade pockets, and to use a lure that dives to the correct depth relating to the water you are fishing. Sunny Martins had two rods set up, one with a 2-3m diver and the other with a 4-5m diver. He basically cast under every willow and every laydown we came across. There were quite a few lilypad stands that he also peppered when we came across them. Whenever you are doing this type of fishing, make sure you hit each piece of structure from every angle. It is not always the first cast that catches the fish. Some good lures to have in your arsenal are the Gidgee Fatty Jnr, the Kuttafurra Mudhoney, the ever-reliable StumpJumper and the Goulburn Lures Codger. All are proven lures in the Nagambie system. Lipless crankbaits More and more anglers are using lipless crankbaits to target native fish and they are very effective in the Goulburn Weir. The key is finding either deeper water along an edge or

Take the time to fish each piece of structure thoroughly. Native fishing is not always about getting a fish on the first cast.

The boat ramp at Cozens Lane is only suitable for small boats.

There are plenty of redfin in the system. Get a few this size and you have a great feed.

structure in close proximity to a change in depth. Fish your crankbait deep with slow hops. This is a particularly effective method when the fishing is tough. It seems to annoy the fish enough to get a reaction from them. The Jackall Doozer is the most popular crankbait amongst anglers, but I am sure there are other options. Spinnerbaits Fishing with spinnerbaits is very close to my heart and they are a fantastic option throughout the weir section of the river. The versatility a spinnerbait provides means that there are not many areas that canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be fished with one. They can be bumped through timber, run along laydowns and dropped to the depths and slow rolled relatively snagfree. Fish love hitting them as you pull them out of weed or through lilypads. You can also adjust the speed you fish them by using To page10

APRIL 2020

NAGAMBIE From page 9

a different blade configuration. Double Colorado blades offer more resistance in the water so they naturally need to be fished slower, whereas a double willow configuration has less resistance so is fished faster. Either option provides maximum vibration and flash in the water to get that reaction strike you want.

and English perch (redfin) are present in big numbers. It is not unusual to see schools of redfin working the shallows. Small plastics and small hardbody lures are perfect to target these fish. Get them excited and it can be a fish a cast. In many waterways, the size of the redfin are relatively small, but there are some better models and they are not afraid

Sunny Martins enjoys targeting carp in the weir on fly. Have fun catching them and then remove them from the system.

Don’t be afraid to use larger surface lures. Smaller fish are still happy to eat them and they can entice a more impressive fish. There are a lot of spinnerbait brands out there, but my favourites are 1/2oz and 5/8oz Obsession and Bassman spinnerbaits. Both are quality Australian made lures. There are plenty of other methods and lures that also have a place. Soft plastics, soft vibes, mumblers, flies and trolled lures will account for fish. The Goulburn Weir is the type of waterway with areas suited to a wide variety of lures and styles of fishing. MORE THAN COD AND GOLDEN PERCH Although most of the focus is placed on the native fishing, two other introduced species are ever present in the system and provide excellent sport fishing. European carp

to take a bigger lure. Three or four that size and you have one of the best fish meals you can get out of freshwater.

When this occurs, it can help to slow everything down. Keep that lure in front of the fish for a little bit longer, as it can make a big difference in cooler water. PLAN YOUR VISIT The Goulburn Weir section of the Goulburn River is a beautiful place to visit and fish. Many people who fish it remark on how similar it looks and feels to Lake Mulwala. Mulwala is certainly a premier fishery and I think this area is well on the way to being recognised in a similar manner. There are a number of caravan parks and other accommodation in nearby Nagambie and as mentioned previously, Nagambie Outdoors is well worth a visit to top up on a bit of tackle and get the lowdown on what may be working

Carp on the other hand may not be the ideal fish for the table, but they do offer a bit of sport for anglers. Baits like garden worms or corn are generally used, however they are fantastic sport for fly anglers. Sunny often ignores the lure of the natives and breaks out the wand. While he was showing me around, there were a number of areas where carp could be clearly seen tailing in the shallows. Even if you didn’t see their tails, you certainly saw the clouds of mud they created. Sunny uses two types of flies depending on how the fish are feeding. If they have their nose down mooching in the mud, he uses a worm fly The area adjacent to the Goulburn Weir is a prime fishing location, as it has good structure and flow.

A beautiful golden perch caught on a Gidgee Fatty Jnr lure.

dropped close to the fish in the hope they suck it in. If they are more horizontal in the water, he prefers to use a Woolly Bugger cast to lead the fish, worked slowly past its nose. The fight can be sensational and removing any of these fish from the system is a positive. TIMING As a fishery of the Goulburn River, it is affected by the water releases that occur via Lake Eildon. It can help to be aware of when

water releases occur. These releases send cooler water down the system and at times can shut the fishery down for a few days. This can be a blessing in disguise during the warmer months, as it gives the fish some respite from overly warm water, but it can be an angler’s nightmare when the water is already cool. I think I will use that to excuse my poor contribution when fishing with Sunny!

at the moment. Shepparton is also not far away and the Compleat Angler at Boats and More offers a great range of tackle and bait. If you haven’t been to Nagambie before, you can get an overview from Fishing Monthly’s 2019 April issue with the feature covering the majority of the Nagambie Lakes section of the Goulburn River. If you’re in the area, go out and discover the Goulburn Weir for yourself!

The diversity of structure in the Goulburn Weir offers something for every angler and every technique. One thing’s for sure – they can all hold fish. 10

APRIL 2020

Science meets fishing

What’s in store for Vic’s fire-ravaged fisheries? followed the immediate effects of a ‘sediment slug’, then at yearly intervals, in the immediate area and downstream through the Buckland River and into the Ovens River. The catchment was (and remains) home to Murray cod, trout cod, Macquarie perch, golden

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Victorian anglers will be concerned for the prospects of recovery of fisheries affected by the extensive bush fires over eastern Victoria. What’s been the extent of the damage, what impacts will rains have – positive and negative – and what is the Government doing about it? In our affected freshwaters, there may be some comfort in knowing that trout and native fisheries have recovered, time and time again after extensive fires. The recent history of post-fire impact assessments

This shows the extent of the bushfires in eastern Victoria in early February 2020. Photo courtesy of DELWP.

Large dead fish are the most obvious signs of traumatised streams. Photo courtesy of ABC Goulburn Murray. and recovery studies offer some confidence. Anglers’ own observations of oftensurprisingly quick recoveries, particularly of stream trout fisheries, are reassuring. At the end of February, Victorian Government agencies had announced their coordinated intentions in assessing and responding to the environmental impacts of the fires. Localised reports were appearing on a daily basis, and in January the Victorian Fisheries Authority announced their ‘post bushfire response plan’.

where remnant communities have remained intact in small tributaries and invertebrates are able to survive long enough deep within the stream sediments. Confident that fish will return to the northeastern waters, Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI) researchers will conduct

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS Victoria’s history of major broad-scale fire events offers a fair picture of the short, medium and longer term aftermath to be expected in our eastern streams. In the absence of broad healthy bands of stream-side vegetation, the first substantial rains will wash in large volumes of ash, soil, organic debris and other contaminants. Fish and other life that survived exposure to summer and fire-induced temperature

extremes face suffocation by sediments and low oxygen in the short term, and starvation and algae outbreaks in the medium term. Beyond that, unless further heavy rainfall flushes post-fire sludge downstream, the lack of freestone bottom habitat will hamper the recovery of critical invertebrate species and spawning sties that are vital to many native species as well as trout. Where fires have burned to the water line, the lack of trees will deprive fish of shelter and shade, aggravating the effects of summer temperature extremes. The absence of stream-side trees will also deny fish of food sources, such as insects. Until fringing vegetation recovers, further heavy rainfall events will continue to wash sediments and debris into the water. There were several reports of environmental impacts on north-eastern streams in late January, associated with heavy rainfall. In the Upper Murray catchment, run-off of ash, soil and organic debris from Murray headwaters was believed

to have resulted in oxygen depletion, suffocation and inundation affecting most forms of life over a wide area of the catchment. Dark contaminated water was reported in many areas, including the Cudgewa and Nariel creeks, and in the Corryong Creek where fish kills resulted. Thousands of fish, including cod as large as 40kg died further down the Murray, towards Lake Hume where dead Murray crayfish, small native fish and shrimps as well as carp and redfin were also reported.

The man-made opening at the Snowy River mouth has allowed fire-contaminated water to discharge. Photo courtesy of East Gippsland CMA. perch, river blackfish, smelt and galaxids. The sediment slug contained low dissolved oxygen, extreme turbidity, high ash levels, and was toxic to fish. The effects persisted for hours in the immediate area and, while remaining turbid, became

surveys to guide recovery efforts, such as restocking and revegetation, to the best advantage of these stream environments. The VFA will have a number of options for ‘managing’ the recovery of stream fish stocks. These range from ‘do nothing’

Dead fish and contamination 50km below the Buckland River fire zone in 2003 show the far-reaching effects of fire and rain. Photo courtesy of ARI.

Salvaged fish can be either relocated or held for ‘repatriation’ when conditions improve. Photo courtesy of Goulburn Broken CMA. 12

APRIL 2020

A CASE STUDY Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) researchers, Jarod Lyon and Justin O’Connor, reported a three-year study of postfire sediment impacts on fish communities in the upper Ovens River catchment. During February 2003, a severe fire across the catchment was followed days later by a 150mm downpour over a small tributary, Dingo Creek. Drawing from previous surveys in the catchment, and using control sites, the study

less toxic as oxygen levels increased as it passed downstream. The effect on fish numbers in the upper study sites was an immediate 95-100% reduction, due mainly to low oxygen levels, and took two years for real signs of recovery. Further downstream, fish numbers were not so severely affected. RECOVERY PROSPECTS We know that northeastern stream ecosystems, including fish populations, have recovered time and time again from major fires. This can occur

and wait for natural recolonisation, or to stock with the native fish and trout species present before the fires, or to salvage and relocate fish wherever this is feasible. ARI studies of previous major fires show that, while stocking may provide a short-term boost to fishing, fish populations normally recover most effectively through a combination of recolonisation and natural spawning events. ESTUARY FISH STOCKS Without presuming that

Science meets fishing freshwater fisheries will recover as in the past, the real story may be in the eastern Victorian estuaries and their catchments, from Marlo to Mallacoota. Occurring in the extremities of hot and dry conditions, with heavy fuel loads, these have been more than ‘bushfires’: in much of East Gippsland they have been deemed to be ‘hot burns’ where even the earth is left scorched. Never in the lifetimes of most current anglers have estuaries suffered such intense fires, burning from the catchment to the beach, with expanses of shallow inlets exposed to extreme air temperatures and ash showers, day after day. Perhaps we may find differences in fish population recoveries related to whether catchments are logged or untouched, and whether streams are dammed or unregulated. Along the coast, the immediate effects of the fires have been mixed. In early February, 1.7 tonnes of dead fish were removed from the Brodribb River and Cabbage Tree Creek. Following three years of drought in the region, the East Gippsland CMA put this down to the stream flows reduced to the point where the estuary mouths remained closed, preventing relief from lethal conditions. In contrast, the CMA has been encouraged to see strips of riparian vegetation spared from the fires along the Bemm River. These green pockets offer ‘a lifeline’ to wildlife and fish communities. Sampling in early February revealed that in the Tambo, Bemm, and Snowy rivers, both water quality and fish are doing well. While sampling is continuing, the VFA and CMA are encouraging anglers to resume visiting

Typical of East Gippsland streams, Martins Creek normally runs through temperate rainforest. Photo courtesy of Guardian. IMMEDIATE GOVERNMENT RESPONSE As anglers would hope and expect, Victorian Government agencies are collaborating together, with Commonwealth bodies including the military, and with community groups including angler bodies. The State’s principal conservation agency, DELWP, is monitoring and responding to the impacts of fires on biodiversity. DELWP’s report Victoria’s bushfire emergency: Biodiversity response and recovery, is being updated as the fire season continues. It describes the impacts on species and communities and addresses actions required in the short, medium and longer term “for effective recovery of species and their habitats”. The report sets out details of the Government’s $17.5M package for funding actions to be taken over the next six months. These include immediate reconnaissance to identify priority targeted actions, such as ‘emergency extractions’ of critical fauna, including fish. Details of the Bushfire Biodiversity Response and Recovery program can be seen on the DELWP site www.wildlife.vic.gov.au/

Anglers are being encouraged by reports of healthy bass, estuary perch and bream in the estuaries. Photo courtesy of East Gippsland CMA. waters in the region. Because stream flows in the Snowy River are artificially regulated, stocking may be required to supplement natural recruitment to the Australian bass population.

home/biodiversity-bushfireresponse-and-recovery. As part of a whole of State and Federal Government bushfire recovery planning process, the VFA is in frequent contact with DELWP, CMAs, EPA, Parks Victoria and the

NSW fisheries agency. They are working closely to identify the streams most affected by the fires and at risk of related run-off conditions. Their immediate focus is on identifying “potential opportunities for fish salvage”, with a view to partnering with other organisations to facilitate and resource fish salvage operations wherever feasible. In particular, the VFA’s ‘post bush-fire response plan’ involves working with ARI’s Aquatic Ecology group, who have the field capabilities for extracting fish from severely degraded waters. One such event was conducted in early February when ARI and other regional DELWP staff rescued a Macquarie perch population from the Buffalo River at Abbeyard. The fish were transferred to temporary ‘housing’ at the VFA’s Snobs Creek hatchery until they can be returned once their habitat recovers. ARI and North East CMA staff also relocated adult Murray cod from a fire-affected section of the Ovens River near Myrtleford to an untouched site 20km upstream. South of the Divide, ARI staff extracted threatened Dargo galaxids for temporary holding at ARI’s aquaria until conditions in the Dargo recover. Working with DELWP, VFA and angler groups, CMAs are providing important information and resources to aid fish salvage and restoration efforts. They will also lead recovery works such as replanting for shade and removing barriers to fish movements. Communication with anglers is an important feature of the VFA’s, CMA’s and other agencies programs. Along with media releases, their respective Facebook pages carry frequent updated references to response actions and situation reports. The VFA has undertaken to keep anglers informed of the state of waters and fish stocks, through social media and their links with organisations including VRFish, the Australian Trout Foundation (ATF), Native Fish Australia and Futurefish. Already, the VFA and CMAs are encouraging anglers

to resume visiting alpine and East Gippsland waters by reports of healthy fish populations and by the chance of cash rewards for catching tagged fish. The VFA is urging anglers to participate in frontline monitoring of estuary fish

as the region’s shallower waters dried out. Last year the community group, Wangaratta Landcare and Sustainability Inc. and several other community (including angler and school) groups collaborated with Victorian and NSW agencies in the rescue and relocation of more than 60 freshwater catfish from a drying NSW lake into the Mullinmur Billabong on the Ovens River. Victorian anglers have a large stake in securing and expanding the recovery of threatened species, such as trout cod and Macquarie perch. Since 1990, Recreational Fishing Licence fees have met most of the cost of producing and stocking these species, including 507,000 Macquarie perch released into northeastern streams. Native Fish Australia volunteers have supplied the VFA’s Snobs Creek hatchery with

will lead riparian and in-stream habitat restoration works. That’s an area where anglers can help, both in the development of Recreational Fishing Licence grants funding proposals and participation in on-ground works. CONTEXT The most visible and widely reported impacts of the summer’s fire-and-rain events on fish have been on the larger native and introduced species. However, less obvious and possibly greater impacts may have been on threatened and endangered native fish and other aquatic species occurring in the alpine and East Gippsland regions. Certainly, there are fears for the conditions of species such as grayling, galaxids and burrowing crayfish. In terms of fish and fishing, the effects of extensive and intense bushfires, followed by rain, need to also be seen in the

Untouched pockets of green can aid stream recovery. Photo courtesy of East Gippsland CMA.

stocks, either by joining the Angler Diary program or by regularly reporting fishing details on-line through the GoFishVic app. Conducted by ARI, CMAs and others, monitoring the recovery of inland waters, including assessments of stream conditions and remaining fish populations, will point to opportunities and priorities for stocking to aid fish stock recovery. This information will feed into the VFA’s annual Vic Fish Stock consultation process with statewide and regional angler groups. Normally held in March, these meetings have been delayed until April to allow more time for planning and preparation for recovery stocking in fire affected regions. COMMUNITY RESPONSES Victorian anglers have a track record of working with the VFA, DELWP, CMAs and other agencies in ‘fish rescues’ or ‘salvages’ and habitat monitoring in response to extreme environmental events. Through the Millennium Drought, Wimmera anglers and other volunteers worked with VFA officers to ‘salvage’ and relocate Murray cod

adult Yarra River ‘Maccas’ as brood fish for restocking these northern streams. From previous experience, even while conditions in the northeastern rivers are in an uncertain state of recovery, we can expect some pressure on the VFA to aid trout fishery recovery by a concerted restocking program. While the current draft Victorian Wild Trout Strategic Plan acknowledges that “Stocking of yearling brown trout has been shown to be ineffective in boosting [stream] populations”, the VFA will work with anglers to determine trout and native fish stocking needs where conditions have recovered and stocking may help fish populations to recover. The ATF’s recent stocking trials, releasing fry from in-stream trout egg incubators, will continue and may include fire-affected streams. The ATF and associated volunteers are offering to assist CMA’s and angling clubs in clean-up and revegetation works. The ATF is also offering to help clubs with fish stocking submissions. While ARI researchers will help to identify priority recovery areas, the CMAs

wider context of what has been happening elsewhere in the state. Most of the large water bodies, such as Lake Eildon, are in good condition and continue to support healthy fish stocks and productive fishing, benefiting anglers and regional economies. However, many smaller waters outside the fire zone are in poor condition, leading to stressed fish populations and mass mortality events. During January, when the Holland Creek was reduced to isolated drying pools, ARI staff salvaged and relocated critically endangered Macquarie perch into the Broken River. The VFA and ARI will be looking for opportunities for further salvage opportunities wherever the need occurs. Throughout the summer, using both social media and direct contact with Government agencies, anglers have reported their observations of the condition of fish and their habitats throughout the State. Along with those agencies own continuing surveys, anglers’ reports will be important to monitoring the recovery of fire and drought-effected fish populations. APRIL 2020

Does colour matter? NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.fishotopia.com

It’s the perennial question on the minds and lips of so many lure and fly anglers: does the colour of your offering really make any difference to your overall fishing results?

the part of the colour spectrum visible to them is often a little different to what we see. For example, some fish can detect reflected ultraviolet light, which is invisible to us, while differences in tones from the red end of the spectrum that are obvious to us may be much less discernible to our fishy friends.

of the spectrum), perceived colours are rapidly altered with increasing depth or horizontal distance through the water. The exact rate at which this loss of colour occurs varies with the strength of the sunlight (directly overhead or low on the horizon, cloudy or sunny conditions and so on), the clarity and colour of

Shallow water predators such as Spanish mackerel have eyes that are just as sharp as their teeth!

The size, shape and action of this Shimano Baku Tiger jig most likely played a much greater role in enticing this snapper to bite than any perception of its colour at a depth of 45m. There are all sorts of theories about what fish can and can’t see. Some folks insist that fish view their underwater world in black and white, while others claim their vision is poor. Fortunately, there’s

However, there’s another vital consideration we need to factor into the great colour debate: water (even very clear water) progressively absorbs light of different wavelengths. This means that colours effectively

the water, and the presence of any suspended matter such as weed or plankton. Even in very clear ocean currents far from shore, less than 25% of available sunlight hitting the water’s surface will penetrate much further than 10-15m of water. By the time we get down to around 100m, the remaining light may be as little as 0.5% of what’s available on the surface. It’s pretty gloomy down there! As already mentioned, red is the first part of the spectrum to disappear, and this colour is typically gone

within 5-6m (less in dirty water). Orange disappears next, then yellow, followed by green and then purple. Blues (both the tones of blue visible to our human eyes and also the shorter, ultra-violet wavelengths that many fish can see) penetrate deepest of all the colours. This scientific phenomenon has a profound impact on the way things look underwater to us and also to fish. White or silver objects will typically appear bluish underwater, with the darkness of that blue increasing with depth. Red objects will begin to look dark grey or even black within a few metres of the surface. Down at 15-20m, even in clear water, the world appears to be composed entirely of shades of grey, blue and black; to both our eyes and those of the fish. It’s worth stressing that this loss or alteration of visible colours occurs in both the vertical and the horizontal plane. So, 10m of vertical depth has roughly the same impact on light waves and the visibility of reflected colours as 10m

of horizontal separation between an object and its observer. In other words, a red lure may look dark grey or black when viewed at a depth of 10-15m, but it’s also likely to look black or at the least very dark grey when viewed from the side at a

Natural colours that mimic food items often work well on bream but a little bit of glitter doesn’t hurt either. distance of 10-15m, even if it’s up in the surface layer. At face value, this phenomena of spectrum loss at depth would appear

Light levels and colour intensity fade rapidly with depth and lateral distance in the water. Lures often look very different from when they are in your hand to when they’re even a metre or two under the surface. been some solid science to investigate this over the years and these days we actually have quite a few solid answers. According to scientists, most of the popular fish targeted by anglers — and especially predators living in relatively shallow, clear water — have very good eyesight. Also, the majority of these fish can definitely perceive colours, although 14

APRIL 2020

‘vanish’ one after another as ‘white’ sunlight travels through the water column. With increasing depth (and with increasing horizontal distance through the water), the colour in sunlight is absorbed and the amount of visible light also diminishes. Because absorption is greater for longer wavelengths (the red end of the spectrum) than it is for shorter wavelengths (the blue end

to make a mockery of the importance of colour in lures anywhere beyond shallow, ultra-clear flats fishing. However, most experienced anglers know that lure colour can sometimes make a difference, even in

What was more of an attraction for this cheeky little Murray cod: the flash and vibration of the Hell Yeah chatterbait’s metal blade, the pulsing action of its skirt, the silhouette of that soft plastic trailer, or the proven freshwater combination of black and purple? You be the judge!

deepwater jigging scenarios. Maybe we’ll never understand exactly why this is so, although it’s certainly an interesting subject to ponder! Similarly curious is how many deepwater species are red themselves — a colour that effectively doesn’t even ‘exist’ down where they live. While I accept that colour can be a critical component in lure and fly choice on its day, I generally rate colour down the list of key selection criteria when choosing a lure or fly; well below things like size, shape, action and running depth. In my opinion, far too many fishers get completely hung up on the colour question, often at the expense of other factors that are at least as important to their chances of success. By all means, consider colour when selecting lures and flies, but don’t let it dominate your thinking!

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Mulloway making their way through the system estuary area up to the ski zone. Unweighted crabs have been particularly deadly cast into the shadows under the shacks. By fishing light, you are of course going to be smashed by some unstoppables, but the hook-up rate will be far better than if you load up on whipper snipper line hoping not to be cut off. It’s better to be in the fight and lose it than never get the opportunity. Upriver, the little bream from last year’s spawn are making things hard for those not fishing crabs, but it is a great sign for the

WEST COAST

Brett Carson

I’m not sure that quality fishing could be any more spread through the river than what it is right now, with the bottom 60km of river having mulloway throughout due to the lack of rain. While I’m not sure you would target them in the top 20km area, they are definitely there and plenty have been caught as by-catch by the bream and perch fishos fishing higher up. The salt is right up in those reaches and while you might not taste it when dipping the hands in the water, rest assured it is down deeper in a wedge pushed up by the tides. This time of year it can seem a bit hit-andmiss, with better tides on the moon phases triggering the best results. Now that summer has moved on, fishing the larger tides in the middle of the day are a good option, as the

To page 17

Steve scored a 75cm mulloway around the caves. water movement triggers a bite period. The estuary in particular can fire up with the influx of blue seawater,

especially when a bigger swell is running. When the biggest tides of the day are around that ungodly 3am

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future. Podworms and pipi are great on the action front for bream but if the little fish are on, you will need the crabs to slow them up. Areas where the high cliffs and banks shade the water in the middle of the day are ideal places to target, as are overhanging trees. Perch are ever-present from the top to the bottom of the river and lure fishos do exceptionally well this time of year. It seems the bigger fish are coming from Sapling Creek and higher up. Above Moleside and the pines can produce

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timeslot, it’s fair to say they are just not being fished by the masses. The good fishing may be there, but most anglers simply choose sleep. Mulloway love the slack water that can happen at the peak of the tide. Those fishing live mullet have been doing well in the Donovans to Battersbys area. Some are fishing them under floats and some on the bottom on a light running sinker, and it doesn’t hurt to try both until you find their preference. If you are fishing strip baits, fish them unweighted if you can. Remember that any sinker you use is only to get the bait where you want it, not an anchor. Don’t dismiss running a berley trail to bring the fish to you. Some large bream have been coming from the

Young Jazmin Bingham caught this huge 48cm estuary perch.

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Inshore fishing has been the go WARRNAMBOOL

Mark Gercovich mgercovich@hotmail.com

Unfortunately, high velocity wind restricted not only the kingfish and tuna fishing but also most forms of offshore angling at a time of year that is usually

those who could find them. Finding the tuna was only part of the problem though, as they still could be fussy, resisting most offerings. If you came across a school of fish that was keen to mow down lures, the action was thick and fast on fish that were still a decent size from 15-30kg.

and this has undoubtedly helped the fishing. Plenty of good bream have been taken throughout the system on various techniques. On a school fishing trip off the Hopkins Bridge, over 90 bream from undersize to 38cm were caught and released, a great indication of the health of the system.

Local trout respond to a good rain event no matter what time of year it is. fantastic for it. However, a few windows of opportunity did pop up and even though the kings seemed to have thinned out, there were still some excellent summer bluefin around for From page 16

some rippers from the heavy snags. Anything resembling a minnow in natural colours is in trouble in that country and a live minnow or small mullet doesn’t last long floated above a snag at last or first light. The bridge and shacks in Nelson have been holding masses of small perch that are mostly undersize but fun, and they feed furiously as the sun drops. Surf fishing has been exceptional with gummies and schoolies around the 20kg mark coming from Nobles Rocks. Strips of mullet and salmon are perfect baits. Often you don’t even have to cast far to be in the gutters; sometimes you may have

Mulloway had been pretty quiet but some good fish have been taken recently, hopefully signalling some new fish entering the river. Shane Murphy captured some excellent fish to around 90cm one night. Estuary perch have also been elusive recently but April is usually a great month for targeting them, particularly in the freshwater section. A couple of decent rain events got my eldest son Luke and some mates enthused to try a bit of very early season trout fishing. Fishing the upper Hopkins and the Mount Emu Creek, they managed a few decent fish with the biggest over 2kg. April is usually a more traditional time to begin exploring the local trout streams, so it can only get better. On the inshore saltwater scene, there have been good bags of King George whiting and squid taken by small boats fishing around Killarney and Lady Bay, even inside the breakwater. There has also been plenty of action of an evening down at the Warrnambool breakwater with people targeting the prolific cowanyoung (jack mackerel) population.

Some good whiting have been on the chew despite the windy conditions.

Despite the wind making things difficult for offshore angling, there have still been plenty of good fish in less wind-prone areas. The Hopkins River has continued to remain open all summer to pull the cast to avoid going clean over the top of the best water. The dark of the moon is ideal but a bit of daylight planning to pick the gutters is a must. The beaches change so quickly that a spot that had a deep gutter one week may be ‘nothing water’ the next. • Good luck and feel free to come and see us at Nelson Boat Hire for the latest info. We have the local ‘live bait licence’ meaning we stock live mullet, crabs and podworms along with all the frozen bait, tackle and lures you need for the area. We’ll do our best to give you some local knowledge and get you on the fish quicker. Remember you can hire any of our boats without a boat licence, including our very popular houseboat.

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Keeping cool in Cobden COBDEN

Rod Shepherd

I was recently paying a non-fishing visit to Peterborough and it was evident that the system is full, but a solid sand bank is holding back the lake from the Southern Ocean. Just one more rain event and this estuary should be given the go ahead to be manually opened by the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority. Quite a few tinnies were out on the lake, with three static fishing on the

this time those in charge will do the right thing and open the system. For the estuary to be full for this time of year is a rare event. Normally, the Curdies Estuary is sitting at its lowest level in late summer/early autumn. It’s generally not until winter when enough adequate rain falls that it’s required for the mouth to be opened. So, after the next reasonable rainfall we can expect the system to be tidal once again and the big bream might well come back out to play soon. The Hopkins is still going great guns for big bream. Throw in the odd

quickly subsides once the sun hits the water. The best spots have been anywhere upstream of the institute concentrating on the mud flats. Bait anglers have managed some solid bags of fish, with one angler landing five bream for 5.5kg and the biggest weighing 1.4kg. Cut crab, brown shell, shrimp and kelp worm have been the top baits. Anchoring up in depths exceeding 2m from Mahoneys Road boat ramp up to the Rowan flats has productive. Offshore has seen plenty of solid southern bluefin tuna to 30kg taken using both surface and sub-surface lures. When schools are seen visibly feeding on the surface, working large poppers around the fringes has seen a few takes. Deeper divers trolled or cast around where a school was feeding before taking to the depths can bring back the bite. Closer inshore, boaters have been reporting more frequent captures of

The author landed this estuary perch. nannygai when targeting flathead, whiting or pinkie snapper. These tasty and hard-fighting fish are a welcome change. Slightly further out, gummy and school shark to 21kg have been boated by those bottom bouncing tough baits such as

whole squid. The temperatures were below average this summer ,but that was probably a blessing, as extreme heat on a longer scale would have made the bushfires much, much worse. By and large, the western district escaped

the flames and heat and here in the South West we still have a tinge of green showing in the countryside. Will autumn be warm and dry once again or will we stay on par slowly heading towards winter? Hopefully it will be the latter.

Strong offshore fishing season APOLLO BAY

Craig Rippon

Big bream have been on offer in the Hopkins. seaward side of the lake. A couple of kayakers were throwing around lures but as it was windy, they were battling to stay in control of their craft. Another 20cm of water would see the caravan park as well as nearby houses flooded once again, so surely

mulloway to 90cm as well as estuary perch to 40cm and a great day’s fishing is on offer. Bream exceeding 40cm have been taken in ultra shallow water very close to the bank on the northern side. Lures and plastics have done the job, but the effectiveness of this shallow water fishing

Bluefin tuna have been the favourite lately, with good-sized school fish right along the coast. The fish have ranged from 8-35kg, with reports of some bigger stuff being hooked and lost. Some days it’s been hard to get a bite out of them, but when they’re on, they’ve been biting hard! Tuna have been caught on skirts, stickbaits and diving lures. We also had a great session jigging for them on light gear. As there

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have been so many people chasing them, the local reefs have been a bit quiet, but there have still been some nice fish caught. Snapper have been really consistent recently. All the reefs are holding fish, so try all the local spots until you find them. The change of tide is the best time and fresh bait is a must, with salmon fillet and squid producing. There is still plenty of bait around. Kingfish have been on, but the water turned green and the temperature dropped. With good weather forecast, hopefully the water comes

good and they turn up again. The areas to look at are the Henty Reef, the back of the golf course and the two capes. A couple of decent makos have been put on the scales and hopefully with all the food around we will see more captures. Gummies and schoolies have been solid, with some nice fish around 25kg brought in. Flathead have been going really well ,with fish around over 45cm caught in 40-50m of water. Whiting have been about in moderate numbers. Pipis have been the best bait and the early morning

change of tide has been productive. Whiting seem to be feeding better on bigger tide changes. The beaches have been okay for salmon and there are some worthwhile gutters around at the moment. Johanna Beach has had a couple of nice gummies. In the local rivers and creeks, quality bream have been caught, with the Aire River being the best. Some decent eels have been taken down there at dark. It’s going to start to get colder soon, so cram in as much fishing as you can!

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Tuna bite has been taking off GEELONG

Neil Slater slaterfish@gmail.com

Tuna fever is well and truly gripping the region, with plenty of boats getting out when the weather allows. With any luck, the epic tuna bite will continue into April, maybe even with some calmer weather. If it’s not calm enough for offshore, never fear – the inshore scene on the Bellarine is also going well!

FRESHWATER Exciting times lay ahead for freshwater fishing enthusiasts in Geelong. Since December 2018, the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) and local anglers have stocked 122,000 estuary perch into the Barwon River around Geelong and another load of perch are planned for December 2020. Recreational fishers have been catching 15-20cm models, most likely from the 2018 release, and VFA expect the number and sizes of fish to increase dramatically in the

next 6-12 months. I was invited by Tony Byrne from Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CCMA) to watch some large root balls being dropped into the Barwon at Breakwater last month. The installation of root balls will help improve fish habitat, complementing the fish stocking and providing valuable shelter and food for the stocked estuary perch. This is a great initiative with VicRoads, where trees removed to make way

for freeways and so on are repurposed as fish homes by dropping them into waterways that may not have any woody structure. The Arthur Rylah Institute’s aquatic sciences group also contributed to the current project, using Woody Habitat Mapping to determine the current re-snagging locations and to plan future works. The Barwon River redfin have fired up in Geelong, with a few decent fish around 35cm caught by anglers casting lures. Anything that looks like a minnow will get eaten if it is in the right place. Try casting parallel to the weed banks and keep the retrieve nice and slow. Single-tailed soft plastic grubs will also do very well, as you can keep them close to the bottom for longer. If bait is your thing, try a collapsible bait trap baited with white bread in the weed beds and give it 15 minutes to score a minnow or gudgeon. Hook them through the top lip with a size 8 Daiichi 2171 hook on a running sinker rig and you’ll put yourself in with a great chance. CORIO BAY Craig Mensforth took his son Lewie out in Corio Bay in search of a few snapper. Using pilchards for bait, the

The author has been enjoying the great Bass Strait tuna bite recently.

Nathan has done well on Corio Bay’s pinkie population. father-son team boated a few quality pinkies around 10am on the run-in tide. Young Lewie also caught his personal best snapper that weighed in at just under 3kg. Nathan Wright spent some time inside Corio Bay

casting soft plastic lures about the shallow weed beds. He managed a pile of small fish with a few better ones mixed in amongst them. Nathan says he also caught a lot of fish trolling hardbodied lures from Limeburners to Eastern Beach.

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BELLARINE PENINSULA Rod Ludlow from Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head has found the fishing tough with not many calm weekends happening. The squid numbers are increasing and more widespread; anywhere from Governors Reef back around to Grassy Point has been producing. Whiting have been quiet recently but Rod thinks the wind and small pinkies have made it difficult. Rod has noted plenty of flathead off Indented Head and St Leonards for anglers drifting in 8-12m of water. Garfish have been biting well around the Bellarine Peninsula piers and jetties, with some fat models to 45cm amongst them. Quill floats are always fun and garfish will take almost any bait, with berley a key factor in getting them in close. A simple mix of tuna oil, seawater and chook pellets will do the job nicely. BASS STRAIT AND SURF COAST All the talk has been about the white-hot southern bluefin tuna bite in Bass Strait. There has been plenty of tuna from 10-30kg from The Rip to Apollo Bay. You can easily locate schools by their telltale ripples on the water when it is calm or by cruising about with a few lures out and keeping your

morning following surface schools about and casting to them. It was tough going, but we managed to boat another smaller fish. Matthew Wood fished out off Barwon Heads in search of a shark or two. Fishing in 58m of water about 10km off Torquay, he hooked a solid fish of about 35-40kg on a striped tuna under a balloon. Matthew said the fish went berserk, leaving the water several times in a spectacular battle.

You may have heard that the Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) off Aireys Inlet came adrift last month. Thanks to its inbuilt GPS tracker, VFA were quickly alerted to its plight and managed to retrieve the FAD off Lorne. It is in a similar location; the new GPS coordinates are 38° 29.486, 144° 09.879. When fishing around the FADs, please be aware of the rope and chain underneath and fish upwind and upcurrent of the main buoy.

FISH HARD – DIE HAPPY! Caught a few around Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula or Surf Coast to Lorne recently? Send in a report to slaterfish@gmail.com with ‘VFM’ in the subject field or give me a call on 0408 997348. Please include where (without giving away your secret spot!), when, what on and who caught the fish. Pictures are always great, but please make sure they are at least 1MB (file size).

Father-son duo Shane and Lewie with their snapper catch. eye on the sounder in 25-60m of water. Finding the schools isn’t usually too hard, but getting them to bite can be frustrating. Mick Allardyce had been getting stuck into them, so when he asked me if I’d like to be ballast up the front of his boat while he chased some Surf Coast tuna I couldn’t resist. We launched at Apollo Bay and cruised 50km along the Great Ocean Road until we were off Aireys Inlet. We were around 5km off the coast in around 40m of water when we saw the sounder fill

up with mighty arches. Mick rigged my GT popping broomstick with a spreader bar and pink squid teasers and added a small Bonze skirted lure behind them. We also sent out a mix of other lures including another skirt and some divers. We hadn’t trolled more than 50m when the big rod buckled into action and before long I had my first SBT on board. Mick had it dispatched, bled, cleaned and in a large catch bag stuffed with ice in minutes to maintain its eating quality. We spent a large part on the

Matthew managed to land this pocket rocket mako that leapt clear of the water at least seven times.

APRIL 2020

Work your way through the wind PORT PHILLIP BAY WEST

Alan Bonnici alan@fishingmad.com.au

It’s been challenging for the weekend warriors in recent times. Many of us stuck at work have salivated over the calm conditions during the week, when the weekend has brought 40km winds on both days. At least, that has been the frustrating pattern in recent weeks. Let’s hope the weather gods around Melbourne start to play nicely soon. The whiting and squid fishing is incredibly productive at the moment and this pattern will carry on for a few more months. Boat anglers have been enjoying countless bag-out sessions on both species from Altona all the way through to Corio Bay. Weedy areas between 2-5m deep have been prime areas to target; I have fished these

Big bream love crank lures along the edges. areas a lot around Lara, Werribee, Kirks Point, Portarlington, Queenscliff and Wedge Spit. The odd gummy shark and flathead have often been welcome by-catch. Recently, I was quite shocked to watch

small gummy sharks taking an interest in my squid jig while fishing around Point Cook. I have been fishing weekly in my kayak around Melbourne. Areas such as Werribee, Point Cook and

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Altona have been fishing well. The volume of pinkies is finally starting to decline and catches of good size flathead are once again becoming common. Soft plastics, particularly curl-tails and minnows, are out-fishing baits on most outings. I’ve also been catching many snook using soft plastics and hardbody lures, particularly minnow imitations such as Daiwa Double Clutches. It’s a lot of fun tangling with snook on a kayak; they go for quick bursts of power and speed before they finally tire. They can be tricky to land and handle on a kayak, so remember to stay well clear of those razorsharp teeth. I’m not one for eating them, so I’m generally happy to catch them and set them on their way using a set of lip grips. Fishing many of the local lakes has been a good way to escape the winds and choppy conditions of

Big snook love soft plastics and hardbodied minnows. Port Phillip Bay. I have been hitting some of the lakes and rivers in search of bream and estuary perch. I have done exceptionally well using shallow diving crankbaits in natural colours, working them very slowly and deliberately along the banks where fish are often holding in the warmer months or between tides. I have also been using Cranka Crabs hard up against bridge pylons, jetties and structure around the Maribyrnong. This river is a challenging beast,

with some quiet sessions and some crazy ones, but that’s what makes me go back time and time again for another challenge. As many of you will know, kayak fishing is one of my true passions. I have been kayaking fishing for many years now and over the past 12 months there has been a massive increase in kayak fishing around Melbourne. It’s exciting to see this form of fishing grow and evolve into something quite special, but I must stress those new

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APRIL 2020

It’s hard to watch small boats and kayaks going out in poor conditions at Werribee.

to the sport should take care when starting. I get locals reaching out to me regularly with horror stories that could have been easily avoided if they had gotten some of the basics right. The first thing you need to learn is how to read the weather conditions, particularly the wind direction and swell. There are some great free tools online such as MetEye, Seabreeze, WillyWeather and Windy. The predictions

aren’t always 100% accurate, but they allow you to identify safe and unsafe conditions to go kayaking or even boating. Ideal conditions are low wind and low swell when the wind direction is coming from behind you out to sea. During these conditions, the sea will flatten out. An example of suitable conditions is if I was fishing in Altona and the wind was going into the direction towards St Kilda.

Wind from behind you is better than the wind from the bay, which will often have large swells with it. I’ve also noticed a trend of cheap entry-level kayaks being taken out in the bay. You generally get what you pay for and despite what some clever marketing campaigns may lead you to believe, cheaper kayaks usually don’t have the stability of high-end kayaks. Finally, when you’re

The author caught this 41cm bream on his yak.

You can still target good size fish on a kayak around Melbourne.

new to kayak fishing it’s best to go out with experienced kayakers who can help you get started on your journey. A few hours with someone experienced is invaluable and they can pass on some tips and guidance on how to stay safe and catch a few fish. The same rules should apply to small boats. Last week I took my kids for a stroll along Werribee South Beach. I watched on in despair as several small boats

and kayaks ventured out into large swells during 50km winds. One kayaker capsized and struggled to get back on and a small boat came very close to flipping before it came straight back in. I just don’t understand why people would risk going out in those conditions in the first place. People should love and enjoy fishing, but it’s important to remain safe. Until next time, good fishing everyone! You can contact me directly to

share your recent fishing experiences around Melbourne and Port Phillip Bay from Werribee through to Port Melbourne so they can be added to next month’s article. You can contact me by email at alan@fishingmad.com. au, check out my website at www.fishingmad.com.au, or look me up on Facebook (facebook.com/fishingmad. com.au), YouTube (youtube. com/c/fishingmad) and Instagram (instagram.com/ fishingmad.com.au).

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Late kingfish run thrills anglers PORT PHILLIP NE

Wayne Friebe wfriebe@bigpond.net.au

The unusual weather trends of this season have continued over the past month in the bay. In many ways, we had already moved into an

start to fire again. For many of the bay’s anglers, the change of seasons into the autumn months is their favourite time of year. As was the trend for the last few months, with so many other fishing options farther afield, especially offshore, local snapper reports have been less

especially in the afternoons, which is very similar to traditional pinkie snapper fishing during winter. Most of the smaller snapper have been in the 1-3kg size range, with a few bigger models around 3-5kg coming aboard out wide. Depths between 19-22m have been the most productive of late and much like last year, anglers fishing near the channel have reported passing container ships triggering snapper activity. Mornington and Mount Martha have been the best areas. A few nice gummy sharks have also been taken in this area over the past month as well; so much so that many anglers have been targeting them specifically. Yakkas and

slimies have been very productive for snapper and gummies, as well as fresh squid. Good quality frozen baits have also worked well but there’s no substitute for the real stuff, especially when there is so much natural food available. The exceptional tuna fishing along the nearby coastal areas and around the entrance to both bays has naturally brought focus to the rip area and the more southern reaches of the bay. The unusually late run of kingfish in these areas has also been a great shot in the arm for the local fishery, and some really nice fish have been taken both inside the bay and just outside. I would also expect more kings to turn up in local areas

The late run of kingfish should see great fishing continue into Easter as they progress further up into the bay. Photo courtesy of Brendan at IFISH.

Good numbers of whiting have been caught in the south of the bay and in local reef areas as well. Photo courtesy of Brendan at IFISH.

autumn weather pattern well before the start of March. Milder weather during summer kept water temperatures down, keeping bite times and periods more consistent. As the water temperature continues to cool as we move closer to winter, some of the bread and butter target species will really

APRIL 2020

frequent. Dedicated snapper anglers have still been getting amongst plenty of smaller school sized snapper, with a few quality fish out wide from Mornington and Mount Martha. The local charter operators have been cashing in of late on these areas as well. The best time definitely seems to be around the run-out tide,

Harry caught this pair of snapper off Mornington. Photo courtesy of Brendan at IFISH.

over the next month and hopefully they’ll bring a few schools of tuna with them. Most of the kings have been taken on big knife jigs after fish have been located on the sounder. As always, it pays to keep a stickbait or topwater casting rod rigged up as well just in case the tuna or kings pop up top for a feed. Calamari numbers have greatly increased on the inshore reefs over the past month as well, but frequent rain has kept the water a little dirtier than usual. After a few slower months, it’s nice to see some numbers of squid turning up in the usual

areas. Swarms of smaller squid have been very active, especially around first and last light, and with new competition for food there have been a few larger models reported as well. Mornington Pier has been a real hotspot of late and will continue to be so for the next few months. All of the usual inshore reefs are producing well, especially around Olivers Hill, Mornington, Mount Eliza and Mount Martha. Interestingly, black/ red and glow white/prawn patterned jigs have been very productive lately. Local whiting reports have increased over the

last month. The smaller pinkies that proved very annoying this time last year don’t seem to be too bad so far. I’m expecting the local haunts to produce well for the next few months, as these areas have become very reliable for both boat and land-based anglers in

recent years. Olivers Hill, Daveys Bay, Mornington and Mount Martha all have some great locations, but times of low light and high tides have been consistently best. Fresh bait is also key with squid, pipis, mussels and Bass yabbies the most productive.

Brendan caught this quality kingfish from The Rip. Photo courtesy of Brendan at IFISH.

Michelle has been enjoying some great snapper fishing off Mornington recently. Photo courtesy of Brendan at IFISH.

The Patterson River has been fishing really well, with some really nice mulloway and estuary perch being taken by lure anglers. At the time of writing,

we have received several heavy bouts of rain, which has given the Patto a good flush and will certainly help the fishing in the coming months.

Harry Kontos bagged out on snapper in two hours just off Mornington. His haul ranged from 4-6kg models.

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APRIL 2020

Tuna, snapper and kingies all running hot MORNINGTON PENINSULA

Julian Frank

The outlook for April is pretty good this year. We have had an awesome run on local tuna, snapper and

kingfish so far and it’d be nice if the weather decides to hold out for us to take advantage of these fisheries for just a little longer. MOUNT MARTHA The late run of snapper we’ve had come into Port

Mick Brittain with one of several quality tuna he caught offshore.

Phillip has been fantastic and many anglers are excited about catching these bigger fish. April should be a promising month as catches over the last couple of weeks have been really good. Most fish caught have ranged from 3-5kg, with a few exceptional fish up around 7-8kg. The best baits reported are pilchard, squid and even salmon fillet has had a reasonable mention. Land-based anglers are catching plenty of squid from the rocks, and a few whiting have been caught at Bradford Road in the early morning. DROMANA TO ROSEBUD Catches of whiting have still been good along the foreshore at night. Most areas with patches of weed have been the target areas, however a few deep sand holes further south have been holding some good quality fish in them too. There are a number of good flathead still around. Anglers have taken a few good models as by-catch while fishing the Rosebud reef area. A few nice gummy sharks have also been caught, with most fish ranging from 6-10kg. Calamari went a little

A monster flathead from Tootgarook. quiet around Rosebud but are now back in full swing. There have been lots of bag-out catches from Safety Beach and Rosebud. Red, natural slimy and King

day but really early mornings seem to be the go. Plenty of mackerel are still getting caught at night. Tommy ruff have slowed a little, but garfish have been fishing well

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George patterned jigs have been killing it. RYE The pier has been flat out with salmon since a big school showed up in March and is hanging about. Soft plastics and small silver wobblers have been the best options. Flathead from the end of the pier have also been a popular target. One angler reported a couple of fish over 50cm taken and whiting have also been a welcome by-catch. The White Lady has been fishing well for calamari and whiting. Closer in towards White Cliffs, good catches of whiting and squid have been taken regularly. Out towards the Pinnace Channel have been a couple of nice gummies with the odd snapper amongst them. Further across the channel, whiting have been on fire and there are some great weed beds to drift for squid. SORRENTO AND PORTSEA Both piers have been a little slow on the squid during the

in most conditions. Fishing around the moorings has been worthwhile to target a few bigger whiting at Portsea. Some of these fish have been upward of 49cm. PORT PHILLIP HEADS AND OFFSHORE Although it took a little bit of time, kingfish did finally come on. They should hang around for a few weeks so hopefully there will be plenty more action to be had on them. Jigs were working very well but it seems they’ve shied off them a little. Dead or alive squid baits have been the bait of choice or if you can find them, slimies are the best option for those bigger hoodlums. Offshore, a few tuna are still getting caught on skirted lures and deep divers. There are few mako reports close by but further down towards Anglesea, it looks like there are a number of fish hanging out wider.

Good whiting have been caught off the sand.

Pick your trophy: tuna or swordfish GAME FISHING

Lee Rayner info@fishingfever.com.au

As we roll into April, the days grow shorter and mornings get cooler. You may be fooled into thinking the fishing is calming down as the ocean gets cooler but now is not the time to put the outriggers and game tackle

Victorian fishery, it’s the cooler days and cooling water that gets fishers excited. It signals the arrival of the giant bluefin that call this part of the world home each autumn and while the first of the big bluefin are generally reported out of Port MacDonnell just over the South Australian border, if the bait turns up off locations such as Bridgewater, Cape Nelson or Lady Julia

or off the back of Lady Julia Percy Island. LOCAL WATERS What a summer it’s been, with tons of big school-sized bluefin tuna calling the waters between Lorne and Phillip Island home. It’s been such a crazy fishery for trolling, casting and jigging and fish have ranged from 10kg right up to 45kg, caught by recreational anglers and charter boats alike.

Mia landed this impressive SBT after a long fight. away. In fact, it’s time to get serious with some awesome fishing coming up! One of the best things about April is that the weather is one of two options, either too rough to fish or glass calm. The calm weather gets a lot of anglers excited as it also heralds the start of big battles on jumbo tuna on the West Coast. On the eastern side of the state, it’s all about the thought of battling a giant swordfish for hours. In between those extremes, there is plenty of other stuff going on that will keep any bluewater angler interested. WEST COAST It only seems like yesterday that we were all super excited for long runs offshore in search of solid school bluefin tuna at locations like the horseshoe off Portland, and while this is still an important part of the

Percy Island, there is every chance the big fish will be there too. As usual, the big tuna tend to hunt on the prolific bait in the 30-80m areas and it’s a case of selecting the right lures and fishing when big, often fussy tuna feed, which also generally coincides with rough weather. Out wider along the edge of the shelf this month will see big schools of smaller school-sized tuna congregating. Anglers have often scored multiple hook-ups on fish ranging 12-25kg. In saying that, as the tuna fishery keeps getting better so does the size of the fish, and this season I would not be surprised if we see more 30-50kg fish in the mix. This month will be a great time to keep an eye out in closer to shore in search of school tuna and some big kingfish. This is especially true off locations such as North Shore at Portland

Fingers crossed this month will see them continue as there is nothing better than being able to head out and catch a bunch of tuna locally. While there are thousands of fish out there, they have been very fussy. Small stickbaits cast at the schools have been effective. If trolling is your method, get a spreader bar into your lure spread and either run a small skirt off the back of it or run it off a rod without a lure on it, then two small skirted lures either side of and just behind the bar. It works well for multiple hook-ups. It’s interesting to note that a lot of anglers are not reporting great success on divers, but using this method I’ve got caught more on Rapala X-Rap Magnum 15s than on skirts. EAST COAST Colder water and calm seas means it’s time for big kingfish off the islands around Wilsons Promontory and while you may not get big numbers of fish during April, it’s all about the quality. Find some big

Mia battling a tuna on light tackle.

Recent southern bluefin tuna have been averaging from 10-45kg. arrow squid and slow troll them around places like White Rock and the other islands in the area for results. Further to the east up off Lakes Entrance and toward Mallacoota, it’s now time to gather the bricks and start rigging squid baits, as it’s the start of swordfish season. It’s hard to explain the pure excitement of that whitinglike bite on a bait sitting 500m below you, as you just don’t know if it’s going to be 20 or 200kg of swordfish! Other species that make the offshore canyons so appealing are mako sharks and tuna in the surface layers and bottom species like blue-eye, hapuka and ling. Time to grab a jumper and beanie and get out on the water in search of some big autumn fish!

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Hot bites from offshore species PPB OFFSHORE

Gerry Morsman

The fishing around Port Phillip and offshore has been outstanding of late with nearly all of our iconic species hot on the chew.

From calamari to kingfish, there has been big hype around the fishing at the moment and I’m pretty pumped up over it all. SNAPPER Snapper have come back with force over the last few weeks, and it’s good timing

If it’s calamari rings you are after, get down around Sorrento and start casting 3.5 size jigs.

as the tuna offshore have started to move away. It’s pretty common for snapper to fire up this time of year as they generally try to get as much food in their bellies before they move out for the colder parts of the year. Fishing wide of Mornington near the shipping channel has been the go in around 20-22m of water. The best baits by all reports have been fresh squid strips and the good old humble pilchard, which never seems to disappoint. Moving in a little closer around Carrum amongst the scattered artificial reefs has been producing some fairly nice fish as well. Most fish this season have all been around that 4kg mark, which is a perfect eating size. GUMMY SHARKS Other months have generally seen gummy sharks being caught in 35m of water. However, seeing as there has been a huge amount of boat traffic from anglers targeting kings, most people have been pushing out wider and getting on the drift in around 50m of water. By all reports, finding a nice drop-off and sharp edge contour lines has by far been the standout option. As you

aren’t fishing over heavy reef structure, where there would be a huge amount of smaller fish like barber perch and parrotfish, it allows you to use baits like squid, salmon and trevally as you would when fishing one of the ports. The reason most people don’t use these baits over offshore reefs is that they get destroyed in no time. If you are fishing over reef, catch the fish that live on them using small pilchard baits. Gummy sharks love them and they will be left alone by their own kind, allowing you a much greater chance of catching a fish of a lifetime. FLATHEAD If you are heading offshore, I would highly recommend dropping a bait for a feed of flathead. Fishing deep in around 70m of water gives you a really good chance of finding tiger flatties and if you haven’t tried one of these, I highly recommend giving it a crack. Take a box of squid, some light fishing gear and a good sense of humour with a couple of good mates and I guarantee you are up for a good day and an even better feed. Another popular way of

Ben showing off a quality kingfish he caught in the Rip. targeting them is getting in a bit closer off the back of the surf beaches like Woolamai and Gunnamatta using the same method as mentioned above. Otherwise, you can also use plastics with a heavy jighead, without working them like you usually would. Drifting with a paddle-tail style plastic along the bottom is very productive, as it represents a baitfish cruising along the bottom and flathead are opportunistic fish.

WATER BALL AST

APRIL 2020

ACTIVE TRANSOM

CALAMARI SQUID If you want to target large squid then you can’t go past areas like Portsea and Sorrento. Fishing these areas on the slack tide has been productive using 3.5 size squid jigs over the broken ground. One of the better ways to target big calamari is fishing offshore and the back beaches around Portsea and Flinders have been definite hotspots. These areas hold very reefy structure with a huge amount

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of prey that large calamari love to feed on. Getting in close on the drift using large jigs around the 3.5-4.0 size is the go and the reports have been thick, with a lot of anglers getting their bag limit in no time. Another very effective way is to drop a jig down on a paternoster style rig, with a sinker heavy enough to get to the bottom of reefs in up to 35m of water. Big calamari often target prey on these reefs, as they are full of life. KINGFISH Fishing more tidal areas such as Cape Schanck tends to attract a lot of the smaller fish, so if you want to target larger models in these areas it’s best to target them on the slack tides. An easy way to determine high tidal flow areas is the sharper drop-offs on the contour lines, which you will see on your sounder. Seal Rock has been fishing very well but it is a very tidal

The whiting near Mud Island have been on fire lately, with the average size a lot larger than normal.

It’s a great time to get on the whiting around the southern parts of Port Phillip.

Fishing offshore doesn’t get much better than this cracker kingfish Teagan caught.

area, so getting at the back end of the rock where it is protected by the tide is your best chance at landing a big king. Of course, you will also have to battle your way through the seals but that is all just part of the challenge. Pyramid Rock as always is producing fish and Flinders in close has also been up there with the other hotspots. In all areas, finding the clean blue water is vital! If it is green and cloudy, keep moving until you find something worth fishing otherwise you are wasting your time and fuel trolling around. A proven technique has been luring kingfish in with live baits at the back of the boat and throwing plastics at them. This can make the plastics look much more erratic in the water, firing the fish up enough so they’ll eat them. APRIL 2020

It’s a total tuna bonanza! WESTERN PORT STH

Jarrod Day jarrodday@iprimus.com.au

“It’s like being back in the ’60s!” was a comment I overheard down at the Stony Point boat ramp one

been along the Kilcunda side in 30m of water. Inside the port, the fishing has been equally as productive and while the water temperature is dropping to make way for the typical winter species, whiting and gummy sharks have still been

in search of gummy sharks in the Rhyll area, they managed some nice fish along with a little sammerhead shark, which was released. The productivity of the Rhyll area has been exceptional and while we are now in April, it is a very

mullet fillet. Just a small strip will be enough to entice them to the hook. The Western Entrance is also fishing well and at this time of year, I’d be concentrating on either whiting or gummy sharks. Anywhere between the Cowes Pier to Cat Bay, whiting have been abundant. The prime time has been the last two hours of ebb tide, with Ventnor and Cat Bay the top locations. Mind you, these areas are also prime calamari locations so flick out a squid jig or two while you’re whiting fishing. In saying that, if you are using berley for whiting, a baited jig suspended under a float is also effective. Anglers targeting gummies in the Western Entrance have had a bit of a hit-and-miss time, but that should change in the coming weeks with the cooling water. Autumn and winter are very productive gummy shark times because as the water cools, gummies make their way into the port

This charter customer brought a nice whiting on board. Photo courtesy of David Jarman.

Tuna have spread right along the coastline in great numbers. Saturday afternoon. Back then, southern bluefin tuna were as thick as salmon schools are in Western Port. For some reason, there are plagues of tuna from as far west as Apollo Bay to Kilcunda this season. There have been plenty of anglers heading out offshore, particularly through the Western Entrance, and while there have been plenty of fish caught from Flinders to Cape Schanck, there has been equally the same amount from Seal Rocks to Kilcunda. While the tuna might be thick, they have not come to the boat easily. In fact, despite the amount of fish, they have been quite shy in taking a lure. Maybe it’s the water’s depth, maybe it is something else – one thing is for sure, you have to adapt to how they are feeding. At times, there might not be any surface activity, leaving you to blind troll an area. This means trolling two skirted lures and two deep divers. Unlike trolling for tuna at Portland, these tuna seem to be feeding on small bait so opt for 3-4” skirts like Richter Jelly Babes and hardbodies like Halco Laser Pros. Make sure you’re rigged up right; while many of the tuna have ranged from 12-20kg, there have been a lot of fish in the 40kg bracket caught too, so don’t go out there under-gunned. Gummy sharks have also been in fair numbers offshore for those doing a little bottom bashing. With a mixed bag of gummies and flathead being caught, most of the action has 30

APRIL 2020

There have been some good gummy sharks near Rhyll. Photo courtesy of David Jarman.

to breed. In the past, they have been in huge numbers and I predict this season will be no different. Land-based anglers have also been getting their fair share of fishing from around the coastline. Flinders has been fishing well for calamari on the lead up to the full and new moons, with most of the calamari being caught during the night on the top of the high tides. Baited jigs do work well but squid jigs in a 3.0 size are hard for them to resist. Gummy sharks have also been plentiful, providing you’re fishing the tides. Point Leo is a top location and fishes best on a high tide. In saying that, Balnarring and Somers are also exceptional places to try. Justin Blythe has been doing really well of late,

The odd hammerhead shark can be caught each year around Rhyll. Photo courtesy of David Jarman. the main catches. Only time will tell if the whiting will slow, but for the time being, they are in plague proportions. David Jarman from T-Cat Charters reports that the whiting have been crazy and are showing no signs of slowing up. Most of the fish he has been catching have been in Coronet Bay, Rhyll and Dickies Bay. During one trip

good time to begin targeting mulloway if you have the time to put in. These bottom marauders are about in good numbers at this time of year. Rhyll, Elizabeth Island and the Mosquito Channel are prime locations to begin your search. Keep in mind that despite their size they do like small baits, so there is no need to fish big bulky slabs of salmon or

Balnarring Beach continues to produce solid gummies at this time of year. Photo courtesy of David Jarman.

To page 31

Top end is quiet but still producing results beginning in 6m. Kelvin Bertaccini from Reel Time Fishing Charters has been dominating the whiting in the top end and along the Middle Spit. His customers have easily been catching their bag the past few months. Calamari have also been quite abundant with the

WESTERN PORT NTH

Jarrod Day jarrodday@iprimus.com.au

This is the time of the year when the top end of the Port begins to quieten down. In saying that, there are still plenty of anglers heading out, but not to the amount that is fishing the southern end of the Port. While the top end has slowed a little, whiting are still the most targetable species. At this time of year, most of the whiting action is confined to the banks closer to the deeper channels, more so than those in the upper reaches such as Gentle Annie and Charring Cross. The Tyabb Bank, Quail Bank and Middle Spit are the prime locations. There are no secret techniques to fishing these From page 30

landing exceptionally large gummies. He has been fishing the Balnarring area on the last of the run-out tides and using fresh slimy

and just continue to cast jigs towards the banks. Keep in mind most of the banks are very shallow, so 2.5 and 3.0 jigs are ideal. However, if you cast too far onto the bank, you’ll have to work them quickly so as to not become snagged in the weed. The top end of Western Port will continue to be the

You can find good numbers of calamari above the shallow weed beds. mackerel for bait. The fish he has been catching are some of the biggest gummies I have seen coming from a land-based angler. This month we should also

Whiting are in abundance at the moment. Photo courtesy of David Jarman.

see a decent run of salmon infiltrate the port, but this won’t be until the end of the month. These fish will be found in the Western Entrance to Tankerton and Stony Point where they will be rounding up bait schools. If you’re up for some light tackle fun, they will take 3” soft plastics and metal lures. Remember though, if you are going to cast or troll metal lures, it pays to change a treble hook to a single hook. Salmon will spit a treble when they jump but a single will stick and you’ll lose less fish. The one thing I love about Western Port is its fish diversity. From calamari, whiting, salmon to gummy sharks, there is plenty to target whether in a boat or fishing from the shore. Sometimes we overanalyse and overthink our fishing whenthe simplest and easiest methods will catch more than overcomplicated plans. Simply use a sharp hook, reliable rig and good bait and fish around the tide changes.

areas apart from finding the sand holes and using berley. Extended paternoster rigs work exceptionally well and if you notice the fish are tentative in their feeding, use a long shank hook, hold the rod in your hand and strike when you feel the bite. If they are aggressive, circle hooks are the best option. Before embarking on the Tyabb or Quail Banks, give the top of the Middle Spit a thorough workout. This area is still teeming with whiting, but you’ll have to do a few drops before you find a good patch. Even then, the fish can move off quickly if you’re not using berley. Berley is an essential part in keeping the school in the area. Depending on the tide, it always pays to vary the depths you’re fishing. On the high tide, work in 2-3m and every few hours drop into deeper water to a maximum of 6m. If you’re fishing the low tide, do the opposite,

Young Xavier Elliot with his hands full of Western Port whiting. cooling water temperatures. Working the top of the tide over the weed beds is where you’ll find them in good numbers and it always pays to toss out a jig while fishing for whiting. When drifting the weed beds for calamari, let the tide push you along

whiting and calamari hotspot for at least the next two months but the cooler the water, the more chance that calamari will be the most targeted species. Gummy sharks are also a good autumn/winter option if you can endure the cold nights.

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Fishing smarter in autumn PHILLIP ISLAND

Craig Edmonds

Easter is the last of the long weekends for a couple of months and for many it signals the end of the fishing season. For smart anglers, April is just another month on the calendar prompting a change of tackle to chase the next species that arrive. It

it was many years ago, with good fish turning up in August, resting up a bit over September then back on from October. We have been in the shop for around 14 years now and the one thing we have learned over that time is that while some things stay the same, the best thing you can do is go out with plenty of alternatives. We have had a tuna season as good as the early seasons further

season lasting over a couple of months. Hopefully we will see some barrels show up again towards August. The bite started off at Cape Schanck early, then started heading east and at one stage we were receiving reports from the Schanck to Cape Patterson all at the same time. The fish were consistently around 15-30kg, with the occasional one tipping the scales at 40kg or better.

Conditions haven’t been perfect but sometimes that’s when the fish bit the best. all depends on the weather, but we regularly get good reports right through May and June before boat fishos will switch to longer rods and start to do some bait collecting. There are several species available to fill the bait freezer – salmon on the beaches, trevally off the jetties and calamari from both. If you plan your tides and pick the best days, you don’t need to spend a lot of time in the cooler conditions. Buy yourself a vac sealer so that when you hear the first of the snapper reports, you will be ready to go with a freezer full of fresh bait. For the last few years the pattern has been back to what

down the coast, so let’s hope it stays this way over the next few years. The best of the whiting fishing has been coming from 8-10m of water, so changing gear appropriately has been important, and calamari continue to be caught in every corner of the bay. Between the unpredictable conditions and the bushfires, things have been tough, particularly in the holiday regions. Recovery will be slow and difficult for many towns and businesses and the best thing we can do as a fishing community is to just go fishing. Over the last few years, the best we have had were brief tuna bites, but this year it was definitely a tuna

The best part about the whole tuna bite was that for 90% of the time they were in 15-40m of water, andtook whatever you threw in the water. The best sessions reported came from either end of the day or those days when it wasn’t the best conditions. It took a little time but once everyone got over the fact that it wasn’t a secret anymore and worked together, more were able to take advantage of the fish that were there. There was a period when the best thing to do before you headed out was to drive up onto one of the bluffs with binoculars to spot where there was a school of fish or bait. Spear fishers also got in on the quantity

of fish and schools and many managed to find schools away from the boats. Flathead, especially tiger flathead, have been in very good numbers with reports from customers bagging out on fish 40cm and better. They have been moving around a bit and people have been finding them in 20m one day and 50m the next. At one stage, the best spot was 500m past the last red channel marker, but they’ve been mostly found east of the eastern entrance. A lot of people struggle with catching flathead offshore and most of the time it comes down to how you are fishing. You must have enough leader to suit the conditions, as swell will always make it difficult, and a paternoster rig generally works best. Hook type is really your choice; I prefer wide gape 2/0 hooks. I also find a small rubber squid with either squid or pilchard very effective. The other mistake many make is fishing with too many rods. It’s wise to throw out a bigger bait for something bigger, but do that first and then cast the flathead rig. Dropping out a flathead rig then putting it in the rod

When the tuna have been on, it hasn’t taken long to get a bag. holder will lose you more than you catch. If they are there, chances are as soon as it hits the bottom they will be on it and the only way to know this is to hold the rod. If you are on a drift and not losing any baits in half an hour or so, move onto another drift. Pick your area you want to fish and work that area in short drifts, marking fish if you get onto a school then going back over the same area. In the bay, whiting have settled a bit and are back

Most tuna have been around 20-30kg but there were some closer to 40kg about.

to some normality on the outgoing tide in Cleeland Bight and on the incoming tide in Dickies Bay. The smaller fish have either grown up or are hiding because there are nowhere near as many as there were a few months ago. Most bags now contain at least six or so around the 40cm mark, and this should improve as the channel whiting continue to come up into the shallows. Toadies have been a big problem this year and between them and undersize whiting and pinkies, it was like a plague of locusts; you just couldn’t get anything past them. The toadies seem to get worse when people use a lot of berley, especially the pellet varieties. One trick many locals swear by is to use a weighted berley pot filled with squashed up pilchards from your last trip. Toadies don’t seem to like the pilchards anywhere as much as the pellets but whiting don’t mind them. You can also use pilchards as bait as well. Unfortunately, pinkies also like them, but if they are around at least you have a better chance of something bigger to take home.

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It seems Melbourne and Victoria as a whole is in the middle of some of the best offshore light tackle sportfishing the country has ever seen, especially on southern bluefin tuna. What makes it so special is that it is so close to home. Barwon Heads is only a 40-minute drive from the city and mass schools of 20kg+ tuna are within 10 minutes of the ramp. The chance to see tuna crash tackle stickbaits and

top if the weather allows. THE GEAR Medium tackle spin gear during the warmer months is more than enough for kings and tuna, with 30lb casting gear and 40-60lb leader. I find NS Amped Offshore rods the best you can get for this style of fishing. THE RIG For casting lures, a rod length of 40-60lb leader tied to 30-50lb braid is perfect, depending on the size of the reel you are using. For trolling, using skirts or hardbodies and a wind on 80lb leader with a snap at the end is the

BEST METHOD Trolling lures and baits in the morning covers ground well if you use your sounder to your advantage. Once that sun comes up and makes spotting fish on the surface easy, casting to fish you can see is still one of the best methods. Have a variety of techniques ready because the fish can be really picky and sometimes only zone in to one particular method of fishing. Always mix it up and cast like crazy. MOTHER NATURE If you haven’t launched in the river before, make sure you

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Joel Bramble took a solid bluefin on a Maria Rerise 130mm sinking stickbait. poppers on light tackle is what motivates me to wake up early and head out. You seriously can’t get much better sportfishing action than that! PRIME TIME A tuna fishery this good is a new concept to the area, but so far the prime time seems to be from January through to April. The fish during these months appear to be bigger, with fish from 20-40kg more common as opposed to the winter months where we see more small school fish down the West Coast. Kingfish also like the warmer weather and can be seen sunning themselves on

preferred method. LURES If you’re casting lures, 130mm poppers are particularly good on kings with the Molix and Maria Pop Queen 160s taking their fair share of fish of late. If the fish don’t commit to lures on top, then sinking stickbaits are deadly when the fish are tuned into smaller baitfish. On my last trip out to the Heads, we belted fish on smaller 120mm stickbaits, with white being a standout colour. We also dropped leader size, fishing 30-40lb. By doing this, we landed eight fish in a morning session, with the biggest catch weighing 38kg.

pick a day with low wind and swell, as the bar (or entrance) can be super dangerous in the wrong conditions. Take your time. If you can, go with someone who has experience. HOT TIP Find the bait and generally the fish won’t be too far away. Always keep your eyes open for working birds. It could be one bird or a group, but they are always worth investigating if they look a little flustered or they are chasing things. Also as mentioned above, a quality sounder is your best friend when out on the ocean. When you find bait, mark them so you can come back and search the area.

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Joel Petzki caught this 23kg tuna on a popper. APRIL 2020

Rain stimulates recovery GIPPSLAND LAKES

Brett Geddes b.geddes@bigpond.com

Drenching rains have brought much joy to our region and helped in the long recovery process after the destructive and tragic fires. There’s been wonderful support from people going out of their way to get back and visit the entire area impacted by fire and smoke. I’m so proud to be an Aussie when I see Victorian tourists pouring dollars into those struggling towns. Anglers are helping out those in need and organising big teams of up to thirty people or more to fish and stay around the Gippy Lakes and further east to remote places desperate for tourists. The angling community are a wonderful bunch of supportive people and I wish I could thank every one of you by name. FIRE THEN FLOOD It’s bizarre to go from huge tracts of burning bush to flooding rivers but nobody is complaining. The splash of freshwater has really fired up the bream and bags of big fish have been reported. First up, just a quick reminder that our rivers are still

in pretty good shape. There were big concerns about dirty and oxygen depleted water impacting our streams after the fires and there were some localised fish kills in the upper Tambo. Right now, all of the big five rivers pouring into the Gippy Lakes are running very brown. Authorities, anglers and farmers are continually monitoring and reporting on all river conditions. The large size of the Gippy Lakes at around 600km2 will reduce the risk of any long-term damage. History tells us that these high flow events eventually lead to big benefits. LAKE WELLINGTON Big bream have been caught from so many areas lately; I don’t know where to begin! In the far west of the Gippy Lakes, the Avon and Latrobe rivers have really fired up Lake Wellington, with catches in areas like the Tucker shoreline and Marlay Point. This is where I fish the most and the size of bream has been exceptional. All the fish have been caught on blade lures in shallow water about a metre deep. My best trip saw me catch and release 14 fat bream with my biggest five going 43 or 44cm and weighing 6.6kg all together. Even quiet days with just five

or so bream landed have been rewarding and my biggest bream so far in four recent trips went 1.74kg and 47cm. At the Seacombe area of Lake Wellington like Bull Bay and Plover Point, the story is very similar. A member of the Nicholson Angling Club, Neil ‘Bear’ Fleming, has also discovered that big bream live in the lake. Twice now he’s whacked some heavy stud Wellington bream on lures around 45cm, so I’m sure he’ll return for more of that action soon. MCLENNAN STRAIT Some impressive bream have also been caught in the Straits between Seacombe and Hollands. Many competition anglers have been rewarded with bream to 1.6kg over the last few months and even bigger fish have been shredded to the deep snags. Mario Vukic knows the Straits better than most and recently hauled in an incredible 6.29kg bag to win $500 for biggest bream at 1.59kg. Steven Pryke fished there for the first time in seven years but still pulled ten impressive bream from the Straits during the same competition, weighing 8kg all up. Most anglers used grub lures on 1/8oz jigheads and

Brodie Methrell from Melbourne caught two ripper bream at The Barrier Landing. 10lb leader to beat the snags and barnacles. Other anglers caught dozens of big bream at the Hollands Landing end of the Straits using hardbodies and crab lures. PAYNESVILLE As usual, Newlands and Duck arms have been producing modest numbers of bream at this time of year, but kingfish are still turning up now and then. Some of the kingies are about 65cm and will test every bit of your bream gear! A few nice dusky flathead have been caught in those same areas and most of them are 45-55cm. The town

jetties are well worth fishing and a great place to set the kids up with a few rods and some yummy goods from the local bakery. METUNG TO LAKES ENTRANCE Anglers have also caught impressive bream in this area, including VFM’s very own Steve Morgan. His two ABT efforts a while back showed us locals a lot of new tricks and techniques in some surprising areas. Check out his videos he streamed live over four competition days if you missed him catching some epic yellowfin bream

and battling the atrocious easterly winds. Kerrie and Gaven Metherell from Melbourne sent me a great report from Barrier Landing while there on holidays. Their 15yo son Brodie landed a 1.14kg and 825g bream caught on fresh prawn and his 11yo brother Tyler also landed an 830g bream on prawn bait. Barrier Landing refers to the jetty 2km south of the Lakes Entrance mouth. The landing has a lakeside picnic area and toilets and is just a short walk over the sand dunes to the beach.

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Golden tag competition Luring fishers back to bushfire affected areas

From 1 March 2020

Want a chance to win $10,000 and help bushfire affected communities?

The first ten fishers who report catching a specially tagged fish, win $10,000. Simple!

All you have to do is go fishing!

Tagged fish caught after that are worth $2,000 each.

We’ve tagged 1,000 fish in East Gippsland and North East Victoria to encourage recreational fishers to return and support the tourism trade that’s been doing it tough.

The competition will bring people back to towns like Mallacoota, Cann River, Bemm River, Orbost, Marlo, Buchan, Lakes Entrance, Lake Tyers, Omeo, Dartmouth, Mitta Mitta, Corryong, Tallangatta and Bright.

These aren’t your typical tags – they’re golden tags and they’ll be attached to popular species including dusky flathead, black bream, King George whiting trout and Murray cod.

To find out more visit www.vfa.vic.gov.au/goldentag

Authorised by the Victorian Government, 1 Spring Street, Melbourne © The State of Victoria, VFA, Melbourne February 2020

Whiting in full force CORNER INLET

Will Thompson allwaysangling@bigpond.com

Fishing has been strong and steady for a few months now but the humble King George whiting bite just keeps getting better and better. Normally anglers are talking about kingies this time of year, but this season is a bit different in that the weather just hasn’t allowed for offshore exploration too often. We really need to get

some steadier weather to get a chance to hit the kingies a bit more. Instead, the star of the show has been whiting, with an exceptional season so far at Corner Inlet and at Port Albert through to McLoughlins Beach. At Port Welshpool, the Lewis Channel has been fairly consistent on the run-out tide and has produced whiting from 30-40cm constantly. At Port Albert, they are wide spread throughout the system and are being caught close to the jetties and even off the

Josh Jones and crew caught this sensational bag of snapper and a few gummies as well during a quick morning bite offshore.

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jetty, all the way down the edges along the Port Albert Channel into the drum channel and even around the back in the snake channel. Pipis and squid have been the best baits as usual and there have been some hot bites where fish have even been taking whitebait and bluebait. There has been another run of snapper inside the entrance at Corner Inlet, with some good models up to 7.5kg getting caught on squid and pillies on the last of the run-in tide and on the end of the run-out. Offshore, Port Albert through to McLoughlins has provided some sensational snapper fishing consistently over the past few months. Recently it has been red-hot, with good fish to 7kg getting caught and stacks of pinkies as well. OFFSHORE There have not been heaps of days to get out wide but when the weather allows, big gummy sharks have been around in good numbers. Prime spots have been out around the islands near Cliffy Island, all the way down to Whale bay and offshore Manns and McLoughlins entrances. Depths anywhere from 21-36m have been good and large baits such as salmon fillet, slimy mackerel and squid have been exceptional on the gummies. There’s been heaps of bait around lately, so with a bit of berley it hasn’t been too hard to get slimies, yakkas and small salmon. Kingies are around but not always attainable. Some days you can see hundreds of them but they are very hard to catch, whereas other days they will

the fish have been either undersized or just oversized with the odd 75cm fish mixed in. Hopefully the kingies really turn on in the next month or two.

• For more information, contact Will at Allways Angling in Traralgon on 5174 8544. You will get expert advice and great deals on fishing bait and tackle.

A return to the norm MARLO

Jim McClymont mcclymont@net-tech.com.au

We have had enough rain to extinguish the bushfires for the time being and with most of the roads now open and access to the boat ramps permitted,

it won’t be long until fishing is back to normal. The authorities have opened Marlo estuary to the ocean and hopefully it will stay open for the near future. Local anglers had a lot of work cleaning up after the fires, but are starting to venture out fishing. There

was a fish kill when the water that was on the low lying flats ran off into the rivers, but that’s behind us and anglers have since reported good catches of bream, estuary perch, mullet, luderick, big flathead, salmon and tailor. Plenty of prawns To page 39

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just turn on randomly. Most kings have been caught on blue knife jigs and large soft plastics in pink and white colours, with a few caught on livies as well. Most of

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Kingfish, flatties and whiting on the chew LAKES ENTRANCE

Steven Pryke

With the wild start to 2020 behind us, the Gippsland region is beginning to rebuild and the local fishery has been red-hot, with all manner of fishing

schools of kingfish scattered from Lakes Entrance to as far as Paynesville and Duck Arm. During the recent ABT round at Gippsland Lakes, my father Lindsay and I found a good school of 65-70cm kings in a metre of water. The instant the plastic touched down, we were on! My dad

Large jerkbaits, such as the 6” Atomic Jerk Minnow in ghost pearl, have been very productive worked fast along the top.

Yellowtail kingfish are always a welcome catch, especially in the lake. available. From catching whiting on the many weed beds to targeting yellowtail kingfish on the flats, the Gippy Lakes have really turned it on. LAKES ENTRANCE The Gippsland Lakes and the many rivers that feed it have become an everchanging fishery. With each season, different rain levels alter the salinity and bring new fish species into the lake system. In recent months, reports of yellowtail kingfish smashing anglers’ equipment have become the usual, with From page 38

are still in the estuary and are a good eating size, so there will be plenty of happy prawn hunters out

hooked up on 4lb line and with the use of the electric motor, he managed to land the kingfish after 10 minutes. Since then, we’ve refined our approach and found 15lb line to be just enough most the time with the outboard required to chase down the odd fish. Recently I’ve upgraded to 30lb, but the kingfish are starting to

become aware of what a lure and line is, so the lighter approach is definitely the best way to go. Larger soft plastic flickbaits and jerk minnows have been effective. The longer minnow style plastics have performed best and working the plastic with violent rips and pauses seems to produce explosive bites. Cunningham Arm is commonly overlooked, but the many sandy points and flats have held large duskies over the recent months. Early or late in the day is

best to target these areas, as the increasing boat traffic in the day can spook fish off the shallower areas. Minnow profile plastics are one of my favourite presentations and the lower lakes always have schools of whitebait around, so small 3” jerk minnows match these slender baitfish well. King George whiting are still on the move, but quality models have become a lot harder to find, with plenty of undersize whiting scattered throughout. Out of the way

areas such as Barrier Landing and Baxter Island have still produced quality whiting along with the deep areas of Nungerner. Sand whiting have been everywhere and seemingly impossible to get past at times. LAKE TYERS Lake Tyers continues to grow in popularity. Anglers have been coming to the lake to target the monster dusky flathead, but lately, more and more anglers have been chasing the lake’s monster tailor, with boats commonly seen trolling large hardbodies and metal lures around the deeper margins, especially early and late in the day. Flathead are still a big draw card, with large duskies scattered throughout the lake system. Areas such as Crystal Bay and the island are good areas to start, as there has been a lot of bait in these areas recently. HAVE YOU BEEN FISHING? If you have been out for a fish lately and have a great photo, please send it to stevenprykefishing@ gmail.com with a short description and you could be featured in the next edition of Fishing Monthly.

LAKES ENTRANCE IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS Kingfish have been biting from Lakes Entrance to Duck Arm lately. gathering their share. Now that the roads are open to the surf beaches, some great reports have been coming in. One local

Cody caught this small kingfish land-based.

angler told me he caught five big salmon in five casts and decided he had enough fish, so he was back home in an hour. Many other anglers have been getting plenty of salmon, tailor, trevally, flathead and gummy shark. The boat ramp is open for business and when the weather permits, the fishing has been great. The entrance at Marlo had only been open a few days when one very keen kingfish angler skipped out through the new entrance to fish Marlo Reef and I hear they were very successful, bagging some decent size fish. The fishing off from Cape Conran has also been great, with plenty of flathead, salmon, squid, barracouta, pinkie snapper, gurnard, gummy shark and kingfish when you can get them to bite. Anglers have also reported seeing plenty of good size schools of baitfish, so it is advisable to take some Sabiki jigs when you go offshore.

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Please support our bushfire affected areas APRIL 2020

Bemm back at its best! BEMM RIVER

Robyn Sturgess

Bemm has returned to normal, with big bream, flathead and plenty of prawns! Anglers have been visiting in droves and all have been rewarded with excellent fishing. The waterways have started to clean up beautifully. The prawns are big, fat and everywhere; many flathead over 60cm have been caught and released on lures and prawn; and very healthy bream are prominent too. One report was a 39cm bream, weighing in at over 1.5kg and caught on live prawn. The surf fishing has been superb with large numbers of salmon, tailor and big trevally on all beaches. The river has been muddy, but is clearing now, so no reports just yet. All boaties should make sure their safety equipment is up to date and in good condition. This includes servicing of life jackets and dates on flares. The local council has given us a $20,000 grant to promote Bemm River,

Ray Cooper of Cranbourne caught this perch on the first day of the Golden Tag competition. He was visiting Bemm River for Round 1 of the Hobie Kayak Bream Series.

Joe Barbaro of Greensborough scored the fourth $10,000 tagged fish of the Golden Tag competition in Bobs Bay, Bemm River.

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so watch this space, as we will be claiming a weekend for a major competition and fun weekend. This will be tied in with the $10,000 Golden Tag promotion from the state government. • Now is the time to plan your fishing trip to Bemm River. Give me a call on 0427 584 233 – the phone is always in my pocket! For on the spot and up-todate fishing reports check out Robyn’s website: www. bemmaccommodation. com.au or ‘like’ us on Facebook – Bemm River Holiday Accommodation. Phone: (03) 5158 4233/ Mob. 0427 584 233 Email: bemmaccomm@ bigpond.com.

Peter Hardwick of Newport landed this Bemm River flathead.

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APRIL 2020

Anglers are catching big bream once more.

NSW South Coast

Anglers return after the fires BERMAGUI

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

Life is starting to settle a little for residents along the South Coast since the devastation from the fires, and people are starting to return to the area, especially those who are looking to catch fish. Bermagui is recovering quickly, and some of the first visitors to return to the area are the game fishers – and haven’t

they been having a ball with the marlin! All three species are out there at present, with striped marlin being the most prevalent. The blacks and blues are of a better size, and April is a month where most of the bigger blues are caught. This season has also seen a lot of mahimahi caught, with some surprisingly large captures. Most of these have been taken from around the floats off the lobster traps out on the continental shelf east of Montague Island. Speaking of the island,

the kingfish have been very active up there. Although they’re not big fish, they are a lot of fun on light gear. Bonito are mixing in with the kings just to add a bit of spice. Another popular species, the mako shark, has made its presence felt up and down the coast this season. Out wide down deep with the aid of electric reels and the calm autumn weather, species such as hapuka, blue-eye trevalla, ling and cods are all on the short list. For those who don’t

Visitors start to return MALLACOOTA/EDEN

Kevin Gleed captainkev@wildernessfishingtours.com

The good news is there has been enough rain to put out all the bushfires in the area. The roads are finally open and visitors are starting to return, with fishing in the lake being the main drawcard. The caravan parks are open, with plenty of holiday rentals available. Mallacoota is taking part in the Victorian Fisheries promotion to get people back to East Gippsland after the devastation caused by the bushfires over the holiday season. A number of fish have been tagged and released, and the first 10 anglers to catch one of these tagged fish will win $10,000 each. Tagged fish caught after that will earn the angler $2,000. To find out more details, including all of the eligible species, go to the Victoria Fisheries website at www.vfa.vic.gov.au and search for ‘Golden Tag’. It is no secret that the ongoing problem for the East Gippsland Shire is the Bastion Point boat ramp. Whatever the reason – location, design etc. – it just hasn’t worked, with dredging taking place eight days a week and sand piling up alongside, then returning to where it lives overnight.

want to venture as far, the close to shore grounds have plenty to offer in the form of flathead, gummy shark, and gurnard over the flatter areas, while the reefy structure is now starting to produce snapper. There are also lots of morwong, both jackass and blue, along with some nice ocean perch, pigfish and those ever-present (and often annoying) leatherjackets. Back on shore along the beaches, sand whiting are in good numbers and only too willing to take a well-presented beachworm or nipper. Nippers are sometimes easier to acquire than worms, and they will work quite nicely off the beach. Salmon are plentiful at present along the coast, and they can be caught from the beach, rocks and boat or in the estuaries that are open to the ocean. Sadly the rain event that followed the fires didn’t fall heavily enough in the coastal catchment to open lakes like Wallaga, Cuttagee or Barragoot to the ocean, which means these areas

Bermagui River has a very healthy population of luderick. are fishing tough. However, Bermagui River and Wapengo Lake, which are open to the ocean, are thriving with some interesting fish species. In the Bermagui River you can expect the usual array of species like bream, whiting, luderick or flathead, of which there have been some very large specimens encountered. Around the entrance of the

rock walls of an evening, floating pilchards is likely to attract some sizeable tailor. On another front, kingfish have been cruising the Bermagui River system of late, but none have actually been hooked. They have a tendency to follow small hooked fish for a while before veering off, leaving anglers in bewilderment as to what they have just seen.

Mikey with an 84cm flathead caught on a soft plastic. This is all at the expense of the ratepayers of Mallacoota, and explains why there is little left for other infrastructure projects within the town. Those anglers heading to Mallacoota to go offshore fishing are taking a gamble, as there’s every chance you won’t get to go due to sand build up (which is affected by such factors as swell, tide and dredging). If this problem persists, it’s going to make things tough when the local abalone divers

At the boat ramp at Bastion Point, the sand is moving in faster than it can be dredged.

start their season. With no offshore fishing taking place out of Mallacoota over the past month, the only fishing to report has been further to the north out of Eden, where there have been good size mahimahi being caught. There will be more to report over the coming months. At the time of writing the water temperature on the local beaches is around 20°C, which is ideal for swimming. The old harbour at Mallacoota is a particularly good spot for a swim. The Bottom Lake is still fishing well, with plenty of flathead being caught. Soft plastics are catching plenty of fish, and the best bait has been fresh local prawns. The prawning has been excellent, with good size prawns being caught around the front of the lake. It takes no time at all to catch a good feed. If you’re chasing bream, the Top Lake has been the best area to fish, with bream being caught as far upstream as Gypsy Point. The coming months will see more catches to report as more visitors will come to the area get amongst the fish.

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Snapper, salmon and squid MERIMBULA

Craig Gilligan

In recent weeks there have been plenty of snapper caught along Haycock Point out off Lennards

Island and Long Point. A good place to try is off Long Point from 32-41m on the northern side of the reef. A lot of the snapper have been going really well on micro jigs. Even pros

are targeting snapper using micro jigs, particularly the Catch NZ Double Trouble 60g in orange assassin, and Nomad Streakers in 60g gold and pink. If you’re using soft plastics or micro jigs, keep your leader size

Adam Bamford caught this snapper off Merimbula on a Catch Double Trouble jig. Image courtesy of Micro Jigging NSW.

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to around 16lb. Anglers are picking up quite a few flathead in depths of 34-42m around the area. There are still plenty of squid at Merimbula Wharf, and the best times are early in the morning, late in the evening and at night. The standout squid jig at the moment is the Yamashita Egi Sutte-R in black/silver when fishing at night. Go as light as you can with the jig, wind permitting (you don’t want belly in the line). You should also bring a UV torch to activate the UV in your jig. Anglers have been picking up some gummies on Horseshoe Reef, with specimens up to 4ft. You can catch them on a paternoster, or anchor up and drop down a running sinker rig baited with sinker trevally or squid. There are also a lot of bronzies being caught by surf anglers at Tura Beach and Haycock. In the bay we’re seeing a lot of flathead coming from 16-32m of water, taking pilchards and squid. Kingfish are chasing bait around the wharf, and are being trolled up on squid imitations such as 100g Catch Squidwings in white warrior. A couple of bigger kings to 13kg have been speared off the wharf as well. There are also schools

A couple of cracking squid from Merimbula Wharf. Glow jigs at night seem to be the go. of kings busting up off Long Point. If you can get live squid, slow trolling them is a very effective way to catch them, followed by slimy mackerel. The lakes are also fishing pretty well, with lots of whiting schooling up down towards the entrance during the last couple of hours of the run-out tide. The best baits are live beachworms and nippers, but if you

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Geoff Fallon with a nice dusky flathead. 42

APRIL 2020

can’t get your own bait you can always use frozen worms or pipis. A bit of red tubing or red bead on your rig can help to attract the whiting, especially if you’re using pipis. In the channel there are a lot of trevally and tailor being taken at the bridge at night. You can see them in the current under the light from the bridge, and cast to them with a soft plastic, twitching it in front of their noses. The Powerbait 3” Minnow in pearl watermelon has been very effective on these fish. Up in the lake the duskies are biting pretty well, particularly around the edges of the lake on the drop-offs. Most are undersize, but they are still good fun and there’s always the chance of a keeper amongst them. Two of the best soft baits at the moment are the 3” Powerbait Gotam Shad in natural, and the 3” ZMan StreakZ in bloodworm. The tailor schools in the lake have been providing anglers with some fun sessions, and there are some good size greenbacks amongst them, with specimens up to 55cm. Using deeper divers (down to 2.5m) is a good way to catch them, with good options including the Strike Pro Galaxia Minnow and Atomic Hardz Shiner 60 deep. You can also spin 15g metals for both tailor and salmon around the bridge at night. A few of our staff members have been walking the beach spinning metals and getting salmon to 3kg. There aren’t too many freshwater reports To page 43

NSW South Coast

Big flush out for Tuross area a welcome relief MORUYA

Nick Toozoff

The Moruya River is still running a little dirty on the run-out tide, but it’s more tannin-stained than turbid. The mud and ash has been washed out, and the storm debris such as burnt logs and branches are either on the beach or floating From page 42

at the moment, but that should change in the coming month. • If you’re interested in learning more about micro jigging, there will be an informative talk

around in the ocean. The river is fishing quite well. Plenty of flathead and bream are being caught, particularly in the lower half of the river where you get more saline water. As the weeks pass the river will continue to clear up, provided we don’t get more significant rain events. There’s a lot of bait in the form of slimy mackerel

on the inshore reefs and around the headlands, and they’re quite large at around 25-35cm. This has attracted kingfish, a few of which have come up the river mouth chasing bait. The kingies are being caught on livebait, trolled hardbodies and jigged. These fish like a bit of run in the tide, so mid-tide is the best time to target them.

at Merimbula Compleat Angler & Camping World at 6:30pm on 21 April. The store has two levels of camping, fishing and kayaking equipment, and the knowledgeable staff are dedicated to providing

you with an enjoyable shopping experience, as well as saving you time and money. Drop in and see them at 3 Market St, Merimbula, or visit their online store at www. campfishkayak.com.au.

Staff member David Parker landed some nice salmon jigging off the beach.

Tuross had a really good flush out, and the main channel is running deep and strong at the moment. It was suffering from diminished flows before the fresh, but plenty of water is coming in and out of the system now. It’s running fairly tannin stained on an outgoing tide but is clearing up as the tide comes in. There are plenty of flathead being caught down the front, taking live baits such as poddy mullet, 3-7” soft plastics, or hardbodies either cast or trolled. Good numbers of bream and whiting are also being caught. The main beaches are fishing really well. Since the flush-out a lot of bream and whiting have moved out of the rivers onto the beaches, and are being taken on beachworms or pipis. All the good gutters are holding lots of fish. A lot of salmon turned up, and all the headlands and beaches are producing good numbers of fish around the 4kg mark. They are taking ganged pillies, metal slices and poppers, or you can try 4-5” soft plastics if you want to try something different.

You should retrieve the plastic a bit slower than you would a metal, with a slow to medium roll to get the tail working. Mix up the retrieve and find out what the fish want on the day. Any baitfish pattern is generally good, or if the water is dirty you can try a brighter colour. Offshore, plenty of flathead and snapper have been caught in recent weeks. If you want to try artificials, you can get good results on 4-6” soft plastics such as 6” Berkley Jiggin Grubs in nuclear chicken, white or pink shine. Early mornings and late evenings are better for snap, while the flathead can bite throughout the day. Out at the shelf the current still running fairly strong from the north which is bringing a lot of marlin down. There are still a lot of billfish being caught for those game crews that want to get out and chase them, and this should continue. There are still a few kingfish around too, particularly down around Montague. Bear in mind that the floods have created a few navigation hazards in the form of logs floating around,

so keep an eye out for the next couple of months. The good news is that the logs attract marine growth and baitfish, making them a drive-through takeaway for mahimahi. If the water is warm enough this month, these fish are a definite possibility. In the freshwater, the bass must be very happy to have increased flows back again. Unfortunately there was a bit of a fish kill as a result of the ash in the upper sections of the Clyde, Moruya and Tuross rivers, so they’ll take a little while to recover. From April, most of those bass fisheries will be closed for spawning, and the increased water flows will help the spawn run. It is recommend to let the bass spawn undisturbed, to help the populations to recover. • The team at Tackle World Moruya are all passionate local anglers who strive to provide the best service and advice on where to fish, what gear to use and the techniques best suited to different species. Drop in and see them on the corner of Ford and Queen Streets, give them a call on (02) 4474 4381 or visit www. gonefishinmoruya.com.au.

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Go Behind the Scenery

Tasmania

April is about sea monsters TASMANIA

Kelly Hunt

April is not for fools; it is a time to start thinking about big fish! Bluefin tuna and broadbill swordfish thicken during the colder months as the southerly winds bring cooler temperatures and even some snow. The words ‘barrel’ and ‘jumbo’ will get bandied about as people look to land the big one! Broadbill sword fishers are staring the screens off their devices this month, as they look for a suitable weather window to drop baits

to the depths. There is still a great deal to learn about these big, deep diving ocean brutes. To be successful you must plan thoroughly and spend a lot of time on the water. SWORDFISHING FOR BEGINNERS There seems to be a lot of discussion and carry on about breakaway sinkers and the like and all the varied ways in which people try to break them off at depth – that’s just plain painful. Your best bet is to head down to your local car wrecker and ask them for half a dozen starter motors. Tie them on with some 20lb mono, strip

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off 30m of line and send the whole lot to the bottom with the mono tied to the bottom gape of your big bait. With some good lights involved, you’ll get a lot of attention from swordfish in the area. If you have pulled up on a spot that yields good amount of blue-eye trevalla and other bottom fish like gemfish and rays bream (likely in 400m or more of water), you are well and truly on the money. Make sure you keep a keen eye on the line rate rolling off the rod tip and heading into the water. Quite often, these big brutes will have a good look and a couple of slaps at the bait on the way down. If you do notice something that doesn’t seem right, slow the bait dropping by putting some pressure on the reel drum with your fingers. Pull the whole show up to a stop and wait a little while and see what may be happening. This is much better than just hoping whatever is having a go hooks up as it chases it to the bottom. A stationary bait is going to supply a better chance of hook-up than one cascading to the bottom. The biggest mistake I see people make is not having the hook clear of the bait. The hooks are set into the bait with all but the point showing through. This is because people think that the point is the only thing to consider, but the gape is equally important in this process and even more so if you are using big circle hooks. A hook is at its most effective when the point is free of flesh and the gape is clear. The point of a hook only starts the process and a clear gape allows the hook to set deep and have the point clear the flesh of the jaw or encircle the jaw. The pressure of a bite can dislodge a big bait and have it jam up the gape of the hook and then you’re in trouble, as you need not only enough pressure on the hook to set it, but also enough to dislodge and force the bait in

the gape to set it properly. The best way to learn how to rig your bait correctly is to set your hook out in front of your bait. You can teach yourself how to do this at home and rig up a couple of baits at home where the pressure is off. You will need a couple of different size rigging hooks, some rigging thread and a small piece of stiff rubber tube. Research and watch tutorials online to find the exact and wellstructured process of rigging a bait. After you get your head around the advantages of why you are rigging that way, get cracking and rig a few of your own. It will take a little time and practice, but once you are finished you will have baits that have a much better chance of hooking that fish over 400m deep. The other big tip I can offer you is to drive off when you think you have been bit. You can wind up on the reel as hard and as fast as you like, but you will never come up tight as swiftly as driving off in gear and with the drag on strike tension. You will either miss the hook set or you will apply enough pressure for the hook to find a home in the fish. Once you have hooked a sword, it’s just like all big fish. Get settled and work through the pain of using muscles you may not have used in a long time. If you have a good deckie or first mate, let them bark orders at the skipper about boat position in regard to the line position in the water. If they are new to the game with little experience, then you will have to take on this roll. Work the fish over and let it know it is hooked early. You should have the harness on by now and using your body weight to sit on the fish. This won’t work if you have not wound all the line up tight and taken on some stretch of your mono top shot. If you do not have a good bend in the rod, you are wasting your time and the

Daniel Paul is no stranger to long fights with strong bluefin. fish is resting on you. The whole idea of the harness is to put maximum hurt on the fish using mechanical advantage that the harness provides. All too often, you see the harness being placed on poorly without any real idea as to how it works to give you significant advantage. You will need to hold your technique to conquer the fish. Squat in the harness and get a quarter wind on the fish and repeat. If the fish is dogging you deep, you need to sit on the fish and crank the pressure on it inch by inch. It’s a common misconception that you have to take three full winds of a handle every time. This leads to terrible technique and high sticking, which can

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APRIL 2020

Mason Paul and his son Daniel have their swordfish techniques down pat.

cause a hook to dislodge at a late stage in the game. Work steady and calmly and you will land your fish. Do not go to pieces when you sight the fish after a long battle. These fish like to come to the surface early but it will go back down and use every trick and every piscatorial muscle fibre to best you. This is why they are known as gladiators of the sea. JUMBO TUNA This is the trophy fish for most Tasmanians in April. SBT are even turning up well over the 150kg mark so we could even see the magic 200kg model this season. Anyone keen to boat the big one should make a solid plan of attack and up the gear load out accordingly, as fish of this size take a considerable amount of stopping power. Drag a full spread of footlong skirted lures and some bigger deeper divers. Have them attached to 200lb leader and 37kg mono top shot as a starting point. If you have some experience and are quite comfortable in your harness, you can fight with 60kg stand up. You will want to be fairly fit and happy to sit right down in the harness for full effect but it can be done. Remember as well that you don’t have to run full drag the whole time you are fighting the fish but it is there if you need it. With a bit of knowledge and dexterity, you To page 45

Go Behind the Scenery

Tasmania

Time to capitalise on the calm conditions HOBART

Andrew Large

Continued settled weather has allowed anglers to venture out in search of good fishing, in salt or freshwater. SALTWATER Hobart CBD, in particular the Tasman Bridge and Kangaroo Bluff areas, has been productive for yellowtail kingfish. These fish were a little slow to get going for the year but when they did, the action was on fire. Specimens of 70cm are quite big for southern Tasmania and a few of the recent Derwent captures have gotten close to this. Metal lures like the gold Halco Twisties in 55 and 70g have been the most effective. Snapper are on their usual autumn chew. Anglers have been using Black Magic Snapper Snacks in both the 3/0 and 5/0 sizes. The best areas seem to be around Betsy Island. The peninsula waters have yielded a bounty of tuna these past few weeks. Albacore have averaged 2-5kg, with fish to 23kg landed while SBT have been encountered on both the shelf and near coastal From page 44

don’t need to be afraid to use the lever. On a big fish, you can use that extra drag to pull a fish’s run speed down and have them fall over quite quickly. On 24kg, if they have their way they will run under strike drag and be able to get enough water speed to have heaps of water run through their gills, re-oxygenate and not tire as much. If you can have them expend a heap of

striped trumpeter caught recently on a Black Magic Snapper Snack. areas. No sign of jumbos just yet, but fish to 45kg have been taken in the vicinity of Fortescue Bay and Cape Pillar. Swordfish have been targeted successfully in peninsula waters as well. This

species has been a little slow, but rewards in 350m+ are there for persistent anglers. Australian salmon have been colossal along certain areas of the East Coast lately, with a 4.5kg model

muscle energy and slow the water over their gills you will knock them up fairly quickly. I used to think that there was nothing swimming in Tasmanian waters that 24kg couldn’t knock over and it was just a matter of time. Some 18+ hours later southeast of Tasman Island, I now know otherwise. I still have no idea of exactly what happened as we only ever sighted the fish from a fair way away and never up

close, but I would hope that fish was 150kg+ because pride would have me believe I otherwise could have taken it on. Long story short, that fish beat us and lived to take the fight up with someone else. Don’t let this happen to you. If you are looking to catch a monster bluefin, think big – big lures, big leader and 37kg line at least. Until next time, tight lines and good fishing!

the biggest I know of so far. This is great considering the state average is closer to 0.8kg – perhaps some WA stock took a wrong turn! Sand flathead have softened slightly in their feeding behaviour, testing anglers over the last few weeks. I’ve had great success recently trolling a 3m+ deep diving bibbed minnow. RMG Poltergeists are deadly in the 50mm size in the R19 colour. Reports of luderick in the SE have everyone talking. Multiple captures suggests that Tasmanian anglers have finally worked out the code and these fish can be targeted. This species does frequent southern estuaries but this is one of the first times these fish been taken with a certainty of technique. The Derwent River has been producing amazing black bream. The size has been down a little but bait, lure and fly fishers have all reported solid fishing in and around Otago Bay and Cadbury Point. FRESHWATER Spin and fly anglers have been fairing well at Woods Lake. Although the water level is low as it’s relied upon for summer irrigation, good fish have been caught, particularly along the river shore to the right of the boat ramp. Browns to 3kg have been landed recently. Autumn is one of the best times to fish Woods, as the water cools a little and allows fish to recover and feed freely after a warm summer. Lake Burbury is providing anglers with classical fishing at the moment. The rainbow trout surface feeding has to be seen to be believed. Those trolling have done well with brightly-coloured bibbed

lures that seem to work well in the tannin, tea-coloured water. Purples, blues and bright pinks have all been working well. Good brown trout do exist, but anglers venture here for wild, selfsustaining rainbow trout that average 1.3kg or better. Shortly I will venture to Lake Plimsoll with my NZ mate Kerry, whose dream it is to take a brook trout. Brook trout are only found in two waters in Tasmania. Technically a char not a trout, brookies are an all or nothing proposition and prefer a bit

of wilder weather to get them going. We’re going to what’s known as the ‘thousand cast lake’ and we have been told fish are few and far between, but if we do lock onto one it could well be over 3kg. In short, make the most of autumn. Tasmania’s summer species only arrived a short time ago due to lower than usual water temperatures. It won’t be long before the cooler weather sets in, when certain northern species will move away while local species will simply turn off.

This brightly coloured calamari was taken from the SE.

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Metres from full

Comment

Trevallyn Pond..................................4.06........................................................Steady Lake Mackenzie................................4.18........................................................Steady Lake Rowallan..................................7.12........................................................Steady Lake Parangana................................1.86........................................................Steady Lake Cethana....................................1.54........................................................Steady Lake Barrington................................1.49........................................................Steady Lake Gairdner...................................0.00.......................................................Spilling Lake Paloona....................................1.85........................................................Steady Lake Augusta....................................0.63........................................................Steady Arthurs Lake.....................................2.42........................................................Steady Great Lake........................................14.24......................................................Steady Little Pine Lagoon.............................0.76........................................................Steady Shannon Lagoon...............................0.10........................................................Steady Penstock Lagoon..............................0.15........................................................Steady Woods Lake......................................1.13........................................................Steady Lake St Clair.....................................1.73........................................................Steady Lake King William.............................2.92........................................................Steady Lake Echo.........................................8.27........................................................Steady

Dee Lagoon.......................................0.00.......................................................Spilling Pine Tier Lagoon...............................2.05........................................................Steady Bronte Lagoon..................................0.83........................................................Steady Bradys/Binneys/Tungatinah..............1.91........................................................Steady Laughing Jack Lagoon.....................5.08........................................................Steady Lake Liapootah.................................0.04........................................................Steady Wayatinah Lagoon............................0.56........................................................Steady Lake Catagunya................................0.92........................................................Steady Lake Repulse....................................2.73........................................................Steady Cluny Lagoon....................................2.18........................................................Steady Meadowbank Lake...........................0.00.......................................................Spilling Lake Burbury....................................8.93........................................................Steady Lake Margaret..................................4.58........................................................Steady Whitespur Pond................................7.82........................................................Steady Lake Newton.....................................4.96........................................................Steady Lake Plimsoll....................................3.72........................................................Steady Lake Murchison................................14.75......................................................Steady Lake Mackintosh..............................3.24........................................................Steady Lake Rosebery..................................0.73........................................................Steady Lake Pieman.....................................1.59........................................................Steady Lake Pedder......................................1.42........................................................Steady Lake Gordon.....................................21.55......................................................Steady

These levels are provided for an indication of lake level only and can vary from day to day. For more up-to-date lake level information please visit www.hydro.com.au/home/Tourism+and+Recreation/Lake+Levels.htm APRIL 2020

Considering camouflage for fly visibility CANBERRA

Richard Barnsley

Back in my university days, I spent a few years with an Army Reserve unit in northern New South Wales. One of our Assault Trooper training courses spent a lot of time on personal camouflage and using it to the infantry soldier’s advantage. There were a number of consistent principles in the art of concealment, which involved Shine, Spacing, Silhouette, Shape and Speed. The underlying theory was that by keeping these elements as natural as possible, detection was minimised. By thinking of these factors, the soldier could to the best of their ability remain undetected. While walking the hound recently, it struck me that as fly anglers we try to reverse these principles when selecting something to

tie to the end of the tippet. Generally, we want our imitation to look as natural as possible but we definitely want the fish to detect it – the opposite of good camouflage. SHINE Shine is an interesting concept in fly design and selection. The old adage of ‘bright fly, bright days and dull fly, dull days’ is a pretty good rule of thumb. In hard-fished waters, you generally want to refrain from any unnatural imitation. Bright, flashy flies are often refused where fish see plenty of imitations and become quite selective for more natural offerings. However, some naturals do have an element of shine. The outer casing of nymphs and the ‘air bubble’ often associated imparts an element of brightness, which you can imitate by the addition of glass beads or flashback tapes. SPACING I tend to think of spacing in the fly angling sense as

leader length. Selecting the correct leader length is critical and the nuances required result from many years of experience. As a rule of thumb, a rod length is the minimum standard. Clear waters and selective fish often call for much longer, finesse leader and the inherent casting adjustments to lay out long lines neatly. Czech nymphing and heavy flies will call for leader lengths often shorter than traditionally selected. In difficult, windy or tight water conditions, much shorter leader will greatly assist casting. When I used to guide, the rule for my clients was that one accurate, well placed cast will always beat half a dozen errant deliveries. If need be, forgo long leader for easier to handle lengths and make a good shot when conditions demand. SILHOUETTE AND SHAPE For fly silhouettes, you’re generally attempting

Dark, bulky flies are an excellent option to increase detection in low light conditions.

to imitate the natural option as closely as possible. However, you can enhance the silhouette by tying the patterns in darker colours and weighting them so that they ride higher in the water column. The choice of fly colour for subsurface patterns is interesting. Generally the deeper in the water column, the less light there is and this impacts the detection of a pattern. Reds, greens and yellows are the first colours to disappear from increased water depth. Black and purple colourations are the boldest outline in deeper water. Consider fly colouration in particularly deep conditions. In some situations, this may be no deeper than 2-3m for colouration shifts. However, in certain circumstances bulkier ties or extensions to the natural shape can improve this. Borger’s ‘High Rider’ dun patterns are an interesting example. Naturally tied mayfly duns are given an elongated wing post which under water refraction allow fish, in this instance clear water trout, to spot the fly at increased distances. In dirty or dark water, exaggerating the form of the natural within the fly pattern can often increase detection by fish. Bulky patterns such as the Montana and Bitch Creek nymphs aren’t the always go-to imitations, but they will often turn around an unproductive day. SPEED Speed is also important to consider. Natural drifts are the first consideration and the use of various casts to impart slack line and reduce drag can be critical. Tweaking the natural drift

Even bead colouration is important when selecting a fly. Bright beads can enhance strikes but can also put fish down, especially in hard-fished waters. can often induce a strike. Mike Spry’s ‘upstream flutter’ is a classic example. On heavy caddis days, the naturals dip and hop to lay their eggs and a natural drift of the adult dry imitation only gets occasional takes. Spry developed the tactic of using a tight line, essentially bobbing the dry imitation on the water surface during the downstream drift and his strike rates increased. Similarly, we can manipulate fly speed during the drift with subsurface presentations. In midstream pocket water, trout will often lie adjacent to boulders and use either pressure waves or the rear slack water to hold position. These are often not feeding lies and it can be hard to induce a take.

Weighted flies and short line techniques allow you to ‘hold’ a fly in these positions and target such fish. In essence, you ‘slow’ the drift rate through line control. Alternatively you can cast across stream so that the imitation swings across the leading edge of the fish’s holding position. In this instance, you don’t slow the drift rate but instead angle it across rather than through the trout lie. The principles of camouflage were designed to reduce a soldier’s detection, but you can enhance them to highlight the detection of your fly patterns. It’s not hard to cast a fly but it is harder to fish it. Consider it the next time you’re on the bank!

FISHING NEWS

OzFish re-snagging the lower Murray River

Native fish will soon have more areas to rest, shelter, breed and feed thanks to a re-snagging project in the Murray River by recreational fishing conservation group, OzFish Unlimited. Dozens of snags of various shapes have been placed into the Red Cliffs reach of the lower Murray, restoring a stretch of habitat more than 1.5km long. The location was determined based on mapping work done by the local OzFish members, which highlighted areas of the river lacking snags and in need of restoration. CEO and Founder of OzFish, Craig Copeland was excited about the completion of the project but said more work needs to be done. “Snags play such a 46

APRIL 2020

major role in our native fish life cycle,” Craig explained. “Fish use snags to stop and rest from fast flows and as a place to breed and shelter. They also provide a great source of food. With hundreds of thousands of snags removed in years gone by, re-snagging will prove to be a winner for fish and fishing.” A long-term study by scientists from the Arthur Rylah Institute found that re-snagging provided a threefold increase in native fish when a reach of the Murray River was re-snagged. The OzFish Project Manager for the MurrayDarling Basin, Braeden Lampard, has been heavily involved in the project. He was recently awarded the Most Successful Future Leader Graduate by the Recreational Fishing Foundation in Hobart,

but his true passion lies in community education. “By engaging the public, we hope that the communities can learn the benefits of re-snagging and fish habitat, and that is why projects like this are extremely important for our native fishery,” Mr Lampard said. The restored fish habitat will be regularly monitored by the Sunraysia OzFish members to observe fish life around the structure, and to ensure that the snags have settled into place correctly. The project has been funded by the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust Western Local Land Services and OzFish corporate partner BCF. For more information or to make a donation visit www.ozfish. org.au. - OzFish

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APRIL 2020

Trout

Why you should target Victorian trout in April bits of raw carrot. They will get their fluids from the carrot so they can stay alive for quite a long time like this, provided they do not get too hot. With this many reasons to love trout fishing in April, I am excited just thinking about it! TECHNIQUE With a lot of crickets still in the environment, live crickets are dynamite trout bait in April, particularly the first half of April. It’s the same story with grasshoppers; because they already exist in the system at this time, they make excellent bait. Unless we get a deluge of rain, saturating the ground with water, it will be pointless trout fishing with worms in April

WANGARATTA

Robbie Alexander

April is one of my favourite times of the year to fish for trout. For starters, the player comfort level is so much better this month. Mild April days in North East Victoria are absolutely beautiful – they’re not too hot and not too cold, though the mornings can start off on the cool side. During the heat of summer, the water in many streams in North East Victoria gets quite warm, and outside the trout’s comfort level. When this happens, trout often go off the bite and sit still while hiding under ledges and debris to conserve energy. This is not a problem in April, as the water has started to cool down. The trout are usually very hungry from losing their

A typical small trout stream in April. season in the Victorian trout world, even though the Big Bash finished two months earlier. Late March and

For spinners, a black Celta or Super Vibrax will be a great place to start. Even a black Rooster Tail can be a solid choice. However, rules are made to be broken. Your black spinner might find itself feeling worthless on the day, getting no love from the trout. If that is the case, try something different like a grasshopper coloured bladed spinner; Wordens Rooster Tails come in some excellent grasshopper colours. Tassie Devil lures have just brought out spoons and spinners and some of the spinners like the Tassie Blades replicate grasshopper colours very well. Towards the end of the month, try switching to more fluorescent coloured

early April seems to be the peak of the cricket season. If you are wanting to fish with live crickets, the

With a lot of crickets in the environment this month, it’s no surprise that small black soft plastics work so well.

A lovely Kiewa River brown trout caught on a fluorescent soft plastic. appetite in summer, and also trying to put on as much condition as possible before they spawn from late May onwards. Trout, particularly brown trout, like to move out of their regular habitat and swim upstream to spawn during April. What this means is that the big wary trout that hide all spring and summer in deep, inaccessible places are often more easily caught, as they pass through more accessible areas on their way upstream. April usually puts on a smorgasbord of food for the trout. There are the usual tiny bugs, insects and ants, as well as plenty of grasshoppers and one of my favourites, crickets. March and April is cricket 48

APRIL 2020

best time to catch them is at night on warm autumn nights under streetlights. Catch them and put them in a plastic container with some cardboard (bits of egg cartons work well) and something juicy like a few

A small Kiewa River brown trout.

Brenton Richardson fishes the Kiewa River.

because they’re not there. You might catch one or two trout, but they are definitely not the best bait to use at the driest time of year. As far as lures go, I just love small black things that look like crickets, and nothing does that better than a black Strike Tiger nymph. There are many different black colour variations but any will do.

lures. Brown trout tend to get quite aggressive towards really bright coloured lures later in the season as they prepare to spawn. Whether this is because trout eat the eggs of other trout (which are usually orange) or because they see the bright colours as a threat to their spawning, I honestly do not know. For whatever reason, every year without

Trout

Brett with a small stream brown trout caught on a bladed spinner. fail, as soon as trout in the streams stop hitting black lures, they start getting aggressive towards fluorescent colours. Minnows will also work well in April. As the water is often lower, keeping them off the bottom can be a bit of a problem in the

it will hit the larger lure out of aggression. This can also be a frustrating time as the larger trout will often follow your oversized lure and not hit it. When this happens, try pausing your lure, keeping it in the fish’s face. Think about it – if someone invaded your home and you tried to chase them out but they weren’t leaving, eventually you would probably try to physically push them out too. So, if the trout follow… Pause your lure. LOCATION The summer bushfires have left some waterways in pretty bad shape, so here are some areas to try in April. Some may have been partly affected but not totally destroyed, so they will still be worth investigating. There may be more not listed but these are the ones that I know have been fishing well and

by bushfires) • Big River (the one upstream of Mitta Mitta River and the one upstream of Lake Eildon)

• Cudgewa Creek • Cobungra River • Bundara River CONCLUSION Good luck to everybody

shallow areas, but as long as there’s no slime on the hooks the trout will still hit them. Small minnows are a very consistent lure and they work well all year round, even in the lakes during winter. Whether you’re fishing in April or September, when all else Brett Corker works a lure in a small North East Victorian stream.

Small black soft plastics are dynamite when trout fishing in April.

Small minnows are one of the most consistent types of trout lures as they catch fish all season.

• Kiewa River, upstream of Dederang • Snowy Creek, upstream of Mitta Mitta township • Delatite River • Howqua River Avoid these areas for

heading out trout fishing and I hope you find this guide useful. Remember that fishing is fishing and things do not always go to plan. One of the golden rules of any form of trout

fails it is always worth trying a minnow. Later in April as the trout start getting cranky and hitting fluorescent lures, they will also start to hit much larger lures. Huge big long minnows can pose a threat to a territorial male trout and

Small tributary streams can be great places to target trout, as many of the larger trout swim upstream to spawn. How much autumn rain we get will determine how well they can move around.

Fluorescent orange lures like this Strike Tiger nymph in orange spawn can be deadly in autumn.

have good public access: • King River, upstream of Lake William Hovell • Ovens River, upstream of Bright • Mitta Mitta River, upstream and downstream of Lake Dartmouth (upstream is partly affected

now as they have been badly burnt out. They will recover in time but may not be in the best shape at the moment: • Buckland River • Buffalo River • Nariel Creek • Corryong Creek

fishing is to make changes if something isn’t working. If what you’re doing is not catching fish, then the worst thing you can do is to keep doing it. You should always be open to changing your lure, your bait or even your location. APRIL 2020

Make the most of Murrumbidgee WAGGA WAGGA

Rhys Creed

We’ve arrived at my favourite time to be out on the water and fishing in the region. Not only do we have the best weather during this month, we also have some of the best fishing conditions – especially along the Murrumbidgee River. MURRUMBIDGEE RIVER During this month, the river will start to drop due to less demand for irrigation flows. This will expose more snags, the water will slow down and overall the fishing will improve. We were lucky enough to receive some good rain in February and early March, which helped our starving waterways after a

Plenty of by-catch trout cod are caught around Wagga Wagga at this time of year. TUMUT RIVER With the drop in flows, April is a cracker of a time to walk the banks of the Tumut and spin for trout.

Bailey caught a solid Murrumbidgee River cod on a Strike Force 80mm Cod Stalker.

Big logs will start to become exposed as the water levels drop during April. long period of little rainfall. Some of this rainfall came from heavy storm downpours, which caused the river to run extremely dirty for the past few months. If we do continue to receive this kind of rain into April it could make lure fishing a little tough, so be sure to plan your trips for two weeks after any heavy rain in the area. It doesn’t hurt for the water to have a little colour in the Murrumbidgee, as this helps give fish confidence, but the general rule of thumb is the clearer the better, especially at this time of year. The go-to technique is to cast both spinnerbaits and hardbodies at the exposed timber. If you’re chasing good quality fish, target the larger logs and big structure in deep holes. I love using a standard 5/8oz spinnerbait and sometimes upgrade to a bigger plastic with a stinger hook. All colours will work, but anything natural is always a winner and I also like running purple 50

APRIL 2020

and chartreuse when the fish are active. The river will fish well right from below Burrinjuck through to Hay and even further. Bait fishing is also a top

technique and will catch you plenty of fish. This is the time of year to be out there, spending time with family and even camping along the river over Easter.

Quality rainbow trout are common during a session on the Tumut River.

Tallis Cotterill took this little cod on a 90mm AC Invader early in the morning along the Murrumbidgee River.

Walking anywhere in the township of Tumut, out at Brungle Bridge or even up towards the dam wall is a great option. The fish will feed all day and all lures will work. If you’re targeting larger fish, use 5-6cm paddle-tail soft plastics. The Berkley Powerbait T-Tail on a 1/8oz head with a #2 hook is my go-to. Fish this down into the deeper holes once the sun gets up, as this is where the larger browns will lie in wait. Cast it up into the flowing water and wind it back in with a medium paced retrieve. Other great options are small minor hardbodies like the Rapala CD5 or the Ecogear Minnow. Spinners work really well, especially over the shallow sections. It’s also worth having some

metals in your box. OLD MAN CREEK Old Man Creek is not as popular at this time of year but it’s still worth considering. The fish will be active in the creek and will take a wide range of lures at this time of year, including topwater lures. The creek usually fishes really well over the next few months, especially larger cod. There is a strong population of 80cm+ cod in the creek and now is the best time to try and fool one. Casting any paddler surface lure in low light periods, spinnerbaits tight to the cover and hardbodies across the creek will be the best options. Smaller lures will give you a chance of hooking good numbers in a session. To page 51

Anglers are striking warm weather gold ROBINVALE

Rod Mackenzie codmac@bigpond.net.au

Golden perch, also known as yellowbelly or callop in South Australia, are a favourite catch for anglers during the warmer months of the year. Over recent weeks these fish have been

biting quite well in many of our local waters on a variety of different baits and lures. There is a lot to like about golden perch. Other than the fact they look quite good, they are a first rate eating fish that can be cooked whole or filleted, depending on your tastes. They also fight well and

at times are relatively easy to catch. In the Lakes and channels around Swan Hill anglers using both bait and lures have pried a few perch from the water, and among them have been some solid little nuggets. Most of the perch captured of late are up around 45cm+, with a few 50cm+

Robinvale angler Dane Geran with a solid golden perch caught casting a small minnow-styled lure.

Jamie Stewart with a good sized perch on a StumpJumper lure taken on the troll.

models stretching the mat and are in great condition. The Murray River at Swan Hill has also been fishing well for perch, with just the odd cod muscling in on the action. Golden perch can be caught either land-based

perch takes the bait. Don’t be in a hurry to strike; instead, wait for the rod tip to dip down under even weight. This signals that the perch has grabbed the bait and is not just picking at it. Remember you are amongst the snags, so

baits of shrimp and worm that present plenty of fishattracting odour in the current. Once again, do not strike at the fish when they are simply picking the bait. Be patient and wait for full, even weight as the rod tip slowly bends over.

From page 50

BLOWERING DAM Blowering Dam will be in its transition from warm weather tactics to big winter fish. Late April and into May is when you should start planning your trips to Blowering to chase trophy fish. Big cod most likely won’t be on the flats through most of April, but they will be starting to move around and feed up before the first cold snap. The smaller fish will be feeding really well before their ‘winter hibernation’. BEST SPOT You really can’t go past the Murrumbidgee River this month. It’s the best time of year as the fish are hungry and at their most active, the water is low and the big fish are coming out to play. Get out there and enjoy the incredible fishing.

Jamie caught this nice-sized Murray cod on the same lure on the very next pass. The No 1 StumpJumper is a great lure for native fish. Releasing a Murray cod carefully.

Hardbodies are very productive in the Murrumbidgee River this month.

or from a boat, and are generally found close to structure such as timber or rock, and along the edge of current lines and back eddies. These fish will often hold in good numbers so where there is one there are generally more. If you are fishing from a boat, bobbing amongst the snags is one of the best techniques used to target these fish. It’s a great way to fish for perch and is very hands-on as you slowly work the bait along the logs, searching out a bite. Just pin a single shrimp or small yabby on the hook, lower it to the bottom and slowly lift it up and down amongst the logs until a

good pressure is required to persuade the fish to leave the structure. Of course, other species will also be caught in this manner. Sometimes a carp will take the bait, and then there are those explosive takes from large Murray cod that usually result in the need to re-rig a new hook and sinker. If you don’t have a boat and are confined to the bank, there are still plenty of opportunities to catch these fish. Look for areas of backwater that contain snags, and cast your baits close to the timber or along the edge of the eddy line. For stationary bait fishing I like to use cocktailed

The perch bite has been good most of the way along the Murray through Robinvale, Wemen and on to Mildura. Local fishing identity Kym Sykes says anglers trolling lures along the Murray, both above and below the loch at Mildura, are catching good numbers of perch up to 50cm. A few large Murray cod have also been amongst the catch, with the biggest measuring 103cm. As we roll towards the cooler weather the Murray cod should start to come back on the chew, and we will no doubt be hearing some great reports from back up this way over the coming months. APRIL 2020

You win some, you lose some at Mulwala YARRAWONGA

Tony Bennett codclassic@bigpond.com

Mulwala, Mulwala, Mulwala! The place that can bring you so much joy one day, but leaves you

Still, the lake has been offering up some mighty rewards to those who are putting in the time and effort. As usual, all methods have been producing fish, from trolling deep diving lures through to casting surface and sub-surface lures.

casting a Bassman Aussie Crawler surface lure. Not far behind was Anthony Nativo, who pulled a 120cm off the bank while fishing with cheese. The next biggun was probably the most unlucky cod of all, as it was caught by yours truly on

his name, added a 113cm specimen while fishing off the bank out near Kyffins. Many other impressive Murray cod catches have been reported, like Nick ‘Gambie’ Gamble with a 101cm model. All in all, this shows that if you’re fishing Mulwala, you are in with a chance of tangling with an iconic Aussie legend.

Quality cod have also been taken downstream in the river between Ya r r a w o n g a and Cobrawonga. Kevin and Wendy Brooks reported cod well over the metre mark. If you can find where they are fishing, you will certainly be close to the action. The recent Humminbird Da$h 4 Ca$h Super Series

proved to be a hit, with 81 teams competing and 60 legal-sized cod captured, photographed and released over the weekend. Kyle Dalrymple and Paul Healy were the winners of session one, Ian and Matt Rogers took out session two, and Mathew Trafford and Brett Collins took out the big cash on the Sunday morning.

Time to catch cod ALBURY/WODONGA

Connor Heir

April is my favourite month of the year to target our iconic Murray cod. With the leaves soon dropping, and the days starting to get a little bit

cooler, April to the end of autumn is generally our last chance to target the numbers for the season. Over the past few years, April has been an absolute standout month for me when it comes to catching numbers of cod, and in various areas. It’s not too hot, nor too cold and

awesome numbers of fish. At times I’ve had sessions where I’ve reached double digits, which is awesome for some areas when you’re targeting cod. I have been using different lure sizes and types, which can make the world of difference to your

Craig Stephen caught an 116.7cm monster during the Humminbird Da$h 4 Ca$h. scratching your head the next, wondering where you went wrong. If we only had a talking fish to tell us when, where and why they were going to bite, it would be so much easier! This season has been hit-and-miss; some anglers have been producing fish on a consistent basis while other good fishers are struggling to turn a scale. To put an exact finger on what could be switching them on and off would only be guessing, as it could be a myriad of things.

Whether using spinnerbaits, hardbodies, surface lures or swimbaits, stick to what you are confident with, as you will tend to fish better and results will come. There is no right or wrong technique and that is proven by the many and various reports we get. While it may sound like it has been all tough fishing, there have been some monsters caught recently that any other cod fisher would be jealous of. Jordy Harmon landed an amazing 126cm cod while

a cast Bassman Mumbler! Measuring a superb 118.5cm, it was enough to help take out the prestigious Gary Marsh Challenge Challenge Invitational. Isaac McDonald’s cod was only a whisker smaller at 117cm, and was taken off the surface on an Aussie Crawler. Renowned gun fisho Craig Stephen has been at it again, boating a 116.7cm cod while competing in the Humminbird Da$h 4 Ca$h. Peter Szitas, another angler with plenty of big cod to

This fish was found holding tight to structure so a spinnerbait was the ammunition needed to catch it. the water temperatures are usually pretty good. In the past few years, the majority of the fishing I have done has been on foot, and still I have seen

catch rates if it’s approached correctly. Giving different lures a crack builds your confidence in other styles of lures, which will

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APRIL 2020

A confidence lure can be good to use during a tough bite.

To page 53

Fantastic end to river trout fishing season SNOWY MOUNTAINS

Anthony Bentley

Autumn is my favourite time of the year to fish. With so many options available at this time of year, it’s hard to know where to start. We have had plenty of rainfall over the past few weeks, so it’s set to be a fantastic end to river trout fishing season. The Thredbo River has really started to fire up in the past month. With solid rainfalls, the river has had a good flush and is in very good condition. There’s still plenty of dry fly fishing to be had. Mayflies and caddis flies are the dominate insect life, with the last of the hoppers From page 52

help you improve your fishing experiences, and understand where and when to use certain lures. Some lures have a better profile compared to others, or they will get to the correct depth to be in the fish’s face rather than just out of reach. An example of this can be seen in flowing water. Sometimes a floating

still making an appearance, although they will dwindle off quite quickly as the month progresses. The go-to patterns will include Parachute Adams, Klinkhammers, Elk Hair Caddis, and most Hairwing mayfly imitations around the 14-16 sizes. Fishing below the surface with Woolly Buggers thrown up into the whitewater and slowly drifted back and across the current has been working quite well, especially on those frisky rainbow trout keen to pounce on anything that get in their zone. Brighter colours will work better as we get in to the later part of the month and the brown trout start their annual pilgrimage to their

spawning beds. In the meantime, river fishing during the day should be the most productive it has been in many months. Nymphing the higher river flows and deeper water is something that should be considered, as the days become cooler and there is less surface activity. A double nymph rig with the heavier fly tied above a smaller weighted nymph is the best way of searching out those sub-surface feeders. Hare and Copper, Pheasant Tail Nymphs and Tungsten Death Metals will work well in natural colours for clear flow and brighter colours for those higher water days. Lake Jindabyne is fishing a little better than

correctly, I’ll throw a sub-surface or surface lure on to work over the whole structure. It’s dangerous to do as the fish will most likely snag you up in the structure, but you need to get the bite first before you can worry about landing a fish! These sort of snags are the perfect cod habitat, and the cod love them. Yes, you will definitely lose fish doing this, and sometimes

very appreciated. And as for the ash run-off being dumped into waterways from recent rains, some decent amounts of fish have been killed but it hasn’t been too severe. Fellow fishos have told me that fish are still in these areas, which is absolutely fantastic news. Yes, a fish kill is always a very sad thing to happen, but at least whole fisheries haven’t

last month, even though the lake levels have fluctuated quite a bit over the last month or so. Shore-based fishing is still best done in the early mornings or later in the afternoon, although there will be some good sight fishing during the

baitfish. Night is the best time for baitfish patterns around the edges. Lake Eucumbene is fishing reasonably well. The levels of the lake have been low albeit stable, allowing some good vegetation to establish around the richer

and camping options. The Mowamba River is fishing okay from the bridge on the Barry Way right up to Big Yard Road and beyond. The summer drought and heat really hasn’t been very kind to the Mowamba, but if you

The end of the river trout fishing is set to be excellent. cooler, sunnier days when the larger brown trout come in close looking for an easy meal. Searching patterns below the surface like Woolly Bugger and Killer patterns are always worth pulling through the deeper water around structure and log jams. When sight fishing at this time of year, I like to use a small Damselfly Nymph around size 12-14 in either dark green or black. As the weather becomes a little cooler towards the later part of the month, we should start seeing schools of crucian carp coming in close to the edge in quite large schools and the big brown trout just love them. A larger Killer pattern such as a Hamills Killer or Mrs Simpson in sizes 4-6 is a great imitation for these

soiled areas, which has in turn promoted some good insect life. There are still some fire-affected areas surrounding Lake Eucumbene, so please exercise some caution if going off the beaten track. The higher streams around Perisher are still worth having a look at. Although the dry fishing is becoming a little slower, the prospects of surface fishing are still very good. A couple of noteworthy places to have a look at are Rainbow Lake and Island Bend Pondage, as well as Guthega Pondage. These higher alpine bodies of water have been fishing great all season long and have not been affected by the heat of summer or the fires. They also offer some very family-friendly fishing

are patient and careful you can still find some good quality fish tucked up under the bank. The warmer, more humid days will be the ones to fish this river, as there will be more insect life to entice the fish to the surface. • We are always happy to give advice on what gear to use and where to go. High Country Outfitters has the best range of flyfishing gear in the Snowy Mountains, and with over 30 years under our belts, we know our trout fishing! For all the latest information on what’s biting and where, drop into the store at Nuggets Crossing Shopping Centre, Jindabyne. You can also call on (02) 6456 2989, like us on Facebook or check out the website at highfly.com.au.

n Trout Hatchery e d a G

lure such as a diving lure won’t always get into the zone as effectively as, say, a spinnerbait will – depending on how you work your lures and the weight of the sinking lure. Yes, both will absolutely work, but sometimes you really need to put your lure as close as possible to the fish’s face to force that strike. Often the closer you can work the structure, the better. Snagging up will happen, but it’s part of the game. Sometimes if there’s a snag that looks like it holds fish, but appears to be very hard to work

lures, which is why most anglers avoid it. However, if you are brave and work the hairy stuff, you’ll find that it usually fishes the best. In last month’s article I touched on recent bushfires and ash run-off into the water systems. The great news is that these fires are no longer live, and regrowth has begun. Affected communities have pulled together and have remained strong, and slowly things are going back to normal. It’s been amazing to see the tremendous amount of help from so many people to support the affected areas, and the support has been

been wiped out. It’s still very much worth giving a crack, and at the end of the day you don’t know until you try, so give it a go! I know I’ll be making the most of every chance I get to fish over this month, as it is my favourite time of year to fish, both on foot and by boat. I’ll be trying a few new approaches to increase my understanding of these fish, but I’ll also use proven techniques that continue to work time and time again. I wish everyone the best of luck, and I hope to see you on the water. Tight lines!

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Options after the bushfires WANGARATTA

Robbie Alexander

Summer was not the best season for any type of fishing in North East Victoria. Bushfires restricted access to many trout streams, extreme heat shut Murray cod down in many areas and then torrential rain washed a lot of bushfire debris into the waterways, choking several systems and causing fish kills in some areas. Plus, there’s the ongoing drought… things can only get better in autumn! MURRAY COD Severe thunderstorms dumped huge amounts of rainfall across parts of the burnt areas, which sent a lot of absolutely putrid water down the Ovens River. At the end of summer, the Ovens River looked exactly the same colour as a glass of iced coffee. Because of this, it will be almost impossible to predict just how the fishing will be in April.

This small redfin took a liking to the new Tassie Blade spinner. Lake Buffalo and Lake William Hovell are the best places to fish for redfin this month.

The Ovens River at the end of summer was very low and very slow to push the bushfire sludge through. My advice to anybody planning on a trip to fish the Ovens River this month is to call Adventure Camping and Fishing in Wangaratta first to check river conditions and be prepared to fish the King

up and down under the boat. Small yabbies are ideal bait for redfin. Worms work well too, but I prefer tiny yabbies. Live shrimp work very well if you can find some.

but the news is not all bad. Trout are a much more resilient fish than most people give them credit for and a trout fishery can recover in a couple of years if conditions are right. Plus,

If it is windy, try trolling small deep diving lures until you locate the fish. Once you find a school, drop the anchor and fish in that spot. Soft plastics are invaluable for this type of

While it hasn’t been the best Murray cod fishing in Wangaratta lately, the author managed to catch a few including this one caught on a Damiki Brute 70.

April is a great time to target redfin in the Ovens River catchment. This one fell to the new Tassie Spoon. Thankfully, the King River catchment was largely spared from the bushfires. During April, Murray cod fishing in the King River can be very hit-and-miss. It can turn on some red-hot Murray cod fishing but it can also be very slow. It’s all about timing, and knowing exactly when the cod are going to bite is almost impossible. Pay attention to the barometer, the water levels and general weather stability. A stable high barometer with good water conditions is likely going to be the best time to hit the water. All the usual types of lures such as diving lures, spinnerbaits and surface lures will be worth trying. I like bait fishing in April and tend to do well using cheese as bait. 54

APRIL 2020

River if the Ovens is too dirty. Fingers crossed that the dirty water problem settles quickly. REDFIN April is possibly the best time of year to target redfin in the two main impoundments in the Ovens River catchment. Lake Buffalo and Lake William Hovell both fish well for redfin plus larger fish tend to turn up this month. Try drifting if it’s not too windy or bouncing a heavy lure off the bottom. Soft plastic, ice jig or lipless crankbait – whatever lure you choose, as long as it moves redfin will hit it. Once you catch a couple of fish in the one spot, drop the anchor. Redfin are a schooling fish, so where there’s one there are often many more.

fishing. Something like a 2-3” curl tail grub with a heavy jighead of at least 5g will work well bobbed

TROUT The drought and bushfires have taken their toll on the region’s trout

Brett Corker caught this well coloured small Murray cod on a Codger surface lure a day or two before the dirty water arrived.

not all of the region’s trout streams were burnt out. The Buckland and Buffalo valleys were heavily burnt but everywhere else is fine. The Ovens River upstream of Bright will be a fantastic place to chase trout this autumn. It had a decent flow of water all summer and was not affected by bushfires. Similarly, the King River upstream of Lake William Hovell had no real fire activity and maintained a good flow. Those two areas will be the best spots to target trout. I love to use black lures in April. A black Strike Tiger nymph can be dynamite, particularly around the start of the month as there are usually still a lot of crickets in the environment. Towards the end of the month fluorescent colours normally work very well, as trout get a bit cranky when they prepare to spawn, hitting brightly coloured lures out of aggression.

Murray cod and trout are what it’s all about what the cormorants do by arriving just after the feeding to pick off the baitfish that have schooled on the banks as a result of the hungry Murray cod. Towards the end of May, the banks on the eastern side of the Jerusalem Creek Arm will fish well as the larger baitfish take cover in the many laydowns within that

EILDON

Peter Burtchell

The dates are official – the Lake Eildon Fishing Challenge will be held on 15-17 May at Jerusalem Creek Marina and Holiday Park. The organisers have been chipping away over the past nine months to ensure the 2020 family friendly competition is another successful one. Registration will be announced in the near future. The charity event is now in its fourth year with last year’s entry raffle being a boat, motor and railer package. It will be great to see some returning familiar faces, but the big question is whether a fresh bait or a lure will catch the largest Murray cod! Rod Cousins had a great time fishing the Goulburn River while staying at the

Paul caught this 92cm Murray cod.

Last year’s winner of the 2019 Lake Eildon Fishing Challenge boat package. Eildon Pondage Caravan Park. He had landed some rainbow and brown trout with two of his best specimens weighing in at a combined 4.5kg. Trout in the pondage are caught all year round and take PowerBait, spinners, worms and flies just to name a few. If you are fishing the pondage at Eildon, drop into Eildon Bait and Tackle. Craig can update you on the latest news when it comes to when and where the best spots for fishing the pondage and rivers around Eildon. The Mansfield Hunting and Fishing Zone gave us the heads up that yellowbelly were running up the Mansfield end of the lake but were being landed in deeper water. The numbers of tourists visiting the area are down, as many of the tracks and roads to the headwaters of the King, Howqua and Jamieson rivers have been

join the following Facebook pages: Lake Eildon Fishing Challenge for the Lake Eildon Fishing Challenge; Lake Eildon Cod Masters for the Lake Eildon Cod Masters; Central Vic Lure Casters Super Series for the Lake Eildon Round; Lake Eildon Big Fish Challenge for the Lake Eildon Big

closed since bushfires passed through the area. Hopefully fishing tourists will return soon and we’ll hear more reports of trophy catches as the fish are still there. Murray cod have been caught in good numbers in the deepest parts of Lake Eildon. Lucky fisher Paul landed and released two nice Murray cod from the wall while flicking a purple spinnerbait during his morning session. During early March, a large mob of cormorants began to return to the Jerusalem Creek Arm like clockwork to hunt the many schools of baitfish held up against the shallow western points. There will be quite a few large Murray cod caught around these points during April and May as fishers target Murray cod during the start of their midday feeding, similar to

Rod Cousins scored this 4.5kg rainbow and brown trout haul. area. One of the best places to launch an attack on the marauding midday feeding Murray cod is from one of the boatels right on top of and next to the action that are available for short or long term rent in the Jerusalem Creek Arm. • A big year is planned for Lake Eildon with a multitude of fishing events in store. To keep up to date, you can

Fish Challenge; Victorian Fisheries Authority for the Goulburn Fishing Festival; Boating Industry Association of Victoria for the Lake Eildon Boating and Fishing Show; Jerusalem Creek Marina & Holiday Park for the school holiday fishing programs; Northern Waters Boat Hire for the Fly Fishing for Natives Competition.

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Coffee Light meals Pastries Cakes Bread Paul with a hefty 84cm model.

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Rain will bring on the bite SHEPPARTON

Nick Brown teamriverrats@hotmail.com

We have finally gotten some rain this year. Hopefully we got enough rain for the Broken River to fish well in April, as the river relies on natural flows. Any time we get some rain, the fish seem to turn on. Casting small spinnerbaits towards Benalla has been very successful and bait fishers have also reported

The Jackall Pompadour has been a standout this year, followed by the Codger Topwater. The Goulburn River has been very hard to predict over the past few years with the amount of water being flushed down the system. This cold pulse of water can shut the fish right down. In between the river rise, there has been plenty of smaller fish caught on cheese and chicken out towards the Shepparton Golf Club and Toolamba. I don’t expect there to be many river rises

shuts downs for the winter. Anglers looking to fish the lakes in April should slow their retrieves. The colder the water, the less active yellowbelly are, so adding scents and going slow will help your catch rates. Bait fishing worms on the edges can be deadly; otherwise, floating a bunch of worms under the willows will also work. WARANGA BASIN There have still been some good-sized yellowbelly being caught around the wall towards the Boat Club. Trolling

Anthony Tautala caught this solid cod on a Jackall Pompadour in the Broken River. good numbers of fish being caught towards the Junction. The surface bite in the Broken and Goulburn rivers is now on its last legs with the temperatures dropping. Fingers crossed we get some good rain with warmer days so the surface bite lasts a bit longer.

in April, so if that’s the case, the fishing should be good leading into winter. Targeting the deeper bends and larger timber will be very popular in the cooler months. KIALLA LAKES Kialla Lakes has a small window left until it

small hardbodies in around 15ft of water has been best with lures in mostly white or red. Redfin have still been fishing well if you can locate the schools. Once you do locate a school, sit just off them and cast tail spinners or vibes to the

DAM LEVELS Dam............................... % Full

Dam............................... % Full

Jan Feb Mar

Mulwala

Cairn Curran

(Yarrawonga) 96 93 98

42 40

Dartmouth 52 48 46

Newlyn

Eildon

41 38 36

Nillahcootie 31 27 22

Eppalock

30 29 28

Rocklands 25 22 20

Eucumbene 30 28 26

Tantangara 9 8 11

Fyans

76 66 62

Taylors

53 46 41

Hepburn

82 70 62

Tullaroop

70 67 64

Hume

24 19 17

Waranga

41 42 47

Jindabyne 78 72 67

Wartook

51 39 33

Lauriston

William Hovell 87

92 90 76

APRIL 2020

Parker Aynsley scored his first ever cod while bait fishing in the Goulburn River. good-sized Murray cod and yellowbelly on soft plastics rigged weedless with a beetle spin or rigged on an Owner Flashy rig, but others reporting fishing to be very slow. It will be interesting to see how long the native fish bite lasts before it’s just the stocked trout and silver perch being caught. Trout fishing will be a bit tough; the next round of trout stocking around the July holidays will see over 1000 released with a further 750 before the September holidays. These stockings will be needed, as it will be six months since the last stocking. Trout still in the

system will take PowerBait or worms under a float and small spinners cast in the morning or evening. MOOROOPNA REC RESERVE LAKE The lake has been very quiet recently with only couple of reports of carp around the 30cm mark being caught on worms or corn. The lake is set to get 150 trout before both the July and September holidays so that will give locals another location to target fish in the winter months. Until that time, I would probably stay away from the lake unless you want to target carp.

87 77 62

74 73

(All levels correct at time of going to press. Dam levels can change at any time, so please check with local authorities to ensure safe boating and fishing.) 56

school. If you can’t get a fish, switch to a soft plastic and slow roll them close to the bottom. Black Gulp Grubs on a black Bassman jighead has worked well for me in the past and I can’t see why it won’t in April and May. CRAIGMUIR LAKE Being able to fish weedless is now the key to success at Craigmuir, as the fish are sitting deep in the weed. Small 3” plastics rigged weedless or on a beetle spin and Zerek Weedless Fish Traps have been successful lately. If you’re looking at bait fishing, float baits around the edges of the weed and in the small pockets of weedless water. May would be the last month I would fish Craigmuir until spring, so you still have a few weeks to get on the water. LOCAL CHANNELS The local channels can produce good fish year round and it’s somewhere I target a lot in the next few months prior to the water dropping and also once it’s been lowered. Recently, I managed to get a few redfin on the Jackall Micro Pompadour around weed edges and under bridges in the Main Eastern around Shepparton East. The odd cod was still boofing smaller surface lures but they will probably be a lot quieter on the top after April. Like most months, using lipless crankbaits with or without a beetle spin is a great way to catch fish in the system in deep or shallow water. SHEPPARTON LAKE Shepparton Lake can start getting tough to fish as it gets colder. Lately it’s been very hit-and-miss, with some anglers catching

Michelle Brittain landed some solid snapper off Mornington fishing squid, silver whiting and chook pellet berley.

Pre-spawn trout are awaiting autumn break WST/STH GIPPSLAND

Steve Haughton steve@habitatcreations.com.au

The end of autumn and the arrival of winter are fast approaching, with fewer daylight hours as we say farewell to daylight savings on 5 April. The question on every stream angler’s lips is whether we will get the autumn break this month to trigger the run of trout upstream. Streams and rivers in West and South Gippsland are flowing well, so an additional top up from an autumn break will be a good sign for a winter spawn. The water level at Blue Rock Lake is near capacity but can drop over autumn as water is withdrawn to top up other reservoirs downstream. Easter and the school holidays are also this month, so despite longer daylight hours coming to an end, the public holidays or time off work provides opportunity to wet a line either exploring the streams of West and South Gippsland or venturing out to Blue Rock Lake.

With an autumn break, the bigger fish will start heading upstream to their spawning haunts but there’ll still be plenty of small trout about providing fun for anglers on light gear. Strolling or wading a trout stream set amongst bushland is a great way to spend time with the family or escape for some alone time. Brown and rainbow trout are generally lively this time of year as the quest for food helps them prepare their body condition for the journey upstream for spawning. This will start anytime from now through to June; it’s all dependent on the rain. Techniques for stream trout vary, but often a simple set up is all you need. Lures to include in the tackle bag are soft plastic wriggler grubs with light jigheads, small spinner blades and hardbodied minnows. Use sinking or suspending hardbodied minnows for deeper pools and runs, and use a floating hardbody for most of your shallow runs and pools. Anglers casting lures can use an all-rounder rod and reel

Josh Schuurman caught a solid bass from Blue Rock on a live yabby dropped beside a tree. combo. A 6-7ft rod with a line class of 4-8lb fitted with a 1000-2500 class reel will do the trick. This is also a great versatile

set-up perfect for drifting live baits downstream, fishing baits under a float or fishing baits off the bottom – all of which are

productive techniques for catching and releasing pre-spawn trout. This same outfit also works for Blue Rock Lake. Trout

are aggressive feeders so anything well presented in their feeding zone is fair game. Fly fishing is the pinnacle of skill and patience for stream trout fishing. As the stream flows begin to increase with more rain, many fly anglers will be using black bead-headed nymphs. Attaching a dry fly indicator with a bit of flare and colour has also helped anglers have a productive day out on the streams. Blue Rock Lake in April should be a bit of fun, as trout become more active on the surface and can be picked up trolling from a boat or kayak and lure casting from the shoreline. Bass are still very active and will start to head to deeper water as the temperature drops. As we approach wintery conditions, casting lures will be replaced with sounding up schools of bass and redfin, using jigs to entice them. Feel free to send me a report or photo, particularly if you have any success fishing over the Easter break. Happy fishing!

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Awesome fishing in April NAGAMBIE

Sunny Martins

Fishing should really turn on in the Nagambie/Goulburn system this month. With ideal water temperatures and steady water levels, the

and afternoons with surface lures. The river is running clean, making lure fishing through the day hard work, but first and last light have been key in producing some quality Murray cod. The best areas to target have been where you can find timber mixed in with

option. Cheese and freshlycaught shrimp have been the most successful. NAGAMBIE Nagambie has been fishing surprisingly well for this time of year. Boat traffic is still relatively high in the area, which would normally mean that the fish activity would be low, but local anglers have been saying otherwise. There have been some nice golden perch and the odd Murray Cod getting caught along the boardwalk in the middle of town, as well as along the shoreline near the rowing club. Most fish have been

getting caught on 2-3” curlytail grubs. They’re a great lure to use, as anything will eat a soft plastic, including all the natives and redfin. Even carp will sometimes slurp one up. Spinnerbaits have worked well too, especially because of their resistance to getting snagged. Anglers wanting to bait fish should probably use scrubworms, as they will cover all available species. Anglers wanting to just target Murray cod should fish medium yabbies for the best chance. KIRWANS BRIDGE Fishing around Kirwans is fired up right now, with some

Local legend Liam Lucas caught a whopper 86cm cod on a Koolabung Wake Walker at Mitchellstown.

Nick Glentzes fished off the boardwalk and landed this little cod. fishing becomes much more pleasant and the likelihood of catching fish greatly increases. April is known as one of the best months to fish this system. MITCHELLSTOWN The river around Mitchellstown has been fishing incredibly well, especially for those anglers fishing in the low light periods in the mornings

willow trees, this provides awesome cover for fish and in the clear water conditions this is where they will be held up. Surface lures in the early and late hours of the day lures like Koolabung Cod Crackers, Codger Topwaters and Balista Tremors and Hunchback 90s have been the most productive option. During the peak of the day, bait will be the best

Chris Galea with one of the better cod he’s caught in the Goulburn recently.

serious fish being caught on all methods. Casting, trolling and bait fishing have all been producing some quality fish around the area, especially in the river channel. There are reports of a couple stretching over a metre, as well as a bunch of legal-sized fish being caught. Some decent golden perch have been caught too, mostly on small hardbodies cast or trolled. The best areas to be targeting fish at the moment are in and around the willow trees, especially near the

bridge. Most of the quality fish have been caught there. Trolling and casting the drop-off along the willows have proven the most effective methods of picking up fish. It’s a serious hardbody and surface bite at the moment, so medium to large-sized hardbodies are perfect. Old Mate divers, medium to shallow Codgers, and size 1 and 2 StumpJumpers are great options. For bait anglers, cheese and chicken has been the go-to bait for most big fish catches.

On the troll for redfin and trout CRATER LAKES

Rod Shepherd

Lake Purrumbete has seen plenty of boaters out on the lake chasing redfin at depth. My last trip out saw at least thirty

boaters working the lake and the trailer parking within the caravan park was completely full. I only managed four reasonable redfin for the session but must have caught in excess of twenty fish, with the rest being around 15cm.

Many are working in 12m+ of water and the majority of boaters are using live minnow hooked through the upper jaw as bait, suspended just off the bottom. The minnow is sourced by and large from Lake Bullen Merri using bait

A boater trolls around in 30m of water in the hope of attracting trout. 58

APRIL 2020

traps. Others, like myself, are jigging minnow style soft plastics such as Fish Arrow Flash J Huddles and Magbite Snatchbite Shads in 3-4”. Plastics along with other jigging lures seem to be catching as many fish as live bait. I’ve spoken to many anglers and the general consensus appears to be that in two years, the majority of sizeable redfin have already been caught, leaving mostly only tiddlers. Unless a netting survey is carried out, the only evidence we have to go on is what anglers bring back to the boat ramp. Trout and Chinook salmon are ever present but the catches of trophy fish are few and far between considering how many boaters are out there chasing them. It’s a hard fishery to work, let alone understand. Many who are solely chasing salmonoids at the moment are doing so at depth, with many using downriggers to 10m+. The boats are trolling

An average Purrumbete reddy. at a distance out from the bank, which suggests depths of 30m on average. Some lure anglers are flat line trolling, as not all fish are hanging deep; they’re just further out from the bank. Lake Bullen Merri’s water quality is still suffering from the effects of the current blue-green algal outbreak, plus the fact that ongoing issues with fixing the South Beach boat ramp has seen many boaters steer clear of the lake. Once these issues are overcome, anglers will

return and fishing reports will flood in. Last month Lake Elingamite’s depth at the ramp was down to 35cm, which restricted boat launching to flat-bottomed boats under 4m or kayaks. A few decent trout plus redfin to 1kg have still been landed by a few keen fishos. However, we have received above average rainfall for this time of year, so once the autumn/ early winter rains begin the lake will no doubt reopen

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Autumn is prime fishing time around Ballarat to start wrestling a trophy size trout and have your gear fail on you. Lake Wendouree is not far off firing up. We have had a few overcast days recently where I have ventured out during the day targeting the trout, mainly casting lures out of a drifting boat. I have had some mixed results given limited opportunities. I landed one magnificently conditioned

BALLARAT

Shane Stevens

Ballarat anglers have been looking forward to this month, which is one of the best times of the year to head out and wet a line. With the cooler nights and water temperatures approaching, trout will want to feed up, as they know it’s pretty lean pickings during the cooler months and they need to be in tiptop shape to spawn. During the next few months, trout and redfin in local waters get very aggressive and will hit lures, flies and baits with gusto. The cooler water temperatures also trigger some of the other aquatic life, particularly the mayfly, which is music to all fly fishers’ ears. I certainly look forward to fishing the mayfly hatches on Wendouree, Newlyn, Hepburn and Moorabool reservoirs. Most of these hatches will occur between the hours of 11am3pm, with the best days being the overcast ones. The hatches occur in the spring and autumn months. The mayfly hatch starts when the nymph swims out

as of yet. I’m sure that as the water temperature cools, trout will start to venture into the shallow areas to feed. Anglers casting lures or flies should start to see results improve and for those who fish a bunch of worms or a mudeye suspended under a float, catch rates should increase. The water level at Newlyn Reservoir is down, as it normally is at this time

Mark Andriske nailed this brute of a brown trout while trolling for redfin. He used a downrigger to get his Three Shot Minnow down deep. Photo courtesy of Mark Andriske.

fly fishers to try and replicate what they are feeding on. It does not go like clockwork; you’ll need to try different flies at different times to work it out, which makes it all the more rewarding when you do catch fish. The mayfly fishing on Wendouree was generally

They have been targeting redfin, mainly trolling lures with downriggers to get the lures down on the bottom between 40-50ft, and have been catching models to 1.5kg on a variety of lures. They have also caught some magnificent brown trout while trolling for the reddies.

can target them out of a boat, getting to many areas that you have not been able to access without a very long walk. The water level is very high; due to excellent late spring rains in the area Tullaroop is hovering around the 70% mark. The high water level allows you to fish a lot more shoreline than in previous years. Those anglers who have been fishing Tullaroop know that there has been a lot of weed, which reduces the amount of fishable water. As the water is well over the weed this year, you will be able to fish all those areas previously unavailable. Casting wobblers and hardbodied lures targeting the steeper banks has gotten excellent results in the past. Tullaroop is well stocked by Victorian Fisheries Authority with brown and rainbow trout, so there are fish of varying sizes on offer. Make sure your gear is in tiptop condition, as you don’t want

Jason Andriske landed this Tullaroop brown trout trolling a Daiwa Presso. Photo courtesy of Jason Andriske. female brown trout on a Bent Minnow surface lure, but unfortunately lost some other good-sized ones as well. Autumn is the best time on Wendouree, whether you fish lures, flies or baits from a boat or land. Moorabool Reservoir has been relatively quiet over the past few months. Anglers have been waiting for it to fire up, especially on evenings when the beetles hatch, but it hasn’t happened

of year. Be prepared to look for the areas that are free of weed; a pair of waders is essential at this time of the year when fishing Newlyn. Target these pockets of clear water with lures, flies and baits. Bill Reddick has been fly fishing Newlyn in the evenings. He has had some good results with the trout feeding on Caddis and catching them with a small nymph type pattern suspended under a dry fly.

Ricky Maes caught this pair of big Tullaroop redfin while trolling a Rapala 80mm spotted dog. Photo courtesy of Ricky Maes.

of the weed and makes its way to the surface to hatch out into a mayfly or dun. Fly fishers will use different fly patterns throughout these stages to represent the different migration stages. They generally start off with a small brown nymph, then change to an emerger pattern like a Possum Emerger, and then they go for a dry fly like a Shaving Brush before the final stage, when they use a spinner pattern. The fish will feed on mayflies at all different stages of the hatching process, so it’s up to 60

APRIL 2020

poor over spring last year, so hopefully we get a repeat of last autumn when the fishing was awesome for all forms of angling. Tullaroop Reservoir has been the talking point for many anglers over the past few months, with some excellent catches of trout and redfin. I always look forward to fishing Tullaroop over the autumn months, as I have had excellent results over the past few years. Jason and Mark Andriske and mate Rick Maes have been getting amongst the fish over the past month.

Other anglers have been catching some good-sized redfin on jigs and bobbers while drifting along out of a boat and some have been anchoring using worms and yabbies for bait. The secret is being able to find a school of redfin and make the most of your opportunities when you find them. Anglers with fish finders certainly reap rewards. Over the past few years, many anglers have targeted trout with lures and flies from the shore. This year will be a bit different, as you

The author snagged this beautiful trout from Lake Wendouree with an OSP S76 Bent Minnow.

April brings fair weather to Bendigo region BENDIGO

Roger Miles codhuntertours@bigpond.com

The fishing in the Bendigo region has been a real mixed bag. Some anglers have had good captures while others have seen their catch rates drop over the past month. The changeable weather and conditions have made the fishing hard to predict. The good news is we are now coming into my favourite months of the year. Typically around this time weather patterns become more settled and as a result, anglers will experience some quality fishing. LAKE EPPALOCK The fishing in Lake Eppalock has improved in recent weeks, but not many anglers are fishing here currently. Anglers still need to work hard and be prepared to move around, fishing several different areas until they can locate a good concentration of redfin. The best numbers of redfin have been found in 7-10m of water. Productive bait options have been small yabbies

and shrimp. Casting soft plastics and trolling hardbodied lures has been effective. If you are casting soft plastics and you are only catching small redfin, try upsizing the profile of

your plastic. Often putting on a larger soft plastic up to 100mm will reduce the amount but increase the size of fish caught. Golden perch numbers have still been good.

Casting lipless crankbaits around the edges of the standing timber has been the most fruitful, but trolling hardbodies over the top of submerged shrubs has been productive for both redfin

Greg Ermel caught this 56cm golden perch on a Jackall lipless crankbait in the Campaspe River.

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and golden perch. CAMPASPE RIVER The fishing in the Campaspe River has still been good, however the overall productivity has gone down in the last month. Unstable weather patterns producing poor barometer conditions, environmental flows reducing water temperatures and putting the fish off for several days after, and isolated heavy rainfall reducing the water clarity in some sections of the river have all impacted catch rates. There is a good chance these will be less of a factor this month so we should see an improvement. Persistent anglers still fishing the Campaspe River have caught some quality fish, with golden perch up to 55cm and Murray cod over 90cm being landed. Reasonable numbers of redfin are still being caught but the majority of these have been small fish. CAIRN CURRAN Cairn Curran has stayed consistent, with good numbers of golden perch being caught. Bait fishers have been catching the majority of fish. If you want to use lures, casting

lipless crankbaits around the standing timber and rocky shorelines has been the best technique. Trolling hardbodies around the trees and shorelines has also resulted in small numbers of golden perch and the occasional Murray cod. LODDON RIVER Fishing has been up and down at Loddon. Water clarity has improved one week, just for it to deteriorate the next. While the conditions have been variable, there have still been some quality fish caught even though overall catch rates will be down this season. Small numbers of Murray cod have been caught. The most productive lures have been surface lures and swimbaits during the night or periods of low light. For golden perch, the top lures have been lipless crankbaits and suspending hardbodies. Small profile spinnerbaits have also been working well during periods of low light. Conditions should improve over the next couple of months and we should see some quality fish being caught in this river system in the near future.

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BAYSWATER Streaker Marine 461 Mountain Hwy, Bayswater VIC p 03·9729 8288 www.streakermarine.com.au APRIL 2020

WHAT’S NEW FISHING

PRODUCT GUIDE

DELUXE ZMAN BAIT 1 BINDERS

ZEREK INFINITY BLADE

ZMan soft plastics are best stored in their original packets, and the new TT Deluxe ZMan Bait Binders feature extra heavy-duty rings designed to fit the pre-punched, reinforced holes located in the bottom corners of ZMan packets. Other features include larger, heavy duty zips, carry handle, water resistant, durable material and an internal pocket for storing a jighead tray, leader and snips. Deluxe Bait Binders are available in a Small (single) version that holds approximately 10 packets of ZMan 3” MinnowZ (more packets in less bulky models), and a Large (double) version that is designed to hold around 20 packets of ZMan 3” MinnowZ (more packets in less bulky models). By clipping your ZMan packets straight into the binder, there is no need for clear plastic sleeves to hold the packets and take up space in the binder. It’s also quicker and easier to access plastics and there is no need to remove the plastics from the binder, where they can then be misplaced or blown into the water. Price: SRP $19.95-$39.95 www.tackletactics.com.au

The Zerek Infinity Blade spinnerbait redefines spinnerbait design by providing an extra blade under the chin of the head weight. This addition gives the lure extra attraction through the water, while maintaining the standard spinnerbait benefits of snag resistance, excellent fish appeal and ease of use. Weighing an easy-to-cast 28g and available in 10 fish-catching colours and two blade configurations, the Infinity Blade features silicone skirts, durable hardware and strong hooks. Smart anglers have been adding trailer plastics and stinger hooks, making these lures deadly weapons in the water. During testing, Australian bass and Murray cod found this spinnerbait to be very appealing, and with an affordable price tag, this lure will be a great addition to your tackle trays. www.wilsonfishing.com

NEW EUREKA OCTANE JIG SIZE

In response to angler demand, Eureka Lures Australia has released a new 100g size in its popular range of Octane Jigs. The Eureka Octane Jigs are a realistic squid/octopus imitation designed for slowpitch jigging that have exceptional realism and a tantalising action. Each lure features a solid ring with quality Dacron running to twin assist hooks that feature ultrasharp points that have the fish hooking themselves. Most of the jigs also feature a highly luminous body for added attraction. Eureka Octane Jigs are available in six realistic colours. To find out more on the Eureka lure range, visit the Juro Fishing website. www.jurofishing.com

DAIWA 20 LUVIAS

Made in Japan and featuring Daiwa’s LT Concept, Infinite Anti-Reverse, Silent Oscillation, Air Rotor and CRBB bearings, the 20 Luvias is the lightest, strongest, and most refined Luvias that Daiwa has ever produced. The single-piece Zaion Monocoque (MQ) body not only makes the 20 Luvias lighter, but also improves the strength and size of the drive gear. The new larger main gear is forged and meticulously machined using the Tough Digigear concept, which improves strength and creates an effortless rotation. The MQ screw-in engine plate applies 360° pressure to the main gear to achieve perfect gear alignment and meshing. The result is flawless smoothness, today, tomorrow and long into the future. Finesse perfection continues with Air Rotor providing ultimate rotational balance and rigidity, while a new Longcast-ABS spool increases casting distance and line performance on and off the spool. The 20 Luvias finesse drag is the greatest that Luvias has ever had to offer, with Daiwa’s ATD providing flawless, silky smooth drag control even with the lightest of lines. www.daiwafishing.com.au 62

APRIL 2020

SHIMANO SALTIE

The new Shimano Saltie rod series has been designed and developed for Australia’s northern species. Built tough, the Saltie range includes two spin and four baitcast models with varying actions to suit a range of lure fishing styles. Traditional 5’8” and 6’ baitcast rods popular for barramundi are complemented by longer 6’4” and 7’ models, designed for casting large soft plastics and swimbaits. Saltie blanks are made with Shimano’s TC4 layered graphite construction, which is highly durable and enables great lure action and control. The TC4 construction also reduces rod twist, increases sensitivity and feel, and offers impressive power and fighting performance in a lightweight package. The Saltie range features a durable matte green finish, custom shaped premium grade cork grips and Fuji K guides with Alconite inserts. A larger diameter guide train has also been used to accommodate the use of thick leader, which is often required to wrestle big fish out of structure. Price: SRP $329.95 www.shimanofish.com.au

SAMAKI PACEMAKER

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5 6

The Samaki Pacemaker range has been boosted with three new colour concepts and a wicked upgrade. The sleek design has been tweaked and fine tuned to allow you to troll faster with a wider trolling spectrum to attract a variety of species. The new yakka, redbait and coral trout colours let you target new species and matching the hatch with precision, and the slimey mackerel colour has had a valuable upgrade with enhanced detail and chartreuse hints on the underbelly. Each colour has UV attributes to aid in enticing the bite. Pacemaker has an ideal trolling speed of 6 knots for you to target most pelagics, but can be trolled at up to 15 knots. It comes in 140mm and 180mm sizes, with a deep and double deep diving depth allowing you to target species from 2-10m. Other features include a 1-piece stainless welded wire, heavy-duty split rings and VMC 3X Perma steel hooks, realistic fish eye and prism tape inserts. www.samaki.com.au

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING

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SHIMANO BEASTMASTER 9000 7 The new Beastmaster 9000A electric reel possesses superior power, speed and durability. The Beastmaster utilises the upgraded brushless Giga-Max Motor that offers 10% more deadweight winding power than the previous model, taking it to 19kg from 17kg, and has 25kg of Cross Carbon Drag output. Regardless of the load applied to the reel, the Constant Speed Mode maintains a consistent retrieve speed without loss of cranking power during the fight. Meanwhile, the Heat-Free system allows for heat to be released from vents in the side plate, ensuring reliable performance. To reach the significant depth required, the reel can be spooled with up to 900m of PE8 braid. The new Beastmaster also features an aluminium cold-forged clutch lever and a sharp LCD screen with an easy to operate English menu. The Beastmaster is backed by Shimano’s 10-year warranty and is ready to lift monsters from the deep. Price: SRP $2269.95 www.shimanofish.com.au

NEW 3” DEUS COLOURS

The BIWAA Deus 3” paddle-tail now comes in four new colours. These soft finesse swimbaits are tailored for a wide range of techniques at any retrieval speed, and are ideal for trailers on skirted jigs, or rigged on a jighead for bream and bass. The Deus is injection-moulded using two different densities of plastic. The bottom half contains a denser, heavier salt formulation which allows the Deus to keep a balanced keel, even while rigged weightless. The ventral and dorsal hook slots create a perfect weedless presentation, and a prepositioned hole lets you add nail weights, while not compromising the action. A shrimp based, water-soluble scent is infused into the body and on the outside. It creates a strong scent trail, activating aggressive feeding behaviour. Meticulous attention to detail provides a big advantage in clear water, with a lifelike scale pattern. The tapered speartail design works at any speed, imitating a distressed fish. www.ejtodd.com.au

WILSON LURE WALLETS

Wilson’s upgraded Lure Wallets are available in two sizes, large and small. Featuring a clear swatch to allow you to see what’s inside, these lure wallets are exceptionally functional, allowing anglers to store plastics and spinnerbaits in a convenient and easy to manage way. The Large Lure Wallet is ideal for larger spinnerbaits and 7-9” soft plastics. It features eight zip-lock sleeves that are held in place by three stainless steel rings. The Small Lure Wallet is perfect for 5” and smaller plastics, as well as spinnerbaits up to about 1oz in weight. This wallet features 10 sleeves and a two stainless steel rings. Both wallets are double zippered with easy-pull zipper tabs, and feature a sturdy carry handle to make them easy to transport from home to the boat. www.wilsonfishing.com

CHASEBAITS RIPPLE 10 CICADA

The Chasebaits Ripple Cicada has been designed for Australian Freshwater natives like bass, saratoga, jungle perch and sooty grunter. Whether you are fishing in creeks, dams or lakes, the Ripple Cicada is a great option, especially in cicada season. The 43mm, 6g Ripple Cicada has a soft hollow body that feels lifelike to the fish. It sounds just like a cicada hitting the water, and the fast-acting crawling wings kick into gear almost instantly. Other features include ultra-sharp BKK trebles, robust wing structure, flexible wings and seven colours that will suit all conditions. The best way to use the Ripple Cicada is to let it land and sit for roughly 20 seconds, allowing the ripples to spread out, and then begin a steady slow wind or short, sharp twitches. For more information on the Ripple Cicada or other lures in the Chasebaits range, visit the Chasebaits Australia website. www.chasebaits.com.au

SAMAKI C-12 V3

NOMAD MADMACS

The new Samaki C-12 V3 is the lightest C-12 range of rods ever! The new 40-tonne prepreg blanks deliver the ultimate in strength, casting distance and power. The cork grips are perfectly tapered, and the ultra-light Fuji K and LKW silicon guides enhance the lightweight sensation. This premium rod series includes both spin and baitcast models. The 7’, 3-8lb model has a fast, crisp tip for casting small hardbodies, with a softer belly section to maximize hook-up rates and land big fish on small trebles. The 7’ light 4-8lb is perfect in the estuary for throwing plastics and vibes, with plenty of grunt to land juvenile mulloway. The 7’ medium 6-12lb is a crossover model targeting heavier estuary applications using large vibes, or light inshore snapper fishing. You can use the 7’ medium heavy 10-17lb for jacks and barra on soft plastics, or the 7’ heavy 10-20lb for dam barra, large snapper or chucking slugs at pelagics . In the baitcast range there’s a 6’8” 6-12lb rod for throwing spinnerbaits and hardbodies for freshwater species, a 6’8” medium model designed for football jigs or light barra, a 6’ traditional barra baitcaster, a 7’ medium for chucking vibes at barra, and a 6’8” heavy brute stick for dam barra. www.samaki.com.au

The new Nomad Madmacs range of super high speed trolling lures comes in 3 sizes – 6”, 8” and 10”. Developed specifically for trolling at high speeds, the 6” and 8” are capable of a max speed of 20 knots with the 10” rated at 15 knots. The Madmacs can also be trolled as slow as 5 knots and has an enticing vibrating action even at very low speeds due to the Nomad Autotune system. This feature allows the Madmac to always troll straight and to run perfectly and with an amazing action at a huge range of speeds. The Madmacs run at a depth of around 8-15ft when trolled at slower speeds, and around 3-4ft when trolled super fast. Featuring a machine-stamped stainless steel plate and full body foam core construction, this is one of the toughest lures available. Fitted with super strong BKK hooks and heavy-duty split rings, the Madmacs is ready for battle. Nomad recommends trolling it in the spread with a DTX Minnow to cover the whole water column. www.nomadtackle.com.au

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au APRIL 2020

WHAT’S NEW FISHING RAPALA X-RAP HAKU

The all-new Rapala X-Rap Haku features Rapala’s 3R System Titanium Release Rig with VMC Coastal Black hooks. The 3R System, when clipped into place under the belly of the Haku, rests snugly in the lure’s belly groove out of the way and protected from weeds and other obstacles. At hook-set, the hook rig will partially release from the body, allowing a direct contact to the fish, from line to hook, removing the lure from the fish’s mouth which helps to reduce leverage that could allow the fish to break free. The 3R System also makes it easier to unhook the fish, as the body of the lure no longer gets in the way. Varied actions can be achieved by either twitching the rod or by imparting a stopand-go retrieve with your reel. Twitching the rod will create a faster turning side-to-side action, while a stop-and-go retrieve allows for a longer, gliding presentation. A fast burn in between the stops will send the Haku fleeing from predators, mimicking a frantic baitfish trying to escape. The durable rig is built with 100lb titanium wire and features a solid connector ring, heavy-duty split rings and premium VMC Coastal Black round bend trebles. www.rapala.com

SKITTER POP AND SKITTER V

With its unique loud popping, cupped plastic lip and balsa wood body, the Rapala Skitter Pop can be popped, blooped, walked and skittered across any aquatic surface with ease. Rapala has now expanded the colour range with the addition of two new patterns (TGS and THB), bringing the total number of colours to 9. Rapala has also released a new size in the Skitter V stickbait – a 13cm version, which joins the popular 10cm model. This topwater lure features an exclusive design that radically alters its action. V-Rap Technology combined with tail-weighed balance allows the lure to turn sharply with a snap of the rod, ending with a soft, long glide on slack line. Boasting excellent attention to detail, the Rapala Skitter V features a translucent body, 3-D holographic eyes, and a premium finish. The 13cm model is available in six colours, and the 10cm version comes in seven colours. www.rapala.com

LUMICA CHAP ON FLOATS

APRIL 2020

PLATYPUS HARD ARMOUR LEADER

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Platypus Hard Armour mono leader is Australian made, has increased knot strength and up to 20% more strength and abrasion resistance than its competitors. It’s all thanks to intensive product development and testing to create a product that is worthy of Australia’s only fishing line manufacturer, which has been producing line for over 120 years. Manufactured from premium Japanese copolymers, Hard Armour has superior levels of clarity, controlled stretch for shock absorption and outstanding knot and crimp strength. It is available in both Tough (the ultimate abrasion resistance when extracting fish from cover), and Supple (increased sensitivity and action while still maintaining extreme abrasion resistance). To avoid frustration with spool management and locating the tag end, there’s a Line Tamer for leader control, spool management and simple leader dispensing. Supple leader is available in breaking strains from 20-100lb, and Tough comes in 20-15-lb breaking strains. Price: SRP: $19.90 www.fishplatypus.com.au

WHAT’S NEW FISHING

Made in Japan and featuring Daiwa’s most advanced technologies, the 20 Saltiga is the ultimate saltwater spinning reel. The new single-piece Monocoque body is machined from high-strength aluminium to provide superior strength and improved sealing. A new G1 Drive Gear is thicker and larger with a newly designed Tough Digigear concept of larger and deeper cut teeth, providing increased strength. Drag pressures have been increased to an impressive 25/30kg, with 10 times the drag durability compared to the 15 Saltiga. All that pressure generates heat, and a newly designed aluminium Radiation Drag Knob delivers improved cooling and heat dissipation. The new ABS Longcast lip design offers improved casting performance and enhanced line management, while a brand-new aluminium Air Rotor delivers more than double the rigidity of its predecessor. Protection from the elements has been elevated with a new screwless rear cover, a reduction in spool porting and a unique underside lip in the spool design, all combining to reduce water intrusion. www.daiwafishing.com.au

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TIEMCO LONESOME 18 15 SWEEPER

Lumica Japan, inventors of the chemical light stick, have now developed a high quality range of LED floats for anglers targeting fish at night and in low light conditions. Lumica Chap On Floats are running floats that are available in both green and red and are visible for 100m. They measure 37.5mm x 29mm and weigh 12.5g. Chap On Floats are water activated and come with 2 x LR41 batteries. These floats are ideal for anglers fishing for trout and garfish at night time. To see more information and videos of the Lumica range of LEDs, chemical lights, deep sea lights and soft plastic squid, visit the Juro Fishing website. www.jurofishing.com 64

PRODUCT GUIDE

EJ Todd, the Australian distributor of Tiemco, has expanded the colour range of the popular Lonesome Sweeper surface lure, bringing the total number of colours to six. The 75mm Lonesome Sweeper is a popular topwater lure for tournament bream anglers. It is rigged with feather trebles, has a neon fibre tail and a jointed body to produce a tantalising yet subtle commotion on the surface that bream, whiting and bass find attractive. This subtle little lure is ideal for targeting spooky fish that are feeding just below the surface. Fished on a twitch and long pause retrieve, the Lonesome Sweeper is very effective for a range of species in both fresh and saltwater. www.ejtodd.com.au

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING

Newly released Hurricane Lures Sprat 65 and 75 Hurricane Lures is the brainchild of Peter Nord, a super keen angler from East Gippsland in Victoria. Peter has been producing lures since 2006, releasing his newest offerings in late 2019, the Sprat 65 and Sprat 75. Both are small profile plastics, with the 65 being a paddle-tail format and the 75 a jerkbait-style plastic.

aware of with plastics made of this type of material is that they do not play well with others. Mix these plastics with other plastics and you’ll end up with a tackle tray full of unusable mess. The manufacturer recommends keeping the plastics in their original packets and in the plastic sleeves they come in, to ensure they will keep their shape and stay in pristine condition.

The Hurricane Sprat 65 and 75 are classic paddle-tail and jerkshad profiles. WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON Both models are made of a FlexiTech 8X tough material. This material makes the plastics very durable, super stretchy and very supple. The advantages this has for the angler are that multiple fish can be caught with just one plastic; you may not even have to change your plastic in a day’s fishing.

The Sprat 65 was perfect to fish the shallow sand pockets and depth changes of the sand flats in Yamba. I was impressed by the suppleness and softness of these plastics. They are very soft to touch, which equates to a natural feel for any predator eating it. Even better, the suppleness maximises the lure’s action, and this is particularly evident in the Sprat 65. The paddletail really rocks and rolls with minimal movement, and it even gets some body roll as well. Both plastics also have a hook penetration guide along the top of them. This helps you keep the hook nice and straight when you’re rigging them, while giving an indicator of where the hook needs to protrude from the lure. Something else you need to be

COLOURS From the moment I opened the parcel of plastics in the office, I loved the colour range that’s available in both the Sprat 65 and 75. Each model comes in six colours, with three colours standard in each and three unique colours to each shape. I had no doubt that all of them would catch fish. The colours are heavily baitfish orientated, and I like the fact that a number of the colours are two-tone and some are also UV enhanced. If you are looking to match the hatch, there is bound to be a colour that is suitable. FIRST IMPRESSIONS The shapes are not unique, but are a clever twist on these styles of plastics. The key is the profiles, which lend themselves to targeting multiple species in our estuary systems. They are subtle enough to finesse fish with if you are targeting bream or estuary perch, while also having a presence if flathead or other reaction type feeders are your preferred targets. Rigging the plastics is also easy. The guide helps you rig them straight, and the relative softness of the FlexiTech material makes getting a hook through it easy. IN THE FIELD My first opportunity to test the two Hurricane Sprat lures was in Yamba, NSW. Yamba is an amazing fishery at the mouth of the Clarence River. It offers all sorts of fishing opportunities for all of our estuary favourites, and that certainly proved to be the case over the Christmas period. My first challenge was fishing the middle wall, in hopes of picking up a mulloway or one of the big flathead that the area is known for. I chose the Sprat 75 because it was slightly larger. I wasn’t sure whether the mulloway or flathead were there because the tailor were in huge numbers right along the wall and nabbed the Sprat pretty much every time one hit the water. It may not have been the test for the lure that I envisaged, but it did show the value of an 8X Strong FlexiTech soft plastic. Tailor are savage on terminal tackle, so any time you land multiple fish on one lure and it doesn’t get destroyed it is a bonus. I left the fish biting because there are only so many 25cm tailor that you want to catch. Once the wall experiment was over it was back to the areas and type of fishing that I love: large sand flats and undulations, which Yamba has an abundance of. It is very visual fishing (you are focusing on fish in 2-3ft of water) and the profile and size of the Hurricane Sprat lures lends itself to this.

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au

The Hurricane Sprat 65 and 75 are a great baitfish profile, which means the species you can target with them is only limited by your imagination. Once I started fishing these areas I was met with instant and consistent success. I was targeting sand patches in weed and subtle depth changes – areas where bream and flathead love to ambush their prey – and the Sprats matched the hatch beautifully. The small tailor were quickly forgotten as predominantly flathead consistently found their way into the net. I caught fish on every colour in both sizes, which is a great testament for the colours that are available. FINAL OBSERVATIONS Four months down the track and my initial thoughts still stand true: the colours,

The Sprat 75 is available in six colours, all of which have plenty of fish-catching potential.

profile and the suppleness of the plastics makes the Hurricane Sprat soft plastics very effective lures. However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind to get the most out of your Hurricane Sprat purchase. First of all, due to how supple these plastics are, your choice of jighead is very important. Although the Sprats can be rigged on a standard jighead, it doesn’t take long before the plastic will consistently slip off the grub keeper. Hurricane produces a jighead range that has a wire keeper that is very effective in this scenario, but there are a number of other products to choose from that will do the job just as well. My solution was a dab of quality super glue on the grub keeper (not on the head) of my jighead, and it was sorted. You should also definitely take heed of keeping these FlexiTech plastics separate from other types of soft plastic, and I have also taken to unrigging my Sprats after using them and putting them back into the sleeves provided. It maintains their shape and lets me use them multiple times. You can check out the full range of Hurricane Lures at www.hurricanelures. com, and the site also has some helpful tips and stockist locations. These lures are well worth a look. - Peter Jung

Plenty of flathead hit the net while the author was testing the Hurricane Sprat 65 and 75 in the Clarence River. APRIL 2020

Hayes bashes Tambo Bridge for 2nd ABT title Melbourne’s Mark Hayes found a mother lode of big bream on the Tambo River highway bridge and milked the pattern for two consecutive days to take the first event of the 2020 Costa BREAM Series. In doing so, he became one of a select group of anglers to win events on more than one Victorian BREAM arena. Boxing a huge 5.60kg on the first day to tie for the lead and following up with a solid 4.64kg on the second day of competition, Hayes outdistanced a red-hot Kristoffer Hickson by nearly a kilogram and was the only angler to break the 10kg mark. His 10/10 bag went 10.24kg; an average of over a kilogram per fish! Running a camera on the second day, Hayes showed his bridge crankbaiting style, running a variety of slowly floating crank and jerkbaits along the pylons to tempt the black bream to duck out a foot from cover and nip at the offerings. Once the fish bit, it was by no means over, with a furious battle ensuing to

when the bream would hit. Hayes prefers slow floating lures with upgraded hooks, like the Ecogear SX43 and Gladiator Mutant. He fished the lures on a Smith Dancing Bream rod matched with a Daiwa Caldia reel (that he won as a non-boater about a decade ago), 4lb Berkley braid and a surprisingly light 4lb leader. “Some people reckon

Melbourne’s Mark Hayes milked the Tambo River Bridge for all its worth to register his second ever ABT win as a boater. A devoted hardbody angler, he rode the pattern to the only 10-fish limit over 10kg. extract the fish from the abundant structure. Some he won, some he didn’t. Scan the QR Code hereby to see him in action – there are wins and losses recorded! “On the first day I had

12 bites and landed five fish. The others made it home into the pylons,” Hayes said, “so who knows what I could have brought in. I tried going hard on them and freespooling them … sometimes that just

made it worse.” Hayes’ technique for cranking bridges is pretty simple: cast parallel and as close as you can to the pylon, slow roll it back with twitches and add plenty of pauses. It’s on the pause

BOATER RESULTS Place Name 1 Mark Hayes 2 Kris Hickson 3 Brad Hodges 4 Jamie McKeown 5 Charlie Saykao 6 Andrew Moore 7 Steve Pryke 8 Steve Morgan 9 Peter Nord 10 Stephen Wheeler

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 10/10 10.24 $3,000 + $250 Mercury bonus 10/10 9.32 $1,250 + $125 Mercury bonus 10/10 9.23 $1,000 + $75 Mercury bonus 10/10 8.60 $900 10/10 7.91 $800 10/10 7.71 $700 10/10 6.99 $600 6/10 6.76 $500 9/10 6.13 8/10 5.78

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888 66

APRIL 2020

that the 4lb is a bit light, but I use that leader everywhere I go,” Hayes explained. The Tambo River bridge is around one hour and 40 minutes away from the start line, but there’s a lot of 5-knot idling to get there. Hayes left the bridge at 11am on the first day and fished it for the full session on the second. You can see his full winner’s interview on the QR Code hereby!

Hayes didn’t win all of the battles. With bream like this hitting inches from heavy cover, the toll was significant on his dwindling supplies of Ecogear SX43s.

Scan the QR code to see Mark Hayes’ winning interview.

Scan the QR code to see Kobi Rothall’s winning interview.

BREAM AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Hickson scrambles to second place It was a pretty big effort for Kris Hickson to even make it to the opening event of the 2020 Costa BREAM Series. Racing from a relocated Hobie Australian Championships (13 hours away rather than two hours from Gippsland), he drove most of the night to make the practice day and then scrambled to find fish. In case you didn’t know, he won the Hobie AC. According to Kris, he didn’t stop scrambling all weekend. “I started the first day in Paynesville, rotating through some docks and boats that I have done well on in the past. I lost a few early fish and bagged 1.1 and 1.2kg models on a ZMan GrubZ and a jerkbait, but as the session went on the fish dried up,” he said. Hickson then found fish with his Humminbird Mega 360 while traversing a flat near one of his go-to spots. “I spooked a couple of fish and then started seeing them on the 360. It was overcast and rough and I

dried up, leaving him no option but to expand on his flats pattern. He found more fish on flats in the Paynesville area and refined his crankbaiting flats technique. “It was all about bouncing between flats with fish on them and resting them in turn,” he said. Rolling the SX40 with small pauses and upwards twitches of the rod, he chipped away at a decent limit and ultimately, was

BREAM SERIES

abt

only bettered by Hayes. You can see Kris in action and the 360 screen in the highlights video for day two.

DAIWA J BRAID BIG BREAM

Hickson caught a handful of fish on a variety of lures before settling into a flats pattern with his new Humminbird Mega 360 unit. couldn’t see them well on the flat, but they stood out on the new unit,” he said. After that, he went to work with a Ecogear SX40 (colour 390) on his

Daiwa Infeet 722 ULFS rod and Caldia reel spooled with 3lb Sunline Small Game FC. “If I saw a school of bream, I’d put down the

Talon and start working them over. Those two pieces of technology in tandem were deadly,” he concluded. On day two, all of his structure spots had

Rothall wins from back of boat Kobi Rothall also did some travelling to make it to the Gippsland event. Based in Nelson, Western Victoria, he attended the Hobie AC and then travelled back to Gippsland with Steve Pryke to make the tight connection. For the first-time ABT competitor it was well worth the effort, with the Victorian winning his first ever attempt at an ABT event as a non-boater. “I had two awesome boaters, Jamie McKeown and Daniel Kent,” Rothall said. “On the first day, Jamie and I fished the Nicholson River bridge with Cranka Crabs. It didn’t really matter what colour we threw, just as long as they were heavy and we fished them slow,” he continued. “The second day I fished with Daniel Kent and the presentation was totally different. We used ZMan

BREAM abtSeries presented by

GrubZ in 2.5” (gudgeon) rigged on a Gamahatsu Round 25 jighead (1/16oz) and cast right to the edges. If you weren’t right on the edge, you wouldn’t get a bite,” he said. Rothall fished both offerings on a Millerods Grub Freak and Daiwa 2004 Luvias spooled with Yamatoyo Resin Sheller braid and a 5lb Sniper FC leader. Indeed, the first day of this event saw a swathe of ABT newcomers in the top places. Rothall, Nikki Bryant, Leo Yu and Rhys Harris made up the top four after their first day of ABT tournament. This is encouraging news for those sitting on the sidelines wondering whether they should take the leap! You fish with a different boater each day and your learning curve accelerates out of sight. Visit www. for more abt. org.au information.

ABT first-timer Leo Yu burst onto the tournament scene with a bang, dropping a 1.67kg black bream on the scales in his first ever appearance at the weigh in. Fishing with Cam Whittam, he caught the fish on a Daiwa Steez Skybolt 701LFS rod and TD SOL III 2500S reel with 4lb FC straight through and a Cranka Crab (olive, heavy). “I normally don’t fish crabs, but found fish eating the crabs on pre-fish, so I thought that’s the lure I’m going to use in the comp. On day one, we went to Hollands Landing and fished the edges. We would just cast the lure at the right place and not do anything. I think the key was to try not to work it too much and wait for the biggest fish to eat your lure,” Yu said.

Scan the QR code to see the day one highlights.

Scan the QR code to see the day two highlights.

How could Kobi Rothall not like ABT Tournament angling after dropping fish like this on the scales in his first ever event?

NON-BOATER RESULTS Place Name 1 Kobi Rothall 2 Nikki Bryant 3 Grayson Fong 4 Nick Penprase 5 Lindsay Pryke 6 Mickael Hodges 7 Leo Yu 8 Rhys Harris 9 Wayne Mauger 10 Colin Wilson

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 10/10 7.87 Pro Lure pack 9/10 6.79 Daiwa pack 5/10 4.41 Costa sunglasses 4/10 3.17 Atomic pack + rod 4/10 3.09 EJ Todd pack 4/10 2.94 Samaki pack + rod 2/10 2.27 Tackle Tactics pack + $500 Big Bream + Daiwa J-Braid pack 3/10 2.24 Cranka pack 4/10 2.06 Ecogear pack 2/10 1.60 VMC pack

Nikki Bryant with a bream that nearly delivered her the top non-boater spot. APRIL 2020

Morgan is crowned the master of Metung Steve Morgan has managed to turn the Gippsland Lakes arena from a triple-donut result into a place he loves fishing, mainly through a specialty in a section of the waterway near Metung. Having never landed a 5kg limit on the mainland, Morgan did exactly that on the first day of the first event and followed it up with a pair of 5kg+ bags in the ZMan round. Dropping 5.43kg and then 5.95kg on the scales, he easily out-distanced a fastfinishing Scott Towner and registered an average weight of 1.13kg per fish. Learning his lesson from the first event, where he failed to capitalise on a Lakes Entrance yellowfin bream bite on the second day, Morgan nearly solely targeted black bream in the Metung area after the rest of the field charged out to greener paddocks. With strong wind warnings for both of the tournament days, boaters were allowed to tow their rigs to sheltered ramps across the arena and not face unsafe conditions on the lakes proper. “I was amazed when the entire field chose to

said, “mainly olive heavy, but in areas with no current I used some light models on the second day.” Each time Morgan visits Metung, there’s different docks and banks that fish well. “The hot docks from previous events always seem to change, so every year you need to find where the fish are stacked up,” he explained. “This year, we only found three areas at Metung that produced more than one fish, so on the final day, it was a case of rotating through these areas and picking up a fish here and there,” “When you’re getting less than 10 bites a day, you need to convert them.

After choking with a dying yellowfin bream pattern in the first round, Morgan focussed on black bream in round two and reaped the rewards. All his bream were caught within a kilometre of the start line. leave the checkout point at Metung on the first day,” Morgan said. The only other boat to share the area was Brett Penprase after his boat was too long to launch at the Tambo River ramp.

With the arena also windblown on Sunday, they all headed off as well, leaving Morgan and leading non-boater Grayson Fong the productive area to share with only one other boat. “Usually Metung gets

plenty of attention from anglers at the beginning and the end of the session, so I really think that the rough weather played into our hands for this event,” Morgan said. “I fished Cranka Crabs the whole event,” Morgan

BOATER RESULTS Place Name 1 Steve Morgan 2 Scott Towner 3 Andrew Moore 4 Mario Vukic 5 Steve Pryke 6 Alex Franchuk 7 Geoff Borg 8 Brad Hodges 9 Peter Nord 10 Declan Betts

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 10/10 11.38 $3,000 + $250 Mercury bonus 10/10 10.73 $1,250 10/10 8.98 $1,000 + $125 Mercury bonus 8/10 8.88 $900 10/10 8.17 $800 + $75 Mercury bonus 8/10 8.00 $700 10/10 7.68 $600 8/10 7.26 $500 10/10 6.02 6/10 5.96

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888 68

APRIL 2020

During the event, I upped the line from 4lb Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon to 6lb Nanobraid and 7lb Yamatoyo Chinu Harris leader after losing a few fish in structure.” Morgan started with a 7’8” Daiwa Crab Rod/Sol III 2004 combo and finished with a Legit Designs Wild Side rod and a 2019 Certate 2500S LT reel. “The main thing I learned this event? Fish the crabs slow. The slower the better,” Morgan said. He donated the prize money to the Mallacoota Fishing Club to help with bushfire relief. All up, anglers donated just under $15,000 in ABT’s Bushfire Fundraiser.

What were the odds on a pair of Queenslanders taking home the trophies from the Victorian ZMan round of the Costa BREAM Series? Morgan and Fong both reside in Brisbane.

Scan the QR code to see the pre show.

Scan the QR code to see the day one highlights.

BREAM AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Towner takes second in smallest boat With the arena opened to trailer boats in sheltered launch areas, AFC legend Scott Towner got to fish Hollands Landing for the first time in an ABT event. Usually a 40km boat ride, plenty of anglers took the hour drive by road to take advantage of the fishing. Boxing 5.03kg on the Saturday and a massive 5.70kg on the Sunday, he was over 1.5kg clear of all other anglers bar Morgan. “I found good fish on the flats at the mouth of Hollands on the calm pre-fish day, but come tournament day, the rough dirty water had pushed the fish back into the channel proper,” Towner said. “I found ‘em within 500m of the boat ramp and went to work with a deep Jackall Chubby in brown suji.” “On the first day, the water stayed clear enough to fish effectively for a couple of hours, but on day two, I got five hours and clean water and landed at least 30 legal fish to help

After slow rolling and twitching the Chubby, Towner switched to fishing a Cranka Crab on a Daiwa Crab rod outfit that he borrowed from Wally Fahey. “After the event I found out why they liked the crabs so much – my livewell was full of crab shells and legs. They obviously form a major part of a bream’s diet at Hollands,” he concluded. Towner’s next stop is Tasmania, where he has

BREAM SERIES

abt

logged multiple 6.5kg+ bags in the past. It’ll be interesting to see if the bream have gotten wiser in the meantime.

DAIWA J BRAID BIG BREAM

Yarrawonga’s Scott Towner has the tournament fishing bug again. He landed second place in the ZMan event from the smallest boat in the field. me upgrade my bag,” he continued. Towner’s tackle was definitely not cutting edge, using the rods he last

wielded in ABT and AFC events over a decade ago. “The Abu Garcia Soron reels still work fine, even if a few are a little

grindy,” Scott said, “but I did replace the line with new Berkley X8 braid and with new leaders I was good to go.”

Fong flogs fellow non-boaters Queensland acupuncturist Grayson Fong is always a threat whenever he graces the back of the boat. The ZMan event allowed him to put a real smackdown on the rest of the non-boating field and drop the two heaviest non-boater limits on the scales to cruise to victory by nearly 3kg. Fishing with Brett Crowe on day one and Steve Morgan on day two, Fong used two different techniques to get the job done. Up the Nicholson River Fong deep cranked Daiwa Spike hardbodies along deep river bends. “Brett and I targeted laydown timber that went out to about 6 or 7 feet of water,” Fong said. The key was to roll the lure frustratingly slowly with small twitches and pauses. The bream would eat the lure gently and hook up on the retrofitted Decoy

BREAM abtSeries presented by

YS25 trebles. He fished the lure on a Daiwa TD Hyper rod (the new grey model), a 2019 Certate and 8lb Daiwa braid with 4lb leader. Grayson hooked seven fish and landed five on the first day to finish the session in first place. As such, he was paired with Steve Morgan as the first placed boater. At Metung with Morgan, Fong threw heavy olive Cranka Crabs to edges of hard structure. As one of only two boats choosing to not trail his boat to a distant ramp, the pair rotated between productive docks and filled their limits one fish at a time. “There was only about four places that we caught fish and it was a matter of fishing them slowly and methodically,” Fong said. It took both anglers until around midday to fill their limits, with Fong eventually dropping 4.8kg on the scales to emphatically take the win.

Mario Vukic anchored the biggest bag of the week (5/5, 6.29kg) with an enormous, misshapen 1.59kg Hollands Landing brute. With a bent back and a tiny tail, it was an ideal tournament fish. It ate a ZMan GrubZ 2.5” in motor oil rigged on a Decoy Nail Bomb weedless jighead. He fished it on a Daiwa Beowulf rod, 2500 Daiwa Certate reel, 12lb Sunline Castaway braid and 4lb Sunline V-Hard leader. “I was fishing 10lb leaders all day until I busted them all off, so I grabbed the 4lb and the big girl bit,” Vukic said. We’ll bet he was glad it wasn’t in prime condition!

Grayson Fong was the only non-boater to bag a perfect 10/10 for the event. His limits of 3.70 and 4.80kg topped the best-of-the-rest by nearly 3kg.

NON-BOATER RESULTS Place Name

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10/10 7/10 3/10 4/10 3/10 5/10 4/10 5/10 2/10 4/10

Grayson Fong Michael Alexander Nick Penprase Michael Hodges Nikki Bryant Blair Bryant Allan Morrison Wayne Mauger Arthur Amies Jordan Armstrong

8.50 5.69 3.55 3.29 3.11 2.97 2.64 2.41 2.20 2.11

Pro Lure pack Daiwa pack Costa sunnies Atomic pack + rod EJ Todd pack Samaki pack + rod Tackle Tactics pack Cranka pack Ecogear pack VMC Pack

Scan the QR code to see the day two highlights.

Scan the QR code to see Scott Towner’s winning interview. APRIL 2020

Get to Mallacoota for the Bream Challenge REEL IT IN regularly runs flathead challenges at Mallacoota, Narooma and Lake Tyers, as well an Australian-wide online flathead challenge. To support Mallacoota in its time of need, they’re branching out into bream and running a special Mallacoota Bream Challenge on 6-7 June. It will be run the same way the flathead challenges work: every angler will

get a bragmat and the bream caught need to be photographed with a key tag. Live wells aren’t required as it’s all catch and release. It’s a team event, with a

minimum of two anglers per team and a maximum of four. If you’re a rookie bream angler, never fear! With two divisions, you can pick your competition level depending on your experience. Division 1 is for confident bream anglers with a bag limit of 10 bream (per team) over the two days, and Division 2 is for newbie bream anglers with a bag limit of 6 bream per team. Prizes will include:

the top five teams in each division, Big Bream award of $1000 cash plus $500 lure pack from Pro Lure Australia, and other categories such as Funniest Photo, Best

Junior, Best Female, Best By-catch and many more as well as some random draws and auctions. The cost to enter is $150 per person, which includes a competition hoodie and other goodies in a showbag worth over $150. Anglers will receive their showbag on entry. To support the town and other venues, we will have the briefing on Friday night at the Mallacoota Golf Club,

will arrange local buses to get anglers to and from the Golf Club on Friday night. The event should hopefully be a massive boost to an incredible town, so please come along and support the community. Enter as soon as possible so the locals know how many anglers to expect. Check out www.reelitin. com.au and click on the Bream Challenge for all the rules and information. You can enter online at the website and keep up-todate via the REEL IT IN Facebook and Instagram. – REEL IT IN

then Saturday night viewing photos and random draws will be at the Lions Club with a big BBQ, and finally the presentation will be at the Mallacoota Hotel. The town

FISHING NEWS

First ten Golden Tag fish have been found Congratulations to 10 lucky anglers who were the first to catch the specially tagged fish worth $10,000 each. Anglers from across Victoria have been trying their luck targeting these fish as part of the State Government’s Golden Tag fishing competition to lure tourists back to bushfireaffected areas. Fishers from across Victoria have headed to East Gippsland and North East Victoria for their chance to catch these specially tagged fish. A total of 1,000 fish were tagged in lakes, rivers and estuaries, including dusky flathead, black bream, trout and Murray cod. The first 10 anglers who captured a tagged fish took home a $10,000 cheque. From now until 1 March, 2020, anyone capturing a tagged fish will win $2,000. Recreational fishing in Gippsland and the North East is worth more than $600

APRIL 2020

million annually. It supports over 3,800 jobs and makes a substantial contribution to regional economies and local jobs. Summer bushfires have reduced visitor numbers

substantially during what is normally the busiest time of year for accommodation providers, retailers and service providers. The Golden Tag

competition will encourage fishers to return with family and friends to wet a line, share time together in Victoria’s great outdoors and have the chance to take home the catch

of a lifetime. In Mallacoota Inlet, dusky flathead and black bream have been tagged along with tailor, trevally and estuary perch. The Gippsland Lakes and

its inflowing rivers are now home to tagged King George whiting, black bream and dusky flathead, while in the Bemm River, Lake Tyers, Tamboon and Marlo, dusky flathead and black bream have also been tagged. In the High Country, tagged trout are waiting for a lure, bait or fly in the Dartmouth Pondage (Lake Banimboola), and the Mitta Mitta River and its tributaries below the lake. The Golden Tag competition will help boost tourism in towns that have been doing it tough like Mallacoota, Cann River, Bemm River, Orbost, Marlo, Lakes Entrance, Kiewa, Lake Tyers, Omeo, Dartmouth, Mitta Mitta, Corryong, Falls Creek, Tallangatta and Bright. The competition will run until 1 March, 2021. For more information visit www.vfa.vic.gov.au/ goldentag. – Victorian Fisheries Authority

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APRIL 2020

Getting the kids into fishing over the holidays WIRF

Cara Cummings

It’s important to be a positive influence on future generations and encourage them to be the best anglers that they can be. It’s our role to show them it is healthy to switch off from technology and get fresh air and Vitamin D. The joy that fishing offers goes beyond catching fish; it’s about being hands on and caring for the environment. Kids can explore and play while discovering a healthy hobby that they will love, making wonderful lifelong memories along the way. We have found that many of our members joined because this is the lifestyle they want to share with their children, but knowing where to start can hold some parents back. Here are a few options to consider for the school holidays! TROUT FARMS For novices to experienced anglers, trout farms are a brilliant way to get involved in fishing. You are almost always guaranteed to catch a fish with the help of staff always on hand. The fishing gear and bait is supplied (some will allow you to take your own rods/lures) and entry fees are fairly priced. Pack your picnic blanket, fill the hamper and set off for a day of bonding with the kids. I recently took my son to Tuki Trout Farm in Smeaton. The setting is lovely and there are multiple ponds and lakes to choose from. We are lure fishers, so bait fishing with corn was a different and fun experience. It was a rather humid day and the fish weren’t very active, but we did manage to catch a small trout. We celebrated the catch with an afternoon platter overlooking the water in the café. I highly recommend any trout or fish farm as a great day trip for a school holiday adventure. The best part is the kids will take their photos and stories back to school and hopefully encourage other kids and families to give fishing a go! There are a number of trout farms in Victoria so have a look to see what is near you. BANK FISHING Kids love fishing from the bank, especially if they are new to the sport. If they tire or get bored, they can explore or play. Many fishing hot spots have picnic grounds and play equipment for kids. Pack your rods, camp chairs and BBQ 72

APRIL 2020

The WIRF community love to take kids out fishing. Here are some of the WIRF kids with their catches, loving every minute of it. Fishing is an incredible pastime no matter what age you are and can be enjoyed by all! equipment and try your luck at a local river, lake or reservoir. For stocked waterways and locations, check the Victorian Fisheries website. SAFETY FIRST Always be alert when near waterways with

children and keep a close eye on them. Make sure the children are briefed on where you are going and what they are doing. For younger children, it may be best to put them in life jackets if they are walking or playing near the water.

Always carry a first aid kit for unexpected insect bites, falls or scratches. Wear appropriate clothing and always be sun smart. KIDS FISHING CLINICS Victorian Fisheries Authority often runs fishing clinics for kids where they

can learn tips and tricks about fishing, different species and their role and responsibilities as an angler. Keep an eye out on their website or Facebook page for upcoming sessions. For upcoming event details and to see what else

has been happening, please head to our Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/ womenrecfishing/ or via the VFA website/Facebook page. Are you a WIRF woman? If not, we’d love to have you on board. Join us on FB today!

RECIPES THAT ARE ‘WIRF’ IT

Gummy Shark Tacos INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4) 4 portions of fresh gummy shark, cut into 8 strips 8 tortillas or tacos Shredded lettuce Sour cream MARINADE Juice of 1 lemon Juice of 1 lime 1tbsp veg oil Small handful of thyme Small handful of basil SALSA 1 large tomato ½ avocado ¼ red onion Salt and pepper 1 tsp olive oil Handful coriander leaves (optional) METHOD Mix the marinade together and pour over flake strips. Allow to marinade for 10 minutes. Dice all the salsa ingredients, mix them together with a drizzle of oil and season with salt and pepper. Over medium high heat, pan-fry the flake for 2-4 minutes. Build your own taco and enjoy!

The author’s daughter caught her PB 105cm gummy shark and then turned it into a feast for the whole family with her delicious taco recipe!

TOURNAMENT CALENDAR 2020

4-5 Apr

ABT BREAM Round 5 Mandurah

abt.org.au

10-13 Apr

Good Friday Appeal Easter Fishing Competition San Remo

jimsbaitandtackle.com.au

18-19 Apr

Hobie Kayak Bream Series 12 Round 3 Mallacoota

hobiefishing.com.au

25-26 Apr

Vic Bream Classics Round 3 Mallacoota

vicbreamclassics.com.au

29 Apr-1 May

ABT BREAM Australian Open Sydney

abt.org.au

2-3 May

Hobie Kayak Bream Series 12 Round 4 Blackwood River

hobiefishing.com.au

16-17 May

Hobie Kayak Bream Series 12 Round 5 Woy Woy

hobiefishing.com.au

30-31 May

ABT BREAM Round 6 Forster

abt.org.au

6-7 Jun

Mallacoota Bream Challenge Mallacoota

reelitin.com.au

20-21 Jun

Hobie Kayak Bream Series 12 Round 6 Gold Coast

hobiefishing.com.au

20-21 Jun

Vic Bream Classics Round 4 Nelson

vicbreamclassics.com.au

JULY

25-26 Jul

ABT BREAM Round 7 Bribie Island

abt.org.au

AUGUST

29-30 Aug

ABT BREAM Round 8 Richmond River

abt.org.au

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

Add your tournament or competition to this list by emailing jthomas@fishingmonthly.com.au or calling 07 3387 0800 in office hours. Just supply a date, venue, tournament name and a telephone number and contact name. APRIL 2020

Biosonics surveys go prime time

SUNTAG

Stefan Sawynok

February was a huge month for Infofish survey wise, with Lake Somerset, Lake Jindabyne and the Maroochy River on the list for surveys. All up, that’s over 200km of transects, 40km2 of area surveyed, and if you like really big numbers, 451 million cubic metres of water sampled. This month the objective was to take two years of preparation and development and put it all into practice on the water. There were a lot of changes from the addition of a new rig on the water, to new views on the data and a

a long while ago, so pretty much every survey we have done in the past 12 months can be re-run with the latest processing to answer more questions for the client. A QUICK INTRO TO THE BIOSONICS SURVEY Our Biosonics unit is a scientific echosounder – 200kHz, the same frequency that most downscan echosounders operate at. The unit is a split beam unit that produces a cone of sound with an array of receivers that provide pinpointing of objects in the beam. Biosonics transducers come in a range of frequencies 38kHz, 70kHz, 120kHz, 200kHz and 420kHz and up to four transducers can be attached to a single survey unit. We are aiming to add 120kHz and 420kHz

Scientific echosounders have a greater range. The 38kHz unit for example can punch up to 4km in freshwater and over 1km in salt. Our 200kHz unit can hit over 200m+ in freshwater and 200m in salt. Biosonics units can operate at an angle from vertical to horizontal, which allows us to survey the water column from the side and cover much larger areas. Scientific echosounders can detect the size of the fish in the beam. All up, that makes scientific echosounders an ideal tool for surveying very large areas of water for fish. All the same, even with all those advantages there have been serious challenges to overcome in order to get the results.

Aaron Dunlop (front) and Jimmy Reid (left back) taking Brisbane Valley Anglers member Steve Gaudron out on the water to see the biosonics survey in action. technologies are giving fishers an edge and there is quite a lively debate among fishers on whether they are a good thing or not. Unfortunately while both technologies are good at finding fish in a small area, they don’t scale well for larger surveys. As things stand, nets, electrofishers, divers and cameras in good conditions remain the main survey techniques. With the exception of cameras, each

of these techniques has issues when it comes to impact on fish or risks to humans. Biosonics surveys are for the most part relatively low risk, as no fish are sampled and nobody has to enter the water. The equipment can be set up before entering the water and removed off the water. In our case, the survey lines are parallel and start at the same end, so when we finish off a transect we have to shoot on back to

water column from the side is that there is no bottom – which has been one of the certainties of echosounders since their earliest design. This leads to the second challenge – while there is no bottom, there are sides where the beam hits the bottom. In our earliest surveys this presented real problems, as when the beam hits the bottom side-on it makes a mess of the echogram and it’s often impossible to see fish.

Aaron’s latest bracket makes working with the transducer easier and safer on the water. new way to deliver data direct to the client and even the survey team on the water. For the past 18 months, most of our Biosonics technology has been a work in progress; not so much on finding fish but almost every time we were out on survey, clients would ask bigger questions once they saw the data, which increased the amount of processing we needed to do. More than once I had to scrap our processing system and start again, as we either ran into performance issues or new requests that went past the design capabilities of the processing engine. Finally though, we have a good baseline that keeps the team on the water and allows the back room team to make improvements. The good part about our processing system is that by and large we worked out the baseline dataset we needed 74

APRIL 2020

A SAFER APPROACH TO LOOKING FOR FISH Hardly a day goes by at fishing events we attend, particularly inland, where the conversation doesn’t turn to technologies like the Humminbird 360 and Garmin Livescope. There is no doubt that these

Reviewing sidescan images.

Individual fish mapped out at Lake Jindabyne.

the beginning. That requires taking the transducer out of the water and doing that 30 times a day is harder than you might imagine. Our transducer is around 15kg in weight, add to that the mounting and you have an awkward time lifting then replacing the transducer. Aaron has recently added an additional innovation: a pivot so the transducer can be easily stowed for travel between transects or to get out of windy conditions. ACCOUNTING FOR HABITAT The big challenge that comes with surveying the

transducers in the next year to add a mix of greater range and resolution to allow more flexibility in how we survey. There are three key differences between Biosonics Scientific Transducers and the consumer transducers on most vessels – besides costs.

Our early solution to this problem was to create a false bottom by drawing a line on the echogram before the bottom noise kicks in and only keeping the echos in clear water, but that often left us with a tiny amount of data. Our current solution is to take a second set of data, bathymetry recorded on a conventional echosounder. While this often extends the time required to complete a survey, it gave us a map of the bottom to refer to in processing. As a second measure we started recording sidescan, giving a view of the

environment and allowing us to identify things like wood elements. We are targeting 10,000 pieces of wood this year so that we can train new machine learning models to improve our ability to pick out wood directly from the biosonics data. SEDIMENT TYPING One of the advantages of adding the bathymetry survey is we can sample the

Taking that process one step further, if we have a higher sampling rate we can pick up unexpected variations on the bottom, such as fish that live on the bottom, crabs or shellfish where we go specifically looking for difference to the background. This technique has been used widely with a vertical beam, but we are the first globally to be using an angled beam

processed and it can typically cover depths to a few metres. We can cover around 25km per day, and at 200m range we can reach depths of 20-25m with the full width of the beam. That coverage has allowed us to develop an optimal survey pattern of parallel lines spaced 200m apart in depths >10m and 100m apart for <10m. That kind of pattern

Example echogram with lots of bottom noise.

Sediment typing at Lake Burrendong. Brown = clay, yellow = sand, red = gravel, black = rock, and green = wood. bottom deliberately if we need to. All that noisy data that causes problems in the echogram actually turns out to be quite useful. There are good reasons to go looking at the bottom: the biosonics unit is very efficient at covering a wide territory and sediment type is a key piece of information when it comes to assessing the environment fish live in. For example, in a survey in Burrendong Dam we found carp were more often detected around hard gravelly/rocky bottoms than soft clay bottom, which was counterintuitive to what I had expected.

to cover a larger area. REDUCING SURVEY COSTS One of the key objectives of the biosonics survey process is to reduce the costs of collecting high resolution fish data and that was the focus of new survey patterns developed for the month on the water. In this case we had two big impoundments, Lake Somerset followed by Lake Jindabyne, and anyone who has done social mapping will tell you that is a crazy area to do. The typical alternative – electrofishing can cover 10-15km per day depending on how many fish have to be

Fish, direction of movement lines and sidescan.

allows us to cover large areas, in the case of Lake Somerset 17.7 square kilometres in four days, and Jindabyne 24 square kilometres in a bit over five days. That is a significantly larger sample that can be achieved with any conventional means and constitutes the two largest samples generated anywhere in the world to date. In fact, over the past six months we have reset the record for the largest area surveyed in the world five times. LOOKING FOR SHARKS Sharks are an interesting critter to go looking for, with their lack of the hard skeletons of fish, but typically they have rough

skin and a large surface area. There are good reasons to want to be able to detect sharks via echosounder – from early warning to scientific study. There are shark and ray species that live on the bottom and in the next round of surveys we will be looking closely at free swimming and bottom dwelling sharks. We have reviewed work on tracking sharks via echosounder and we know it’s been done, but as with many things, sharks have been looked at in a ‘can we see them’ sense, not in a larger scale data capture sense. So at this point we will be starting from scratch, and Aaron is in his element

Sample survey pattern. when it comes to solving on the water fish survey issues. As we go, we regularly take time to assess new ways of using the biosonics to solve real world data capture problems. Sharks are just the latest, but I am heading to the US in June to meet with the manufacturer and I expect a lot more challenges to come in the next two years. NEW AND FASTER DELIVERY Crunching the biosonics data has always been a challenge, and the reality is that there are a lot of steps to the processing, from: • Generating the bathymetry • Cleaning up sidescan • Generating the actual datasets which include processing all signals, separating the fish, size

grading, calculating where they are (latitude, longitude, depth), and generating their movements • Generating all the sediment types • Assessing wood habitat In general we try to have data to the client within 24 hours of survey – which is a first draft that provides a snapshot in mapping form. Over time, we have narrowed it down to two key maps that are easy to assess and determine if anything needs to be adjusted in the survey: one that combines bathymetry, survey tracks, fish sizes and locations, and one that combines sidescan, fish locations and depth of the fish. Now that is a lot to do, so we have to be really efficient in sending data from the field as well as in minimising the handling. The other thing that we need to do is then get that to the client and here Mapbox has been a godsend. Mapbox is an online mapping delivery system that accepts a range of mapping data including raster data (important for sidescan). With Mapbox, we can upload the finished datasets and provide maps that are usable on desktop and mobile by the client and survey team. We still have work to do to automate that process, but all the feedback has been really positive – not least because it provides a map of where the fish are within 24 hours. THE FUTURE In the near future we will be able to deliver those rich datasets via apps. While we are still working out the best way/context to do that, it’s pretty exciting to pull together such a complex data collection process and make it simple to use and access. The bonus is once we have the delivery options streamlined, we can start to look at the next generation of technologies that will provide even more insights into what is happening under the water. Next month, I will do a data dive from a survey and highlight some of the questions we are answering and new questions raised by our survey teams. APRIL 2020

BAIT & TACKLE

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BOAT TRAILER CENTRAL Vic Marine & Trailer Warehouse 0412 264 450

BOAT HIRE Lake Eildon Houseboats (03) 9397 6977 Boab Boat Hire Shepparton (03) 5822 2108

Minn Repairs & Servicing 0412 605 080

Boab Boat Hire Echuca (03) 5482 1992

This section in V&TFM Fishing Monthly consolidates the trades and services in your area that are relevant to your fishing and boating. Whether you’re a local looking for more options or a travelling angler fishing around the state, this guide will direct you to reputable businesses in the area you’re searching. 76

APRIL 2020

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

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Lazy Acre Log Cabins 1, 2 & 3 BEDROOM SPACIOUS COTTAGES ♦ Solar Pool ♦ Free Wi-Fi ♦ Air-Con/Heating ♦ Fishing Advice ♦ Boat Parking

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CHARTER BOATS WEST COAST Portland Fishing Charters, Portland (03) 5523 3020

Wilderness Fishing Tours, Mallacoota 0424 625 160 Aussie Fish Estuary Adventures (02) 6495 9902 or 0400 062 504

CHANDLERY & ACCESSORIES Anchor Right (03) 5968 5014 Salt-away 1800 091 172 or www.salt-away.com.au

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Advertisers wanting to be involved in this directory can call (07) 3387 0800 or email pjung@fishingmonthly.com.au APRIL 2020

FUN PAGE AND COMPETITIONS WATER ACTIVITIES

SCUBADIVE SNORKEL KAYAKING PADDLE BOARD JET SKI KITE SURFING RAFTING FISHING BOATING

SURFING SAILING CANOEING SWIMMING CAGE DIVING CLIFF DIVING PARASAILING ROWING WINDSURFING

Name: Address:

P/Code:

The first correct entry at the end of each month will win the prize pack. SEND ENTRIES TO: VIC Find-a-word Competition, PO box 3172, Loganholme Qld 4129

VIC APRIL 2020

Phone (day):

GEORGE & NEV by Michael Hardy

Complete the Find the Word and go in the draw to win a Fishing Monthly Prize Pack containing a limited edition neck scarf and a Fishing Monthly environmentally-friendly tote bag.

SPOT THE

10 DIFFERENCES

BARRA COUNTRY by Brett Currie

ORIGINAL

FIND-A-WORD

Congratulations to Emily Handreck, who was last month’s winner of the Find-aWord Competition! Monthly winners receive a Fishing Monthly prize pack. Prize delivery can take 8 weeks. – V&TFM

SUBSCRIBER PRIZE

The subscriber prize winner for February is M Radonich of Greensborough, who won a Fishing Monthly Subscriber prize pack. All subscribers are entered in the monthly subscriber prize draws. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – V&TFM

Indented Head, M Pearce of Devonport, W Johnson of Morwell, J Drummond of Moe, M Fallon of Hamilton, B Delphine of Emerald, S Cameron of Tyndale, J Aquilina of Keilor Downs, S Ward of Curlewis, T Whitfield of Swan Hill, J Knox of Frankston, R Price of Mildura, A Bourchier of Toolamba, G Bell of Mernda, J Morrison of Clunes, J Ellis of Reservior, J Titter

of Werribee, R Waters of Temora, A Bingham of Parkdale, T Mathieson of Patterson Lakes, M White of Drysdale, J McKeown of Langwarrin, P Lawler of Greensborough, H Siesmaa of Ferntree Gully, R Coombes of Vermont, D Hoggan of Heywood, H Kirk of Hadspen, C Anthony of Heatherton. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – V&TFM

LAST MONTH’S ANSWERS

FIND THE ZMAN LOGO

APRIL 2020

GUESS THE FISH?

This month’s Guess the Fish Answer: Red Emperor

The answers to Find the ZMan Logo for February were: 8, 12, 17, 22, 28, 33, 38, 76, 79, 82, 86, 89, 92, 106, 112. – V&TFM The Find the ZMan Logo prize winners for February were: G Smith of Stawell, S Hoffrichter of Cobden, B Miller of Yarram, T Darker of Daylesford, P Geale of Georgetown, W Henley of Park Orchards, R Wilde of Maryborough, W Hester of Cohuna, J Neilson of Rochester, J Sherman of Enfield, J McCormack of Merrijig, K Voros of Korumburra, M Forys of

Answer:

boats & kayaks

In the skipperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seat

Inside story...

Stacer have been making boats for over 40 years, and in that time have gained a reputation for building tough boats to suit Australian conditions. With over 70 models in the range, whether you are after a serious fishing rig, a family fun machine or a budget friendly tinny, Stacer has you covered.

Made for...

Stacer boats are designed to dominate all sorts of waterways. There are boats to suit offshore, in the bay and in freshwater fishing locations.

This month...

Editor Steve Morgan takes a ride in the Ocean Ranger 609, powered by a Mercury 150hp. Check it out on page 86!

80 Choosing a yak

Justin Willmer checks out some different kayak types and looks at how you can choose the right kayak for your needs!

82 Staying up to date with PFD regulations

Wayne Kampe brings you up to speed with all the PFD laws, and shares some important safety tips.

84 Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new in the boating world

Check out the latest and greatest in the boating world, including the lastest boats, engines, technology and news.

APRIL 2020

Choosing the perfect kayak for your needs BRISBANE

Justin Willmer Find me on Facebook at Yaks On

Kayak fishing has only grown in popularity! It’s inexpensive, allows you to launch almost anywhere and access new locations, can be relaxing or adrenaline filled, provides the advantage of stealth, has a low carbon

may be a little extreme, but I know many anglers that have two different kayaks in the garage for different applications. If 95% of your fishing is skinny water creek bashing, then purchase a kayak to suit that application. Similarly, if it’s offshore or estuary fishing, this will require different kayaks. Once you decide on your type of fishing, you can

getting into kayak fishing. SIT INSIDE OR SIT ON TOP For many, the first decision is between a sit-on-top or sit-inside. A sit on top is by far the most popular kayak style for fishing as there are many options available, they are inexpensive, easy to get in and out of, feature selfdraining scupper holes so as not to hold water like

A sit-inside kayak is still a good option for smoother waters and skinny water adventures.

This sit-inside kayak was excellent for targeting barra in a small impoundment, as you’re lower to the water so you catch less wind. footprint and offers a level of exercise, often without even realising it. Probably the most common question that I get asked from anglers both new and old to kayak fishing is ‘what is the best kayak for fishing?’ The short answer is the one that best suits your needs, so I’m going to explore the features and benefits, pros and cons, and applications for different kayak types. APPLICATION The first consideration when selecting a kayak for fishing is the application that you have in mind for the kayak. One single kayak will not be the best solution for offshore fishing, bush bashing the creeks, estuary fishing and the many other applications that anglers may have in mind, so it’s important to decide what type of fishing you want to focus on. My passion for kayak fishing has seen up to half a dozen different kayaks in the shed at times, which

APRIL 2020

kayak to keep water out. CAPACITY Most adult kayaks will have a capacity rating from around 80kg up to hundreds of kilograms. It’s

estuary fishing. If I wanted to carry more gear for kayak camping or extended fishing adventures, then I would be looking for a kayak with increased

If you’re fishing colder conditions further south, sit-inside kayaks will protect you from the elements better than a sit-on-top kayak.

Grey nomads geared up with their compact 280x85cm by 85cm kayaks that are rated to 147kg capacity. start comparing models. Keep an eye out for kayak store demo days, borrow a kayak or even look at hiring a couple of kayaks to get a feel for what is out there and what you need. Kayak forums, magazines and the internet can also assist with your research. It is important to consider the limitations of you and your vessel when

A simple set-up is all you need to get started, however you need to consider the physical size and weight of the kayak, its capacity and your fishing applications. 80

Sit-inside kayaks are therefore preferred for backwater creek fishing where the kayak is often dragged, carried and frequently contacts vegetation and other structure, as well as in colder southern environments. However, you need to be conscious of the open cockpit that can take on

a sit-inside, and landing and handling fish can also often be easier as you can drop your legs over either side to slow the kayak and increase stability, and even turn completely sideways on the kayak to access iceboxes and other items in the rear well. On the other hand, sit-inside kayaks allow you to keep gear stowed securely inside the kayak where branches cannot drag items into the water, while also protecting you from these overhanging branches along with the elements, such as the wind and cold. The hull on sit-inside kayaks generally has less drag than comparable length sit-on-top kayaks, so it glides more efficiently, making it popular for covering further distances when fishing. Longer sit-inside kayaks (sea kayaks) are the choice for long-range sea kayaking adventures/touring.

important to keep in mind your weight plus the weight of the gear that you wish to carry on board with you. I have a small, inexpensive kayak that I load with a 20L

capacity, which would likely also increase the space available for stowing gear, fitting additional rod holders and increase the length of the kayak. For this option, I have

From left to right: the wider, slower sit-inside; a grey nomad’s 147kg rated all-rounder; the author’s all-rounder; and Sheri’s speed machine. water, so for anglers and sea kayakers who are venturing into rougher water a skirt is often attached around the waist of the paddler and around the cockpit of the

icebox, a couple of rods and a dry bag of lures, tackle and accessories. This kayak is 9’ (2.7m) and has a rating of 130kg, which is enough to cover basic creek and

a 12’ 6” (3.8m) kayak that has a weight capacity of 180kg. WEIGHT As kayaks get longer, wider and their capacities increase, generally so does

their weight. It’s important to consider how you will be transporting and storing your kayak, such as whether you will be lifting your kayak onto a vehicle, trailer or storage racks. You need to be able to handle the kayak without injuring yourself or

good to paddle, with its multipiece paddles packing into the compact kit. However, for most anglers the inflation, deflation, drying time and pack up take away from the simplicity of kayak fishing, meaning that inflatable kayaks are usually only chosen by

will often opt for something in the middle, giving them a balance of speed and stability. Remember if the kayak becomes too wide, it can also be difficult for smaller paddlers to paddle the kayak comfortably and effectively.

Sit-inside kayaks are good for skinny water adventures that require some portaging. damaging the kayak. Kayak loading devices can assist in loading and unloading your kayak if you wish to purchase one that you cannot physically load and unload without assistance, but this is an additional expense. It is worth investigating further to ensure you can manage the loading device prior to purchasing both it and the kayak. Otherwise, you could use a kayak trailer. There are high-tec, lightweight kayaks, but the current selection is limited and they generally carry a higher price tag than rotomoulded polyethylene kayaks. Inflatable kayaks are another option and the quality and rigidity of these have improved over time thanks to advancements in materials and drop stitched flooring. Sheri and I have a double inflatable kayak that packs into a suitcase to take with us on adventures and it is stable, durable and pretty

adventurers and anglers with extreme space restrictions. LENGTH The length of the kayak can impact its speed, tracking and handling in choppy conditions. Longer kayaks will generally track better, paddle faster and ride through chop better, while shorter kayaks will bob like a cork amongst chop, take more effort to paddle straight and control in wind and chop, and won’t be capable of the speed achieved in longer kayaks. On the flipside though, shorter kayaks are often more manoeuvrable and lighter, so they are preferred by many for smooth water, skinny water and short paddles to more sheltered fishing spots. WIDTH The width of the kayak can influence stability, speed, handling and capacity. Thinner kayaks generally track straighter and paddle faster, while wider kayaks are slower but more stable and with larger capacities. Anglers

An inexpensive, 2.7-3m kayak is all you need to target bread and butter species. Do your research and stick with a reputable brand.

the kayak and attempting to swing the bow. You can also use the rudder when wind drifting and fishing, controlling drift direction and maintaining your position a cast distance from the edge or structure as you drift, should the wind be blowing in the right direction. PADDLE VS PEDAL Pedal kayaks allow for hands-free fishing, additional distance to be covered and less fatigue, as you are powering your vessel using larger muscle groups. They also provide increased control when fishing as you can hold your position in wind or current. Pedal kayaks often dominate kayak tournaments these days, due to these distinct advantages for anglers. You don’t need a pedal kayak to catch fish, but they do make fishing easier. There are a few downsides to pedal kayaks. The obvious one is the additional cost, but

You don’t need a big kayak to catch big fish. Smaller kayaks can even have the advantage in accessing some areas. My wife is a smaller paddler than myself, so she has a kayak that is narrower, slightly longer and has less capacity than mine, while I require additional capacity to handle my weight along with additional width for stability due to my larger frame. I would be unstable and uncomfortable in her kayak, while she would find my kayak more difficult and heavier to paddle. RUDDER A rudder adds cost to your kayak price but it makes paddling more efficient and steering much simpler. It is often foot-powered, allowing you to focus on a steady paddle stroke and adjust the tracking with a small movement of your feet. Many kayaks come fitted with rudders, while others have the option of retrofitting a rudder. Most rudders are designed to kick up if they come into contact with structure when moving forward, with a simple cord system to flip the rudder up into a stowed position or into the water for use. A rudder allows you to focus on paddling and makes control easier, even in a side wind or when waves are crashing against one side of

if your application involves covering distance or battling wind and tide then it may be worth it. Another downside of pedal kayaks is the space lost in the cockpit area due to the pedal units taking up space; however, over time pedal kayak manufacturers have come up with some creative storage options to ensure that rods and gear are secured safely, so this is less of an issue. Finally, pedal kayaks have the disadvantage of the pedal unit protruding from the bottom of the kayak, which rules them out for many skinny water adventures where the system is riddled with snags and structure. Other than that, if you love kayak fishing, saving your pennies for a pedal kayak may

This is the perfect environment for a sit-inside kayak: cruising through lilies and timber as you’re protected from the elements and everything is stowed securely. be a good choice if you haven’t already made the leap. I have heard a few negative stories about the cheaper ‘copycat’ pedal kayaks that are popping up around the place, so I would stick with the tried and true Hobie or Native Watercraft pedal kayaks until the others have proven themselves. Likewise with paddle kayaks, do your research and stick with the more well-known and reputable brands that have a history of quality, performance, quality fit out and proven accessories. POWER A less common option but one that is available to kayak anglers is to power up your kayak with a small electric motor. Powered kayaks have allowed anglers with injuries and conditions that would otherwise prevent them from kayak fishing to get out there

when selecting a kayak that will be powered include options for mounting the motor, along with the kayak’s capacity for carrying the motor and battery. MAKING YOUR CHOICE Once you have narrowed your kayak search down to a couple of options, it should just be the little things that separate them. This can be as simple as available colours, such as a stealthy colour for skinny water bass or a hi-vis colour for paddling offshore. It may also come down to available storage and its configuration, seating, mounting and attachment points, available accessories and so forth. I hope I have touched on some points that will assist you when selecting your first or your next kayak. Remember that the best fishing kayak is the one that best suits you, so

An important consideration when selecting a kayak is handling and transport, as well as storage at home. and into a few fish. These power options have also been taken on board by those who love the serenity, stealth and overall vibe of kayak fishing, and are looking to cover more water, troll and make the most of short windows of time. Important considerations

take the time to think about the types of fishing and adventures you wish to undertake and what requirements you have for your craft. Try and get out there and paddle or pedal as many options as you can to get a better understanding of what’s available.

Offshore kayaks are generally longer, with a bow designed to ride over and through waves and a rudder for control. APRIL 2020

Do you know the different PFD regulations? conditions, and should be able to turn a fully clothed wearer into a safe breathing position even if incapacitated, and that’s a pretty big call. Most are inflatable, and they are particularly popular with kayakers and rock fishers. Level 275 inflatable PFDs are designed for the roughest conditions, typically for people working on commercial vessels.

BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

I saw an ad on TV with an interesting and accurate message: ‘Wearing a lifejacket has never spoiled a day’s fishing!’ Reflecting on this pearl of wisdom turned my thoughts towards lifejackets (PFDs), the different styles on offer, and whether regulations might vary from state to state. We anglers like to fish in lots of different places; I have run into Victorian anglers while fishing in Queensland barra dams, and Victorian anglers have met Queenslanders fishing in Port Phillip Bay during the snapper run. It’s not hard to hook up the boat and head interstate, so maybe we should think about those PFDs a bit more

open deck of a boat up to 8m long that’s underway, children must wear a Level 50S (or greater) lifejacket. If you’re in open waters, the child’s jacket must be at least a Level 100. On all boats less than 4.8m, everyone on board has to wear at least a Level 50S PFD if: you’re boating between sunset and sunrise; in alpine waters; or boating alone without an accompanying person over 12

Youngsters need their lifejackets on when in a boat less than 4.8m. so brightly coloured. Level 100 As we move out into open waters – bays, estuaries and offshore – there are Levels

two styles of inflatables – one that is manually activated by pulling on a toggle, and the other self-inflating on contact with water. The latter option is

Our Porta Bote is over 25 years old, so even when enjoying smoko on Wyaralong Dam the PFD stays on.

In a good marine store it’s easy to find the right lifejacket for any boating situation. seriously. It makes sense to consider local requirements and different regulations if you’re in another state. AUSTRALIAN STANDARDS Australian Standards demand that lifejackets comply with set criteria regarding manufacture and performance. The current standard throughout Australia is AS 4758, and it outlines the best practice for the design and manufacture of various types of lifejackets. Just like spinning reels come in a thousand increments, the number increasing with size, lifejackets have numbered levels as a standard. These different numbers tell you what level of protection the lifejacket provides, and what conditions it is suited to. Level 50 The first option is the brightly-coloured Level 50 PFD which, although it will keep you afloat, has no collar to keep your head out of the water. Basically, this is a PFD for short-term use where you don’t expect to be in the water for long. Water skiers use them frequently. The 50S pretty much identical, but not 82

APRIL 2020

100, 150 and 275. Level 100 lifejackets have a neck support to keep the wearer’s face out of the water. These PFDs are suitable for most excursions into open water and have a high level of floatation. However, they are not quite as good for use in seas with larger waves as the type 150 and 275 PFDs are. Level 100 PFDs are either inflatable or non-inflatable, and both will save lives. The inflatable 100s rely on a CO2 cartridge to inflate bladders within the jacket. There are

more pricey, but many anglers still prefer inflatable PFDs because of their slim fit and freedom of movement. As a fly angler waving arms about like a windmill while fishing, I favour an inflatable lifejacket hands down. Next is the non-inflatable Level 100, which has foam incorporated within a vest-like shape. It is always ready for use, if a little more bulky than an inflatable jacket. Level 150 and 275 Level 150 jackets are a good choice in rough

QUEENSLAND In Queensland you are legally obliged to have lifejackets in your boat, one per occupant, and they must comply with the AS 4758 standard. You also need to have prominent signs pointing out exactly where those lifejackets are stored (more information on signage is available at www.msq.qld.gov.au). If your vessel is under 4.8m there are two extra regulations. First of all, if you are crossing a designated coastal bar, those aboard have to wear a lifejacket. Also, persons under 12 years of age must wear a lifejacket in any sub-4.8m open boat that’s underway. There is no specification as to which level of lifejacket should be worn. NEW SOUTH WALES New South Wales skippers are required to carry an AS 4758-compliant PFD for everyone aboard, and have their location in the boat clearly marked with an appropriate sign. Children under 12 must have their lifejackets on. When on enclosed waters in a craft less than 4.8m long, or on the

years of age on board. A Level 100 or greater standard must be worn at all times while boating in open waters or crossing a coastal bar. VICTORIA Going boating in Victoria? Down in that neck of the woods waters are significantly cooler, and the lifejacket regulations reflect that. Generally, there’s no boating without AS 4758-compliant lifejacket being worn.

On inland waters you can choose between types 1, 2, or 3. If the boat is over 4.8m and up to 12m in length, occupants must wear Type 1 lifejackets at times of ‘heightened risk’. This applies in the following scenarios: crossing a bar; boating by yourself; between dusk and dawn; boating in reduced visibility; and after a BOM weather warning has been issued. Children under 10 must wear appropriate lifejackets at all times. It is a legal requirement to carry an appropriate size and type of PFDs for each person on board. Lifejackets must be easy to access. TASMANIA The big issue in Tasmania is the water temperatures, and in the popular inland trout lakes it can be as cold as 15°C, even in summer. Any prolonged immersion is a huge life-threatening issue. Imagine trying to put a lifejacket on when you are gasping to say alive! Not a good scenario. For this reason, if you are in a craft under 6m long and underway, a Coast Guard prescribed AS 4758 PFD must be worn. Children under 13 must wear a jacket when a larger craft is underway, unless below decks. Vessels must always carry a compliant lifejacket for each person on board. WESTERN AUSTRALIA In WA, vessels operating out of unprotected waters must carry AS 4758-compliant Type 1

With the water temperature hovering around 15°C in summer, it makes sense to wear a lifejacket in Tassie lakes.

Angler David Falconer on Tasmania’s Little Pine Lagoon. David’s PFD is a 150 model.

In Victoria (and WA), the lifejacket levels are referred to as types 1, 2 and 3. Type 1 denotes level 100 or higher, Type 2 is Level 50, and Type 3 is 50S. In general, those aboard powerboats up to and including 4.8m long must be wearing a Type 1 lifejacket or greater while underway (which includes drifting). This applies in both enclosed waters (i.e. within a port) and coastal waters.

lifejackets. In protected waters, the lifejackets can be Type 1, 2 or 3. They must be stored in easily accessible places and be the appropriate size for each passenger. There does not appear to be any laws dictating when you must wear a lifejacket. Instead, there are recommendations, which include wearing one during times of poor visibility, bad weather,

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Type 50 when boating alone, and for children under 10. SOUTH AUSTRALIA In vessels not more than 4.8m, all persons must wear a lifejacket, with the PFD Level appropriate to the conditions

(i.e. protected, semi-protected or unprotected waters). In 4.8-12m vessels, the same applies to persons on an open deck or during times of heightened risk. Children under 12 or

Type 100 weighing less than 40kg must not wear an inflatable lifejacket. ACT AND NT In the NT, all pleasure craft must carry lifejackets, one for each passenger. In the ACT

this rule applies to all craft under 4.8m long. In both territories it is suggested that lifejackets be worn, but there does not appear to be any mandatory requirement.

Type 150 THE NEXT LEVEL In next month’s issue I will discuss which lifejacket best suits different situations, and what the various styles of PFDs offer. Also, because of the popularity of inflatable-

style jackets for a lot of boating situations, it’s timely to have a look at servicing, to ensure they will work when you need them to. Until next month, happy boating.

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APRIL 2020

Victorian Tide Times

2020 2020 Local Time

POINT LONSDALE – VICTORIA POINT – 144° VICTORIA LAT 38°LONSDALE 18’ S LONG 37’ E

JANUARY Time m JANUARY Time 0506 1048 WE 1653 2249 WE

1 1 2 0538 1126 2

TH 1733 TH 2325

3 0609 1202 3

Time 1.61 0506 0.54 1048 1.36 1653 0.35 2249 1.57 0538 0.52 1126 1.33 1733 0.42 2325 1.52 0609 0.51 1202 1.29 1815

18’ S of High LONG 144° 37’ E TimesLAT and38° Heights and Low Waters Times and Heights of High and Low Waters MARCH FEBRUARY Time m Time Time FEBRUARY m Time MARCH m m

Time m Time m 0536 1.53 0458 1.68 05360.41 1.53 10390458 0.421.68 1137 11371.37 0.41 17001039 1.490.42 SA 1753 17530.50 1.37 2246 0.271.49 2339 TH 1700 SA 2246 0.27 2339 0.50 0537 1.65 0606 1.49 06060.39 1.49 11250537 0.351.65 1210 12101.36 0.39 17511125 1.480.35 SU 1834 FR 1751 SU 1834 1.36 2333 0.351.48 2333 0.35 0616 1.60 0014 0.57 00141.44 0.57 12120616 0.301.60 0638 06380.38 1.44 18481212 1.460.30 MO 1243 12431.34 0.38 SA 1848 1.46 MO 1919 1919 1.34 0020 0.45 0052 0.65 00521.39 0.65 06580020 1.550.45 0714 07140.38 1.39 12590658 0.271.55 TU 1316 13161.32 0.38 SU 1259 TU 1953 1.430.27 2012 1953 1.43 2012 1.32 0108 0.56 0132 0.73 01321.33 0.73 07420108 1.480.56 0753 07530.38 1.33 13480742 0.271.48 WE 1355 13551.31 0.38 MO 1348 WE 2101 1.410.27 2111 2101 1.41 2111 1.31 0159 0.67 0220 0.82 0159 0.67 0220 0.82 0832 1.41 0840 1.28 0832 1.41 0840 1.28 14421442 0.290.29 TH 1442 0.38 1442 0.38 TU TH 22082208 1.411.41 2216 22161.32 1.32 02580258 0.770.77 0319 0.88 0319 0.88 09300930 1.351.35 0937 09371.24 1.24 15441544 0.310.31 FR 1540 15400.37 0.37 WE FR 23132313 1.421.42 2328 23281.35 1.35 04070407 0.820.82 0432 0.90 0432 0.90 10351035 1.301.30 1047 10471.22 1.22 1652 0.32 1652 SA 1652 0.32 0.35 TH SA 16520.35

16 16

1.61 0.54 TH 1.36 0.35

17 17

1.57 0.52 FR 1.33 0.42

Time 0554 0554 1156 1156 SU 1844 SU 1844

16 16

m 1.61 1.61 0.17 0.17 1.56 1.56

0007 0.47 17 0007 1.55 0.47 170634 0634 0.17 1.55 1240 MO 1240 MO1940 1940 0051 0051 0717 0717 TU 1326 1326 TU2039 2039 0138 0138 0805 0805 WE 1414 1414 WE2140 2140 0230 0230 0901 0901 TH 1510 1510 TH2244 2244 0333 0333 1007 1007 1619 FR 1619 FR2348 2348 0453 0453 1118 1118 1732 SA SA 1732

0.17 1.51 1.51 0.57 0.57 1.48 1.48 0.22 0.22 1.45 1.45 0.66 0.66 1.40 1.40 0.28 0.28 1.39 1.39 0.75 0.75 1.32 1.32 0.35 0.35 1.36 1.36 0.81 0.81 1.25 1.25 0.40 0.40 1.36 1.36

18 18

0.50 19 4 0000 0641 0000 1.47 0.50 4 0641 1.47 19

19 19

5 5

20 20

6 6

21 21

7 7

22 22

8 8

23 23

0051 0051 1.39 1.39 23 0614 23 0614 0.78 0.78 SU 1227 1.23

FR 1815 FR

1.52 0.51 SA 1.29

SA 1239 0.49 SU SA 1239 1902 1.27 0.49 1902 1.27 0039 0.59 0715 0039 1.41 0.59 0715 0.48 1.41 MO SU 1316 1316 SU 1.25 0.48 1956 1956 1.25 0120 0.68 0120 0.68 0753 1.36 0753 1.36 1358 0.47 0.47 TU MO MO 1358 2058 2058 1.25 1.25 0208 0208 0.78 0.78 0838 0838 1.31 1.31 0.46 WE TU 1444 1444 TU 1.28 0.46 2203 2203 1.28 0305 0305 0.86 0.86 0930 0930 1.27 1.27 TH WE 1537 1537 WE 0.44 0.44 2310 2310 1.33 1.33

0.83 0.83 1.22 1.22 0.42 0.42

SU 1227 1.23 1839 1839 0.41 0.41

1.451.45 0.90 0.90 00160016 0035 0147 0415 00351.42 1.42 0147 1.43 1.43 9 0415 24 24 05250525 0.830.83 9 9 1029 1.24 1.24 0549 0722 9 24 1029 05490.86 0.8624 0722 0.71 0.71 FR 1142 1.28 TH 1640 0.40 SU 1205 1.25 MO 1328 1.27 TH 1640 0.40

FR 1142 1.28 18001800 0.310.31

SU 1205 1.25 1805 18050.31 0.31

MO 1328 1.27 1934 1934 0.39 0.39

Time 0504 0504 1108 1731 SU 1108 2318 SU 1731 2318 0534 0534 1138 1809 MO 1138 MO 1809 2352 2352 0607 0607 1208 1850 TU 1208 TU 1850

0027 0027 4 4 0641 1240 WE 0641

WE 1240 1936 1936 0103 0103 0717 0717 1315 TH 1315 TH 2030 2030 0145 0145 0802 0802 1400 FR 1400 FR 2133 2133 0238 0238 0901 0901 1457 SA 1457 SA 2245 2245

66 77

Local Time APRIL APRIL Time Time m

m Time m m Time m 0529 1.59 0538 1.44 1.51 0529 05381136 1.44 0.32 1.51 11321.59 0.12 0.34 1132 11361826 0.32 1.55 0.34 18290.12 1.65 1.48 MO WE 1.48 23491.65 0.52 WE 1826 1.55 TH 0.52 MO 1829 2349 0.52 0.52 0610 1.53 0004 0.67 1.49 0610 00040613 0.67 1.40 1.49 12161.53 0.17 0.32 1216 0613 1.40 0.33 0.32 19200.17 1.57 1.47 TU TH 1207 0.33 1.50 1.47 FR TH 12071909 0.58 TU 1920 1.57 1909 1.50 0.58 0031 0.59 0040 0.72 1.45 0031 00400651 0.72 1.35 1.45 06530.59 1.46 0.32 0653 0651 1.35 0.35 0.32 13001.46 0.25 1.45 WE FR 1244 0.35 1.44 1.45 WE 1300 SA 20130.25 1.48 FR 12442000 2013 1.48 2000 1.44 0115 0.67 0119 0.76 0.64 0115 01190739 0.76 1.31 0.64 07410.67 1.37 1.40 0741 0739 1.31 0.39 1.40 13451.37 0.34 0.32 TH SA 1329 0.39 1.39 0.32 SU 21100.34 1.40 SA 13292059 1.41 TH 1345 2110 1.40 2059 1.39 1.41 0204 0.74 0210 0.79 0.71 0204 02100742 0.79 1.27 0.71 08380.74 1.29 1.34 0838 07421326 1.27 0.45 1.34 14361.29 0.44 0.33 FR SU 0.45 1.37 0.33 MO 22100.44 1.34 SU 13262107 1.37 FR 1436 2210 1.34 2107 1.37 1.37 0304 0.79 0216 0.78 0.78 0304 0.79 0216 0.78 0.78 0945 1.22 0903 1.27 1.29 0945 1.22 0903 1.27 1.29 1541 0.52 1440 0.51 0.35 MO 1541 0.52 1440 0.51 TU 0.35 SASA MO 2314 1.32 2217 1.34 2314 1.32 2217 1.38 1.38 1.34 04250.81 0.81 0.83 0425 03360336 0.72 0.72 0.83 11011.19 1.19 1.25 1101 10331033 1.34 1.34 1.25 17000.56 0.56 1604 0.38 SU TU 1700 1604 0.55 0.55 0.38 WE TU 1.34 SU 23222322 1.43 1.43 1.34

16 16

Time

0530 16 16 1133 TH 1845 2355

m 0530 1.44 1133 0.34 1845 1.53 2355 0.69 0618 1.36 1215 0.45 1937 1.44

17 17

0618 17 17 1215

18 18

0043 0043 0716 18 18 0716 0.74 1.28

19 19

20 20

21 21

22 22

FR 1937

m 1.44 0.34 1.53 0.69 1.36 0.45 1.44

0.74 1.28 SA 1303 0.55 1303 2032 0.55 1.37 2032 1.37 0140 0.78 0140 0829 0.78 1.22 0829 1.22 0.64 SU 1400 1400 2130 0.64 1.33 2130 1.33 0257 0.78 0257 0945 0.78 1.21 0945 1514 1.21 0.71 MO 1514 2227 0.71 1.32 2227 1.32 0418 0.74 0418 0.74 1058 1.26 1058 1.26 0.74 TU 1636 1636 0.74 2319 2319 1.33 1.33 0521 0521 0.66 0.66 1200 1200 1.34 1.34 WE 1744 1744 0.73 0.73

00151.32 1.32 0346 0.85 0.85 04550455 0.59 0.59 0004 0004 1.36 230015 8 0346 8 1150 23 05500.77 0.77 8 1150 1017 1.23 1.2323 8 23 0550 1017 1.46 1.46 0608 0608 0.57 SU 1610 0.40 MO 1214 1.22 WE 1729 0.55 TH 1249

SU 1610 0.40 MO 1214 1.22 WE 1729 0.55 18140.57 0.57 2358 1.37 1.37 1814 2358

1.36 0.57 1.44 1249 1.44 TH 1834 1834 0.72 0.72

0507 0.81 0.81 01101.36 1.36 1.40 00180018 1.50 1.50 0043 0043 9 0507 9 0601 24 240110 1145 1.27 1.2724 06580.68 0.68 9 0601 9 24 1145 0646 0646 0.49 0658 0.44 0.44 MO 1731 0.40 TU 1316 1.28 FR 1330 TH 1256 1.61

1.40 0.49 TU 1316 1.28 TH 1256 1.61 FR 1330 1.54 1.54 19150.55 0.55 0.70 0.70 1915 18361836 0.53 0.53 1915 1915

MO 1731 0.40

1.41 1.41 01160116 0134 0232 01541.40 1.40 1.501.50 0100 1.44 1.44 0013 01341.50 1.50 0232 1.47 1.47 01090109 1.56 1.56 0117 0117 1.44 10 0013 25 25 25 10 0100 250154 0531 0.90 0.90 0659 0814 07460.59 0.591010 06370637 0.790.7910 0625 0.69 0.6925 10 25 10 25 0531 06590.76 0.7625 0814 0.62 0.62 10 0746 06570657 0.30 0.30 0722 0722 0.42 0625 1132 1.25 1316 1.32 1420 1.33 1409 1.37 1353 1.73 1406 1245 1.29 1301 1.37 FR

SA SA 1245 1.29 MOMO 1316 1.32 TU FR 1132 1.25 TU 1420 1.33 1745 1745 0.34 0.34 18581858 1912 2021 0.290.29 19120.26 0.26 2021 0.38 0.38

1.44 0.42 1409 1.37 1.73 SA 1406 WE FR SA 1.62 1.62 TU 1301 1.37 WE FR 1353 TU 20020.53 0.53 1850 0.37 0.37 2002 19301930 0.52 0.52 1950 1950 0.69 0.69 1850

1.541.54 0155 1.52 1.52 02301.44 1.44 1.49 1.49 02110211 1.47 02261.57 1.57 0308 1.50 1.50 01550155 1.60 1.60 0152 0152 260230 11 0110 26 26 11 0155 26 26 110226 260308 11 0110 07380738 0.720.7211 0756 0856 0730 0.54 0.5426 08260.50 0.501111 0638 0.85 0.85 0756 0756 0.38 07560.64 0.6426 0856 0.54 0.54 11 0730 0826 07470747 0.19 0.19 0638 1445 1.81 1440 1341 1.32 1417 1.41 1506 1.38 1406 1.49 1452 1.45 1238 1.28 SA

SU SU 1341 1.32 TU TU 1417 1.41 WE WE 1506 1.38 SA 1238 1.28 0.280.28 2009 2102 1843 1843 0.28 0.28 19491949 20090.23 0.23 2102 0.39 0.39

1.47 0.38 1452 1.45 1.81 SU 1440 SA SU 1.67 1.67 WE 1406 1.49 THTH WE SA 1445 1955 0.35 0.35 20420.53 0.53 0.68 0.68 1955 2042 20182018 0.53 0.53 2025 2025

03131.63 1.63 0339 1.52 1.52 0300 02390239 1.62 1.62 0227 0227 1.49 0244 1.581.58 0244 1.58 1.58 03001.47 1.47 1.58 1.58 02570257 120313 270339 27 27 12 0201 27 12 0201 27 12 27 08470.51 0.5127 0932 0.47 0.47 12 0900 08360836 0.14 0.14 0829 0829 0.35 0825 0732 08300830 0.650.6512 0847 0932 0825 0.39 0.3927 09000.43 0.431212 0732 0.78 0.78 1513 1.50 1545 1.43 1529 1.52 1535 1.83 1515 1.70 1431 1.34 1504 1.61 1338 1.33

1.34 1513 1.50 TH TH1545 1.43 MO SU 1.33 MO 1431 WEWE SU 1338 21010.23 0.23 2138 0.41 0.41 0.280.28 2101 2138 1935 1935 0.22 0.22 20362036

1.49 0.35 MO MO 1515 1.70 TH TH 1504 1.61 FRFR 1529 1.52 SU SU 1535 1.83 2116 21032103 0.54 0.54 2059 2059 0.68 0.68 2048 2048 0.35 0.35 21160.53 0.53

03210321 1.61 1.61 0302 0302 1.49 03561.66 1.66 0407 1.53 1.53 0328 0330 03301.49 1.49 1.64 1.64 03360336 1.591.59 0328 1.63 1.63 28 28 28 130356 280407 13 0249 28 13 28 13 0249 09220922 0.13 0.13 0901 0901 0.34 0821 09370.38 0.3828 1005 0.41 0.41 13 0915 0932 0937 1005 09320.37 0.371313 0821 0.69 0.69 09140914 0.580.5813 0915 0.26 0.2628 1623 1.79 1550 1.70 1431 1.39 1516 1.37 1605 1.57 1621 1.46 1558 1.69 1602 1.57

1605 1.57 FR 1.37 MO 1.39 TU FR1621 1.46 TH TH MO 1431 TU 1516 21500.26 0.26 2212 0.44 0.44 2150 2212 2024 2024 0.19 0.19 21172117 0.300.30

1.49 0.34 TU TU 1550 1.70 FR FR 1558 1.69 SASA 1602 1.57 MO MO 1623 1.79 21472147 0.56 0.56 2133 2133 0.68 0.68 2137 2150 21500.54 0.54 2137 0.37 0.37

04020402 1.57 1.57 0338 0338 1.47 04361.67 1.67 0435 1.53 1.53 0409 0400 04001.50 1.50 1.68 1.68 04100410 1.591.59 0409 1.64 1.64 140436 290435 29 29 14 0334 29 10071007 0.17 0.17 0933 0933 0.34 10240.27 0.2729 1037 0.37 0.37 14 1002 1004 0907 29 14 29 14 0334 1024 1037 10040.34 0.341414 0907 0.60 0.60 09540954 0.520.5214 1002 0.16 0.1629 TU 1709 1.72 WE 1627 1.68 FR 1657 1.60 SA 1656 1.48 SA 1649 1.72 SU 1636 1.60 TU 1522 1.44 WE 1558 1.38

FR 1657 1.60 SA 1656 1.48 TU 1522 1.44 WE 1558 1.38 22370.31 0.31 2245 0.47 0.47 2237 2245 2112 2112 0.18 0.18 21562156 0.330.33

05151.65 1.65 1.571.57 1.70 1.70 04400440 15 0417 30 150515 11110.20 0.20 0953 30 15 0417 1111 10301030 0.480.4815 0953 0.51 0.51 SA 1749 1.59 WE 1611 1.48 TH 1637 1.39

SA 1749 1.59 TH 1637 1.39 WE 1611 1.48 23230.39 0.39 2323 0.380.38 2159 2159 0.21 0.21 22302230 05080508 1.551.55 11051105 0.440.44 1715 FR 1.381.38 FR 17152304 2304 0.430.43

31 31

SA 1649 1.72 2223 2223 0.41 0.41

SU 1636 1.60 2223 22230.56 0.56

1.47 0.34 TU 1709 1.72 WE 1627 1.68 22302230 0.60 0.60 2208 2208 0.70 0.70

1.44 0449 0432 04450445 1.51 1.51 0414 0414 04321.50 1.50 0449 1.63 1.63 30 30 15 1006 1006 0.35 1048 1035 10501050 0.25 0.25 15 30 10350.32 0.321515 1048 0.12 0.1230 SU 1739 1.71 MO 1710 1.61 WE 1756 1.63 TH 1706 1.64

SU 1739 1.71 2307 2307 0.46 0.46

MO 1710 1.61 2257 22570.59 0.59 0505 1.47 0505 1.47 1105 11050.31 0.31 1746 TUTU 17461.59 1.59 2330 23300.63 0.63

1.44 0.35 TH 1706 1.64 WE 1756 1.63 0.72 0.72 23122312 0.64 0.64 2243 2243

31 31

 Copyright Commonwealth of Australia2019, 2019,Bureau Bureau of of Meteorology Meteorology  Copyright Commonwealth of Australia Datum of Predictions is Lowest AstronomicalTide Tide Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Times are in local standard time (UTC +10:00) daylight savings savings time when in effect Times are in local standard time (UTC +10:00) orordaylight time(UTC (UTC+11:00) +11:00) when in effect New Moon First Quarter LastLast Quarter Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon New Moon First Quarter Quarter Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon Tide predictions for Port Phillip Heads have been formatted by the National Tidal Centre, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Copyright reserved. All material is supplied in good faith and is believed to be correct. It is supplied on the condition that no warranty is given in relation thereto, that no responsibility or liability for errors or omissions is, or will be, accepted and that the recipient will hold MHL and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Australia free from all such responsibility or liability and from all loss or damage incurred as a consequence of any error or omission. Predictions should not be used for navigational purposes. Use of these tide predictions will be deemed to include acceptance of the above conditions. 84 84

APRIL APRIL 2020 2020

WHAT’S NEW BOATING HUMMINBIRD MEGA 1 360 IMAGING

RIVIERA 505 SUV

With Humminbird MEGA 360 Imaging you’ll view fish and structure in a whole new way, with a scanning diameter of up to 250’ (76m) around your boat. The high-frequency beam of MEGA Imaging CHIRPs across the megahertz range reveals the world below in picturelike detail all the way around your boat. You can use it alongside multiple sonar and map technologies, and can also customize sweep speed, viewing area, display info, sonar zoom and colour palette. Range rings indicate the distance to the target, so you can cast directly to it, and mark the waypoint on your 360 Imaging screen. Humminbird MEGA Imaging is now built into select Minn Kota electric motors, for a crystal clear view with no cluttered wires or clamps, and a transducer that’s fully protected. Whether you’re trolling or using Spot-Lock, MEGA 360 Imaging is independently mounted, so your sonar picture remains unchanged as the trolling motor turns. To see underwater footage of structure vs how it appears on the MEGA 360 screen, look up ‘Fishing Monthly’ on YouTube. www.humminbird.com.au

When Riviera’s design team set out to create their newest addition to the SUV Collection, their objective was to make the best of both worlds even better. The result is the Riviera 505 SUV. The same pedigree of a single-level alfresco entertainer with bluewater ability but with the added dimension of the mezzanine: a dining and relaxing space offering privacy and protection from harsh sun and weather. The generous cockpit is low to the water to maximise action and adventure, whether you’re cruising or fishing on the reef. From bow to boarding platform, you’ll experience the handcrafted luxury and operational technology. There’s a full-beam master stateroom, private en suite and walk-in robe, and two guest staterooms with shared bathroom. Topping it off is the Volvo Penta Glass Cockpit navigation system and smooth and economical performance of twin Volvo Penta IPS turbo diesels with joystick control. www.rivieraaustralia.com

CHILL WITH BAR CRUSHER

The new Suzuki DF300B strikes the perfect balance between superior power and thrust, with excellent fuel-efficiency and reliability all in a lightweight design. It features Suzuki’s Dual Prop system – contra-rotating, 6-blade propeller design which provides blistering acceleration and extreme cornering grip. The proven 4.4L block gives tremendous torque, making it the largest displacement V6 on the market. It has been engineered to run on 91 RON fuel, features Suzuki’s Lean Burn technology and 10.5:1 compression ratio. The materials of the new DF300B gears are ultra-strong to withstand high loads, and provide additional strength and reliability. Not only does this configuration record high speeds under heavy loads, it also produces a strong reverse thrust, aiding in greater manoeuvrability. The Dual Louver System keeps the intake air free of moisture and close to ambient temperature for ultimate performance, and the dual injectors deliver both cooling and power. The new DF300B comes in either a 25” or 30” shaft length, can be paired with Suzuki’s Precision Control system, and is backed by a 3+3 year warranty. www.suzukimarine.com.au

Aussie boat builder Bar Crusher has expanded its range of seating options with a new side-mount bolster seat with integrated tackle storage and slide-out 90L icebox. The stylish matte black framework is constructed from heavy-duty 32mm alloy tubing and accommodates three easilyaccessible tackle trays, with hassle-free bungee cord retention (as per the standard tackle storage seat boxes). Along with offering cool storage for food, drinks, bait, fish, and general dry storage for all sorts of gear, the split-lid icebox also provides additional seating, similar to Bar Crusher’s larger king/queen seat boxes. The icebox can be slid forward (towards the bunk) to maximise cockpit fishing space, while a strap point helps secure the icebox when underway. Fitted as standard with a range of features many other boat brands charge as extras, this latest personalisation option is available on both skipper and passenger sides, and suits all cuddy cabin (C Series) and hard top (HT Series) models from the 575 through to the 780. Check out Bar Crusher’s online boat builder to personalise your fishing weapon. www.barcrusher.com.au

BOAT POWERED BY 3 SEAWATER Energy Observer is the first vessel in the world to both generate and be powered by hydrogen, and is designed to test the efficiency of combining different renewable energies. The boat produces and stores hydrogen using seawater, solar panels (21kW peak), wind turbines (2 x 1kW), a traction kite and electric motors (2 x 41kW) of hydrogenation, lithium battery (106kWh), desalinisator, electrolyser, compressor, fuel cell (22kW), and 62kg of hydrogen. Another innovative project under development is a ferry that uses both sun and wave energy to produce hydrogen for propulsion. As renewable technology becomes more efficient, and fuel prices continue to climb, who knows what the boating world might look like in the decades to come? www.energy-observer.org

SUZUKI LAUNCHES NEW DF300B

YANMAR 6LF SERIES

PRODUCT GUIDE

Yanmar has announced the release of the 6LF and 6LT series of diesel engines. This advanced six-model line-up extends Yanmar’s portfolio of common rail diesel engines to encompass an output range from 40hp to 630hp. Enabling Yanmar to supply more compact, high performance solutions, the 478hp to 630hp 6LF and 6LT engines are ideal for leisure boats. The two series, consisting of the 3000rpm 6LF485, 6LF530 and 6LF550 engines and 2530rpm 6LT500, 6LT580 and 6LT640 engines, feature Yanmar’s next generation VC20 vessel control system for enhanced onboard comfort and an easier overall boating experience. The global emission-certified diesel engines also offer leading fuel economy and are compatible with a wide range of fuel types. Available as a complete package including engine, ZF transmission and VC20 vessel control system, the 6LF and 6LT are supplied with a full range of options. The 6LF and 6LT series will be available from Q3 2020. www.yanmarmarine.com

5 Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au

6 SCAN THE QR CODE!

APRIL 2020

Stacer Ocean Ranger 609 with Mercury 150hp - SC

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Steve Morgan s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

Melbourne Marine Centre has a good turnover of boats, but if they had a couple of hundred customers like Michael Pannam, business would really skyrocket. After several Stacer and Northbank combos, Michael has finally settled on his ultimate boat. For him, that’s an aluminium hull, and he recently took us for a ride in his kitted-out Stacer Ocean Ranger 609, powered by a Mercury 3.0L 150HO 4-stroke outboard. “My last boat was a fibreglass 550 Northbank. It was a great boat, but before that I always had aluminium and have enjoyed going back to aluminium,” he said in the video interview. You can watch the full clip on the Fishing Monthly YouTube channel or by scanning the QR code hereby. This is Michael’s third boat that he’s bought through

Main: We’ve tested plenty of Stacers this year and they’re one of the best riding aluminium hulls we’ve been in. It seems to be a result of their new Revolution hull. The OceanRanger was well mannered on the water and a pleasure to be in. Above: The 150hp 3.0L Mercury 4-stroke is maximum hp for this package. You can save a few bucks by opting for a smaller power plant, but generally, we’d recommend the maximum horsepower right away. It’s handy to have when you need it. Melbourne Marine Centre, and he’s obviously happy enough with the service to

SPECIFICATIONS Length........................................................ 5.78m Beam.......................................................... 2.40m Length on trailer ........................................ 7.63m Capacity .............................................. 5 persons Fuel capacity ............................................... 160L Max HP .......................................................... 150 Hull weight ................................................ 860kg Bottom sheet .............................................. 5mm Side sheet.................................................... 4mm 86

APRIL 2020

keep coming back. “When we decided to go back to aluminium, we decided to go back to Melbourne Marine because of their service and happy nature,” Michael explained. “They’re always willing to help.” The rig is powered by the 3.0L Mercury 150hp 4-stroke, which balances the hull nicely. “I’ve had the Mercury on my last four boats and I can’t fault them,” Michael said. “They’re a fantastic engine. “I’ve had at least six

Stacers and most of them were centre-consoles. I really enjoy the centre console for the access all the way around the boat. However, as I’ve got a bit older I thought we’d go for comfort and so we finally decided to get the hard top. “I have always enjoyed the practicality of Stacers and their setup and they’re made for fishing.” During the day, we ventured out from Port Phillip and tried for a southern bluefin tuna. There seemed to be plenty around, but none were interested enough to

take a swipe at a trolled lure. “The boat performed fantastic today and it belied everything that people say about plate boats – that they bounce and make noise,” Michael said. “There was none of that. It cut through the water beautifully and was stable at rest. Fantastic!” The boat was supplied on a Telwater aluminium I-beam trailer that Michael tows with his Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. “I generally do three quarters of my fishing by myself, so I was looking for something I could launch by myself,” he said. “This has proven to be a very easy boat to launch with one person. “I’m still getting to know the boat, but I’ve used it a couple of times so far and I can’t fault anything on it.” Michael knew what he wanted when it came to the options – he ordered vertical rod racks (including Stacer’s tilt-down rocket launcher

holders), tackle trays and a flash touch-screen Garmin sounder/GPS and some cushions inside the cabin for a little comfort. He also added a windscreen wiper and (of course) an electric anchor winch. Michael is also keen on his wash-down checker plate floors, which are really low maintenance. He’s particular about his cleaning regime, and this design ticks plenty of boxes. It’s early days, but all indications are very positive. Michael loves the boat and we’re sure that he’ll blood it with his first tuna in no time. For more information, get in touch with Andrew Stephen and the team at Melbourne Marine Centre on (03) 9703 2003, or visit their website at www.melbouremarine. com.au. Package prices start from $73,649 with a 115hp Mercury, and the test boat came in at $88,705.

You can see the Stacer hull cutting the water here, but it’s not until you get in and ride in this rig that you really experience the smooth ride.

This model 150hp Mercury has the runs on the board to claim to be a super reliable outboard. There are plenty all around the country that have done the miles to make the claim.

Michael is a stickler for a clean boat, and the deck wash helps him to keep on top of the mess when the fish are on.

The bait station is a good mix of practicality and simplicity. We’re a big fan of the shelf underneath to keep your bits and pieces close at hand.

The checker plate floor is very easy to maintain.

There are never too many places to hang onto when you’re a third and fourth passenger. A simple bar behind the seats helps with passenger comfort when it gets a little sloppy.

The Ocean Ranger has a large anchor well that will house a decent anchor, chain and rope or, in the case of the tested boat, a Muir electric anchor whinch.

Stacer’s rocket launcher system includes tilt-down tubes to let the shortest of us get them out without having to stretch every muscle.

Vertical rod storage along the gunwale shelves helps to keep your rods organised. You don’t usually have to drop them while trailering if they’re stored here.

The cabin is ample to hold all of your dry gear and to get out of the weather. APRIL 2020

A POWERFUL PACKAGE 40-60HP FOURSTROKE PERFORMANCE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY

• SmartCraft Technology – Keeps you informed about your engine’s performance • The Most Intuitive Tiller – Feature packed for unmatched comfort and usability • Troll Control – Dial in precise troll control speeds on all Tiller models in 10RPM increments

PROVEN RELIABILITY

• EFI Reliable Turnkey Starting – Starts first time and every time • 3 + 3 = 6 Year Warranty – For real peace of mind • 18 amp Alternator – Built to handle the demands of marine electronics

POWERFUL PERFORMANCE

• High Displacement – For power and efficiency • Command Thrust Gearcase – For improved acceleration and maneuverability The Mercury 40-60hp FourStroke range ticks all the boxes, so see your nearest Mercury dealer to find out more. www.mercurymarine.com.au