The western crater lakes and surrounding waterways have been fishing well of late with a good number of people interested in Bullen Merri in particular, which has been fishing well for the chinook salmon and trout. Many anglers catch both fish on various trolling methods, generally with the use of a downrigger as the lake is very deep. Fishing around the thermocline can produce good results along with actively searching for bait schools.


Friend of the shop John 'Mr Jinkai' has been out in the crater lakes recently where trout and salmon have been caught. John's most recent trip was last week where some big salmon were caught deep bait fishing. The bait of choice were pilchard strips, fished on a simple running sinker rig around the bait schools. Cubing with pilchards also helps tremendously to keep the schools of salmon around. Small metal 'flutter' jigs fished around the schools have been working well also.


Customer Ryan and mate Nick have been fishing some of the western lakes in search of some bigger redfin. The larger redfin seem to proliferate the western lakes, so if big redfin are your target - west is best! The guys have been fishing slightly bigger lures to weed out the smaller fish, with 4'' plastics and also yellowbelly sized vibes getting the interest of the larger fish. Some of the larger fish have been belting the lures as they are burnt back through the water as fast as possible, so it always pays to mix up your lure style and retrieve speed also.

 

Most of Victoria's Western lakes fish exceptionally well for trout during the colder months of the years. Some of these lakes are relatively shallow which means that during the summer months they warm up easily, and trout don't like this too much. Wet, windy days are often the best times to fish these lakes, as the cold conditions keep the trout happily feeding along the edges where they can be fished for. 

Jeremy Gadea had a fish recently over at Upper Coliban Reservoir, which is north-west of Melbourne. Jermey walked the edges fishing lures and managed some nice brown trout to around 2lb using a variety of lures. His most effective lure was the smallest size Waxwing jig from Shimano. 

Frank Gadea also fished the 'Colli' as well as Lauriston Reservoir with the fly gear where he caught some nice browns along the edges. Frank noticed that the fish were chasing baitfish around the shallows and his smelt patterns worked a treat.