It’s now time to pack away the cod gear and shift our focus onto chasing local yellowbelly.

Our area has many different options for targeting yellowbelly as we wait for the warming of the water.

After many quiet years I believe Kialla Lakes will be bounce back. Lakes 2 and 3 very rarely get fished and it would not surprise me if there were some thumping yellas caught during the coming months.

When fishing the lakes I try to fish as close to the weeds as possible as the reeds are pretty much the only structure in the lakes for the fish.

Slow rolling plastics, Jackalls and spinnerbaits seem to be the most affective method when fishing the lakes. The bottom of the lakes are very flat and with not much to get snagged on it’s not as risky to fish as slow as possible.

If you’re not into fishing Kialla or Shepparton lakes for yellowbelly, the Broken and Goulburn rivers produce good quality fish during September. If you can get your hands onto some early season shrimp or yabbies you will be heading in the right direction.

In past seasons the fishing 500m either side of the Broken and Goulburn junctions has been very productive, and I would assume the fishing in this area would yet again be productive. Just make sure you concentrate on your rods as there is a lot of snags in this area and you have to make sure you set the hooks and turn the fishes head early or you will find yourself deep into the timber.

The lake has seemed to drop off in past months with the stocked trout numbers dwindling. It’s a shame as the lake was a great location for anglers of all skill levels to try and land a fish. Early mornings and sunset was the most productive times where you would see dozens of trout rises every 5-10 minutes.

At the time of writing the basin was still very low and it was proving very difficult to locate good sized schools of redfin.

There are still reports of some thumping fish being caught but its been a lot tougher than past months.

Warren Hicks with a beautiful yellowbelly; now is the time to have a crack at them.