FISHING REPORT – March 28, 2019

ANGLESEA
» Reports of salmon off local beaches
» Pinkies are still being reported
» A few flatheads are still being caught
» Small tuna and some Kingfish are still being reported
» Whiting are being caught but not in any great numbers.

BARWON HEADS
» Reports from Barwon Heads still of snapper and pinkies off shore
» Reports of the occasional gummy continue
» Still reports of flathead catches
» Reports of mulloway being caught in the river
» Reports of elephant sharks also starting to appear in the river
» Whiting, trevally and salmon continue
» Salmon off most local beaches.

TORQUAY
» Reports of King George Whiting being caught in close continue
» Reports of Pinkies and snapper offshore as well
» Flathead reports are still being received
» Squid continue to be caught offshore
» Reports of tuna and Kingfish offshore
» Still reports of Gummy Shark around
» Couta are also now being reported as well
» Salmon being caught off local beaches in big numbers
» Bream are still to be caught in Spring Creek.

Remember Torquay Tackle and Sports. For all the best available advice in Torquay on tackle and bait, drop in at the store and see Ross or Josh to ensure you get the most up-to-date information available. Phone 5264 8207.

QUEENSCLIFF
» St Leonards: King George whiting, flathead and squid continue
» Clifton Springs, pinkies, whiting and flathead reports are still being received
» Queenscliff has reports of whiting, flathead, salmon and squid continuing
» Reports from the creek see trevally and salmon continuing
» Swan Bay, squid and salmon are still being caught
» Point Lonsdale, trevally, salmon and snapper are being caught
» The White Lady is still seeing reports of whiting, pinkies and squid
» Indented Head, reports of snapper, flathead, King George whiting and squid also continue.

WELCOME once again to My Big Catch! Recently there has been some good weather for fishing, with lots of people taking advantage of the conditions so please remember to keep those photos rolling in.

Victorian first to create six new native fisheries

In a Victorian first, 120,000 golden perch have been stocked into the Malmsbury, Coliban, Lauriston, Tullaroop and Barkers Creek Reservoirs and Lake Bellfield to improve native fishing opportunities thanks to the Andrews Labor Government.

Lauriston Reservoir has also been stocked with 25,000 large Murray cod fingerlings weighing 5 grams each.

This stocking plan is a brand-new venture recently developed by the Victorian Fisheries Authority together with local angling clubs and peak angling body VR Fish at a special Vic Fish Stock meeting in Bendigo in early March.

Stocking more native fish into Victorian waterways is a major part of the Labor Government’s Target One Million plan to get more Victorians fishing, more often.

The waters are now stocked with golden perch and Murray cod with further plans to stock more natives, including silver perch, next month.

Brown trout stockings will also be increased this winter to create exciting new trout and native ‘mixed fisheries,’ which provide year-round fishing opportunities for anglers of all abilities.

The newly stocked fish will take a few years to reach catchable size, so anglers can look forward to some phenomenal fishing in years to come.

Native fish stocking record broken at Lake Eildon

More than 714,000 native fish have been released into Lake Eildon this summer, setting a new stocking record for this iconic Victorian waterway which is so popular with freshwater anglers.

The new record consists of 300,500 golden perch fingerlings and 413,900 Murray cod, many of which were grown at the Victorian Fisheries Authority’s Snobs Creek hatchery that grew record cod numbers this season.

This summer’s 714,000 stocking record dwarfs the previous best of 583,000 native fish, set during the three-year ‘Million Murray Cod’ stocking blitz.

Those million Murray cod fingerlings are now providing excellent fishing opportunities year-round for Murray cod, including fish in the 55 to 75cm slot limit.

With the fisheries reputation growing, the AYC fishing tournament circuit will host an Eildon Cod Classic in October
2019, which will attract some of the country’s best die-hard native fishers chasing big cod over the magic metre.

Although the native fish stocking season at Lake Eildon is done and dusted for this summer, other waters are still receiving fish through March.

Prominent lakes and rivers that also got big numbers of native fish this summer including Rocklands Reservoir, Lake Hume, Goulburn River and Lake Eppalock.

The stocking record was funded by recreational fishing licence fees and the Andrews Labor Government’s $27 million Target One Million plan, which aims to get more people fishing, more often.

Learn more about native fish stocking at www.vfa.vic.gov.au/fishstocking.

CLUB CORNER

If you are an angling club and you wish to let people know what’s going on within your club as well as help promote your club, email [email protected] and we will post your club news here.

Meanwhile, if you see or suspect illegal fishing activity any time over summer please phone the 24-hour reporting line 13 FISH (13 34 74).

PHOTOS

I would also like to remind everyone to keep those photos coming in of your big catch! Please forward them to [email protected], with type of fish, weight, length, location and your name. I am more than happy to place your photos in My Big Catch.