Commodores Notes

COMMODORES NOTES JANUARY 2025

 

CLUB NEWS

Well here we are half way through the silly season, my first notes for the year and my 8th year as Commodore. 
We have broken every record in the book so far this summer and I reckon it’s mainly because of the sensational weather we’ve been having. The other reason of course is our world's coldest and best beer, our magnificent location, our generous low prices, our Lazarus Lounge allowing everyone to spread out and be safe and comfortable, our free sausage sizzles, our free live music, Hutch and his team working hard to keep everyone hydrated and being the friendliest, happiest, fun club on the planet. Remember our facilities are available to members all year round for Weddings, Party’s, Anything. You just need to book well ahead with Hutch. 
 

RECENT EVENTS

HAWAIIAN SHIRT WEDNESDAYS

We just had our third one for the month and every year they get bigger and better with well over 50% of members wearing one. The quality and brightness of them is incredible. Quite a few members are getting shirts specially made with all sorts of fun things on them including photos of themselves and others. Our second night was easily our biggest and best yet. 
Our previous record for people wearing Hawaiian shirts was 110 but this was smashed with an incredible 165. This means we handed out 165 free drinks and had over 60% participating. We have two more to go because this year January has 5 Wednesdays so don’t put your shirts away just yet.

Winners on the second evening: Vicki Sincock, Kat and John Mousaferiadis (Father and Daughter) John is a long time member and a regular over the warmer months and Hugh Cattermole

Winners on third evening: Ben Clutterbuck. This bloke is a ripper, he goes all out and never misses a Wednesday. He generously shouted his mates with his winnings. Our Very Own Janet 'The Snapper Slapper' Higgins. Me in there for some reason. Rodney Van Ingen. This bloke somehow found the worst photo of me and had his shirt made with my boof head in the pineapples. I’ll be moving a motion at our next meeting to have Rodney banned for life. 
 

SPECIAL RAFFLE WINNER 

We are raffling a very special photo of the 1985 Pier to Pub Start. It was the first Pier to Pub with 1,000 competitors and the last time they all took off at the same time, including juniors and ladies. The photo captures several swimmers in mid air as they jump off the pier. 
The photo was taken by local photographer extraordinaire Tony Stribling and it can be purchased from his daughter Karen Stribling at Great Ocean Road Real Estate or call her on 0439 650 838. 

Winner of the photo last week, Riley Ferguson
 

PIER TO PUB DAY/NIGHT

As usual it was our biggest day of the year with free entry and members only. We had live music with the sensational The Vulkans. They are one of the best and most popular bands in south west Victoria. 

Long time member and local identity Peter Morgan who only took up ocean swimming later in life and has now competed in the last 19 Pier to Pubs. This year he won the over 80’s in his first swim in that category. It was a great achievement. People don’t realise how competitive some those old blokes are. 
 

These 3 blokes were spotted before the start of the race wearing lovely matching Speedo’s. Don’t they look gorgeous. 

 Members enjoying the great weather and great music
 

ANOTHER FAMOUS VISITOR

Every summer we get lots of famous visitors with most of them going unnoticed. Caps and Sunglasses are a great way to stay incognito. This bloke in the photo below was too easy to recognise. 

The very Famous Angler Malcolm Hunter with some bloke called Adam Gilchrist 
 

While on the subject of famous people, I took a photo of these two blokes recently, Local Legends Norm Stewart and Andrew Grange. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Grangey wearing long pants. A memorable moment.
 

VALE JOHN McKENZIE (AKA Lou or Macca)

John was a legend at the Rusty Anglers Club in Anglesea. He was a man who gave back much to those in his community before he passed away just before Christmas, leaving behind his loving family, wife and daughters. John was a man of stature and was passionate about his club, helping people and fighting for their rights to fish. 

He tried very hard to protect the Anglesea River to bring about changes and gain acknowledgement of the damage being done to the river by those with vested interests. His life has left many indelible memories in the lives of those who were lucky enough to have known him. 
This is an extract from Garry Kerr’s article in the Surf Coast Times. 

The following is a footnote from Chris Tutungi. 

John, Macca, Lou McKenzie had many friends here in Lorne and surrounds. He enjoyed catching up with them when he could, particularly with a beer at our club. John worked for Victorian Fisheries for many years in research which he particularly enjoyed as it involved lots of field work in many locations across the State. His experience and understanding of fish behaviour and their habitats made him a very valuable and respected scientist. He was often called upon by others for his knowledge. He helped develop radio tagging of Murray Cod to better understand their movement patterns and habitats. Assisted in design of Williams Carp Cage to reduce carp movement upstream but allow native fish to pass through. 
He became a leader in electro fishing development to better understand species types and numbers in rivers and streams, this work even took him to Fiji as a consultant. 

Personally I first met John at our club when Tull introduced me to him. He was one of those rare blokes that the minute you meet them you instantly warm to them. He will be sadly missed by his Lorne Friends. 

John on the left enjoying a beer with his mates, Chris Tutungi and Geoff Balderas
 

OUR YOUNGEST READER

This is 1 year old, Pippa Kelly, reading the Commodores Notes. She was very impressed with the size of the Snapper being caught of late. 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS 

SPONSORS

We have two spots available for sponsorships. If you are interested please contact me by email  keith.miller@live.com.au.
These notes go out to 4,500 email addresses and the readership is way above the average so having your name displayed is seen by a large number of people. 
 

HAWAIIAN SHIRT WEDNESDAYS
SPONSORED BY LIGHTING OPTIONS: MARSHALL HILL 

Anyone wearing an Hawaiian Shirt gets their first drink free and we award generous prizes to our judges favourite shirts. We also run a free sausage sizzle and a seafood raffle. ONLY TWO MORE TO GO, so be there!

 

MAJOR FISHING COMP NUMBER ONE
SPONSORED BY LORNE AUTO CARE: ALEX & ADAM 

Sunday 26th January 2025, the comp runs from 6am until the deadline of 12.30pm. Weigh-in starts at midday. It’s free to enter for members and all competitors get a free roast lunch. Prizes are awarded for first, second and third in both the junior and senior categories. Juniors must be under the age of 18. You can only weigh in one fish each, so anyone can win on the day, and it’s environmentally friendly. Come and have a crack. It’s great fun.

Local Identity John Agar with a nice Tuna he caught in one of his secret spots.
 

Charlie Middleton with this huge tuna he also caught in a secret spot. 
 

AUSTRALIA DAY CFA FUNDRAISER

Sunday the 26th of January from 2pm onwards. This has now become a tradition. Members of the local CFA/Lorne Fire Brigade will be there manning the BBQ, we will be raffling a couple of very special prizes and there will be a live band playing after 4pm. Come along and support the CFA. You might need them one day.  

The band is called the Blues Bus, we’ve had them several times and they are sensational. As usual entry is FREE.

MICK TURNER MEMORIAL

From the Lorne Dolphins Facebook page:

Dear members,

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Michael Turner. Michael (70) passed away peacefully recently with his wife Karen by his side after a two year battle with cancer. Michael is survived by Karen, his beloved sons Levi and Che, their partners Brooke and Grace, and his precious grandchildren Frankie, Ziggy, Raff and Arlo.

Mick was an invaluable member of the Lorne football community, who worked tirelessly in all areas of the club - both on and off the field.  Members will remember him helping on the field, in the rooms, securing and working with sponsors, always positive and enthusiastic.

There will be a service at Mantra Resort in Lorne in early February to celebrate Michael's life and many achievements. Details to come.

Our thoughts and hearts go out to Karen, Levi and Che and their families.  Mick will be sadly missed - never forgotten.

Mick was a long time member and a regular at the Lorne Aquatic and Angling Club. He will be missed by us all. 

 

 

FISHING REPORT

BOAT 
The boat fishing has been reasonably good with the weather allowing us to go out about 3 times each week which is pretty normal for January. Flathead are still biting extremely well and they are a good size. They are everywhere at the moment from 10 metres to 40 metres. They are mostly Sand Flathead with the odd Tiger and Yank amongst them. 
Snapper are scarce but if you are lucky enough to come across a patch of them they are biting well. 
Gummy and School Sharks are being caught in good numbers with some big ones being landed. 
King George Whiting are biting well with some thumpers being caught. There’s a few Blue Morwong, Teraki, and Nannygai’s being caught when fishing for snapper. 

PIER
The pier is still performing well with good catches of Salmon, Snapper, Flathead, Trevally, King George Whiting, Mullet, Sharks and Calamari. 
 

Riley Molino with a nice Mako he caught out in Tilo DeBon’s boat off Lorne. 
 

This is Carolyn Griffiths with a huge Wahoo she caught the other day
 

MERCHANDISE

Our NEW 2025 range of merchandise is now available to purchase at the clubhouse, whilst stock lasts. The NEW 2025 colour range is available in t-shirts, long sleeve t-shirts, hoodies, caps, stubby holders and the black smart polo. All the options can be viewed on our website.
Stock is selling very fast, so get in quick to avoid disappointment. 
Don't forget our merchandise deals, stubby holders $15 each if purchased with a can of beer or UDL. 

COFFEE

Jason is open 7 days a week during January serving his world-famous Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate and bickies. He'll be back to Fridays to Mondays from February.

COURTESY BUS

The bus is currently operating 7 days a week in January but will be back to Fridays and Saturdays only in February.
We still need volunteers to drive it so if you can help please let Ian Hutchinson know if you're able to help out.

 

 

Cheers,

Commodore

Thanks to our sponsors

KEANE CONTRACTING BRICK/BLOCK and SCAFFOLDING – Gary Keane
SURFCOAST GARDENING – Kerry Webster & Rob Dalziel