Reel Life | Sunburn alert: fish safely under the Aussie sun

In fact, earlier this week I suffered the scalpel of a dermatologist as she removed a couple of skin cancers. At this time, I do not know which type, but that knowledge will come in a couple of weeks.

So here is the rub: love a sunburnt country, but protect yourself from the sun.

Wear loose-fitting clothes, plenty of sunscreen, a broad brimmed hat and quality sunglasses, and seek shade to keep your skin intact.

Get any spots, moles or sores checked.

Now that you are protected from the sun you can concentrate on fishing.

In our neck of the woods it has been good, with some of the best autumn fishing for years.

After last week’s rain, freshening the river flows, the cod have been on the bite, as have yellowbelly and trout.

The Goulburn River above Eildon, as well as the rivers in the north-east, have been freshened up and the trout are more active and will be feeding.

As temperatures begin to cool, the trout are starting to feed near the surface, thus making Dartmouth, the Hume, Eildon and the other dams more attractive for trout anglers.

There is no closed season for cod at Eildon, making fishing for cod there a year-round proposition.

There is likewise no season on redfin and you can hunt them all year round, in just about all waterways.

Speaking of redfin fishing, only on three occasions has it been like fishing for flathead, where every drop was a fish.

The first time was when I was not quite a teenager.

My father and I were at Dights Falls in Studley Park, Collingwood.

The falls were just below the junction of the Yarra River and Merri Creek.

We were fishing a rock pool the size of a dinner table, and we landed over 20 redfin in less than an hour.

The second time was at Lake Hume.

We were fishing among the trees, and we caught upwards of a dozen fish each — there were four of us.

The best was in 1993, just before the floods.

My mate at the time ‘Fredo’ and I landed over 20 fish at Lake Nillahcootie until we ran out of bait.

We were using small yabbies. By the way, redfin have gone from the lake since then.

The river fishing in our region is as good as it has ever been.

The Goulburn between Seymour and the Murray is good; you just have to find the fish.

Bait is still the best method, although lures are getting results.

I like to find a spot, angle a bait and sit for up to an hour.

But realistically, you should not sit for more than 15 minutes before moving to another location.

I still have my favourite spot near the golf course — not for the fishing, but because I have a friend who brings me coffee and homemade rum balls.

It makes fishing very civilised.

I have caught fish there, but I look upon that as an added bonus.

I must admit that I haven’t fished the Murray or the Broken for some time, but all the reports I’ve been receiving indicate that they have been fishing just about as well as the Goulburn.

Time to look at saltwater fishing.

Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff said the weather had been excellent for fishing, not only outside the heads but in the bay as well.

Rod said whiting had been bagged among the weed and grass beds at the top the bay at Swan Bay and all the way to St Leonards, as well as on the Portsea side of Port Phillip Bay.

There has been salmon and kingfish on the run-out tide in the rip and kingfish around the dive sites off Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads.

Out wide, Rod said there were flathead, as well as couta and snapper on the reefs.

Rod said there was also tuna, but getting one hooked up was hard.

Rod reported snapper, leatherjacket, flathead and salmon were biting well.

North of the NSW border at Eden, John Liddell said the inshore reefs from Boyd’s Lookout to Green Cape were providing anglers with plenty of table fish, while Graeme Cowley at Narooma said it was the same around Montague Island.

James Luddington at Flinders Island reported gummy sharks and flathead aplenty.

Stay safe — COVID-safe, flu-safe and road-safe.

Good fishing.