It is a bit tough when you have a boat, and you know there are some fish – but you just can’t get to them!That’s the situation at Lake Ellingamite, were only a few small boats have managed to launch. Some nice browns and big redfin were the rewards for those that dragged their boats out through the slurry.
A similar situation faces those taking boats of over 4.3m to Purrumbete. As for the fish at Purrumbete, there have been some nice browns to 2kg, rainbows to 1.2kg, and plenty of redfin. Bullheads have been the best bait, with plenty of fish feeding along the weed beds. A couple of warm sticky days have been enough to bring plenty of feeding fish to the surface. Flyfishers will be well rewarded if they can time a visit to correspond to these conditions. Some good ant hatches along the eastern cliffs have had fish in close enough for the shore-based fishers.
Bullen Merri has continued to fish well, with some slight improvement over the last month. Trolling lures a long distance behind the boat has been rewarded with brown trout to 1.5kg. Large Loftys Lures have been the best lure, and either early morning or late evening has been the pick of the times. Good reports are also coming from anglers fishing soft plastics, who are taking brown trout to 2kg. The northern end of the lake, and around the cave, are the best places to try your luck with plastics. As it gets warmer, we will hear more reports of anglers fishing during the night with bullheads under a float. Smaller fish can be a nuisance, and Powerbait is accounting for plenty of these along the bank.
The fishing in the rivers is starting to improve. Once again, those sticky afternoons have brought plenty of action for flyfishers. Gellibrand River may not have too many big fish, but the free rising smaller fish are in good numbers and can be very rewarding. There are fish over 1kg, but fish around 500g will be the norm during an evening rise. Finding ten or a dozen fish in 500m of river is not out of the question.
Wurdibuloc has risen due the channel flow, and as it warms there should be plenty of browns feeding along the edges, as well as some big redfin.
West Barwon Dam has been another water that has seen plenty of surface action, although the best results have been for those fishing mudeyes under floats.
Bruce Lawson with a free rising Gellibrand River brown trout ready for release.
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