Fishing Reports for Victoria, Westernport and Port Phillip Bay

The pondage has also been fishing well for anglers using dough-style baits around the ‘Footbal oval’ and Burke Street. Pink coloured powerbait and the ‘Garlic nymph’ dynamite bait have been the best performers. Just make sure to fish them on a fine gauge treble instead of a standard hook.

Customer Emir has been fishing the pondage at Eildon recently, where there have been some nice trout starting to show. Cooler weather has brought the trout into a more active feeding mood and this has resulted in better fishing. Emir caught a lovely 2kg brown trout in his last session, using Rapala F7 spotted dogs.

Lake Eildon Staff member Ian fished the lake late last week targeting some trout. With some fish showing up deep on the sounder, Ian dropped a few lures into the depths using his downrigger. With some Tassie devils set at around 70ft, he managed some nice trout on a tassie in colour 102.

If you're keen to catch some freshwater natives, now's the time to get ready! With the mild weather we've had over the last few days, native fish like yellowbelly and Murray cod will be starting to become more active. Local lakes such as Sugarloaf and Eildon are hotspots to target yellowbelly, and they also provide good bycatch of redfin too. Eildon Guru Andy McCarthy landed this ripping yellowbelly of 15lb just a few days ago at Lake Eildon on a spinnerbait. What a fish!

The Yellowbelly or Golden Perch are starting to move about a bit more in most Victorian lakes and also in the Murray River. Spring is normally a very productive time of year to chase the Yellas' as the rising water levels bring food into the system for them, and along with warmer water temperatures which make them a bit more active in searching for food. The best part is you don't need a boat to access them, which is handy when the strong spring northerly winds come up!

If you're a keen freshwater fisho, and want to tangle with some good Redfin and Trout now is the time to get across to Western Victoria. Lake Tooliorook is just out of Colac and is producing some lovely fish. 

Customer Brian from the Bendigo Angling Club went across and fished the lake to land both Trout and Redfin. The Trout were mainly caught on flatlined Tassies while most Redfin were caught on Maria and Strike Pro vibes around the northern side of the lake.

If you're wanting to catch yourself some big Redfin, fishing for them in winter is your game. Normally the Redfin fishing in winter can be a bit slower without large numbers of small fish to keep you entertained, but the size of the fish normally makes up for it. Most local lakes have good numbers of Redfin in them, which will respond to larger baits and lures in winter. Plenty of anglers putting in the effort in the cooler weather have been getting some good Redfin in the bag like these fish from the Western districts.

If you're looking for a chance to tangle with some beautiful Trout this side of closed season, get up to the Snowys this weekend!  From all reports the Trout fishing is awesome and with fish averaging 3-6lb, who wouldn't want to catch them!  Mitch and Shane have both fished the Eucumbene in the last week and have caught some crackers, with some on Hardbodies and some taking flies fished on the spin outfits.  Just make sure you pack some thermals, glowbugs, and Rapala F11's!

With the water starting to cool, it's a great time of year to start targeting Trout in both lakes and rivers before they move to spawn, Customer Paul sent us a report from Lake Eucembeme where he fished recently, to catch some lovely Trout with the biggest being a Brown of 6.5lb.  Paul says that trolling Rapala Spotted Dogs early in the morning was the best method.

Speaking of lovely Trout, Customer Jurek also sent a report in to us from a recent trip over to Ballarat fishing with his wife.  While he was outfished by the missus, he was rapt to see her land such a beautiful fish - a lovely Rainbow Trout that measured 59.5cm and weighed in around 3kg.  He said that this particular fish danced across the water like a Marlin, jumping out over 4 times.

Good customer Andrew fished the Western Lakes with his mates last week, where they tried Fyans, Bolac and Bullen Merri.  Lake Bolac was very slow, but Fyans was good. They caught plenty of Trout to 2lb running Rapala F9 Spotted Dogs at around 2.5m.  Bullen Merri was also slow, with just a few fish caught downrigging FLC coloured Tassies around the edge of the lake.

Over the last week, we've had a few good reports from customer catching Murray Cod around the place, so seems like a good time to target them! Good customer Mario fished up at Mulwala recently, and did well on some lovely Cod in dirty water.  He said trolling the edge of the riverbed worked the best, with black/purple Stumpjumpers and Codgers the favourites.

Customer Mijo has also been fishing around Mulwala with some mates, and has caught Cod up to 70cm on Bardi's and the occasional one on lure.  Around the Bundalong section of the lake they have also caught a few Yellowbelly up to 40cm on Shrimp.

Customer Nick sent us a report from the Ovens River where his mate David has been catching Cod since Easter.  David has been using Bardi's in the river and has caught some great fish, including Yellowbelly to 6lb, along with Cod up to 40lb!  David says that most of the Cod have been biting better around the full moon.

Lake Eildon has been fishing well, with quieter conditions and less water traffic keeping the fish going.  While the Natives can still be caught, the colder conditions have been good for the Trout.  Staff member Dylan has been fishing the lake recently, with mixed bags.  While the Murray Cod can be hard work, he has caught Cod more often than not while targeting them.  Spinnerbaits and Large Lipless Crankbaits have been the best.  There are plenty of small Redfin about, and the trick is to move about the timber until you find the slightly larger fish.  While having a break from the Cod, Dylan has been trying his luck for some larger Trout, with colder water temperature bringing on plenty of surface activity.  Casting Hybrid Lipless Crankbaits like Jackall Mask Vibs has been a good way to stir up the bigger Trout sitting deep along the timbered shorelines of Big River and Jew’s Creek.

Customer Marek and his son have been fishing around Sugarloaf and Eildon while having a break from the saltwater action, and they have caught some nice Yellowbelly fishing soft plastics.  Small curl tail soft plastics have been the best for them.
 

Customer Peter recently tried some new lures out on the Trout. After picking a few different colours of Waxwing Jigs, Peter took them for a test run on the Ovens River out from Bright. He caught plenty of fish on them, and some very nice size fish, up to 2kg. He also said that he lost a much Trout estimated around 3-3.5kg when it jumped off. Peter said that the best thing about the lures was how simple they were to use, with a constant slow wind working the best.

While summer is not generally regarded as the peak time to fish for Trout, there has been some good action lately in most rivers and impoundments.  Lake Eildon is fishing well for all species, Trout, Redfin, and natives such as Golden Perch and Murray Cod.  Many regular customers enjoy fishing the lake at this time of year, and most are catching quality bags of Trout from the main lake and pondage on a variety of techniques. 

Laszlo has been catching Trout up to 800g along with some large Carp fishing the Jerusalem Creek arm of the lake using Scrubworms and Powerbait Nuggets.  Danny has also been fishing the Lake, mainly trolling small 7g tassies tight to the shoreline from Big River up towards Goughs Bay, and is being rewarded with plenty of Brown Trout averaging 300-500g, and also a few larger fish between 1-1.3kg.  Most of the fish took bright yellows and whites and were more active earlier in the morning before the sun got directly overhead.

Up around Bonnie Doon, the Redfin fishing continues to be very good, with the average sized fish being around 300g which is good.  Most anglers catching the larger fish are fishing larger baits of yabby or scrubworm and by doing this you can also catch a Cod or Yellowbelly, as customer Jim did.  While he didnt plan on catching the 4lb Yellowbelly while fishing for Redfin he certainly wasn't complaining!

Closer to home, Sugarloaf Reservoir has been hit and miss for Redfin, anglers persisting with small spinners or soft plastics are still finding some fish.  The key is to work the standing timber thoroughly, and if a school is found then stay in the area.  Changing lure colour and profile can help in fooling the fish also.

The upper Yarra River around Warburton has been fishing well for Trout recently.  The small flush of rain we received has dirtied the water slightly, but conditions for lure casting are still good with plenty of wadable water.  Staff member Dylan has fished the area a bit recently, and recommends using hardbodies with gold or flash sides.  Some of the better lures at the minute have been Ecogear MW62, Pontoon21 Gagagoon and Strike Pro Pygmys.  With the warm conditions the Redfin have also become more active, and will hit the same lures.  For the fly angler, French and Olive Bead-headed Nymphs are catching a lot of fish in the backwaters and slower pockets.

For anglers wanting to fish an easier technique but would rather not have to use live bait, the Gulp! Alive Crickets have been very effective on summer Trout.  Simply fished with splitshot or using the aid of a bubble float, the Crickets work well drifting down through riffles and runs and also in the deeper pools of the rivers.  Normally Grasshoppers and Crickets are on the menu for Trout during the warmer months of the year, so why not give the fish what they are looking for!