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The great fishing continues
  |  First Published: April 2012



In my opinion April is probably the most productive month of all going by my fishing diary entries over the last few years.

Along with the great fishing we have been enjoying, the yabbying at many local swamps, lakes and waterholes has also been the best we have seen for many years. There is no shortage of great yabbying swamps all over the Wimmera and most have good public access. The family and I have been enjoying great yabbying at some of the many swamps in the Toolondo area.

Wimmera River

The river has been a very popular place to be fishing lately but the only problem is it is pretty much carp central here this year. I have never seen so many carp of all sizes in the river, ever! On the really hot days you can often see large schools of carp swimming along the surface, they have really taken over many of our waterways.

Amongst all the carp, some nice yellowbelly to 2kg, catfish and a few redfin are getting caught at areas such as the big water, riverside, Horsham weir and at Quantong. I have been fishing the excellent stretch of river between Wail and Dimboola and there has been some very nice yellowbelly about lately to 1.5kg along with the occasional catfish to a kilo. The best fishing is in the evenings and right on sunset is when we have been getting most of our better yellowbelly.

The best bait has been small yabbies as the carp aren’t as attracted to them as worms. The water has still been a little too dirty for good lure fishing.

Natimuk Lake

This lake has been one of my favourite places to go this year with the excellent rainbow trout fishing on offer. These trout are now around 1kg and are being caught by all methods. I have found flyfishing to be working very well for me with the trout fairly easy to catch on my old favourite the Mrs Simpson fished slowly in the evenings. Bait fishing with mudeye under a bubble float is also working very well. A few redfin to 500g, carp and a few catfish are also being caught here as well.

Rocklands reservoir

The great redfin fishing continues here with good numbers of fish ranging in size from tiny up to 2kg being taken by all methods. The average size reddie here at present is around the 400-600g size range. The most popular way to catch them has been by trolling deep divers or jigging ice jigs and vibes around the timber. A few nice trout to 1.5kg have also been taken along with carp of all sizes.

Most of the lake has been producing good fishing but the wall end to Brodies has been the most popular area whether fishing from the shore or from a boat. The yabbying here has also been good after dark in the deeper water.

Lake Fyans

The fishing is starting to fire up here again and this is one of the better times of year to be fishing here for sure. The large trophy trout that made this lake famous back in its heyday may just be making something of a comeback with two very large browns caught here last week. The first one was a beaut brown right on 4kg and then the next night I heard of a confirmed 5kg brown. Both these trout were caught on fly and around sunset after a stinking hot day.

The usual size browns and rainbows around the 1-2kg size have been biting well and taking baits of mudeye, Powerbait with trolling and flyfishing working well also. There has also been plenty of redfin about as well and they are getting caught by trout fishers or using small yabbies, gudgeon or worms on the bottom. Most of the reddies have been around the 300-600g size with the odd bigger one to 1.5kg.

Lake Wartook

This lake has been very popular and the fishing has really come alive here over the last few weeks with excellent redfin and trout being taken by all methods. Most anglers have been doing well by simply trolling lures such as Stumpjumpers, Rapala minnows and Tassie Devils all over the lake. Casting vibes and plastics around the weed beds has also been working very well. Most of the redfin have been small but there has been a few better ones around the kilo mark taken lately. Most of the trout have been around the kilo mark with the odd bigger brown to 2kg.

I have also heard a few reports of some good catches of big black yabbies being taken here after dark as well.

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