Running high: The Goulburn River, shown here at Seymour.
Yet another week of rain, and yes, the Goulburn, Broken, Murray and all the other rivers and streams in our region have been at or almost at flood level.
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This has made fishing them almost impossible, given the difficulty in safely wetting a line. Apart from the water levels, it has been as cold as a mother-in-law’s kiss. My apologies to the mother-in-laws, but it has been really cold!
None the less, there have been anglers that have braved the conditions, and have spent time hunting for a cod; or, as they are biting in lakes, a redfin. Those lakes include Waranga Basin and Lake Eildon, but most productive for redfin is the Hume Weir. Take note, you need to have the weather on your side; ideally, no wind and just a slight ripple on the surface.
Recent inflows have some dams exceeding capacity, while the rest are getting close to capacity. For example, Lake Eildon is over 97 per cent full, with inflows exceeding outflows, and authorities are saying they are closely monitoring the dam to keep it from overflowing and causing flooding down stream.
There was minor flooding in the Kialla West area of Raftery Rd while levels in the Honeysuckle and Sevens Creeks are being closely watched. All of which has put a hold on fishing in those waterways.
In Shepparton, the Goulburn is close to flood level and the flows are high, as well as containing plenty of silt, making it less suitable for fishing. Bait is best — worms or chicken if you can find a spot safe enough to fish.
I know I mentioned Dartmouth last week, but it would be my pick of the fishing spots. Plain silver fenders trailing a bunch of worms should work best. You could also use Tassie devil-style lures in a clown pattern — behind a fender or cow bell for the best results. You can try this method at Eildon, the home for trout.
Remember trout fishing in most rivers and streams is now closed but they can still be taken from dams and impoundments. Bag and size limits still apply.
It is still about a month from the start of the wattle bloom, and it’s not long until the yellowbelly come on the bite, following their breeding season.
A bit of good news: redfin are still being caught at Waranga Basin, as well as in the Hume, mostly along the tree lines. You might also catch redfin in Eildon. Fish the tree lines, with bait and some lures — with red or pink colours working the best.
While the rivers are not safe to fish, Victoria Park Lake in Shepparton is user friendly. In the past, it has been stocked with trout in time for the school holidays and some good-sized fish have been caught.
At Waranga Basin, the last report I had was a week ago, and it claimed a reasonable catch of fish. Most were small but several large fish were among the catch. Most were taken on hard-body lures that were bounced along the bottom.
For fishing in our rivers to improve, we will need at least a full week of fine weather for the conditions to get back to normal.
To saltwater action. Conditions have been more suitable this month, with better results for anglers. According to Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters, he was bagging pinky snapper along the inshore reefs off Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads, as well as the marks inside the bay as far north as Mornington and St Leonards.
Rod said that while the snapper were pinky size, he was catching an occasional bigger fish. He said the main run of big snapper was still eight weeks away.
Rod said he was also bagging gummy shark while fishing around the dive wrecks off Point Lonsdale. As you know, gummy shark is better known as flake when it is cooked and in my opinion it is one of the best eating fish to be had, up there with the flathead and whiting.
Western Port Bay is also fishing well, with pinky snapper being caught along the rubble bed along the shipping lanes off Hastings and as far as the steel works. There are also flathead, leatherjacket and gummy sharks.
With it being school holidays, the news from John Liddell over the border at Eden is good for the southern anglers heading in that direction.
John said the boys from Freedom Charters were bagging plenty of good-sized snapper, as well as morwong and other table fish.
According to John, the best fishing is between Boyd’s Lookout and Green Cape near the Victorian border.
Further north at Narooma, Graham Crowley said the snapper off Montague Island were big, and some horse-sized fish were being caught. Graham also reported excellent hauls of flathead from the sandy bottom.
Being school holidays, drive safely and keep an eye out for holidaymakers. Stay safe and good fishing.
Talking tackle: Shepparton’s Victoria Park Lake and Mooroopna’s Craigmuir Lake were both restocked with trout before these school holidays. Trelly’s has everything you need to catch those big fish. Take the kids out before school goes back!
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