Decent catches: The long weekend came with reports of good fishing.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
It was with wonder that I saw the images of dead fish in the Darling River last week, millions of cod, perch (both golden and silver), even some redfin and, of course, carp, all rotting and polluting the water having died due to a lack of oxygen, or as it is called, a black water occurrence.
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The word is that it will take ages for the river to recover, but in the meantime, locals will be forced to endure the smell of rotting fish and the pollution of the water both for human consumption and for livestock.
We in our region have suffered from the same conditions but not on the same scale; what might happen if we do?
As things stand, the Goulburn and Murray are both relatively healthy, so our water is suitable for use both by us and by livestock, and also for irrigation.
We should do all we can to keep our waterways in this condition.
On a lighter note, the fishing has been reasonable, with reports from the long weekend of good-sized catches, with cod, yellowbelly and a variety of other fish being caught.
The Goulburn between Nagambie and Eildon through Seymour has provided plenty of action, with trout, breeding stock from the Snobs Creek Hatchery, having been released in the river below the wall in the pondage.
Below Seymour there are cod and yellows to be caught all the way along the river to Shepp.
Anglers are fishing mainly with bait, grubs, worms, shrimp and yabbies rather than the ‘not natural’ baits of cheese and chicken.
Bargain: Trelly’s Outdoor is holding a sale on all Atomic Arrowz.
Photo by
Trellys Outdoor
You can also use lures, including spinners and baits, and I did hear of one angler using a lure from the past, a rubber flipping — he landed a cod while fishing in Lake Mulwala. He did not say how long the cod was, but it did prove the old lures can still work.
He said he found it when cleaning out his father’s garage among some other old lures, including a propeller-style lure.
Fishing at Lake Eildon has been good although there will always be the “should have been here yesterday” stories. The river arms are producing good results, surface lures on dusk are catching cod and I did hear that a metre-plus cod was caught on a lure, and after bragging images were taken, it was released.
Yellowbelly, redfin and trout are also being caught, so it was a good long weekend for some.
At Dartmouth, the trout fishing continues to get better as the weather continues to cool, bringing the trout closer to the surface.
Try trolling a Ford Fender that trails a bait of worms, or a Tassie devil-style lure or a hard body minnow lure.
I must admit I love Dartmouth, it is postcard perfect country and the fishing is good.
If you do not have a boat, you can always fish from the bank — a worm, shrimp, mudeye or black cricket should get a trout interested.
I hope to head to the Dart soon but not until after Easter, which should be an ideal time: cold frosty mornings, with the trout rising to the surface to feed. Fishing for trout with light gear is a great way to fish.
Keeping warm can be a problem, but you can always put on extra layers, and there are little gadgets that can keep your hands warm.
Saltwater fishing over the long weekend was good until the wind picked up and made boating a little uncomfortable.
Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff said he had bagged plenty of salmon while trolling small occy-style lures on the rip during the run-out tide. He said he was also bagging snapper on the reefs both inside the heads and off Point Lonsdale and Barwon Heads.
Rod said there were also flathead, kingfish and tuna to be hunted, but whiting were scarce.
Rod said he was also catching squid in the grass beds on both sides of the heads. In Western Port Bay off Hastings, snapper were biting at the change of the tide along the rubble beds alongside the shipping lanes, while also on the run-out tide, gummy shark could be caught in the deep off Phillip Island.
Up north at Eildon, John Liddell said it was still hit or miss off shore. Marlin were few and far between, so too were the tuna, but kingfish could be found along the tide lines around Green Cape while big flathead were biting on the sandy bottom on the Victorian side of the cape.
At Narooma, Graham Cowley said it was a similar story, but kingfish were being caught around the northern end of Montague Island.
Snapper and morwong, as well as other table fish, were biting on the inshore reefs, both on bait and soft plastic lures.
Graham said good hauls of flathead were being caught between the shore and the island. Inside the lake, flathead and bream could be caught around the oyster leases.
Not much news from James Luddington at Flinders Island — he was catching flathead, gummy shark, whiting and kingfish.
James said that as the weather cooled, so did the fishing.
That’s it for this week, so stay safe — on the roads and from COVID-19 and the mozzies.
