Phillip Island Christmas '08

Location: Tinny Spot
Date: 27.12.2008
Time: 10:00 am - 2:30pm
Weather: Mainly fine. Not sure what tide it was? Rosco, can you edit if you do?
Crew: Toon, Ross, Willo
Target Fish: Whiting, but anything else goes at this spot
Bait: Pippi, squid
Rigs: Paternoster
Berley: None
Catch: 5 x Whiting, 2 x reef bastards, 1 x wrasse thing
Report: Hit three spots with little action. Was going to row back in but hit a forth spot, and was right on in the action. Snagged all whiting in the one spot. Top final sesh. Ross was on fire with most of the whiting. The biggest one signed in at about 40cm.

Rating: 6/10 - A little disappointing for a super location.

Woolamai Surf Fishing

Location: Woolamai First Carpark - Anzac Beach
Date: 18.12.08
Crew: Ross
Time: 2-4pm
Weather: 20-30 knots, blown out waves, mild
Target Fish: Salmon, Gummy
Bait: Snapper Snatcher 4/0 blue thread, Squid triangles, Snook fillets
Catch: None - no bites
Report: Fished 150m to right and left of Wollamai's first carpark, no gutters
Might try second carpark next time. Good chance to practice casting. Needed around 80m cast to make it over the break.
Rating: 1/10

Rat Rock

Location: Rat Rock
Date: 11.12.2004
Time: 7:00 pm - 12:00pm
Weather: Initial winds, but calmed down for quiet night. Low tide was just before 8:00 pm.
Crew: Arnold, Toon, Ross, Carrel
Target Fish: Snapper, Gummy
Bait: Squid & Pillies
Rigs: Snapper Snatchers and Running Paternoster Rigs
Berley: None
Catch: 2 x Banjo Guitars

Report: Little action throughout night, but once the wind calmed down fishing was pleasant.

Rating: 4/10 - Scores only because of the sunset.

Old Photos 2005-2006

Snapper Flathead King George - 5 stars













Simo with a Fiddler off the boat.






















Nice catch off the Tinny














Spear fishing Ventnor
Wrasse?

Wrasse not bad to eat, maybe bbq best option.

Queenscliff

Location: Queenscliff Harbour

Date: 10.12.08

Crew: Ross, Tim, Andreas, Christian

Time: 2-7pm

Weather: 10-15 knots, sunny, calm in harbour

Target Fish: Silver Trevally, Squid

Bait: Pippie, White bait, Green soft plastic

Catch: 4 x Silver Trevally

1 x Phsyco Crab

Report: Fished on west side pier and pontoons, 3 silver trevally caught off pippie and white bait around 23 cm. Andreas caught a large one using soft plastic. Great fight bent rod in half !

Busted off next to pier! Shit !

Note: Cast bait and soft plastic into channel cut of river

Big Trevally: Should have known better but tried to pull large trevally onto pontoon by grabbing the line. Obviously less resistance and busted off. Use the rod itself to land fish or use small net. The rod takes the resistance from the fish kicking around.

Rating: 7/10

Western Port Bay

Location: Elizabeth Island Mark & Hawkseys Secret Spot
Date: 14.11.2008
Time: 3:30 am - 12:30pm
Weather: 15-20 Knots
Crew: Huggett, Toon, Hawkes
Target Fish: Snapper, Gummy
Bait: Squid, Pillies, Sand Whiting, Barracouta, Salmon
Rigs: Various
Berley: Market mystery bag
Catch: 1x Pinkie 34cm, 5x Couta, 1x Slimy Cock Rod, 1x Mullet, 1x Ray, 20x Salmon, 10x Flattie

Report: Not much at Elizabeth Island mark, tide running too fast. Moved to Hawkesy's secret spot at about 4m water. Good session with no tide and constant action.

Rating: 7/10 - Wanted a big red!

Rat Rocks

Location: Rat Rocks
Date: 13.11.08
Time: 7:30 -10.30pm
Weather: Warm, raining and windy
Crew: Dave, Arnold
Target: Snapper, Gummy's
Bait: Eel, Pillies, Squid
Rigs: Snapper Snatchers
Berley: None
Catch: None
Report: Pretty quiet evening on the zzz. Was blowing a gale, raining...yet still pleasantly warm. Starting to wonder if this spot is as productive as we first thought.
Rating: 2/10

River Near Dave's House

Location: The River Near Dave's House
Date: 11.11.08
Time: 7:30 -9.30pm
Weather: Perfect evening
Crew: Huggett, Martin
Target: Eels
Bait: Chicken
Rigs: 3/0 hook. No lead
Berley: None
Catch: 1 Eel
Report: Martin's first time wetting a line...and I suspect not the last!! As expected this little spot is swarming with eels. Action started when it started getting dark. Hooked onto about 10 eels, lost most in the snags. Managed to land only one eel (Martin's first score on the board).
Rating: 7/10

Beer Battered Flake

Fish: Gummy Shark
Batter Recipe: 1 cup of plain flour, salt, pepper, and add beer and stir till a good consistency. Once it takes a good form, add a couple of pinches of paprika and cut up some thyme. Add ingredients to batter and then let sit for ten minutes.
Method: Heat vegetable oil in fry pan. Dust fillets with plain flour. Coat fillets with batter. Place in hot frypan. Cook on each side till nice golden colour. Drain on paper towel. Eat with salad and chips! Mmm.
Note: After fish was filleted, froze fillets for two weeks before cooking.

Rating: 10/10

Rat Rocks

Location: Rat Rock
Date: 26.10.08
Time: 3:00 -8.30am
Weather: Calm morning
Crew: Huggett, Toon, Arnold
Target Fish: Snapper
Bait: Squid, Pillies
Rigs: Snapper snatchers and running paternoster rig.
Berley: Market mystery bag
Catch: None
Report: No bites, no boots into dirty filthy rats and no seagull kites. The early early morning session didn't seem to agree with any of us...and sunday was a complete write-off. As always though we had some good laughs.

Rat Rock

Location: Rat Rock
Date: 14.10.08
Time: 8:00 -11.30pm
Weather: Full Moon, little cloud, calm night
Crew: Huggett, Toon, Arnold, Willo
Target Fish: Gummy, Snapper
Bait: Squid, Pillies, Eel
Rigs: Snapper snatchers and running paternoster rig
Berley: 1 large blue grenadier carcass
Catch: 3 x Eagle Ray, 1 x Pinkie (27cm), 1 x Gummy
Report: Good night and not many fisherman. When we arrived (just before sunset), dudes to our right landed a good sized snapper (on pillie). Arnold caught the pinkie which took a surprisingly good run about an hour after dark. Gummy was caught at about 10:30pm. Pinkie took pillie bait on paternoster rig, while gummy took the combo (pillie and squid) on the snapper snatcher. The eagle rays took snapper snatchers. Penguin's were walking around the joint, and there were many large rats. Huggett got frustrated, cos he just missed two.
Rating: 8/10 . Would have been a 9 if Huggett laid boot to one.

Queenscliff - Point Lonsdale Shark ?

Location: {Queenscliff}{Point Londsdale Pier}
Date: 28.09.08
Crew: Ross
Time: 4.00-11.00pm
Tackle: {Green soft plastic with glitter casting around pilons in Queenscliff Harbor}
{Shark set-up was 6.0 hook, 40lb trace, 2 swivel running sinker, 50cm sinker leed, 20-25cm hook trace - great for casting far}
Bait: {Large pink suid jig}{Full squid wing}
Weather: 27 Sunny
Target Fish: {Squid, Silver Trevally}{Shark}
Berley: none
Catch: 1 x Squid
Report: Hooked up to what we thought was a shark, most likely a seven gilled, battled for two hours, i snapped it off by accident pulling the line with the rod horizontal - such an idiot
Rating: cool/10

Snook and a Whiting

Location: Ventnor Tinny
Date: 12.10.08
Crew: Ross
Time: 8.00-11.30am
Tackle: Surf rig, size.6 hooks, maybe best so that you don't always catch the small stuff on a size.4
Weather: 5 knots, brilliant weather, mist in morning, shorts and a t-shirt
Target Fish: Whiting, Snook
Bait: Pippie
Berley: Berkley Berley Suasage - not no impressed -$7.99 better off with pellets and tuna-oil
Catch: 1 x Whiting 30cm
2 x Snook (40&50cm)
1 x Small Leather Jacket (15cm)
1 x Cool Red Reef Fish (17 cm)

Report: decided to try a green soft plastic on a weighted hook. Cast and retrieve mid pace, small tugs. Picked up both that way. Tried pink squid jig for a while no luck. Smaller jigs seem best.
Dude came twenty meters in his boat! no luck for him..suck shit
Rating: 6/10

Point Lonsdale Pier

Location: Point Lonsdale Pier

Date: 04.10.08

Time: 4.00-11.30pm

Crew: Ross, Huggett, Toon, Arnold

Weather: Windy arvo 25 degrees, then fine, calm, cold night

Target Fish: Gummy, Snapper, Squid

Bait: Fresh squid, eel, pillies

Berley: None

Catch: Nothing. Saw a 5ft shark swim under the pier late afternoon. The odd weed drifting, but nothing too bad.

Report: Nothing all day/night. Bogans arrived after dark. Woodstocks, trackies, Corio type bogans.

Rating: 2/10 . Its fishing.

Mornington Pier

Location: Mornington Pier
Date: 13.09.08
Crew: Dave Huggett; Toon Van Beeck; Andrew Wilson
Time: 6-830am
Weather: 10-15 knots, small chop,cold
Target Fish: Squid, Salmon
Bait: Lures
Catch: ~ 25 Salmon.
Reoport: Smashed the salmon with metal lures. Killer session. No real big ones, all around the 25cm mark. Good times had by all (including Jerry)
Rating: 8/10

Mornington Pier

Location: Mornington Pier

Date: 21.09.08

Crew: Dave Huggett; Arnold Castillo

Time: 5-830am

Weather: 10-15 knots, small chop,cold

Target Fish: Snapper, Salmon

Bait: Lures, Pillies, Squid

Catch: ~ 3 Salmon.

Report: Started off pretty ordinary. Lost a brand new snapper snatcher and whole squid head on the first cast. Next cast got snagged. Cracked it...then the salmon came in. David managed 2 on lures and Arnold got one on a snapper snatcher with pillies. All good size. the curse has gone??. JERRY

Rating: 8/10

Lorne Pier

Location: Lorne Pier
Date: 05.07.08
Crew: Ross, Dave Huggett
Time: 8.00-11.30pm
Weather: 10-15 knots, small chop,cold
Target Fish: Squid, Silver Trevally, Mackerel, Thresher Shark, Seven Gilled
Bait: Pilchard, King George Whiting, Salmon, Barracouta
Berley: Fish leftovers - whiting, salmon
Catch: Nothing. Dave hooked onto something that was taking out line... but busted off after a minute.
Report: No luck this time. As we arrived a dude was hooked onto something big, most likely a seven gilled shark or a thresher. An hour before we arrived he hauled in a 5 foot thresher that he pulled up nearly to the top of the pier but its tail thashed the line and broke off. They were using a gafe rope to pull them onto the pier. Using full Pilchard with steel trace. 8.0 hook maybe. Weed toward the corner where the bait table is. Straight off the end or to the left seems best.
Rating: 2/10

Whiting Challenge

Species: King George Whiting

Location: Ventnor, Phillip Island

Bait: Pippie

Tackle: Standard Surf Rig

Length: 46cm

Weight: 750 grams

Poached Australian Salmon

Fish: Australian Salmon
Recipe:
Fillet Salmon - remove dark muscle along outer side of fillet (this is the strong fishy taste which is not wanted)
Heat red wine in pan (enough to completely cover fish)
Add fillets, sprig of rosemary, a bay leaf, basil, diced tomato and Spanish (red) onions
Slowly poach making sure red wine issimmering not boiling
Remove fish when cooked
Reduce red wine sauce on med-high heat (continually stiring)
Serve fish on couscous and pour over sauce
Serve with asparagus or green beans
Note: Apparently Australian Salmon works well in fish burgers and is very good if smoked. Check web sites shown in Blog for other Australian Salmon recipes

Rating: 7/10

Steamed Whiting

Fish: Whiting
Recipe:
Fillet whiting
Boil water in saucepan or wok
Lay fillets on bamboo steamer and put on lid - ensure water doesn't boil above fillets
Heat peanut oil in small saucepan
Chop spring onions and ginger and place in a metal bowl
Once oil starts to steam pour over spring onions and ginger to make an infused oil
Once fillets are cooked place on plate and pour over sauce
Serve with lemon slices and salad

Rating: 8/10

Ventnor Success

Location: Phillip Island - Secret Spot (Tinny)
Date: 28.06.08
Crew: Ross, Luke
Time: 9.30-11.30pm
Weather: 10-15 knots, small chop,cold
Target Fish: Whiting, anything else
Bait: Pippie (metal lure)
Berley: Tuna berley pellets with tuna oil mixed in
Catch: 21 x Whiting, 1 x Salmon, 2 x Snook
Report: What a catch! Biggest haul on the tinny yet. After 18 whiting had to start throwing them back. Nice size salmon found our berley trail, 30cm - 650grams. After 1.5 hours decided to throw on a small metal lure(blue back) and try my luck. On the second cast pulled in a nice sized Snook much to my amazment. Few more casts later pulled in a second. Prior to casting I made sure there was a good berley stream.
Note: Berley seems to work well if it has been soaking in a bit of water, breaks up nicely when thrown in and creates a nice cloud of fish food. With the tuna oil mixed in you can't beat it.
Rating: 8.5/10

Whiting in Ventnor

Location: Phillip Island - Secret Spot (Tinny)
Date: 14.06.08
Crew: Ross, Bjorn(Sweden), Tyson(Canada), Scott(California)
Time: 2.00-5.00pm
Weather: Windy, choppy,cold
Target Fish: Whiting, anything else
Bait: Pippie
Berley: Aniseed berley pellets with tuna oil mixed in
Catch: 10x Whiting
Report: Cold, wet and windy. Great day on the water though.
Caught a 46cm whiting weighing in around 800grams...nice fight!

Rating: 7/10

Westernport Bay - Charter

Location: Boat - Westernport
Date: 25 - May - 08
Weather: Calm, cold.
Crew: Huggett; Chris P + various others
Target Fish: Gummy, Whiting
Bait: Pillies, Pippies
Berley: None
Catch: 1 Whiting, 3 Mackerel, 1 Banjo
Report: Generally disappointing. Guy caught a Gummy, small flatties also caught. $80 worth??? Hmmmm

Lagoon Pier

Location: Warmies
Date: 22 - May - 08
Weather: Clear night, cold
Crew: Huggett; Toon
Target Fish: Salmon, Whiting
Bait: Whitebait, Pippies.
Berley: None
Catch: None
Report: Definately potential at this spot. Will hit it again soon. Was an amusing evening.

Williamstown Warmies

Location: WarmiesDate: 10 - May - 08
Weather: Slight breeze, sunny
Crew: Huggett; Ross; Toon
Target Fish: Pinkies, GummyBait: Pillies,
Berley: None
Catch: None
Report: Pretty quiet day all round.

Williamstown Warmies

Location: Warmies
Date: 23 - Mar - 08
Weather: Slight breeze, sunny - Full moon
Crew: Huggett; Arnold C; Arnold's dad
Target Fish: Pinkies, Gummy
Bait: Pillies, whitebait, squid, tube worms, eel
Berley: None

Catch: 3 Pinkies, Lots of small bream, 1 toad.

Report: Got a pinkie on white bait on the first cast, the others on pillies. Session showed a lot of promise early on, died down pretty quickly though. Fresh bait is definately the key, bought a 2kg WA block. No gummy to speak of.

Just up-stream from 'Under a bridge'

Location: Creek, just near water outlet pipe
Date: 02 - Mar - 2008
Weather: Calm
Crew: Huggett
Target Fish: Eel
Bait: Chicken, powerpait
Berley: None
Catch: 3x Eels; 2 x 85cm 1 x 60 cm
Report: For gummy shark bait. 3rd attempt at this location, tried the original spot for 1hr, not even a bite. Walked upstream saw 2 monster carp and dropped line and was on within 1 minute. Lost another 4 eels, gear was too light. They are disgusting
Rating: 6.5/10

Williamstown Warmies

Location: Warmies
Date: 01 March 2008
Weather: Slight breeze, sunny
Crew: Huggett, Arnold C
Target Fish: Pinkies
Bait: Squid, Pillies, Mackerel
Berley: None
Catch: 2 x Pinkes - 1 minumum, 1 undersize
Report: Plenty of fish around, crew 25m away caught numerous pinkies and a 1m gummy.
Rating: 6.5/10

90 Mile Surf Fishing

Location: Woodside - 90Mile Beach
Date: 15-17 Feb 2008
Crew: Ross, Toon, Huggett
Target Fish: Salmon, Gummy
Bait: Mixed bag - Cured eel, whiting, pipies, pillies etc
Berley: Chook pellets with tuna oil, scraps from fish shops at camberwell market all mashed up.
Catch: 1xTailor, 1x Flattie, 1x Salmon
Report: Outstanding weather, not much action with the fish. Overall a very nice weekend
Rating: 7/10

Phillip Island 'Surf' Fishing

Location: North Side of Cape Woolami
Date: Sometime in '07
Weather: Calm
Crew: Ross, Toon
Target Fish: Salmon, Gummy
Bait: Pillies
Berley: Large red berley pellets, cut pillies, tuna oil

Catch: 1x Port Jackson Shark

Report: Pretty Quiet all day, however great location. Nice area and no people. Bit of a hike, but was worth it. Although we didnt catch much, was still a good day.

Rating: 6.5/10

Williamstown

Location: Williamstown Pier
Date & Time: Jan '08, 7pm-11:30pm
Weather: A little cold and windy
Crew: Ross, Huggett, Toon
Target Fish: Gummy, Salmon, Pinkie, Flathead, anything really
Bait: Pillie, Squid
Berley: Chook Pellets

Catch: 1x Banjo Shark/Fiddler Ray

Report: Quiet most of the night, only 1 ray. As usual, Melbourne piers are not really worth much effort.

Rating: 2.5/10

Mornington - Take 2

Location: Port Phillip Bay - Mornington
Crew: Ross, Huggett, Toon
Weather: Fine
Time & Date: Late '07???
Target Fish: Large Snapper
Bait: Squid, Pillies
Berley: Chook Pellets with tuna oil

Catch: Numerous Flattie, 1x Pinkie, 1x Garfish

Report: Was good to get out in PPB, and when we anchored and started berleying we immediately had flatties. Took a long time before we landed the one and only snapper. A little disappointing in the end, but a day on the water is better than any day at work. Moroccan Style snapper was tasty.

Rating: 6/10

Mornington - Take 1

Location: Port Phillip Bay - Mornington
Date: Jan '08
Crew: Ross, Huggett, Toon
Weather: Nasty, rough.
Target Fish: Snapper
Bait: Squid, Pillies
Catch: zip

Report: Storms came in, and weather turned nasty. Boats got smashed up and 2 capsized. What a site. Although no fish, was very enjoyable!

Rating: 9/10

Phillip Island - Sometime Jan '08

Location: Phillip Island - Secret Spot (Tinnie)
Crew: Ross, Toon, Luke
Time: 10:00am - 3:00pm
Weather: Fine
Target Fish: Usual
Bait: Squid Jigs, Pipi, Flathead
Catch: 1x Aussie Salmon, 1x Large Flattie, 8+x Other Flattie, 2x Pinkie, 2x Whiting, 1xSquid


Report: Went out to chase Mako's - boat broke down, dang! Next best option is to take the tinnie out, so we did, and managed a nice haul of fish. Caught the squid using a squid jig with some flathead baited on the jig points. This spot never disappoints.


Rating: 7.5/10

Carp Fishing

Fishing Type: Land Based - "Lake"
Location: Blackburn Lakes - Late January 2008
Crew: Dave Huggett, Toon
Weather: Calm
Time: 2pm-11pm
Target Fish: Carp
Bait: PowerBait and Bread
Berley: Nil
Rigs: 4/0 Chemically Sharpened Hook

Catch: 8 x Carp - Largest being 75cm and 11lbs

Report: An interesting day to say the least. In search of carp and we managed to snag 8. Good fighting fish, thats about it. Revolting little buggers. Not again - they wreak!

Rating: 3/10

Underneath a Bridge 12.02.08

Fishing Type: Land Based - Creek
Location: Footscray, Under a bridge
Crew: Ross, Dave Huggett, Toon
Weather: 15deg, 10-15 knots
Time: 10pm-12.30am
Target Fish: Eel
Bait: Raw Chicken
Berley: Nil
Rigs: Running sinker, 4ft trace, 2/0 longshank hook

Catch:
1 x Eeel
9 x Bream 10cm-20cm

Report:
In search for gummy shark bait. Constant bites, casting around the bridge pilons, not many eels sighted small bream

Cure:
Fillet the eel, chop into bait sized chunks, heavily rub in salt, marinade in tuna oil, refridgerate overnight then freeze.

Rating: 5/10

Lorne Pier - 09.02.08

Fishing Type: Pier
Crew: David Hug
Weather: Cold and windy
Time: 5pm-11pm
Target Fish: Whiting, Squid, Trevally.
Bait: Pippie, Pilchid
Rigs: Running sinker, squid jig

Catch:
1 x trevally (undersize)

Report:
Windy as a bastard, not much action, generally unpleasant.

Rating: 3/10

Westernport Tinny 02.01.08

Fishing Type: Boat (tinny)
Crew: Ross, Madeleine + 2
Weather: 28deg, 10-15 knots
Time: 1pm-5pm
Target Fish: Whiting, Salmon, Snapper, Flathead, Leather Jacket, Squid,
Bait: Pippie, Squid, Bluebait, Whiting
Berley: Aniseed Pellets, Tuna Oil
Rigs: Surf rigs, Squid jig

Catch:
8 x whiting (6x30-35cm, 2x45cm)
1 x leather jacket (25cm)
1 x squid


Cook:
Squid - Strips, scored and rubbed in brown suger into grooves. Pan fried, little oil, once cooked added sauce into pan and heated - served
Sauce: Soy sauce, sliced spring onion, garlic, chilli thinly cut,
Fish - Light beer batter

Report:
Good day for whiting (from pippie), nice sized squid,
Garfish sited and other schools along berley trail
Previous day - snapper caught using white bait!


Rating: 7/10