I received a couple of good reports from anglers this week.
One was from Mick, the demon yellowbelly angler.
He is a regular contributor.
The other was from an angler that fishes the Broken Creek around McCoy’s Bridge.
He fishes with his grandson Alex, and they have been keeping records of what and where they have been fishing and what they have caught.
So far, this year they have reeled in just under 400 fish, the majority of which were carp, but they also caught silver perch, yellowbelly, cod and, would you believe, redfin.
He also hooked up to a monster carp, and following a lengthy tussle managed to land the fish only to find it had been tagged by a university.
He phoned the people involved and discovered that since its release it had travelled some two or three kilometres but had grown in length and size.
He received a round of applause for passing on the details of the catch.
Earlier, I mentioned I had heard from the yellowbelly demon.
All anglers do change their spots, but in this case, not spots but creeks.
Instead of catching yellowbelly, Mick has been bagging a lot of redfin — all in the irrigation channels.
Mick said there were two factors in play: one, the channels had water flowing into them, and, two, there has to be flowing under the regulator or drop bars, and there had to be a splash of red on the lures that were being used, as we all know redfin cannot resist the colour red.
Mick said if the water was not flowing, then there were no fish.
Mick went on to say that only late in the spring was he starting to see action from the yellowbelly.
They had been quiet up until recently.
Mick is not the only angler to say that yellowbelly have been late to bite.
My rule of thumb, as Bob Darley always said, is that yellowbelly begin to bite at the bloom of the wattles.
So if I am wrong, it is not by a lot.
Back to redfin.
If Mick is catching them in a channel, it would be fair to assume that they would also be on the bite among the tree line in Eildon, as well as in the Hume and the Waranga Basin.
All of those spots are redfin habitats, and while you may have to modify the method you use, you should be able to catch a few.
Now it’s less than three weeks until cod season reopens on December 1, but if you are desperate, you can still take and keep a cod if it is a legal size from Lake Eildon.
Dartmouth Dam is fishing well for trout. Remember, Macquarie perch are now totally protected and cannot be taken; they must be returned back into the water unharmed.
Other spots worth fishing are the rivers and streams in the north-east.
I like to wade these waters casting bait or lures.
The best method is to wade upstream and cast to any bank or likely hole for the best results.
The trout will be facing upstream, waiting for a likely feed to be washed into their waiting mouth.
Time now to head south and think about saltwater fishing.
The report from Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters is nothing but good.
Rod said he had been getting good hauls of snapper both inside the heads and off the coast from Point Lonsdale to Barwon Heads.
Rod said that inside the bay, he was catching snapper as far north as Mornington and on the other side at St Leonards to the White Lady Marker.
He added that he had to contend with seals in that region, and they could be a real handful.
When not chasing snapper, Rod said he was getting King George whiting around the mouth of Swan Bay.
During the run-out tide, he was bagging salmon in the rip and flathead off the sandy bottom.
In passing, Rod mentioned trevally, couta, trevalla and various other table fish.
North of the NSW border at Eden, John Liddell said the boys from Freedom Charters were bagging snapper, morwong and other table fish, including kingfish.
At Narooma, Graham Cowley said that at the northern end of Montague Island, there were schools of rat-sized kingfish, and along the reefs there were snapper, morwong and flathead on the sandy bottom.
James Luddington at Flinders Island said flathead and gummy sharks were the norm, with snapper on some reefs.
Stay safe — and good fishing.