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Mixed bags as mercury drops
  |  First Published: July 2017



The trout population has taken a fair hit in recent years with all the Murray cod stockings, but this year’s trout breeding cycle has started off very brilliantly, with some great days fishing being had by persistent and avid anglers.

The areas you want to look for and fish are near the Big River arm and Goughs Bay. As I mentioned in the last article, flat lining pink lures seems to be the go for trout. Tassie Devils and StumpJumpers in 50-70mm sizes are perfect.

Frazer Boat Ramp is still producing a good mixed bag of fish the trees, and the area directly out from the boat ramp is still producing good numbers of natives and redfin.

The rock walls near Frazer are a great place to try your luck on yellas in winter. This time of year I like to target them with single arm spinnerbaits. Make sure you don’t go too big, as it could spook the school. Spinnerbaits in 1/2 and 3/4oz sizes are plenty big enough in around 12m of water, and drifting and jigging the spinnerbait up and down off the bottom should entice a bite. I like to count how long it takes for my spinnerbait to reach the bottom, and adjust my sink time depending on where the fish are holding. It’s a little difficult to start off, and getting your drift right while jigging can be challenging, but trust me when I say, this works. You should try drifting the whole rope swing wall, as this holds the most fish during winter. You can even throw baits such as worms and yabbies. These are good choices because of how natural they look drifting through the water.

Howqua River arm is producing big numbers of trout, as it has one of Lake Eildon’s great feeder rivers. When trout do their yearly spawn run, the best approach is get right up near the mouth, but remember not to go too far up, as you don’t want to disrupt fish that are spawning.

Remember trout closures are in play at the moment, so get all the dos and don’ts from the fisheries website so you don’t incur any avoidable fines.

Back down the main part of the lake and in the vicinity of the dam wall, trolling deep diving hardbodied lures is doing the damage at the moment, particularly in around 20-30ft. Another handy tip on the dam wall is to line up the boat ramp and the tower, and if you’ve got a good sounder there is some good structure down deep where some big green fish love to hang out!

A little further down are the transmission power lines, and good numbers of trout have been getting caught around this area. I’m not sure why this is, as there’s no feeder rivers near this part of the lake. It’s possible that some fish from the Delatite River Arm and some from Goulburn River arm come down every year and just hang out for a few months.

I hope everyone has fun at lake Eildon and I’m looking forward to bringing you more Eildon updates. Tight lines, stay safe on the water, and rug up as it’s really cold at Eildon in winter time!

Eildon township is a great place for a family outing during the winter months, with plenty of regular trout stockings and some great accommodation at one of the many caravan parks.

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