Snapper and bye catch in Port Phillip Bay

[twoutes]

With the temperature warming up above 17 degrees in Port Phillip Bay, the fishermen here are having a ball catching snapper up to 10kg.
The bag limit for snapper here is 10 fish per angler, and must be over 28cm....with no more than 3 over the 40cm mark.










You may have heard on the news that we are getting lots of rain here at the moment, and with all the fresh water getting into the bay has made the water color change to a slight shade of brown.
The snapper are still comming in to breed in very large quatities.







My smaller boat is set up and well suited for fishing in the bay, and with me going on my own or with my 17 year old son, find it more ecomocal than the larger 6 metre eden craft



As much as we all like catching big fish, l like to take a few smaller fish home for dinner, as l find them much better tasting than the larger ones.





On the last few trips we have been venturing out into 22 metres deep water, and finding snapper up to 6kg.







On occasion, we pick up these gummy sharks, as bye catch, but we preffer eating them than snapper.







Another of my favorite bye catches are flat head. They are very sweet compared to all the other fish we catch here.





I never buy fish from the market, as you never know how fresh it is.
Nothing is better then being able to go out with the boat and comming home with a nice feed, so for that reason l only keep what l can eat that night, and a fish or two for my mum and dad.
Looks like we will be eating fish for awhile

I'm looking forward to go out chasing marlin again in the new year....stay tuned.

[robby017]

as usual....... impressed and well done..........

[neptune]

niiiice... we can only dream of such catches... well done nice father and son fishing trip...

[SteveGB]

wow......dreamland ! Prosit!

[skip]

Great stuff Joe, fantastic opportunities you have out there. Take care with all that rain about and Happy New Year

[baghira]

amazing
I have a cousin which goes fishing in the same bay maybe you know him.
His name is john and his wife Julie
They live in Melbourne

[malvizzu]

Thanks for sharing all these pictures. We (or maybe should I say "I") only dream of catching anything like those. Well done buddy. Keep posting these awesome pictures. Happy New Year

[MartinB]

Awesome pics mate! Hopefully they will stick around for a bit longer as im gonna be over there from the 25th of jan for a couple of months..& i got a couple of fishing trips planned with my relatives..i cant wait!!

[twoutes]

Thanks for the replys guys, and a Happy New year to you all.

Baghira. I may know your cousin John, but l must say the fishing community here is huge.
MartinB. I'm glad to hear you're comming down under for a holiday. I'm sure you'll have a great time, and the weather should be good around that time. Snapper should still be around till late Jan' with plenty of large squid and whitting for the taking. If you venture out from the bay, you will have a good chance of catching Mako Sharks also...plenty of fish to target. It only gets better the further north you travel.
Looking forward to hearing how you do.

[MartinB]

Thanks for the tips mate! im def. gonna be going out for a few trips with my family and also with a mate of my cousin who apparently has a good boat and fishes out beyond the bay ...I can't wait!!
Also a bunch of us,family & friends,are going for a few days in the bush pig hunting.. which im also really looking forward to!! ive always thought that the best way to really see any country is to acutally get out into the countryside..plenty of that in oz!

Anyhow ill def. be posting any fishing pics i have on the forum,where and when i get a chance as im gonna be travelling a fair bit,not just in australia,& so im gonna try (fingers crossed) & squeeze a fishing session in everywhere i go..if possible.

[shanook]

wow   already waiting for the pics Martin.....I hope when u get back u wont pack up the rods and reels LOL

[Jepposk]

nicely done! Great pictures