Portland and Nelson report

[Persistence]

Been reading this site for many years so I thought I'd give a little back with a report and info.
Spent a week in Portland with the family. Bit of exploring and fishing. Here's our report for anyone thinking of heading there soon.

Spent the first day motoring up the Glenelg in Nelson as far as the Princess Margret Cave. Anchored up and soaked some squid baits for Mulloway while we had lunch. Came up donuts but midday probably wasn't the ideal time. Beautiful, interesting river that winds in and out of SA and Vic.
Headed back towards Nelson where we started to throw 2inch grubs. Found a school of EPs hard up against some drowned timber and it was almost a fish a cast.

Next day headed out before dawn to get my son his first Tuna. Destination was Julia reef.
Was pretty messy out there and we were the only boat out. Found a school pushed up against the edge of the reef in only 18m of water. Two rods went off but we lost one early. He picked up the second and began the fight. I talked him through not only the fight but how and why I was driving the boat as I know one day he'll be out there with his mates doing the same thing without me. He enjoyed the fight and did well in the rough weather. Finally got the fish in the boat and he was very happy. Few quick pics and a lesson on how to dispatch, bleed ect and we turned around for another run. Hooked up a few more times and lessons learnt again on how to fight the fish. By mid morning the wind was howling and the swell picked up. So with one in the boat we headed back to the harbour and again a lesson on how to handle the boat in those conditions.
Best lure was the Pakula micro uzi run short in Crystal.
Next day saw us doing some exploring and hiking.

Third day we went out again but this time we found a few schools of Kingfish well over a meter. In contrast to the last time, the water was glassed out and we could see them milling about on the surface. We threw everything at them from poppers, swimbaits, jigs, metals, bibbed lure and sluggos. They came right up and swam under the boat. Was very frustrating. In the end my son picked up the rod he had rigged for EPs and chucked the 2inch grub at the. To our surprise one followed all the way back to the boat and inhaled the plastic. Amazing to watch in the crystal clear calm water but the fight didn't last long and the 4lb leader gave way early.
We found a few other schools and one that had bluefin mixed in. None of them wanted to take a lure and by then other boat had spotted our manic casting and it was starting to get crowded. We gave up when one guy decided to troll straight over the top of them and they were gone.

The rest of the days were spent catching salmon up to 65cm and lots of pinkies.
In the evenings we would walk down to the new jetty and catch calamari or take a stroll out onto the Lee Breakwater while watching the sunset. They were catching rat kings off the Lee.

So if your thinking of a good relaxing family holiday we would highly recommend Portland. The guys at Complete angler down there were so good to us and spent the time not only to point out where to head but how to workout the weather conditions.
The Bowls club had the best food and at great prices too. Just be a little patient.

I don't know how to post phots here but you can see some on my Instagram @fish_tales66

Now to try for the local tuna. Good luck to you all and shoot me any questions I can help you with down that way.