We have some great news; just after we hit the “send” button on last week’s report we received confirmation that the VNPA proposal for an increase to 30%, of our coastal and marine waters to be locked away, was rejected. However, this is not the end of it so we must remain watchful and continue to sign those petitions.

Regular customer Dale McClelland, keen fisherman and advocate for recreational fishers, has sent a letter outlining his vision for the future and his reasons for standing as Liberal Candidate for the Commonwealth seat of Isaacs.

We are all keen to ensure that our coastal and marine waters remain healthy and available so that future generations of recreational fishers can enjoy the great benefits we have all gained from fishing, we wish Dale well in his endeavours.

Dale's Letter can be viewed by clicking here.

One of our regulars, Theo Hatzis, fished out of Hastings last weekend with good mate Salih. Deciding Squid were the go the boys ventured to Stony Point where they kept a handful of nice Squid taken on squid spikes baited with Yakkas. However the Squid of the day, at 1.8kg, fell to a Pink Harimitsu Jig, size 3.5.

A quick land based wrap-up from our regular reporter, Erin Mackey, who fished with her partner Leigh and mate Brad off Mornington Pier last Saturday, where they caught a few squid before driving down to Martha Cove and landing several Australian Salmon taken just near the rock wall.

On Sunday they gave Mornington Pier another shot, unfortunately the main catch up and down the pier was Starfish, so they tried fishing from a boat, with success along the closer-in reef and weed-banks. They finished with 10 Squid with a tube length around 25cm.

The Northern Pacific Seastar is listed as a “pest” and Fisheries Victoria have some information in the current recreational fishing guide to help us identify which Starfish are the pest and which are our native starfish.

After buying a new rod from Gone Fishin’, Martin Wrangle and mates headed out west to chase some Southern Bluefin Tuna and hopefully ‘christen’ his new gear. Well he certainly achieved his goal with the crew landing half a dozen Southern Bluefin Tuna weighing between 15kg to 20kg whilst fishing in 60m of water off Cape Nelson.

There are still plenty of Southern Bluefin Tuna in close along the coast from Port Fairy to Port MacDonnell

Fishing in the East Gippsland Rivers for Bream is providing some great captures of very nice Bream. Following on from the Bream Classic (formerly the Twins River Bream Competition) two weeks ago, where some very credible bags were weighed by local entrants, the action has continued in the Tambo and Nicholson Rivers with reports of some nice Bream filtering through.

An update on the works at Patterson River Boat Ramp with Parks Victoria advising there will be some disruption over the coming weeks including a full day long facility closure to seal the entrance road (currently scheduled for tomorrow - 30th of July) – keep an eye on the Parks Victoria website for further notifications.

*Finally after a long delay our Gone Fishin’ Tide Charts for 2010/2011 have arrived.

Cheers,

Tom, Zola, Don, Shaun, Trevor, Jamie, Brad, Danny & Paul

The Gone Fishin' Team