If you’re after that trophy golden perch of a lifetime then Blowering Dam this month is probably going to provide the best chance you’re going to get all year.

The oversized golden perch that Blowering is famous for tend to be aggressive in October and it is common to have several other fish follow your fish while you are fighting it to the net.

These sorts of encounters can get anyone excited but when you see several 5kg to 9kg fish following in your fish, even seasoned pros can carry on like kids in a lolly shop.

All of the big goldens will be spawning this month, which makes them aggressive and more susceptible to taking lures than bait.

They don’t eat that much while they attempt to spawn but the males will smash other males to try to keep the best position behind a female. Any lure that resembles another golden perch tends to get hit out of aggression.

Bait will catch the odd fish that decides to have a feed but this doesn’t happen often this month, so stick to the lures for your best chances of hooking into a few XOS goldens.

At this time of the year I generally target the goldens at first light, in the middle of the day (particularly if it is overcast or windy) and I also get good results fishing the last hour of light in the day. Night sessions have also proved rewarding over the years.

In between targeting the golden perch I like to break the day up by harassing the redfin schools.

At this time of year some small schools can be found in the shallows but the majority of fish, especially the big ones, are still sitting out in fairly deep water and are best targeted with jigs, plastics, vibes or lipless crankbaits.

If the redfin are fairly quiet I generally go back to the golden perch but if the reddies are running hot, which is more often the case, I find it hard to drag myself away from them.

It always pays to have a back-up plan in case your target species won’t play the game. Chasing those redfin makes good sense because these fish bite more freely than any other freshwater fish.

I have had days at Blowering when we targeted goldens for most of the day for no reward and then decided to give the redfin a quick hit before we left. We ended up with more fish than you can fit into your esky.

It appears as though work on rebuilding the dam to Mannus Lake is not too far off. The dam was destroyed in flooding early this year.

The local council has received the funding it needs for the rebuild and they recently had a town meeting so that locals could put forward opinions and ideas.

I believe there will be some form of fish ladder in the rebuild this time, which will help spawning efforts from natives and increase chances of natural recruitment of fish.

When the rebuild is taking place hasn’t been made clear just yet but the ball is at least rolling.

Burrinjuck Dam will host the fourth and final round of the Jackall Bros Australian Yellowbelly Championships on October 22 and 23.

This tournament will give anglers a last chance to qualify for the grand final at Lake Windamere in late November.

Last year 30 teams competed but more are expected this year. You can enter up to the Friday before the competition. Visit www.yellowbellychampionships.com for more info.

The new trout season on creeks and rivers opens on October 1. It has been a long wait for those who only fish the running water and a lot of these anglers will be out catching up on their trout fix.

All the creeks in the area have flowed high and fast for well over a year and if last season is anything to go by, we can expect massive numbers of even larger fish.

The Tumut River fished well last year and the first few weeks of the season always fish really well, no matter your preferred technique.