I arrived as the sun was setting and the water was beautifully calm. There was a small current but other than that it was the calmest I've ever seen. The water was slightly dark but clear enough to see that it was teeming with bait fish. Even better, there was no seaweed floating around which Werribee boat ramp is notorious for. It can ruin an otherwise perfect night.
I brought along a cheap, generic 6"6' rod, loaded with 10lb mono, paternoster rig and small circle hooks.
1) Use circle hooks as they tend to gut/gill hook less.
2) Fish actively - And by that I mean holding your rod and responding to strikes as they come rather than leaving and watching your rod. This way you can set the hook instantly.
3) Being prepared to take out the hook as quickly as possible. Have all your equipment ready and accessible.
4) Debarbing your hooks - I can't stress this enough. I found absolutely no difference in hook up rates and losses when I debarbed my hooks. It makes removing the hooks so much easier and there is less trauma on the mouth
5) Handling fish with wet hands or a wet cloth
6) Getting the fish back into the water as soon as possible - even if this means missing out on a photo.
I loaded up my hooks and caught about 4 bream in the first hour or so. Already, this was a massive difference to many of my other sessions. One of these were legal but I released it back into the water. Every fish after this one was undersized but an incredible amount of fun.
I ended up hauling in 25 fish and dropping 4 as I was bringing them in. At one point, I even brought in two fish at once. I couldn't believe it when I saw two bream hanging off my line. I have never in my life caught so many fish in one session. I've only read about people casting and retrieving fish one after another but never experienced it myself.
I didn't take any photos of the fish because I wanted to get them back in as quickly as possible - you'll just have to take my word.
I did however take their measurements - they ranged anywhere from 15cm up to 28cm. There were quite a few around the 20cm mark.
It's nice to see the river being so productive with many juvenile fish - an indication of a healthy, growing population and one that I hope will last for generations to come.
Whilst this post may encourage fishing in this area, I hope this report also highlights safe and speedy release of fish and ultimately, a healthy respect for fish of all sizes, even if we can't bring them home for dinner.
Tight lines!
On a side note, I did see these weird water rats swimming around that looked like a cross between a large rat and an otter. I've never seen them before so if anyone knows what they are, please comment below.
