Central Victoria continues to produce a bag of mixed results. Some systems have been producing well, while other locations have been quiet.

The fishing in the Loddon River has been very good in recent weeks. Water clarity is currently good from Newbridge right through the system downstream of Serpentine. The system has benefited immensely from the recent rainfall. The injection of fresh water has definitely produced an increase in fish activity.

The majority of captures are mainly golden perch, along with smaller numbers of Murray cod. Recently there have been reports of two large Murray cod that were caught by anglers bait fishing in the Loddon. Unfortunately the lucky anglers decided to kill these fish and remove them from the river. Another disappointing report is the number of fish that are being taken from the shallower sections of the Loddon at Newbridge and Serpentine. These small bodies of water cannot sustain a large amount of angling pressure, so I encourage anglers to minimise the number of fish they keep.

This season, increased numbers of anglers have been bait fishing in the Loddon River. Results have been good for those chasing the natives using yabbies and bardi grubs. Anglers chasing redfin using worms and gudgeon have also returned reasonable results.

Amongst the lure fishers, best results have been had by those casting and retrieving spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits. Phil Oliver from Bendigo spent 12 hours casting lures in the Loddon. He was rewarded with a quality 40cm golden perch that took a Jackall lure in Aussie shrimp colour. Phil had several other small redfin strike a chartreuse spinnerbait but failed to land them.

Successful fishing reports from Cairn Curran have been few and far between, with only a few small redfin and the occasional golden perch landed.

After the recent rainfall there was a significant amount of vegetation and manure washed into the reservoir. This produced a small fish kill, mainly of very small redfin, which died and were washed up around the edges of the lake.

Fishing conditions are still quite favourable at Lake Eppalock. The recent rainfall produced some small inflows, but the level is now starting to drop again. Boat launching is still good, but will become more difficult in the near future if we do not receive more rainfall. The lake is holding 5% of capacity.

Water clarity is currently good and lures can be seen several feet under the surface. The fishing in recent weeks has only been average, however, with a few golden perch being caught, mostly by anglers casting spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits around standing timber, or trolling small to medium-sized hard-bodied lures.

The productivity of bait fishing from the banks has continued to decline. Anglers fishing for redfin out of boats and concentrating their efforts in the deeper water have reported best results.

The fishing in the Campaspe River has been very disappointing. Water clarity is still very poor. The recent heavy rainfall has washed large amounts of vegetation into the system. The river is very discoloured and currently looks black.

This quality golden perch was caught by casting lures in the Loddon River at Bridgewater.