Last month I said August was going to be a good month of fishing, and I wasn’t wrong!

Even though the species I thought would really fire was the trout, the big surprise was the aggression of the Murray cod, which was great to see them so active in water temperatures around 10ºC.

It seems to be an odd season for fishing as a whole. With huge numbers of snapper still running in Port Phillip Bay and water temp’s at 9ºC, not to mention the large numbers of whiting as well, it just seems that everywhere you turn people are scratching their heads trying to work out what’s going on. I don’t think anyone truly knows why it’s happening, but my advice is enjoy it while you can because it might not be the same next year.

Lately, I have heard of three cod on the 1m+ mark in a period of just two weeks. Usually we only see one or two a year, so Lake Eildon is simply going from strength to strength.

It was great to be out on the water and meet Darryl Green whose 1m (50lb) fish was a PB and a prized trophy. To say he was very happy would be an understatement. Darryl was trolling one of his favourite rock walls with a purple Predatek Boomerang Deep Diver when it was smashed by this stonker of a cod. He did a great job with just 15lb leader, well done mate.

Another strange catch was hooked by local Cameron Webb. He was casting a spinnerbait at a rock wall and he overshot it and hit the wall on the full. As it hit the water it was smashed by a 7lb yellowbelly! It’s very strange for a yella to be on the surface in 9.5ºC water temp.

The trout are also firing up the lake with numerous reports of browns being caught all over the lake right up to 5lb or 6lb.

The million dollar question is what’s September going to give us? Probably the same as August. Fish to your strengths and I’m sure you will produce the goods.

And of course the reddies are still eating. Local fella Wazza Gale and his daughter Montana had a great little session producing a decent feed of fillets. Great to see a dad and his little girl having a flick.

I didn’t forget that it was trout opening. However, it is going to be a tough opening this year with the Goulburn River releasing whatever comes into the lake; anywhere from 2000mL to 9000mL a day. Generally the flows need to be consistent for a week or so for the fish to really come on in a big way.

At the same time the Pondage is also up and down like a yo yo, so good luck and enjoy the start of the trout season.

Local angler Ben Dean is opening a tackle store in Yea called Muddy Creek Fishing & Outdoors, opening for the start of the trout season. It’s located at 1/10 High Street, Yea.