The fishing in the Ballarat district has been fairly quiet in the last month, with anglers having to travel to catch a fish. This will continue to be the case, as our local waters, except for Newlyn Reservoir, are either dry, very low or closed to angling.

Lake Fyans, at the foot of the picturesque Grampians, has proved to be the most productive water recently. Vern Barby and Rodney McNeight, both Ballarat flyfishers, have been catching lovely brown trout of around 2kg. They have been catching them flyfishing from a boat using smelt patterns. At the moment the trout are actively chasing smelt all over the lake. These smelters are sometimes very difficult to catch, but also very rewarding.

Lake Fyans will continue to fish well even with low water levels. As the weather warms up, the mudeye hatches will start. Evening and night flyfishing will be the most successful method of angling. Flies I suggest are Mrs Simpson, Craigs Nighttime and Muddler Minnows. Bait fishing with worms on the bottom, or mudeyes suspended under a bubble float, will also be successful.

Lake Purrumbete has been fishing well. Flyfishers have been catching browns to 1kg using smelt patterns around the quarry, or on the eastern side of the lake. I recently fished Purrumbete from a boat, and landed a small Quinnat salmon on an orange Woolly Bugger. It was very difficult to launch, so I suggest contacting the caravan park before leaving home to see if there is enough water.

Royce Baxter recently fished Lake Bullen Merri with Jim Jones. They flyfished along the shorelines, and Royce landed a brown trout of just over 2kg on a smelt fly. There were a few fishing moving early in the morning, and again on evening, chasing smelt and also midges on the surface.

Lake Eligamite at Cobden has also been fishing well. Phil Fletcher and Gordon Thompson caught brown trout of around 2kg and redfin to 1kg. They fished out of a boat using mudeyes suspended under a bubble float. Phil mentioned that it was very difficult to launch their boat due to the low water level, and if the dry weather continues boat angling will be impossible.

In Newlyn Reservoir, closer to Ballarat, trout and redfin have been landed using all forms of angling, including flyfishing, bait fishing and lure casting. Newlyn will continue to fish well over the next few months. The best times are early in the morning or in the evening. For the flyfishers the trout will be feeding on midge and exciting and challenging fishing will be on offer.

Cairn Curran has been fishing well for golden perch. The successful methods have been trolling lures, and fishing baits from the shore or boat. ‘Yellas’ up to 8kg have been caught.