Reel Life | Tuna season ignites excitement along Victoria’s south-west coast

In the past, around the start of May, Rod Lawn would put his boat on a trailer and drive to Portland to fish for tuna, and we used to take advantage of this to head down the coast to fish for tuna. We never missed out on bagging out.

The bag limit is two fish per person, and while two fish does not sound like a lot, each tuna weighs around 10 to 20 kilograms. The two fish tend to be quite a bit of eating.

You may ask why just two fish are allowed.

In the late 1950s and ’60s, the pressure on wild tuna was pushing them to the point of extinction. The actions of we Aussies saved them by getting the rest of the world to put restrictions on the size of their catch, and by the introduction of farming, huge netted areas of ocean were made and stocked with juvenile tuna that were fed with bait fish until they reached an acceptable size.

The only difference between wild and farmed is that tuna that are caught as wild fish and of a size suitable to feed the Japanese sushi market can fetch thousands of dollars. In Japan, a popular dish is raw tuna sliced wafer thin with strong horseradish. It might sound yucky, but I found it quite palatable. In fact, it can take your breath away.

Tuna is one of the best-eating fish I have had and can be enjoyed in a number of ways, such as non-cooked Japanese sashimi, or it can be cut into steaks and grilled. Another method involves soaking in brine, adding herbs and cooking in a pressure cooker.

There are several tuna species around our coast, but southern bluefin and yellowfin are the most popular. If you ever get the chance to go tuna fishing, whatever you do, don’t miss it.

Not only will you catch a fish that will put up a great fight, but it will also be one of the best eating fish you can catch.

Tuna can be caught using bait or lures. Chumming is a method of bait where chunks of bait are dropped in the water, and then after a dozen or so lures are used, one is placed on a hook. At the same time, lure fishing involves trolling a pattern of various coloured lures, mainly skirted style. When one strikes, you will usually find that several fish follow suit.

While he waits to head to Portland, Rod Lawn says he will continue to fish off Queenscliff. He said he was still bagging snapper, flathead and whiting, although they were getting fewer. Rod said salmon were still in the rip during the run-out tide, and off the coast, there were trevalla and gummy sharks around the dive wrecks.

It was a similar story at Western Port Bay. The best spots are off the steelworks, the submarine and Hastings. The snapper are among the rubble beds lining the shipping lanes.

The fishing north of the border at Eden is good, according to John Liddell. Along the inshore reefs from Boyd’s Lookout to Green Cape, there are plenty of snapper, morwong, flathead and other tablefish. He said a NSW licence was not required if you fished from a charter operator.

The charter operator out of Twofold Bay at Eden is Freedom Charters. The skipper is a former Victorian, Mark, who has been running fishing charters out of Eden for years. Mark said he had been fishing inshore reefs and off the shelf for yellowfin and southern bluefin tuna and kingfish.

Further north at Narooma, Graham Cowley reported similar fishing around the reefs and Montague Island, and the shore along the shelf. Graham reported there were also plenty of kingfish to the north of the bar and around the shelf.

Now to freshwater fishing in our region. The reports have been positive, with plenty of cod being caught in the Goulburn, Murray and Broken rivers, as well as at Lake Eildon and Broken Creek at Nathalia, where it joins the Murray.

The reports from Eildon are positive in the river arms, with the best results in the late afternoon using surface lures. In front of the wall, large deep-diving lures or large baits are the best method. As the weather cools, trout are starting to come on the bite.

Also at Eildon, there are redfin to be found among the treeline at Peppin Point towards the concrete galleon and at Jamieson. Yellowbelly are being caught near the Fraser camping sites.

The fishing is also good at Nillahcootie.

At Waranga Basin you can catch trout and sometimes yellowbelly and cod.

Closer to home, Victoria Park Lake in the centre of Shepparton is producing redfin and trout; these fish were stocked in the past as part of a Victorian Government holiday program.

There’s not a lot more to tell you this week, so good fishing. And remember to stay safe around and on the water and with COVID-19 and the roads.