As Summer kicks into full swing this month, the best fishing will be early and late in the day and particularly at night.

Avoiding the middle of hot Summer days is something not just we humans do. Fish also feel uncomfortable in the middle of very hot, bright days and will seek deep water or hide on the shady side of any structure, making them very hard to entice during the heat of the day.

However, redfin don’t seem to feel the effects of hot days as much as our natives and trout.

Redfin can still be caught all day long and are your best targets if you just have to fish during the heat of the day.

They can be found anywhere from the surface all the way down to about 40’ so it pays to have a good sounder which will make locating them that much easier.

Best techniques will depend on the depth of the school but if they’re deep and holding tight to the bottom, I recommend jigging with ice jigs, blades or Jackall Mask Vibs.

If they’re shallow or holding mid-water, casting or trolling with small lipless crankbaits would be your best bet.

Your best chances of hooking some of Blowering Dam’s natives will come after dark, when the temperature drops to a more comfortable zone and the fish feel more at ease under cover of darkness.

Trolling is by far the most popular technique to target cod and the AC Invader range and the larger Viking lures are probably the most used, and therefore most productive, lures.

The beauty of both of these brands is that there are many sizes and many depth ranges to choose from, which makes finding a lure to suit the fishes’ mood and the water depth easy.

Casting lures for Murray cod is slowly starting to catch on at Blowering, thanks to the stocking efforts over the past decade or so which have resulted a major rise in cod numbers.

The best lures to chuck around are big lipless crankbaits like Jackall Doozers, Assassin Typhoons or #3 Prism Murrins.

The new Sébile Flatt Shads are amazing-looking lipless cranks. They range in size from 35mm to 215mm, which means there is a size for every type of fish.

They also come in sinking, suspending, weedless and extra-fast sinking models, covering every possible fishing scenario you are likely to come across.

Some of these lures have clear bodies with glitter or blood-coloured dye in the their liquid filling.

They look amazing in the water and have to be seen to be believed. These exciting lipless lures are sure to be a big hit in Australia on a whole host of species over the coming season.

Large spinnerbaits and Chatterbaits will also give you a good chance of hooking into a cod on the cast.

Fishing the same areas with much smaller lures, like lipless cranks or hard-bodies smaller than 65mm will give you a better chance of hooking golden perch.

Night time will bring the best results again but just after the sun dips over the Snubba Range in the evenings is also a great time to be on the water.

Normally at this time of year I would report on how Mannus Lake has been fishing and how it should fish over the next month or so.

Mannus Lake does not exist any more.

The serious rain in October 2010 was too much for the old Mannus Dam wall and it gave way, letting all the water escape.

Such was the power of the creek at the time that it has destroyed the wall and the waterway has gone back to its original path.

This was a very sad day for those who enjoyed fishing the lake.

I wish I could inform you that there are plans to rebuild but no one really knows what the future holds for what was Mannus Lake.

At this stage the locals are rallying to try to get the dam wall rebuilt because the dam was very popular with the locals for year-round fishing and for water sports, picnics and camping in the warmer months.

The lake also drew quite a lot of tourists to the area.

Even though the locals are rallying, the local council has not made any decision.

The sooner someone steps up and decides, the better.

Now you see it… Mannus Lake in its former glory and what is left of it since the wall collapsed after heavy rain last October. The local council is undecided on its future.