Just three weeks to the start of spring. But to be honest, most of the weather this month has been spring-like: cold mornings and then mostly sunny days, some even warm like spring, with just an occasional wintry blast to keep us sitting on the couch.
As spring nears so does the cod season closure. But when cod season closes, trout season reopens, and the rivers and streams that have been a no-go for the taking of trout will be able to be fished again.
Closure and reopening details and dates can be found in this year’s edition of the Recreational Fishing Guide, which is available free of charge from Trelly’s or your local tackle store. It also contains a lot of other information to do with fishing, so if you don’t have a copy, I would suggest you get one.
Well, that gets rid of some housekeeping, let’s get down to tin tacks.
The fishing in our region has been patchy. The rivers — Broken, Goulburn, Murray — have been up and down like a yo-yo due to releases from the dams, as well as inflow from the rainfall that seems to happen about once a week. Just enough to keep flows high and water quality muddy.
Most fishing has been in the dams — Eildon, Hume, Dartmouth, Waranga Basin, Nillahcootie, Mulwala. All these storages have been fished with success — cod at Eildon and Mulwala, redfin in decent numbers at Waranga Basin and Lake Hume. Worms, yabbies and mudeye are baits worth using, while minnow hard-body lures, as well as soft plastics, also get results.
At this time of year you will notice the yellow of the wattle blooms standing out among the green of the gum trees. While the blooms are in season, it is time for yellowbelly — the second most sought-after native fish (cod being number one) — to become active. They will take all the usual baits — worms, yabbies and, if you can get some at this time of the year, shrimp, even frozen shrimp from last season, will get results. Yellowbelly will also take lures. Those with a rattle in them, such as Jackall’s, seem to get good results.
Yellowbelly are usually found around structures such as rock walls or fallen trees and other snags. There is an old saying that if you are not losing tackle to snags, then you are fishing in the wrong spot.
At Dartmouth, the Australian-designed Tassie Devil, so simple in shape, is one of the best lures for catching trout. Different sizes and a multitude of colours and patterns, trolled behind a Ford fender or as a lure on its own, it is dynamite at catching trout. Normally they come with a treble hook, but I prefer to use just one single hook. I seem to get a better hook-up using just one hook, while I have lost fish on a treble. But maybe that’s just me and my technique.
The most successful and popular pattern is called ‘the clown’. It has a base colour of beige covered in multicoloured round markings, similar to a clown outfit. Some say the pattern resembles a small rainbow trout, while others think the round balls appear to be the eggs of fish. All resemble legitimate food for a trout.
While the rivers remain affected by rain and high flows, they can still be fished. Take care along the muddy and slippery banks — fish mainly in the back waters where the flow is slow. Bait of cheese, chicken, worms or grubs, as well as yabbies, is still attracting fish to bite, but most cod are juveniles, which in itself is a good sign for the future numbers of fish in the rivers.
Fishing the rivers from a boat is also dangerous, with a lot of trees falling and creating new hazards. Some will be under the surface, hidden from sight, so while boating negates the muddy banks, you will need to take care not to be tipped over.
Now down south to the coast. Rod Lawn at Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff said the good weather had been a bonus for anglers fishing the areas off the heads, as well as Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads. Rod said the inshore reefs were starting to show signs of bigger snapper moving in, although the main run of the big breeders was still a month away.
When he wasn’t catching snapper, Rod said he would fish for gummy shark, flathead or whiting. He said it was still too soon for the salmon, but they too would soon be around.
Rod said Western Port Bay was also starting to improve and there were good hauls of snapper being reported from Hastings to as far as Phillip Island and also to the steel mills. Rod added that there were flathead along the sandy bottom and plenty of leatherjacket, as well as whiting, although it was still several weeks before the big fish moved in.
North of the border at Eden, John Liddell said the boys from Freedom Charters were bagging heaps of good-size snapper along the inshore reefs from Boyd’s Lookout to Green Cape. He said Mark, the skipper of the charter boat, was also finding schools of kingfish, as well as flathead, some almost a metre in length. These were still in the deep water near Green Cape.
Further up the coast, at Narooma, Graham Cowley reported similar action, with most of the fishing being around Montague Island. Graham said the shelf was closer to the shore than at Eden, and they were seeing signs of yellowfin tuna.
On a downside, my friend who lived next to my favourite fishing spot on the Goulburn River was flooded out last year and has decided not to rebuild but to move to a new location. That means he won’t be bringing me cups of coffee and rum balls his wife makes. What bad luck. Oh well, stay safe everyone and tight lines.