You’d have to be mad not to enjoy this time of year! The days are getting longer but the temperature is still quite comfortable. This means the fish are generally at their most active during the middle to later parts of the day – great news for those with an aversion to late nights and early starts!

As the water is still warming the fish feel comfortable at all depths and are generally feeding hard. Rising water levels sweep all sorts of food items into the system so it is easy to see why the fish are so active in late spring. I suggest enjoying the last of this mild weather, as it won’t be long until it gets too hot for both humans and fish.

The golden perch fishing at Blowering Dam this year started a bit later than usual but is in full swing now with good numbers of fish caught and some absolute stonkers among them.

Trolling has been working a treat for golden perch with quite a few trout encountered as bycatch while targeting goldens. Lure casting has been the most productive method of late with goldens cruising around standing trees and along the wind swept banks especially those that have created a milk line along them. These milk lines are true magnets for active fish.

If you have no luck there, goldens are also in the back of some of the super weedy bays. The only real way to target them in there is with plastics rigged weedless and it is very hard to beat a frog imitating plastic. Frogs are a primary food source for goldens at this time of year so a good frog imitation rarely gets refused. Additionally, these super weedy bays tangle almost every other every other lure style thrown – a lucky coincidence that the only lure you can throw happens to be what the fish are looking for!

If natives aren’t your thing then go and get stuck into some trout. The season is now firing and anglers now have the choice of fishing rivers, streams, and lakes so there are plenty of options and fishing, especially in the running water, has been sensational so far.

The trout lakes have also been fishing well and I expect nothing to change this month.

The rivers and streams tend not to yield well when the running water is too high. When the running water is too high and dirty you generally find the fishing is far better in the lakes anyway.

Generally, the worse the weather the better when it comes to lake trout fishing and rising water is a trigger for fish activity so don’t let a bit of rain hold you back!

I am excited to announce that in the next month or so we will be releasing the new Mr Freshwater DVD ‘Trout on fly, the easy way.’ This DVD has been a long labour of love and we are excited with the result – a DVD full of useful info on fly fishing for trout. Additionally, there happens to be some very cool footage of nice trout being landed on the techniques described and taught on the DVD.

Even more exciting news is that we have not only decided to drop the price of this new DVD to just $20 but we have also slashed the price of the ‘Murray cod on fly’ and ‘Luring for wild trout’ DVDs from $35 down to $20 as well.

All of the DVDs in the series are packed with action and info and run for between 80-120 minutes. Excellent value and great entertainment on a rainy day – if you’re interested in a copy, check out the Mr Freshwater website or your local tackle store.