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Angling Reports
Living the Dream - 3th December 2011
The Snapper are here and an early morning was enjoyed by all Saturday 3 December 2011. A number of members headed out and most had caught their limit within the hour with quality fish around the 2 to 3 kg mark. The best of these went 3.5 kg.
FISHING REPORT by Compleat Angler
04/10/11
At last it looks like we have some good windows of fishable weather up ahead now that the heavy rains have passed. Yes it is snapper time with good numbers of quality early season reports coming through the store and this will only continue to build as the next couple of weeks go by to reach "full on mode" once the bays water temperature reaches the magical approximately 17degrees mark. As we write this report continual photos of snapper captures are coming through on the email of snapper fishos getting on the scoreboard early which is a great sign. One customer (sorry name unknown) managed multiple fish up to 5kg out form the hospital in 21mts of Frankston area, customer and local sparky Josh landed a thumping 8.8kg model in 16mts off Ricketts Point, John landed 2 fish in 16mts off Black Rock while customer Ron also landed 2 fish of approx 4kg 18mts out from Carrum. Other snapper captures have been Spiro and mate who had a big session with 6 fish that went 3 to 3.5kg with one ripper of a 6kg fish in approx 5mts of water after dark in the Sandringham region. As you can see it is time to get out there and go snapper fishing. STOP PRESS: Reports continually coming through the shop today of more good snapper captures from 16.5mts off Ricketts Point through to Fawkner Beacon area with late afternoon the hot bite time at the moment as reported by our customers.
On the pinkie scene customer Peter has been catching some nice chunky models up to 2kg off Ricketts Point however as all always lots of small ones mixed in amongst the good ones. If you are a snapper/pinkie fisherman come in and grab some of our special tougher brined pilchards that are full of blood and natural pilchard oils and they stay on your hook longer, they are only $9.95 for a 2kg pack. The other new bait that we told you about last week is the baby cuttlefish where we have had 7 reports over the last week of anglers catching big red on this specialist snapper bait, yes we still have stock.
PORT PHILLIP BAY Fishing Report by Compleat Angler Bentleigh. Please their website for more great tips http://www.compleatangler.com.au
Sunday 19 Sep 2011
A few club members were all out keeping Garnet company on his latest favourite mark. Conrad Greer got all excited catching a 2/1/2 kg snapper with happy snaps being taken. Lindsay Morton caught a nice 5kg snapper and another two at 2 1/2 kg and 750g. Andrew Robertson also pulled in a nice 2/1/2 kg snapper. Meanwhile Murray Holland anchored nearby watched the proceedings without turning a reel in anger. Rumor has it a few members headed that evening when the old story came into play - should have been here this morning!!!!
PORT PHILLIP BAY
Snapper is what most anglers are eagerly awaiting the mass arrival of and it is all about to happen again over the next 2 to 3 months, as the water warms up. The temperature in Port Phillip at the moment is sitting on approx 13.5 degrees and as we all know around 17degrees is traditionally the best temperature and when the action really fires up. Some occasional early season fish have already been taken by super keen anglers that just couldn't wait any longer with customer Damien finding a patch of fish from 2½ to 3½kg in 16mts of water out from Ricketts Point while "snapper man" Kenny took a nice early season fish of 4.2kg in 17mts off Black Rock.
We have just received stock of prime vac sealed baby cuttlefish that will be one of this years red hot big snapper baits. It stays on the hook for ages, helps eliminate smaller pecker fish knocking off your bait and trophy size snapper absolutely love cuttlefish. Stock is limited at the moment so come in and grab some while we have stock.
On the pinkie snapper scene they are a biting one day and not the next however there are a number of better size models mixed in amongst what at times can be an endless amount of smaller size models. Best times for the pinkies is still as always dawn and dusk however customer Dwayno has had a few reasonable sessions during the day when conditions have been overcast and choppy, best soft plastic for Dwayno has been Squidgy Pro flickbaits smothered in "S" factor scent attractor.
The squid while not going gangbusters up our more local end of the bay have certainly made an appearance and remained around over the last few weeks or so. In close anywhere from Black Rock to Beaumaris Bay, Parkdale and Brighton have all been reasonably consistent in water depths from 2mts to 6mts is best with Yakamito Ninja and Tillix Sonic Rattle jigs doing the job. Big squid up to 2½kg have been caught on baited jigs down Portsea and Queenscliff way for anglers looking to travel for the bigger XOS size models.
Top tips for Port Phillip - When fishing for early season snapper it pays to fish with a very light tension on the spool while waiting for a bite or even just fish with the bail arm of the reel open. Early season snapper can be very timid biters so light bite settings on your reel should catch you more fish. As the water warms the fish become more aggressive and you can return to your normal settings. Fishing Report by Compleat Angler Bentleigh. Please their website for more great tips http://www.compleatangler.com.au
Eildon Report - Tuesday 20th September
Plenty of Redfin being caught but you have to find the crowd. Small to medium size, best lure has been a Red with black strip codger, which also accounted for a nice 40cm brown trout via Nelson's rod. Using a fender with small brown trout hard bodied, I pulled a 57cm Cod in the shape of a football. Fisrt Cod I have ever caught in Eildon.
Reports of the odd Yella but have had no proof.
Cheers, Fons
DAMPIER TO ONSLOW
Former W&NAC member Cameron Elliott and four mates have recently completed a 10 day sea kayaking trip off the Pilbara Coast of North Western Australia.
The trip commenced at Dampier and concluded 230 kms later in the sleepy coastal town of Onslow.
The crew paddled from island to island where they camped, fished, spearfished and treated themselves to over a dozen different varieties of fish, as well as Painted Crayfish and Oysters (everyday).
Fish caught or speared included Coral Trout, Spanish Flag, Mangrove Jack, Spanish Mackerel, School Mackerel, Bald Chin Groper (Bluebone),Yellow Finned Bream, Queenfish, Rock Cods, Trevallys, Sweetlips and Squid.
As all the islands are uninhabited, offer no fresh water and no support crew were on hand, the party had to be totally self sufficient carrying all accommodation, water and food that was stowed aboard their sea going kayaks.
Highlights of the trip were 1- not seeing any people or boats for 10 days, 2- getting sick of eating fresh fish, crayfish and oysters, 3- observing an abundance of birdlife and marine life including sea turtle, dolphins and dugong and 4- landing a trevally and rock cod double hook up on a popper (see attached photo).
EQUIPMENT and WEAPONRY
3 X 5.8 metre fibreglass Mirage 580 Kayaks
1 X 5.2 metre plastic Dagger Exodus Kayak
1 X 5.0 metre plastic Dagger Cortez Kayak
2 X Satellite phones
4 X EPIRB - PLB's
5 X Sets of Marine Flares
4 X Fishing Rods & Reels (one rod consisting of a 3 metre 9 section telescopic which belonged to the Late W&NAC Member Don Schmidt)
5 X Spear guns
2 X Crayfish Loops
Sunscreen
Visit our Photo Gallery for more fantastic pics.......
BALLARAT ANGLERS’ CLUB VISIT TO WNAC
A great weekend was had by all who participated in the visit by Ballarat Anglers’ Club to WNAC. A large number of Ballarat members attended and the fishing was very productive on the Saturday and Sunday with the Ballarat team taking home about 75kg in fish. Alas for Ballarat Anglers’ the trophy was won by WNAC – perhaps Ballarat was a little too confident thinking the trophy would be best left in Ballarat and not damaged by bringing it to Williamstown. The George Chamings Trophy for the biggest snapper caught in the competition was won by Geoff Abbott – congratulations Geoff. Nugget Lee won the Ballarat glasses for the heaviest WNAC bag taken – congratulations Nug.
The success of the weekend would not be possible without the effort of a number of club members and supporters. Firstly the effort of Peter O’Neil and Daryl Ramsay in coordinating the weekend was simply outstanding.
Great support and sponsorship was received from Middendorp in the donation of raffle prizes and Bonza Bait who donated the bait for the Ballarat Club. Thank you to both and we ask all members to please support these businesses if you have the chance.
Thank you to all the members who did the cooking, ran the raffle, bar and took care of the last minute needs. Thank you to Shane McNamara for all his cooking, Con Papazoglou for getting the meat and Roy McQuade for his running around to get whatever was needed.
A special thank you to Tracey O’Neill and Viv Lee who helped the club out with the cooking and catering. The club is extremely appreciative of your assistance.
Thank you all those who donated raffle prizes. A number of members donated prizes and left the prizes at the club anonymously – thank you. The members we know donated are:
Tony D’urso Joe Celeste Peter Freeman Alan Rowan
Joe Santana Ian Rambridge Paul Maslow Michael Crewes
John Merlino Graeme Rogers Ty Treble Walter Ibbs
Lyn O’Dwyer Brian McInerney Doug Evers-Buckland
It was a great team effort – thank you to all who contributed.
Tackling Tuna off Portland
Six members started the new financial year tackling tuna off Portland with Sharkmen Charters. Travelling down the night before it was worse than a schoolgirl sleepover with the laughter and giggling coming from the bunkroom with all the excitement. Though this was soon replaced with snoring that saw Walter kicked out onto the sofa bed the next night.
Despite a strong northerly the next morning Sharky and his deckie Marty were set to go and we headed out about 15km from Portland. Marty hadn’t got all the lines out and we were on with Brian landing his first tuna of about 10-15kg. Fons, Geoff and Lindsay soon followed suit with fish about the same size. Moving closer in Conrad and Walter caught similar fish. Later on saw a triple hook up (though Geoff dropped his) with Fons and Lindsay landing theirs. Soon all had caught their bag limit and it was catch and release time. Marty taught us the technique for lifting the tuna onboard and we all had a turn, great feeling spearing the Tuna back in and watching them disappear into the depths. Geoff and Lindsay had a double hookup and danced across the boat in poetic motion as the fish did their best to tangle the lines. Conrad struggled with his last fish that Fons was calling a horse only to be of similar size when landed. All up 18 Tuna were caught with six released and one Albatross caught– also released. A great day with Sharky showing amazing skill in manoeuvring the boat to keep the lures spread right and keeping us on the fish all day .
The last competition of the season was held in blustery conditions with winds forecast at 25 to 30 knots. Fortunately it was from the North - North West so staying in close saw conditions relatively comfortable. Thirteen members competed with some good catches of pinkies weighed in. The best was 1.25kg and weighed in by Peter Arvanitidis who had the heaviest bag with six snapper and one rock cod. Another great BBQ was cooked by Conrad Greer who is at risk at this becoming a permanent Club position. The results on handicap were 1st Lindsay Morton, 2nd Peter Arvanitidis and 3rd John Merlino.
In late May 2011 Fons and Nelson Rouw from the Undera Anglers Club formed up with Walter Ibbs from the Williamstown Newport Anglers Club to do some game fishing off Narooma
Some 30kms off Narooma it was evident Walter had someone watching over him sprinkling fairy dust on his fortunes.
Fons’ had lent Walter his Virgin fishing rod and Walter hooked up - it was an amazing fight Walter had with this bugger with the ever present fear of the tax man taking the catch– being the local seals. The fish was at the side of the boat when fairy dust from above was also placed on the gaff - hence the magic of the attached photo.
The memorable highlights of the trip included Walter’s new found passion for his recently purchased Gimble belt as he wore it while:
(b) all the time on the boat even whilst checking the origins of Fornicating Under Consent of the King - 30kms off the continental shelf on his Blackberry
From Fons’ perspective it should be compulsory for Walter to wear the Gimble should Collingwood get into the grand final again & if they win – he made need a bigger Gimble.
As a result of the trip Fons has made some changes to his will – Fons has instructed his son, Nelson that if Walter should out live him the Virgin rod that Walter has now "Done Over" - is to be forwarded back to this legend of a man with the half spool of line Walter left on the reel for Fons when he gave it back. It will give Fons a chance to put some fairy dust of his own on that Rod from above. The Rod is the one made in Queensland & Nelson has its twin, both very fine rods.
Fons and Nelson are happy to adopt Walter on any fishing trip on 2 conditions – Walter has to wear a Gimble after any monsters he catches & he must wear a Flannelette shirt to reduce his IQ to a level where we can understand him.
On the weekend of 14/15 May 2010 the Undera Anglers Club hosted the Williamstown Newport Anglers at Waranga Basin. Nine members from the club went up with Pete O’Neill and Shane McNamara as the advance party on the Friday night. Judging on how early Shane went to bed on the Saturday night they must have enjoyed Friday night – maybe a little too much.
Undera certainly looked after us with the campsite being on a member’s property about 500m from the boat ramp. Thank you to Gail and Henry for letting us stay. On the Saturday morning a camp site quickly emerged though a couple of members – John Ryan and Murray Holland had to venture into Shepparton in search of BCF as they had forgotten to bring their sleeping bags. Armed with their purchases they returned triumphant only to find out the sleeping bags were bright PINK – not that anyone reminded them of it over the weekend.
The conditions were kind with a bit of breeze on the Saturday and good conditions on the Sunday, not a drop of rain and it wasn’t that cold – particularly if you had a PINK sleeping bag.
Over the course of the weekend there were good catches of redfin with Tim Rambridge catching 17 on the Sunday morning. A few spiny lobsters were caught including a large specimen that developed some unhealthy habits (see photo). Conrad Greer is still a bit weary when bending down to pick them up.
We were well fed with hotdogs for lunch and a great roast dinner Saturday night with a cooked breakfast and hamburgers to round us out on the Sunday. Overall a great weekend enjoyed by all with our thanks to Phil, Dave and all Undera members.
Competition 15 Rays Outdoor Snapper Competition
Held in perfect conditions Sunday morning 17 April 2010 approximately 24 members participated in the Rays Outdoor Snapper Competition that also formed the third leg of the Dennis Memorial Trophy.
A good turn out by boat owners saw everyone get a ride with the competition from 06:30 AM through to 10:30 AM. A good number of catches were weighed in with nice pan size pinkies dominant. The largest snapper at 1.6 kg was caught by Anthony Sokol. The results were 1st - Lindsay Morton with 10 snapper for 5.52 kg, 2nd Laurie Muscat with 7 snapper for 4.12 kg and 3rd Mick Crewes with 7 snapper for 4.12 kg.
Conrad Greer and Alan Rowan cooked the BBQ afterwards that was enjoyed by all and rounded out a great morning. Thank you Conrad and Alan.
Our thanks also to Rays Outdoor, one of our major club sponsors and sponsors of this event.
George AKA "King George" is usually targeting whiting, however, now is a King of a different kind with this nice King fish caught off Williamstown last week. (5TH March)...
Hi Guys,....Andrew Robertson here, sending you some pics of Sunday 28th Feb 2011.
RESULT
from 25 Landed Pinkies, 1 Ray and 1 Bream I ended up keeping
6 Snapper
3x 29cm
1 x 31cm
1 x 34cm
1 x 36cm
1 Bream
1 x 28cm
Caught from Kerfered Road Pier St Kilda from 11am - 6:30pm.
A spectaular day of intense fishing
Best regards
Andrew Robertson
A True Mixed Bag - Thursday 11 February 2010 by Linsday Morton
Fishing off Pt Cook for whiting we ended up with a true mixed bag. Using squid and pilchards we caught 2 whiting, five Snapper, a 1kg Flathead and this 2.65 Kg Gummy. We also caught four banjo sharks and three Port Jacksons that were all released along with numerous small pinkies.
(Photo -Wally Ibbs and Friend)
Report from Brian Egan 26th December 2010:
Just got back from Mallacoota and thought I'd show you some pictures of a “nice” flatty we caught in the bottom lake.
Some details;
- Caught at 1 pm on 22/12
- Bait: live mullet
- Weight: 4.52 kg (10 lb.)
- Length: 90 cm
- Released after photos were taken (a great feeling)
- Gear: $10 kids rod (yellow) and $20 kids reel with 6 lb. line.
See the photo Gallery for more pics:
COMPETITION 9 - A FIRST FOR THE CLUB
Competition Nine on Sunday 12 December 2010 was held in blustery conditions with the forecast for 2m seas. While most elected to fish in close to the shore one team headed deep and in doing so were to write new history for the Club.
The team of boat owner Simon Waters and non boat owner Lyn O’Dwyer were to blow all other contenders further off the water than what the strong gusts could do and finished with the top two competition places.
For the first time the Williamstown Newport Anglers Club had a female winner in an open competition and Lyn did it in style. With a grin from ear to ear Lyn weighed in three Snapper for a collective total of 10.53 kg with her best fish weighing in at 4.95 kg. Simon weighed in almost as impressive fish and finished a close second.
Daryl Ramsay and myself and some mates in another 2 boats fished on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th Nov, launching at Curdievale, there is a good 2 lane ramp about 500m from the Boggy Creek pub a great position, limited accommodation.
We stayed at the Pub/motel in Peterborough. There is a good ramp at Peterborough (2 lane), about 2 -3 feet depth in the lake and some weed to navigate to the river entrance. The fishing was a bit slow, some bream taken to 34-38cm a lot of returns. All fish were taken at the river mouth and lake area on small shrimp and white worm in the river. Some of the better fish were taken in the lake on spider crab and local grey back minnow.
Take your bait traps, plenty of grey back minnow and shrimp in the river. We tried a variety of baits, bass yabby and sand worm and coloured vibes and 100mm wrigglers plastics and strike pro’s with limited success.
Note the fish cleaning facilities. This is what I was trying to get from Fisheries for our club.
(Check out more photo’s of our trip in the Photo Gallery)
All the best!
Peter O’Neill
Hi guys,
Just thought I’d share a photo or two of some trout I caught on the first weekend in October 2010. I was at the Millbrook Lodge with Phil Weigall and David Dodd guiding and we had a great time. If anything, the weather was too good. We needed some rain and cloud to bring the trout to the surface. Mike Edwards
(Check out the photo gallery for more.....)
Freshwater Competion
A fiercely fought competition held at Jubilee Lake Daylesford on Sunday 12 September 2010 with members signing on at 7:00 Am.
Ron Elliott got a run using yellow powerbait and Lindsay Morton a couple of touches on orange powerbait. The competition ended in a draw with no fish weighed in but a great BBQ.
On the way home the boys had a look at Wombat Reservoir with as much success.
Lake Purrumbete Social Trip
Over the weekend of 24th / 25th July 2010 a number of members travelled to Lake Purrumbete for a social fishing trip.
A few members got down early on the Friday with about 10 members from Williamstown Newport Angling Club and Brian Rivett representing the Ballarat Anglers Club.
Bruce Higgins was the most successful on the Saturday with a number of redfin caught from Lake Purrumbete.
After a very social Saturday evening the members tried Lake Bullen Merri on the Sunday with better results.A number of salmon and a few rainbow and brown trout were caught mainly trolling tassie devils down deep or mudeyes under bubble floats.
Our thanks to Arthur Davey for organizing the weekend and the absolute perfect weather conditions.
Tackling Tuna off Portland
Tackling Tuna off Portland
Six members started the new financial year tackling tuna off Portland with Sharkmen Charters. Travelling down the night before it was worse than a schoolgirl sleepover with the laughter and giggling coming from the bunkroom with all the excitement. Though this was soon replaced with snoring that saw Walter kicked out onto the sofa bed the next night.
Despite a strong northerly the next morning Sharky and his deckie Marty were set to go and we headed out about 15km from Portland. Marty hadn’t got all the lines out and we were on with Brian landing his first tuna of about 10-15kg. Fons, Geoff and Lindsay soon followed suit with fish about the same size. Moving closer in Conrad and Walter caught similar fish. Later on saw a triple hook up (though Geoff dropped his) with Fons and Lindsay landing theirs. Soon all had caught their bag limit and it was catch and release time. Marty taught us the technique for lifting the tuna onboard and we all had a turn, great feeling spearing the Tuna back in and watching them disappear into the depths. Geoff and Lindsay had a double hookup and danced across the boat in poetic motion as the fish did their best to tangle the lines. Conrad struggled with his last fish that Fons was calling a horse only to be of similar size when landed. All up 18 Tuna were caught with six released and one Albatross caught– also released. A great day with Sharky showing amazing skill in manoeuvring the boat to keep the lures spread right and keeping us on the fish all day .
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