If there is one month on the trout fishing calendar that I look forward to, it is September.

This is the best month to fish lures around the shores of Great lake, Lake Echo and Arthurs Lake, the start of some very reliable sight fishing in shallow water and more often than not, some warm weather.

The one constant in September though is the wind. September is probably the windiest month on the calendar, (and that is saying something), but this brings opportunities as well as some problems.

Arthurs Lake presents a wide range of opportunities in September. Flat line trollers start to increase their catch rates, especially if they set their lures back a long way. Lure casters really build up consistent numbers of fat little fish, especially by fishing soft plastics over deep weed beds around the trees in Creely Bay, the drop offs around Hydro Bay and the rocky shores around the islands in the Morass.

The best bet for soft plastics is the ever-reliable Berkley T Tail and the new Strike Tiger Hawk, both in black and gold. Adjust your jig head weight according to the wind – light wind, light weight, heavy wind, heavy weight. This allows you to still get to the fish zone on windy days.

It is worth noting that Arthurs is full of smaller fish at the moment. This isn’t that unusual, as Arthurs always goes through cycles of small fish in line with wet winters. Don’t get too wound up by the smaller fish, just eat them. They are as good an eating trout as you will find, so if you catch your limit of 12 don’t feel bad, just eat them.

Great Lake is the lure casters Mecca in September. As with all the winter months, any shore that has had the wind blowing onto it for two days or more will be loaded with fish, right on the shore. Drift with the wind and cast your lures right onto the brick work. Work the lure out of the shallows briskly, but let it sink as soon as the lure gets into 1m of water – there will be plenty of fish sitting there waiting for a feast.

The best lures are the same as Arthurs, but for the shore fishers add in a mix of Tassie Devils and Ashley Spinners.

As the lake continues to get lower, it does become challenging to get reasonable sized boats onto the water. Ramps at Brandums and Tods do get a bit shallow, and Cramps Bay has been quite muddy at low levels. The most reliable spots are Swan Bay (which is also quite shallow) and the gravel ramp at Boundary Bay. If in doubt use Boundary Bay, but it is a bit of an exposed run across to the prime areas such as the bays between the dam wall and Tods Corner.

The trout in Great Lake are as good as I’ve seen them in a long time, fat and two pounds, which is a prime sportsfish and good on the table as well.