Although the local rivers are still closed, Lake Eildon and the Pondage are both providing good early spring options for trout anglers. Bait, lures and flies have all been producing some quality fish for those prepared to brave the cold.

Mike Snoxell of Upper Ferntree Gully caught a trout of over 1kg on a worm suspended under a float just below the tailrace at Eildon Pondage. The next day he caught a nice pan-sized trout at the bottom of the Alliance Boat Ramp at the main wall on a piece of pink PowerBait.

The Pondage continues to receive good releases of trout, with some 5000 rainbow trout yearlings released recently. The larger rainbow trout are proving very elusive at the moment, as they are full of eggs and trying to spawn.

The brown trout on the other hand are being caught in good sizes and numbers. Baits of scrubworms and mudeyes fished around Nursery Corner have produced trout of 3-6 kg. A No.94 Tassie Devil has accounted for a nice 2.5kg brown trout. Pink Tassie Devils are also proving very productive on both the Pondage and Lake Eildon. Anglers fishing PowerBait in the rainbow and pink colours are getting the best results along Bourke Street and Riverside Drive, with the odd trout being caught on maggots.

For the flyfisher visiting the Pondage, the best flies of late have proved to be smelt patterns, especially olive woolly buggers.

Lake Eildon is also fishing quite well with a number of good catches reported. The most productive area for trout has been between Jerusalem Creek and the Big River Arm. Flatline trolling Tassie Devils is the most productive method, with fluoro pink the popular colour.

I’ve found over the years that August through to the end of September are great months for trolling for trout, especially with the rising water levels that should be the norm. Hopefully the heavens open up and give us the normal late winter and early spring dumpings of rain than we have seen the past few years.

A warning for boaters heading up the Big River Arm is that the Big River Bridge is not far under the water and could do a fair bit of damage to any boats not aware of its location, especially those travelling at high speeds.

Scrubworms are providing the best results for bait anglers in the Lake. A number of redfin around the 1.5kg mark have been caught around the Eildon Boat Harbour and the Eildon Boat Club, all on scrubworms. A 2.5kg golden perch was also caught around the Bolte Bay area on scrubworms.

The GT Hotel (Golden Trout Hotel) in Eildon is currently running the Eildon Winter Fishing Fest, which runs in conjunction with the closed river season. The GT Hotel is offering discount accommodation over this period, which runs up until the end of August. For further information contact the GT hotel on 03 5774 2508 or email --e-mail address hidden-- . If you’re already in the area, call into Bob’s Bar at the hotel to register.

If you have any reports from the Eildpon or Upper Golbourn areas that you would like to share with us, feel free to drop me an email at the address above. Photos are also welcome – you may get a mention in the next issue!

For further information about fishing around Eildon, call Wayne at Hooked on the Goulburn Fishing Tours (03 5772 2626).