It is a pretty easy report to write this month – the fishing in East Gippsland is great. Due to a good spring with regular rain, all our rivers are flowing well and are holding good numbers of fish.

The water temperatures are just perfect, and there are plenty of bugs around. Caddis are skating on the pools of an evening, beetles are in the trees, and there are enough mayflies fluttering around to arouse the interest of the trout.

The upper Mitta Mitta River is in great shape. Brown trout are being caught to 1kg. The fish have fed well during spring and early summer and are in great condition. John Rumph caught a nice 1kg brown just upstream of the Bundarra River junction. He was flyfishing and using weighted nymphs.

The CMA and Parks Victoria have been working on reducing broom for the past three years, and they have sprayed the broom and blackberries along the bank. As a result, access is greatly improved and grass is growing in its place. This is also beneficial to the trout, as grasshoppers have flourished in the grass.

Around the Dog Fence area, fishing has also been good, again with a lot of fish up to 1kg. All forms of fishing are working here. It is a particularly good spot to fish with a worm, but spin and fly fishers are also doing well.

I had half an hour to kill recently and fished the Bundarra River. I caught three browns and lost another. They ranged from small up to 700g. The river is flowing beautifully and all forms of fishing are working well. The same applies to the Cobungra River.

The Gibbo River is really on fire. Trevor Gordon recently fished here for 35 fish up to 700g. John Murray also caught plenty of a similar size. Most of the fish are small rainbows, but there is a fair smattering of larger rainbows and a few solid browns mixed into the equation. Trevor was going crook, as every time his fly hit the water a small rainbow would take it before a better size fish had a chance. Poor boy!

The one exception to the good fishing has been the Livingstone Creek. This productive little waterway is running very dirty and is currently unfishable. I am guessing the there is a slip somewhere upstream causing lots of silt and soil to be washed downstream. Hopefully by January the river will have returned to its normally clear state.

Another river worth fishing at the moment is the Delegate. Good hatches of mayflies and caddis are occurring and it will not be long before the grasshoppers appear. The Pinch River has also been fishing well, however the water is now starting to drop and warm up a little. As summer progresses, fishing will probably deteriorate. Vehicle access to the Pinch River is limited to the lower section, so walking is necessary to access most of the fishable section.

Over the next month I would suggest that anglers concentrate on the Mitta River and its tributaries including the Bundarra River, Cobungra River, Gibbo River and also keep an eye on Livingston Creek. It should fish well when it clears.