We have been experiencing some very cold weather in the Bendigo region lately.

This has seen a rapid drop in water temperatures, and also a rapid drop in the amount of anglers who are willing to brave the cold weather. For those anglers who have been putting the time in they are being rewarded with some quality fish.

Lake Eppalock is still currently at 97% of capacity. It is terrific to see water levels so high at this time of the year. The high stable water levels are definitely helping the fishing in the lake.

The fishing is usually very slow at this time of the year but this season we have seen different conditions so the redfin fishing continues to be very good. I believe it will continue to be good at this location.

The best concentrations of redfin can be found in depths of 3m. The schools of redfin are currently hard to find and anglers should be prepared to move around a number of times until a good school can be located.

Many forms of lure fishing continue to be productive on the redfin such as jigging ice jigs, soft plastics and Mask Vibs. Good results are being produced by anglers casting lipless crankbaits and blades and soft plastics. Trolling small hardbodied lures have also been producing numbers of redfin.

I have slowed my retrieval speed lately as this has been more productive. The majority of redfin are now also being caught closer to the bottom. When the water temperatures were warmer most of these species were being caught higher in the water column.

The golden perch fishing continues to be poor. This will remain the case until the spring months when we start to see an increase in the amount of activity. Hopefully we may see small numbers of the golden perch from the 2010 stocking starting to be caught by anglers.

The fishing for Murray cod and golden perch has been slow in the Campaspe River, but the redfin fishing has been average. There are not large numbers of redfin being caught in the river but small numbers of quality specimens are being recorded by anglers.

Redfin weighing up to 1kg have been caught in both the Elmore and Rochester sections of the river. Casting bladed spinners and lipless crankbaits around the edges of the weed beds have produced small numbers of quality fish. Water clarity is currently good.

At this stage water clarity is average at Cairn Curran and the fishing has been slower than anticipated. There are still average numbers of redfin being caught and anglers have been struggling to find the better quality specimens. The majority of redfin are being caught in depths of 3-4m. Hopefully we should start to see some larger redfin being caught shortly.

The fishing in the Loddon River has been slow. Unfortunately after doing my last report stating that the water clarity was improving at Bridgewater there was a dirty flush let out of Laanecoorie. This has produced deterioration in the water clarity along the river.

Water clarity is better in the section of the Loddon between Bridgewater and Serpentine at the moment. There have been small numbers of golden perch and the occasional Murray cod being caught. Anglers must be prepared to put in many cast for few opportunities at this time of the year.

For those anglers walking the banks the best results have been by anglers casting spinnerbaits and medium-sized hardbodied lures. Hopefully we might start to see the water clarity improve in the Loddon River above Bridgewater shortly.

This section usually produces small numbers of quality redfin and some good-sized golden perch over the coldest months.

If water clarity stays poor then bait fishing will be angler’s best option.

There are currently low numbers of golden perch being caught in the Bendigo region.