sport Coutas, Panthers set for glory QUEENSCLIFF will be out to make it two Bellarine Football League premierships in a row when it takes on Torquay at Drysdale Recreation Reserve on Saturday. The ladder didn’t lie this year, with these sides sitting one and two for most of the season. Queenscliff will go in as favourite because it has only lost one game for the year and has accounted for the Tigers each time they’ve met. A few seasons back you would never have dreamt that the Coutas would win a premiership again let alone be in a position to win two in a row. Coach Tom Limb only took over the reigns this year and was on a hiding to nothing but he has proved more than capable. Having outstanding players in Dan Measures, Steve Owen, Nick and Luke Orvis plus boom recruit Dan Degois places the side in a good position but a lot of the credit has to go to the coach and the administration down at Queenscliff. Torquay has had a good season for new coaches Craig McCaughan and Mick MacFarlene and their experience on and off the field has benefitted all at
Local Footy FRANK MASON the club. The Tigers only lost to the Couta’s by 11 points in the second semi-final and know they’re in with a real show on Saturday. Finals series are littered with upset results but Queenscliff has done everything right so far and should win a thriller. Torquay and Ocean Grove plays off in the reserves, while West Saints and Bell Park kick off the day in the colts division two grand final.
GDFL Geelong and District Football league also plays its grand final on Saturday, with Bell Post Hill and East
Geelong clashing at St Alban’s Reserve. Bell Post Hill is after three flags in a row and is playing its fifth consecutive grand final. To say it has finals experience is an understatement. It also has fine players in Brad Martin, Chris Moreland, Justin Tarr and Cameron Addie. The Panthers have led the competition all year and will go is as favourites. East Geelong has come from fifth spot on the ladder and is in red-hot form. By most peoples reckoning, Bell Post Hill is the best side in the league followed by Thomson and then Bannockburn yet the Eagles belted Bannockburn in the first semi-final and followed that up by flogging Thomson in last week’s preliminary final. It definitely has a chance in this one, with Simon Prymke, Ryan Closter, Lucas Murphy, Andrew Challis and Jesse Mawson in season-best form just when it counts. This promises to go down to the wire, with Bell Post Hill to just hang on. North Geelong and Bell Post hill play off in the reserves, while Inverleigh and North Geelong play
the division three grand final of the colt’s competition at 9.30am.
GFL St Joseph’s and Bell Park meet at Simonds Stadium on Saturday in Geelong Football League’s preliminary final. The winner advances to next weekend’s grand final where South Barwon awaits. Joeys was pretty ordinary last weekend and would want to improve markedly to win this one because Bell Park is in ominous form as it looks to defend its premiership title. This improvement is possible because Andrew Lovick, Cam Johnston, Dan Lovick, Dale Carson and Russel Robertson are class acts and will rally the troops on Saturday. There is a lot to like about the structure of Bell Park, with two good big men in Zane Vail and Lachlan Kennedy plus the pace of Tim Sheringham and Tyler Stack around the packs. In yet another close final it will be Joeys by a small margin.
Anglers look to this weekend for respite from wind and big swells On the bite BRIAN LONG
‘Swimming lessons, a gift for life’
Streaming: Nick Whelan shows off a stream-caught brown trout. Springs before the heavy winds set in. This area is renowned for being one of the most consistent locations for a big snapper over the coming months. St Leonards should start to fire up again this weekend after the water has cleared. Anglers should look for whiting in around three metres of water. Anyone seeking flathead should try in depths from 10m to 15m.
Squid have been extremely patchy recently, with the better results coming to anglers fishing close in to Duck Island at the mouth of Swan Bay. Squid numbers were also good on the opposite side of the bay near Portsea. By all accounts, this area was producing well on the run-up to high tide, especially for anglers using dark coloured jigs. Freshwater results were also down, with many
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STRONG wind kept most anglers indoors over the past week, while big swells added further limits to chasing salmon down the coast. Both the wind and seas are forecast to abate this weekend, so salmon captures should be viable from the deep water rock platforms between Lorne and Apollo Bay. Expect lure to be the most productive method. The strong winds played havoc on the bays, discolouring the water to generally reduce captures. However, anglers who put in the hard yards reported some quality results. Tanner Webb drifted the outer-harbour spoil grounds with soft plastics, finding a few nice snapper. Most averaged around 35cm but two were just over 2kg. Salmon were found close in at Alcoa Pier where casting soft plastics into the surface activity resulted in reasonable numbers of 1kg fish. The fishing improved in the Fisherman’s Pier area as the week progresses, with snapper making up the majority of captures. Most fished were about 30cm, with better specimens nudging 40cm. Stuart Giddings put in a few hours on the snapper at North Shore rocks on Monday night, landing two fish better than 3.5kg on fresh squid. Paul Jeffries also fished Corio Bay on Monday night, finding the snapper willing to bite and returning with three to 4.1kg. Paul said he found plenty of fish on his sounder, especially between Royal Geelong Yacht Club and Western Beach. John Uwland found the snapper off Clifton
anglers trying to avoid the harsh conditions. Lake Bullen Merri hosted shore-based anglers who caught small rainbows on Powerbait, with the odd bigger fish caught on lure. Anyone prepared to fish this water after dark with local gudgeon can expect to land big brown trout. Terry Forbes did well after dark this week, with his biggest fish weighing in at a handsome 3.1kg. Deep Lake hosted few anglers, with only a small number of newly released fish taken on Powerbait and worms. Many anglers headed to the streams looking for a brown trout, me included. Fishing the Leigh River just downstream of Shelford, the high and discoloured water was perfect for working lures but I only managed to grass two small fish. Nick Whelan also fished his local streams where his Rapala lures turned out to be a great choice when he landed a beautifully marked wild brown trout. Adam Van Der Lugt recently headed to the high country streams. With the trout opening in full swing and the rivers running clear, any number of brown trout were to be had on both fly and lure. It seems the best freshwater captures this week were all taken by anglers working the many streams we have on offer. With the best snapper fishing period upon us, now is the time to hit the water off Clifton Spring. Look to the area near the bend in the channel. Don’t fish too close to the channel line because the fish will be working the banks. Wilson Spit and The Chair are also well worth a few hours, especially this weekend. Fish the afternoon run-off from high tide with pilchard or fresh squid for bait. Soft plastics anglers should drift over the rough terrain near Wilson Spit. The best freshwater option this weekend will be Lake Tooliorook. Powerbait fished from the shore should be ideal, while boat anglers should enjoy the best results using small, deep diving bibbed lures. Send reports and photos to info@raylongtackle.com.au or visit Brian at Ray Long’s Fishing World, 105 Shannon Ave, Manifold Heights.
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3 Bridge St, Newtown • Ph: 5222 5530, Fax: 5222 5518 • geoff@geelongaquaticcentre.com.au The Independent, Friday September 14, 2012
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