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