Reel Life | Ready to reel in 2024

With the conditions in your favour and with a whole lot of new gear (the result of Christmas presents), all is set for a great start to a new year of fishing.

I have been hearing plenty of positive tales from one end of the Goulburn at Seymour to the Murray; not many big fish, but plenty of juvenile-size fish fit for the table.

Just a word of warning: those Christmas Eve winds brought down a lot of trees, not only around houses but also around our waterways. Tracks have been blocked, and some trees have fallen into the river, creating new obstacles for boating anglers to avoid.

There are two ‘broken’ options when hunting cod: the Broken River, which flows into the Goulburn, and the Broken Creek, which joins the Murray around Nathalia. Both sides have been known as hot spots for cod.

Speaking of the Murray, it is a NSW waterway, and you will require a NSW fishing licence to fish in it. That includes Torrumbarry Weir and Lake Mulwala. Lake Hume, however, is a Victorian waterway. Wherever you decide to fish, remember that the Murray will be full of holidaymakers, so be prepared to share the river.

The same goes for Eildon. While it is a large water storage, there are huge numbers of boaters using it for skiing, boating, fishing and other activities.

At Dartmouth Dam, however, boating is restricted to fishing only.

As an aside, there is another reason why I like camping at Dartmouth: the lack of light pollution. It makes viewing the heavens at night more of a pleasure, with the stars standing out on a clear night.

For redfin, you should be fishing Waranga Basin as well as Greens Lake. But the best place is the Hume Weir. You can also try the irrigation channels for redfin, especially on the Rushworth side of the basin just out of Tatura, the western side.

We go to Dartmouth as it is a prime spot for trout. At this time of year, fishing before first light and again at dusk will produce trout for anglers trailing bait, worms, mudeye, Tassie devil lures or minnow-style diving lures.

In the rivers and streams in the north-east, float fishing or bait casting is the method used. Early morning and late afternoon are the best times to hunt for trout.

Cod are plentiful at this time of year; yellowbelly are less so. They are more abundant during Easter but can still be caught at this time of year. The best locations are rivers, as well as Eildon — mainly near the Fraser camping area.

There are several things you must be aware of and take care of when fishing in and around the waterways in our region. One is the local wildlife, particularly snakes. Brown snakes, tiger snakes and red-bellied black snakes are common, and they all can inject toxic venom when they bite.

Also, be aware of bushfires and lightning strikes, and be sure to properly extinguish your campfire. Finally, be careful in and around the water. Tragically, many people die every year in our waterways, so wear a life preserver.

Let’s look at saltwater fishing. According to Rod Lawn, who operates Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff, fishing is good when the weather is suitable.

He said the winds have been a problem, as has been the case in our region. When he could get out to fish, he landed good hauls, including pinky snapper, salmon, flathead, whiting and squid, among other species.

Rod said most of the fishing was inside the heads, but when the winds allowed for fishing outside the heads, anglers caught kingfish, trevally, tuna, mako, blue sharks and more.

He said despite the weather, he had been enjoying the best fishing for some time.

According to Rod, boats being launched at Hastings were able to fish the rubble beds along the shipping lanes for pinky snapper and more.

It’s time to head north. John Liddell at Eden on the NSW south coast says that they, like everyone else, celebrated New Year’s Eve after taking a couple of days off.

Mark and his crew are back on the job of running Freedom Charters.

Before taking the holiday break, they were bagging snapper, morwong, flathead and other table fish along the inshore reefs from Boyd’s Lookout, south along the coast to Green Cape near the Victorian border.

Mark said fishing off the shelf was worth the effort. He was catching marlin and the occasional yellowfin tuna and kingfish.

Further north at Narooma, Graham Cowley said fishing the inshore reefs was about the same as Eden.

He said game fishing was worth the effort along Montague Island.

He said when it was too rough to go outside, fishing inside was producing bream and flathead along the oyster leases.

Down south at Flinders Island, James Luddington was bagging flathead, gummy sharks, salmon and snapper as well as whiting around the islands at Lady Baron, the southern end of the central island.

James said off the shelf in the deep water, he was also catching trumpeter, blue eye trevalla and southern bluefin tuna.

On behalf of John, Rod, Graham and James, I wish you all a happy new year and hope you all stay safe and well. May 2024 be a good year for you.

Good fishing, and stay safe.

Trelly’s tackle