Yo, ho, ho! It is down to the sea we go.
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Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff phoned to tell me the god of fishing has blessed us.
A run of tuna and kingfish has struck the shores in his region. Can you imagine?
Two of the best fighting and eating fish are on the chew at the same time.
Both these species of fish try very hard to pull you out of your boat and you will know you have been in a tussle if you hook up to either.
While the tuna makes solid runs and does not tire, the kingfish is a sneaky fighter and will try to wrap your line around the coral and rocks.
Rod said tuna (some up to 25 kg) were being caught just 4 km off the bluff at the mouth of the Barwon River.
And the kingfish are being caught in the Rip and also off Point Lonsdale near the submarine dive site.
Before you race off to get among the action, let me pass on a word of warning — a boat capsized in the bar at the mouth of the Barwon River this week.
Rod said a fairly inexperienced angler keen on getting among the fish was not skilled enough to handle his boat in what was rough and dangerous water.
Fortunately for him he was rescued.
Some areas are just not the place for the unskilled — keep that in mind.
Rod also said he was still bagging plenty of snapper and whiting as well as salmon and flathead.
All in all he said it was some of the best fishing he had experienced around the heads for many years.
He said he and Peter Smallwood were having a great time.
Around our region the big fish just keep on coming.
A trophy-sized trout was caught at Eildon recently.
Not unusual you might say, but the size of the angler who caught this fish was rather small. More details soon.
The Goulburn and Murray rivers, as well as the Broken River, continue to fish well for cod, with many anglers bagging metre-long cod.
Redfin are on the bite at Waranga Basin and bottom-bouncing hard-body lures around the deeper water is getting the best results.
Drifting a bait such as shrimp or yabbies is also getting nice results.
A lot of the fish are small but there is an occasional bigger fish to be had if you are patient.
I have not heard from the demon yellowbelly angler from Stanhope this week. I assume he has not taken a break but rather has not had anything to brag about.
Reports of ash polluting the water after being washed into the streams in the North East are starting to emerge and there are some fish kills being caused by this.
It may be some time before fishing in those areas gets back to normal, although some rivers as well as Lake Dartmouth are worth trying.
Back to saltwater fishing, and the action at Western Port Bay is still worthwhile, with snapper being caught along the edge of the shipping lanes near Hastings and also the steel works; gummy shark on the run-out tide off Cowes; and whiting among the inshore grass beds.
North of the border at Eden, John Liddell said it was still getting back to normal and reports from Freedom Charters were starting to pick up, with plenty of snapper and morwong as well as leather jacket and gurnard from along the inshore reefs from Boyd’s Lookout to Green Cape, while offshore there was some marlin off the shelf and kingfish around the region as well.
At Narooma, Graham Cowley said offshore around Montague Island anglers were bagging good-sized flathead along the sandy bottom between the reefs, and snapper and morwong along the reefs.
He said there were reports of marlin and tuna off the shelf and kingfish as well. When it was too rough to go offshore, flathead and bream provided action around the oyster leases.
At Flinders Island, James Luddington said plenty of good-sized flathead, gummy shark and salmon were being caught around the islands off Lady Baron, and albacore and southern bluefin as well as trumpeter were being caught off the shelf in the deeper water.
James said he was coming up to the best time to fish off the island, with jumbo-sized flathead starting to come on the bite.