Bemm River - On fire!

Well, after reading reports of the great weather that people have been experiencing in Gippsland, with some missing out on the fish it was interesting that our experience was totally the opposite. We had gale force winds all week, however the fishing (Albeit from an unlikely source) was fantastic! Saying that, Bemm River this year was “on fire” for a totally different reason which will be explained later....

We arrived Sunday just after lunch to see Sydenham Inlet covered with whitecaps, a common occurrence for the week. We settled in, prepared some gear and relaxed a bit. Monday morning was the obligatory trip to Orbost to visit the craft shops for the girls, although we snuck to the Compleat Angler and snared some plastics, Dad getting some 140mm Squidgy Wrigglers in the “Slimey” colour. When we got back to Bemm it was still rough but we couldn’t go a day without fishing so took the boat over to the entrance, where the wind wasn’t as bad. I threw out a Devilfish vibe in the “Phantom” colour, which had worked well in the past and was on before it hit the bottom. When I pulled in a 35cm tailor, the vibe quickly came off and I grabbed some plastics – I’ve seen how quickly tailor can go through a tacklebox full of lures! Dad was throwing around his wrigglers and I was throwing Nuc Chook 4” jerk shads and I don’t think it really mattered – Every single cast was a hook-up on a salmon. If one got off another one was on straight away and the sounder was blacked out. We kept a couple of them for salmon patties (The only fish we kept for the week) and left them biting at dusk. All salmon for the week were quite large, most between 3-6lb.

Dad with one of many salmon, most actually bigger than this!

Tuesday morning we headed out early for the same spot, for the same results. At the end of the first drift Dad was up 10-5 and we stopped counting. I missed a few due to my 4lb leader trying to lift them into the boat (Had an environet that I use in my kayak with a short handle that was annoying in the wind). However, towards the end of the second drift (I had reduced the gap significantly by then) Dad hooked a nice estuary perch on a 4” berkley gulp minnow in “chartreuse”. We motored back around an anchored fishing towards where he hooked it, which was a bit of an inlet with a weed patch. We still hooked up every cast, however now every so often we managed a perch, and the rest were salmon. We experimented with all types of lures, and anything we threw still hooked salmon. The results of the morning session which lasted about 2 and a half hours were 4 EPs and 1.6 billion salmon.

Dad with a nice EP

That evening we did the same again for similar results, this time managing 3 perch in amongst innumerable salmon. Dad used a squidgy “stealth prawn” with success and I got them on an 80mm squidgy wriggler in the “evil minnow” colour – Any fish at Bemm loves a lure with purple in it! My best EP for the day was 42cm.

Me with one of the perch prior to release

Wednesday morning we decided to go hard at the perch. Just as we approached the entrance to the channel the warning sound beeped for the engine. I quickly turned it off and we anchored. Dad took the cover off and it was smoking. We decided that it was similar to the problem last time that it wasn’t pumping water through, so removed the thermostat so it flowed unhindered (As the mechanic instructed last time). We waited for it to cool down and started it up again. We were met with a dead battery (Which we thought was weird), so we changed to the spare (Which was charged for once) and tried again. The motor started with a bit of smoke and a small spark. This started a small fire that quickly became a large fire, something you don’t want to see with an almost full 60L petrol tank. Dad grabbed the fire extinguisher from up the front (I didn’t even know we had one...) and put it out. We waited about 15 minutes for someone to pass the other way and they kindly towed us back in (Still against the strong winds). We gave them the plastics and jigheads that we had been using and the tip on where to catch EPs with our eternal gratitude.

The motor, post fire extinguisher

Wednesday afternoon was almost a write off, but we did check out all the beaches, deciding that beach #1 (Ocean Beach?) had the best gutter. We went back to the house, packed the gear and hit the beach. The wind had increased and it was a struggle to walk the 50m along the beach to get to the gutter. As we cast out, with sand stinging our faces as it flew past on the breeze we decided for a change of tack, so packed up and headed to Py-yoot Bay, known for its lack of wind and fish. We stayed about an hour or so for no bites, then went home.

Thursday morning we took the kayaks out, finally! I started throwing the vibes around for no interest and Dad tried some prawns, also for nothing. We decided a trip to the entrance was in order. With the wind at our backs, about 25 minutes is all it took. First cast I hooked a salmon of 55cm, and second cast a 38cm EP – My first from a kayak! It was caught on an 80mm squidgy wriggler in the “lava” colour. I then drifted to where we got the perch a couple of days earlier and a boat was in our spot. I had a chat to him and he thanked me for letting them know where to fish as our previous success had been told to him – Last time I tell Mark at the general store anything! After about 6-8 salmon each we decided to get back to the house. To cut a long story short, through strong winds, rain and squalls it took an hour and a half to get back, some of the time spent being driven backwards!

Thursday evening we spent about half an hour on the pier soaking prawns hoping for one bream for the trip, for no bites. We talked to about 6 boaties coming in and none had caught a bream – One guy said he had been out with a mate every day for 5 days and managed a total of 3. This was the first trip we have ever had to Bemm without a bream, so all I can say is thank God for the salmon!

I had to have a suit fitting for a wedding this afternoon so we left this morning, as a high pressure system settled over Victoria, giving us a picturesque morning with full sunlight and no wind (Which is apparently going to continue for quite a few days!). It was very hard to leave after a week of wind and rain!

Squidding time

With the wife away for 3 weeks I have a bit of time to myself, so hit Mornington last friday afternoon for some squid action. It was a bit slow, however I managed 3 before the wind got up, then headed to Coronet Bay to stay. Saturday was a quiet one, but Sunday morning I went back to Mornington.
First 3 casts produced 3 squid, much to the disgust of the boaties nearby, who were talking amongst themselves with some colourful language that they had been there a while and not managed even one yet. On my fourth cast they motored over and asked me about my jig. As I was answering that I had a yamashita 2.0 in a natural colour on I hooked up again. They then motored over right to where I was casting (Dodgy!!!) and started casting. I had my fifth cast where their boat was originally and had my 5th squid from 5 casts. Another couple of boats came over so I moved around a bit and managed another couple of squid. A hire boat then came over as I had my 8th squid on and every time for the next 20 minutes when I moved they followed, and I believe that the sound of their motor did not help with the squid! I managed one more and headed for home with 9 in the bag.
Dad arrived that afternoon and we hooked up the boat and launched, confident that although the fishing has been quiet we had nice fresh squid. We sounded around for 10-15 minutes and finally found what looked like snapper. We had multiple bites but didn't hook up until Dad brought the biggest trevally that I have ever seen to the boat. The hooks pulled when it was just under the boat. Many more bites for not much, although I landed a nice salmon which was filleted for bait.
Another move to Snapper Rock and we got into a few undersize pinkies and some small gummies. A couple of small weird eels and a few small unidentified sharks rounded off the trip. Not much luck, but a great day on the water with not a breath of wind and a clear boat ramp!