The recent cold weather in the region has already had an effect and we are starting to see a reduction in anglers catch rates. However the average size of a lot of the fish that have been caught has been good.

During the autumn months native species such as Murray cod and golden perch, to a lesser extent, can feed aggressively trying to put extra condition on before the winter chill sets in and food sources become scarce. If you are keen to catch a Murray cod or golden perch put the time in now as it is only going to get tougher in the near future.

The fishing at Lake Eppalock remains patchy. The majority of anglers are finding it difficult to locate a school of quality redfin. At this stage small redfin are making up the majority of angler’s catch rates.

The occasional good school of redfin has been located in deep water. Trolling deep diving hardbody lures in depths greater than 10m has been productive. Once a good school is located casting soft plastics has also been successful.

Small numbers of golden perch are still currently being caught at Lake Eppalock. Several methods have been used in catching them. Casting spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits around lay-me-down timber and submerged shrubs has worked, as well as trolling medium and deep diving hardbody lures. Bait fishing around the edges of standing timber has also produced. The occasional Murray cod measuring up to 75cm has been caught.

The fishing in the Campaspe River has been up and down. At times the productivity has been good with decent numbers of Murray cod and golden perch reported. The most productive times have been during periods of reduced flows and when the water clarity has improved. However, just when the fishing is good, the water clarity has reduced due to inflows after rain or because of increased water being released from Lake Eppalock. It is always hard to predict what is going to happen with the fishing in this river system! If we only receive minor rainfall over the next month the fishing should be good. If we do receive another major rainfall event the fishing will be poor.

The fishing in Cairn Curran continues to be good. Anglers trolling deep diving hardbody lures are catching reasonable numbers of redfin. Casting soft plastics and jigging ice jigs has also produced some good results on these fish. There is a good possibility we might see the redfin school up in good numbers in the deep water over the next couple of months. If this does occur then downrigging can be a very productive method to catch some large Cairn Curran redfin.

Small numbers of golden perch have been caught recently by trolling hardbody lures and bait fishing around the standing timber. We should start to see an increase in the numbers of trout being caught at this destination shortly. The last couple of seasons the trout fishing has been poor. I believe we should see a significant improvement in the next couple of months.

The fishing in the Loddon River has also been spasmodic. At times some sections have been fishing well, then water clarity has deteriorated and the productivity in the fishing has significantly reduced. The productivity in the shallower sections of the Loddon, at locations like Newbridge, had remained good for the majority of time. We now start to see a significant reduction in the productivity in the fishing in these shallower sections of the Loddon River. It is in these shallower sections where the water temperatures drop the quickest and will have the greatest effect on the fishing.

The most productive fishing in the Loddon River will be in the deepest sections above Bridgwater and at Serpentine and the Fernihurst Weir. In these sections the volume of water is greater and water temperatures take longer to cool down. So while the overall numbers of fish being caught in the Loddon will start to reduce. The quality of fish being caught will be very good over the next month.

1

This fat little Murray cod took a natural coloured OarGee deep diving lure presented by Marc Ainsworth fishing Lake Eppalock.

2

Golden perch love a spinnerbait. Rolled them past or through structure and they can be deadly.