Wolfgang lands riesige forellen (or, in English, huge trout)

VISITING German Wolfgang Hilderbrand wanted to sample local freshwater fishing but chose the difficult challenge of Wurdee Boluc Reservoir last week.
Wolfgang’s mudeye under a float was hit hard, with Wolfgang struggling on the rocky shoreline before landing a 4.5kg buck brown. It doesn’t get any better than that for a first-time trip to Wurdee Boluc.
Justin Rayner walked the banks of Moorabool Reservoir with a fly rod early Saturday morning in search of brown trout, eventually landing a fish of 2.5kg. Other anglers at the reservoir caught redfin to 45cm on Fish Arrow Soft plastics, especially when leaving their lures on the bottom for two to three seconds.
Lake Bostock continued producing excellent numbers of Chinook salmon and trout. Kevin Bardsley fished the lake with a running sinker rig and Powerbait to land six salmon around 1kg, releasing two.
Kevin also tried worms and yabbies without success. Kevin noted that the fish he landed were all caught after 8.15am, before which the fish were very hard to hook.
Lake Bullen Merri also produced Chinook salmon reaching 2kg for anglers dropping baits down deep. Salted bluebait fillets and glassies were the most effective when used in conjunction with small sinkers.
Mathew Greagen went up country at Lake Toolondo where he boated a well-coloured brown trout of 55cm on a Bob ‘N’ Spoon cast among the trees.
Paul Blackborrow and his son set out offshore from the Surf Coast last Saturday, baiting up in 32m. They soon caught pinkie snapper, barracouta and scad as well as an outstanding 4.3kg snapper that took Paul’s bait.
To top off the session, they witnessed a whale breach the surface near their boat.
Clifton Springs continued producing squid to 1kg over the shallow grass beds. Anglers using 2.5-size jigs achieved the best results, while counterparts drifting the channel edges caught flathead to 45cm on salted bluebait.
Geelong’s waterfront fished well for pinkie snapper to 45cm on soft plastic turtleback worms in the Pumpkinseed colour. Australian salmon popped up spasmodically, providing great fun for anglers lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
The Barwon River estuary fished exceedingly well for bream, trevally, Australian salmon and mulloway. Anglers fishing Bass yabbies on running-sinker rigs caught bream and trevally to 40cm, while mulloway were taken on the run in-tide best with fresh squid strips and pilchards.
With the mulloway averaging 55cm to 75cm, responsible anglers released any caught.
Michael and Perry Stavropoulos took their fishing exploits on holiday to Port Douglas where they landed an excellent queenfish while trolling hard-body lures around the headlands.
Mick also gave his size 4000 reel and 10lb braid the ultimate test on a 30kg giant trevally, which snapped up his lure. After a 1.5-hour fight they got the trophy GT on deck, took a few photos and put it back in the water.
Freshwater anglers should consider wetting a line for trout and redfin at Moorabool Reservoir this weekend, while saltwater enthusiasts could try the Barwon estuary for bream and mulloway.