The weather continues to warm up as the days lengthen and the fishing continues to improve.

There is still a lot of snow on the higher mountains and it is gradually melting into our rivers. We have had rain over the past month but not enough to cause any flooding. Midges are showing up on our rivers more often now and there are a few beetles to be seen but they are not in any numbers yet. Over the next month we should see a lot of beetles and there will be the odd mayfly starting to appear.

The Mitta River is in great condition and fishing well. Above its junction with the Bundara River the fishing has been very good particularly for the spin fisher although the fly boys are getting their share of trout fishing deep with weighted nymphs. I have not seen any bait fishing when I have been up there but I am sure that there would not be many trout that would refuse a worm at this time of the year. Most of the browns are still recovering from the cold winter conditions and starting to put on weight, which they will do quite quickly over the next few months.

The lower Mitta River around the Hinnomunjie area is fishing fairly well with similar sized fish to higher up. The water has been slightly discoloured on a couple of occasions due to rain in the area. The Dog Fence is always a good spot to try for the bait angler and some really big fish have been taken from this spot on a humble worm fished on the bottom of this big deep pool.

The Gibbo River is fishing really well. Most of the fish are rainbows but there are a few browns showing up as well. Dartmouth Dam continues to rise and is now inundating the grassy flat. Some good bags of trout are also being reported in the Buemba River which is a tributary of the Gibbo.

Both the Cobungra and Bundara rivers are flowing nicely and both are fishing well. Most of the trout are small browns up to 500g. It is a similar story in Livingston Creek. The upper section is in great shape and the fishing is good. A few fish are also being taken in the lower section below the township of Omeo. The lower end of Middle Creek is also fishing well.

Near Buchan, the Timbara River has been hammered by winter rain and floods and the course of the river has changed in several places in the settlement area. These events do not seem to have affected the fishing as plenty of the usual sized small browns have been taken over the past month. The road into the Timbara River has recently been closed due to a tree blowing over it, however it has now been cleaned up and it's all systems go again.

I recently fished the Wonnangatta and the Wongongara rivers near Dargo. These are often good rivers during the spring and early summer but they tend to warm up during summer and the fishing usually deteriorates. I did not catch a fish in either of these rivers however they were running a little high, which I blame for my lack of success.

I did speak to a local and he informed me that there had not been much fishing done at that stage but he had seen a couple of fish taken on bait. This is an area worth exploring. There are many trout rivers within a 1/2 hour drive of Dargo and some of them produce good sized fish. Many of the rivers are accessible by conventional motor vehicles but a 4 wheel drive is necessary for some of the rivers.

November should see the fishing really pick up and start to reach its peak for the year. All the aforementioned rivers should continue to fish well to all forms of fishing.