It is very hard to believe that in April the Lake is still rising and approaching 85% of capacity.

Downstream irrigation channels and basins are full and have not required any releases from Lake Eildon in to the Goulburn.

This has made conditions tough at the lake to say the least, with fishing being quite slow, the saviour has been old mate redfin going bonkers and eating anything you put in front of them.

Mostly the afternoons have been best and I wouldn’t waste my time fishing in the mornings until the weather cools down a fair bit.

It is understandable that the fish are confused (particularly the trout) with the level going from 68% in November to 83% in April, as in any normal year it would have dropped from 68% to around 40% mark in the same period of time. I am hoping that this leads us to an amazing fishing season from late April to June before the trout go off to spawn.

Having never seen or been around the area when conditions have been like this so I guess we will have to wait and see.

On the native side of things it has been encouraging to see the fish slowly coming back on the chew towards the end of March. Local fisheries officer Stephen Vidler has been doing quite well catching dozens upon dozens of quality redfin perch as well as a few nice natives to boot.

I have also heard reports of massive cod up to and over a metre long following spinner baits to the surface but not hitting them. This could be a sign of things to come going into April and May.

The Goulburn is still fishing well considering it is usually running a lot tighter at this time of year. The fly boys have been having the most success fishing the edges.

The Acheron River is really starting to clean up now and hopefully will be back to itself in the next season.

The Rubicon is still going strong and clean and very productive. If you haven’t fished it, you should: put it on your list of must do’s.

The level of the pond has been a lot higher of late which is great.

It may be just a coincidence but I hope AGL have listened to us regarding the potential damage hot water temperatures released into the river can cause.

On the bright side the pond has been producing fish up to 3.5kg: Berkley Powerbait is best in pink.