Reel Life | Tips on the best baits and lures

The river arms at Lake Eildon can produce good bags of cod, which will take surface lures, especially at dusk and early morning. Large-body deep-diving lures trolled close to the dam wall can also be effective; it is just a matter of selecting the right colour. I have found the frog pattern to work well; that is, a dark green with even darker green or black spots. But results will vary from day to day. You will find these lures and colours will also work in local rivers, including the Goulburn, Broken and Murray rivers, and Lake Mulwala.

At this time of year, redfin will be getting more difficult to find, and you will need to wait a couple of months for the wattle to start to bloom for the yellowbelly to come back on the bite in numbers.

However, as it cools, you will find trout become more numerous.

With the present stable weather, more local spots have become open to fishing, including Craigmuir Lake in Mooroopna, Kialla Lakes and Shepparton’s Victoria Park Lake.

All three can be productive, and the best method of fishing them is with bait, but as all three also contain carp, it is best to keep your bait off the bottom. Place your sinker on the bottom and a leader about halfway to the surface.

You can use a variety of baits, but with lures, you must remember that the lakes are full of weeds, and these will play havoc with lure fishing.

The smaller waterways, such as the Broken River and its tributaries, are also worth fishing. The Broken River between Benalla and the Goulburn has yellowbelly and cod, as does the Broken Creek between Nathalia and the Murray.

Finally, on fresh water, the Dartmouth Dam is starting to fire up as the temperatures start to fall and the trout become more active.

While fishing is good in the early mornings, it becomes more active later in the day. Trolling a fender behind a boat trolling a bait or a Tassie devil is a surefire method of catching feed, but if you want a more relaxing method of fishing, angle a bait from the bank and wait for the fish to bite. Another method is to use spinners or lure casting to snags and other likely spots where the fish gather.

Now, a look at saltwater fishing at Queenscliff. Rod Lawn at Adamas Fishing Charters said the present weather had been a bonus for fishing. He said that both inside the heads and offshore, anglers were filling bags no matter what species they were after.

Rod said that while snapper size and numbers were down at this time of year, he was still bagging resident fish, although they were pinky size. Rod was also catching flathead, whiting, some salmon and other species.

Rod said down the coast at Portland, tuna were in good numbers. All fish were around 15 to 20kg and were giving anglers a great fight. Most anglers catch fish by trolling a pattern of skirted and solid body lures in various colours. While most hookups are single, there are multiples, and then the action is really on.

Well, once again, stay safe around water and on the roads, and enjoy good fishing.