Trelly's Fishing Report
Fishing and Boating News
A massive Shout out to the great bunch of people who volunteered their time over the weekend to help remove rubbish from the Goulburn River around Shepparton. Throughout the day there was 2.6 Tonnes of rubbish removed from the river by Volunteers from Shepparton Canoe Club, Yorta Yorta, Shepparton City Council and Shepparton/ Mooroopna Landcare group. It's Unfortunate that we need volunteers to clean up after others in our area. Please take your rubbish home if you're planning any trip away.
Goulburn River
The Goulburn River fished really well leading up to the full moon with plenty of fish getting caught including a few over the metre mark. Around Shepparton near the Boulevard has been fishing well with plenty of mid sized Cod getting caught on Shrimp. Near Murchison there are a few Yellowbelly getting caught on Scrubbies. At Rafterys Rd near Kialla there have been some great fish including a 50cm Yellow belly caught on Yabbies. Around Toolamba bait fishing is producing plenty of Nice sized cod on Chicken and worms. There are plenty of small Trout Cod around as well which can be a bit painful to sift through. Russell Caught this Cod at Toolamba earlier in the week.
Murray River
The Picola Football/Netball Club held their annual fishing competition at Barmah over the weekend, there were plenty of fish caught including Murray Cod, Yellowbelly and Trout Cod. With 155 entries it was a great year for the event with the largest Cod measuring 115cm caught by Jim Schischka. Sandra Oldham caught the largest Cod for a female angler measuring 72cm and Charlie Clark caught the largest Cod for the Juniors section measuring 55cm. There was also a 59cm Trout Cod caught by Graham Sylvester. Around Bearii there was also some excellent fishing leading up to the full moon. We had some great reports including a 54cm Yellowbelly caught casting just downstream of Bearii. 13 year old Jacob caught his first Cod over the weekend after visiting our Shepparton store. He was extremely excited as he’d only just learnt how to set up his gear while in the Shop. He caught this great fish on Shrimp within the first 5 minutes of fishing.
Waranga Basin
Waranga Basin fished really well over the weekend with most people getting onto some great numbers of fish. As with the last month the majority of Redfin were around 20cm long, but with a bit of work and luck there were some larger ones getting caught. Trelly Fished with the Family at Waranga on Sunday and caught some nice Redfin on many different methods from trolling to casting plastics as well as with bait. Charlie had a great time getting a nice feed of Redfin for the family.
Casting soft plastics west of Harrimans point produced some good numbers of Redfin when casting out into the deeper water and working it up the drop off. There were some great Redfin caught on bait, with some bigger fish landed on Yabbies also near Harrimans Point and the caravan park. Trolling around Harrimans point and the boat club was another method working well with plenty of nice fish being caught, the fish seemed to switch on in the afternoon on trolled lures such as 55mm Codgers and Strike Pro Mini Hunches. One report we had was from Oakley who landed two Redfin on the one lure! Oakley was fishing with his dad near Harrimans point and reports the best time of day was between 12.30pm and 4.30pm. They caught plenty of Redfin up to 38cm on Stumpjumpers.
Lake Eildon
Lake Eildon was good as well leading up to the full moon with some nice Cod getting caught around Jerusalem Creek and Big River. Large Surface lures like the Coddog Surface lures in the morning along with trolling 15ft old mates around the edges has been successful. Redfin have been going best around Bonnie doon and in the Delatite arm. Bobbing plastics around the trees and casting along rocky edges has been working well. We had a great report of some good numbers of Redfin being caught while casting 3” Keitech Easy Shiners along a rock bank near Bonnie Doon. The Redfin were holding tight to the bottom so a heavier jighead to keep the plastic in the strike zone was key. Yellowbelly have been firing a bit better over the past week with some nice football sized models getting caught on both baits and lures. Around the Big River arm and in the main arm have been good areas to target lately. Trolling 3m RMG Poltergeists along the trees is a good way of searching for Yellowbelly which are actively feeding. Len Trimmins Caught this 59cm Yella while bait fishing with Shrimp.
Lake Hume
Lake Hume is going great lately with some more good numbers of Redfin getting caught while trolling, bait fishing and working plastics. Trolling has been a great way of searching for a good group of fish and then changing to bait or plastics to get some big numbers in the boat. Great reports of 100 fish days have been trickling through this week from some of our regulars who have been getting over to Hume. Worms have been the best bait but if the Redfin are in the mood they’ll eat almost anything presented to them.
Loddon River
Unfortunately the Loddon river is still suffering from the rains we had back in Late Jan, Early February. The water is rather dirty with a off putting black colour. This goes from below the wall at Cairn Curran all the way through to below Bridgewater. If you’re looking at heading out for a flick, it would be worth trying out around Serpentine as I've heard the clarity out this end of the river is a little better. Although the water is dirty the odd fish have still been biting with hard bodies with a rattle being a standout. The old mate lures have been working rather well especially the colour Purple Raider in 15ft. If the bite is slow it’s also worth trying to use some scent on your lures such as dizzy scent, especially in garlic! The smell is STRONGGG! Around Bridgewater using smaller lures such as 1/2oz spinnerbaits for cod around tree roots has seen a few smaller models caught. If chasing Yellow Belly around Bridgewater try using smaller vibes such as your nomad vertex vibe in particular the colour The Boo. Otherwise TN60’s in peacock have also been working well. Keen angler Paul was able to get out a bit over the week landing a nice cod on a gangster spinnerbait. Prostaffer Will was able to get out during the week and landed a nice little cod off the top, using a codger surface lure with upgraded 1/0 Bkk trebles.
Cairn Curran
Cairn Curran is still fishing relatively well with anglers being rewarded with some good sized yellow belly. The Yacht club seems to be the best location to try and get some great numbers, trolling small hard bodies such as your RMG’s are getting good results. Early mornings or late afternoons seem to be the best times to target these fish, find rocky edges and stick to them. If you put in the time you will be rewarded with some good fish. During the middle of the day try to use grubs around the trees, gulp black grubs are the best way to try this method. At times in this lake Yellow Belly can hold the structure and don’t be surprised if you get multiple fish off the trees. Bait anglers have also had some good luck for the bank. Using small yabbies or scrub worms. Small reddies have been getting around in schools close to the banks but there has been plenty of yellow belly and carp around to keep families entertained.
Campaspe River
The Campaspe River has finally come alive with plenty of fish being caught. Early mornings or late afternoons still seem to be the best way to target our native species such as Murray Cod and Yellow Belly. Early morning’s using lures such as your codger surface lures or pompadours has paid dividends for some local anglers. During the middle of the day the most productive way to get some good numbers of fish has been to use spinnerbaits, in particular either 1/2oz or 5/8oz, brighter colours seem to be working best. Bait fishing has also been great with anglers who are using chicken rewarded regularly. Trellys special chicken really has been a standout bait. If after Yellow belly fresh shrimp or scrubbies on a running sinker have been a great way to catch these fish. One angler was lucky enough to get out during the week and catch a 90cm Cod off the roof in the early hours of the morning. This fish was caught on a Kuttafurra Rat which is stocked at Trellys Bendigo! Local angler Brendan was able to get out also during the week landing a very nice Yellow Belly on a spinnerbait. Paul also had some great luck at the Campaspe catching a nice sized yellow belly to 50cm!
Lake Eppalock
The lake has been fishing wonderfully from the bank or boat. Angler’s casting small vibes such as your Jackall masked vibes or ecogear zx40’s have been rewarded with some good Yellow Belly measuring up to 60cm in length. These fish have been known to school up around the trees or rocky structures. Some anglers have had good success using black gulp grubs. Bobbin these plastics slowly around the trees have been the most successful way to get good numbers of fish in recent times. If you’re out chasing redfin they seem to be sitting in around 20-25ft of water. Troll along small hard bodies such as your RMG’s particularly in white until you find a school. Once you’ve located the school go back over them and try to use gillies bobbins or try bouncing small plastics such as your 3” white pearl strike tiger. This is a great way to get good numbers of fish with anglers reporting up to 50 plus fish in a session. From the bank small spinners have seen some reddies caught. Scrubbies or small yabbies have also been a great way to get some better sized fish and even the odd yellow belly! Fishing around the schools with scrub worms has also proved to be a great way to land good numbers of fish. Local angler Wayne was able to get out amongst them landing some great bags of Redfin and some nice sized yellow belly as well.
Brian McConnell Kept these Redfin for a feed after a session at Eppalock earlier in the week.
The Rip
The Rip had more boats than the Spanish Armada all in there in hope to tangle with some kingfish with a fair chunk of boats finding success. Drop knife jigs ranging between 150-250 grams and jigging them through the water Column has been very effective for boats landing fish up to 12kg. Live calamari and live yakkas have also been producing plenty of fish and tends to get a few more bites than jigs.
Offshore Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove
Bluefin tuna remain a popular target species for many anglers this week with the fish proving to be quite difficult to tempt but there were still a few fish being caught along the coast. Trolling skirted lures with the aid of either a spreader bar or dredge has definitely helped in getting those extra bites and so too has diving hardbodies. When the fish are on the surface casting stick baits into the schools has been accounting for plenty of bites and is a fun way to target them. Off of Barwon Heads/Ocean Grove has also had its very fair share of kingfish popping up right along the coast with fish eating many different lures and on a variety of different tactics like casting, jigging and bait fishing. Along the 40 – 50 metre mark has been holding a good chunk of fish down deep with fish to 80cm in good numbers, dropping knife jigs on their heads has been super effective. With weather like what we had on the weekend made it very easy to spot them cruising on the surface and give a good opportunity to throw some top water lures at them. Poppers and Stick baits have been working a treat, in particular the Nomad Chug Norris.
Clifton Springs and Queenscliff
Coming back inside the bay has still had plenty of good fishing on offer with snapper and whiting chewing well! Snapper have been going quite well off Clifton Spring with some solid reports of fish to 5kg being caught. Whiting are still on the chew right around the peninsula with Clifton springs right through to Queenscliff being the best area to look. Queenscliff has been holding the better quality fish and at good size too, fishing the outgoing tide has been the best time to fish or the lead up to the evening.