By CHRIS PITMAN
FRANK Benvenuto again tried drifting mudeyes under a float from the main rockwall at Wurdee Boluc Reservoir last Saturday afternoon with the intention of bagging another beastly brown trout.
Frank didn’t have to wait long before his float disappeared under the surface and line started to peel of his reel under the weight of a 45cm brown trout. Content with landing one fish, he rebaited and cast back out to catch another brown, this time 58cm.
Frank went on to hook and drop another two trout that he estimated were larger than the fish he’d caught in recent times. He fished once more on Monday morning, landing a brown trout of 60cm on a scrubworm.
Redfin were also caught at Wurdee Boluc over the past week. They were down on the average size but still a welcome by-catch for anglers cashing trout on lures.
Lake Purrumbete remained fickle but Les Clarke boated a 2.79kg Brown Trout on a Daiwa Double Clutch lure near the boat ramp last weekend. To make things even better, Les caught his fish during gentlemen’s hours at 11.30am.
The Barwon River above Queen’s Park produced redfin to 35cm on hard-body lures cast among the snags. Kayak anglers again did best due to their ability to access hard-to-reach sections of the river.
St Augustine’s Lake, at Highton, fished well for trout stocked during the recent school holidays. Pink Powerbait or small Rapala hard-body lures did the trick, with some of these trout now 35cm.
Squid were the sought-after species of saltwater anglers over the past week. Queenscliff produced the largest specimen, especially at Bell Reef.
Grass beds just outside Queenscliff Harbour produced whiting to 44cm at the start of the run-out tide, with tenderised fresh squid the top bait.
Gone Fishing Charters’ Chris Vasilevski found some larger squid for his client’s last week just out from Queenscliff, with white 3.5-size jigs working best.
Pinkie snapper were taken in large numbers inside Corio Bay, with the odd flathead also making its way into anglers’ bags.
Some large bream were taken from the waterfront during the evenings on live bait rigged almost unweighted.
Bancoora Beach produced Australian Salmon to 2kg on lures. The start of the run-in tide was best, especially when a north wind allowed for longer casts to reach fish holding behind the break.
The western district kept going from strength to strength. Dylan Pace fishing one of its smaller estuary systems to land mulloway to 78cm, bream to 40cm and perch to 48cm, all on hard-body lures or soft plastics.
One of Victoria’s all-time greatest runs of large southern bluefin tuna over 100kg continued between Apollo Bay and Portland. Over the past week fish over 100kg and up to 164kg were taken daily, with large skirted lures the weapon of choice and anglers enduring battles lasting three hours or more after hooking up.
Next week anglers should venture down to the western district if the weather’s good enough to chase a tuna of a lifetime. Otherwise, plenty of squid should be on offer around Queenscliff, while freshwater anglers should try Wurdee Boluc for its numerous trophy brown.
