As the warmer months of 2016 approach we should see virtually all our local freshwater species on offer. A solid wet winter has filled and replenished many dams, watercourses or creeks nearby. This in turn has already started to provide us with good fishing.

Sugarloaf Reservoir in Christmas Hills has seen a few school-sized golden perch caught by anglers casting lures around the rocky southwestern shoreline. I spoke with angler James who caught five fish in his most recent session using 1/4oz spinnerbaits fitted with small soft plastics and stinger hooks. James said all his fish were 38-42cm and tapped the lure multiple times before hooking up. James also said there were some reasonable sized redfin following the lure to the bank at times.

On the Mornington Peninsula, Devilbend Reservoir has been somewhat patchy. There have been a lot of frustrated anglers heading home with no luck, while others have been passing on reports of success. Devilbend is a fickle system in which dangling doesn’t pay off in most instances. I still hear from many people who fish too big a hook and simply cast into the thick weed.

For success in this lake you have to find the small clear pockets and gaps in the weed, and coax the fish into them. Fishing lightly weighted baits under small sensitive floats is one way to go. Some anglers have been catching trout and redfin using weedless soft plastics, so there’s more than one way to catch a fish.

Some of the suburban lakes have been producing trout for local anglers lately. Karkarook Park in Moorabbin is one such location, where there have been rainbow trout from the last school holiday stocking on the chew. Most of the trout caught here have been taken on PowerBait or maggots, with the occasional fish taking worms or small freshwater yabbies. Nine year old angler Mitchell Lette tried his luck down at Karkarook recently where he landed four nice rainbow trout. Mitchell caught all his fish on PowerBait in pink – good work, Mitchell!

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Young gun Mitchell Lette with some of his Karkarook rainbows.

Photo courtesy of Mitchell Lette.