In the past month, the Goulburn has continued to produce Murray cod in both good numbers and size. If there has been any change at all it is only in the areas where these fish have been taken.

While last month I reported that the stretch from Seymour to Nagambie was providing the most action, reports are now coming in from the section of the river from Trawool to Seymour. It is also very encouraging that most of the fish are of legal size or better and are being returned to the water.

At the other end of the river, downstream from Nagambie, there have also been some excellent fish. The area around Murchison has been particularly productive. Young angler Ashley Parkinson (who I know well from my recent trip to the Echuca Moama RSL Fishing Classic) couldn’t wait to catch up with us to show us a photo of his 30lb cod taken at Murchison. Then, just to prove how accomplished an angler he is, he pulled out a 67cm cod and won the Junior Angler title at the Fishing Classic. As part of his prize he won a six-month subscription to VFM.

I received a very interesting email from Jarrod McLean of Spotswood about Nillahcootie. It seems he had taken my advice from an earlier report and decided to go trolling just out from the school camps in Nillahcootie. It turned out to be a spectacular session for him, with 11 redfin to 750g and three yellowbelly to 2kg!

He was also busted off by a very large fish – species unknown. Three or four passes later over the same area he again hooked into something very large. With the drag on the reel let off a little more this time and plenty of patience, he landed a very aggro 17lb European carp. This in itself was new to Jarrod, as he had never before caught a carp on a lure. To add to his surprise the lure that he had lost in the bust-off was firmly embedded in the carp’s mouth!

Convinced that this was going to make an interesting story, Jarrod put the fish on the casting deck to get a photo. At this point the fish jumped. Fearing he was about to wear some hooks from the two lures, Jarrod jumped also, and dropped his camera over the side! At least the fish (and lures) didn’t get away.

Last month I reported that April was the time for big redfin to fire up at Waranga. Recently my wife Carol and I made a trip over there to check out the water level. Unfortunately the news is not good. Boat launching is almost impossible except for the few diehards who are prepared to drag small tinnies through the mud to get to the water. Even when you reach the water, you still need to drag the boat another 40m before you can get the motor down.

If you are prepared to do all this then you should get a few fish. However, anglers fishing from the bank with bait are doing well, so this may be the way to go. It’s very shallow around the edges so you will need rods capable of casting long distances.

The current drought and subsequent shortage of water in all of our popular fishing locations are going to have a significant impact on our fishing options over the coming months. We can only hope that we will receive the rain we need to turn it around.

I always attempt to make my report as accurate as possible, with information from my own experience as well as reports from other anglers. This information and also your photographs are always greatly appreciated. So if you’ve been fishing in the local area and have something to report, I’d love to hear from you. Send an email to --e-mail address hidden--