Fishing is only going to get better with the slow rise of water in Lake Glenbawn as well as St Clair.

I stated last month as the water rises it provides new sources of protein such as spiders, grubs and worms. This month, as the temperature starts to rise, smelt and fire gudgeons are breeding and the bass and yellowbelly are becoming more active. It’s time to brush the dust off your favourite trolling lures.

At this time of year, 3-5m lures are fine, and some good starters are the AC’s Slim Invaders in colour ‘magic night’ and Smack Golden Childs in a new colour ‘Glenbawn purple’.

If casting, I would suggest beetle spins, crankbaits, spinnerbaits and by the end of the month you could also be using lipless crankbaits.

Spinnerbaits are a favourite for many anglers and with hooks facing upwards they can be thrown into heavy structure. At this time of year anglers are fishing from the main basin up to the 8-knot zone, and one area I like to fish is from the end of the wall past the drowned cabins up to the entrance of Boat Harbour. Another area to fish is the left hand side of Big House Bay in the timber, and working around to the front of the house another popular area Soil Conservation Shed Bay.

Don’t forget the anglers should be rewarded with some knee-jerking surface action. There are so many different types of surface lures on the market, but some of my go to surface lures are the Cultiva Zip N Ziggy, Kokada Bats and Jackall SK Poppers.

When fishing impoundments I find it best to retrieve your lures about 2-3m at a time with a long pause and the odd twitch of the rod tip to make your lure rattle.

Lake St Clair is great for surface lure fishing and a good place to start would be the Cattle Yards opposite the boat ramp and also anywhere you find a gap between the weed and the water’s edge.

On a different note, bass fingerlings were released last month. There were 70,000 at Glenbawn, 50,000 at St Clair and 20,000 at Lostock Dam. While we are on fingerlings, the Aberdeen Fishing Club will be running the Glenbawn Classic on 3-4 October over the long weekend. It is the 25th year the event has been running, but this year is the first time the event has a naming sponsor it will be called Anglo American Glenbawn Classic.

Anglo American are happy to support an event where profits go to stocking a community Recreational Area.