We were expecting big things this year on the mulloway front but in truth it has been a bit disappointing.

I am hearing of good-sized fish being caught on a daily basis but not in the mind-numbing numbers we have become accustomed to. The fish are really spread out but the most consistent section of river has been from Dry Creek right on the SA/Vic border through to Sapling Creek. Fresh bait is the key, if you have access to blood or spew worm it would well worth a couple of hours to optimise your trip. Fresh or freshly frozen squid works well, and bring a bait pump to get some pod-worm from the sand bar down in the estuary of the Glenelg and then use the worms to catch good fresh mullet to troll for the mulloway.

Bream are the staple species in the river as the Glenelg is one of Victoria’s best breeding systems; we have a permanent problem of juvenile bream. Every time you go for a fish you will have to fight your way through the smaller bream. Persistence is the key, move around heaps and try different spots, techniques, baits and or lures.

Probably unknown waters to 50% of anglers that fish the Glenelg is the section above Moleside Creek (52.5 km): well worth a sniff at present. The guys that fish this part of the Glenelg have been having a ball way up past the park boundary (62.2 km). This section is quite snaggy and the river isn’t as wide as the lower sections, in fact if you only know the lower areas of the Glenelg you would think you were fishing another river.

Best baits in this area are crab, yabbies, whitebait, and scrub worm. Also try hardbodied lures and worm style plastics. You can potentially catch bream, perch, blackfish, eel, callop, brown and rainbow trout in this area. Because we haven’t had huge summer rains this year and the river had such a good flush out over winter this ‘up-river’ section has been prolific; probably the best it has fished for a decade.

Be careful up around and past the park boundary, as there are plenty of snags to chip your prop. Give yourself a good day or two to explore it and let me know how you go. Email us on --e-mail address hidden--

Perch have been the standout so far this year. Once a rarity and only caught by a handful of specialist anglers, the increase in population and amount caught is quite phenomenal. At present there are perch being caught from the bridge area right up and beyond Dartmoor. Try around fallen logs, over hanging branches or any other structure you can see on or below the surface.

Shallow mudflats that drop off into deeper water are also worth a flick with a bibbed lure. Let it bounce along the bottom and try a moderate retrieve speed with a slight pause then crank the lure again. For the canoe and kayak angler the section of river above the Pines Landing is a Mecca of structure. It’s some 60km upstream but only 20 minutes by road from Nelson.

I highly recommend this area especially over the next few months and certainly before we get some decent rains. You can fish this area for perch, bream, blackfish, eels, rainbow and brown trout at present.

For any other information call us at the Nelson Hotel on 08 87384011.

Wayne Friebe with a lure-caught school mulloway in the Glenelg River caught whilst trying to find some bream. Photo courtesy wayne Friebe.