“WHEN will the weather improve?” That was the question posed in last week’s Jim’s Bait and Tackle Column in the Sentinel-Times.
Well, it improved enough over the weekend for plenty of recreational fishers to get out, launching boats at the Corinella boat ramp, Inverloch, Newhaven, the great new ramp at Rhyll and everywhere around.
And they came back with good bags of fish; gummies, whiting, flatties and pinkies in particular.
“We’ve been having an annual trip down here at this time of the year with a group of mates since 1984 and we always get fish,” said Chris Rowston from Melbourne’s Bayside.
“Got a 12lb gummy yesterday, 28 whiting between us and some snapper as well. Great. We didn’t get as many today but the whiting we did get were a good size,” he said.
“We had to get a few new recruits this year after a few fell by the wayside, but they loved it and they’ll be back,” said Chris on Saturday afternoon, safely in at Newhaven before the wind came up on Saturday afternoon.
There were plenty of other good stories of fish being plentiful and healthy in Westernport.
Last week Craig, Edmonds of San Remo’s Jim’s Bait and Tackle said the bags of whiting hadn’t been big, mostly because of the weather, but they have been quality.
“The sizes of the whiting at the moment means that with 10 you have more than a few feeds in the freezer and they are also much easier to fillet as well,” he said.
“Snapper is the main target species this time of the year and apart from the weather it would have to be the most mixed-up start to a snapper season we have seen since being in the shop.
“From the reports we have seen, lots of snapper are being caught, some the typical 6kg to 8kg for this time of the year, just not the regular reports we expect. Pinkies from in the shallows and off the mud long before the bigger ones showed up there.
“The bay is healthy, the fish are all in good condition and there seems to be plenty of species in the bay, all we need is the weather,”
Fortunately, we are starting to see that improve and hopefully there’ll be more fine days over the next few weeks so fishers can get a few good feeds in the freezer ahead of Christmas.
