Finally, footy and fishing back in the diary

There is nothing like a feed of fresh water crayfish unless it's a second helping of these inland crustaceans.

Fishing for crayfish is relatively easy, although the rules are strict and must be adhered to if we want this fishery to survive.

All species of freshwater crayfish are slow-growing and the danger of over-fishing is very real as they take a long time to reach maturity and so breed the next generation; they are also susceptible to habitat change and blackwater events can wipe out entire generations.

There is a strict size limit and bag limit, as well as the taking of berried female fish and the number and size of nets used, all the regulations are contained in the Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide, which is available at all local tackle stores; so make sure you get yourself a copy.

Speaking of football, while we have had a break from it, now that it has resumed, it appears that nothing has changed; the top teams are still on top and the ones down the ladder appear to be destined to remain down the bottom.

Damn, I was hoping my team would become a power once again, but that is not to be. So fishing is a more attractive option.

Around the region I notice that the Goulburn is still running higher than normal and this is making it still too hard and slippery to reach a suitable spot to wet a line, although the Murray is low, and Lake Mulwala is one of the hot spots at the present time; even the mouth of the Ovens River is fishing well.

Eildon is the most popular place with plenty of good bags of redfin, yellowbelly and trout being caught by those anglers who are putting in the effort.

Peppin Point, the Big River, Delatite, the Bonnie Doon arms and Jerusalem Creek, as well as the water between and in front of the wall, are worth trying.

The lifting of coronavirus restrictions on the use of shared facilities at caravan parks has made a trip to Dartmouth more attractive.

You can now stay overnight in relative comfort and fish ‘the Dart’, which at this time of year is producing good hauls of both brown and rainbow trout; trolling the weir using a fender and a bunch of worms or a mudeye is the way to go, or if you like to relax you can angle a bait under a float and wait for the fish to come to you; a third method is to wade the rivers and streams casting a bait or lure ahead of you: a chilly way to fish, but worth a try.

Saltwater fishing is slowing a little according to Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff.

He said this was due mainly to the weather not the fish.

He said that plenty of snapper were being caught off shore and inside the heads but when the weather permitted, he said that they were also catching flathead along the sandy bottom and some schools of tuna were located off the Bluff at Barwon Heads.

Rod said that while the fish were there, they were being fussy and hooking up to one was taking plenty of work, although the action when you did manage a bite was worthwhile.

Western Port Bay was patchy with snapper along the rubble bottom off Hastings and gummy shark from along the deep water near Cowes and San Remo.

Fresh fish fillets were the best bait when fished on the run-out tide.

North of the border at Eden, John Liddell said that fishing the inshore reefs from Boyd’s Lookout to Green Cape was producing plenty of snapper and morwong as well as flathead and other table fish, including occasional kingfish.

John said that Mark and the boys from Freedom Charters were back on the job, but strict social distancing was reducing the numbers of anglers on each charter.

Further north at Narooma, Graham Cowley said it was the same with kingfish being caught around the northern end of Montague Island and larger-than-normal-sized flathead from the sandy bottom, as well as snapper and other reef fish from along the inshore reefs.

Graham said that when it was too rough to go off-shore, bream and flathead were an alternate option inside the lake; bait, hard-body lures and soft plastics were being used around the oyster leases and other structure for the best results.