Heavy rains during March and leading up to April produced major flooding throughout the New England area, which would have seen many fishers put away the rods until it settled. However, that wasn’t the case for some places where the flush of rain brought out the keenest of fishers as well as some good catches.

Local rivers were roaring, so it was tough in some areas. After a few lure changes and plenty of casts, fish were soon caught amongst the whitewash.

The Severn River has been the most productive out of some of the rivers, with a dozen or more cod caught at the tops of holes and beside high flowing rapid areas in consecutive sessions. Larger profile spinnerbaits rigged with a 9cm trailer have been the stand-out lure presentations, although large chatterbaits have also claimed a few healthy Murray cod out of the rising floodwaters.

With the river getting a well needed flush, the fishing should only continue to improve as the water levels recede and the water starts to clear up again. In the meantime, finding active fish in high currents is a whole load of fun and very rewarding. For some, it’s not a normal type of fishing.

The Beardy River was recently also in flood and stained in colour. Other than higher water levels, not much changed in this area. There have been no fishing reports of late.

Pindari Dam has been fishing really well even though it has received all of the floodwater from both the Severn and Beardy rivers. This saw the dam rise from 81% to 101% in a matter of a few days.

Fishers staying along the banks have still been catching yellowbelly and catfish on both bait and lures, however the boat anglers have had a ball throwing blades and lipless crankbaits around the front of the spillway as the water rushes over, finding a variety of species looking for an easy meal. The top end of the dam has been dirty with a lot of debris floating down. Precautions will need to be taken if heading up that end of the dam for a look-see.

Copeton Dam has been fishing just as well if not better with the surface action already going nuts. There have been plenty of stories from a handful of fishers all having an awesome time getting amongst the natives. As we get further into May the surface action won’t slow down either, as the bigger fish start feeding up ready for the spawn.

Swimbaits and spinnerbaits have also been producing good numbers of healthy fish throughout the day, even when the sun is directly above. Copeton has been fluctuating between levels lately but was sitting around the 45% mark recently.