Commodore’s Notes
We are now down to the last month of winter and the days are noticeably longer.
We’ve had a great whale season with heaps of Southern Right Whales and the odd Humpback frolicking our in front of the clubhouse.
There have also been a lot of dolphins here this winter with schools of them rounding up bait fish and taking turns to devour them. It’s a great spectacle watching the gannets join in the hunt, diving within centimetres of the Dolphins in a feeding frenzy.
I can’t think of a better place anywhere in the world to sit by the heater and watch all the action while enjoying Hutch’s famous cold beer.
We are still open every day except Tuesday with our happy hours on Wednesday and Friday nights, meat tray raffles on Saturday nights and lots of free nibbles and sausage sizzles.
The TV is always on FOX SPORTS with the volume down and ALL VISITORS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME.
Remember our club house and facilities are available to all members for Weddings, Parties, Anything.
We just had a party for Hutch and Annie’s grandson Liam, who turned 5 and we’ve also had 30th, 40th, 50th parties and upwards. We cover them all.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Our next fishing comp is our last Winter Cup comp for the year which is on Sunday September the 8th and is sponsored by Surfcoast Gardening and Mowing (Rob & Kerry).
All fish must be weighed in by 12.30pm and a free mixed grill for all Anglers and members will be served straight after the presentations.
AFL GRAND FINAL. As usual we will be having a big day for the Granny with two inside TV’s and an outside one under our marquee.
We will have plenty of nibbles, a sausage sizzle and happy hour prices during the breaks.
ALL WELCOME.
WINE TASTING. On Saturday the 2nd of November which is the Saturday of the unofficial Melbourne Cup long weekend we will be holding a wine tasting event along with some local produce and cheeses.
There will be more information closer to the date but lock it in your diary.
RECENT EVENTS
On Sunday the 4th of August we held our third Winter Cup Fishing Competition sponsored by Steve Hill of Hillec Electrical Services Camperdown.
Conditions were perfect with very little wind and the sun peeping through the light cloud.
Numbers were down slightly with a lot of our regulars up north for the winter but we still had a pretty good turn up with some good size snapper coming in.
The winner was Andrew Clarke with a snapper = 3330 points
Runner Up was myself with a snapper = 3080 points.
Third was Kev Van Deuren = 2710 points.
We have a group of young ladies and a few not so young called ‘The Lorne Snappers’ who meet at our club once a month on a Friday evening for a catch up and a glass or two of wine.
They all have a great time if the conversation and laughter coming from that end of the room is any indication.
COURTESY BUS
Our courtesy bus is running Friday and Saturday evenings during our quieter months.
Please be generous with your gold coin donations.
Phone 0498 031 234
BAIT
We have the biggest range and best value for money bait anywhere along the Great Ocean Road.
Check out our Pippies, Baby Cuttlefish, Salted and unsalted Pilchards, Squid, Prawns and Berley Logs.
FISHING REPORT
The fishing has been pretty good considering it’s winter and the water temperature is about 12 degrees. The ever reliable flathead are biting well with some anglers catching their bag limit.
There’s plenty of nice size snapper around the 40cm mark but they are moving around a lot. We found them in 45 metres one day and then the next day they were in 25 metres. Plenty of gummies about but the swell sharks or draughtboard sharks are a real nuisance at the moment and are beating the gummies to the bait. We caught and released 16 of them the other day.
I’ve just read that in Tasmania they are selling them as flake so obviously they can be eaten but I don’t think I’ll be tempted. Schools of Australian Salmon are still popping up occasionally.
The Yakkas, Mackerel and Couta are still about but in smaller numbers.
The Lorne Pier is still producing plenty of fish with Salmon, Mullet, Calamari, Grass Whiting (which are actually a wrasse) and King George Whiting being caught.
HAPPY 100th TO OUR OLDEST LIFE MEMBER
Bonnie Castles has just celebrated her 100th birthday. There is an article in this months Lorne Independent all about Bonnie. I never met her personally but everyone that knows her tells me she is a living legend, was extremely popular around Lorne and a wonderful member and contributor to our club. Tony Gallaher and his wife Jenny visited her on the big occasion to present her with an Aquatic Club; Cap, T Shirt, Stubby Holder, one of our new Life Member Badges and of course a birthday card. They had trouble finding her because she was at Pilates and I’m not joking. She told Tony that the card and badge meant everything to her.
Cheers,
Keith Miller, Commodore
Thanks to our sponsors:
KEANE CONTRACTING BRICK/BLOCK and SCAFFOLDING – Gary Keane
SURFCOAST GARDENING – Kerry Webster & Rob Dalziel
