Last weekend’s blizzard-like conditions in the High Country created those conditions, if only for a day or so; the rest of the time anglers took advantage of the chill to chase trout, and all reports indicated their luck was in, generally smaller size fish but some big ones were among the catch.
A trout over a kilogram is considered to be a good-size fish, and they are a common catch at the Dart.
With a chill in the air, the fish remain near the surface for most of the day, so there is no need to use down riggers or other methods to get your bait to where the fish are feeding.
I will still recommend using a Ford Fender at Dartmouth, Eildon for that matter as well — using a boat to troll takes you to where the fish are, so you don’t have to wait for a fish to come to you.
Fishing the bank, casting baits or lures can work for you as well; then, of course, there is angling, where you cast a bait and sit back, look at the scenery or read a book and wait for that bite to happen — whatever you prefer.
As I mentioned earlier, you can follow the same pattern at Lake Eildon, which has trout, redfin, yellowbelly and cod. The best fishing is in the river arms, as well as in front of the wall and in the harbour.
Anglers fishing the Murray River around Ulupna Island to Yarrawonga have reported Murray crays on the move and some good hauls of these crustaceans have been made. The long weekend saw a lot of holiday makers on the river and very few reports of cod reached me.
The lake at Mulwala is still empty, with the only water being in the old river bed, after the level was dropped to allow the removal of weeds.
In the Goulburn, yellowbelly and cod were taken mainly between Toolamba and Nagambie, but there were still some fish taken downstream to Shepp and the cemetery.
So far this week, we have been rained on, which has seen the rivers rise — nothing major yet but if you are a bank angler, it has become wet and slippery making things dangerous. We can expect more rain, so good for farmers, not so good for fishing.
Down south at Queenscliff, Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters said strong winds and rough seas kept him tied up for most of the week, but when he could go fishing, he was only able to fish Port Phillip Bay. He reported some pinky snapper along the reefs, as well as silver trevally around the ferry terminal.
Reports from down the coast at Portland said high seas and rough weather put a hold on the tuna.
Rod said conditions in Western Port Bay were much the same, with only a few hours when anglers could get on the water. When this occurred, they managed a few pinky snapper and some flathead.
North of the border at Eden, John Liddell said the skipper from Freedom Charters, Mark, and his crew did most of their fishing inside Twofold Bay, as gale force winds whipped up huge seas off the coast.
They did, however, manage to catch some small shark, salmon and flathead, as well as an occasional snapper.
I spoke with Graham Cowley at Narooma, who told me they had a 5m swell during the week, with waves smashing over the break. Such conditions making it impossible for any boats to go off shore.
He said inside the bar, anglers were able to fish for flathead and bream, with structures being the best areas to target the bream. Light tackle was best, with bait lures and soft plastics all working.
Graham said fishing the sandy bottom near the oyster leases resulted in some good-sized flathead.
Well, we have been forecast another weekend of bad weather, but remember that your worst day fishing is still better than a hard day’s work. Stay safe and have a good weekend.
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