We’ve experienced some hot weather this summer and some great fishing too.

January’s fishing was very good, although many daytime anglers reported catching trout not much larger than 400g during the really warm spell. Larger trout have been taken though by bait, lure and flyfishing enthusiasts fishing about two hours after sundown and into the night.

Rocky Valley and Pretty Valley reservoirs at Falls Creek are 3m short of full. They produced excellent catches for anglers fishing from the bank and trolling during the day, with some good rises occurring about 30m offshore at dusk.

Shore-based anglers were catching rainbow trout to 750g in mid to late January. One angler recently landed a 2.8kg brown trout on a Hare’s Ear nymph from Pretty Valley Reservoir.

Pretty Valley Creek is flowing nicely and is a perfect place for flyfishing beginners to hone their skills. This pretty little stream will be offer up brown trout to 300g on a variety of small dry flies.

Lake Guy at Bogong Village has been producing feisty rainbow trout to 2kg for boaties trolling deep down at least 20 to 30m offshore.

The east Kiewa River at Bogong is running well, producing lots of pan-sized rainbows for flyfishers and bait specialists.

The Mt Beauty pondage is full at the moment and stocked with rainbow trout. However, the pondage has been fishing poorly due to a sudden bloom of algae, (not blue-green variety), which is depleting oxygen in water. Several dozen dead trout were found at various times around the lake edges during January, with possibly more to come.

The Kiewa River from Mt Beauty to Coral Bank has provided excellent action for anglers holidaying in the three caravan parks located along the river. Live bait and lure fishing saw lots of rainbow trout to 400g transferred to icy eskies daily.

The west Kiewa River was producing rainbows and a few browns to 450g on a variety of size 12 to 16 dry flies.

The Ovens River from Porepunkah to Germantown has been fishing well for bait and lure anglers, despite much of the more easily accessed sections being taken over by swimmers and float tube enthusiasts.

The upper Ovens River at Freeburgh is almost deserted as water levels drop to suit mostly flyfishers who are catching and releasing over 30 rainbow trout each day. Most of the captured fish weigh about 300g with a few to 450g.

The Victoria River at Dinner Plain continues to produce pan-sized rainbows and a few larger browns on bait and dry flies.

The lower Mitta Mitta River from Mitta Mitta to Eskdale has been fishing well producing rainbows and a few browns to 1.5kg. Anglers fishing with live bait have been landing trout between 300 and 400g.

There’s were some good rises just before dusk in mid-January and these should continue through February.

Alpine fishing conditions can change very quickly, even in summer, so for the latest update phone Geoff Lacey at Angling Expeditions Victoria on (03) 5754 1466 or check out website www.anglingvic.com.au