Back in 2010 after a reasonable flood hit Wagga, there was a huge amount of talk that the fishing in the following few years would be sensational.

In 2012 as we started to reap the benefits of the 2010 flood we were smashed again by one of the biggest floods in the region’s history and the talk began to circulate again.

The past few months have given us a pretty good indication of the positive impacts of the flood on fishing in the local rivers and streams.

Despite some annoying water releases from the dams upstream, the fishing has remained consistent for almost four months.

Prior to the floods the majority of native fish caught were well undersize, with very few exceeding the legal size. Now most anglers would be disappointed if they didn’t land at least two or three cod over 60cm each trip.

Casting and bait fishing have been the pick of the techniques recently.

Spinnerbaits have been the choice for many fishos and a variety of colours have taken fish. Darker hues like red/black and purple/black have been consistent but so have some brighter options in white and orange.

The trick is to find slack water close to the edges and pepper those spots with. Hardbodies like the 70mm AC Invader cast downstream and worked really slowly against the current along the outside of heavy structure will also produce.

While worms, grubs and yabbies hold their own, cheese bait just seems to be the most consistent producer. Look for slack water away from the strong current.

Let’s hope March brings cooler lake water to encourage the fish to be more active through the day. Recent stinking-hot days shut down the fish and very early morning and late evening seemed to be the only times to fish.

Unless you fished after dark you really only had 3-5 hours of good fishing each day.

Bait dominated catches and tempted shut-down fish. Bait fishing will improve from now until the late Autumn spawning run, with PowerBait, grubs and scrub worms working well.

Trolling and casting have been up and down with mornings and evenings the successful times. Getting lures down deep has been a key, meaning leadline or downriggers for trollers.

Casters should fish medium to deep water with sinking lures. Soft plastics allow the angler to fish slow and deep. Sinking minnows, winged lures and in-line spinners will also work fished as slow as possible.

We will start to see some aggressive on the lead-up to the spawning run as they start to put on condition in preparation for this taxing event. ‘Aggression’ colours like orange, pink and red will come into their own towards the end of March.

Fly-fishing should start to pick up as the temps drop. Late afternoons and evening will always produce with mudeye patterns.

Be prepared for things to really pick over the next few weeks with Woolly Buggers, bead-head nymphs, Craig’s Nighttimes and Fuzzy Wuzzies the flies of choice.

Top locations include Braemar Bay, Rushy Plains Bay, Frying Pan and Buckenderra.