Trellys Fishing World
Corio Bay
A pleasant and well overdue break in the weather has seen anglers dust off the gear and get back into the local fishing with some of Geelong’s most popular land based options providing some hot fishing. St Helens rocks has been by far the standout location this past week for land based fishos with some quality snapper being landed. Fish to 5kg are being reports and would be no surprise if there are bigger ones than that again. Usually first and last light are the prime times to fish or even into the evening but most reports are coming from just in the middle of the day. Pilchards, Squid and Silver Whiting are going to be the ideal baits if chasing an early season land based red.The Geelong Waterfront is currently infested with Australian Salmon at the moment. Anglers fishing from either boat, kayak or Land are getting amongst the action and making the most of the opportunity whilst they are here and thick! Small metal lures or soft plastics are working a treat and this is no better time to load up the freezer for Snapper Season with some premium baits!
Outer Harbour
Although there hasn’t been any official reports as far as Snapper goes so far for anglers in boats its coming that time of year that they will start to push in the bay and well worth heading out and trying your luck. It still is very much early days but right now is a great time of year to head out for an early season fish. The Bend of the Channel and the turn up towards Portarlington are 2 fantastic areas to start having a look. Fishing the tides is very important too for this time of year.
Goulburn River
The Goulburn River in Shepparton has now been at a settled level for a bit over a week now and when that happens, we always see the fishing turn good. We have had some promising early spring reports this week with Yellowbelly being caught in a number of locations on a few different techniques. Scrub worms near sandbars around Murchison has been a great way to chase Yellowbelly in the afternoons. Trolling the smaller 10ft Old Mate has also been great around the Murchison and Toolamba area with the Pink Tiger & Tree Frog colours working best. In Shepparton there has been some legal sized Yellowbelly caught behind aquamoves both from the bank with worms or casting Spinnerbaits from a boat, There is some great snags and deep bends in this area and both hold Yellowbelly in the spring time.
Waranga Basin
Those fishing the basin in between the windy days have been reporting that the Redfin are becoming very active especially on the warmer days. The Redfin are feeding shallow in the mornings and afternoons and small crankbaits and chatterbaits have been working best. A super slow roll is the best way to target these fish and they can be caught from the bank and boat. Out a bit deeper the zx43 blade flicked off the bottom has been great for those casting in around 10/12ft. Trolling has been another affective method with the Rapala DT 14 or the RMG Poltergeist 50 in the black and orange working great on Redfin. There will be more and more Yellowbelly caught in coming weeks and they key is fishing structure so any trees, snags, fence post or large rocks under water are all great target areas for Yellowbelly.
Lake Mulwala
There has been some good early spring fishing at lake Mulwala with Yellowbelly popping up in some key areas. Up towards Bundalong there has been some good sized Yellowbelly being caught close to the edge with black gulps slow rolled around willow trees and reeds. Down towards town there has been some Yellowbelly reported near the Mulwala channel inlet on worms with the Mulwala foreshore also another great area to fish. In coming months the Yellowbelly with also push down towards the bridge and weir with that small area between both a great spot to both cast lures or troll.
Trout Opening Weekend
We have had a heap of positive reports this week from those heading to the freshwater stream and rivers chasing trout.Small spinners and some of the Japanese Rapala range worked great with the CD1 being very popular. The Strike tiger range of soft plastics were also prominent in a lot of reports from those fishing high country streams. Those bait fishing had success drifting unweighted scrub worms which is one of trellys favourite ways to target trout in freshwater streams. The Eildon Pondage was also a great location for opening weekend with plenty of big trout caught from the bank. Powerbaits and night crawlers were the best baits with some monster fish released lately it’s well worth the drive. Over the weekend was the opening for the 2024-25 Victorian Trout Season, meaning we can go back to the rivers, streams and creeks to chase them. The Otways each year is always a favourite area to fish with heaps of options and locations to fish. Smythes Creek, Cumberland River, Aire River and the Bahram River are some very popular systems, just to name a few. Small shallow running hard body lures, spinners and soft plastics are all fantastic to use when chasing wild trout or if lures aren’t your thing, try drifting worms into the deep pools.
Lake Eppalock
Reports are slowly starting to get better with more solid redfin numbers though these have mainly come from anglers in boats but it still can be hit or miss, the water temps slowly improving so hopefully the yellowbelly start biting a bit more soon, RMG hardbodies doing the best along with ice jigs and blades if you can get on top of a school and convince them to bite. Anglers from the shore have seemed to have to best luck on bait such as worms but its still very slow going.
Campaspe River
A small amount of yellowbelly reported this past week but definitely not enough to say they are going well, A few caught on bait and a handful on lures such as the jackal squirrel. Bassman Yellamans are another great option, smaller spinner bait with a small plastic, we have had great success using these and they come in a awesome range of colours.
Cairn Curran
At the current time, not many reports have been coming from the lakes with the very poor weather and high winds. However, the odd carp and small yellowbelly has been caught off the bank using worms. As the weather calms, fishing the rocky points with TN60s and mask vibes can produce some good numbers of both redfin and yellowbelly as the weather heats up. Trolling these banks will also be an effective way to find schools of redfin and the odd yellowbelly.
Loddon River
The system has slowly started to fish better and clarity starting to improve with smaller hardbodies proving more effective than spinnerbaits. Slow rolling lures is key at this time of year. Serpentine has still been fishing slightly better than the rest of the system, with some decent yellowbelly being caught using small hardbodies such as 10ft codgers or similar. Fishing slow and tight to the timber has been the most effective way of getting onto a yellowbelly. Smaller spinner baits are another popular choice for yellowbelly but lately hard bodies have been doing better Bridgewater has been slightly slower than the surrounding parts of the system. With no reports in the last week to the shop but if trying here worms for yellas or smaller hardbodies are the best bet. As we come into warmer weather and the yellowbelly start to fire up, flicking TN70s and profishent chainsaws tight to the structure and slowly retrieving will be the choice as the fish slowly start to warm up.
Caruso Res
Fishing the rock walls with soft plastics and spinners has both yielded redfin and the odd small trout. Again fishing slowly to entice the bite has be critical. Spinners such as the tassie devil 5.4 grams have worked great for staff in the shop and other anglers.