It’s the Easter weekend, or should I saw “long weekend”.
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A lot of us will be going away as we take advantage of a couple of extra days’ holiday.
So before we get into the fishing, might I just say this is a time to take extra care when going away on our Easter break.
We who live in this region are fortunate that we do not have to do a lot of travelling to get some good fishing.
There are plenty of productive water way within reach, including rivers and dams.
The Goulburn River is fishing well from Murchison to Shepparton, even to where it meets the Murray near Echuca.
Local spots are between Arcadia and Nagambie as well as any large snag or fallen tree, the little back waters make ideal spots to fish for cod or yellowbelly.
The mouth of the Broken River near the railway bridge is reputed to be the home of big cod that live in the deep holes in the region.
My favourite spot is a little further downstream towards the cemetery, not because of the fish, but of the civilised amenity, of coffee served to the river bank while I wait for a bite.
Then there is the Waranga Basin, redfin, cod and yellowbelly are being caught in the Broken River and in Gowangardie Weir.
Of course the channels still carrying irrigation water are still worth a try and even the lakes in the centre of Shepparton and Kialla Lakes can also produce fish.
Lake Victoria has been stocked with trout and is worth trying.
A little further away is Eildon which has been fishing well for some time, but is also a popular spot for holidaymakers over Easter, then there is Nillacootie — the other side of Benalla, it is less popular with holidaymakers so it should be worth a try.
A little further away is Lake Hume and Lake Dartmouth.
The Hume is still fishing well for redfin while trout are starting to feed near the surface later in the day.
A bunch of worms behind a ford fendor is the best method to catch a feed of trout.
The Murray is also worth a try but there are a couple of reasons why I plan to stay away from fishing there.
This Easter will be the crowd of holidaymakers and secondly reports that the tracks into the river are in a bad state, boggy and cut up.
Access to the river will be tough with the chance of being bogged a real threat.
So if you are planning a trip this Easter, keep that in mind as well as the traffic and, most of all, drive with care.
Saltwater fishing is worth trying, according to Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff.
He said he was catching good hauls of flathead, on the sandy bottom between the reefs both inside the bay and off shore.
Rod said some pinky size snapper are still to be caught off the bluff at Barwon Heads and also Ocean Grove.
Inside the bay, all the regular marks are worth a try.
Rod said he was catching whiting around the mouth of Swan Bay and on the Point Nepean side of the bay as well as squid.
Rod said he was also catching salmon on the run-out tide.
He said some mako shark are also being caught around the lines of crayfish traps as well as some blue shark out wide.
Another spot worth a try on the other side of the bay, Hastings is on Western Port.
Rod said some pinky snapper, flathead and leather jacket were present.
Some gummy shark were taken in the deepwater off Cowes.
North of the border, John Liddell at Eden said the water was starting to settle down after the recent storms.
John said Mark from Freedom Charters was looking forward to the Easter break to get back on the water.
He said the fishing should be good.
John said while fishing, the inshore reefs was worth trying.
Some big salmon were being caught by surf fishers using large silver lures cast into the gutters.
Further north at Narooma, Graham Cowley said there were rat-size kingfish being caught off the northern end of Montague Island by anglers trolling skirted lures.
Not much to report from Flinders Isle. James Luddington said it was more flathead and gummy shark around Lady Baron.
Have a good Easter and stay safe.