Rare species shock anglers from river to sea

Weird and Wonderful
Some unusual fish were caught over the past week.
Allan Browse was fishing off the Surf Coast last weekend, chasing gummy shark and flathead. But he was surprised when what he thought was a flathead on the end of his line turned out to be a saw shark of almost 2kg, which he released after a photo.
The other shock catch was Luke Nusteling’s extremely rare albino carp from Queen’s Park on Sunday afternoon. The prize catch weighed around 3kg.
Anglers fishing Geelong’s waterfront caught pinkie snapper while casting soft plastics around structure. Letting the lure sink to the bottom before a slow retrieve was the key.
Flathead to 45cm were taken with the same method.
Pike were caught on lures from North Shore’s rocks. They varied in size from 60cm to over 1m, with any lure in white and heavy enough to cast a reasonable distance working well.
Corio Bay’s outer-harbour fished well for snapper.
The spoil grounds off Leopold produced fish to 5kg for anglers drifting and casting plastics such as Gulp Turtleback worms in Pumpkin Green.
Australian salmon turned up last week in the same area, some pushing 2.5kg. They were taken by casting metal lures and soft plastics into the frenzy of feeding fish, with birds giving away their location.
The Turn out from Clifton Springs boat ramp produced snapper to 7kg. Anglers using silver whiting as bait caught larger fish.
Next door, the mussel beds offers smaller pinkies, especially for anglers using liberal berley trails.
Shane Bridges anchored off the Hopetoun wreck where he caught a snapper of 57cm and 2.7kg on a squid strip as well as a nice bag of flathead to 45cm.
St Leonards began producing larger numbers of whiting , with the Bourke St area as good as any. Anglers using tenderised fresh squid caught the biggest fish.
Drifting over the shallow grass beds between St Leonards Yacht Club and the mouth of Swan Bay was worthwhile for squid to 1.5kg. Size 3 jigs such as Yamashita King George Whiting were effective when allowed to sink down just above the grass beds.
St Leonards Pier was busy in the evenings with anglers seeking snapper. Long hours were the key, with the fish coming on the bite early in the morning.
Queenscliff was again the best location for large squid on big jigs, with Bell Reef and the bight popular destinations.
On the freshwater front, redfin catches increased with
The Barwon River at Queen’s Park produced redfin to 800g on Atomic Shad Deep lures in colour 17.
Michael Evans fished for redfin at Wurdee Boluc Reservoir, catching four from 44cm to 48cm on Fish Arrow soft plastics.
Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree continued producing good-size brown and rainbow trout on mudeye or fly. Most of the biggest fish were taken at night.
McLeod’s waterhole at Drysdale fished well for carp to 6kg. Sweet corn kernels rigged with as little weight as possible was the key to success.
The next week’s options for anglers seeking snapper include St Leonards either the old Cole’s Channel or out in the deeper water, while the Barwon River estuary should fishing well for silver trevally on soft plastics.
Freshwater enthusiasts could try Wurdee Boluc Reservoir for redfin, especially on the warmer days when they seem to come right on the chew.
Send reports and photos to info@raylongtackle.com.au . All photos go into the draw for Fishing World Geelong’s monthly photo competition.