The Kiewa and surrounds has seen slightly better trout fishing during the spring months than the Ovens Valley, so the summer trout forecast is a little better up in this cooler far North East corner of the state.

The Kiewa River has produced a few lovely trout during spring. Brenton Richardson and a few of his mates have reported that the numbers are down on recent years, but the average size of fish is up, and unlike a lot of streams in the region the Kiewa has been ticking over steadily. During December the Kiewa River should continue to fish quite well, with the anglers that are willing to put in the hard yards being the most likely to get the best results.

The best fishing will be close to Mt Beauty where the water is coolest. The further downstream you go the less trout there are in the river, and downstream of Dederang the Kiewa is not really worth fishing for trout. They are there, but not in big numbers.

As the Kiewa River still has a decent flow each year in December, try using bladed spinners such as Celtas and Super Vibrax with metallic blades. Small minnows can also work well in the Kiewa. I like the suspending minnows as you can pause them and they will not float or sink. This can often turn a follow into a strike from a wary trout.

As everything warms up in December, one area that I just love to head is Falls Creek where I fish Rocky Valley Dam and Pretty Valley Dam. Pretty Valley is the smaller and shallower of the two lakes, but also seems to have the bigger trout. Rocky Valley is reasonably large and deep, but has a lot more smaller trout. I have only ever caught brown trout in either of the dams up there, however as I type this article there is a rumour floating around that Chinook salmon might be stocked in Rocky Valley dam in November which will give anglers something to look forward to.

Both of these lakes are above the tree line at an altitude of around 1500-1600m above sea level, so a hot summer day of 35C in the valleys may only peak at 23C up there, so make sure you pack plenty of warm clothes as the weather in the mountains is subject to change without notice. Try using small minnow type lures in either of the lakes, or if you can get your hands on them, try bait fishing with mudeyes suspended underneath a float. This is a dynamite technique in the high country, especially Pretty Valley as it has a lot more aquatic weed and grassy vegetation around the edges.

The yellowbelly should still be on the chew in Lake Hume in December, especially early December. December is the time of year when the schools of yellowbelly begin to break up and the yellowbelly swim off to start feeding in solidarity again. So in December if targeting yellowbelly you can expect more regular catches, but not huge numbers like you get in October/November when you can find big schools of fish.

Murray cod season opens on December 1, and the best place to head in this area is the lower reaches of the Kiewa River from Kergunyah downstream to its junction with the Murray River at Doctors Point. The Kiewa is a fast flowing river, even in its lower reaches, so if wading or kayaking, just be very careful. The Mitta Mitta River also gets stocked annually with Murray Cod at pigs point. I am not exactly sure how successful this has been as I do not know a lot of people that fish this river for cod, but I have heard the odd report, and I have heard a few reports of some very big cod in the deeper holes in the lower reaches of the Mitta Mitta River, so it may be somewhere to explore if you're thinking about trying somewhere new!