"

The lure of Wendouree
  |  First Published: June 2016



The lure of Lake Wendouree is large as it is certainly one of a few waters in the district that has really started to fire up as we move through the autumn months and slowly crawl into the cold old days of winter.

The fishing in lake Wendouree is sensational at the moment and I will probably be excited about Wendouree for the next couple of months. The main reason for this is that there have been fish being caught of excellent quality. Additionally, others waters have gone very quiet due to various reasons, including low water levels and some have become un-fishable because of weed. It seems a lot of anglers have already started their winter slumber and decided they will wait until the spring months arrive before they dust off the fishing gear. The autumn months are the best months to fish as the fish really feed up before they get into spawning/breeding mode and become very aggressive towards lure, flies and baits. During their breeding cycle the need to feed is only secondary, which will make them very difficult to catch, so now is the time to be out on the water – I know I will certainly be fishing as much as I can over the next few months.

Specifics

Finally the brown trout that have been in hibernation for what seems like an eternity have shown up and are on the chew! I would suggest the browns have been sulking down in Lake Wendouree’s ever expanding weed and now that the temperature and water temperatures have cooled down the fish are in feed mode. Anglers using every method in the book once again seem to be catching quality trout and redfin.

Trev Holmes from Victorian Inland Fishing Charters has guided a few clients on Wendouree with great success and some clients have caught the fish of a lifetime. Ray Rogers bagged a personal best brown trout of 65cm and 3.2kg – a true trophy fish. He caught this beast casting lures from a drifting boat. This method seems to be the best to catch fish at the moment. Brad Cox, a renowned angler, spent a session on Wendouree recently with Trev and nailed some lovely browns and redfin casting Fish Arrow soft plastics.

Damien How and son Jack fished Wendouree under the tutelage of Ben Young recently, casting lures and soft plastics in the main rowing channel and the open weed-free waters of Wendouree. The guys were blown away by the quality of the fish Wendouree produces, both brown trout and redfin. They managed to land a couple of brown trout to 52cm and a couple of nice redfin. Kelvin Baldwin who runs the Victorian Trout and Redfin Facebook page has also been out among the fishing action on Wendouree and has bagged some cracking redfin casting Eco Gear Power Shads, once again out of a drifting boat in clear water.

Trev Crawford and Scotty Xanthoulakis have successfully caught trout on Wendouree flyfishing. Some lovely rainbow and brown trout have been caught by these guys Loch Style fly fishing – stripping wet flies at various speed with great success. The fly patterns that have yielded the best results include the olive coloured magoo with some variants like an orange bead head a black woolley bugger, coral and black pennel. The main ingredient for the best results to fishing is overcast skies and a good breeze, although fish have been caught in the bright sunshine and glassed out conditions. My top tips for Wendouree are; overcast days, medium breezes, minnow style hardbodied lures or soft plastics, and to cover plenty of water.

Newlyn Reservoir

Newlyn Reservoir continues to fish well, even though the water levels are really low. Anglers fishing in clear open water using baits, lures, plastics and flies have caught some lovely brown trout and redfin. The best lure at the moment has been the Norries Wasabi Spoons in a variety of colours – it’s just a matter of trial and error until you come up with the winning formula, so keep changing lures until you find the one the fish are feeding on. This can change from day to day or even hour to hour – but if we knew what the secret was, it wouldn’t be a challenge! Newlyn will continue to fish well over the cooler months and the staple diet of the trout and redfin during these months will be small baitfish or smelt. This will be the case in most waters around the district so minnow/smelt imitations will be required, whether it is lures, plastics or flies for the best results.

Moorabool Reservoir

Moorabool Reservoir has been off the radar. Moorabool offers some magnificent trout and redfin fishing, and over the winter months I expect there will be some crackers caught out there, mainly on lures. The water level is well down and the shoreline is very muddy, so waders are be essential.

Tullaroop Reservoir

Tullaroop Reservoir spells out trophy trout to me over the next few months. Once again, water levels are well down. The trout in Tullaroop will be very aggressive towards lures, plastics and flies. I recommend you target the deeper areas for the best chance of nailing one of the monsters that are lurking there. Last year I heard of a couple of 10lb fish caught, and I certainly have my sights set on one these brutes. Ensure you have very strong hooks on your lures and your gear is ready for the fight of its life, as these brown and rainbow trout show no mercy.

Photo courtesy of Trev Holmes.

Photo courtesy of Trev Holmes.

Photo courtesy of Damien How.

Photo courtesy of Tracey Kitchen.

Photo courtesy of Trev Crawford.

Reads: 2524

Matched Content ... powered by Google