Melbourne Metro Region, VIC

[dooviewhacker]

I'm a relative newbie - took up spearing last summer - just looking for some tips and advice.



I've only been going fairly local to where I am - brighton, black rock, half-moon bay around the cerberus, but I'm feeling a bit more adventurous. The areas where I go I mostly see leatherjackets, flathead (although not lately) and a bit of salmon and snapper (and a goatfish or two). I've decided to upgrade my sling to a gun after a few frustrating experiences with pike (maybe barracuda) and salmon.



I'm still trying to figure out what factors influence a good session - mostly the murkiness of the water is a problem - ive learned not to go out after it rains, when the tide is coming in, but are there any other things to look out for?



Also - i've been going around 11-4pm - although I have been at brighton a little later, around 5-8pm - I guess the best times to go are dawn and dusk. I haven't been seeing a whole lot - is it the spots I'm picking or the times i'm going? (Or both).



Cheers.

[Jazman]

Hi fellas

Um, I think the message is metro regions are not as productive as spots further away from Melbourne - this probably has to do with water quality and fishing pressure, HOWEVER you can still get a feed if you're prepared to work for it.......

-Dawn is a great time to spear (but it's hard to get up) - fish like flathead and flounder (and many others) frequent shallow water at night, and if you get up early enough you can catch them before they move out deeper

-Definately get a speargun, you won't regret it

-Forget about spearing when the water is murky

-I haven't speared black rock or half moon bay, but I used to go quite a lot around Parkdale (close inshore reefs) and we used to get mullet, flathead, flounder, and see a lot of whiting that were way too fast. However when I say we used to get these fish, we'd get maybe 2 or 3 fish between 2 spearos in a few hours, certainly not hot action, compared to, say, Wonthaggi or Lorne area (5+ fish each usually, mostly jackets, trumpeter and sweep). Wonthaggi and Lorne seem to have more fish, and a greater variety of species.



So in answer to your question "I haven't been seeing a whole lot - is it the spots I'm picking or the times i'm going?"

The spots you're picking do have fish, not heaps though, and I'd try to go very early or very late in the day. I'd also try and plan a trip to one of the other spots I've mentioned (Wonthaggi and Lorne are best speared at low tide).

Good luck

Jaz

<img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[dooviewhacker]

Thanks for that. I went to brighton yesterday and shot a couple of what I think were pike (wasn't sure, don't know if we get barracuda down here - they just hover about 10cm off the bottom, and you can just creep up and shoot em sitting) they both wriggled off my spear (borrowed a gun) though - I need a 3-pronger - the 5 doesn't penetrate enough. I shot the first one in the head too - thought i'd stoned him cos he didn't move for a couple of seconds - then went nuts and got away.



I've been trying to convince my slack mates to come down earlier, but I guess i'll just have to go by myself.



I haven't caught any salmon though - they are far too quick, especially for a sling.



Might try Wanthaggi next weekend - thanks for the tips <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[RX3-BOi]

hey when i'm up that way inverloch/phllip island etc.. i go around cleeland bight.. around near the mouth theres a old pier which is surrounded by lots of weeds.. see lots of whiting leather jacket parrot fish sweep calamari etc.. top spot its a bit of a hike if you dont have a jetski or boat though about a 15-20min walk on the beach

[a1spearo]

If you are looking for a bit more depth and fish from the bay pop down to Mt Eliza and Mornington. The water is a good depth and there is usally good size salmon schools moving through the area not too mention the snapper. I am in the middle of starting a club called Shark bites spearfishing club and if you are interested in any information I would love to help out.



Contact Paul on 0438 390 344 good spearing

[Paulv]

I am a 16 year old looking for a club to go out with especially on the weekends. i have a buddy who i go spearing with. i use an aluminium hawain sling while he uses fibre glass. I picked mine up from rebel sport at southland for $30. i have been camping down at ptleo foreshore and spearing the rocks and picking off some really nice leather jackets and other various fish. A short walk to safety beach landed me some bigger fish though. Anyway...I am situated in Parkdale and would love to get joined in a club, so would my buddy. If you can halp me please contact me at tvernon@bigpond.net.au.

[peejaypee]

Hey Guys, my first post WOOT! well im relatively new to spearfishing (and currently own a fibreglass sling) but have had some great experiences, i live in the highett/cheltenham area and would love some pointers on where to go, i ususally go to brighton ( in the space between the baths and the breakwall ). i have heard some good things about parkdale, but im not exactly sure where to go, are there any places u could tell me where i should go out i.e. the lifesaving club. it would be much appreiciated if somebody could help...

thanks,

pj.

P.S. here is a pic of a decent sized luderick i speared on my holidays to N.S.W just before it was cooked.



<img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/as.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':au:' /> <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/xyxthumbs.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' />

[peejaypee]

hey guys, just me again, went for a spear this afternoon, found a great new spot for begginers to intermediate spearfishermen (or women). it is called green point i think and is a very shallow sheltered, about 3mins drive left left (east) from brighton baths. my trip wasn't so productive as i only caught 3 garfish, 2 smaller ones and 1 bigger one, but i saw plently! there was a school of about 25 bream 30-40cm that were to quick for me and also some mullet, small whiting and loooots of garfish! my first 2 gars were accidental as i was going for larger ones and they moved and behind them were smaller ones, but my next shot was a direct hit hitting the neck exactly where i aimed.well if anyone need any more details on the place just ask, thanks guys

PJ

[glen]

thanks for the tip poodge!



here is a map of the area

[Paulv]

hEY pOODGE, Welcome.



in reply to spots around Parkdale i went out myself about a week ago. Before i get you excited i speared no fish, but let me describe it. In close about 10 -20 metres off shore there where a few small rock platforms. When i first went there there were small garfish but not muc else but Perfect if your japanese and love toad fish. Otherwise about 50 metres out there is low rock weed bed, home to alot of rays and mullet i would say. Now where we went was straight down from the car park at the end of rennison street. Beware the water gets pretty murky around the drains.



Ok, now im an adventerous young lad, and while working my usual shift at Hungry Jacks Mentone (come mention Squidfish and il fix u up with somehing nice) i came across an oldish man. To me he looked like one of the old guys who sit on mordialloc pier all day. So i asked him "Sir, do you happen top know where abouts the reef is at mordialloc?". I asked this cos i rememebr my father telling me about an artifical reef the council put in to attract bigger fish, made out of cars and tyres. If you look out at parkdale you will see the boats fishing the reef. Mind you the council dont know if it was successful because they never monitored it! anyway the old guy said to turn right out of mordialloc creek. So it is on the parkdale side.



Meanwhile....as good catholic boys do i quickly left school at lunchtime and rode down to mordialloc pier and looked off the parkdale side. I could just make out dark patches of a possible reef. So next weekend probly ill be right on it. Mind you i was nearly late for my next class.



But tell me, would you eat the fish out of port phillip bay? or even Parkdale?



Paul.

[glen]

Here is some info on artificial reefs in Victoria (and Port Phillip Bay). I will try to get a more accurate location of the reef for you if I can get hold of the Winstanley article.

Victoria



The first documented artificial reef in Australian waters was constructed in October 1965 by the Victorian Department of Fisheries and Wildlife in Port Phillip Bay, near Melbourne. This reef, which was laid in about 20 m of water 8 km off Carrum on the bay's eastern shore, initially comprised around 330 waste concrete pipes, each up to m in length and 1. 8 m in diameter, weighing in total about 400 metric tons (t). These pipes were barged to the site and sunk on a fine silt bottom over an area of about4 ha (Anonymous, 1965; Sanders, 1974). Although this reef initially provided good fishing for Australian snapper, Chrysophrys auratus, a highly sought recreational species in this area, the concrete pipes gradually sank into the soft substrate and had been scattered over too wide an area to provide a very effective long-term fishing reef. A ferrocement cabin cruiser and a 52 m timber hulk containing about 40 t of concrete ballast were added to this artificial reef in 1967 and 1971, respectively (Sanders, 1974; Beinssen, 1976).



Three multicomponent reefs, each consisting of 100 m[.] of quarry rock, three m[.] steel-reinforced open concrete cubes, four 3m[.] open steel frames, and about 1,000 motor vehicle tires tied in bundles of 8 tires each, were placed on sandy substrates in about 10 m of water in Port Phillip Bay in 1973. These were laid off Mordialloc (near Carrum), Dromana (to the south) and Werribee (to the west), in conjunction with the laying of an ethane pipeline across the bay by EssoBHP Australia [1] (Winstanley, 1972; Sanders, 1974). Diving observations on these reefs showed all of the components except the tires to have been densely settled by mussels, Mytilus edulis, within 6 months of their being laid. After 2 years most of the mussels had died off, except those on the steel frames, and the sessile fauna and flora of the remaining reef components were dominated by red algae, sponges, ascidians, and hydroids (Beinssen, 1976).



Like the Carrum reef, these latter reefs supported good populations of Australian snapper (Sparidae), and also ling (Ophidiidae), boarfish (Pentacerotidae), red mullet (Mullidae), beardie and bearded rock cod (Moridae), leatherjacket (Monacanthidae), long-finned sea pike (Dinolestidae) and garfish Hemirhamphidae), as well as a number of smaller nonangling species. Most of the fish observed on these multicomponent reefs were associated with the tires, which were concluded to " offer by far the most shelter" (Beinssen, 1976).



Locations of these and other Victorian artificial reefs are given by Winstanley (1979), who also commented that, although the concrete pipes, quarry rock, and tires appeared to support the greatest variety and number of fishes sought by anglers, "Development of artificial reefs in Victorian waters has occurred on an ad hoc basis rather than as a planned program, consequently although some observations of established reefs have been made by the Fisheries and Wildlife Division there have not been sufficient resources for systematic monitoring of reef colonisation or for comparison of the effectiveness of different types of materials."

[url="http://www.the-boat-zone.com/Brion-Reiff-Boatbuilder/Broadwater-Cabin-Cruiser.htm"]http://www.the-boat-zone.com/Brion-Reiff-B...bin-Cruiser.htm[/url]

[glen]

Here is an extract from the MAFRI Report No 31 (pages 20-21)



Artificial Reefs - Applications in Victoria from a literature review

by Partick C Coutin

March 2001



Victoria



Early ship wrecks and vessels sunk deliberately for disposal, wave breaks or as diving sites reefs could be considered as artificial reefs. Some examples are: the submarine east of Swan Island, the Cerebus located off Black Rock, the "Restless" wrecked near Patterson River, a bucket dredge (74m) sunk in 20m off Phillip Island (Winstanley 1979) and a fishing boat sunk in 22m, 0.5 km north of Lawrence Rocks near Portland in 1990 (Kerr 1992).



Similarly "Pope's Eye", a fortification built from bluestone blocks at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay in the 1880's, is an early example of a marine construction in 3m of water that has been colonised by some of the most spectacular marine life in Victoria. It is now a popular diving site for viewing reef fish and many tourists visit this marine reserve to see Australian fur seals, dolphins and sea birds (Anon 1989).



These artificial structures often have a high biodiversity providing a substrate for benthic plants and animals and a refuge for fish. For instance the Gellibrand Light, a wood and steel structure with basalt boulders supporting the piles that is located off Williamstown, has sixty species of sub-tidal algae (Lewis 1983) compared to 169 species of inter-tidal algae found in Port Phillip Bay (King et al. 1971) and 368 species of marine algae in Southern Australia (Womersley (1984).



One of the first purpose-built artificial reefs in Australia was located in 18m off Carrum, Port Phillip Bay in 1965 (Anon 1965). The objectives of the reef were to enhance marine production, provide shelter and food sources for fish so that fish stocks and recreational fish catches would be increased. The position of the reef was agreed and marked by Victorian Ports and Harbours. It is located 4.3 miles on a bearing of 210° from Mordialloc Jetty. It consists of 331 concrete pipes (up to 2.4m long and 1.2m wide each) weighing 400 tonnes that were laid over a muddy silt substrate (Pollard 1989). The pipes were deployed so that they formed a wall 3m high with a hollow centre to provide a shelter for fish covering an area of 1012 m2. Since it was first constructed, a concrete boat was sunk and a wooden hull filled with concrete ballast were sunk at the site in 1967 and 1971, respectively (Sanders 1974). This was a pilot study but there has been very little research, monitoring or evaluation. Although many of the pipes may have become buried in the silt, boat anglers still use the area frequently to target a variety of species, particularly snapper (Pagrus auratus), but other species such as rock ling (Genypterus tigerinus), and beared rock cod {Physiculus barbatus) are also taken. Divers occasionally visit this site, but the low visibility on the silty substrate and the low relief of the reef do not make it an attractive diving location compared to the ship wrecks and natural reefs in other locations.



Multi-component reefs were also constructed in Port Phillip Bay during 1973 and their locations were recorded by Beinssen (1976). The reefs are located at Mordialloc, Dromana, Portarlington and Werribee and consist of 1000 tyres bound in modules of 8 tyres each, 100 m3 of rock, four 3 m3 steel frames and three concrete and steel cubes (1.5 m3). Each component was spaced about 60 m apart (Sanders 1974). The Mordialloc artificial reef is located 103m on a bearing of 144 ° from a marker buoy that was located 1.3 miles on a bearing of 185° from Mordialloc Jetty. The Dromana artificial reef was located 340m on a bearing of 162 ° from a marker buoy that was 2.6 miles on a bearing of 8 ° from Dromana Jetty. The Portarlington artificial reef is under a pile located 1.35 miles on a bearing of 262 ° from a white beacon on Point Richards. The Werribee artificial reef is 177 metres on a bearing of 186 ° from the marker buoy that was located 6 miles on a bearing of 305 ° from the Prince George Light. Diving observations on these reefs showed that within 6 months all of the components except for the tyres were densely settled by mussels (Mytilus edulis planulatus) and eleven armed starfish (Coscinasterias gemmifera) (Beinssen 1976). Two years later the mussels had been replaced with red algae, sponges, ascidians and hydroids. A fish community sheltered amongst the tyre modules consisting of: snapper, ling, boarfish, red mullet, bearded rock cod, leatherjacket, long-finned seapike, and southern sea garfish (Beinssen 1976).



Most recently, two tyre reefs were constructed by the Keysborough Angling Club and deployed off Mt. Martha and Mordialloc in 15-20m depth during 1992/93. Each reef consisted of 150 tetrahedron shaped units with a base of 9 tyres (3 x 3) bound together with industrial straps that were fastened with stainless steel crimps (T. Minear pers. comm.). The purpose of these artificial reefs was to create suitable habitat for juvenile fish such as snapper, but there has been no research to monitor the habitat and the fish community or to assess the stability of the reef structure since deployment.

[peejaypee]

thats good to know glen, i didnt know we got many ling in the bay. In one of your previous post when u said parkdale is a good spearfishing spot, where exactly do you mean?

pj (poodge)

[glen]

i think it was Jazman who was keen on parkdale. i have never dived there.



hopefully someone else can help out on this one. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/xyxthumbs.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':au:' />



i believe ling tend to hide under rocks etc so you might not see them even though they are around...i have never seen one so far.



<img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' />

[Jazman]

I'm baaaaaaaack!



Parkdale has a lot of small reefs in close to shore (within 100-200m) which hold good numbers of whiting around this time of year - good luck hitting them though! On a clear day you can easily make the reefs out by standing up on beach road and scanning the water with polaroids. Do be careful spearing around here as quite a few people fish in boats close to shore.



As for ling - you will rarely find them out in the open, they love deep caves and dark holes. I have only ever speared one, it was a beast at nearly a metre long, and easily the strongest fish I've ever speared. The head of the ling was all I could see, the rest was bunched up in a cave.



In unrelated news.....I have been absent from the site for far too long, I bought a fishing kayak recently and it has become an all-consuming passion. I did catch a nice squid off black rock last weekend of almost a kilo, and have been getting a lot of pinkies on soft plastics.



Back soon

Jaz

[peejaypee]

thx jaz for replying to my post however, my question still hasnt been answered properly... so let me rephrase it, where to i get into the water at parkdale to swim to the close inshore reefs? oh and also, that ling u speared sounds mad, r u sure it wasnt a conger, i didnt know ling grew that big. and also i'd just heard lots about them i didnt wna go n spear one lol.

thanks again jaz, ur kayak sounds awesome!

PJ

[peejaypee]

just me again, heres the pic of 1 of the gars i speared at green point, its not much lol but its a start... and i was proud at my first shot ever with a sling.

oh and paul thx for the info, i must have overlooked ur post as glen's one was so big.

pj

[glen]

welcome back jazman! we will need a full kayak report! <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> any kingfish or salmon yet? <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/xyxthumbs.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[peejaypee]

hey guys, me again.

went back to green point today for a spear...

i was out there 4 about 3 hours and caught nothing. i didnt see much either... :blink:

but i did see a monster flattie that had to be at least 50cm long. the only problem was he saw me b4 i saw him. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> he was way to quick for me. it wasnt a dusky either i think it was a sand or tiger flathead as it was a light brown colour. there were a school of gars there too which i didnt get a shot off at and also my brother said he saw some flounder out there aswell.

anyways, well thats all for now

thanks guys

pj

[Jazman]

Poodge - you can park anywhere along beach road between Parkdale lifesaving club and Mordialloc Creek. Like I said, use polaroids to spot the reefs from beach road before you decide on a spot. Nice gar by the way. I am certain the fish I speared was a ling - it had that mottled colouring and barbels on the chin. The flathead you saw was almost certainly a Southern Blue Spotted flathead - tiger flathead are a deep sea flathead, and sand flathead are rare at that size. I've speared Blue Spots to over 60cm while floundering. You are a good chance to spear them in the shallows at dawn, where they come in at night to feed.



Glen, we did get onto some salmon off Black Rock a few weeks ago, but no kingies....yet! I have started a thread on kayak fishing in the Fishing forum.