Reel Life | No cod? No problem! Trout and redfin are biting big

Eildon is not considered a breeding area for cod, but all the usual restrictions on bag and size limits still remain in force.

The cod closure is in force; any cod caught must be released back, unharmed, into the water. But with that in mind, you can still catch and keep trout, redfin and yellowbelly — size and bag limits still apply.

Speaking of trout, it may be coming to the end of the season at Dartmouth but in the rivers and streams in the north-east and in the ranges there is a good supply of trout to keep anglers more than happy. Be they fly fishers, bait, lure or soft plastic fishers.

Even early-morning trolling on Dartmouth will still provide good results for those keen enough to head for the hills to wet a line. Eildon and the Hume will also give up a trout or two to those prepared to give it a try.

Waranga Basin, Greens Lake and Lake Hume are still producing plenty of redfin, although most fish that are being caught are small. For those that persist, a bigger fish will be taken among the throwback.

All anglers seem to agree that redfin is the best eating of all freshwater fish, though I don’t mind fresh trout done on a barbecue.

There have not been many reports from Lake Nagambie, but generally, the river from the lake to Murchison and beyond has been positive, with anglers bagging yellowbelly and out-of-season cod, which they assured me were released.

Victoria Park Lake in the centre of Shepparton has been providing those enjoying the school holidays with trout, yellowbelly and the occasional redfin.

The weed in the lake has made it difficult to bottom fish, but casting a float with bait on the hook has resulted in some surprising results. The best catches have been on the Goulburn River side of the lake, with the deeper water on that side near the swimming pool.

Speaking of lakes, you should also try Craigmuir Lake in Mooroopna and Kialla Lake in Kialla. Both have been stocked with trout and yellowbelly and on the odd occasion give these fish up to some lucky angler who happens to land his lure or bait in the right spot. The best lure appears to be a Jackall; the best bait is a worm or yabby.

There are still plenty of spots in our region that I have not mentioned. One is one of the most productive yellowbelly spots in our area, and that is the main irrigation channel between Waranga Basin and Colbinabbin. This is also a haunt of the Demon Yellowbelly Angler.

Although not too well of late, the Demon made an art form of catching yellowbelly. He just had the touch. He would catch a yellowbelly when others around him could not get a bite, and he used his wife’s nail polish to sharpen up his lures. Good luck, Mick.

Time to head south to do a little saltwater fishing. Rod Lawn, who celebrated his birthday last week, has started to bag reasonable hauls of snapper around Queenscliff. Rod, who runs Adamas Fishing Charters, said though most fish were pinky size, he was bagging an occasional bigger fish in the four- to five-kilogram range. He said the really big fish would start to appear within a week or so.

Rod also caught flathead, gummy shark, some whiting, kingfish, trevally and more. In Western Port Bay it was a similar story.

North of the NSW border at Eden, John Liddell said the reports from Mark at Freedom Charters were good when they could get out on the water. There were snapper, morwong, flathead, kingfish and more on the inshore reefs but not much off the shelf.

At Narooma, much the same from Graham Cowley with some bream and flathead off the oyster leases.

Down south off Flinders Island, James Luddington said he had nothing to report as of yet.

Well folks, stay safe and good fishing.