Most Wimmera waters are very lower and are going to get even lower unless some decent rain arrives. Nevertheless there has been some good fishing for persistent anglers.

The fishing has started to fire up in the Wimmera River, with some good golden perch, silver perch, redfin and a few Murray cod being taken. The best fishing has been around Riverside and the Big Water, with most anglers doing well casting spinnerbaits at the snags.

A big golden estimated at 5.5kg was caught and released at the Big Water last week on a StumpJumper lure, and a few Murray cod of 50-60cm have also been showing up.

At Riverside silver perch, golden perch and redfin are taking Ondex and Hogback spinners, while baitfishing with worms and yabbies has also been successful.

There has been some good redfin and a few goldens taken in the stretch between Horsham Weir and the rifle range for those prepared to walk and cast lures at the snags.

Above the Weir the fishing has been quiet, but is likely to fire up soon.

The water is now very low in Taylor Lake, probably 2m at its deepest. Most fishing has been from the shore but has been very frustrating, with weed and slime constantly fouling baits and lures. In spots where the weed isn’t too bad, the redfin fishing has beisen reasonable, with gudgeon or worms on a paternoster rig the best way to go. A few golden perch and carp are also being caught.

For anglers wanting to target Murray cod and golden perch in Taylor Lake, I suggest casting lures and spinnerbaits from a small boat around any snaggy areas. The water is a lot clearer than usual and there are some very big Murray cod in here that are seldom targeted by locals.

The redfin and trout fishing is good in Lake Bellfield, with trolling lures from small electric motor powered boats producing the best results. The redfin are 300-600g, while rainbow trout have been taken to 1.5kg.

The best lures have been small Rapala Minnows, StumpJumpers and Tassie Devils. Drifting with gudgeon and yabbies has also been working well on the reddies.

Be very careful here on a rough day, it is easy to get into trouble when you only have electric power to get you to shore.

The shore-based fishing has been good in the mornings and evenings, with all methods producing trout and redfin.

I recently took a nice rainbow and many small redfin from the shore at the boat launching area on a Rapala CD5 lure in brown trout pattern. On this particular day the fish were chasing minnows right along the shoreline.

The redfin fishing in Lake Fyans has been good over the last few weeks, with fish to 2kg being taken by anglers trolling from small boats. Odd trout to 2.3kg have also been taken. Small minnow lures and Ondex spinners have been working well, but the weed is a problem in some areas. Drifting with gudgeon and yabbies is also producing a few redfin.

The annual flyfishing competition attracted many anglers, but although not many trout were caught they were of a good size, with the best fish being 2.5kg. Keen Lake Fyans angler Bruce James caught a ripper 2.3kg brown trout on his ever-reliable Woolly Bugger, as well as a nice redfin on the fly to win the redfin section.