Throw it back: Endangered trout cod.
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Well, at last the soccer World Cup is over. Well done Spain, bad luck England. Fourth is a better finish than Australia has had in the past, so let’s see how we go in four years’ time when the next World Cup for women’s soccer will be held.
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We are now at the last home-and-away games for the footy, so the next big thing will be the grand final, and then there is a cricket World Cup soon. In between all of that we should find some time to go fishing.
I had a look at the Goulburn and it is looking good, but the banks are still wet and slippery, making it dangerous to fish from the edge. Boats would be the best way to go, but this will be the last weekend before the close of the cod season.
You will still be allowed to take cod, but only from Lake Eildon. The usual size limit and bag limit will be in force.
Cod season is closed from September 1 to November 30. No cod can be taken from rivers and streams in Victoria during the close season; the only exception, as I said earlier, is Lake Eildon.
It has been a while since I mentioned trout cod. While they do resemble a Murray cod they are a different species of fish, and are totally protected.
Any trout cod you catch must be released back into the water unharmed.
A trout cod has a distinctive black line through the eye, it is a blue colour and has a different mouth; and as I said, trout cod are totally protected and must be released.
At this time of year, perch are on the bite. That includes yellowbelly (golden perch), silver perch, which are also protected in rivers and streams, and finally Macquarie perch, another endangered species, with severe restrictions on the taking of them.
Yes, I know, redfin are a perch as well, but they are an introduced species and there are few restrictions on size and bag limits on redfin.
At this time of year I love fishing Dartmouth Dam. Although it gets very cold there, the fishing is great, with both rainbow and brown trout on the chew.
The scenery is magnificent, and on occasion there is snow on the peaks surrounding the lake.
It is a picture perfect postcard. We live in a great country, as pretty as anywhere in the world.
You can troll the lake with a Ford fender, or at a day’s end, sit on the shore and angle a bait, unweighted or under a float, have a sip of refreshment and yarn about the day’s fishing, and make plans for the next day with a mate. It does not get any better.
Yeah, it’s fair to say I like Dartmouth.
There is another waterway that I have not spoken of for a while: Lake Buffalo. It is located on the King River in the north-east, and fishes well for trout and redfin.
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It is one of the few spots that fishes well during the colder months for redfin, although it produces trout mainly in the colder months. You can use the same method for trout as you use at Dartmouth and Eildon — a bait or lure trolled behind a Ford fender.
Buffalo is a smaller lake than the other two I just mentioned and consequently, the fish caught there are not great.
The reports from Waranga Basin have been patchy, with some anglers reporting good hauls of redfin, while others say ‘no luck today’.
It pays to try all methods, just to get among the fish.
Time to talk saltwater fishing, and Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff said the past week, while busy, was a time to fill in the days while waiting for the snapper to return to the region.
The main run of big red fish was still about three to four weeks away. Rod said he was bagging mostly resident fish, but it took a lot of work to fill a bag, most being caught off Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove.
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Rod said he was also catching trevally — an excellent table fish — but these were patchy. Rod said that while the fish could be seen on his sounder, if there was a seal anywhere within a half a kilometre, the fish would not bite.
Rod said he had actually spent some time catching rabbits on a nearby farm. Interestingly, when rabbits were first introduced into Australia they were released into the wild in the Geelong and Queenscliff area. They then spread to become the habitat-destroying pests they are today.
The fishing in Western Port Bay has been about the same, according to Rod. Resident snapper along the shipping lanes, and hard work catching whiting in the shallow grass beds, then gummy shark in the deep water around Cowes and San Remo, fishing the run-out tide.
North of the border at Eden there was much better action. John Liddell said the boys from Freedom Charters were bagging out on snapper and morning fishing the inshore reefs from Twofold Bay to the Victorian border at Green Cape.
According to Graham Cowley further north at Narooma, the fishing was similar around Montague Island.
Graham said there were plenty of flathead on the sandy bottom between the reefs.
Good luck if your footy team has made the finals. That reminds me, I have not heard from George for a while, but let me add, better luck if you go fishing, stay safe and tight lines.
