Well summer has most certainly arrived! The last few weeks of December and early January saw temperatures rise above 40. I don’t know about you but that’s certainly unpleasant weather for me to fish in.

Instead, I’ve been leaving the days alone and waiting until the cooler evenings come along. Not only has the fishing been more comfortable but there’ve been some good evening hatches.

In our Strezlecki streams, there have been a few dun hatches in the evening as well as some flying ant falls. The falls have been tough but persistence has tended to pay off. The dun hatches have been a bit kinder to anglers, with winged Red Spinners, Greenwell’s Glory’s and Dad’s Favourites in sizes 14 and 16 all working a treat.

If you happen to arrive during a hatch and the fish are super selective, try imitating the size rather than shape and colour. Shape should be the second feature to imitate and colour the third. An extended leader of about 12ft will induce more takes, especially when the rivers are running low.

In January, the spinners came out and black and red imitations worked well in all the Strezlecki streams. Spinner hatches are usually a bit easier to fish than dun and flying ant hatches.

In the lower sections of the Traralgon Creek, the Morwell River and Turtans Creek around the paddocks, grasshoppers have been working very well. Live hoppers cast on a float or hopper pattern flies such as Knobby Hoppers, have been productive in sizes 10 to 14.

If using flies, a small twitch with the tip of the fly rod every now and then will cause the hopper to look like it is struggling or swimming on the surface. If you’re using real hoppers then don’t be put off if the hopper sinks because I have caught many trout with sunken hoppers. Just because it’s below the water’s surface doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an un-natural presentation.

Lake Glenmaggie has been fishing quite well for bass. Most seem to be between 25 and 30cm, which is really great to hear given that the fishery is so young!

Mick and Matthew Gned caught some lovely bass from Lake Glenmaggie recently on worms. All the fish measured 28cm and were caught off the bank. They also caught some trout, redfin and carp whilst fishing for these bass.

The bag limit for these fish is 2 per person per day, however most anglers are choosing to release these prime sport fish to get a little bigger.

An ABT (Australian Bass Tournaments) event will be held at Glenmaggie on Sunday 5 March. It’s lures and flies only and compulsory catch and release. You must be a member of ABT to enter, however, you can join on the day. For more information contact Steve Duff on 0411 037 418 and he’ll tell you everything you need to know.

For more information about fishing in central Gippsland contact Will at Allways Angling in Traralgon on (03) 5174 8544.