Over the past month the weather has changed and colder days have gradually brought the lake’s water temperature down. Massive whitebait schools have turned up and schools of Australian salmon and tailor have followed.

Recently huge schools of whitebait have moved into the lake system bringing with them large numbers of Australian salmon, tailor and silver trevally. Areas such as Bullock Island have been extremely productive with anglers flocking to the island nearly every day in search. Consistent success has come from spinning with a 15-20g metals that imitate a panic stricken baitfish.

A major key to success is to target these areas around the start of run-out tide and through the whole tidal cycle. The run-out tide forces whitebait and other food sources out into the channels and towards the entrance and Bullock Island. This is where salmon and other species have been hiding in wait for bait schools to cruise past in the tide.

The lake is fishing consistently with better results coming from further up in the system where steep rocky and timbered edges provide plenty of cover and food for hunting fish. I have experienced a consistent season around areas such as the power lines and the island.

Lures such as the Lucky Craft Bevy Shad and Berkley Sandworm have been extremely productive fished tight to cover. Casting is key when fishing these densely timber covered edges. Casting makes a huge difference. Being able to put your lure or bait into areas where other anglers simply can’t reach will usually give the best results for size and numbers.

With the lake’s water temperature beginning to cool we should see large schools of bream and other species moving throughout the main lake and the higher reaches of the Nowa Nowa Arm. A quality depth sounder will become invaluable and make the search for these fish a lot easier. It’s just up to you to figure out a bait or lure that will get the job done.

Consistent success usually comes from studying your fish finder and learning what active school fish look like. For those who don’t know what active fish look like, school fish that are slightly scattered and suspended throughout the water column are generally active. When you see fish tightly fixed to the bottom it generally means that they are resting or shut down and are usually hard to get to bite from.

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