Lake Eildon has really been turning it on for anglers and the catch-cry is definitely ‘go-for-gold’. It seems that wherever you go on the lake the golden perch have been the most prolific species. The water level has risen slightly and covered the weed beds where they like to cruise close to the shoreline. Now is a great time to do a bit of shore-based bait dangling with the kids.

The shoreline has produced some great fish. I took my family to spend a few nights at Fraser National Park and wasn’t disappointed.

Using hard-to-come-by garden worms, the kids had fun and picked up a few carp. On the second cast I caught a 38cm golden perch, the perfect size for the table. The day finished with two golden perch and a magnificent 1.5kg rainbow – and of course, lots of carp.

Other reports show there have been golden perch caught up the Delatite Arm on spinnerbaits and trolled divers. One angler tussled with a large out of season cod before releasing it adjacent to the Maintaingoon Inlet.

Scrubworms dangled in the trees are producing juvenile redfin, with no larger fish yet reported. I have also heard that Lake Nillacootie is the place to be for those keen to catch the larger reddies.

Trout fishers are not to be out done, and the fish are falling for small lures cast into the shallows. Sitting with the boys bait fishing, we saw a lot of trout smash the schools of smelt in the shallows.

It’s always worth trolling winged lures in the warm water, as they tend to turn up a variety of species.

The Goulburn is definitely on the rise, and hopefully these recent showers will keep it steady. Excluding the days when it is actually rising, a good number of fish will fall to all methods.

Flyfishing reached its pinnacle when a recent humid night produced a bit of a termite hatch – a purple patch, as most fly anglers would know. Several fish were landed for the night in the area above Gilmores Bridges, but there was no real size to them.

I’m still getting great reports from the area above Blue Gums Caravan Park towards Eildon. With the lower levels, this is a great place to attack the trout with Celtas and Blue Fox Vibrax lures.

Surprisingly the slower, deeper water below Alexandra has produced better redfin than the lake. Gents (maggots) are the bait of choice. A couple of mates recently tried to navigate upstream of Alexandra in their tinnie, only to strike trouble with the lows flows and few fish.

Until the water really starts coming down for irrigation purposes, stick to the downstream section. Work the steeper banks looking for the early season larger fish before they move up looking for colder climates.

The Ruby, as always, is producing fish even with low crystal clear conditions. My mate, Spesh, picked up a pan-sized brown trout fishing the lower section towards the Goulburn. This used to be a one-man show down there – an afternoon fishing would produce half a dozen solid fish and very little company. Nowadays, you may get two or so fish, but also about twenty other anglers. However, the Ruby is a great river and actually has a lot of public access points along it, so spread out and watch out for snakes.

The upper Ruby, towards the township, is the perfect place for flies and small lures. The tracks aren’t as well worn and the fish, although harder to catch due to the nature of the river, are generally bigger. There has been talk of making this river ‘blue ribbon’ – meaning fly only. I’m not a fan of the idea, as everyone has the right to fish it, but we should all protect it by catch and release fish.

The Acheron River still gets left alone most of the time, with only the people ‘in the know’ really giving it a run. Around the Taggerty area there are some good reports coming in as the caravan park gets its first round of holiday makers.

Worms accounted for two trout around 28cm recently. The father and son duo were apparently getting bites for most of the day.

This river has a very healthy population of crays that will usually give your live bait a tune up. Higher areas, such as Glendale Lane and heading back to Buxton, are definitely worth a try.

Water levels are heading the same way as last year, so now is the best time to fish the area. Last year we had good lake fishing with heaps of golden perch caught during the November Pro Fish Tournaments. Come up and have a crack Hope to see you on the water.