A season or thereabouts

[Jarrah Jack]

I normally hang around the boating section of the forum with occasional limp forays into the bilge which can get more dangerous than swimming with the nautical equivilant of magic mushrooms.

I've kept away from doing fishing reports here, as being from Vic, I don't think many who read the forum are much interested. Its pretty much the same for me reading reports on fishing in Moreton bay, a vague interest but not that much good to me other than curiosity value.

Nevertheless I will give it a go and send in some reports which may constitute a season of fishing down here and it may also be of some value if any of you mostly northern members are unlucky enough to end up in Victoria.

Over winter I amassed a number of squid which make an excellent snapper and whiting bait. I carefully froze the squid and have been keeping it in as good condition as possible. I prefer fresh squid but it can be hard work getting them on demand and can require an extra trip just to get them for every snapper session.

I don't bother with any other bait although there was a one week period last year where for some unknown reason the snapper weren't interested in the squid and only took pilchards. There are always mysteries in fishing. For that reason I will always try to have one pilchard out from now on.

Last week I tried my usual spot in Port Phillip Bay (PPB) but with the water being below 15 degrees there was no action. We caught a few squid for fresh bait..So that equals one trip = zero fish with mitigating circumstances being that there is a late start to the season.

Yesterday I went out on Westernport Bay (WP) for the first time this season and tried a new place away from the crowds. I caught two fish at around the 2 to 3 kg mark. My mate got one that was smaller. We also got two large squid and a good king george whiting at about 390mm. The fish were caught on the frozen squid as we didn't get the fresh ones till later.

So a good start to the season but nothing to get too excited about. I won't be adding any more to this thread for a few weeks as I 'll be away doing a camping and trout chasing trip up in the mountains with the cook and the dog.

Cheers everyone

[tunaticer]

Good report Jack, keep them coming.

[charleville]

Good on you, JJ. Good report. A multiplicity of thanks.

I, for one, would also love to see pix of the trout from your imminent trip, as well. I reckon that trout are one of the nicest eating fish around but apart from what I have eaten in restaurants in Tassie, I have only ever eaten the trout that I get from Woolies. I suspect that, in both cases, the trout were farmed. Certainly, the latter were.


Keep 'em coming, JJ. Especially, the pic of the first 20 lb snapper that you get this season.





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[dagwood]

Hi Jarrah Jack

Thanks for posting your report. Always interested in what is happening around the country. I have a couple of daughters in Victoria and one in Wagga so any reports from that way are much appreciated. Hopefully I will get down that way for a fish in the near future.

Dagwood

[HeadBanger]

Good luck with the trout, and I hope to see more of your reports coming soon. A fishing story is always great to read whether it's from Moreton, Darwin or Port Philip Bay.

Cheers,
Kaidon

[Jarrah Jack]

Thanks everyone for your replies..Ok four people but enough to convince me that its worth adding reports as the season moves along...

I'll explain some techniques along the way and hopefully include a surprise or two. I'll include some pix of fishing areas to give a better idea to readers who haven't experienced these areas before.

Charlieville..Is there any chance of you putting up a location map of WP and PPB seeing that you've got some pretty advanced computer skills hidden away there somewhere..

Don't expect any 20 Lbers, they don't happen every year like they used to (so I'm told) but its always nice to live in hope. Its one of the reasons why I always like to use the best bait but, funnily enough, the last 20 took a frozen squid on the last trip of the 09 season. That was just before xmas as usually by then I'm fed up with snapper fishing and happy to move onto whiting and pinkies/squire. Snapper in WP have usually shut down by then although PPB seems to continue well into the new year.

Happy to answer any questions .....

[charleville]

Charlieville..Is there any chance of you putting up a location map of WP and PPB

My pleasure .... courtesy of Google Earth...



Click for full size - Uploaded with Skitch


Actually, Westernport was featured on Adventure Bound on Channel 31 tonight. Lee Rayner was catching some gi-normous squid there.



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[Gon Fishun]

Thanks for the report JJ.
I am a victorian living in Qld, and have fished Port Phillip a little, had a 14 ft bondwood with 40 hp jono. Lived in Templestowe , and Wattleglen. Used to love getting into those little creeks in the mountains chasing trout . Hope you catch a few and have a great time. So many fond memories..
Cheers Bob.
PS keep all those stories coming.

[Angla]

Great stuff. It's good to hear about fishing in my home state. I hail from west of Geelong (Pennyroyal), Magpies supporter since the age of 5 and love a bit of trout fishing.

I can offer a couple of fishing spots to try if you are out and about in my old stomping ground as we used to nail them regularly.

Cheers
Chris

[Jarrah Jack]

Thanks for the offer Angla...What area did you cover for the trout? I go up to Dartmouth once a year. its a special place, very isolated. I also get to bullin merri sometimes and thats about it.

For the people who are following this thread you'll see by the map that PPB and WP are close to Melb so get a good flogging. Much the same as the Pin and Moreton I guess.

Similiar again to the Pin and Moreton there is a big difference between PPB and WP. WP has a big tidal flow which presents its own challenges. Fishing techniques vary accordingly mainly with the type of rig you need to hold bottom and present the bait naturally in each bay.

From my experience I would say that WP is much more of a challenge to get a decent feed. The snappers in PPB are much more prolific although tend to be smaller.

Even though the entrances to each bay are close together the schools of snapper that arrive during spring are seperate and behave differently. For instance the season as started in WP but not so in PPB.

Thanks Gon fishing, Charlieville, Angla, Headbanger, Dagwood and Tunaticer for your encouragement..

[yanjarra]

good report mate and keep them coming, doesnt matter where abouts your fishing, theres always someone who might pick up a thing or two off what youve shared....extra knowledge from other areas and differant techniques applied can only make u a more rounded fisherman i say....

[Jarrah Jack]

Well back from the annual sojourn of trout fishing at Dartmouth dam with not a lot to report from this JJ on the fishing front. It doesn't really bother me that I didn't get my fifteen or so fish this time although they are sensational eating due mainly to the quality of the water being pristine mountain runoff from the snow melt.

Part of the attraction of fishing the dam, really the main attraction, is the camping and the boating in such a remote high country area. The drive in has to be experienced to be believed. Its a two plus hour 4wd track which goes up over the top of the great divide above the snow line then down down down to the dam way below. Because of the difficulty of the drive you don't get huge numbers camping there which is a bonus.

Nothing like being able to walk straight from the tent and into the boat without having to worry about launching and nasties like the crocs you get up north.

As mentioned the fishing was less than spectacular for me but others managed to get more than enough. With the rising water level my spots from previous years have disappeared and I couldn't find the replacement with many hours of trolling tassie devils. The fish were hanging deeper and the boys with paravanes were getting onto them. I don't really like fishing with all sorts of gear between me and the fish so I avoid the vanes and attractors like the ford fenders but I may have to change that next year.

There were a lot of yabbies like red claw about except these had red elbows and not claws for some reason only they would know. Some were catching up to fifty at a time and no pussy's (TOL). Using those for bait found a lot of fish so I'll give that a try next year as well.

The attached pix speak for themselves............The blurred pix of the snapper I caught last night is the result of the third trip this season in PPB. The fish came on the bite on sundown and I was expecting more than the small two pictured but with the cooler start to the season I expect the best is yet to come. I hope so anyway. The fish were caught on frozen squid after the flathead, which can be in plague proportions, accounted for the fresh ones.

[theoldlegend]

Thanks for the offer Angla...What area did you cover for the trout? I go up to Dartmouth once a year. its a special place, very isolated. I also get to bullin merri sometimes and thats about it.

For the people who are following this thread you'll see by the map that PPB and WP are close to Melb so get a good flogging. Much the same as the Pin and Moreton I guess.

Similiar again to the Pin and Moreton there is a big difference between PPB and WP. WP has a big tidal flow which presents its own challenges. Fishing techniques vary accordingly mainly with the type of rig you need to hold bottom and present the bait naturally in each bay.

From my experience I would say that WP is much more of a challenge to get a decent feed. The snappers in PPB are much more prolific although tend to be smaller.

Even though the entrances to each bay are close together the schools of snapper that arrive during spring are seperate and behave differently. For instance the season as started in WP but not so in PPB.

Thanks Gon fishing, Charlieville, Angla, Headbanger, Dagwood and Tunaticer for your encouragement..

Hi JJ,

Are there any theories around as to why this happens?


TOL

[Damned67]

I'm in agreement with many before me, keep up the reports from your locations.
I love reading about what's biting in my own area, but am equally interested in ANY fishing reports, regardless of where they come from. A successful, and well written report is always a pleasure to read.
Keep it up!
(and more pics, if you can!)

[Jarrah Jack]

Hi JJ,

Are there any theories around as to why this happens?


TOL

Hi TOL

Dont really know mate, they are just different schools in different environments so they behave differently. Presumably they were born in their particular bay and follow their own set behaviours. Only really tells us how much we don't know and will never know about the behaviours of fish's.

Cheers