Here we are, the first couple of days into October and Christmas is coming up at a great rate of knots — so it is time to start thinking of just what you would like as a gift to finish off the year.
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With lockdowns and other goings-on during the past 12 months, it has been a different year, to say the least.
So, planning for the festive season is a chance to get back to some form of normality, despite the continuing battle against coronavirus and the havoc it has brought to our way of living.
Ever so slowly, the things that have been denied to us are being returned.
We still have a long way to go to get back to the way things were, with some of them gone forever and some things to become part of a new normal.
I hope Christmas is one thing that will never change.
So, enough of that; let me tell you this: Around the region the fishing has been pretty good on the whole, despite the change in weather from hot to cold and calm to windy, and picking the right time to go fishing has resulted in some great catches.
For example Waranga Basin has provided some quality redfin for those anglers prepared to put in some time chasing them down.
Bait and lures have been worth using, small yabbies if you can get some or worms, as well as trolling lures; make sure you are bumping the bottom.
Putting in time seems to be the key to success at Eildon as well.
Yabbies and worms fished among the trees, as well as ice jigs, soft plastics and hard-body lures once a school of fish is located, seem to do the trick.
The tried and true spots are still the go. For redfin, Peppin Point, the Jamieson arm and Bonnie Doon are as good as anywhere.
Yellowbelly have woken up and are on the chew, and the channels around Rushworth are providing some action both for lures and bait.
Once again small yabbies, worms, or a cocktail of both — and shrimp if you can find some — are the best baits, but lures are also getting results. Just ask Mick, the demon angler from Stanhope, who seems to have mastered the art of angling yellowbelly.
Fishing at Eildon has provided anglers with a chance to catch and keep a cod, while it is closed season on cod everywhere else.
You can still catch and keep cod from Eildon but all regular bag and size limits still apply.
In the Delatite arm, and also in front of the wall, large deep-diving lures as well as large baits are the way to go if you are after a cod.
Speaking of Eildon, the pondage has been boosted recently with the release of former breeding trout from the Snobs Creek hatchery.
Some trophy-sized fish have been taken by anglers. They may not be nice to eat, but they are a heck of a lot of fun to catch; angling a bait or spinning-type lures have been used with varying results.
Of course the news of the week is the relaxing of the border between we Mexicans in Victoria and NSW.
This means that we can now go fishing in the Murray River if we are living in the designated border areas. For example, if you reside in Central Kialla you are okay, but not if you are from Kialla West.
So, before you rush off towing your boat, make sure you can legally do so.
Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff reported a week of mixed results.
He said he was heading out to fish for snapper near the heads and accidently landed on a hot spot for squid — and bagged out within a short time. The snapper fishing was a bit on the slow side, although there were some quality fish among those he managed to bag.
Rod said the salmon were just starting to become active on the run-out tide inside the rip, but the fish were not big.
He said he and Pete Smallwood were looking forward to some horse-sized snapper during the next few weeks, as they tended to move up the bay as the weather warmed up.
My dad always said the Melbourne Cup Day holiday was the time to fish for snapper.
Rod said he was starting to see couta schooling up off the coast, and had been smashed off by these toothy predators when fishing for flathead and snapper.
He said with the appearance of the couta he expected mako shark to be not far behind.
Mako are the only shark considered to be a game fish, and line up second to gummy shark as a table fish.
To finish off this week, let me remind you all to stay safe, do all the right things, sanitise your hands, wear a mask and practise social distancing.