The river has been running high and dirty around Mildura for the past couple of months, making lure fishing very difficult in the main parts. Fortunately though, the rising water levels and flows are starting to reside which means a drop in levels hopefully by Christmas.

Yellowbelly are on the chew around Mildura in most parts mainly due to the warmer water temperatures. As the sun continues to shine, more and more of these fish will be caught below the locks and weir structures. It is not unusual to see yellowbelly activity at a high this time of year, but the ‘larger’ river has meant good breeding, which means we are set for a bumper yellowbelly summer.

Fishing with bait around most places near Mildura has been the best way to pick up a yella or two lately. Baits that are working the best are shrimp and worms. Even though live shrimp are still difficult to find, the warmer weather should bring them out as the season goes on. It’s great to be able to take the family down the river for a few hours on a weekend and bag a few yellas and have some fun catching carp on light gear.

Backwaters have been producing some good yellas, particularly around snag piles and in eddy currents. A well-cast lipless crankbait or small hardbody has seen a bag of yellas caught in no time at all lately. Tying up to a snag to throw lures into the bank and slowly retrieve is also a good method.

Murray cod season will once again be open very soon. However, up to the very last day in August very few cod were caught on lures. The handful of reports made has been for the smaller models caught on baits, such as grubs and yabbies. Hopefully once the water starts to fall back into its banks, after cod season opens in December, we should see a cracker of a season to come.

Spring means warmer weather, which will bring the yellowbelly out around Mildura’s hotspots. Summer is a great time for targeting yellowbelly too, on bait or lures.

Redfin should also come on the bite and are fun to catch on light gear using soft plastics and blades.

Most anglers around Mildura will be waiting for summer when the cod season to officially opens again. By then, waters should be back in their banks and we should see a Murray cod season like no other.

This summer should also be a cracker for surface fishing, especially in the shallow waters of local billabongs and creeks. Fly casting is a great method of surface fishing as you can present really small lures in hard to get spots.