Sixteen members enjoyed the comfort of the Camperdown Angling Lodge and some good angling at Lake Bullen Merri. The Chinook salmon were feasting on pilchards and whitebait. All other baits were off the menu. Bank fishing and trolling were pretty ordinary and the trout were on holidays as not one decent trout was taken.
The weather on arrival on the Friday was awful with flurries of snow, biting wind, hail and rain. The forecast was for improvement and the weather did indeed improve. Saturday was a lovely sunny calm day albeit still chilly and Sunday was clear with a little breeze.
Two classes of fish were biting with the new release being active. They are now about 30cm and growing quickly. All these fish were released. The bigger Chinook range generally from one to two kilograms and were the target. Forty one salmon were weighed for a cleaned weight of 52.715kgs.
The competition winner was Bernie Harris with a total of nine fish for 12.925kgs. Jason King was second with 6 fish for 8.285kgs. The best fish of the competition was 1.93kgs cleaned and was also taken by Bernie. Other good fish were 1.71, 1.63 and 1.62kgs. Wayne Harris had the best days catch with 5 salmon for 6.945kgs.
The evenings were very social with many stories and entertainment. Our resident fly fisher Flogger was in good form with lots of advice, which, I might add, was not supported by his lack of ability to catch a fish. However, at least he is endeavouring to fish in a sporting manner with techniques above the level of a caveman.
A fantastic trip enjoyed by all.