The bluefin tuna have arrived

Brett Geddes b.geddes@bigpond.com

The big news that dominates most of the fishing talk here in South Gippsland is about southern bluefin tuna. The snapper are back for surf anglers, and the whiting are still thick at Port Albert, with rock and yank flathead filling bags again. There’s so much to report on!

Over the last six weeks so much excitement has been shared between anglers, with incredible numbers of tuna being caught from Welshpool right up to Golden Beach. The fish have ranged from 4-35kg so far, but I’m tipping they will only get bigger. They are right in close too, with large schools just 4km offshore and possibly bigger fish are out wider.

Guru angler Andrew Simmons is known to all of us locals as Frog, and he has sent me amazing reports and great pictures of these stunning tuna. He says he caught most of his fish on surface lures just a few kilometres out from Port Albert.

These tuna have shown up on and off over the last few years, but they have been in small numbers, not very big and not here for any decent length of time. This event is totally different, to three or four trips have proved this once again. He fishes a huge area of the lakes and this is key to his success and why he finds so many big flathead.

He also uses big lures that attract the largest fish. Over two trips he landed about 20 flathead, and most of them were between an incredible the point where you can head out each trip and definitely find them, but catching them may be a little more challenging.

The real exciting thing is how far these fish are pushing east along our coast, and I’ve never heard of these huge schools just out from Golden Beach and now even Loch Sport. It’s another great sign of this recovering fishery and we can only hope they become a regular event as the years roll on.

It’s fair to say that there are no barrels of 100kg, and these fish here may not excite those over in the west of the state like in Portland or even out from Port Phillip Bay, but to just have them turn up here is such a significant win for us locals. I’m also now hearing of big numbers getting caught just out from Welshpool, and I’ll no doubt have more on the tuna next month.

Just like last year at this time, the snapper have arrived and are now pretty thick right along the Ninety Mile Beach. Once again my buddy Frog has been the star of the show and took his two young kids down for a quick look after tea one evening.

No drone was needed and over just one hour with a few surf rods they pulled in 12 pinkie snapper between 40-50cm. The trick is to find a few deeper holes along the surf, so you may have to do some searching before you hit the beach.

Other anglers are telling me plenty of snapper are also coming in near Golden and Paradise beaches. The big easterly winds will back hardly ever put them down or in a rod holder! I see them move around at times to find the better schools, but they only move 30-40m at a time.

60-80cm, with his biggest going 87cm. Dinga told me he also spooked multiple fish, with some of them 90cm and better.

His pictures prove that these are the best conditioned flathead we have ever seen from any estuary here in East Gippsland. They have smallish heads but huge fat bodies, and at 870 odd centimetres they are all pulling like trucks with fast strong runs up to 20m long.

Bobby Sproule needs a quick mention, as he has whacked some cracker dino duskies as well, and gets the by-catch of the month award by nailing a 53cm snapper on a huge soft plastic over 6” long!

Frog gets the run around from yet another bluefin tuna caught on lure offshore near Port Albert. off this month and that will improve conditions for all anglers. The gummies and school sharks are still plentiful, and small hammerheads are also turning up now.

Port Albert is still the hotspot for whiting and on one occasion I watched two swampy old fellas anchor up in a deep channel near the town and land around 60 whiting to 44cm. They kept their bag and released the others, then headed home leaving the fish biting flat out. I see these fellas most times I fish the area and they rarely speak to anyone, but boy they catch the hell out of the King George whiting. I think they pump their own nippers and those live baits must be deadly, because they use only one rod each and

The sad thing for me is that I can be anchored up quite close to them and at times I hardly catch a fish! It’s one thing to have a slow day hooking fish, but its demoralising when those around you fill bags in a matter of a few hours! I hope to pick their brains one day, but I have a feeling they will remain tight-lipped. At least I get heaps more rock flathead than my swampy old mates, but that’s because I use blade lures and search far and wide. During a five-hour session I will travel well over 5km in search of these delectable flatties and over my last six trips I’ve caught between 10-20 each time. Most of them are around 35-40cm, with the biggest pushing 60cm. I’ve also caught a handful of pinkie snapper, silver trevally and estuary perch while searching with the blades, and also big yank flathead to 70cm.

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