This is a great time of year to be fishing around these parts with all species biting well and the autumn Wimmera weather is terrific too.

Whether you are into natives or trout and redfin there will be good fishing to be found at the majority of our waters which also still holding excellent water levels which is a real bonus.

There has been a few nice yellowbelly to 2.5kg and catfish around 1kg being caught at areas such as the big water, Riverside, lower Norton and at Dimboola but only the very occasional decent fish is being taken around the Horsham area of river as the huge carp over-population continues.

Most anglers are opting for bait fishing at the moment due to heavily discoloured water and baits such as worms, yabbies and peeled yabby tail are working well with the evenings and after dark producing the best fishing. I have been fishing the river mostly around Horsham lately but most of my catches have been made up of carp of all sizes: it is amazing how many carp are present in the river this year.

I have managed to catch a few catfish to 1kg and the occasional yellowbelly and silver perch but it has been pretty slow going for the better fish.

This great little lake continues to be very popular, with excellent numbers of rainbow trout up to 1kg being taken by all methods. I have been taking my three boys fishing here a lot lately and they have been having a great time catching a number of rainbows on baits such as worms, Powerbait and mudeye, along with the occasional redfin. The flyfishing has also been very good here lately with small wets such as Mrs Simpson, Tom Jones and mudeye patterns worked in the evenings and after dark doing the trick pretty easily.

The great thing about this lake is it has excellent shore access right around the lake, safe beaches and three good boat ramps and excellent facilities.

This time of year the redfin fishing here is generally at its best and this year with excellent water levels and fish stocks, this lake has been very popular. Good redfin to 1.8kg but averaging about 400-900g are being taken by all methods but trolling deep divers has been the most successful way to fish here. The best lures have been Rapala Shad Raps, Stumpjumpers and Tilsan minnows. Once a school of fish is found, drifting over the school and casting soft plastics or vibes has also been working well.

A few brown and rainbow trout to 1.5kg are also being caught here along with many carp, mostly on worms fished from the shore near the wall area.

The trout fishing has been excellent here with trout averaging around 1-1.5kg being taken along with the occasional bigger trout to 2.5kg. All methods are working, but flyfishing with wets after dark or fishing mudeye under bubble floats has been producing the better catches.

Redfin anglers have been doing well here, mostly by bait fishing with gudgeon, yabbies and worms. Ice jigs, soft plastics and vibe lures have also been producing good catches of reddies which have been averaging around the 400g-1kg size range.

The redfin are still a little slow here but when you do get onto them they have been of a good average size with some well over 1kg. Trolling diving lures has been ok but drifting with baits such as yabbies or gudgeon on the bottom has been working a lot better. The yabbies are sill a bit slow here during the day but after dark good catches have been made out in the deeper water.

The good surf fishing continues over here with the area between the 32 mile crossing right up to Ti Tree fishing very well, mostly on the rising tide and on a full or new moon. A number of school mulloway around 50-80cm are being caught with the occasional larger fish to 10kg being taken by a few lucky anglers. There has also been numerous bust-offs by some very large fish here lately.

Some nice sharks are also being caught with gummies, bronze whalers and school sharks being taken mostly after dark on fish fillet baits. There are some very large bronzies about here at present and they are a real challenge to land due to their sheer size and fighting abilities. Other species on offer here at the moment include salmon, snapper, flathead and elephant fish.

The best baits for me have been fresh squid followed by salmon or mullet fillets. Pilchards, garfish and octopus has also been working well.

The author’s three boys have been having a great time lately catching rainbow trout at Natimuk Lake.