Last week, mostly blown off the water. But the week prior it was yellowbelly heaven with one group of anglers from the local area boating over 35, mainly on live shrimp; a lot were put back some they kept.
But that is fishing, is it not?
I recall a time at Nillahcootie when my mate Freddo and I boated a heap of redfin.
So good was the fishing we ran out of bait.
However other boats, some in touching distance, could not get a bite, even when they were casting over the top of us.
So keep that in mind when deciding where to fish. They can run hot and cold, but one thing is certain. If you are not fishing you will definitely not catch fish.
And speaking of ‘hot one week’, while Nillahcootie was running hot the fishing at Lake Eildon was about its usual self, but those anglers that put in the work were getting results.
With Eildon it is such a big expanse of water there is always a spot you can find that will fish well and it doesn’t matter which species you fish for.
Next on my list is Lake Hume, it is also a multi-species waterway and, like Eildon, while not as big it can provide plenty of action if you are prepared to put in the work.
Just down the road from the Hume is Dartmouth, and since the total ban on taking Macquarie perch, it is a trout fishery only. With the weather cooling it is becoming a more productive place to fish for both rainbow and brown trout.
Closer to home in the centre of Shepparton is Victoria Park Lake; a recreational pond that has on occasions fished amazingly well.
Since it was revamped it has had trout, yellowbelly and cod released into it.
And some of those fingerlings have survived pelicans, bigger fish and each other; an occasional big fish is taken such as a monster trout, some good-sized yellowbelly and appearing on Facebook was a monster Murray cod.
To make this story more interesting it was caught by an angler using light trout gear. You will be pleased to hear that following photographic verification it was released back into the lake to fight another day.
Well done to that lucky angler.
That is one story that will take a lot to beat.
Well now with the second week of school holidays and Easter I would expect the number of anglers plying their efforts at the lake to increase. After all, it is near home and has easy access to the water with no steep banks.
I had a chat with my favourite coffee maker and apart from muddy banks which should have dried out by now, the Goulburn is at a good level for fishing. He has heard of good catches of cod, some of a keeping size but plenty of juvenile size.
It has not been a good stretch of water for yellowbelly although the very first fish I caught when I first started fishing there was a kilo-size yellowbelly, but none since.
As a matter of fact I believe that yellowbelly will become scarce as we move closer to winter and the shrimp and yabbies become harder to catch; they will burrow down in the mud until it warms up.
Time to take a look at saltwater fishing and down south at Queenscliff.
Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters is still bagging plenty of whiting from the mouth of Swan Bay, St Leonards, as well as on the Sorrento side of the bay.
Outside the heads there are snapper to be caught along the inshore reefs as well as flathead off the sand, as well as trevalla and kingfish; so there is plenty to fish for when the wind and weather permit.
Rod said the action at Western Port is likewise good with most boats being launched from Hastings.
Snapper, flathead, leatherjacket, salmon, gummy shark and whiting are all common catches in Western Port, however boaters will have to watch the tides as they can trap unwary anglers.
I do know of some boats being grounded for up to eight hours waiting for a high tide to float their boat off a sand bar.
Along the coast to the west, Rod said that southern bluefin tuna are starting to school up, and while most fish inshore are 10-20kg, closer to shore the really big tuna are out wide.
North of the border at Eden, John Liddell said most fishing is on the inshore reefs.
Graham Cowley at Narooma said snapper, morwong, flathead and kingfish were also close inshore around Montague Island.
There was not a lot of action off Flinders Island; in fact James Luddington is about to pack it in for the season.
Well that is it for another week, so stay safe and tight lines.
16°C