Mar 15, 2024

Trellys Fising Report

Corio Bay

Some hot fishing is certainty on offer at the moment with Corio and Port Phillip Bay both producing some great reports. Snapper have been back on the chew with the outer harbour offering some nice fish to anglers. Fishing around the quarries has been quite productive with reports of anglers landing fish to 5kg, tide changes have been critical to having better success. Towards the south end of the channel more so between Leopold and Portarlington there has been a true mixed bag on offer. In the shallow water anglers have been coming across King George Whiting, Flathead, Salmon and Garfish. Some anglers have just been anchoring in depths between 1.5 to 3.5 metres with a solid burley trail and been targeting everything with some good success for all species. The best thing about this style of fishing is that the fish will take a pretty much the same rig and baits. Not so much the gars, much better off with a pencil float rig with a tiny piece of bait.

Bellarine Peninsula

Around the Peninsula towards St Leonards has seen some great Whiting fishing on offer, the area known as Bourke Street has been a hot location with anglers landing lots of fish in this area. Fishing the strong tides is ideal. Most fish have been averaging in size between 32 to 40cm with a couple of much better models kicking about too. Calamari have also been in good numbers in close on the grass beds, natural and red coloured jigs have both been standouts this past week. At the moment there seems to be a lot of small squid getting about but there are certainty some better sized ones amongst the little ones. Sempai Aston got out over the weekend fishing these areas landing himself a bag of both Squid and Whiting fishing in the areas just mentioned. The local Tuna bite is still on the go but reports have slowed up a bit but can be a case of the weather and the fish are sitting out pretty deep (65metres plus). If you’re chasing a tuna over the next week or so it’s well worth heading deeper straight away. The fish have been responding to hardbody lures on the troll and also small stick baits when sighted on top busting on whitebait

Goulburn River

It was a hot long weekend and the fish really fired up in the heat. There was a heap of reports this week from those who got out over the long weekend, one trend we found was the fish were biting best in the afternoon just as the sun was coming down to just on dark. Casting Spinnerbaits in Shepparton around the Junction and down towards the golf club was a great way to chase both cod and Yellowbelly with many fish caught on the drop. Bait fishing in Shepparton was also great with plenty of anglers catching Cod, Carp and silver perch just behind the shepp lake. Night crawlers, cheese and Bardi grubs were the best baits for those fishing from the banks. Those Trolling around Murchison with small codgers reported plenty of fish this week with both legal cod and Yellowbelly caught on these smaller hard bodies. Surface fishing yet again was a popular way to target cod with plenty of small fish caught amongst some 60/70cm Cod. There was no real hot spot as the cod seem very active off the top along most of the Goulburn River in our region.

Waranga Basin

There was a hype of activity at the basin over the long weekend with a heap of ski boats and jet skis zooming around those fishing but all this traffic didn’t affect the fishing. Early mornings the edge bite was great with the Redfin pushing shallow and eating lures and bait as shallow as 2ft. Small bent minnows and jerk baits were the best lures in the shallows casted from both the bank and the boat. The key was the pause with plenty of fish caught after a 2/3 second pause, there is no better feeling when you pause your lure and go to move it and you have a fish heading the opposite way. Floating worms and yabbies in the shallows early were also a great way to fish the basin prior to the extra on water traffic. As the days got longer the fish pushed deep and trolling become the best option with the fish sitting out around 17/20ft.

Lake Mulwala

The Cod Nationals are in full swing at lake Mulwala and at the time of writing this report the fishing numbers are next level. Day 1 was the Spinnerbait only day with 284 50cm plus cod caught on Spinnerbaits. Day 2 the event shifted to hard bodies only where the high numbers of catches continuing with 234 fish registered. One team managed 13 legal cod for the day which is a great day's fishing especially in a tournament. Don’t be put off going to Mulwala this week if you’re thinking they will be Shut down after the event as this great fishing has come after a bumper long weekend at Mulwala. Prior to the Cod Nationals there were a heap of reports from those fishing in many different areas of the lake. The Bridge and foreshore areas fished well in the mornings with more fish caught in the shallows and up towards Bundalong in the afternoons. It hasn’t just been lure fishing reports this past week with those Bait fishing also doing well. Bardi grubs and scrub worms have been the best baits for cod with some big Yellowbelly being caught on small yabbies around the banks near Majors Ramp.

Arcadia Fish Hatchery Open Day

For the very first time, the Arcadia Native Fish Hatchery will host an open day for the public. You’ll get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes glimpse into how we grow hundreds of thousands of Murray cod and golden perch each year. The day will also include plenty of things to do for kids including free learn-to-fish clinics, fishy-themed arts and crafts, outdoor games and an adventure playground. Anglers can bring their own gear and wet a line in the Visitor Centre’s fish-out pond for a Murray cod, golden perch or silver perch. Located on the banks of the Goulburn River, 20 minutes south of Shepparton, our Arcadia facility was opened in 2021 and has since produced more than 1.9 million native fish as part of Victoria’s record-breaking fish stocking program.

Date: Saturday 6 April, 2024

Time: 9am - 3pm

Location: 200 Ross Road, Arcadia South

Lake Eppalock

Good numbers of redfin have been reported over the long weekend with fish starting to fire up with the hot weather. The majority of fish have come on bait, in particular small yabbies, or shrimp. Although there has been reported numbers of fish, the size has been relatively small with the occasional better sized fish around 30cm. Lures have been effective in finding fish, trolling small hardbodies such as RMG Poltergeist or size 2 or 3 stump jumpers then sitting above the school with bait has been very effective.

Campaspe River

Plenty of carp throughout the river at the current time, great fun for kids and families looking to spend some time by the river. Worms, corn and bread balls are great options of bait and very affordable if you are just getting into fishing. Cod and yellowbelly are still being caught, however they have been few and far between. Yellowbelly have been caught on small spinnerbaits such as small spinwright 1/2oz single willow spinnerbaits and also small natural coloured hardbodies. Shallow diving hardbodies such as Bassman Tubby and Profishent chainsaw in 60mm are great options. Areas of heavy timber and deep pockets of water need to be peppered hard to wake the fish up.

Cairn Curran

Water clarity is improving slowly throughout the lake despite there still being a presence of blue-green algae. Again bait has proven to be very effective, otherwise the lake has been slow for lure fishing with the odd redfin being caught on soft plastics. Small yabbies have been the choice of bait, in particular for yellowbelly with good numbers of smaller 30-35cm yellowbelly. Dropping yabbies down trees or along rocky banks and drop off even from the bank has been effective. Worms have also been popular, although they have been picking up more carp while using worms.

Loddon River

Water levels have been very high from below Cairn Curran and levels will rise across the system over the coming days and weeks. This is possibly due to high irrigation needs down stream. As a result the fishing has slowed due to the cooler water temperatures.

Bridgewater

Few reports of fish being caught on lures have been reported. However, reports of the odd yellowbelly and small cod being caught on spinnerbait, including Spinwrights rigged double colorado and single willow models fishing timber thoroughly and slow fishing these spinnerbaits to keep the lure in the zone for as long as possible. Bait is always very effective through thai stretch with easy access for kids and families around the bridge. Yabbies, cheese and scrub worms have all been effective in catching yellowbelly with yabbies and Bardi grubs more effective if you want to catch a cod.

Serpentine

Have not heard many positive reports from this stretch however it will be well worth a fish with the current flows being higher, the spillway could be producing good numbers of yellowbelly and the odd cod! Using small hardbodies such as proficient chainsaw and jackall TN60s. If you fish further downstream it is vital to have a mix of spinnerbaits and hardbodies to fish the variety of shallow and slightly deeper, heavily timbered stretches of the water.

Bendigo Family Lakes

Lake Neanger / Tom Thumb / Crusoe / Weeroona

Many reports of good numbers of redfin have been caught over the long weekend with a few anglers managing to get 30 or more redfin out of these small lakes. Mainly on soft plastics with motor oil and white being popular colours of choice. A fair few carp caught over the weekend on smaller worms or bread and corn are always a popular bait.