"

Bring on the rain
  |  First Published: June 2007



Central Victoria has been going through some very tough conditions. Unfortunately the drought has led to less than desirable fishing conditions throughout the majority of central Victoria. In our impoundments water levels are at disastrously low levels.

LAKE EPPALOCK

Lake Eppalock is currently holding less than 1% of its capacity. We can only hope that the recent rainfall will be followed by some more substantial rain and the lake’s level will again start to rise. With the low water levels it has been very difficult to launch a boat. The majority of fishing has been off the bank, but there have been few reports of successful captures. A couple of local Bendigo anglers did experience a good session on the golden perch. The fish were schooled up and success was had by fishing with baits. Small yabbies and scrub worms were the best baits.

CAMPASPE RIVER

The fishing for native species in the Campaspe River has slowed in recent weeks. Very few Murray cod are being caught and the numbers of golden perch landed have been only slightly better. This trend will continue as falling water temperatures affect the metabolism of these fish and they feed less often. Some recent rainfall may have a small benefit. If we continue to receive some more good rains and if there is any subsequent runoff this may produce an increase in flow down the system, which might stir some extra activity.

There have still been some reasonable captures of redfin throughout the Campaspe in recent weeks. Success has been had by anglers fishing the Barnadown area. The most productive method has been baitfishing with large bunches of worms. The redfin fishing should remain productive and will be the main target species for the next couple of months.

CAIRN CURRAN

The numbers of fishermen targeting Cairn Curran continues to be small. Boat launching is currently still very difficult because the lake is holding less than 2% capacity. Hopefully if we receive more rainfall we will again see the lakes level start to rise. The fishing will continue to be tough until that happens. When the lake starts to receive inflows it is a good time to target the top of the lake for the resident brown trout. Usually the top section will be quite dirty with the inflows so the most productive method tends to be baitfishing. The numbers of natives being caught will continue to be low until next spring. For the next couple of months the majority of angler’s effort will be concentrated on the lake’s redfin and trout populations.

LODDON RIVER

The fishing in the Loddon River has also been very slow in recent weeks. The best reports of Murray cod captures have been from fishermen walking the banks and fishing in the Newbridge area. Best success has been had on medium-sized hard-bodied lures and spinnerbaits. Reasonable numbers of golden perch have also been caught in this area.

At Bridgewater the fishing has been tough for the majority of anglers. Water clarity is still good. There also has been a large amount of floating weed and this is keeping lure fishermen very busy trying to keep their lure free from weed. It is an excellent time of the year to target the deeper water close to Bridgewater. Trolling this deep section can be productive. Deep diving hard-bodied lures and heavy spinnerbaits will produce some reasonable captures. Trolling with metallic coloured hard-bodied lures can be a very good option on days with a lot of sunlight. The redfin should continue to be the predominant target species over the next couple of months. Unfortunately the fishing for the natives will only get tougher.

Reads: 941

Matched Content ... powered by Google