Our local Strzelecki streams have been quite low over the past month, however some intermittent patches of rainy weather have salvaged what could have been some ordinary spring fishing.
As I mention nearly every month, our Strzelecki streams run low quite quickly, even after a fairly decent rain. For most of the month they have been extremely low and reduced to a series of pools every 100m, joined by a mere trickle of water barely deep enough to cover a size 12 mayfly nymph. In situations like this, anglers have had to resort to finding these deep holes, which usually occur on the bends of the river, and wait patiently to catch one or two trout before spooking the rest. Fishing a few days after the rain is a better idea, and will ensure that there is enough water to find good quantities of fish.
There were a couple of such occasions on Traralgon Creek over the past month, where the creek rose to a perfect fishing level and was slightly murky – great for stalking trout without spooking them. Brent Hayman and I had a great day just after such a rainy patch. We managed a dozen trout up to 35cm and lost even more. The soft plastic of the day was the Gulp 2.5” Minnow in emerald shiner colour. This plastic was deadly and out fished my all time favourite Power Minnow on this occasion. The Gulp plastics get absolutely smashed, especially as the plastic is descending. For this reason, using very light jig-heads ensures the plastic does not sink too fast.
The Morwell River has been fishing a bit slower than Traralgon Creek, and again it has been due to the low water levels. Using the same logic of fishing after rain can also make a trip to the Morwell more successful.
The Tanjil River has been exceptional over the past month. The western branch above Blue Rock Reservoir has been the place to go. Trout are plentiful and have been ranging from 25-40cm. The Tanjil usually has a healthy flow and you don’t often encounter the low water problems that you do in the Strzelecki streams. Lures such as Celtas and Vibrax spinners have been very successful, as have soft plastics. Flyfishing is very productive in this stream and at the moment. Small brown and hare’s ear nymphs have been good, as have small streamer patterns such as Mrs Simpsons and Tom Jones.
Blue Rock Reservoir has been fishing quite well also. Around the edges there have been good numbers of trout, yet they have been fussy on occasion. Early in he morning and during the evenings have been the best times. Slowly retrieving small minnow patterns or nymphs has been a successful technique. The Tassie Devils are getting the odd trout as well, yet I think a much lighter lure would work better when the trout are being fussy.
Now get ready guys: the big brownies should be starting to move upstream over the next month, so don’t miss out this year. Please try to release the bigger trout as they are spawning fish and produce many more eggs than smaller fish. If everyone keeps every big trout they catch, pretty soon there will be only small trout left.
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