Father’s Day has come and gone; if you are a father, I hope it was enjoyable for you.
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If you received some fishing gear, I also hope you could put it to good use.
The weekend weather was ideal for wetting a line, so christening a Father’s Day gift was a distinct possibility in fresh water and salt.
Reports indicated that the Goulburn River was flowing higher than normal and on top of that, the cod season has closed; it will remain so until December 1.
Lake Eildon is the only place to legally fish for and take cod in Victoria.
However, all usual bag and size limits still apply both minimum and maximum size limits.
The days of catching and keeping a trophy-sized cod on your wall are now well and truly a thing of the past; all fish over the maximum size become breeders.
Speaking of breeding, I spent some time in my local laundromat and learned that a monster is breeding there, called “a sock-eating monster”.
As its name implies, it eats socks, but just one of a pair, over three dozen socks the owners have gained over time, and there is not one pair among them.
So, if you have a spare sock and are looking for its mate, try your local laundromat.
That tale has absolutely nothing to do with fishing unless, of course, you go fishing wearing odd socks.
So now that cod are off the agenda, it might be time to target yellow belly.
Since the start of spring weather, they have come on the bits and can be caught using lures or bait.
I mentioned Lake Eildon earlier and, as well as cod, you can also catch yellow belly, redfin, trout and occasional carp.
Eildon is a mecca for anglers when it comes to variety.
A small amount of variation to methods and gear is needed to get results; fishing the rivers to coincide with spring and streams in the north-east for trout is now also an option.
You can angle a bait, cast lures, both hard body and soft plastics or use the time-honoured method of fly fishing.
To be a successful fly fisher, you must first see your target fish, be equipped with fly fishing gear and know how to use it.
Fly fishers are undoubtedly the most skilled of all anglers, a skill I never mastered or tried regularly.
Wild trout fishing can also be carried out in Lake Dartmouth, but the most popular method is to troll a ford fonder trailing a bait or lure.
This is a sure-fire method of catching a trout, but as the weather starts to warm, the fish will go deeper, so you need to fish deeper for them.
The best time will be just before first light until mid-morning, the late afternoon until last night light or even at night.
I know I have said this in the past, but I love fishing the Dart; it is such a lovely place; it is postcard picture perfect.
If you are hunting red fin, there is only one sure-fire spot: Lake Hume.
Fishing for red fin at home is like chasing flathead in the bay; drop a bait among the tree line until you find a school of fish.
Waranga Basin is also worth a try for red fin.
Most of the fish in the basin are small, but a bigger fish will be among them.
Boating at Waranga Basin could be risky as it is shallow, and the waves could become choppy and dangerous; fishing there on a calm day with little to no wind is best.
Down south at Queenscliff, Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters said that the start of spring has started the snapper season in earnest, not with a bang, but more anglers took to the water in search of the red fish.
Rod said that the big fish would start to move into the region over the next month, and he expected the size of fish and the number being taken to ramp up.
Rod said that he was currently catching mainly resident fish from the inshore reefs off Barwon Heads, Ocean Grove and Point Lonsdale outside the heads in Bass Strait and the reefs inside the rip as far north as Mornington and St Leonards.
Rod was also bagging calamari squid along the grass beds between the ferry terminal and the Point Lonsdale jetty.
He said he was using baited jigs and shrimp-style lures.
He said fishing in water 3m to 5m and 6m deep was best; you must look for the squid’s egg clusters among the grass to find squid.
They will guard their nests and readily take a lure or bait.
Rod said the trick to catching squid is being patient and not trying to drag them in too big of a hurry.
Let it take some line if it tries to get away; otherwise, you will pull the jig out, and the squid will escape.
In the past, calamari was thought of as only being bait, but nowadays, they are sought-after for the table and make a great meal.
Who hasn’t tried salt and pepper squid rings? I admit I like them.
Rod also said that he saw whiting caught in the grass beds around the mouth of Swan Bay and on the eastern side of the heads around Point Nepean and Sorrento.
North of the border at Eden and Narooma, Graham Cowley and John Liddell reported plenty of action along the inshore roots with good-sized snapper and morwong and other species of reef fish being caught as well as big flathead from the sandy bottom between the reefs.
Both said there was little action off the shelf, although there were signs of schools of kingfish starting to move in.
Well, that’s it for this week; keep an eye on your socks, stay COVID-19 safe and good fishing.